The whole Wonderland series is here. gallery…
Phantasm is out patrolling the streets. She had a premonition that she was needed out tonight. She was planning on a night in; she's a little beat up from crime fighting. But that premonition was… compelling. She leaps from rooftop to rooftop, using her grappling hook and zipline to get there safely. And of course her extensive training helps her stay safe. As she is out looking for trouble, she sees a two-bit hood on the streets; hardly worth her time. But then, she feels that press against the back of her head and that shiver up her spine that indicates that this punk is involved in her premonition. So she follows him, staying to the shadows, hardly making a sound.
He starts walking slowly up the street, and then it becomes obvious why he slowed down; he was waiting for a woman walking down the street to be crossing an alley as he got there. He grabs her and puts his hand over her mouth, and pulls her into the alley.
Phantasm knows she needs to take care of this, but this isn't what her premonition was about. She uses her grapple to get to the street, and starts moving towards the alley. Suddenly there is a loud 'KA-THOOM!' as a large man with blonde hair and metal gauntlets lands from leaping to the alley! She sees him go in, and then she knows.
The premonition had nothing to do with the punk. It was about meeting the Guardsman.
THE STORY OF PHANTASM AND THE GUARDSMAN
Guardsman looks up and sees that the punk has duct tape over her mouth, and is wrapping it around her wrists. She is wearing a skirt, and he has her panties part way down her legs. Guardsman rushes over at an uncanny speed and strikes his gauntlets to the ground, causing a tremor that tosses the punk into the air. Guardsman catches him by the throat and slams him against the brick wall marking the edge of the alley. He aims his right fist at the punk and says, "So you were going to ruin her life for a fast ride?" The Punk is scared stiff! He grabs Guardsman's wrist and is stunned at how strong he is! He shakes his head in very short, fast motions. Guardsman turns him so he can see him punch a hole through the wall. Then he aims his fist at the punk again.
"You really want to go to jail for killing a two-bit punk like him?" He turns to see Phantasm. He is quite aware of her, she is well known in this area. She has a price on her head, but no one is brave enough to try and collect it. "He didn't commit a major crime yet, I just wanted him to see what would happen if I ever catch him doing one." Phantasm goes over and starts freeing the girl. Then she hears Guardsman snap the thug's left forearm! "Think about this next time you want to break a girl like that." The punk is screaming in pain! Guardsman lets him go and the punk runs out of the alley holding his arm. Phantasm has freed the girl and made sure she was OK. The girl nods and thanks them both, and runs out of the alley.
Guardsman looks up at the top of the building, its 4 stories. He bends his legs, and then Phantasm says, "Wait, I need to talk to you, uh, Guardsman." Guardsman turns to her. "Ed. My name is Edward." He puts his hand out to shake hers. She is a little nervous about that; it is obvious he is super strong. He takes off his gauntlets and puts them in a holster under his backpack, and then he holds out his fingers so she can grab them, and then daintily shakes her hand. "I can't really stay long; the cops are going to want to take me in for breaking that thug's arm." As he finishes saying that, he can here police sirens approaching. "If you want to talk, grab hold." He holds out his massive arm, and she grabs his waist. She is surprised at the toughness of his skin and how strong his musculature is! He puts his arm around her and then leaps 45 feet straight up! Well, almost straight… As they are going up, Phantasm is both scared and exhilarated. This is better than any carnie ride she's ever been on! They land on top of the building they were next to, landing as gently as a cat.
She says, "How strong are you?" He replies, "About 10 times stronger than before I was changed. I can lift well over a ton if I need to." She looks at him. His clothes are tattered, and his sneakers are about ready to fall apart. His blonde hair is long and messy. Even though he is clean shaven, it is obvious he doesn't live anywhere. "I had a premonition about you. I don't understand it all, but you need me and I need you." She paces the roof for a second. "I have powerful gifts, almost a sense of what needs to happen. That's why a little girl like me can beat the crap out of big guys like that thug. That's why no matter how hard they try, the criminals around here can't ever catch me, or kill me. And that sense is saying… we, you and me, we need each other..." Ed looks at her. He sees the bane of the underworld – a girl, maybe 5'3" and weighing a very fit 125 pounds, dressed in very slick looking body armor, with a Kevlar mask covering her face. And yet he has heard many bad guys say to each other to stay away from her if they know what's good for them!
