Book 3

[Hokonoso]

[Ronald Dukarski]

What the matter with you people? Can't you see Cavendish is Brian Yi from The Infected? With a little of Bathias from Keeley thrown in. He's "just a guy that fights and always wins" . Whether Brian's dimension hopping or grew out of this series into his own, only Dale knows. But that's my take on it. Sheesh!

[MarciaA]

Maybe Cavendish is.... jake?

[Kat]

Well, I've thrown in three possibilities before, but, yeah, Cavendish might be Billy from Gwen (the name! It's Cavendish!) or Jake or Brian Yi. All three are possible. At the moment I favor Jake because I think he might have the highest probability of dying and coming back.

[rockhazard]

[David]

Mostly well said, I'd like to add that there is no way we can know what went on in Zack's head during the fight..

I don't think he threw it, and I don't think it negates how tough he is either.

In book two a mere human kicked his butt pretty well by hitting the back of his head in surprise, then keeping it up. All Zack's powers are pretty much regulated by thought, and when he can't think... It's been his consistent weakness.

I would guess he didn't want to fight Kate, so instead of defending himself he ran. Her being able to run as fast was a fairly new thing, so it would have taken him by surprise. Kate immediately went to head shots when she caught up, which would have disorientated him.

Just saying, the above scenario is in line with both his character and his abilities.

None of Dale's characters are invulnerable, they ALL have a weakness of some kind.

As for the beating being a lesson, perhaps that is how Alede take care of things, I don't know. Regardless, she DID try talking to him first, and he brushed it off like it was no big deal. Or at least, that was how she perceived it, who knows what was going on inside Zack's head. Remember he sucks at interacting with people at times.

[rockhazard]

[David]

I'm pretty sure she hit him from behind since he was running away through the mall when she caught up. By definition that is an attack from behind.

He also wouldnt have been ready for it since she hadn't moved that fast before.

So, it's exactly the same...

[rockhazard]

Except that, if I remember correctly, he could have just stepped back through the nexus (a previous go-to move of his when surprised at a node, as it is for her), and as I said before, he'd have been reading her Shadow anyway, which should have given him a clue -- rationally, anyway. Also, he didn't go down immediately, so he still could have disappeared before he lost consciousness, then repaired himself in the void. Having been hit from behind, that's what makes sense, since the void is his "safe place" anyhow.
So no, not the same.

[David]

He wasn't unconscious, but he was getting beat in the head so probably couldn't concentrate enough to block the pain, much less do anything else. Also at that point he was no where near a nexus.

I can agree on the void thing, he probably should have went for it in the beginning of the fight instead of running out into the mall. But he wasnt standing next to it when the fight started. It was a fight with his daughter, one he ran from rather than try to continue, everything else tracks in my scenario.

Besides, he wasn't right next to the void during the fight, so that go to move wasn't available. In the beginning she was just angry and talking to him. The fight started later.

Also, ZACK IS NOT PERFECT. Making a stupid decision under pressure of a new situation does not equal acting out of character. Shocking I know, but I don't know why everyone seems to expect perfection. None of Dale's characters are.

He was dumb enough to follow the bat when her shadow said he shouldnt, he was dumb enough not to make her shadow tell him what was going on. He was dumb enough not to check for shadows in the house in a situation that was clearly critical, even if he believed her story there should have been danger and should have been paying attention. He can see people threw walls after all. Yet, he was surprised when Forest and his lackey's jumped him, kicked his ass and tied him up.

And all that at the end of book 1, when he should have known better by then. Zack is not perfect, and oh, did I mention, he isn't perfect.