“Intervention”
Captain Marvel and CM3 emerged from the hangar where the T-jet was stored and flew into the air. “What are you doing here, Billy?” CM3 asked. “I came to check on you,” Captain Marvel admitted. “I’ve been a little worried.” “About what?” CM3 asked. “Those feebs we’ve been fighting? No problems there.” “That’s not what I’m talking about,” Captain Marvel said as he floated there, his arms crossed. “Don’t you think it’s kind of odd how many of your enemies have been hospitalized lately?” “So what?” CM3 asked. “Freddy, I’ve seen the files,” Marvel said. “You’re getting out of control.” “That’s nuts,” CM3 said. “I’m just doing what I’ve always done. Stop the bad guys.” “But why do you have to be so brutal?” Marvel asked. “You never were back in Fawcett City or when you were with the Teen Titans.” “Don’t talk to me about the Titans,” CM3 said. “The whole time I spent there, all I wanted to do was take that smart-assed Superboy out back and teach him a thing or two.” ”Freddy, listen to yourself,” Marvel said. “You don’t understand. I didn’t, until I remembered something the wizard had told me.” ”And what’s that?” CM3 asked, getting tired with the whole discussion. “Did he finally fill you on the whole boy vs. girl difference?” “That was out of line,” Marvel said, trying unsuccessfully to hide the hurt in his voice. “Was it?” CM3 demanded. “What about coming all the way to California just to check up on me? Why did you do it? Do you check up on Mary all the time?” ”Freddy, listen,” Marvel said. “You have to hear this.” ”I don’t have to hear anything!” CM3 retorted. “And I’m sick of listening to you. I’m out of here.” As CM3 turned to fly away, he found his way blocked by a large red object with a lightning bolt. “No, Freddy,” Marvel said. “You’re going to stay and listen.” ”Get out of my way,” CM3 growled as his hand clenched into a fist. “You big… Red… CHEESE!” CM3 screamed as he attacked. “Hello?” Gar Logan called as he and his wife Tara entered the base. “Is anyone here?” There was no answer. “That’s nice,” Tara said. “We get back from our honeymoon and nobody’s here.” ”Come on,” Gar said. “It’s not like we called or anything.” Hand in hand, the newlyweds walked through the base, stopping when they entered the monitor room. Bette, Paco, and Mal were all gazing intently at the monitors. ”What’s going on?” Gar asked. “Captain Marvel stopped by,” Bette replied without taking her eyes from the screen. “So what’s so interesting?” Gar asked as he and Tara moved to see the screen as well. “CM3 just dropped him,” Mal said as Captain Marvel plunged toward the ground on the screen. “Freddy, knock it off!” Captain Marvel said as he plowed into the thick concrete slab that was all that was left of the Titans’ former headquarters. “No way!” CM3 replied with a sadistic smile on his face. “I’ve been holding back for way too long. With you I get to cut loose!” CM3 turned himself into a human missile and slammed into Captain Marvel’s midsection, driving them both into a crater. Mal flipped a switch on the monitor board and a screen lit up with a camera shot of an empty railway. Dirt fell to the ground. “That was lucky,” Mal said. “That’s our track to the hangar.” ”Should we move the jet?” Tara asked. “If you want to get in the middle of that, feel free,” Mal said. “Me? I’m sitting right here until this is over.” Captain Marvel climbed out of the crater, the tattered remains of his cape fluttering weakly behind him. “Freddy, stop this!” he yelled. “I’m not going to keep warning you.” “Fine by me,” CM3 said as he grabbed a steel girder from debris that was still awaiting removal. He swung it into Captain Marvel, sending the other hero flying. He waited until Captain Marvel slammed into the ground and cocked his arm back. “Try this!” he yelled as he threw the girder like a javelin. Captain Marvel stood and easily caught the girder. “That’s enough,” he said as he crunched the steel into a ball. “I didn’t come here to fight.” “Too bad,” CM3 replied. “Because I am.” With a scream, he launched himself at Captain Marvel again. This time Captain Marvel didn’t sidestep or dodge. The impact sent the two of them skidding across the ground almost into the fence that surrounded the property. In a forgotten cavern deep below the old base, the impact caused two rotting wires to touch. A spark of electricity traveled between them, causing rusted machines to activate. Before the generator failed for the final time, two eyes opened. “That’s enough,” Captain