Rustyverse:SHAZAM! Vol. 1

Chapter Two: “Day at the zoo”

“Agh!...Ahem!” Dr. Sivana violently hacked as he set himself within a large cushioned black chair. His arms outstretched and complete with erratic movements as he searched and grasped a small garbage bin by his desk and brought it towards his mouth and let out a muffled but repulsive guttural growl which brought up from his throat a sticky dark yellow solidified piece of phlegm and spat the repulsively textured glob of mucus into the bin, it stuck to the side and slowly fell leaving a trail of liquified goo within its wake. He set the small bin back in its original place and position and clutched his cane using it to prop himself within a standing arrangement. He darted his eyes around the room, surveying the interior of his workshop. His gaze meeting several items including, various metallic parts, a crate containing a variety of blueprints and a shelf that held a assortment of electronic apparatuses which contained some sort of futuristic appearance. However, his gaze stopped at a large screen embedded within the left wall, its appearance was that of a incredibly large flat-screen television but it had a variety of antenna protruding from the top and small multi-colored buttons lined up across the bottom half.

“Beautia, on.” Sivana had spoken towards the large screen, which responded with a loud click and an armada of camera footage began to invade the screen many of which were live. “Beautia give me Camera 27” the screen then became enveloped from the cameras live footage it was showing Billy Batson walking along a concrete sidewalk, his hands in the pockets of a thin crimson hoodie and his head pointed downwards as he watched the sidewalk. “Just one little showcase of power…. I know he gave it to you…. I know he did.”

Suddenly, the screen was interrupted and the screen was engulfed by the image of a cloaked figure and the words,

Sire Calling….

“Beautia, answer.” The screen let out a ear-splitting click and the screen morphed into live cam footage of the cloaked figure. The entirety of his face was concealed by shadows and what was seen were two crimson eyes that peered from under the hood.

“Thaddeus, I have heard that you have found the next champion. Did the new technology I sent you help make this observation?” An electronically augmented voice emits from a small black rectangular box that was embedded next to the large screen.

“Yes, sire. The technology you sent me has allowed me to trace the magical signature.” Sivana replied as he made his way to a nearby desk crafted from iron. The top of it was cluttered with a large amount of paperwork and a scattered amount of electronic devices. Sivana searches the desk and grabs a small triangular object with a crimson antenna erected in the middle of the object and a small screen rests along the bottom.

“Okay… So who is the new champion.” The enigmatic figure asks with a confused tone.

Sivana presses a number of buttons on the triangular device and a picture emerges onto the screen of Billy Batson and with a swipe of his index finger upon the screen sends the image to cryptic gentleman who responds with several grunts, inelligible speak and emits several deafening screeches which Sivana responds with a slight cringe. “A-are you….okay sire?”

“He gave his power to a damn child! A goddamned child! I deserve the power not some numb-minded adolescent! I just… I can’t even fathom how he came to such a doltish decision. He gave the gifts of the gods….. to a child!” The cryptic gentleman screams causing a thunderous echo within Sivana’s workshop.

“Well, Hold on sire. Let’s not get too worried just yet. The last time we spoke you said that the powers are magical, correct?”

“Yes, Correct. Your point being?”

“Hold on. You also said that they were channeled using an electrical input, correct?”

“Correct. Where are you going with this Thaddeus.” The man says his voice holding a incredibly annoyed tone.

Sivana dragged himself to a nearby wall, his painful gait causing quite a few muttered curses and grunts as he went. He came up to a small ebony button that was hidden along the wall. “Now, please don’t get angry. I know how you said to keep you updated on any creations but I…..

“Spit it out, Sivana!”“I went ahead and read through a number of papers by a Mr. Langstrom….. about cross-species genetics.”

“The same man who tested his theories on himself and became some sort of bat huma-” The cloaked figure was stopped by sivana as he outstretched his arm causing the figure to go silent almost immediately.

“Yes, the same man but he has perfected his technique. This new testing does not transform the subjects appearance but gifts them the attributes of such creatures.”

“Very interesting, now where are you going with this doctor?”

“For several months i’ve been performing a variety of tests on a female cadaver. Trying to create a weapon against the next champion and I did it. I created a weapon, she is able to create enough of an electrical discharge to morph the champion back into his original form.”

“And…. you did this how?” The figure asked his tone enthralled with this prospect.

Sivana gave a slight smirk towards the screen “with eels of course.” Sivana pressed the small black button allowing the concrete wall opened showcasing a large metallic pill-shaped tube with a small window at the top which had been frosted over.

“You kept her in a state of slumber?”

“Yes. Furthermore, the cryogenic tube kept the flesh from decaying.”

Sivana pulled opened the tube allowing the sight of the woman stored inside. A pale, white haired woman who seemed to be in her 20’s opened her eyes and exited from the tube. Her attire complete with a large blue dress and blue heels.

“Please meet my lovely project…. I’ve named her….. Chain Lightning.”

~~~~~~~“Wow…..Really? You have to touch tongues, right now?” Billy said as he walked up to both Joshua and Cissie who were in the middle of another act of a stomach-churning display of affection. Upon hearing Billy’s voice, Cissie pulled away almost immediately from Joshua as she made a nervous chuckle.

“H-hey Billy…. Sorry about that. What do you need?” She asks as a large amount of reddish coloring begins to invade her cheeks.

“Dudley wanted me to ask if you guys wanted to go to the zoo with us?” Billy pointed towards a car that was parked in the distance both Dudley and Mary were both in it and waved towards Cissie and Joshua.

“Do you want to go Joshua?” Cissie turned her head back towards him.

“Yeah, sure but could you give us a quick minute, Billy? Alone.” He asked.

“O-okay sure.” Billy said a sense of nervousness laced within his voice. Billy turned around on the balls of his feet and headed back towards his Uncles green Oldsmobile. Suddenly a shrill screech was heard, Billy turned back towards Cissie and Joshua. Cissie was the source of the screech Billy watched as Joshua staggered backwards into the wall and noticed three other rather large children next to them. One of them with their fist still in mid-air after hitting Joshua. Billy’s expression contorted into a sense of determination as he launched himself towards the three boys, smashing his left fist into one of the bullies and sending a kick towards the knee of another causing him to hit the floor with a earsplitting scream. Both Cissie and Joshua watched as Billy took out the three adversarial miscreants, seemingly with ease. After a matter of minutes, illy knocked the three on the ground each with some sort of pained expression on their face. After it all, Billy looked down towards his hands as surprised as his family and friends were all together.

“Billy! Where’d you learn that?” Cissie asked her voice containing a cautious tone.

“I just don’t like bullies.” Billy asked with a nervous chuckle. He then cocked his head back towards the car as he saw both Mary and Dudley sprinting towards them.

“Billy, are you alri-” Mary was suddenly interrupted as a deep and resonant voice shouted in the distance. Billy turned his head toward the source and saw a older caucasian male with long blonde hair and a scruffy beard run towards them. His face completely red and his expression, incredibly angry.

Dudley planted himself in front of Billy as the blonde man approached.

“You better have a good excuse as to why when I pulled up I saw your child beating the hell out of my kids!” The blonde man screamed towards dudley.“YOUR CHILDREN placed a sucker punch on this kid over here. Billy was only helping.” Dudley responded calmly back towards the man.

The older man surveyed Joshua “He looks like he can take care of himself. Also, my kids would never start a fight.” He said as he bent down to help the children up from the ground.

Billy crept to the side of Dudley so he could gain a closer look at the man. He surveyed his attire was complete with a black suit with a crimson tie and a mahogany hued scarf that went all the way around his neck, complete with black dress pants and shoes.

“Wait aren’t you head of Bryer Incorporated…. You’re like some multi-millionaire.” Billy asked

“Yes….Yes I am.”

“Then take your kids and get out of here… I don’t like dealing with rich pri-”

Dudley turned his head towards billy and stared daggers. Billy sighed and thought about what to say next that wasn’t so malicious.

“I mean gentlemen like you…. Now don’t we have a zoo to get to?”

