"I do not accept a duel between children," Loid Forger said. He pointed to the case Anya had brought. "Bring me the armor. I will fight you or any of your men."

"By all means, give it to him," Fiona said. Welrod shrugged and directed his subordinate to bring Loid the case. "You can be a second. The duel is still happening."

Willow and Anya circled each other. Even with Anya in her exoskeleton, they were virtually the same height. "What am I even supposed to do?" Anya said. Willow twirled the chain of the Cumberjung. "I have an exosuit with a cannon and a plasma projector. You have a sickle chain thingy. You can't-!" Willow struck with a shriek. Her whirling hook tore Anya's forearm projector straight off its mount.

Anya dodged the swinging chain, then retreated around the central bar of the cafe. She frantically punched buttons on her forearm. There was a "chunk" like a can dropping out of a vending machine from one of the modules in the back. She reached over her shoulder, and pulled out a katana with a translucent blue blade. "Huh," she said. "I wondered what that did."

By then, Loid had donned an experimental gray exosuit with help from Yor. Colonel Welrod stepped between them and the combatants. Willow struck again with her sickle. This time, Anya leaped over her. "She can read your mind!" Fiona shouted. She stepped forward, into a gust from an unrepaired balcony door. The wind made her floor-length hair billow like a cape behind her. "Don't plan! Do! Strike with fury! Remember, she is the pink-haired goblin, the child of the Thorn Princess!"

Yuri sat up, still woozy. "Hi, bean bun!" he called out. "Looking good! Oh, and Chihuahua Girl! You got big!"

Willow swung the chain in a wide circle. Anya ducked as it sailed by at the level of her neck. She narrowly jumped in time as it returned at the level of her knees. She darted forward, anticipating an overhand slash. She parried a swipe from the sickle, then struck a half-hearted blow that cleaved halfway through one lamella of Willow's armor. She saw too late that she had stepped inside a loose loop on the floor. Her opponent drew the chain tight, snaring Anya's ankles. She cried out in dismay as she toppled. She furiously hacked at the chain. Finally, she jammed the point into a single link. The steady force broke the chain, and Anya pulled free.

Willow snatched up the loose end of the chain. She wrapped its length around her left forearm and the knuckles of her fist, gripping the hook. In her right hand, she held the sickle, with the remainder of the chain swinging from the top of the shaft. She charged at Anya, literally flailing. Anya's sword glanced twice off Willow's arm before a left hook sent her staggering with a cracked visor. Anya ducked inside the arc of the chain. She took the point of the sickle on her left forearm, then thrust with her blade between the upper lamellae. Willow yowled as she took a shallow but long cut on her shoulder. Anya kicked, and the sickle went flying from her hand.

Anya assumed a defensive stance, which she immediately recognized as a mistake. Willow was already circling in a half-crouch, literally growling. Anya raised her shoulder cannon. She fired a bola shell at her foe, right at the edge of her vision. Willow ducked under the swinging cable, which swept the dishes off a neglected table, and came bounding from behind. She landed on Anya's back, pounding and slashing. Fiona winced. "Oo," Yuri said, "she always does that when a plan doesn't work. She does get a lot of bites in." He rubbed between his own shoulder blades. "It's okay, my girl! You got this!"

Indeed, Willow was doing far more damage than she had before. Anya's shoulder cannon was halfway off its mount. A power module spouted smoke and sparks. Her calf servo leaked hydraulic fluid where a metal-toed shoe continued to strike. All the while, Anya continued to struggle to keep her balance against the added mass, equal to her own and seemingly all muscle. Her eyes widened as Willow's hook tore into the protective sleeve that shielded her throat. "Hold on now, that's a bit much!" Yuri called out. He started to rise, but promptly fell down.

In desperation, Anya leaped backward. She slammed against a support beam for the south balcony, with Willow caught between. Yor cried out. Willow bit into her own lower lip in fury. Anya slammed backward again, knocking her foe's helmet off. Her own helmet struck the edge of the beam, breaking the gold knob off her right cone. With an ethereal howl, Willow wrapped a length of chain around Anya's neck. Tears sprang to Anya's wide eyes as Willow hauled back with her wrapped fist and the grip of the hook. The sword dropped from Anya's hands as she clawed at the chain. Anya slammed backward again, and again, and again.

"My baby!" Fiona shrieked. Anya's helmet tumbled off as she finally threw Willow over one shoulder. The girl's face was covered in blood. Fiona lunged forward, lightning crackling from the fingers of her gauntlet. Yor stepped into her path, at first giving ground, then pushing back.

"No fair!" Yor snarled. "It's a duel! You don't interfere!"

"I should have interfered when he met you, you bubble-headed dunce!" Fiona screamed. Arcing electricity enveloped them both.

Anya knelt beside Willow. "Are you okay?" she said. Willow stared up with wide, wild eyes. A wave of the hand drew no motion from her contracted pupils. Anya flinched in surprise when Yuri dropped to a crouch beside her.

"Ohhh, yeah," Yuri said. He wiped the blood from Willow's face. "That's what we call her possum face. Aw, no bitey, ow ow ow!"

"The suit's insulated, kuja!" Yor said with a gleeful sneer. She slapped Fiona across the face, drawing a trickle of blood from her nostrils.

"Insulate this!" Fiona hissed. She struck with her armored left fist, knocking Yor back. She used the space to swing her long braid. Sharp crystals and heavy weights left a jagged line of cuts across Yor's cheek. In Fiona's gauntlet, streams of lighting converged into a growing ball of energy within her claw-like grip.

Willow finally spoke, too faint for Anya to be sure what she heard until she repeated: "Did I win, Daddy?"

"Oh, yes, of course!" Yuri gushed. He rose with Willow in his arms. "But you didn't hurt anyone. Look, here's Miss Anya! Won't you bow?"

"Sure," Anya said. She curtseyed. "I'd say it's a draw."

"Daddy!" Willow said. "You're talking! You're- you!"

"Yes! I'm back!" Yuri said. He tossed his daughter in the air, armor and all. "Sally! Oh, I know you have your big girl name now, but you are still my Sally! Sally, Sally, my girl, you are my baby girl, my beautiful, beautiful, beautiful girl!" As he spoke, a fist-sized ball of electric fire blew a balcony doorway out of its frame.

"Oh, dear," Yuri said. Yor and Fiona continued to grapple.

"Does Mother need time out?" Sally said.

"Yes," Yuri said. He set her down. "It will just take a moment…" And still smiling, he threw himself between Fiona and Yor.