SFP

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  • Dave Van Domelen

    And we have dovetailing with Moonshadow’s plotline.

  • Aaaaaaand the plots have converged.

    Don’t touch anything, call the cops. >_<

  • ChucklingBoy

    Well shoot. That’s going to be a problem

  • Loranna Pyrel

    Now, to accent the positive, our cheerful bespectacled gentleman can confirm that Mega Girl was with him for the last few minutes or so. Depending on how fresh the corpse is, that means Alison already has an alibi! Also, I think it was be proven that the wounds are more consistent with normal human strength and bladed weapons, rather than superhuman strength, so that’s one tiny extra detail that may help exonerate our heroine.

    . . . Yeah, she’s going to face a PR nightmare all the same, who am I kidding. Still, one should always try to accent the positive.

    Loranna

  • Markus

    That’s not a puppy, that’s an adult pug! You sit upon a throne of lies.

  • Bandersnatch

    Aaaargh!! Back to the puppy! Must look at the puppy!!!

  • Ryan Thompson

    So much for Moonshadow wanting confirmation first.

    Well, maybe she already got confirmation from Daphne off-panel, but either way, she worked fast on this one. The video only went viral while Alison was visiting Lisa, a few hours ago at most.

    • Some guy

      I’m going a different way. I bet Moonshadow’s ‘Name your enemies’ gimmick was just to help that girl mentally, or possibly Moonshadow didn’t actually know who to go after and went all razzle-dazzle to get the hit list.

      She’s all about the killing now, so the showmanship extras are getting dropped.

      • Markus

        That’s actually a common theme among serial killers. She took an original theme with very narrow rules for her killing process and now she’s deviating on it.

        • As the police know, getting evidence is time consuming, difficult and boring. Why not just skip that stage? Go straight to the punishing part, which is quick, easy, and satisfying!

          • fairportfan

            “Sentence first, verdict after. It saves time.”

    • Shino

      Maybe she trusts Alison because they were essentially childhood friends? I mean, as far as we know all Guardians were bunch of biodynamic kids who got together and had to trust their life to each other each day. That definitely bonds people.
      In fact, Mega Girl was the powerhouse of the group (all superhero teams have one, heh) so she had to trust Alison more than anyone else. It might’ve simply became an instinct to assume Alison’s judgement of the situation as the right one.
      Since this one is personal, for all we know Moonshadow might’ve just made an exception, as a favor for an old friend.

    • Gryphonic

      There’s a much less pleasant possibility. Remember what Brad was saying about Moonshadow’s more recent attitude toward Alison? http://strongfemaleprotagonist.com/issue-5/page-32-2/
      I’m sure there’s lots of rapists or accused rapists she could be going after. But this one is in the front of the news as Alison’s latest PR disaster.

      • Ryan Thompson

        If true, that raises a whole new set of questions. Did she compromise her criteria for killing Miles (i.e. in order to strike a blow at Alison? Did she even have any criteria, or was she willing to kill him regardless, just to get back at Alison? Will anyone seriously believe that Mega Girl would kill someone by slitting their throat with a knife instead of tossnig them through the nearest wall?

        The less sinister interpretation is that she targeted Miles simply to make an example of him because he was in the news, and not because he had anything to do with Alison.

    • Shjade

      If I hadn’t read the comments it would never have even occurred to me Moonshadow might be involved.

      Because I’m thick, apparently.

      • Ryan Thompson

        I warned everyone 3 pages ago, Miles was a dead man walking. I just didn’t realize how little walking he had left to do.

    • David Nuttall

      The woman that Alison intercepted Miles from abusing is likely not his first victim. This may have been punishment for another drunk woman that Miles had taken advantage of.

    • SeveredNed

      She may have used the Youtube video as her confirmation. Depending on how much of the context of Alison’s “attack” was cropped out.

    • Subbak

      Well, I must be thick, because my first reaction was that he must have commited suicide after learning he was expelled. I didn’t stop to think that people don’t usually slash their own throats.

  • Sabriel

    Uh-oh.

  • Asher Freeman

    Oh man. Oh god, oh man. Oh god, oh man! OH GOD, OH MAN! OH GOD, OH MAN, OH GOD!

  • Samara2Q13

    Annnnd now it’s time for Americas favorite game show! WHAT’S YOUR ALIBI!

    • Ryan Thompson

      I think Alison’s about to play a different game first. A most dangerous game.

      • Samara2Q13

        Bah duhn tischh!

