Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter 11: Mr. Sandman
December 2nd, 2012
Things were quiet in the lobby of the Newark Waste Disposal Center, secretly the location of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense. The lobby was rather large with columns running along the walls. A large security desk sat across from the entrance.
Behind it sat a 30ish, black haired man dressed in a security guard's uniform. The man sat reading a magazine, a name tag reading "Mike" attached to his uniform.
The quiet of the room was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. The door made a large creaking sound as it was opened, which were followed by the sound of heavy boots against the marble floor. Looking up, Mike saw a man walking towards his desk. The man wore a black trench coat along with a pair of black pants and heavy black boots. He also wore a pair of black, fingerless gloves, and a wide brimmed black hat, which was pulled down in a way to hide his face.
"Can I help you?" Mike asked, instantly suspicious.
"I'm here to see someone," the man said. His voice sounded young, and also strangely muffled.
"Who are you looking for?" Mike asked, reaching under the desk, keeping his hand near the alarm button.
"The Straw Man" the man replied simply.
"I don't know any Straw Man," Mike said as he pushed the button, the silent alarm going off as he reached for his gun with the other.
"Of course you do, he works down there," the man said, indicating downwards. As he did, he lifted his head, revealing that his face was covered by a white gas mask.
"Alright buster," Mike said, drawing his gun and pointing it at the man, "Hands up! You're not going anywhere!"
"I really wish this could have been more civil," the man said, lifting his arms up, his fists clenched. As soon as they were even with his head, the man opened his hands, resulting in a cloud of sand to shoot out and surround Mike's head. Mike blinked rapidly as the cloud swirled around him. He began to wobble on his feet before his eyes rolled back in his head. Falling back into his chair with a loud thump, Mike's head lolled forward as he fell asleep, his gun clattering to the floor.
The man casually walked up to the desk, taking off his jacket and hat as he did so. Underneath his jacket he was wearing a sleeveless black shirt which showed off his wiry arms. Removing his hat revealed black, stringy hair coming out from behind his mask. He causally tossed his articles onto the desk before pushing a button, activating the hidden elevator in front of the desk.
The man hopped over the desk before stepping onto the descending platform, stretching his muscles as he rode the elevator to the B.R.P.D.'s secret headquarters.
Meanwhile,
Alarms blared as Hellboy raced down the hallways of the underground complex, heading towards the main entrance to the facility. As he did, he almost ran over Harry, who was standing in the hall looking frightened.
"Mr. Brutenholm, what's happening?" Harry asked, looking up at Hellboy with worried eyes.
"Someone's trying to break into the base," Hellboy explained, "Go find Raven, and stay away from the main entrance."
Harry nodded in affirmation before rushing away, while Hellboy continued on his way to the entrance. Approaching the area, he heard the tell-tale sounds of the elevator descending. All around him were agents wearing black gas masks and brandishing pistols. As he ran up, he noticed Manning, wearing a gas mask himself, directing the agents.
"What's the situation, Manning?" Hellboy asked as he drew the Samaritan.
"Here, put this on," Manning said as he tossed Hellboy a large gas mask, "We got one intruder coming down, he knocked the guards out with some kind of sleeping gas."
"Just one guy?" Hellboy asked.
"Yeah, so you just know he's going to be a handful," Manning commented as he drew his service pistol.
Hellboy nodded as he put on the breathing mask. Looking to the side, he saw the other members of his team gathered in the room, those who needed them wearing gas masks.
"You all ready?" he asked, getting nods from the others. Well most. There was a wooshing noise before the Mask appeared at his side.
"What's the situation, boss?" he asked, leaning on Hellboy's shoulder.
"We got an intruder," he answered, his voice muffled by the mask.
"What?" Mask asked putting a hand to his ear.
"I said we got an intruder," Hellboy answered again, speaking louder and turning to face the Mask.
"I'm sorry but I can't hear you, you really got to stop mumbling, boss," Mask said.
