Divergent Series - The Powers of SHAZAM!

During Infinite Crisis the Spectre ended the Ninth Age of Magic, destroying the Rock of Eternity and killing the Wizard Shazam. Earth's mages rebuilt the Rock, but with the dawn of the Tenth Age of Magic the rules had changed. Billy Batson suddenly found himself possessing the Wizard's power and taking his place as the Guardian of the Rock of Eternity. With this change both Mary Batson and Freddy Freeman lost their access to the power of Shazam. A desperate Mary would seek other forms of power, being corrupted by taking some of the power of Black Adam and then becoming the vessel for the New God of Apokolips called Desaad during the Final Crisis. Freddy would look for power along a different path and after passing the Trials of the Gods of Magic he became the new Champion of Shazam.

Black Adam took over his old home of Kahndaq and found love with a woman named Adrianna, and with Captain Marvel's blessing gave her the powers of the Amulet of Isis. He also shared his own power with Adriana's brother, who became Osiris. Both Isis and Osiris were killed, sending Black Adam into a vengeful fury that was only stopped when Billy transformed him back into Teth Adam and changed the magic word he would use to transform. Teth Adam eventually discovered the new word and reclaimed his power. He then found a way to resurrect Isis and together they found a way to strip Billy of his power. He then corrupted Billy and Mary with his own power and was only stopped when the ghost of Billy and Mary's father guided the original Flash, Jay Garrick, to the Rock of Finality, where they were able to restore the Wizard Shazam. Shazam took away Black Adam and Isis' powers and transformed them to stone, and then stripped Billy and Mary of their power, claiming they had failed him. He also vowed to find a way to strip Freddy of his powers.

Osiris would be resurrected by the White Lantern at the end of Blackest Night and immediately set out to find a way to restore his sister and Black Adam. He eventually succeeded in somehow using Freddy's magic to restore Isis, robbing Freddy of his power seemingly permanently. After a brief period of madness Isis regained her senses and, now possessing her powers without the need of the Amulet, took over leadership of Kahndaq after rejecting her brother Osiris because of the darkness she saw within him. Osiris was last seen in the company of Doctor Sivana, who offered to help find a way to restore Black Adam if Osiris helped him find a way to kill the Wizard Shazam.

With the New 52, the Marvel Family was completely rebooted, introducing a new version of the Wizard while also getting rid of the Captain Marvel name, going simply with Shazam. Mary and Freddy would also reappear, though they were both now foster siblings and Billy would share his power with three other new characters, also foster siblings, in the forms of Darla Dudley, Eugene Choi, and Pedro Peña. In this DC Heroes Rebirth setting, the New 52 reboot never happened, so Shazam was also never rebooted. Instead, in this timeline the Marvel Family found a way to regain their powers in a story that follows on with where things were left just before the events of Flashpoint and the New 52, with perhaps a smattering of the New 52 Shazam! stories peppered in.

The Powers of SHAZAM!

Billy and Mary, left homeless after a battle between Shazam (Freddy) and the demoness Blaze, are invited by the now-powerless Freddy to move into his home, where they are also reunited with Tawky Tawny. The trio are trying to figure out how they can get their powers back, and are getting desperate enough that they are considering traveling to Kahdaq to speak with Isis.

At his lab, Doctor Sivana is dealing with an impatient Osiris. Also there is his son, Sivana Jr., and daughter Georgia, who is trying to awkwardly flirt with Osiris. Osiris demands that Sivana restore Black Adam, but the Doctor cautions him that it will take time. Sivana tells him that the key is the Rock of Eternity, and for that he needs the Marvel Family.

Sivana sends Osiris to capture Billy, Mary and Freddy. Osiris tries to trick them, but Tawny senses the threat and a fight breaks out. This turns out to be just a distraction, as Sivana has also recruited Ibac, who is able to grab the three former Marvels. Once Ibac is clear, Osiris breaks off the fight, leaving Tawny in the ruins of Freddy's house.

Back at Sivana's lab, he uses one of his inventions to allow himself, Junior, and Georgia to possess the bodies of Billy, Freddy, and Mary respectively. The three, along with Osiris, go to the abandoned subway station in Fawcett City that serves as one of the portals to the Rock of Eternity. Leveraging Osiris' magic, Sivana is able to summon the mystical subway train that will take them to the Rock. There they are confronted by an angry Wizard, who demands to know why they have come, apparently fooled into thinking it is just the Marvel Family with Osiris and not detecting Sivana's deception.

As planned, Osiris angrily demands that the Wizard restore Black Adam. The provocation is deliberate, and the Wizard immediately moves to strip Osiris of his power as he had done with the others. Sivana springs his own trap, using another of his creations to intercept the Wizard's magic. The Sivanas then reveal themselves, separating from Billy, Freddy and Mary. Sivana then turns the tables on the Wizard and uses the intercepted magic to drain Shazam's power instead. Billy, Mary and Freddy can only watch helplessly as without his power the Wizard has changed back into Jebediah of Canaan, and then turns to dust as his body ages 9,000 years in an instant.

For his masterstroke Sivana then transfers the Wizard's power into himself and uttering his own name he gains a god-like physique in a flash of lightning, garbed in a costume the reverse of Captain Marvel's own. He then gets his son and daughter to utter the name SIVANA and they too are transformed into superhuman beings, wearing costumes that are the reverse of Freddy's and Mary's. Osiris says he has upheld his end of their bargain and demands that Sivana uphold his and restore Black Adam. Sivana happily agrees, and drains Osiris of his magic to transfer it to the statue of Teth Adam, who is restored to human form and transforms again into Black Adam while Osiris has reverted to his human form of Amon Tomaz.

