Chapter 28: Meeting Spiderman's Team.

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(Billy's P.O.V)

I felt something heavy land on my shoulder. Looking up, my eyes trailed over his rocky appearance, before managing to land on The Thing's wide grin.

"Nice going Sparky."

He patted me on the shoulder again. Only the fact that I was holding onto the trident of Neptune allowed me to stay standing.

"I didn't really do much but I appreciate it."

I responded. While I'd been the key figure in resolving the incident (that sounds more boastful than I'd intended), I didn't feel comfortable accepting the praise.

"Yeah. Nice going, Shazim."

Johnny said, slinging his arm over my shoulders.

"It's Shazam, Johnny. Not a hard name to pronounce the right way."

Invisible Woman corrected.

"I was going to go with Sparky. It matches your style. You should rebrand."

Ben pitched in.

"I'm guessing it's probably because of the giant symbol of lightning on my chest?"

I asked with a sweat drop. There is no way I was going to rebrand and start calling myself Sparky.

"Sparky? Seriously? You suck at names dude,"

Johnny teased Ben.

"Admit it Shizam is waaay better than Sparky."

He replied cheekily.

"You're both messing with me, aren't you?"

I sighed, blankly staring at the two.

"As if you can make fun of my name. Human Torch and The Thing. Not really inspired."

Spidey snorted.

"He got there."

The humor ended abruptly when out of nowhere, the whole tunnel begun to tremble, pieces of crystal falling from the ceiling above us.

"We have to get moving before we're buried alive down here."

Mr. Fantastic said in urgency, tapping the side of his glasses and causing the visor to fold on itself and retract.

He stretched up to cover us from a particularly huge stalactite.

"The tunnel's structural integrity has been compromised."

He explained.

"Johnny, Shazam can you clear the way?"

"Flame on!"

The Human Torch said, his body igniting with orange flames. Then he took off, shooting boulders with huge fire balls and slashing apart the bigger boulders with thin fire whips.

So effing cool.

Not wanting to be out done, I jumped in with zeal.

"On it."

I answered, running forward. My feet stepped on muddy soil, splashing and sticking cobs to my feet. The mud was caused by the water I had dropped after letting go of Giganto.

I thrust Neptune's Trident forward, pulling on all that water spilled around, including the ice arrows and lances that I'd used to attack the Moloids with.

Then I shaped it into huge pillars of hard water, a concept I remembered seeing Queen Mera, the wife of Aquaman from DC demonstrate.

The pillars acted as temporary support beams, holding up the ceiling and walls to stop the tunnel from caving in around us.

Johnny took that chance to move even quicker now that he had some assistance. His flames brightly lit up the dark tunnel, enhancing the dim environment.

I felt Pete's mind enter my range.

"Shazam!"

Spiderman called out, reaching out with his hand while riding on top of one of Invisible Woman's constructs along the others.

I grabbed it with my free hand. He pulled me onto the construct and we sped out of the tunnel, tons of rocks burying the way into Giganto's lair completely.

"I wonder if we'll ever see her again."

Spiderman commented, sitting on the edge of the construct as it ascended the shaft towards the surface.

I looked down at the dark and awning pit.

"It's a crazy world up there. At least down here in the darkness she's safe with her offspring, so I hope not."

I said, stomping on the small part of me that was going to miss Giganto.

Apart from the alley cat sometime back, Giganto was the first non-human I'd used my telepathy on. It was a novel experience.

Humans were naturally chaotic beings and their minds reflected that. Animals on the other hand were simpler.

More grounded in reality. If it wasn't food, then it was breeding or some other necessary function to not only live but also ensure their species continued on.

It was simple.

I gave one last mental wave and then we were out.

******

The barricade was still there when we finally resurfaced.

The authorities had also been joined by some of the most annoying people I've ever met in my life.

Reporters.

"Mr. Fantastic! Could you please comment on what you have done with the monster that was attacking the Baxter building?!"

One reporter asked, thrusting a mic at Reed's face.

Reed blinked, looking out of place.

"Uh yes Giganto..."

He begun only to be immediately interrupted by the same reporter,

"Giganto? Is that it's name?"

Reed gave a jerky nod.

"Affirmative. I initially got the idea from the..."

