Issue #14: "The Evil Within, Part Five"

Previously in Shazam!:

Some time ago, Freddy Freeman and Mary Bromfield were kidnapped by Doctor Sivana. Freddy’s life force was used to fuel the Mad Mummy that Doctor Sivana had summoned to recover the Golden Scorpion for him.

Close to death’s door, Captain Marvel infused Freddy with part of his powers. The Wizard Shazam foretold of the evil that was within Freddy Freeman. Since that day, Billy Batson and his best friend fought evil in Fawcett City as Captain Marvel and Kid Marvel.

Recently, Freddy started showing no signs of his injuries sustained at the hands of the Mad Mummy. He became interested in sports and in Mary Bromfield. He even had the courage to ask Mary out on a date. Life was looking up for the orphaned youth, till anger started filling his heart and Freddy snapped during a football game.



Captain Marvel stood in front of his assembled allies. Behind him stood both the wizard’s first champion, Black Adam, and longtime ally of the Marvel family, Ibis the Invincible. Behind these three experienced individuals were two with tremendous potential, but little patience. Caesar stood looking confident in front of his young female friend.

Captain Marvel was stunned at the sight of what he believed to be his partner, Kid Marvel. He stared into the individual’s crimson red eyes, but no longer saw any trace of his best friend; all he saw was rage and anger. He also saw that the figure was wearing a new costume, with colors that reflected this dark and twisted version of Freddy Freeman. Captain Marvel summoned the courage of Achilles and spoke, “What have you done to my friend?… What have you done to Kid Marvel?”

The thrall of Satanus returned the gaze of Captain Marvel as he floated several inches off the ground. He smiled as he replied to Captain Marvel, “What, Billy, you don’t like my new look? I thought that this might be a better look for me. And you can never go wrong with red and black for a color scheme. Oh, by the way, Kid Marvel is dead. I think I need a new name, don’t you think, Billy?” He chuckled to himself as he finished.

The Dragon King spoke up, “You are too late, champion of SSShazam. You cannot ssstop what the Lord SSSatanusss hasss put into motion. Even as we ssspeak now, the homelesss people of Fawcett City will be transssformed permanently into creaturesss of our Lord SSSatanusss. And there’s nothing that you-” Before the Dragon King could finish his sentence, his mouth was magically removed from his scaled face.

Captain Marvel, Black Adam, and Ibis looked behind them and saw that Caesar had a smile on his face. “Hey, I get tired of hearing them rabble on about how the end is near and all that crap. Let’s pummel the guy in the red and black, and let’s turn his scaly friend into a pair of boots. I think Black Adam could use a new pair ‘cause, man, your feet stink! So come on let’s finish this now,” he said as he dropped down into a fighting stance.

Satanus’s thrall looked down at the Dragon King and laughed. “Well, you save me the trouble of killing him. If I’d had to listen to him go on and on about Satanus, I would have ripped off his lips or his head.” He looked over in Caesar’s direction and spoke directly to Caesar, “Well,well, the things my new powers let me see. Oh yes, li’l lounge magician, I see all of you. I see that aura around you that you’ve manage to hide, even from Ibis and the others.”

Caesar had a surprised look on his face as he heard Satanus’s thrall speak directly to him. “ENOUGH!!!”

Caesar formed a wand in his left hand out of thin air and pointed it in his enemy’s direction, unleashing a powerful blast of arcane energy at the thrall of Satanus. Freddy grabbed a hold of the Dragon-Man next to him and used the creature as a shield. Once Caesar’s energy blast dissipated, Freddy threw the Dragon-Man’s lifeless body towards Caesar with incredible strength. Caesar barely managed to materialize an energy shield in time to protect himself, but still the force of the impact sent him crashing through a wall.

Captain Marvel looked at Black Adam and, without any words being said between them, they charged at their common enemy. Freddy just smiled as they rushed towards him, and then managed to grab both of them by their throats, pulled them close to his face, and said, “You think that your combined powers can equal mine. I’m powered up by not only by the power of Shazam but by my Lord Satanus.”

Freddy slammed their faces together and launched both of them through the ceiling of the room that they were in. Freddy turned his attention to Ibis and Caesar’s companion. “So, Mr. Ibis, the one that managed to save Billy and Mary from being kidnapped, but you couldn’t stop what that damn Mummy did to me.”

Ibis pointed his Ibistick at his enemy as it crackled with mystical energy. “You must put an end to this madness, young Fredrick Freeman.”

“An end to this madness…No. You see, Mr. Ibis…I’ve been set free by my Lord Satanus,” he said to Ibis as he started to slowly walk towards him. “I’ll no longer be in the shadow of Billy…I’ll finally be my own man.” He paused for a moment and continued, “Yeah…I’m no longer Captain Marvel’s little sidekick…KID Marvel…you may call me MARVEL MAN from now on.”

Marvel Man held his hands out to his sides as lightning started manifesting itself around his left arm and dark hellfire formed around his right. “Now you’re gonna have a taste of my new powers…first hand.”

Marvel Man was stopped, before he was able to unleash his awesome power onto Ibis the Invincible, by Caesar’s purple-clad companion. She attacked Marvel Man with a flurry of quick kicks to his stomach and head, managing to push him back with each blow that she landed. After she’d stopped her assault, Marvel Man just stared at her and said, “When the hell did a Power Ranger come to Fawcett City? Well, no use worrying about it…You’ll just be a dead Power Ranger.”