      • impishacid

        ah ah ah! if someone tries to kill moonshadow in the name of justice, they’re admitting that killing someone in the name of justice is OK, and thus they have no reason to come for moonshadow since she’s done nothing wrong 😉

    • Classtoise

      Ahaha, she has a pretty air-tight alibi. Not to mention the logistics (Why would a woman who could likely just throw him into space bother with a knife?) Also, any signs of a struggle will exonerate her.

      • hark

        Throwing someone into space is a severely underused superpowered death.

  • Aile D’Ciel

    I don’t think Moonshadow had any reason to misplace the body, so, judging by the fact that the guy is all covered in blood, but the floor under him is still clean, it all happened a 1-3 minutes ago max, and the invisible slasher is still in the campus, if not in this very room. Looks like we are about to see some biodynamic confrontation, huh

  • Abel Undercity

    Hoo boy.

  • Mitch

    So this is how the plot and the subplot connects. I think that was actually really well done. Unexpected, but very clear now why.

  • StClair

    Welp, at least between Paladin and Clevin, she’s got a pretty solid alibi.

    • The Chosen One

      Paladin could be in on it, she did work for a supervillain that one time.

      • This conspiracy is getting larger and less plausible. It’s guaranteed to take the media by storm!

  • CanuckAmuck

    Now that’s just bad timing.

  • Donald Simmons

    It’s all fun and games ’til someone is viciously murdered!

  • David Nuttall

    My first thought is that this was a suicide attempt, seeing the blood dripping from the wrists, but with all that blood on the chest with no weapon still in the chest or on the ground leads me to consider murder instead. Maybe just attempted murder.

    • Insanenoodlyguy

      Nah, his eyes are glassy, his skin ashen, he’s quite dead.

      • Some guy

        Next panel: “Oh, hey Clevin! I was practicing my stage make-up, trying to appear as a murder victim. What did you bring Alison here for? She’s horrible and terrible.”

  • Pol Subanajouy

    Well crap.

  • Some guy

    Quick, ALison! Close the door and be all “Looks like he left already! Oh well!” and don’t let anyone open the door. Ever. No one will notice the smell as it’s a college dorm.

    • Insanenoodlyguy

      NO. That won’t work! People will ask. What she needs to get is get some strings, and some sunglasses, and get moonshadow to help! Nobody will think he’s dead if he walks around the whole weekend! A weekend… at Miles!

    • Ryan Thompson

      What if there’s already someone in there? Someone we haven’t seen yet for some reason?

  • William Sked

    Does that couch look a little wobbly? I wonder what could be up with that.

    Also, the blood is dripping but hasn’t yet reached the floor. That’s quite an indicator.

    • Ian B

      It’s not a couch, that’s his dorm bed.

    • Ryan Thompson

      Quick, search the room for JPEG artifacts!

      • The Chosen One

        [Insert pun about criminals and aliasing here]

  • … I did not see that coming. I SHOULD have, but I did not. whew….

    • Ryan Thompson

      Of course you didn’t see her coming. She’s invisible.

      • /me SLAMS into joke that he walked into, slumps to the ground unconscious.

  • dragon

    I wonder if Alison is even capable of using that kind of force. Can she do strong for a human; or does she just excert tons of presure when she makes an effort?

    • Classtoise

      I THINK she can do “normal” strength (otherwise her early life would likely be a pile of shattered friends and family as well as destroyed sidewalks).

      • Insanenoodlyguy

        Destroyed sidewalks not so much, she’s not super dense or heavy. It’s be more like being on the moon. She’d have to take tiny little hops everywhere because her “normal” footstep would be more like a 20 ft jump. But the fact she can do this and other normal people stuff without problems (for example, doesn’t break her phone every time she checks her texts) and the facdt her doctor doesn’t think she’d have any problems being “intimate” backs up the normal strength.

        • John Smith

          It isn’t quite a “world of cardboard” (SEE: TV Tropes) for Alison, but it’s pretty close.

      • dragon

        yes she can do “normal” but slicing someones throat like that requires exertion. It seem like her super strength kicks in whenever a normal person might strain. I was thinking she doesn’t have a “high setting” just low, medium, and absurd.

        • Mechwarrior

          Wouldn’t that cause her to accidentally tear doors off hinges any time she tries to open one when it’s windy or the doorspring is overly tightened?

    • Shino

      Wasn’t it explicitly said she has full control a while ago?

  • Jack Lostthenames Warren

    Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck

  • Shino

    All dogs are puppies, some are just more experienced puppies.

  • Even if you can prove that she didn’t do it personally, CAN YOU PROVE THAT SHE DIDN’T CALL UP SOME OTHER SUPERHUMAN PSYCO TO DO HER DIRTY BUSINESS FOR HER!? WHAT’S THAT? YOU CAN’T! THAT PROVES THAT ALLISON IS THE MASTERMIND BEHIND THIS!
    Don’t worry, I’m just simulating the media reaction.

