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“I think we all know why I called this meeting,” said Superman, Clark, pointing to the video being played on screen in the watchtower meeting room.
The video was a news report from Fawcett City, where Captain Marvel was fighting an army of doomsday robots made by Dr. Sivana, which was actually the most normal thing about the recording.
What was not normal were the two people fighting alongside the Captain. One was a teen boy who was smaller than him with blond hair and a blue suit. They could hear his excited chatter over the video each time he passed by the camera. The other was a teen girl who was nearly identical to Marvel in looks, if not for her being a head shorter with longer hair, softer, more feminine features, and a white costume with a skirt rather than Cap’s classic red.
Captain Marvel himself watched the news report like it was the most normal thing in the world. Maybe it was normal to him, considering the number of secrets the man kept.
All he said was “Huh, they managed to get them on camera this time.”
“You know who they are?” Batman, Bruce, asked.
“Dude, you didn’t tell us you had sidekicks!” Green Lantern, Hal, said at the same time.
Captain Marvel’s eyes narrowed at Hal’s comment. “They are not my sidekicks,” he said firmly, “They are heroes in their own right and nearly as strong as I am.”
“Still, how come we never heard of them before?” asked Wonder Woman, Diana. She sounded hurt.
Marvel had the decency to look at her apologetically. “Mary and Junior prefer to stay out of the spotlight,” he told her, which wasn’t a complete lie. They wanted to see how long they could hide their existence from the Justice League, which was apparently two years. “They’re usually able to join a fight and get away before the camera crews show up. Guess they came early this time.”
“It’s impressive how you’ve managed to keep a couple of superpowered kids hidden this long,” the Flash, Barry, said, “Spooky here clocked Wally the moment he went out in the suit for the first time.”
“So, what’s your opinion on raising your children into superheroes?” Green Arrow, Oliver, asked, leaning forward in his seat.
“Right, raising them,” said Marvel. Because here was the secret, they were not Billy’s kids, they were his siblings, one of them his older twin, in fact. But the family had agreed upon the lie of them being his kids, and Billy had to follow through. “Well, I, uh, I just raised them with the same mentality my parents raised me with, do good and good will follow, you know?” Marvel responded
“They’re good kids, even if Jr. has a habit of sneaking out when he thinks I’m not paying attention,” true “and Mary’s preparing for college.” True again, though Mary was one of those kids who started getting ready for college before she was even in high school. She scares Billy sometimes.
“Well that’s amazing Captain” said Clark, a genuine smile filling his face, “It’s clear that you’ve raised some fine young individuals. I’m sure they’ll do great.”
“Have you ever considered introducing them to the Titans?” asked Diana, “I’m sure Cassie would love to introduce some new members.”
“Right,” said Marvel, standing up, “Well, would you look at the time! I have to get home. Itwasgreatseeingyoubye!”
Billy sped out of there using every last bit of the Speed of Mercury.
-
Freddy, the little shit, was laughing his ass out in the trio’s small apartment.
“Shut up Freddy, it’s not that funny!” said Billy, showing a pillow at the younger boy. It only made him laugh harder.
“I still don’t completely like this lie,” said Mary.
“You still agreed to it,” said Freddy.
“So what’s your plan if they start asking more questions?” Mary shot back, “Like about Black Adam, or Kid Eternity, or gods forbid us?”
“We’ll make it up as we go,” Freddy responded, leaning back in his seat on the couch, “We’ll just make sure to keep each other updated so stories don’t get mixed up.”
“Okay, fine. But if you do anything embarrassing with my story I will start telling people your a shapeshifter and your true form is one of those acidic goo cubes from the Dungeons and Dragons movie” Billy threatened and Freddy squawked, throwing the pillow Billy had thrown back at the older’s head, only to miss and hit Mary instead when he dodged.
“Hey!”
-
Billy and Freddy were helping with city clean up after an attack staged by King Kull when the first incident happened.
“Oh Captain, please go on a date with me!” a civilian woman screamed to Marvel, his face flushing bright red, but before he could politely decline, Junior stepped in.
“Hey!” he shouted back to her, “That’s my Dad!”
“Oh! Oh no, I’m so sorry!” the woman said apologetically. She seemed horrified.
“You better be!” said Junior, “My Mom would not appreciate this!”
Over an hour later, when cleanup was complete and the duo were heading back to the Rock of Eternity, Billy finally mentioned it.
