markley Hello, I am an up-and-coming (in my own all-too-humble opinion ^_^) novelist, and I have a question and a story. Question first: Is there anyone out there who would be interested in a text-only novel based on anime and manga themes, with similar tone and subjects? I think I see a real marketing niche here, and I want to know if it is worth pursuing. Read the following. If you think you could stand to read about 200 more pages of the same, send me an email. If you think it bites and I should be shot, send me an email. If you have constructive criticism, send me an email. If you're gonna flame me, you will find out that I know _many_ more words than you... ^_^! I really want some feedback... every little bit helps! Denim Dragons: (Alternate titles appreciated) All characters and situations within are copyright Christopher Markley 1994 and are protected by the copyright laws of the United States and international treaties concerning the violation of intellectual property. Any unapproved or unlicensed copying is illegal under those laws, and the author maintains all rights to the material in question. Infringement _will_ not be tolerated, and the author _will_ prosecute to the fullest extent in case of unlawful reproduction of the whole or parts. THIS AIN'T A JOKE, KIDS! "GO!" the referee yelled, and leaped clear. I conemplated my opponent for a minute. The other boy was dressed in grey coveralls, with oddly-patterned metallic bracers and greaves, with a long chain for a belt. His dark hair was unruly and short, and his face carried numerous scars. I noted that there were no calluses on the boy's knuckles or feet, as if he had never undergone intensive training in martial arts. Which was highly unusual, even in this martial arts tournament. The other boy was not sizing me up, but was instead whirling his arms like propellors. "I am Kusari Heitai! I am the Warrior of Chains! All fall before me!" he yelled, and twitched his arms. The chains which I had mistaken for bracers unwrapped from his arms, and suddenly the grey-clad boy was surrounded by a whirling shell of steel chains which were attached to his wrists by small cuffs. I watched this spectacle as Kusari Heitai rushed at me, then leaped over him. The spectators gasped at the jump, which covered over ten feet vertical and twelve horizontal, taking me well over and behind the lengths of spinning chains. Kusari turned, and came at me again. I stepped back until I felt the edge of the ring, and waited for him to approach again. I'll admit, I wasn't real impressed with Kusari's performance. I am quite aware that I am faster than any human, but this guy stood out as being one of the slower martial artists I'd fought, and I've fought a few. Man, if I had time to tell you about my senior year in high school... Kusari was nearly on top of me, and I hopped over him again. It was almost embarrassing how easy it was to humiliate this guy. I thought. Har de har har. He turned, and slipped his cuffs, allowing the spinning chains to flip at me. I am kinda ashamed to admit that he caught me flat-footed. One chain entangled my arm to my torso,and the other one wrapped around a leg. But it was okay, I told myself. He had no martial arts training, I could take him whether or not I was a little tied up. I thought I was in control of the situation. You'd think that would clue me in that there was something I didn't know. But, I wasn't that bright. He jumped forward, landing in a handstand. Remember, I said he wore bracers _and_ greaves? He flipped his legs out, and be damned if there weren't two chains uncoiling from his greaves! He began to advance on me on his arms, and I saw why he wore such baggy coveralls: He had the arms of a great ape! If he had managed to connect with those chains of his, I would have been crippled! And then, I swear on my mother's grave (a safe swear if I ever heard one, since she's alive!), the chain-swinging punk jumped at me. >From a handstand. He turned a flip in the air, and the pair of chains came slashing down at killing speeds. With my restricted motion, it was all I could do to dodge the surprise attack. He landed on his hands, and pursued me. I started to squirm loose, but couldn't do it in time. He swung a chain at me, and clipped me behind the ear, with more than enough force to knock me out. Kinda surprised him when I didn't go unconcious! Him, and everyone else. I mean, Shikoku Were-Cats are hardly unknown, especially to the people of the All-Asia Attacking Arts Assembly, but it always comes as a suprise to meet one. I leaped deftly out of the chains, and turned to face him. I spat and arched my back, displaying all the feline fury that my furry little body had. Why, yes, I had been human a few moments ago! I told you I was a Were-Cat... Kusarin Heitai stared at me a moment, then realized that technically I had not been knocked out, and so the match was still on. He shrugged, and hopped to his feet, and approached me. Fool. You could tell he'd never owned a cat in his life. I ran straight towards him, then straight up him! I zipped up the front of his shirt, then slid down into the neck of his baggy clothing. Then I burst out. Kusari Heitai was highly surprised, since I had just turned into a seven-foot-tall, four-hundred-pound cat-monster. I pushed off from his chest, and backflipped to land on my two rear legs. Truth to tell, there's no real difference between my abilities as a man and as a cat-monster, since I never used my claws, but the Catbeast is great for intimidating people. I hissed again, laying my ears flat against my skull. Kusari stood up, having been knocked down from my sudden appearance, and pulled off his belt. I could not help but notice that he was not intimidated. And that he was whirling the belt around, faster and faster. I decided to end this. I lunged forward, fast as only cats and snakes can be, but he had already released his attack. The chain began to snap out, and I reached to block with my forearm, when I saw that it was really three chains! It was one piece for four feet of it's length, but there were three two-foot-long chains attached to the last link. Once again I was entangled, and this time he was throwing a vicious crescent kick, with