The Power of Shazam

But he was intelligent and so turned his mind to academic pursuits. Despite graduating with honors and getting a good job as a research scientist, Sivana still was not happy. He felt that he never got the recognition he deserved. He was overshadowed by the likes of Hank Pym, Reed Richards, and Doc Savage.

Sivana was determined to prove himself a great inventor. Having created a Super Magnet, he used it to drag a giant asteroid close to Earth as a demonstration of what he could do. Unfortunately, police stormed his lab to stop he before he could reverse the process. Their interference damaged his Super Magnet and the asteroid rushed toward the Earth, out of anyone’s control, to a certainly devastating impact.

That was when Sivana began to hate Captain Marvel. It was the mighty red-clad hero who used his awesome strength to turn the asteroid away from the Earth. Marvel was hailed as a hero and Sivana was dragged off to jail. He got no sympathy at his trial, where Captain Marvel testified against him. He went to prison, which was torment for such a small, defenseless fellow.

Sivana eventually escaped from jail, and vowed to prove his brilliance to the world by using his massive intellect to destroy the man who had stolen his glory . . . Captain Marvel! He thereafter devoted himself to the destruction of the red-clad hero who he called the “big red cheesehead.” He made many attempts, but Captain Marvel always defeated him. This was a blow to Sivana’s ego and fueled his hatred.

Recently, Sivana’s hatred had extended to the JLA. There have been previous versions of the team, of course, but Sivana wasn’t interested in them. True, he didn’t like superheroes in general. To him, they were muscle bound hooligans, conducting their brawls in public like drunken sailors. He felt that those freakish powers they possessed were a slap in the face of people like him who were born small and weak. They made a mockery of scientific achievement with their God-like abilities! Sivana was convinced that he could have destroyed them in the past, if he had wished. He chose not to. Until now! Until Captain Marvel!

Sivana would have overlooked even the presence of his old science rival Henry Pym, and the fact that the JLA were given sponsorship by people who’d refused grants to him. Those people were Tony Stark and Alan Scott. He was ready to turn a blind eye to all of this . . . if not for Captain Marvel! Sivana took Marvel’s induction into this group of arrogant Alpha males as a deliberate insult to himself. It was a challenge, a throwing down of the gauntlet!

Sivana was determined to destroy Marvel and his new comrades, and he had just the army to do it! He did not recruit this army, however. He created it. Sivana managed to get sponsorship from Lex Luthor, in order to buy the equipment and materials he needed, and a decent sized lab to work in. After months of relentless effort, Sivana had finally built the perfect army.

Sivana looked around at the 108 glass canisters, each of which held a member of his army. Each contained an artificially created man, all of whom had they’re own unique gifts. Since he was a man of science, Sivana based his army on the periodic table of elements. Each soldier was grown from a single element. Now they were a dark army of vengeance! Elements of evil!

The JLA had just returned from their adventure with Kang and his Time Bombs. The case involved the futuristic group known as the Legion of Super-Heroes and the original Avengers League. The epic confrontation resulted in the retreat of Kang and a revelation that would have life-changing implications for the team’s newest member, Mantis. The beautiful young Vietnamese girl was the last of the Priests of Pama, who were slain by Thanos. She was a master of the martial arts and had various empathic senses. Having proven herself in battle and having received a recommendation from Hawkman, she was inducted in a field recruitment. That made her month amazing enough. Now, with the news given to her by Kang, her month had become indescribable.

Captain America dismissed the other twelve members of the team: Batman, Thor, Iron Man, Wonder Woman, Flash, Vision, Wasp, Firebird, Martian Manhunter, Icon, Giant-Man, and Captain Marvel. The group had done good work against incredible odds and so had earned a rest. Cap thanked them for their efforts and sent them on their way. All except the members who lived in the Hall of Justice. The Vision, the Martian Manhunter, and Mantis all resided in the Hall.

J’Onn sensed Mantis’ distress. “Are you all right? You’ve had quite a day?”

“This one is feeling . . . overwhelmed!” she said.

“Understandable,” J’Onn said.

“Please excuse this one,” Mantis said. “She needs to mediate privately on the events of the day.”

Mantis headed off to her room, but took a long glance back at the Vision, who was standing quietly, watching everything with dispassionate interest. Something about the Vision fascinated her. Their eyes met. She couldn’t tell what the Vision was thinking. Turning away, she walked out. The Vision watched her go and then turned to Cap.

