Shazam

Billy finally persuaded his family to accompany him to Fawcett City before Monday came.He may no longer be the rookie who has just received power, but when trouble strikes, his first reaction is to go to his former math teacher.So on that rainy Sunday afternoon, Alfred drove his family to Fawcett.It was very quiet along the way, and no one said anything; Billy couldn't speak, and Bruce and Damian were not talkative people, so they stopped talking altogether.After two hours of silence, the limousine stopped in front of an ordinary villa in the Fawcett residential area.Billy pushed open the small gate of the garden and came directly to the entrance of the villa, looking quite impatient.

Before he could ring the bell, the villa door swung open.Alea Glaucus stood at the door, seemingly waiting.She took Billy's hand and said softly, "Come in, boy."

Bruce and Damian followed Billy into the house.Damian said nothing, his face full of hostility.Bruce also had a lot of precautions inside, but at least he didn't put it on his face.He investigated this woman who didn't know how many secrets he held, but there was no result. Billy told him what he knew, but he didn't know whether it was true or not.It wasn't that Bruce doubted his son, but that Billy himself had figured out the identity and position of his mentor.But now standing in someone else's home, he can only politely extend his hand, with a smile on his face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you at last, Ms. Glaucus," said High Chin's prince politely. "Billy has told us many things about you. I'm sorry to show up without warning, but Billy I feel like you might be the only one who can help him right now.”—Even if it’s not possible, he at least wants to try to create an illusion of normality.

Aleya held his hand, and even responded perfunctorily, "Nice to meet you too, Mr. Wayne."

Everyone sat down in the living room, as if this was really just a tea party among friends, and Alfred even offered to go to the kitchen to prepare tea and snacks for everyone.But the pretense can only go so far.

Aleya ignored the other people in the living room, just staring at Billy.She began, "It should be clear to you that there is only one way to undo the curse. You have to find another way to unleash Captain Fantastic's powers, and that's the only way to undo the curse. The good news is, it's not entirely impossible; the bad news is it It's hard, and it's not even possible for you to do it, Billy."

Billy blinked, seemed confused, and seemed about to say something.Alea handed him a pen and a small notebook.Billy was not polite either, and hurriedly took a pen and paper and wrote down a sentence: I thought I had to say that word to release my power.

Aleya shook her head, "Not exactly. The key to truly unleashing power is lightning. That's why almost anyone can use electricity and magic-absorbing spells to turn you from Captain Fantastic back into a child. Of course, unleashing power Much harder than shutting down the power; you need Zeus's lightning, not just any electric current, but it's something that can be done. I can give you the right to use the lightning of Father Zeus, William Joseph Batson."

Billy's eyes widened in hope, but Arya paused thoughtfully.

"So?" After being quiet for too long, Damian couldn't help but snapped out, "Is there any 'but'?"

"Yes, the 'but' is that it is not easy for mortals to summon Zeus's lightning, even with the permission of God. After all, the essence of lightning is still lightning. In the body of a mortal, even I must first I have to learn to manipulate the magic of electromagnetism to master the power of Zeus again, although the thunder and lightning of the father god have always been my weapon."

Aleya raised her hand, and suddenly saw blue and white sparks jumping between her palms, and the air made a hissing sound.

"It's the power of Zeus, but it's also an electric current created by a 20-volt difference between my palms. It's one thing to have access to the power of Zeus, it's quite another to create an electric current out of mortal flesh— — This is a technique that you need to master yourself.”

Billy wrote anxiously in his notebook: How could ordinary people learn this?

"There are plenty of magic users who can manipulate electromagnetism, though they can't manipulate Zeus's lightning. The question is whether you can learn it, Billy. Mastering magic requires something innate."

Billy pursed his lips, and began to write on the paper again, each stroke becoming heavier and heavier.I will learn.swear.Whatever it takes me to do.

Aleya put her hand on Billy's head and said softly, "I hope it only takes a month or two of practice. You don't need to be a powerful wizard, you just need to be able to master a few spells to manipulate electromagnetic fields." It's ok. As long as you can generate two or three million volts, this is enough to summon Zeus's lightning. Come, take this; this is the spell book I compiled for myself many years ago. The first two are you needs."

