Chapter Text
The Justice League was currently live, having decided earlier to play Minecraft for this afternoon’s stream while casually conversing with one another and the chat.
The people loved the chaos that ensued as the group of students griefed each other’s bases and needlessly killed their friends in funny ways.
Of course, not all of them reveled in the chaos of their designated server, such is the case of Captain Marvel. His chat found heavy amusement and entertainment as the Captain farmed his animals, pet the puppy he just bred, and used bonemeal to grow an endless supply of flowers, debating with his chat on which flower he thought each of his friends would like.
He isn’t bothered by the screaming of his friends in the same call, nor does he give a second glance at how Barry’s house was currently on fire, losing the stash of speed potions he’d spent hours building up once he realized how slow his little character was in game.
It was a nice, chill stream on Marvel’s end.
“Chat, what colour should I make Dixie’s collar?”
OMG that name is so cute
Yellow
Red
Yellow
Yellow
CinnyBuns Purple
@CinnyBuns
Why purple? It doesn’t match
Nuh uh
Yuh uh
Go to GA’s stream to fight guys
Yellow
Yeah!
This stream is chill
C’mon guys don’t start
Yellow
Red
Red
Yellow
Captain Marvel clapped his hands together as he looked through the chat with a pleasant hum, seeing the overwhelming majority vote for yellow.
“Chat has spoken! Dixie will have a yellow collar.”
Yes
Knew it
Yellow is my fav colour
Let’s gooo
Hii
What I miss?
He trailed off for a moment, presumably reading chat once more.
“But I feel kinda bad cuz I like purple too ‘CinnyBuns’, so the next puppy when Tulip and Ginger are ready to have another one can be purple!” he giggled at the idea of having another puppy for the army of dogs he planned to have.
So nice
CM’s my fav
So wholesome
This man’s legit
How cute
Too nice for us
Adorable
It’s confirmed he loved us chat
He probs hates u
No he doesn’t
STOPP
You always ruin the vibes bruh
Marvel just chuckled at their antics, looking away, filing the promise he made for later.
“Marvel bro, you spoil your chat too much.”
Hal poked fun at his friend, leaving Barry’s cries and plans of revenge to go over to Marvel’s house, taking in the peace of the most innocent of their little group .
The Captain chuckled sheepishly, knowing it to be true.
He just loved his chat so much; they were always so nice to him.
Something he didn’t get much outside of being Captain Marvel.
A scoff interrupted his thoughts.
“You make fun of him, but it took you four years to get the same number of subscribers that he got in less than a year even after you joined us.”
Green Arrow teased, getting a few “ooohs” in chat and a cackle from Dinah who’d also been listening to the interaction.
“You know that’s not true Arrow,” Marvel started, voice set in a soft scold.
“Hal is way more popular than me, and people love him. I know they do ‘cause I do too.”
Just joined at the best time
What’s going on?
❤
I wanna see his cute little face soooo bad
Calm down
Enough simping
❤
❤
He is too precious
Agreed
No simping for the baby
I wasn’t simping freaks
Hal should be grateful
Fr
💛
As the chat raced at the innocent light in Captain Marvel’s voice, the call was silent for a moment before Hal gasps with fondness even as his words were now directed to GA.
“Why can’t you be more like Cap here, it’s no wonder he has more subscribers than both of us.”
Arrow scoffs, “Friendly fire only works one way Lantern, you can’t use the same insult against me.”
“Says who?”
Marvel giggled at the bickering, but ultimately paid attention back to Minecraft, reorienting himself with what he was supposed to be doing, left clicking the new puppy a last time before moving on to collecting the now fully grown wheat in the fenced area attached to his cottage.
For a few minutes, Marvel’s stream was chill once more and Hal ran off to bug Green Arrow’s place, leaving the Captain alone again.
Cap hummed a random tune, beginning to smelt some potatoes when the familiar text to speech captured his attention.
GracioUsHoney would like to ask:
What’s ur favorite meal, Captain?
Now, to tell the truth, behind Captain Marvel was a little 10-year-old homeless boy, Billy Batson.
He didn’t really have a favorite meal because any and every bit of food that he could get was his favorite for that moment because it meant one less day that the painful pit that chronically resided in his stomach would stop screaming at him, even if only for a little bit.
Right now, Billy was in the best situation he’d been in since his parents died, and he hardly even had half a year’s worth of memories to go by.
Despite this, Billy felt immense guilt over getting money and help based on extreme luck from the streaming algorithm and luck for even getting the PC he has currently to stream in the first place. Some of his friends and the other people who were homeless like him would never get this opportunity, much less be able to make large amounts of money and succeed from doing so.
Any amount of money he got, he rarely used on himself, choosing instead to donate most of it to lessen some of the intense imposter syndrome that plagued his life. He saved roughly 5% of anything he got for himself, not to mention how he only drew from that account if he really needed it.
“I’m curious too bro-”
Barry questioned as the VC became quiet, awaiting his response.
“Uh- I feel like we should know this already, why don’t we know this??”
