Night.
A starry sky stretched overhead, with a bright moon hanging high. The dark clouds that had gathered earlier under Shazam's thunder attack were now slowly dissipating.
A residential area in Brooklyn.
An orange-red circular portal, blooming with sparks, suddenly appeared out of thin air in everyone's line of sight.
What was shocking was that the other side of the portal did not reveal a street in the residential area, but rather the interior of a house.
Both sides of the hall were lined with antiques, each encased in a glass cover.
However, these antiques looked strange. They seemed to contain magical energy—some even floated within the glass, moving as if they were alive.
"What is that?"
"Who is that guy?"
Everyone's gaze passed through the open space and landed on the figure standing at the entrance of the hall, surrounded by the eerie antiques.
The man wore a robe, his expression stern, his eyes glaring at the devil before him—eyes filled with burning hostility.
Daniel Drumm.
Anton's Shazam avatar, linked with Anton's true self back at home, watched the scene through shared perspective. A thought occurred to him.
As the devil had said, this man was from Kamar-Taj—the guardian of the New York Sanctum.
According to the comics, Daniel Drumm was actually the brother of Jericho Drumm, also known as Doctor Voodoo, a powerful superhero.
After Daniel's death, Jericho would often summon his brother's soul to augment his strength.
In the movies, however, Daniel Drumm was reduced to a throwaway character—the New York Sanctum's master who was quickly killed off by the villain Kaecilius with no real resistance.
Doctor Strange, of course, inherited the Sanctum afterward, along with its treasure trove of magical relics.
Now that we're talking about it, he wonder if Doctor Voodoo will ever appear in Doctor Strange 2.
If he does, Daniel might get a temporary resurrection.
But, knowing Marvel's usual pattern, it's unlikely. The MCU is already overflowing with characters. The likely villain for Doctor Strange 2 would be his "big brother" Mordo. No need to waste screen time on a minor role like Daniel.
These thoughts flashed through Shazam's mind. So when he sensed the powerful aura in Daniel, he wasn't surprised.
As the guardian of one of Kamar-Taj's three great Sanctums—the New York Sanctum—Daniel Drumm may have died early in the movie, but that doesn't mean he was weak.
If anything, it only highlights how powerful Kaecilius truly was.
Having absorbed power from Dormammu and the Dark Dimension, Kaecilius had reached a near-peak level of power on Earth.
Even the Ancient One—suspected of walking into her own death—was ultimately slain by him.
If Doctor Strange hadn't possessed the Time Stone, passed down from Kamar-Taj, he would've had no chance against Kaecilius or Dormammu.
So Daniel, who fell to Kaecilius, should not be dismissed as weak.
At best, he just couldn't win that fight.
And that's understandable.
"It's you… you damn magician!"
The demon, now appearing as a twisted clown, looked at Daniel Drumm with a hideous expression as he stepped through the portal.
Daniel had sealed off the space around them—cutting off the demon's escape route back to hell.
In other words, he had sentenced the demon to death.
Facing the guardian of the New York Sanctum—a master magician, a powerful superhero, and a seasoned magical warrior—the clown-faced demon now felt true fear.
Desperation had begun to creep into his heart.
"Got you."
Daniel stared coldly at the demon, eyes full of murderous intent, completely unafraid.
Then, he turned to Shazam standing beside him, sensing both his aura and the fierce pulse of magic radiating from him. Slightly surprised, Daniel gave a small nod and introduced himself.
"Hello, Shazam. First time meeting. I'm Daniel Drumm—guardian of the New York Sanctum, one of the three great temples of Kamar-Taj."
"Hello."
Shazam returned the nod with a smile. "I've met the Sorcerer Supreme."
"Then you're lucky," Daniel said with a shrug.
Their conversation completely ignored the demon before them—as if it were nothing more than a stray dog passing by. They weren't even remotely concerned.
This, naturally, enraged the clown-faced demon.
Though it knew escape from these two was unlikely, the arrogance of a demon—and the pride of a higher being—refused to allow such blatant disrespect.
