Grrl Power #270 – Options dwindling
One thing I haven’t really established in the comic so far is that Max has a sort of “golden triangle” of power distribution. We know she’s quite tough, and she has a power pool on top of that she can use to max out one attribute, but usually she just divides her reserves up between strength, speed and armor. That usually makes her stronger than most strong guys (like Hiro but not Stalwart) and tougher than most tough guys, but Vehemence is nearly matching her in all three now, which is a very unusual situation for her. If he manages to exceed her in any of those attributes she’ll need to make some choices about how best to redistribute her power, like dropping her armor and putting it into speed and playing keep away.
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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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Thanks for the comic. Always brightens my day :)
same here, monday and thursday are my favorite days of the week ^-^
I still can’t get over most villains. They could make millions just doing jobs that no one else could do
In reality, if someone takes appropriate precautions to not get caught, they can make a *lot* of money, much more than if they did something similar in a legal occupation…Up until they do get caught, anyway. The reason for this *is* economic & quite simple…Doing something illegally just naturally drives the price of it up, *because* of the risk of getting caught. It’s the nature of supply & demand…If the demand just happens to be something illegal, there will be someone willing to do it but charge more because of that risk. The criminal also has to add in a “silence fee” so as to not implicate his customers if he’s caught, ya’ know.
I’m not trying to condone it, but just stating the obvious facts of it.
Now I’m wondering if he’s ticklish…
A feather duster for Sydney’s Lighthook, while she’s under her shield…’Nuff said.
I see Sydney is also using the telepresence/truesight orb. I wonder what she sees.
Perhaps his energy levels?
If those white patches are signifcant, Sydney may be watching V distribute energy. Or watching how it is flowing. The scrapes and cuts seem to be unpowered zones. Vulnerable points? I remember a cheezy kung fu flick where the villian could only be defeated by blocking his Chi by striking him in a strict pattern and timing.
What ‘white patches’? o_O
I wondered about that too, all I see are the stomach and hand. The ones we see through Sydney’s force field. I would guess either a color glitch or the field is altering the light especially since the orb they are talking about is still circling above her head. The Orange-Yellow ball with the white center dot is the Com Ball isn’t it?
Count them. There’s six in orbit. She’s only shielding. Flight and the “Boom!” are hiding Com.
Thanks for that. I missed it the first time.
Actually, thats one of the Uknown orbs, the teleprescence is the yellow with white center, and the white patches, either is a color alteration due to the shield, or it isnt, since look at vehemence foot, is in the shield “vision” and its not white
The unknown orbs are in orbit, and the nearest unknown orb, the one with the reddish edges and white middle center, is next to the com. Com ball is in flight directly under “BOOM”
Now that you say so I saw it too.
Good hiding place though.
Might be that the hand is discolored white because its toward the outer edge of the force field where we’d be looking through the curve, while the foot is being viewed further into its area of effect, almost flat from the audience perspective… so less of a distortion effect.
If that is the case, then it proves those violent pants aren’t an illusion
She’s not using the Truesight orb. If you look closely you can see it is just behind the blue orb on the left. There are 6 orbs above her head.
Yeah, I see it too; The only orb in Sydney’s hand has to be the shield orb & the other 6 are in orbit. what looks like the Comm Orb to me is hiding behind the Flight Orb & the “Boom.”
Sydney is in “tactical mode” now & it’s obvious that Vehemence is indeed using spell magic to give him abilities that aren’t being channeled into his strength, size, endurance & speed. The more abilities he can bring into play, the worse this is going to get.
In one way, I’m hoping that either Dabbler or Gwen have a fairly powerful Dispel Magic available; he’d be likely to surrender if his power is drained suddenly, resetting him back to square 1. On the other hand, I’d like to see how fast they can acquisition either a large supply of itching powder or get the Unmaker sauce from the restaurant that Peggy & Sydney went to for lunch.
That Hmmh is Sydney starting to hum the imperial march
Sydney seems to be about four panels away from solving Vehemence
Like I said in the comments for the last page, she’s taking Math’s advice to heart & trying to “think 3 moves ahead.”
;)
I concur.
Opposite of flight = Chi Anchor. The immovable mover. Looks like Max is ready to risk a lethal option if things get any worse. But will her energy blast be enough if Vehemence gets more powerful?
Your forgetting that’s a form of violence. Excessive violence. And with an opponent that’s nearly as strong as she is, that’s not going to do more than make him even more powerful. Especially if you take into a account that the author statted he could feed off an earthquake tremble [not alot since it’s center is far away, but still feed off of it] So his ability to feed off of violence isn’t bound to emotional acts of aggression.
Max’s Nuke Ball is the very definition of over kill, and super violence. I think he’d get to be many times more powerful from one of those things [if she made it small], not to mention if she made a barrage, or one like she did in the press conference.
So far he’s had to take the damage of the hit at his current level before fully absorbing the violence of it into his powers. Hence the teeth, eye, and scratches. If she has an attack that will kill him in one hit at this power level it would totally work. If she has such an attack. If he doesn’t see it coming fast enough to counter/dodge etc…
Technically he’said close enough to her power level where it more than likely won’t kill him. If they had the time to wait for him to burn a third of his energy. Than yes. It’d kill him. But with him being nearly a match with Max (and he’s just playing around right now with his new toy). That attack won’t be all that damaging to him. No more than an hour on a tanning bed. But would give him a hearty meal to go along with the tan. But I doubt this battle counts as a date.
DaveB decided to spell it out a bit in his author’s post under the comic. Apparently most of what we have seen from Maxima is her with her abilities balanced with occasional shifts of the balance towards speed, armor, or strength (though not necessarily total shifts just a bit really). Vehemence is described by the author as being at this moment, “Vehemence is nearly matching her in all three now, which is a very unusual situation for her.” and so, “If he manages to exceed her in any of those attributes she’ll need to make some choices about how best to redistribute her power, like dropping her armor and putting it into speed and playing keep away.”
So we haven’t seen her most powerful attacks cause she is leaving some of the balance in armor or speed for defense. Or choosing strength over blasting power. Basically if they can distract or slow him enough for her to shift all out into blasting and actually hit the speedy bastard he might go down. Sadly some of the others would have to be sacrificed. Possibly even Maxima if she was too close to switch back to defense in time! So I doubt they would do it but it is still possible.
