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Chapter Text

Potomac, Maryland - 1978

It was a snowy winter evening at the Sivana family mansion and the sun was beginning to set. The family was very wealthy and had great fortune due to the father, Mr. Darren Sivana, being the CEO of Sivana Industries. The company's main activity was technological research and development. He had a wife, Mrs. Annette Sivana, who often worked alongside him with the company. They also had four children; Sid, is the eldest son at seventeen years of age and hoping to work within his father's company soon, Dinah and Milly, identical twin sisters who are twelve years old, and Thaddeus, the youngest son at nine years old.

In the living room, the whole familiy was sitting at their large dinner table, having their Christmas dinner in silence. As they ate, Thaddeus got bored and stared into his Magic 8 ball toy. Unsatisfied with the outcome, he shakes it again, causing a rather distracting rattling sound. Mr. Sivana glared at his youngest son.

"Son, put the toy away..."

Thaddeus continued to rattle his toy.

"Thad, your father is speaking to you. Don't be rude." Mrs. Sivana said simply.

"It-It's a Magic 8 ball." Thaddeus explained to his parents.

"Magic's not real, dork!" Sid cruelly scoffed.

Thaddeus simply ignored his brother's remark and continued to rattle his toy.

"It's time you toughened up a bit." Mr. Sivana spoke up again, saying in between bites of his dinner. "Like your brother, here."

Thaddeus simply looked at his father, then to Sid. Despite Thaddeus being intelligent for his age and having an interest for science and technology, he felt to be the black sheep of his family, always being picked on by his older brother, twin sisters and his father.

"You know he begged a girl at school to be friends?" Milly spoke up in a teasing manner.

"In a letter," Dinah continued after her sister, "that she showed everyone."

"He didn't ask like a normal person." Milly took over.

"And not that she said 'yes'" 

"So creepy." 

"He's the creepiest!" Both twins finished and chuckled in unison.

Thaddeus glared at his sisters, then looked down at his lap in embarrassment. Quickly shrugging them off, he began shaking his Magic 8 ball again.

"Sid, get that silly thing away from him." Mr. Sivana snapped.

With a cruel smirk, Sid stood up and towered over his younger brother. Thaddeus stood up from his chair and held his Magic 8 ball to his chest protectively.

"Dear Magic ball..." Sid asked mockingly, " Can Thad outrun me? ... Outlook not so good!"

Thaddeus pushed his chair out of the way and ran for it with Sid in pursuit. The two brothers ran up the large staircase and through the hallways. Thaddeus reached an elevator and frantically pushed the button to open the doors. Fortunately, the doors opened quickly and Thaddeus hopped inside, before repeatedly pushing the button to close the doors. The doors closed just before Sid could reach him. Thaddeus backed away into the elevator's walls and breathed a sigh of relief.

As the elevator descended, it began to uncharacteristically speed up. Thaddeus observed the lit numbers go from 2 to 1 before some strange symbols began appearing its place. The elevator started shaking uncontrollably.

"Help!" Thaddeus yelled desperately.

The elevator continued picking up speed and the lights shut off.

"HELP!" 

The elevator suddenly stopped at last, causing Thaddeus to fall on his backside and drop his toy. As he got himself up and looked around in confusion for a moment, he approached the door which automatically opened. However, he quickly found that he was no longer in his home. What greeted him, however, was some kind of strange cave.

"Hello?" Thaddeus called out.

He began to exit the elevator and walk into the cave. It was dimly lit but still dark. Thaddeus looked around in wonder, noticing a number of strange artifacts he had never seen before. Most notably, he had noticed a strange green caterpillar that wore some weird device on its "chest." The insect seemed to notice and stare at the boy intently. In the distance, a voice seemed to call out to Thaddeus, so he slowly turned around and cautiously began to approach the direction of where the sound came from. As he approached a wider area of the cave, he briefly looked at seven grotesque-gorgon looking statues. At the end of the cave, it was much more lit with a dim bluish light, and there sat a strange old man on one of seven stone thrones. The man was dressed in red robes and held a wooden-like staff with bright glowing crytsal at the end. This was wizard Shazam.

"Thaddeus Sivana..." Shazam spoke slowly.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" Thaddeus asked nervously.

The wizard lightly struck the end of his staff on the ground and orange-yellow magical particles flew from the top of the staff and began to surround Thaddeus. The particles then formed the shape of what looked like an ancient village, playing out like a hologram. Thaddeus looked around in wonder.

