Cyborg sighed, watching at Cap lifted a train car with ease. He glanced back at the group of heroes in various states of distress, letting out a soft sigh. He hoped the League wouldn't be too hard on him.

- - -

The group was quiet, the air tense. Batman had taken to pacing in the dark space, adding to the tension tenfold, while Hal and Barry talked quietly. Diana sat sitting on the floor with her eyes closed, pinching the bridge of her nose loosely in thought.

"How did we not know this?" Clark asked, looking around. "It- it all adds up. The childish behavior, the overwhelming optimism-- Batman, we let a kid onto the League."

"You think I don't know that, Superman? I'm trying to figure out just what we're supposed to do with him right now." Batman growled back, pausing in his pacing to stare at the Kryptonian before continuing his walk.

"He's been in danger this entire time and we- we just let it happen," Clark said, running a hand through his hair.

Diana stood. "You couldn't have known, Kal. None of us knew. The Captain kept this secret from all of us." she said slowly.

Victor stayed quiet.

Another memory began to materialize around them-- great. Just what they needed. Victor tensed as the scene formed, glancing at the big three before focusing on what was in front of the group.

This one showed Captain Marvel, surprisingly, pulling himself up and out of a crater in the middle of the street. He put a hand to his head, shaking the dust and disorientation from him before glancing up with a confused and slightly worried look.

"Okay, you hit-- really hard. Who are you?!" he yelled, string up at the sky as a very familiar figure to the League descended. 

"Why- why do you look like me? Er uh- well not me, but why is your costume the same as mine?" he asked, confusion carved into his features.

Cap lacked the usual boisterous attitude, he didn't walk with a skip in his step combined with someone who knew that his feet fall heavier than others-- he moved like a rookie, which considering the last thing they just saw, made sense. 

The group watched him closely.

Cap stood as the figure, Black Adam, sneered at him. "I am the Wizard's true Champion, boy," he said, lightning crackling around his form.

"Wait, you know the Wizard?" Cap paused, his expression becoming thoughtful before he glanced back up at Adam. "Champion...mistake. You're the mistake he was talking about. You're Teth Adam!" 

Captain Marvel suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree, beaming up at him. "My dad told me about you when I was little!" he said excitedly, confusing the Egyptian above him.

"He's completely in over his head..." Hal said with a morbid fascination, shaking his head slowly.

Victor nodded slowly in agreement.

Adam growled, launching himself at Marvel and pinning him to the ground. He held his hands against the hero's throat, cracking the asphalt around his head. "You will not speak that name ever again," he said, his eyes wide with rage.

Cap grappled at the man's hands, his eyes blown wide with confusion and terror. He pulled his legs up and kicked Adam's gut, sending him tumbling backward. "Dude! I didn't even do anything to you!" he said, getting up and rubbing at his neck. 

The dark purple bruises in the shape of hands quickly faded, leaving no marks on the demigod's skin.

Black Adam roared and launched himself at Marvel again, but the man leapt into the air to get out of the way, rocketing into the stratosphere and shattering windows in his wake. He came to a stop in the air, eyes wide as he looked around him in shock. 

"...I can fly..." he said slowly, laughter bubbling up from his throat.

It was something rare for the man- genuine laughter, that is. Sure, the guy laughed a lot, especially at things that were immature or crass, but never like this- never with so much pure joy and innocent happiness in his voice. He practically exuded light as he looked around the clouds.

"I CAN FLY!" he yelled before being body-slammed from below by Adam.

"Okay, not cool dude," Marvel said once he stopped spiraling through the air. He put on his game face, curling his hands into fists as Adam came flying at him. 

He tried punching the villain straight on, only for Adam to duck out of the way and sock him in the gut. Marvel wheezed, anger flashing across his features before he slammed his fists into Adam's back.

He grabbed the man's torso, flipping him over and launching him down before taking off after him. Captain Marvel came in on top of Adam like a corkscrew, spinning with his fist in front of him. 