If anything, I suspect Max would drop her speed to almost no bonus, leave her armor where its currently at, and pump the excess into strength to try to overpower him. I wouldn’t expect her to drop her defense because at his power level, he might kill her, and while increasing her speed instead could allow her to dodge his moves, she doesn’t know that he won’t do something that could ignore her speed, such as a wide angle attack. Better to tough it out while trying to finish it quick than prolong things for too long.
I still doubt it. Yes atm they’re almost evenly match, and if she chose her energy manip. Stat to dump it in she do one hell of a whammy. But I doubt it’d be enough to kill him. Even if she went all the way. Of course that’d leave her open to his greater Str, and Spd.
Since while we see him get hit those times doesn’t mean it has to hit him. After all he was powering up, while just watching the earlier fight. So he can easily dodge and power up, or get hit, and come out of it stronger than ever. After all, all those hits didn’t damage him for long.
No, what I think she’s planning is something more her style. Doubt it’d work, but a good old fashioned Rush-n-bow. I knew fights were that has failed to work. So there’s a chance that Sydney’s the one to use her genre savvyness to come up with the way to beat him.
As is I see her max blast doing to Vemmy what Yusuke’s Spirit Gun originally did to Younger Togoro. Absolutely nothing. Although he might do the trope where a character grabs an energy attack, and either squeezes it to nothing, or tosses it like a physical object.
Just because she can get loads stronger doesn’t mean she has the power to kill him. And I doubt he’s [the writer/artist] is going to off one of the best villains ever on his debut.
Your doubt is reasonable. He has gotten up a heck of a lot before and he seems to ignore pain after the initial surprise ouchie (that eye alone… ). I was just pointing out that she and hers have managed to damage him at earlier levels and she hasn’t used her strongest attacks (and Dave’s scales all seem to go up a LOT between levels for some reason). So heaven forbid she should actually use brilliant strategy involving team work to get him where she needs for a shot long enough it is possible. If less and less likely the longer this goes on…
Moving on: “After all, all those hits didn’t damage him for long.”
He’s keeping all the damage. Eye doesn’t work, teeth are gone and the scratches etc… are all still there (Dave sometimes doesn’t get everything in but the intention is that V isn’t healing) possibly internal damage from early in the fight. I think his huge influx of energy is giving him amazing vitality. False hit points if you will. Maybe that added vitality, plus the nature of the energy it is derived from, is giving him a sense of strength and well being that has nothing to do with the true underlying nature of his body. (he’s added some kind of mass to himself for more strength and yet the original damage remains? He’s an odd duck to be sure) If he keeps taking damage like this without using some of those spell like abilities he’s been tossing around to actually heal himself (violence mana rejects healing maybe?? *shrugs* ) it wouldn’t surprise me if he becomes the walking dead after enough of Maxima’s attacks that actually have an effect: If he ever powers down he dies cause its just his powers keeping him alive at that point. I’ve seen characters go down like that and its actually happened to me in a few games with false hit point abilities.
Now that he has started sporting casual use of spell like abilities or just plain spells really (which is a whole different thing I expect Dave to satisfy me about at some point in this story… ) its almost impossible to speculate what he can do to defend himself if he sees it coming. He can probably sprout shields now. o.0′
…and Dave’s scales all seem to go up a LOT between levels for some reason
Maybe they’re logaritmic ;)
Sorry for the spelling errors above. Don’t know how to edit posts, and my tabby’s auto correct is retarded.
No worries about the spelling – as many of us have found out already, one cannot edit one’s posts here.
Thanks ^_^.
Wha oh! Sydney’s making thinking noises…
That can’t be good…
But she doesn’t have the proper head tilt yet. Not quite there…
Or maybe he’s just not complicated enough to require a proper head tilt.
I get the feeling you’re right. For all of our theories, it could end up being hilariously simple. :p
That’s what I aspire to, to be hilariously simple. I’m halfway there…
Nice. Try not to work too hard. In fact, try not to work at all. ;p
Panel 2: Maxima Hug Go! <3<3<3
i hear halo’s gear turning and grinding in her head
someone bring her oil and spicy food quick
Somebody get that hamster a red Bull and grease his wheel STAT!
mutant hamster then with her hehe
Looks like Max has not been reading the comments. But she seems to have read at least two of mine: fly really fast and kill him in one go.
That is the “Arianna unfriendly” option.
Exactly
Nice try at claiming precognition, but Dave scripts these pages far enough ahead that comments on one page aren’t likely to be addressed in the next page for update.
;)
Oh I know, I know! I was just making a joke, that’s why I said Max and not Dave :)
Well, Max is a bit too busy to try picking up on some light reading material right now…
There’s a wound missing in panel 2 on V’s side.
So far it looks like he must take the full effect of one of any type of attack minus his actual power level. So just attack him with something new, like an energy blast a.k.a. gold beam. The only bad thing is that his power level is unknown…
It’s over 9000 naturally.
If it’s *over* that, then his power level, technically, is still unknown…
;)
At least we get a ballpark figure. ;p
Once it’s knocked out of the ballpark, it’s still a home run anyway.
Before I go catch some zzzs Happy Thanksgiving to those in the USA.
Why is Sydney not in a thinking tilt?
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1458
So, Arianna unfriendly….
I’m guessing sometime like ripping an arm off
More like head. I doubt losing a limb is going to stop Vehemence, it’s either death or whatever Sydney’s going to come up with.
It is going to have to be non-violent. None of those qualify.
To (mis)quote another webcomic, this is an “Ominous Hmm.”
The amorph would approve. He might also be rather handy right now.
Not so much. Violence is most of what he does. Admittedly, he does it very well… ^_^
The other thing Schlock does well is eat. Swallow V whole and turn the digestion to 11. No more problem.
Well, what do you know, Max can actually use brains and skills when needed …eventually.
Maybe V punched the stupid out of her earlier. :P
She was being cocky against V earlier and had her ego deflated and got serious when she got her nose smashed.
Yeah, her balloon busted probably at the same time V “papered” her nose to counter her “rock” attack…
Seriously, people. Quit treating Max like she’s an idiot. They were completely unprepared for this guy, and are STILL trying to keep it nonlethal. She’s been using brains this whole fight, tactically directing things, but nobody expected to have people who could actually fight on her level. Sydney is MAYBE a little smarter, or maybe just more savvy to the genre. Max is cocky, but she always fights with brains and skill– it’s just now she’s actually trying your ideas (and they aren’t working anyway, sooooo).
