Chapter Text
- - -
Captain Marvel took a deep breath in, his legs folded beneath him as he tried to soothe his nerves. He gripped his knees loosely, eyes shut in concentration.
"You must clear your mind of all distractions," the Wizard's voice echoed throughout the cavern's walls, ringing in the demigod's ears. He drew in another deep breath before letting it out, trying to push any distraction from his head. He quieted the familiar buzz of the Gods in his mind, focusing on the endless expanse of space just outside the Rock of Eternity's walls.
"Focus your energy on what you want to conjure, and will it into existence," the old man's voice rang out in the Captain's ears. It was still strange to hear the man speak, as he was merely a spirit now, only visible while in the Rock Of Eternity. But, as always, Cap listened to the man's instructions.
He pictured a pen, something simple, something he could replicate easily when he tried this in his mortal form-- the entire point of this lesson was to get him better at magic while he was Billy, anyways, better to not picture something too difficult for his much smaller and much weaker normal form.
Cap's eyes snapped open, glowing gold as he breathed. "Erujnoc a nep," A flare of light and a simple pen fell from the air and into his hands. The glow faded from the demigod's eyes, a smile appearing in its place. "Nice," he said, looking around for the semi-transparent visage of his mentor.
"Wizard?" he called out, furrowing his brow in confusion. Where could the old man have gone? It wasn't like him to just disappear in the middle of a lesson. Maybe- maybe this was some kind of vague test? He wouldn't be surprised- Shazam had a tendency to be vague and mysterious.
"Okay, I'll just...keep going..." he trailed off, trying not to let it get to him.
He said the old man's name, evoking the magical lightning he'd grown so accustomed to to transform him. Light enveloped him and changed his form, stripping him of his godly attributes and replacing the form with that of a 12-year-old boy.
Billy shook his smoke and dust away, setting down the first pen he'd conjured in front of him. He stared at it for a moment before taking another look around- surely the wizard was still watching, even if he was no longer visible, right?
The 12-year-old shook off the nervousness he felt creeping up his spine- he was sure the Wizard was fine. He had to be. "Okay, clear your mind, and picture it," he said, closing his eyes and picturing the same pen as before. Billy held out his arms, brow furrowing in concentration.
The Wizard had explained to him that it was important he learn to control his magic in this form as it was much more unstable than when he was Captain Marvel- is wasn't as strong by any means, but it was still something to be reckoned with since it was so untamed. The last thing Billy wanted to do was hurt someone by mistake, so he'd vehemently agreed to be taught. Still, that didn't mean this was easy.
The boy felt a tingle in his spine, crawling up to his neck before shooting through his chest and traveling up his arms. He tried to concentrate despite the tingle, he knew that it was just his magic moving through his body, he knew that it wouldn't hurt him.
"Erujnoc a Pe--"
"CHAMPION."
"--AAAGGHH!" Magic shot out from Billy's hands, striking the Rock of Eternity and leaving a smoldering black spot in the stone. Billy stared at it with wide eyes before turning his head towards where the sudden loud voice had come from.
Doctor Fate descended from the air, golden boots touching the ground as he looked down at Billy. "Champion," he repeated, his voice slightly less loud, but still booming.
Billy scrambled up, giving the Lord of Fate a confused look. "Doc- Doctor Fate? What are you doin' here? Is something wrong?" he asked, nervous energy rolling off him in waves. It wasn't every day that someone was able to get inside the Rock of Eternity-- much less someone as powerful as Doctor Fate.
"I came to speak to your mentor about matters of the Universe- where is Magmarran?"
"Uh, I'm- I'm not actually sure. Wait, his name isn't Shazam?" Billy asked, tilting his head and scrambling up from his spot.
"That is his name now, yes. Before he became the guardian of the Rock of Eternity, he was Magmarran. Where is he?"
"He's gotta be around here somewhere. I think his spirit is kind of tied to the Rock."
Billy felt a strange tingle crawl up his spine again, but he ignored it. "He kinda vanished in the middle of my lesson, so maybe he's, I dunno, hanging out wherever spirits hang out in the Rock?" he suggested as Doctor Fate turned his back to the boy and looked around the large cavern.
That tingle climbed further up his back, running along his shoulders and making BIlly shift uncomfortably. He glanced around to try and see what that could be, maybe something had fallen into his jacket from the ceiling-
He glanced back where he'd hit the wall of the cavern, finding a small, glowing light source covering the singed rock. "What the..." he walked closer to it, tilting his head at. the light and narrowing his eyes at it. "Hey, Doctor Fate? Do you know what this i-"
Light suddenly flared out from the source, enveloping Billy as Fate turned and launched himself towards the boy.