“Can I be of any assistance to you, Captain?” the android said.

“No thank you, Vision,” Cap said. “I just need to work on the roster. I’m fine.”

“Then I will retire,” Vision said, and passed though a solid wall.

Cap didn’t know why he found the Vision so creepy. He’d seen so much in his time, why should Vision get under his skin. Maybe it was the change from his former incarnation of the Human Torch that made Cap uneasy, or maybe Cap didn’t like the idea that he couldn’t read the Vision’s body language the way he could other teammates he’d had in the past. Whatever it was, Cap just couldn’t warm up to the android.

Sivana was ready. His Elements of Evil were functioning perfectly. They had passed all his tests. All systems were go! It was time to strike!

“Sick ‘em!” he ordered his creations.

The 108 artificial men exited the lab and headed for the target. Sivana chuckled.

It was a quiet, sunny morning. Then, all Hell broke loose! 108 strange looking beings converged on the city. They didn’t look human, but no two looked alike. Some seemed metal, others rock, and others seemed made of various different substances. They had many powers. And they were here to destroy!

They attacked everyone and everything. Using multiple forms of attack, they ravaged part of the city in minutes and began to spread their chaos.

Meanwhile, Sivana pirated the airwaves. He sent his message out on TV’s all over the country.

“I am Dr. Sivana, and I am the greatest criminal mind of our time! To prove it, I have created a force for evil that is stronger than the JLA themselves. Are you out there, heroes? Do you hear me? I am your nemesis! All the good you have done, I will undo! All the lives you have saved, I will destroy! All that you stand for, I will mock! All your good works will be trampled into the dirt! Unless you want to try and stop my Elements of Evil! We are currently destroying Fawcett City, and this is only the beginning. The gauntlet is thrown. If you’re not too cowardly, come and pick it up! Stop me, if you can!”

Sivana laughed gleefully as the image faded.

Captain America had arrived at the Hall of Justice to meet with a UN representative about the induction of Mantis. All new members had to be officially sanctioned now. It was annoying, Cap thought, but preferable to working for Gyrich. As he waited, Cap was watching the news. That was when Sivana’s message broke in. Now, CNN was covering the attack on Fawcett City. He was repulsed by the horror of it!

“J’Onn!” Cap called loudly. “Everyone, get in here! Vision, Mantis, all of you! We have a serious problem!”

The trio entered. They saw the scene of chaos on the TV. Cap explained about Sivana’s message. At that moment, the Flash arrived in a blur of speed.

“I saw the broadcast,” the speedster said.

“Glad you’re here,” Cap said. “We’re going to need everyone! J’Onn . . . ”

“I’ve already started,” the Martian said. “I’m telepathically in contact with every member of the team.”

“Good,” Cap said. “You stay here and coordinate until everyone is in action, then you come and back us up! The rest of you, come with me to the transporters! Except you, Flash. You get there now!”

Right!” Flash said and then vanished from sight. The others raced for the transporter as J’Onn coordinated.

{Telepathic communications link-up is operational,} J’Onn thought. {Surface mind tactical contact only!}

Marvel swooped down, ramming into Nickel and Tin. He shattered Nickel to pieces but Tin was a malleable metal, and as a result was only bent out of shape. Tin bent itself back into its usual humanoid form.

{Be careful, Marvel,} J’Onn said, through the mind-link. {Don’t let your anger get the better of you.}

{This is my city, J’Onn!} Marvel said. {These are my people! And I’m the only one who can protect them!}

{Others are on the way,} J’Onn said. {And I’ll be joining you shortly. The Flash should be there in . . . }

{I’m here!} Flash interrupted, via the mental party line. {Welcome to my head. So cool the way we’re all hooked up.}

Flash vibrated through Silver, shattering him. He tried to do the same to Iodine, but the heat friction just caused Iodine to change form. The element Iodine turns to a purple vapor when heated. The vapor tried to choke the Flash, but the speedster spun his arms like a propeller, dispersing the vapor.

Sivana was in his hidden lab, watching the battle over CNN. He saw Captain Marvel arrive.

“Ah, at last! The big, red cheesehead has come home to roost! Be a good boy and die!”

“Take them down any way you can!” Cap said. “And be careful, we don’t know what we’re up against here!”

The trio spread out. Ironically, Cap ran into Americium. Mantis tried her martial arts abilities on Gold. The Vision faced off with Carbon.

