Author Note :Greetings, fellow readers. Welcome back to 'Kung Fu Panda : The Foreign Warrior' in its 54th chapter! I was a bit unsure if I could get this chapter out in this month, but I am glad that I managed to prove myself wrong. XD
I am excited to deliver the first chapter of this new story arc. There will be good amount of of interesting stuff for all of you to see/read. One thing I'm gonna say about this chapter is that there will be a handful of references of famous fighting scene in movies. I had to spend the weekend watching those movies for me to add them here.
There will also be some new temporary characters for this story. There will be one of them I think some of you might know from what movie character their based on.
Okay, that is all I have to say. I hope you all will enjoy the first chapter of this new story arc, because there will be A LOT of action and fights in this one.
Chapter 54 : The Quinquennial Tournament
An orange blur flew at me with a nearly instantaneous speed. I quickly blocked it's punches and kicks with my trained reflexes and sent a whip kick to the orange warrior. She grabbed my feet and tried to sweep my other leg. I jumped, lifting my other leg and performed a backflip kick. The kick struck her paws as she let go of my trapped feet.
I landed on my both feet and gave her a boastful smile.
"Nice try, but you gotta be faster than that."
"You do not want to see that." She grinned.
A week and a few days has gone by after Tigress's injury was healed. There were no scars, deformities or any other internal problems, it's like she didn't even got shot at all. She told me I was out for almost two days and it was surprising that she had 'covered' me from the others and even Shifu. It was a major relief and it brings me joy to see Tigress is back to her normal self. When we both put on our stances, our training was stopped when a senior red panda entered the Training Hall.
"Students, the time has finally come for you all to truly put your training and skills to the test." Shifu announced. "The Quinquennial Tournament is closing in very quickly. It is best for us to put on some haste and be prepared." All of us ceased our training and followed the red panda's lead. As I was the last to leave the Training Hall, Tigress slowed her pace as I caught up to her.
"I see you're getting very comfortable with your healed arm." I noted.
"I am, and it's all thanks to you." A smile appeared on her face.
"No problem." I replied. "It'll be hard for me to see someone like you to be in low-spirit. I'm just glad I was able to fix your injury before you could miss our all the fun."
"Despite how incredible that technique was, it was incredibly draining for you when you lost consciousness in my room. It took nearly two days for you to recover and wake up." She paused for a moment. "I still have this feeling that you have done so much for me from teaching me how to harness the flow of Ki, to bringing in my real parents to see me, to journey alone to save me from the Emerald Claw and now this." She paused. "You have done so many great things for me and yet I have done nothing in return for y-"
"Don't be ridiculous, Tigress." I cut her off. "You too have done a lot for me as well. First, you've helped me sharpened my skills significantly. Second, that beautiful speech you gave me last year about staying true to myself. Thirdly, saving me and after we both made a run for the exit gate from the Emerald Claw along with treating my shrapnel injuries. And lastly and most importantly, your friendship. You do not have to feel guilty for not doing enough for me in return. As long as your content, it is already enough to make me feel happy." The tiger brought me in a hug.
"Thank you, those words of yours means very much for me. I'm finally glad I was able to get that off of my chest." We both soon released each other from our embrace.
"Your welcome, anything for my bestie." I smiled. "Come on, let's see what today has in store for us." Me and Tigress began catching up with Shifu and the others.
We walked past the Hall Of Warriors to the exit and stood outside of the Jade Palace. I looked down at the Palace Arena and saw a massive amount of people from Valley that has come to see the tournament. Numerous loud cheers of the 'Dragon Warrior' and the 'Furious Six' were to be heard as we descended down to the Palace Arena.
"Citizens of the Valley Of Peace, we have gathered here at this martial art tournament five years ago and it is my pleasure to welcome you back. For those who are new to this, this tournament allows many fighters and masters in China and fighters from around the world to participate. Warriors will fight whoever they get selected with. The winner of a match will ascend to the next match to fight the other winners and this will go on until the final match. The last winners will get to challenge the Furious Six and the Dragon Warrior... if they believe they can." Shifu explained loudly. The audience cheered on. The red panda cleared his throat before continue explaining more.
