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Sylvie stands in the ruins of what once was a grand chamber, the shattered remnants of TVA equipment and machinery scattered at her feet. The ambient glow of malfunctioning screens casts jagged shadows on the walls that do nothing but remind her of Alioth’s hungry jaws.
Ravonna stands across from her, poised and unyielding, lips pressed into a thin defiant line. A blade is gripped tightly in one inexperienced hand.
This will be child’s play .
“Still clinging to your lies?” Sylvie spits, her voice sharp enough to cut. Her own dagger glints in the low light as she raises it, a threat and a promise. There is no room for pretense here, no veil of civility left to hide behind. Sylvie has made sure of that.
Ravonna doesn’t flinch. She steps forward instead, slow and deliberate. The click of her heels against the floor echo like gunshots. “And you’re still clinging to your rage,” she retorts, her voice cool but laced with something raw. Or dangerous, even, not that Sylvie believes her to be deadly anymore. “All these years and you’re the same scared little child.”
Sylvie laughs, a bitter humourless sound. “Blind as ever. Even without your puppets to protect you. Poor Ravonna.”
The tension between them coils tighter, an invisible force binding them as much as it separates them. Ravonna’s eyes flash with something unreadable, and now it’s Sylvie who takes a step closer, her breath hitching despite herself. They circle each other, predators in a shared arena, neither willing to back down. Sylvie is ferociously devout to proving she is no longer prey.
She will never be hunted again.
“Yes… Poor Ravonna who took everything from poor little Sylvie.”
“Shut up,” Sylvie growls, but her voice wavers, betraying her resolve. She lashes out with her dagger, the blade slicing through the air, but Ravonna anticipates the attack. Their weapons clash, the sound ringing out like a bell, and they’re suddenly too close, their faces mere inches apart.
Ravonna’s breath is hot against Sylvie’s cheek as they struggle, their blades locked between them. Sylvie’s heart pounds furiously in her chest, anger and something darker, hungrier , rolling inside her. Her grip tightens, and she shoves Ravonna back, but the former judge of the TVA does not fall. Sylvie keeps on pushing anyway, until Ravonna slams against the wall with a force that leaves them both breathless.
“Is this what you want? To destroy me? To prove you’re better?” Ravonna hisses, her voice low and venomous. Her free hand tries to grab on to something, anything to grant her freedom again, but Sylvie swiftly pins it above her head. Ravonna struggles, her breath ragged and her chest heaving against Sylvie’s.
Frankly, Sylvie doesn’t know what she wants. Here is the woman who destroyed everything she knew, who tore a child away from home and family without hesitation or regret. She despises her, her blood boiling with fury.
I will destroy you too. It’s only fair .
As Ravonna’s struggles start to become more frantic, Sylvie crashes their lips together in a violent kiss. It’s a collision of fury and need that steals the air from their lungs. It’s not gentle, not kind. Teeth clash, and the coppery taste of blood mingles between them. Sylvie considers pulling away but Ravonna responds with just as much ferocity, strengthening Sylvie’s resolve. She lets go of the pinned wrist, keeping a firm grip on her own blade, and tangles her fingers in Ravonna’s hair so she can yank it hard, gaining a better angle. Ravonna groans against her mouth.
When they finally break apart, gasping for air, Ravonna’s eyes are blazing. Sylvie’s chest heaves with heated hatred as she stares back. For the longest moment, neither of them speaks, the silence thick with unspoken words that Sylvie just has to break.
“You’re a monster,” she whispers.
Ravonna’s lips curl into a bitter smile. “And you’re no saint.”
Their weapons clatter to the ground as they come together again, consumed by malice and revenge. There is only fire between them, burning too bright to be ignored.