“Sally never outsmarted me. She [i]poisoned[/i] me. Me! To whom she owes her very [i]life[/i]! That’s hardly any sort of ‘intelligent’ thing to do.” Fineklstein sneered at Shock as she stomped toward him. “And as for [i]them[/i], well. The female hyena may lead the pack, but that doesn’t make her any less of a wild bea--”

SLAP!

The doctor was, finally, for once, completely lost for words as he found himself first on the floor, then being derided by his wife, then on the floor again. What just happened? What was still [i]happening[/i]?

As Finkelstein lay there, staring up at the ceiling in confounded silence, Jewel turned back to Jack. “I would offer to do so myself, but unfortunately I am unfamiliar with the specific construction of this… abomination. I might damage h-- him, trying to get him out of there.”

She tactfully ignored Shock’s comment, because… While it wasn’t untrue, she wanted to completely digest her thoughts and emotions before putting them into words. Plus, she had a certain image to uphold, and striking the doctor had already put a crack in that image.

Carver watched his creator get shuffled back into his chair, then looked over at the spiral ramp. His head tilted back slowly as he tried to calculate the exact distance it would be to traverse.

“Carver? All you alright?” Jewel asked. It occurred to her that the pumpkin creature hadn’t made a snarky comment at Finkelstein or Jack the entire time she had been within ear shot, which was beyond unusual.

He blinked and looked over at her, then quickly forced out an eyeroll. “I’m fine. Just debating whether I want to go into the giant smoke bucket up there. Might as well just go back to the treehouse and see what the ‘hooligan squad’ can do with a blow torch, a hack saw, and some dynamite.”