Grrl Power #266 – Schooling before the schooling
Arc-SWAT will definitely need to review their arsenal and tactics after this fight. That’s something they’d do anyway, but you know what I mean.
I had a few names to pick from for the violence absorbing demons. Succubi means “to lay under,” Incubus means “to lay upon.” My first thought was “to stand over” but the Latin for that wasn’t great sounding. I don’t recall what it was, I found a really comprehensive Latin dictionary when I was looking up names, but I can’t seem to dig it up again which is a shame since it’s probably not the last time I’ll need to look up a bunch of Latin words. I hate that when you can’t remember the search term you used, or the chain of links you followed to find a good resource.
Hah, as I was typing that I did a few more searches and found the page.
Anyway, there were a lot of latin words I could have gone with, I chose to call “violence eaters” Malumus just because malum also means apple or fruit, which I thought would make for a cute scene with Sydney as you see on this page. Actually for the sake of accuracy, mālum (long a) mean apple, malum (short a) means evil, cataclysm, etc.
Here’s the link to the new comments highlighter for chrome which I can’t live without anymore, and the GitHub link which you can use to install on FireFox via Greasemonkey.
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So, I’ve seen the prediction that he’s about to use his Vehmic energy to make the team go berserk in a few places. I definitely think that’s likely.
Moreover, it would fit with Dabbler being able to make people lustful. Vehemance can probably make them violent.
Further, it would explain how all of the scrubs were gathered, and why a number of them gave the “why am I here?” speech after a while. He zapped them with Vehmic power to make them go along with the “attack archon” plan, which slowly wore off during the fight.
This doesn’t sound all that implausible to me. However I would like to note a few things.
Dabbler so far has not been shown to be able to make others lustful for anyone other than herself. AS SUCH… and this is also given the act that he said that they are beyond the point of not attacking him being an option, it seems to me that if his innate powers are in any way analogous to Dabbler’s, I think he’s not so much about to make them go beserk as it is to make them want to go berserk on him specifically.
Yes, that makes sense and would serve to help him feed more efficiently just as it does Dabbs. But if we see that then it adds a lot of weight to him being part demon, possessed or somehow having interacted with one to function so much like one.
Just my 2 cents. Maybe this was covered, ignore if so. The idea of Vehemic energy being compared to Tantric is a bit apples and oranges unless you you put some limits on the source. Only living things can produce tantric simply by its nature of being bound to emotion. To me it would be best to define vehemic the same way, tied only to the activity of living beings. Thus, standing next to a natural force such as earthquake or volcano would not give him a rush.
I asumed that people must be on the “receiving” end of the violence (but he is included). So an earthquake in a city would power him up, simply by so many people having violence done upon them (by the planet). I agree it sounds likely his powers have to involve humans/emotional beings. Demons propably qualify too.
It would also fit dabblers abilities very well if he could force people to attack him.
Of course if that is both true, then it also becomes a lot harder to stop him. Simply because you cannot stop yourself from beating him.
If he is in the middle of an unpopulated desert and there is an earthquake it will power him up. Violence does not have to be directed at or even affect any human. A violent storm is just as violent if no one is hurt by it.
violence (ˈvaɪələns)
n
1. the exercise or an instance of physical force, usually effecting or intended to effect injuries, destruction, etc
2. powerful, untamed, or devastating force: the violence of the sea.
3. great strength of feeling, as in language, etc; fervour
4. an unjust, unwarranted, or unlawful display of force, esp such as tends to overawe or intimidate
5. do violence to
a. to inflict harm upon; damage or violate: they did violence to the prisoners.
b. to distort or twist the sense or intention of: the reporters did violence to my speech.
Dabbler’s ability is fed by the energy inherent in those specific *emotions* (ie: lust, sex).
V’s ability is fed by a specific physical *action* (violence). violence can occur because of certain emotions like wrath. anger hate, etc, but the emotions are not necessary for V to use violence. By the Word of Dave, violence that is backed with emotion does make the *act* of violence more “tasty” or “nutritious” for him.
So if Dabbler is like that she can still get energy from sex that has no emotional lust component or that occurs between mindless beings. It would just be less nutritious? Wonder how much power she gets from a large coral reef mass spawning? Plants being pollinated all around her? Insects that emerge in huge numbers to mate all at once? And probably a whole bunch of those little organisms in both fresh and salt waters you can barely see…
Probably, like Vehemence, Dabbler can’t “feed” from lesser forms of the energy nearly as well as the higher (more human-oriented) energies. There’s probably a steep drop-off from increasing the distance too, just like for V & the energy he “feeds” with.
