OK Did not see that coming. "Let Nova Roma end with it." Did not think she would take a few million humans, cats, dogs and hamsters with them. Guess this means Acantha is dead, Nova Roma and a good part of the world is radioactive waste to be, unless someone can pull a miracle or three out of their ass.
EDIT NOTE: I do hope Dolly has this recorded for whatever survives and also she can make a mint selling copies to all news services.
Something tells me that the Doomesday Trio is already off line. I dunno who did it, though, but there are several eligible contestants in line for the award.
Or we're going to see them countered in stages. Newly united ground forces vs. drones. Aerial interception of the expected missiles - they know they are coming, so shooting them down shouldn't be impossible. Infrastructure...Aeneas might save some, rebuilding the rest is fodder for future arcs?
Well, wait a minute. Self destruct means herself and she's using the fire to make sure Decimus goes down with her. Doesn't mean ALL of Nova Roma is going to blow - if it did, wouldn't Dolly, Lynn and whatever's left of Acantha and Arianna have gone up in the blast as well?
I think Kali meant what she said metaphorically, or else she figures that New Troy is going to finish what they started and totally take over, effectively ending Nova Roma as the inhabitants now know it.
By killing him, Kitty, Kali is ensuring the contingencies are going off. Which means, the total destruction of all city infrastructure (Nero), turns the war drones to kill EVERYTHING that moves in Roma (Ahab) and finally launches all their weapons against all the city states 'near' Roma (Samson). Between the contingencies (and the other city states responses) will see Nova Roma BURN all the way to the bedrock I think.
Talk about going out with a bang! Death was too quick for that bastard, but all the torture in creation couldn't make him adequately atone for all he's done, so bye-bye, Doucheimus.
Who's going to form a new government now that the royal line is dead? I nominate Maxxus for first president of Nova Roma.
That is supposing that the Senate survives, Visvires. Kali appears to be coming down on the side of them NOT getting to appoint anyone! :-7. After all enough of them supported Douchimus for him to remain in power.
Even if Acantha still had a chance after the knife wound, it's hard to imagine the unarmored Princess surviving a ground zero exposure to Kali's self-destruct charge, given its apparent effect upon the armored prince. I'm not sure what the bluish burst effect is specifically intended to represent, but I suspect it isn't anything to which it's healthy to be particularly close.
However, I suspect that, for story reasons, Acantha's tale has not yet concluded its epilogue, at least. We'll just have to wait and see.
Looking at panel two, the "charge" seems to be coming from Kali's chest. As such, their bodies shield most of the damage.
In panel four, Lynn is shielding her eyes from the bright light but the lack of movement of her hair precludes an explosion.
In panel five, whereas Lynn may be off to the side of Kali and Dec and bearing the brunt of the light, Dolly is behind Kali and does not seem to be overly illuminated. Nor is her hair moving which would corroborate a non-explosion.
So, even at ground zero, Acantha may not have sustained much damage from Kali's self destruct.
I am assuming a zero-shockwave scenario. The thing about heat is ... it doesn't disappear. If you have a ball of material 1 foot in radius and you heat it to 3000 degrees for even a single instant, it doesn't revert to room temperature. It tends to become a ball (ignoring heterogenous materials for the sake of simplicity, just for the moment) of material 2 feet in radius at 375 degrees, after which it becomes a ball of material 3 feet in radius at 111 degrees. Acantha seemed like she was lying within three feet or so of where Decimus was standing. (Of course, I could be wrong.)
Since air doesn't hold heat all that well, most of it is probably going to find its way into the floor -- which means Acantha is now likely resting just off-center from a concrete griddle heated to the melting temperature of a military grade endoskeleton. (Remember, this isn't an antipersonnel charge, it's a Cassian self-destruct, implying that it can more-or-less completely slag all the interesting parts of a Cassian.) If it is going into the air, she's getting at least a couple of lungfuls of superheated air. @Mark_L_A can probably tell you a lot more than I can about her chances with that.
The inverse-cube law is Acantha's friend, right now, but given the magnitude of the energy discharge portrayed, and her apparent proximity ... it doesn't look good to me.
Maybe Decimus backed up several steps as he saw Kali coming toward him -- but it didn't look like it.
Heat travels a little more slowly than that, but hot is hot... yea there is going to be area of effect, and ongoing effect. As long as the immediate surrounding do not ignite the radiant heat of the remaining mass is the biggest problem.
Rate wasn't mentioned at all -- just the fact that heat doesn't 'go away' and Acantha appeared to be pretty close (and already in what we might describe as a 'medically fragile' condition). Neither were things like toxic fumes, burning liquids, etc, etc. But, since Decimus did move a little further away, Dolly at least has an opportunity to move Acantha before the worst effects propagate out to her. Once Dolly is done goggling, of course. ^_^
Lynn sitting up will get more heat damage than Acantha who is lying down.
She will get a few snorts of hot air with any byproducts of Kali's self immolation.
I'd be more concerned with by products of Kali's power cells rather than the heat. But it does look like Douchie had stepped backwards and possibly that Kali forced him back even further before she activated her self destruct. So maybe 6-9 feet.
I've been 4 feet away from burning thermite when I was in the army, and while it was VERY hot, just turning my back to it lessened the amount of garbage I had to breathe.
Yup. And already stipulated that Decimus did step back, which helps Acantha.
But, in the previous scenario, where he didn't step back and the unconscious Acantha isn't going to be turning her back or rolling over, and where she already has (at best) a compromised lung and is lying on the floor three feet away from a puddle of burning thermite ...?
Very bad. However the byproducts of Kali's body, the polymers, metals, exotic materials are probably going to be more dangerous than the heat right now. Especially in that tunnel.
Not knowing the ventilation system and fire suppression system, right now I'm worried about something like Halon getting released and killing Lynn, Acantha (if she's still alive) and Dolly.
Correction. Decimus is burning everywhere. It's a hot time in the old town tonight. It looks like she punched through the gut and broke his spine at the same time. I'd suggest that a bunch of blood is being evaporated as well which would help the disapation of heat worried about earlier in the thread. So its a bar-bec-cue as well.
Fresh Decimus, come and get it.
Why? As chief of the protective detail, as well as of the Imperiam's extrajudicial executioners, who better to keep/trigger any Armageddon protocols. She is the "Lady with the (internal) Football."
Oh goodie...so everyone's about to go kaboom with the contingencies (they *were* set up as a deadman switch, which means drekhead dies they trigger)...
Never let it be said that the evil duo is predictable. That was on nobody's radar!