~~~~~“Chain, show him your gifts.” Sivana said towards the genetically enhanced female who smirked towards both the screen and Sivana. She looked down towards her clenched fists and then closed her eyes as she began to focus. Her clenched fists began to be enveloped by a form of electrical energy, she outstretched her arm and pointed her fist towards a nearby beaker and shot a solid beam of lightning towards it causing it to explode and send numerous pieces of debris in several directions.

Sivana reached for a inside pocket of his labcoat and took out a small device similar to that of a television remote and pressed several buttons on it causing a large white target with concentric red circles to appear on a nearby wall. “Now dear, show him the full extent.”

She smirked towards sivana and nodded, closing her eyes once again. She clasped her hands together and focused once more. Suddenly, a colossal amount of electrical energy began to cocoon around her fists again. She opened her eyes and with a sinister cackle released the solid amount of energy towards the target, destroying it completely.

Sivana smiled and looked back up towards the screen.

“Very good Sivana…. Very very good.”

“Thank you sire. Also, due to some of my close contacts. I have reason to believe that Batson is at the zoo. With your say-so I will unleash Chain to the world….. If you would allow me to.

“Yes, Thaddeus Whatever it takes. ~~~~~

“Wow, this place got a lot bigger than the last time I was here!” Mary squealed as she looked around seeing the numerous glass cases containing a variety of animals within them.

Billy looked up after clipping closed his satchel and looked around seeing the beasts that lay within the enclosures. His eyes however fixated upon a female tiger with several cubs suckling at her teats. Each giving little whines as they did so. One, however, was the runt of the litter as all the space was taken up by the others. He gave small whines as he wanted entrance to the milk as well.

“Awww…. that’s so sad.” Cissie said as she ran up with Joshua and stood beside Billy, both staring at the cub as well.

“Well, its survival of the fittest. Only the strongest of the cubs will prevail.” Joshua said.

“That still doesn’t make it any less sad.” Cissie responded.

“Well, your boyfriends right!” Someone said behind them, his voice drawing a line in between both falsetto and sonorous.

The three flinched in a sense of startlement as they turned their heads towards the new voice. He looked to be in his late teens and his attire was complete with the ‘Fawcett City Zoo’ employee t-shirt and khakis. His hair was a mess of muddled brown and hints of blonde. Billy squinted towards his breast pocket and read the small tag that pierced it reading ‘Logan’.

“Oh sorry, I should introduce myself, my name is Garfield Logan. I started here about a year ago and I overheard… well who i’m guessing your boyfriend and yours conversation and he’s exactly right. The strong baby tigers will only be the ones who prevail. Also, Fun fact did you know There are more tigers held privately as pets than there are in the wild.” Logan asked.

“I did not know that, but that is actually really interesting.” Cissie responded with a smile.

Suddenly, a garbled mess of incoherent words came from a walkie-talkie that was hooked onto Logan’s belt.

“Well, duty calls. It was nice talking to you….” He asks waiting for an answer.

“Oh! Sorry. I’m Cissie…” she then points towards Joshua “This is my boyfriend Joshua” she points towards Billy “And that’s Billy”.

Garfield looks down towards Billy for a moment with a smile “All right. Well it was great meeting you all and if there is anything else I can help you with just holler, but for now I have to go scoop a bear cage. The mexican food finally got to him.” He said as he retreated to the left.

Billy stifled a laugh and Cissie let out a small chuckle as did Joshua.

“Who was that.” Uncle Dudley asked as he approached the three.