“The name’s Empress and you won’t be hurting anyone today,” she said with confidence in her voice as she reached over her shoulders and pulled out her two staves and pointed one of them at Marvel Man.

Marvel Man rubbed his chin as his eyes narrowed looking at Empress. “So, little Empress…you think you’re ready to play with the big dog?”

Marvel Man quickly raised his right hand in front of him and released a ball of pure hellfire in her direction, but Empress quickly teleported herself out of its path, before it could cause her any serious damage, leaving the blast to continue its path towards Ibis, who used the Ibistick to redirect and contain the hellfire blast before transforming it into water and then into a large ball of ice. Ibis launched the large chunk of ice towards Marvel Man with great force, just as Caesar re-emerged from the hole in the wall that he’d gone crashing through earlier. The magician pointed his wand in the direction of Marvel Man as the chunk of ice headed towards him, and then Caesar shouted, “FUEGO!” and the ice was transformed into a large ball of fire.

Marvel Man was caught off-guard as the fireball knocked him off his feet and embedded him into the wall behind him. He slowly pulled himself out of the wall and fell into the arms of the Dragon King. Looking into the Dragon King’s eyes, he just nodded his head as if he had heard the Dragon King whisper something into his ear. “You’re right; I’ve got more to do before our Lord can truly cross over into this world.” And with that,Marvel Man launched himself through the hole in the ceiling.

“Where the hell is he going in such a hurry?” asked Caesar as he leaned on Empress for support.

Empress looked over at the Dragon King and pointed one of her staves at him. “Maybe he would know.”

Caesar nodded, pointed his wand at the Dragon King and said, “Cease the ability to move or to crawl, imprison the Dragon King against the wall.”

The Dragon King flew and slammed against the nearest wall. Ibis, Empress and Caesar cautiously approached him with their weapons pointed at him. “You have been the one that has been manipulating these events, have you not?” Ibis asked the mouthless Dragon King.

Caesar flicked his wand towards the Dragon King’s face and his mouth magically reappeared. “Do with me asss you wisssh, you cannot ssstop my Lord’sss plansss. The realm will be hisss to conquer. There isss nothing-” The Dragon King was interrupted as Caesar once again magically removed his mouth.

“We’re not going to get anywhere like this. Ani-…eh, Empress…we’re gonna need you to squeeze something useful out of his mind.”

“I’ll give it a try,” she told Caesar as she moved towards the Dragon King.

Caesar stopped her, grabbing her arm, and whispered to her in a calm voice, “Anita…I know that you can do this…so do it or don’t, this time…there is no try.”

Empress closed her eyes as she touched the Dragon King’s head. Caesar held her other hand as his wand projected the images that she was extracting from his mind. Ibis’s eyes narrowed as he examined each image that he saw. They saw an image of the Dragon King summoning the evil Lord Satanus. He recognized the image of Freddy Freeman, when he was imprisoned by the Mad Mummy. They saw next an image of a house that Ibis was familiar with and he said aloud to Caesar and Empress, “That is the home of Dudley and Billy Batson.” The image of the house then changed into an image of a teenage girl that Ibis was familiar with also, “That is Mary Bromfield…That is it! By infecting Fredrick Freeman with evil, they were able to weaken the Wizard Shazam’s hold on Satanus. Soon he’ll be weak enough for Satanus to cross over into this plane of existence. He needs the sacrifice of an innocent and pure soul to make his transition into our realm permanently.”

Now that they knew Satanus’s plan, Empress broke contact with the Dragon King’s forehead, and he slumped forward, unconscious from the experience. She looked over at Caesar, who just hugged her, and whispered to her, “That was awesome, Anita. You did good.”

Empress looked over at Ibis and asked, “What do we do now?”



Marvel Man soared through the evening sky. A smile crept across his face as if he had been freed from a twenty-year prison sentence. I know that my Lord Satanus needs an innocent soul to break the chains that bind him to the Rock of Finality. And I know just the right innocent soul to take.

At that moment, Marvel Man was tackled out of the sky by both Captain Marvel and Black Adam, and they went crashing down to the street below with a force like a meteor. Captain Marvel looked around, as Black Adam continued to pummel Marvel Man with thunderous blows that shattered all of the glass windows in the immediate area, and he noticed that they had landed a few blocks away from Billy Batson’s home. While Captain Marvel was still taking in their surroundings, Marvel Man managed to fight back, delivering an uppercut to Black Adam that sent him up into the sky. “And don’t forget to write when you land in Metropolis.” Marvel Man smiled as he saw Black Adam streaking through the night sky.

Captain Marvel charged at his former friend, with the speed of Mercury, and started punching him with the strength of Hercules. Each blow staggered his opponent, giving the returned Black Adam the chance to fly around behind Marvel Man. Seizing the opportunity for victory, Black Adam locked his foe in a full-nelson hold and yelled out, “SHAZAM!”

A thunderous lightning bolt headed down from the heavens, but Marvel Man reached out with his left hand and caught it. Elbowing Black Adam in the face to break free of his hold, he then redirected the lightning bolt towards Captain Marvel with such speed that he wasn’t able to dodge the blow, using the magical lightning bolt that was summoned by Black Adam to transform Captain Marvel back into Billy Batson.