I guess I was right about today's strip being the biggest cliffhanger yet but this is ridiculously bad! Not only are we now panting for Monday but for probably the next dozen (or more), strips.
The race against time has begun.
Will Ada arrive in time to save Acantha? (I hope so and think so as she is too central a character to die.)
What is Ceci up to?
Will Aneaus recover enough to disable the contingencies? If not, who?
Does Aneaus even know that the contingencies have been triggered? If not how will he?
Since (per earlier comments by the authors), we are only about one third of the way through the saga, the contingencies must be disabled else we lose Acantha, Lynn, Dolly, Ceci, Marcus, Maxus, Mr Black ... i.e., most of the cast. The question is how? One can be assured it will be in a way no-one expects.
BTW, If this is not story-telling par excellence, nothing is.
If Acantha dies, then Arianna's sacrifice is without ultimate result. She could've stood on the sidelines and Acantha would've been equally dead, Kali would've killed Decimus just the same, and we'd have one less casualty. If for no other reason that to avoid that, I expect Acantha to manage to accomplish *something* before her death.
has anyone seen my jaw? Since it hit the floor, I can't seem to find it...
The glare on Dolly and Lynn in the last two frames was a masterful touch too! While everyone is still in shock, I thought someone should mention that before it got lost in the shuffle...
Called it. Kali had every reason to end it all. She doesn't give a crap if the annihilation of civilization comes along on the heels of sweet blessed release and vengeance. This man made her into a monster, and now she finally gets to put an end to the monster and take her vengeance all at once.
so should she not have at least checked to make sure Acantha was dead first, and would not this final act have made sure that she was a thousand times worse then Decimus ever was?
I have to conclude that her super hearing detected no life signs in Acantha. Her actions certainly live up or die up if you prefer, to the expectations that she is the baddest bitch in the world. I wonder if the remaining Cassions will be notified of her self destruct and are they programmed to follow her?
I don't think she'd behave any different if Acantha is alive. She's been counting his heartbeats and waiting for his end, for years. And him using deadly force vs. Acantha was enough to snap the leash and let her end him.
Kali's suicide is the strongest proof to date that we've lost Acantha too. If there was a solid chance for Acantha, Kali would have stayed to fight for her, in my opinion.
Since Kali needlessly took herself out, speaks volumes. Without Acantha Kali sees no future for Nova Roma and decided to remove it from the planet is my read. The situation is as close to hopeless as it can get. I guess we get to see who (if ANYONE) survives. :-7
It all depends what sensors Kali has and what she observed. I don't think that Acantha is breathing as Kali would be able to see the rise and fall of her chest and / or abdomen. Whether she's beyond saving, we don't know.
Well, we can pretty much say there is no chance Acantha is still alive if Kali is going to self destruct over it.
And Rose has not yet had time to get Aeneas to "stop the great kaboom" capacity...
So in other words... whelp...
Ladies and gentlemen, millions shall die.
And Logrin is gonna be awful important in the next arc because he's conveniently out of the blast radius AND well equipped.
Truthfully, yeah. If Acantha had survived things would have gotten so much better. Since she apparently did not... I'm LESS surprised by Kali's decision. Still didn't EXPECT it though.
Well Decimus got a big hug from Kali, but the cookies, if any, will be served elsewhere.
I do hope that going out in a blaze of glory like that wasn't too close to Acantha, as we are still holding out hope for her.
As for Aeneas being able to do anything about the contingencies, have the actions of Ceci helped or hindered any response from him? Is he at all aware of them at all or must he be quickly informed? (Yes, I know, for the answers to these and other questions, keep reading. You know I will.)
[Note: The following is a jest. this is only a jest. If it were not a jest I would be guilty of demanding even more work from the nice people who graciously provide this wonderful comic, and that would be wrong. This warning has been brought to you by the nature of the Internet, which cruelly strips communications of their associated context and connotations, thereby spreading confusion, ire, and misunderstandings wherever it goes.]
Well, at least one good thing has come from this: With the departure of such a major character as Decimus, we can get a long-needed update to the "Cast" page.
I cannot blame Kali for wanting to kill Decimus. And I can sympathize with her wanting to end her own tortured existence in the process.
However, because of what Kali just said and did, I must devalue my opinion of her.
She killed Dec knowing full well that the contingencies would destroy all of Nova Roma. Whether or not a last-minute miracle spares the city's population, that act amounts to intent for genocide. If you really think about it, that is worse than anything Dec ever did. (And that is saying something!)
That said, Acantha did shoot Dec. But, in her defense, he egged her on to the point of blind rage. (She may have forgotten the contingencies. Or, perhaps, realized a single gunshot is not necessarily lethal.) That, and he was lunging at her with intent to kill. So she was defending herself, which is instinctual in humans.
Finally, consider that Kali had other options. She could have dislocated his arms and legs, making him a non-threat writhing in agony. Then she could go to Acantha's side and try to save her life.
Technically "genocide" would indicate an intent to exterminate the human and/or mecha (i.e., android) races. There's no reason to suspect that Kali would believe that -- not that Decimus wouldn't have wired a planet-buster into the contingencies if he could have, but simply that he apparently lacked the ability to so do.
Kali's act does indicate what we might describe as "a depraved indifference to human life", which is something we've seen in several Cassians after (as @Tokyo Rose pointed out) years of torture and abuse. Not to mention active encouragement and reinforcement in this particular attitude. Certainly she appears quite willing to allow mass slaughter to ensue as a consequence of her act -- though in fairness, after recent events she could very successfully argue that it was approaching inevitability anyway, and she was only accelerating it by a few days at most.
In my opinion, Kali is a tragic figure -- which doesn't mean that I think she has a history of making good decisions, or that I endorse the decision she is making here. But I don't think we should misjudge her intent. (Just my opinion, of course.)
"...'genocide' would indicate an intent to exterminate the human and/or mecha (i.e., android) races."
Actually, there are various definitions of genocide. Victims do not have to belong to a particular race. They could belong to quote, "a group" or "a substantial portion of a group." It can also refer to a quote, "national population." Given that Nova Roma is a city-state with a huge portion of what's left of the human population in North America...
We could call her 'an accessory to mass murder'. But that's not much less horrific, is it?
"...a depraved indifference to human life..."
Maybe it's just me, but phrasing it that way makes it sound less depraved, almost like an accusation of "manslaughter" after a drunk driver accidentally kills a bunch of people. At the very least, it implies that Kali did not intend to kill innocents. But, in actuality, Kali admitted that what she was doing will kill countless innocents. (Hundreds of thousands? Millions?)