“Oh. Just some employee.” Billy responded

~~~~~

“Chain, do you have eyes on the subject?” Sivana asked his voice holding a bit of static as he spoke through a small grey earpiece that was hanging upon Lightning’s ear.

“Yes sir. He just got done talking with some employee with a bad sense of humor.” Chain responded back into the earpiece.

“Well, if that’s the case…. Wreak havoc!” Sivana responded.

Chain sent a smirk towards Billy as her hands began to be engulfed with a large amount of electrical energy, “certainly.” ~~~~~

Suddenly, a loud uproar of bloodcurdling screams came from behind Billy as an armada of people began running and clamoring for a nearby emergency exit. Billy darted his head towards the commotion and behind the barrage of screeching civilians was a woman whose hands were covered with a variety of electrical energy. She had a smile upon her face that reached cheek to cheek. She outstretched her arm to the left and released the energy from her left hand hitting a nearby oak bench and completely obliterating it sending a large amount wooden splinters and metal shrapnel in several directions, wounding a small group of innocent citizens. Billy knew this was the time to use the abilities that were given to him just merely a day before.

“B-Billy we gotta go.” Joshua grasped Billy’s shoulder who shrugged it off.

“Umm…. I’ll be back” Billy said “Billy!” Cissie, Mary and Dudley screamed in unison

Billy sprinted towards a nearby lavatorial facility and propelled himself into one of the stalls, trying to remember everything the old wizard told him.

“O-ok….ok” He looked up towards the ceiling, his eyes closed and his fists clenched.“SHAZAM!” Suddenly, a mystical golden lightning bolt penetrates through the ceiling and strikes Billy in the chest, sending a surge of energy through his veins and up his back. A large amount of lavender “dust” begins to envelope the entirety of Billy’s body as his pectoral muscles along with his chin begin to broaden. The lower half of his stomach begins to form abs, his arms begin to grow creating bulbous muscles on both his left and right arms and he begins to grow into a towering figure from his once five-foot frame now morphed into a colossal 7’2. His attire had changed completely as well, as a crimson shirt with the insignia of a large golden lightning bolt emblazoned on his chest along with red form-fitting pants and a long white cape with golden trim flowed behind him. He exited the stall and stared at himself in the mirror as a smile began to slowly form upon his face. “This is so freaking awesome!” His mind completely away from the sounds of explosions and screams in the background. He shook his head as he had to regain focus of the objective. He exited the restroom and saw that the zoo’s area was in worse shape than before as multiple exhibits were set ablaze and the armada of civilians were still trying to escape. Billy could hear the sinister cackles of the adversarial women in the distance. His eyebrows along with his facial expressions contorted into a sense of staunchness.

Instantly, from the corner of his eye he could see the genetically enhanced woman approaching from his left side.

“Well...Well…. if it isn’t the new champion.” She said with a small chuckle. Her right hand began to be enveloped by electrical energy, once again.

Billy felt a empty feeling form within the bottom of his stomach as he watched the menacing powder blue energy form around the woman's fist. “Wh-who are you?” He said he flinched slightly as he heard his newly bass-like voice.

“My name is Chain Lightning. I’ve been assigned to take you in…. dead or alive. preferably alive.” She said with a sly smile.

Billy stifled a chuckle. “Really? Chain Lightning? That’s the best you can come up with? That sounds like a bad 80’s action movie!”

“Stop this nonsense! I’ve come for you and will leave with you.” She said as she outstretched her arm and sent a wave of energy towards him, searing his right side causing a sharp painful inhale.

“I-i thought he said I could take anything and not feel pain.” Suddenly, his mind flashed back to the lightning striking his chest. “Ohhh…” He said thinking out loud. “Well if that’s the way you wanna play lady…. let’s play.”

Chain smirked towards Billy and aimed her milky-white finger towards him, it was crawling with a small amount of electrical energy which she shot forward towards billy. He watched as the small amount of energy headed towards him and swiftly moved to the right avoiding the bolt of energy. He then cocked his head back towards the adversarial woman, he focused and a wave of thought hit him about what abilities he held from what the wizard had told him.

