While Clark was having a splendid evening, finally getting a break from his demanding secret identity. The night of someone else wasn't as pleasant as he constantly brooded about his.
The League members were either missing or currently inactive on Earth at this time. But only one was inactive not because he wanted to, but because he had no other choice.
....
Metropolis….
Midvale ...
Darla's POV.
The lights were on in a small bungalow building as several figures sat around the dinner table.
Unlike the next door Metropolis, the neighborhood was quiet. A little too quiet for my liking, but hey, what else can a girl do?
When one thought of people sitting around a dinner table at this time of night, the first thing that came to mind would be the picture of a family getting together to eat.
Dad would ask about the children's school affairs before Mom would ask how the Father's Day went, and the conversation would go back and forth until dinner was done.
If it were a less normal family, like one with crappy parents who had overwhelming issues, dinner might probably be spent in silence.
At least.... That was what I could picture in possible scenarios.
But neither situation had anything to do with us.
Not because of anything special really but simply because we didn't have parents to begin with. It wasn't the picture of a family eating a meal at the dinner table. It was just three lonely kids picked up from the orphanage and arranged to live together.
We called ourselves siblings, but we weren't in any way related. As you can probably guess, the house belonged to foster care, and we were just lucky enough to be living in it.
The time spent together was quiet. Save, of course, for the sound of Freddy constantly tapping his spoon against the plate in an attempt to eat his meal.
The constant clatter of kitchenware against each other was particularly grating to my ears, causing me to give him an annoyed glare.
Freddy stopped, but the atmosphere didn't improve in any way. The air around the three of us was gloomy and the depression in the atmosphere was more than I could currently tolerate.
Eventually, I couldn't help it anymore and raised my head to look at the third member of the family of three.
"Billy".
With dark brown hair and blue eyes, he was still while he sat on the chair. His posture was slightly hunched as he looked at the food on the table unblinkingly.
The expression on his face showed that he didn't hear me calling his name at all.
Seeing this, I looked to look at my brother with a bit of anxiety. Only to see Freddy shaking his head at me with a look of helplessness within.
"Billy!" I called out in a louder voice. That seemed to do the trick as he snapped out of his daze and turned to look at me.
"What?" He replied in a grumpy tone.
It had been like that ever since..... The incident.
"I'm ready to help you eat now". I said with the best smile I could muster, trying to put him in a better mood. Unfortunately, it seemed to have the opposite effect.
From the previous dazed look, a heavy frown appeared on his face as the turned his head to the side.
"I..... I'm not hungry".
"Bill.....".
"I said I'm not hungry ok?"
...
General POV
"I.....". Darla opened her mouth but couldn't find any words to respond for a while.
Billy lowered his gaze, not daring to make eye contact. But the sight below only served to fuel his bottled up rage and hatred.
"Sha… Zam...". Yellow lightning struck down from the sky as he called out unwillingly. The mighty champion of the Gods was returned to human form, his hands, however, were charred black.
The blurry image of the power of Six Gods being extracted from his body just before he fell unconscious couldn't help but flash through his mind.
During the fight with Amari, the entire Justice League could be said to have suffered a painful defeat. Out of everyone who went there that day, there was no argument on the fact that he suffered the most.
Ever since that day a few weeks ago when he battled with Amari, he lost his abilities just like Zatara did.
However, Zatara's loss, while severe was nothing compared to his. The former only lost his magic ability while he ..... Lost everything.
Not only was the power granted by the wizard Shazam gone, but the mobility of his arms had been stripped away as well. According to the report given by the doctor, all the nerves within his arms had been fried by high electrical voltage. The same one that usually granted him his abilities to begin with.
He still remembered when Superman came over to visit and broke the bad news.
"I'm sorry, Billy. I'm afraid... You won't be able to use your arms again".
On that day, hearing those words from a man he greatly respected and admired, the former hero felt his body go cold.
Like his soul had escaped from his body, he had been in a gloomy state in the following weeks.
The severity of this was worse than what anyone could imagine. He lost way more than others thought that day.
His powers, his arms, his friends, his life as a superhero....
Everything obtained as a result of his powers was ruthlessly taken away from him with their disappearance.
His identity was revealed. Even if he regained his powers, he wasn't sure the League would accept him again due to their rules against admitting children.
That fact would further strengthen with the situation he now found himself in.
Everything that made him special was... Gone. Once again, he, Billy Batson was reduced to nothing more than an ordinary orphan.
The emotions that followed were expected.
Pain, sorrow, loss.... And rage. Pure, unbridled, incompetent rage.
After all, although he once had great power, he was nothing more than a child playing dress up at the core. The violent emotions gave him temperamental mood swings.
It was far too difficult to accept that now, he was a disabled individual. He thought he was suffering before he got his abilities. Now, he was so miserable that he had to rely on others to feed, bathe, and even go to the restroom because he could properly turn the flusher.
And so, he became cold and distanced himself away from everyone around him, making his already bad relationship with his foster siblings deteriorate even further
"You ...". Seeing the way things were developing, Freddy knew he had to speak up.
"..... You know you can't go on like this, right? I mean…. Look at yourself". Due to his raging emotions and unstable psychological state, in an attempt to not show weakness in front of the last two people in his life, Billy had specifically refused to be helped on anything ever since he returned from the hospital three days ago.
The results were obviously counterproductive. Due to the loss of his arms, he couldn't do anything by himself, resulting in him not bathing or eating for three days now.
His body stunk, and his face was as pale as a sheet. Due to nightmares, he was particularly sleep-deprived.
"If you keep doing this, you'll starve".
"Would you just shut up and leave me alone?" Standing up from his seat, the poor boy roared with rage. Following which, he carried his limp arms and swept it across the table with as much strength as he could.
Clatter!
