"Shazam!!"
Jackie Chan was taken aback when he heard Xiaoyu's scream beside him. He quickly turned his head and saw a muscular man in a tight-fitting suit floating in the air. A golden lightning bolt gleamed on his chest, and a white cape billowed behind him, giving him an aloof aura.
Especially on that otherwise calm face, there was a playful glint in his eyes, making his presence even more striking.
Shazam!
Was this their powerful reinforcement?
As the thought crossed his mind—
Boom!
A powerful surge of blue lightning erupted from Shazam's body. Bolts of energy shot out in all directions, instantly obliterating the surrounding Shadow Corps ninjas and even forcing back the Sword Dragon, who had been clashing with the old magician.
"What?"
The old man turned in shock. Seeing Shazam appear didn't bring him relief—instead, his face twisted in anger.
"This is Dad's battle! Stay out of it!"
With that, he tightened his grip on the dried lizard in his hand and resumed chanting the spell to destroy the Sword Dragon.
But then, he suddenly paused.
Glancing over his shoulder at the group behind him, he added:
"One more thing. I just realized... the Sword Dragon's summoning ceremony wasn't fully completed. That means we still have a chance to stop it."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the Sword Dragon let out a furious roar and lunged at him.
Trulli immediately stepped in to assist.
Meanwhile, Jackie Chan and the others exchanged glances—before breaking into smiles.
The summoning wasn't completed?
That means we still have a chance!
Without hesitation, the group sprang into action.
The Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze, moved to intercept the four dark assassins—Gan, Wen, Cui, and Shan—while Jackie Chan and his team took on the endless waves of shadow ninjas swarming around them.
Up ahead, Xiaoyu rushed forward to support Shazam, unleashing the power of the talismans to push back several enemies.
Jackie Chan blinked in confusion.
Only now did he realize something odd.
"Xiaoyu, why do you have the talisman?"
"Huh?" Xiaoyu touched her head and grinned sheepishly.
Shazam, meanwhile, ignored the conversations happening around him. As a magic-powered superhero, he possessed overwhelming strength—more than enough to crush the enemies before him.
Of course, these opponents weren't particularly strong. Their main tactic was harassment.
With Jackie Chan and the others holding the front line, Shazam saw no need to waste time. Instead, he swiftly moved toward the space behind Daolong.
This was where Constantine was.
In their shared memories, Constantine had already reached the altar where the summoning ritual was taking place. Blood-red energy spiraled into the sky, filling the space with an eerie glow.
"A blood ritual..." Constantine muttered, narrowing his eyes.
Then—
Without warning, he shifted sideways, barely dodging an attack from behind.
He turned his head.
A bald man, wearing a monocle and wielding a medieval longsword, was swinging the weapon in a vicious downward arc.
Whoosh!
The sword sliced through the air, missing the tip of Constantine's nose by mere millimeters before suddenly twisting mid-strike, aiming straight for his chest.
Constantine stepped back, narrowly evading Straker's attack. His gaze turned cold as he studied his opponent.
"John Constantine, meeting for the first time..."
Just as Straker was about to introduce himself, he was interrupted by Anton.
"I know you, Straker. One of Hydra's top brass."
Constantine added lightly, "Your predecessors—Alexander Pierce and Mitchell Carson—have all been brought to justice. It'll be your turn soon enough."
"No, you're wrong." Straker sneered. "I will lead Hydra to world domination, and everything you say will become nothing more than a fleeting illusion."
Constantine smirked. "You? Alone?"
His gaze sharpened as he warily surveyed the area.
He knew Straker's personal combat abilities were nothing special. In this era, the man was barely a threat on his own.
Which meant Straker's confidence had to come from something else.
A hidden ace up his sleeve.
Maybe reinforcements. Maybe something even worse.
"It's them…"
A thought flashed through Constantine's mind—
And then—
Wham!
Before he could react, a barely visible blur zipped through his peripheral vision. The next thing he knew, a force slammed into him like a freight train, sending him flying. His body crashed hard against the stone wall.
"Cough… cough!"
Blood dripped from the corner of Constantine's mouth as he pushed himself up, his expression grim.
Just as he suspected.
The one who attacked him was a speedster—one with powers eerily similar to the Flash.
"Hahahahaha!"
Straker laughed maniacally, his eyes gleaming as he looked down at Constantine.
"Surprised, John Constantine?" He sneered, his voice dripping with mockery. "Superheroes? You think only heroes have power? Hydra has its own champions."
