Guls had been watching the fights with interest. The young man who fought the alien showed excellent endurance and tactical thinking, and in this day and age proper attacks with Ki were a rare find. Ultra-Dimension hadn't disappointed either, showing a true warrior's spirit despite his flashy antics and carrying on even with a serious wound. The two Saiyan girls had been interesting as well. Even The former champion had proven to be a capable fighter to have lasted as long as he did against his troubled young Namekian opponent. Guls made a mental note to assess him should they be paired against each other later in the tournament.
It was then that the announcer spoke up, breaking through Guls reflections on the previous fights.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! The fifth match of the first round is about to begin! The first fighter is the tricky killer clown, give it up for Slapstick!" Guls couldn't help noticing that applause for his opponent was as lacking and unenthusiastic as when the lanky man in clown makeup was first introduced. In his decades-long stay on Earth, Guls himself had decided that he wasn't overly fond of clowns, nor did he understand why Earth's population might think they were funny. "His opponent is another Namekian with a fondness for swords, let's hear it for Guls! Fighters! Make your entrance!" As Guls took his place on stage, he couldn't help but notice that his opponent's power level was far below what he himself was capable of in a fight. Yet the strange harlequin seemed completely undisturbed, his face constantly split with a smile that Guls almost wished was just painted on. He moved to shake hands with the grinning Jester, but the bizarre man reacted to the gesture by honking his red rubber nose like a horn, bending over and smacking his own posterior! The resulting giggling and snickering from the crowd hardly helped matters.
This has got to be the second most humiliating fight I've ever been involved in! But I can't let him rattle me before the fight, it's exactly what he wants. I'll just end it quickly along with his mockery. Instead Guls moved a few steps back and rested his hand confidently close to his sword, while Slapstick danced in place and blew raspberries at him not even bothering to take a fighting stance. Through the continued giggling and amusement of the crowd, the announcer's professionally serious voice was just able to boom out "Let the battle...begiiiiiin!"
Guls had planned on rushing Slapstick and taking him out in a single blow, but almost at the same time as the announcer shouted out for the match to start the cloaked Namekian was suddenly confronted with an entire army of identical clowns rushing at him from all sides. Guls dodged each blow in the storm of punches and kicks from all directions with surprising speed, but when he slashed at one with a testing strike from his sword the blade passed harmlessly through it. Chiding himself for reacting so easily to tricks and illusions he ignored the army of fakes, only to take a sudden punishing blow to the back that made him gasp out more from shock than pain.
Whirling, Guls slashed through the copy of Slapstick closest to the origin of the strike only for the back of his blade to slip through it like water once again. Instead he was hit from behind with what felt like a hard kick to the joint of his right leg. The attack didn't phase him much but as he struck in retaliation what should have been a decisive hit against his opponent was wasted on yet another illusory clown. This continued for several minutes and each time Guls was hit with a very real attack, but each time the Slapstick he counterattacked was a ghostly duplicate.
Fed up with taking a beating from the clown but not willing to use anywhere near his true strength for fear of accidentally killing his weak but tricky opponent, Guls momentarily sheathed his sword while increasing his power just a little. then The Green Swordsman unsheathed it in a flurry of blows with the dull edge fast enough to hit every copy of Slapstick at once.
All while failing to hit the real clown. While they winked back into place the horde of illusions blew raspberries at Guls in tandem as a downward strike to the back of the head knocked him to the arena's tiles. Unfortunately for Slapstick, Guls failure to connect with a solid blow confirmed his theory about the trickster's techniques. After rising up and dusting himself off, he closed his eyes in apparent disregard for his opponent. In reality he was focusing his other senses, ignoring both what his eyes told him and the minor pains from Slapstick's attacks. A human might not have noticed it up amid the roaring crowd and the announcer's commentary, but his sensitive Namekian hearing picked up the beating of his opponents heart and the characteristic scuffle of oversized clown shoes. Even more damning, his opponent's faint powerlevel spiked along with the noise giving away his attack. Guls thrust his sheathed sword out in a perfect parry then grabbed it and smashed the hilt out against the seemingly empty air.
