Seraphina loved this part.

The hesitation.

The fear.

That fragile moment when someone thought they were being clever, only for reality to peel back and show them just how small they really were.

Isaac standing there with his eyes shut, back pressed against cold wall, breathing shallow and uneven - it amused her far more than she'd expected.

So this was Kai's little friend.

Pathetic.

She didn't speak at first. She moved.

Silently.

Her heels made no sound as she glided across the chamber, the vibration embedded in the walls humming softly - constant, invasive, gnawing at Isaac's senses like a migraine that never quite peaked. He felt her presence shift without knowing where, the air itself seeming to tighten and loosen at random.

Then her voice came from his left.

"You thought you could kidnap me by just waltzing in here."

Isaac flinched, swinging his arm out on instinct. His fist met nothing but air.

Her voice somehow slipped behind him.

"Do you know who I am?"

A sharp kick struck his thigh, buckling his leg. He grunted, barely managing to stay upright.

"Even the Association lets me live as I please," she continued calmly, voice now echoing from the far corner of the room. "And you damned, dirty outlaws think you're special enough to come after me?"

Isaac swallowed, jaw clenched.

'I can do this,' he told himself. 'Just… defend. Listen. React.'

Easier said than done.

Another strike - this time a palm slamming into his ribs. He felt something crack. Pain flared hot and immediate, stealing his breath.

"I hate people who don't know when to quit the most."

She hit him again.

And again.

Isaac staggered, boots scraping across the floor as he raised his arm to protect his face. Fighting blind was hell. No, worse. It was disorienting in a way nothing else was. His balance felt wrong. Distances lied to him. Every sound arrived half a second too late or too early.

'Takeshi - how does he do it?!' he screamed internally.

'Fighting without vision is impossible without some special sensory ability!'

People never realised how much they relied on their eyes until they closed them. Every movement, every calculation - gone. Reduced to guesswork and pain.

And Seraphina?

She was incredible.

Her strikes were precise. Efficient. No wasted movement. Each hit landed with intent, snapping his head aside, driving air from his lungs, forcing him back step by step.

Still, Isaac estimated that in a straight hand-to-hand fight, with his vision intact, he could take her. Even with one arm. She wasn't stronger than him.

But strength meant nothing when you couldn't see your opponent.

He was barely attacking now. Just defending. Enduring.

Being flung around the chamber by the woman millions adored. The woman men would line up to be slapped by, stepped on by, ruined by - just for her attention.

Irony was a cruel thing.

A sudden shove sent him skidding across the floor. His shoulder slammed into the wall, pain exploding up his spine. He gasped, teeth gritted, sweat dripping into his eyes.

Through slitted lids, he risked a glance.

Just a peek.

The chamber blurred into view, and there it was.

The dart gun.

Lying a few metres away, right where it had skittered earlier.

Hope sparked in his chest.

'That's it… just need that,' he thought desperately. 'One clean hit and I don't have to keep my eyes closed.'

He pushed himself up, stumbling forward-

CRUNCH.

The sound froze him.

He opened his eyes fully just in time to see Seraphina's heel grinding down on the dart gun. Metal bent. Plastic shattered. The vial inside burst with a wet, chemical pop, clear suppressant fluid leaking uselessly across the floor.

She looked down at it, unimpressed.

Then back at him.

"That won't save you."

Something in Isaac's chest sank.

The anti-phasing field.

No suppressant.

No escape.

Trapped in a sealed chamber with the infamous Illusionist.

And he couldn't open his eyes without risking his mind being torn apart and rearranged for her amusement.

Even if he did open them… could he really beat her in his current condition?

'I'm trying to stay positive,' he thought bitterly. 'But this is really starting to look hopeless.'

He let out a groan.

Her knee slammed into his stomach.

Hard.

Isaac folded around the impact, retching as his feet left the ground. He crashed onto his back, vision exploding into white sparks behind his closed lids.

Up until now, she'd been playing.

One kick.

Pause.

Watch him flail.

Guess wrong.

Kick again.

Now?

She'd had enough.

Seraphina descended on him.

Fists. Elbows. Knees.

Each strike followed through, no longer pulling back. Isaac raised his arm to shield his head, but every impact rattled him, sent shockwaves through his body. His breathing turned ragged, shallow. The world spun even with his eyes shut, the constant vibration in the room making his nausea spike.

He rolled, barely avoiding a stomp that cracked the concrete where his head had been a second earlier.

'Focus… focus…'

He swung blindly. Missed.

A kick took his legs out from under him.

He hit the ground again, coughing, chest burning.

'This is bad,' he thought dimly. 'Really bad.'

Then something snapped.

Not his body.

His resolve.

'Ah, fuck it.'

Isaac's eyes burst open.

Ice-blue met brown.

For a fraction of a second, nothing happened.

No spiralling illusions.

No collapsing reality.

No screaming voices clawing into his skull.

Seraphina's eyes widened.

Just a little.

But Isaac saw it.

Relief flooded him.

'I knew it,' he thought wildly. 'She must need more than just eye contact. Or maybe Kai's mind is just weaker than mine and fell for her illusions.'

He immediately pressed the advantage, attacking hard and fast, every ounce of frustration and pain pouring into his strikes. For the first time since entering the room, he was the one attacking her.

Maybe he was lucky for once, but things seemed to continue to turn in his favour, and it only added to his momentum.

Or so it seemed...

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