None of this would apply to Dabbler, humans are the only “animal” on the planet that has lustful thoughts. Every other animal on the planet is driven to procreate by instinct, and that is lust, its survival of the species. Humans on the other hand are completely frakkin nuts, the things we think of doing towards or against other humans… well the list is long.
Vehemence would have it great. No other animal on the planet wars with itself, like we do.
“not lust” my bad… type all that out and mess it up …
I could start a argument concerning lust as pertains to sex being mostly driven by base/instinctive desires/urges in the body but there is a faster route to go.
Dabbler a few updates back said that Tantric users, like herself, “absorb power from SEX and lust.” Referring to the reproductive act between different genders of creature I assume (as opposed to gender itself).
So Dabbler gets power from the physical sexual acts between creatures and the feeling of desire to commit such acts.
Vehemence gets power from any physical violence whether it comes from a human or not but gets something more or better in quality from violence that was done with intent or by a being that desired to do violence.
If not exactly the same it sounds similar enough to start making comparisons to me.
War, lust, and many other “human” qualities are well distributed in the animal kingdom. Ever watched chimpanzee bands fighting? Or ants? Or looked into what dolphins get up to? (Both sexually and combatively. Quite a few animals do not restrict themselves to their own species, much less to procreative purposes). Lions will have tremendous amounts of unproductive sex in zoos simply to pass the time. As for what Bonobo monkeys get up to… I’d recommend looking them up.
There are very few basic features of the human brain that aren’t found in most other “higher animals”. Sex produces a pleasure-response most of them – just as tasty food does.
“As for what Bonobo monkeys get up to…”
I saw a documentary that included them a couple of years ago. They put the “bone” in Bonobo, for sure…
As far as it goes with the link between sex & lust/desire goes, sex is merely the physical action that naturally results from *emotions* of lust/desire. In short, the emotional drive of the libido is required to initiate the act of sex. I’d think that Dabbler feeds from the emotions that are inherent with sex, not necessarily the action itself. Could Dabbler feed from Bonbobo monkeys (or even humans) that are coupling for any *other* reason than lust or desire? I’d say she probably couldn’t, because Tantric energy is generated from specific emotion.
Whereas V can feed from any violence…There doesn’t even have to be any kind of intent or consciousness involved in it. I’d think that the main difference between V & Dabbler is that he feeds from the energy generated by *actions* (ie: Laws of Physics in motion, Action & Reaction, Cause & Effect), while Dabbler feeds from the energy generated from specific *emotions* (ie: lust, desire, libido).
Heh! It sounds like I’m talking about how apples are different from oranges in comparison, but that’s how I see it here.
:)
I’d disagree that lust is something human. Going by my hypothesis that we’re just clever apes in pants, I suspect that lust exists in animals as well. After all, isn’t lust in humans just survival of the species? I really don’t think emotion is something inherent to humans.
As for violence, watch a documentary on ants. They were waging war long before monkeys existed. I suspect that would be a lower quality of violence, but can you tell me that spraying acid at your enemies isn’t violence? Because if you can, you’d be a great defence lawyer for my trial!
Why do I have a 64% feeling that Vehemence is going to explode somehow? The other 34% is filled with random ideas for my17th century zombie apocalypse pirate campaign.
The last 2% forgot how math works
No, I’d say that last 2% remembered how to math. The fact that you mentioned it is proof enough that it did.
the last 2% is just not specified as it’s too insignificant to actually mention.
Or broken down into so many various ideas that listing them would be pointless.
I was going to say that but I was distracted by my cat trying to eat my foot
For a cat, I can figure two obvious meanings for that:
1- Cat’s trying to tell you that you’d better fill the food dish before you wind up on the menu.
2- Cat is checking to see if you’re dead enough to make it *safe* to eat you.
:/
It’s a good thing I had intended to clean the monitor anyway…
World of Darkness, D20, GRPS, Cortex, Rifts, BESM, or Pathfinder. I am partial to running Pathfinder and classic WoD, but it would be hard to run a party of Zombie Pirates in WoD unless they were all Wraiths.
Additionally I expect him to either Grow to enormous size, or do the “Hulk Clap” thing to throw the rabble out of the way of his fight.