"I said we got an intruder!" Hellboy bellowed as he ripped off the Mask.
"Oh okay, got ya!" Mask replied, smiling stupidly and giving a thumbs up. Hellboy merely rolled his eyes and put his mask back on.
"So what are we gonna do?" Mask asked, causing Hellboy to growl in irritation.
Before he could say anything though, the sound of the elevator grew louder and the bottom of the platform came into view. Instantly all the guns in the room were trained on the elevator, prepared to fire when needed. As the elevator continued to descend, a large cloud shot down from above it, covering the room. The cloud quickly dissipated and those in the room were protected from any ill effects by their masks. The cloud, which Hellboy quickly noted was sand, left a slight film on the surfaces of the room, but he quickly forgot about it as the elevator came into full view…revealing no one riding it.
"The hell?" John whispered, lowering his gun slightly. The others in the room looked on equally confused as the elevator came to a stop, completely devoid of passengers.
"Something's wrong here," Abe stated, as he began to look around the room.
"No kidding, Blue. There's no one on the elevator," Hellboy stated.
"No, it's not that, its…" Abe trailed off as he scanned the room, looking for something, anything out of place. Then he saw it. There, standing in the middle of a sea of black gas masks, was a single white one.
"Move!" Abe shouted as he ran towards the intruder, but it was too little, too late.
The man in the white gas masked jumped upwards while bending his knees. Before anyone else even knew he was there, he had slammed his feet into the ground, hard. The action resulted in all the sand that had gathered in the room to suddenly lift upwards and fly away from him, knocking everyone else off their feet. As everyone lay in shock, the masked man made a pulling motion with his hands, causing all the sand to come back to him and gather in a baseball sized clump in front of him. Pinching the sides of the ball, the masked man pulled outwards, resulting in two, long, whip-like forms in each of his hands.
Lashing out, he grabbed one of the still downed agents with the whip while snagging another with the other whip. Yanking them off their feet, he swung them through the air with disturbing ease. He then swung them low, knocking them into their fellow agents, sending bodies flying. After a few seconds, all the agents lay upon the ground, badly injured and grasping desperately onto consciousness.
"So, who wants to take me to see the Straw Man?" he asked, his voice muffled by his mask.
"Mask," Hellboy growled as he stood up, "Take him down."
"You got it," the Mask said with a wicked smile.
Mask sprung up and rushed forward, a cloud of dust shooting up behind him. The man couldn't react in time as Mask barreled into him. He wrapped his arms around the man and lifted him up before carrying him back up the elevator shaft. The door at the top of the shaft burst open as Mask ran through them, knocking them off the hinges and onto the entrance floor.
Leaping into the air, Mask spun the man around rapidly, before throwing the man into the floor, cracking it. The man in the gas mask moaned as he rose to his feet as Mask landed gracefully.
"So, ready to give up?" the Mask said with a grin, shrugging nonchalantly, "Names the Mask, by the way."
"Sands," the other responded, rubbing his soar back, "And there's no way I'm giving up."
Sands slid into a fighting stance, as the sand that still surrounded him began to swirl around his feet.
"Have it your way then," Mask said with a smile, before spinning around in place. When he stopped, he was now dressed in a karate uniform, a black belt around his waist and a white headband around his green head.
"We shall kung fu fight!" he shouted before striking an exaggerated fighting stance.
Sands growled to himself, before rushing at the Mask. He leapt forward and threw a flying kick at the Mask's head. Mask dodged to the side in a blur of motion, before grabbing Sands' leg. With a twist of his arm, he flipped Sands over and slammed him, face first, into the floor. Then, still holding Sands foot, he spun around rapidly, becoming a tornado of motion before letting Sands go, sending him flying across the room and into a wall.
"Your kung fu is weak!" Mask bellowed while flailing his arms about in what was suppose to be an intimidating manner.
