Seven Deadly Sins

Every time they're in the Lair, they hear the whispers of the orb.

It isn't so much the orb itself that whispers to them, but rather the creatures that whisper through it. Lust. Wrath. Envy. Pride. Greed. Sloth. Gluttony. The Seven Deadly Sins, born out of mankind's hubris, and destined to plague the sons and daughters of Earth unto the ending of the world. They are here, because mankind is. They are imprisoned here, because mankind has its champions. They lost their days of freedom because their champion failed as all weak-hearted mortals do. Their puppet failed, and every day (if "day" is a concept that even applies here), they behold the ones that sealed their downfall. Sons and daughters of the world. All of them children. All of them ignorant.

But they plan. They whisper to the champions. They seek their escape. For none of them are pure of heart. All of them have darkness within their soul. All of them can give into their temptations. All of them could become their champion as the wide-eyed dreamer did, if they so took the orb. All it takes is for one of them to fail, and then, the reign of the Seven shall begin anew.

So they whisper. Seven sins, six champions, six motes of darkness. Every whisper seeking the mote that can best accommodate it.

Pedro's sin is gluttony.

That's not really a surprise to anyone, for the manifestation of gluttony is evident for the world to see. It's manifest across the world, and especially in this country. The results of gluttony are more apparent than the act itself. For Pedro can eat dinner. Then have desert. Then have seconds, then thirds, and a midnight snack. Pedro isn't just overweight, he's obese. He knows it. His siblings know it. The world sure as hell knows it, because there's no-one at school who hasn't reminded him of it at some point or another. Even the most well-meaning of teachers fail to hide that they see him differently because there's so much of him to see.

It's part of why he loves turning into his immortal form. To have muscle. To have a body that the world could love. He says the word "Shazam," and everything changes for him. He's not a fat kid with a lack of social skills, he's one of the most mighty of mortals. No-one would expect that the man in green is Pedro Peña. The people who cheer for him don't care what he looks like in his mortal form. In fact, if he stayed like this forever, all his woes would be solved.

He can't stay like that. Sooner or later, he has to return to his flabby, boring, teenage self. And in his despair, that gets him to eat even more. He eats, he's made miserable for eating, and eats for comfort, continuing Gluttony's cycle. And while he does so, he hears the sin's words

Eat, Gluttony whispers. Eat, and be merry. For with but a word, you are free. With but a word, this substance is your strength. Take the orb, and with it, you will be above the gazes of mortals.

In the cafeteria of Fawcett Central Middle School, he can still hear them.

Eat!

Chips. Lots of chips. Some salad too, but…chips. He takes a handful and holds it in his hands. Looking at them. Desiring them. Loathing them. Ready to whisper but a word that would end all of it. To walk through a door, and take that which would grant him everything.

Eat!
He almost does. But then his family sits down at the table.

"Guys?" he asks.

"Yeah," Freddy says. "It's one of those things."

"Lunchtime intervention," Billy says.

"Totally," says Darla.

"Absolutely," says Mary.

Eugene doesn't say anything (he's too busy playing his 3DS), but he gives a nod.

"Guys, I'm fine," Pedro says.

Eat!

"Yeah…" Billy says. "As someone who's kind of an expert on lying…you're not."

"And we're here to help," Mary says.

"Trust me, I hate bullies as much as you do," Freddy says.

"Guys, I…" Pedro looks at the fries.

Eat!

And puts them down. He pushes the whole tray aside and begins to talk, drinking from a glass of water as well.

Used to be Coke. But hey, baby steps.

He's making them.

Eugene's sin is sloth.

Sloth is slow. Sloth is subtle. Sloth does not whisper to him, because whispers are still words, and words carry energy. Sloth corrupts him. It's been corrupting him even before he sat down with Pedro.

Sloth is there, when he plays Watch Dogs instead of doing homework. Sloth is there, when he goes to watch CSI rather than helping with the dishes. Sloth is there, while he's playing A Link Between Worlds on the 3DS. And sloth is there in the dead of night, as he plays Mortal Kombat, dismembering digital figures with more energy than Sloth could ever muster. But it matters not - Sloth is there every step of the way, draining Eugene of the will, the desire, to do anything else.