As he spoke, two figures stepped forward from the shadows—one man, one woman.
The man had striking silver hair, while the woman had a sharp yet elegant face framed by brown locks. A heavy robe obscured most of her form, making it difficult to gauge her physique.
But Constantine recognized them instantly.
Pietro Maximoff—Quicksilver. Wanda Maximoff—Scarlet Witch.
For the first time, Constantine felt a flicker of pressure.
But that pressure didn't exist for Shazam.
And it certainly didn't exist for Anton.
"Straker, keep dreaming."
A voice suddenly echoed from behind him.
Straker's head snapped around—just in time to see Shazam stepping forward, his golden lightning emblem glowing ominously.
"Shazam?!"
Straker's expression shifted. Of course, he knew who Shazam was.
Meanwhile, outside the area, a full-scale war was raging.
Hydra forces clashed with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, the summoned Shadow Assassins fought alongside the Sombra Ninjas, and the Sword Dragon wreaked havoc.
Straker had placed high hopes in the Sword Dragon, believing it could turn the tide of battle.
But now, the creature had failed to even slow Shazam down.
That wasn't how the plan was supposed to go.
No—his entire strategy with Daolong was unraveling.
Straker had made a critical error.
He hadn't underestimated Shazam's power.
He had underestimated District 13.
"Constantine, leave this to me."
Shazam barely spared Constantine a glance as he brushed past him, his tone calm but commanding.
"I'll handle them."
"Alright."
Constantine nodded, turning his back on Straker, Quicksilver, and Wanda. Without hesitation, he strode toward the altar, where a blood-red light pulsed ominously.
"Quicksilver, stop him!"
Straker's face darkened.
He could see the sheer disdain in their actions—the way neither Constantine nor Shazam even considered him a real threat.
It was infuriating.
Whoosh!
Quicksilver moved in an instant, his form blurring as he lunged toward Constantine at impossible speed.
But—
Boom!
Shazam had already anticipated it.
Raising his hand slightly, he summoned a surge of lightning. The air crackled as bolts erupted from the void, striking the ground in front of Constantine.
Boom!
Quicksilver was caught off guard. A blinding flash engulfed him, and an instant later, he was sent flying.
"Pietro!"
Wanda's panicked cry echoed through the chamber.
Her brother's fall ignited a fury inside her—one that burned bright and wild.
Without waiting for Straker's command, she raised her hands—
And unleashed her power.
Under the force of her own thoughts, a cloud of blood-red energy erupted like a mist, spreading in an instant and enveloping Shazam's body mid-air.
Shazam remained unfazed.
He knew exactly what he was facing.
Chaos Magic.
Wanda Maximoff was a natural wielder of Chaos Magic, capable of manipulating minds and altering reality itself.
Of course, at her current level, such high-level abilities were far beyond her reach.
But Straker and Wanda had clearly overestimated her mind-control capabilities—and, more importantly, underestimated the sheer power of Shazam.
With Wanda's current control, her abilities posed no real threat to him.
Not even the slightest one.
Boom!
Wanda screamed, pouring all of her strength into her magic. Shazam, still floating in the air, merely felt an external force trying to pull at him. It was strong on the surface, but ultimately hollow—like an empty shell. It had no effect on him whatsoever.
Shazam possessed nearly limitless power, rivaling even Superman. He was immune to most physical attacks, capable of moving and flying at extraordinary speeds, even through space.
These were the reasons he was known as the Magical Superman.
And did they really think a newly awakened Wanda, with her limited mastery of Chaos Magic, could control him?
Obviously not.
Wanda had immense potential—one day, she would be a force to be reckoned with.
But potential was not power.
And in this moment, she was nowhere near Shazam's level.
Even if this were Wanda after the events of Avengers: Endgame, fully realized in her strength—there was no guarantee she could overpower him now.
"How… how is this possible?"
Wanda stared in shock.
Her red energy coiled around Shazam, wrapping him in Chaos Magic—yet it did absolutely nothing.
No pain. No struggle. Not even a flinch.
Her mind reeled at the sight.
She wasn't the only one stunned—Straker, standing beside her, was equally dumbfounded.
"Shazam…"
Straker's voice was barely a whisper as he watched in disbelief. Shazam stood there, calm and indifferent, completely unaffected by Wanda's power.
At the same time, Pietro—who had just recovered from being struck by lightning—witnessed everything as well.
He knew exactly how powerful Wanda's abilities were.
