December 25, 2015,
Christmas Eve,
Fawcett CityIt had taken Billy Batson days of meticulous planning and a whole lot of saved up paper route money to put this plan into action. It had taken him slightly less long to wait until Freddy was asleep and climb out of their shared room through a window before clambering onto the roof. Sewing the prerequisite costume had taken even less time, but then comprehensive costume design knowledge from the Wisdom of Solomon and super sewing at the Speed of Mercury had a lot to do with that. But after all of that time and effort, Billy was sure the results would be worth it.
So when Captain Marvel received an emergency communique from the Justice League, he was standing on-top of Billy Batson's roof and already dressed in a surprisingly authentic Santa Claus costume with a bag of toys slung over one red, fake fur-trimmed shoulder. He had put enough effort in that he had to move the fake beard out of the way before he could reply to the summons, his tone chipper and eager to help as it always was when called upon by his allies in the greater superhero community.
"Batman! You're...not calling just to wish me Happy Holidays, are you? I was just about to deliver presents to all of the orphans of Fawcett City! Now, I know he doesn't need the extra help but I figured 'Hey, I'M a big, jolly magical guy in red who can fly around the world in one night too, so I'm sure he won't mind' right?' and-""Captain-"
"Oh come on Batman, you're not about to try and convince me Santa Claus isn't real are you? I mean, we live in a world of hyper-intelligent jet-powered apes and time-travel and you're drawing the line there? Where's your holiday spirit?" "Actually I called to tell you that there's some sort of extra-terrestrial entity set to start rampaging through Pittsburgh. The rest of the Justice League International are already moving to engage with it."
Captain Marvel's face fell as he rose into the night with the bag of toys abandoned on the rooftop, spinning out of the handmade costume in the blink of an eye and once again wearing his signature lightning-bolt adorned attire.
"Holey-moley, that does sound serious! I'll be there faster than you can say 'Happy New Year!', Batman!" The Caped Crusader might have said something more or maybe just rolled his eyes and sighed in aggravation at Captain Marvel's characteristic corniness, but his words were lost as the Big Red Cheese coursed toward Pittsburgh more rapid than eagles.
Who knew, maybe by the end of the night they'd have taught this new alien the meaning of Christmas.
*****
Metropolis,
Centennial Park,
January 1st, 2016It had seemed impossible to Billy Batson that Superman would ever die. Superman just
was. He'd always been up there somewhere in the sky, not immediately present but always there at least in the back of Billy's mind, all-powerful, caring about everyone and just pretty darned reassuring like few other things could be. Sure, bad things still happened to people but in the end if things ever got
really bad you could always count on Superman to save the day.
Superman had been his idol, his existence a comforting fixture in the orphan boy's life since he was six years old. When he'd gained powers of his own as Captain Marvel, Billy had even based a lot of what he did and how he acted off of how he thought Superman would act in his place. Even after Captain Marvel met the real Superman, he'd hardly been disappointed by what he'd found. Superman was just as good as he'd imagined but more real than he'd thought, a real person and at times even a friend. But really that just made his absence even more painful despite the short time they'd known each other and he couldn't even imagine how Supergirl and the other League members who had been closer to him were feeling.
So Captain Marvel's mood was one of somber, respectful silence as he stood with the rest of the Justice League, listening to the eulogy of not just his personal hero, but one of the greatest heroes the world had ever known. Supergirl's words resonated deeply with him, made him think back on how many times Superman had inspired him to carry on and be the best he could be when things in his life as both Billy and Captain Marvel had looked bleakest. Yes, they would have to have hope and they would have to fight on and as long as they did in memory of Superman, well it would be almost like he was still here with them, right?
Well, it made Billy feel better to think so, at least. So, he would do what he imagined Superman would want him to do if he were still here! Keep on choosing to fight for good, no matter how hard it got. Because being good, it was never about doing the right thing when it was easy. It was about continuing to believe in goodness when things got hard, no matter what the consequences were in the end. Superman had taught him that lesson, the first time they'd met. It was a lesson He had taught everyone on Christmas Eve during the Doomsday attack, and it was a lesson he'd chosen to stick by to the end.
Billy just hoped that someday when the time came, he would be able to do the same.