She was cocky the whole fight, if she would be serious lots of the team “downs” whould be there to take V out of the game.
Sidney is able to out think Maxima because:
1) Sidney has less cockiness, due to not having “natural ” powers
2) Sid can observe calmly, without distraction from inside her shield
3) Sid has spent a lot of (comic book) time thinking about super power possibilities without the burden of factoring in real lives the way Max has had to.
Sure, they aren’t working now, after V got overloaded. But, as he himself just admitted, they could have worked earlier, if she took the fight seriously and her enemy with even a modicum of respect from the start.
She was “tactically directing things” only when they were in the “Captain Obvious” teritory. Any time anyting even slightly unexpected happened, (Deathtoll, Veh) she responded by smashing her face directly into it with little to no thought ( figuratively and literally ), and a truckload of arrogance.
And if the team expected to deal only with things they expected, I’d say they are way too naive to be in this line of work.
Yeah, if only she attempted to kill him from the start.
:V
I’m getting the feeling that face paint is the answer. Stick some extra symbols on him, messing up the (presumably) precise source of his power.
He has seven round circles and and Sydney has seven round orbs
I count eight, one on each hand, elbow and shoulder, ono on the small of his back and one on the forehead
Possibly two more on the legs?
Seems likely, but hes spent most of the fight with functioning pants, so its hard to say
Love the nod to the *just space him* idea that’s been kicking around forever.
Killed spacing and ocean plans in one go.
All we need are attempts to suspend him with the Light Hook and hopefully just an explanation of the shield suffocation plans flaws and we’ll have most of the big ones. The ones I’ve seen for like at least 30 updates or so. Though it would disappoint me if they tried such things after he has clearly shown multiple uses of spell like powers covering completely unrelated spell schools. Anything that gives him too much time to think is probably gonna be swatted down by a spell.
If Max isn’t even lifting him up, the hentacle looks like less of an option as well.
These aren’t plans I believe in I’m just mentioning commonly held attack plans from the comments that Dave might attempt to disprove or even prove next. Since this and the last comic used theories from the comments.
I know. I was just thinking it would be that much more difficult for anyone to suggest the hentacle solution when he can magically anchor himself to the ground against Max’s strength.
Yeah, I’ve been trying to suggest and make popular the optional Hentacle grab that goes through his intestines (how tough are those tight little Ka-pants?) but it would be too much to hope for that Dave has seen my small efforts and choose to use them. *crosses fingers*
But seriously a little vaseline and tying the end into a knotted ball in his mouth at the other end would certainly make a solid anchored line if they can break his connection to the ground. Its been suggested they should just break the ground itself into chunks and take the chunk he is standing on with him? Though I suspect his anchoring is more complex than that.
not work safe as that option would be, what exactly makes you think it would work when a .50 to the fricking Eye did all of nothing at this point?
Hmm? Oh, its a “containment” strategy originally proposed as a means of getting him off the ground before he sprouted all these new abilities. But if you could get it up there it might still work if Maxima gets in the shield with Sydney and hold the Light Hook against him. Now of course we have this whole “anchor” spell to figure out… *sigh* Next he will gain the power to poop Cadbury Creme Eggs!
Chocolate eggs is an awesome power to have. Violence harder!
Shield can only be formed while Sydney is in it so there goes shield suffocation plan (steals Cpt. Obvious’ work like a true stalker :P)
And yet, that hasn’t stopped people from suggesting it from the moment we first learned of V’s powers.
I have always been aware of this (me and a few others were preaching it even before Cpt. Obvious. We let him do it cause well, he has the best name for it really. ;D ). I’m discussing what comment born theories Dave might be in the mood to prove or disprove next since he has spent this and the last update doing so. Apparently no matter how many times the good Captain does his work many folk still think to suggest the Shield Suffocation Plan (SSP if your hip) every update and for a while there many times a page. So it is a good candidate for Dave to write into a comic or Dabbler’s Corner to disprove.
If Dave actually finds a way to make it look like Sydney is going to try the SSP and then totally twists it into a logical and successful attack against Vehemence then DaveB becomes a writing god in my pantheon! Even though its been suggested that Maxima’s credibility could really use her to make a win out of this with as much of her own abilities and experience/strategies as possible I would be forced to ignore this potentially weak writing in favor of the amazing awesomeness of Sydney winning with an attack that starts out looking like “THE ATTACK THAT CANNOT POSSIBLY WORK”. XD
No, Dave can’t take away this. It is too much fun to go through and find all of these. :-) What else are we supposed to do on days that the comic isn’t updated, and well even the ones they are. :-)
Never fear. IF this BS shield theory is struck down another even bigger piece of BS will rise up to take its place! Cream is not all that floats to the top.
But to lose something that has the power to raise Atlantis and destroy the world would just be too much. :-)
Never underestimate the power of ignorance. ;)
The power of ignorance will raise Atlantis (or destroy the climate and kill of humanity, perhaps both). I dare say that you wouldn’t be able to do that using the force (well perhaps you could destroy the climate and kill off all of humanity, but Atlantis would stay submerged).
Sid can scuba. Harem can bring the gear. No suffocation for Sid.
….Until V knocks her out to disrupt the shield. I wonder if he can punch that softly any more?
Using his pinky and a very light touch (making sure to trim his nails so she doesn’t bleed out).
Are his fingernails beyond the abilities of a fingernail clipper to trim by this point?…
Place the nail between Achilles teeth, bracing his chin against a leg or something and then V just smashes down on the top of his head.
Hmmm…The results would probably be pretty crude.
The cut across V’s fingernails are not likely to be even…Achilles’ teeth would have to be more like a long cutting *blade* rather than short cutters lined up; there’s bound to be *something* of a gap between the top of one tooth & the next. Also, not all teeth are “cutters” so overall, the results might look a little “rough.” In a pinch, if pressed for time (whatever reason), that might work.
Even so, V would probably be better off to go to some die & tool shop…
Industrial diamond particles in a water jet cutter?
The wheels in Sydney’s head continue to turn…
HA! I was right, I was right, I was right! Vehemence *DID* think this out, and that included dealing with the issue of people playing “keep him off the ground”.
Max, defending doesn’t drain his power if he’s attacking. “I attack you, I get stronger”. All you’re doing is having him gain power SLOWER.