The Vision increased his molecular density to Diamond hardness. He intended to shatter Carbon with a single blow. However, Carbon also had the ability to solidify into diamond form. The two artificial, diamond-hard beings went toe-to-toe.

Captain Marvel threw a punch at Hydrogen, but it transformed into a gaseous state. Marvel’s fist passed through it harmlessly. Phosphorous, Neon and Magnesium all began to glow brightly. Marvel was blinded by the sudden light source. His amazing, magical body would allow him to regain his sight in a few minutes, but he was temporarily out of the fight.

Flash was busy rescuing people from debris and bringing the wounded to the nearest hospital. Overhead, Wonder Woman arrived.

“I’m on site, J’Onn,” Diana said. “Flash has the civilian bystanders under control, so I’m going to check on Captain Marvel. He seems to be hurt.”

“Understood, Diana.” J’Onn answered.

The amazon flew to Marvel’s side. “Captain, Are you injured?”

“I can’t see,” Marvel said. “Give me a minute. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me. Go!”

“As you wish.”

She raced into battle. She arrival was impressive, and she knocked aside many of the Elements of Evil, destroying a few. She was about to strike the red, amorphous Element. But . . .

“Diana, stop!” a voice called.

She halted, and backed off, looking for the source of the warning. Giant-Man and the Wasp had arrived at insect size. Hank Pym was riding on an insect. He grew to normal size.

“Giant-Man?” she said, surprised. “Why did you stop me?”

“Sorry about that, Princess,” he said, “but I’ve noticed something about our enemies. And that red one is made of Mercury. It’s a toxic element. Don’t touch it.”

“Thank you for the warning!” she said.

As the Wasp struck out at some of the Elements of Evil, Hank sought out Captain America. Growing to his full height, he squished Americium.

“Thanks,” Cap said. “He was getting on my nerves.”

“My pleasure, Cap,” Hank said. “I’ve got something to tell you about these creatures we’re fighting. By my observations, each of them is based on one of the elements of the periodic table. They have powers that correspond with the element they’re based on.”

“I see,” Cap said. “Any way we can use that to our advantage?”

“I’m not sure yet," Hank said. “But I’m working on it.”

Silicon charged the duo. Cap threw his shield at it. Silicon turned to stone. The shield bounced off the rock harmlessly. Giant-Man picked up the rock and threw it away, into the nearest river.

Meanwhile, Mantis was using her empathy to detect the weak points in Gold. Gold was a soft metal and eventually, Mantis was able to damage parts if it. Gold retreated. Mantis followed, but was blocked by Sulfur. She tried to pass, but Sulfur burst into flames, causing Mantis to back-pedal. Sulfur threw fireballs at the lovely martial artist. With the amazing control she had over her body, she leaped and dodged, evading the balls of flame. But she couldn’t keep it up forever.

Fortunately, she didn’t have to. Firebird arrived and stood between them. She blocked the flaming attack. She engaged in a firefight with Sulfur. Oxygen turned to gaseous form and helped fuel Sulfur’s flame.

Mantis moved away. She turned and saw Wonder Woman defeating Zirconium and Einsteinium. The amazon was incredible. Mantis admired her. Mantis lunched herself at the nearest of the Elements of Evil. She made a bad choice. The Element was Lead. She hurt her feet and bounced off. Lead tried to strike her, but she was too quick. Just then, Icon arrived.

Icon came to her rescue, pounding on Lead. Lead was a thick, heavy metal, but no match for the strength of Icon. He battered the Element to pieces. “Are you okay, Mantis?” he asked.

“This one is well,” Mantis said. “She thanks you for your assistance.”

“Well, let’s get back to work,” Icon said. “Miles to go before we sleep.”

Meanwhile, Cap and Giant-Man were working out a strategy, when they were beset by three Elements. Arsenic, Chlorine and Fluorine turned to poison gas, and covered the two heroes in a cloud of poison vapor. The duo choked and coughed. Just in time, Captain Marvel returned, and dragged them out of harms way.

Suddenly, a thunderclap drew everyone’s attention. The skies turned dark, as if the heavens were angry. From out of the black clouds came the majestic figure of Thor, the God of Thunder.

“Woe to all who wouldst challenge the might of the Justice League of Avengers!” the Asgardian yelled, “If thou darest defy my comrades in arms, thou must face the Lord of the Storm as well! Thor shall smite ye all!”

Thor sent down a lightning bolt that, interestingly enough, struck Thorium. Thor descended.