Billy took the notebook and turned to the first page.A series of arrows and gestures were drawn on thin, yellowed lined paper, recording each step of the spell.

"Gestures and everything are very simple. If you are really proficient, you don't even need to use gestures," Aleya said. "The key is some inner things that cannot be explained." The object flew towards her, but stopped suddenly the moment it hit her, and then slowly fell to the ground or the sofa and coffee table.

Billy looked at his mentor, then at the spellbook in front of him.He raised his hand and carefully tried the spell recorded on it.Of course, as expected, nothing happened.Billy took another look at Aleia, and saw the teacher smiling at him tenderly but slightly sadly. "Cheer up, Billy, no one can do it the first time," Aleiya said, "Come on, come to me when you master the spell."

Billy noticed that his teacher said "when you get it" rather than "if you get it."So he nodded slowly, holding the spell book tightly to his chest.

But Billy made no progress at all in the next half month.Several times, the 11-year-old boy could not help but secretly speculate, maybe he really has no talent for magic?No matter how many times he practiced, no matter how focused he was, there was nothing—not a single spark.To make matters worse, Jason, who came to visit the manor once, tried the first spell in the book when he was bored, and then decisively short-circuited and tripped the electrical system of the entire Wayne mansion.Facing Billy who was deeply shocked, Jason had to tell a long and embarrassing story about being adopted by a hermit in the mountains after death and inheriting a magical artifact.Of course, Jason was the worst at explaining and encouraging things. Wishes are beautiful, but what he said just made Billy even more depressed.

It would have been fine if it was just a setback, but two weeks later the bombshell made it all the more urgent: Superman became the second Doomsday.No one could have imagined that after the battle with Doomsday, Superman was infected by the virus carried by Doomsday, and was gradually transforming into a monster that killed the world.

Seeing the news on TV, Billy froze.He stared at the news anchor on the screen in horror, with no trace of blood on his face.Damian listened for a few minutes, made sure he understood everything, and then turned off the TV.

"There's school tomorrow," Damian said. "Stop watching TV."

Billy looked back at his brother in disbelief, as if asking why Damian was still thinking about going to school at this time.He took out a pen and paper and scribbled down: So this is why my father was away for two weeks.How can he say nothing? !

"Because telling us won't help, it won't help at all."

Billy forgot to write and his hands were shaking badly.His lips move, and although there's no sound, Damian can probably tell it's something like "but I can help, maybe, do something" or something.Damian sighed helplessly.

"Think about it too, how could you have known that things would turn out like this? No one would have expected that. Besides, what if you could foresee today?" Damian poked Billy's chest hard, "I'll always be your miraculous Captain, kill this body, kill my brother—do you really want this? How dare you!"

Billy looked down.The only answer could only be "no", so he didn't know what else to say.After a moment of silence, he wrote another line on the paper: Can you help me?

"help you with what?"

Practice magic, Billy wrote.

Damian sighed again. He rubbed his forehead, but said in a very rare persuasive tone, "You should know that I'm completely indifferent to these mystical magic. Shall I call Todd? That guy should be more helpful." Seeing Billy's surprised face, Damian shrugged, "No, I still think Todd is a useless little bastard, but I'll call if you need He told him to roll over."

A smile appeared on Billy's face, but he shook his head and wrote again, it's all right, Jason should be busy, you can help, I hope you can help me.

"Okay," Damian sat down beside his brother, "what do you need me to do?"

They spent the night analyzing and copying spell patterns over and over, practicing gestures, turning the book of spells from beginning to end and back again, even though only the first three spells really worked for them.At almost eleven o'clock, Alfred brought milk tea and biscuits, and reminded them that they had to go to school tomorrow.So Billy turned on the TV again: the talk of Superman's Doomsday filled every channel.So Alfred had to admit that if they could help in any way it was worth the effort.Damian couldn't remember whether they had made any progress in the end—probably not—so he woke up in a daze and found himself still in the living room, fell asleep on the sofa.Billy was asleep on the sheepskin rug by the fireplace, the spellbook clutched tightly in his hand.The morning sun penetrates through the cracks in the curtains, heralding a new day.

Damian yawned and stretched his arms and legs.Looks like you have to go to school today?But yesterday was too busy, I wonder if Alfred will give them a day off?Probably not.But whatever.So Damian fell back on the couch.