Girl Genius XXIV: Ask Vit a Bit More Terror

[geoduck]

So, can anybody NOT imagine that it is Bang's vessel that will drag Agatha and crew to Skifander against their will?
Once the current mystery plot is sufficiently solved, Bang makes a daring raid on the Dome and just takes our protagonists hostage.
Not to just get revenge for her fortress, but to raid Skifander itself. Revenge is sweet, but gold clogs blood better than elastoplast.

Sorry, but I doubt that very much. Yes, of course Bang and Zeetha are going to have it out, probably sooner rather than later, probably thanks to Mr. Ex-Pirate here, but Bang taking Gil's uber-Spark sorta-girlfriend and her entire super-charged entourage hostage for an extended period? That's just not gonna happen. Plus if the Foglios stick to their announced itinerary..

Spoiler

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Agatha and Co.'s next stop is Africa, not Skifandar.

[DeTess]

Sorry, but I doubt that very much. Yes, of course Bang and Zeetha are going to have it out, probably sooner rather than later, probably thanks to Mr. Ex-Pirate here, but Bang taking Gil's uber-Spark sorta-girlfriend and her entire super-charged entourage hostage for an extended period? That's just not gonna happen. Plus if the Foglios stick to their announced itinerary..

Spoiler

Show

Agatha and Co.'s next stop is Africa, not Skifandar.

Spoiler

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You seem to assume that Skifander is not in Africa. Is there a reason for that that I missed?

[Onyavar]

So, can anybody NOT imagine that it is Bang's vessel that will drag Agatha and crew to Skifander against their will?
Once the current mystery plot is sufficiently solved, Bang makes a daring raid on the Dome and just takes our protagonists hostage.
Not to just get revenge for her fortress, but to raid Skifander itself.

Sorry, but I doubt that very much. Yes, of course Bang and Zeetha are going to have it out, probably sooner rather than later, probably thanks to Mr. Ex-Pirate here, but Bang taking Gil's uber-Spark sorta-girlfriend and her entire super-charged entourage hostage for an extended period? That's just not gonna happen. Plus if the Foglios stick to their announced itinerary..

Spoiler

Show

Agatha and Co.'s next stop is Africa, not Skifandar.

Ha! But I said "our protagonists", not specifically Agatha. In fact, Bang would be stupid to take Agatha (or Gil, or Tarvek) hostage, knowing about them and their relationship.

For example, it would also make the perfect plot hook how Agatha escapes from Albia's realm without toppling or openly confronting her: "Sorry, but my super important bodyguard/trainer/PRINCESS(!) was kidnapped by a Wulfenbach operator; from under YOUR nose! Give me Gil, Wooster, xyz and a fast airship and we will catch these felons!" Albia can hardly say no to such a request without revealing her ulterior motives of keeping her in England. And of course Agatha won't be able to cut directly to Skifander while on that urgent rescue mission. Other stops will come up, for both/all groups; and at some point Gil and Zeetha can both serve as compass needles for the mysterious vibramonics navigation system.

Not that I think that the story will go exactly that way. The protagonist constellations of who is currently working with whom are too flexible for any prediction. There is still a circus around, and the murder business, and the mirror business, and it could take a year before the plot hook of today's comic is followed; and who knows where any of the protagonists is at that point.
Still, my current unsubstantiated guess is that Zeetha and another (minor?) character(s) are going to be eventually separated from Agatha in some fashion that involves the pirates; and things develop from there.

Spoiler

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You seem to assume that Skifander is not in Africa. Is there a reason for that that I missed?

You seem to assume that Skifander IS in Africa; for that we have no reason. In either the current or the previous threads, we had people speculating about Skifander being in... South America! The distant Past! Central Africa! Mars! South Pole! Australia! Parallel dimension! Sri Lanka! The distant Future! The Philippines!
Basically any sufficiently remote place not in regular contact with Sparky Europe is a candidate, and on top there needs to be a strong reason why after the many contacts that existed so far, there has never been even the vaguest map entry.

[eee]

Does anyone not think their 'understanding' is 'I will try to shoot you the second we're safe and your back is turned"?

More likely, this being a Foglio story, they fall in love and form an unholy but very effective partnership.

[eee]

<snip>

You seem to assume that Skifander IS in Africa; for that we have no reason. In either the current or the previous threads, we had people speculating about Skifander being in... South America! The distant Past! Central Africa! Mars! South Pole! Australia! Parallel dimension! Sri Lanka! The distant Future! The Philippines!
Basically any sufficiently remote place not in regular contact with Sparky Europe is a candidate, and on top there needs to be a strong reason why after the many contacts that existed so far, there has never been even the vaguest map entry.

