Butler stood his ground. “If you have access to my sister’s memories, have a flick through them. You can never defeat me. She never has, and you never will.”
Bellico froze for a moment, accessing the database of Juliet’s mind. It was true, Butler had easily defeated his sister a thousand times. His talents were far superior to hers…but, wait. There was a vision of the big human on his back, with pain on his brow. He was speaking:
You really nailed me with that move, Jules. It came out of nowhere. How is your big old brother supposed to defend himself against that?
Bellico’s eyes flashed. Which move was the big human speaking of?
She dug a little deeper and found a fifty-four-step kata that Juliet Butler had developed herself, loosely based on the teachings of Kano Jigoro, the founder of judo.
I have found the human’s weak spot.
Bellico allowed the memory to fully surface and send instructions to the body. Juliet’s limbs began to seamlessly perform the kata.
Butler frowned and dropped into a boxer’s defensive stance. “Hey, what are you doing?”
Bellico did not answer. There was anxiety in the Mud Man’s voice, and that was enough to assure Bellico that she had chosen the correct course of action. She swept around the office like a dancer, her speed increasing with each revolution.
“Stand still!” said Butler, struggling to keep her in his line of sight. “You can’t win!”
Bellico could win, she was certain of it. This old man was no match for the young powerful body she inhabited. Faster and faster she spun, her feet barely touching the ground, air whistling through the jade ring that held her long ponytail.
“I’ll give you one more chance, Juliet, or whoever the hell you are. Then I will have to hurt you.”
He was bluffing. A scared, obvious bluff.
I will win, thought Bellico, feeling invulnerable now.
On the fifty-second step, Bellico launched herself high into the air, backward, then braced her hind leg against the wall, switching direction and increasing her altitude. She descended on Butler in a blur of speed, her heel aimed like an arrowhead at the nerve cluster in his neck.
Once the human is disabled, I will destroy the siege box, thought Bellico, already celebrating her victory.
Butler slapped her heel with his left palm and jabbed the fingers of his right hand into Bellico’s gut, just hard enough to wind her—and there is not a warrior on the planet who can fight when they cannot breathe. Bellico dropped like a sack of stones to the rug and lay whooping in the fetal position.
“How?” she gasped. “How?”
Butler lifted her by the collar. “That day was Juliet’s birthday. I let her win.”

The Last Guardian, Chapter 10