The Cities Are Alive

Headcanon that all champions, at any point during their tenure, go through a wedding/mating/union officiant course to become a wedding officiant. It is usually only viable to being done for magic-user couples because it’s in no way legally binding outside of the Rock. However, if the champion is close with the couple, some binds can be loosened.

Now, the JL has been marooned somewhere during an invasion that of course had to happen before Dinah and Ollie’s wedding. The couple is crushed. Their friends are crushed. Everyone is crushed.

Fate is giving Billy a “you know what to do” look. Billy is looking away because fuck that, he’s not going to ruin his friends’ day. He’s done unions many times before, but he’s never done it with non-magic users and for some reason, it just feels weird to be the officiant for his friends. What if he does something wrong? What if he’s overestimating that he’s close with them in the first place?

Of course, Nabu has never learned how to be subtle or take notice of any kind of social cue, so he just outright says that Billy can do it.

Fate: Fret not, the Champion can take the officiant’s place—

Billy: Noooo he can’t.

Fate: Yes, he—

Billy: Nooo, he can’t.

Dinah: Billy, is this true?

Billy: Well—I mean—

Fate: I checked the backlogs, you completed the course when you were nine.

Billy: Nabu, you are SO not helping right now.

Ollie: Well that’s great news!

Billy: …Huh?

Ollie: Come on, Cap! You could totally help us with this!

Billy: I—You—Guys, if the couple isn’t consisted of at least one magic user, I can’t really…

Fate: There is a loophole. If the Champion is close with the couple, it can be done.

Dinah: Then there’s nothing to worry about! We’re plenty close!

Billy: *short circuiting because he genuinely thought Dinah and Ollie didn’t see him as a friend* Um…okay.

After the makeshift wedding…

Billy:*Taps Fate’s shoulder* Hey

Fate: Hm?

Billy: You’re banned from the Rock for the next two months.

Fate: 🙄

Pokémon x Captain Marvel

One of the fondest memories Billy has of his parents is one he will never forget.

His dad, C.C and Marilyn, his mom, had come home with a surprise.

C.C, cheerfully: “Billy, Mary! Come downstairs!”

Marilyn: “We have a surprise for you two!”

As the two eight year old twins sped down the stairs (still taking care to not trip), they saw the surprise- one of each of his parents arms.

C.C: “Do you two know what these are?”

Mary: “Is it.. an egg?”

Billy, who absolutely LOVES pokémon: “Are those pokémon eggs??”

Marilyn, chuckling: “Yes, yes, you're both right, dearies. These are your very own pokémon eggs.”

Billy and Mary, both over the moon: “REALLY?”

C.C: “Really. Now, how about we heat them up?”

Mary: “Yes, please!”

/ / /

Two weeks later, the eggs finally hatched.

Billy: “Mom? Dad! Something's happening to the eggs!”

Mary: “They're shaking!”

C.C and Marilyn, who came to check in and saw both eggs shaking, and cracked: “Oh!”

C.C: “They're hatching!”

Marilyn: “Quick, grab the camera!”

As C.C grabs the camera, both eggs finally hatch, revealing two very small Shinx.

Marilyn: “Oh, they're perfect, don't you think so sweethearts?”

Mary and Billy, who are looking at the kits like they hanged the moon in the sky: “Yes!!”

C.C, laughing at their enthusiasm: “Way to go, champs. I just know you will make great partners.”

The Shinx mew, looking up at their trainers.

/ / /

A year later, Billy's life goes downhill.

His parents pass away in a unfortunate plane crash while on a work trip, and Mary has gone missing.

His uncle, Ebenezer, took all his inheritance money, and threw him and his Shinx, now named Tawny, to the streets, making them homeless.

This year is also the year when itty bitty Billy becomes the champion of magic, blessed by the gods.

When he shouted the name of the wizard who gave him his connection to his patrons, he became a superhero, someone powerful, kind and to be looked up to- Captain Marvel.

And that is not all- the divine lighting that strikes Billy to transform him can also split, hitting Tawny, and turning him from a small little Shinx who only knows Spark, to a big and mighty Raikou, one of the most famous superhero pokémons of all time.