Using a system like GURPS. It’s HERO system 6th edition. Got me and my friend’s characters created. I’m pretty sure that they’re the biggest min/maxers i know
I had one of those for a Pathfinder game, most of my usual players are more story/RP driven then we had our Bankbarian (a min-maxed barbarian obsessed with accruing gold by any means.) I suggest that if you have a problem with min-maxers that you find the one thing that they are worthless at and hit them with it. Everyone combat oriented, well what happens when they have to play the political game just to get a quest done.
I’m thinking of getting a request for a energy attack. Since their characters are geared towards taking and ignoring physical damage. So a few fire arrows will turn the tanks of my team into burnt adventurers.
I’m loving every interaction between Halo and Vehemence. It seems like he understands her as a person better than nearly anyone else in the comic so far, and treats her respectfully. He’s a damned good villain character, I like him as much as any of the heroes.
I feel like he’s about to rip off his own arm like Piccolo.
Just as a note: That Latin lesson brings whole new meaning to the ‘Apple of Discord’ that started the Trojan war.
Now we just have to see if Sydney can be as clever as Ulysses… ;)
It’s also where we get the image of the fruit of knowledge of good and evil being an apple, in the original text the kind of fruit is unspecified, but the monks who illustrated the texts later were very literate in latin and made it a pun.
I had always wondered why it was an apple, specifically. This is really interesting to know.
However, knowing me, now that I’m aware it’s just a ridiculous pun I’m probably going to start laughing manically whenever someone mentions anything about Adam and Eve.
Counter-strategy:
Maxima can fly anvil around really fast to absorb the impact of anything V throws out non-violently. Meanwhile Halo protects as many people in her bubble shield as possible, among them… Harem powering up Dabbler?
For some odd reason I wan’t vehemence to show up perotically just for everyone to take him extremely seriously and he’s just shooting the shit with Halo.
Maxis is issuing combat order.
Halo: Sup V you get that thing i sent you?
Vehemence: I did indeed Halo, but no matter how much you insist it to be otherwise, motivation posters of cute animals are not my one true weakness
Halo: Pfft, blatent lies, “If It fits, i sits”.compilations are everyones one true weekness.
Vehemence: I find that highly…
Halo: I got pics of Maxis making the “daww” face.
Vehemence: Let me see.
Halo: sure *sends img*
Vehemence: *Snicker*, oh god that is priceless. By the way shoulden’t you be, *Indicates heroes*
Halo: Ahh, yea i’m the distraction.
V: …Well played Halo. Well Played.
Only stopper I could see to your scenario would be Leon hacking a trace pattern straight to V’s computer…It really wouldn’t even matter how many proxies V hides behind, Leon will still locate him.
Otherwise, I’d enjoy reading something like that. :)
Leon would be in on it with her
Leon would have embedded subliminal pacifistic messaging in the pics. V’s power would drain away like the Hulk becoming Bruce Banner.
Is Vehemence truly a bad guy? Yes he has violence based power and yes he started this hero-villain beat-em-up but I felt like he only wants a good fight as an outlet for his particular brand of power….and to prepare the ArcSWAT for powers and scenarios where the usual methods won’t work….and in turn making future battles much more exciting.
He seems ruthless but those specks of mirth and banter between him and Sydney makes me think he actually enjoys the unique brand of cheer Sydney brings to the team dynamic. He powers up on violence but its obvious he’s not a violent person. He’s seems indifferent to his allies but does not outright incur harm to them for no apparent reason.
It seems from a few pages back that he is a scholar of sorts, probably on par with Dabbler at least when it comes to esoteric and eccentric knowledge.
He purposely held back until he actually got Maxima to confront him. Even after he powers up he deliberately took this time to explain his particular power and ability in a calm manner. All things point to someone who is intelligent, brimming with power and the self-control to not be lost in it, with a hidden agenda that most likely has far reaching consequences.
Some predict he can make people berserk but I don’t think so, violence doesn’t necessarily comes from acts of aggression. I mean an accident can be violent as well right? I think he can instead infuse others with uncontrollable power that forces them to expend it in a violent manner, thus re-infusing him with more power, and making a sort of power feedback loop.
I’ll also not that he hasn’t targeted any of the civilians/non-combatants either. Sure there is massive property damage, but otherwise the fight has been relatively contained now to just him and ArcSwat.