Hal’s question followed with a few hums of agreements from everyone else.
Normally the rest of the Justice League wouldn’t think about the fact that they basically knew next to nothing about their fellow streamer despite him being a part of their friend group for just under a year. Marvel was just so friendly and easy to talk to that it was hard to recall how he would shift the conversation to something else when questions or comments got too personal for his taste. They didn’t care all that much at the time, but now that a basic question was being asked and they couldn’t even recall if they had the answer to it, a certain feelling welled up in their chests, especially Hal and Barry, the 2 of them being closest to the other man.
Billy nervously chuckled.
“Well, uhh- I don’t really have a favorite meal, because I’ll eat anything even if it’s gone bad, but one of my ‘friends’ taught me a really easy thing to make for dinner even when I was really young,” Billy clasped his hands together in delight, recalling when he was 7 and one of the older kids on the streets taught him how shut the desperate growls up.
“I could make a box of crackers last for sooo long, like 3 weeks cuz I didn’t wanna waste them, but they needed to make me not hungry more, so I would eat them with the peanut butter and jelly, the one that already mixed, and I could have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches but would last forever ‘cause bread doesn’t last that long.”
The idea of the times he would get lucky enough to have to eat anything even once everyday for a while, made crackers one of his favorite things ever after they got stale and lost flavour.
Although sometimes mice really liked them too, so Billy would wake up to half of his stash sullied by the little beasts.
Uhh
Who gonna tell him
King_Smaug Crackers for dinner?
@King_Smaug
With peanut butter and jelly, that makes it better/s
That isn’t a dinner Cap
Someone get the man a burger
WTF
Poor cap
“Even if it’s gone bad”
Struggle meal?
He gotta be lying about his height
Dinner??
ClownBo relatable
@ClownBo
That should not be relatable
He learned from a friend?
What about his parents??
Billy, of course, conveniently wasn’t looking at chat, glancing back at the question on the screen.
“Hope that answers your question, uhh GraciousHoney!”
The smile in his voice juxtaposed with the concern of the chat only doubled the concern that the Justice League felt.
“Did he just-"
Canary started; voice soft but concerned at what she just heard.
Batman, of all people, grunted, cutting her off.
“We will discuss this after the stream.”
Outraged noises from Diana and Clark, both of them being the oldest and known for mother-henning their friends, took over.
Marvel seemed oblivious to the fact that he was the cause of their concern.
“Are you guys okay? Did something happen in chat or on the server?”
“Marvel-!” Superman’s sharp tone silenced everyone else before also being interrupted.
John, usually a quieter member of their group and content to just be there, spoke up.
“My friend, I believe it would be beneficial if we did not place attention on him at this moment.”
Superman had to take a deep breath.
“Okay,” another breath, “okay.”
“Nothing is wrong Cap, we just…were surprised is all!”
Billy’s voice brightened once more.
“Oh, okay!"
Captain Marvel’s chat still screamed, some of the outrage leaking to everyone else’s chats, all wondering the same thing.
After that, the live ended surprisingly peacefully, even as Billy was confused over why people were asking him if he was okay in chat, answering innocently that he was alright even if he didn’t understand why they asked in the first place.
When it was just his friends left after they all ended their own streams, a certain tension filled the call that left Billy on edge.
“Is something wrong guys?”
The silence spoke volumes.
“Did I do something wrong?”
Billy cringed at the lack of response before Superman responded.
“No- well, yes, but it’s not your fault. We were just…concerned about your ‘favorite dinner’ from earlier.”
“Okay..what about it?”
Billy couldn’t help the way his voice hardened, ready to defend the food that someone he cared about recommended for him and that kept him going some days.
Not to mention how sure he was that few of his friends could relate, if any, considering that Ollie, Dinah, Diana, Clark, Arthur, and even Batman were very well off if how they talk about their lives was anything to go by while Hal, Barry and John seemed to be doing at least well for themselves. He didn’t mind this fact and in fact was very happy that the people he cared about weren’t suffering like he was, but if they were about to criticize his way of living without even knowing the full extent of it, there would be problems.
“We aren’t judging you Marvel, we just want to make sure that you’re okay.”
Dinah’s calm, “therapist” voice (as Ollie would call it) soothed the defensive worry that overtook Billy’s person.
“What for?”
“I ate like that when me and my mom were super poor Cap ‘cause food like crackers are really cheap…we just wanna make sure you aren’t starving or something.”
There were two things Billy could do.
One option would be the hardest thing he’d ever do.
The other option would be easier even if it would make him feel like shit.
He wasn’t willing to lose his friends by telling the truth.
Feeling shitty it is.
“Eh- not anymore really. I didn’t have money when I was younger but joining you guys and streaming helped a lot!”
Attempt at diverting attention from the real issue was something he was good at.
It wasn’t a great feeling, knowing that he was being manipulative in such a way towards them, but they couldn’t know the truth. That he was a 10-year-old who couldn’t allow himself to use the money he did have to help himself.
