A fallen hero with a secret past takes a job retrieving an item for its owner. When she and her sociopathic partner arrive the hero finds much more than she expected and her adventures begin.
Skyway Mechanix
, started in 2009, is a web serial shoot 'em up, action adventure fun ride that has been favorably compared with a Looney Tunes cartoon.
The story follows the trials of Laurel and Violet, two heroes for hire making a living in the western suburbs of the Twin Cities. Fighting ninjas, battling biker drug gangs, defeating ancient curses and taking on evil uber-corporations are all just part of the job.
Characters:
- Cecelia Ann "Cece" "Violet" "Free Fire" "Bang-Bang" Capagio: Once a hero, always a hero, right? Not so much, really.
- Laurel "Mechanix" "Maytag" Swanson: Heroes are all that. Well
- Ned Maxilla: Heard the call and went for the money.
- Lynda Allenham: Works for T&T. Heroes are just these people, you know?
- Henry Rickenbacher: Head of Blue G — food division. Mini-marshmallows R us.
- The Witch: Ancient evil number 1.
- The Lady: See above.
- Walleye: Sanctioned Alliance hero for the Twin Cities, not that there was a great need.
- Burt: Walleye's sidekick. Because plot, y'all.
Episodes of this series provide examples of:
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Hammerspace? Check. Robot with a soul? Check. Ancient Artifact that curses people? Check. Zombies...? Not so much.
- Blackand White Morality: For the Alliance, people with Powers can only be Heroes as long as they obey all the rules and bow to authority. Everyone else is a villain by default: no (official) exceptions.
- Berserk Button: Don't ask if Laurel has laser vision.
- Chekhov's Gun: The Four Cities Diner in the second story has lots of "photoshopped" pictures up on the wall. Guess where the pair end up?
- Cool Car: played straight with Laurel's 1968 Galaxie and averted later with both a Ford Econoline van and used Crown Victoria.
- Death Is Cheap: Played straight and averted. Violet has probably died at least twice, but when other characters die they stay dead.
- Explaining the Soap: Violet tries to explain all the labyrinthian plots at the end of Drop Dead Mechanix.
- Lampshaded by Violet after Henry nicely sums everything up. "Guiding Light ain't got nothing on us."
- Grievous Harm with a Body: Walley rips off Laurel's arms and beats her with them.
- Hammerspace: Pulling things from hammerspace is Violet's main power.
- Hero Insurance: The Alliance has a H.I. division to deal with little mistakes. Walleye, the card-carrying hero, tells a city office to contact it to cover damages.
- I Will Only Slow You Down:played with in Terminal Mechanix. Violet was shot and just didn't want to chase the bad guys. Laurel thretened to tie her to the hood like a deer.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Walleye, who literally tore Laurel limb from limb while attempting to kill her and calls her "Maytag", but then helped her become a member of the World Hero Alliance and confesses to Violet that he once considered forming a team with her.
- Noodle Incident:
- Something about schnauzers, peanut butter, papayas, a police car, and a month of community service at an animal shelter.
- Also, later that same episode, something about a truckload of honey and ball-bearings shutting down a highway.
- Only a Flesh Wound: both protagonists have healing powers, neither can be injured for very long and everyone takes it for granted.
- Only in It for the Money: Violet couldn't care less if she and Laurel help people or beat them up, as long as there is a paycheck.
- Our Zombies Are Different: The zombies are created by a food preservative.
- Robot Names: Laurel named herself after her acronym "L.U.R.L. = Linux Universal Robotic Lifeform"
- Shout-Out: Dirty Pair; Rockyand Bullwinkle; Kat and Mouse: Guns for Hire
- Superhero Packing Heat: Violet's main power is retrieving weapons from hammerspace, her secondary power is using said weapons.
- Technicolor Eyes: Violet's eyes turn different shades depending on which power she uses.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Pigs in Blankets is all Violet eats.
- Unusual Euphemism: Laurel (after confessing having sex dreams about Violet):- "You're in my dreams and there's sex, but there's no attaching, okay? We don't attach!"