/ / /

Billy is 10 and looking at the sunset from one of the highest buildings in Fawcett city with Tawny when out of nowhere, they hear something land behind them.

Tawny, who was almost sleeping at being pet, startles, getting up along with Marvel to look behind them.

..Only to see Batman, and his terrifying Noivern. One of, if not THE most skillfull pokémon and trainer duo, ever.

Batman: “Captain Marvel, right?”

Marvel, still processing on why Batman is in Fawcett, and in the same rooftop as him: “Oh.. yes, right, Mr. Batman sir.”

Batman: “I've come to let you know that you are formally invited to the Justice League. You don't need to make an decision now, but-”

Marvel, with no hesitation: “Yes.”

Batman: “..Understood, we're glad to have you.”

Marvel, with the biggest smile ever: “Thank you for the invite!”

/ / /

Some days later, and he meets with the people he'd idolized basically his whole life.

Superman and his trusty Dragonite, the Flash and his Jolteon, Wonder Woman and her Aegislash.. the list goes on!

One day, at the watchtower (wow, he really did come far, didn't he? This is a whole space station!) that Billy realized some things-

Tawny is the only legendary pokémon in the team so far. And, as everybody knows, legendary pokémon are both extremely rare and hard to catch. Funnily enough, he never thought of a cover story to how he met Tawny.

GA, who some minutes ago was training with his Decidueye: “Hey, Cap?”

Marvel, who was petting Tawny, the big cat purring loudly: “Huh? Yes?”

GA: “How did you catch Raikou? Aren't those rare, since only Ho-ohs can create them?”

Marvel, internally blue screening: “Oh! Um. Yes. So.. Tawny just.. he chose me! Yeah. Came right up to me and clicked his head against the poké ball. Isn't that right, Tawny?”

Tawny, looking at Billy with a look that screams 'Really? That's what you came up with?': “Rai.”

(By the way, when the twins reunite, i think Mary's Shinx would turn into a Zeraora.)

(inspired by Puppetmaster13u's Cryptid AU, please check it out, it's amazing)

(formating inspired by Wonderjanga since i'm extremely new to Tumblr and tought it looked neat)

Inside Fawcett city, creatures of any kind were welcomed and seen as normal. An walking, talking, crocodile? Yeah, that's just Peter. A minotaur sharing a lemonade with an vampire? That's just Jeff and Jasmine.

Captain Marvel, the city's hero, though, seemed human. (or Kryptonian.. but there are records of kryptonite being thrown at him and him being fine if not confused)

Now, imagine if Billy (and thus, Captain Marvel) were cryptids who use magic to make an illusion to fool others into thinking he's more human-like, in an effort to appear less threatening, scary or weird.

His cape? That's his wings. When up in the air, the illusion magic makes them look like they're floating, but they're actually beating to make sure Marvel stays up in the air. When not in use, they fold in his back to appear more like well.. an cape.

When he joins the Justice league, he's oblivious to the gossip mill his teammates created.

Hal: “Dude, i'm telling you, he's not human.”

Barry: “What else could he be, then? Like, it's a given he's at least some type of meta, but what exactly? Kryptonian? An regular human with powers that can rival superman's?”

Diana: (a bit distracted, not paying full attention to the gossip) “My guess would be that he has some connection to the greek gods. He does mention them often. Maybe he's an demi-god himself?”

Hal: (shocked) “You CANNOT just drop that into the conversation and not elaborate.”

//

Oliver: (a bit annoyed) “Batman, could you please tell Robin to keep his pets out of the watchtower? There are feathers everywhere!”

Bruce: “Hmm? I can't see how Robin could have sneaked into the watchtower any kind of bird without me knowing. Could you show me one of the feathers so i could ask him about it?”

(Oliver gets up, a big, white and golden feather in hands, and gives it to Batman)

Bruce: (looking the feather over, thinking how this is too big to have been from one of Damian's chickens or parakeets) “...”