"I am the last of the council of wizards." The wizard answered plainly.

Thaddeus tried to touch one of the pyramids of the magical image but his hand simply phased through the particles. The magical image began depicting the wizards as silhouettes fighting against what looked like mystical beasts.

"Sworn to protects the realms from the seven deadly sins... Our last battle to contain them, it took my brothers' and sisters' lives."

The image then shown the wizard himself use his staff to vanquish the seven deadly sins and they all dissipated into each of the seven respective statues of the sins inside the cave. 

"Only I survived." Shazam continued, "The years have passed and I grew weak! That is why I seek a champion to inherit my magic."

"You want me.. to do magic?" Thaddeus asked, confused.

The wizard then held his staff in front and closer to the boy.

"With this, all of my powers will become yours!"

Thaddeus was about to reach and place his hand on the staff. However, the wizard simply moved it away a little.

"But first... you must prove that you are pure of heart and strong in spirit."

The eyes of seven deadly sin statues began to grow red and a sound of eerie, specter-like voices sounded.

"He lies..." said a montrous deep voice, presumably from one of the statues, "Don't be his champion!"

"We can give you power..." another sin's voice sounded.

"Take the eye..." said the first voice.

Thaddeus then turned and eyed a glowing orb floating above a small stone pedestal.

"Your father thinks you're weak... show him your power..." The third sin's voice said.

As Thaddeus walked right to the pedestal, he began to reach for the glowing orb.

"NO!" Shazam shouted.

The voices of The Seven Deadly Sins stopped and the red eyes on the statues faded immediately.

"Wha-? What happened?" Thaddeus asked, in shock.

"Only the purest of hearts can resist their temptations... But you? You'll never be worthy!" The wizard scolded.

Shazam struck his staff on the ground harder and an intense bright light shone, engulfing the entire cave. Thaddeus shielded his face from the overbearing brightness with his arms.

Thaddeus found himself back in the elevator of his mansion. He began frantically pacing around and touching the walls of the elevator.

"No... No! I'm worthy!" The boy yelled out, "I'm worthy, I swear!"

Thaddeus struck the wall with his Magic 8 ball and no sooner than he did that, the elevator made a DING! sound and the doors opened, revealing Sid.

"Gotcha!" the older said sadistically.

Sid then entered the elevator and began to grab Thaddeus, however the latter reacted and swung, striking Sid in the face with the hand that held his Magic 8 ball. Briefly taken off guard, Sid touched his lip before his face melted to rage and roughly slammed his younger brother against the wall.

Thaddeus was on the ground and found himself overpowered, being only able to put a hand on Sid's face. Sid simply moved Thaddeus's hand out of the way and punched him in the gut. Thaddeus cried out in pain just as Sid stood up and kicked the helpless young boy again.

"Keep your stupid toy you little freak!"

Sid then walked out of the elevator and into the hallway, leaving his brother. As Thaddeus slowly recovered, he could've sworn he saw his Magic 8 ball give off an electric spark.  The die within the ball floated up and gave an unusual message... "FIND US."

Present Day, 2018

It was a seemingly normal day in New York City and the streets were busy. A young man, in his mid-twenties, was walking on his way to work. As he passed an old homeless man, the young man stopped to give a couple of dollars into the homeless man's cup. It wasn't long until he entered the building of his workplace and headed for the elevator. As the doors opened, he let a woman enter the elevator first before himself. The man then began to push one of the buttons and an electrical spark seemed to touch his finger...

"It happened on a normal day. I was on my way to work as always and I don't remember doing anything special. I walked into the building, I got into the elevator with everyone... then that's when things got weird. When the elevator doors closed, there was some kond of electrical surge... the lights went out and when they came back on, everyone else was gone. The elevator started falling! Faster and faster... I thought I was going to die! ... Until it just stopped. The doors opened. I was somewhere else and that's when things get a little fuzzy... I heard someone call my name. I followed it. I saw a row of thrones and they were all empty except one. There was an old man with a long, shaggy beard sitting on it. He said something about being worthy. He asked me questions. There was a lot of smoke. Lights... Then the old man seemed to get agitated... He then said 'No! Not you!' Then there was another explosion of lightning. The next thing I know, I was suddenly back in the elevator..."

