EVENTS:

Despite Emilia's vehement protests that Klimt should be the first one healed, her wounds are tended to by Malia. Klimt's coffin spits out an arm and a spine, and soon the party is looking much less damaged.

Sally: "...So, ye even brought spare parts with ye? Huh.

Well! That was, some good fun! Though, I expected ye to get wiped across the deck, so I didn't prepare any other fighters. AND I have to find Frostbite and punish her for running away again. Hmm.

How about ye fight each other? Seems like that'd be quite a sight!"


_____________________________


Meanwhile, Rosa works on her map. Map status: 25% complete!


Kelly shrugs wearily, raising a hand to her earpiece.

Kelly: "Hm. Control to Brig. Two of the prisoners - The ones who just came in. They-

What, do you mean, what prisoners? I, sent Sally-

SALLY."

Slamming her fist down onto the table, the Doll gets up and all but leaps at a nearby control panel, pressing several dials until a periscope descends from the ceiling.

Kelly: "The unrepetant. Scheming. Creature. Enough is. Enough.

Control to Defense. Prepare mortar, 23. Short-range. Yes. Manual aim."

EVENTS:


Kelly turns to face Rosa, her face perfectly calm, as if she were preparing a cup of tea. She presses a trigger on one of the periscope's handles.

Kelly: "Hm. No promises."



_____________


Meanwhile, Sally grins from ear to ear once again, revving up her drills. A muffled thud is heard in the distance.

Sally: "S'that a threat, ye ugly swab? I'll let you ye know, I'm the very scourge o' the seven seas, and - "

A few of her Doll companions begin looking up, then pointing up, then running away. Within a few moments, only Sally remains in the bleachers, too busy continuing her tirade.

Sally: "-Seventy-eight THOUSAND corpses, all at once! But, if yer so keen on dancin' the hempen jig, then we'll cross swords like - Wait. Where did everyone go?"


THOOOM


Sally disappears in a sudden burst of fire and shrapnel. Klimt is thrown back by the force of the explosion, and feels his eardrums rupture several times as they attempt to regenerate. The rest of the party is showered in giblets and fragments, as a quarter of the arena's outer wall suddenly collapses inwards.

For several seconds, tinnitus is all that can be heard. Suddenly, there's the crack of a loudspeaker, coming from the direction of the Rig.

Kelly: "Sally. This, is what happens when you disobey me. Battery #3 is currently trained on your squalid little camp. Unless you want to be shelled again, return MY prisoners. Immediately. I am sending a team to retrieve them. If they meet any resistance - Boom."


___________________


Back at the control room, Kelly's eyes betray a certain contentment.


Kelly: "Hm hm. They should be here soon."

EVENTS:

Curie emerges from hiding, and follows Klimt and Emilia as they begin to make their way accross the debris. Malia hangs back for the moment, perhaps unwilling to test the unsteady rubble. Truly it was a fierce explosion - Only twisted metal and broken brick remain. Sally is probably gone for good.



__________________________


Meanwhile, Kelly breathes deep through her respirator, and lets her shoulders drop. She seems a lot more relaxed and - well, human - for the moment. Seems like explosions can be therapeutic, after all.

Kelly: "My pleasure.

And, often. Far too often. She's a troublesome heap of tripe and steel, a mouth without a brain. We were mistaken in making her.

If only I could kill her permanently. But then...

For all her failings, she's still the strongest of us. By far."



__________________________



The wreckage shifts and cracks, and Klimt almost loses his balance. A figure rises from the rubble, soot and earth falling off its large frame. It almost looks like Sally, but - Far taller, and with its metal frame entwined with a pulsating layer of viscera-like muscles. There is a large dent on her helmet, leaking out large quantities of innards and eyes, that stream down her face before falling to the ground and melting into off-colored blood.


Sally: "Where do you think you're going, landlubber? So you'd rather be her prisoner than mine, is that it?"