Slapstick suddenly popped into view as the hilt-strike sent him spinning all the way to the edge of the Arena, barely catching himself in time as his clones vanished. He wobbled woozily to his feet and swayed back to stand in front of Guls, but gave the crowd a melodramatic wave and bow before repeating his butt-smacking antics in Guls direction once again and pulling down an eyelid while sticking out his tongue. Irritated, Guls resheathed his sword and moved to blunt-edge slash his mocking opponent hard enough to send him flying the rest of the way out of the ring in one blow. But instead Slapstick materialized a strange shield of orange Ki at the last minute and as the blade touched it, all of the force seemed to reverse back at Guls. This sent the sharpened edge of the Namekian's own sword back at him, tearing his veiled hood and cutting a long but shallow scratch into his cheek as the sword flew from his grip.
Slapstick danced about, cackling and hooting in wordless clownish glee as Guls stepped back for a moment and eyed his opponent, visibly surprised despite his face being still partially covered. The clown went into a victory dance at drawing the first real blood of the match, wiggling and gyrating in a manner that disturbed even the hardened Namekian fighter, his creepy laugh echoing around the tournament grounds all the while. Finally, Guls walked over to pick up and resheath his sword and spoke up just loud enough to be heard over his opponent, though Slapstick continued to laugh and dance.
"Up until now, this fight has been nothing but a child's game and you've been using childish tricks. You've been taking advantage of my playing along to get the better of me, but that stops now. Because as of right now..."
Guls powered up to about a little under half his strength, but all at once. The sudden release of power was enough to not only send his cloak billowing out around him but push Slapstick off of his big red-shoe'd feet. Guls gripped his sword as the burst of power radiated off of him, and instead of laughter or mockery the clown only opened his mouth in shock as Guls shouted into the sudden silence:
"I'm through clowning around!"
Then suddenly it was all over. Guls was standing with his sword drawn just to the back of where Slapstick had been as three identical afterimages faded from view, all surrounding a pair of empty clown shoes. As for the clown himself, several gasps and shouts from the audience and high-speed camera footage revealed the truth. In that brief instant, Guls had drawn and resheathed his sword three times from different sides, then smacked the cruel clown on the bottom with the flat of his sword so hard that the man had been sent arcing out of the ring, over the wall and into an empty seat in the stands, butt-first.
Sheathing his sword for a final time, The Green Swordsman bowed to the audience. Maybe that would be enough of a show to attract potential students.
It was then that the announcer spoke up, breaking through Guls reflections on the previous fights.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! The fifth match of the first round is about to begin! The first fighter is the tricky killer clown, give it up for Slapstick!" Guls couldn't help noticing that applause for his opponent was as lacking and unenthusiastic as when the lanky man in clown makeup was first introduced. In his decades-long stay on Earth, Guls himself had decided that he wasn't overly fond of clowns, nor did he understand why Earth's population might think they were funny. "His opponent is another Namekian with a fondness for swords, let's hear it for Guls! Fighters! Make your entrance!" As Guls took his place on stage, he couldn't help but notice that his opponent's power level was far below what he himself was capable of in a fight. Yet the strange harlequin seemed completely undisturbed, his face constantly split with a smile that Guls almost wished was just painted on. He moved to shake hands with the grinning Jester, but the bizarre man reacted to the gesture by honking his red rubber nose like a horn, bending over and smacking his own posterior! The resulting giggling and snickering from the crowd hardly helped matters.
This has got to be the second most humiliating fight I've ever been involved in! But I can't let him rattle me before the fight, it's exactly what he wants. I'll just end it quickly along with his mockery. Instead Guls moved a few steps back and rested his hand confidently close to his sword, while Slapstick danced in place and blew raspberries at him not even bothering to take a fighting stance. Through the continued giggling and amusement of the crowd, the announcer's professionally serious voice was just able to boom out "Let the battle...begiiiiiin!"
Guls had planned on rushing Slapstick and taking him out in a single blow, but almost at the same time as the announcer shouted out for the match to start the cloaked Namekian was suddenly confronted with an entire army of identical clowns rushing at him from all sides. Guls dodged each blow in the storm of punches and kicks from all directions with surprising speed, but when he slashed at one with a testing strike from his sword the blade passed harmlessly through it. Chiding himself for reacting so easily to tricks and illusions he ignored the army of fakes, only to take a sudden punishing blow to the back that made him gasp out more from shock than pain.