In his office, Dr. Thaddeus Sivana is a scientist working for his family's company. At the moment, he is watching numerous video footage of many random people around the world making claims of being transported to some cave and meeting an old wizard.

"I don't even know who the old man was..."

"The guy seemed kinda mean."

"There was blinding light all around me..."

"He didn't say his name..."

"He said something about saving the world..."

"Shazam! "

As Dr. Sivana continued to watch the footage, one of his fellow scientists, Dr. Lynn Crosby entered the room and approached behind him.

"What are you thinking, Doctor Sivana?" Dr. Crosby asked.

"I think that fifty-six people from across the world with no connection whatsoever all seem to share a similar experience." Dr. Sivana responded plainly, "They walked into an elevator, or out of a tent, or onto a bus and in a burst of lightning... ended up somewhere else. Somewhere strange."

Dr. Sivana still remembered very well that he was one of those people as a child. Over the past forty years, Dr. Sivana had become obsessed with finding a way back to the Rock of Eternity and gain power.

"This isn't the first claim of 'mystical aduction,' Doctor Crosby." Dr. Sivana continued, "When these accounts are taken as a whole, the details start to tell a tale that correlates almost exactly to the legend of Black Adam."

"That is just a myth." Dr. Crosby stated with her arms crossed, "You can't possibly believe any of this is real."

"It may seem that way to you, but the tale of Black Adam is more than a simple tale. It has to be! I have spent the last forty years of my life trying to unlock the secrets of science but it's not enough... What all these people have seen, every single one of them, is absolutely real. Magic exists... and at last I know how to find it!"

Chapter Text

Fawcett City, Philadelphia - 2011

One winter at the city carnival, Marilyn Batson, a young mother in her early twenties, is at one of the stands throwing darts at a number of small balloons that are lined up on a wall in order to win a prize. Her four-year-old son, Billy, sat on benchtop and watched. Despite her best efforts, she misses every time. Marilyn simply groans at her failed attempts.

"I want the tiger!" Billy exclaimed.

"I know, honey... I know, but mom's not exactly going pro here." Marilyn replied, trying to give a reassuring smile.

Marilyn throws one more dart and it finally manages to burst one of the balloons on the wall.

"We got one!" The mother smiled, and Billy grinned back.

The old man who ran the stand gave Marilyn a small compass.

"But I wanted the tiger..." Billy frowned, dejected.

"Oh, but this is the real prize, baby." Marilyn smiled reassuringly as she handed her son the compass, "See? You can use that your whole life. You'll always find your way."

As they walked through the crowd, Billy held his mother's hand while he held his newly won prize in the other. A man accidently brushes Billy's side, causing him to drop the compass. Almost immediately, he slipped out of his mother's hand and ran through the crowd in order to retrieve his compass. On the ground, a number of people unknowingly kept kicking small toy further and further away, all the while Billy continued to chase after it. It wasn't long until the compass stopped and Billy was able to finally catch up to it, picking it up and giving a satisfied smile. However when he looked back up, he found himself surrounded by large crowd, unable to see his mother anywhere.

"Mom?" Billy called out.

She wasn't around. Billy tried to walk amongst the crowd, still trying to call out for his mother. As he quickened his pace, he finally saw her, but she had her back turned. He grabbed her hand.

"Mom!"

However, this wasn't Marilyn; this was a young woman who happened to wear exact same red coat and white gloves. Billy took a step back, looking a little dismayed that the woman wasn't his mother.

"Hey, who're you with, bud? The woman smiled, "Are you lost?"

Some time later, Billy sat on top the hood on a police car while the male officer who was looking after him spoke into his radio. 

"Yeah, he said his name is Billy Batson." The officer spoke before turning to the boy, "Don't worry kid, I'm sure she'll come looking before too long, okay? They always do."

Billy didn't respond and just stared blankly into the distance while the officer ruffled the boy's head reassuringly. Billy then sighed and looked at his compass that was in his hands.

Present day

Out in the busy streets of the city, Billy Batson stood and was holding the compass in his hands. Today was Billy's eleventh birthday and he was still in search of his mother. Billy sighed as he opened his notebook. Inside it were a list of people who had the surnames "Batson" and their addresses, all of which are crossed out except for the one on the bottom; one he was going to try today. However, he had no idea what his mother's first name was.