And so, the hot dinner was swept to the floor and the plate shattered to pieces. The floor was stained with spaghetti and pasta, causing the expressions of Freddy and Darla to change drastically.
"Hmph! I told you I'm not hungry" With a cold snort, he turned around and walked out of the dinning room with a cold face.
Seeing him leave, the two abandoned their dinner and followed after him.
Billy turned to walk into the kitchen, his feet headed straight for the open sliding glass door which led to the backyard.
Unfortunately, due to the constant refusal to have anything done for him, his untied shoelaces led to his downfall.
Tripping on them, the former Champion feel to the ground with a loud thud. His face making unimpeded contact with the cold kitchen floor surface.
Thud!
"Argh!"
A burst of pain assaulted his mind, causing the boy to yell.
"Billy! Are you ok?" Seeing this, the little Darla rushed forward anxiously while Freddy hurriedly advanced with his crutches.
Upon trying to help him up, she was repulsed by Billy, who resisted her aid and struggled to get up by himself.
"Don't touch me. I don't need your help".
A trail of blood could be seen flowing from his nose and teeth due to the collision.
"Would you stop being so stubborn already? You don't need to be like this because of what happened. Billy, We're worried about you, you know, like a family would be".
These words seemed to silence him for a few seconds, but that didn't last for long.
"Foster family". He emphasized, "And I'm sure you are. Because now, I'm a cripple, just like you are".
He uttered with a sweet, expecting them to give another remark of any kind. Strangely, however, what responded to him was silence.
Slightly startled, he looked up to see Freddy looking at him, tears welling up slightly in his eyes.
'Oh no!' The thought had barely formed when Freddy closed his eyes with a pained expression and turned around. Supporting himself on his able leg and the crutches in his hands, he walked away as fast as he could.
"I ...". Billy opened his mouth, realizing what he had just said. Unfortunately, the damage was done.
"Freddy!"
Darla let him go and stood to her feet to see Freddy's leaving back.
Following which, her face morphed into a frown as she looked at the boy sitting on the ground.
"Jerk!" She said with evident displeasure before leaving to comfort Freddy.
This scene played out in Billy's eyes.
'I..... What have I done?' A pang of guilt appeared in his heart as he saw them leave. And so he stayed there for several seconds before getting himself off the ground.
Then, he walked into the backyard with a dazed expression on his face yet again.
The once gentle atmosphere changed as the wind blew slightly. An absentminded billy Batson sat in the yard motionless.
Raising his head to look at the sky, his blue pupils could be seen reflecting a great deal of sadness.
Following which, tears pooled in his eyes and the former Champion could no longer resist the urge to cry.
And so he did.
Sobbing softly in a corner with his head buried in his knees, both arms lying limply on the floor.
The wind blew slightly more violently, and a flash of lightning streaked across the sky. The sound of thunder brought the sobbing boy out of his pitiful state.
'Is a storm coming?' The thought briefly passed through his mind before disappearing in his sea of sadness. However...
BOOM!
Thunder resounded in the sky again, only this time, a second development startled the young child.
With the appearance of the lightning, he found himself shrouded in someone else's shadow.
"So this is the Champion picked by the Great Wizard?"
The voice coming from behind frightened him to no end. The startled Billy Batson hurried to his feet and turned around in utter panic.
"You ...".
Standing behind him, a tall, muscular figure came into view. The illustrious head full of glowing white hair, the well trimmed white beard and the royal robes that exposed half of his well sculpted figure looked particularly eye-catching.
Zeus took a good look at Billy Batson and observed this Olympian Champion with great scrutiny. Or rather, Ex-champion.
That was right. As with nothing but a single gaze, Zeus could tell that this mortal didn't have the power of The Six Olympian Gods.
At least ... Not anymore.
It looks like the universe had experienced drastic changes ever since the fall of the old Gods. Zeus had nothing against his power being wielded by mortals, but why in the name of Olympus was that mortal a child?
Honestly, he was unimpressed.
The old wizard's ability to discern properly must have gone horribly wrong.
"Speak your name child". His voice reverberated like thunder itself.
"I ..... Who the hell are you?" However, contrary to Zeus's expectations, the child didn't cower after laying eyes on him.
That young face with a solemn expression and narrowed eyebrows... This wasn't the image of one who was afraid.
"Zeus. God of gods, Ruler of Olympus".
His words made the young man's eyes widen.
"Impossible."
"Oh?"
Billy's eyes narrowed.
"The Wizard said you're all supposed to be dead".
"Did he now?" Sure enough, that detestable wizard.
A bolt of lightning condensed in his palm.
"In that case, do tell me boy .....". Looking at the former Champion before him, Zeus's eyes flashed with murderous intentions.
"What exactly have you done with my power".
.....
Meanwhile...
Happy Harbor, Rhode Island
... The Cave ...
[Recognized Supergirl: B-08]
[Recognized Zatanna: B-09]
Two flashes of golden light were emitted from the Zeta tubes. Following which, two figures stepped into The Cave.
"So? What's your answer?"
As soon as they stepped into the cave, Zatanna turned to Kara and asked with narrowed eyebrows.
"I ... I don't think you should.....". The kryptonian's words came to a halt as she saw several figures standing at the center of the room.
One in particular was the last person in this world she wanted to see right now.
"Perfect timing".
Batman said while walking towards her.
"Um..... For what?" Kara stammered a bit.
"For a talk". He said, with his eyes glancing at Zatanna for a brief moment before returning to the object of his attention.
"I need to talk to you".
Hearing his blunt tone and seeing his indifference, Kara couldn't help but feel annoyed.
"About what?"
"For starters .....". The Dark Knight narrowed his eyebrows.
"Everything you know".
.....
This chapter and the next one after is dedicated to Shazam. I loved the guy when I was a kid.
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