Grrl Power #628 – Maxima’s MFP attack
Sciona is crazy resilient, that’s really all she’s got going for her in this fight. She does have a mess of powers, but obviously, she hasn’t gotten a chance to test them. Even with this arsenal, she’s outnumbered and arguably still overpowered. But she’s not trying to actually beat them. She would definitely brag about it at the arch-villain conference if she did manage to take a few of them down. At least add it to her resume.
Maxima doesn’t herself name her different levels of punching, but when your strength range goes from “opening a door without shattering the foundation of the house” all the way up to “what mountain?” it’s maybe not a bad idea to visualize the scale. With Maxima, it’s not just a matter of her flexing harder, she also has the power pool draw from. It’s not like she sees a UI like she’s playing a video game when she moves her power level around. She just flexes whatever superhero muscle she flexes until the power is in whatever buckets she wants. So her punches (and kicks, headbutts, Indian Burns, etc) have a fairly distinct feel to her. It’s not like in a regular person, where punches range from “hitty girlfriend” to “anti-hysteria slap” to “friendly boxing match” to “I’m seriously trying to hurt you” to “haymaker.” Maxima has like 50 different levels of punch. The MFP is closer to the top of the scale than it is the bottom, and Sciona is only the third person she’s ever hit with it that hasn’t been instantly decapitated. (Keep in mind that Maxima fought other supers in some overseas action. If you misjudge the toughness of an opponent on the superhero scale by even a little bit, stuff can get fatal real fast.)
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like.
SuperheroThey're super, thanks for asking!
Meatspace ComicSeriously these are awesome. Check 'em out!
Not UpdatingNo longer updating or only updates sporadically, but definitely worth reading.
SeriouslySeriously you guys. If you like Grrl Power the check these out.
"Mature"Mature subject matter and occasionally something explicit but usually safe. Can't guarantee the ads are safe though.
Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
About that final panel. I was not aware that Sciona was a mother. Is there some important backstory thing there?
If that’s the case then that punch technique has an interest effect. Reducing the text to ‘Fisting’ wouldn’t have had the same impact to readers and may be slightly inaccurate.
The back story may be even more complicated than that …
Sciona could also be a father!
And the gate that Sciona is opening is a time portal.
So that Sciona can go back to her orc-body self.
And then further still, so that she can become her own parents!
Wow, Yorp is extra saucy today XD.
BBQ or Tomato? o_O
The type of sauce is cheese. All the cheese.
Ugh… Kraft doesn’t make cheese.
It’s sad to see all these boxes of “instant” mac’n’cheese in the grocery with their little packet of dehydrated whatever the hell it is, when in the time it takes for the water to come to a boil you can easily shred some real cheddar, make the sauce, and do the clean up. And then enjoy a far better meal.
Well, yeah.
The inventor of the cheese power had a very difficult time trying to sell it on its own; combining it with cheap macaroni to make it a meal was the last ditch effort to make money on it that ended up working quite well.
I know you meant “powder”, but imagine being a superhero with the power to create cheese!
That makes being your own grandfather seem normal.
It’s more common than you’d think…
If you didn’t link it, I would have.
LoL, but I’m not usually amused by writers falling back on the old time travel paradox excuses.
I like to use the simple rule that everything, even information, must have a discrete existence both inside and outside a time segment.
That kind of avoids you have the combination to the safe that you got from a future you that got it in the past when a future you gave it to him.
Same with super weapons, being your ancestor/descendant, etc.
It also pretty much shoots down any kind of Bill & Ted antics like “remembering to go back in time and put a trap there” and other such nonsense, despite it being amusing.
Oh well, not important, just babbling about time travel sillyness at about 2am here. Night everyone!
But it is 4pm here? Are you one of them ’round-Earthers’ and are trying to convince us that you are in some kind of upside-down-time zone ⸘
Paradoxes are easily handled if you take apparent time-travel as actually going to an alternate Earth which has lagged behind (or advanced faster) than our Earth. If all events were identical, in both universes, barring that the Big Bang … actually I was going to say if it occurred a day earlier or later.
But it was the Big Bang, which created timespace. So the imaginary stuff that we pretend time is has no relevance when contemplating transiting from one Earth to an alternate. You are going from one timespace to a completely different one (albeit that it may actually perfectly mirror ours).
Which gave me an important moment of insight. Whatever mechanism is used (say Sciona’s portal), there is absolutely no reason why they have to travel from like-point-in-space-time to like-point-in-space-time. Unless they remain in close proximity in adjacent universes, of course. But it is entirely possible that you have to specify the exact arrival point, both in space and in time.
