Dante's Abyss 2007 Sign-Ups

[Tobias]

?Say cheese and crackers!? Garlic's mouth twitched. If it was more of a grimace than a smile the cameraman didn't care, he took what he could get. With a finger digging into his voluminous mustaches he set his camera aside and scanned for his other equipment. Garlic ran a hand over his damp scalp and examined the sweat on his palm. He hoped that wherever the fuck Dante's Abyss was this year it would be a little more tepid.

?If you don't mind me saying so, sir,? the cameraman voiced while setting up a tripod, ?You have a good look about you for crowd pleasing. Unique, noticeable. You stand out.? The demon grunted a noncommittal response. He certainly was going to please the crowd this year; there was to be no more of that grumpy goblin shit, not matter how he actually felt, but to the hells with this man if he thought he was going to waste one ounce of his charm on him. The little red light on his camera switched green. And it was on. His frown curled into a roguish grin, his slouch straightened into a relaxed pose.

?Show me your stuff.?

Slowing down just enough to let the camera catch his movements he flowed into a practiced sequence of kicks, flips and punches. It was faster, smoother, and just damn better than any average martial artist could muster, but he was just warming up. He did a flip and landed with a length of focused ki in his hand. Now his sword weaved into his graceful dance of death, cutting down invisible foes by the dozens. He let his blade lengthen retract and whip with his movements and then let it disappear.

?Alright then I'll...? Garlic cut the human short with a chop of his hand.

?Did you want to see my moves or watch me dance?? The man simply turned the camera back on and started filming. Garlic looked straight into the camera and offered it the cockiest sneer he could muster.

?That... was shit. I could do as much when I was three.? He extended his arm to the camera. ?See this hand? It can move thirty times as fast as that,? He flipped it palm up and let a ball of green ki form. ?, and can make one of these for each movement.? The goblin flicked his wrist and then clenched his tiny fingers into a fist. A swarm of small shimmering orbs halted in front of the camera lens. To untrained eyes they simply appeared. ?Those are just pests separately. But as one,? at his command they swirled in a kaleidoscope of motion to form one large sphere, ?they are wounding. Half a minute later I could level a city with the sheer volume of these.? He let the ball melt put of existence and turned away from the camera.

?But I wouldn't even need that long.? He whispered over his shoulder. With an abrupt jerk he was spun back around, a manic glare form his eyes and a wicked grin curling his mouth. His hands were cupped together and channeling enough energy that the room began to rattle. ?Ga-rikku Sen. Garlic Beam. It means death.? He let out a bark of a laugh and relaxed his arms. ?I will end it there before the cameraman pisses himself.? The ki was cut and everything settled. The green light turned red.

"Well... that, uh..." The cameraman let out a small cough. He was shaking a little as he wrote down the power level he recorded on a sheet. Those jagged lines formed a number than made his stomach do a little flip. Not because he was afraid, not even in awe. He was excited. There was so much energy in that room it vibrated to his bones. With a tug on his whiskers he bowed to the little man. So much energy... and this Garlic Junior wasn't even the strongest yet to sign up. By the Kami this was going to be a good year.