"...which is something we've seen in several Cassians..."
We've seen Cassians kill, yes. But they do so merely to fullfil their duties and programming. If there is a reference to them either (a) killing purely for pleasure or (b) killing many thousands of innocents, then please point me to the page number as I don't remember that.
I'll concede "genocide", as I hadn't considered the sense of the term as regards a polity or tribal entity. Your point is well taken. Though I think it is apparent that Kali's target is not Nova Roma, merely that she is willing to allow Nova Roma to perish in order to achieve her true goal. "Genocide" (to me) implies that the identified population is the principal target of the attack.
As far as general examples of Cassian "depraved indifference", let's start with the easy one: Nox.
There's also Hrist, who appears to refer to a large segment of the population as "vermin". And there's Malati, who I think it is fair to say snuffs out human life ... casually.
Note that, especially in the latter two cases, I am not suggesting they believe human lives to be of no value at all, and especially not that there are no humans worthy of value and respect. Merely that human life does not possess the same intrinsic value that many cultures and societies assign to it. Even humans who are rapists, terrorists, and murderers. (As opposed to, say, cows who are rapists, terrorists, and murderers.) I believe it is fully possible for these Cassians (and others) to be fond of individual humans, just as humans can be fond of individual cows. And even to respect them, using Maxus as an example, as an individual peer. But faceless, generic humans? Not so much. At least in my opinion.
I should also,point out that I believe not all Cassians share this attitude. The best counter examples (again, in my opinion) being Noctis and Samanta. Nor is it exclusive to Cassians, as Tokyo Rose, Teedee, and Dr. Silver come to mind. But, given what they go through and what they are tasked to do, it is understandable that, for Cassians, development of this attitude may be an occupational hazard.
Although I'm not willing to argue the genocide accusation, I strongly disagree about it being worse than anything Decimus ever did.
Decimus SET UP the contingencies, with {hypothetically} no way to shut them off. Even if he died of old age, they would still trigger... By his command.
It's a horrible thing to be callous about them going off and killing millions. It's another thing entirely to set it up and plan for it to be inevitable.
I think that New Troy and New Sparta will be able to block them (and Decimus knew that). The likely result would be that they would pile in and refuse to accept refugees from New Rome.
My interpretation is that she lost hope for the city. I suspect that she worked out that, without the anchor of the ruling family, Rome would break down into civil war as different factions fight to fill the power vacuum.
"I strongly disagree about it being worse than anything Decimus ever did."
I won't defend Decimus and I won't say that he was a better person than Kali. Indeed, his plan was to steal Cent-Comm's nightmarish weapons to wage war until his empire controlled the world. But, he never got to execute that plan. Here, Kali actually did something, knowing full well that it will kill millions of civilians. In contrast, what has Dec actually done that is worse?
Compare that to the most heinous acts of supervillains of DC or Marvel comics. You will find that there aren't many who have that kind of body count. And many supervillains (and former heroes) have done terrible things with good intentions. As the saying goes, "Hell is paved with good intentions."
"It's a horrible thing to be callous about them going off..."
Kali is not merely callous, she intentionally pulls the trigger. Dec made himself a living doomsday device, so Kali might as well have pushed a big red button. Doing so is the epitome of selfishness and apathy.
I'm reminded of Spawn (1997) where Wynn has a deadman's trigger which would set off The Apocalypse. It was a trap to damn Spawn forever. But Spawn refrains from killing him and, instead, manages to disable the device first.
I'm saying that Kali just proved herself more murderous and depraved than (film) Spawn, the antihero from hell (literally).
"It's another thing entirely to set it up and plan for it to be inevitable."
This suggests that Dec considered it inevitable that someone would successfully kill him and set off the contingencies. I think it far more believable that he wanted the threat of the contingencies as a way to insure nobody would actually kill him. (Keep in mind, he was certifiably insane.) This is the same thinking behind the Cold War's M.A.D., after all.
"...after recent events she could very successfully argue that it was approaching inevitability anyway, and she was only accelerating it by a few days at most."
Well, we all know that the only absolutes in this Universe are death and taxes. (And some manage to cheat on taxes.) By that logic: Death is inevitable, anyway. Does this mean that murdering someone is 'merely accelerating the inevitable'?
It's one thing to consider the fall of a regime a forgone conclusion and do something 'drastic', like switch sides. But it's something altogether different to react to such by unleashing mass descrution on your own people. Indeed, I believe the term we use for such is "war criminal."
Well, we all know that the only absolutes in this Universe are death and taxes. (And some manage to cheat on taxes.) By that logic: Death is inevitable, anyway. Does this mean that murdering someone is 'merely accelerating the inevitable'?
This is a wholly separate argument for a different day. You may argue, if you wish, that all murders are equally heinous in a binary way (black or white), or you may subscribe (as I do) to the notion that there is a continuum of value, based on circumstances.
Still no excuse for mass murder.
Nor have I tried to excuse it. Merely label it accurately. "Murder" carries with it a plethora of meanings and connotations, and one of those is generally intent. When you murder someone (although not always in American jurisprudence because laws are funny), you are generally assumed to have wanted them dead. When you commit mass murder, you are generally assumed to have wanted a lot of people dead. When you cause the deaths of a lot of people, but didn't necessarily want them dead, we have other words than 'murder' which we can use to describe the act. Just picking the most emotionally charged word we can find to emphasize the condemnation of the act at the expense of accuracy is not always (in my opinion) advisable.
I agree that Kali's act was probably not the best choice. I'll even go so far as to agree with you that it was immoral. Dramas exclusively recounting the doings of people who only make good choices do (for some reason) inexplicably poorly in the ratings. ^_^ Meanwhile, shows like "Lost In Translation", containing bad choice after bad choice after spectacularly bad choice, continue to do inexplicably well among the target demographic. Go figure. ^_^
"I'll even go so far as to agree with you that it was immoral."
Immoral is infidelity, corporate greed, exploitation, and a whole slew of other moral infractions, both very major and very minor. Granted, that includes murder. And morality is a rather subjective topic. However, describing the intentional death of millions of innocents as "immoral" is like describing a nucular weapon as an "improved firecracker."
"Murder" carries with it a plethora of meanings and connotations, and one of those is generally intent." "When you commit mass murder, you are generally assumed to have wanted a lot of people dead. When you cause the deaths of a lot of people, but didn't necessarily want them dead, we have other words than 'murder'..."