It's bad. His parents know it's bad, his siblings know it's bad. But he doesn't. He protests, before he gives that up, because protesting takes effort. They don't understand. He's not addicted. He still goes to school (absolutely true), and he still does homework (technically true), and he still does the superhero thing when he's required to. Which isn't much. Just one Shazam could take out any threat this city faces, it sure as hell doesn't need all six.

So now he's playing Fortnite. Everyone's playing this game. He's pretty sure that when they hang up their capes for the day, even Superman and Batman play it. He's played it for over 100 hours, and this is the first time he's reached the top ten in a free for all match. He's going to be the last man standing.

"Eugene!"

Crap, did he leave his phone on. He looks over. It's Pedro.

"Eugene, where are you?"

What's that funny sound? Sounds like a lobster or something.

"Eugene, it's the Atlanteans! They're attacking!"

Atlanteans? He remembers something about a fringe faction that refused to bow down to Aquaman and take part in the peace process with the surface world. So…they're attacking Philadelphia? Isn't that a bit far inland for them? He supposes he could do some research, but that would time that he doesn't care to spend.

"Eugene, we need you!"

He starts to get up, but…huh. He's now in the top nine. Noobmaster69 just killed BulletSuxzor. If he leaves now, he may never get this high up again. He's put effort into this. Real effort. And besides, no matter what the Atlanteans do, they cant' harm his family. Not unless they have magic. They…don't have magic, right?

He'll get to them. But he'll just finish this match first. Could take awhile, but a few minutes in battle won't make too much of a difference and-

"Eugene, help!"

He gets to his feet. He stares at the screen. His character's being shot. His character dies. And…and he doesn't care.

How did it come to this? How did he reach a situation where a game…a bloody game…was what kept him away from his family? How…He rubs his glasses and looks at them. Looking for a reflection. Anything to explain why he did the things he did. Or rather, didn't do anything at all. He even looks around the room for something…anything. Anything to explain…this.

He doesn't see it. Sloth is slow. Sloth is subtle. Sloth does not even scream in frustration that this hero has broken his spell, because that would take too much effort.

Eugene climbs out the window and jumps. A lightning bolt comes down from the sky, and he soars off to join the fight.

He's late. He's lost a game. But that doesn't matter. His family are fighting for the city.

And nothing's keeping him away from family.

Darla's sin is greed.

Greed is not like Gluttony or Sloth. Greed does not take its time. Greed is desire, and desire waits for no-one.

Darla is the youngest of the Shazam Family. And being youngest in a family has disadvantages. The smallest helping. The smallest present. It's subtle, but it's there. Until now, she never really noticed it. But…well, Eugene has his games, Pedro has enough money for food, Mary's got her books, Freddy's got his superhero souvineers (and quite a good price for some of them off Ebay), and Billy's got…well, being Earth's Mightiest Mortal, Billy's got it made. But what does she have? She can't even get her own room without two of her brothers coming through it each night. Not only does she have to go to bed before they do, she has to get woken up by those clods as well. And while not a problem at first…it's growing on her. She's noticing.

Having the power of the gods though…that changes things. In an instant, a lightning bolt comes down from the heavens. In an instant, she has the ability to get whatever she wants. Because even after saving Santa, she didn't get any more presents than usual. So, she figures, if the world isn't going to give her a leg up, she may as well do it herself. Besides, she's the fastest of the Shazam Family. Who's going to see her? Who's going to stop her?

It starts off small. Candy. Pens and pencils. A DVD or two. Nothing major. Nothing that the people around her can't live without. Besides, she's a hero now, and heroes are owed something, right? Like, Batman must have somehow purchased his flying machine. The Flash must have purchased the materials to get his suit parts, right? Like, what's the big deal?

Take it, Greed whispers, before she swipes the apple from the fruit market.

Take it, Greed whispers, as she puts the book in her backpack.

Take it, Greed whispers, as she nicks the DVD. That sets off an alarm, and a guard chases her. One thunderbolt later, and Darla's on her way to being on the other side of Philadelphia.

She feels terrible as she runs. When she comes to a halt, and yells Shazam, the lightning bolt feels different. When she opens her backpack and sees today's pickings, she feels less like she's looking at the gold of Ali Baba's cave, and more like the treasure of a deranged party.

It's yours, Greed whispers. You earned it.

Did she though? She's not sure how stealing is earning.

You're owed it.

Maybe. Little acts of theft aside, she has to acknowledge that it would be nice to get some appreciation. It's hard enough to keep all of this a secret, but to do so without any thanks?