"You worthless insects! Dare to ruin a demon's plan?! My lord will resurrect me, and you will pay!" the demon roared.
Roar—
The sound was deafening, the shockwaves from its bellow visibly rippling through the air.
Yet ordinary people couldn't hear this low, guttural roar. At the moment the sound hit, their eyes rolled back and they collapsed, unconscious.
Only three remained standing: Shazam, Daniel Drumm, and Al Simmons.
Simmons, whose body also harbored infernal energy, felt a strange resonance with the demon's pain.
After all, he had once been trained by a demon in Hell, becoming one of its knights. While the demon king couldn't directly decide his fate, he could still command countless lesser demons and soldiers of the underworld, leaving Simmons in a constant state of vulnerability.
Memories of Hell surged back.
Pain.
Hatred.
Endurance.
A flicker of murderous intent crept into Simmons' eyes.
Huh!
But in the next instant, a gaze snapped him out of it. He felt a jolt—like electricity through his spine.
He turned—Shazam was staring directly at him.
Simmons immediately lowered his head, not daring to meet the gaze.
"Stay put," Shazam said calmly.
His voice, unshaken by the demon's roar, cut through the air like a blade.
"Once I kill this demon, we'll discuss your situation."
He waited. When Simmons didn't answer fast enough, his voice sharpened:
"Did you hear me?"
Simmons flinched, then quickly responded.
"Y-Yes! I understand!"
Whoosh!
With a final roar, the massive clown demon soared into the air and charged.
The wind screamed around him. In a blur of motion, he ripped a nearby lamppost from the ground and wielded it like a massive, jagged spear, aiming straight for Daniel.
But Daniel wasn't so easily taken down.
With a sharp motion of his feet, he levitated gracefully, avoiding the strike.
Boom!
The ground, however, didn't fare as well.
It shattered and buckled beneath the force, as if an earthquake had struck. All of Brooklyn seemed to tremble. Cracks webbed out across the street, spidering in every direction.
Thankfully, the nearby residents—knocked out cold from the demon's earlier roar—weren't screaming or panicking. Not yet.
Seeing this, Shazam and Daniel exchanged a glance. No words were needed.
They had to end this quickly—before things spiraled out of control.
Mirror Dimension!
Daniel raised his hand, his Sling Ring glowing. With a sharp gesture, he tore open a portal and dragged the battlefield into a separate reality.
A new space unfolded—a floating realm of twisting architecture and shimmering skies. His magic surged, burning rapidly as the Mirror Dimension took hold.
Space Proliferation
Both the demon and Shazam fell into Daniel's mirrored space.
Shazam raised his eyebrows slightly.
In this space, he could feel a distinct pressure. Though it wasn't overwhelming, it was enough to reveal the true strength of the mirrored space's magic.
After all, even the Ancient One, is known to be a devoted admirer of the Mirror Dimension.
Once Shazam adjusted to the space, he spread his arms wide, his body slowly rising into the air.
Zi Zi Zi Zi Zi Zi Zi Zi Zi Zi Zi Zi Zi Zi Zi Zi Zi—!
Inside the mirrored space, countless bolts of lightning erupted from the void, crackling and weaving through the air.
Without any external interference, Shazam was free to unleash his magical power without restraint.
Or rather, divine power—since in Shazam's case, magic and divinity are one and the same.
As the inheritor of the Great Wizard's power, Shazam holds the might of six gods: Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury.
Among these, the source of his divine energy is Zeus himself.
And as the king of the Greek gods, Zeus's power is nearly limitless.
Shazam just so happens to be its direct inheritor.
As he moved, the entire mirrored space began to tremble. It looked as though invisible cracks were forming in the fabric of the dimension itself, and an ominous aura began to spread.
The demon's expression changed drastically.
At the same time, Daniel Drumm—who was maintaining the mirrored space—immediately noticed the distortion. He stared at Shazam in shock, his impression of the hero shifting completely, his face filling with fear.
Daniel suddenly began to understand why the Ancient One had appeared in New York not long ago.
Was it because of Shazam?
He didn't fully understand ancient one's actions. But as the guardian of the New York Sanctum, he knew exactly who had been active in the city.
