Alright, time for chapter 2! Sorry for the long wait, but school finally decided to catch up to me. I would just like to say thank you for the overwhelming positive response on this story, It's already my most viewed story, far above the quality of my previous ones, and it's only one chapter in. I hope to have the next few chapters on a more regular upload schedule at least.
This chapter is a little shorter than the last one (About 50% shorter) but that's mostly because I'm going to be jamming the next couple of chapters with all the classic Justice League action that you've come to love!
The Justice League and all related characters are owned my DC, Sandman and any related Avengers characters are all owned by Marvel. I only own this fic
After reluctantly watching Shayera leave, Flint had entered into the dining hall where the remaining members of the League had returned to their seats around the table; John however was noticeably absent.
'Probably going to look for Shayera before she leaves' he thinks to himself, before being called out of his own thoughts as Superman clears his throat.
"First of all Flint, we'd like to thank you for all your help. Without your assistance, I don't know what we would have done" The man of steel began as Flint gave a small smile in return.
"Hey, it was no trouble at all" He shrugs as Superman smiles in return.
"However, there are a few questions we have to ask of you, if you wouldn't mind answering"
"Of course. Ask away" He says simply as he takes a seat across the table from where Superman was.
"First we would like to know how you managed to get on the prison ship. Secondly, we'd like to why we have never heard of you before. We're aware of several heroes and their activities all over the globe, so the way you've managed to stay under the radar for so long has us fairly puzzled" Clark asked with a curious glance as the others aside from Flash, who knew the whole truth, nodded in agreement.
"Well, to answer your first question, I snuck through an opening in the side. They weren't exactly worried about a cloud of dust getting inside" Flint shrugs. "As for the other question, would you mind if I sat down? That might take a while"
Batman gave a hard, questioning stare as Superman gestured to a chair across from him on the table.
Once seated, Flint cleared his throat. "Now, I gave the full story to Flash already, but here it goes" He starts as the League watches him carefully. He took a short breath before dropping a major bombshell on them. "I came from another universe"
To say that the League was shocked was an understatement. Everyone except for Flash was very visibly shocked by the sudden revelation. Even Batman's eyes were wider than usual, though not by much.
"Yeah that's about the reaction I expected. Now, as for how, I ain't a genius when it comes to tech, but a villain from my world named the Wizard had built a device that he intended to use on the Avengers. The Avengers are basically my world's version of the Justice League" he explains before taking a short breath and continuing. "Anyways, before he could use it I destroyed the device. When I did, something happened and I got hit with a wave of energy, sending me here. And instead of getting rid of the Avengers, he got rid of me. I gave him a good slug before I left though" Flint mused as the League was finally starting to regain their former composure.
"Well, that certainly answers that question" Clark stated bluntly before leaning forwards slightly in interest. "Now, tell us more about your powers. What exactly can you do? And how did you get them?"
"Well you've seen most of them already. The turning to dust, making giant hammers, fusing with other sand. That's the main stuff. In terms of strength, I've never tested it completely but I've heard from the Avengers that I can lift about eighty tons (AN: Canon. He can in fact lift about 85 tons). I can also turn my sand into glass if I focus hard enough" He adds, before looking to Flash briefly. After getting a nod of reassurance he looked down and took a breath. 'Better get it out of the way now. Alright, here it goes' he thinks to himself before looking up. "As for how I got 'em, I was caught up in a scientific experiment while escaping the police"
"Escaping the police? So you're a criminal then?" Superman asks warily as Bruce gives him what Flint would soon come to know as one of the signature bat-glares.
"Reformed criminal, but yeah. I was" Flint sighs as he looks down. "I might as well give you the full story then"
"It might help to shed some light on a few things" Superman adds with a small smile as Batman continues to glare at him suspiciously.