(Marvel, who happened to be passing by, sees the feathers all scattered about, with Batman with one in hand, immediatly gets embarrased about how he forgot the illusion spell breaks when he transforms back into Billy, and thus leaves the feathers behind) “Hey.. sorry, those are mine. I'll clean them up.”

Oliver: “What do you m-”

(Both Oliver and Bruce look over, Oliver obviously very confused)

Oliver: “You own a bird and let it loose on the watchtower?”

Marvel: “Oh, no, no, those are mine. Like.. mine mine.”

(Billy breaks the spell, the illusion going off instantly)

Oliver: "OH! oh, i see what you mean.”

//

Hal: “So, he's an.. bird-like humanoid and uses an spell to look like what we're used to seeing him as?”

Oliver: “From what i saw, yeah, pretty much.”

Barry: “...i owe Cyborg 10 dollars.”

Hal: (sighing) “Same.”

Hello! Welcome to my blog!

You can call me Ace!

I will post/reblog content about my interests, such as Billy Batson/Shazam/Captain Marvel, Pokémon, Paleontology, and others (mostly in crossovers, or in reblogs)

I will also sometimes post art/fanart!

Feel free to tag me on stuff if you feel like it! I don't mind.

The Justice League's social media

The justice league decides to make social media, specifically for the league itself.

They all agree to share that someone would manage it, since everyone at once would be way too chaotic.

Billy, sensing a way to do some tomfoolery agrees to be the social media manager, along with Freddy and Mary.

Cue Gen Z humour. (And of course, actual important stuff. What? Don't look at them, they know how to balance funny and serious.)

They all like to post some random silly things, like that time they caught GA asleep and decided to draw another moustache for him, but they also post notices like "Villain caught in [ ] city!" (Mostly Mary does that, but sometimes, the others do too.)

Batman: “Marvel? Marvel, could you explain something to me?”

Cap: “Oh, sure! What is it?”

Batman, showing a image of an actual post of the Justice League twitter account: “What is this?”

Cap, who just knows this was freddy's doing: “Uhhhhhh...”

(The post in question)

Captain Marvel (Shazam), inspired by A.L. Kaplan’s Action Comics covers ✨✨✨

Injustice Spirit

(Injustice Ghost, part two)

(I'm so happy for the support on the first part, i'm glad you all liked it! :) Anyways, heads up again, this will talk about what happened to Billy in injustice, have some blood, and angst.)

According to the other members of the League, Diana is the last person the ghost showed himself to.

The Leaguers don't even got to ask the boy's name, as after he appeared to Clark, he stayed silent, ever watching. Arthur has said he's been feeling watched lately, same with Barry, Hal and Bruce.

They all started to notice scratch marks appearing on some places. The Zeta tubes, by example. The scratch marks look like somebody desperately scratched at it after failing to operate the Zeta, and was trying to get out.

Diana sighed, walking to the observation deck. Maybe watching the vastness of space and the bright stars will clear her mind?

When she arrived, she noticed someone sitting on the floor by one of the big windows, looking outside, hand on the reinforced glass.

“It's the ghost.”

Was Dianas first thought upon seeing him. The ghost was indeed as small as everyone said he was, and even more frail. He looked like if a strong bit of wind would knock him over, if ghosts could even be knocked over or touched by the wind.

Melancholy was clear on the spirit's face, reflected by the glass. He seemed not to notice Diana walked in, even though her reflection should be on the glass, too. Maybe he was deep in thought.

Diana didn't want to interrupt the poor boy, but he seemed just.. so lonely. Bruce had said that everyone's accounts, except for Clark's and Barry's, were extremely brief encounters. No words were exchanged, only the brief surprise of encountering the ghost, and him being surprised at being seen, before vanishing yet again.

The sound of Diana's boots echoed against the silence of the room as she approached the ghost as silently as she could, not wanting to scare him.

“It's beautiful, isn't it?”

Diana said, as the spirit's head snapped to her in an instant, startled even though she said it as calm and as quiet as she could.