The idea of the symbols being his power is a good one, and certainly their glow changes when he does things. But he’s already had scratches going across them without affecting them, so I don’t think it’s that simple. Some people have mentioned painting new symbols on him, but again, I think it’s going to be harder than that. A man who’s thought as far ahead as Vehemence isn’t going to have walked into battle wearing a glowing Achilles’ Heel without at least thinking about how he keeps people from using it against him.
You’d think he couldn’t absorb more than he’s releasing as long as he is the only source of violence. If we assume that there are other minor sources of violence (like Maxima’s blocking actions) and that he looses a little bit of energy to friction, the he probably about breaks even when he gets blocked.
Unless it’s magic. In which case the normal laws of physics can go sit in the corner and keep their dang mouths closed.
Or it’s possible that there’s more V-Energy being generated than his ability to absorb it. As I described under the previous comic page, maybe he isn’t absorbing *all* of the violence being generated because if he were, then what energy is left to have the *effect* of violence on anything?
Think of how Anvil absorbs kinetic energy…If she absorbs *all* of the energy from a strike, then it has essentially no effect. Yet, there’s also kinetic energy generated even *before* that strike hits Anvil; the kinetic energy as air is moved, for example. It seems that some specific, indirect effects of kinetics aren’t getting absorbed by Anvil.
It could be the same way for Vehemence, in that he can’t really absorb *all* of the Vehemic energy generated during each specific instance of violent activity…And that there’s such a high level of it during a supers-battle, maybe he just simply can’t take it all in.
As an analogy, think of how much of a drink of water you could get when you get hit by a large wave…There’s more water moving than what you could take into your mouth to swallow. You could get a nice, big, refreshing drink of water, but the rest of the wave will still have it’s normal effect on everything around you.
Even if V is *causing* violence, it costs him less energy (muscles moving, etc.) than what energy is generated by the violence; for example, if he hits a wall & it crumbles, it took him less energy to hit the wall than what V-Energy is generated as the pieces fall to the ground or what else gets hit by flying “shrapnel.”
entirely the wrong analogy, V does not absorb the Effects of violence, if he did he would not be getting hurt for similair reasons to why anvil is unharmed when absorbing kinetic force. V absorbs vehemic energy in the same way that Dabbler (or pureblood succubi presumably) absorb tantric energy produced from acts of lust. The energy produced is a byproduct of the physical actions of getting turned on, arroused or with vehemic energy, pretty much any act of force.
This is why he gets Stronger by attacking people, punching someone with his super strength drains less V-nergy than he gains back from the violence of the impact, unless he is lying about the part where he attacking others actually makes him stronger (as opposed to just keeping him at the same level). And draining the Vnergy does nothing to soften the blow of the act that generates it.
His main limits is a factor of distance from the action, and apparently violent acts with Intent to missbehave generates a higher grade of Vnergy than do simple acts of random violence or accidents.
A better analogy would be how someone derives some pleasure from admiring a pretty picture or other visual stimuli. Observation does not, typically, change the events being observed one way or the other and actions can be taken to produce events that are pleasing to you and it generally costs you nothing in terms of how much observing you can do of a given event. (barring analgoy-breaking actions that deprive you of a good perspective etc).
In short, V could potentially absorb every last drop of Vnergy produced by getting shot in the eye, but doing so does nothing to change the damage or lack thereof that getting his eye hit by a .50 cal bullet will do. He Can however use the Vnergy available to him to make himself stronger and more durable to the point where the bullet’s ability to harm him is less than trivial.
Is it weird that I am rooting for both of them?
Nah. I was also hoping for an interesting fight, so I am happy either way.
They Kiristugu.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8NC5nne0j0
Or Shiki Tohno.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_uFdUO7ta8&feature=player_detailpage#t=168
Or maybe Shiki Ryougi…though that’s just an alternate universe, female version of Shiki Tohno…which somehow makes her borderline sociopathic…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4OewLMeE58
But still, having someone that can kill space, distortion, eternally reincarnating spirits, time, vampiric sentient forests and even concepts with a simple knife would be useful.
As to killing space…that’s how Shiki Ryougi teleports…she kills the concept of distance between her and her destination.
Also, Max’s face in panel 2 is priceless! Yet perfectly to the point!
Yeah, I certainly get the “O.o WTF?” vibe on that expression.
If Halo could shield Vehemence, they’d be all clear. He’d just sit there in his giant hamster ball unable to absorb more power until he either suffocated or ran out of energy.
Here it comes…
I bet DaveB is starting to regret making the shield airtight…
Maybe a “Dabbler’s Science Corner” could address Halo’s abilities (and their restrictions) next?
Halo should put her shield around V and…
I’ve gotten so sick of hearing this I decided to try to come up with a solution that could, kinda sorta maybe, work.
Everyone’s goal is to suffocate V; ignoring the fact that Sydney is trapped inside, much more vulnerable, and also suffocating. But what if we could do something else besides suffocation?
1st, any plan needs to defend Sydney. Maxima is actually holding her own on defense against V right now, but for back up, she could bring in Anvil as a mobile punching back. At full speed, Max should easily be able to keep up with V, and as long as she has Anvil, doesn’t need to worry about defense as much.
Suffocation is out.
Any gas that could harm V would almost certainly harm Sydney, and possibly Maxima/Anvil. With a lower body mass, most sedatives would also be likely to lull Sydney to sleep before V. Aerosolized capsaicin might be an exception, but that would probably fall under “Violence.”
So I have a proposal that would almost certainly earn me a punch from Maxima: they hotbox the shield with the very best weed they can get their hands on. Cannabis has, realistically, almost no drawbacks health wise, and is well known for its… pacifying effects. There are even cultivars that try to emphasize this particular ability. All involved would come out completely unscathed, though probably rather hungry.
Would this work on V? I don’t know. There is still a problem with V being the last one to become… pacified. But seeing a stoned Sydney (or even Maxima) is an intriguing prospect.
I have now posted an idea that could maybe work, but probably not.
CAN WE STOP POSTING THIS IDEA NOW?
I actually suggested bringing Snoop Lion in when it was revealed V fed in violence but only as a joke. I thought it funny as hell but no one else did or at the very least no one noticed it.
the power of hippymancy would ironically be his greatest weakness in all likelyhood
Not really. Just having a hippy meditation circle gives him more targets to squish before they could drain any of his power…Even assuming that it could.
Solution- Harem gets Halo a Scuba tank.
The only question in that case would be: How thin of a paste can V turn Sydney into before his own air supply ran out? V wouldn’t even have to go that far…Kill Sydney enough to make her let go of the orb & he’s free.