'Well, here goes nothing' Flint thinks to himself before he took another breath. "My daughter was sick. Very sick. And my home wasn't exactly very wealthy to begin with. Adding on the fact that my wife wanted nothing to do with me and it made it very hard for me to even begin trying to help. When she ended up needing treatment, I turned to crime in order to earn the money to help her. It just so happened that one of these times I was chased into a nuclear experiment in progress. It somehow merged my body with the sand of the beach and I earned my powers."
All five of the league members in the room listened intently; even the Flash who had already heard the whole story the day before hung on Flint's every word as though he was hearing it for the first time.
"After I got my powers, I kept on doing the same. Except this time I was fighting the various heroes in my city. I always got caught too. After I got caught for the first time though, my daughter finally saw what I become, and where I got the money to treat her. She was disgusted. Only twelve years old and she wanted nothing to do with me" he continued, the hurt very evident in his eyes as he spoke.
"That was what started me going down the straight and narrow. After this I still was a criminal but I was wracked with guilt every time. Eventually, I said that enough was enough. I started making amends, little things at first, but they added up. Teaming up with the heroes I formerly fought, saving lives where I went, fighting criminals I used to work with stuff like that. Eventually I was given a presidential pardon for my efforts and I was allowed to join the Avengers. I did some more hero stuff after that, until he caught up with me"
"Until who caught up with you?" Wonder Woman asked.
"The Wizard. The guy who sent me here. While I was a hero, he caught me and then he messed with my head. In short, he brainwashed me back into being a villain. What's more than that, he basically made me his weapon. Until now. After his control broke I was just biding my time until I could turn against him. Until I could be a hero again. Once I did, I was sent here, and now you're all caught up to where I stand today"
"How are we so sure you're still a hero? Or if you can even be trusted" Batman interjected pointedly to the disdain of the League"
"Come on Bats! He told you he reformed, and he saved our butts! If it weren't for him we would still be on that ship and the Earth would be gone!" Flash argues.
"The Flash is correct. If it weren't for him we probably would not have succeeded" J'onn adds.
"Hey, it's alright. No use jumping down the Bats' throat. If you need proof here it is; with great power, comes great responsibility. If you ever question why I want to do good and be a hero, there it is" Flint says in his defence as the League reflect on his words.
"Well? Are we still clear on our decision?" Superman asks as the other members nod. Even the brooding Batman nodded slowly.
"Wait? Decision? What's going on?" Sandman asks in confusion, unsure of their intentions.
At this Superman stands and walks over to him, smiling as he went. "Well Flint, in response to your actions yesterday, as well as your ensured intent to do what's right, it is my honour to officially extend to you an invitation to the Justice League"
"No way, you want me to join the Justice League? For real?" Flint asks in surprise as Superman nods.
"Of course we do. You have more than proven yourself worthy enough as a hero to officially become a member. Do you accept?" he asks hopefully, extending his hands as Flint grins.
"You bet I do!" Flint says enthusiastically as he shakes his hand.
"Then, welcome aboard" Superman says as Batman clears his throat.
"With that settled, it's time we decide on a few more things. Namely, where you're going to reside until the Watchtower is repaired"
"Actually, I was hoping to stay in Gotham for a bit if you wouldn't mind" Flint asks, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "I can just stay in a hotel until I can find a more suitable place to live"
Batman thought on this for a moment before nodding. "That would be best. I can give some financial resources to accommodate you while you're there. And if you'd like you can fight crime during your stay as long as you stay out of my way"
Flint chuckled a little as he nodded. "Whatever you say bats"
Batman narrowed his eyes slightly before nodding. "Enjoy your stay in Gotham" He says before standing. "In the meantime find some other clothes so you can at least begin to hide your identity. You don't want to be discovered"
"I think I can come up with something" Flint muses before he reverted into sand. When he reformed his appearance had changed. Now he looked to be wearing a white T-shirt with an opened blue flannel shirt over top. However, his corduroy pants stayed the same.
"It's a good start" Superman said in amazement, before coming up with an idea. "Try these on, I have dozens more at home" He says before handing Flint a pair of fake glasses to try on.