The ghost watched her like a wounded animal, wary, and looking for any reason to bolt. Yet, he didn't. He wordlessly nodded, and Diana looked at the glass once again.

“The stars are so bright. Sometimes, i still stop just to admire how pretty they are.”

She mused, as the stars seemed to shine brighter in response to her compliment.

The ghost (They really needed to find out his name. it seemed so wrong to just call someone 'the ghost' or 'the boy' all the time.) seemed to think, but his head didn't leave Diana's direction, so she assumed he was still looking at her, shoulders looking tense.

..Until suddenly, they weren't as tense, as he relaxed a littlest bit.

“You really aren't anything like her.”

The ghost noted, his words repeating in a echo. Diana didn't how what he meant. Maybe she reminded him of somebody he used to know?

“You're good. Strong, but not evil. A inspiration, a hero. You're what she should have been. What she once was.”

Is what the ghost followed up with, his voice choked. The boy's arms started to shake.

Diana looked at the poor soul in front of him with concern. Who was 'she'? Did she hurt him? Is 'she' the one who killed him? So many questions, yet none of those she would have asked. He doesn't need questioning, he obviously needs someone to be there for him. To hear him.

“I'm sorry.”

Is what Diana started with, as the ghost looked up at her. She just knew that if the ghost had eyes, he would be holding tears back as she spoke.

“I may not know who you're talking about, but she doesn't sound lovely. I'm sorry you had an bad experience with her.”

That seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back, as a choked sob left the ghost, his whole body now shaking, small droplets of blood leaving the holes of where his eyes should be, imitating tears.

He threw himself at Diana, hugging her, as if he let go, she would be gone. His small figure shaking like a leaf as sniffles and sobs left him. Interestingly enough, he seemed somewhat more solid, and didn't phrase right through Diana, like what happened to Clark.

“You're g-good, right? Y-you wouldn't..”

He said between sobs. Diana noticed that her clothes and armour would be very bloody with tears, but she couldn't bring herself to care. She slowly hugged the crying boy back, using one hand to run her fingers through the small boy's hair, hoping to calm his desperate sobs down.

“T-they used me. I was b-blind and d-dumb and so stupid and..”

The boy continued, not letting go of the hug but now trying to look up at Diana.

Diana shot him a look that she hoped was comforting. She may not know what happened to him, but he clearly needed to get this out. The poor boy seemed to hesitate for a bit.

“You aren't dumb or stupid. Please, don’t beat yourself up like that, dear.”

That seemed to give the boy courage, as he let go of one hand to wipe away tears with his sleeve, the bright red hoodie now having a bit of blood on it.

“I-i thought we were doing the right thing..”

The spirit said, looking up at Diana. He couldn't look smaller like this, and it breaks Diana's heart.

“T-they called themselves heroes. Nobody stopped him.. they just... watched.”

Oh. Is the poor boy a villain victim? The thought of failing someone like him, leading to his death, hurt Diana even more. She didn't know the boy, but she would be damned if she let anyone ever hurt him again. And so, she hug him a little bit tigher, whispering encouragements as the boy paused to sob, his face now running with the bloody tear tracks.

“Grundy w-was the one who buried me. i n-never went home.”

That seemed to remind the ghost of something. Diana frowned. Who did that? Who was cruel enough to let someone like Grundy bury a child?

“Oh g-gods i never went home. M-Mary.. F-Freddy.. t-they're all still waiting.”

Oh.

He had a family. A family who didn't know he was murdered in cold blood and let to be buried by a villain. She didn't think this could get worse, but yet, it kept getting worse.

“T-they're still in the danger.. AND I CAN'T HELP THEM!”

This launched the ghost to a panic, pushing himself off the hug as he grasped his head. Diana felt so impossibly lost. She wanted to help him, but she didn't know what to or not to say- the poor ghost just realized his family probably just thought he was missing, and, according to him, were also in danger.

Diana grasped his shoulder gently as the spirit started to hyperventilate.

“Hey, hey. Could you look at me?”

Shakily, the ghost's head turned to her.

“Thank you. Could you imitate my breathing?”