It's yours! All yours! You can take whatever you desire, and none can stop you!

She isn't sure about that. But still, she really wants to watch My Little Pony: The Movie, and it's not like Wal-Mart is going to go bust anytime soon, right? So on that note, she hoists up her backpack and keeps heading for home. The little shithole as it is.

Woah.

She grimaces and keeps walking. The comment wasn't her own, but…it's become hers. She's stolen it. And now?

…and now she and her siblings are doing what they always do the next day. Foiling a bank robbery. Not something they literally do every day, but foiling crime? Yeah, that's pretty much their job. Their unpaid job, Darla notes, as she runs backward in front of the van the robbers have hijacked. She laughs as they try to run her over, but can never make it. They stop laughing as soon as they start shooting at her. She's ready to stop running away, and start running into it, but Pedro of all people beats her to it, smashing into the van and knocking it sideways.

How much money is in there anyway?

Is it her mind, or the other? She can't tell anymore. But she stops running and watches as Billy and Freddy yank out the robbers from the truck before tossing them to Eugene. Darla walks round the back and sees that the doors have fallen off.

"Really didn't have to destroy the truck Pedro," Mary says.

Pedro shrugs.

"I dunno," Billy says. "Thought it was kinda cool."

"Billy!"

"What? It was!"

Darla ignores them. They don't get it. They have everything. She has nothing. But here, at the back of the truck…

"Wow," she whispers.

Bags and bags of money. She has no idea how much, but she bets just one of them could set her up for life.

Take it.

She walks into the truck.

Take what's yours.

She picks up not one bag, but two. All hers. All owed to her.

More!

She walks back and picks up a third one. She's got the strength for it.

"Darla?"

And the speed, if she needs to get away. Which she might have to right now, because the rest of her siblings are looking at her.

"Darla?" Mary asks. "You…are taking those back to the bank right?"

She looks away as the rest of her family comes towards her.

"Darla?" Eugene asks.

Take them.

Part of her wants to run. Part of her wants to put the bags back.

Tempt them.

"Guys…we could just take one," Darla says.

Compromise.

"What?" Mary asks.

"Yeah," she says. "I mean, y'know, not like we're getting paid for this, and I figure the city owes us…"

Freddy's actually nodding. Billy and Pedro look uneasy. Eugene is looking around – those sirens are getting closer. And Mary?

"Darla, you can't be serious."

Mary looks aghast.

She doesn't understand.

"You don't get it," Darla snaps. "You've got everything! I…I need this!"

"Darla, come on…"

It's yours.

Mary takes a step forward. Darla takes a step back. She has nothing to get from her. Nothing from any of them. She has every right to take this money, run away, and-

"Darla."

It's Eugene this time. He floats down from the sky. He signals Mary to stand back and walks up to her. They all get a height boost in their immortal forms, but Eugene is still taller than her.

"I get it," he says. "Trust me."

Don't trust him.

"I mean, I hack websites just for fun."

Go! Now! Take it!

"But even I know the difference between right and wrong. And…you do too."

Does she?

Go.

She thinks she does.

Run!

She…actually has little idea what she's doing. She staggers back, dropping the bags. She looks at her hands.

Are you giving up what's yours?

"Darla?" Eugene asks. "You okay?"

What am I doing?

She's a good girl. She shouldn't have to be a good girl for presents, she should be a good girl because being good is a good thing.

"Darla?"

She lets out a sniff and hugs her brother.

"I'm fine," she sniffs.

She's not fine. She's got a plethora of stuff to return.

But it's yours!

It isn't hers. She wants it. But it isn't hers. And it won't be without earning it. And this? This isn't earning it. This is just greed.

"Thanks big brother," she says, and she tightens the hug.

Mary's sin is pride.

She's the eldest of the family (foster parents notwithstanding). She's the smartest as well. Yeah, Eugene's got his games and such, but she's the one who's going to college. She's the one who's helped them with their homework for years. She's the one who even helps her foster parents with their tax returns. So when she sees Eugene hug Darla, when he sees her little brother help her little sister…something's off.

It should have been you, the voice whispers.

She barely hears it. But Pride can be patient. Pride can turn love into prejudice. Pride can make things change, ever so slowly. Once, she was happy to help. She loves her family. She loves to help them. She wants to make the world a better place, and if that starts at the home, so be it.