Adam grabbed his arm at the last possible moment, using his own momentum against him and flinging him up into the air.

Black Adam launched himself at Marvel, landing a heavy hit against the man's face that sent him spiraling. Adam paused in the air as Marvel fell, struggling to get his balance back.

Marvel scrambled in the air, trying and failing to grab onto something to stabilize himself. "Come on come on come on- Dangit!" he said in frustration, eyes widening as the ground quickly approached. 

"Aren't I supposed to be able to do magic or something?!" he said in a slight panic. Thankfully, he managed to right himself just feet over the city street, breathing heavily and staring at the hood of a car. 

A small smile appeared on his face before he was immediately slammed into and through the metal of the car by Adam's heels.

"Come on, Cap- don't take that lying down!" Hal yelled, surprising the group. Lantern had concentration etched on his face as he watched the demigod, his fists clenched tightly.

Victor smiled. "Yea, Let's go, Cap, you got this," he said in agreement. Maybe things wouldn't change for BIlly too much afterall.

Adam floated up, crossing his arms over his chest and pointing his toes towards the street. "You're weak. The Wizard made a mistake in choosing you, boy," he growled, sneering down at Marvel, who was attempting to pull himself from the twisted metal of the car. 

He glanced at some of the citizens that had gathered to see what was going on between the two superpowered beings.

"Like lambs to the slaughter," Adam grinned, vanishing in a blur of black and reappearing with a small boy in his grip. Captain Marvel's eyes widened as he pulled himself from the hood, his body tense as Adam held the brunet by the neck. 

The kid couldn't have been older than 8, desperately holding onto Adam's large hands as he trembled.

"Micheal!" a woman screamed, tears in her eyes as she stared from the sidewalk. Cap looked lost- he had no idea what to do.

"Let him go- he's just a kid, Adam- He's done nothing to you-"

"And yet, I feel the need to make an example of him."

"What- why?!"

"I am above them. We are above them. We are Gods amongst these mortals, able to squash them beneath our feet like the bugs they are. They scatter like scarabs, yet flock towards their own imminent demise." Adam said, his grip on the kid never wavering. 

"An example needs to be made of them. Of you."

Marvel shook his head. "No- no don't do this. My dad told me about you, you were a pharaoh, a king. He said- he said that you started out as a commoner, a slave, and became a mighty ruler by using your gifts to help others."

Adam bared his teeth at Marvel, his grip tightening on the boy and making his gasp.

Marvel was beginning to panic. "What- what happened to you? What made you so twisted...? My dad was so excited to find your tomb... he- he wanted to prove that you weren't as bad as the legends say."

Adam's eyes narrowed, his grip loosening on the boy as a twisted, sickening grin appeared on his face. Marvel furrowed his brow, confused by this development. 

He swallowed thickly, glancing at the kid before meeting Adam's eyes once more.

"I thought the face you wore was familiar," Adam said lowly, sickening smile turning into a sneer. "The امن. The scholar who freed me from my wretched prison." Cap furrowed his brow in response. 

"He and his sister, they got in my way... bothersome and annoying."

Cap shook his head slowly, taking a step back.

"So I killed them."

Cap's eyes became an astonishing, encapsulating, terrifying cornflower blue. His pupils became pinpricks and he froze, every muscle in his body locking up.

"Oh no..." Vic said softly, shaking his head slowly. Billy had told him about this- he'd said it was one of the things he was most ashamed of as Cap, something that he'd spend the rest of his life making up for. 

Something that made him question whether or not he was really worthy of the powers of Shazam.

The heroes glanced at him worriedly before looking back up at Cap.

Gold suddenly overtook the demigod's irises, the molten color invading the pure blue as his face curled into a snarl. The heroes took a collective step back, eyes wide as chills went down every spine in the room. Captain Marvel floated upwards, Adam's face having become carefully neutral.

"You..." Cap said slowly, his voice echoing with reverb throughout the street. "You killed my mom and dad," he said slowly. Adam swallowed, his eyes narrowing.

