Chapter 47: SHAZAM!
I was clearly in the Rock of Eternity. I put away my glasses and walked down the corridor. I ended up in a large cavernous chamber. At the center of it was a raised dais with 7 large stone seats. A withered old man in the center with a long white beard was seated in the center seat.
"Clark Kent." The old man announced. "I am the wizard Shazam. But then, you already know that, don't you?"
I nodded affirmatively.
"Why do you seek an audience with me? I have no time for such trivialities." Shazam said.
"Because you're busy looking for a champion, right?" I asked. "Let me be your successor. Pass down the mantle to me, and I will protect the Rock of Eternity and take on the other responsibilities as champion." I said boldly.
The wizard stood up and walked towards me. He raised his staff and asked aloud if I was the mystical warrior he sought and if I had a good heart.
"You have a good heart, but it is not pure. You have done much good for your world, but there are some qualities missing." Shazam said decidedly.
"If I were prideful, I would be offended. I know I'm not perfect. No one is." I responded. "I already have massive power within me. But my only vulnerability is with magic. It has been too long since you've been to Earth to protect its people. You need to pass on the mantle. I can sense your end is near. With your spell, it should have revealed my past. You know I will only do good things with your power. I have no evil in my heart. I have no desire to rule or to conquer. You have no reason to fear that I will end up like Teth-Adam."
"How do you know of him? And just where are you getting all of your information?" Shazam asked.
I ignored his questions and continued, "Teth-Adam was a slave. He was whipped, beaten, and told he was less than nothing before he obtained his powers as champion. Of course he couldn't handle the power. When you make a beaten slave all-powerful, what did you expect would happen? I'm nothing like him. I had a wonderful childhood. I was taught love, acceptance, patience, and to treat others with kindness and to use my powers for good. I was taught restraint. I've already demonstrated what I would do with such power. Look at my track record as a hero to humanity. With me, you have a guarantee I will not succumb to temptation to abuse the power. With someone else who is currently powerless, how do you know they won't end up like your previous champion? They've never had power, and as they say, 'absolute power corrupts absolutely.'" I paused. "But I guess that's why you're testing people to see what's in their hearts."
Shazam nodded, "Yes. Only one with a pure heart will be my successor."
"There's no one perfect. This is why so many others have been rejected. Were all of them likely to end up like Teth-Adam? No. Surely not. But was there a chance they would? Sure. When dealing with humanity, you're gambling. Everyone has the dual natures within. Good and evil is a constant struggle. I hope your spellcasting has revealed that I am only a force for good, and I would be the proper champion. When I find others who are worthy of the seats in this room, I will share the power so they can help me battle the forces of evil." I explained passionately.
The wizard looked unsure.
"How long have you looked for a successor?" I asked.
"A long time." He responded.
"You're searching for someone that doesn't exist." I lectured. "Nobody is purely good. It's like yin and yang. Have you seen the symbols of yin and yang? Even they have a dot to represent that one cannot exist without the other. There's no 100% force of pure good. An evil man may change, show mercy to his victims, or have some sense of decency hidden deep within. And a good man just needs to have one bad day, and they can do something unimaginable. To find a worthy successor, you must look at someone who has had power and seen what they've done with it. Have they abused their power? Become a tyrant? Hurt those weaker than themselves? Then obviously, someone like that wouldn't be a good choice. But if someone with power dedicated themselves for striving to improve the world around them and protected those weaker than themselves, then I'd say that makes for a worthy champion. Giving your power to one who hasn't demonstrated what they would DO with great power, is a coin toss. You're gambling with even a person you sense is nearly pure of heart. Ask your magic if you are unsure. Look at my deeds."
"You said you are already a champion for good?" The wizard asked. "Do you have the embers inside you to continue on the path for good? I should have been looking for someone with power who used it well? Is that what I should have been looking for all these centuries? But once this boy's given the power...I can't take them away. It doesn't matter. I have no other choice, do I? There's not much more time. Does this boy have the embers of goodness within him?" A glow settled over me and lightning surged.
As more lightning surrounded my body, the wizard saw all the good that I've done. He saw that I tried to help people, I built the Justice League to protect humanity, I found a home for the Kandorians, I even showed forgiveness for some enemies, I was kind to animals, and I loved my family.
