I was hoping the thunder quetz was gonna show up. Maybe Suzocon will actually have a challenge.

All Taran-ouji has to hear is "Party at Suzocon-inu's shrine!" and he'd show up. Plus, that bloody kitsune has his little sister hostage. It wouldn't surprise me if HE were the heavy artillery.

Saida, you need to get your priorities straight. Roko is fine for now, but you two are on Vetra's "Kill on sight" list. She\s NOT gonna believe some stupid dragon managed to kidnap her daughter and steal that fake eye. More like, she's gonna assume Saida is guilty of treason, and stole the eye to try to turn it against her. THat's what most mad monarchs would assume right?

Well, except for the fact that the Eyestone is in Suzocon's shrine, in a device he built to charge it, and he's quite obviously holding Saida-hime hostage - as in, her daughter and Taran's beloved little sister. Saida isn't the one that killed two of her royal bodyguard and ate the third, either. When the Queen ***** of this universe arrives, she's going to be royally pissed off, and probably ready to send Suzocon up to join the kami the hard way.

O.o uhh yea not only that they need to slip out without Suzocon noticing and thats gonna be a difficult so he is likely watching them like a hawk so them trying to find a way to slip away to find roko is gonna get mighty difficult

Suzocon's about to have much, MUCH bigger fish to worry about than Brand and Saida.

so theres a chance they'll be able to slip away unnoticed then

be quiet!

Fine indeeed

Brand has a part to play, start looking Saida

O.o ahh crud... battle imminant but i am sure roko is okay... for now... cuz uhh they still need to deal with Suzocon cuz they need to find a way to slip by but not with Suzocon watching them like a hawk so this is gonna be a difficult for them to slip out

I think you should listen to Saida-hime, Brand. If anyone knows what Quetz City is going to send against Kitsune Island it's her, and she knows you really, REALLY don't want to be at Ground Zero when the Five Hells all break loose at once.

That thing of Suzocon's looks aimed directly at the Eyestone - and Brand - as well. And that storm cloud covering Quetz Laputa is looking even more ominous. I think it's just about time to bid Moreau-hakase an unfond farewell, find Roko and RUN, while the two biggest jackasses on the planet have their Thunderdome Throwdown.

so basically they can have a chance to slip away to find roko then

whats left of roko

Best I can judge he's only been in the Infinity Trap a few hours. Suzocon had said it takes minimum of days to months for it to mindwipe someone. He'll probably be more or less intact, but worse for wear.

He's never going to complain about the balloon animal again, that's for sure.

They might have a slight minor case of severe brain damage. For a while.

So, completely normal for Roko-san.

When he was alive his head was as empty as his balloon form.

finally she speaks up! :) but i'd love to see the real kitsune like stuck and in trouble somewhere

I think you'll get your wish when either Vetra, Taran, the entire quetz army, or some combination of the above show up and start raining death from above on Suzocon's shrine.

yeah i bet so Specially the whole finding and freeing roko

Friendly reminder that Saida saying "we" means "I", Saida herself. I wonder what Brand is doing, circling the device - that creates vapor doesn't it?

yeah... about that...

They better find his bread crumb quick. Bonus: If they do rescue him, they get to trash Suzocon's Re-Animator lab!

Assuming there aren't any traps in there. Suzo isn't the most sane individual, after all.

Very cunning and very smart, but yeah. Just like every other demigod in this world, something broke him but good. He's also hopelessly overconfident and almost never has guests show up, so he probably figures just the secrecy of the lab's enough security.

We'll find out soon enough.

He might be a little dizzy tho :P

Never leave your balloon friends out in a storm.

YES! Finally!

And looks like there's a storm a'comin, in more ways than one!

And Suzokon-kyo is busy raising at least one major shrine defense. When the Thunderdome Throwdown finally happens, it's gonna set the sky on fire. If that isn't the grandaddy of all distractions...

And Saida-hime knows that shit is about to get real. Oh boy does she know. Let's see, what's going to piss of the entire hornet's nest more?

- Saida being held hostage by Suzocon.
- Suzocon unaliving three of her bodyguards, including the one he ate.
- Suzocon having her Eyestone.

Royally pissed is what they're going to be when they arrive.

Indeed... We all knew it was coming but I have to wonder if Vimir might surprise us

Oh yes, assuming she's familiar with her mother's wrath, or at least has a good idea of it in mind (Hornet's nest, great analogy here!)

Oh yes...

(Odds are she's only going to care about the stone, but she might bring up the others to justify the hell she's about to unleash upon his island... and thinking about it's probably a good thing Miyu isn't around to see what's going to happen! o.o)

I don't know about Vetra, but I do know Taran-ouji has a huge soft spot for his "lil sis" and he packs a wallop. Suzocon-sama is about to have his paws full. I think he knows exactly what's coming too.

Because this isn't the first time they've met.

Oh yus!

As for  Virmir suprising us... that's always a possibility. No matter how much I fanboi around, as a writer... keeping your audience guessing keeps them engaged. And I do know one thing from my tabletop RPG experience: Arcane Artificers are a bastard to fight. I expect Suzokon-kyo will have quite a bag of tricks and isn't afraid to start throwing them at whatever shows up.