“Freddy” said Billy, “That was awkward, now people are gonna think I’m married! What do I tell the Justice League when they ask about my wife?!”
“Dude, just tell them she wants to stay out of hero stuff” said Freddy, “Plus, I technically didn’t lie that much. I said you were my Dad, which was the lie we agreed on, and my Mom would not approve, considering you’re underage.”
Billy sighed, but smiled and said “If you're my son then you’re grounded.”
Freddy grinned widely. “Only if you can catch me” he said before shooting off across the city. Billy only pauses for a moment before giving chase.
-
“So, their mother?” asked Black Canary, Dinah.
“Prefers to stay away from hero business, please don’t ask about her” said Marvel, raising a hand.
Dinah gave a single solemn nod before changing the subject.
-
“This place is amazing” Mary Marvel, well, marveled, at the sight. She was actually inside of Titans Tower. She might not be as much of a hero nerd as Freddy, but she couldn’t say she didn’t care about them.
“Thank you” said Cassie Sandmark, freaking Wondergirl!, “We do our best to keep messes inside our rooms” she pointed to one of the other heroes currently in the Tower, who was eating a bowl of plain rice while wearing full kevlar get up. He wore red and black, and his hair was covered enough by his hood that Mary couldn’t tell the color.
Said hero shrugged, and Cassie sighed. “If you decide to take our offer and stay the night, don’t be surprised to find Red Robin here asleep on the couch in the morning. His room had been deemed uninhabitable due to all his clutter.”
“It’s not that bad!” Red Robin argued.
“Red” Cassie deadpanned, “Kon went in for five minutes, then passed out because one of your experiments had aerosolized kryptonite and he’s a krytonian. If you sleep in there for a night, I’m afraid you’ll get cancer.”
Red Robin shrugged, then went back to his laptop and plain rice. Cassie sighed. “I’m sorry about him” she said, “I swear the rest aren’t nearly as bad.”
“I hear that!” said Red Robin.
“Good!” Cassie shot back. They fought like siblings, Mary would know.
“As much as I would like to take your offer-” Mary did not, as because of the Stamina of Atlas, they had no clue of what would happen if they fell asleep while transformed, aside from the one time Captain Nazi had knocked out Freddy and he had detransformed without the word, “-but the Captain worries about us, especially after my parents died.”
The two Titans froze at that. “Wait, what?” Red Robin asked, standing.
“Oh, yeah” said Mary, rubbing the back of her neck, “My parents died when I was ten.”
“But, isn’t Marvel your Dad?”
“Shit” Mary thought, “H-he is’” said Mary, before thinking “Please don’t kill me Billy” and continuing with “-but when I was four Black Adam kidnapped me. I escaped, but got amnesia and was taken in by a civilian family. Marvel found me and I got my memories back, but not long after Black Adam attacked and killed my parents.”
Cassie and Red Robin looked horrified and Mary winced. “Sorry Billy” she thought.
-
“You said WHAT?!?” Billy shrieked. Mary had the decency to look apologetic.
“I barely even lied,” said Mary.
“How am I supposed to explain that Black Adam is barely even evil anymore when you said that?!” Billy complained.
“You can say that he was being influenced by Blaze and Satunus,” Freddy suggested, “Ya’ know, since they were the ones that actually killed Mary’s parents.
Mary had to run over to prevent her twin from ramming his head into the wall.
-
“I heard about Mary’s adoptive parents,” said Diana, “Please tell her I am sorry for her loss.”
“Wait, Mary’s adopted?” Clark asked, confused.
Marvel groaned. “It’s a long story. Just be aware that Mary is my kid, we were separated, she was adopted by another family for a while, and then they died.”
“I heard that Black Adam killed them,” said Barry, “and kidnapped her beforehand.”
“Didn’t you tell us a couple months ago that he wasn’t that bad?” asked Aquaman, Arthur.
“He isn’t” said Marvel, rubbing his temple, “He was being controlled by Blaze and Satunus.”
“Who the hell are they?” asked Hal.
“The children of the Wizard.”
“Who’s the Wizard?” asked Aquaman.
“The person who created Adam and I” said Billy before freezing. “Shit shit shit-”
“Wait, would that make Black Adam your brother?” asked Flash, eyes widening, “Wait, are Blaze and Satunus your siblings?”
“...y-yeah?” said Marvel hesitantly, “It’s complicated.”
“I thought Bruce’s family was complex,” said Clark wearily.