Thor plowed into the elements like a rock through a glass window. His hammer battered them around like leafs in the wind. He was a dynamo of power and skill. Wonder Woman joined him. Together, they cut a path through the opposition.

Thor brought down a bolt of lightening. But Copper was a conductor. He absorbed the bolt and returned it to his enemies. The bolt struck Wonder Woman. She fell, stunned.

“Maiden!” Thor yelled, seeing her fall.

Distracted, Thor was hit from behind by Titanium and Iron. Thor swung his hammer, knocking them away. The Asgardian released flame from his mystic hammer. Tungsten, Gallium and Rhenium stood together to absorb the fiery attack. The three Elements each were highly heat resistant.

Iron Man arrived, followed closely by Batman in his sleek Bat-Jet.

“Things are getting out of hand,” Iron Man said. “I’m going in!”

“We should be trying to trace this Sivana person,” Batman said, over the radio.

“How do we do that?” Iron Man asked.

“If he makes another broadcast, can you trace the signal?” Batman asked.

“Probably. Why?”

“Then get ready to follow it to its source when I give you the signal,” Batman said.

“Fine,” Iron Man said. “In the meantime, I’m going in.”

Iron Man joined the fray. The first element he met, coincidentally, was Iron. The armored hero exchanged blows with the Element Iron. Then, he released a blast of energy from his repulser array, which damaged Element Iron badly. Titanium came after Iron Man next.

Close by, the radioactive elements had gathered together for a massive attack. Uranium, Actinium, Thorium, Radon, Cesium, Curium, Francium, Lawrencium, Neptunium, Radium, Polonium and Protactinium were all together as one huge radiation source. They began with a slight glow, which was not yet enough to cause harm, but it could quickly build to a critical mass and an atomic explosion.

Giant-Man realized what was happening. “Uh-oh!”

He raced to Icon, who was standing near the spot where he had defeated Lead. At the moment, Icon was trying to hit Nitrogen and Helium, who had changed to gaseous form.

“Forget them for now!” Giant-Man ordered. “We’ve got a bigger problem!”

After a quick explanation, Icon pounded Lead into a dome-like shape. Not far away, the radioactive elements were huddled together, their energy level increasing to the danger point. Before they could harm anyone, Icon slammed the lead dome over them.

Giant-Man got Thor’s attention and explained the danger. Thor nodded. Using the dimension spanning powers of his magic hammer, Thor opened a portal to another dimension. He and Icon pushed the lead dome into it. Thor closed the portal and the 12 radioactive elements were gone.

Meanwhile, Captain Marvel was finishing off Tantalum. Sodium sneaked up on the Captain. With a touch, it tried to absorb the salt from his body. Had Captain Marvel been a normal human, he would have died. But his body was a creation of magic and so resisted Sodium’s power. With a powerful blow, Marvel shattered Sodium.

“Marvel, come here!” an authoritative voice said.

Captain Marvel knew that voice by now. It was Batman. The Dark Knight appeared from the shadows of a wrecked building, where he had just freed some people from the rubble. “I need your help to end this, Marvel.”

“Anything I can do to stop this madness, I’ll gladly do!” Captain Marvel said.

“You have a history with this Dr. Sivana, don’t you?” Batman asked.

“Unfortunately.”

“Then here’s what I need you to do!”

Soon, at Batman’s suggestion, Captain Marvel commandeered some of the media cameras. The news crews agreed to transmit his message.

“Hey, Sivana!” Captain Marvel said. “If this is the best you can do, I’m disappointed. I’m here to tell the world that you are a sniveling little coward who never got a date in high school. So you’re taking it out on the whole world now. Well Boo-Who, doctor dwarf. You’re just a sick little nobody. You’re too cowardly to even be here personally to see your slaves go down. I wish I could see the look on your ugly little face when you fail again. You disgust me, you little shrimp!”

“Hey, Cap Marvel!” one of the technicians in the news van cried. “That Sivana guy is breaking in on our broadcast again. And he’s talking about you!”

Captain Marvel gave a signal to Batman who was lurking nearby, then went into the van to see what Sivana was saying about him.

“You big, red cheesehead!” Sivana said, via his pirated airwaves. “How dare you speak to your betters that way! On the best day of your life, you’ll never be one-tenth as intelligent as I am. You wanted to see my face, well here it is! And this face will be smiling when my Elements of Evil destroy you and your private club of super morons. We’ll see when the battle is over who the loser is. You disgust me, you macho cheesehead!”