Also: Most of the property damage was not cause by him. In fact ,Vehemence himself has not really done anything much by way of damage. He broke a column yes, but Maxima was the one who used it as a pile driver on him. Otherwise…he slammed un the ground once, ripped off his shirt, which is his personal property anyway…(unless he stole it, which I doubt.) His head smashed the pavement, but that was Sydney’s fault really, even though his face broke it…he broke max’s nose…but Max isn’t property. Pulled Anvil’s hair but didn’t damage it…he got slammed into the ground via naut slam, not his fault again, technically his body though.
Oh right, he stomped the pavement against Dabbler. S’ about it. Most of the damage was done by everyone else.
I had a brilliant idea just now, but forgot it. Shame…I really thought that it could be what was about to…
The damage may not have been [i]directly[/i] caused by him, but he claims to have [i]organised[/i] it all to feed his power.
So… A Genius Bruiser Blood Knight Worthy Opponent? I like your feedback loop idea, too. But why not both? Or maybe he has an aura similar to Ares in the Percy Jackson novels. Like just being near him pisses you off. He would have to be able to turn it on and off though.
Not necessarily. He could live in New York or New Jersey and it would be unnoticed. Everyone is constantly passed off in the presence POF others there for one reason or another, Hmm reverse that, maybe those places are like that _because_ he lives there…. Maybe a summer home in Los Angeles.
ARRRGh. Passed = Pissed and POF = off.
Stupid spell checkers ninjacked my post
That’s why I turn off my spell-checkers. At least my typos are MINE & not being manipulated into what I type.
Canadian here, so I’m gonna go with your authority. I did LOL. Wait a minute. We’re drawing parallels between him and Dabbs, but what if they’re completely different from each other? What if Vehemic energy and Tantric energy are fundamentally different? Also, as much as I like your idea, he’d _have_ to be able to turn it off, otherwise there would be no banter with Sydney. And before you say shield, she’s turned it off. And just to contradict myself, if there are parallels, maybe he has a focused violence beam, and the field that pisses you off?
Even if V can’t turn it off, most people DO have some level of self-control over their actions. Hence, Sydney may be irritated or even feeling a bit pissed off at V, but she can control her actions to the point where verbal banter can take place. There could be no society existing where nobody has any self-restraint. Realistically speaking, only the most dangerously insane people are those who DON’T exercise some level of self-imposed restraint.
TL;DR- “Some people remain alive only because there are laws that prevent others from choking the living s*it out of them.”
Technically, Vehemence organised an attack on a branch of the US military. I’m pretty sure that’s illegal. Governments get really picky about those kind of things.
Anyway, I suspect he’s about to really commit offenses. I can’t think of a plausible alternative.
Not to be pedantic, but the difference in vowels is actually a big deal in Latin. Just saying that only people that don’t really know Latin would think ‘malum’ and ‘mālum’ were the same word. ‘Malumi’ is also a bit problematic as you took a Latin noun and essentially just added a random plural ending to it. Not quite the same as taking ‘succubare’ (a verb) and creating a noun form from it as the late medieval authors who came up with the ‘succuba’ and eventually ‘succubus’ did.
It would probably be better if I knew a great deal about Latin, but since I don’t I have to do pseudo latin.
In a pinch we’re happy with Pig Latin…
Just remember James Nicole
In 1990, in the Usenet group rec.arts.sf-lovers, Nicoll wrote the following epigram on the English language:
The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and riffle their pockets for new vocabulary.
Nicoll
To at least some extent, NO language can be “pure.”
Simply because of geographical distance between two societies, even if they originally spoke the same language, there WILL BE differences & divergences building up over time; this is why there are so many “dialects” that pop up, regardless of having the same origin in any given language.
The French gave it a damn good try but even the Academy has stopped complaining these days.
As a former English major I don’t disagree, but this is about the purity of Latin which (as a dead language) is pretty set in its ways. If you want to argue the corruption by medieval scholars I would allow it, but even they still followed noticeable rules.
In any case, it isn’t a big deal; I just can’t bite my tongue.
I said it before, I don’t think he’s truly villainous… What I do think, however, is that he’s self serving and just trying to have a little fun, stretch some muscles, and test himself as it were… That said he is certainly making a villain of himself. Nothing he’s done has been heroic. He’s just not, so far, showing the usual motivation of a villain.
What is it with martial artists always looking for a stronger opponent?
“Never mind, answered my own question.” -Sydney.
It’s hard to grow as an athlete unless there is someone as good as or better than you that you can measure yourself against. It’s a recurring theme with all kinds of athletes.