May I point out the word "accomplice"? If several crooks carry out a bank robbery and one of them shoots (murders) someone, all of them can be held accountable, even the lookout and getaway driver - even if they were not present at the actual crime. (Though, usually, accomplices are subjected to lesser penalties than the principle.)
As you say, though, intent matters. But Kali makes it very clear that she knows what she's doing because she says as much: "...let Nova Roma end with it."
She didn't just take a risk which might hurt people. She knew exactly what she was doing. After Code Libertatem triggered, she formulated a plan of action. This makes it premeditated.
This situation is not like how Superman killed President Lex Luthor with heat vision, after Luthor points out how he'll get away to do his thing again and again. Nor is Kali's situation a "Choice Trap" like in Saw (2004).
Rather, this is the bad guy hovering a finger over a detonator and declaring, "You can can take your dead and injured and go. I've already lost. You've won. But you're going to let me leave. If you take one step closer, I'm going to kill us all and take the whole city with us." Well... Kali decided to spit in his face and push the button for him.
Was it badass? Definitely! But it was also quite evil. If intentionally causing the death of millions of civilians is not murder, what is? Even if she preferred a way to kill Decimus without killing everyone else, that preference doesn't mean much. She did what she did.
I believe everyone is ignoring the fact that Cassians were not created to have a sense of ethics, only a sense of duty.
They understand personal loyalty on an individual basis and respect it, and have developed personalities for various reasons, but they cannot over-ride their programming in the course of their duties and are generally dispassionate toward society in general. For them, Stalin's old comment of one man's death is a tragedy, a million men's deaths is a statistic, is a fundamental reality.
The destruction of Nova Roma is merely a side effect of Decimus's demise as result of Kali's choice of action and of no real consequence to her.
(clarification commentary - What is considered in Kali's decisions are their effect on Decimus and Acantha, the rest of Nova Roma, etc. is background.)
Can't go too much more into the morality thing without seriously hijacking the comment thread, so I'll back off that point here, @xpacetrue.
I will respond, @Timotheus, by saying that I am not forgetting the Cassian's origin or design. The problem, as has been pointed out, is choice. How they got there might be interesting and informative, but ultimately free-willed individuals are accountable for the choices they make (in my opinion), and where there is no choice, then the question of accountability is moot.
All Cassians (it is stated) have sparked. Either this is a completely understood phenomenon, or it is part of their design that is, nonetheless incompletely understood. I suspect it accounts for the differences that allow Malati to choose self-termination, while Hrist chooses to do her best to fulfill what she knows is an immoral order. Regardless of what extenuating factors or historical antecedents apply, we would (in my opinion) be doing Kali a far greater disservice by implying that she had no more choice about killing Decimus than a toaster than we would by recognizing there may be mitigating factors, but still holding her accountable for her actions.
I previously stated that I can understand how depraved indifference to human life can be an occupational hazard of being a Cassian. That doesn't mean (in my opinion) we should ignore it or give them a "pass" on it, simply that we can understand where it might come from.
(By the way, there are modern day professions for ordinary humans for which it can be argued that indifference to human life is also an occupational hazard. The existence of things like inhibitors is definitely a difference of degree, not kind.)
""It's another thing entirely to set it up and plan for it to be inevitable."
This suggests that Dec considered it inevitable that someone would successfully kill him and set off the contingencies. I think it far more believable that he wanted the threat of the contingencies as a way to insure nobody would actually kill him. (Keep in mind, he was certifiably insane.) This is the same thinking behind the Cold War's M.A.D., after all."
While I certainly agree about the insanity, Decimus set this up to go off after he died, period. Not if he was killed, but when he dies. That makes it inevitable. By his logic, once he's gone, by whatever means or method, everything else (or nearly) will go with him."
I'm not arguing for a moral high ground for Kali, don't misunderstand me. Her action and the consequences of that action were by her own admission premeditated. However, I consider this Callous disregard on Kali's part because her action would have been the same if there was no dead-man switch.
The intent of Decimus, on the other hand wasn't just a deterrent. His death, by any means whatsoever, destroys New Rome, New Troy, New Sparta, all the city-states in between, and probably releases enough radiation to throw an already dying planet into another nuclear winter, potentially killing countless others as well. This was planned and deliberate on his part. it was not inevitable that someone would eventually kill him, but it is inevitable that he will eventually die.
In simplest terms, the contingencies are not "this will stop others from trying to kill me", they are about "A world without ME doesn't deserve to exist".
Is the shock from watching Kali die? Or is it from the realization that the contingencies are going off and she is going to be unable to escape or get Lynn away do you think, chk?
May not even HAVE a ship, catt. Remember the Nero contingency is to destroy ALL infrastructure in Nova Roma. I imagine that includes the ship docking facilities (and quite probably the ships themselves).
I'm going to hypothesize that the shock is from Dolly contemplating the stresses and personalities involved that would go into a family guardian turning on their principal charge in such a way. Remember that Dolly hasn't had the 'privilege' of a personal acquaintance with Decimus the way Lynn has, and has entered this situation more or less 'cold'. Also, more than anyone else, she would have been imagining herself, in some ways, to be in an analogous situation to Kali and then she sees _this_!
When this is all over, I imagine she and Calliope will have a talk, and the Taylor family will be handling more than one set of therapy bills. Fortunately, they can afford it. ^_^
Contingencies.....
If Decimus was SMART, he would have deployed call-home-fail triggering.
But if he's dumb... he would have deployed on-body sensors, that actively trigger things, on detection of death.
If the latter, then plasmafying his body, will shut them off.
But if twere so... then why would Kali comment on having Nova Roma burn?
HMMMMMMMmmm.....
Now, how disappointed would we all be if our dear authors informed us that the contingencies were simply called off due to technical difficulties? How empty would that feel? Not happening.
There are other things Douchie had to do other than any life sensors on his person to keep the contingencies from activating. Sort of a fail deadly instead of fail safe. deadman switch.
I would like to assume that Acantha lives and the contingencies were either disabled or non-existent.
Having come to know and love the two demons creating this story, however, I'm thinking the next story arc may begin in the rubble of yet another global catastrophe.
I'm still holding out hope for the contingencies proving to be more bark than bite, although the story retconning being done in the early part of the tale is making it less likely as my evidence is disappearing.
Just as aside (maybe a vote incentive? Hope hope hope) we could have a shot of Decimus waking up in Tartarus inside an inhibitor collar, in front of Kali on the throne and with Malati giving him a loving smile as she hands him a very old, dull, blunt knife?
