Comic 1200 - The End (Part 5)
Posted on 6th Nov 2019, 2:28 AM
in The End
Average Rating: 5 (8 votes) /
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Author Notes:
I'll see you guys on Discord and in my next comic, I'm definitely not done yet.
"Wow," Cam finally blurts out. "That's crazy, big lady."
"Right?," replies Michelle. "This all happened in like, three months. Feels like years at this point."
"So what about you?," Cam asks. "What are YOU gonna do?"
"Leave," Michelle says simply. "I said my goodbyes and I bought a motorcycle. I'm gettin' the hell outta this city and I ain't lookin' back. Not for a while. You're, uh... the last person I was gonna hit up. So." She gives a small shrug and a weak smile. "Seeya. It was nice meetin' ya, Cam. Wish it coulda been on nicer terms."
There's a brief silence between them before Michelle turns and starts to walk away.
"Wait."
Michelle stops.
Cam's face tightens.
"I... I know. I know about tube cops, Michelle.
I... I know what happens to tube cops."
Cam pauses, almost choking on the words. She takes a breath. "I'm not going to let you just... drive off somewhere to die. Not...
Not by yourself. Take me with you."
Michelle turns back around to face Cam... but there's no hint of sadness in her expression. She smiles again, wider, to Cam's mild confusion.
"I ain't gonna die," Michelle says bluntly. "I mean, not like that I'm not. Finch checked, and my uh... what the hell's he call it? My rational cellular degeneration's stopped. Caius, too. All the dumb tube cop stuff that's s'posed to kill us, it ain't happenin'. In fact..." Michelle throws her arms wide in an enormous shrug, grinning wider. "I ain't even aging. None of us are, not in any way that matters. We can't feel Blondie, but... wherever she is...
wherever she is, she's still lookin' out for us."
Cam swallows dryly, trying to talk herself back from the tears she was fighting. "So you're going to go look for her, then."
"Nah," Michelle replies nonchalantly, further confusing Cam. "There's a genius, a wizard, and all kinds o' other people smarter than me workin' on that already. I know I ain't just gonna like... drive out somewhere and find her in the woods or whatever. I figure she'll be back when she's good and ready. Blondie got me to have hope again... gave me the life I couldn't have. She let me be a real person. If I wasted it chasin' her... well, I'd be wastin' it. I really don't know where I'm goin', but... I told her, when this was all over, I wanted to leave. I wanna be anywhere but here. I wanna see the world, pet some cute birds, maybe start a family or somethin'. I dunno. People stuff. I was made to fight. ...I ain't gotta do that anymore if I don't wanna. Blondie..."
Michelle pauses.
The smile almost breaks. Almost.
"Mine made that possible, and I'm not gonna let it be for nothin'. She's gonna be alright. I... I'm gonna be alright. Livin' my own life. Wherever I want. I'll see her again someday, if anyone can find me it'll be her."
"Can..." Restraining a storm of emotions, Cam takes another breath, another thought... and gives a smile of her own. Nervous... but sure. "Can I still come with you?"
"Sure, I guess," replies Michelle. "You sure you're cool just like... quittin' your job like that, though? Leavin' all this behind?"
"Oh, yeah," Cam says with a more confident raise of her eyebrows. "This place sucks. I kept hoping in all the craziness maybe someone would explode my boss but it never panned out. Is that crazy?"
"Nah." Michelle manages to keep her grin from widening. "I feel that. People might start thinkin' I got a thing for nurses, though."
"I mean..." Cam's own smile eases into something more akin to a smirk. "Do you? It would help."
"Help what?"
"Nothing.
Don't worry about it, big lady. Where're we headed first? You gotta have a direction at least, right?"
"Well..." Michelle reaches up, lightly scratching at the back of her head as she turns. Cam begins to follow her toward the elevator.
Michelle's face lights up as an idea finally hits her. She points at Cam and smiles. "I do got this library book we were supposed to return..."