"Champion!"
Fate's voice echoed out, growing distant as Billy's senses were overwhelmed. He shut his eyes against the light, the buzz in his skull becoming an overwhelming screech that had him pushing his palms against his ears in an attempt to block it out.
"What's going on?!" he yelled, his voice bouncing back and slamming into him. He felt his magic coil and leap inside him, and moved on instinct. "SHAZAM!" he yelled, feeling his magic flow outward before turning back in on itself, transforming him into his godly form.
- - -
Captain Marvel was suddenly launched forward like a bullet, soaring through the air, over a city street, between multiple skyscrapers, and finally landing on the pavement, grinding a large rut into the middle of the street as he slammed against the ground. The demigod groaned, his insides feeling like pudding as his head spun.
The man blinked open his eyes, bringing a hand shakily up to his head with a wince. "Ugh...not...my cleanest landing..." he muttered to himself, sitting up in the rut he'd caused and looking around.
The street, thankfully, wasn't busy, so there was no one that he could have hurt, but that didn't tell him where he was. He stood, dusting debris off his shoulder before shaking it out of his hair and winding his shoulder back. He looked up in the direction he'd come from, finding that the portal had closed on him.
"Well, better Earth than someplace like Apokolips," he said to himself before glancing down at the tear in the street. "I should probably do something about that..." he said to himself, looking around for something to create a roadblock when the sound of rocket boosters caught his attention.
Marvel glanced up to find a red and gold robot hovering in the air above him, its arms and legs propelling it to stay in the air with light blue exhaust. What that one of the metal men? He hadn't been aware that Doctor Magnus had made another one. The demigod gave it a small wave before turning his attention back on the damage- the machine was probably here to help or simply out for some kind of test flight, no need for him to bother it with idle chitchat.
Cap chewed on his bottom lip in thought before suddenly making his palm to his forehead. "Oh, duh, Cap, come on," he muttered with a shake of his head before throwing hand out towards the mess. He heard the robot land on the street behind him, but he ignored it in favor of concentrating on his conjuring.
"Erujnoc a gninraw ngis," he breathed, a roadblock forming out of light before falling out of mid-air. He caught it easily and set the object up. in front of the ruined section of the street, hoping that would keep anyone from getting hurt.
When he turned around, the metal man was closer to him, watching him with strangely slitted eyes. This robot was much more different than the others Cap had had the pleasure to meet- it was almost creepy how unexpressive the face was, though the way it held itself was almost like a human.
"Uhh... can I help you?" Cap asked, raising a brow at the robot.
"Yeah, you can tell me who you are and where you came from," the robot said before raising a glowing blue gauntlet towards his face. Cap raised his hands slowly and placatingly, eyes wide as he stared at the red and gold bot.
"Whoa, whoa, easy there. I'm one of the good guys, alright? Check your database, I'm sure Doctor Magnus put in some kind of facial recognition in there somewhere," he said slowly, keeping his body still. He could easily take this robot out, his lasers, or whatever he was threatening Cap with wouldn't do any damage, but he'd feel bad for having to return the guy in shambles if this was its first time out and about.
"Database- what? Who's Doctor Magnus?" the robot said, position unwavering.
Cap furrowed his brow in confusion- that didn't make any sense. Whatever he could roll with the punches. "I'm Captain Marvel. You recognize me now?" he asked slowly, keeping his eyes trained on the robot.
The bot moved its hand up to push a button on the side of its jaw, just below the ear plate, and suddenly its face was retracting-- and revealing a human. Cap's eyes widened- this wasn't one of Dr. Magnus's robots, this was a guy in a flying metal suit of armor. "Whoa..." Cap breathed, getting a confused glare from the man as the demigod dropped his hands
"Frankly, Captain Marvel, I don't. Do you know who I am?" he asked, though the way he said it told the Captain that he probably should have. Was there some profile he'd forgotten to read in the League's database or something? He'd never seen this man before in his life, and he was pretty sure he'd remember seeing a flying red and gold suit.
The man dropped his gauntlet and set his hands on his hips. "You don't, do you?"
Judging by the exasperation, Cap was going to assume this guy wasn't a villain and that he probably needed a refresher with the League's profiles. He shook his head slowly, bringing his hand up to scratch the back of his neck. "No, sorry."
The man narrowed his gaze slightly, looking him up and down before meeting his eyes again. "Tony Stark, world-renowned billionaire playboy ring a bell?" he asked with a smirk, only to get a slow shake of the head from the raven. Though to be fair, he didn't really make a habit out of learning about every billionaire there was to know. He was sure if he asked Bruce or Oliver they'd probably know him.
