The Ranch

Kane's discipl(in)e (3)

"Here are the rules, me and Tih..." He finally directs his attention to the source of the conflict to see the child still half-naked, politely paying attention to his lecture. He's at a loss for words. That person he's defending shows no indications of distress or discomfort, owning his fashion style with a relaxed manner.

He sigh, squeezing the part between his eyes, remembering what kind of boy Tih was. After training many students over the year, he had gotten used to the tough shell but soft interior of children that arrived on the island. He mistakenly placed Tih in that group, momentarily forgetting his unusualness.

He crouches besides Tih, helping him redress and combing through his tousled hair in an attempt to fix it before placing the cap as a finishing touch.

Once he's done, Instructor Kane hoist Tih onto his shoulder, continuing where he left off and issuing the challenge," We'll be playing tag with me and Tih being 'it'. Anywhere in this colosseum is fair game. 'Tagging' refers to a gut punch. Get tagged, fifty pushups. If you take longer that five minute, the pushups will double, and I promise I'll make sure you do all of them." He snickers to himself.

Tih didn't understand all of it, but he can just copy Instructor Kane's movement's once they start playing. They're both 'it' after all. And, now Tih knows for sure that you don't have to say "you're it" out loud.

As soldiers of Ranch Island, they quickly compile the information given to them and make plans accordingly. This almost instinctual act is also thanks to Instructor Kane's teachings. He is a double silver-stares instructor, after all.

Approximately all of the soldiers come up with the same plan: to avoid the instructor at all costs. They rather ignored the other tagger.

Kane's disciples look down on the newbie, due to the fact that they were not originally involved with the problem, which resulting in them not know anything about Tih. The teens also underestimate Tih, as they haven't had first hand experience at Tih's abilities, they've only heard rumors or have seen Nathan and his team, but no one believes Tih took Nathan down by himself.

Instructor Kane gives his students some time to plan, knowing their thought process will lead them to underestimate the kid. With them out of the way, he grins at the boy he can easily carry on his shoulder," You ready to have some fun?"

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fun...? ...fun is good....    like fun...

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Tih nods his head enthusiastically, contrasting his expressionless face, and making an odd sight to behold.

Instructor Kane's never been one to nitpick. He takes Tih enthusiasm as excitement to take revenge when in fact, Tih doesn't have a murderous bone in his body.

With everything prepared, Instructor Kane starts counting down without warning,"10...9...8..."

The student immediately become alert and scamper in different directions. Looking closer, the disciples reacted the fastest.

He continues while setting Tih down," 7...6...5..."

He hardens his expression as he positions himself in a fighting stance, completely serious. He emits a certain pressure only battle-hardened warrior would be able to control. It's obvious he doesn't plan to let them of easily. "4...3...2..."

Instructor Kane glances around the entire colosseum, mapping out all the obstacles and positions of people," 1...GO!"

He dashed towards the slowest student and instantly closes the gap. With a woosh, one student down for the count. He quickly moves on to his next target.

Tih memorizes Instructor Kane's movement, especially the amount of force used when tagging. He also noted down the part about balling his hand into a square. Tih starts running after his first target. He also tries to maintain the same speed as Instructor Kane, as he's trying to be especially careful considering he didn't understand all the rules, which messed him up in his game with Abel and Basile.

Some students came up with the plan to fight Tih if he chased them, instead of running. Their reasoning being, if they take down the child first, he won't be able to touch them when they're focused on the instructor.

Some of those thoughts receded slightly when they witnessed the child's speed that was on par with their instructor. That didn't stop some confident teens from abandoning their original plans.

Tih reaches his first victim, the victim stops and turns around, preparing to fight and opening up the front side of their torso, making it easier for Tih to reach. Usually, one would have to maneuver in front of the running teens that had their backs facing them. The teen that's planning to fight only made it easier for Tih.

The teen tries to use his longer limbs to his advantage, aiming a kick at Tih. Tih uses his speed to dodge the kick and with the distance completely closed, a fist flies into the teens stomach before he can counter. The punch knocks the wind out of the teen. If Kane's victims and Tih's victims were to compare notes, the would discover that the force used to hit them was exactly the same.

The two go on a gut-punching spree all around the colosseum. They jump and climb through obstacles to shorten the distance, instead of running around.

Some teens tried to use the training gear to their advantage, climbing into hiding spaces or sitting atop tall structures that would take time and effort to reach them. However, their plan failed horribly. The two beasts would only take a fourth of the time it took for the teens to get into their positions.

Some soldier took a different path and started climbing the walls of the colosseum. Some would hide in the bleachers, a few hid behind pillars, and others would run around the circumference, running to the place that was the furthest from them.

The latter would have worked if there was only one tagger, or if the other of the two was useless, but unfortunately for the teens, the beasts overpowered them in speed. If one was punching people on one side of the colosseum, the other would be "tagging" on the other half.

The first teen that got tagged by Instructor Kane finishes his push ups and calmly gets up, about to find a bench to sit on and wait for the others when a fist slams into his stomach once more. He falls to his knees, saliva drips out of his mouth as these words enter his ears," Where do you think you're going? Did I say you could stop after one round? Get back up and start running again soldier." Most of the regular students thought, hoped, they would be done once everyone was tagged and the tagger makes won. But now it looks like this "lecture" will go on for however long Instructor Kane feels it should be.

The onlookers take pity with this realization, but they still call their friends to come over and watch the show. They also start videotaping the magnificent performance. It should be known, as a two silver-ranked instructor, Kane has a fairly large reputation. His reputation as a teacher is especially apparent, as his teaching have brought his students many achievements. Anyone that becomes his student also gets the spotlight dropped onto them.

Tournaments are fairly competitive and the teachers want their students to be as prepared as possible. After all, not everyone has the ability to plow through the entire competition with strength alone. As such, it's common for teacher to pay well for information on their competitors.