Marvel chuckled. “It gets worse” he said, “Blaze and Satunas are trying to overthrow the supreme rulers of Hell to lead an army of the damned to take me down as revenge for the Wizard sending them there.”
Barry whistled. “I would hate to go to your family reunions,” he said.
“Isn’t the Reverse Flash related to you through Bart?” Marvel questioned.
Barry froze. “What?” he asked weirily.
“He hasn’t mentioned it?” Marvel asked, feigning obliviousness because he knew damn well that Bart never told Barry “That’s the reason he keeps trying to make up with Thad even though he’s tried to kill him several times, they’re cousins.”
In the blink of an eye, Barry was gone, and the Zeta System called out “F-01 has left location: Watchtower and arrived at location: Central City.”
Hal wheezed out a small laugh before looking straight at Bruce and Clark before saying “Guess you're not the only ones who’re related to your villains anymore.”
Bruce's face twitched, and Clark buried his head in his hands.
-
“He really said that?” Mary gasped after hearing what Lantern said and Freddy whistled.
“That man is savage,” he said.
“To be fair, Batman doesn’t really react to anything, and he usually thinks Lantern’s entire existence is a joke,” said Billy, pulling out the paper bag of Chinese takeout he picked up on the way to the apartment.
“Ooo, did you get my sweet n’ sour chicken?” asked Freddy.
“Always,” said Billy, “and Mary’s orange chicken, and my sesame.”
“Nice.”
-
“Thanks for coming Junior!” Beast Boy shouted over the chaos.
“No problem!” Freddy shouted back, “Always happy to help! Plus, these guys are weak to lightning, it’s like I was made for this!”
There had been a small alien invasion in Jump City, just across the bay from Titan’s Tower. They were weak to electricity, which resulted in them calling in Captain Marvel Junior, seeing as the Senior was on a space mission with the Justice League.
“Need some help?” came a voice from behind Freddy.
“Kit?” Freddy asked, turning around with surprise, “What’re you doing here?”
Christopher “Kit” Freeman, Freddy’s ghostly brother, grinning from his position. “Just checkin’ in” he said casually, “Cap’s outta town so now I gotta keep an eye on you.”
“I appreciate the sentiment” Freddy said, blasting another alien, “But I’m doing just fine on my own.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll sit back and let you take care of it” Kit backed away, letting Freddy do his thing...
“Are you sure you don't want me to summon Zeus?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Got it.”
-
After the fight was over, Kit followed Freddy as he went to re-group with the other Titans.
“Good work everyone” said Starfire, “The threat has been defeated and-” she cut herself off, “Captain Marvel Junior, who do you have with you.”
Kit snickered. “”Captain Marvel Junior”, that’s what they call you?” he asked.
“Shut up Kid,” Freddy responded.
“I’m just sayin’, I think “Kid Eternity Junior” has a nice ring ta’ it” his brother responded.
Cassie coughed into her hand. “Do you feel like introducing your friend here, Junior?”
Before Freddy could say anything, Kit said “Hey to ya’ll, I’m Kid Eternity, Cap-Junior’s dead older brother.”
Silence, absolute silence. Freddy sighed.
“Dude,” he said, “You’ve got to stop telling people you’re dead.”
“Am I lyin’?” Kit asked, turning to his brother, “I technically am dead, they jus’ let me come back because it “wasn’t my time”.”
Freddy groans internally. “Because it freaks people out,” he responded.
“If a little death freaks ‘em out that much then it’s gonna be a little difficult for ‘em ta’ make it through life, but whatever ya’ say” Kit responded, shrugging. He turned before walking down the street. “Nice meetin’ ya’ll, bye” he waved before vanishing into thin air.
“Billy is so gonna kill me,” Freddy thought.
-
“I’m not going to kill you, but only because technically it wasn’t your fault.”
“Technically it was his fault because he forgot to tell Kit our plan.”
“Mary, you fucking snitch-”
-
When Marvel next entered the Watchtower, there was a somber atmosphere. Diana walked up to him once he entered the meeting room and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I am sorry for the loss of your son, Marvel. We all are.”
Marvel took a breath, sighed internally, then said “Kid Eternity isn’t my son.”
At the Justice League’s strange looks, he elaborated. “Once when Junior was pretty young he managed to escape my watch. When I eventually found him, he had made friends with two kids, the older of which was Kid Eternity’s civilian identity.”