"Careful of the child, you idiot," he said, an edge to his words as his grip tightened on the boy once more.

A golden glow appeared around Cap's hand, the kid suddenly vanishing from Adam's grip and appearing in the arms of his mother. "You're gonna wish you never stepped foot out of that tomb, Adam," Marvel said, the weight of the Gods behind his words. 

He was holding Adam by the throat in an instant, his nails digging into the darker man's skin as he choked the life from him.

The man choked. "It f-feels good, r-r-right-" Adam gasped, gripping Cap's hands with slight desperation. "To have this p-power. Y-you can cr-crush anyone you w-want beneath t-the heel of y-your boot."

Marvel's grip tightened on the Egyptian's throat.

"Give i-into it," Adam choked out with a wicked grin, staring down at Cap. The people around them started to back up, staring at both of them with fear in their eyes now. Marvel caught sight of them, glancing towards the people with a snarl before his eyes widened.

The snarl vanished.

"What am I doing--" the gold vanished from his eyes, and he glanced up at Adam before dropping him unceremoniously onto the ground. Black Adam coughed, holding his throat and glaring up at Marvel. He smirked at him, standing up shakily. 

Marvel ran his hands through his hair before staring at them.

"The power is exhilarating," he said slowly, to which Captain Marvel shook his head. "We are more alike than I thought."

Cap took a shaky step back, putting distance between him and the villain. "No," he said, clenching his fists. "I'm not like you. I won't be like you. I swear to it." he said slowly. Adam chuckled, shaking his head as he lifted into the air.

"With time, you'll see things my way, boy."

Cap shut his eyes before opening to glare at his mirror in black. "Never. Do good, and good will follow. Those are the words I live by, Adam."

"A mantra that will fail you, William."

"Not if I can help it, they won't."

Adam smirked, glancing at the crowd that surrounded them. "We'll see..." he said before vanishing in a black blur.

Cap let out a small, shaky breath as soon as he was gone, clutching his chest. A small smile appeared on his face, and he ran a hand through his hair. "Heh- that...that was my first supervillain," he said softly to himself, absolutely beaming. 

He turned his attention towards the crowd that surrounded him and swallowed thickly. "It's okay! I'm-" he paused, furrowing his brow.

"Haven't actually thought of a name for myself..." he muttered, rubbing at his chin absently.

An interaction flashed in his mind. He smiled softly.

"The name's Captain Marvel- and I...I'm here to protect you," he said with a small smile before he was suddenly swarmed by thankful citizens. 

The man's eyes bugged out of his head as he looked around, obviously a guy not used to the attention.

- - -

"...Remind me never to piss Cap off," Flash said, rubbing the back of his neck as he broke the tense silence of the room. Green Lantern nodded slowly, his eyes still wide as he stared at where Cap had been before the entire scene vanished.

"Yea, I don't need my insides becoming my outsides," Hal said with a shake of his head.

"Cap would never do that," Zatanna said, raising a brow at the brunet. "But that magic-- that was something else. I mean I get that he's the Guardian of the Rock of Eternity and all, but I had no idea he was intimately connected to it," she said with a small shake of her head.

"Uh....mind putting all that into English for the rest of us Z?" Hal asked.

"What Zatanna means to say is that the Captain possesses a magic that no others can. He may be a child but he guards the center of all magic, and is blessed by Gods to wield their powers in their stead. One of which happens to be my father Zeus..." Diana said. 

"The Rock Of Eternity is the source for all magic, in all realms-- no magic-user could wield their sorcery without it, and the Captian's main purpose for existing is to guard said place."

Batman nodded slowly. "So he's essentially a magical bodyguard for the infinite well of magic that this 'Rock of Eternity' is," he asked, raising an unimpressed brow. Diana and Zatanna both nodded. 

"Right. And this wizard thought a ten-year-old was the perfect candidate for that," Batman said in return.

Lantern plopped down on the floor, rubbing at his temples. "We gotta find a way out of here..." he muttered, shaking his head. The group nodded in agreement.

- - -