"Hey thanks" Flint smiles as he tries them on. "How do I look?" he asks as Flash grins and gives him a thumbs up.
"Like a real Clark Kent type" Flash jokes as Superman frowns a little.
"I think he looks perfectly disguised. Just don't go revealing your real name" Superman says as Flint nods. "No worries there. In the meantime, I guess I'll take a look around Gotham city"
"Before you go take this" Superman adds before handing him a small earpiece. "With this we can contact you whenever we need to"
"I'll contact you later with the location of your hotel. In the meantime here's a couple hundred dollars for whatever you need. Don't spend it all in one place"
Flint nods in understanding as he shakes the caped crusader's hand. After some good byes and congratulations from his new team mates, Flint bade them goodbye before heading out to explore Gotham city,
Once he was out of earshot, Superman and the others turned to their Martian comrade expectantly. "Well, can we trust him?" Bruce asks as the Martian's eyes glow briefly.
"He is telling the truth" J'onn says as the others breathe a sigh of relief that they had indeed picked the right candidate for the League.
"Now, it's time to start rebuilding" Batman said as the others nodded.
Once Flint stepped out of the room, he looked up to see Alfred approaching him with a smile on his face. "Congratulations Master Flint on your induction into the Justice League. The world needs more heroes like you" He says kindly as Flint blushes slightly at the praise.
"Heh, thanks Alfred. That really means a lot" Flint says in thanks as the aging butler nods kindly before walking back to the kitchen to resume his cleaning. After one last brief look around the mansion, Flint finally stepped outside before beginning his walk around the newly liberated Gotham City.
With the Thanagarians defeated, Gotham City was finally returning to business as usual. The streets were once again bustling with activity, and Flint smiled to himself as he walked around the busy cluttered streets.
'Now this feels more like home' he thought to himself as he takes in all the sights and sounds surrounding him in the city. One such sight was a dinner theatre, with large posters depicting a magician with long raven hair, and fishnet stockings.
"The Amazing Zatanna?" He muses as he takes a look at the attractive woman on the poster. "Never was a big fan of magic, but It might be worth checking it out just for her"
However, he was soon broken out of his thoughts by sound of a commotion at a nearby bank. "You can never catch a break as a hero can you?" he mutters in frustration before ducking into an alley to transform back into his hero garb.
"Alright, just put the money in the bag and nobody gets hurt!" A thug said as he aimed a gun at the bank teller, who quickly started doing as he said. Two other thugs kept their guns trained on the other people in the bank. They wanted to be in and out before any heroes could show up. Unfortunately for them, one did.
While they were distracted, Flint slipped into his sand form before bursting through the doors and knocking the first two thugs together, knocking them unconscious. "Alright bub, just put down the gun and walk away" Flint says as the thug looked at him in confusion.
"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" He asked trying to sound tough, as Flint smirked.
"Who me?" He asked coyly before springing forwards and knocking the thug into a wall with a mallet. "I'm the god damn Sandman!" He says triumphantly before dragging all three thugs together as the police showed up.
"Freeze! Hands where we can see them!" An officer said as Flint put his hands up in surrender before an older officer in a trench coat stepped forwards.
"Put down your weapons before we give him the wrong impression. We need more heroes in the world. The invasion proved that" He said tersely before walking up to Flint. "My name is Commissioner James Gordon. On behalf of this city I would like to thank you for all you've done for us." He says with a tired smile as Flint shakes his hand.
"It's no trouble at all. I'm more than happy to help" Flint shrugs as the thugs are quickly put in handcuffs and taken away by other officers.
"Well I hope you'll be staying here for at least a little longer. Gotham could always use an extra hand or two" Gordon says with a sigh as Flint nods.
"Don't worry. I intend to stick around, at least for the time being"
"Glad to hear it. Now if you'll excuse me I have to head back to the station. You take care"
With that final word, Gordon turned around before leaving with the rest of his officers, while Flint made his own escape before he could be hounded by the gathering crowd of reporters outside.