Thank YOU, Morgenstern, for this amazing journey.
I hope you love whatever you're doing next.
<3 Best of luck hun.
Thank you for this wonderful story Morgenstern. I appreciate you. I've been along since the beginning, though I've been quiet.
I'll see you on Discord.
This is the end of an era, shaking the world with it's soft conclusion, or at least my world, and making way for a new era: whatever Morgenstern has in store next. And yet many will never even know that this existed.
But, it's meaningful to us. Those immediately present and reading this the night of posting, to those who've been following for months or years to see this point, and those who have just now finished this for the first time in the years to come, long after the dust has settled. I am glad to have read BiM, and I'm proud to be a part of this community.
If this were a short speech at a banquet or something, this is the part where the toast would come in. A toast to a story well told. A toast to an adventure shared and to adventures to come. A toast to an unforgettable cast. A toast to Morgenstern, the man of the hour and the architect behind it all. Well done.
Calling the last 4 pages an "outline dump" is rude. Sorry to be rude.
I would love to see this cleaned and polished into a novel format.
I look forward to more of your work.
Does Cam have any idea what Michelle did to her old boss?
But Mine … she basically turned into god in absentia now, didn't she? This might be a weird metaphor to explore: Ancient blood god from space kills capitalism and takes its place as benevolent mother of all creation and life. Hm …
In any case, thanks for the ride, for a ride it has been :)
I'd just like to say this was a great "first" attempt. I completely agree the story was getting too huge in tandem with the limited means of reviewing and referencing past material (I had 2 Word Pads of notes and reference pages just to try and keep up). I think wrapping up this story and starting fresh will be a good way to go.
Be sure to update when your next project goes live.
I did want to throw out, however, I personally had one last twist I was going to suggest into the story. I was going to wait for an event where Mine would be "lost" and the group would have to figure out a way to either reconnect with Mine OR get access to her blood powers without her.
Then I'd point out that Mine's mom died of sickness; likely a slow and grueling process. Add to that that she was reclusive due to the nature of her being and wouldn't seek medical aid, she likely died in Mine's house.
The suggestion would be to see if Mine's mom's ghost was still in the house, capture it (or something less "forceful"), and then use the Bunker ghost machine (Odin? Too lazy to check) to essentially bring Mine's mom back as a full ghost.
Just thought I'd share.
Crap I’m old.
And I mean Meat world book, not just a digital one!
In all seriousness, thanks for the wild ride Morgenstern. Can't wait to see what you get up to next. Also, you could revive Blood is Drawn later on if you ever felt like condensing things down/retconning things a bit. Not gonna lie, I'm probably going to binge read this again yearly because I loved the story so much.
Take care everyone, and see you on the other side.
I am also not a very good writer, and I read this and cringe.
Always healthy to move forward.
Thanks for your effort. My rude comments were meant to make you take action.
Bye now!
Never commented until now, but I wanted to break that silence and thank you for the immense story you've brought to the internet, and for having the strength to bring it to a satisfying conclusion. Looking forward to what you have planned for the future as well!
That doesn't really say it all, but I don't know what else to say. I never commented on the plot, but this comic still gave me a sense of being part of something greater than myself, and that was magical.
So thank you
w h e n y o u a r e
d o n e w i t h t h e b o o k
y o u w i l l r e t u r n i t."
Thanks again Morgenstern! Now a tab is closed in our lives. As well as a new one opening in our lives, with your new CYOA!!! http://mda.thecomicseries.com/comics/first
I became hooked immediately, and binged through the archives over the next several days. Sad I missed this while it was interactive. VERY glad to have the opportunity to experience it anyway.
Epic. Truly Epic.
Thank you Morgenstern.
It was one heck of a ride, even though I never really commented very often (Late arrival, busy life), and I'm a couple... wow, a couple YEARS late to the ending. This is going to stick with me for a while, and I hope that your tumult has calmed and these past years have led you to a better place.
Time for me to check the new comic linked here.