Sands rolled to his feet, before rushing the Mask and throwing a flurry of punches and kicks at Mask, but Mask managed to dodge every blow, laughing as he did so. Ducking a punch, Mask thrust a palm into Sands chest, sending the younger men skidding back. As Sands held his chest in pain, Mask rushed him, forming a fist which became surrounded by ethereal flames.
"Shoryuken!" he shouted as he uppercutted Sands with his now flaming fist, sending him flying into the air. Leaping up into the air, the Mask began to spin around rapidly, sticking one of his legs out as he spun.
"Senpukyaku!" he shouted as his footed connected with Sands multiple times, ultimately knocking him to the ground.
Mask landed gracefully again, smiling wickedly as he did.
"Ready to give up, now?" he asked again with a wicked smile.
"Hardly," Sands muttered before he thrust his fists forward, causing two clods of sand to shoot forward. Mask managed to dodge one but was struck in the chest by the second and sent skidding back. Whipping his hand forward, Sands caused the sand at his feet to surge forward. As it approached the Mask, it formed into tendrils that lashed out at him. Mask dodged a few strikes, but one struck him in the stomach, sending him flying into another one that slammed him into the ground.
As he tried to get up, the sand tendril wrapped his ankle and lifted him up before slamming him multiple times into the ground, whipping back and forth as it did so. Then it whirled him around and flung him across the room. With a movement of his hand, Sands caused a wall of sand to spring up in the Masks path, which he slammed into hard.
Mask crumpled to the ground, moaning in pain. At the same time, Sands made a motion with his hands, causing the sand wall to collapse on Mask, burying him. Sands rushed over to where the pile of sand lay and slammed his hands down on the pile, causing it to collapse further.
Sands grunted as he straightened up, rubbing his sore muscles as he did so. Suddenly, the sand exploded outward as Mask burst out of it, uppercutting Sands. The blow knocked the younger man off his feet, sending him flying through the air. He hit the ground with a thud, as his gas mask clattered to the floor nearby.
Mask was by his side in an instant. Grabbing him by his shirt, he hefted Sands into the air. Looking at Sands' face, a look of surprise crossed Mask's face before he spit out the sand in his mouth, striking sands in the face with it.
"You're just a kid!" Mask exclaimed, his eyes bugging out.
"Now you see why I wear a mask," Sands chuckled, "Now let me see why you wear yours."
Sand suddenly swirled around Sands' hands; clumping together to form large, savage claws. Reaching up, Sands grabbed the sides of Mask's head, and dug his claws into the back of Mask's skull. There was a wet ripping noise as Sands pulled, while Mask screamed. Mask's face distorted as Sands peeled the green skin off. There was a flash of energy as Sands completely pulled the skin off, stumbling back as he did. Looking into his hands, he found a simple wood mask. Looking up, he saw a brown haired man kneeling on the floor.
"You know," Sands smirked, "with a name like, "the Mask", makes it kind of obvious something's up with your face."
Sands then whirled around and roundhouse kicked Stanley in the face, causing the man to crumple to the ground, unconscious.
Stooping down, he picked up his gas mask, before looking at it and the simple, wooded mask in his hands. As he did, he heard the tell-tale sounds of the elevator ascending. Smirking, he stepped towards the open elevator shaft.
Meanwhile
Hellboy, John and Zatanna were riding the elevator upward to the lobby.
"You think Stanley beat him?" Zatanna aked.
"Stan's tough," John said while taking a drag from his cigarette, "but he's also an idiot."
"I'm more worried what he did to the doors," Hellboy said while staring upwards, where the doors used to be, "That looks expensive."
Then as they were all looking up, they saw something get tossed into the shaft. The object landed with a clatter at their feet. Looking down, they saw the wooden mask lying at their feet.
"Oh crap," Hellboy muttered.
As he said this, Sands leaped down into the shaft. Landing gracefully, he quickly hopped up again and did a split kick, striking John and Hellboy in the chest, knocking them both backward. Zatanna quickly drew her wand, but as she pointed it at him, Sands kicked it out of her hand. It twirled through the air, and Sands caught it easily. Whirling around, he threw it at John, striking him between his eyes.
