The Collector's heart froze in her chest when she realized what she had done. This had never happened before, it wasn't supposed to happen. She may have no moral scruples involved with headnapping or holding heads against their wills in her dungeon, regardless of age or circumstance, she never wanted to hurt a head. And if Julia was hurt, or worse, killed, The Collector would never be able to forgive herself. She stood up slowly, raising one hand high into the air in a show of surrender while the other reached into her pocket and withdrew her phone. She needed to explain herself.
Paulette either didn't understand the gesture, or was too angry to care. With a wordless roar of anguish and fury, she hurled herself into The Collector's ribs, tackling the older woman to the ground with a force that knocked the wind out of her and sending her phone flying out of her hand. Lacking a face to punch, Paulette proceeded to rain blows down on The Collector's neck, knowing from Carly's example that that hurt. The Collector tried to push her away with one hand and defend her throat with the other, but without the ability to communicate her intentions and not wanting to cause further distrust by removing Paulette's head, the best she could do was force a stalemate, where most of Paulette's hits failed to land and most of her strength was being used just to keep on top of The Collector.
"Hey!" Carly said from behind her friend. When Paulette didn't answer, Carly repeated herself, louder. "HEY!" She shouted, grabbing Paulette by the collar. Paulette turned, momentarily, eyes wild and teeth barred. Carly held up The Collector's phone, it's screen slightly cracked from the fall but the message it had been typing still clearly visible.
"Truce. Let's fin" it read.
Paulette stared in confusion for a few seconds, then snapped her gaze back onto the empty space where The Collector's face should have been. Its hands were open and on the ground, not attempting to defend herself from or take the head of Paulette. She didn't move. Paulette roughly swiped the phone from Carly's hand and slammed it into The Collector's palm. "You have ten seconds. Type fast." She commanded, grabbing The Collector by the throat and raising her fist again.
The Collector did indeed type fast, her fingers experienced from years spent with mixed ability to vocalize and her phone now filled with shortcuts and accurate auto-completions for commonly used words. After exactly ten seconds, she turned her phone around to Paulette to reveal the completed message. "Truce. Let's find your sis. Work together. Won't collect her, I promise"
"Like hell I'm gonna take help from you! This is all your fault you kidnapping bitch!" Paulette answered, sounding more dumbstruck by the audacity of the statement than angry.
"Technically it was Carly's fault. Just saying." The Collector quickly typed back.
Now it was Carly's turn to be offended. "Is that supposed to be a joke? None of this would've happened if you hadn't tried to steal my best friend's sister! I was just trying to stop you from taking her back to your secret alien super-villain lair or whatever!"
"We're wasting time here. Julia could be hurt. We can point fingers later, AFTER we find her." The Collector typed, sidestepping the conversation entirely and trying to guide it back in the direction she wanted it to go.
Reading this, Paulette's muscles tensed and then released. She really wished the Collector had a face, she was good at telling if someone was lying by their face. Reading her body language, while she was still poised to stop a punch to the throat, it was hard to read her. But, what she said was true. They were wasting time. Paulette had to make sure her sister was alive first, and then worry about how to protect her from this monster. She stood up, and stepped away from The Collector. She reached out a hand to help her up, which The Collector took. "Keep those grubby little hands where I can see them while we look, do you hear me?" Paulette demanded, to which The Collecter raised both with splayed fingers, either mocking Paulette or genuinely assuring her that she would comply. If only she had a face...
"Peanut, are you sure this is a good idea?" Carly asked.
"No." Paulette responded, not even registering the nickname that had so annoyed her before. "But it's our only option. Carly, you should...
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