16608/All of Us Are Dead

All of Us Are Dead
Date of Scene:	17 December 2023
Location:	Happy Harbor Community Pool
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Billy Batson, Nico Minoru

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Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson has noticed the uptick in weird and paranormal events in Happy Harbor. Nothing seems to happen when Shazam shows up. Perhaps the creatures lurking in the dark are not eager to fight the Champion of Magic? Likely. So Billy is here, keeping a sharp eye out and playing his flute. Perfection of 'The Magic Flute' seems to elude him and he works at in near the deserted pool. It does keep his fingers working and warm.

Nico Minoru has posed:
Why would one be at the pool in the winter? Cause it was hopefully heated and indoors, so that meant that Nico, in her explorations of Happy Harbor, would stumble upon the pool.

Dressed in all black, from her tactical turtle neck and those matching leggings that cling to her lithe frame, she looks around, pursing her lips. The gothic Japanese girl keeps her duffel bag over her shoulder as she gauges just how crowded it is, and if she wants to actually go in for a dip.

Billy Batson has posed:
Nico will find the pool is neither heated nor inside. In fact most people are not here freezing their asses of. Just the guy with his flute, playing to no one. As she watches he stops and seems deep in thought.

Nico Minoru has posed:
Oh goodness! There's no one! It's out doors. Good thing, she's still wearing winter clothes to keep out that chill! Or else things might get a bit too nippy for her tastes.

The flautist gets her attention, looking towards him with her head tilting just abit. "You a Lizzo fan?" she wonders. Cause that's the most famous flautist she knows.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson takes the flute away from his mouth and answers. "Lizzo is all right. I like a bunch of tunes. Some C&W, I do a mean Unchained Melody -most people think it's corny. I can fake a lot if you hum a few bars. I'm Billy." He extends a hand to her. "Kind of late to be walking around here. There's been a lot of weird things happening here lately,"

Nico Minoru has posed:
Her own mystical senses is what brought her here, but she can't tell a seeming stranger that, right?

"Oh? Like what sorts of weird things?" Nico asks, feigning innocence as she glances about the place. "I mean, it's a pool in winter. How weird could things get really?"

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson points to the beach. "An Atlantean styled cyclops came out of the water. Shazam, New Superboy and thunderbolt turned it back just in time. Another time about a hundred people got mind controlled. Shazam managed to snap them out of it with the help of others. He, Thunderbolt and Pantheon have been patrolling the area. Is that enough for you?" He starts playing a little bit of 'Jerome' but has to fake it as said. "Like that?" he asks?

Nico Minoru has posed:
Heh.

Nico slowly nods. "Soo, in addition to weirdness, it seems you're a bit of a Shazam fanboy." Ooooh, if she only knew the truth. "I think it's probably too cold for something to come out of the water, yeah? And..." she looks around once more, pursing her lips as she tries to find anything out of the ordinary. "There aren't a hundred people around to get mind controlled, so I think we're safe on that."

As he plays Jerome. "That song is too whiny. I prefer her more upbeat stuff."

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson takes the flute out of his mouth and says, "well, we're both from Philly, I came to New York like he did, I met him a couple of times. He's... come a long way since he did street performance and charged phones. So yeah, I think he's all right!"

He is about to continue on the virtues of Shazam and the whole family when a gruff voice breaks in. A stooped, bald man steps out of a hole in the air, sigils flashing.

Your flute playing sucks, like everything you do, you are a failure at that too. But perhaps this will bring Shazam...

"Sivana!" Other portals open up and zombies step through, at least a dozen, around Billy and Nico.

Nico Minoru has posed:
"So... you're more than just a fanboy then." she says with a sage nod, completely misinterpreting why Billy would happen to know so much about Shazam. "I mean, from the pictures I've seen, he /is/ cute, and you can't go wrong with muscles." Nico quips.

Before she can continue, the gruff voice is heard and she looks towards baldy and squints as portals begin to open up.

Grumbling something under her breath, she reaches into one of her pockets and runs it across her left hand. Blood trickles from her palm, and if he looks close enough, he might notice a variety of healing scars upon that arm.

"When blood is shed, the Staff of One shall emerge..." As the mantra is completed, she lets out a long grunt as the witchbreaker form of the staff, now only at half size is pulled from her chest. Her right arm shimmers, revealing a metallic arm glowing with purple magical energies, most notably the gem that sits upon the back of her hand.

"I would get out of here."

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson assumes she cn handle herself for a bit. He flees, running behind Nico. Not the most chivalric move but, enough people knew the truth about him. So a peal of thunder is heard as Billy says, "Shazam!" Sivana steps back into his portal. "The Philly fiasco enters the fray! He snerks before exiting with a 'Heh heh heh.' Shazam swooshes over Nico's head, and coming up short as the portal closes. The man hovers in mid air sensing the magic around Nico. "Run Billy," he offers. The zombies continue advancing.

Nico Minoru has posed:
When the young man runs behind her, she lets out a soft sigh of relief. Holding the witchbreaker staff in hand, her right arm starts to gather purple energies about her. Negative thoughts. Bad memories. Those work perfectly in lieu of blood for her magics as she points towards two of the zombies.

"MICHONNE'S BROTHERS!" she calls out. It seems she's a Walking Dead fan as those purple energies coalesce into what can only be described as woman with bindings of similar purple energies around the two zombies.

Unlike the show, this allows her some level of necromantic control over the dead as those zombies groan and turn around to face their fellows.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson can tell everyone is dead. Nico excepted. Two zombies grab at him. Lightning arcs from him. It has no effect. No nervous system. Ugh... A punch knocks the first zombie's head off, tar like blood splatters doesn't seem to stick.The zombie's mate grapples Shazam, slurping noisily. "Get offa me!"

