16346/Shazam When the Walls Fell

Shazam When the Walls Fell
Date of Scene:	15 November 2023
Location:	Rock of Eternity
Synopsis:	Shazam gets advice from Nettieand an old friend!
Cast of Characters:	Billy Batson, Nettie Crowe

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Billy Batson has posed:
Desperate Wizard.

Dark Usurper.

Child, Pure of Heart.

One Magic Word.

Shazam sits in the conference area of the Rock, watching the news on his phone with one eye, the Enemies with the other. The torches are burning low and give his costume a darker hue. Shazam usually smiles but is not smiling now. In fact the arm of his chair bears a hand print where it was slapped.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    One Magic Word.

    The Rock permits visitors who arrive with intent to help, Nettie supposes as she arrives on her Besome, bundled up against the cold of flying from New York to Philly.

    And as she steps off, she pushes up her flight goggles, cheeks and nose red from the cold and her hair a little wind-blown as she regards the figure sitting in the chair. A heavy burden, leadership is.

     She can relate.

    "Good evening, Shazam." she greets him warmly, Broom sweeping upwards, and looing around a moment before settling a little behind Nettie, soundlessly, as a pair of crows come and perch on her shoulders.

    "What business have you brought to the Greywitch?"

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam shuts the phone, for a moment he lapses into the expression of a bored teenager. Where to begin?

"Dr. Sivana escaped from the mental hospital -using magic glyph. I photographed then as best I could. The printouts are there on the desk. Steve says it's like reading the Voynich Manuscript -whatever that is."

"When I stopped him and Seven... I thought I burned all memory of magic out of his brain. He never heard my last name or any of the sibs. We even moved twice. But... now I had to have a damned streaming show... so I don't know whether he's seen it. I don't know where he learned these glyphs from..." He gets up and carefully hugs Nettie if she'd let him, You can almost sense him holding up the Heavens.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Ooch. When even Steve is for a loss --" Nettie pauses, and she looks at Shazam... and then -- very carefully -- she hugs him back.

    "Hey, lad. Strength of Atlas doesn't mean you have to hold up the world, boyo." she states gently. "You have friends. We can help you. You helped me with finding and fighting some old witch. I'll do you the same, Billy." she gently states to the boy in the huge body, and she breathes out.

    "An' the Voynich Manuscript is utterly incomprehensible to most people." she states, and gives the boy a brief squeeze, before releasing him.

    She comes to the table, and crossing her legs in mid-air, skirts hanging around her, she starts taking a look at some of the glyphs, giving a soft hum.

    "Memory's a bit tricky. Take it from me -- actually, don't take it from me, but do give it a listen. I had to seal memories of magic from half my coven in the forties. It was a mess."

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam releases the witch. "I caused memory loss in him. I also changed the glyphs to activate the Rock's portals. He seems to have found new glyphs somewhere. removing his memories would be good. If he tries to hurt Victor or Rosa... I'll kill him." He has the tone of someone who suffered much at the hands of bullies, and would not be made to suffer again.

"But, there seems to be more to it. Sivana, Pan, they gave me problems in the past. Now there's this guy with a mohawk and bad teeth poisoning me with black flames shouting, "I'm back!" and trying to kill Tarot. Pan got a Fae assassin who badly injured Mary... it seems like everything is happening to me at once and... it's more than bad luck..."

The mention of the mahawked man screaming 'I'm back m ight trigger an old memory in the Greywitch.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Terror, cunning, Ferocity, cruelty. Ivan the Terrible, Cesare Borgia, Atilla, Caligula." Nettie frowns. She turns to Shazam, and she waves a hand. She so badly wants to take out one of her cigarettes and lift her flask, but she's trying to be respectful to The Rock.

    "IBAC. Not one of Lucifer's more endearing projects, supposedly speakin' -- really rather prefer His assistant and the bar." she mumurs softly, and she rubs her hands together, drawing her eyes back up to Shazam.

    "But luckily, you have a name. A tentative name. Which can be useful in binding. Provided it's still /Pintwhistle/." she frowns.

    "An' you're sayin' it hurt Mary and tarot, yeah?"

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam corrects, "A Fae assassin wounded Mary with a magic spear. Magic kills magic etc. He was hired by Pan. 'Ibac' tried to shoot Tarot. Both are fine. I'm afraid for the younger kids. Mary, Freddy and I have more experience with our powers."

Then he looks shocked, "Printwhistle? Theree's a guy lives around here named Printwhistle. They call him Stinker. Maybe Billy should pay him a call... He might know something."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Bloody hate messing with the Fae. That's how I ended up loosin' the color of m' hair and eyes. Used to be a Brunette. With a less pale complexion." Nettie states in explaination. "Could always petition the Constantines for protection. I'm sure no one would mess with your adopted parents from that end, but Fae do like their contracts and languages. I'd wager hiring a lawyer for that, but half of the best contract lawyers work for Hell -- direct or by extension." she muses. How much of that all is true is up for questioning. Nettie does occasionally spin yarns with half-truths.

    "Keep the young ones closer to home then. You have to bare the brunt of their frustration when they lose some of their privlages. An' it's not easy. And they will break out. Possibly get hurt. But leadership is awful for that." she hums.

    Yes, she has lots of experience on both sides of that coin.

    "I think th'd be a bad move for Billy to pay Pintwhistle a call, lad." Nettie's eyes dart over.

    "I may have reservations about some of the voices that offer your Greek Chorus in your head, but IBAC was custom created by some of the worst men in the history of the world to be awful. The worst cocktail. Caligula, who threw hundreds of spectators to wild beasts and listened to their cries of anguish with a smile. Atilla, forcing the deaths of non-combatant monks and children in his bloodletting. Cesarae Borgia, one of the most powerful and cruel men to rule through the Papacy, and Ivan who was so horrible that he was called Terrible and *enjoyed it*. He wasn't chosen, Billy. He *chose* to become the worst in Humanity."

