Sand, Lightning, and Thunder
Normal talking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"
Thinking: 'Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!'
Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.
All Might Speaking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"
All Might Thinking: ‘Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!’
All Might Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.
Sound Effects: BLAM!
AIs/Computers: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"
Speaking Another Language: {"Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"}
“Damn it!”
Midoriya, 10 years old, pumped his fist while Tsuburaya grumbled. In the Studio, in a small out of the way area, there was a large TV screen, hooked up to a game console. On screen was a compilation of Mortal Kombat 9-18 , and Tsuburaya was forced to see Midoriya’s Sonya pose victoriously over his fallen Schang Tsung. “This would have been less humiliating had you at least dignified my defeat with a Fatality.”
“I’m never going to kill, not even virtually!” Midoriya proclaimed.
Tsuburaya rolled his eyes at the perceived naivety, but commanded the animatronic he had developed to allow him to interact with the physical world to shut off his game. “Well, breaktime is over, we should get back to working on the makeup you’ll be using.”
“Um… actually…”
Tsuburaya looked at Midoriya, who was shuffling nervously. “Yes?”
“Could you… tell me about the Sinister Six?” he asked. Tsuburaya blinked. He had mentioned them before, showing Midoriya the designs of their equipment and ways they could have eventually implemented it, but the boy had never asked about the people directly. “I was just wondering what they were like? History only tells us about the stuff they did, but not who they were as people… so I thought that if I knew why they did what they did, maybe I could understand my potential villains better and maybe even help them.”
Tsuburaya stared at the boy, his expression unreadable, before forming a holographic armchair to sit in. “...very well… I guess I could tell you a couple of stories, but there have been many incarnations of the Sinister Six, and they rarely had the same members each time, so I wouldn't know where to begin.”
“I know… but maybe you could start with the original?” Midoriya suggested. “Say… Sandman?”
“Alright, that works. Hmmm... Sandman, lemme see...” Tsuburaya thought back to what Mysterio remembered of the on again, off again villain. Settling into the chair, Tsuburaya conjured up an old fashioned pipe that he lit up. “William Baker didn’t grow up well off-”
“Wait, I thought his name was Flint Marko.” Midoriya interrupted, confused.
“That was his first criminal alias and later legal name, but his birth name was William Baker.” Tsuburaya explained, eyes narrowed in annoyance. Midoriya muttered an apology, but nodded for the AI to continue.
“William was constantly striving for money, not helped by his father Floyd ditching him or his alcoholic mother, so he fell in with a criminal gang in his youth, all the way up to highschool. But eventually, he strived to correct himself when he found love in a young woman, Marcy.” Tsuburaya took some level of amusement from Midoriya’s surprised expression. “Most news nowadays tend to gloss over that Villains are people too, not just mustache twirling monsters. And William Baker strove to be the best boyfriend he could be. He took up a proper job at a construction company working on a new chemical plant, bought a decent apartment, and even fathered a girl, Penny.”
“But… why’d he become a criminal again?” Midoriya asked. Tsuburaya sighed, despite not needing to.
“Penny developed a sickness. I’m not sure what kind, but it was bad. Baker became desperate for money, so one night he decided to rob the construction company where he worked. Big mistake.”
“Why?”
“The construction site he was working at was headed by Crown Construction, and it was part of a massive money laundering scheme, along with smuggling dangerous substances for a chemical weapons operation under the control of Wilson Fisk, the then Kingpin of crime.” Midoriya’s eyes widened in horror, and Tsuburaya nodded. “Yeah, needless to say, Fisk’s men were there and not happy with Baker. They quickly found and hunted Baker down, cornering him near some sand bags and chemical drums. The end results weren’t pretty… but whatever was in those drums splashed all over Baker and fused him with the sand, after melting his body.” Midoriya’s hands shot to his mouth, and his face turned an ugly shade of green. Tsuburaya nodded in agreement, but continued. “Marko told me it was a horrible experience, one with details too awful to tell a kid like you, but he did survive, and managed to pull himself back together again, with a lot of effort. The area he was shot in was devoid of life, thanks to the chemical spill, so he was able to practice in private before he got it to the point that he could look human.”
