18 Jul 2013

Subject 13 #28 - Commentary

Finally, the Pyro Twins.  I strung out the inevitable fight for several issues.  About time, right?  Right?  Oh, and if you don't know what I'm talking about, please read the issue first.

Leading up, Nasty still believes Cynthia and Emily are the Pyro Twins.  She managed, despite herself, to work in closer, though that was more Cynthia's doing than hers.  Even better, Nasty has a date for the game.  A date that can't keep his hands to himself.  Jonathon is from Fieldson's sister school, Lincoln.  Like Seward and Fieldson, Lincoln is also fictional.

Nasty's preferences in soft drinks mirrors mine.  Pepsi is too sweet; Coke has a nice bitterness to it that lends itself to sipping over the course of a hot afternoon.  Canteen stands seldom offer a choice between the two; one company or the other gets the exclusive rights to sell their product at inflated prices.*  On a busy day, it's possible for the gas tank feeding the carbonation for drinks to run low.  It happens; easily fixed if there's a spare tank in the booth, if people there know it's empty.

Naturally, when Nasty is away from the field, the Pyro Twins strike.  Worked out for her; it's hard to keep a secret ID a secret if she went out and pounded Cinder and Ember out of costume.  A somewhat quick change in the women's washroom** later, and off to heroing she goes!  Nasty gets the pre-halftime crowd on the concourse out, then storms in, to cheers and chants.  Upstaged the Pyro Twins, she did.  The clash of personalities begins, and one of Nasty's shortfalls gets abused.  Nasty's power punch is just that, a punch.  She can't zap anyone at a distance.  Meanwhile, the Pyro Twins can.

Quick aside.  I play tabletop RPGs, which I've mentioned in the blog before.  One of the games is Champions, a superhero RPG that allows players to create powers from base elements, advantages and limitation.  In Champions terms, Nasty has the No Range limitation on her power punch.  She has to be in a fist fight to use the power.  Nasty turns out to be an under-powered character in the game; her one power isn't flexible.

Cinder and Ember's powers, though, are a little more robust.  Ember generates flame.  Cinder controls flame.  As a team, they're dangerous.  One on one, Ember is the more dangerous, though she may not be as accurate as she could be because she relies on her sister for fine control.  Nasty gets to deal with them as a team and as long as the Twins can work together, she has to fight smarter, not harder.  Thus, snowballs.  The first snowball was desperation, hoping it'd quench the flame.  The second was to set up a pattern.  The third was fighting dirty.  Snow melts.  Rocks don't unless the flames are super hot.  Ember's shock gave Nasty time to lay her out.

Cinder isn't as powerful alone, as I mentioned.  Without a source of fire, she can't do much.  Running away from the angry sidekick made perfect sense to her.  Nasty, naturally, runs after her, through the ticket office, where she finds Cynthia.  Or Emily.  She can't tell them apart, and one's down on the field.  The other is scurrying under a desk.  Another is already under the desk.  Wait.  It hadn't occurred to me to turn the Pyro Twins into Pyro Triplets, but that's pushing things, even for a comic-like serial.  Cynthia and Emily are happy to help Peregrine chase down the escaping villainess.

The fight ends with Nasty using a power stunt she discovered while escaping the Consortium to catch up and Eagle showing up once again.  By the time Eagle arrived, the fight was over.  Nasty would have stopped Cinder, but in a longer, drawn out scene.  Eagle let me wrap things up so I could get the issue completed and Nasty cheered by her peers.  The rest of the issue is just dealing with everyone's reactions, including Rusty's and Anne's.

Tomorrow, a new threat appears.
Saturday, over at MuseHack, Lost in Translation looks at the upcoming adaptations as I retreat from the heat.
Coming soon, more NaNo prep, more Traveller, and the beginnings of a new serial.

* Did I ever mention that I once worked as an attendant/cook at concession stands?  It was interesting, especially when the stadium collapsed and no one told us peons working a little bit away from where the collapse happened.
** Where Nasty managed to get a stall without waiting, so this is fantasy.

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