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam folds his arms. "It is not like I'm stranger to this kind of thing. I've been in danger as Billy and Shazam. I'd just look around. Anyway, pretty sure I can take this Ibac guy. 'Shazam' has six letters but 'Ibac' is a four letter word."

"Oh hush lad. Go get the lady some refreshments in case she didn't bring her own. Smoke if you got 'em Greywitch. The Rock has been torch light for five thousand years. It won't mind the output of your coffin nail. Oh enter and be welcome, the usual stuff." The harsh yet soft spoken words come from a stocky man of color, dressed in a variety of robes and scarves, hair and beard a darker explosion around his dark face.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Nettie was about to comment to Shazam that IBAC was not to be taken lightly, given her own experience with fighting magicians when the third voice speaks up.

    And she leans over, and she regards the Wizard Shazam.

    "By my stars and black garters." she comments quietly. She does not light up, though. She leans back on her heels with thoughtful observation of the wizard.

    "Aye, couple thousand years is a bit more experience than I've got being a ray of sunshine, yeah."

Billy Batson has posed:
The wizard bows to Nettie, "My actual name is Mormoragan. Why don't you use it to avoid confusion. You are known to me Greywitch. You are a smart piece of work. I even considered your wife for... you know." He gestures at Shazam. "I did not move fast enough."

Shazam finally manges, "I saw you die!"

"You saw me disappear. It was a fine job. I disintegrated into glowing embers and ash. I admit being dead for a while did me a world of good... and you needed to stand on your own two feet, to be ready for this. Would it kill you to offer us some tea?"

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Nettie pauses and she gives a small swallow. She tilts her head back at the mention of Adelaide, and she presses her lips together. "Then if we're on a first-name basis, Nettie will do. Greywitch sounds quite old-fashioned next to the likes of Batman and Captain Marvel."

    Yes. Her writer used that on purpose.

    "If you had, perhaps she wouldn't have..." she pauses, and looks down, and her expression gives a tic.

    "Well. She would have done a bang-up job of it, though I would say she was never as tempered as our Billy." she murmurs... and she's quiet for a few moments as she looks between Shazam and Momoragan.

    "He's only got some store brand." she states, and with a wave of her hands and a couple of old fashioned sounding words, tea service for four appears, in a bone china tea set in plain, bone-colored glaze.

    It's piping hot. Leave it to the British witch.

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam glares at the Wizard. "So you think you can cut me loose and then just breeze back in here? I..." He sputters. The Wizard sips some tea and silently ahs.

"I did not leave for selfish reasons. I did what was necessary for you to become what you are. And mind your tone when you speak to an ancient Wizard, boy. Have some tea. The girl knows her stuff. She could sell this."

Shazam walks over to Mormoragan and says, "Become what? Mary's smarter, Pedro is stronger, Eugene uses lightning like a universal remote. Darla is a blur. Freddy... we have yet to test the limits of his guts. You messed up with me. Your Champion is second rate! Maybe you need a replacement?!" Mormoragan looks at Nettie a moment then slaps Shazam across the face. If it hurt his hand he gives no sign. Shazam is stunned. Magic vs. magic? Or just the suddeness.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Nettie gives a small cough as she's told she could sell this. She does, in fact, sell this blend.

    She does turn and she listens to Billy, and her heart sinks a little bit. She opens her mouth to disagree, and then Mormo slaps Shazam.

    There's not even a heartbeat that passes before Nettie is on her feet, her wand in her hand with the business end pointed at the Wizard.

    "Touch my lad again in violence an' you'll wish it were my wife you were dealing with." she states, eyes crackling with dark violet energy as her protective nature comes to the forefront.

Billy Batson has posed:
Mormoragan raises an eyebrow. "Remember the rules of hospitality, witch. He does not need your protection. His behavior deserved a rebuke. I will try again though, seeing what he has endured." He rises and puts his hands on Shazam's emblem.

"The villain always thinks he is a hero. The hero never wants the burden. You have learned humility. This is not a game or a power dream to you. Do you know why I chose you, William? You don't have a scrap of Wisdom in your brain but... your heart is good. You get up and keep fighting, when everything says you couldn't possibly. this duty, it is not a duty to you, You ARE Shazam."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Nettie doesn't deign to say that the wizard was right about hospitality... but hospitality doesn't extend in modern parlance to slapping children. And to Nettie? Billy Batson was indeed a child.

    She does lift her wand however, the cracking power ceasing from her eyes.

T"An' that could have been said without a slap." she comments dryly, and sips her tea. "You a'right, Billy?"

Billy Batson has posed:
The Wizard offers, "He was becoming hysterical. An hysterical Shazam is very bad."

Shazam says, "You don't slap someone to cure hysterics!"

The Wizard replies, "Sure you do. It works!"

Shazam snaps, "Because I wasn't hysterical!"

"It was pre-emptory."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Considerin' when I'm from 'hysterics' meant his ovaries and womb was wanderin' about, I doubt it. He was angry. He was facing doubt, an' instead of bein' a decent sort of gent you slapped him." Nettie sets her teacup down.

    "An' contrary to your observations, Mormo -- can I call you Mormo? I'm going to call you Mormo -- this lad is a child compared to folk like us. He blessedly hasn't seen war the likes of empires rising and falling, or the horrors of the dawn of modern warfare, an' I hope he never has to bare witness to the horrors you and I may have seen. Now." she sets her teacup down. If The Wizard is still holding a cup, it disappears with the rest of the tea set. Shazam's cup remains and Nettie hands it to the lad.

    "Now 'fore we get sidetracked again -- let's take a look at those sigils."