"There are rules of that one must follow." The crowd remained silent. "The tournament prohibits any use of weapons and protective gears. Dirty tactics such as poking or throwing dust in the eyes and striking to the groin will not be tolerated. And the most important rule of all, the tournament strictly forbids killing of the opponent. This will also be counted as murder by the law. Break any of these rules will result in for the fighter to be disqualified immediately. With enough being said, let the Quinquennial Tournament begin!" Hundreds of lively cheers rang from the audience.
The atmosphere suddenly went silent when the main doors of the Palace Arena opened. Multiple groups, each with different attires and clothings started pouring themselves in slowly. The crowd made a clear path for them. Most of them arrived with groups and there is one that came with a small handful of companions.
The first group I saw wore simple colored robes. One of them was large and muscular tiger. Woah, that was surprising as it is still rare to see tigers around in China (even if they are from other countries). He is shirtless and wore only a dark blue short and has white bandages wrapped around his forearms-to paws and both feet.
The second and third group were donned in Western and Greek clothing. Barely none of them look a fighter due to all of them wore the same clothing and attire. I guess I'll have to wait to find out.
The fourth group are dressed in Japanese robes, and the fifth group are Koreans just by looking at their clothing style.
The sixth 'group' was consisted of a one, single individual. He is a cheetah wearing a long black Chinese robe with a white vest underneath and slightly baggy black pants. He also wore a pair of basic sandals.
"For the returning warriors, please come forth to the stone square." Shifu said. Four groups made a clear way for one person to step out as they walked to the stone square. The four of them bowed. "It is an honor to see you amazing fighters to return here after half a decade."
Man, I'm getting excited, I can't wait to see them in action...
"These four warriors were the ones who has lasted the most in the previous Quinquennial Tournament." Shifu gestured for the crowd. "The fourth place of the previous tournament was Myeong, a young prodigy of the Korean martial art Taekkyon." He was a white wolf dressed in Korean robes with wide black belt. "The third place was Master Kojime, a master of the Japanese Shōtōkan Karate." The karate master is a jaguar wearing a traditional karate gi with a black belt with small kanji symbols written on it. "The second place belonged to the spectacular fighter or more specifically, the spectacular boxer from Germany, Hartmann!" The boxer is a hulking bison who is above six feet tall. He wore an European coat with a top hat. "Finally, a Muay Thai fighter from Thailand, Chaloem, who has fought his way to the first place five years ago and won the previous Quinquennial Tournament!"
The audience (the ones who are new to this) released a 'woah' when they heard who has won the first place.
As me and the others stood on the viewing platform with Shifu, we have spectated like a couple matches passing matches. Nothing exciting has happened from those matches since the fighters down doesn't know how to fight. Hell, some of them doesn't even know how to threw a punch. Fortunately, we did got to watch a decent fight between street fighters or amateurs. The funny thing about the Quinquennial Tournament is that it allows literally ANYONE to participate. With the amateurs fighters gone thanks to them beating up each other and later got beaten by professionals, all that is left now are some pretty interesting fighters.
The next match depicted the cheetah against a bulky and robust crocodile wearing a sleeveless brown vest with brown short pants. I am betting that the crocodile is going to take the cake. Sure, a cheetah may be fast and agile, but I think endurance and strength is gonna win this match. Both fighters approached each other in the square.
"The ninth match will start with an unknown martial artist from the southern part of China against a nameless Suntukan fighter from the Philippines." An announcer said before the gong rang.
Once the gong rang, the two warriors took on their stances. The crocodile took a step forward and sent a fast jab. The cheetah swiftly swatted the jab away. After swatting several jabs from the croc, the reptile growled and charged forward, sending in numerous punches. He dodged all the attacks and sent a quick jab to the croc's snout, causing him to stumble back. Damn, that was freakin fast.