Ed has always worked alone. He stays homeless so no one can catch up to him. But he knows. He needs help badly, in the one area that he can't do it alone. "Yeah, sure. Where do you want to go?" She smirks and says, "Keep up, if you can." She fires a zip line to a telephone pole and rides it down. She recalls the line and then fires a grapple towards a nearby building. She uses the grapple to get to the top of a 10 story apartment. When she gets there, she sees Ed waiting for her! He grins. She grins back as she walks to the other side of the roof and then leaps off the edge! She puts out her glider wings and glides to the north. Just as she is about to land, she fires the grapple to grab another building, and rides it to the roof.
When she gets there, she sees Ed waiting for her… He smirks and says, "I, uh, have gifts too…" She grins back at him! No one has ever been able to keep up with her through the city; she wants to know more about this guy! She points at a well behind a large home and uses her zipline to get there. She senses that no one is watching, and jumps down the well. Ed is right behind her, jumping in without a grapple, like she is using! She hears the 'kersplat!' as he lands at the bottom, and then swings into an opening about 10 feet above him.
Ed leaps up to the opening, and follows her to a door. She looks at him, all soaking wet, and sees he is not the slightest bit cold. She is! It was a cooler night and she was feeling goosebumps for most of it. She uses retinal recognition and a passcode to open the door, which Ed sees is very thick. He would have big problems getting through it.
"This is my home. I'm actually quite wealthy; I inherited a lot of money. My parents died in a lab explosion, without ever knowing I had this 'gift'. After I found out terrorists destroyed the lab, I've been determined to stop as much crime as I could and try to track them down."
Ed looks at her, and is so stunned he can't speak! He gets it together and says, "I-I'm sorry about your parents. But I have to ask, did they ever talk about the lab they worked at?" She says, "Once in a while they referred to it as 'Wonderland'."
Ed rubs his eyes and then gets up and starts pacing. He starts to talk, but gets tongue tied. Finally, he says, "Wonderland is where I got my powers. I was there when the lab blew up."
She looks at him too stunned to speak! But after a moment she says, "Wha-what happened there?" He replies, "About a year ago, something fell from the sky. It hit my car, killing my wife instantly and leaving me in VERY critical condition. An ambulance arrived, amazed that I was still alive! They loaded me up and took off for the hospital. But on the way, the ambulance stopped. The back opened up and some scary looking guys in dark suits jumped in and injected me with something. I went to sleep. The next thing I knew, I was lying on a hospital bed. I felt great! I looked, and there wasn't a scratch on me. I sat up, and then a female scientist walked in. She looked at me and said, 'Hi I'm Doctor Juarez. You are Ed Fenton?' I nodded, and then she tells him about a drug they injected me with called Wonderland. It forced my body to regenerate to new. Actually, it regenerated better than new. I was super strong, super tough, my reflexes were quicker and I would regenerate damage at a phenomenal rate." He stands up and paces a bit. "If that wasn't crazy enough, they were building armor for me to use that was custom fitted to my body. They wanted me to become a new kind of spec ops, a super soldier. I was grateful, of course, for them saving my life and I volunteered enthusiastically. It was better than stewing about my dead wife."
