The garden, once a place of peace, had turned into a battleground. The sun hung low in the late afternoon sky, casting long shadows over shattered leaves, cracked stone, and spilled blood.
Tiffany's hands flared with golden light. Around her, orbs formed, pulsing with arcane energy. With a sharp flick of her wrist, the glowing spheres shot forward. Blanchette, eyes glowing blue, slipped between them with unnatural grace, closing the distance in a blink.
Her roundhouse kick came fast, Tiffany managed to raise a barrier just in time, but the sheer force of the impact pushed her sliding backward, her heels dragging trenches in the garden soil.
Tiffany barely had time to reorient when Blanchette was already there again, her front kick slamming hard into her gut. Air and energy left Tiffany's lungs as she was launched skyward. Blanchette chased her into the air and delivered a brutal axe kick. Tiffany raised another shield over her stomach, but it cracked on impact, sending her crashing to the ground. Blood filled her mouth as she coughed violently, trying to rise.
She staggered up, tying her hair back with shaking fingers. "I didn't want this," she growled, golden spikes forming in a spiral around her. "But if you want to kill me, fine."
Blanchette's eyes didn't waver. She tied her own hair, stepping into her stance with precision honed by pain and fury.
The golden spikes shot toward her like arrows but Blanchette weaved through them, dancing with the grace of a storm. She closed the gap again. Jab. Cross. Tiffany evaded and countered with an Aikido flip, launching Blanchette into the air. Mid-flip, Tiffany fired two spikes at her midsection, but Blanchette twisted in the air with a spinning kick, dodging both and striking Tiffany's shield mid-spin. Tiffany skidded again, planting her feet with a gasp as Blanchette landed and flipped smoothly to her stance.
Tiffany was terrified.
First kickboxing, then taekwondo. Now Muay Thai? Blanchette wasn't just angry, she was trained, lethal, and no longer holding back.
Gold spikes erupted from the ground in an attempt to impale her, but Blanchette vaulted sky-high, coming down like a comet with a flying knee. The impact shattered another shield and slammed Tiffany hard into the earth.
Dazed, Tiffany erected a full-body shield as she tried to stand. But when she looked up… Blanchette was standing right in front of her. Eyes glowing. Grinning.
A moment later, Tiffany was airborne again. Blanchette suplexed her backward into the dirt, cracking her barrier and slamming her skull hard enough to leave the earth red. Tiffany's vision swam. Her magic faltered.
Blanchette climbed over her, pinning her to the ground.
"NOW YOU DIE, WHORE!"
Punch after punch. Blood sprayed. Bones cracked. The garden echoed with the brutal rhythm of fury unleashed.
And then...
"BLANCHETTE!!!"
Joshua's voice tore through the chaos. He stood at the edge of the garden, frozen with horror.
Blanchette stopped. Her blue eyes met his, glowing, fierce, and full of tears.
It was all the opening Tiffany needed. Her eyes glowed gold once more. With her last strength, she reversed their positions and formed a golden barrier around Blanchette, spikes facing inward.
"This is where it ends!" Tiffany shouted, her voice trembling, her hands shaking as she forced the barrier to close tighter and tighter.
Inside the trap, Blanchette didn't scream. She didn't beg. She planted her feet in the shrinking space, took a peekaboo stance, and started punching.
Each strike cut her hands on the razor-like spikes. Blood ran down her arms. Still she punched.
Tiffany tried to taunt her. "You really think you can break..."
Crack.
The barrier faltered.
Blanchette's fists moved faster. Harder. More blood. More power. Until finally, shatter.
The golden prison exploded outward in shards of light.
Tiffany staggered back, fear overtaking her pride as Blanchette stepped forward, bleeding, glowing, relentless.
But just as she raised her fists again...
Joshua stepped in front of her.
"I'm sorry, Blanchette," he said softly, looking into her maddened eyes.
She froze.
The light in her eyes dimmed. Her knees buckled. Joshua caught her as she collapsed into his arms. He sank to his knees, holding her tight, whispering apologies as her hair fell forward and she lost consciousness.
Behind them, Tiffany fell too, silent, spent, and broken.
The garden was still again. But nothing was the same.