That’s a huge if, biggest if ever given what we know about the limits of her shield.
I don’t see even the slightest tremor, so Atlantis isn’t quite there yet. Well, another trophy for Captain Obvious. :p
Maybe we should be careful with those trophies. The tremors that they’d cause from their sheer combined bulk may cause tectonic shifts…which V might be able to absorb, if he’s in close enough proximity to feel them.
The sheer size of those quakes would probably charge V to godhood without being near it.
Well, at least you said “if Halo could” rather than stating it as the definitive solution for the problem. That’s a slight step up from most of these comments.
Problem with this is that at this point everytime Helo used her shield, she herself was in the center of it and there wasn’t a single hint that she could spawn it off center or even with herself outside of it. Also it doesn’t look like that she could do it douple layer it. In other words your idea would have her standing inside the hamster ball with the bad guy and completly defencless. Ok, that allready ended bady for at least one guy, but still.
V is getting cocky as well. He’s just given away that doing that ground-anchor-thing costs him energy and, critically, that he can’t fly. So now they have an actual way of draining his energy. Not that it’ll be fun to try to keep lifting him while constantly dodging his blows, mind. I guess that’s where the Molestorb (still prefer that over Hentacle, and never mind Lighthook) comes in. While he’s busy chasing Max around, Syd can yank him into the air. We know he can free himself, but it only needs to be long enough to lift him off the ground. Then off to space it is.
The one time she’s used that on him, he not only kept moving (stretching the tentacle in ortder to fight) but actually drug Halo behind him. I’m thinking that’s no longer an option either.
It just has to be a split-second thing, grab-and-flick while he’s chasing the shiny. Once he’s off the ground he’s had it.
I’d say it’s possible from a technical standpoint, but since it’s a teamwork maneuvre that has to be executed with extreme speed and accuracy it probably won’t happen. After all, Syd hasn’t been trained yet.
Well, the grab and flick would be the easy part, Maxi’s reaction time to catch him while he’s in the air would be the tricky part…
Not with serious super speed.
you are assuming he cant just keep that foot-glue spell up as a trivial thing and that he cant use some other (more costly) spell to fly if he somehow did get de-grounded
So far, V has made it pretty clear he Does know how to plan ahead better than that.
He’s shown two diverse spell like abilities so far. So different from each other they are probably actual spells (symbols like V’s showing up on the ground). I’d say that maneuver will give him enough time to cast another surprise. He’s so fast and without any speech or hand waving I wonder if he’s just thinking the patterns.
If he’s just imagining stuff into existence via “The Green Lantern” or something then damn is he over powered and probably unstoppable by anything that doesn’t both surprise him and knock him out in one hit! I hope they don’t go that route and require some kind of learning for all of this…
In the Marvel Superheroes game, the magic system is described as having 3 different methods of utilizing magical energies. One is Personal-The caster draws upon his own personal stores of energy to power the spell effect; In most cases, all it takes is a moment’s concentration to channel the magic. Another is Dimensional-The caster using natural energies & forces inherent to the universe in which they’re currently located; this kind of magic usually requires some gesturing to direct the energy for a proper focus. The third source is Universal-Drawing upon energies from another dimension of reality, usually requiring both gestures & vocals to make an entreaty to the ruling power there to grant the energy to the mage.
It’s possible to use the same spell for a specific effect using any of those 3 types of energy, say for example conjuring up a magical disguise would normally use Personal energy for use on the mage himself, but could also use Universal or Dimensional energies for the same effect.
Vehemence is already highly charged with energy…He’s already gathered & contains the energy within himself. This system could explain why V isn’t using gestures or vocals much (if at all) to cast his spells…He’s using Personal energy.
More precisely dimensional energies appear fuel his personal energies which he can use to cast any magic in his repertoire.
No, it would be more like Universal energy is what V is absorbing, but once absorbed it becomes Personal energy. If V were absorbing Dimensional energy, it would be violence occurring in a different dimensional plane.
I though it looked funny when you said “Dimensional-The caster using natural energies & forces inherent to the universe in which they’re currently located” & “Universal-Drawing upon energies from another dimension of reality” but since I don’t think I ever read the source your were drawing from I just went with your terms.
Yeah, I’m the one who messed that up originally. I freely admit that I’m not perfect.
…Even though I’m so d*mn close that it’s scary…
;)
Not only did the Marvel Superheroes game have it’s own basic chapter on magic (using Dr. Strange as the one to explain it), they also did up a supplemental source book (Realms of Magic) dealing with aspects like, other dimensions & their ruling entities, powerful spells that were used, magical tomes & artifacts, characters (they even included Dr. Doom as Marvel’s representative for mixing magic & technology) & creatures.
Other than switching Dimensional and Universal energies that’s pretty accurate. Vehemence has a large pool of Personal Magical Energy he’s accumulated that he’s using to cast spells that work on him like the anchoring spell, while the source of the energy is effectively Universal (since the energy is generated by pretty much anything including the natural violence of a storm or earthquake). At different levels of energy he’s gained physical stat power-ups to reflect his body’s natural augmentation from those energies as they’re stored in his body awaiting use.
Very useful perspective on where the author might be getting his ideas. Thanks.
Hopefully what you are saying means that he still needs to study up but once powered up it looks effortless. So do you think this supports the idea that he is a regular mage and this just makes it easier for him to combat cast spells he normally would need a great deal of time (in the sense of fighting a speedster like Maxima) to put together or does this plus his comment about being an “innate” vehemic user mean his powers are demon related?
I think he uses too diverse of spells too well to be somebody who can only cast under “special circumstances”. So maybe all his talk of only being able to use the abilities, or spells if they are, now is him saying that only now would he risk the energy loss to his defenses?
He is a mage, clearly, but not a regular one I figure. As he said his power is to innately use and channel vehemic energy. Given what Dabbler has already said this is Not something humans or even most demons can do.
In other words: He’s a super-mage
Well, that would be assuming that he’s using magic to *anchor* himself to the ground…If he’s using magic to increase his gravity, simply getting him off the ground wouldn’t cancel the effect.
Observe that his foot is not sinking into the tarmac. Weak evidence for anchor over gravity. If he really is getting heavier, he’s also using some of the zero-range stuff Max used for lifting the ambulance. Anchor definitely requires zero-range, since otherwise, Max would simply uproot the pavement.
Who said he can’t fly?