Hellboy roared as he threw a punch at Sands. Sands ducked the blow and a clump of sand surrounded his hand. He threw a hardened fist at Hellboy's stomach, doubling the larger man over. Sands then uppercutted him, knocking Hellboy back. As Hellboy reeled, Sands grabbed the hem of his jacket, before yanking him forward into a clothesline, knocking Hellboy to the floor.
John quickly drew St. George, and pointed it at Sands. As he pulled the trigger, Sands created a wall of sand between them. The flames from the weapon superheated the sand, instantly turning it to glass. Reacting quickly, Sands leaped over the glass wall and lifted the glass block up. Whipping it around, he hit John across the head with it, shattering the glass and knocking John out.
"John!" Zatanna screamed, before thrusting her hand out. The action caused a blast of invisible force to shoot out. The blast knocked Sands off of his feet, slamming him into the moving wall.
"Latem! Tcirtsnoc!" Zatanna enchanted, causing the metal of the wall to bend and contort, grabbing onto Sands. As the elevator kept moving, the new obstruction blocked its path, causing it to screech to a halt. Zatanna stumbled a bit, but managed to keep her footing.
"Latem! Nurb!" she screamed. As she did, the metal began to glow red as it heated up. Sands screamed as the metal burnt him. He began to thrash about before he exploded into a cloud of sand. The sand slithered out from the metal constrictors and began pooling in the center of the elevator.
"Dniwlrihw!" Zatanna shouted, causing a small tornado to form in the center of the shaft, picking up the sand and whirling it around. Zatanna continued to focus on the whirlwind, causing it to grow continually larger, until heavy winds were blowing all along the shaft as well as the room above.
"Zatanna!" Hellboy yelled as he tried to pick himself up, his hair and jacket blowing in the wind. At the same time, the elevator groaned dangerously.
"Zatanna stop!" He shouted, but he was too late. The elevator shook violently, before it broke off its hinges. There was a loud screeching noise as the platform dragged along the walls of the shaft. Sparks flew as the platform turned to its side, launching them all off the platform. Reacting quickly, Zatanna pulled John to her with her magic.
"Dnas! Gnidnuorrus erehps!" she called over the noise around her. At her command, the sand swirled around her and John, forming a large sphere. The ball began to bounce down the slanted shaft, the elevator tumbling behind them. At the same time, Hellboy tumbled down the shaft, crying out in pain as he did so.
Hellboy reached the bottom first, landing in a heap on the floor. He groaned as he pushed himself to his hands and knees. Perking up, he looked up the shaft, before quickly rolling out of the way as the sand ball bounced down the shaft, almost crushing him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the ball bounce to a stop before it crumbled apart, revealing Zatanna and John safe inside.
As he looked at his friends, Hellboy noticed that the agents were still lying about the room, unconscious. Quickly looking back at the shaft, he saw the elevator platform still plummeting downward, sparks shooting as it dragged along the metal walls. Hellboy leapt to his feet before positioning himself as the end of the shaft.
"This is going to suck" he grumbled to himself as he held his hands out in front of himself.
Seconds later, the platform reached the bottom, landing on Hellboy. He grunted in effort and his hands formed dents in the metal. The impact forced him to his knees, and his face was contorted with effort as he held the metal platform up. Growling he rose to his feet, pushing the platform upwards as he did.
Zatanna was so awed by Hellboy's show of strength that she didn't notice the sand around her begin to stir. Slowly it began to pool behind her, and take form. Within seconds, Sands hand reformed himself, though now he had burn marks on his arms where Zatanna had attacked him. Taking advantage of Zatanna's unawareness, Sands kicked her hard in the side of the head. Zatanna left out a cry of surprise and pain as she crumpled to the ground.
"Zatanna!" Hellboy growled as he continued to struggle with the platform.
"You look like you're busy," Sands joked, "I'll just leave you to that."