So Sciona could set the dial for ‘mirror Earth, same location, one year ago’ or ‘mirror Earth, mum’s bedroom, nine months before I was born’.
If she chose ‘this Earth’ then there is that whole nest of paradox worms.
But she does choose an exact mirror Earth, then there is a Sciona on that Earth, who is setting the dial for this Earth. So Sciona gets to become the parents of her alternate Earth self, who becomes her own parents!
*reaches for the worming tablets*
This makes me wonder… Anybody ever start using lasers on maxima, she ever just kinda “stand there” letting them burn off the non-shine coating then just kinda subtly lean and twist to reflect the beam back at them..
Yes, Hex tried during the Restaurant Rumble, Maxi mostly ignored it, until the itch got too annoying and she swatted her away into a Squirrel Observation Tree (much to the anger of the squirrel on duty)
… Well! Guess i need to rebinge the comic from the start!!
Keep an eye open for the evil squirrel overlord‘s origin story. It turns out that his victory over Hex was not his first appearance! And it bodes about who he will seek his revenge on!
This is a far more subtle, yet dire, story arc, than Dabbler’s demonic enemy!
*trembling, ears down*
Yeah, his first target for revenge is the nutjob who tried to burn down his home
https://cruiser.mototribe.com/discuss/biker-vs-squirrel
I’d hyperlink it if I had any idea how. Sorry.
But this story is so funny I had difficulty BREATHING by the time I reached the end. This squirrel handily beats every other squirrel story I’ve ever read.
ROFL
*wipes tears from eyes*
OK, yea, that is a definite sighting of him.
No need to do anything fancy with the links. Raw ones are fine. I just like to convert them into words, so that they are part of a sentence. If you want to do that too then this is the format:
<a href=”paste_website_address_here_in_full”>word_or_phrase_to_display
This is a nice sandbox, where you can test out this and other tags (see the list in the bottom of the comment creation box). Plus that website shows how to format those tags too. I bookmark that page, so that I do not need to remember the format or even type it in. It is a simple copy and paste exercise.
Put the code on the left side, hit the “Run” button, and it will show how your text will appear on the right.
Some of the links generated that way are even clickable and will show the website linked. Sadly the WordPress code that this website uses has drifted from the current version of html, so most no longer do. But at least you can check if you have snipped off a chevron, or otherwise made a mistake, which prevents it displaying the way you want.
Darned kitties! One of them must have walked on my keyboard. Or I fluffed typing some code. Here is the correct code, and the link mentioned:
<a href=”paste_website_address_here_in_full”>word_or_phrase_to_display</a>
Sandbox:
https://www.w3schools.com/html/tryit.asp?filename=tryhtml_links_w3schools
*looks around warily for ninja kitties*
*hits ‘Submit Comment’ button*
Friend of mine scribbled up a funny “From McSquizzy’s perspective” to that tale.
I hope so!
Why did it take me this long to realize…
Do Super Hiro, Achilles, and Amorphous even know who they’re fighting? That’s Council/Archon stuff, that I’m pretty sure the physical-based guys are not allowed to know about. Maybe just Dabbler’s going to whip out her Amnesia Hammer again at the end? No, that wouldn’t work against Achilles.
Maybe just a “Maxima said to kill this bitch so we will” military-style obedience?
The team do have varying levels of clearance. We know that (barring Sydney), none of the recruits have been told about the existence of the Veil. Sydney has been given a seriously high level of clearance though, so it is indeed possible that she is aware of things that even the unit’s NCO’s and enlisted personnel are not briefed on.
It would be risky though, putting personnel up against foes of a radically unknown nature. In order to properly understand Sciona’s capabilities, they would need to know that she is a blood mage. Along with requisite explanations about the supernatural.
Likewise if they did not know about other supernatural races (like vampires) then Sciona’s known associates could both cause profound shock (as Sydney went through) and leave them unprepared for how to counter these dangerous foes.
So, as a matter of practicality, I think that all of them will have pretty high clearances too (albeit not necessarily as high as Sydney’s).
Super Hiro though is Maxima’s second in command. He needs to be able to take over, should she become incapacitated, compromised (they know that Sciona uses mental attacks) or die. Hence he should know practically everything. Unless there is some really highly classified secret that we are unaware of.
Wasn’t there a briefing prior to this witch-hunt? They probably at least gave enough details about Sci so they don’t get spooked about some of the things she can do
There was. But only a very short one, as they had to scramble to intercept the supersonic trace that they believed was probably Sciona. So it was likely to have been minimal. However they then did have the duration, of the pursuit flight, to provide more information, if it was deemed necessary.
