Chapter 44
The next morning, there still hasn’t been any luck in finding Hazel even with me, Blake and the police looking everywhere. Although, none of us were aware of what happened to him last night... or right now as we cut to the sand pit in the collider site. For a moment things seem quiet, but then the sand starts to shift. Some of the sand in the pit is all moving and converging in the center, forming together into a shape. Eventually, that shape starts to move itself, and eventually the shape start to become more precise as it stands, revealing Hazel Rainart alive as his new sandy forms starts becoming more solid and eventually regaining all of his color.
Hazel: “Ugh... My head. What the hell happened?” He looked around and saw the collider above him. “Oh. Right. That thing. How the hell am I still alive?”
SDC staff: “Hello? Is someone there?”
Hazel: “Shit!” And right there, he dissolves into sand again before the guy gets close to look down into the pit, only for him to see no one there.
SDC staff: “Huh. Must've been hearing things. Could’ve sworn I heard someone.” As he walks away, and Hazel reforms.
Hazel: “What the hell?” As he looks down at his hands. “Hm. I wonder...” He dissolved again and his sand started slithering around, allowing him to get out of the pit, and sneak by all of the staff as he made his way out of the site and only reformed when he was out site by the cover of large tree outside of the site. “Heh. Nifty. This'll make things a whole lot easier.” As he made his way back to the city. It took him a while before he got back into the city limits and made a spur of the moment decision. “It might be a risk, but maybe I should give these new powers a quick test.” As he came across a large supermarket. “Perfect.” All the while, Blake and I get off school and start our patrol like usual.
Weiss: “There still haven’t been any reports or sightings of Hazel since his escape.”
Yang: “I don’t get it. I mean how does that big just disappear like that? The guy is easily a full 8 feet tall and has a build that’s quite hard to miss.”
Blake: “Maybe so, but he is also just an ordinary person. No fancy tech, no powers. With the right disguise, even he can easily blend in and move around without notice.”
Weiss: “That’s all assuming the Tinkerer hasn’t potentially approached him.”
Ruby: “Regardless, we can’t just ignore this. We've got a job to do as this city’s protectors.” And that’s when I hear a nearby crash and security alarm.
Weiss: “Speaking of which. We have a break-in in progress at the supermarket in Ruby’s vicinity.”
Ruby: “I can hear the alarm and am on my way.” I approach the store, where I see the whole front door completely destroyed, and make my way in as all the customers are fleeing the scene, and I see Hazel inside intimidating all of the cashiers as I stick close to the door.
Hazel: “Just hand over all of the money, and this’ll all be over.”
Ruby: “Well speak of the devil. Guys, I found our guy. I’m going in.”
Blake: “Okay, but be careful. A build like his could probably break you.”
Ruby: “Geez, Blake. Have some faith.” As I move in to confront him. “Stand down, Hazel. Just give yourself up peacefully, and nobody will get hurt.”
Hazel: “Your right. I don’t want to hurt you.” As turns to face me. “You're so obviously a child. But I’m not afraid too if you get in my way. So beat it.”
Ruby: “Alright. You asked for it.” I get in close and give him a good punch to the gut... only to have my hand go right through him! “Huh!?” And instead of feeling guts and blood, I feel the loose and shifting gravelly like feeling of sand.
Yang: “What the hell!?”
Hazel: “Heh. Neat trick, huh? Guess you should start calling me the Sandman.” He moves his right arm in a way to backhand me, but he made it worse by using sand to make his hand bigger, to which the impact from his backhand knocked me back a good distance. As I recover, I see him walking towards me, and I see the hole in his stomach refill, including the hole in his shirt. “Who knew accidentally ending up in a super collider would be this rewarding.”
Weiss: “Hm? A super collider?”
Ruby: “Clearly, we need to rethink the ‘ordinary person’ approach.” I try to get in close again. He makes his fists into giant hammer and swings at me as I try to get in solid hits, but they do nothing, and he eventually gets in a good enough hit to knock me right outside, where I crash into a fire hydrant, causing one of its sides to spray out. He follows me outside with his hammer fists ready. But as he gets closer, he walks through the water stream, getting his legs wet.
Hazel: “This was easier than I thought it would be. Now goodbye.” He raises his hammers up to strike but didn’t expect his legs to collapse under him right there, causing him to fall over. “AARGH! What!?’ Didn’t take me long to realize what had happened.
Ruby: “Guess you're still a little wet behind the ears, huh?”
Yang: “Seriously Ruby? That’s the best you got?” That’s when we hear incoming sirens.
Hazel: “Rgh! This isn’t over...” He grabs me by the foot and throws me at the wall to disorient me as he then dissolves and flies away in a massive sandstorm. He's long gone by the time I recover, and that’s when the cops show up, meaning it was my cue to get out of dodge.
Ruby: “Guys, I think we need to regroup and talk about this.”
Blake: “Roger that.” As I’m on my way though, I get a call from Vernal.
Ruby: “Yes, Captain?”
Vernal: “Care to explain what the hell happened here?”
Ruby: “You're not gonna believe it, but it was all from a rather one-sided brawl with Hazel Rainart. But the crazy thing is, it was he made of sand. Like literally, I tried to punch him in the gut and my hand just went right through him, and he was doing things like turning his fists into giant hammers.”
Vernal: “Your right. That is hard to believe, but then again crazier things have happened as of late.”
Ruby: “Thankfully, I found he has the same weaknesses of sand, being how it solidifies when wet. Though unfortunately, he still got away.”
Vernal: “Well I can see that. But how?”
Ruby: “He smashed me against a wall and flew away in a sandstorm.”
Vernal: “This getting ridiculous. Where did even get such powers?”
Ruby: “Well, he did let slip that he accidentally ended up in a super collider. Don’t, I plan to look into it.”
Vernal: “Fine. I’ve got other things to worry about anyway. Oh, but before I forget. I’m getting close to getting the potential info you were looking for. I should have it and ready to report tomorrow morning.”
Ruby: “Thanks, Captain. I’ll keep tracking him in the meantime. Over and out.” Afterwards, we meet up at Weiss’ and discuss what I just went through.
Blake: “Sounds like were dealing with Mercury all over again.”
Weiss: “And just like Mercury, it may have been the SDC’s fault, albeit this time it was without their knowledge. When he said super collider, it made me remember the current SDC schedule PENNY and I got ahold of, and I looked through it again before you guy got here. The SDC is currently running a test site outside of the city for a new super collider they’re developing and ran their first test run last night after receiving a fresh truckload full of sand. If my guess is right and he did end up in the sand pit below the collider, the energy it emitted merged him with some of the sand and completely changed his molecular structure, effectively turning him into a man made out of sand.”
Yang: “And hence, the ‘Sandman.’ How original...” She says sarcastically.
Blake: “He’s definitely quite strong now. We’re just lucky we discovered his weaknesses. Ironically the same weakness as Mercury, albeit with a different effect. Now all we gotta do is worry about finding him.”
Ruby: “Hopefully, the info Vernal provides tomorrow can give us some kind of clue. And tomorrows Saturday, so won’t have to worry about school. For now, let's get some rest and be ready for the coming fight.” Meanwhile, Hazel is seen traversing through the alleys.
Hazel: “I’ve wasted enough time. I need to check to see how she’s doing before I make any further decisions. With any luck, she’ll still be here.” He says as he approaches a massive hospital across the street from the alley. “Just hang on, Gretchen.”