“A couple of days later, Baker returned home, but recognized a few of Kingpin’s goons hanging around. Figuring they were keeping an eye on his daughter and wife to see if he had told them anything potentially incriminating, he decided that being William Baker was no longer an option for him, so he embraced the name Flint Marko, and later the Sandman after he appeared in the Daily Bugle fighting Spider-man.”
“And he was remembered as one of Spider-Man’s most dangerous foes for years.” Midoriya said.
“Correct, but every cent, every dollar he stole, he had mailed to his wife and daughter anonymously to pay for his little girl’s medical bills. In addition, Marko did his best to make sure that no one got seriously hurt. He always preferred to trap his opponents in sand rather than kill or fight.” Tsuburaya reminded him. “Penny and Marcy eventually learned the truth and decried his actions, but after he stopped an oil tanker from blowing up a beachside full of innocents, she changed her tune and thanked him. I mean, he survived the explosion, but no one knew that at the time.” Tsuburaya paused in his speech to take a drag from his pipe. Midoriya idly wondered why he did that, but quietly figured it was just Tsuburaya’s way of embracing the role of a storyteller reminiscing over the past. After a few puffs, the AI continued his speech. “Once he came back, Stark offered him a spot in the Avengers as part of their “Supervillain Redemption” program. Since he could now legally use the money to pay for his daughter’s bills and protect her and Marcy from the Kingpin, he accepted.”
Tsuburaya fell quiet for a moment, Midoriya watching, enraptured by the story. “Beck remembered him as a good man at heart who fell in too deep to truly get out. He’s still alive, somewhere on the West Coast. California, I believe. Last I heard, he was helping Viv Vision train the current Avengers Roster.” Tsuburaya finished.
“Yeah, he’s one of the most respected heroes now!” Midoriya said, remembering watching a video of him fighting a human/Scorpion hybrid that was swiftly defeated with no casualties or injuries.
“ Yeah… but no matter what you think of his actions, he was a saint compared to Max Dillon. ” Tsuburaya said with clear disdain.
“Electro? What was he like?” “Midoriya asked.
“Insane and full of himself.” Tsuburaya said, not even bothering to be tactful about it. “Max Dillion grew up wanting to be a famous electrical engineer, but his self serving attitude and greed kept him from becoming anything more than an electrical repairman for Oscorp.”
“Norman Osborn’s company, right?” Midoriya asked.
“The same. Of course, this was before he became the Green Goblin.” Tsuburaya explained. “Max also worked alongside Dr. Octavious prior to HIS descent into villainy, but they weren’t friends by any means. Anyways, his rise to villainy began when he was working late one night, fixing the equipment that was mixing up a performance enhancer that later became the base of the Goblin Serum. But he wasn’t repairing something that happened randomly. Turns out, Maxwell had been there the previous day, sabotaging that experiment to later repair it ‘in the nick of time’ and gain favor with the higher ups, only he didn’t count on Norman having hidden cameras which caught the crime, so he was instead fired.”
“I’m guessing Max didn’t like that?” Midoriya asked rhetorically.
“Not one bit. So the guy sees Security there who tell him they saw his sabotage and were going to throw him out. Max snapped and fought back with his tools. Maxwell wasn’t clear on how exactly it happened, but the guards ended up shoving him into the mixing tank, breaking the glass. The prototype fluid spilled onto him, the floor and some exposed wires Max had been repairing when they came to fire him, electrocuting the idiot. Now, with an entire building’s power pouring into him, the guards rightfully figured he was little more than burnt bacon and skedaddled so they didn’t join him, but as we all know, he wasn’t, and gained power over electricity from it. ”
“But how did he survive that?” Midoriya asked. “Was he a mutant?”
