The Young Protectors: Double-Cross Chapter One—Page 21

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Original comic page at: https://youngprotectors.com/typ3/doublecross-ch1-page-21/

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She’s baaaack.

In other news, I asked our awesome Patrons what they would like to be called and by a huge landslide vote they have chosen. This comic would not be possible without their continued support, so let me extend a very warm shout out to all the members of the newly christened Woolfpack!

And it’s my great pleasure to send out a very special Woolfpack anniversary “thank you!” to these real superheroes who have been supporting our work month after month!

First let me thank our members who have been supporting for the last 12 months as of this week (Apr 21-27):

Love Machines From Ix, David E. and Katie E.

(Y’all totally rock!)

And a howling-at-the-moon thank you as well as for a Woolfpack member who has been supporting for 36 months of this week (Apr 21-27):

David P.

(Three years of support! Thank you so much, David!)

And, finally, let me send out a top-of-the-food-chain thank you to those members of the Woolfpack who have been supporting this comic and our work from the very beginning!

Here are all the awesome readers who have been supporting me and this comic for 48 months (4 years!) as of this week (Apr 21-27):

Gioia-Rodica, Kabbalist, Olaf, Julien D., Brian F., David H., and Eric L.

Such an awesome group of folks! Thank you so, so much, y’all!

Thank you all so much for your amazing, ongoing support! It’s the consistent support that is what really allows me to continue making this comic! You all truly are superheroes!

(Want to make sure this comic continues? Would you like to have access to special benefits like extra-sexy pages, exclusive Young Protectors pin-ups, and behind-the-scenes scripts and art? Please take a look at my Patreon page and consider running with your fellow awesome readers as part of The Woolfpack!)

So! Looks like Spooky was right to be cautious. These cultists had some help. Some very dangerous help. What is she doing here? What is she going to do with that kid? And what are our heroes going to do about it?

Tune in this Saturday to find out! Hope to see you there! 😀

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You can’t keep a really, really (nasty, bad, evil, rotten, despicable) (fashionable, gorgeous, well-put-together, and FABULOUS!) Witch down! Especially in heels…
{I never thought Clairol had that much bleach!}
But look close, very close, she’s not on the altar. There’s grass beneath her feet and that huge mausoleum with the globe on top is behind her. That’s not inside the tree circle. Look back one page and look at the trees delineating the circle. One tree didn’t have a child tied to it. She’s snatching the kids from their bedrooms. I wonder if she also has a spell that wipes memories?

(I added some commas)

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hmm. It would be helpful if Corey could accio the staff away from the Priestess, but that’s a heck of a thing to ask of a newbie power player who hasn’t been trained and doesn’t even know if they want to get into this life. Probably should change the plan to one where Corey safely hides from all this. Except, if Plati-Puss was able to overhear Commander’s telepathic communications, Corey might not be able to hide if she can hear an extra person thinking near her.

Oh dear. Let’s hope they even have some time to come up with a plan. Can we at least assume that Spooky and Mitch have been in brainstorming meetings with the rest of TYP deciding what they would do if they encountered specific known foes like the Platinum Priestess?

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HA! I CALLED IT LAST PAGE WITH THE MINIONS AND THEIR CLOAKS!!!

xD

… yet I wish I was wrong…

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It does look as if she remembers who she is, unlike (maybe) Duncan.

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Sircea, the Platinum Priestess . . . was first seen on chapter 1.2 page 14 of Engaging the Enemy along with her stainless steel trident, her stainless steel push-up bra, and her own unique typeface (with tails as ornamentation, the typeface, not Sircea).

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Steel trident? Steel bra? I was assuming her outfit used actual platinum wherever possible.

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Of course she would be using Platinum, but I was being sarcastic. I also had the impression that her hair in these times had turned to that silvery-platinum color. However, in her flashback of ancient times, her hair is a pale blonde shade.

The page is here:

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I like the way you think, my friend. But that might indeed be a lot to ask of young Cory right now.

With Commander in charge, you can count on it. How effective those sessions will be? Well, we’ll just have to see. :slight_smile:

Hmmmm. :slight_smile:

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I went on a deep look back through Engaging the Enemy. When The Annihilator (Duncan) conjures an opening to Laampro’s dimension in Chapter 2, it is revealed that he and the Platinum Priestess (Sircea) wants “immortality and perfect health.” As Laampros puts it - “pretend to be gods.” {Chapter 2 page 38}
In Chapter 3 pages 46, 47, 48, 55, and ending page 65, Sircea and Duncan have a strange discussion where she accuses Duncan of having doubts and he assures her that he does not have doubts. She also discusses the GREY WORKING and how she lost her immortality and how the dimensional walls are crumbling, yada, yada, yada…
Sircea makes a great big deal about Duncan’s seeming regrets over his falling in love with Kyle. She even threatens to walk away from Duncan and abandon the entire endeavor of bringing Laampros to earth. Duncan would of course die because he’s got Laampros’ mark on him.
What if that entire plan was the double-cross?
What if Sircea set up Duncan to take the fall even after they received "immortality? What it succeed or fail, Duncan was her designated fall guy?
What if Duncan becoming “Young Duncan” was Sircea’s way of minimizing Duncan’s power and influence in their new kingdom/world if it all succeeded?
After all, Sircea ran away (Chapter 4, page 50) right after Duncan was knocked out and she was defeated by the combined efforts of the Young Protectors and suffered a blast from Kyle’s fire.
AND NOW, Sircea is the most powerful witch on planet earth.

{Added: FYI- you get five minutes to edit these comments before the tiny red pencil shows up and lets the world know that you edited it.}

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Yes, I noticed the hair color change (reversion?) here too. Interesting how some subtle color differences can change the overall effect of a character, isn’t it? Leaves her a little less monochromatic than before (minus the skin tone).

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Hooray for the return of a known troublemaker! The mark of great story is not only how good the heroes are but also how developed their antagonists are. And Platinum Priestess is a fantastic antagonist! I mean, she has the whole powers/witchcraft thing and the evil maniacal plans part down pat. But I love the design of her; she has the body type and clothing design that, in many other potential characters, would be sexy. But because of some great renderings by our lovely artists, there is just…something off about her, just a little, that makes it all a little creepy. Almost uncanny valley-esque, in a way. Like she’s not fully human.

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What exactly was the deal between Laampros and the two villains? The deal was negotiated by Laampros and the Platinum Priestess through intermediaries. But my impression is that what was spoken at the sealing of the deal was the entirety of the agreement. If details agreed at the prior negatiations but not mentioned at the closing of the deal were binding, it would have been mentioned.

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Very interesting speculation, Dave. Fun for me to read.

Thank you, Adam! She certainly is a lot of fun for me to write. :slight_smile:

More than a few people would say she stopped being human many, many years ago.

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“I bet you thought you’d seen the last of me!” coughs
good thing Spooky’s leading the charge-- Mitch could’ve gotten in Big Trouble.
hhMMMMM it’s been a verrryyy long time since we saw PP. What’s she gotten involved in now? which reminds me, I wonder what/how kid! Duncan’s doing…

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I know! It’s been kind of fun to see people go from “hey, it’s PP!” in the last couple pages to go the next step of “but what about Duncan??” It does sort of beg the question, doesn’t it? Even he isn’t involved in this scene/chapter.

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Hmm. I wonder that too. :slight_smile: