one blueshirt down, one cassian in a weakened state, and one prince that has just found out that the piper will have his payment!
(I'm not a high enough level commenter to be allowed to cackle maniacally, so I will have to make due with an evil under the breath snicker)
heh heh heh heh...
Someone pass the Ibuprofen, Douchie gonna need it, that's gonna leave a bruise, actually sounds like a broken jaw and or teeth removal. Now lets hope that either Dolly gets a lucky shot, Acantha can stop Kali, ar the Cavalry arrives. Possibly TeeDee and Ada are right behind Douchie and can gun down Kali from behind. Better still our favorite Red Shirt is in hiding, still alive, armed and can get the winning shot in.
The prince made one huge error in pushing Kali aside. That is basically an unspoken order to "Get out of the way and let me though". Now with a broken jaw, he may have difficulty giving an order to kill, hurt, maim or capture the three girls. So unless saving his royal ass is hard wired in as a standing order, she basically has been ordered to Stand aside.
It might only be direct threats, and in an intelligent way (she was present when Kyle confronted Dec), so maybe if Dolly managed to knock him unconscious with that pistol whip to the jaw, and then managed to kill the other praetorian...
Acantha: Kali, stand down! That's an order! Is he...?
Dolly: He's unconscious but otherwise unhurt.
Acantha: We should get him to a medical centre as quickly as possible. For a proper checkup. And general anaesthetic for the pain of his injury. Lots of it.
Kali: I concur. I shall lead the way. Please try not to shoot me in the back.
And so...
Dolly: There - sleeping like a baby.
Acantha: The walls of this facility are heavily reinforced. We should probably be safe here. Although, if power passes to me due to Deck's incapacity, I should probably be trying to put a stop to the fighting...
Kali: *fiddles with comms console* Already working on it. And... I never thought I would say this, but I... could do with a hug.
Acantha: *!* (mouths, indicating Dolly) She's the most expendable.
Dolly: (mouths to Acantha) She can't harm you - and I'm busy! *starts obsessively monitoring Decimus's vital signs*
Eh, Kali needs a smurf to kill as well.
Prince : "Why did you kill our praetorian."
Kali : "He almost shot you in the back, by accident, sure, but still - Can't let that happen!"
Prince : "Oh ... well, good work then, carry on."
As they're standing currently, the other Praetorian has the choice of either shooting the door, the prince, Kali or (maybe) Acantha. That might change within a second, but Dolly took out the one actually having an unobstructed line of fire to her and maybe Lynn at the moment.
"Annnd, it's a sharp left hook to the chops of the Douche Marauder, fight fans."
"Ooooh, that sounded like something broke there, Frank."
"Right you are, Bob. Dolly Damage got a good one in, there."
"What do you think his next move will be, Frank?"
"I'd guess if he can tag out to Killer Kali, he might have a chance to rest his face."
"Killer looks wobbly, there, Frank. Think she can do it?"
"Whup,there's the bell, we'll be right back after these words from our sponsor."
Cause for war, that would have been when Douchimus kidnapped Lynn. CentComm was trying to NOT go there, trying to preserve (what's left of) humanity by not unleashing her weapons.
As crazy as Douchimus is, ANY kidnapping of a leader (or their offspring) should be treated as a declaration of war. Shoot first, save more lives than letting them get a hold of more power and trying to threaten MORE people. :-7
So, what's going on upstairs is just a "police action"?
The ancient Greeks believed that kidnapping was a pretty good reason for going to war, if you believe their mythology. Wait... I mean, if their Trojan War mythology is any indication.
er.. Do we have it confirmed that they go off when he's dethroned but otherwise not seriously harmed?
I mean he certainly could get them to go off right there and then. But he'd probably not take the easiest way to do it. And if they keep him off any comlines, that would give them the time until he had to check the code next. Probably enough for Aeneas to be fixed and act.
Am back .....after killing everything I owned that Rose sent after me I caught an infection and spent til today in hospital *104* fever flu and what is my welcome home?
Ceci getting his ass kicked by dolly...........best get well gift EVER!!!!!!!!
Really want to see the next comic now. It's going to feel like an eternity waiting for the next comic, and knowing Centcom and Rose,.....They'll switch back to Rose..
This inspired a completely unrelated (but I hope amusing) thought ...
Do storytellers ever just decide to spin the "Wheel of Cliches" and let fate determine where the story will go? If they did, how would we react if we could see it?
Sam: "Are they doing it?"
Joan: "It's spinning now."
Sam: "I'm hoping we get 'Hijinks ensue'."
Joan: "Still spinning."