The croc shook his head and recovered his senses before engaging the cheetah. He weaved down and threw an uppercut, followed with more hook punches. The cheetah blocked the uppercut and countered the punches with his paws. He threw a low kick, aiming for the feline's ankle. His attempt failed as his opponent sent a short low kick and countered the croc's low kick.
He spun his scaly arm and delivered a spinning punch. The cheetah leaned, evading the spinning punch and grabbed his opponent by his wrist and shoulder with his paws before delivering a low kick to the side of the croc's knee. Another kick was given to the reptile, hitting him on his hip on the back right when he fell down on one knee. The kick made the croc rolled on the stone square.
The crocodile got up and roared, charging to the cheetah and start firing as many punches as possible. The cheetah somehow managed to counteract all those fists and sent a clean straight punch to the croc's jawline, causing his head to jolt back as the croc stumbled back. Right before the crocodile could recover, the cheetah does a strong forward kick on his sternum. The lightning fast kick flung the croc to the ground. The reptile is now breathing heavily and is seemed to be unable to get up. His scaly body had received multiple bruises from the cheetah's attacks.
Shortly, multiple individuals arrived and took the beaten croc away. The cheetah was announced the winner as the crowd cheered for him. He did a small bow for the audience before leaving the stone square. Wow, that was certainly interesting to watch. That cheetah guy didn't even got scratched or even break a sweat yet.
"That was an incredible match! It seemed that the crocodile couldn't handle the natural speed and dexterity of a cheetah." The announcer commented. "The tenth match will surely be interesting as we will be seeing the previous second place fighter Hartmann against Markos, a Greek fighter with a similar fighting style of his!" Cheers were heard from the enthusiastic audience.
The German bison from before, walked his way to the arena. He is now shirtless and is wearing a pair of black shorts and boxing gloves. A shirtless and enormous bear moved to the square. The bear is donned in only a brown shorts and some type of boxing gloves. Both things the bear is wearing looks to be made out of artificial leather. They approached each other and gave each other a fist pump before bowing. The palace servant struck the wide gong disk, producing a loud metallic sound.
The two fighters placed on a boxing stance. Hartmann stepped forward and threw a cross punch followed up with an uppercut. The first punch was blocked, but the uppercut managed to broke through Markos's block, allowing Hartmann delivered a punch to the bear. Markos ducked his head down, evading the bison's fist and sent a powerful rising uppercut to his chin. The bison's head reeled upwardly before his whole body dropped on the ground.
Markos saw the bison was getting up. The bear ran towards the bison and started delivering brutal low kicks on his ribcage, stopping and keeping Hartmann from getting up as he continued kicking the bear on the same area. Despite how brutal this is, it is still considered 'fair' in a way since Shifu or anyone is not saying anything about it.
The spark of the bison kicked in as he managed to grab the bear's feet, stopping himself from getting a kick to his ribcage and launched an uppercut to the bear's abdomen. Markos flung back and landed on the ground. Markos got up while coughing a few times before resuming his stance.
The bear thrusted himself forward and struck the bison with a strong foot thrust, striking right down on Hartmann's thigh. The bison went down on one knee. Right when the bear was down, Markos quickly went behind the bison and wrapped his large arms around his neck and planted his feet on the bison's back to restrict further movements. This chokehold from Markos is starting to show effects as Hartmann is starting to lose his strength throughout each second has passed.
The boxer did something quite unexpected from boxing rules. Hartmann reeled his head forward before reeling back, slamming the back of his head against the bear's face. The headbutt caused Markos to yell in pain as he let go of the bison. Hartmann quickly recovered and threw three hook punches to the bear. Markos blocked most of them, but was unable to block the third punch and got hit by it. The third punch left the bear stunned and Hartmann finished him off with a spinning backfist to his head.
The large bear went down. His body stayed unconsciously motionless as multiple individuals wearing European clothing arrived at the square and lifted him away. Cheers and whistles rang throughout the entire Palace Arena. Hartmann raised his paw around the audience before leaving. Honestly, it is quite refreshing to see boxing again, reminded me of me watching it on tv at my old apartment in my world.
