Therkla guides the group through a tunnel to the beach. Meanwhile, Lien expresses her suspicions towards Therkla.
Cast[]
- Elan ◀ ▶
- Durkon Thundershield ◀ ▶
- Lien ◀ ▶
- Daigo Da- ◀ ▶
- Banjo the Clown ◀ ▶
- Therkla ◀ ▶
- Cyclops
- Odysseus
- Two Greeks
- Four Sheep
- A Ninja
Transcript[]
- Panel 1
Therkla points at a tunnel entrance door with an octagonal symbol.
Therkla: This way everyone! There's a shortcut through here to the water, so you can get back to Hinjo's boat.
- Panel 2
Lien: Wait, she knows Lord Hinjo's name? Elan, I don't think, we can trust this woman.
Daigo: Yeah, she could be leading us into a trap. I mean, a new trap.
Elan: No, it's cool. I fought beside her once before.
- Panel 3
In the tunnel.
Elan: Don't you guys see?
Elan: She wears a mask, she shows up every time we're in trouble, and we don't know her real name. Isn't it obvious?
Elan: She's a superhero!
- Panel 4
A sign reads: Welcome to the Greg Initiative / Station 32 / The Smiley Face
Lien: Elan, she's a ninja!
Elan: No, see, she just has a ninja themed motif to strike fear into the hearts of cowardly and superstitious criminals.
- Panel 5
Cutaway to Therkla, sitting by a window, while a ninja falls through.
Ninja: Gah!
Therkla: A ninja! That's it! It's an omen! I shall become a NINJA!
- Panel 6
Elan: Either that, or she was bitten by a radioactive ninja...
Lien: She was willing to let orcs sacrifice me, Elan!
Elan: Huh? What are you talking about? She didn't show up until after—
- Panel 7
Lien: Stop and think for a minute, Elan! She was the one behind the altar, don't you recognize her voice??
Lien: She was the clown!
Elan: Oh, so first she's a ninja, now she's a clown? Was she a pirate-robot-monkey, too?
- Panel 8
Elan: Puh-lease. You're just jealous that she has a secret identity and you paladins don't.
Lien: Well, how about I just Detect Evil on her and—
Therkla: *gulp!*
- Panel 9
Therkla stands still in the tunnel while Elan and Lien run by right in front of her. Lien Detects Evil only on Elan who qualifies as "STILL NOT EVIL".
Lien: Hey, where did she go?
Elan: See?? She disappeared while we were looking away, just like a real superhero.
Lien: Or, like, I don't know, a NINJA!
Elan: A ninja superhero, exactly.
- Panel 10
Durkon: Can we please table tha ninja discussion 'til AFTER we're done escapin'??
Daigo: Agreed! This tunnel is creeping me out.
Daigo: I keep having flashbacks to earlier strips.
Lien: Fine. I still say it's ridiculous to think that a superhero would just show up on a random island in the middle of the ocean.
Elan: It's happened before.
Lien: Name one time.
- Panel 11
Cutaway to three ancient greek men with a boat, some sheep and X-Men's Cyclops on a small island.
Cyclops: Hey.
Trivia[]
- This comic contains numerous references to the TV series Lost:
- The symbol on the door resembles the DHARMA Initiative logo.
- The "Greg Initiative" in panel 4 is a reference to the DHARMA Initiative mentioned above, as well as the TV series Dharma & Greg.
- Daigo mentions flashbacks, a common element in Lost.
- Also, there are a lot of superhero references:
- Elan fifth panel recreates the origin story of Batman, with a ninja in place of a bat.
- The "radioactive ninja" line is a reference to the origin of Spider-Man.
- The final panel shows the X-Men's Cyclops, taking the place of the cyclops Polyphemus in Homer's Odyssey, who is a sheep herder.
- Finally, keeping with the theme of conflating ancient Greece and Marvel's X-Men, the title refers to the X-Men's Colossus, taking the place of the Colossus of Rhodes.