Alan raised an eyebrow at that, curious that Scott was unaware. The eyebrow dropped a little as he thought of it more rationally. It had been so immediate for them all, so painful. The JSA wasn't like the JLA; it wasn't a strikeforce. It was a family, had always been a family, and the loss of one of their own, their youngest, had left a mark on all of them.
"Wesley's only 'natural' ability, if you could call it that, was his nightmares. The nightmares that drove him out into the streets to start the whole business of mystery men in the first place. That's what I mean, of course, when I say he was the first of us.
"Instead, he made himself a lab and he built himself tools to use to accomplish his work. He made his gas mask, his gas gun, the wirepoon gun... but he was always trying to innovate."
Alan rubbed lightly at his temple.
"He was working on a silicoid gun, testing it, when the gun exploded. Sandy was caught in the blast and for a moment, Wes thought he was dead until he saw that he was changing. His body turned to sand, silicon, and he became a monster. Completely destructive, mad, howling."
The hand at his temple moved over to rub at his eyes.
"Wes used his sleep gas to knock him out, put him to sleep, keep him in a stasis. Then he put him in..." and it was clear Alan didn't like talking about this, but a part of him knew he had to. It was no secret, after all. And the other part of him knew that he had to be the one to tell the story. "He put him in what he called the velvet cage. He wanted Sandy to be comfortable even while he was... like that.
"Like I said, we gave him hell for it. Nearly kicked him out of the organization for endangering a kid like that. Wesley was almost shamed out of the business, and he spent years trying to cure poor Sandy."
no subject
"Wesley's only 'natural' ability, if you could call it that, was his nightmares. The nightmares that drove him out into the streets to start the whole business of mystery men in the first place. That's what I mean, of course, when I say he was the first of us.
"Instead, he made himself a lab and he built himself tools to use to accomplish his work. He made his gas mask, his gas gun, the wirepoon gun... but he was always trying to innovate."
Alan rubbed lightly at his temple.
"He was working on a silicoid gun, testing it, when the gun exploded. Sandy was caught in the blast and for a moment, Wes thought he was dead until he saw that he was changing. His body turned to sand, silicon, and he became a monster. Completely destructive, mad, howling."
The hand at his temple moved over to rub at his eyes.
"Wes used his sleep gas to knock him out, put him to sleep, keep him in a stasis. Then he put him in..." and it was clear Alan didn't like talking about this, but a part of him knew he had to. It was no secret, after all. And the other part of him knew that he had to be the one to tell the story. "He put him in what he called the velvet cage. He wanted Sandy to be comfortable even while he was... like that.
"Like I said, we gave him hell for it. Nearly kicked him out of the organization for endangering a kid like that. Wesley was almost shamed out of the business, and he spent years trying to cure poor Sandy."