So it remains a matter of guessing how much Maxima and Super Hiro considered they ‘need to know’.
They do have Gwen Tennison (well at least her first name is Gwen) as their mage, who has hung out with the entire team before, so they do know that magic is real.
Makes me wonder if the team knows about Dabbler. Sure they know she’s a mage, but a mutant, demon, alien, cyborg? Maybe Dave just draws her in her true “battle” form because it’s more fun, and from Sydney’s perspective so no reason to draw glamour.
The recruits only have the same level of knowledge as the general public. After all there is the risk that they might ‘wash out’, even in the relatively relaxed regime that Arc-SWAT has. Especially as that easy-going culture, may be offset by anyone who becomes tempted by offers from the private sector.
For those who have finished basic, and are thereby likely to serve regularly with Dabbler, it is likely that they will be given more information. How much though is another matter. The Veil is an awfully big secret, and the more people who are clued in about it, the less likely that it is to remain that way. So I think that will only be revealed when there is a dire need.
Hence much of the team may believe that Dabbler is a super, who likes her battle form. Just like the general public. And, without knowing about the supernatural, her use of spells may just be taken as the way that her (varied) power set manifests itself.
The other mages (whatshisname, who wanders around in his dressing gown, and Gwen) would probably just be discreet about using their spells. Or pass them off as being super powers, if need be.
“Do Super Hiro, Achilles, and Amorphous even know who they’re fighting?”
In this page you can see harem explain that corporals and above all know about the veil. Hiro is a major, I don’t remember what the other ranks are, but I recall that anvil is a sergeant.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/2371
Well remembered! I don’t think that bit of info ever sunk into my memory. And worth remembering the bit about Harem memorising locations in ‘various cities’. I had thought it was just one each on the East Coast and West Coast (other than her local spots, and where she grew up).
… must have posted too much today. My posts aren’t showing up anymore.
No such feature on the site. The nearest is if you try to post two messages within seconds of each other. Because then the time-stamps cannot differentiate between the two. So you get a response asking you to ‘slow down your posts’. Waiting a minute is enough. Clearly that was not the issue though.
Most likely what you had was a link that is not compatible with this version of WordPress. It does not recognise some types of links to photos, for instance. Likewise some sites have complex features (for instance to prevent hot-linking) which may (intentionally or otherwise) interfere with the link.
So it is just a matter of snipping out such links (or replacing them with alternative ones, to a different format of image or website) and reposting. At its most complex if you have several links, as you have to try that with each in turn (or kill the lot, and do without).
Other times it can just fall over if you have a poor connection and/or a really slow computer. But you would probably be suspicious of that anyhow, due to everything else going really slow.
Text it is! I was saying something to the effect of you (pic of a german shepherd typing on a keyboard) deserving all the cheese (youtube video with Cheesasaurus Rex kayaking on a river made of fake cheese sauce) due to your ‘saucy’ attitude.
:-D
I loves cheeze! Not sure I would risk pissing off a dinosaur, to eat a river of cheese. But I might. ;-)
The dinosaur in question probably wouldn’t pose much of a threat.
You know it’s interesting that Maxima acutally says she’s the most powerful but it does show that their are guys who are capable of being stronger than her. It makes me wonder since they say every person is powerful has a perfict body what if that’s the main reason why they think the Power user numbers is so small and they are so surprised at the number of the attack. It could be possible that that their are some super ‘s who are pretty formidable or even stronger than Maxima in respects and it could be the only reason they don’t know it could be simply that these guys just look very average. Like not very noticeable or fit but not in the extreme peak people are looking for for supers. It would be intereesting to see how the different heroes would react to finding out that their are supers in existence that look plain and not a perfict body.
Correct. Don’t forget that, up until the press announcement supers, were relatively unknown and all official super activity was clandestine. Which rather limits the opportunities to find, let alone spar with or seriously fight with any but a small proportion.
So, whilst they do have some ways of gauging the power (there have been covert government super groups, and for different countries, going back centuries), so Maxima will justifiably know she is towards the pointy end of the power pyramid. However the numbers in government employee are only a fraction of those in the total population. So there are bound to be supers stronger than her. Possibly quite a few.
However Maxima was telling the truth, as far as known supers was concerned. And she was purposefully trying to draw out any, of those who have sinister intent, and who may be provoked by her nuke-demonstration and challenge.
As far as I am concerned Krona, powers wise, checks the boxes for being a super. Physique though she fails on height and in being a potential ‘A’ team recruit.
