#66 May 2007

WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE: Solarman was kidnapped by Madame Masque and the Maggia, who were outfitted in Mandroid armor. (Alpha Flight #64.) Alpha Flight had come to rescue him but they weren’t fast enough before Solarman was injured. Now, his injuries are healed, he has reconciled with his sometimes girlfriend Jenny, and they face an even greater threat; the Phantom of Film City.

---

There was a cool breeze on this nice evening in the month of August in Montreal, Canada. The weather was going almost as crazy as the people that lived here. One day it could be freezing cold and the next it could be over 100 degrees. No wonder people were going nuts.

For most minors in the country, the summer vacation went way too fast. They had an incredibly hectic year and they were only too thrilled when they realized when the summer crept itself on them. As with all things when someone has a good thing, it passed too quickly for them to realize what has happened.

A few minutes ago, the sun had firmly set. The sky was blanketed by a massive thick reign of darkness. Luna, the bright moon, had not even risen yet. It shall, but in due course. All was silent save for one sound.

A wooden swing creaked back and forth from under the weight of two people sitting on it. The two people are Ben Tucker and Jenny. They both just returned from a date at the movies. It was fantastic, according to the both of them. Ben loved the action scenes. It reminded him of his own little lifestyle.

Ben put his arm around Jenny. "So, did you have fun tonight?"

"A lot. But with you around, who could watch the movie?" She knew that she told a little white lie. Sometimes she got so caught up in the movie she forgot he was even there. But it was a white lie. Who kept track?

"Flatterer, you." A smile crept onto his face.

"Well, boy-o, if you're interested, you could come inside for a bit. My parents are still out at that class reunion and they won't be back until ten, at least. So, what do you say?" She really hoped that he would say yes. No, not hoped. Prayed.

Ben gave a quick look to his watch. "Sorry, I can't. I don't want to put a damper on our beautiful relationship. I don't like to move too fast. Anyway, I really have to get going. I was supposed to be home fifteen minutes ago." He stood and gave a hand to help her up.

Her face spoke of disappointment but it quickly faded to a happy-go-lucky facade. "When will I see you, again?"

"Next vacation, most probably," he sighs. "But, 'til then..." He stared into her eyes fabulously and softly kissed her on her lips. He swiftly gripped her shoulders, when they separated. "And when we do see each other again, just keep on thinking of great thoughts."

There was a small gust of wind and in a matter of minutes, he was gone into the darkness of the night.

She fell deeply into the swing. It creaked a tiny sound. I'll never understand you, Ben Tucker, she mused to herself, not now, not ever. But, I'll always love you.

She sighed and entered her house.

---

The sun rose majestically into the morning sky. The yellow of it mingled greatly with the blue and the glow of the rays was really something to look at.

A beam of sunlight glimmered into the open window of an apartment in a tenement building. The powerfulness of the concentrated radiation emitted from the sunlight slightly, slowly, relaxingly awakened Ben Tucker from a deep sleep.

A smile was formed onto his young, vibrant face. His dreams this night were of good thoughts, instead of the regular nightmarish images that are etched into his complicated psyche. He dreamt this night of his growing relationship with Jenny. His feelings for her had grown into love and nothing could break the stride of a puppy in love.

Sensing the time, Ben opened his eyes, ready for another busy day in the remaining days of the summer, until the dreadful school year came about. The sunbeam momentarily blinded him. He bolted up, covering his eyes. Seeing nothing but pure darkness, Robbie closed the blinds over the window. And what a rude awakening I've had this morning, huh, he thought to himself.

---

Ben Tucker was lost in his thoughts when he approached the Alpha Complex.

A hand slammed onto one of his shoulders. He turned around and saw a lone man in a long trenchcoat, covering what he was actually wearing underneath.

The man took back his hand and rubbed it.

"Yes, can I help you, sir?" Ben Tucker asked, very gentlemanly.

The man's tongue soothed his lips. "I am the Phantom of Film City and I need your profound help."

"Help? What kind of help did you have in mind?"

"It depends."

"On what?"

"If you are, indeed, the local hero known as Solarman."