Not to mention the fear that someone would get suspicious of him, considering how he was decently well known as this part of Fawcett’s local street rat, he was sure people would be suspicious if suddenly he had money or had nicer things. He could get in a lot of trouble if that type of attention was sent his way.
He desperately didn’t want to go to jail or the youth programs.
He would die in such a place.
A few sighs of relief told Billy that his plan worked, even as Batman grunted, probably seeing the redirection for what it was.
“Well, alright Captain. We just don’t want you to be hurt or starving at all.”
Diana sounded as if she were talking to a child, which, to be fair to her, she kinda was, but she didn’t know that. Billy flushed at the tone, feeling as if he were talking to one of the concerned older women who gave him candy or sweaters in the dead of winter if they saw him.
It was kind of nice.
They didn’t need to know that though.
“Yeah bro, let us know if you need anything, I care about you too much to let you only eat crackers for dinner!”
Barry sounded devastated at the mere thought that he might not be eating enough.
A little fire warmed Billy’s heart, knowing that the others cared about him enough to make that offer.
His pride would never let him of course, but it was still a nice thought.
He must’ve taken too long to respond because Hal cut through the silence once more.
A specialty of his it seems.
“Were the comments about your height true bro?”
A few disapproving noises came from the group at the insensitive question.
Billy couldn’t help but snort despite this.
It was true, he was lying about his height. But the irony of exactly how much he was lying about his height amongst everything else, was pretty amusing to the boy.
“I plead the fifth on that one.”
This got a few chuckles, restoring their usually chill atmosphere.
Hal sputtered, not having expected confirmation even with the answer being a vague joke.
“So you aren’t really a tank of a guy?? Gotta say bro, I was worried for if we ever met up that you would be like a god next to me-”
Billy giggled this time, even if the thought of meeting up with any of them gave him anxiety.
“It’s not my fault if you thought the fanart about me is true, I didn’t lie about nothing.”
That was a lie in itself.
But half of that statement was true.
Some fans took it upon themselves to draw him using the few facts they did know about his appearance such as his black hair and blue eyes.
For some reason, maybe because of his love of Greek Mythology, they liked to base everything else of his face and body on figures from the stories.
They took his favorite gods and heroes mentioned in past videos and used their features to create how they imagined he looked, no matter how ridiculous it sounded and looked in the end.
They gave him the wavy hair of the ancient King Solomon, the muscles of Hercules, clothing and golden jewelry in the shape of Greek armour from Achilles, the face shape of Zeus alongside crackles in his eyes that they believed he had from when he was struck by lightning(he was not in fact blind, thank you very much), the exhausted demeanor of Atlas, and a headband made of feathers from Mercury.
Billy suspected that one person shared their head canons of him, and the internet ran with it.
He’s not sure why Hal chose to take this version of him seriously since the most popular of the art Billy had seen portrayed him as like 7 feet tall.
So technically he hadn’t lied about anything.
Hal huffed, not bothering to defend himself, but the amusement was very clear to everyone else.
“So how tall are you then?”
A mischievous smirk overtook Billy’s face, and he cackled.
“Wouldn’t you like to know shorty~”
Barry gasped at the audacity.
“Short??? Everyone knows I’m like 6 '0, I’m not short .”
“Nuh-uh, that’s not what the fans think, and we all know they’re right all the time.”
A few minutes go by, Billy successfully draining the last of the solemn tension from the call, and they argue back and forth on how tall they actually are compared to the fanart and public portrayal of them.
Before anything else regarding his answer from earlier could be brought up, Billy announced that he had ‘things’ to do and bid everyone a goodbye and thanked them for being kind about everything.
He wasn’t Captain Marvel anymore.
Now he was just plain ole’ Billy Batson.
The imposter syndrome hit now that he wasn’t playing the “role” of his online persona.
He let out the stressed breath he’d been holding in ever since the end of the stream. Looking around, the illusion of being such a popular streamer with friends even more well known than he was faded, taking in his reality.
It was a better reality than some of the people he’d known, striking gold when he learned that this abandoned apartment complex had never shut its electricity off.
But the walls were still dilapidated and old, there was still a musty smell of old, still water that resided his ‘home’, and of course, looking over to the corner that held his horde of food items on molded shelf, the resource that started this whole thing with his friends.
Shame took over the boy’s stomach as he caught sight of the crackers and peanut butter and jelly that he still ate to this day. It hadn’t even been 3 years since he learned that pb&j crackers were the cheapest way to go without having the ability to cook.
Some canned goods and bars and other small snacks resided on the same shelf.
Billy’s stomach twisted in agony, the organ knowing how neglected it was.
Sighing, he got up, heading over the shelf and debating whether or not he wanted the strawberry or apple snack bar, even though his brain longed for his usual ‘dinner’ option.
Sitting down on the large sleeping bag he’d dumpster dived for, Billy finished his dinner, staring at his PC before getting too tired to continue sitting up. The dirtied ceiling met his gaze, and the boy began drifting off to sleep, dreams of having a real home and real meals taunting him as he shut his eyes.
It’ll get better one day.