Marvel: The Sandman Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Risen from the Sand (3/3)

In the smoke filled testing room, a massive heap of sand laid right next to a charred and destroyed miniature nuclear tester.


The machine was destroyed badly, completely unrecoverable and left toxic and radioactive waste around it.


"WHERE. THE. FUCK. IS. THE. CHEF!"


One of the lead researchers roared, thankfully there was the human resource department head to defuse the situation.


"His phone is turned off," The man said, "But it cannot be him. Lukas has been a trusted employee for a long time and besides… The blood and the broken glass at the back of the room is proof that someone else broke in."


The lead researcher stomped on the ground, furious but unable to do anything.


"Why the fuck are the cameras still in such a horrible position?" He barked, which made the other men look down –embarrassed by the lack of proper security checking.


"W-We will fix it, s-sir." One of the security incharges said which infuriated the man.


"Fix it NOW!" As he said that, the security jerked up and immediately rushed to do as asked.


"Locate Lukas," The man said looking at the human resource head, "I still do not trust that he had nothing to do with him. Someone as punctual as him being absent with his phone turned off is not just suspicious but alarming."


He then turned to look at the other men, "And everyone gather the crystals and leave the rest. We need proper gear to deal with the radioactive things. Prologued exposure will have devastating results so leave for now."


And that was the signal for everyone to quickly collect the precious crystals that were the only salvageable items from the incident.


Doing that, they all made their way out of the room leaving the destroyed machines and me alone.


Confused?


So am I.


I can sense myself –my presence and my consciousness on the tiniest particle around.


A single grain of sand.


I can not move or even talk, but I can sense everything.


It felt like I was trapped, but not entirely. In a weird way, I felt a link to a certain thing present within the room.


It was the sand.


I felt connected to the sand.


The link was so strong that I felt like the sand was a part of me, like I could control all the sand.


All the sand, controlled by a single grain.


An entire existence reduced to a single grain.


I could feel it, I could experience everything through that single grain of sand. But I could also not deny the connection I felt with the heap of sand that was lying on the ground.


Not just the heap but also the sand particles nearby.


I believe I know what it is. 


It was a type of mutation, one that I knew about very well.


And to test that suspicion, I decided to test my link with the heap of sand.


And how did I do that? I did that by trying to attract the grains of sand towards that one grain of sand that contained my consciousness.


It surprisingly wasn't difficult as all it required me to do was to wish for the sand particles to gather around and they did.


At first a few grains moved, then a few more and within seconds the entire heap of sand swirled around; waiting for me to shape them up.


The shape was something that did not have to be thought about. It was the only shape that was acceptable to me.


It was my own shape. 


My human figure, my face.


And the sand listened as the grains started to join together and form a structure that appeared similar to my physical structure.


Soon the structure began to develop the details like eyeball, nose, mouth, teeth, hair and even the palm lines formed.


There was no pain or discomfort during the process. It felt natural like it was exactly what I was supposed to do. 


"Twis i-is…"


Soon I was able to form words, not the most clear words but words nonetheless. My vision was back and I could finally understand my surrounding.


"–is weird."


I had no color. I was a man made of sand. Yet I was also aware that it was possible to get some pigmentation, some color on me.


Coloured sand.


That was used to get the color by 'that man' and I used the exact same.


In an instant, I had my colour back. I had my clothes back and most importantly –I still had my life.


A deep breath left me.


I was not dead.


I was still alive.


Albeit barely, but I was still alive. 


But there was something that I had already accepted. Being stranded as a grain of strand made me realize.


I wasn't the normal guy anymore.


I was more.


"I am sandman."


…

…


[[Flint Marko]]


Marko ran as fast as he could. 


He had killed someone again and had lost whatever chances of possibly salvaging his situation. He was a criminal in every sense now.


"I am done for." He cursed himself, "Everything is finished."


There was no chance at a new life now. 


His hands were soaked in the blood of the innocent.


"I can never let my wife see me like this," He muttered as he ran, "I-I will have to vanish."


That was the only option he had. Nothing else that he would do can and or will work.


He could not revive the dead, he could not bring back happiness in the life of the families who lost their beloved member.


"I-If I stay around my family will suffer just as much."


He did not want that. He did not want his family to be made an outcast because of him.


"I should vanish."


He ran as fast as he could, uncaring of the worn out shoes that were unable to stop his feet from beings cut by the countless pebbles.


His mind was numb and he was scared. What he managed to finally do was run into a dark and filthy alley that was nearly flooded by the rain and the unkempt drains. 


He squatted down a little and rested his hands over his knees, huffing from the exhaustion of running without break.


He was tired to the point that his vision was blurry and his surroundings appeared far darker than they actually were.


And it was the reason he was unable to notice the big man sitting near the dumpster. 


The man whose facial features were rough, blurring with the darkness of the alley. 


It was only when he heard the man's voice that he noticed him.


"Flint Marko."


His body became tense as the sudden echo of the voice.


"Countless robberies and thefts, many cases of harassment and recently even murder."


He felt a chill run down his spine. He knew he was caught but worst of all was the fact that he knew that voice.


"You…" He gulped.


That voice belonged to someone that he never wanted to see. A man who was infamous within the criminal world.


Not as a criminal, but as someone that erased the criminals.


"How do you plead?"


Marko knew he had made a big mistake by walking into the alley. But he didn't know that the man had followed him for a while. And it was not a meeting of coincidence.


"You are… The Punisher."


Out of everyone that he could have walked into, he walked into the Punisher.


And that was the last and the worst encounter he was ever going to have.


"It doesn't matter," Punisher spoke, "You are guilty."


A guilty verdict by the Punisher was in the simplest terms–


A death sentence.  

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[[A/N: In the comics, Sandman's entire consciousness is linked to one grain of sand. ]]