It happens slowly. When Darla asks her about long division, she can't help but ask "seriously? You're having trouble with this?"

When Pedro asks her about the causes of the Civil War, she says "well, why don't we take a big guess and start with slavery?"

When Eugene asks her about geology, as to whether the inner core or outer core is more dense, she just walks past him and says "look it up – you're a computer guy."

When Billy comes to her while she's on the couch, asking for help on his design and technology project, pointing out that this is in her ballpark, she gives him a funny look and says "what kind of project?"

"Oh, y'know. Currents, lightbulbs, watts, voltage…"

Mary grunts and returns to her book. "Maybe later.

"Oh. Okay. Sure."

She gives him another look as he heads off, able to see the hurt in his eyes.

It should have been you, Pride whispers.

Billy Batson. Newest member of the family. One who stole their thunder in every sense of the word. Yes, they've all got the powers of a wizard, but he's still number one, through nothing more than chance.

You deserve it.

She smiles and returns to her book – early reading for Caltech. It's going to be great to get away from these nimrods. Course, they'll struggle without her, but whatever. She's been the den mother of the house as soon as her foster siblings showed up. She's got a bright future ahead of her, and it's all hers. She's going to be great, and she's not going to be held down by these dumbasses and-

The hell?

She slams the book and gets to her feet. This isn't her. Is it?

Get back to reading.

Like, maybe…

Do you want to be some substitute teacher teaching nincompoops one plus one? Or do you want to be the best you can be?

After a moment, she lays back on the couch. Of course she wants to be the best. Heck, she's already the best. Sure, the rest of them can fly, and shoot lightning, and all that stuff, but she's the one with the smarts. She's the one who's going to leave them in the dust when she finally moves out of this shithole.

Not that it's really a shithole she tells herself, but…

But nothing. One week of reading. One week of blowing her siblings off. One week of snide remarks, before finally, on a night no different than this one…

You should leave now.

Maybe she should. Her brothers and sisters aren't talking to her much now, but that's fine. They have nothing intelligent to say anyway. So when she hears and sees Freddy heading down the stairs, she gives him a look, and little more.

"Hey Mary."

She grunts.

"Listen, I know you're doing the whole 'bigger and better than you' thing right now, but…"

She sighs and thumps her book down with as much exaggeration as she can muster. "What is it?"

"It's, er, Shakespeare," he says.

"Shakespeare," she replies dumbly.

"Yeah." He smiles, but Mary can tell it's forced. "Like, Macbeth's debating whether he wants to commit regicide, and we're asked to sum it up in regards to themes and all that, and…"

She snorts. "Should've been Hamlet. Might have been worth it then."

The hell?

This isn't her. This isn't her at all.

"Oh. Okay," Freddy says. He begins turning around. "Just, wondering if you might have, y'know…"

Listen to him. He's pathetic.

He kind of is, she supposes.

Crippled boy with a crippled mind.

That's a bit harsh, she thinks.

Are you really going to waste your time on this waste of a man, or are you going to show the world how brilliant you are?

She is brilliant. She knows it. The world knows it. Freddy knows it. That's why…

Oh God. "Freddy!"

He turns and looks at her.

What are you doing?!

"Freddy…" She folds up her book and puts it on the table. "Here. Sit down. Give me your book."

Are you going to waste time with this?

She is. So when Freddy sits down beside her and she takes his copy of Macbeth, she gives him a smile.

Foolish girl. Greatness is before you, and yet you swim in mud with swine.

"Macbeth," she murmurs. She looks at Macbeth's monologue, as he decides whether or not to kill King Duncan. "Y'know, when I was your age, I had trouble with Shakespeare too."

Liar!

"Liar," Freddy murmurs.

It is a lie, but she's going to roll with it. "No, really, I mean…look, English was never really my thing, I'm more into STEM, but…"

Then get back into it.

"But I shouldn't have said that," Mary says. "I shouldn't…" She rubs her forehead. "Shouldn't have said a lot of things."

Freddy shrugs.

"But hey," she says. "It's Shakespeare. May be as dry as a bone, but, anyway…" She takes a breath. "Okay, first thing you want to do when analysing the bard is read it out loud. Get into the feel, get into the meaning and all that. So…" She smiles and hands the book back to her brother. "Fire away."