He said “Good strategy against someone who can’t fly…” he stil didn’t say that he can’t fly, just he is “had power to burn” to prevent him from being lifted off the ground
Besides that, who says that Vehemence doesn’t know a spell he could use to *start* flying?…
Or better yet Anchor Maxima if he can overcome her spell resistance.
What spell resistance? Unless it counts as part of her telekinesis/enhanced density armor effect… I dont see her able to gain any superhuman resistance to magic (though a fireball obviously would be no more effective on her than your dayly dose of napalm would).
That said she probably does have above average willpower and, if she’s smart, has asked Dabbler to train her and the gang in proper methods and tricks for resisting spells, sorceries and witchcraft.
Had no idea just seems like every time I go to blast on somebody with spells I worked hard to get suddenly all the big bosses got tons of spell resistance for whatever reason. She has defensive and offensive abilities via some kind of telekinetic energy but she also has some base abilities due to that odd looking body (and blood) or hers. I just left that a question mark cause “Who knows?”.
If she doesn’t then Anchoring her might be a solid move on V’s part if he has a spell that works on others.
Loving this battle. It really reminds me of the Greek myth about Hercules battling Antaeus. Maybe we will get to see Sydney “unlock” another orb? Maybe no head tilt means she believes she has come to a mature, even profound decision, which would propel her to a Yoda-like approach “Your weakness, learned I have hmmm?”
Turkey day turkey day turkey day!
If Vehemence is nearly matching Maxima punch for punch and it’s an unusual situation, I’m wondering even more about the “only one other person as powerful as me and he’s dead” comment from a few chapters back. Was it someone like Vehemence who was just big and tough and strong? Or was it more of a Maxima-level magic user or something like that.
Most comic universes have their biggest cape as a flying brick/Super-man analogue, but I’ve always thought that it would be kinda cool to see how it would play out if the most powerful flagship character had a different suite of powers.
We know that Dabbler was the other (non-dead) person to have fought Maxima to a standstill. So odds are this is less a case of absolute power levels and more one of rock beating scissors or, in this case, resulting in a draw.
Still definately thought provoking as to who or how this other mystery-super was or what they could do and, perhaps even more interesting, how did they die? Maxima played up that said person is dead (as far as they know), this implies that no corpse was found or, at least captured, and that she is at least Somewhat doubtful of their demise.
Preeeetty sure we’ll have dave getting back to that sooner or later, maybe the whole gang gets invited to another country to attend this person’s funeral or some such as a diplomatic thing, would be a nice story-device for getting them out of the country someday down the line.
Happy Thanks giving and thanks for the comic. I don’t know of a Rush-n-Bow is going to be successful, I mean with all that excess armor between his legs now [if his “growth” was as proportionally armored] as well as the rest of him. But it’ll be funny to see.
Seriously hope Vehemance enters their rouge gallery as a recurring villain rather than placed in an interdeminsional prison of fluffy bunnies and kittens made of rainbows [since any other place would have ambient violence to feed him over time].
Whimsyshire teaches us that fluffy cute rainbow things and teddybears can be violenced into a bloody mess as much as any (other) specimen of infernal hellspawn.
one would think that sidney could go rumaging trough the rubbles and find a bottle of extra spicy sauce, that’S the kind of attack that would be effective( it was against Mr. amorph hehe) and it wouldn’t give vehemence more strength
i think that whould come under Arianna unfriendly or chemicl warfare
Definitely chemical warfare. We saw her take out city blocks from a meal, and cause a traffic accident. But yeah that’d be an effective attack, but it’d also have lots of friendly fire onto her teams’s senses.
So much for sending him orbital. :p
Knew that was coming, didn’t expect magical foot plant as the option, though. :p
I guess he just got tired of all the various forms of face-plant they’ve pulled on him so far.
One order of “Nothing moves the Blob!”
Oh, you CAN move the Blob…but you also have to move a significant chunk of the ground he’s standing on. (Are ya’ listening, Max?)
Well, yeah, but that involved the HULK. Max is strong, but Hulk she’s not.
Then again, V isn’t the Blob, either.
I’m probaby not the first to think this but I wonder if this situation will help Sydney discover one of her mystery powers? Nothing seems to be working right now and that is a wild card.
Everyone has pretty well concluded that the sudden activation of a “mystery orb” at this stage would constitute an “ass pull”, and we all agree that DaveB is too good a writer to stoop to such shenanigans.
Yes. Unlocking one or both of the Mystery Orbs would cause me to delete this bookmark.
I suspect the solution will involve two orbs, which means Halo will have to
DEACTIVATE SHEILD!!
(Are you nuts? You’ll be killed!)
((Hold my beer and watch this…))
(((That never works!)))
???
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard something like this. (Probably from Anifreik a few updates ago or not *shrugs*) And I don’t really get the strong reaction to a decently foreshadowed action. These orbs and their undiscovered powers have been brought up a few times before. Enough so they stick in everyone’s minds as something just waiting to be unlocked in the right circumstances or with the right ingenuity. So already we’ve averted a true example of the “Ass Pull” trope.
One of the likely places for unusual circumstances to occur is a super fight. One of the likely places for Sydney to be stressed into digging deep down for the ingenuity and focus to unlock a difficult to control orb would be a super fight going badly for her side. So a fight is a likely place to have one unlocked. This is the first fight on the first day. Its not like he waited till we were many chapters in fighting the heavily foreshadowed amazing powers of the godlike villain Major Badass ultimate Arch enemy of the ARCies or something. This is the first villain of many that have already been shown as coming having his little day in the sun due to the perfect situation for his powers coming about and being smart enough to quickly take full advantage of it.
Its actually an acceptably likely action to cause success. And this I believe is the real reason why having an orb revealed now would be bothersome to everyone including myself. Its too easy. Its expected. Its actually the OPPOSITE of an “Ass Pull” trope or a shenanigan as anifreik puts it.
Dave has spoiled us with turning known tropes and other expected actions on their heads or at least putting a fun twist on them many times in the past. We now expect, and hope for, the less expected. For the ending of a big fight like this we are hoping that such an author will give us a completely unexpected surprise. And, to experienced readers, having one of the orbs be revealed to give the team an important edge, or just win it, would be like the hot sun on a summer day in the desert: Not entirely unexpected… we want to see it rain.
