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#7
DEC 11 |
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“Messages”
Hi, you’ve reached Mary Batson. Leave me a message and I’ll call you back.
Freddy Freeman sighed as he heard the beep through his cell phone. “Mary, it’s Freddy. Listen, could you come by the school? I need to talk to you.” He flipped the phone closed and laid it on his desk.
He turned as the door opened and a smiling Ryan Choi entered the dorm room. “Free at last!” he said. Ryan opened his eyes and saw the look on Freddy’s face. “That’s not a good look for my triumphant escape from the hospital,” he said as he closed the door. “What’s wrong?”
“Lots,” Freddy admitted. “You know who Dr. Sivana is?”
“Sivana,” Ryan murmured as he thought. “Isn’t he the little bald guy that’s always trying to kill Captain Marvel?”
“Bingo,” Freddy said. “And he’s Bethany’s dad.”
“Ooh...” Ryan plopped down in a bean bag. "That’s harsh.”
“You can say that again,” Freddy said.
“So I take it that her dad won’t be invited to your wedding?” Ryan laughed as he ducked a flying notebook.
“Knock it off,” Freddy said. “It was bad enough when you found out my secret ID. Now if she finds out and tells her dad, he’d be able to figure out who all of the Marvels really are.”
“That’s easy, then,” Ryan said. “Just don’t let her find out.”
“Thanks so much,” Freddy said. “You are so much help.”
“Glad to be of assistance,” Ryan said as he stood. “I’ve got some catch up work to get done in the physics lab. Just thought I’d swing by to let you know I was back.”
“Good to see you,” Freddy said. “Try not to blow up the lab this time.”
Ryan held up a hand. “One lab a week, that’s my limit. Besides, if I was going to blow one up that JLA lab would have been awesome.” Freddy laughed as Ryan walked out.
Bethany Silver looked out her window. She hadn’t heard from Freddy since the encounter with her father. She sat down on her bed and sighed before she picked up her phone and dialed.
Hey, this is Freddy. Leave me a message.
Bethany exhaled. “Hey, Freddy,” she began, “I just wanted to try and call you. I want to talk about what happened the other night and make sure you’re okay. Call me back.”
Bethany closed her phone and flopped back on the bed. “Call me,” she whispered. “Don’t let my dad scare you off.”
Suddenly inspiration struck. She opened the phone and dialed again. “Hi, Marcus,” she said. “I need to talk to you. Yeah, it’s about dad.”
Freddy picked up his phone as it beeped. He saw he’d missed a call, but there was also a text. On my way, it read.
Freddy smiled as he started out of the room.
Soon after a lightning strike on the Ivy U campus, CM3 flew overhead toward a girl in white. “Hey, Mary,” he said.
“Good to see you,” she replied as they flew toward the science building where they landed on the roof. “So what’s going on?” she asked.
CM3 shrugged. “There’s this girl,” he started.
“Ah,” Mary said.
“It gets more confusing,” Freddy said. “I met her dad the other day. It’s Dr. Sivana.”
Mary’s eyes went wide. “She doesn’t know about you, does she?” she asked.
“Don’t worry,” Freddy said, “She doesn’t. The only one who does is my roommate and, since he also knows that Professor Palmer’s the Atom, I don’t think I’ve got to worry about anything.”
“I think I see where you’re going,” Mary said. “You like this girl, but--"
“--but I don’t know that I can live on edge the entire time I’m around her,” CM3 admitted. “I don’t think she’d say anything, but if I slipped up and she figured out who I am, we’re just one slip of the tongue away from Sivana learning the same thing. And if he figures out about me, it wouldn’t take him long to put two and two together about you and Billy.”
Mary nodded. “Have you talked to Billy about this?” she asked.
“I can’t,” CM3 said. “You know what happened.”
“Maybe you could talk to him,” Mary said. "He’s not holding a grudge. It wasn’t your fault.”
“Yes it was,” CM3 said. “All because I thought I could stay like this.”
“And the same thing happened to Black Adam,” Mary replied, "who had the Wizard watching over him the entire time.”
“So now you’re comparing me to Black Adam,” CM3 said. “That makes me feel a lot better.”
“You know that’s not how I meant that,” Mary said.
CM3 frowned as he looked at her.
A short distance away, Adrianna Tomaz took her last load of lunch dishes to the back where her brother, Amon, was washing them.
“A good day today so far,” she said.
“For you, maybe,” Amon replied. “I’m elbow deep in these suds and I don’t think I’ll ever see my hands again.”
Adrianna laughed and kissed Amon on the head. “I think you’ll survive, little brother,” she said. She turned as she heard the bell on the door ring. “I’ll be back.”
Adrianna walked out front to find a man behind the counter. “What are you doing?” she asked as she saw he’d managed to get the cash register open.
The man turned and his eyes were wild. “Keep back!” he yelled. “I just need the money!”
“I’m calling the police!" Adrianna said and started for the phone.
“No!” the man yelled. He pulled a pistol out of his pocket and fired. Adrianna screamed as she was hit and fell to the floor.
“Adrianna!” Amon called her from the back as he ran out through the kitchen doors. The thief fired again and the bullet struck Amon in the head. He fell to the ground as the thief jumped the counter and ran out of the diner.
CM3’s head jerked. “You hear that?” he asked.
Mary nodded. “Gunshots. Let’s go.” The two lifted off and studied the streets.
“There!” CM3 yelled as he pointed. “Adrianna’s diner!” Mary nodded and followed CM3 down.
Hey, there. This is Ryan. I can’t answer the phone right now, so you know what to do.
Ray Palmer frowned as the beep sounded in his ear. “Ryan, this is Professor Palmer,” he said. “I’ve been looking over your results from the tests I’ve been running on you and I’ve seen something unusual. I need you to come in as soon as possible so I can see what’s going on.”
Ray closed his phone and looked up to see Snapper Carr’s smiling face. “That didn’t sound like you were happy to see me.”
Ray smiled wearily and put the phone down on his desk. “Just worried about Ryan Choi.”
The smile on Snapper’s face vanished as he sat down in front of the desk. “I talked to him in the hospital. What’s wrong?”
“I’m not sure,” Ray said. “I’d been testing him up in the Watchtower and saw some things I don’t like.”
“How bad is it?” Snapper asked.
Ray’s silence said more than any words could have.
The man looked around at the crowd gathering in front of the diner. “Let me through!” he yelled. He fired the pistol into the air and the crowd scattered.
The man was starting to run down the sidewalk when CM3 and Mary Marvel touched down in front of him. “Hold it right there,” CM3 said.
The man screamed and fired, only for the bullets to bounce off CM3’s chest.
“If you’ve got this, I’ll check inside,” Mary said as she entered the diner where she discovered Adrianna and Amon on the ground. After confirming that they were breathing, Mary picked up the phone and called 911.
“Drop the gun,” CM3 said. “It won’t do you any good.” The man just stared at CM3. “Come on,” CM3 said. “You don’t want this to go down like this.”
A wild smile crossed the man’s face as he started laughing. “I remember now,” he muttered.
CM3 stepped forward. “Are you all right?” he asked. “I can help you get help.”
The man’s laughter grew wilder until he finally threw his head back and screamed. "Shazam!”
CM3 squinted as magic lightning struck and engulfed the thief. When he could see again, he discovered a man’s silhouette standing in the smoke left by the lightning.
“It’s good to be back,” Black Adam said.
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Next Issue: In CM3 #8: What is Black Adam really up to? And will Adrianna and Amon survive it?
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