Victory of the Little Flower

    "Now that's what I call a court of thorns and roses!" Saint Gabriel announced when the fight ended.

    Guardian angels chased the remaining snakes slithering about the arena while Saint Michael held the Little Flower's hand in the air to angelic and saintly cheers from the crowd.

    "That was truly a fight to be remembered for eternity! Let's see that final round on replay!" the messenger continued.

    Above all the choirs showed the intense last round of the fight. Ireland's own released hundreds of serpents from his sleeves, intent on cornering the Carmelite, but she had tricks up her own sleeves.

    "Well now we know what happened to all those serpent's Pat 'drove out' huh Raph?" Gabriel said.

    Saint Raphael rolled his eyes and ignored the obnoxious archangel.

    The screen showed the little nun backing up into the corner until she was nearly out of bounds. But before the snakes could strike, she closed her eyes, muttered something under her breath, then called thorny vines up through the ground. They snared the serpents, preventing any from reaching her.

    St. Patrick looked concerned; he was clearly counting on that play to secure victory.

    Before he could make another move though, St. Therese leaped into the air. Pink smoke and razor sharp rose petals began swirling around her as she powered up for her ultimate attack. Then with a heavenly shockwave, she unleashed the petals at her opponent. They rushed toward him, and when he tried to dodge, the vines grabbed his legs, rendering him immobile.

    The attack lasted until he could resist no longer. He dropped to the ground and succumbed to defeat. When victory was announced, the whirlwind settled, and the vines retracted. The snakes slithered about without direction and the guardian angels began clearing them away for the post-match interview.

    The screen itself retracted; there was no debate. St. Therese of Lisieux was the clear winner, and St. Patrick, once he recovered, conceded. Saints Louis and Zelie were shown on the Jumbotron, clearly quite proud of their little girl.

    As St. Patrick retreated to the locker rooms, he passed St. Cecilia tuning her Stradivarius. "You're next in the bracket Cece. Good luck against those vines! I couldn't get past them."

    "Thanks Pat, good effort out there!" she replied, then left to retrieve something of her own. She returned a minute later with a case holding a bigger instrument.

    "What's that?" St. Patrick asked.

    "Oh. . . a secret weapon. I think it might come in handy" she said with a menacing grin.

    St. Patrick's eyes widened, then he shrugged and retreated to the locker room.