While Billy was disoriented from being forcibly transformed back to his mortal self, Marvel Man grabbed Black Adam by his throat and hurled him at the defenseless Billy Batson. At that same moment, Ibis the Invincible, Caesar and Empress magically appeared in front of the home of Dudley and Billy Batson, and they all saw Black Adam’s body being launched at Billy. Without a thought, Empress ran and teleported next to Billy Batson and, before Black Adam’s body could make contact with Billy’s body, Empress managed to teleport her and Billy out of harm’s way, leaving Black Adam to crash through a parked car.



Empress and Billy materialized several feet away from where he’d been standing. Empress looked at Billy. “Are you okay, kid?”

Billy just nodded.

“Well you better get out of here, things are going to get worse,” she said to the young teenager, who was actually the same age she was. She pointed in a direction, away from the danger zone that was quickly unfolding behind them, and then Empress turned and teleported away from Billy. He, in turn, quickly ran into an alley and shouted out, “SHAZAM!”

Billy Batson was once again magically transformed from a teenage boy into the World’s Mightiest Mortal. He flew towards the carnage that was too close to his home.



Mary Bromfield and Uncle Dudley were sitting in the kitchen taking fresh iced tea and eating freshly-made blue muffins that Uncle Dudley had just finished cooking.

“So, Mary, how are things going at school?” Uncle Dudley asked.

“They are good, Mr. Batson. But I’ve been worried about Freddy lately and now, finding out that Billy is Captain Marvel is just….” Mary said as she searched for a word.

“Overwhelming is the word that you’re looking for, dear,” the elderly Batson said to Mary. “Trust me, Mary, I know the feeling. Gosh, when I found out that Billy’s father was Captain Marvel…I felt the same way.”



The Dragon King struggled against the wall that held him prisoner. Suddenly the large golden throne started to tremble and shake. The throne was then engulfed in flames as a figure started to take shape. The flames started to die as they transformed into muscle and tissue. Once the flames had ceased, the Dragon King finally saw before him his lord and master…Lord Satanus. The throne turned to face the imprisoned Dragon King. Finally the Dragon King looked into the fiery eyes of Lord Satanus. Lord Satanus stood up with chains attached to his wrist. He waved one of his hands towards the Dragon King, freeing him and reversing the spell that Caesar had cast.

The Dragon King dropped to his knees as he bowed before Lord Satanus. Satanus looked around the immediate area and simply asked, “Where is my puppet?”



A group of homeless men were standing around a fifty-five gallon barrel that had a fire burning inside of it, when suddenly one of them started to shake and then he fell to the ground. The others just stared at him as his worn-and-tattered clothing started to smoke, but then they also fell to the ground, and their clothing also started to smoke, and then they burst into flames. And so it was that, throughout the Barrows, several of the homeless were transforming into red-skinned demons. In one alley stood an old homeless man with an old worn and dirty-looking winter hat, and a trench coat that was equally dirty and worn. His eyes widened as he witnessed several of the other homeless people transforming into demons. He rushed back into the alley, and ran to the one person that he knew would protect him. “AL!!! AL!!! Ya gotta see dis. There is something going down and I know that you can do something about it.”

In the darkness of the alley appeared two glowing emerald green eyes. “This ain’t my fight…but don’t worry…no one’s going to hurt those under my protection,” said a low creepy voice.

The demons seemed to be in a trance as they marched out of the Barrows. Behind them appeared a ghostly image of Lord Satanus as he spoke, “Yes, my children…time to ravage this world in my name!!!”



Sergeant Cermack knocked on the open door of the offices of Major John Sheppard, and the major waved the sergeant in. Cermack entered with a folder in his hand. “Sir, we finally got the prints back from that homicide of the high school wide receiver.”

He handed the folder to Major Sheppard, who opened it and thumbed through the papers. “The prints matched that of a fifteen-year-old kid named Fredrick Freeman. I guess we’ll be questioning him again.”

Suddenly, all the phones in the offices started ringing off the hook. Major John Sheppard and Sergeant Craig Cermack exited the major’s office as he asked everyone, “What the heck is going on in here??? Why the hell are all the phones suddenly ringing off their darn hooks?”

Lieutenant Ramon Villalobos replied, “Sir, we’re getting several reports that a massive gathering of demons has just left the Barrows.”

Sheppard’s eyes got as big as silver dollars as he quickly walked over to the traffic department. “I want visuals from any traffic cameras close to the Barrows.”

One of the traffic camera operators tapped furiously at their keyboard until an image appeared on a big screen in front of them. One image showed an empty street corner until the live feed went dead. The operator brought up another camera. Everyone was able to see a massive army of demons walking out of the Barrows. They were destroying anything in their path.

Sheppard turned to everyone and shouted out, “I want every able body in riot gear and going down to intercept those things. I want Jay Mac and his boys leading the charge!!!”

All of the officers in the immediate area rushed out after hearing his orders. In the police motor pool area, police personnel were putting on their gear and grabbing their weapons before they piled into various police vehicles. Once each vehicle was packed with at least four officers, the vehicles screeched out of the garage from the lower levels of the police headquarters.



Inside the news control room stood a tall, dark-skinned individual wearing a grey business suit. His salt and pepper hair was trimmed and matched his thin mustache. His eyes narrowed through his glasses as he read through the program sheet. His cell phone rang and he answered it, “Hutsell here…What?…Where?…Send me a live feed.” He snapped his fingers at one of the people in front of him. “Get me a live connection feed from six, now.”