"Yes...yes, you do have potential, I suppose." The wizard considered. "You have done the most good of any of those I've seen over these centuries. Before I decide, walk over to this orb, stand before it and all shall be revealed." The wizard instructed.
I walked before the orb and felt a slight tickling at my mind, but it was completely blocked by my wish to block mental control.
I stood there for a minute then said, "Is something supposed to happen?"
The wizard smiled and said, "Your persistence has paid off. As adamant as you are, I can find no fault with you. You are the best option that has presented itself before me in all these years."
"Clark Kent!" The wizard boomed. "I choose you as champion. Take hold of my staff and say the magic word Shazam. Say it with purpose, with belief. Think of your family, think of everything good in the world. Say it, and you will be transformed into your greatest potential; say SHAZAM!"
I took hold of the staff and with all of the conviction I could muster I yelled, "SHAZAM!"
I was struck by magical lightning and my body was transformed. I was certainly muscular before, but now I had even more bulging muscles. I had the body of a Greek God. My outfit was nearly identical to my Superman uniform, but it had a lightning insignia for the belt, and it still had my Superman "S" insignia at the center of my chest. I had thought about what I would look like before I transformed and it seemed to have taken my desires and manifested them into reality. My cape billowed dramatically and my boots and gauntlets were even more impressive. The costume looked ethereal.
The wizard said, "You are now Earth's champion, Shazam. You have the power of the Greek Gods. The wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury. You must protect the world from the Seven Deadly Sins of Man. Beyond your strength and the spells you can cast, your greatest strength will be that of family. Look after your family, just as I should have looked after my own."
Moments later, the wizard dropped to the ground and turned to dust.
I focused on going to the Fortress and was teleported there.
2008 - Arctic Circle - Fortress of Solitude - Outside the Fortress
I've been practicing my newfound powers outside the Fortress so my lightning doesn't damage anything. My newly acquired power has greatly enhanced all of my physical abilities. Prior to my transformation, I was already one of the most powerful beings in the universe, but this has surely cemented my standing. My speed, strength, stamina, and all other abilities are much more powerful.
The two most useful abilities I was excited about getting was the resistance to magic and the magical lightning. I could manipulate the lightning to the extent that I looked like Thor at the end of the Ragnarok movie. The resistance to magic was key to future battles. While I was not exactly weak to magic as some people would like to blame, the key is that magic is an effective weapon against Superman compared to everything else that doesn't work. You can use brute force, fire, ice, acid, and all other forms of physical attacks and I can shake it off, but magic can actually hurt me. It's not so much as a weakness as it's effective in the absence of nearly everything else. It's definitely a nuanced difference. Plus, I think magic works well on almost everything that isn't magical in nature (or something with anti-magical properties like nth metal). I always thought people hyped up Superman's "weakness" to magic like it's kryptonite.
Whatever your stance, with the power of Shazam, I can shrug off that debate. I will eventually learn the magic of DC fully. This will require a visit to the Rock of Eternity to access the Library of Eternity. With my perfect memory and access to the Speed Force, I can easily memorize huge portions of the library in no time at all.
Am I getting too OP? I think about Darkseid, Trigon, Nekron, Doomsday, Anti-Monitor, Superboy-Prime, Black Adam, Orion, Despero, Parallax, Ares, and others…Hmm… I guess not. Until I develop full reality manipulation or something like that, I'm still not unmatched in power. I need all the power I can get.
With magic as one of final improvements to my power base, I feel satisfied with my progress. I'll have to do some thinking later and pore over my memories of the DC universe. What other enhancements to my power can I make at this point? I have the powers of a Kryptonian, I have the Speed Force, and I have the powers of Shazam. What else is accessible to me?
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Anonny_Anonymous
Anonny_Anonymous Billy Batson will eventually be granted the power. I won't shortchange him, but he's a little young at this point. Based on Smallville comics, he looked like he was not even 10 years old and that was in 2012, I believe. So based on that, he should be 6 years old in 2008. He's too young.
Maybe I can have my parents adopt him? Or would that be jumping the shark by introducing a little brother character?
Weekly Power Status
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