I’d say “for the thrills” or “as a challenge” is a fairly common motive for villains. Not the take-over-the-world villains, but definitely the chaos-is-the-destination-not-a-part-of-the-journey types.
Suddenly I had this vision where Vehemence works as an Anger Management Consultant.
Heh! That would be like putting a Sin Eater (from folklore) in position as a psychologist in an insane asylum!
Suddenly I had this vision where Vehemence works as an Anger Management Consultant saying things like “Violence isn’t the answer, unless you’re me”.
He can open his mouth wide enough to swallow a hamburger in one bite! EMERGENCY SITUATION!
Also, I feel like he can’t actually absorb and project energy simultaneously, his tattoos have switched between white, blue, and green at different points. White just seems to be ‘off’, I’m guessing blue is ‘absorb’ and green is ‘project’. Therefore, counter-intuitively, the best way to beat him might just be to keep fighting and preventing him from switching to absorb mode to re-charge off the ambient vehemic energy.
I know how to fix his little red wagon. If Sydney can put her forcefield around an area that does not include her, then she can bubble him in and they can all wait for him to run out of air. A non violent solution, and the harder he struggles the more oxygen he will use up. So it will happen faster, and we have already determined that the forcefield can take just about anything. It would also be a good test of her forcefield.
She can’t. ‘Nuff said.
I hope Dr. Revenge has his warehouse stocked up with plenty of signs…
ANNNDD here’s your sign.
And a drink for Pete and a nosh for Bleh
Each of my 1000 ninja assassins have 100 of them and plenty of them in reserve for reloads
At this rate, those signs are flying around in such quantities that the very air becomes clouded…something like shurikens on full auto-fire…
Then I shall rest in the shade.
“Success is the best Revenge,” right Doctort? :D
“Success is the best Revenge,” right Doctor? :D
Yea verily
What if she uses LightHook to wind him up in an airtight but flexible cocoon? Can’t be punched directly, though he could punch other stuff and let it take whatever damage from being in-between.
That is an idea, though I don’t think that the lighthook would be able to form an air tight seal. depending on how strong the material is she may be able to restrain him, but she would have to catch him first, and he has already proven that he can avoid it (#256) even in the heat of battle.
If he’s strong enough, he might be able to break the lighthook, or pull it off him, or wriggle free from it. We haven’t seen its strength tested yet. I mean, I’m sure we’ll see it used at some point, but I doubt it will be the solution to all problems.
I can understand how it might not be possible, however I am finding a lack of evidence to support your summation. I can not find it saying that the forcefield can only encompass her, this might be that I am just not seeing it, or that it does not exist. Either way I still see it as a valid possibility.
Unless the author says so.
But let’s say you don’t wish to scroll through the kajillion comments made in this whole comic to find the Word of Dave. The pages themselves, especially when Maxi was testing Sydney’s shield with her big bang gun on it, is direct evidence via picture without the need for a statement. After all, either Max or Sydney (even drunk on insanity) could have at least asked to perform such a test without her being in it.
The ‘nice kid’ comments and ‘yes, Miss Scoville, also apple’ makes me think he might be a teacher, possibly in a particularly dangerous public school, or else juvenile detention or something similar. At the very least, he probably teaches martial arts. I suspect he is relishing the chance to both power up and teach a valuable lesson at the same time.
I’ll bet he’s Canadian, very polite, and he doesn’t get the chance to cut loose often enough.
Random teen1: “Aw shit man, s’that coach Voorhees ?”
Random teen2: “Yep yep. Damn, he looks more PO’d than when Denny put liquid heat in the jocks bin”
He probably gets daily energy from bullying and acts as a history teacher, specializing in past wars.
I had a history teacher that was essentially that, ‘cept I don’t think he got any energy from all the violence…he was massive though.
Que the” OMG it’s my former history teacher” moment.
I don’t think V is a teacher…What he’s been saying so far seems to be coming as a result of *learning* about his innate power & what he can do with it. Along the way towards learning about his own power, he’s naturally run across info about other forms of magics, like Dabbler’s Sleep spell & recognizing her use of Tantric energy. He’s shown indications of being more of a student, rather than a teacher.
Which is not to be taken as a sign of any kind of stupidity…As Will Rogers has said, “Everybody’s ignorant, just in different subjects.” Vehemence is showing some level of in-depth knowledge in the subjects he chose to pursue & he’s also demonstrated his intelligence in his ability to use that knowledge *effectively* even though this “demonstration” does bring up questions of his morality & ethics…
V is probably not a martial arts instructor. He’s demonstrated his fighting technique as more like a common brawler than anything else.