Phantasm can't believe everything that is coming out of his mouth! Now she understands the premonition so clearly. "What happened to cause the explosion?" Ed looks up. "They had just finished making my forearm guards and gauntlets. They were showing me how to use them, and all of a sudden the roof collapsed. I covered the doctor with my body, and took the brunt of the collapse. I saw she was alive, but she was hurt bad. I propped up a metal door to protect her and smashed my way out. When I got out, I saw a lot of dead guys. One guy saw me come out of the mess and asked if I was OK. I pointed at the doctor, and then a burst of machine gun fire went off. I found some cover, and then I heard a radio message on the comm-link on my left gauntlet." He opens the protective door and shows her. "It said that terrorists were attacking! I saw some guys advancing, taking out everything they could see. So I let 'em see me! I leaped at them, and smashed the ground, causing a tremor that knocked them off their feet. Then I broke a couple, and shot up a couple." Ed looks at the ground. "Then I looked around, and everyone was dead. Everyone. I went to find the doctor, and she wasn't there. So I ran into the woods to collect my thoughts…"
It's easy for Phantasm to see that the situation really unnerved him. She puts an arm around his shoulders, once again amazed at the steel-like feel of his skin and muscles. But she is unnerved too! That doctor was her mom, and she may still be alive!
"After that I was trying to catch the terrorist group. But I found out from a radio message that there is a lot more going on than I had thought, but I was lucky to hear just a snippet of a conversation. So I decided to lay low, and fight crime. Beating up bad guys makes me feel better, you know? And I keep hoping I'll run into someone that can help me with this."
He opens a compartment on his left bracer and pulls out a small tablet PC. "This has all of the information on Wonderland. But it's secure, and I am not a hacker. It is so damn frustrating having all of the answers I am looking for right here, and I don't have a clue how to get at it…"
Phantasm is amazed to think that information about her mother may be on that tablet as well! "I have a friend that may be able to help us; I'll give her a call…"
Phantasm leads Guardsman to a room. Inside of the room is a bed and a bathroom. "Go ahead and get cleaned up, I'll go up and make the call." Ed goes in, and thinks he would love a shower right now. He strips down and goes into the bathroom. As he is showering, he remembers what it used to feel like. He used to enjoy the rhythmic pulse of water on his skin and the warmth it put into his body. But now, he hardly feels anything. His skin is so tough that he has nearly lost the ability to enjoy sensations that he used to take for granted. And then there was that girl… the one that wanted to make love with him so bad. He finally gave in, and felt hardly anything. And then when he was trying to enjoy it, he fractured her hip and broke two of her ribs…
He finishes his shower and comes out to find a set of nice clothes waiting for him, a golf shirt and a pair of nice slacks. There is a set of undergarments and socks, and a nice looking pair of work style shoes. He puts on everything, and is very surprised that all of it fits him nearly perfectly. He sees that the shoes are steel toed; hey, they may last more than a week or two! After he gets dressed, he uses a brush in the bathroom to make his hair presentable. He walks out and sees that Phantasm has brought him a microwaved frozen dinner and put it on a small table. It's a lot better than a soup kitchen! He digs in, and then she comes back into her lab.
"Those clothes belonged to my dad. He was a big guy, just like you. I see they fit you pretty well." He looks at her and smiles. "Thanks, uh, Phantasm. You've been very kind." She turns a chair so she can rest her arms on the back and her chin on her arms, and sits down. "Chelsea. The name's Chelsea." She watches him eat and sees he was very hungry. She has a lot of questions, and really, has no idea where to start. So she asks an easy one. "You had a whole building collapse on top of you, and you shrugged it off like it was nothing. How tough are you?" He straightens up in his chair, looks at her and says, "Pistol bullets and low energy rifle bullets bounce off my skin. More powerful rifle bullets sometimes get in, but my body rejects them and heals up real quick." She smirks and says, "Dang, that takes the effort out of fighting crime!" He smirks back at her. "Actually the thugs are getting a little smarter. They see me and they run. They don't shoot at me anymore; they try and run me over. It's getting kinda rare that I can take 'em out like I did that thug tonight." He grabs his right forearm guard. He shows her the barrel sticking out of the front. "I have a 9mm submachine gun built into this one that uses Uzi parts. But most of these guys, I don't want to kill them. I just want them to wake up. And some do, so I mostly use the Uzi to get them to duck."
He stands up and paces a bit. "The biggest problem I have is that I'm not a fighter. I was a civil engineer before this. I helped design housing developments and strip malls. Fighting, that was all new to me. I mean, I got in a couple of fights in high school, but nothing like this street fighting stuff. I had one guy tossing me around like a rag doll; I guess he knew Karate or something. I beat him, because of these gauntlets." He points out the guards at the bottom of them. "They are made out of a metal called Vibranium. It reflects energy, or magnifies energy applied to them. So I hit way harder than I should be able to. And I smack the ground and it makes a tremor that can knock people over. So I made a tremor, the guy fell over, and I broke his leg. End of fight. But I know… sooner or later I'm going to run into someone that I can't just beat up. I really need to learn how to fight."
Chelsea thinks that she could help him out, a lot! She is at expert to master level in four different martial arts, and is a terror at kick-boxing. Combine that with her precognitive sense, she is almost impossible to beat in a fight.
She stands up from her chair and says, "Get up real quick." Ed stands up, and then he faces her. "Get in a defensive stance." He stands there with his arms up, elbows flayed out. She looks at him and shakes her head. "You are relying on your strength and your tough skin. Stand like this." She gets into a proper defensive position, with her legs spread and bent, ready to move in any direction. She holds her hands in front of her and keeps them high. Ed fumbles with his stance, and gets passable. Chelsea shakes her head, and walks over and moves his legs and his arms to the correct places. "This isn't really comfortable." She replies, "You need to do this enough that it is comfortable." She gets in a fighting stance, and takes a swing at him. She hits him hard in the abs, and feels a stinging pain in her hand! "Oww! What are you made of?" Ed rubs where she hit him for a second and says, "Nothing you want in your life…" He sits down, and ponders for a second. "The strength, toughness, reflexes, they are all great. All it costs you is your connection to humanity." He looks at her with eyes that have seen way too much pain. "When you hug someone, you enjoy it. You get a little jolt of euphoria, and it feels good. I feel almost nothing." He walks over and gently strokes her arm. "That means absolutely nothing to me. It's like I'm touching air. If I stroked your arm enough to really feel it, I would probably break something."
Phantasm steps back, a little stunned. So super powers like Guardian's come with a price! "There has to be a way around this for you. It's really hard for me to believe that my m… that these scientists wouldn't have seen that problem coming." She walks around behind him and puts her hand on his chest, trying to be seductive as she strokes up and down. "You don't feel that at all?" He says without looking at her, "I can tell you are touching me – barely, but if you are trying to make me 'feel' anything, it's not working." He turns to her. "I've only tried to be intimate with one girl. I knew it was a bad idea, but she was… persuasive. I hardly felt anything, and I put her in the hospital."
He stops talking for a minute, and then says, "I'm not sure they thought that I would get super strength and super toughness. I think the main benefit they expected was the fast regeneration. I ended up FAR stronger than they anticipated. They thought I was going to be 2-3 times stronger and tougher than I was, not 10-15 times. Apparently, I have an 'ideal genetic makeup' that boosted the benefits of the serum."
Ed grabs his right gauntlet, and opens a chamber. Inside is a small but well stocked first aid kit. He pulls out a small box, and opens it. "They told me that I could use this, a blood transfer device, to give the serum in my blood to someone else. My blood type is O+, so over 95% of the people out there can use it. They also told me that it was more likely to kill someone as cure them, so they have to be desperate for me to consider using it. Someday I'll meet a girl who needs it, that can handle my blood, and if so, maybe it'll work out for us…" Ed puts the kit away and goes over to her weight set. He turns to her, "May I?" She smiles and nods. He puts 500 pounds on each side of the bar, and lifts it from the ground. He raises it over his head, and does a quick set of 10 and drops the bar. "Got any more weight?" Chelsea holds in her shock and says, "I'll have another 1000 pounds delivered. And a stronger bar." She usually does 100 lb presses for strength training, but a thousand pounds didn't seem like much of a challenge to him.
They hear some noise above them. Chelsea takes off her mask and puts on a trench coat, and says, "Wait here, I think this is my friend." She goes up a set of stairs. Ed toys with the weights a bit, but they aren't a real challenge. Then he looks around the room. There are several souvenirs on display, and a large picture of a couple on the wall. He looks at the picture; it's Dr Juarez! The guy must be her husband; he remembers him from the lab as well. He never talked to this guy, but he was always in the background.