Sam: "Or maybe 'Minor character levels up'."
Creepy Anonymous Internet-guy: "I'm hoping for 'Everyone gets naked'!"
Sam (ignoring CAIG): "It sounds like it stopped! What's it on? I can't see!"
Joan: "'Rocks fall, everybody dies'."
<silly> I'm going to go out on a limb here and tentatively suggest that our creatrixes may have left it a tad bit late to reveal Prince Decimus as the noble figure of tragic pathos that his cruel birth circumstances and ill-fated stars have forced upon him. Please recall, from no less prestigious an in-story figure than the Imperator of Nova Roma, himself: It isn't his fault that other people react badly to his particular brand of statecraft and leadership. Truly, the barbarians are at the gates and the last bastions of civilization and moral rule are under siege! </silly>
Dolly has newer technology, six decades of experience and a clear goal, Mark. I would put my money on Dolly! (What do mean I might be I might be predisposed to support Dolly because of my avatar? :-D)
Remember Calli had to put reminders to let Dolly know if she was exceeding "Normal" limits.
With Kali's capacitors being discharged, she is probably close to what a normal human strength would be, maybe a little more.
Dolly however, has different power cells fueled by regular food. When they fed Kyle, Dolly probably got some "Fuel" for herself as well, so her systems have probably topped off her power cells.
Now Dolly might not have super duper strength like she may have had before, but it is still probably significantly more than a normal human being of her size.
Plus we have TeeDee and Ada bringing up the rear, so I wouldn't be surprised if Ada comes along and stuns Kali from behind.
Hello ladies. Like the new page eagerly awaiting the newer one to come. Just a heads up there may be something wrong with the reply feature. I'm using Microsoft edge and can't reply to anyone's post. Unless that's a feature and not a bug thought you might want to know.
I have Microsoft edge on my tablet and have no issues .. So it might be your end. Or it could be a glitch with the guest thing.. Try making a FREE Comic fury account and subscribing ! :D It only takes a few moments! ( and shows support! )
I've got the biggest smug grin on my face right now. The last panel was so worth the wait. Everyone's commenting on the broken jaw. Dolly also broke his wrist. Douchimus is currently in a world of hurt previously unknown.
Beg to differ there is a stones breaking KRUNCH with Red Background and with red fault lines running through each letter super imposed on WHACK!!!, Also on second view Dolly's elbow caught Douchie's wrist so he may have a broken wrist also. Couldn't happen to a nicer candidate for a Brooklyn 80%.
True Sheela. See who comes out of the fight, if any of them. I'm still expecting a Reservoir Dogs out of the EVIL duo... :-p
Dolly is good, but she is outnumbered 3 to 1 (though the Blueboy might only count as a HALF). For all his faults (which are LEGEND) Douchimus did get UP after Maximus smashed him into a wall. He is tougher than most give him credit for. And he is a PURE killer, if he in fact gunned down his Father as has been speculated.
So this could go VERY badly for our heroes. I really wish CeCi was still with them... even the odds more (who am I kidding, TIP them totally in the good guys favor). :-D
As xpacetrue noted there is one Blue-shirt behind Dec. Since they basically have the marksmanship of a stormtrooper (sorry for the crossover) it could go something like...
Blue-shirt shoots wildly and blows Dec's head off.
Alarm start sounding and blue-shirt wets his pants and start running.
Kali shoots him in the back for taking away the possibility of her being the one that gets to blast Dec into oblivion.
Next several weeks(of comics) are spent trying to save humanities collective butt.
If Kali's been shoving blast doors open -- she may not be ABLE to do a hell of a lot requring much strength at this point. No matter how good your electronics are, the amount of power in a full charge is a hard limit.
With staged power, she could have some compact longer-term energy storage like fuel (isomer cell? Something else?) that she's converting into a usable form like capacitor charge now, but that wouldn't be an instant process, and she just shoved open a multi-ton door.
It may very well be that Dolly &co are entering the fray at the exact moment that Kali is at the nadir of her ability.
You have to remember that new improved Dolly can move faster and hit harder than any human. That being said our Hostess said many pages back that there was no way Dolly could stand up to Kali in a one on one brawl. So we need hope :
A. Acantha can stop Kali.
B. Dolly shoots and disables Kali before she can graple with her. (Highly unlikely)
C. Ada and TeeDee or someone is behind Douchie and Company and can take Kali out before she can move.
Get a few gutters together in a wasteland bar, and within a few minutes, you'd have a complete tally, of Dolly the Taylor Guardian, that took out an entire raid of gutters, with nothing but a spork!