Nico Minoru has posed:
"Nnggggggh." Those would be the Michonne brothers getting controlled to head towards that one that is happily slurping on Shazam.

Naturally, since there aren't any immediate threats, she takes the time to check out said superhero, canting her head to the side before focusing back on the task at hand. "I already used the Thriller spell or this would be easy peasy." she grumps.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson tears the withered arms off him. "Ew, ew, ew! The help is appreciated! Ew." He turns and hammer fists the zombie which crumbles to dust. "This is the grossest fight of my life... are you a necrmantress... trix?"

Nico Minoru has posed:
"VORPAL SWORD PLUS ONE!" That would be the next spell as a razor sharp sword made of some mystical metal (Mysterium? Vibranium? Who knows? It's a magical construct) appears and immediately decapitates the two zombies under her control.

With a nosewrinkle, she curses under her breath, "Not them!" she says, as the heads roll, but it then spins and takes out another two zombies, slicing clean through before disappearing. There can only be so much vorpaling in one scene.

"I'm a wizard, 'arry." she calls backwith the worst British accent ever.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson grabs the zombie closest to Nico. He smashes it into it's buddy zombie, sneezes from the dust. "Name is Shazam... you got something against necromancers? One of them is my best friend." The sneezing fit is enough of a distraction for the six remaining zombies to swarm him, but Nico is left free! "Agggggh! Get off! Little help here wizard girl?"

Nico Minoru has posed:
Okay, so he now calls her wizard girl. There's a bit of a harumph with that as she shakes her head. "Necromancers are fine, but I'm just saying I can do more than that."

Cause she's a potential sorcerer(ess) supreme candidate in the future, right? "By the hoary hosts of Hoggoth!" That's something she heard from Stephen Strange.

It was more of a curse than an actual spell, but the Staff of One interprets her intention.

The ground starts to crack open as wriggling tentacles start to shoot out, trying to grasp onto the remaining zombies, but it's a slow thing. Tentacles tend to flail around blindly, grasping onto things that might be or might not be zombie legs, and only one or two are pulled into the earth once more.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson begins shoving zombies into the tentacles, wrapping the tendrils around the creatures. He kicks one away that grabs at his ankle. "Whatever, your shoggoth is downright rude! I'm Shazam if you weren't sure. Thanks for saving Billy." The tentacles are actually working out pretty well. Shazam watches as the zombies are dragged under the pavement, somehow. Shazam seems pristine but shakes imaginary dust from his cape.

Nico Minoru has posed:
As the zombies return to the ground from whence they came, she sighs softly and then winces once more as the Staff of One returns into her very core, her very being, her soul even. That metallic shimmer of her witch arm flickers before turning to 'look' like flesh once more.

"Billy is a fanboy. He might even have a crush on you, I think, but you're definitely crushable." she says waggling her brows at the superhero.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson smiles a little self conscious. "Oh no he's dating Kid Flash, the girl Kid Flash. Does that hurt? Sticking that staff between uhm... your sternum?" Shazam rubs the back of his neck. Crushable hunh? I'm actually very hard to crush... luckily. Heh."

Nico Minoru has posed:
There's a flit of her gaze as it washes over the muscular superhero and then she lets out a hearty laugh. "I think it would be hard to crush someone like you. And it's not in my physically. It's more like..." and she hrmms. "You know when there's something in your eye and you can't scratch it out? Imagine that feeling, but in your -soul.-"

Nico Minoru has posed:
And the fact that Shazam seems to know about Billy's dating life only causes her to quirk a brow. "Where -is- Billy?" Nico wonders, looking around.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson looks a little shocked. "Wait you're interested...? Me? Oh, Billy, I grabbed him and did a superspeed extraction, then came back to help you. I left him at that burger joint. He's a good kid, my number one fan... I didn't get your name..." Scared smile.

Nico Minoru has posed:
Since they're in superhero mode, she might as well give her nom-de-plume. "Sister Grimm." Nico says. If he isn't going to reveal his secret identity, she doesn't need to either. "I go by Sister Grimm." Yes, that's what all the people call her, right?

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson extends a hand. "Well it's a pleasure to meet you Sister Grim. I mean you don't seem particularly grim but I think I get it. Can I give you a lift anywhere?" Ohgodalift! Shazam you dummy.

Nico Minoru has posed:
It seems silly to waste a perfectly good Staff of One spell in getting home. Pursing her lips, she nods, "I have a place in Manhattan in the Lower East Side. It's across the Target and Whole Foods." she says, "Think you could take me there?"

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson nods, swallows quietly. "Sure. Not a problem," He holds his hands out to Nico. Well it was the least she deserved. "I can have you home in no time." Not quite true. She needed to be able to breathe. That meant about 100 mph. The fact was, he wasn't a Flash. Their Speed Force let passengers breathe and all that. So he holds his arms out for the petite wizard.

Nico Minoru has posed:
When he holds his arms up, she heads on over and flashes her pearly whites in his direction. "Once you're in Manhattan and over the Lower East Side, just look for the Target and Whole Foods sign." she explains before wrapping an arm around one of those brawny shoulders, copping a feel along the way.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson manages not to eep at the copping. He picks her up in the classic princess carry, which seems very scandalous to him and thinks of Irie. Needless to say, her weight is no problem for him. Billy could probably throw her over a shoulder. Don't think that way.

"Well here we go!" when Nico settles in. He lifts off and levels a thousand feet up. Pointing towards New York. He tries thinking of the Phillies.