Yet, watching Shazam simply shrug them off…
And seeing how effortlessly he had neutralized Pietro's own speed earlier…
Pietro suddenly realized the vast difference in their power.
The gap between them and him.
"Justice League…"
He took a deep breath, clenching his fists.
"The Justice League is on another level."
In that instant, Pietro finally understood.
He finally realized why Tony Stark's superhero team had fallen apart after going up against the Justice League.
And, deep down, he felt a sense of twisted satisfaction.
Tony Stark has to deal with this?
That's his problem now.
Because Shazam was just one member of the Justice League.
There were others.
Superman. Wonder Woman. Batman. The Flash. Green Lantern. Cyborg.
Could Hydra really have any future against that?
The thought lingered in his mind.
"It seems your abilities aren't all they're made out to be."
A calm voice echoed through the battlefield.
Shazam's expression remained neutral as he slowly raised his hand.
Instantly, the expressions of all three Hydra operatives changed.
"Shit!"
"Run!"
Pietro's voice was filled with horror as he turned toward Wanda and Straker.
He had already felt Shazam's power firsthand.
And the moment he saw that gesture, he knew—
Shazam was about to get serious.
For the first time in his life, an overwhelming sense of fear surged through him.
His usual pride—the arrogance of a speedster—vanished in an instant.
This wasn't a fight.
It was a massacre waiting to happen.
"Gulp!"
Straker swallowed hard, fear creeping into every corner of his mind. He didn't need Quicksilver's warning—he could feel it deep in his soul.
This was real fear.
"No, you go first."
Wanda knew the truth—if they all ran, not everyone would make it.
Among the three of them, the only one with a real chance of escaping from Shazam's grasp was Pietro, thanks to his speed. Even if Shazam tried to stop him, it would take some effort.
But her? Straker?
They didn't stand a chance.
"Do you really have time to worry about others?"
Shazam's voice was laced with mockery as he looked at Wanda.
Right now, she was nothing more than a Hydra puppet—perhaps one day, she would become a hero, but today, they were enemies.
And given how openly hostile she and Quicksilver were toward him, no amount of words would change that.
If he wanted to deal with them, he had only one option.
Capture them first.
As for Straker?
He wasn't worth keeping.
Shazam's gaze shifted toward the bald man with the monocle. The smirk on his face deepened.
Boom!
With a sharp wave of his hand—
Crackle!
Lightning burst forth from the void, flooding the space with unstoppable, divine fury. The blood-red energy surrounding the altar shattered in an instant.
Straker didn't even have time to scream.
Bolts of lightning pierced through him, and before he could react, his body was incinerated—torn apart into ash.
"T-This…!"
Wanda, still standing next to Straker's remains, gasped in horror.
She stumbled back, collapsing to the ground.
The air hummed with residual electricity, sparks flickering like tiny stars around her. She didn't dare move—terrified that a single touch would turn her into dust, just like Straker.
"Wanda!"
Pietro zigzagged through the lightning, dodging with sheer speed. He saw an opening and rushed toward his sister, determined to get her out.
But—
"You're not taking me seriously at all, are you?"
Shazam's voice was cold—like the whisper of Death itself.
And before Pietro could react—
A hand clamped down on his shoulder.
"What?!"
Pietro's eyes widened in pure disbelief.
Someone had caught him.
Caught him.
With his speed.
How?
How was Shazam so fast?
He turned his head slowly, dread creeping into his expression.
The man beside him stood calm, unmoving—unbothered.
"You!"
The panic in Quicksilver's eyes was unmistakable.
"Relax."
Shazam's voice was almost casual.
"If you surrender now… I might just save you both."
As he spoke, the lightning that had been surging wildly through the space vanished—fading away as if it had never been there.
The storm had ended.
Wanda, still curled in the corner, was trembling—but alive.
Pietro exhaled sharply in relief.
"By the way…"
A new voice cut through the tense silence.
"You guys seem to have forgotten about me."
Shazam, Pietro, and Wanda all turned at the same time.
And standing there, in the center of the altar, was—
John Constantine.
A cigarette hung loosely from his lips, and in his arms—
A red-skinned baby.
With horns.
Constantine sighed, looking down at the infant.
"Well, this is a bloody mess."
Shazam's brows furrowed as he flipped through Constantine's shared memories—
And his calm expression finally shifted.
"Wait… this little guy…"
His eyes widened slightly.
"Is that… Hellboy?!"
…
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