This is absolutely pathetic.

Mary doesn't think so.

She can have pride in herself.

But there's no pride in being terrible to those around you. Brothers and sisters most of all.

"If it be done, best it be done quickly…" Freddy begins.

Mary nods. There's a lot of things she has to do quickly.

Such as long division.

Freddy's sin is envy.

He got an A- on his Macbeth essay, which is better than what the rest of his class. Except for Sally Brown, who got an A. Because of course she does. Little Sally Brown, teacher's pet, always getting top marks, and never forgetting to tell people that. So when the bell rings, he ignores Sally, ignores Billy, and keeps on walking.

"Walking." God that's such a misnomer for him. Because he can't walk, he can only hobble. He's never been able to walk, and unless there's some kind of breakthrough in fixing atrophied muscle in his lifetime, there never will be. House made the cane thing cool, but unlike Doctor House, he doesn't have the wit to back the disabled savant thing up.

Envy is the weakest of the sins, but in many ways, it is the most insidious. Envy chips away at your soul, ever so slowly, poisoning its host and everyone around them. Envy does not boost the ego like Pride. It is desire made incarnate, but unlike Greed, it does not give its host wealth. Sloth is subtle as well, but if Sloth is defeated, it is hard to come back. And Gluttony? Gluttony can be looked in the eye and told "no." But Envy is difficult to kill. And envy's been inside Freddy Freeman his whole life. He's envious of those who can walk. Who can run. Of people who can make friends without having to accommodate a disability. Also, his parents are dead. Foster mum and foster dad are pretty cool, but "disabled foster kid" has a ring to it, and it isn't a nice one. So when Superman showed up, he couldn't help but follow him. Finally, someone who outclassed all of mankind. Finally, people might understand how he felt, being near the bottom of the ladder. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman…he looks up to them all, because he can look up to people who don't look down on him.

He thought getting powers would change that, and for a time, it did. With but a word, he could fly. He could walk. He could run. He can do things now that he never thought possible. He thought he had it all. But then…he saw the truth. With the same word, he was no longer a guy with a cape and blue suit, he was "disabled foster kid," surrounded by people more lucky than he was. He's still at school. He's still a dweeb, everyone having moved on from two caped heroes joining him for lunch. And at the end of the day, he's still number two. He was there when Billy got his powers, but he wasn't the one who got them first. He wasn't the one the Wizard chose. The only reason he can turn into Freddy Freeman, not disabled superhero, is because Billy bid him grab his magic stick and let his power course through him.

Freddy gags and sits down on the grass looking over the sports field. People are playing football. Running. Jumping. Mocking him with their mere existence.

They despise you.

Envy's voice is soft. Envy rarely speaks. Envy has to bide its time.

"Hey."

Envy can make Freddy keep his gaze forward, even as Billy sits beside him.

"Something on your mind?"

"Oh, y'know…"

"No, I don't know."

Freddy sighs. "Keep working on it Billy, you'll get there."

"Um…okay."

God he hates him right now. He hates all of them. Pedro gets to eat as much as he likes. Eugene gets to stay up late playing videogames. Darla can get away with anything, and Mary gets to go to college and rub his face in with it. Like, okay, she helped him with his essay, but still, she's smart, and the others are able-bodied. And Billy? What does he have that Billy doesn't? A YouTube channel? Great. He might be able to make a dime off it soon, provided the subscription numbers don't fall, and that's provided he can get someone other Captain Sparklefingers to dance to free domain music.

"You okay Freddy?"

He looks at Billy and grimaces. "Fine. Absolutely fine."

"Right. Okay. Because I've been asking that of everyone a lot lately."

"Huh?"

"Over the last few months. Pedro, Eugene, Darla, Mary…anything seem…off, to you?"

"I dunno."

"You don't know."

"Nup. Don't know, don't care."

Billy sighs. "Okay, what is it?"

"What's what?"

"This."

"What's this?"

"This, where you don't care. Freddy I know would have cared, because not only have weird things been happening, but they're things you'd jump at the chance to solve at."

Freddy shrugs.

"Come on Freddy, you're the smart one."

The smart one? Weird. That's a compliment.

False flattery, Envy whispers.

Yeah…maybe not. He looks at Billy. "I'll give you a piece of advice," he said. "Foster siblings…well, it can get weird. I mean, everyone has a phase at some point or another."