Meanwhile, Batman had informed Iron Man that it was time to trace Sivana’s signal. Iron Man hated to leave the battle, but he knew that Batman was right. Cutting off the head was the best way to kill a snake. He flew to find the Mad Scientist, using his armor to trace the source of the message.

The JLA continued to hold off the Elements of Evil as best they could, despite the superior numbers that the enemy possessed.

Sivana was satisfied that he had gotten the last word with his enemy, Captain Marvel. He continued to watch the battle on cable TV. The JLA was holding their own better than Sivana had anticipated, but he was confident that the Elements of Evil would win a war of attrition, due to their superior numbers and the fact that they never get tired.

Suddenly, his perimeter alarm indicated that someone was approaching by air. Activating his camera, he saw Iron Man coming toward his lair.

“I’m ready for you, you metal moron!”

Outside, Iron Man reached the lab. The thick metal door stood in between him and Sivana. Using his lasers, he began to cut a hole in the door. Kicking the cut-off piece, which fell to the floor, Iron Man entered. Once inside, he encountered a bunch of drone-robots piloting little jet cars. The small cars were maneuverable and well armed, but Iron Man defeated them easily enough. Just when he thought he was home free, he was hit by Sivana’s magnetic ray. Iron Man’s systems froze, and he was held immobile by the ray.

“Stupid, do-gooder,” Sivana’s voice announced, over the PA system. “My mind is a match for any of you stupid, muscle-bound heroes.”

However, just then, a red streak crashed though the wall of the lab. It was Captain Marvel. He had followed Iron Man, and then waited outside as a reinforcement, in case Iron Man got into trouble. Captain Marvel plowed through all of Sivana’s defenses, including his lasers and his force fields. Captain Marvel reached Sivana’s inner sanctum. Sivana raged.

“Damn you, you big, red cheesehad! You’ve ruined everything! I’ll get you for this!”

Marvel destroyed the magnetic ray, freeing Iron Man. Sivana tried to sneak out a trap door, but Marvel grabbed him. “Sivana, you’re pushing me beyond the limits of my patience. Sooner or later, you’ll push me too far, and I’m going to hurt you!”

“Bah! You don’t scare me. Intelligence will win in the end. Eventually, I’ll destroy you!”

“Hopeless,” sighed Marvel.

Iron Man entered the lab. He looked around at the controls. After a brief examination, he figured out which devices controlled the Elements of Evil. With a single blow from his armored fist, he crushed the machine.

Sivana grumbled.

“Go on and say it if you want, Sivana,” Marvel commented, “Say ‘Curses, foiled again’!”

The Elements of Evil suddenly stopped, frozen in place. They were now no more than a bunch of statues. The JLA was relieved that the battle was over. The bystanders cheered the end of hostilities.

“I guess Iron Man succeeded,” Cap said.

“Thank goodness for that,” Wasp said. “I didn’t enjoy this at all.”

“Look at all this damage,” Icon said. “Its tragic!”

“I have an idea how we can get things fixed quickly,” Batman said.

The Elements of Evil, under the control of Henry Pym and Iron Man, cleaned up and repaired the destroyed portions of Fawcett City. Meanwhile, the wounded were being tended to in the hospital. Having been taken for medical assistance so quickly by the Flash, there were very few casualties.

J’Onn, Captain America, Captain Marvel and the Batman stood watching the Elements repair the city.

“All things considered, a fairly satisfying ending,” Cap said. “It could have been much worse.”

“If there’s even one casualty, I’m not satisfied with the result,” Batman said.

“I suppose you’re right,” Cap said. “Having been through war and so many battles, I guess I’m getting too used to casualties. I starting to feel that if the body count is low, we’ve done a good days work. But you’re right. People died. There’s no good here. No good at all.”

“I wonder if all this will ever end?” Captain Marvel asked. “The violence, the hate. Will there ever be a better world?”

“All we can do is try to make it better,” J’Onn said. “We can only do so much. The rest is up to the common man, the everyday working man. They’ll make the difference in the end.”

“I agree,” Batman said. “We can’t fix the world.”

“Then where does that leave us?” Marvel asked. “Are we doing too much, or too little?”

“I can tell you what I believe,” Captain America said. “Humankind will achieve its destiny. We don’t have to carry them.”

“Then why should they need us at all?” Captain Marvel asked.

Captain America answered, “To be here when they need us. To catch them if they fall. To serve and protect. Just as the JLA has always done.”