Flying Through the Jungle: Roberto's Dragon Ball Quest

The first thing I noticed about the jungle was how humid it was. The second thing I noticed was that I didn't see any of the other contestants.

"Hello?!" I called out loudly. No response. "Porra," I muttered under my breath. As long as they didn't get to the boss first, *I* would win!

The last time someone had won a dragon ball tournament was almost 300 years ago, and I figured it would be easy money. I hadn't expected the organizers to get rid of all the other competitors by sending them into *different* jungles. Great, now I have to not only find the boss but also figure out where everyone else is too.

I swear, this wasn't how Roberto Da Silvabestia was supposed to end up. My parents had wanted me to be a great warrior and politician, like our ancestors. I had ended up being what we call a 'faker.'

Roberto Da Silvabestia fakes being a martial arts master so he can get paid for appearances at kids birthday parties and such. It's not easy work - you have to talk a lot with people who don't usually speak your language and it can really hurt your throat if you aren't careful - but it's better than the alternative: going back home and trying to live off of what my parents left me while they went off to explore unknown places in space or something stupid like that.

The problem is that sometimes people recognize me, and ask me to show them some moves. Which is embarrassing because I don't actually know any moves, but it *is* good business because they always want to pay me more money to learn from me afterward. But anyone who wants to learn from me is basically guaranteed never to beat me in a fight ever again, so I make sure they never meet any of my friends or family so they don't go around bragging about it. It works well enough for now - maybe someday I'll actually be able to make a real living off of my questing skills instead of having to fake them!

As I continued walking through the dense jungle, it started getting darker and darker until finally night fell on me unexpectedly and suddenly. This was bad; if I couldn't find shelter before morning then I'd be in trouble.

Well, no point in stopping now! There has got to be something in here that can help me!

I kept going deeper into the jungle until eventually dawn broke and got me some much-needed light...but also revealed something terrifying watching me from behind a large tree. It was greenish-brownish-reddish with horns and fangs...and looked vaguely familiar somehow...