The control room was in chaos as people franticly ran around trying to get the producer Michael Hutsell what he wanted. Suddenly one of the large flat screen monitors sparked to life with a live streaming footage of Black Adam charging at Marvel Man. Black Adam managed to land a few blows to his adversary’s face before he was smacked back away from him. Hutsell ran out of the control room and yelled, “Chief, I want you in the newscopter now. We got us an emergency going on.”

Ten minutes later, the Channel Six newscopter was airborne and headed towards the battle between good and evil. “Good evening, folks. This is WPYX Television news reporter, The Chief, coming at you with a live broadcast of an apparent fight over and through various parts of our fair city. It would appear that the newly-reformed Black Adam has teamed up with our good Captain Marvel, Ibis the Invincible, local magician Caesar and some woman that this reporter has never seen before to take on this individual who is wearing a perverted version of Captain Marvel and Black Adam’s uniforms. We will follow this breaking news as it happens,” The Chief said as he and the pilot of the helicopter flew over the skies of Fawcett City.

Michael Hutsell stood in the control watching the carnage unfold before his eyes when his cell phone rang. “Hutsell here…You got to be kidding me…Hold on…Which mobile unit?…,” He pulled the cell phone away from his ear and called out, “Eugene, get me a live feed from unit two, ASAP.”

The screen in front of Michael Hutsell showed him a large group of demons dressed in ripped clothing as they marched out of the Barrows. Hutsell put one of his hands over his mouth as he uttered, “Oh, Jesus H. Christ…”

His eyes were glued to the screen as the camera panned to the left and focused in on the Fawcett City Police Force’s police cruisers and other vehicles forming a roadblock. Some of Fawcett City’s finest were dressed in their gear and armed with shotguns and other assorted weapons.



Thaddeus Bodog Sivana was in a dark laboratory, supervising the extraction of one of his creations from his regeneration tanks. He watched with eager eyes, while one of his two female assistants worked the control panel, as Longshadow was lowered onto a platform in front of him. “Yes, yes, yes…How do you feel, my dear Longshadow???”

The other female assistant walked over to Longshadow with a towel in her hand. She looked Longshadow up and down, admiring his perfect nude muscular body before she handed him the towel. Longshadow grabbed the towel and started to dry himself off. “I feel great, Doctor,” he said with smile.

The female assistant at the control panel turned to her monitor and started to watch Stargate Atlantis. Just as she leaned back in her chair, an emergency news broadcast interrupted the TV show. Sivana turned to see what his assistant was doing when he caught a glimpse of Captain Marvel and Marvel Man fighting. “What’s that you’re watching, Harmony?”

“Some emergency news broadcast just interrupted my Stargate episode,” she replied calmly.

Sivana walked slowly towards the monitor as he saw someone dressed in a red-and-black costume beating up Captain Marvel. With an ear-to-ear grin plastered on his face, the scientist snapped his fingers and shouted, “Harmony, get me some popcorn, now.” He turned to her and yelled directly at her, “Now, Harmony, get me some popcorn.”

Harmony stumbled out of her chair and ran out of the laboratory. “Pop Secret microwaveable popcorn…the movie theater butter too…none of that reduced fat junk either. Hurry up,” Sivana yelled as he turned his attention back to the screen.

“And they say that there’s nothing good on TV anymore,” Sivana said in a lower tone to himself with a grin on his face.



Somewhere deep within the Himalayas, there stood a temple that was hidden from the eyes of the outside world. It was there that the newly-awake Isis had come in order to hide an item that she was sworn to protect. Having left the item there for safe-keeping, she gazed once more at the temple as she started to float away. Suddenly her eyes opened up as wide as silver dollars and she simply whispered out, “Black Adam.” Without another word she flew into the sky as fast as she could; she felt that Black Adam was in trouble.



Jim Barr was in his living room, sitting down on his comfortable tan recliner. He picked up the remote control to his TV, and reclined back on his chair as he flipped through the channels. Stopping when he caught an emergency news broadcast, he saw Fawcett City’s Police Force fighting demons. He quickly stood up from his chair and stared as he saw a police officer get mauled by a demon,. and then he rushed to his bedroom closet, opened the door and reached up on the shelf. From there he pulled down a large box, put it on his bed, and opened it up. Reaching into the box, he pulled out his Bulletman helmet and whispered to himself, “We’re needed again, old friend.”

Moments later, Bulletman was soaring through the air as Fawcett City once again needed him.



Marvel Man grabbed Captain Marvel by his ankle and swung the Big Red Cheese like a baseball bat at Black Adam, sending him soaring through the sky. His rate of speed slowly decreased as he realized that he was gently being held by the winds themselves. His eyes soon gazed upon the beauty of his beloved Isis. “I came as soon as I could, my dear. Why have you returned to this city?”

“My beloved Isis, the gods have truly blessed me this day. You arrived just in time to turn the tide of battle into our favor,” Black Adam said with such rare joy in his voice.

Black Adam led the way as his beloved Isis followed behind him. They returned and saw that Marvel Man was walking towards Ibis, Caesar and Empress while he held Captain Marvel by the throat. “Come on…Give up now…You don’t really have a chance of beating me.”