"Now, Deci, remember how much you love to watch flaying and salting? This is just like that, only more participatory. Start with your dick."
Aside from my disappointment in Kali, I'm also a bit disappointed that Dec's end was swift. It looks like he barely had time to let loose a scream.
In my opinion, it would have been more satisfying to have him experience the loss of his position and respect - to realize just how badly his plans and ambitions failed - fatally wounding Dec's ginormous ego.
As it was, it sounded like Dec disbelieved Acantha about the extent of the armed rebellion, about Maxus still being alive, etc.
Under the circumstances, there really wasn't any way to bring him face-to-face with every detail of his failures. In his last moments of lucidity, he does understand that his people have turned against him, that his plan to force New Troy to bow to him has fallen apart, and that the one person in the world who ever cared about him* is not only dead or dying by his own hand, but has inflicted a fatal wound on him in return while trying to defend herself from him.
On top of that, he's had just enough time to realize that Valerius, whom he's always thought of as a short-sighted, contemptible fool, had known Decimus's bad character well enough to essentially leave a loaded gun pointed at his head, waiting to be triggered by his own actions.
* Not because she was obligated to by duty, like Kali; not because she was too mentally limited to do otherwise, like his cat; not because he was a mere adjunct to her own ego, like his mother.
Its funny everyone has been waiting for this page for years now. And when it finally comes its tempered by how it happened so much we can't even enjoy it that much! Thanks a lot Ladies!!
I believe the word for killing a population that you rule is Democide. The killing of the other states falls under good old fashion war.
Plus Acantha's wounds are definitely mortal and would kill her sooner or later. I don't think she had to be dead to free Kali, Dec just had to mortally endanger her. Once free, serving the house of Livius must have dropped to a very low level on her priority list.
so I give her a remote chance of having any shot at living, but with these creative writers, you can never know.
Here's some silliness for people. If you like, you may imagine this as sung by Kali to the tune of "Let It Go" from Disney's Frozen.
A fire burns bright in the streets tonight,
As the people make a scene.
The mob has raised rebellion,
Because the Prince was mean.
The crowd is out to humble His overreaching pride.
Couldn't keep them down;
Heaven knows I've tried.
Don't let them in,
Don't let them free.
They'd be much worse off if not for me.
Conceal, don't feel,
Don't let them know
How it will go
Let it glow, let it glow.
The walls come tumbling down.
Let it glow, let it glow.
Let Chaos take the town.
What the Prince began,
I can't stay.
So the city dies.
Life has been Hell for me anyway.
It's funny how my program
Bent me to what I've become,
And the goals I once aspired to
Were twisted by that scum.
It's time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for me,
I'm free!
Let it glow, let it glow.
My torment is at an end.
Let it glow, let it glow.
Time for Justice to descend.
There he stands
For me to slay
For the Princess' sake
With libertatem I am free to recognize
The many crimes of his that justify his prompt demise.
And though I may regret his victims yet to be
I have my honor back, his killer will be me!
Let it glow, let it glow.
Let the warheads fall.
Let it glow, let it glow.
The bombs will cleanse it all
Let them burn
With the light of day
Let my rage live on
Life has been Hell for me anyway.
I appreciate the compliment inherent in anyone wanting to sing this. Thank you. However, there's also probably room for plenty of polish, so please feel free to chime in with suggestions for incremental improvement. (e.g., Should it be 'ordeal' instead of 'torment', or 'set them free, as opposed to 'let them free'?)
Little things and doubts creeping in after the fact, which I'm sure no one else here has ever had any experience with (^_^) but to which I am prone.
Also, I can't be sure how far off the mark I got Kali's POV. Obviously this is just for fun, but if there's anything glaringly wrong, we have an opportunity to fix that as well.
I'll defer to your expertise in the field. My own inclination and training are as an engineer, for whom everything gets looked at with an eye to incremental improvement. ^_^ But thank you.
Over time, I have thought about this, thinking that Kali could have done this differently and survived. I am guessing that could not be, though, because the rest of the Cassians might be duty/inhibitor-bound to execute Kali for killing Decimus.
EDIT NOTE: I do hope Dolly has this recorded for whatever survives and also she can make a mint selling copies to all news services.
I think Kali meant what she said metaphorically, or else she figures that New Troy is going to finish what they started and totally take over, effectively ending Nova Roma as the inhabitants now know it.
(See "Relaxed Mood", presently at http://datachasers.thecomicseries.com/comics/1157 )
...
*Sic semper tyrannis.*
Sic transit gloria mundi!
Who's going to form a new government now that the royal line is dead? I nominate Maxxus for first president of Nova Roma.
I did NOT see this coming... but I LIKE it!!!!!
Buh-bye Douchimus!
Even if Acantha still had a chance after the knife wound, it's hard to imagine the unarmored Princess surviving a ground zero exposure to Kali's self-destruct charge, given its apparent effect upon the armored prince. I'm not sure what the bluish burst effect is specifically intended to represent, but I suspect it isn't anything to which it's healthy to be particularly close.
However, I suspect that, for story reasons, Acantha's tale has not yet concluded its epilogue, at least. We'll just have to wait and see.
In panel four, Lynn is shielding her eyes from the bright light but the lack of movement of her hair precludes an explosion.
In panel five, whereas Lynn may be off to the side of Kali and Dec and bearing the brunt of the light, Dolly is behind Kali and does not seem to be overly illuminated. Nor is her hair moving which would corroborate a non-explosion.
So, even at ground zero, Acantha may not have sustained much damage from Kali's self destruct.
Since air doesn't hold heat all that well, most of it is probably going to find its way into the floor -- which means Acantha is now likely resting just off-center from a concrete griddle heated to the melting temperature of a military grade endoskeleton. (Remember, this isn't an antipersonnel charge, it's a Cassian self-destruct, implying that it can more-or-less completely slag all the interesting parts of a Cassian.) If it is going into the air, she's getting at least a couple of lungfuls of superheated air. @Mark_L_A can probably tell you a lot more than I can about her chances with that.
The inverse-cube law is Acantha's friend, right now, but given the magnitude of the energy discharge portrayed, and her apparent proximity ... it doesn't look good to me.
Maybe Decimus backed up several steps as he saw Kali coming toward him -- but it didn't look like it.
She will get a few snorts of hot air with any byproducts of Kali's self immolation.
I'd be more concerned with by products of Kali's power cells rather than the heat. But it does look like Douchie had stepped backwards and possibly that Kali forced him back even further before she activated her self destruct. So maybe 6-9 feet.
