Lock managed to pin his sister and grab her throat. Shock retaliated by grabbing his face and shoving his head back. With her longer arm, she actually had the advantage to keeping her brother from completely enclosing his hands around her throat. She grabbed one of his wrists with her other hand and tried to curl one leg up to kick him off.

"Kind of...busy..." she managed.

Lock used his tail to pry her hand from his face, then used it to hold her hand away from him so he could more tightly grip her throat.

"Not when...I'm...winning!"

Shock dug her heel into Lock's chest and kicked him. He let go of her throat, but kept his tail tightly ensnared around her wrist. With a growl, he grabbed one of her legs and bit down, which earned him a kick to the face. Shock rolled away from him, then braced herself as Lock got back to his feet. He dove for her again. Shock caught him, then tossed him near Lillith.

"There," she said as she dusted off her hands. "And if he's [i]done[/i], we can get started."

Lock pulled himself to his feet again.

"Not until you give me my guitar strings!"

"I told you, I didn't touch them!"

Lock glowered at her.

"But you know who did!"

"That's what you [i]think[/i]!" Shock grinned, then took an opposing stance. "But if you [i]want[/i] me to kick your ass again, I'm happy to oblige!"

The slide rattled as Barrel finally showed up. His clothes held a particularly rank odor from the sewers. He caught the last bit of Shock's taunt as he wandered over to the drums.

"Whoa. What'd I miss?"