He opened his mouth wide and spat out hellfire. Ibis used his Ibistick to deflect the fire blast, and Caesar used his cloak to protect himself, while Empress teleported out of harm’s way. She reappeared behind Marvel Man, who, with the speed of Mercury, back-smacked her for her efforts. He released his grip on Captain Marvel as he reached out to grab Empress. Seeing this, Caesar leapt at Marvel Man with a kick to the back of his head, but the blow didn’t even faze him; Marvel Man just turned and electrocuted him with a lightning bolt from his hands. Caesar wasn’t even able to utter a sound as he lost consciousness.

Empress’s eyes began to well up with tears as she saw Caesar’s unconscious body hit the ground. Her teary eyes gazed upon Marvel Man as he laughed at what he had just done to Caesar, but, before she was able to act, Marvel Man was attacked again by Black Adam.

Black Adam tackled Marvel Man, driving him deep into the ground. Suddenly, Black Adam was engulfed by hellfire as he flew away from him. Marvel Man pulled himself out of the hole that he was in, and paused for a moment when he saw the beauty of Isis in front of him. Before he could react, the ground below him erupted; the earth itself was attacking him. “I know not who you are, but when you attack Black Adam, you incur my wrath.”



The Fawcett City Police Force were being pushed back by the demons. Their road blocks had done nothing to slow these creatures down. The demons were just running through anything in their path. They were flipping vehicles out of their way like they were tin cans. Lieutenant Villalobos had an assault rifle in his hands as he shouted out orders, “COME ON, YOU SISSIES, PUSH THOSE UGLIES BACK!!!”

He and some other officers were firing at the closest demon to him, but the shots were not doing any damage to the thick demonic skin. The demons just continued to move forward, with one of them now charging at Lieutenant Villalobos and the other officers, swiping at them with its razor sharp talons. Villalobos triped over one of his fallen officers as the demon rushed at him. The demon raised his talon claw to deliver a killing blow to him, when it was tackled by a red streak. The demon recoiled from the impact., and saw before him a man who wore a shiny silver bullet-shaped helmet, a red zipped-up jacket and white pants, with gloves and boots. The demon was face to face with the legendary Bulletman. Bulletman just hit him with an uppercut as he flew straight up in the air, sending the demon flipping head over heels and landing hard on its stomach. Lieutenant Villalobos looked up and saw Bulletman standing there with a hand out to help him up.

“Where the hell did these creatures come from?”

“They came out of the Barrows and we can’t seem to hold them back…I hope you brought some more help?”

He looked over his shoulder and saw Black Adam with a woman he’d never seen before battling someone else that he didn’t recognize. He looked at Lieutenant Villalobos and said, “Well, to be honest with you, it looks like either way you go, we’re in for the fight of our lives.”

Before Jim Barr jumped into the battle with the demons he saw Ibis the Invincible.

“How are you, James Barr?”

Bulletman just smiled and said, “What the hell is going on, Ibis?”

“A battle to prevent hell on earth, James Barr,” replied Ibis as he blasted a demon with mystical energy from his Ibistick.

Not far from where Ibis and Bulletman stood were Major John Sheppard and Sergeant Craig Cermack. Both of them saw that Fawcett City’s other hero, Bulletman had come out to help them in their time of need. Sheppard shouted out to any of his officers that could hear him, “Let’s push these uglies back. We got Bulletman backing us now.”

Sheppard and Cermack were back to back as they fired shot after shot from their assault rifles. Demons kept charging at them until finally one leapt towards Sheppard with its sharp talons aimed at his heart. Sergeant Cermack pushed his superior officer out of harm’s way, but caught the killing blow to his chest. Major Sheppard caught Sergeant Cermack in his arms, the demon’s talons still buried deep into Sergeant Cermack’s chest as it roared at Sheppard.



Black Adam continued to deliver thunderous blow after thunderous blow to Marvel Man as he was being held in the grip of the Earth. Isis and Black Adam were holding the thrall of Satanus at bay, preventing him from advancing any further towards his goal, when, suddenly, Isis was attacked by a few demons that had broken through the wall that was the Fawcett City’s SWAT team. The momentary distraction was enough for Marvel Man to break out of the hold that Isis had on him. With Black Adam also distracted by the demons attacking Isis, Marvel Man shot a blast of hellfire at him. He then flew at Black Adam, grabbing his arm and slamming him onto the ground below, creating an imprint of his body there, before pounding Black Adam deeper and deeper into the ground.



Mary and Dudley both heard a commotion outside. They both went to the front windows and looked out and saw the carnage of not only the battle between Isis and Black Adam against the Marvel Man, but they also saw the demons ripping through the police force. Dudley quickly grabbed Mary Bromfield’s hand as he pulled her away from the window. Suddenly they were shaken out of their shoes as they heard a knock at the door. Dudley pulled Mary behind him as he slowly inched towards the door. The front door flew open as Empress helped Caesar into the Batson family home. Caesar was still smoking from being electrocuted by Marvel Man. Dudley quickly reached into the closet underneath the staircase and pulled out a baseball bat. After Empress set Caesar down on the stairs, Captain Marvel followed behind them. “Uncle Dudley, please put the bat down, these two are the good guys. I just wanted to make sure you two were okay.”

“Who’s that out there putting a hurting on Black Adam?”

Captain Marvel looked outside and said, “Uncle Dudley, that’s Freddy.”

Captain Marvel, with the speed of Mercury, left the house to battle again with his former partner. With his fists clenched together he smashed Marvel Man over his head. This gave Black Adam the chance to mount an offense. He hit Marvel Man with a mighty blow that launched him off his feet towards the Batson home. “No Adam, not towards that house,” Captain Marvel yelled at Black Adam.