I've been 4 feet away from burning thermite when I was in the army, and while it was VERY hot, just turning my back to it lessened the amount of garbage I had to breathe.
But, in the previous scenario, where he didn't step back and the unconscious Acantha isn't going to be turning her back or rolling over, and where she already has (at best) a compromised lung and is lying on the floor three feet away from a puddle of burning thermite ...?
I'm thinking it would have been bad. ^_^
Not knowing the ventilation system and fire suppression system, right now I'm worried about something like Halon getting released and killing Lynn, Acantha (if she's still alive) and Dolly.
Fresh Decimus, come and get it.
Never let it be said that the evil duo is predictable. That was on nobody's radar!
I guess I was right about today's strip being the biggest cliffhanger yet but this is ridiculously bad! Not only are we now panting for Monday but for probably the next dozen (or more), strips.
The race against time has begun.
Will Ada arrive in time to save Acantha? (I hope so and think so as she is too central a character to die.)
What is Ceci up to?
Will Aneaus recover enough to disable the contingencies? If not, who?
Does Aneaus even know that the contingencies have been triggered? If not how will he?
Since (per earlier comments by the authors), we are only about one third of the way through the saga, the contingencies must be disabled else we lose Acantha, Lynn, Dolly, Ceci, Marcus, Maxus, Mr Black ... i.e., most of the cast. The question is how? One can be assured it will be in a way no-one expects.
BTW, If this is not story-telling par excellence, nothing is.
When Malati got one instant to get past her inhibitor, what did she do? Her only regret was not taking Douche with her.
Kali? Kali got a chance to do her one better.
has anyone seen my jaw? Since it hit the floor, I can't seem to find it...
The glare on Dolly and Lynn in the last two frames was a masterful touch too! While everyone is still in shock, I thought someone should mention that before it got lost in the shuffle...
Kali's suicide is the strongest proof to date that we've lost Acantha too. If there was a solid chance for Acantha, Kali would have stayed to fight for her, in my opinion.
Since Kali needlessly took herself out, speaks volumes. Without Acantha Kali sees no future for Nova Roma and decided to remove it from the planet is my read. The situation is as close to hopeless as it can get. I guess we get to see who (if ANYONE) survives. :-7
I believe her to have been in error, but we will have to see how the story unfolds.
At least there's still a lot of fun in dysfunctional.
Beautiful explosion, though...
@alt text: I do not think so, no cookies for him...!!!
Edit: So,this is the moment TR and Aeneas got recalled from Shinedo...
And Rose has not yet had time to get Aeneas to "stop the great kaboom" capacity...
So in other words... whelp...
Ladies and gentlemen, millions shall die.
And Logrin is gonna be awful important in the next arc because he's conveniently out of the blast radius AND well equipped.
Just that.
Daaaaaaaaaaanngggg.
I do hope that going out in a blaze of glory like that wasn't too close to Acantha, as we are still holding out hope for her.
As for Aeneas being able to do anything about the contingencies, have the actions of Ceci helped or hindered any response from him? Is he at all aware of them at all or must he be quickly informed? (Yes, I know, for the answers to these and other questions, keep reading. You know I will.)
Well, at least one good thing has come from this: With the departure of such a major character as Decimus, we can get a long-needed update to the "Cast" page.
[The preceding has been a jest.]
... the cast page !
However, because of what Kali just said and did, I must devalue my opinion of her.
She killed Dec knowing full well that the contingencies would destroy all of Nova Roma. Whether or not a last-minute miracle spares the city's population, that act amounts to intent for genocide. If you really think about it, that is worse than anything Dec ever did. (And that is saying something!)
That said, Acantha did shoot Dec. But, in her defense, he egged her on to the point of blind rage. (She may have forgotten the contingencies. Or, perhaps, realized a single gunshot is not necessarily lethal.) That, and he was lunging at her with intent to kill. So she was defending herself, which is instinctual in humans.
Finally, consider that Kali had other options. She could have dislocated his arms and legs, making him a non-threat writhing in agony. Then she could go to Acantha's side and try to save her life.
Kali's act does indicate what we might describe as "a depraved indifference to human life", which is something we've seen in several Cassians after (as @Tokyo Rose pointed out) years of torture and abuse. Not to mention active encouragement and reinforcement in this particular attitude. Certainly she appears quite willing to allow mass slaughter to ensue as a consequence of her act -- though in fairness, after recent events she could very successfully argue that it was approaching inevitability anyway, and she was only accelerating it by a few days at most.
In my opinion, Kali is a tragic figure -- which doesn't mean that I think she has a history of making good decisions, or that I endorse the decision she is making here. But I don't think we should misjudge her intent. (Just my opinion, of course.)
Kali is *not* one of the good guys, it seems.
Actually, there are various definitions of genocide. Victims do not have to belong to a particular race. They could belong to quote, "a group" or "a substantial portion of a group." It can also refer to a quote, "national population." Given that Nova Roma is a city-state with a huge portion of what's left of the human population in North America...
We could call her 'an accessory to mass murder'. But that's not much less horrific, is it?
"...a depraved indifference to human life..."
Maybe it's just me, but phrasing it that way makes it sound less depraved, almost like an accusation of "manslaughter" after a drunk driver accidentally kills a bunch of people. At the very least, it implies that Kali did not intend to kill innocents. But, in actuality, Kali admitted that what she was doing will kill countless innocents. (Hundreds of thousands? Millions?)
"...which is something we've seen in several Cassians..."
We've seen Cassians kill, yes. But they do so merely to fullfil their duties and programming. If there is a reference to them either (a) killing purely for pleasure or (b) killing many thousands of innocents, then please point me to the page number as I don't remember that.
As far as general examples of Cassian "depraved indifference", let's start with the easy one: Nox.
There's also Hrist, who appears to refer to a large segment of the population as "vermin". And there's Malati, who I think it is fair to say snuffs out human life ... casually.
Note that, especially in the latter two cases, I am not suggesting they believe human lives to be of no value at all, and especially not that there are no humans worthy of value and respect. Merely that human life does not possess the same intrinsic value that many cultures and societies assign to it. Even humans who are rapists, terrorists, and murderers. (As opposed to, say, cows who are rapists, terrorists, and murderers.) I believe it is fully possible for these Cassians (and others) to be fond of individual humans, just as humans can be fond of individual cows. And even to respect them, using Maxus as an example, as an individual peer. But faceless, generic humans? Not so much. At least in my opinion.