Chelsea comes down the stairs with a pretty blonde girl. Ed looks over and notices that Chelsea is quite beautiful under that mask. "Ed, I'd like you to meet my friend Sarah. She is especially gifted using computers. I told her about your tablet, and she may be able to get some data out of it." He replies, "Be easy on it. Some days it's all I have to help pass the time." Chelsea smirks. "Don't worry. I'll buy you a new one if she messes this one up." She thinks, 'Please Sarah, don't mess it up, there is a lot more that we really need to know on that little device.' Sarah walks over to Ed and puts out her hand. "I'm very pleased to finally meet you! I've been following your exploits ever since you showed up in our fair city." Ed offers her his fingers and gently shakes them. "You've been following me? Should I feel privileged or stalked?" Sarah smiles, "Well, you are the first guy with super powers out there, so every time you do something someone is filming it. I have a hack set up so I get to see everything that you do, almost when you are doing it!" Ed gets a stolid look on his face. "Can-can you show me?" She gets a look of glee on her face; it is obvious she is excited by this stuff! She pulls a small tablet out of her purse and turns it on, and then clicks an icon with his face on it! He notes an icon with Phantasm's mask as well.
After a moment, a screen pops up showing a shaky view of Guardsman picking up a car to free a man pinned underneath. Ed bends down and helps him up, and then bounds off into the woods. Then there is another video of him falling from a building and landing close enough to catch a crook by the collar that had just stolen a ladies purse. He throws the guy against a wall, not enough to kill him, but enough that he limps away. The lady comes over and thanks him profusely, and then tries to give him money. He shakes his head and then points at a restaurant, and she takes him in there. The shaky phone camera view goes to the scene, and the lady walks by him, and he sees Guardsman is having a piece of pie. Then there is another view of the scene in the alley. The view shows Phantasm ziplining to the street, and then the view quakes! It switches to seeing Guardsman going into the alley after his landing. After a few seconds, the view starts moving towards the alley, and the punk comes out holding his arm. The view gets to the alley, and the lady runs by. Then the view is of Guardsman and Phantasm talking, and then Guardsman leaps straight up in the air, holding her. Chelsea gets a rush watching that scene, it was quite fun! Then the camera stays in that view, and after a moment, the view shows Phantasm and Guardsman heading north.
Ed is stunned! "How-how many of those little videos of me do you have?" She says, "About 100. You are a real star on Instagram." Ed can't believe it! He has worked so hard to stay under the radar, but that's almost impossible in this day and time. Chelsea interrupts his brooding to say, "Sarah, take a look at this. We both need information off of this tablet." Sarah looks at the device, and turns it on. She looks at the interface, and stares at it, at one point rubbing her chin. She looks at Ed and Chelsea, and says, "This has a science OS, but it's really just a specialty variation of Unix. I should be able to get the info off of this in a couple of hours." She looks at Chelsea. "Do you have a real computer I can use for a bit?" Chelsea points at a desk by the bedroom. "Great! Come back & check with me in about 2-3 hours."
"Follow me Guardsman; let's leave her to her work." She heads towards the stairs, and he follows her up. They get to a door that she opens with her retinal scan system. He sees a bookcase move to the side, and they go into her house. This place is a real mansion! It has tall ceilings, marble floors, and beautiful artwork everywhere he looks. All the furniture he sees is top tier. She shows him to a room, and he looks in. It seems to be a guest room. "Go ahead and take a nap here if you want. I'll wake you up in three hours." Ed goes in and plops on the bed. It only takes a few seconds before he is asleep.
Chelsea goes to her room. It is really large and well decorated. She has a lesser Monet on the wall. She falls onto her bed. She was sore before she started her patrol earlier in the night, and now she is exhausted. Then she has a thought. She gets on the phone and makes a quick call, then closes her eyes.
About two hours later, Sarah calls her. Chelsea sits up with bleary eyes and rubs them, then answers, "Hello?" "Hey it's Sarah. You really need to see this. Get down here as soon as possible."
NEXT: Wonderland part 2 - The Doctor