Pep Talk

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Zik finds out he’s dreaming his encounter with Sensei Raven and Sensei Adam. Well, while he’s here, he’s going to pick their brains about how to defeat the giant Clonoid! His teachers tell him not to be intimidated by the sheer size and strength of the Clonoid. It has the same basic structure as any other human, and therefore the same basic weak points that can be exploited. And Raven reminds Zik of something that he can do that the Clonoid won’t: amp up his attacks with awesome move names! Zik leaves the Dojo, waking back up in reality to find Amelia and Trent racing towards him!

In case you didn’t see the blog on the previous page, Adam and Raven are real people that have helped me immensely in my journey to tell this story. Adam’s guidance with anatomy and Raven’s unwavering focus and audacity with his own comic have both been instructive to me as I take my artistic journey to become a better visual storyteller. Please take some time to check out their comics at Raven’s Dojo and Locus Comics! Both their creations are NSFW, but hey, we’re grown-ups. If you’re not a grown-up, maybe wait until you are before checking them out.

Role Reversal

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Trent finally catches up with Amelia, only to find her standing over the corpse of her erstwhile Clonoid jailer. They compare notes, and Amelia learns what all the commotion she’s been hearing is about. Shocked, she rushes off to help Zik and the others! The prisoner has become the rescuer!

Wang

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Trying to monopolize this big guy’s attention, Zik starts up some mildly insulting banter. He has a point, though: despite all the muscles, there’s literally nothing to interest the ladies back on Zoz! I guess that’s not why Queen Elcyra has them around.  The Clonoid is only too happy to engage Zik directly, and even finishes his sentence for him!

Light Him Up

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Zik and Trent try the first, obvious solution: fill the massive Clonoid with bullets! This guy has incredibly thick skin, it seems, so he’s able to simply brush the bullets off and drop them to the floor. Zik decides that guns are of no further use, so he hands his to Trent and tells him to go find Amelia. Zik wants to take this guy on alone?!

Quite An Entrance

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Things are going well in this riot! The drones are easily dispatched, and there are far fewer soldier Clonoids. Trent points the way to where Amelia is being held captive.

Meanwhile, a trio of prisoners decides to try their luck with a doorway to a restricted area. It’s locked, but something busts its way through! What is happening?!

Diving In

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Despite the ruckus, there’s still a job to do! It’s time to get Amelia! Zik and Trent wade into the fray, taking out whomever they can to try and tip the balance in their favor!

Riot

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Greg hasn’t stopped acting completely irrationally, and immediately starts a riot in the factory! Trent explains to Zik that these guys have always been trouble and have now started something that they probably can’t handle. By the time he and Trent make it inside, there’s a full scale battle going on!

Quickdraw

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A legend is born! It turns out Trent is pretty handy with a pistol! Like a gunslinger right out of the old American West! The Clonoid soldier barely has time to glance over before Trent has shot him straight through the heart. Zik is astounded and gives him the name “Quickdraw” on the spot! Greg irrationally blames Zik for the devastating failure of the attack and runs into the factory!

DEFENDER ZIK LORE BREAK!

Many Zozians have several names. In keeping with the North American First Nations traditions that are so prevalent on Zoz, it starts with the name you were given by your parents when you were born. Later, if you accomplish a memorable deed, you are very likely to receive another name or a title to go along with your original name. Zik became Defender Zik (as we will see in Episode 2), and now Trent has become Trent Quickdraw!

A Fatal Mistake

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Oh no! What a disaster! They get themselves killed trying to start a revolution! Zik curses the rashness of their actions, and probably himself for not seeing it coming, despite Vera’s warning!

Breakpoint

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The Clonoid soldier declares that Zik is under arrest, but before anyone can do anything, the prisoners launch a surprise attack! One sucker punch and one big rock to the snout! Unfortunately, Clonoid soldiers always meet aggression with deadly force, and now the second one moves to attack. Worse, since all the Clonoids are networked, the entire factory, indeed all Clonoids everywhere instantly know what’s happening here! Disaster!