Marvel said, launching himself into flight. “You need to hear this.” He paused to dodge CM3’s latest attack. “When was the last time you changed back into Freddy?” ”Who cares?” CM3 asked with a smirk. “Why should I? Freddy Freeman’s a crippled loser. CM3’s perfection.” ”That’s what I thought,” Captain Marvel said. “The wizard told me that this is what happened to Black Adam. He was a hero until he stayed changed for too long. He forgot what it was to simply be Teth-Adam. You can’t stay this way. It affects your mind.” ”Wrong,” CM3 sneered. “I can and I am. I’m not giving up this perfection for anything!” He launched at Captain Marvel again and caught the larger hero with two fists in the midsection, causing all of the air to rush out of Captain Marvel’s lungs. A left hook snapped Marvel’s head back and a double-fisted haymaker to the top of the head sent him plummeting into the ground again. “Man,” Paco said. “I never thought Cap was such a wuss.” ”He’s not,” Gar said as he studied the screen. ”What do you mean?” Paco asked. “I see it, too,” Bette said. “Captain Marvel’s not even trying to fight back. He’s just taking what CM3 can dish out.” “Exactly,” Gar said. “Now the question is why?” “I don’t want to hurt you, Freddy,” Marvel said as he picked himself up. “But this is really getting old.” “That’s too bad, Billy,” CM3 replied, “Because I sure want to hurt you!” ”Then we’ll do it like this,” Captain Marvel said. An eye blink later, he had grabbed CM3 from behind in a bear hug. “What are you doing?” CM3 yelled. “Ending this,” Marvel said as he launched them into the air and drove back down to the ground. As they impacted, Marvel took enough of the impact to avoid doing any more damage to CM3 than dazing him. He stood, still holding the groggy CM3. “Shazam,” Marvel whispered. CM3’s eyes went wide. “BILLY, NO!” he screamed as the mystic lightning bolt sizzled down and engulfed them both. Mal let out a cry as the screens went dark. “What happened?” Bette asked. “I don’t know,” Mal replied, studying readouts. “Some sort of massive power surge just blew the security cameras.” “Great,” Gar said. “This just keeps getting better and better. I can’t ever leave you people alone again.” “Why do you say that?” Paco asked. “You remember what happened last time,*” Gar said. (*Way back in TW #6! – db) Billy Batson let Freddy Freeman fall to the ground. Freddy’s eyes were closed and he was sobbing. Billy walked a safe distance away and said the magic word again. The lightning struck again and Captain Marvel had returned. Marvel gently scooped Freddy up and flew back to Titans West headquarters. Freddy opened his eyes and saw that he was lying on the bed in his room. He glanced down and saw his damaged leg and instinctively began to say Captain Marvel’s name. Marvel’s hand immediately clamped around Freddy’s jaw, preventing him from speaking. Marvel sat down beside him on the bed. “Feeling better?” he asked. Freddy sheepishly nodded. “I thought so. The wizard said that the aftereffects of your prolonged transformation should start fading and be gone in about a week.” Marvel released Freddy’s jaw and looked down. “I don’t know what you go through,” he admitted. “I just know that it’s got to be easier for you as CM3.” Marvel raised his head and looked Freddy in the eyes. “At least make me a promise. I know you will always spend more time as CM3 instead of Freddy because of your leg. At least promise me that you’ll change back before you go to bed. That should help to keep this from happening again.” ”All right,” Freddy said. Before he could speak again, Marvel stood and started walking toward the door. “Go ahead and get some rest. We can talk more later,” he said kindly. He closed the door behind him. “Are you okay?” Bette Kane asked. Marvel was a sight. His cape was gone, his hair was mussed, and bruises covered his face. “I’ll be okay,” Marvel said with a smile. “He just needed to vent some frustrations. I heal pretty fast, though. By the time I get back to Fawcett City all of this will be gone.” He waved goodbye and flew into the exit tunnel leading back to the hangar. “Great,” Gar said. “With CM3 out of action, that really drops our strength levels, which weren’t that high to begin with.” ”Then you’re in luck,” a familiar voice said. They turned to look at the speaker. Cody Driscoll stood there with Lilith behind him. “Risk is back!” Next Issue: Risk is back! But what has been awakened beneath the old base? Previous Issue | Next Issue |
