2019's more than half over and I'm just now getting to doing a "Story Behind The Story". This go-around, we look at my first collaboration with another writer: "Infection Strategy".



In one of those happy coincidences of life,  bosshoss1 and I both came up with an idea of Ranger getting infected with a computer virus. So, rather than overlap, we decided to collaborate on a story. The idea became this: while Computer Mouse fought the virus inside Ranger's systems, Power Pig would go and try to avenge Ranger.


SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE STORY! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!





























































































































































































































At the time I started work on the story, I was under the impression that Ranger and Power Pig were gonna be an item. I was quickly disabused of that notion when I read "Enter the Preceptor" and both  train and  mojorover informed me that PP/Arrowhead was gonna be a thing. So, I added her to the story, along with Combat and Preceptor. I would write much of the action outside of Ranger while Boss would write the scenes of CM fighting the virus inside of Ranger. Boss also came up with the idea
of Brambleberry creating the virus Ranger is infected with, as well as how it would affect her and how dangerous it would be. I'd been itching to use Supercharger as a villain in a story since I first started working on what would become "He Had It Coming", so I placed him here. I took many cues from "Return of Supercharger" for how I portrayed him. I also suggested he could transmit the virus with an electric bolt.

The opening of the story, where Ranger tries to give PP advice on talking to Arrowhead, was inspired by a scene from the "We Are Legion" episode of Justice League Unlimited. Hitmaker saying "Combat may be master o' karate, kung fu, jiu-jitsu an' all other shit we ain't never heard of..." is a reference to a line from one of my favorite movies, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka.

I was initially stumped as to what kind of crime I was going to have Supercharger and Jack Club committing for the Bureau to thwart. Then, I was watching an old Fleischer Superman short, "Billion Dollar Limited", which was about Superman having to stop a gold train robbery. When I pitched the idea to  bosshoss1, he mentioned gold's properties as a conductor of electricity. I then decided to change it from a train robbery to a gold exchange robbery. Supercharger wanting to make the gold into filaments to line his costume with came from a fan redesign of Megavolt I found on FA. After the fights I'd written him in, I needed to have Combat try and punch above his weight class. Now, Jack Club was within his weight class. Supercharger, on the other hand, would definitely be a challenge to him, at least at first. Ranger hurting Jack Club was always the logical choice as a catalyst for Supercharger infecting her with the virus.

This story is also where I introduced my medical superfur for the criminal underworld, the Rogue Physician. I figured since the Bureau had Medic Mouse and unregistered superfurs had Blue Cross, it was only logical. The name came to me while watching a news story involving Conrad Murray. Also, this was going to be the first appearance of Sticky Wicket before I decided to put him in "I Don't Like Your Girlfriend".

I don't remember how far back I learned the twist that would be revealed in "Nandi's Rescue", but I hadn't really considered it when I wrote virus-controlled Ranger attacking everyone. Part of that scene came from another episode of Justice League Unlimited, "The Great Brain Robbery".

Power Pig interrogating Rogue Physician was inspired by a similar scene from the "Shear Strength" episode of The Spectacular Spider-Man.

As the story stands now, there are only two of the scenes of Computer Mouse fighting the virus. Boss Hoss had a few health and job issues that held him up from completing said scenes, not to mention writer's block. Once Boss can get the scenes done, I'll add them to the story. I never wrote my own because I figured it'd be disrespectful to Boss.

Fortunately, reading the "First Mission" comic made writing Brambleberry and her coterie easier. The fight between Power Pig and Supercharger was another chance for me to show exactly what Combat has been teaching. The trick Combat uses to finally beat Supercharger came from the "Double Dose" episode of Superman: The Animated Series. And, because Supercharger's real name is Dr. Jonas Smith, Jr., I couldn't help but put in a little nod to Dr. Zachary Smith from Lost in Space.

Originally, after the fight scene with Supercharger, I was going to have Combat make Power Pig do literally a million push-ups, but I then decided it would be too silly. Thus, I decided to write a scene where Preceptor chews them and Arrowhead out for their unsanctioned actions. Originally, they were going to be assigned to laundry duty, which would have led to a follow-up story where Power Pig and Arrowhead would have grown closer. Ultimately, I decided instead to have them get together in this story.
The pep talk Combat gave Power Pig was only slightly altered from what I originally had in mind, changed to reflect Power Pig's feelings for both Ranger and Arrowhead. The part about Tigress Titan would have started a sort of running gag, where someone would be surprised to hear that Combat once asked her out and would each make a different quip about either his bravery, sanity or miraculous survival.

The final scene with Jefferson and Brambleberry was meant to set up "The Judas Connection", which will receive its own "Story Behind the Story".

And that is the story behind "Infection Strategy".