Diana inhaled, then exhaled slowly, trying to get the ghost to copy her. When she noticed he was trying to, she smiled.

“Yes, just like that. You're doing great.”

The spirit continued until his breathing leveled up again and he slumped against Diana, utterly exhausted.

“I'm sorry.”

He apologized, wiping his bloody tears yet again, this time with the other sleeve.

Diana simply hugged him again.

“You don't need to apologize for anything, sweetheart. You did nothing wrong.”

The boy slowly nodded, and seemingly fell asleep, utterly exhausted, probably both mentally and phisically.

“I promise i won't be like those who hurt you. Nobody will ever hurt you again, if i have anything to say about it.”

She pet him, now looking up the glass, at the stars.

They truly looked beautiful.

/ / /

(Part 2 done! This will have a part 3, and it will be the final part.)

FIC WIP BE UPON THEE

(Captain Marvel x Pokémon, which i'm planning on putting on AO3 once i'm done with like, 5 chapters or so. This is the WIP of the first chapter.)

Captain Marvel is the brand new Fawcett hero. The man simply showed up one day, and started helping the community, be it with fighting crime or the most mundane things, like helping children find their parents when lost or help a person cross the street. He wasn’t as famous as Batman or Superman, and he even doubted he’d even been heard of outside of Fawcett. He was still very new, after all.

When flying around on patrol, Captain Marvel and Tawny — Who was on the ground, following along — spotted two men cornering an elderly woman in an alley, knives in hand, poised to attack.

“Pass em’, grandma!” One of them ordered, bringing the knife closer to her threateningly. “Give us the necklace and no one gets hurt!” The other thug exclaims, getting closer to rip the necklace off the lady’s neck altogether.

“No, please!” The senior pleaded, “It was a gift from my grandson!” She added, clutching her necklace close to her protectively, clearly close to tears and panic evident on her voice.

Marvel looked at Tawny as the Raikou growled and went into the alley, passing and startling the robbers as he stood in defense of the lady, growls coming out like crackles of thunder, loud against the silence of the alley.

“Shit!” the first thug yelped in surprise, “Is that the hero Raikou?!” the second one asked, taking a step back in fear of the large feline in front of him. “I thought it was a myth!”

Captain Marvel slowly floated down to land alongside Tawny, standing tall and opposing the two criminals, who were looking ready to bolt, shaking hands reaching to the Pokéballs on their belts.

“Tawny,” The hero called, nodding at the Pokémon, “Electroweb.”

At the command, electricity charged all around the legendary Pokémon, surging forwards as two webs that wrapped around the two criminals, shocking them to make them drop their weapons, before staying dormant, only serving to keep them both still.

After checking on the restrained criminals, Marvel turned to Tawny. “Good job!” he smiled, petting the Pokémon’s head, who trilled back proudly at the praise, happy with his work well done.

After the brief congratulations and pets, Marvel turned around to check on the elderly woman. 

“Thank you, thank you! This necklace is oh so dear to me, I can't bear to even think of losing it.” The senior babbled, voice full of relief and a big smile upon her face.

The Captain smiled back at her, “No need to thank me, Ma’am. I’m just glad you’re safe.” he responded, before being lightly headbutted by his partner Pokémon, trying to get his attention.

“Yes?” he asked, confused, as the pokémon walked to the thugs restrained on the ground, referencing them, their fallen weapons and Pokéballs with a paw. Realization dawned on the champion, “Oh! Them! Right, right.” he noted.

“Ma’am, I need to go deliver those men to the police. Stay safe, alright?” at her nod, he grabbed both restrained thugs, still struggling in the electric webs, and took flight, being mindful of the Pokéballs still on them. He absentmindedly noted that Tawny took both of the dropped knives before he followed him. 

──────────────────────────

Today was a calm day in the Justice League watchtower. Batman was researching some cases and compiling files, with his Noivern by his side, while Flash’s Jolteon raced by, chasing Green Lantern’s Reuniclus.

The Jolteon, happily yipping after the other Pokémon, stopped once they both reached the recreation room. The large TV was on, displaying the news.