Sands chuckled as he turned to leave down one of the hallways. As he did, he had a split second to duck as a sword slashed through where his neck had been. Rolling to the side he also managed to avoid the kick Viktor sent at him. Looking past Viktor, Sands saw Etrigan, Johann, Bobo and Jack rushing towards him as well.
Leaping forward, Sands dodged Viktor's follow up attack as he leapt over Etrigan's head. Outstretching his arms, he landed on them before pushing off into the air again, dodging a hellfire blast from Etrigan. As he leapt, Jack and Bobo followed him into the air, leaping off opposite walls of the hallway, trying to pincer him. Kicking out, Sands managed to strike Bobo in the chest, sending him flying away. Jack however managed to sneak under Sands' defenses and punched him in the ribs. Sands cried out in pain as he felt one of his already bruised ribs crack.
He fell to the ground with a thud, the cement floor injuring him further. Before he could worry about his injuries, there was a loud groan from next to him. Looking up he saw a section of the metal wall bulge outward. With a loud snap it sprung free and toppled towards him. Somersaulting forward, Sands dodged out of the way as the wall section fell with a loud bang. A white mist began to leak from the wall section as the others ran towards him.
Forcing himself to his feet, Sands cradled his torso with one arm as he motioned with the other. Instantly, the sand shot out before making a wall between him and his pursuers. Knowing it wouldn't last long, Sands hurried down the hall as Viktor and Etrigan began to break down the wall.
At the end of the hallway was a sealed, metal door. Sands observed it before he glanced back over his shoulder. Seeing the others pursuing, he quickly shifted into a cloud of sand and slid through the cracks of the door. Reforming on the other side, he noticed a panel sitting next to the door. Thrusting his hand out, he forced his sand into the panel, destroying the wiring.
"Open the door!" he heard Viktor's gruff voice yell.
"I can't, he's disabled it somehow!" Bobo yelled back.
"We'll have to go around. Hurry!" Jack shouted before Sands heard their footsteps leading away.
Nodding to himself, Sands began to hobble away. He continued down the hallway, ducking around corners in order to avoid pursuers. He wasn't sure where exactly the Straw Man was but he could feel his presence, and his senses hadn't failed him yet. Feeling the Straw Man's presence grow stronger, he picked up his pace as he ran around the next corner. His reward was a kick to the face.
Stumbling backward, Sands managed to regain his senses, his mask having taken most of the blow. Between him and a large, ornate door was Abe Sapien. Sands could tell he knew how to fight, and straightened up in order to appear more intimidating and uninjured.
"I suggest you surrender," Abe said.
"I suggest you step aside," Sands replied.
"Why are you hunting the Straw Man?" Abe asked.
"Need to know basis, fish-man, and you don't need to know," Sands joked before he leapt at Abe, throwing a kick at his head.
Abe dodged to the side, while throwing an elbow at Sands exposed back. Sands grunted in pain as he fell to the floor. Rolling to his feet, Sands thrust his hand forward, causing a blast of sand to shoot forward at Abe. Abe rolled to the side, and began to rush Sands. Sands made a pulling motion, causing the sand to come flying back. Noticing it, Abe back flipped over the attack, letting it pass him by.
Grasping the sand, Sands shot it at Abe again, while he simultaneously fired another stream of sand as well. The two streams swirled around each other, causing them to corkscrew down the hallway. Abe leaped at the blast of sand, contorting between the two streams of sand. Flipping again, he kicked Sands in the head again, causing him to stumble back.
As Sands stumbled, Abe struck him in the stomach with his fist. As Sands bent over, Abe kneed him in the face, cracking the lenses of his mask. As Sands reeled, Abe swept his legs out from under him. Continuing to spin, Abe flipped over and slammed his leg onto Sands just as he hit the floor. Sands curled up in pain as Abe stood back up.
"It's over," Abe said, stepping on Sands chest in order to insure he stayed down.
