Consummation
From Walkypedia!
| "Consummation" |
| Strip: It's Walky! |
| Start Date: April 4, 2004 |
| End Date: May 12, 2004 |
Walky and Joyce start dreaming of a new life together, while Joe's meeting with his internet girlfriend takes not one, but two unexpected turns. Walky's visions return, and they are nothing but utter horror.
Contents |
Story
As with Unfinished Business, this storyline has three simultaneous subplots. The format is a bit different, as the first and second subplots alternate, while the third subplot is displayed on the same page, starting at [1]. Again, I will deal with the subplots separately below.
First subplot: Happy together
It begins with awkwardness: Walky wants to tell Joyce about what happened when he went to the bathroom, but she's not in the mood for "poopie talk": "No! I said No! Bad Walky!" ([2]). Perhaps because of this, Joyce remembers Daniel, worrying about what has happened to him as SEMME was disbanded. Walky reassures her, telling him that he's "probably in good hands". Meanwhile, in a Washington, DC storage room full of wooden crates marked SEMME, a "Woof!" is heard from one crate ([3]).
Joyce gets out the new shirts without yellow stripes that they bought; it's no longer a good idea to be publicly associated with SEMME. Walky is reluctant, but reminded that Taco Bell had refused them service, he throws away his old shirt.
They talk and relax, still shaken by the unexpected change of their future options. Suddenly Walky blurts out "We should get married." ([4]) As they get excited by the idea, Walky again has a vision of a crying, horrified Joyce. Shaking it off, he improves on his spontaneous proposal:
- Joyce Brown, it is with great honor an' stuff that I humbly ask if you totally wanna be Mrs. Joyce Walkerton or the hyphenated lastname equivalent of your choice.
He then proceeds to put a White Castle chicken ring on her finger. They get into a silly giggling/smooching mood, and then suddenly both sober up. They stare wordlessly into each other's eyes for a few beats, then Walky says "Roger, Tower, I'm going in" and Joyce starts to giggle hysterically ([5]). After 15 seconds of frantic lovemaking, Walky says: "We'll get better at that, right?"
- Events of Trojan Horrors occur here
They actually get a fair bit of practice in during the night, and they (as well as Greg and Bill) begin to realize that when superstrong individuals have sex, it puts a great strain on furniture. At 10 AM, Joyce and Walky are sleeping (well, Joyce is) on the floor, every piece of furniture being crushed by their previous activities. ([6]). They are both happy with the decision they've made; Joyce is stunned by how good she feels and how different this experience is from how she once feared it would be.
Joyce phones her mother, who is delighted to hear of her daughter's deflowering, immediately sending them $5,000. This comes in handy when they check out; after paying for the damage they caused they have $1,500 left. A flashback page shows Joyce's internal reactions to her having sex for the first time ([7]).
Sarah catches them outside the hotel. She has overheard something at O'Ryan's office that has made her suspect some kind of foul play, and she wants to offer Joyce some help. She believes that SEMME will be under attack later in the evening. Joyce immediately wants to go her friends' rescue, but Walky pleads with her not to go back. He tries to tell her that horrible things will happen, and he is desperate to keep both of them out of it. As Joyce gives him a disapproving stare, he remembers how he failed to save her when they were children. Joyce reassures him: nothing can harm them as long as they are together ([8]). Walky finally finds it in him to stand up against his fears. He and Joyce will go to Denver, and they will be "arriving with style" ([9]).
Second subplot: You!
At midnight, Joe is waiting in a mostly empty parking lot. He has an appointment with his internet girlfriend. When she shows up, they are both (unpleasantly) surprised. It turns out that they have met several times before, and know each other as "Supermarket Checkout Chick" and "Supersexist Jerk Customer" ([10]). Convinced it will never work out, Rachel turns to leave. Robin appears from nowhare and blocks her path: "Not so fast, sunshine." ([11]) She demands that Rachel give Joe a chance, and not condemn him for his past rude behavior. She then tries to evoke Rachel's jealousy by putting her hand inside Joe's pants. Rachel finds this amusing, Joe mentions the Robo-Vac movie date, and before they know it they are geeking out together over their common Robo-Vac interest. Robin withdraws, but throws a small rock at Rachel before leaving. Joe thanks her for her help, and Robin wistfully wishes him good luck ([12]).
Third subplot: Walkyvision
All the frames in this subplot are in white on black, signifying that they are seen through Walky's mind.
As SEMME is being shut down, agents are busy packing stuff in boxes and carrying them away. Tony is sullen, but Sal (who carries a large box balanced on her index finger) seems to be grimly satisfied. Suddenly, everyone falls over as if there has been an earthquake. As Tony hits the floor violently, a dust cloud and flying debris is seen in the air behind him. He calls out to Sal, Jason, and Linda: "We're under attack." ([13])
(Chronology note: this is shown on the same page in which Walky and Joyce have sex the first time (late in the evening), but the next morning they are warned that the attack on SEMME will take place on the evening of that day. This leads to interesting juxtapositions of events and people as the visions carry on alongside the more mundane and romantic plotlines.)
A furious Linda starts handing out handguns to the agents. She quickly starts rallying her troops, picking some of them to follow her (Sal, Tony, Jason, Guns, Jim, and Beef) and ordering Mandy to take the others (including Bryan and Daisy) outside. Mandy starts rounding up people (e.g. Mike and Agatha). Robin and Marcie see them hurrying towards the exit: "Geez, where's the fire?" ([14]).
Robin quickly gets ahead of the others. Outside, she sees soldiers disorientedly returning fire from some unseen enemy (actually the "britjas" of the JFO under Penny's command). Penny doesn't have time for this: she orders the entrance area "firebombed" ([15]). Even the hardened britjas find this brutal, but obey her order. Robin realizes that all the soldiers defending the entrance are about to be incinerated. Then, an explosion covers most of the front of the complex. Robin comes running out of the blast, carrying one soldier under each arm.
Inside, Mandy and her group are stopped in their tracks by the blast. Meanwhile, Linda leads her task force deeper inside to find Doc and Alan. Outside, Penny prepares to take over the building and taking command of SEMME personnel by any means necessary.
As Mandy's group recover from the explosion, Daisy's brainwashing kicks in. She pulls her handgun on the others, specifically Grace: "You will do as I say." Mandy surreptiously orders Marcie (who stands closest to Daisy) to execute "Delta 8" ([16]). She then tries to distract Daisy by negotiating with her to put down her gun. Marcie's hand is seen reaching for Daisy's arm. Daisy fires, killing Mandy. As Bryan has Marcie in a choke-hold and Mike is seen sprayed with Mandy's blood and brains, Daisy repeats her order. Grace, looking at Mandy's dead body, says: "No. No. Never." ([17]). She proclaims that she loved Mandy, and that by killing her, Daisy has just assured that Grace would rather die than submit.
Penny and the britjas appear. Penny mocks Grace, telling the agents that they have no choice but to join her command. To demonstrate her ruthlessness, she shoots Grace in cold blood. The britjas outside report "strange incoming objects", and Walky in a pilot's seat is superimposed on the vision, signifying that he enters the scene at this point ([18]).
Trivia
- The storyline has 6 regular daily strips, 27 double daily strips (with Walkyvision), and 6 sunday pages.
- Big Name It's Walky! Fans Animal and Gerald have cameos in this storyline: Animal as a soldier on guard outside the SEMME Complex ([19], the one with the mustache), and Gerald as a SEMME agent in Mandy's company.
| Previous storyline | This storyline | Next storyline |
|---|---|---|
| Unfinished Business | Consummation (see also Trojan Horrors) | 'Cause When I'm Bad |
