Endtown by Aaron Neathery for February 16, 2015

Oh…kayyy… How is Mister Neathery going to write us out of this one?

Don’t just do something—-stand there!

Phil: “As long as we understand each other. I hate you, and you hate you.”

Strips like this, the 3-day a week schedule is torture!

1)Suddenly, Kirbee’s scream cuts through the air, breaking the tension….…well, it would, except for the shouting from a mob of fight-crazed lizards.

2)Suddenly, Irving flies into the ring bearing a small sign, which says “Holly’s alive! Beat the #$%$! out of him!”

3)Suddenly, all the panels go black…

I guess I’ll just have to wait for Wednesday.

Hmmm…we could set up a contest to speculate on the different ways thing could go with this fight. It would be interesting to see if any of us actually gets it right.The only things I know for sure is that Wally, Holly and Chic will survive and that they will leave this colony together. Trying to guess how Aaron will get them there is a very iffy business. Who guessed that Holly, Wally, Flask and Linda would be rescued from Topsiders by an airship with dittos providing the covering illusion?

I refuse to speculate. Every time I think I know what’s going to happen, Mr. Neathery throws in a twist that surprises me and makes my neck hurt! So I can’t wait to see where this goes!

Speaking of dittos. Where did they go?

Rocky! Rocky! Rocky!

Well, the ‘traditional’ plot device is – Phil beats Wally badly and just-in-the-nick-of-time Molly brings Holly within sight and Wally, with a sudden surge of will, beats Phil almost to death. They then flee in the resultant chaos..I sincerely hope Aaron writes better than Hollywood (he has so far at least)…

It’s beyond me to predict with any accuracy where Aaron will take this plot. Of course we all want Holly to show up and Phil to suffer an ignominious beat-down at the hands of Wally, but Aaron is nothing if not inventive. He might decide to follow the revealed-just-in-time trope, or he may not.

I hope Wally may being using that “kill me” line to get Phil off guard, but Probably not.Maybe next one will be Someone shows up.Aaron is pretty good at tying up loose ends, but there are lots of possible loose ends.

yeah…we’re gonna do the thing where he gets beat half to death, then his girlfriend runs up to the side of the ring and he summons forth uncommon strength to reduce that lizard to a bloody pulp aren’t we?

I’m still betting on The Doctor Marx popping in at the eleventh hour to fix everything with his sonic screwdriver gyroscope on a string.

I’m wondering……What if, during the fight, Piotr and a few other lizards see just how much Phil is enjoying beating up someone who is not fighting back. Granted, this will mean Wally is getting beaten up in the process, but it would show that perhaps these lizards are capable of thinking, after all.…And then, when Holly and Chic arrive to tell Wally to beat the you-know-what out of that big bully, Piotr and the Queen will be relieved and happy to see that Chic survived. Of course, for the Chief, that will mean his dirty secret is out in the open. But perhaps then, the Queen will use her authority to make some serious changes to ensure that her son is free to be the avian anthro he is meant to be.The chief might not value his avian son…but, he should know by now that a royal beatdown from his wife is far worse than anything else that could happen to his career.

Poor Wally…He’s so determined to be with Holly in the afterlife. We can only hope that he will regain some fight in him when he sees that she and Chic have been alive all this time.

Well, heres what I think is going to happen. Wally is going to get the snot beat out of him, Kirbee will find Holly, Chik and Irving and get them to the fight just in time to see…. JIM come out of nowhere and wail on every lizard in sight, starting with Phil, then Wally, Holly, Chik, Irving and Kirbee escape in the confusion. Kirbee goes with them for a little way before turning back, gold her heart may be but thats her home and home is where the heart is.

Thats what I think anyways _’

…Last second…Wally “wakes up”.♪♫♯ Gonna Fly Now ♯♫♪I don’t feel sorry for Phil..It looks to me that Wally can ONLY hit Phil below the belt.He’s not tall enough to reach higher.Too bad for Phil…I hope he doesn’t want any children!GO Wally, Go!!!

The mind of Mr. Neathery is unknowable to us mere mortals. We may only look on in awe as developments we haven’t even thought of transpire and then we can comment “I didn’t see that coming!”.

Punch swings in, and we fade to a different scene.

Why does Phil look human from the neck down?…

As much as I’d love to see Wally come back to life and beat the snot out of Phil, it seems too predictable for Aaron. I imagine something involving Kirbee and Jim and a blood curdling scream interfering with the festivities. Veteran has listed the other likely possibilities. One that he hasn’t mentioned is Holly making her entrance after Wally has been pounded within an inch of his life and then using her speed to pound the living daylights out of Phil. I believe Flask can attest that Holly can hit pretty hard when she wants to.

4) Phil knock Wally out. And Wally wakes up.It was all a dream.The lizards sound like Topsiders because they are Topsiders. They caught Wally back before the drones leveled the outpost. Wally was dreaming……and his brain is in a PT.

Naaah.

Might some of the figures in the audience be dummies to fill the gaps from the culling?

I really like Wally but it would be an amazing twist if a main character like him were killed.

It’s Wednesday and no Endtown. Anyone know what’s happening?

So how about this: Phil winds up and smashes his fist into Wally’s face as hard as he can… only to see it pass harmlessly through the ditto image that replaced Wally at the last moment. You never know, it’s happened before… ;-)