I figure him to be more like the chief leg-breaker for a loan shark than anything else. The pay is good (hey, you don’t get clothes like his from off-the-rack, especially in HIS size), the scenery changes (opportunities for travel when tracking down the debt-welchers), he gets to meet all sorts of new people (who, by definition, are uniformly desperate & cowardly), & V even gets to do violence at his own leisure (V seems to be a specialist in compound fractures).
Perhaps Mr. X will step in and save the day!
But then again everyone has forgotten about him. Just as he planned.
Mr. X’s talents lie in the stealth department. Any device he shows up with comes under Deus ex Machina rules and DaveB doesn’t like those. Whatever happens will come from the people already there. We have two sideways thinkers (Halo and Dabbler) two high-end combat monsters (Anvil and Maxima) and two surprise packages (Peggy and Harem).
Hehehe. Bad image forming.
V: “now I..can do This!” —breaks out a microphone and starts singing Broadway tune “Oklahoma”
….
ooorrrrrr. “I an the very model of a modern major general…”
Maybe he starts dancing Swan Lake?
That’s only fair as Maxima was just dancing the “Nutcracker” not to long ago.
I had to take points off of Max’s performance of your dance routine…She missed her mark.
Arrrgh! I meant “off of HER dance,” not “your dance.” No edit function (mumble mumble) Time for more prescription Dammitol (mumble)
Ooh! Did I hear Dammitol? I’ve been low recently… think you could pick a little extra up?
Sorry, at the rate I go through it, it takes a forklift truck just to deliver my weekly supply.
Glad I bought stock in that company. The way people go through Dammitol and its sister product F@ckitol my assets will increase dramatically.
the only way I could afford it is by having a zero-deductible co-pay in my policy. Insurance companies pay off pretty well, don’t they?…If you can get them to pay off at all, that is.
:/
Can we get a non cannon wallpaper of V dancing swan lake?
Please?
It can even have a cannon in it.
^This
and this: https://www.lfgcomic.com/tda/strip/6/
I suddenly got an image of Bison from street fighter doing this. Thank you.
Now I’ve got Raul Julia doing it. With a rose in his teeth, in Bison’s uniform and Gomez Addam’s make up. I may never sleep again.
Maybe I’m off base here, but it seems to me that Maxima and Vehemence are two sides of the same coin. And both seemed to be amused by Sydney.
EVERYONE is amused by Sydney. The whole comic is peppered with examples.
I suspect that they will find his (Vehemence) weakness sooner or later, and that will drain the majority of his power. It could even be something as simple as a bucket of ice cold water ( that might even work on Dabbler).
Perhaps an appeal to his softer side would work, for example an illusion of kittens everywhere constantly getting in the way. Would he gain power by attacking an illusion? That could also be used to drain his power safely.
I think that Sydney would be most useful by protecting the prisoners at this point. She could even expand her shield to block half the battlefield, reducing V’s mobility options. To bad they can’t make multiple shields to box V. Of course he could probably wait them out without expending to much power.
I guess 800 plus comments will be the norm. o.O Well, at least until this arc wraps up. :P
“It’s over 900!!”
Random comment thread
Random witty response
Random kitty response
Irrelevant but witty response about cheezburger lolz
Obligatory kitty response about cheezburger lolz
Weak, I know. Sorry…
Random sign awarding
Random sign warning about global warming and vegans
Numerous citations noting the obvious lack of factual evidence between political agendas & the reality of life in this universe.
Flaming cliche response laden with ad hominem irrelevance. 75% off topic as well.
Only 75%? Not quite Freefall yet then…
I love the little side banter between Sydney and V-man. The two have great comedic chemistry, too bad he’s probably not gonna be around for too much longer.
Unless… could this be our first recurring villain!?!
If V doesn’t make a comeback in a year or two there will be a lot of disappointed fans. And with all the work Dave had to do to make a really original power set for him, using him as a one-time villian would be a waste. Besides, we still don’t have an origin for Vehemence. That has to be a good story.
Had a thought. Probably already been mentioned like a dozen times but…
The two unknown orbs. Perhaps one “steals” /”copies” /”drains” the energy or powers of another? Would explain how Sydney never could use it before as she would A)Have to be around other people and B)Have a definite target. Both of which all of her prior testing before joining the team was lacking.
