"It's going viral," Amanda said. "Someone named Mia uploaded it last night. It already has thousands of views."
Erica snatched the phone, her expression darkening as she watched. "Damage control?" she muttered. "We need immediate damage control."
Rick looked at the video, then at Thelma. "That's not damage. That's beautiful."
Outside in the main dojo area, most students had left, but Mia, Josh, and a few others remained, huddled together and speaking in excited whispers.
"I can't believe I've been training with a legend," one of the younger students was saying. "My dad is going to freak out."
"How did none of us see it?" another asked. "I mean, looking back, there were signs."
Josh remained quiet, lost in thought. When his phone buzzed, he checked it and frowned. "It's my dad. He saw Mia's video and wants me to come home immediately."
Mia touched his arm. "Are you okay? He sounded pretty intense last time you mentioned him."
"I'll be fine," Josh said, though his expression suggested otherwise. "He's probably just shocked."
As Josh left, Tyler approached the group, his earlier bravado replaced by sullen confusion.
"This doesn't make any sense. If she's some champion, why'd she slum it here with us? Why pretend to be bad?"
"Maybe she had her reasons," Mia replied. "Not everything is about you, Tyler."
Tyler's face flushed. "You've been team grandma from the start. I bet you knew about this."
"I suspected," Mia admitted. "But I didn't know for sure until today."
"Traitor," Tyler muttered. But there was less conviction in his voice than usual.
That evening, long after classes had ended, the dojo was silent and dark. A figure moved through the shadows, expertly picking the lock on the back door. Once inside, the intruder moved with purpose, overturning equipment racks and slashing practice mats with a knife. The destruction was methodical, almost ritualistic.
When it was complete, the intruder spray-painted a single Japanese character on the wall-length mirror: "Chi" — shame.
Morning revealed the devastation. Rick stood amidst the wreckage, his face grim. Erica paced the floor, already on the phone with the insurance company. Students gathered outside, shocked by the vandalism.
"This is what your legend has brought us," Erica hissed at Rick. "Destruction and chaos."
"This isn't about Thelma," Rick replied. "It's about something much older and darker."
Across town, Thelma knelt before a simple gravestone in the local cemetery. The name "James Franklin Gardner" was etched in the granite along with the dates 1945–2005.