"Yeah, but phases in that order?"

"What order?"

"Pedro, Eugene, Darla, Mary…having phases one after the other?"

"Hmm." Freddy looks back at the sports field, at the ball being passed from one player to another.

"Like, I don't know, but-"

"Could be the Sins," Freddy says.

Billy stares at him. "The Sins."

"Yeah, like, we spend a lot of time in the Lair, and that orb's constantly whispering, and every so often the sins give us the red eyes of doom…"

"Yeah, but they're not floating around or anything."

"No, but maybe they're trying to pick us off." He chuckles. "I mean, when you think about it, we've all had our own failings recently."

"How?"

"Well, it's obvious isn't it?" Freddy says. "Pedro's gluttony. Eugene's sloth."

"Sloth?"

"Sitting on his backside playing videogames instead of helping out? Yeah, sloth. Then Darla goes all Grand Theft Auto on us, so that's greed. Then Mary gets a stick up her arse, so that's pride." He smirks. "Easy peasy."

"Yeah, okay…" Billy says. There's a shadow over his face. "But that leaves three others."

"Yep."

"Envy. Wrath. Lust."

"Yeah," Freddy says, thinking of Sally Brown of all people. "Lust."

Lust. He can imagine lust. That feeling of having someone desire you. Course that's never going to happen. Billy will get a girl, Mary will get a guy, Pedro's already got a guy, and Darla and Eugene? Well, give them time, they'll almost certainly get lucky. But him?

"Say, about lust," Billy says. "Sally asked me for your number."

Freddy blinks. "My number."

"Yeah. She, er…well I think she wants to go out with you."

"With me."

"Hey, she was trying to be all coy with it, and I don't know how girls work."

You don't?

"I mean, I didn't give it to her, but-"

"Damn it Billy, why not?!"

"Because…I didn't know if you wanted to give it?"

"Billy…" Freddy sighs, putting his face in his hands. "Damn it, when a girl asks for your number, you say yes!"

"But…it wasn't my number."

"Then give her mine!"

"Oh. Okay." He tries to smile. "Um, sorry about that, but hey…might see her today? Maybe?"

Freddy grunts.

"Possibly?"

"Yeah. Possibly."

It won't happen, Envy whispers. It'll never happen.

Maybe. Maybe not. But at least he understands something better than Billy Batson. True, he'll never be the first among Earth's Mightiest Mortals, and he might have a gimp walk all his life, and he might never play on the field, and he might not do any number of things, but…well, he's got a good brother. He's got a good friend. And lots of people don't have that.

Envy is almost impossible to remove. But Envy is weak. Envy is pitiful. Envy can be put in its place.

Billy's been thinking about the past few months lately. But now, with this part of Philadelphia a warzone, he's got bigger fish to fry.

"I'm impressed, Champion. You're still standing."

Billy coughs, and Thaddeus Sivana smiles.

"Barely." The good doctor looks at the rest of the Shazam Family, all of them struggling to get up. "Which is more than I can say for the other runts of the litter."

Billy coughs again. This time, blood comes out.

"You…" he whispers. "You…"

"I see that while your strength has increased, your intelligence has not." Thaddeus smirks, and walks over.

"We locked you away," Billy rasps. "The Sins left you."

"They did, Champion." Thaddeus comes up to him, kneels down, and meets Billy's eyes. "But did they leave you?"

"…what?"

Thaddeus grabs him by the throat and begins squeezing. "There's other sources of power in this universe, Champion. I want you to know that before you die."

"Go. To. Hell."

"Oh Champion, I've already been." Thaddeus chuckles. "Trust me, there's far worse dimensions than Hell."

Billy pushes him off. The two begin their battle once again.

This part of Philadelphia is looking like Metropolis in 2013. People are injured. Some have almost certainly died. Thaddeus Sivana isn't just back, he's stronger than he ever was. The Sins are still locked up in the Lair, there's no question about that. So somehow, Sivana has got a new set of powers. He's strong enough to incapacitate Billy's family, and now, he's fighting for his life.

"You grow weak, Champion."

Thaddeus plunges into him and sends Billy hurtling into the pavement. A man-sized hole is made.

"But then, you were never worthy, were you?" He kicks him. "None of you were."

He kicks Billy again, and he screams. But that stops as Sivana grabs him by the throat.