“When Kid died in a freak accident, the underworld’s handlers realized he died too soon and made up for it by bringing him back as a ghost and giving him powers. He eventually met up with Junior and mistook him for his younger brother, since they look really similar. He’s since found his actual brother, but he still considers Junior a pseudo brother.”
“Huh” said Dinah, “that is… incredibly complicated.”
Marvel sighed. “You have no idea.”
-
Freddy finished explaining their plan to his brother over the phone and waited in silence for him to respond.
“You realize how fucking stupid this is, right?” Kit finally responded.
“It’s not that bad.”
“...”
“It isn’t, right?”
“...”
“...”
“...”
“... we’re idiots, aren’t we?”
“Yes, yes you are.”
-
“Why can’t the Wizard teach me magic? Or one of the gods?” asked Billy.
“The gods do not understand normal human limits-” said Ibis the Invincible, “-and due to your frankly excessive amounts of magic, you could risk vaporizing the Wizard’s ghost if you mess up.”
“Wait, really?” asked Billy in shock. Ibis raised an eyebrow.
“You are not only the Champion of Magic, but also Eternity’s heir” he responded, “You are already much stronger than any other magic user, and you do not have much time before you even surpass Shazam and the other members of the Council of Eternity.”
“Huh,” said Billy, looking down at his own hands, “wait, then why was Cerce able to mess with my transformation?”
“Due to your young age, your magic is still chaotic, and Cerce was able to take advantage of that weakness” Ibis responded, “Until then you learn to overcome this, and your transformation is able to be activated once more, I will be training you to use your human magic.”
“Alright then” said Billy, nodding firmly, “though, probably not right here, we might break something important, or release the Sins.” Currently, the duo was standing in the main area of the Rock of Eternity, which contains the thrones, the door to Billy and his sibling’s apartment, the eternally burning violin, and the statues of the Seven Deadly Sins of Man, which actually were the Sins, just contained.
Ibis, thankfully, nodded in agreement. “We can either try to find a training room somewhere here, or go to my home, which has a usable courtyard.”
“Uhh, let’s try to find a space here” said Billy, “I’m sure-” he was cut off as a ringing sound filled the room. A very familiar ringing sound.
His Justice League comm.
“Shit” said Billy, running across the room to grab it off the council table, “I can’t answer! My transformation is down!”
Ibis sighed. “Why not answer as yourself?” he questioned.
“Because they don’t know I’m a kid” he hiss, holding the still ringing comm.
“I did not mean as a child Captain Marvel” Ibis said, “I meant as Billy. Incorporate yourself into the lie you and your family have created.”
“Huh” Billy thought, looking down at the comm, “That could work.”
And so, Billy summoned every inch in his teenaged street-kid defiance, and answered the comm with a sass filled “Hello?”
There was silence for a moment before Batman’s growl came through with “Who is this?”
“My name is Billy” the younger responded, trying to sound calm even though he was frankly terrified that the league would figure him out, “Captain Marvel isn’t here right now. He dropped his comm off with us before heading to, a, uh, different dimension. Told me to tell you if you called.”
“That is… incredibly irresponsible” said Batman’s voice.
“At least he thought to tell you,” said Billy, “Bye-”
“Wait” came another voice, this time Superman’s, “How do you know Captain Marvel?”
Billy breathed. “I’m… his nephew” he said hesitantly.
“Wait, are you Black Adam’s son?” came yet another voice. Green Lantern.
Billy scoffed. “Yeah, he would totally drop his super important Justice League communicator off with his former nemesis’s son.”
“Yeesh” came Lantern’s voice again, “Did you have to have so much sarcasm?”
“Yes, yes I did” said Billy, “Anyways, I’m gonna go, because unlike you old people, I have stuff to do. You can ask the Captain about it when he gets back. Bye.”
“Wait-” was said again, but Billy resolutely hung up.
“This is gonna be a pain when I get my powers back” he thought.
-
“This is going to backfire in the worst way possible, they’re gonna figure out who you are, and then they’re gonna figure out who we are,” Mary ranted, tugging at her hair strands as she paced back and forth.”
“It’ll be fine,” said Freddy, before thinking for a moment, “maybe.”
“See! Even Freddy’s having second thoughts! And Freddy never thinks!” Mary near-wailed.
“Hey!” Freddy responded, “That was uncalled for.”
“I’ll figure it out,” said Billy, “Maybe I can say Cap was raised with Dad for a bit so he could have a “human” family. That’ll explain why they look so similar.”
“And if they find out “Billy” has magic?” asked Mary.