Amon is overjoyed to have Black Adam back, but is shocked when Adam seems to fail to recognize him. Sivana has kept his word and restored Black Adam, but he also arranged for Mr. Mind to take control of Adam's body. With only the unpowered Billy, Mary, Freddy, and Amon left to deal with Sivana tells "Black Adam" to kill them. Amon is in shock at the betrayal, but the other three snap him out of it and they try to make a run for it. There is no escape from the Rock of Eternity, however, and the four eventually find themselves cornered between Black Adam and the mists surrounding the Rock. Faced with no other option the four leap into the mists. When Sivana is informed of this he is not worried, saying that anyone who enters the mists is forever lost.

The Sivana Family returns to Earth, along with the Mr. Mind-controlled Black Adam. Sivana summons Ibac, and reveals a rebuilt Mr. Atom; all together they are the latest version of the Monster Society of Evil. Sivana and the Monster Society then proceed to terrorize Fawcett City. A handful of heroes try to defend the citizens, including Ibis the Invincible, Bulleteer, and the new Mr. Scarlet, as well as Tawky Tawny, but their efforts prove futile. The Justice League are off-world, so the US government starts looking at other options for intervening, assigning Katrina Armstrong to assess the situation.

Billy, Mary, Freddy and Amon are lost in the mists, but Billy and Mary think they can hear someone calling to them. They follow the sound of the voice and emerge from the mist into a new cavern-like place. They are faced with a phantom-like figure, the source of the voice, and Billy recognizes him as the ghost of C.C. Batson, his and Mary's father. C.C. tells them they are at the Rock of Finality, the Rock of Eternity's shadow and that they can find help here, but it will not be easy. Normally only the pure of heart can enter the Rock of Finality, one who embodies the Seven Virtues (Faith, Hope, Charity, Fortitude, Justice, Providence and Temperance), and all four of them have been tainted to one degree or another. In order to succeed they must face great challenges, and he can only advise them.

What follows is a series of trials, as all four find themselves in a succession of dangers and tests in a mutable landscape that throws them into a myriad of places and situations. Thanks to hints from C.C. they realize that the challenges all link to the Seven Virtues, and that they must successfully demonstrate them all in order to succeed. The last challenge is overcome when Amon realizes that in order to demonstrate Justice he must accept the consequences of all his dark actions. In the end he sacrifices himself willingly, and is dragged away by ghostly forms to face punishment. Billy, Mary and Freddy then find themselves back at the Rock of Finality where they are allowed to pass within.

With C.C. as their guide they come to a lush garden where an elderly, dark-skinned man is waiting. He introduces himself as Mamaragan and says he was once the Wizard. Mamaragan tells the three that, despite what Shazam claimed, he in fact did not build the Rock of Eternity. He explains that since the First Age of Magic there has always been a Rock, a Wizard, and a Champion. Billy was meant to be the Wizard of the Tenth Age of Magic, but that is no longer possible, so Mamaragan, inspired by the three and by Amon's sacrifice, agrees to come back with them to become the Wizard again. With this decided, C.C. bids a tearful farewell to Billy and Mary, because this was the third and final task he was required to complete before he would be allowed to rejoin their mother. They hug as C.C. briefly appears solid again before he fades away.

Mamaragan takes them back to the Rock of Eternity, where he sits on the throne. Billy asks if they have their powers again, and if they need to say Mamaragan's name now. Mamaragan tells them that he is simply the Wizard again now, and that as Freddy knows full well the powers of the Champion come from the Gods of Magic, and the letters of their names spell out a familiar word. Billy, Mary and Freddy turn to each other, ready to speak it aloud...

In Fawcett City, Sivana and his Monster Society have assumed full control. The US has sent in conventional military forces to no avail. Escalation is currently out of the question as Sivana has threatened to unleash Mr. Atom's nuclear power against a random American city. Sivana sits on a makeshift throne at Fawcett's City Hall, but his gloating is cut short by the familiar and dreaded sound of thunder. Billy, Mary and Freddy arrive, transformed once again into Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel Jr. (Freddy having reverted to his blue costume again).

The Sivana Family takes to the skies to do battle with the Marvels. As their fight criss-crosses the city, the other heroes rally to try and deal with Ibac, Mr. Atom, and the still controlled Black Adam. The tide there turns when Black Adam, spurred on by the appearance of the Marvels and of his sense of what happened to Amon, breaks free from Mr. Mind's control. He takes the alien worm and then flies away, declaring that he will throw Mr. Mind into the sun for what it has done to him. With Mr. Mind and Black Adam gone, the heroes are able to defeat Ibac and Mr. Atom.

The battle between the Marvels and Sivanas continues, risking greater and greater damage to Fawcett City. The two groups are equally matched for power, so Sivana resorts to taking hostages. Threatening to kill a large number of civilians, Sivana demands that the Marvels surrender. He forces them to say SHAZAM and transform back, and is ready to get rid of them for good. Powerless, a fearful Billy is ready to swear allegiance to Sivana, but it is a trick. Making it seem as if he is stammering from fear, Billy proves unable to say Sivana's name correctly, until the villains get so frustrated they shout SIVANA in unison before they realize what they have done. Lightning strikes and Sivanas are transformed back into their mortal forms. Before they can utter the word again they are rendered unconscious by the combined actions of Billy, Mary, and Freddy, with some help from Ibis, Bulleteer and Tawky Tawny.

The Marvels transform again and transport the Sivanas to the Rock of Eternity, where the Wizard strips them of their stolen power. They are then taken back to Earth to face imprisonment yet again. After helping with some of the repairs and cleanup around Fawcett City, the Marvels again change back to Billy, Mary, and Freddy. They start to contemplate their future as Tawky Tawny tries to figure out how to tell Freddy that the house was destroyed and that they are all now homeless again.