For those gleefully and unabashedly rejoicing in the visiting of pain, degradation, and humiliation on Prince Decimus, as well as enthusiastically reveling in the immediate prospect of more of the same, I have only the following opinion to share with you (for whatever good it may do):
The only time the creatrixes give the audience what they want in such a rapid and facile manner is when they immediately follow it with the explanation for why you are going to regret that your desires were granted. ^_^ You have been warned.
We're not going to regret him getting smashed in the face. Maybe some ill will come from them meeting each other, but the face smashing is going to be pure glee, forever.
Should panel 2, or panel 4, be mirror-image from what it is?
On second look, I'm noticing a continuity thing; Decimus was punching with his right in panel 2 with his left arm reversed for balance, but his extended arm in panel 4 (the one Dolly's immobilizing or breaking) is his left, and he's got his right reversed for balance.
I think it's a perspective thing. The way I see it is that in panel 2 the 'camera' is behind him and his right arm is cocked back ready to punch. We don't see his left arm there, but it makes sense that it would be extended for balance. Dolly got to him in panel 4 before he ever had the chance to let loose, and the 'camera' angle changed so that we could see the whole satisfying event.
I agree with @Wolfsbane ... I believe that, in panel 2, Decimus is reaching with his left hand to grab Lynn's shoulder (to prevent her from evading or rolling with his upcoming blow), while his right fist is cocking to deliver the blow. In panel 4, we see Dolly intercepting the left hand with her left elbow (possibly capturing it by pinning it against her torso) before it reaches Lynn while using her weanpon to deliver the blow to Decimus face. Decimus' right hand remains in the cocked position, since the left has not yet landed.
I think a little confusion might stem (and this is just my hypothesis) from the choice to try to show the dynamics of the blow by the fact that , in panel 4, Decimus' right hand is shown open, as it might be _after_, from the effects of the blow, rather than still in a fist, as it probably would have actually been at the actual moment of the gun impacting his mouth.
Also I think I'd have gone with a "Splutch" sound effect in panel 3 rather than an "Aiiiee" - the latter sounds like it would take too much time for the situation. But that's just a stylistic thing.
Look where Dolly shot him, Morituri! RIGHT in his tiny family jewels... Might not be INSTANTLY lethal, but he is not likely to fight any more. Unattended, that wound would almost assuredly kill him.
(I'm not a high enough level commenter to be allowed to cackle maniacally, so I will have to make due with an evil under the breath snicker)
heh heh heh heh...
I may need a little time alone...
Thay finally, FINALLY, get to tell the high points of this story arch.
Acantha: Kali, stand down! That's an order! Is he...?
Dolly: He's unconscious but otherwise unhurt.
Acantha: We should get him to a medical centre as quickly as possible. For a proper checkup. And general anaesthetic for the pain of his injury. Lots of it.
Kali: I concur. I shall lead the way. Please try not to shoot me in the back.
And so...
Dolly: There - sleeping like a baby.
Acantha: The walls of this facility are heavily reinforced. We should probably be safe here. Although, if power passes to me due to Deck's incapacity, I should probably be trying to put a stop to the fighting...
Kali: *fiddles with comms console* Already working on it. And... I never thought I would say this, but I... could do with a hug.
Acantha: *!* (mouths, indicating Dolly) She's the most expendable.
Dolly: (mouths to Acantha) She can't harm you - and I'm busy! *starts obsessively monitoring Decimus's vital signs*
>:=)>
Though I don't think Kali is the type who would ask for hugs.
Also, let's not forget that while one blue-shirt is down, there's another one still standing behind Dec...
Prince : "Why did you kill our praetorian."
Kali : "He almost shot you in the back, by accident, sure, but still - Can't let that happen!"
Prince : "Oh ... well, good work then, carry on."
"Ooooh, that sounded like something broke there, Frank."
"Right you are, Bob. Dolly Damage got a good one in, there."
"What do you think his next move will be, Frank?"
"I'd guess if he can tag out to Killer Kali, he might have a chance to rest his face."
"Killer looks wobbly, there, Frank. Think she can do it?"
"Whup,there's the bell, we'll be right back after these words from our sponsor."
The ancient Greeks believed that kidnapping was a pretty good reason for going to war, if you believe their mythology. Wait... I mean, if their Trojan War mythology is any indication.
Like Bang Bang ?
Does that mean that these girls are Dolly's cheerleaders ?
They seem very .. enthusiastic about this whole ordeal. :)
Made me happy to see his face bashed.
...and yeah, I hope that hit rendered him unable to speak - and Acantha can order Kali to stand down...
