Thanks for the review. I've got an explanation for the weapon-testing thought out which will be revealed for later. For now enjoy...

The Sandman's First Battle

Flint Marko did not conceal his features. He was totally confident that he was invincible with his powers. A police car had started trailing him, but he turned his right arm into a large sandblast, knocking the vehicle over. So far no one knew what was causing strange occurrences around the city, until he came in.

Spider-Man swung in, "Hey, hey, hey! It's Flint Marko, most wanted criminal! Well, I think I'll take you in. Better surrender, ugly."

The web-slinger seemed to flinch as Marko started laughing. "Come and get me, superhero. I'm warnin' ya that you'll get a surprise. The criminal got his own surprise when the hero seemed to get more cautious. Did he have some kind of spider-sense? It didn't matter. The Sandman struck first.

Spidey leaped out of the way of a sandblast and lunged for Flint Marko. He was obviously caught off guard by Sandman's weird powers. He grabbed at the criminal, but instead he found a soft pile of sand sinking to the ground. The super-villain reformed behind Spider-Man, chuckling.

"So, Spider-Man, you see that you can't possibly beat me." As he held back his head and roared with laughter, the wall-crawler went forward and made a powerful punch. Unfortunately, Marko's jaw turned to hard sand and Spidey yelped in pain as his punch connected.

Sandman went on the offensive. He turned his right hand into a sledge hammer and swiped at Spidey, who jumped out of the way. Next he expanded his left hand, grabbing the swinging hero.

"You know, Sandyman," said Spider-Man as he punched a hole into the monstrous villain's hand. "Why did your parents ever give you the weird name Flint Marko?"

Distracted by the question, the villain didn't see the web-slinger slip through his grasp. "I'll give ya a hint, Spider-Man. It's not my real birth name." (his real name was William Baker) He tried grabbing the arachnid again, but was not as successful this time.

Webbing went on his shoulders as Spidey exclaimed, "You sure have an imagination when it comes to names, grain-face!" Sandman felt himself being pulled forward as Spidey stuck out his leg to hit him in the stomach. He turned soft whiffed right past the puzzled hero.

"Wha-? Oh, it's you sand-powers. Do you happen to have some super-villain name? Think of something like Beach-Head, or Itchy-Skin, or even better, the Miraculous Marko."

"Very funny, Webhead. I think that Sandman's good enough." And with that he slammed Spider-Man backwards with a rock-hard punch. The web-shooting superhero fell hard onto a passing truck.

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The Sandman slipped under the door, located at the back of the bank building, thanks to his ability to become a soft stream of sand. He slithered until he reached a security guard. Forming himself into a "werewolf", he flung his fist into the guard's face, knocking him out. Chuckling, the grainy villain returned to slithering under doors and down stairs when he reached the lobby, going back into human form.

"Alright, folks. Make way for the Sandman! If you try to stop me, you'll be sorry!"

Five security guards rushed up, their guns pointed at Marko's head. "Stop right there, mister! What do you think you're doing?"

"THIS!" The Sandman suddenly exploded into a twirling cloud of sand. The surrounding people coughed and held their eyes in pain. Smashing his way through a door, the slipper criminal went back into a human shape, turning his right hand into a glob of easy-to-form sand. He ripped the facing vault open, but he was a bit of a showoff when it came to a box. He inserted his hand into the keyhole on the box, and the sand was shaped by the keyhole, enabling it to be easily opened. It was reveled to have valuable diamonds. The Sandman was successful.

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A metal, three-fingered arm turned on the TV set. The newsman reported this: "There is still much speculation about the controversial bomb-testing on a New York beach. The congressmen, president, and scientist claimed that they never did such an act, despite openly talking about it before the test. This is very strange indeed. Here's Chad Banderson with a report on more victims found at the site. Ch—"

The metal arm turned the TV off. "My mind-control device was a success. Soon all of the U.S. will be in my grip.'

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The Sandman whistled some of his favorite tunes as he counted how much his booty was worth. The total estimate was $4,300,196.23. Well pleased with his ventures, he goofed around with a stolen mirror, shaping his appearance to look like Bugs Bunny and Darth Vader. Thus far, Flint Marko was unstoppable. He had made seven successful raids, had beaten Spider-Man, and now he was on he had more than four million dollars worth of riches with him. What could possibly go wrong?

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Next: The Sandman gets more than he wanted when Spidey teams up with Thor to stop him!

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FF History: After facing Spider-Man several times, the Sandman became an official Fantastic Four villain when he teamed up with the Trapster, Wizard, and Medusa to form the Frightful Four. This was because he was so powerful that it was decided that he could take on most of Marvel's mightiest heroes. Sandman even formed a partnership with cosmic menace Blastaar.