So she is a perfect candidate who may match your proposition.
Even down to the fact that she could easily defeat Maxima.
It took me THIS BLEEPING LONG to realize….Super Hiro. *CRINGE OF EPICNESS*
Not everyone is as one with their inner punning demon. I would not worry about it. :)
A few Xanth books will cure that
And a few more will pummel it into submission.
Don’t forget to add the M.Y.T.H. series to your reading list.
In Neal Stephenson’s novel “Snow Crash”, one of the main characters is named “Hiro Protagonist”.
I’m starting to get the vibe that the council has represented Sciona to be more of a ‘bad guy’ then she really is. Mind you she very likely is a horrible person but really you’d do horrible things if you were trapped in say… north korea and everyone else was trying to kill or detain you.
Her MO right now seems to be trying to get back home if that portal we saw earlier can be taken at face value. Everyone she’s killed so far has been horrible people or people getitng into her business that she can guess are with the horrible people who tried to kill her in the first place.
At this point, we only have the agreement between the council and ARC to take at face value that they’re being truthful here.
Shhh, be careful about typing that stuff in public, you don’t want to be like me and be ostracised by most of the readers
*hugs Guesticus*
You ain’t ostracised. You are a valued member of the community!
I have oft said that this line of reasoning is reasonable and plausible. The line is when you exclude the alternative, and tell others that their takes are wrong. You may be right. Or they might be.
Mind you, odds are in your favour, given that the Battle at the Steak House Car Park™ opponents appeared to be villainous, but most of them turned out to be innocent citizens. So Dave does have a history of concealing the true situation. Hence it is entirely possible that Sciona is a victim of oppression.
Which still has to be offset by her repeatedly trying to murder cops! They are all over every news channel. Even if Sciona does not watch TV, her various associates will have clued her in. Yet she chose not to send them a message saying:
Rather Sciona has chosen to carry on attacking them. For instance, after Sciona had strung up Pixel, to drain her blood, then starting to do the same to Sydney, they vanished. Clearly Sciona managed to locate them, straight away. Yet, rather than simply flee from the police, or try to negotiate with them, to convince them that they have allied with an evil organisation, she chose to send her super construct to kill them.
Possibly a valid choice, as they had allied with the Twilight Council, and, as such, she may have been cynical that they would uphold their duty to ‘serve and to protect’ (even villains are entitled to that). But she has to live with the consequences of not giving them the benefit of the doubt. Treating Archon as the enemy, and trying to kill their personnel, mandates that Arc-SWAT defend themselves and hunt her down, for her ongoing crimes!
It’s seems more that Sci has continued to defend herself rather than actively (as you imply) seeking them out (the only one she actively sought out, was Wyrmoot, and that was to get back her can opener)
Can’t remember, butt did SuperBuster attack them first? Or drop in unannounced and they took it as an attack and attacked? Honestly can’t remember
They were standing on a roof top, talking to each other, when Super Buster attacked. A roof top that was on the opposite side of the street, to the Mars warehouse. So no, the heroes were not attacking. Nor did they have any orders to do that.
And even prior to that, the most they did was to scout out a Mars warehouse. Note it is not even Sciona’s property, but somewhere that she was squatting in the cellar. And Pixel went in alone, unarmed and NAKED. Meaning that there is no stretch of the imagination which makes it an attack!
Clearly, as a cop, and on a scouting mission, she would not initiate an attack. So her laser claws were a defensive option that she would only need to use if attacked herself. Then there is the fact that Pixel was knocked unconscious, strung up (along with various other individuals) and had the blood drained out of them. Hardly an act of self-defence!
Whilst it is fair to say that Archon were pursuing her, it is stretching it, beyond the facts, to claim that Sciona was defending herself.
Sciona seems to view mass murder as the solution for every problem, so it’s very possible mass murder is a core part of her “create super strength (etc)” thing. That wearhouse could have been a processing center, i.e. “drain 100 more people to add +100 strength into her stuff”.
Sciona seems to understand that she’s intrinsically opposed to the supers, just because of her ethics and their ethics. She’s probably correct.
Didn’t mean they had already attacked, meant they attacked when Super Buster showed up and before he had a chance to ask who they were and why
Butt like said, couldn’t remember the full sequence of events :(
Even then, no, they did not attack. Mostly they ran away! Then, when cornered, they defended themselves.
This is a very important distinction. Fighting back, when someone is trying to kill you, is NOT classed as an attack. The aggressor is the attacker, the victim the defender.