But its the first fight on the first day on the job. Maybe its a little early to demand rain in the desert? Perhaps one of two acceptably (not amazingly well but adequately) foreshadowed weapons coming into play is a perfectly OK little helper to pop up this early in the game? If you read this as an archive dive its really not that long at all. Its one of two likely reasons why there are TWO unexplained orbs instead of just one so that it can be a bit of fun for the first big fight. (the other being that the two orbs have related or intertwined powers)
I too have been spoiled by Dave and expect something unexpected or at least less expected to be crucial to ending the fight. But I’m mystified by it being a deal breaker.
I agree totally with the Observer here, you dont have to not see it coming for it to be enjoyable assuming the storyteller can make a good delivery of the expected punchline or resolution. And Dave has certainly proven himself up to the task in previous twists on expected ploys.
“(Are you nuts? You’ll be killed!)
((Hold my beer and watch this…))
(((That never works!)))”
That never works because whoever you hand your beer to is likely to drink it…
That, or it’s not really beer…
What we can’t see is Sydney calling her favourite takeaway for the hottest dish they got.
Or does noxious wind count as violent? :P
Actually, some ofus have already mentioned “seeing it happen.” If you look for terms like “pepper bees” & “Unmaker” you’ll find *some* of the references along the same lines as you say.
;)
So the idea that they could just lasso him and Max could spin him rapidly until he loses equlibrium is also out. (Seeing as he can anchor himself to the ground, all Max would accomplish is wrapping herself on him faster and faster until she collides. Which would put her right in attack range with no way to dodge or block once he breaks free.)
So I’m guessing that all the comments about maxima throwing Vehemence into orbit got annoying to Dave B so he put the magic anchor there. I honestly wonder if Sydney can pull something like the thing she pulled for death toll (A.K.A. The periwinkle butt sniffer).
The last comic was an answer to comments as well. “Why not just shoot him in the other eye?” was very common for quite some time.
Its fun that he is listening to us so actively. Very nice. But I hope he doesn’t go through all of the more popular theories cause some of them are just silly if you really think about them. Maybe a Dabbler’s corner to take care of the shield silliness…
What’s called for now is a little bit of environment modification…
In the simple form, Sydney takes out the PPO and blasts the ground at his feet. True he gets a touch stronger, but how strong can he make the ground under his feet?
Or, in a similar vein, have Heatwave target the pavement at his feet, he’ll either lift his feet voluntarily, or the way he’s anchoring will have to shift to either hold on to high temperature liquid (which might separate from the rest of the ground), or have to spend energy even faster to defend him from the temperature, keep his feet from sinking INTO molten pavement, hold THROUGH the molten pavement/soil to get to dirt…
Except heatwave is out of commission due to a knife to the foot and electrocution via Globug.
the PPO is horribly violent, if it doesnt take his feet off its going to charge him up by a pretty decent deal. Also it seems like what she hits with it tends to explode… and theyre in a city and we have no real idea of how Deep the beam will cut underground past the point where she’s aiming at his feet.
Worst case scenario she bisects a gas-line and its good-bye city block. Best case scenario she destroys what he is standing on… he dashes off to the side and gets grabbed for an airlift… At which point odds are he’ll pull another trick out of his megabutt. Given that he’s already demonstrated the ability to Create pants from thin air and effect a sticky-feet spell effect I dont see how anyone can expect him to not actually be capable of getting back on the ground somehow.
Oh, another anti-V idea: Use sydney’s molestoorb to tie him to Stalwart, and prevent him from hitting the guy too much.
Won’t so all that much to stop him in the short term, but carryying around a load size of a space shuttle is bound to make the guy tired.
I’m sure he’s at a point where he can toss a space shuttle. :p
Plus I think Stalwart is somewhat out of commission at the moment. Haven’t seen hide nor hair of the guy for a while.
also V knocked the guy a few inches off of the ground Before his powerup.. and he was strong enough at that time to wiggle out of the lighthook as well. At this point odds the best case scenario is he just rips himself free of the lighthook, Worst case he starts using Stalwart and hook as a ball and chain (which obviously only lasts until Sydney realizes what a horrible idea this was and turns the hook off.
Sydney, “Okay, I’ve got a plan. We’re going to need 1,000 gallons of water and as much corn starch as you can find.”
Non-newtonian fluid for the win!
I wish that it was close to April 1, because that would actually be a really funny prank comic.
“A little joke, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants.”
~Red Skelton, I think
Substitute itching powder for the seltzer & I think we’d have a winner…
Do you happen to have a franchise specializing in Itching Powder and DMSO by some chance? :P
I have been starting to wonder that myself. :-)
Yep. I also obtained a franchise in Brain Bleach (TM) since I’ve been “internet active.”
:D
That is a VERY good idea. :-)
The biggest problem with the Brain Bleach (TM) franchise is that I do a lot of surfing…And there’s a lot of websites that make me cut into the profit margin a bit…
I can see that happening.
I think that was Jack Nicholson’s “Joker” from the first Keaton Batman movie.
Red Skelton is quite a bit before that Batman movie…Indeed, even a bit before Adam West’s Batman in the 60’s. Red Skelton is one of those few entertainers who were able to successfully make the transition from vaudeville stage, to radio, to TV…Among such others as George Burns, Lucille Ball & Soupy Sales.
No, I’m not THAT old, but I’m not far off from there…
;)
I used to love watching all of those you mentioned. Why can’t we get good TV like that again?
Because…censorship.
Because people who refuse to recognize that cartoons they grew up watching were NOT responsible for the violence of today.
Because “holier than thou” buttheads who can’t stop sticking their own noses into other peoples’ lives are nothing more than control freaks who have either forgotten how to have fun or never knew how in the first place & can’t stand it when somebody else hasn’t forgotten.
Because some of those aforementioned few will either wind up working in the FCC or lobbying the FCC.
Because some people really NEED to loosen up & get hit with a cream pie in the face…without getting mad about it.
You are probably right on all counts there. Too bad really.
When Cookie Monster started teaching kids that cookies are a ‘sometimes food’ I lost hope on humanity. :p
That goes against the entire point of Cookie Monster though.
Exactly. That’s why I lost all hope in humanity. ;p
Another thing that’s entirely against the point is whenever Oscar pops his head out of his trash can…why isn’t *everyone* holding their noses when he does that? When I was still young & watched the show, sometimes that would happen, but they’d be showing their disgust more often according to what he said or did, specific to that scene. Very infrequent reactions to just the trash smell alone.
