138. The Consortium - xx. Meeting Adjourned

Page Notes

Episode published on Monday 1st of April, 2019.

So Sam is going to be thrilled that I go on this random tangent here but I think it's relevant to showing the creative process behind the comic; that panel of the guard being thrown through a door by Gyrode was originally lacking the impact markers and it looked weird.

Here's how the conversation went:

Incidentally "Blaise" is from a completely different project that's been in limbo forever because of me. Sorry, dear.

Tagged: The Captain, Chronic the Porcupine, Dr. Ivanovich Gregori Romani Gyrode, Dr. Ralph Smiffington III, Kunz Cruci Grunveldt, Location - Consortium Meeting Warehouse, Mara Kyler, Max Valerion, Mr. A, Number Zwei, W.R.A.I.T.H.

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Comments

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Transcript

Title - 138: "The Consortium"
Subtitle - xx. "Meeting Adjourned"

Narrator: Thirty minutes later...

(Everyone is back around the table, Mr. A is holding conference. The lights are still dimmed.)

Mr. A: I must apologise again for Mr. Bleu's sudden departure, Mr. Grünveldt. We will certainly detain the parties responsible and hold them accountable for this.
Grünveldt: I wouldn't concern yourself too much, Mr. A. He was only a lesser contributor who mostly dealt with...

(He pauses and turns to his No. 2 for a prompt. His right-hand man leans in.)

Number Zwei: Privatising water, No. 1.
Grünveldt: Really? Well good riddance to him then. We need less of that sort of thing. I may be a criminal but I'm not a complete bastard!
Mr. A: Indeed. Well I am to assume that everyone still present has an accord with Consortium terms. My accountant will be in touch with all of you in due course to settle membership payments and confirm terms. I look forward to working with all of you for the foreseeable future. Please have a safe journey home.

(The blinds on Mr. A's window roll down, all the criminals begin leaving. Mara appears over Pain's shoulder and places a hand on it.)

Mara: I just need to have a quick word with Mr. A and then I'll be along with you.
Pain: You're Mr. A's accountant too? Isn't that a conflict of interests?
Mara: It's more of an honorific title just for show, he's got other people for that.
Pain: Pencil pushers?
Mara: More like debt collectors. People with high-calibre sniper rifles and rocket launchers. I think he's even got a few ninjas on the team...

(Pain imagines a dark room containing a squad of decked out killer mercenaries all wearing black and nigh vision goggles. He leans towards the Captain.)

Pain: Forget what I said a few minutes ago about delaying payment, make sure Mr. A gets it immediately.

Narrator: Meanwhile...

(A guard is thrown through a door marked "SECURITY". Gyrode and Ralph emerge from the room, still slightly singed and blackened from the explosion earlier. They walk towards the exit.)

Ralph: Try and detain us? The sheer idiotic gall!
Gyrode: My dear comrade Smiffington, as fun as this all has been I don't think the Consortium is for me. No, I think I shall retire to my workshop back home for a spell.
Ralph: Putting more cute fluffy animals inside robots?

(Gyrode imagines the smug face of his persistent aggressor, the "Porcupine with Aptitude". Gyrode smirks as he hits one hand with the other balled into a fist.)

Gyrode: Naturally. And maybe this time I'll catch that damnable Chronic the Porcupine!
Ralph: I'm sure I'll be in touch in due course, Dr. Gyrode.
Gyrode: What are your plans?

(Ralph looks back over his shoulder, an evil grin on his face.)

Ralph: Same thing I do every day, Gyrode: try to take over the world!

(He holds up the Detulux Inc. business card Pain gave him when they first met.)

Ralph: But first, I need to visit a man about a ray gun...

(Both of the sinister scientists laugh evilly and then shake hands. Gyrode opens the front door for Ralph and they head outside, only to discover that Gyrode's RV Walker and Ralph's Flying Pod have been chained up and clamped using clamps marked with the Consortium's "C".)

Gyrode: I don't believe this...

(Gyrode scratches his head while Ralph, annoyed, slinks off towards the back of his flying pod.)

Ralph: I have an angle grinder in the back of the pod. Give me a few minutes...