It was a beautiful day in Metropolis in Clark Kent's opinion. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and Lois looked particularly nice in her new pink shirt. It was just a little low cut which accentuated her best features.

Jimmy hadn't been able to stop staring, earning himself a few head slaps from Perry who then berated him on professional conduct.

Clark was busy typing up his latest story, proof that a local senator was taking bribes when he caught the sound of screaming. It sounded as if it was coming from the center of town.

He sighed heavily and grabbed a few notebooks, shoving them in his brown satchel.

"I'm going to get another interview or two then I'll come back," he announced then fled before anyone could ask him anything.

Less than a minute later he was in the center of town, pinching the bridge of his nose as he watched Bizarro fly around, causing chaos.

Bizarro was his clone, created by Lex Luthor in a failed attempt to replace him. Thankfully Bizarro was very stupid despite creating his own language called "Backwards". It was an easy language to speak but Clark saw no reason when all he had to do was beat him up until Bizarro agreed to return to the "Backwards" dimension Lex had created for him.

"Why are you here?" He asked with a heavy sigh as he easily caught a red sedan.

"Bizarro not step through hole and not wind up here,"

Clark sighed again. It seemed he would have to have a talk with Lex and have him fix the dimension yet again. How Bizarro kept finding ways out was beyond him and annoyed Lex to no end.

"How about we stop fighting and I get Lex to send you home?" He suggested.

"Bizarro not go to populated world. Bizarro not lonely."

"You can't stay here," Clark said firmly. "You're too dangerous. You have to return home."

"Yes!" To accentuate his point Bizarro pulled out a lamppost and swung it.

Clark grunted as it hit him, knocking him into the wall of a nearby bank. He pulled himself out of the hole he had inadvertently created, sighing when he realized that a few of the citizens were now swarming to see if they could get any money.

He grabbed the lamppost before Bizarro could swing it again and returned the favor.

"That not hurt," Bizarro declared as he dug himself out of an empty storefront, glass shards flying everywhere.

"Hi, Superman," a voice greeted and Clark closed his eyes.

"What do you want, Billy?" His tone was a bit snappish but Clark didn't care.

"It's Shazam when I'm in this form," Billy's voice sounded older than it normally did and a bit deeper. Since regaining his powers he had been acting differently.

"What do you want?" Clark repeated as he and Bizarro began exchanging blows.

"I thought I would come and offer my assistance," he grabbed Clark's cape, pulling him out of the way as Bizarro used his version of a freeze breath. "You seem to be needing it."

"I'm fine," Clark pulled his cape free. "Go back to the Watchtower. I thought J'onn was keeping an eye on you."

Shazam shrugged. "He said I'm not a prisoner and I'm free to come and go as I please."

Clark gritted his teeth and vowed to have a long talk with J'onn after this. Shazam had been too unpredictable lately and needed to be kept under wraps until they figured out what was wrong.

"Go back to the Watchtower," Clark ordered. "I can handle this."

And of course that was the exact moment that Bizarro hit him in the head with a mailbox. Now, normally, this wouldn't have hurt but LexCorp had recently replaced all of the city's mailboxes with new ones made out of adamantium so they could better survive the numerous superhero battles.

Clark went down, hard. He crashed into the ground and groaned. His head was pounding and he could only hope that the bruises would fade quickly. The mailbox itself had a small dent but that was the extent of its damage.

"Superman!" Shazam shouted and Clark could only watch as he attacked Bizarro.

The two exchanged blows for several minutes before Shazam finally got bored and wrapped his hand around Bizarro's throat.

"You'll pay for this," he growled. "Shazam!"

Bizarro screamed as Shazam's magic lightning coursed through his body. Shazam tightened his grip and his grin was unusually bloodthirsty as he said, "It's time to end this once and for all. You'll never hurt anyone ever again."

"No!" Clark's eyes widened. He propelled himself forward, wrapping his arms around Shazam as he attempted to remove his hand. "Let go of him. You can't kill him - we're heroes, we don't kill."

Shazam turned to face him, his eyes glowing golden. "You might not but I do."

His grip tightened and Bizarro's struggle intensified for a second then stopped altogether.

Desperate, Clark slugged Shazam, causing his grip to loosen. Clark seized the opportunity and hit him again, allowing Bizarro to drop to the ground, wheezing.

As Clark did his best to restrain Shazam Bizarro flew away, disappearing two blocks away.

"Why did you stop me?" Shazam snarled. "I could have finished him off for good and he never would have been a threat ever again."

"We're not judge and jury," Clark hissed. "We're heroes, we save lives, not take them."

"I am a god," Shazam's voice filled the square and thunder rumbled overhead. "I don't follow the same rules that you mortals do," he spat.

Clark would never admit that he was momentarily frightened as the weather went haywire with thunder and lightning lighting up the sky. Shazam's eyes were still glowing and electricity danced all over his frame. For a single moment Clark truly believed that the other being truly was something otherworldly but then the moment passed and Clark reminded himself that Shazam was really a child.

"We're going back to the Watchtower," Clark informed him. "You're going to be in a lot of trouble."

Shazam sneered at him. "I care not for your opinion but I will return with you."

"Good," Clark took to the sky and, after a brief hesitation, Shazam joined him.