Chapter 16

Now back to Supper and the Tsuru brothers.

The blast caused great destruction to the spot where it was aimed, leaving a huge dust cloud which lingered for a few minutes after it was fired.

TaoPaiPai looked at his brother disapprovingly. "Really, brother. You have no finesse. Look at the mess you made."

Tsuru snorted again. "Who needs finesse when you've got power? I don't have to show off my finer skills to acquire a business contract. Unlike you, my unemployed little brother."

A small growl escaped from TaoPaiPai's throat. The two brothers turned to each other, their kis rising ever so slightly.

A soft groan distracted them.

Both men turned in surprise when they saw the girl at the corner of the room. Apparently she had managed to avoid the center of the blast, and had been hit to the wall by the impact.

TaoPaiPai spoke first. "Power, eh? You couldn't even kill a scrawny brat like her with your oh-so-impressive 'power'."

"Shut up." Tsuru walked over to the girl. "You're better than I thought, brat. You impress me. You inherit more than just your third eye from your father, it seems."

Supper was still dazed by the impact of the blast. Nevertheless, she was curious. "How did you do that?"

"The Dodonpa? Using, my ki of course," Tsuru replied absently.

"Ki?" Supper stared at him blankly. The concept was alien to her.

"Yes, ki. Life force. Everybody has it. But only the strong and thoroughly disciplined can manipulate it to this extent. Master your ki, and you can do a lot of interesting things. Like this."

Supper didn't get it at first. Then she noticed that the old man's feet weren't touching the ground. He was floating! She'd thought that maybe she'd hit her head a little too hard initially. She blinked. No, it was no illusion. Her third eye would not be deceived. He really was floating.

"Ki." She repeated dazedly, recalling the powerful blast the old man fired from his finger. "Like the cyborgs."

"Huh." the old man snorted. "Theirs was artificial ki. They had the same basic ki as everyone else, but it was changed to one of such a powerful extent. Their bodies were modified to handle such great power, and their basic kis were hidden in the process. That's why they can't be detected."

"Detected?"

"Yes. Ki as strong as theirs can be detected by those who know how. And when you can feel an enemy's ki you can gauge their strength and plan your strategy in order to defeat him." Tsuru turned away so his back was to her, still floating in mid-air.

Supper started to get up. "Don't bother getting up." The old man said, his back still facing her. How did he-- Supper thought, when Tsuru turned to face her again. "I can feel your movements without seeing it. That's ki detection."

"You said you can only detect strong kis."

"Hmph." He answered her smugly, "At this distance, I can detect even ordinary ki like yours. Not any fool can do that."

Supper's eyes opened wide in fascination. This is very interesting, she thought, forgetting for the moment that the man had just tried to kill her.

TaoPaiPai reminded them of the fact. "Enough of this ki lesson. Are you going to kill her or not?" He asked his brother impatiently. "If you're not, then I'll be more than glad to."

He turned to Supper, who now gulped.

"Oh I will." Tsuru replied. "Make no mistake about that. Talented or not, she's still the traitor's brat. But I'll take my time. I want to savor the moment, and I'll show you 'finesse', little brother."

He abruptly turned around. All of a sudden, Supper felt pain all over her body again. Limbs hit her with such a force even her third eye had trouble catching up with Tsuru's swift movements. Then he stopped. He floated an inch or two above her and watched in satisfaction as the girl gasped and coughed blood, trying to catch her breath as she lay crumpled on the floor.

Supper 's head was swimming. The pain she felt all over her body was near unbearable, and they got worse with every difficult breath she tried to take. She knew she must've cracked and broken more than a few bones by now. Her vision started to blur. Her surroundings seemed hazy. The last thing she remembered was one last excruciating pain as she was suddenly picked up, or maybe kicked? before she was slammed into a wall. She thought she heard a horrible cracking sound even as she screamed in pain, or imagined she did before she lost consciousness again.

Chapter 17
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