"Not quite," Sands choked as he made a pulling motion with his hands. Seconds later, Abe was blindsided by a wave of sand. The force of the blow sent Abe flying forward. He hit the doors hard, throwing them open as he tumbled into the room.
Sands chuckled as he rose to his feet. He limped forward until he stood in the doorway, looking into a library.
"How do you like that!" he shouted, throwing his hands into the air. At that moment, the doors became surrounded by a black aura before they slammed closed, right in his face.
"God damnit!" his shout came from the other side of the door. There was a loud bang as the doors flew open and Sands stomped in. Before him stood Raven, her eyes glowing, and her hands surrounded by her black aura. Looking at her, dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans, he cocked his head to the side and chuckled.
"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" he commented.
"Excuse me?" Raven asked looking at Sands with a confused expression.
"What's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?" Sands asked, leaning against the door frame.
"Are you…flirting with me?" Raven asked, dropping her hands to her side.
"How could I not, sweet cheeks?" he laughed, "You got a name?"
"It's Raven," she said drolly, putting her hands on her hips.
"Oh, Raven huh? We'll pretty birdie, I'm Sands. You doing anything later?"
"You're kidding right?" she asked incredulously, "Is this before or after I kick you out of my home?"
"Oh you live here?" he asked, looking around, "If I had known I would have just knocked."
"Then again," he paused, and Raven could feel his eyes looking her up and down, "maybe not."
Raven grunted in disgust, before she waved her hand, causing the doors to slam shut on Sands again. He cried out with pain before shoving the doors open.
"Alright girl, I tried to be nice, but looks like you like to play rough. We'll I can play rough too. It's just a shame I'll have to mess up that pretty face of yours."
In response, Raven waved her hand again, causing the doors to slam shut a third time.
"Son of a bitch!" Sands bellowed in pain before the doors flew open again and he ran in.
Leaping over a chair, he kicked at Raven, but she blocked it with a conjured shield. Landing, he followed up with a punch, but she blocked that as well. As his fist connected with the shield, it crumpled against the magical barrier. Swearing, he stumbled back, waving his hand in pain.
Taking the opening, Raven thrust with her hand, sending Sands flying backwards, slamming his back into the glass wall of the aquarium. Reaching out with both hands, she made a grabbing motion before pulling her arms back. At the same time, the glass became covered in her black aura, before shattering outward, crushing Sands beneath the water.
Waving her hands about, she caused the pouring water to churn around Sands instead of spreading out. Eventually, the water formed a sphere around Sands, which he thrashed around helplessly in. With a pushing motion, Raven thrust the sphere back into the tank. With another wave of her hand, the broken glass of the tank reformed and repaired itself, sealing Sands and the water back inside. Raven watched as Sands swam up to the top of the tank, where there was about a foot of space for air. The only way in was through an airlock to the side of the tank, and Raven knew he wasn't getting through that any time soon.
"Hey Harry, you can come out now," she said, looking to the side of the room.
Harry peaked down from the stairs leading to her grandfather's office. Nodding, Harry ran down the stairs and over to where Raven was standing.
"Wow, Raven, that was great. Do you think I could learn to do something like that someday?" he asked.
"Well, maybe not that, but close to it," Raven replied.
As the two talked, they failed to notice the tube, normally used to give food to Abe, slowly began to fill with sand. Silently, the sand leaked out onto the floor, before forming back into Sands.
Harry noticed movement out of the corner of his eye, and turned to see Sands reforming himself.
"Raven, look out!" he shouted, pointing at Sands.
As Raven turned to face him, she was blasted by a blob of sand. The sand constricted around her, pinning her arms and making it hard to breathe.
"Ha!" he laughed, "Didn't know I could do that, did you?"
Holding his hand up, he formed a fist, causing the Sand to constrict around her. Raven let out a choked cry of pain as she thrashed around.
"Don't worry, Raven. I didn't come here to kill anyone. But you're in my way, so…" he gathered another handful of sand in his other hand, as he brought Raven closer to him, "Sweet dreams."