“Hello, good morning, Reporter Jessica speaking, reporting from Fawcett city.” the reporter started. Behind her was a large person who was talking to the police. The person didn’t seem thrilled at all to be talking to them. “This morning a criminal duo was apprehended by Captain Marvel, the newest Fawcett hero.” She said, stepping aside and letting the camera focus on the tall person — Presumably, Captain Marvel — talking to the officers. She moved again, the camera focus going right back at her. 

“We are hoping to get an exclusive interview with him, and get more information on the crime.” Jessica says pointedly. She was not too close to where Marvel and the officers stood, but with the subtle raise of her voice, it was obvious she was heard. Especially when the Captain seemed to beam out of nowhere, saying rushed goodbyes to the officers, waiting patiently as the news crew moved in.

“Hello, Captain Marvel. Could you explain to us what happened earlier today?” The reporter politely asked, raising her microphone near the hero. He seemed somewhat relieved, or more accurately, less on edge talking to the curious reporter and cameraman than he was talking to the officers.

“Of course!” The hero said with a bright smile. The news banner silently changed from ‘EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH NEW FAWCETT HERO AND LEGENDARY PARTNER’ to a blank banner. “While on patrol today, me and Raikou,” Upon being mentioned, a Raikou showed up, who was previously out of the camera’s view. The hero seemed surprised too, “Oh, hi.” He cut himself off briefly to greet his Pokémon, who simply let out a chirp at the camera. “As I was saying, me and Raikou were on patrol when those two,” Marvel pointed behind him. The camera follows where he points, ending up on the two criminals, handcuffed and inside the back of a police car. “Decided to try and rob an old lady.” 

The reporter feigned a gasp, and proceeded to ask more questions, some very unrelated to the matter at hand. —“Could you tell us if you’re Kryptonian, Marvel?” and “Were there Raikou on your planet?” couldn’t have anything to do with an older lady getting saved from two robbers, after all—The TV channel’s banner now read “NEW FAWCETT HERO SAVES OLD LADY FROM ARMED ROBBERY, NEW SUPERMAN?”.

While the Pokémon watched, mesmerized by the seemingly random appearance of a legendary Pokémon — A caught one! Can you believe it? — on live TV.

The Jolteon and the Reuniclus started chattering to each other back and forth, communicating with wobbles and barks. The excited Pokémon chatter attracted Noivern’s attention a room away, who went to check it out.

Upon arrival, and seeing what all the noise was about, Noivern quickly returned to Batman, the normally quiet and composed Pokémon suddenly chirping rather loudly to get the man’s attention.

Haven't you ever spent days on a fic chapter only to look at it when finished and go “Wow this actually kinda sucks tbh i should rewrite it” only for it to happen again

Where Have you Been?

This is inspired by this post.

Billy was having a rough day. Scratch that. A rough couple of months. Recently, he’s been… losing himself? He doesn’t know how to put it into words. It’s just that more he’s Marvel, the more he forgets about being Billy. In all honesty, it’s scaring him. What’s even worse is that, no matter what others think, he isn’t in control anymore, and Billy knows it. One moment, he’ll just be Billy Batson and then the next he’ll be Marvel with no recollection of even saying the word. Billy truly wished he hadn’t noticed the gaps in his memory getting bigger.

Speaking of memory gaps, Billy had a pretty big one to fill considering all he did was go to bed, and was then greeted with the misfortune of waking up on a random beach with the lower half of his body slightly wet from the tide. All he knows is that he’s not near Fawcett, let alone Iowa, because last he checked, it was a landlocked state. So, he got up, and decided to go find out where he was.

Billy: *wandering around while shaking any sand off himself, eventually spotting a flag* “Oh! I’m in… I still have no idea.”

Glasses Lady: *approaches him* “Por que você não está na escola?” (Translation: Why aren’t you in school?)

Billy: *frog blinks* “Huh?”

Billy was… pretty sure that was Spanish. So he’s probably still on earth. Maybe. After a little bit of back-and-forth, the Glasses Lady finally realized he couldn’t understand what Billy was only half sure was Spanish. In the end, she just started taking him around to find somebody who could speak English.

