FAN-FICTION CONTEST JULY: How this Squirrel became Furious

The story of Furious Squirrel, or how a 19th century inventor became a hero to millions. Okay, so maybe not millions, thousands perhaps. But, still, it is a worthwhile story to hear.

Jo William was born just after the American Civil War. His family was not rich or poor, just got by being useful to society as tinkerers. His father, Robert Williams, studied engineering and spent years fixing trains throughout the United States. Soon, he settled down just outside of Sonora, California.

Jo William, not Joseph, just Jo, grew up traveling with his father over to the neighboring city of Hill Valley. Jo was fascinated by the new inventions coming out of science of electricity. His father taught him all about steam power and wanted to encourage more people to think of steam engines as the way of the future.

While all this science fascinated Jo, his dream was to help people. Protect them from outlaws. California was a new, but rugged area and many despicable people roamed the land in search of someone they could shoot to take all their money. Jo, in a failed act of heroism, tried to stop a train robbery at the station near Sonora. The robbers killed his mother and father. Jo was shot in the leg and the bandits laughed at him, calling him a little squirrel.

With deep hatred for what they did to him, Jo was determined to not be dismissed as a pathetic kid he would avenge his parents. He was smarter than any bandit and knew he could use that against them one day. But, he simply didn't have what he wanted.

On a trip through Hill Valley one day, he met another scientist by the name of Emmett Brown. This man was strange, to say the least. Emmett and Jo struck up a deep conversation about electricity and metals. Doctor Brown didn't realize that he had inspired Jo to use this knowledge to advance his plans. Jo raced back to his little lab in Sonora and began working on a weapon using glass, metals, and electricity. It took him months to refine this. He studied writings by Nokola Tesla, and adapted some of his ideas into this new weapon as well as other technology.

In a flash of brilliance that might have been regarded just as monumental as the apple fallen on Newton's head, Jo created the always-recharge battery core for his weapon. Using Tesla Coil technology, as well as some new discoveries that Jo made, he crafted a weapon core that gave his gun limitless power. It could fire bolts of electricity that were many magnitudes more powerful than any other artillery of it's day.
Armed with his new guns, and a new suit of leather apparel, Jo dubbed himself the Furious Squirrel, adopting their slur as an honor. He waited five weeks for that same gang to show up. They came to rob a traincar carrying a large cargo of gold and silver. The gang of outlaws rode up in a wagon, guns out and masks on their faces. He stood up to them at a distance and told them to leave or they would regret it. They laughed and said, "scurry home, little Squirrel, or we'll blow yer brains out!"  Their laughter only made him more certain what he would do next. He took aim and fired. To his surprise, and dismay, it worked. The wagon exploded, the people were thrown everywhere. Not a single bandit survived his one shot. He was proud of what he accomplished, stopping them. Yet, he knew what he had created was far too powerful to let anyone else know about.

He left his success, never letting anyone know who had killed one of the most hated bandit gangs in California. He went back to his shop and destroyed all his blue prints and notes. However, he couldn't bring himself to destroy the two guns he had made. He would keep them as a reminder of what he had done. Leaving his home behind, he went to talk with the only other man he knew who had the intelligence to understand his problem, Dr. Brown.

He found Emmett Brown in Hill Valley, working on what he called a time machine. Jo worried that Emmet was a little daft. Dr. Brown told Jo something special. He was from the future. He had been all the way to the year 2015. Emmett told Jo of some great advances coming in the future, but also that terrible wars would darken half of the twentieth century. Dr. Brown took Jo under his wing and taught him things that were far more advanced than any science of the day.

Dr. Brown built himself a time machine out of a destroyed train and left with his wife and children. Jo was left Dr. Browns lab and tools. He began to work on combining his knowledge of electricity, steam power. Soon, Jo built a dirigible using all his scientific knowledge. It was more than a simple dirigible, it was a master crafted creation of both war and peace. He would use his knowledge to help mankind again, but this time he would ensure peace by being the most powerful player in the game.

The day he was set to launch his new ship, Dr. Brown returned on his time-traveling train. He told Jo that he had to take him to the future. Jo believed he was being called to stop these terrible World Wars using his special ship, but Dr. Brown brought him much further into an age of computers and superheroes.
Dr. Brown told Jo that he had two fates. One, he would die on his first journey in his new dirigible. All the other world powers would take him down at a great cost. Two, he would disappear on his new ship and enter a future that recorded his helping save the world from terrible dangers. Jo understood that he truly only had one option. Director Nova met him and told Jo that the reason Jo was a prodigy was because he was what they called a conduit. In the past, this simply made humans more talented and able to learn better, but with morphons, this gave him the ability to harness new powers.

Jo, a man out of time, got back into his dirigible and swore and oath to BADGE to help protect the Earth. His technology was still powerful, even this far in the future. While Dr. Brown returned to the past, Jo William, now the superhero Furious Squirrel, stayed in the future.