Counterpoint: this is all in assumption that Sciona originates from earth and knows earth customs and ethics. They are still operating with a local power that may or may not have A> stranded her B> neutered her ability to ask for help with the veil C> cut her head off when she tried to break the veil to get help
Once the local authority cuts your head off, I don’t care how ‘good’ people acting anxillary to their actions are. They’re still operating in connection to the people who -cut your head off-.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Sciona has clearly been operating on Earth for a protracted period, due to having a known history here. Plus has investigative capabilities good enough to uncover some of the most well kept secrets on the planet. As she is the one living in an unfamiliar environment the onus is on her to research the local customs and familiarise herself with laws.
And Archon have flooded the airwaves with details about themselves, their role and their mandate. Including comprehensive press packets, to ensure that the facts are accurate. Plus the role of police is well established and easy to find out, for someone with her capabilities.
If she chooses not to do that, then that is her problem.
Had Sciona just crash landed, that would be a different matter.
As for your final point, that is a good one. It is a justifiable reason for paranoia. However the Twilight Council are the supernatural equivalent of the United Nations, and the US government has been allied with them for centuries. And have found their motivations and actions to be well enough motivated to have moved to an even closer relationship with them, working hand in paw.
So it is more likely that Sciona had her head mostly chopped off for a justifiably good reason. None the less her research should have shown that cops are duty bound to protect even villains from unfair persecution. And that they get Miranda rights, no matter how villainous they are.
Therefore, again, it is Sciona choosing not to accept the norms of the society she is living in. So should face the consequences for trying to murder members of the local populace and law enforcement.
If we went to an alien world, even with strange mindsets, it is unlikely that us committing such actions there would be taken as being acceptable.
But if Sciona does consider such to be the correct way to behave, Archon still need to protect society and themselves from her.
Also 2nd counter point:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/2417 Sciona doesn’t try to kill Sydney until she breaks Sciona’s arm.
We did not see what Pixel did inside, but she’s clearly in humanoid jaguar mode and the only reason to switch to that would be using laser claws… she entered under invisibility and beast jaguar mode.
I have already indicated that it is extremely unlikely that Pixel would initiate hostility. So her claws would be retracted, and provide no provocation.
Therefore, in likelihood, Sciona’s attack was against someone who’s only offence was to be invisible. Whilst that would justify challenging her, or calling the police to detain her for trespass (if Sciona had the legal right to be there), it does not justify knocking her unconscious, dangling her upside down, and draining her blood!
Likewise for the other people who were detained there with her, and also being drained of their life blood.
As the team were there on official police business, and were going to a specific location where a terrorist was suspected to be holed up, they doubtless had a warrant. So Pixel had every right to be there (as opposed to Sciona who was in a concealed squat, in the basement).
Thus the MFP trumps the BFG, and the fight is over PDQ, QED.
Wait, the Metropolitan Flying Police trumps the Big Friendly Giant in a fight over the Pineapple Daily Quota? Butt what does that have to do with the Queen’s English Dictionary?
You have me confused o_O
:-D
Well done – even though I’m aware of the BFG in question (which is so close to being over 9000!), I initially parsed it as “Big Friendly Giant” anyways, which made the rest of your interpretation that much more fun. :)
You parsniped it correctly.
Is there a Supers version of the slang dictionary? MFP certainly deserves a place in it.
Time for gravity to realise that Dabbler has been hanging in the air for a while.
Look out Maxima!
No, look out Dabbles! In Maxi’s current state of kill-mind, would she be able to tell that it was Dabbles before she turned her into wall art?
That can be a problem, for cops under fire. But I have more faith in Maxima than you do.
Besides which she is in bullet time, at the moment, so will not be rushed.
That looks like that’s Sydney given the small halo above the head and the faint circle outline
And that looks like Sydney’s bangs…neato
No no, clearly that is Maxi’s bang, right upside Sci’s head
Yes! Took me a while to figure it out too. It’s why Sciona’s saying “Is that even Maxima?” before getting blindsided.
Yup, it is subtly depicted. Suitably catching Sciona’s predicament.
Although, to get the full experience, you need to go onto your nearest motorway, or highway, and stand in front of an oncoming 16 wheeler.
She might visualize the UI when she’s distributing her metaphorical power points if that’s the clearest analogy she understands it by. That doesn’t sound so unlikely if video games are somewhere in her nerd credentials.
Clearly this ZORCH is less powerful than the one put out by the super-mannekiller, since it didn’t burn off Maxima’s jacket this time.
I think your answer is “yes” sciona