"Solarman? Are you crazy? What gave you the slightest idea that I am him?!"

The Phantom slung his arm around Ben. His voice hissed out of his mouth. "Come now, Mr. Tucker. Do you think that I am such a fool to not recognize you when you were photographed and your picture published in almost every newspaper and magazine in the country?" His tongue again touched his lips. "Now, as to the service you could render me, that I mentioned earlier--"

"Yeh, right." Ben cringed. He did not like this man, not one bit. He totally disgusted him. "What did you have in mind, Phantom of Film City?"

"Call me Phantom, okay?" He did not wait for a response. "Now, I want you to-- wait, where are my manners? I think we should shake hands, first. That's the proper thing to do after we introduced ourselves. Right?"

Ben still cringed. "Uh, right." Shaking, he extended his hand. Phantom took it and gave it a hearty shake, gripping it tightly.

There was a shiver of confusion and bold electricity courses through Tucker's veins. He staggered back, letting go of Phantom's grip. He writhed in his own pain. In a matter of seconds, he slumped to the hard, cold ground with a thump.

Phantom smiled and laughed to himself.

---

The Phantom laughed his head off.

His assignment was to incapacitate the one called Ben Tucker, Solarman. By channeling a small amount of electricity through his fingertips, he rendered his opponent unconscious. His master-- his boss-- will be so pleased.

The body just lied there, smoke emitting from the center of his chest. His clothes were ripped to shreds. His legs and arms were all jumbled up in different and opposite positions.

Again, Phantom laughed.

It rang in his ears.

Something else rang within him.

A voice. A female one. "Hold it right there, buster!"

Turning around, he spied whom the voice belongs to. It was a young woman with long, black hair and she was absolutely beautiful. "Don't make another move or I'll be forced to subdue you!"

Phantom laughed. A different kind of laughter. The first was from his triumph over so puny an opponent, this one over the one called Talisman.

---

Montreal, Canada. The beginning of summer, school's just about out of session, the temperature rising nearly to the 100s, the current heat wave just at its crescent. The air conditioner was broken at the Alpha Complex, the heat rising even further up, sweat pouring down their sweet faces. Elizabeth Twoyoungmen, the Talisman, stood almost transfixed in the front of the main meeting hall. Her eyes, the pupils metamorphasizing into a white blanket, stared majestically and romantically into the farthest reaches of nothingness and ultimate oblivion. Right beside her, the Phantom of Film City, cloaked in his normal super-villain "toga" attire. Above any cause of harm or even better, destruction. Alpha Flight had different ideas about this.

"Liz!" Aurora, the Talisman's dearest friend, revved up her mutant metabolism, triggering an adrenaline reaction within her body. Her feet pumped up more speed than a normal human would, as she raced across the room, at superhuman acceleration.

Phantom grinned.

Hatred and an ambition for death soaring through her system, Aurora felt her heart and lungs contract as she gained closer and closer, with each passing nanosecond.

Phantom's eyes twitched a bit, his mouth wiggling, and he dissipated within thin air. Aurora whizzed through his fading image and... smashed against the opposite wall.

Liz seemed to shiver a bit when her friend collapsed onto the floor in a convulsion, slipping into unconsciousness.

Phantom smiled to himself a nice grimace. "Well," he gloated, "is anyone else foolish enough to challenge me?"

“Yeah, dirt bag, I am!!" Box stepped forward, both fists clenched. "If it's a fight you want, then I'm the guy to do it. If no one else will, I think it's high-time for us to say that famous ol' saying."

Ben Tucker reeled his head toward his comrade. "Oh, shut up. You are so stupid, y'know that?"

"What the hell's with you, man?"

In a swift movement that belied his size, Ben Tucker let a burst of sunlight enter his watch, changed into Solarman, and grabbed onto two parts of Box's front plate, firmly, releasing heat through the pores of his skin. Instantly, the robotic Alphan became immobile.

Hmm. You've piqued my curiosity, Phantom mused.

Snowbird, shrunken to an eagle’s height, circled Tucker's head. "What have you done?" she asked him strongly.