“Nope, pure homo sapiens sapiens , but Doc Ock later theorized that it was because the imperfect goblin formula adapted Max’s body to absorb and expel electricity, even if it made him incredibly unstable in the process. Well, more unstable, if Otto’s thoughts on Max prior to his transformation are to be believed. That’s why Norman experimented with it further in spite of the side effects, but whatever the reason, Max had powers and decided that his old life wasn’t enough for him anymore. So he went home, built a harness to help him capture and store more energy, and dubbed himself Electro. ”
“He was an awful man to work with, but his electrical engineering was surprisingly good… though he was easy to rile up and trick despite being very book smart. Being mentally unstable probably didn’t help either.” Tsuburaya noted. “He could easily have been on par with Magneto or the Human Torch, but just lacked the imagination to become anything more.”
“I see..." Midoriya nodded, but looked up. "What ended up happening to Mr. Dillon?”
“I’m not sure…” Tsuburaya admitted. “I think he ended up stuck in the Raft, being used to power the place, and his girlfriend, Francine, took over the name. Quentin Beck was in Japan at this point, so I have no memory of meeting her.” Tsuburaya stood up. “I think that’s enough story time, for now. We should resume work on your training.”
“Just one more, please!” Midoriya begged him. “It’s so cool to hear you talk about these events!”
Tsuburaya was about to say no, but Midoriya looked at him with big, puppy-like eyes. Something stirred in his processor core. Something that compelled him to make the boy happy. He didn’t know what it was, but Tsuburaya, after a moment of thought, decided to give in.
“Alright, just one more… and I think I’ll go with Herman Schultz this time.”
“Schultz? You mean the Shocker?” Midoriya asked.
“The same.” Tsuburaya sat back down. Again, unneeded, but Midoriya was amused. “Before he put on the suit, Herman Schultz was an independent engineer with an interest in acoustics and a dislike for anyone who went back on a deal with him. For the most part, he was making his living honestly, at least until he was hired by Roxxon Industries to develop a new sonic-based demolitions suit. He agreed, and made a costume with directional soundwaves that ended up being used by this guy, Clayton Cole. Cole, for the most part, used it as it was intended, but while he was working on tearing down some buildings about a month after the suit was made, Spider-Man appeared, fighting this other guy, Stegron, who was causing a lot of destruction. Cole used the sonic device to save some civilians from falling debris, an act that was caught on a cellphone recording. As a result, he got a headline appearance in the Daily Bugle, and Roxxon came up with an idea. A week later, the demolition suit was redesigned to look “cooler and hip”, and Roxxon introduced Cole to the public as the newest hero on the block, Clash.”
“Clash? I’ve never heard of him.” Midoriya admitted.
“Yeah, he wasn’t very popular.” Tsuburaya explained. “Also, despite being marketed as a “hero” he was really a glorified thug who protected Roxxon’s interests and only did hero work that was either staged or relatively minor. Anyways, Herman Schultz recognized that the tech used in the suit was his, but it was being appropriated by Roxxon, who were claiming to have been the ones who made the tech without giving him any credit. He didn’t have enough power to go to court over this, and since he was on a “work by contract”, they could simply terminate it and kick him out.”
“So he chose to get revenge?” Midoriya guessed.
“Well, yes and no.” Midoriya tilted his head in confusion, so Tsuburaya explained. “Herman said that he wasn’t interested in hurting Roxxon or the people there, just getting the money he was owed. He was pragmatic like that.”
“The man in a yellow quilt suit and a brown leotard with directional shockwaves was pragmatic?” Midoriya asked with a smirk.
“Yes.” Tsuburaya said bluntly, though with a hint of a smile. “That suit, by the way, was developed by Herman to protect him from his own shockwaves, since unlike Clash, these gauntlets were more than capable of busting through most metal and, well, ‘for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction,’ as Sir Isaac Newton put it.”