After a few more hours of walking around Gotham, Flint had finally received some word from the League in the form of a communication from Batman.
"Flint, do you copy?" the Dark knight asked as Sandman pressed a finger to the communicator in his ear.
"Yeah I copy. What's the situation Bats?"
"I have the location of the hotel you'll be staying at while you're in Gotham. I'm sending Flash down to escort you. He should be there any minute now"
As he said this a red blur came to a stop in front of Flint as Flash grinned. "So, you ready to see your new temporary home?" he asks as Flint nods.
"Yeah I am. Lead the way" he says eagerly, before Flash grabbed his arm and ran him to where his hotel was.
"Here we are! Your new temporary home!" Flash said as he stopped running, and stood in front of a large hotel while Flint struggled to regain his balance after having moved at that speed.
"Oh wow, isn't Bruce going a little overboard on spending with this?" Flint asks in surprise.
"No I'm not" Bruce said as his voice sounded through the communicator. "Once inside just walk up to the counter and state your name. The reservation was made in your name, so the hotel staff will handle the rest"
"Thanks Bruce"
"Don't mention it"
After that, Flint bid his goodbye to Wally before stepping inside and walking to the front desk.
The clerk looked up at Flint, giving him a curt smile. "Can I help you?"
"Yeah, I would like to receive the key to my room" Flint asks.
"I see. Your name?"
"Flint Marko"
"Oh, you're Bruce Wayne's guest" The clerk said, in sudden surprise before retrieving his room key. "Here you are Mr. Marko, your room is on the third floor"
Flint thanked the clerk before walking to the elevator. As he stepped in, a voice quickly called to him while the doors were closing.
"Hold that door!' A woman's voice called. Flint quickly turned around before catching the door and holding it open. A shorter woman with long raven hair stepped in quickly before adjusting the hat on her head. "Thanks" She responded before Flint let the doors close behind her.
"Hey, ain't you Zatanna?" He asked as she folded her arms with a smirk.
"Aren't you the Sandman?" She responded coyly as Flint's eyes widened. "Relax, Batman gave me the heads up"
"Batman? So you're a hero too?"
"Not all of my magic is smoke and parlour tricks. Some of the acts need a little extra flare" she replied, stressing the last word as brief magical energy circled her fingers.
Flint chuckled lightly as he extended a hand to her "Flint Marko"
"Zatanna Zatara" Zatanna replied as she shook his hand politely.
"So what are you doing here?" Flint asked as the elevator stopped and the doors opened on the third floor, both heroes stepping out.
"My house got totalled during the invasion, I'm just here while it's being repaired. Or until the Watchtower opens. Whichever comes first?"
"Watchtower? So you're in the league too?"
"Just got the invitation this afternoon." She says before stopping at her door. "Well it was nice talking to you. See you on the tower team mate"
"Yeah, see you around" Flint replies before continuing down to his own room as Zatanna closed the door behind her.
"Room 323, let's see what we got" Flint says to himself. As he opened the door, he looked inside on at the room and smiled to himself. It wasn't anything too fancy. Just a bed, TV, bathroom, and kitchenette. It wasn't glamorous but it was a massive step up from anything Flint had seen in years.
Flopping down on the bed, Flint stretched his body out before relaxing on the soft clean bedding, taking in the entirety of the room. "I could get used to this" he said with a contented sigh, before kicking off his shoes and easing off to sleep.
Worlds away from where the sleeping Sandman lay, a different hero was currently pacing inside a room of some of his closest allies. This man's name was Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, and he was currently watching various scientific geniuses attempt to figure out what had happened to Flint Marko.
This team consisted of the super geniuses Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Peter Parker, and Hank Pym. All top in their fields, and yet they were nowhere near finding the answer.
"Steve I know you're worried but we need more time to work on this" Tony said in a tired voice as he rubbed his eyes in fatigue.
"Tony I understand what you're saying but we might not have time. We don't know where Flint was sent, or when. His life could be in danger for all we know!" Steve argued, clearly worried.