    • David Nuttall

      This is part of the reason that the United States courts operate on a principle of Presumption of Innocence.

      • Mechwarrior

        Well, they’re supposed to, anyway.

      • 3-I

        Or they’re supposed to, anyway. But the media definitely doesn’t.

        • Ryan .

          nah, they were sued for that, that’s why even the most obvious cases of guilt now, they preface everything with alleged and suspect. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Jewell

          • Subbak

            “Alleged criminal” is not exactly respecting presumption of innocence in spirit, even if it is in the letter of the law. You know everyone only hears “criminal”.

      • RobNiner

        Guilty until grudgingly proven innocent.

      • Rens

        Except in cases of rape, where it’s more like “Presumption that the girl was a slut and asking for it and is now just trying to ruin these poor boy’s brilliant future…”

  • skh

    It was the Ding-dong Bandit!

  • Shino

    Noone would suspect her of BEING Invisible Slasher, since her powers don’t match. However, being in league with the Slasher? Possible.
    … Man, imagine what will happen if it will be revealed Slasher was her former teammate.

    • Markus

      Called shot: Moonshadow will hold someone hostage in front of Alison because she can’t hurt her.

  • Drew

    The whiteboard is a nice little detail here. Pretty much the authentic college experience.

  • Firanai

    I can honestly say that I was NOT| expecting that, at all.

  • Dean

    Has someone drawn a dick on Miles’ whiteboard?

  • Ryan Thompson

    They were teammates, but it doesn’t seem like they were ever friends, as evidenced by the page @Gryphonic linked to.

    • TheGonzoMD .

      Well, that was mostly Alison’s fault, to be fair.

  • Ryan Thompson

    The Whiteboard Dingdong Bandit strikes again!

    • Dean

      See, I wasn’t sure whether anyone would get the Dumbing of Age reference.

  • TheGonzoMD .

    Well, that’s one way to expel a student. Though I lament that the set up of the body wasn’t more dramatic.

  • John Smith

    Oh, crap.

  • John Smith

    Looks more like a terrier to me, but what do I know?

  • That’s because it’s very difficult. You grab their arm to throw them, and you just end up tearing off an arm, which either falls back to earth or burns up before it reaches space. Even when they’re invulnerable, it would be difficult to accelerate them to exit velocity with the swing of an arm.
    Crushing skulls, now that’s easy.

  • David Nuttall

    Do not even enter the room. Just guard the door until the police or medical examiner show up. The dispatcher at 911 may send an ambulance crew first to confirm death. Everybody else stays out.

  • Iarei

    Moonshadow doesn’t have a lot of range, does she? No fitting the punishment to the crime with invisible beat-downs or bear sodomy, just slit throats for all. So presumably she’s not punishing people so much as she’s getting rid of bad guys before they do more bad things.

    • dragonus45

      If they were bad guys going to do bad things, we still have no confirmation of anything.

      • impishacid

        we have confirmation that they’re rapists (the guys in the convenience store), rapist torturer mass-murderers (the mercs), and an attempted rapist and/or murderer (this guy). don’t recall about the porch guy. what the fuck more do you want?

        • dragonus45

          I want people declared not guilty to be safe from vigilante murders for one, but I was specifically referring to the dead guy in this panel right above our conversation here. We have no confirmation of anything yet and now that he is dead there can never be a proper investigation that he can defend himself in.

        • dragonus45

          Where is that confirmation, we have strong narrative suspicions but in the end we are suspicious they are rapists because someone killed them after they were accused of being rapists. Yes the soldjiers were evil mercenaries so for them I give the story the benefit of the doubt but every other victim of the vigilante is under more and more suspect.

  • John Smith

    I’m being followed by a Moonshadow; Moonshadow, Moonshadow…

  • Axel_Celosar

    You know I just realized, did he just stop talking as soon as they entered the building, stayed silent as they made there way through the entry way and all the way towards the dorm room which could be on a higher floor, and then decided to finish his sentence as he was opening that door?

  • Rens

    Is that the defense Charlie was planning to go with if Allison hadn’t been there before things went further?

    “Yeah, Mike’s a really chill guy most of the time, he’s just kind of stupid when it comes to not raping girls that were too drunk to tell him to stop” ?

  • impishacid

    oh phew, i was afraid he was gonna be ~redeemed~ cause rapists are ~really good guys~!
    this is much better 🙂

  • Mystery girl

    Dang it, Moonshadow! She was trying to fix it!