“But why the quilt look?” Midoriya asked.
“Herman said that he didn’t have enough money left after the gauntlets were made for a different appearance, though he later admitted he became attached to the yellow quilt look and kept the design even when he went with the armored metal later in life. Anyways, Herman made the suit and a souped up version of Clash’s gauntlets and went to Roxxon to personally collect the money he felt he was owed.”
“And that’s when he met Spider-man, right?” Midoriya asked.
“Yup. The webslinger was there, investigating an unrelated crime, some hazardous prototype energy called Nuform that was being pumped into people’s homes or something, when he encountered Herman and Clash fighting. Clash was getting trounced by Herman, and Parker was such a bleeding heart that he chose to intervene. Spider-man did what he did best, mock and belittle Herman, calling him everything from Crazy Quilt to Triple Ply.” Midoriya couldn’t stop a snort from escaping. Tsuburaya looked at him, but made no comment. “Now, due to the material Herman was using being designed to absorb impacts, Spider-man’s punches did little to hurt him, and the shockwaves blew the webs away before they could attach to his suit, so Herman felt pretty confident that he could beat a kid in spandex. At the time, none of us realized how smart the Spider really was, so Herman wasn’t expecting much when he saw Spidey grab one of Clash’s fallen gauntlets and mess around with it.”
“What was Spider-man doing?” Midoriya asked.
“Believe it or not, he was turning Clash’s gauntlet into a Sound Nullifier Field.” Tsuburaya saw Midoriya had no idea what that was, so he decided to try and explain it. “From what Beck remembers of Herman telling him, Spider-man managed to modify the gauntlet to project a force field that countered Shocker’s blasts by operating on an inverted frequency… or something. The explanation flew over Quentin’s head, but put simply, the shockwaves just stopped before they could hit Spidey, and thus Spidey was able to web Herman up.”
“I bet that gave Spidey some good publicity!” Midoriya said with a smile, which faded when Tsuburaya shook his head.
“The Daily Bugle claimed he was selling out Herman, his ‘partner in crime,’ and gave the credit for the capture to Clash. It didn’t help that Spidey had also broken into Roxxon at the same time, even if he hadn’t actually caused any detectable trouble. Of course, there was evidence he didn’t do anything illegal beyond the breaking in, but J. Jonah Jameson was someone who was simultaneously intelligent and delusional at the same time. How he wasn’t removed from being the head editor is a mystery that confounds me to this day.”
“Well, Spider-man was a vigilante… but he was trying to do good!” Midoriya said. Tsuburaya took a puff of the pipe before continuing.
“Doesn’t mean he was liked. Spider-man was a hormone-addled risk taker who felt like he had to shoulder the responsibilities of the world, and early in his career he made several big mistakes that resulted in quite a bit of destruction, and not all of it was caused by guys like the Shocker or the Rhino.” Tsuburaya explained.
“I guess… What became of Herman?" The AI took a long drag from his pipe before answering the boy.
"In the end, Schultz moved to New Jersey, where he retired, selling off his likeness to various toy companies and teaching at a high school. I think he ended up in a relationship, but like I said, Beck was in Japan at this point." Tsuburaya concluded.
"So… how did the Sinister Six meet?” Midoriya asked hopefully, but shrank down at the AI’s glare.
“No. I told you: one last story, and that’s final. We need to get back to work.” Tsuburaya insisted. Midoriya nodded, now submissive. Tsuburaya shifted, the sight making him unhappy for some reason, so he softened his annoyed expression. “...that being said… it feels good to talk about the old days.” Tsuburaya stood up, the chair and pipe vanishing. “Perhaps, in the future, I’ll tell you a bit more about my memories of Beck's experiences.”
“That would be… really cool.” Midoriya said with a smile.
Tsuburaya would deny it if he was ever asked, but seeing the boy smile filled him with something…
And that something felt good.