“S stands for solomon this gives you great wisdom and intelligence allowing you to solve even the most difficult of problems, H stands for Hercules this will grant you increased levels of

strength allowing you to defend yourself from the strongest of combatants, A stands for Atlas this gives you increased dexterity and durability allowing you to last longer in combat situations and to survive even the vacuum of space, Z stands for Zeus this allows you to control bolts of

Zeus’ lightning for a variety of effects as a weapon or as means to fuel your magical properties, A stands for Achilles this allows you to withstand telepathic attacks and last but by no means

least M stands for Mercury, this will increase your speed to unimaginable lengths giving you the power to fly, run miles in mere seconds.”

His mind stuck on both the power of flight and super-humanly enhanced strength, he looked up towards the sky and his feet began to slowly lift off the concrete ground, allowing him to levitate. He smiled, “now this is really freaking cool.” He looked back up towards the woman and propelled himself towards her, both his arms outstretched he slammed them into the woman's stomach causing her to stagger and exhale sharply in a fair amount of pain. She let out a light menacing cackle and clasped her palms together creating a large ball of energy to formulate around her hands and sent it towards the torso of Billy who moved to the left but wasn’t quick enough to avoid it as it struck him in the chest. The lavender dust began to encompass the majority of Billy once again, his muscles began to decompress and return to their original form, both his chin and pectoral muscles began to soften and his size began to lessen back to its original form.

“N-no...no…. What did you do?” Billy asked as he surveyed his arms realizing he’d been reverted back to his original form.

“Oh, nothing. Just easier to transport you back to my boss” She said as she aimed her right arm towards Billy, it slowly began to be engulfed by electrical energy.

“Chain, do not release that! We can’t risk the child reverting back to champion form!” Sivana screamed through the earpiece causing Chain to respond with a groan.

“Fine.”

“Sha-” Chain outstretched her arm and placed her palm over Billy’s mouth, silencing and stopping him from shouting the mystical word.

“Now, you’re coming with me” Chain said as she forced Billy to walk forward.

Suddenly, a massive orange blur came to the left and slammed itself into Chain and knocked her into the concrete sidewalk. The orange blur came into focus as Billy noticed the massive female tiger he had seen before with her cubs, now placing it’s weight upon Chain tackling her.

“NO!” Chain screamed as she turned her fist into a colossal organic taser and smashed it into the left ribcage of the beast causing it’s heart to fail almost instantly, Chain’s head smashed upon the sidewalk causing her to black out.

Billy stared wide-eyed towards both the slain tiger and the downed genetically enhanced female. “The cops will get you.” Billy said as he retreated from the two bodies and head back towards his original placement before all of the chaos. Billy looked around and saw his small black and white satchel. He picked it up and placed it diagonally across his torso. A deafening screech comes from the distance causing a confused expression to cross Billy’s face, he cautiously steps towards the source and sees the runt of the small group of cubs before. His dead brethren lay before him, casualties of the sadistic Chain Lightning. The glass around the enclosure was completely demolished and the small tiger lay only inches behind it. Billy only stared for a few seconds at the small cub but eventually outstretched his arms and picked up the baby beast whose cries stopped almost instantly as Billy’s hands grazed it’s fur. “It’s okay.” Billy said in a soothing voice as he placed the cub within his satchel. He walked towards one of the exits and took a quick look of where the downed adversary’s position once was but all that lay there was the dead mother tiger as Chain lightning had escaped. Billy shook his head and stepped through one of the emergency exit archways.

~~~~~ “I-I am so sorry daughters. I tried to capture him today.” Sivana said his cheeks stained with tear-marks and his voice choked up, his limp becoming ever more apparent.

“It’s o-okay fa-father.” Three young caucasian females responded, their skin incredibly dry and their expressions sullen. Each of them with needles pierced within the veins of their arms and hooked up to a small bag of saline.

“I….I promise I will get him no matter the cost.” Sivana said.

“Okay father.” The three responded.