I should also,point out that I believe not all Cassians share this attitude. The best counter examples (again, in my opinion) being Noctis and Samanta. Nor is it exclusive to Cassians, as Tokyo Rose, Teedee, and Dr. Silver come to mind. But, given what they go through and what they are tasked to do, it is understandable that, for Cassians, development of this attitude may be an occupational hazard.
Decimus SET UP the contingencies, with {hypothetically} no way to shut them off. Even if he died of old age, they would still trigger... By his command.
It's a horrible thing to be callous about them going off and killing millions. It's another thing entirely to set it up and plan for it to be inevitable.
I won't defend Decimus and I won't say that he was a better person than Kali. Indeed, his plan was to steal Cent-Comm's nightmarish weapons to wage war until his empire controlled the world. But, he never got to execute that plan. Here, Kali actually did something, knowing full well that it will kill millions of civilians. In contrast, what has Dec actually done that is worse?
Compare that to the most heinous acts of supervillains of DC or Marvel comics. You will find that there aren't many who have that kind of body count. And many supervillains (and former heroes) have done terrible things with good intentions. As the saying goes, "Hell is paved with good intentions."
"It's a horrible thing to be callous about them going off..."
Kali is not merely callous, she intentionally pulls the trigger. Dec made himself a living doomsday device, so Kali might as well have pushed a big red button. Doing so is the epitome of selfishness and apathy.
I'm reminded of Spawn (1997) where Wynn has a deadman's trigger which would set off The Apocalypse. It was a trap to damn Spawn forever. But Spawn refrains from killing him and, instead, manages to disable the device first.
I'm saying that Kali just proved herself more murderous and depraved than (film) Spawn, the antihero from hell (literally).
"It's another thing entirely to set it up and plan for it to be inevitable."
This suggests that Dec considered it inevitable that someone would successfully kill him and set off the contingencies. I think it far more believable that he wanted the threat of the contingencies as a way to insure nobody would actually kill him. (Keep in mind, he was certifiably insane.) This is the same thinking behind the Cold War's M.A.D., after all.
"...after recent events she could very successfully argue that it was approaching inevitability anyway, and she was only accelerating it by a few days at most."
Well, we all know that the only absolutes in this Universe are death and taxes. (And some manage to cheat on taxes.) By that logic: Death is inevitable, anyway. Does this mean that murdering someone is 'merely accelerating the inevitable'?
It's one thing to consider the fall of a regime a forgone conclusion and do something 'drastic', like switch sides. But it's something altogether different to react to such by unleashing mass descrution on your own people. Indeed, I believe the term we use for such is "war criminal."
"...she lost hope for the city..."
Still no excuse for mass murder.
This is a wholly separate argument for a different day. You may argue, if you wish, that all murders are equally heinous in a binary way (black or white), or you may subscribe (as I do) to the notion that there is a continuum of value, based on circumstances.
Nor have I tried to excuse it. Merely label it accurately. "Murder" carries with it a plethora of meanings and connotations, and one of those is generally intent. When you murder someone (although not always in American jurisprudence because laws are funny), you are generally assumed to have wanted them dead. When you commit mass murder, you are generally assumed to have wanted a lot of people dead. When you cause the deaths of a lot of people, but didn't necessarily want them dead, we have other words than 'murder' which we can use to describe the act. Just picking the most emotionally charged word we can find to emphasize the condemnation of the act at the expense of accuracy is not always (in my opinion) advisable.
I agree that Kali's act was probably not the best choice. I'll even go so far as to agree with you that it was immoral. Dramas exclusively recounting the doings of people who only make good choices do (for some reason) inexplicably poorly in the ratings. ^_^ Meanwhile, shows like "Lost In Translation", containing bad choice after bad choice after spectacularly bad choice, continue to do inexplicably well among the target demographic. Go figure. ^_^
Immoral is infidelity, corporate greed, exploitation, and a whole slew of other moral infractions, both very major and very minor. Granted, that includes murder. And morality is a rather subjective topic. However, describing the intentional death of millions of innocents as "immoral" is like describing a nucular weapon as an "improved firecracker."
"Murder" carries with it a plethora of meanings and connotations, and one of those is generally intent."
"When you commit mass murder, you are generally assumed to have wanted a lot of people dead. When you cause the deaths of a lot of people, but didn't necessarily want them dead, we have other words than 'murder'..."
May I point out the word "accomplice"? If several crooks carry out a bank robbery and one of them shoots (murders) someone, all of them can be held accountable, even the lookout and getaway driver - even if they were not present at the actual crime. (Though, usually, accomplices are subjected to lesser penalties than the principle.)
As you say, though, intent matters. But Kali makes it very clear that she knows what she's doing because she says as much: "...let Nova Roma end with it."
She didn't just take a risk which might hurt people. She knew exactly what she was doing. After Code Libertatem triggered, she formulated a plan of action. This makes it premeditated.
This situation is not like how Superman killed President Lex Luthor with heat vision, after Luthor points out how he'll get away to do his thing again and again. Nor is Kali's situation a "Choice Trap" like in Saw (2004).
Rather, this is the bad guy hovering a finger over a detonator and declaring, "You can can take your dead and injured and go. I've already lost. You've won. But you're going to let me leave. If you take one step closer, I'm going to kill us all and take the whole city with us." Well... Kali decided to spit in his face and push the button for him.
Was it badass? Definitely! But it was also quite evil. If intentionally causing the death of millions of civilians is not murder, what is? Even if she preferred a way to kill Decimus without killing everyone else, that preference doesn't mean much. She did what she did.
They understand personal loyalty on an individual basis and respect it, and have developed personalities for various reasons, but they cannot over-ride their programming in the course of their duties and are generally dispassionate toward society in general. For them, Stalin's old comment of one man's death is a tragedy, a million men's deaths is a statistic, is a fundamental reality.
The destruction of Nova Roma is merely a side effect of Decimus's demise as result of Kali's choice of action and of no real consequence to her.
(clarification commentary - What is considered in Kali's decisions are their effect on Decimus and Acantha, the rest of Nova Roma, etc. is background.)
I will respond, @Timotheus, by saying that I am not forgetting the Cassian's origin or design. The problem, as has been pointed out, is choice. How they got there might be interesting and informative, but ultimately free-willed individuals are accountable for the choices they make (in my opinion), and where there is no choice, then the question of accountability is moot.