one of those chains of his leading! I lashed out, extending my claws. The steel links parted before my talons, and I jerked my arm free of the entangling links. He wound the long belt-chain up in his hand, and we stared at each other. He took the initiative, and leaped straight up. It was by no means as impressive a leap as I used, but it served. Though, while my leaps are aided by my cat-powers (sorry, they are called 'symptoms'!), he made do with brute muscle. He turned once in the air, then lashed out with the triple-chain, straight down. The chain punched through the wood-floored ring, and he dropped into the hole. I grinned to myself. I was supposed to jump down after him, where I would be ambushed. Little did he know who would ambush whom.. I leaped down after him, and hit the ground rolling, back in human form like I always do in darkness. The space under the ring was the same size as the ring (naturally) but with a six-foot ceiling and next to no light. Which was perfect. My first cat-symptom is nightvision, I can see in near-total darkness better than any human. He stumbled towards me, swinging the chain. I ducked and weaved to the side, allowing me to close in with him and deliver a palm punch to his forehead. His head snapped back, then forward, and he swung back. No effect. It was almost disgusting. Here we were, him blind as a bat, and slow as syrup, but I still couldn't win easily because I wasn't strong enough to hurt him. Which meant that it was time to be my mother's son... I leaped up the hole back into the ring, my eyes adjusting immediately. He followed closely, but he was blinded. So I began the odorijitsu, the Fighting Way of the Dance. What happens next is complicated, so I'm going to explain it three times: First, as I felt it. Second, as I saw it. Third, how everyone else saw it. I felt... a stream. A fresh stream, and I was a fish in it. I danced the Silver Trout in Clear Stream. The brook swirled to the left, and I followed it, happy that I was heading out to sea. The brook dropped over a small waterfall, maybe a foot high, and I leaped out, joyous and alive. I splashed back in, wriggling happily, but the stream had some rapids in it, and I had to turn to avoid a cluster of rocks. An interesting weed poked up before me, and I took a little nibble at it. Another piece of plant material turned up before me, and I severed its roots and held it in my mouth. I snapped at it a couple of times, and it was gone. And then the dance was over. I saw... Kusari, stumbling but recovering. I psyched myself into the dance called Silver Trout in Clear Stream, and began. Kusari lashed out with his remaining foot-chain, but I slid to the left. He slashed at my head with his belt, and I jumped over it easily. A flurry of clumsy punches ensued, but I wiggled in place, never quite where his fist was. He reached back and grabbed his wrist-chains, and swung them at me. I jumped sideways to avoid them, then slid in and punched him in the head with a boxing cross. He stumbled back, but I followed, launching a Horse Kick from a savate course I had taken once, but I followed through with a jiujitsu joint-lock. I kicked up once, connecting with his face, and again, then leaped high and slammed him into the ground on the downstroke. And then the fight was over. They saw... me dodging a foot-chain with a sinuous motion, almost snakelike in its suppleness. He swung out with his triple-chain belt, but I sprang over it, my back arching in the parabola of the jump, rolling up to my feet effortlessly. He punched out at me, but I slid back and forth, almost squirming past the blows. He took hold of his chains, but I jagged to the side like there was a guiding pressure taking me to the correct point, then back in time to punch him across his head. The following kicks and locks were effortless, as if as natural a function as eating, even as I leaped into the air, swung him around, and slammed his carcass into the ground. And then it was over. Odorijitsu: you give yourself to the dance, you give the dance to the fight, and the dance gives the fight to you. That is the only way to explain it. I have been learning it since I was walking, and I have never lost a fight against someone who did not know odorijitsu. I am one of two masters of it in the world, and all I can explain is that it is _right_, and that it wins. "Match: Jacob Tobuneko!" The referee announced, holding up a hand towards me, as if the crowd hadn't figured out who had won. I smiled to the audience, and left the ring. That was the last thing to go right for a while. First, I couldn't find Sean or Shauna anywhere. Second, Naginata could be found,and she began following me around, giving me a long and detailed critique of my fight that I tried hard to ignore. I knew it was her way of expressing her admiration and love, but a would-be girlfriend who lives for martial arts and thinks nagging equals flirting is a little annoying. Third thing to go wrong: I saw Songbird in the crowd, with a number in her hand, meaning that she was a competitor. Songbird is one of four people in the world that I fear. She is five feet tall,and about eighty pounds, with the voice of an angel and the face of a kid sister. She can also knock me across the room with her voice, tear wood without touching it, and she could damn near fly. She studied odorijitsu once, and is one of a small minority of people ever to beat me in a fair fight. Like one out of three. Fourth thing to go wrong: My mother called me. "Jake? It's your mother. Good news! For years you hound me to go to the Alll-Asia Attacking Arts Assembly, and I've decided to go one better. I'm competing! The officials said that odorifitsu was such an under-represented art that they would allow me to join late. Oh, and they also said that two of my students were already there! This is the first time the Assembly has had more than one odorijitsu artist, and now there are three! You will come to watch, won't you?" You see, my mother is another one of the people who can take me in a fair fight. She was also the only other acknowledged master of odorijitsu. And she would crack my spine when she found out that I was here, and competing, without her permission. I hate my life.