Huh.

Well, we heard Carver’s biodynamism is becoming even more extreme over time.
The movement of the objects around her lends credence to the theory that her strength is in fact touch-based telekinesis. Looks like it is now an area effect.

Heh. There she goes.
Never forget: the lady’s hardcore.
My guess?
Allison, you’re his conscience and the strongest tie to his dismissed and derided “humanity.”
He’s got a big plan that involves dirty deeds and terrible compromises and he needs to push you away so that he can walk the low road without distraction -that seems like the most probable outcome, anyway.
Or.
It could be that he intends to antagonize you to the point of making you an enemy who’ll intervene mercilessly later. To me that fourth panel communicates an odd mix of terror and triumph like he’s seeing you as angry as he’s ever hoped and he’s also scared shitless by his “success.”
I think that’s a long shot though; martyrdom and self-immolation isn’t Patrick’s style.

There’s also a useful truth present here: he’s fucked and he knows it.
Whatever plan he’s got in motion there’s no confusion about the truth that he’s no match for her when words fail. There is no Ottercreekite to bail him out and an angry Mega Girl can one-punch him into liquid in a heartbeat if she decides to do so.

As for before and why does Moonshadow’s killing matter?
Because it’s bad for Moonshadow.
Because it’s utterly toxic and whatever the hell it means to her she deserves a reprieve.
The useful thing about Justice is that it’s collective; the burden of punishment is distributed among the millions of law-abiding citizens who bend their natural human impulses of revenge to the letter of the law.
By comparison vengeance is a toll paid alone.
Moonshadow should be stopped for her own damn good; never mind the dime-store prescience of her eventually deciding to off someone either of them considers the world better for the presence of.
Seems likely to me that she’s acting out in compensation for some other personal trauma; deal with that and if she decides she’s just into the whole “murdering rapists thing” then alright! She can roll on or not as whoever decides.

I knew it! He’s playing her and she knows it. He hasn’t said a trustworthy word since she came in. He wants her far away…because he’s afraid of relationships? Afraid she’ll discover what he’s up to? Afraid she’ll get hurt if she shares his crusade?

Also HOLY CRAP new powers!!!!

While it’s a good, plausible theory… if it DOES turn out he was just “trying to push her to be better,” I’m going to lose what (very) little sympathy I have for the jerk.

Well, they did foreshadow the possibility. Even her barber dropped a hint or two.

Whatever it is that he’s afraid of… survey says that it’s a clear and present danger (possibly observing them right now.)

What Patrick is afraid of (in no particular order):

1) That he doesn’t deserve Alison, but she doesn’t know that.
2) That he does deserve Alison, and he doesn’t know how to handle that.

3) They’re secretly related and he’s avoiding any potential incest issues where the Westermarck Effect has been neutralized due to a lifetime of living apart.
4) Templar Industries actually has pretty strict guidelines concerning fraternization and romances inside the building. He’s just a good company man, leading by example.
5) Patrick? You think that’s Patrick?

So…arguably the most powerful biodynamic in the SFP universe now has telekinesis too? Making your characters overpowered is always a bad idea.

Granted, this comic has never been about the struggle of physically fighting supervillains.

“Well since I just called you a shallow ho and/or insinuated I’ve been misrepresenting myself to you this entire time, I’m most imminently afraid you’ll pop my brain inside my skull with your wicked new telekinetic powers.”

Man, so many answers on this page. Starting, I guess, with why Alison’s pose on the last page—why it didn’t look like she’d struck Patrick.

More importantly it explains… basically everything about Patrick’s behavior. Why he’s bragging about kidnapping scientists and having biodynamics on guard when Alison showed up. Why he took her request for information on Moonshadow as an opportunity to deliver a full-on supervillain monologue. He has been manipulating Alison (or, at least, trying to), but not for the reasons some had put forth.

Also interesting to note that full-on TK isn’t the most impressive ability she displays on this page. Reading the mindreader’s mind is a pretty neat trick. Biodynamism < intelligence and compassion.

I agree, but I also distrust my instincts on the matter.

Wow. I was wrong, but nobody could have seen this coming. I thought she backhanded him with her left arm as a reflexive reaction to his baiting. This is something people guessed at the edges of in the comments, that her strength and invulnerability are really telekinetic in nature, but floating transfiguration- wow. And simultaneously calling Patrick’s manipulative BS- awesome.

this is what Patrick was going for the whole time. he wanted her mad, and gorramit, is she ever. and look at what happened—she’s all floaty and powerful and ready to kick ass. I think that’s exactly what Patrick intended but I don’t know if he realized how far he’d have to go to get it. the ramping up of the powered people–Cleaver was pointed out, for sure, and I don’t know about any of the others–mightn’t it be tied to heightened emotions, or the neurological/hormonal/chemical responses thereof? especially since the powers came on around puberty. and Cleaver is probably the most volatile of the lot. Patrick wanted to see what Alison could REALLY do, and he had to set her off (with the intention of explaining it later, obviously, though it may be too little, too late–unless it’s a prelude to helping her catch Mary.)

or he’s just horrid scum, and I can’t accept it, which is entirely possible. but I like to think under all that cold, impenetrable logic and manipulation and selfishness are actual feelings for others and a sense of morality, skewed as it may be.

Looks like Patrick finally managed to get a rise out of her. Not sure if this is going in the direction he wants, though. Hopefully something will provide a grounding influence next panel.

Snork.

15 mph is a full flat-out run, fast as you can, straight into a wall. That could produce a range of different injuries, from light bruising to broken bones.

Doug M.

While it’s reasonable to think that they implied a period of time for the powers to expire, it was left ambiguous. Now we have confirmation that the cut hair loses its invulnerability due to leaving the superpower “aura” enveloping her body, which has now grown larger. Whether or not this is a temporary rage-fueled boost or not is still to be revealed.!

also raises the question of whether the regular/old area of effect was of uneven distance from her skin, considering how her hair is super-tough but her clothes aren’t (eh? plot holes?? I don’t know what you’re talking about…).

She Took A Level In Badass.