Isis had her hands full with a few demons that had attacked her. She floated up as the ground below her cracked and vines grew out of the cracks. “Away from me, you filthy creatures,” Isis shouted as the vines grabbed a hold of the few demons that were attacking her. She returned her attention to the one battering her ancient lover. She waved her hands towards Marvel Man, and the ground beneath Black Adam came to life, vines wrapping up Marvel Man. “This madness stops now,” Isis shouted out.

The vines held Marvel Man tightly in their grasp as Isis floated over to him. “Let Mother Earth take away what she can,” Isis commanded as she stood next to both Captain Marvel and Black Adam.

Marvel Man screamed in agony as the vines that held him started to absorb some of his life force energies. At the same time, in the distance, the Dragon King and his Lord Satanus shimmered into place. The Dragon King pointed to where Marvel Man was at and said, “M’lord Satanus, your thrall is not faring well against the Goddess Isis.”

Satanus looked around the area and then gazed up into the sky and said, “She will not be a problem for us soon.”

Isis’s eyes started to flutter as she placed a hand on her forehead, and she slowly floated down to the ground. Both Black Adam and Captain Marvel noticed that Isis didn’t look well, but before either one of them could ask if she was okay, they were blinded by a brilliant white flash. Once their sight came back to them, Isis was no longer before them, replaced by the human host for the Goddess power of Isis, Adrianna Thomas. From behind both Captain Marvel and Black Adam, Marvel Man hit them both with lightning bolts. Adrianna Thomas saw the bolts of lightning hit and launch both of her would-be protectors away from her. Marvel Man gripped his ribs as he started to rub them. His eyes crackled with electricity as he looked down at Adrianna Thomas. “You’re the only that was actually hurting me. I guess I’m going to take you out of the picture for good.”

Bulletman saw out of the corner of his eye that Marvel Man was about to strike down a defenseless woman. Without any hesitation or thought, he flew as fast as he could. In an instant, Marvel Man balled up a fist, pulled it back, and released his fist with the intention of killing Adrianna Thomas. Instead his mighty blow was intercepted by the body of Bulletman, Marvel Man connecting with Bulletman’s lower back. Adrianna heard a loud crack followed by the blood-curdling scream that she would never forget, as Bulletman’s body went limp as he crashed to the ground; his bullet-shaped helmet fell off his head as Ibis the Invincible saw his friend fall before the corrupted Marvel.

Marvel Man looked at Adrianna Thomas as she stood up and shouted, “I AM ISIS!”

Nothing happened as Marvel Man looked at her with an unsure look on his face, which quickly faded as he moved closer to her. Black Adam pulled himself out of the wreckage of a car that he’d landed on, and shook his head as he saw the Dragon King standing next to Satanus. Just past them, Black Adam saw Adrianna, defenseless against Marvel Man, and, with all his speed, he flew towards Adrianna. The Dragon King looked over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of Black Adam flying at him, and then suddenly Black Adam flew right though the Dragon King’s body, effectively cutting the worshipper of Satanus in half. Satanus looked down and saw the two halves of the Dragon King’s body lying there. “I guess I need a new worshipper,” he said nonchalantly.

Black Adam grabbed Adrianna and flew away from the battlefield. Marvel Man’s face was filled with anger as he pulled one of his fists back and charged it with a lightning bolt. He stopped when he heard the voice of his master, Lord Satanus. “Go and complete the task that I set out for you.”

Marvel Man turned around and faced the house of Billy Batson. He held out his hand, palm face up, in front of his chest and magically a blade appeared in his hand. The blade was the same one that was impaled in the chest of high school football wide receiver, Boris Mihajlovic . Freddy Freeman’s mind was flooded with memories of the murder of the school’s star athlete.



Kid Marvel had just helped a little girl get her kitten out of a tree, when he heard a familiar voice talking to him again. He had heard this voice earlier on the field when he tackled that varsity team wide receiver. He felt freed of his own moral restriction. He felt empowered by this feeling. As he hovered in the skies of Fawcett City, he saw below him Boris and his girlfriend, Susan, entering his late model pickup truck. Kid Marvel watched them drive around until they came to a stop in front of Susan’s home. After he’d walked Susan to the door, he drove home. As soon as he got out of his truck, Kid Marvel flew down with the speed of Mercury and snatched up Boris and flew away with him. Kid Marvel brought Boris into one of the empty buildings in the heart of the Barrows.

Boris looked at Kid Marvel with a look of fear and confusion on his face. “What’s going on, dude?” Boris asked as he franticly looked around for a way out.

Kid Marvel just stood silently looking at him as a green robed figure shimmered behind him. Kid Marvel was in a trance and didn’t even acknowledge the Dragon King’s presence in the room. The Dragon King held out a dagger with a golden dragon on the handle, and Kid Marvel nonchalantly grabbed the dagger from him and whispered his magic word that transformed him back into Freddy Freeman. “You think you’re better than me…huh, Boris…Looks like I’m better than you now…since I’m going to be the one walking out of here alive.” Freddy stabbed Boris in the stomach.

Boris screamed in agony as Freddy stabbed him repeatedly., and then Boris grabbed Freddy’s shirt as he slowly fell to the floor. Freddy smiled as he saw the blood pour out of Boris’s wounds. The Dragon King stood next to Freddy Freeman as he looked down at the dying high school football star, then Freddy heard the voice of Lord Satanus speaking to him again. “Pierce his heart and you will be my champion…You will no longer be in the shadow of Billy Batson. Pierce his heart as you call the name of the one that imprisons you.”

