The pain is real
Are you ever reading a completed fanfic, and then you notice how a chapter in particular ends on a gigantic fucking cliffhanger, like the mother of all cliffhangers, and you need to take a moment to remember all those people that read this when it was still a work in progress. RIP friends
Half Past Danger Issue #1 - Review by Emmet O'Brien Torn from every cliffhanger comic strip, blessed with the same breathless energy as a matinee serial and full of dynamic energy, Stephen Mooney's Half Past Danger is an absolute delight and easily one of the most fun comics being put out at the moment. It's the province of pulp to throw element after element at you and for any thrill seeking heart a comic that packs in retro hi-jinx, femme fatales and "War is (Prehistoric) Hell" asides will charm a particular sort of reader. Comics can be so dour and psychological these days, deconstructing but not celebrating. Now I must admit, my own particular sensibilities run alongside this tonal tornado as a kid weaned on, Indiana Jones, Tintin, The Phantom, Ka-Zar, Doc Savage and their ilk and despite a resolutely Irish hero in HPD's Tommy Flynn the DNA is easy to isolate as being of a very American flavoured action story. It's the Irish aspect that adds a little extra spice to this brew of disparate action tropes. The story of an Army Squad coming face to face with dinosaurs while on patrol on an isolated Japanese Island, the book is fast paced and dangerous, a tricky thing to establish legitimate peril while having a tongue very much in its cheek but it succeeds with roguish aplomb. If anything almost too much happens, Flynn finds himself traumatised after the Jurassic jaunt and is drowning his sorrows in New York when he is approached by two mysterious British military types, one being a Steve Rogers-esque bruiser while the other is an alluring dame. Pitched at a hyper real level with Mooney's art at its current apex (we can only imagine the more settled he becomes in this world, the even more vibrant the art will become) this is the sort of comic I have been waiting for, for a very long time. Beautifully punched up with Jordie Bellaire's superlative colouring skills, further adding a timeless old world sheen, one can get lost in the tones and textures of the mad-cap world Flynn has to navigate through. With just enough intrigue to hook but not overwhelm and spectacle aplenty, this is derring-do, daringly done right. Keep up to date with Half Past Danger and the talented Stephen Mooney through his site. http://www.halfpastdanger.com/
Hey guys! Here is chapter 3! I don’t have anything to say about this story without any spoilers (sadly) But without any delay, lets get into the story.
Fresh, Geno, and Error belong to @loverofpiggies
MommaCQ and herself belong to @alainaprana
Other characters and story belong to me, @leiselpizzatale
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“F-fresh?”
Fresh looked up, seeing Geno lying on the couch. The T.V. across them was on, but Fresh couldn’t see or hear the show that was on, somehow.
“Yea brah? Whatcha need?”
Geno coughed a bit, before saying, “I t-think it’s time f-for my medicine. Can you g-get it for *cough* me?”
Fresh smiled, saying, “Sure brah! One bottle of pills, coming right up!”
Geno giggled. “Maybe not a w-whole bottle, hehe. Maybe just two, w-with some water?”
“Sure brah! Let me get dem pills and water. I’ll be right back!”
After a bit of struggle, he finally got the pills and a glass of water, and went to the living room. “Here Geno, I got… your…” Fresh said, dropping the pills and water.
In front of him was Geno, but he looked different. For one, he looked like an adult, not a ten-almost-eleven year old. Secondly, he had a red streak that ran across his chest, and it only took a couple seconds for Fresh to find out that it was a cut, and the red of it was blood. Looking up, he saw that the scarf he was wearing had a bit of dust. Monster dust, Fresh realizes. Geno also saw that there was a bit of blood in his teeth too.
“Why did you hit me Fresh?!” Adult-Geno yelled. His voice was different too, more baritone than Geno’s high pitched voice. “Why did you hurt me?! Why don’t you kill me while your at it!”
Fresh couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. He was too frightened of seeing Adult-Geno to do anything.
Adult-Geno started chuckling, closing his eye sockets, before opening them again. In the eye socket was a blue and red Iris, and with an angry tone, Adult-Geno finale words were,
“Well, why don’t I just return the favor?”
And with that, a demon skull appeared in front of Adult-Geno, before blasting a beam of white light at Fresh, before Fresh’s sight blacked out. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“NO!” Fresh yelled, sitting up on his bed. He looked around. He wasn’t in his old house. Instead, he was in Alaina’s, in the guest-turned-into-his bedroom. Fresh pressed his knees to his rib cage, a sob escaping him as he placed his skull onto his kneecaps.