Whirling, Guls slashed through the copy of Slapstick closest to the origin of the strike only for the back of his blade to slip through it like water once again. Instead he was hit from behind with what felt like a hard kick to the joint of his right leg. The attack didn't phase him much but as he struck in retaliation what should have been a decisive hit against his opponent was wasted on yet another illusory clown. This continued for several minutes and each time Guls was hit with a very real attack, but each time the Slapstick he counterattacked was a ghostly duplicate.
Fed up with taking a beating from the clown but not willing to use anywhere near his true strength for fear of accidentally killing his weak but tricky opponent, Guls momentarily sheathed his sword while increasing his power just a little. then The Green Swordsman unsheathed it in a flurry of blows with the dull edge fast enough to hit every copy of Slapstick at once.
All while failing to hit the real clown. While they winked back into place the horde of illusions blew raspberries at Guls in tandem as a downward strike to the back of the head knocked him to the arena's tiles. Unfortunately for Slapstick, Guls failure to connect with a solid blow confirmed his theory about the trickster's techniques. After rising up and dusting himself off, he closed his eyes in apparent disregard for his opponent. In reality he was focusing his other senses, ignoring both what his eyes told him and the minor pains from Slapstick's attacks. A human might not have noticed it up amid the roaring crowd and the announcer's commentary, but his sensitive Namekian hearing picked up the beating of his opponents heart and the characteristic scuffle of oversized clown shoes. Even more damning, his opponent's faint powerlevel spiked along with the noise giving away his attack. Guls thrust his sheathed sword out in a perfect parry then grabbed it and smashed the hilt out against the seemingly empty air.
Slapstick suddenly popped into view as the hilt-strike sent him spinning all the way to the edge of the Arena, barely catching himself in time as his clones vanished. He wobbled woozily to his feet and swayed back to stand in front of Guls, but gave the crowd a melodramatic wave and bow before repeating his butt-smacking antics in Guls direction once again and pulling down an eyelid while sticking out his tongue. Irritated, Guls resheathed his sword and moved to blunt-edge slash his mocking opponent hard enough to send him flying the rest of the way out of the ring in one blow. But instead Slapstick materialized a strange shield of orange Ki at the last minute and as the blade touched it, all of the force seemed to reverse back at Guls. This sent the sharpened edge of the Namekian's own sword back at him, tearing his veiled hood and cutting a long but shallow scratch into his cheek as the sword flew from his grip.
Slapstick danced about, cackling and hooting in wordless clownish glee as Guls stepped back for a moment and eyed his opponent, visibly surprised despite his face being still partially covered. The clown went into a victory dance at drawing the first real blood of the match, wiggling and gyrating in a manner that disturbed even the hardened Namekian fighter, his creepy laugh echoing around the tournament grounds all the while. Finally, Guls walked over to pick up and resheath his sword and spoke up just loud enough to be heard over his opponent, though Slapstick continued to laugh and dance.
"Up until now, this fight has been nothing but a child's game and you've been using childish tricks. You've been taking advantage of my playing along to get the better of me, but that stops now. Because as of right now..."
Guls powered up to about a little under half his strength, but all at once. The sudden release of power was enough to not only send his cloak billowing out around him but push Slapstick off of his big red-shoe'd feet. Guls gripped his sword as the burst of power radiated off of him, and instead of laughter or mockery the clown only opened his mouth in shock as Guls shouted into the sudden silence:
"I'm through clowning around!"
Then suddenly it was all over. Guls was standing with his sword drawn just to the back of where Slapstick had been as three identical afterimages faded from view, all surrounding a pair of empty clown shoes. As for the clown himself, several gasps and shouts from the audience and high-speed camera footage revealed the truth. In that brief instant, Guls had drawn and resheathed his sword three times from different sides, then smacked the cruel clown on the bottom with the flat of his sword so hard that the man had been sent arcing out of the ring, over the wall and into an empty seat in the stands, butt-first.
Sheathing his sword for a final time, The Green Swordsman bowed to the audience. Maybe that would be enough of a show to attract potential students.