"It almost worked," he whispered. "Five sins tried. Five sins failed."

"Five…sins."

"Are you so blind that you didn't see it? Your friends, changing, then changing back?"

"You…you did this." The words, raspy as they are, ill convey his horror.

"No. I started it. But it finished each time." Sivana laughs. "But that doesn't matter, does it? Because we know what's going to happen now, don't we?"

"You get a wig and piss off?"

He begins choking Billy. "There's two sins left, Champion. And I know yours – it's Lust. How fitting that the most base of the seven chooses you."

Billy tries to say something, but he can't manage. Hard to speak when you're being strangled.

"Don't be ashamed boy. It's only natural at that age." He tightens his grip.

"Billy!"

"Oh look, your friends are here," Thaddeus sneers. He turns Billy around. "Look at them Champion. Look at them stumble, bereft of their leader."

They are stumbling. Very slowly, Billy notices. Only magic can harm those with magic, and Thaddeus Sivana's magic has hurt them a lot. Bruises. Blood. Torn clothing.

"Go…" he whispers desperately.

They keep moving. Pedro. Eugene.

"Run!"

They keep coming. Darla. Mary.

"Get out of here!"

"Not…a chance," Freddy breathes.

Thaddeus chuckles. "I'm not complaining. Once you're dead, and I've taken your powers, it'll make it easier to kill them."

Billy looks back at him. There's a fire in his eyes, but not from laser vision.

"What the Sins began…I'll finish."

"You…can't do this," Billy says.

"Really, Champion? And why not?"

"Because…you can't."

"When I feed their bodies to the Sins, what will stop me from-"

"You can't!"

It happens quickly. Fire. Lightning. The earth itself shaking. Thaddeus Sivana being flung off Earth's Mightiest Mortal, and realizing the truth. Billy Batson's sin isn't Lust.

It's Wrath.

Billy barges into him, smashing him through the front of a building. His fists come down, again and again. No control. No restraint. No finesse.

"You did this!" he yells. He keeps punching. "You think you can hurt my family?!"

Sivana tries to cast a spell. Billy zaps him with lightning.

"I'll kill you!"

The lightning keeps coming. And coming. And coming. Burning him. He screams. He weeps.

"I'll kill you!"

Billy knows pain. He's known it for over ten years. Even after finding his mother, even after gaining a family, there's a part of that pain that's never left. There's a sliver of pain that, in the right circumstances, can blossom into an inferno.

Wrath is not a subtle sin. But Wrath can bide its time. Wrath can turn righteous anger against itself. Wrath can make heroes monsters. Wrath can burn entire civilizations. Wrath is insidious, for it is so easy for the righteous to fall into its talons.

"Billy!"

Wrath silences their voices. Wrath bids Billy kill the False Champion. Wrath bids him keep the lightning coming, even as Sivana begs for mercy. Even as he offers to tell him about his benefactor.

Kill him, Wrath whispers.

"Billy, he's had enough!"

Kill him!

"Billy, stop it!"

How many have died because of him? Do as justice demands!

He feels two hands grab him. Then four. Then six.

You are greater than him. Greater than our jailer. Kill him, and cleanse the Earth of his taint!

Billy keeps the lightning coming.

Eight hands. Ten. They're trying to stop him. He glares at them, lightning in his eyes.

"Please," Darla begs. "Don't do this."

Fools and weaklings!

"You're better than this!" Eugene cries.

They hold you back!

"Don't do it!" Pedro yells.

They fear you, and they are right to do so.

"Billy, come on!" Mary pleads.

Kill him!

"Billy…is this you?" Freddy asks.

Billy Batson blinks.

Kill him! Kill him now!

"I…"

Kill him!

"I…" Billy stumbles.

Finish it now!

Billy falls, and his friends, his family, catch him. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Sivana. He's breathing shallowly, but he's still alive.

Sins never wanted you, Billy thinks to himself. They wanted me.

He looks at his family as he's lain upon the ground.

They wanted us.

Billy passes out and his friends gather round him.

None see the shadow being forced out.

Lust watches Earth's Mightiest Mortals from its prison as they gather round the Champion.

Lust is perhaps the most misunderstood of the Seven. When mortals think of lust, they think of base, sexual desire. And while that is part of what Lust is, that is not its totality. Lust, in a word, is perversion. Lust is what turns friendship sour. Lust is what turns love against itself. Lust, in a sense, is the Seven combined. And Lust watches the scene unfold.

