The Boo-Ya!, Season 2- Issue 2: Part 4.3

Page 23

23.1: Back on the Boo-Ya!, we see Robin at one of the few tables in the cafeteria chowing down on a plate of nachos and drinking a Guinness to help drown her sorrows. You can see Madam in the background, walking toward her table as she speaks.

MADAM (counters) It’s not like Ey-arth is completely barred for you. There are a lot of proper breathers you can use any time we’re there, and Stahl can mod up any that–

ROBIN

(interjecting) I know, I know. But it wouldn’t be the same type of living: taking it off when I’m eating or drinking–

MADAM (Bubble 2)

–Or bombaumping!

ROBIN (Bubble 2)

…Not really what I was thinking. But technically right.

23.2: The good captain chuckles as she takes a seat right next to her friend; the layout of the panel is a little tighter than in the previous one.

MADAM

Understood. You sure there isn’t a little more to it than that, too? I know the mater was shite, but the pater I remember spoke with some brightness.

ROBIN (raising her bottle for a drink) Possibly. Could just be this shift in my DNA that’s messing with my hormones.

23.3: Same setting/layout as the previous panel. Just as the young human woman is about to take a sip of the beer, the bottle explodes in a flurry of glass and hops, catching the Madam by surprise. Especially when…

23.4: …the bloody scar that’s visible on her palm moments later- courtesy of one of the glass shards she picked out- quickly starts to stitch back up again.

ROBIN

(trying to describe what’s happening) Ummm…

MADAM That is cool, and a little disconcerting. Has Staehlia put a lid on these genotherapies?

ROBIN (Bubble 2)

She did, yeah.

23.5: Close-up on the good captain a moment later, reaching over for a handful of the nachos from the basket as she finishes the rest of her thought.

MADAM Good, good. I’d rather not chance whatever’s going on in your body isn’t inadvertently killing you or something.

23.6: Ms. Cartwright nods at the spirit of the order, though with a slight counter toward the sentiment of the second sentence.

ROBIN Agreed, cap’n. This definitely beats the plum burps though. Hell, right now, I might even be pretty good in a fight.

MADAM (Off-Panel, through full mouth) HA! Let’s not get carried away…

Page 24

24.1: The two of them continue minutes later on the type of defusing vibe that started at the end of the previous panel, listening to the glorious roar of punk rock that bursts in from the speakers off-panel. In the middle of this, you can hear a sound trying to break through.

STAEHLIA

(Off-Panel) Captain…there is something you sh…

24.2: Same setting/layout as the previous panel. A few beats later, the young genius breaks through the musical roar- with a little assist.

STAEHLIA

(Off-Panel, louder) Can you hear me now, Captain?!

CAPALDI (Off-Panel) Apologies, Cap. Spiked the volume a little higher than necessary. But I wanted to make sure this bit of news got through to you.

MADAM (quick groan)

What part of “Don’t buzz me unless a SkyCruiser’s up our arse” was so hard for you to understand?!

STAEHLIA

(Bubble 2, Off-Panel; normal) Well, umm…

24.3: Cut to Staehlia and Capaldi on the bridge, watching some type of footage on the screen that has chilled both of them to the bone.

STAEHLIA

(Cont.) I believe that metric has been cleared- quite comfortably.

24.4: Same setting/layout as the previous panel, but with the special glint of the iMeta filter (visible in the form of a little 4M in the right corner of the panel). As the scene freezes, our AI companion walks toward the reader for a little extra information.

CAPALDI Aye. I could say pretty comfortably that things have become much, much more difficult than before.

24.5: Screenshot of a news story highlighting a faux attack on a TA outpost near Jovamire that they’re blaming on the O’Julanians. In the news crawl, there is news of a contingent of SkyCruisers and armed forces being sent to the planet, along with partial mention of peace talks.

CAPALDI (Cont., 4Meta Caption) See? Just as I told ‘em! Check back in another week to see the first booms of war, and the first blooms of power in a certain hu-mahn woman. Deuces till then!