Agreed, and oh yes! It'll definitely be interesting to see what happens

I've been right about half the time and dead wrong the other half. Guess what? That keeps me engaged, too! I never mind being Jossed (theories proven wrong by the creator). I can't read Virmir's mind and I wouldn't want to have the whole story spoiled for me.

As a writer myself that's the HARDEST part. You have a whole story, a whole universe, in your head... but you have to leak it out to your readers very carefully. Too slow a pace they lose interest. Too fast a pace, you leave half the story behind and lose them faster. He knows exactly how this all is going to turn out - but we learn it one comic at a time.

I'm learning a lot from Virmir. Suzokon-kyo was a great slow-burn villain, and like a great villain character - and kitsune - he keeps everyone guessing.

And that's what makes a great storyteller.

Agreed, when watching shows alone or with my family it's always fun to have our theories proven correct but it's also fun to be taken by surprise and completely blown away by unexpected twists and reveals!^^

Oh yes, always something I struggled with when coming up with my own ideas, having so much lore I want to reveal or include. And oh yes...

Oh definitely! Right from the start he was an unknown, we didn't know who he was or what he wanted, whether or not he could be trusted, whether he was good, bad, or something else entirely, and even as we got to know him more we still didn't know the answers to these questions until only recently!

It really does

Even now, there's a LOT we don't know about Lord Suzocon. Some we may never learn, some may come up in due time because of plot relevance.

- How did he come across Miyo? Did she wash up dead on his shores, or did he murder her just to get a body?
- Why does he seem to have a specific grudge against the quetz?
- Was he once the Puppetmancer, or related (such as being his deshi)?
- Was he once a zenko-kitsune, a Noble Fox spirit, and went bad? Or was he always this way?
- Is the tail in the Eyestone his? If not, can he use it to cheat-code his way to his 9th tail?
- Was he once a kyuubi no kitsune, or has he never had a ninth tail? (Comic seems to imply the latter, but it's never been stated).

And a lot of his actions are morally grey. What he did to the quetz bodyguards was an atrocity and a mortal insult to Vetra, but they did attack him in his own shrine, and he attempted to dissuade them twice from continuing that action before turning his foxfire and his teeth on them.

But the Moral Event Horizon, as the TVTropers say, was what he did to Roko. Trying to casually mind-rape a senpai of your own clan into insanity and death is unambiguously evil and worse, extremely dishonorable. And he had a predatory smile pasted on his muzzle the whole time he was doing it - petty vengeance for Roko calling him out. Most other kitsune of ancient times would consider him nothing but a dog and a stain upon them all.

There was nothing enigmatic or mysterious about Darya or Vetra or Ayal. But Suzocon forever keeps the protagonists, and us, guessing.

Indeed

- Oh geez! o.o Well it seems he created her, and numerous others like her, but is she based off something or just meant to be generic?
- My first impression was him disliking their authority
- That is indeed quite the question, especially with our first look at the soulless Miyo
- Oooh, very good question! Especially since we don't know what all lead to his other tails...
- Interesting :o
- Very interesting indeed, and yeah some fans think he might've been a nine-tail before Vetra took one of his tails, leading to his grudge (but the story does imply he wants to gain his ninth tail by becoming the new god of life)

Indeed indeed, and after that he couldn't just let them go because it would lead to more trouble for him

Agreed... And good to hear! (I can understand kitsunes having a disregard for the lives of others, but to do something so atrocious to their own kind? One who is basically still only a child to them...)

Very true

- The original body had to come from somewhere. Her body was cloned, not completely artificial, unless I misunderstood something. She was dead and he's trying to literally re-animate her. If he can take death and make it life again, he has total command of both, in his twisted thinking.
- Good guess. He considers anything and anyone on his island his property to do with as he pleases, and anything outside no concern of his. And he and Vetra are direct competitors - and enemies.
- Miyo. it turned out, wasn't actually a puppet, even a meat puppet. She's a Re-Animator experiment, one of hundreds, gone wrong, Her lack of eyeshine showed a lack of life-force, mana, whatever you want to call it. with a fatal flaw.
- Roko hinted that in this universe, tails are gained through age. It's much more complex in the mythology but don't need to go into that here.
- I think we're about to find out the answer to both questions once Vetra arrives and tries to reclaim both her daughter and her Eyestone from Suzocon.

- Good point, and oh yes! Given her backstory I think he might've found her, but there's no telling if that was a lie or not... (If he isn't above subjecting his own kind to a fate worse than death for the sake of his experiments, he certainly wouldn't have issues with killing an innocent fox and potentially others in order to accomplish his goals)
- Yep, definitely, and he most certainly wouldn't want the Quetz to come in acting like they own the place, which they most certainly would
- Yup, though at the time it was easy to imagine that she was a lifeless puppet
- Well he said that their first few just by surviving long enough, but from there it's implied that any future tails have to be earned through accomplishments, making the possession of eight to be very significant
- Indeed!