"Right," Tony said, giving the man an unimpressed look before shifting his weight. "Well, why don't you come with me back to-"
The man was interrupted by the whirring of a jet engine, and the pair glanced up to find a sleek black jet with what looked almost like miniature helicopter blades rotating on the sides descending from the sky. Tony sighed, glancing out of the corner of his eye up at the demigod before looking towards the jet and putting on a smirk.
The jet opened, unveiling a group of people, most of which were dressed in leather for some reason...though Cap could tell some of them wore mostly kevlar. He raised an eyebrow at the sudden group of people taking up a defensive position against him, a man in red, white, and blue leading them.
The man came closer, his circular shield at his side as he looked at the demigod warily before glancing at Tony. "Stark, what's going on here?" he asked, to which the man rolled his shoulders. "You bolted with no explanation after we got that reading and now you're..." the man glanced at Cap before looking back at Tony. He sighed before turning his full attention towards the raven. "Might I ask who you are?"
Cap smiled at the man- he was obviously military, judging by the stiff posture and the aura of command he held, and Cap was always happy to meet a soldier, even if he didn't always approve of their methods.
He held out a hand for him to shake. "Captain Marvel; nice to meet you," he said, waiting for the soldier to take his hand and shake it. He did, with a glance at Tony, before meeting Cap's eyes again.
"Captain America. I suspect you're not from around here?" he asked, dropping his hand.
The raven glanced around at the buildings- judging by their size and proximity to one another, he'd guess he was in a city much larger than Fawcett. So no, he wasn't from around here. Where even was here? "Oh, no, I'm from Fawcett City."
"Never heard of it."
"Yeah, it's not Metropolis, but it's my own little slice of heaven, you know?"
"...Metropolis?" Tony asked, raising a brow in confusion. "Well, there goes the God theory."
Captain America glanced at Tony with a mixture of confusion and warm resignation, shaking his head at the shorter man.
"Yeah, the hometown of Superman and whatnot," Cap said casually, catching sight of a red-haired woman glaring at him from afar. Her gaze sent shivers down his spine in a way that usually only Superman's x-ray vision could do and he looked away from her unnerved. He glanced back at the pair to find them still confused. "Wait, don't tell me you've never heard of Metropolis," he said with a chuckle, only to get blank stares.
His chuckle died, and he could almost feel the headache this entire situation could become coming on. "Oh no. Not my Earth," he muttered, bringing up a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose and finding himself suddenly catching an arrow aimed for his temple on instinct. Cap opened his eyes and glanced towards where the arrow had come from, finding a sandy blonde man staring at him from afar with wide eyes.
Cap felt the arrow crackle with electricity in his hand and he sighed, squeezing it hard enough to snap the thing in half before dropping it and letting the object clatter on the pavement. He dropped his gaze from the archer in order to look between the men in front of him an chew on his lip nervously.
"Hold on, did you say not your Earth?" Tony asked, stepping in front of Captain America with a sudden spark in his eye. "As in Terra, Earth, this specific planet, the third one from the sun, that Earth?" Tony asked, and Cap could practically feel his excitement. "As in there's more than one?"
"I take it the multiverse theory hasn't been proven on this Earth yet, then?" Cap asked with a nervous chuckle, a small smile appearing on his face when Tony's eyes widened.
"This- this is amazing. I have to get Bruce. Bruce!" Tony said, rocketing off towards the jet and disappearing inside. Cap glanced at Captain America, who simply sighed with a shake of his head before looking at the demigod.
"Uhh...multiverse...?" he questioned, getting a shrug from the raven. "Look, why don't you come with us, back to our base of operations. You don't seem like a bad guy, Captain, and. better you come with us than SHIELD."
"What's Shield?" Cap asked with a raised brow. "Does it have something to do with that archer up there?" he asked, glancing back towards the archer only to find him gone from his spot. The man sighed, pulling off his helmet and surprising the demigod. They must not be so tight with secret identities here then. "The name's Steve. Steve Rogers," he said, holding out his hand again.
Marvel nodded, shaking it once more before scratching at the back of his neck. "This way, it's better if we get going now before Tony and Bruce decide to set up a lab in the middle of the street to dissect you," Steve said, getting a nervous chuckle out of the raven.
"I'm joking, Captain. No one's getting dissected," the blonde offered at the sight of Cap's reluctance. He took the lead towards the jet, and Cap sighed- guess he should follow him.
"What have I gotten myself into this time...?" Cap asked himself, glancing back up to where the portal he'd come from had been. He had a feeling he wouldn't be returning home for a while.
- - -