Perhaps they gained a tolerance for grouches in trash? :/ Trashcan tango probably wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. I think. >>;
Red Skelton…..I remember watching him. GREAT man.
He walked away from TV. The producers told him that they were putting a laugh track in. He warned them that if they did, he would walk out.
They didn’t believe him. He walked away and never came back.
Yep, he & others like him came from origins with stage shows. They thrive on the audience feedback & can tell what makes an audience laugh. Using soundtracks denies the artist of his audience & stifles creativity (improvisation). I don’t feel sorry for people like Soupy…I feel sorry for the audiences that where denied the choice to attend his shows.
HappyThanksgiving!
I wonder if V has forgotten that he is brawling with a known killer…..and is removing any alternatives.
His long term thinking is non-existent. The next time they have to fight him, they will use enough force at the beginning to end the fight. Period. Win…Lose…..unless he dies in this fight….they will end up fighting him again.
He’s shown enough intelligence and planning here I don’t see him willingly stepping out in front of their combined attacks until powered up again. But long term thinking in this case may just be a gamble that he ends them as a team right here.
If Maxi ends up killing him, then he wins: he has shown to the world what sort of person Maxi is (remember, the public aren’t going to care that Fedorka ‘didn’t give her a choice’, they will just see that she is a killer, a killer that no-one can stop)
Yeah I suppose they will gloss over her suggestion that she was fought to a stand still by one of her own team. (Sydney will probably eventually level up enough both orb and strategy wise to take her down eventually as well) Course that doesn’t really help if they are scared of the whole team.
But sooner or later, if there is any reality to this writing at all, if they keep fighting people going all out with super powers killing someone is a high likely hood no matter what Maxima’s “sort of person” is. I’m assuming you are talking entirely about the public’s take and not Maxima’s actual nature since killing him right now is the right thing to do and she was trained to do that by “the good guys”.
The ironic part of this harming Maxima and her team because of public backlash affecting their future policies, management or even funding is that Maxima, with her statement to the press, totally wanted this impression to be made this way. Jail, hospital or morgue I believe were the choices.
V is not here to discredit the team, at least that’s not his stated intent. Far as we can tell his primary goals where: Get a big fricking power-up out of the megabrawl he set up, …, Profit!. We havent actually seen what the … step will be yet, short of him beating the team further for more violence noms.
We have no actual idea about how fast or even if he loses energy at a non-trivial rate. At this point the guy could probably wreck things by hand strong enough to extend the charge if necessary… Go punch a runaway train, dig his way to china, etc. For all we know his new size might be Permanent even if his energy charge is not. Or he might be planning to spend nearly all of that energy in securing his future elsewhere which can include other dimensions/worlds since he apparently has the magic training and so on.
Heck, lets face it, even if the team does beat him, he has already proven himself a powerful enough super to go toe to toe with the entire Archon battle-team. That is Not a player that is going to get benched for long no matter what. If the US government does not offer him a cushy contract, we’ve seen many villainous faces, some of whom undoubtedly will.
Being dead with a symbolic victory is no victory.
Making yourself too powerful for non lethal means to stop…..is dumb. He’s fighting a MILITARY force, not law enforcement.
There is a reason that “nuke it from orbit, its the only way to be sure.” is both funny AND yet…still an option.
Sydney: {If most of his body parts have gotten significantly larger it should be easier to get the molestorb in THERE. How strong and tight are magic pants? How long is his intestinal tract. What is the max length of the Light Hook anyway? Should I send a Harem to get some Vaseline?? Will ARC cough up the dough for another meal cause mine got destroyed? I’m so hungry… } Hmm…
So he LOOKS like he is casting magic which apparently only becomes possible for him when he gathers tons of power to overcome his magical baseline natural talent? Two completely unrelated magic like effects. “Ka-Pants”. Symbols appearing on the ground that match his own symbols when he “casts” which reminds us of the symbols that appear in the air when other mages in this world have cast so far. The only reason I have doubt is because he seems to need no verbal or somatic components (no one seems to require material components so far?) and just casts about as quick as he can think it. Its like he is an archmage or some damn thing which would suggest he can use his lesser levels of power for practice as well but so far he has indicated he can only do “magic” or whatever this extra crap is when he is uber powered up. Seriously even if he suddenly had God like amounts of powers he still has a mortal mind. I would expect some flapping of the wings, finally a successful glide or hop to a branch and maybe a crash before he soars like this. Theoretical study alone shouldn’t have him suddenly, without years of practice, be a genie from Disney’s Aladdin. So I’m hoping we get a lot more on his background eventually that makes this stop hurting my head.
Him being possessed by a demon (or being symbiotic with it or something *shrugs*) would go a long way to stopping the mental wrestling as well. I would expect an ages old demon to be able to master his craft enough that with a sudden infusion of power he could pull off “god-like” quasi-phenomenal, semi-cosmic powers (or whatever the genie said :-P )
Remember back at the press conference where Dabbler had that flashback to a previous enemy she faced saying a great burning will hearald his return (or something to that effect)? Wonder if V is a puppet to that demon? That might explain the experience V shows despite him never having grown before.
Dabbs may get a bit of a talking to when she finally coughs up the fact that she has a declared eternal enemy with a VERY similar power set to V. If that was Daddy Long Legs kind of demon. (Malumi?)
Thing is, the demon was shown in the Arianna’s aftermath page in a separate panel from V. I don’t think they’re related. Plus that demon didn’t seem to be violence-absorbing, just violent.
and how would we know that? that was the same demon that Dabbler defeated, and there were only two frames in her flashback, there was nothing in there about the battle itself, only his Genre-appropriate “I’ll Be Back!” rant as he was sucked into whatever thing he was sucked into at the end of the battle.
“Sydney: {If most of his body parts have gotten significantly larger it should be easier to get the molestorb in THERE. How strong and tight are magic pants? How long is his intestinal tract. What is the max length of the Light Hook anyway? Should I send a Harem to get some Vaseline?? Will ARC cough up the dough for another meal cause mine got destroyed? I’m so hungry… } Hmm… ”
Ewwwwww?
Considering her first few names for the “Light Hook” that she instantly came up with why not suppose these are the sorts of thoughts that might fly through her head before she gets serious? If she gets serious…
Also, she does that on national TV and she will NOT be the first person to be attacked in every fight there after! She may have to live with some unfortunate nicknames though (probably matching her first thoughts for the Light Hook’s name).
Dave put the idea in my head. I’m just waiting for him to make good. XP