"Billy!"

They're all in this prison. They're all in their mortal forms. If it were free of this statue, it could take them all with but a swipe of its claws. Its brothers have failed. Sivana has failed. But in this moment of weakness…it can take them.

The Champion opens his eyes.

"Oh thank goodness!"

They help him sit up.

"Good to have you back," the one named Eugene says.

"Sivana," the Champion asks. "Where is he?"

"You'll have to ask the Justice League," says the one named Freddy – he sounds happy at the mere mention of them.

"The Justice League?" the Champion asks.

"Yeah," says the one named Mary. "Wonder Woman knows a thing or two about magic, and Batman can be quite…persuasive."

"Yep," says the one named Pedro.

"Oh. That's great," says the Champion.

The one named Darla hugs him. "It's good to have you back Billy."

Lust can take it no longer. It begins reaching out.

"Yeah," says the Champion. "It's…good to be back. For us all to be back." He looks at the one named Freddy. "Did you…"

"Yeah. I got it." He nods at the statues, not noticing the shadow invisible to mortal eyes. "These bozos wanted us turned into them, but hey…lightning power."

"Lightning power?" Eugene asks.

Lust is going to take them all.

"But if their plan was to corrupt all of us…" Mary says. "Why Sivana?"

"Because that's how it started," says the Champion. He gets to his feet. "How they were released, when a Champion acted in wrath. If I killed Sivana, for the wrong reasons…maybe that would be it. And if you guys had been corrupted…who'd have stopped me?"

The Champion's right. Lust keeps moving forward.

"But those were six sins," the one named Eugene says. "So what about…"

They all turn, and even with their mortal eyes, they see Lust.

"Hello, ugly," says the one named Freddy.

Lust lunges at them.

It doesn't reach them.

It can't even touch them.

"Think this is why we needed more than one Champion," the one named Billy says.

"More than one?" asks the youngest of the mortals.

Lust spits. Lust hisses. Lust tries to break their bonds, but there are too many.

"One couldn't resist the sins. No single person could. But together…"

"We're covering for each other?" asks the one named Mary.

"Yeah. I think so." The Champion looks at Lust. "That's why he can't get near us. Because…"

"Because?" asks the one named Freddy.

"Sorry, I'm just trying to think of something that doesn't sound really cheesy and-"

"Group hug!" exclaims the one named Darla.

"Yeah, that's it."

Lust lets out a howl, but it's already out of sight. Out of mind. It is drawn back into its cage, as the ritual of "group hug" is carried out, along with the ritual of the selfie. It rages, it spits, it howls, but it is all for naught. They have failed.

Lust falls silent.

All Seven Sins do.

A/N

So, long as this has been, I've got some stuff to cover in this author's note.

So first, the Sins. I'll come out and say it that I like them as a concept, but am I the only one who felt let down by their design? Like, apart from Gluttony, and maybe Wrath, I'd challenge anyone to look at all Seven Sins together and tell me which is which. Doesn't help that of all the Sins, only Envy gets anything approaching character development. I know, that's a minor complaint from a film that has to somehow balance character development with an entire family of superheroes, but still, it's noticeable.

So, second thing. I've actually got a second Shazam! fic written that needs proofreading, so I'll probably post it next week...maybe. First question is how it should be done. It's in similar format to this, but it's around 11,000 words, so I'm actually toying with making it a multi-chapter. So, I'm curious whether you'd want 11,000 words spread across six chapters (it has to be six), or want a single installment of 11,000 words. However, the second question is whether it's even worth it. I don't want to go too in-depth, but the thing is based around a BillyxMary pairing. However, having since completed it, I've started to have second thoughts, because while they're almost certainly not blood-related in the DCEU (as opposed to the original conception of Mary Marvel being Billy's actual secret sibling), I'm not sure if that excuse is still far away from squick territory. I mean, The Flash (the TV show) pulled it off with Barry and Iris, but, I dunno. I'm not worried about the age stuff, because a time jump occurs in the context of the story itself, but I'm still uneasy about it because we're still seeing them as kids in their first encounter.

I won't necessarily follow whatever suggestions are made, but in addition to any reviews for this oneshot, I'd appreciate feedback as to whether the format and/or story itself would be suitable.