"This." His huge, callous-ridden hand encircled her body, closing tighter and tighter, until it was like being within a great iron safe. He squeezed his fingers together, threw his whole arm back, and shot it forward. Narya collided on the computer terminal mere feet away, tearing metal siding and software. He could barely hear her squeaks of terror.

There was a sudden rush of activity. Walter Langkowski swept forward, leaving his two partners behind, as he grabbed a tuft of Solarman's costume, in a burst of unbridled anger and fury. "You got some nerve pullin' those kinda stunts there!"

"Will you relieve this annoyance?" Solarman spoke aloud.

Phantom, not sure of his reason for calling but heeding it nonetheless, blinked his eyes once or twice, shifting reality in and out, to and fro. Walter's body shimmered, blending in with the air and he finally disappeared into nothingness.

Kamikaze burst out, ignoring Shaman's apparent silence in this delicate matter. "Tucker. You crazy--! I want you to explain yourself right this instant!"

"I'm sorry, Kam," he said, facing him, "but that would seem impossible under the circumstances. To put it simply, the Phantom has planned something for millennia involving Talisman and I've figured that I can be very helpful to him. Your puny minds can't hardly begin to comprehend it."

"You idiot! Shaman, do something!"

Kamikaze stopped in mid-sentence when he saw the near sorrow painted on Shaman's face. He was quiet, still, haunting.

As Alpha Flight’s resident ninja leader continued his discussion with Tucker, Phantom turned from his staring position and walked over to Talisman. She was as still as Shaman, as quiet and as haunting. Nothing within or without her moved or was able to.

He touched her shoulders. "Talisman, now it is time to make our hasty departure, while they are preoccupied. It is time for us to begin the ultimate endgame... a game to end all of existence, as you know it." His eyes closed, Phantom soothed and caressed her lips with his own. If she were any bit alive, she would respond in kind. If she were any bit alive, she would flinch from the gesture. He engaged the kiss upon her as if she were, with softness, vivaciousness.

"NO!" Shaman seemingly woke up, from a drunken trance to a maddened fury. He charged forward, heart racing, blood pumping. Crossing the room, he tackled Phantom, grabbing onto his lower torso, viciously tearing his lips from Talisman's, in a very sudden action.

They crashed onto the carpet with a dull thud.

Kamikaze came alive. "All right, some aggressiveness at last." He hurled his silver Chinese throwing stars in the air, flinging against Phantom's back with great power.

As Ben Tucker mused to himself, a soft curtain from the back snapped open and a withered Snowbird stepped forward. "Let Talisman's newest travesty come to an end." She waved her arms forward in a weird gesture and energy crackled around and in her fingertips. Twin radiance beams streaked forth from her long crimson-hued nails and struck at the three battling parahumans. There was a time-- an infinitesimal space-- when they all glowed like three separate suns.

Kamikaze nearly collapsed from the sudden discharge. Shaman kept his hold around Phantom's body, tightening his grip with every second. “YOU’LL PAY FOR MANHANDLING HER, ASSHOLE!”

The supposed phantom of film city managed to twist his body in such a way that he faced the still-unmoving Talisman. He then stood up straight, drudgingly, and released a brief burst of power. A pure white brilliance blanketed the room for seconds and reality for the nonce is disrupted and cast into ultimate chaos.

Smoke was all that remained of the explosion and the Phantom seemed to have vanished into thin air. Solarman woke up, but the sun had dipped behind a cloud so his circlet of power had transformed him back to Ben Tucker.

“What happened? I don’t remember anything.” Ben was totally oblivious to anything that had transpired before this very moment.

Guardian walked toward the bewildered and novice super-hero. “It seemed that the Phantom had more powers than we were prepared to deal with. He brainwashed you, Ben, he left Talisman immobile. And he defeated the rest of us by turning our powers against us.”

Ben winced. “Oh, I hope you guys don’t think too poorly of me. I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’re only human.”

---

First, Persuasion had to fight all of a brainwashed Alpha Flight, then Solarman turned on his compatriots. What will hold next for our famous Canadian super team?

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