Underground, perhaps, ala Pellucidar? With entrance gained only at a distant point, which is why Steelgarter's expedition had to use long range airships? That would explain why it never shows up on maps; the maps are of the surface world only. As to why there seems to have been no contact between Skifander and the other underground kingdoms we met during the Library Arc, Skifander is MUCH deeper.

This might account for why the Geisters seem to have knowledge of and issues with Skifanderians; pesky neighbors.

[geoduck]

Spoiler

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You seem to assume that Skifander is not in Africa. Is there a reason for that that I missed?

Spoiler

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Mostly because the itinerary lists them as being separate stops. Still, yes, Skifander could be in Africa. (And yes, the Foglios could totally change their mind and do something completely different.) My personal theory is that Agatha's going to meet up with Circus-member Embi, and he's going to reveal that there's a functioning Mirror in his homeland, and they travel there, and use said Mirror to reach Skifander.

[Shining Wrath]

It will be interesting to see if GG Africa is technologically equivalent to Sparky Europe. Anyway, I think Steelgarter and Expirate have an understanding to NOT talk about why they are leaving the dome. Probably they'll get to the surface and then later Steelgarter will learn she needed the pirate, and have to find him.

Of course, now is when Vi may say "surprise!" but I doubt it - if she couldn't beat Steelgarter one on one, adding the pirate would be risky. Maybe she's heading back for reinforcements?

[Traab]

I just hope they arent going to rip off black panther and make africa one giant wakanda.

[SZbNAhL]

I just hope they aren't going to rip off black panther and make africa one giant wakanda.

If anything Wakanda is a ripoff of the "hidden highly-advanced African civilisation" trope endemic to the pulp novels GG is based on.

[geoduck]

Embi describing Europa as "savage" gives hope that, yes, Africa isn't a colonized backwater. Heck, with presumably no Other War wrecking everything, it might even be in better shape than Europa.

[Ellen]

If anything, we've seen that Paris (and possibly all of France) seems to have a lot of people of African descent (or maybe other, dark-skinned ethnic groups, it's hard to tell sometimes in comics, but I think African). While we still don't know why (slavery? emigration? Africans colonized parts of Europe?), my guess is African countries can hold their own in this world.

[Kantaki]

Zeetha would be proud of you, Agatha.

[Rockphed]

Zeetha would be proud of you, Agatha.

I think this explains why some hazing is harder to get rid of than others: being the person who is excessively chipper before coffee in the morning is a really fun and mean thing to do to your coworkers. I don't drink coffee, so I am always somewhat more alert than others are before their coffee, but a little less alert after the coffee.

[Onyavar]

I find it interesting that Agatha is still in the regular training routine.

When was the last time we saw her being trained by Zeetha, in that outfit? Did they follow that routine all the time, offpanel?

[Shining Wrath]

I wonder if that outfit is from Skifander. In which case Steelgarter will want to rip it off in a couple of senses of the phrase. And since Agatha and Tarvek are looking for Zeetha, and Oggie and Maxim are probably returning to the office, I think we're about to have the whole gang back together in a strip or two, and exposition will take place. And then someone will notice the sub escaping.

Person oddly off screen: Higgs. As in "master spy who has probably explored the hidden passages of the Dome decades ago" Higgs. I do not know if we've ever seen Higgs sleep (or, for that matter, any Jager). He's not with Zeetha; he'd want to be with Zeetha unless duty called him away; but duty doesn't require him to sit by Agatha's bedside while she sleeps, so ... what has he been doing? His duty to The Lady Heterodyne, that's what. Which can take many forms, to be revealed in due time.

Anyone want to estimate the duration of a Higgs versus Steelgarter + pirate throwdown? It's not going to happen because I think Plot requires Steelgarter to get away, but I think it'd be conveniently measured in milliseconds. Pick one up and use them as a bludgeon against the other ....

There's going to be some reaction from Wooster / Snakleford when Agatha shows up scantily clad.

[sihnfahl]

I wonder if that outfit is from Skifander.

I'm thinking not; neither Agatha nor Zeetha were carrying it during the flight from Mechanicsburg.

Agatha or Zeetha presumably had one made when they got linked back up.

[Shining Wrath]

I'm thinking not; neither Agatha nor Zeetha were carrying it during the flight from Mechanicsburg.

Agatha or Zeetha presumably had one made when they got linked back up.

Either one could have had it in hammerspace.