I also kinda do believe the green one heals her. It just seems to fit with the scheme. But hey, I won’t know till everyone else knows~>.
Both are possible ideas, but unlikely to be of use in this case. Using a previously unknown factor as a surprise save is known as an “Ass Pull” and is most often considered to be a sign of bad writing.
I’m aware, but sometimes a pull seems to be the best way to bring out the ability. It has a bit of basis in fact, as a tough situation can force you to discover something about yourself you didn’t know.
I just imagine Sydney cursing and swearing in a few – except her rude venting is considered as “very violent”.
I’m still in for Sydney vs. V in a “Scoville match”…
Hah! If Sydney starts off with the Unmaker (https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/697), the contest is over!
“Got it in One”
Peggy would probably remind Syd that, at the bare minimum, safety goggles will be required.
Only for Sydney, V don’t get em
Meh, that time she lost her glasses, that’s the only reason why. XD.
No, the extreme spice probably qualifies as violent. But also extremely painful for V, causing him to pass out.
What strikes me as interesting is that there was absolutely nothing stopping him from doing something like this before the team was announced. As soon as he had figured out what his powers were, he could have gone on a rampage and pretty much nothing would have been able to stop him. Seriously, without someone knowing EXACTLY what his powers were and how to stop him finding him almost immediately, he would quickly become nigh-invincible. So I’d like to hazard a guess that the real reason (or at least one reason) that he decided to organize this little get together was that he’d FINALLY found a group that would potentially be a challenge. He’s probably been in plenty of fights before now, but probably never had a serious challenge before tonight. So besides powering up (something that he could have done at any time), part of his goal was finding a group of individuals who would actually prove a challenge to him even as he powered up.
I think the closest analog to tonight’s super-brawl that V is likely to find would be getting dropped off in the Middle East, like, right in the middle of ISIS HQ or something…
Wow! I just had a thought in conjunction with that:
Appoint V as the State Department Diplomat in the Middle East…He walks into ISIS HQ, starts insulting Mohummad & then let the chips fly where they may. He’d be doing the whole *world* a favor!
Vehemic Diplomacy at its finest!
Dirka dirka Mohammad jihad
In a different genre, “Aggressive Negotiations” would be described as diplomacy with lightsabers…
I say it’s time for him to reveal his secondary form now that he’s got sufficient power to assume it, which will also regenerate him restoring everything that’s been damaged or lost so far.
I skimmed through all five pages of comments, so I might have missed it, but I get the feeling that V is going to use all his power to completely fix the area.
I don’t know why it popped into my head, but the way he specifically mentions how much power he gathered and then the (meta) cliff hanger on what he actually does just makes it seem like the kind of 180 to happen in this story.
I hope it happens, because it seems like the sort of thing he’d do. It feels like he gets a bigger kick out of the fighting/struggle then the power he gathers.
Fix? I’m not really sure what you are talking about. Fix as in repair? Fix as in fixate?
If it’s the first then that’s a real 180° turn. Would that include fixing Max nose and Vectors ribs, or just the material damage? I’m getting kind of a Harry Potterish vibe here…
If it’s the later, are you suggesting he will cordon off the area, keeping people from entering or leaving until the fight is over? Sounds a bit like some Anime I’ve watched, though no name comes to mind.
Haha, sorry for being vague. Fix as in repair all the material damage. Actually healing them didn’t cross my mind, it feels like too much of a stretch.
honestly I find it funny that he seems to have no real ill will towards Halo, it’s kinda funny really.
Does he still need to breathe when like this? I see a possible solution with Halo’s shields.
No you don’t.
Aw come on! Becky could be onto something… :)
Yes, we’re dying to hear it. ;)
Whatever Becky might be on, in this instance, is something that these comment threads have been trying to get off of…
Specifically, the repeating of the Word of Dave that Sydney must be IN her shield, effectively trapping her with V…alone. Not even Harem can teleport into the shield to try helping.
At best, Syd can only trap the rest of her teammates inside the shield with herself & Vehemence…The only real effect that would have is reducing the amount that property damage could spread out from here.
I wonder if V’s real name is Leroy Jenkins? Could explain a lot.
“Yer’ killin’ me, Smalls.”
#microtransactioncloudsynergymonetezationintegration
I call “Advertising Spam” on this one.
Okay – so far I know where Anvil, Halo, Maxima, Dabbler, and at least two Harems are.