Glasses Lady: “¿Você fala inglês? Acho que este é o filho de um turista.” (Translation: Do you speak English? I think this is a tourist's son.)

Old Granny: “Não. Pobre garoto.” *leans down to pinch his cheek* (Translation: “No. Poor boy.)

Billy: *confused as to why this random old lady is pinching his cheek*

Eventually, after a while, they did find somebody who could speak English.

Billy: “Do you know where I am, miss?”

College Student: “You’re in Brazil.”

Billy: “Brazil??” *sounds super concerned* “Isn’t that in South America? I think?”

College Student: “It is. How did you even get here? Are you on vacation?”

Billy: “No? I just woke up here.” *wondering how he’s gonna explain this to Rosa*

College Student: “What?” *also now concerned because she thinks this child might’ve been a victim of trafficking*

Billy: “Uhm… you have like a map that you can show me?”

College Student: “I don’t think a map will help you, bud.”

Billy: *shrugs* “Theres always the chance it could, miss.”

College Student: “I guess?” *pulls up google maps*

Billy: *zooms out so he can just see the countries* “Oh okay. So not that far away.”

College Student: “You’re plenty far away what are you talking about? Also, why’re you sandy?” *wipes off some sand her phone*

Billy: *ignores both questions* “Do you know which way is north?”

College Student: “Uh… it should be that way.” *points in the direction*

Billy: “Oh thank you!” * is about to runoff, but looks back at the Glasses Lady* “And gracias?” *looks to the College Student* “That how you say it right?”

College Student: “No, that’s Spanish.” *shakes head* “It’s supposed to be obrigado.” (Translation: Thank you.)

Billy: “Oh, obrigado!” *definitely butchered the pronunciation and runs off to he north*

College Student: “Wait, come back!”

As soon as Billy was out of sight, he shazamed and flew in the direction she pointed in. Now, the boy wouldn’t admit this, but he actually flew slower than normal. He didn’t wanna think about the future confrontation with Rosa, not to mention his other family members. Was he prolonging the inevitable? Yes. Did he feel guilty? Also, yes. Did that mean he was gonna speed up though? …No.

Billy was just passing over Mexico when his JL comm started going off like crazy.

Marvel: *answers his comm*

Batman: “Marvel. Watchtower. Now.”

Marvel: “Huh? Why did I do something wrong?”

Batman: “You went AWOL for three weeks, and then the first sign we find that you’re alive is a video of you partying at a Mardi Gras parade in Brazil. I really wonder what you did wrong.”

Billy was straight speechless for a solid minute. Three weeks? Three weeks? The memory gap was way bigger than he thought.

Marvel: *trying to find words* “I- I’m gonna be honest I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He honestly felt like crying. Genuine, ugly, crying. Because now he knows it’s gotten to a point where he can’t shrug this off anymore. He could do one day. He could do two days. He’s even gone a week before. But three weeks? That’s nearly a month and he doesn’t remember anything. Billy was now being forced to acknowledged how big of a problem this was.

By now, he had stopped, still floating in mid air.

Batman: “Is that you confirming you were too intoxicated to reach out to us or-”

Marvel: “Mr. Batman Sir, I really can’t talk right now.” *can feel himself starting to hyperventilate* “I’ll come by later. I promise.”

Batman: “No, not later. Immediately. We all want a word with you.”

Marvel: *grimaces* “I’m sorry. I just really can’t right now. I’m really sorry.” *hangs up*

Billy just started hyperventilating after that. His chest felt tight, his world felt like it was one the brink of crashing down. He needed to go see the wizard. He needed help. The wizard could definitely help. So, he went to the rock.

Wizard: *sounds solemn* “I’m sorry, Billy.”

That was literally all the old man told him before he started talking about how the gods were starting to exert more of their influence on him. And he basically had no say, say in some of the things he would start to do from now on. Just when Billy’s life couldn’t get harder. Please, Gods, give him a break.