[PraetorDragoon]

I wonder if that outfit is from Skifander. In which case Steelgarter will want to rip it off in a couple of senses of the phrase. And since Agatha and Tarvek are looking for Zeetha, and Oggie and Maxim are probably returning to the office, I think we're about to have the whole gang back together in a strip or two, and exposition will take place. And then someone will notice the sub escaping.

Person oddly off screen: Higgs. As in "master spy who has probably explored the hidden passages of the Dome decades ago" Higgs. I do not know if we've ever seen Higgs sleep (or, for that matter, any Jager). He's not with Zeetha; he'd want to be with Zeetha unless duty called him away; but duty doesn't require him to sit by Agatha's bedside while she sleeps, so ... what has he been doing? His duty to The Lady Heterodyne, that's what. Which can take many forms, to be revealed in due time.

Anyone want to estimate the duration of a Higgs versus Steelgarter + pirate throwdown? It's not going to happen because I think Plot requires Steelgarter to get away, but I think it'd be conveniently measured in milliseconds. Pick one up and use them as a bludgeon against the other ....

There's going to be some reaction from Wooster / Snakleford when Agatha shows up scantily clad.

Depends if he needs to keep his cover up or not.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Anyone want to estimate the duration of a Higgs versus Steelgarter + pirate throwdown?

I don't think humans have the reflexes to click the stopwatch that fast.

[gbs5009]

Either one could have had it in hammerspace.

Even if it was the one Agatha was wearing when she started training, Zeetha described it as a "close approximation" of Skifanderan novice garb, probably pulled together from the circus costumes or something. She came out of the pirate fortress with pretty much nothing but the clothes on her back.

Her little face headpiece seems like a better bet for a Skifanderan artifact... maybe our heroes can borrow it from Higgs once Agatha figures out what Steelgarter's trying.

[geoduck]

Even if it was the one Agatha was wearing when she started training, Zeetha described it as a "close approximation" of Skifanderan novice garb, probably pulled together from the circus costumes or something. She came out of the pirate fortress with pretty much nothing but the clothes on her back.

Her little face headpiece seems like a better bet for a Skifanderan artifact... maybe our heroes can borrow it from Higgs once Agatha figures out what Steelgarter's trying.

Yeah, that headpiece is probably the only thing she has left at this point, apart from her own body tissues.

[Fyraltari]

What about her weapons?

[HandofShadows]

What about her weapons?

We think they are in Mechanicsburg and frozen in time.

[Shining Wrath]

It appears that Tarvek is better at spotting spies than Higgs is accustomed to. This is going to be a lovely friendship between them. "Your highest".

Agatha and Tarvek are being rather blase about their friends being off punching people - but I guess they assume that if the situation got too difficult they'd be called for. And that Higgs would not let Zeetha punch anyone she couldn't handle.

[Traab]

It appears that Tarvek is better at spotting spies than Higgs is accustomed to. This is going to be a lovely friendship between them. "Your highest".

Agatha and Tarvek are being rather blase about their friends being off punching people - but I guess they assume that if the situation got too difficult they'd be called for. And that Higgs would not let Zeetha punch anyone she couldn't handle.

If things get bad enough to require their input, the screaming shooting and egregious terror will fill them in. Things are quiet right now, they can stick to sciency stuff.

[Wayson]

It appears that Tarvek is better at spotting spies than Higgs is accustomed to. This is going to be a lovely friendship between them. "Your highest".

Agatha and Tarvek are being rather blase about their friends being off punching people - but I guess they assume that if the situation got too difficult they'd be called for. And that Higgs would not let Zeetha punch anyone she couldn't handle.

Is it bad that I kind of want to watch Zeetha get in over her head solely so I can watch Higgs cut loose?

[Shining Wrath]

Is it bad that I kind of want to watch Zeetha get in over her head solely so I can watch Higgs cut loose?

I'd rather see Zeetha get in over head and then save herself (perhaps with some help from Da Boyz). I think right now we're keeping Higgs as emergency reserve.

OTOH, since he's here, I assume at some point a foe will appear that needs Higgs. Perhaps he'll suplex 50-foot-tall Albia, producing dismay among her subjects.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Zeetha does know Agatha. "Let us hurt people, you go Spark out." "Sounds good to me!"

[PraetorDragoon]

I don't think humans have the reflexes to click the stopwatch that fast.

You FOOL! That is why SCIENCE has given us the REFLEX STOPWATCH that will press itself!

[keybounce]

Did you ever teach that stopwatch to stop touching itself?