By some oafish miracle of flailing, the ogre's free arm crossed in front of its face in enough time to block Gamzee's blow. Mostly, anyway. The momentum from the blow still transferred into the ogre's arm and caused the back of its blubberous hand to smack into its face; the monster scrunched its eyes shut briefly at that and took a few steps back. Beyond that, however, the side effect of the ogre smacking itself in the face — aside from pain, of course — ended up being the return of some its alertness. It was a desperate kind of alertness, but it was enough to allow the ogre to keep a closer eye on Gamzee once its eyes reopened. The piercing pain in its head kept its mind sharp (as its dull mind could be, anyway) as it aimed a few more rapid punches in Gamzee's direction.

Rose fared better with her ogre. Just as it was about to hit the tipping point where it could crush its unwanted rider, the spark did its job, startling the beast and causing it to roll back the other way, away from the source of the pain. It lay prone, howling still and giving the girl the opportunity she needed. Still, a blind ogre would not necessarily be a dead ogre, or a less dangerous one.

Ilia's grip took hold, allowing her to gain ground on the thing's back, just on the edge of one shoulder. The ogre growled in frustration, its target out of easy reach. With a low snarl, it grabbed blindly over its shoulder, crushing hands blindly seeking the point at which the blonde held on.