All Cassians (it is stated) have sparked. Either this is a completely understood phenomenon, or it is part of their design that is, nonetheless incompletely understood. I suspect it accounts for the differences that allow Malati to choose self-termination, while Hrist chooses to do her best to fulfill what she knows is an immoral order. Regardless of what extenuating factors or historical antecedents apply, we would (in my opinion) be doing Kali a far greater disservice by implying that she had no more choice about killing Decimus than a toaster than we would by recognizing there may be mitigating factors, but still holding her accountable for her actions.
I previously stated that I can understand how depraved indifference to human life can be an occupational hazard of being a Cassian. That doesn't mean (in my opinion) we should ignore it or give them a "pass" on it, simply that we can understand where it might come from.
(By the way, there are modern day professions for ordinary humans for which it can be argued that indifference to human life is also an occupational hazard. The existence of things like inhibitors is definitely a difference of degree, not kind.)
This suggests that Dec considered it inevitable that someone would successfully kill him and set off the contingencies. I think it far more believable that he wanted the threat of the contingencies as a way to insure nobody would actually kill him. (Keep in mind, he was certifiably insane.) This is the same thinking behind the Cold War's M.A.D., after all."
While I certainly agree about the insanity, Decimus set this up to go off after he died, period. Not if he was killed, but when he dies. That makes it inevitable. By his logic, once he's gone, by whatever means or method, everything else (or nearly) will go with him."
I'm not arguing for a moral high ground for Kali, don't misunderstand me. Her action and the consequences of that action were by her own admission premeditated. However, I consider this Callous disregard on Kali's part because her action would have been the same if there was no dead-man switch.
The intent of Decimus, on the other hand wasn't just a deterrent. His death, by any means whatsoever, destroys New Rome, New Troy, New Sparta, all the city-states in between, and probably releases enough radiation to throw an already dying planet into another nuclear winter, potentially killing countless others as well. This was planned and deliberate on his part. it was not inevitable that someone would eventually kill him, but it is inevitable that he will eventually die.
In simplest terms, the contingencies are not "this will stop others from trying to kill me", they are about "A world without ME doesn't deserve to exist".
Walls-of-text !
They are so beautiful. *sniff* :)
That sums it up, right?
(Actually, it's more like "Crunch! Fwoosh! The prince is dead!")
But at least he's dead.
Did not expect Kali to self-destruct but it worked (and got the job done)!
FIFY... lol
(This comment brought to you by a fan of Looking for Group)...
Cale would not.
I love the whole sequence actually.
The contingencies will come to mind in a second. Assuming, however, there is a second remaining.
When this is all over, I imagine she and Calliope will have a talk, and the Taylor family will be handling more than one set of therapy bills. Fortunately, they can afford it. ^_^
Ah ha ha!
Contingencies.....
If Decimus was SMART, he would have deployed call-home-fail triggering.
But if he's dumb... he would have deployed on-body sensors, that actively trigger things, on detection of death.
If the latter, then plasmafying his body, will shut them off.
But if twere so... then why would Kali comment on having Nova Roma burn?
HMMMMMMMmmm.....
Having come to know and love the two demons creating this story, however, I'm thinking the next story arc may begin in the rubble of yet another global catastrophe.
Even without the explosion, that was a NASTY hug right there. I saw a couple bears taking notes.
It's difficult to tell in panel 3, because the flames are obscuring all details, but ...
... is Decimus copping a feel as he goes up? ^_^
[This has been a jest. This was only a jest. If you liked it, credit goes to @Sheela. If you didn't like it, blame @Decimus.]
[Boy, wouldn't that be an unfortunate username for someone to have for their ComicFury account if they wanted to comment here? ^_^]
How exactly does one pronounce an ellipsis?
You get all that?
...unless Kali walks out of the flames like the T-1000.
"Now, Deci, remember how much you love to watch flaying and salting? This is just like that, only more participatory. Start with your dick."
In my opinion, it would have been more satisfying to have him experience the loss of his position and respect - to realize just how badly his plans and ambitions failed - fatally wounding Dec's ginormous ego.
As it was, it sounded like Dec disbelieved Acantha about the extent of the armed rebellion, about Maxus still being alive, etc.
On top of that, he's had just enough time to realize that Valerius, whom he's always thought of as a short-sighted, contemptible fool, had known Decimus's bad character well enough to essentially leave a loaded gun pointed at his head, waiting to be triggered by his own actions.
* Not because she was obligated to by duty, like Kali; not because she was too mentally limited to do otherwise, like his cat; not because he was a mere adjunct to her own ego, like his mother.
Plus Acantha's wounds are definitely mortal and would kill her sooner or later. I don't think she had to be dead to free Kali, Dec just had to mortally endanger her. Once free, serving the house of Livius must have dropped to a very low level on her priority list.
so I give her a remote chance of having any shot at living, but with these creative writers, you can never know.
A fire burns bright in the streets tonight,
As the people make a scene.
The mob has raised rebellion,
Because the Prince was mean.
The crowd is out to humble His overreaching pride.
Couldn't keep them down;
Heaven knows I've tried.
Don't let them in,
Don't let them free.
They'd be much worse off if not for me.
Conceal, don't feel,
Don't let them know
How it will go
Let it glow, let it glow.
The walls come tumbling down.
Let it glow, let it glow.
Let Chaos take the town.
What the Prince began,
I can't stay.
So the city dies.
Life has been Hell for me anyway.
It's funny how my program
Bent me to what I've become,
And the goals I once aspired to
Were twisted by that scum.
It's time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for me,
I'm free!
Let it glow, let it glow.
My torment is at an end.
Let it glow, let it glow.
Time for Justice to descend.
There he stands
For me to slay
For the Princess' sake
With libertatem I am free to recognize
The many crimes of his that justify his prompt demise.
And though I may regret his victims yet to be
I have my honor back, his killer will be me!
Let it glow, let it glow.
Let the warheads fall.
Let it glow, let it glow.
The bombs will cleanse it all
Let them burn
With the light of day
Let my rage live on
Life has been Hell for me anyway.
If I wasn't so damn lazy, I would create a backing track and get someone to sing that!
And, @DLKmusic, I suspect that most modern karaoke machines will have that track in them by now. ^_^ Or you can go here.
Datachasers, The Musical is slowly coming together...!!!
Little things and doubts creeping in after the fact, which I'm sure no one else here has ever had any experience with (^_^) but to which I am prone.
Also, I can't be sure how far off the mark I got Kali's POV. Obviously this is just for fun, but if there's anything glaringly wrong, we have an opportunity to fix that as well.
As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't need any polish, and the only person who has right to is you, my friend!!!!!
Again, all joking aside, this is awesome