"Expeliarmus!" Harry shouted to Sands side. At the same time, the sand in his had burst upwards, scattering about, while the hand controlling the sand around Raven snapped back as if struck, causing the constricting sands to collapse. Raven fell to the floor in a heap and began gasping for air.
"The hell was that!" Sands exclaimed, turning to Harry, who was still pointing his wand at him.
"You want to go, kid?" Sands demanded as he took a step forward. In response, Harry cast another spell. Sands legs suddenly swayed beneath him and he had to grab a nearby chair in order to maintain his balance. Looking down he saw his leg jiggle as if they were made from jello.
"Alright, that's enough" Sands said as he held up his hand, sand gathering before it. Before he could do anything with it though, a hand latched onto his wrist. Looking at it, the hand was covered with a simple working glove. Straw stuck out from its end and a cold liquid oozed from it, running down his arm. Suddenly, he was yanked up, and found himself face to face with the Straw Man.
"How about you pick on someone your own size?" the Straw Man asked, paint oozing out his mouth.
"Hey, you're the Straw Man right? I was sent to talk to you," Sands explained.
"Well you sure picked a bad way of doing it," Straw Man growled.
"Hey, whatever works, right? As long as Dream gets what he wants."
"Oh so you're Dream's new lackey? Can't say I'm surprised."
"Yeah, so how about you let me down, and we can talk?"
Straw Man just laughed in response, a noise that sent chills down Sands spine.
"You think you can just waltz down here and attack my friends, and I won't be upset? Oh no, Dream's lackey or not, you're going to pay your pound of flesh."
Whirling around, Straw Man hurled Sands into a wall. Sands cried out in pain as he hit the wall and crumbled to the floor, his legs still wobbly.
"Alright, if that's the way you want it, fine. But I'm no pushover," Sands snarled.
"I'm sure that would have been a lot more intimidating if you could stand. And I have no doubt you would be a threat if you hadn't just had the crap beaten out of you by my teammates. So how about I uneven the odds?"
Grabbing him again, Straw Man tossed Sands across the room again, straight at a portrait on the wall. Instead of hitting the portrait though, Sands passed through it. Sands hit solid ground on the other side, rolling to a stop.
Pushing himself to his feet, Sands looked around him. The area was dark, with a stormy overcast sky. The ground was barren and dusty, stretching on out of sight. Looking around, he saw an empty stand behind him, with a dead tree looming behind it. Lightning arced in the sky as crows circled overhead.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Straw Man said as he walked out of the shadows.
"Where am I?" Sands asked as he tried to rise to his feet.
"This is my personal realm," Straw Man explained, holding his arms up dramatically.
"So we're in the Dreaming?" Sands asked.
"Very astute of you. Yes this was once part of the Dreaming, but I was able to separate it for my own uses."
"Well, then you must know you're in trouble. Dream has granted me a portion of his powers, so bringing me into the Dreaming only tips things in my favor."
Straw Man merely laughed again, thunder crackling sinisterly as he did so.
"Your really bad at bluffing, you know that? I've watched you fight. Dream gave you the Dreaming Sands, but nothing else. You have no sway over the Dreaming."
Straw Man then snapped his fingers, causing the crows to gather around him. He held one in his hand, and it formed into his scythe. The others took on a liquid composition before they shifted. When they were done changing, a group of eight men, dressed from head to toe in black clothing surrounded Straw Man. They stared at Sands with black eyes as they fingered the large amount of feather-like blades that hung from their belts.
"Show him the meaning of a murder of crows," Straw Man ordered as he shouldered his scythe. The men immediately leaped into action. Half of them drew knifes from their belts at hurled them at Sands, while the other half rushed forward. Sands managed to throw up a wall of sand to block the knives. As he did, the other men rushed around the wall.
Before he could react, one of the men struck Sands in the face, before whirling around and kicking him in the chin. The blow lifted Sands into the air, allowing another of the crow-men to leap over the first's shoulders and drop kicked Sands, sending him flying through the air. As Sands flew through the air, he was struck down by an elbow from another crow-man.
