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Shaw swung the chair toward Tandem's skull. Tandem's one good arm came up predictably to block, then grab the clumsy weapon and snatch it away. Shaw relinquished the chair easily-

-while delivering a quick kick to the hole in Tandem's abdomen. Then another. Then another. There was no way to know if Tandem felt any pain, or if there was anything vital that could be damaged, but it was too obvious a target to pass up. Shaw felt a satisfying 'shift' in the flesh as it yielded...

...but that was all.

Shaw ducked and backpeddaled before she knew the counterattack was coming. The chair sailed past her face with a WHOOSH, then hit the floor and slid away. Tandem bore down on her quickly. She may have had only one good leg, but with no pain to slow her down Tandem was faster than she looked.

Tandem reached for Shaw. Shaw had no idea how she avoided the hand, but she did. She spun away and quickly scanned the room or an exit or something she could use as a weapon. Finding neither, she snatched up another chair and held it on front of her as she backed away from the cyborg.

"COME ON, YOU GREASY BITCH! COME GET ME!"

Shaw repeated her first attack, only this time she used the chair as a battering ram. Plowing into Tandem was like running into a wall.

But it was an unsteady wall.

Shaw put as much force behind her charge as she could, but it wasn't her real objective. She kicked at Tandem's damaged knee and again felt the satisfying shift of something damaged giving way.

Shaw thought she saw Tandem's slack-jawed frozen scream twitch as they both went down.

Neither of them stopped moving when they hit the floor. Shaw stifled a scream as she rolled onto her shoulder, then kept going. She was on her feet quickly-

But was down just as fast as Tandem's leg-sweep knocked her feet from under her.

The room went bright white for an instant when Shaw's head hit the floor. When color and movement returned, she saw Tandem crawling awkwardly but quickly toward her.

"Oh no you DON'T!" Shaw's boot connected with Tandem's ruined face. The half-detached jaw made a light grinding noise as it shifted, but Tandem kept coming. Shaw kicked again-

"Get-"

CRACK

"-AWAY-"

CRACK

"-FROM-MMH!!"

Tandem lurched forward and her hand closed around Shaw's throat. Shaw clawed at the woman's fingers, but they were fixed firmly in place. Instantly her own hands reached for Tandem's eyes. She clawed, fingernails digging...

-it was like trying to pry a jammed ball bearing out of place. Tandem's skin... what remained of it... FELT human, but it adamantly refused to tear. She grabbed a fist full of hair and pulled. It came out easily, bring a chunk of scalp with it. A new patch of oily metal gleamed it its place.

"NNRRRRRRRrrr!!!" Shaw twisted back and forth, trying to dislodge the cyborg.

Tandem's fingers tightened