"Okay, let me save you all some nerd talk. I'll answer your questions ladies and gentlemen. Autographs will come later."

Johnny butted in, coming from where he'd been basking in the adoration from the on lookers.

Of course that raised the ire of his sister, who was ready with a chastising.

I looked at them and decided to slip away while unnoticed, I was still wary of sticking around Peter.

Sooner or later the trick of vibrating the sound leaving my lips to distort my voice would stop working. Then he would realize who was behind the half mask and my secret identity would be even more exposed.

Plus, there was something I wanted to do urgently. You see, during the time the tunnel was collapsing, I managed to grab a piece of crystal the size of my palm.

The reason I noticed it was that every other crystal I'd seen in Subterranea was too big to fit in my hammer space.

But this particular crystal had been smaller yet the glow it released was even more pronounced than the largest crystals in the underground world.

I was curious about it and if it was a choice between nosy press and studying something that interested me? Well it wasn't much of a choice really.

I turned around to leave, dimming my presence in their minds, only to stop before I could collide on a massive chest.

"Hey."

Luke Cage smiled down at me.

Damn, this guy is massive. It's like he was asked, 'how big do you want you want your muscles' and he said, 'yes.'

Behind him were a few other interesting figures: a curvy girl in a white suit, a guy in a green and yellow costume who gave me a nod and lastly a guy my physical age, floating in the air with his fists bathed in a blue energy.

"Sup."

I had pulled my active psionic range closer to my body due to all the mental activity happening around me, so I hadn't really noticed them.

While I wasn't exactly overwhelmed in crowdy places anymore, it wasn't comfortable either.

I wonder if other telepaths faced the same issue of control...

All these thoughts went through my mind in no time at all. A benefit of my growing powers was that my mental acuity kept on being enhanced as well.

"You're Spidey's team."

I observed.

"Oh there it is again!"

The floating guy, who I recognized from the comics as Nova, said while throwing his hands up in frustration.

"I admit, it is a bit annoying."

The girl in the white costume, White Tiger brandished her claws my way.

"Spiderman has more than proved himself to us. I take pride in being a part of his team."

The other guy who could only be the Iron Fist interjected.

"Ignore those three. By your statement, I take it you know us. Or of us, at least."

Power man said, thrusting out his hand in a greeting.

"Yeah."

I said with an amiable smile, stomping a little on my impatience to leave. They rolled with Spiderman and Peter was cool. The least I could do was be nice.

"You're that Shazam guy. I saw you on the news. Nice going kicking the Cabal's asses."

Nova said, landing on the ground.

Being on the news had been a surprise for me. And even a few days later, the online community and Superhero Forums had been abuzz with my name. Who knew taking on the Cabal and not dying was an achievement of a lifetime.

Still, just as there were people who supported me, there hadn't been a shortage of those that didn't.

Fake news site with fake sightings and information may have contributed to why I didn't like reporters.

At the end of the day, I'd decided to ignore it all. I wasn't doing it for the praise. It was my duty.

I guess in this way, Spidey and I were both similar.

The talk with Fury came back to me. Could I really do more in a group as opposed to being a Solo act?

The mental conundrum could be handled later.

"Thanks. You guys are cool too. You had Spidey's back with the Sinister Six a few days back."

I had still been recovering at that time, otherwise I would have joined in.

You could literally hear the shockwaves and booms from afar. One thing that most people don't know, is that a superhuman fight is really loud.

"Oh hey guys, when did you get here?"

Spiderman said.

He'd managed to detach himself from the Fantastic Four and the reporters swarming them to come our way.

"Just now."

The Iron Fist responded in an overly formal tone.

"We were having a conversation with Shazam."

Spiderman looked in between us.

"Shazam, meet my team, White Tiger, Iron Fist, Nova and Powerman."

"Nice to meet you all but I gotta run."

I waved while floating upwards.

"Wait, you're leaving? The four wanted to invite you over for dinner."

He said.

They did? How unexpected, this was the first time we'd been introduced to each other. I mean, don't mistake me, I WANTED to go. Just the thought of maybe getting to see Mr.Fantastic's lab had me excited.

Still, I shook my head.

"Maybe some other time. I have something I need to take care of."

I told him, ultimately deciding to leave.