Aisle Seven

Marjorie grabbed the last jar of Rao’s marinara sauce.

Alexander’s fingers closed around hers, his nails digging deep. Their eyes met across the shopping cart, decades of rivalry crackling between them.

Sauce was required for his binding ritual and her summoning circle.

Neither yielded.

The cataclysmic confrontation—inevitable.

Alexander began his incantation, dark syllables spilling from his lips. Marjorie countered with her own spell, weaving shadows between the aisles. Their magic collided in a violent eruption of energy.

Shoppers fled as reality splintered.

Both wielders lay among scattered groceries, powers spent.

Only the jar of marinara sauce remained.