DISTRESSED DAMSELS: Update on EMPOWERED vol.12! (Patreon)

I'm presently working on stories from four different points in Empowered vol.12. Today, I finished work on a three-page "Emp in distress" sequence that bridges two existing story fragments. I'll insert the relevant pages below, and try to clarify what the hell you're reading.

First off, let's jump to the final page of a previously excepted sequence, with ended with bad guys admitting that they feel inexplicably compelled to bedamsel Emp, then taking off:

This scene continues with today's initial page, featuring the abandoned Emp having an epiphany:

Then a final close-up ends this scene (pardon the crappy bitmap lettering overlay, as I'm experiencing Photoshop know-how limitations):

The next page after that sounds the ol' "sad trombone," with a new text overlay over an inverted (white-on-black) version of the artwork:

And the two pages that follow in Empowered vol.12 are the ones that kick off the "Emp & Spooky safari" scene excerpted here months ago (though I might have to tinker with Emp's initial word balloon to bridge the sequences more smoothly):

Finally, here's that Emp close-up page without either of the text overlays:

And now, back to work on the apocalyptic opening scene from vol.12, which you Big Spenders of the $10 & $20 tiers had a peek at over the weekend. Wheeee!

TOMORROW ON THIS HERE PATREON: Back to those Dirty Pair character designs from 1998 (or so), this time featuring Y**i, whose name just happens to be the same as a famous Japanese term for explicit lesbian  content (and automatically gets flagged by Patreon when I spell it out).