For a while, Fresh did nothing but cry. A couple times, Fresh would even whisper, “I’m sorry Geno,”. Soon enough, Fresh’s sobs became small whimpers, and he found out that he was surrounded by a bunch of arms, belonging to Alaina and her parents.
Softly, Alaina’s mother said to Fresh, “Let’s get you some hot chocolate, shall we?”
Fresh nodded. He really wanted something to drink, so why not hot chocolate? They headed down the Living Room, where Fresh sat down on the couch, a blanket covering his shoulders. Alaina sat next to him, rubbing his back as he looked down.
Soon enough, Alaina’s mom walked in, carrying a mug full of hot chocolate. With a small, “Thank You,“ Fresh took the cup, taking small sips. It was quiet for a while. The only noises there were was the ticking of the clock, which when Fresh looked up, read 3:51, everyone’s breathing, and Fresh drinking his hot chocolate.
Finally, Alaina, in a small voice, asked, “So Fresh, can you tell me what your nightmare was about?”
Fresh flinched, which Alaina quickly replied, “I’m sorry! You don’t have to answer if you do-“ “No”.
Everyone looked at Fresh, who had a serious look toward Alaina. He put down his hot chocolate, took Alaina’s hands, saying, “When someone proposes, and the person getting proposed agrees, that means that they trust each other, and that they want to be together for the rest of eternity. And you can’t trust someone if they lie or don’t tell you something repeatedly, “.
Fresh looked away, saying, "And for the entire time we’ve known each other, you knew NOTHING about me, except simple things like my favorite food or movie. Well, “Fresh looked back, a determined look on his face, "I’m going to tell you everything about my life before meeting you,”.
“Now you hold on a second there, “Alaina’s mom said, "It’s very late, and I know that we are all exhausted. So why don’t we all head to bed, and get to hear Fresh’s life story tomorrow, once everyone is out of work,”.
Fresh and Alaina looked at each other. It was true that they were all tired, and they could all wait until tomorrow. So after saying goodnight to everyone, Fresh took his hot chocolate, drank the rest of it, and put it in the sink, before heading to bed. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Fresh was nervous. He was on the bus, heading home, and he couldn’t stop shaking. He’s never been this nervous. Not even when he proposed to Alaina almost three weeks ago. He was about to tell everyone about where he came from. A shiver ran through his body just thinking of it. Finally, Fresh though as he pulled the rope.
When he got home, he saw Alaina and her parents on the couch. They turned to him, small but supporting smiles on their faces. Fresh gave a small smile as well, before sitting on the chair across them.
“Are ya ready?” Fresh asked.
Alaina’s mother answered, “We should be asking you that!”
Fresh shook his head, “Nah. I’ve been ready since early this morning. Just a bit nervous as all,“. Fresh breathed in, held his breath, before breathing out. “Alright, let’s get this over with, “.
And with that, Fresh talked about his family. He talked about CQ, how she was the best artist he’s ever seen, and how amazing her drawings were. He talked about Error, who apparently cried the first time he got to see Fresh, because of how scary Fresh’s eyes were. He told about how he was emotionless for quite a while, the answer to why was unknown.
Then, with a heavy heart, he talked about Geno. He talked about how he had such a big heart to anyone and everyone. He talked about how Geno was always going in between their house and the hospital, due to his illness that was probably impossible to cure. He told them that no matter how hard Geno bounced into the hospital, he would always keep on smiling.
Finally, he told of the incident. Fresh tried, he really did, but every time he’d start telling them, he would burst out crying. It took him about half an hour to get through the entire story.
And through the entire thing, Alaina and her parents were supportive, holding him whenever he started crying again. ‘I’m so happy that I proposed to the right woman’ Fresh thought.
After they calmed down, Alaina’s mom asked quietly, "You know what you should do now?”. Confused, Fresh shook his head. Alaina’s mom suddenly bursting with joy, saying, “You should go home! You could take a big trip, going all the way to… uh, where did you say you lived?”
After getting over the shock of Alaina’s mom’s outburst, he replied, “New Mexico.”
“Wow! That’s so far away! Anyway, you could get some time off from the lab, pack up, bring Alaina, and meet your family after so many years!”
While Alaina’s mom kept talking, Fresh felt a deep burning inside him. Before he could recognize it, he yelled, “IT’S NOT THAT FUNKING EASY!”
Fresh looked around, teeth clenched tightly. Both Alaina and her parents were in shock. Through the entire time they’ve known Fresh, he’s never swore. Fresh gave a big huff, before stomping up to his room, slamming the door.