I also know that Stalwart is unconscious from the picture a few webcomics ago (from Vehemence).
I also know Math is out. (from Jabberwocky)
I also know Peggy is on a roof somewhere out of the view of the rest of the overview scene.
I also know that Brooke is at the infirmary. (from that speedster guy)
I also know that Jiggowatt is out, though I didnt see her on the overview (from Death Toll)
I’m going to guess that Achilles is probably miles away where he was thrown or punched or whatever, but he’s fine.
Not sure where the other 3 Harems are, but one is probably by Peggy still.
Not sure where Hiro is, or Mr. Amorphous is, or the four other non-powered Arc-SWATters (Dave and the Duke Nukem looking person and the elf-looking fellow and the black bald guy)
And I figure the intelligence people (Leon, Zephon, and Gwen) are nearby but cloaked by Gwen’s magic.
Seriously, where did Hiro and Mr Amorphous and the other Arc soldiers (those who are not Peggy) go? :) Are they unconscious too?
Les is still buruied under the restaurant where Jabs put him down
That was Heavenly Sword that buried Achilles in the restaurant rubble, not Jabberwocky.
But yeah, he’s fine otherwise…
:/
I’m not sure of Hiro or Amorphous at this point…I lost track of them & haven’t yet tried to archive-dive for the answer.
As far as all of the other non-powered members of ARCSwat goes, Anvil DID warn them back out of the way because “He’s really strong.”
Jiggawatt is still mobile, though she’s deaf and has got an issue with gravity battling her sense of balance ever since she had her eardrums blown.
Achilles was buried under the remains of the restaurant and is still there, wondering what’s happening topside.
Mr Amorphous got zapped by Glowbug and is (afawk) still out like a light.
Hiro was downed by… Actually I have no idea where Hiro is right now…
As for the non powered combatants I think it’s safe to guess that they’ve pulled back as this part of the fight obviously has gone way beyond what they can partake in and still expect to survive. by now they’re probably over by the downed prisoners in case one of them shows signs of waking up.
A third Harem is helping Peggy. The other two were last seen guarding/monitoring the prisoners. the non-powered SWAT members were ordered to pull back. Jiggawatt may be with them since her injuries were starting to mess her up more just before DT went down. Mr. Amorphous was KOed by Glowbug who was sleep spelled by Dabbler right after. Hiro was KOed by Vehemence. I think I saw him in the long shot. As mentioned Achillies is under the restaurant stuck but otherwise fine of course.
Okay, I remember now where Amorphous was KO’ed by Glowbug. But I don’t remember Hiro being KO’ed by Vehemence – that was Stalwart. Hiro didn’t get KO’ed far as I remember. Last time I saw him was against Breakpoint – but he didn’t get KO’ed there either.
I think the solution is actually going to be pretty simple. I mean, that’s obviously an on/off switch on the back of his hand – just press that and he’ll power down (or go into hibernate mode).
I keep hitting teh ctrl + F5 thingie and her three fingered hand keeps remaining bare… :(
Now I’m starting to think that the author/artist suddenly realized he could put something else in her hand and is now frozen with indecision. I admit putting an apple in her hand would be damn tempting but would alter the nature of this comic if its in the main instead of the mini-comic. DON’T DO IT DAVE!
What are you talking about? Unless DaveB altered the page since your comment, 3 of her hands are holding her sword, and her other hand is holding a gun
Sydney?
I finally updated it. :)
Ohhh! I think you did something to the colors too. Shiny!
Oh wow, I am so slow. I just noticed Halo’s last name and finally made the connection to her taste in food.
“her taste in food” apparently is somewhat ironic, in that she actively tries to cauterize her taste buds…
For all that he can do, and that kind of power ramp is, well. There’s one really big downside, he still needs to breathe more than likely.
Sure he may gain something from being knocked around, but throw him into space,or into orbit, and one less guy to deal with, if sydney can’t hold his head in an airtight forcefield as the rest of the team keeps him from doing anything. If sending him up isnt an option.
I know how they can take down Vehemic! Sydney order some TAKEOUT! Not even he can withstand the power of THE UNMAKER!
He is going to rip his arm off and beat them with it
If he can motivate people to violence that means that every supervillain in that crowd has a get out of jail free card. It reminds of Deadpool pretending he sold his soul to Mephisto in the latest Avengers Alliance plotline just so he can fight on the other side for a while.
Just let Anvil slowly hug him.