Billy had snuck out from the orphanage and knew that he wasn't supposed to, as his social worker Mrs. Glover would likely call the police to go look for him. For the past seven years, Billy has been continuously searching for his mother but with no success. He had also been in a number of foster homes all over the county but was often sent back to the orphanage. Pretty much all the foster parents who adopted Billy found him to be "problem child" due to his constant sneaking out, lying and lack of interest with them. 

As Billy walked through the streets, he carried a paper Burger King bag. He had managed to steal it from a random unsuspecting person sitting on a park bench. Billy knew that stealing was wrong but he was hungry. He took several bites of his burger as he walked until he spotted an older homeless man sitting on a piece of cardboard. Billy stopped and looked at the man, then to his food, then back at the man who stared back. The boy took pity on the man and gives him the whole bag of food.

"Thank you, kid." The homeless man nodded.

Billy simply smiled back and continues walking, headed for the address he had written down in his notebook.

Billy stood at the front gate of the house and his compass in his hands. He took a deep breath before opening the gate and approached the front door. As he walked, he looked and briefly eyed the Christmas decorations around. Billy took another deep breath before pressing the doorbell. 

"Yes?" A woman's voice called out from inside.

"Uh, hello?" Billy replied nervously, "Is this Rachel Batson?" 

"Who's asking?"

"Um... uh, I think you're my mom..." Billy stammered.

Right after he said that, the door opened and Billy was dismayed to find a largely built African-American woman standing in front of him.

"Are you sure about that?" The woman said, raising her eyebrow.

"Sorry to bother you..." Billy apologized.

He turned away and hung his head down, disappointed. A few seconds later, a police car on the street pulled up in front of the gate, sounding its sirens in short bursts. Billy closed his eyes and sighed. There was no getting out of this.

Billy was back at the orphanage in Mrs. Glover's office. She sat at her desk eyeing and frowning the boy. Billy sat on a chair opposite her desk, his legs swinging off of the floor.

"A foster home in Pittsburgh reported you missing two weeks ago." Mrs. Glover said plainly.

"Are you sending me back?" Billy asked, still looking at the floor.

"No." Mrs. Glover replied flatly, "They don't want you."

Billy simply said nothing.

"You've already been through four counties, young man... from good people who want you... all in pursuit of someone who arguably does not." Mrs. Glover stated bluntly, while looking through pages of records. "It's time someone looked you in the eye and told it to you straight."

"No. I have a mom! I know she's still out there!" Billy cried.

"Yes, I know. You're some detective." Mrs. Glover said as she picked up Billy's notebook. "There's forty-bine 'Batsons' with women in between the ages of 28 and 40 and you've crossed out every single one."

"Well, she's around somewhere." 

Mrs. Glover stood up from and her desk and walked over to Billy.

"Today is your eleventh birthday, isn't it?"

Billy simply nodded.

"There's a couple outside, Billy. They run a group home."

Billy let out a breath, uninterested.

"I won't have you living on the streets, looking for someone who never looked for you."

Billy turned his head and looked out of the windows of the office, seeing a couple smiling warmly at him.

"The Vasquezes came all the way down here to see you. Give these people a chance, because that's what they're giving you. Think of it as your birthday present." Mrs. Glover continued.

After the paperwork was settled, Victor and Rosa Vasquez had officially adopted Billy Batson. As the three bid farewell to Mrs. Glover and exited the orphanage, Billy hopped into one of the back seats of the van. Victor and Rosa took the front seats.

"I'm gonna skip the spiel." Victor started, "Just know that me and Rosa, we get it. We were foster kids back in the day."

"Ooh, back in the Dark Ages." Rosa smiled.

"Girl! I'm young at heart." Victor joked, "I got my finger on the pulse."

"Yeah, that's a reference to his blood pressure because he's old." Rosa chuckled jokingly, pointing at her husband.

Billy remained silent but forced a slight grin. In reality, he was still nervous. He didn't even know these people and wasn't sure if he could trust them. They'll probably cast him out if he sneaks out again.

"Billy, do you have any food allergies?" Rosa asked as she turned back to Billy.

"Gonna wish you did. Darla's cooking." Victory jokingly added.

It was dark already when the van arrived in a neighborhood. They slowed down and pulled up on the driveway of a rather large house. Once the van reached a stop, the three all hopped out of the vehicle and approached the front door of the house, currently decorated with a Christmas wreath.

"Welcom to your new home, Billy." Rosa smiled.