Freddy stabbed Boris in the chest as he called out the magic word that transformed him back into Kid Marvel. Kid Marvel left the dagger buried in Boris’s chest. The dagger glowed as it sucked the soul of Boris Mihajlovic’s body. Kid Marvel looked at his hands and then flew through the ceiling of the room with a look of disbelief in his eyes as he cried tears of blood. The Dragon King smiled as he shimmered away.



Inside the home of Dudley and Billy Batson were the somewhat conscious and arrogant magician, Caesar, and his teleporting friend, Empress. She had brought Caesar there out of further harm’s way., not realizing at the time that she was entering the house that she had seen in the Dragon King’s mind. Empress looked out of the window and saw Marvel Man holding a dagger. She looked over at Caesar and then back out of the window, and then got close to Caesar and removed her mask. She whispered into his ear, “Magic isn’t the only thing that comes at price. Sacrifice and love…also come at a price.” As she finished, she kissed him tenderly on the cheek as a tear rolled down her cheek.

She put her mask back on and teleported out of the house and in front of Marvel Man. With her staves in hand, she attacked the thrall of Satanus. She did the best she could, but she was still a novice when it came to practical fighting and Marvel Man simply back-smacked her, which caused her to spin several time before landing on the ground.

Ibis the Invincible flew away from the battling demons and came in between Empress and Marvel Man as he tried to stab her with his dagger. He used a protective bubble to shield them both from Marvel Man’s killing blow. Marvel laughed as he stared at Ibis and forced one of his hands through the protective bubble and grabbed a hold of the Ibistick. The protective bubble fell as Marvel Man and Ibis wrestled for control of the magical scepter. Marvel Man snatched it away from Ibis and plunged the Ibistick into Ibis’s shoulder. Ibis screamed in pain as he fell to his knees. Before Marvel Man could do anything else, Captain Marvel tackled him away from both an unconscious Empress and a gravely-injured Ibis.

Now both Marvel Man and Captain Marvel were practically battling it out on the front poach of the Batson family home. The windows on the house shattered from the powerful impacts of their mighty blows. Both Dudley Batson and Mary Bromfield stood by the front door as they saw Captain Marvel barely able to stand. Marvel Man grabbed Captain Marvel by the throat as lightning bolts were eradiating from his arm into Captain Marvel. Captain Marvel screamed with each discharge of lightning that Marvel Man released into Captain Marvel’s body. Finally, Marvel Man stopped, raised Captain Marvel’s smoking body over his head, and shouted, “SHAZAM!”

Out of the night sky came the magical lightning of the Wizard Shazam., striking and engulfing Captain Marvel with magical energy that forcibly transformed him back into Billy Batson. Marvel Man dropped him down to the ground in front of him. Satanus stood behind his thrall, observing the carnage and bodies that were all around him, and smiled as he said, “Very good, my champion. Kill him now and you will never again be in his shadows.”

Marvel Man looked at the dagger as he slowly raised it above his head. He looked at the doorway of Billy’s home and saw Mary Bromfield standing in the doorway. She slipped past Dudley Batson and ran towards the fallen Billy Batson.

As Caesar lay on the stairs inside the Batson home, his eyes fluttered as he heard the voice of Neron in his head, “Get up, you weak would-be magician. Your time for glory is upon you.”

Caesar stood up and staggered to the front door and saw Mary Bromfield between Marvel Man and Billy Batson with tears pouring down her face.

Satanus yelled at his thrall, “Do it and all that you ever want will be yours!!!”

Marvel Man’s crimson eyes looked down at Mary and stared at her tearful eyes. His hand that held the dagger started to shake as his grip tightened. In his mind, he saw an image of Mary Bromfield. His mind was slowly recalling memories of being together with her at school. He remembered laughing with her. His crimson eyes fluttered as the red started to fade to Freddy Freeman’s blue eyes as tears blurred his vision. Another memory was recalled in his mind. She was helping him with his homework and he remembered what she had said to him: “Don’t worry, Freddy…I’ll be here to help you…always.”

Her words echoed through his mind as he looked down at her. His hand that held the dagger trembled as he whispered to Mary, “Help me…Mary.”

Mary wiped the tears from her eyes as she recognized the voice. “Freddy…is that you?”

Marvel Man dropped to his knees with the dagger still held in his hand over his head. Just then, Mary heard a voice in her head. A ghostly apparition of the Wizard Shazam appeared over her as Mary reached over to touch Freddy’s face and wipe the tears from his eyes, and she heard a voice, “Mary Bromfield…I am the Wizard Shazam and you must take what is rightfully yours…Fulfill your destiny and grab hold of your…birthright.”

After she heard the words from the Wizard Shazam, she heard other voices calling her. The closer her hand got to Marvel Man’s face, the louder the voices were getting. She heard clearly six different voices that said to her,



Once she made contact with his face, they both started to glow with a dimly white hue. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over at the two figures that were glowing brightly now. Caesar smiled as he whispered to himself, “Evil will never overcome one thing…love.”

“What’s going on, Mary?” he asked her.

“It’s going to be alright, Freddy,” she said, reassuring him with a wink that eased his worried mind.