Previously, during various crises in New York, Daniel had remained inactive.
As a magician, his responsibility lay with interdimensional threats—not local chaos.
Unless Earth or humanity itself faced extinction, the magic-wielders of Kamar-Taj would not intervene.
It would take something on the level of Thanos wiping out half the universe to move them.
After all, if the magicians responded to every crisis, wouldn't that make them seem a bit... overbearing?
Fortunately, in recent years, superhero culture has flourished.
New heroes emerge constantly, giving the magicians some breathing room. At least humanity's daily survival no longer hangs by a thread.
This allowed the mystics to focus on their own little corners of the world.
However, what Daniel and others hadn't anticipated was that these superheroes would start reaching into the magical domain.
And they'd succeeded.
Constantine. Shazam. Wonder Woman.
These weren't people that the magicians of Kamar-Taj could take lightly.
The Dark Justice League...
Though its formation was considered a secret, the higher-ups at Kamar-Taj had already taken notice.
Because the beings that group was hunting—should've been their targets.
Now, the magicians felt conflicted.
Especially Daniel.
But he didn't resent it. On the contrary, it was nice to have someone else doing the hard work.
Daniel wished the world were full of magicians—then maybe he could just relax and dive deeper into his studies.
Unfortunately, not everyone has the talent for magic.
While lost in thought, terrifying energy rippled through the mirrored space.
It slammed the demon into the ground, grinding him into submission—cooked, even.
"AHHHHHHH—!"
The demon screamed in agony, his eyes full of rage and fear.
He looked up at Shazam floating toward him, but could do nothing to resist.
He was completely overpowered, unable to fight back.
"Goodbye," Shazam said calmly.
"I hope your Lord Demon figures out how to bring you back…
…but I doubt he'll bother wasting the effort on trash like you."
Another bolt of lightning shot from the void, piercing the demon's body.
FWOOSH!
The demon's body disintegrated into glowing particles, vanishing into the air.
His power returned to Hell and was instantly assimilated by the abyss.
When Daniel saw that the battle was over and was just about to release the mirror space magic, he suddenly noticed a flash of light—Shazam's body flickered and vanished into a spatial portal. In the next instant, he reappeared right in front of Daniel.
"Y-You…"
Daniel froze in shock.
What surprised him wasn't Shazam's overwhelming defeat of the demon.
It was this.
The Mirror Dimension can only be accessed—and exited—using a Sling Ring, a specialized magical artifact that allows magicians to open spatial doors.
Without it, a person trapped inside the mirror space has no way out.
No path to heaven, no road to Earth.
Yet Shazam had just exited it without any such ring.
Which meant—he possessed another power. One capable of traversing dimensions freely.
"No… that power feels… strange," Daniel muttered, brows furrowing as he tried to make sense of it.
Shazam noticed the expression and immediately guessed what Daniel was thinking.
But he didn't offer an explanation.
The truth was simple.
A teleportation device.
As long as coordinates were set, it worked just like Doraemon's Anywhere Door—capable of jumping across any space with ease.
He turned away from Daniel and locked eyes with the one who started it all: Al Simmons, the man known as Spawn.
"Al Simmons," Shazam said, his voice calm but heavy with authority. "The complicated matters have been dealt with. Now, let's talk about you."
"It looks like you've remembered quite a bit," he added, his tone still neutral, but the oppressive weight of his earlier power lingered in the air.
Al Simmons swallowed hard, clearly nervous.
The sheer force Shazam had just displayed left no room for defiance.
"…Yes. I remember everything."
Shazam was a figure who had only risen after Simmons' death.
Simmons didn't know much about him—only that he was a member of the so-called Justice League.
As for the magician standing beside him, Daniel Drumm—he didn't recognize him at all.
"I know what I've become," Simmons said bitterly. "A monster… created by the Demon Lord of Hell."
"My existence only brings disaster… just like today."
Simmons fell to his knees, his voice cracking as tears rolled down his face.
In all his memories, he had never felt this broken.
"Kill me," he whispered.
"Please."
…
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