Landing with a thud, Sands groaned in pain, as a fourth crow-man leapt off the third's shoulders and landed hard on Sands back. The fourth stepped off before grabbing Sands arms, while the third grabbed his legs. Swinging him upward, the crow-men threw Sands into the air. As Sands fell through the air, the other crow-men ran up. Four of them shifted forms again, turning into large shuriken. Picking them up, the other crow-men hurled them upwards at Sands. As Sands fell, the blades cut through him, leaving gashes in his body. The crow-men then transformed back, before all eight of them threw their blades, cutting Sands even more.
At that time Straw Man leaped into the air over Sands. Drawing the crow-men to himself, they formed into their ink-like form before gathering around his scythe. Swinging it down, he created a large slash of blackness that shot downward. The attack hit Sands hard, dragging him down until he hit ground, which rippled instead of cracking. As he lay their, Straw Man fell from the sky and landed hard on his chest.
Stepping off, Straw Man stood to the side as his servants gathered around him, transforming back into crows.
"I know you're here to recruit me. Dream wants to know whose side I'm on in the coming war. You can tell him that the Straw Man, the Fear Lord, is on his side. You can also tell him that he can talk to me himself next time. And as for you, though we both answer to Dream now, you belong to me now."
As he talked, he leaned over Sands. Sands could see his mouth was filled with various beetles. As he finished talking, he suddenly vomited the beetles onto Sands. The beetles swarmed all over Sands, crawling all over. Sands began to scream as he felt them biting him, burrowing into his skin. And through it all he could see Straw Man standing over him, grinning down at him while lighting cracked behind him.
Later
"I told you, I'm fine dad," Raven groaned as Hellboy sat beside her.
"And I think you might have a cracked a rib," Hellboy said sternly.
As they talked in the library, the others were gathered there as well. Manning and the Professor were standing in front of the Straw Man's painting, examining it.
"So how do you think the creepy freak's doing?" Manning asked.
"I'm doing quite fine, thank you" Straw Man said as he stuck his head out of the painting. Manning cried out in surprise and stumbled backwards. Straw stepped out of the painting and the others gathered around him.
"Straw, did you beat him?" Raven asked.
"Yeah," Straw said, frowning.
"So where is he?" Hellboy asked.
"I let him go," Straw answered.
"What? Why the hell did you do that!" Manning demanded.
"Trust me, you don't want his boss trying to break him out," Straw said sternly.
"Who does he work for?" Professor Buttenholm asked.
"Dream of the Endless, he sent him here to recruit me. I guess Dream hasn't gotten anymore personable then when I last saw him."
"Recruit you for what?" Harry asked.
"There's a civil war brewing in the Dreaming, one that it looks like I've been dragged into."
"Can ve help?" Johann asked.
"No you don't want a part of this," Straw said, before producing a sheet of paper, "Anyway, here are a sketch of his face and his prints."
"How'd you get these?" Manning asked as he took them.
"I'm practically made of ink, remember?"
"What about Sands?" Raven asked.
"It won't be the last time we see him. But I left him a present before I sent him on his way," Straw explained, smiling sinisterly.
Unknown location
Sands lay on a bed in a dark room. He had removed his shirt and mask, and was sleeping fitfully. On his back, dozens of tattooed beetles crisscrossed his skin. Eventually, they gathered together just below the base of his spine, forming a large, beetle tattoo, which clacked its mandibles and twitched its legs before settling down. Sands whimpered slightly as nightmares plagued his sleep.
A/N: Hey, so this chapter took a little longer then expected but it was fun to write. Sands is my reimagining of DC's Sandman character. This is also the first crossover of my stories, as Sands will be the main protagonist of one of my future stories. So I hoped you like him! Also felt that I needed to add a good action chapter after all the exposition I've been doing lately. Christmas chapter next, so that should be fun. Until next time, Later True Believers!