Billy looked up and saw a ghostly apparition of the wizard behind Mary, but he could not hear what was being said to her, “No longer will you be just Mary Bromfield…you will be forever more than who you once were…”

Mary looked Freddy in the eyes and kissed him on the lips. The two glowing figures released a powerful flash of brilliant white light. When everyone’s vision came back to them, they saw Marvel Man huddled on the ground; no longer did he have the blood red lightning bolt that covered his shoulders and went down the front of his chest. He was in front of a young woman dressed in a white short jacket with long sleeves and gold metallic wrist bands. She also had a white shirt beneath the jacket that went down to above her navel, a white short tight skirt that had gold trimming at the bottom, her feet were covered in calf-high gold-colored boots, and around her shoulders was a short version of Captain Marvel’s cape. Her hair was a light brown and her eyes sparked blue. The Wizard Shazam concluded, “…You will hence be called…Mary Marvel.”

Satanus looked at his hands as he saw that they were fading in and out of this plane of existence. He saw the apparition of his father’s head floating above both Mary and his thrall. He quickly looked over at his demons and commanded them, “My hordes, retrieve my dagger and slay that wretched creature.”

Caesar staggered out of the house of the Batsons and stumbled over to where Ibis laid injured. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a golden cross with five ruby gemstones. He whispered into Ibis’s ear as he reached for the Ibistick that was impaled into the ancient mage’s shoulder, “Sorry, but this is going to hurt…a lot.”

He pulled the Ibistick out of Ibis’s shoulder, and raised both items up to the sky, as they glowed, and chanted, “¿Qué fue puesto en libertad volvió a ser de dónde viene. Regreso a la maldad de donde proceden.
Marvel Man glowed with a bright red tint and groaned in pain as the powers that Satanus had bestowed upon him were being sucked deep into his body. The demons that charged at the female Shazam stopped in their tracks as if they were frozen., and their bodies started to smoke as their demonic possession was being ripped out of them. They all screamed in pain as Freddy Freeman’s body was the vessel which this evil was to be contained in.

Once all the homeless were freed of their demonic possession, they all collapsed into unconsciousness. Freddy stood in the center of a smoking circle, still holding the dagger that he’d murdered Boris Mihajlovic with. Caesar looked over at the young woman that was once Mary Bromfield and said with a heavy breath, “You…chick in the skirt…break that damn thing.”

“The name is Mary…Mary Marvel,” she said to Caesar as she gently caressed Freddy’s face, as he lay on the ground unconscious, and took the dagger out of his grasp. She looked at the fading Satanus and said to him, “You’ll never again harm any of those that I care for.”

Mary Marvel grabbed the dagger firmly in her hands and snapped it in half, setting free Boris Mihajlovic’s soul. Satanus screamed as he was ripped out this plane of existence. His eyes glowed as he pointed down at the unconscious body of Freddy Freeman. Mary Marvel gazed down at Freddy and heard the god-awful sounds of bones breaking in his legs. Freddy was going to awake to the incredible pain of his broken bones. Mary Marvel dropped to her knees to check on him. She brushed his cheek as she tried to smile and she whispered to him, “Don’t worry, Freddy…it’s going to be okay…It’s over…It’s finally over.”

A flash of lightning struck behind them; she turned and saw Captain Marvel standing there. She asked Captain Marvel, “Is it over, Billy, is it really over?”

Captain Marvel looked around and saw that Caesar had knelt down, holding Empress close to him with tears of joy that she was okay, and Ibis had cast a healing spell on his injured shoulder. Not far from them, some police officers were checking on Bulletman, who didn’t look to be in the best of health. Captain Marvel also saw the homeless people regaining consciousness as they were being helped by uniformed police officers. Lastly, he saw Major Sheppard draping his uniform jacket over Sergeant Cermack’s body. He put a hand on Mary Marvel’s shoulder as he replied, “This threat is over. But this, Mary, this…this is the beginning…of something new.”

Dudley Batson peeked out the window and saw a familiar face standing next to his nephew and wondered how it could be. She looks like…but she looks younger too…





Ibis entered the museum, where he had been the curator for several years, with his arm in a sling. The rebuilding and renovation had just been completed. It had been a few months since he had been within the walls of this institution, and he greeted everyone that he saw on the way to his office with a warm smile. He entered his office and was greeted by his lovely wife, Princess Taia. He sat in his large leather chair behind his large desk that had a large old book that was filled with parchment paper. Taia brought him a cup of hot tea with a slice of lemon in it. He smiled as he reached out for his wife’s hand. She looked back and smiled. “Well, it is good to have you back, my love.”

Ibis kissed the back of her hand and said to her, “It is good to be back, my dear,” as he reached with his other hand and grabbed a pen.

He opened the book and words started to be magically scribed on the parchment paper. “…A new chapter is being written at this moment.”



A husband and wife are in their bedroom staring at their computer. The husband’s fingers strike the keys before at a slow pace. The wife nudges him to finish his portion of their already late story. He raises his left eyebrow and then his right and chuckles to himself. He finally finishes typing the story that has been told, saves the file and then e-mails the story to their editor. The husband and wife writing team then get ready to celebrate the conclusion of this storyline.



The restored Wizard Shazam gazed through a tapestry and saw the heroes of Fawcett City helping the police officers. He turned and stared at the freshly restored statue of Satanus. “See, my son, hope was all I needed. And you were once again defeated…defeated by the power that you will never corrupt…the power of love. Rest once again in the Rock of Finality.”




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