Marvel: The Sandman Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Good Thing

It took an incredible combination of bad luck and shit timing to end up in such a situation.


"That's enough." 


The massive figure with flaky skin announced, not sounding too happy with the way Johnny was acting.


But it also makes me wonder.


How many geniuses are there in this world? How many devices have they created?


Every famous person or organization in this world seems to have a device that tells them about the emergence of superpowered beings.


It doesn't even matter if it is a mutant, mutate or a magic user.


Groups like X-Men, Brotherhood, S.H.I.E.L.D, Avengers and now even the Fantastic Four seems to possess devices that tell inform them whenever a person with superpower emerges.


"Reed told you to 'talk' with the new mutate and not 'fight' with him."


I had guessed that way earlier. 


Reed Richards was not a person that would start an unnecessary fight without a reason. And at times that he did, it was because he felt threatened or it was his twisted sense of justice at work.


Neither of these were applicable in this scenario.


"What are you doing here, Thing…" Johnny scowled, his flames lowering a little to make his human features more visible.


The tone in which he took the Thing's name was an angry one with him putting a lot of emphasis on that name.


"Stopping you from creating a mess, Johnny."


The Fantastic Four were one of the only few groups of superheroes whose public identities were open to the public.


And thus it did not surprise me when Ben Grimm called Torch by his actual name.


And yes, the monstrous looking being with rock like skin was Ben Grimm or as the world popularly knew him –The Thing.


Now from what I know, Ben might look scary but he has a kind heart. Or well, a heart of gold. 


He slowly turned to look at me, "Are you alright?"


I nodded at the rocky figure, certain that he was there to stop Johnny and protect me if Johnny went overboard –Which he pretty much did.


"Err… I am." I said, brushing off the sand from my clothes.


And immediately after doing that, I froze.


What am I doing?


I am made entirely of sand and I am trying to brush off the sand that is stuck to the clothes which again is made of sand?


I felt stupid but I knew that it was mostly instinctual that I did that. 


It was not something I could change in a day or two –It was an instinctual habit.


The big man exhaled sharply, "That's a relief."


By this time, the Human Torch had already changed back to his human form –Johnny Storm.


"We don't know if he is a good guy or a bad guy. Last time I check, we ended up with a Mole-Man situation thanks to Susan's classification of the man as 'Harmless.'"


The fire boy frowned at me, "This guy can control sand according to his will and even change his body. His control seems to be better than most of the villains we have fought and you are telling me to not go after him?" 


Damn.


He seems frustrated. 


I think I have heard of Mole Man but I can't seem to remember his story well. But oh well, at least The Things stopped things from escalating further.


Ben sighed, "If he was similar to that mole bastard, he would have already created a mess. As you said, his powers are stronger than Mole Man yet he did not create a scene."


He then looked at me, "As for his control over sand… Some people gain control of their ability quicker than most."


"That–"


Ben pointed at Johnny, "You are the perfect example of it. While me and the rest struggled to control our powers, you used it to fly off almost immediately. Abilities and their control differ from person to person, you should know that better than anyone else."


"That's–"


Once again, Johnny was stopped mid-sentence.


"Why don't we let him speak first?" The stone man said, "Till now we haven't given this young man even the slightest bit of chance to talk."


Finally they realized that it was just them making assumptions and I hadn't even been given a chance to speak yet.


With quite a big scowl on his face, Johnny looked at me. "You can tell us your story." He wasn't too happy, "Just don't give me the crap about being exposed to some space radiation."


But well…


"No, I wasn't exposed to space radiation." I said which made him roll his eyes.


"Thank you," He said.


"But I was exposed to radiation."


"Oh for fuck's sake!"


…

…


[Los Angeles]


"Jen."


Being called out of the blue, Jen was woken up from her tranced state by the familiar voice.


"Ah, Bruce." She smiled as she realized that it was none other than her cousin that had come to visit her. "It's rare to see you nowadays."


"Y-Yeah…" Bruce said, sounding seemingly off. "I have been… busy."


Jen raised at eyebrow at his uneasy look, "Are you okay? You seem a bit stressed."


She walked towards him, noticing the look of fear and uneasiness in his eyes.


"I-I am." He said, "But I might n-not be able to visit for a while."


To Jennifer, it was not a rare event. Her brother was a scientist and one of the best in his field. There were times when he would keep himself stationed inside his laboratory for days without stepping out.


The longest she had gone without hearing from him had been three months when he was deep in his research about gamma radiation.


"Is everything alright?" She was worried. 


While he might not say anything, as cousins that were very close, Jen knew a lot about Bruce.


At times, she could even read him like an open book. However, this time while she knew something was wrong and he was unwilling to reveal it –She could not pry.


There were reasons why she couldn't force him. Mostly familial reasons that she preferred not to talk about.


"Yeah…" He said, "Can I get a bit of water?" 


"Oh," She felt embarrassed for not offering him anything when he came to her place after ages, "I will be back in a bit."


Bruce had the key to her apartment and was asked to drop by anytime. So, she wasn't surprised to see him randomly pop out at her place.


As for Bruce, he had reasons to be there.


Gulping thickly as he saw Jennifer go to the kitchen, he quickly moved towards her desk and took out a file from inside of the coat that he wore.


Making sure that she wasn't looking, he quickly pushed the file inside the drawer before moving back to his original position.


'I hope that you never have to get into this research or even associate yourself with it Jen, but I know… you will have to.'


He hid a very big secret and he was aware that it was going to affect her as well.


But for the time being, he couldn't say anything and she had to discover the story herself.


He kept it in the drawer, he knew that she would need it soon –very soon.


'Just be safe, Jen.'