...or Kali receives a burst that the senate dethroned douchie and elected Acantha as Empress...
I mean he certainly could get them to go off right there and then. But he'd probably not take the easiest way to do it. And if they keep him off any comlines, that would give them the time until he had to check the code next. Probably enough for Aeneas to be fixed and act.
...but they had nothing to do with him being the emperor...
For Decimus, being the imperator, is everything.
Ceci getting his ass kicked by dolly...........best get well gift EVER!!!!!!!!
Do storytellers ever just decide to spin the "Wheel of Cliches" and let fate determine where the story will go? If they did, how would we react if we could see it?
Sam: "Are they doing it?"
Joan: "It's spinning now."
Sam: "I'm hoping we get 'Hijinks ensue'."
Joan: "Still spinning."
Sam: "Or maybe 'Minor character levels up'."
Creepy Anonymous Internet-guy: "I'm hoping for 'Everyone gets naked'!"
Sam (ignoring CAIG): "It sounds like it stopped! What's it on? I can't see!"
Joan: "'Rocks fall, everybody dies'."
Another one would be "Wakes up, it was just a bad dream."
I really want to see Douchie get his posterior handed to him by Dolly.
Douchimus SO deserves that (and more)!
(I remembered the tag, this time. ^_^)
Betcha I could have made it a lot more dubious who would be in the right, and who would be in thr wrong, even with a mad imperator in the lead.
It won't hurt that Kali is low on power and not genuinely interested in protected Decimus.
I suspect it's rather good at doing Guardian work, even if it's highly organic.
But then, being fuly organic never slowed Maxus down, and he went up against two combat androids.
With Kali's capacitors being discharged, she is probably close to what a normal human strength would be, maybe a little more.
Dolly however, has different power cells fueled by regular food. When they fed Kyle, Dolly probably got some "Fuel" for herself as well, so her systems have probably topped off her power cells.
Now Dolly might not have super duper strength like she may have had before, but it is still probably significantly more than a normal human being of her size.
Plus we have TeeDee and Ada bringing up the rear, so I wouldn't be surprised if Ada comes along and stuns Kali from behind.
Then TeeDee can have her new shoe(s) of Douchie!!
I HOPE it's blood and she didn't just destroy her weapon smashing Douchie's jaw.
Happy to hear the gun is allright. :D
Dolly is good, but she is outnumbered 3 to 1 (though the Blueboy might only count as a HALF). For all his faults (which are LEGEND) Douchimus did get UP after Maximus smashed him into a wall. He is tougher than most give him credit for. And he is a PURE killer, if he in fact gunned down his Father as has been speculated.
So this could go VERY badly for our heroes. I really wish CeCi was still with them... even the odds more (who am I kidding, TIP them totally in the good guys favor). :-D
Blue-shirt shoots wildly and blows Dec's head off.
Alarm start sounding and blue-shirt wets his pants and start running.
Kali shoots him in the back for taking away the possibility of her being the one that gets to blast Dec into oblivion.
Next several weeks(of comics) are spent trying to save humanities collective butt.
I almost peed myself in glee.
Well, good thing. I have only been slapped on the face by a woman once in my life, and believe me, to this day I know I deserved it.
/
I am, however, a huge fan of The Princess Bride.
You know what that means?!
With staged power, she could have some compact longer-term energy storage like fuel (isomer cell? Something else?) that she's converting into a usable form like capacitor charge now, but that wouldn't be an instant process, and she just shoved open a multi-ton door.
It may very well be that Dolly &co are entering the fray at the exact moment that Kali is at the nadir of her ability.
A. Acantha can stop Kali.
B. Dolly shoots and disables Kali before she can graple with her. (Highly unlikely)
C. Ada and TeeDee or someone is behind Douchie and Company and can take Kali out before she can move.
The only time the creatrixes give the audience what they want in such a rapid and facile manner is when they immediately follow it with the explanation for why you are going to regret that your desires were granted. ^_^ You have been warned.
I really wish we had a .gif of that.
On second look, I'm noticing a continuity thing; Decimus was punching with his right in panel 2 with his left arm reversed for balance, but his extended arm in panel 4 (the one Dolly's immobilizing or breaking) is his left, and he's got his right reversed for balance.
or I could be full of it, too.
I think a little confusion might stem (and this is just my hypothesis) from the choice to try to show the dynamics of the blow by the fact that , in panel 4, Decimus' right hand is shown open, as it might be _after_, from the effects of the blow, rather than still in a fist, as it probably would have actually been at the actual moment of the gun impacting his mouth.
AMC needs to option DataChasers so I can see this recreated with live actors, Walking Dead-style.