"Cap I know you're worried, I'm worried about him too" Peter started. "But Flint can take care of himself. Besides, what are the odds that he would have ended up in a world under invasion?"
Steve stopped pacing and started at the floor for a moment. After a minute he looked up and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Flint can handle himself, and if what we saw yesterday was any indication, he's still an Avenger."
"You're damn right he's an Avenger, and he's gonna be just fine" Tony assures, standing to put a hand on Steve's shoulder before Reed clears his throat to get their attention.
"If I may interject here, I believe I have a solution to the problem presented" the scientist says as he removes the glasses that he had been wearing.
"What would that happen to be?" Tony asks, folding his arms expectantly.
"Well, it was the Wizard's technology that sent him away. Ergo I would like to put forward two potential solutions. First, I think that we should go and interrogate the Wizard. He is currently incarcerated in the Raft as we all know, and so I think that we logically should question him about the specifics of the technology, as well as any potential possibility of where Flint was sent. Second, should the Wizard refuse, or even if he does decide to co-operate with us, I propose that we should, after properly interrogating him, track down his laboratory and search for schematics to his inventions, in the hope that we at least find blueprints for the machine. If we succeed we can construct our own version of the device and make the appropriate alterations needed in order to open a door to wherever Flint is. One that we can open from both sides"
Steve and the others stared blankly at Reed who nervously coughed in response. "At least, in theory" he adds before Tony nods.
"Well at this point it's all we got. Steve take Peter and go to interrogate the Wizard. Take Logan too if you need the extra muscle to assist in convincing him. Hank and I can go to the lab in order to retrieve the appropriate schematics" Tony says as the others nod.
"There is one more issue that I would like to discuss before we proceed any further with this plan" Reed states as the others stop to look at him.
"I would like to request that after we complete the device with the proper specifications to find Flint, that the Fantastic Four are the ones to go into the other dimension. Spider-Man may join if he wishes but I still request that the Fantastic Four are the ones to make the journey"
"Why do you want the Fantastic Four to go?" Steve asks curiously.
"Well, the reason is thus; of all the heroes on Earth, the Fantastic Four have the most experience with travelling to other dimensions. I recommended Spider-Man as well because he has known Sandman longer than we have"
"Well, it makes sense to me. In any case, let's get to work. Reed you can stay and see what you can learn from the remaining pieces of the machine" Tony said before the others nodded and started to move out.
"I'll get right to it." Reed says before putting his glasses on and walking back to the table where the pieces of the Wizard's device were laid out.
While walking out of the room, Steve took Tony aside, a worried expression on his face. "Are you sure this plan is going to work Tony?"
"I don't know. But at this point, it's the best plan we have. If anything else, it's worth a shot. For Flint"
Steve nods in understanding. "For Flint"
Several worlds away, a soldier burst through the doors of a government facility, a sheet of paper clutched in his hand. "Ma'am we've finished the analysis of the sudden energy surge. It wasn't in no way related to the Thanagarian invasion.
"It wasn't? Then what was it?" A hard impassive voice said, the owner of the voice hidden by a large office chair that had its back turned to the door, a glass of brandy seen clenched in the figure's hand.
"It's unclear what the source of the energy was, but according to data gathered, it's connected to that new hero that freed the Justice League"
"The Sandman?"
"Yes ma'am" the soldier nodded as the chair spun around, revealing a serious looking African-American woman in a dark blue suit, her stone hard face matching her hardened voice perfectly.
"Continue the analysis, and continue monitoring the Justice League. I want surveillance put on this Sandman as well. I need to know any and all danger he poses" she says seriously as the soldier gives her a salute.
"Yes Ms. Waller"
Well there's the next chapter of Sandman Unlimited. It's a shorter chapter I know, but that;s mostly because I didn't feel like crowding any other chapters with massive amounts of expository information. In the meantime, I hope to have the next chapter up sooner than this one.
Be sure to read and review!
~WafflesTheApprentice