“... maybe I can say Cap is the Champion of Magic and I’m Eternity’s Heir?” Billy suggested, “I can kinda separate the two since not many people know I’m both, and I could say that’s how the Captain trusts me so such, he’s training me!”
“This is going to go so horribly wrong” Mary groaned.
“... we’re screwed,” Freddy agreed.
-
They were in fact, not screwed (yet, at least).
As Marvel walked into the Watchtower a week later (stupid Cerce), the League gave him the weariest expressions he had seen since Wizard scolded him for breaking the staff.
“Sorry about being gone for so long” Marvel apologized, sitting down, “I heard Billy gave you a bit of trouble.”
Hal groaned. “You have no idea.”
“So, is he Blaze or Satunus’s child?” Zatanna asked.
“No, actually,” said Marvel, “He’s my, uh, adoptive brother’s son.”
“You have more siblings?” Hal sputtered, “What the hell, where do they keep coming from?”
“Well,” said Marvel, prepared to lie his ass off, “When I was younger, the Wizard wanted me to have some normal human experiences, so he dropped me off with a civilian family who I grew up with for a while. Billy is the son of the younger brother of the family.”
“The Batson’s” Bruce said. The League turned to him. “When I ran Captain Marvel’s face when he first appeared to attempt to figure out who he was, it came back as Clarence Charles, or C.C., Batson. He is a deceased archaeologist who had an older brother, Ebeneezer Batson, a wife named Marylin Batson, who was also a deceased archaeologist, and two children, a pair of twins by the names of Mary and William. Billy is a common nickname of William.”
Hesitantly, Marvel nodded. “That’s them,” he responded, “When I became a hero, I based my form off of C.C.'s, since he and I were always close. When we were younger, I asked him what he would be called if he were a hero. He told me “I would be called Captain Marvel, since I would be the captain of a ship and it would be oh so marvelous“. It’s my way of honoring him. So, yeah…”
Marvel trailed off, watching as the League’s faces grew somber. Billy felt a bit shocked with himself as well, he hadn’t expected his answer to come out so real, but… but he couldn’t lie about his Dad. They were close, and he had told Billy the same story about the marvelous ship when his son had asked that question at age three.
“May we ask how he died?” Diana questioned gently, “You do not have to answer, of course-”
Marvel waved a hand. “It’s fine, Diana, and really, it was just a case of wrong place and wrong time” he said, “He planned a trip with his family to go to Kahndaq for a dig, but Billy ended up being sick, so they left him home with Ebeneezer. Him, Marylin, and Mary were searching a tomb in a cave and it ended up being Black Adam’s. He woke up and the cave collapsed.”
“Did you name Mary Marvel after Mary or Marylin Batson?” Dinah questioned, and Marvel nodded his head slightly.
“Marylin” he responded, “Mary is still alive.”
“I read that she was presumed dead” Bruce commented, “Do you know where she is?”
“She’s with Billy” Marvel nodded, “She hit her head and got amnesia when the cave collapsed, managing to leave the country under the last name of one of the family’s cousins, the Bromfields, and get back to America by herself. When they found her and realized she only remembered them, Nick and Nora Bromfield adopted Mary, but couldn’t find Billy since he had run away from foster care and Ebeneezer wasn’t talking to them.”
“Mary found Billy about three years ago, but around the same time Nick and Nora died in one of Blaze’s rampages in the city, so they went on the run together. I only found them both around a year ago, and have been doing my best to take care of them since” Marvel finished. The room filled with a heavy silence before Diana stood up and clapped him on the shoulder.
“You are doing good, brother. The burden you carry is heavy, but you handle it better than many of us ever could” she said, “I am proud.”
Marvel teared up a bit. “Thank you, Diana, truely” he said, smiling at her. The princess smiled back.
-
“How did you get away with it?” Mary said as Billy finished recounting the story to the other two, “And why does that story sound scarily viable?”
“I guess I’m just that good,” said Billy, smirking.
“Kit’s still sure this is gonna backfire on us pretty soon” Freddy said.
“Hmm” said Billy, “Tell him I bet him fifty dollars we can keep this up for another month.”
“Got it!”
“I’m getting a headache just thinking about how complicated this all is,” said Mary.
“What’s so hard to understand?” asked Freddy, “You’re my best friend’s sister… and said best friend is pretending to be our father and his own nephew.”
Mary just sighed and buried her face in her hands.
-
Family is complicated, but luckily, the Marvels have this in the bag.
For now, at least.