"Oh, what a decisive move our German boxer has pulled! Who did not see that coming!" The announcer spoke. "The eleventh match will begin with our two previous top fighters fighting to ascend to next match. Here, we have our previous fourth place fighter Myeong and our previous third place fighter Master Kojime. Let's see what these two martial artists would fair against one another."
A jaguar and a white wolf moved out of their group and walked the arena square. The two bowed in their own ways and are now readied to fight. The gong rang as Kojime struck out first with a straight punch at the white wolf. The wolf evaded his punch along with several more on the way with excellent footwork. Myeong landed a direct hit on the jaguar's side with a turning kick, causing Kojime to stumble back.
Kojime charged ahead and launched more attacks, but was blocked by Myeong. The wolf saw an opening and threw a low kick at his feet. The karate master saw that coming and countered by doing a quick and short hop and planted a jump front kick on the wolf's chest, flinging Myeong multiple feet away. Myeong got up and quickly approached the jaguar. The wolf did a double roundhouse kick, breaking the jaguar's defense and proceed to plant a spinning side kick on his midsection. Kojime reacted and caught the feet of his opponent and did a swiftly swept the wolf's other feet. This made Myeong fell flat on the arena square with a thud.
Myeong performed a quick kip-up and is back on his both feet. The two charged towards one another as Kojime threw a high kick, only to be counteracted as Myeong did a high kick as well. Both high kicks caused the two warriors to tripped, nearly losing their balance. They both recovered and resumed as Kojime nailed Myeong with a hook punch on the face, causing the white wolf to fall face first on the ground.
The wolf slowly collected himself up. The right side of his face has a bruise from that hook punch he took seconds ago. Myeong shrugged off the pain and sent a back jump kick to the jaguar. Kojime blocked it and struck the wolf's midsection with a straight punch, knocking the air out from his lungs. The white wolf released several hard coughs and breaths before recovering. Myeong dashed to the jaguar and performed a spinning jump kick. Kojime evaded it by ducking down in a crouching position.
When gravity began pulling the wolf down, Myeong placed his paws on the ground and positioned himself in a two-handed handstand before launching a powerful kick with his free leg, striking the jaguar on his face. This sudden attack of his made Kojime rolled nearly across the stone square. The jaguar remained still on the flat ground as a large bruise appeared on around his snout. Fleetingly, the audience cheered for the Korean martial artist's victory against the Shōtōkan Karate master.
"While Master Kojime was steadily gaining the upper hand in the fight, the prodigy student Myeong was able to take down the master with such a surprising technique!" The announcer spoke. "The twelfth match shall commence with a fighter from the northern province, Jingshi, a Shaolin monk from the Shaolin Monastery and our previous first place fighter, Chaloem!"
A tall llama leisurely walked to the arena. He wore an orange robe with a black wrap around his waist. He has white bandages wrapped around from his forearm to his hooves and has wrappings around his foot. The same tiger from before too made his way the square. The two warriors approached each other and bowed before putting on their stances.
The gong rang loudly. Jingshi go out with a leaping forward kick. Chaloem made a single sidestep and evaded the kick. The monk recovered and made a fast one-eighth degree turn and dashed towards him, launching attacks to him. The tiger made several arm quick movements and obstructed his attacks. The llama dashed, throwing a straight punch to him. Chaloem swatted the punch away as delivered a hard cross punch to the llama's chest.
The tiger's punch was indeed powerful, capable of shattering bones like the rib cage for example. The force made the llama to took two steps back before quickly recovering. The tiger lunged and sent multiple swift attacks to the monk. Jingshi blocked out most of the tiger's attack before being successful hit with a corkscrew punch on the side of his face. The llama managed to stopped himself rolling on the ground and quickly stood up. It was remarkable to see there were no signs of bruise the llama has taken from the punch.
Jingshi closed his eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling before reopening his eyes. He rushed forward and managed to struck the Muay Thai fighter with a fast step kick on his sternum. The tiger lost his balance, but quickly gained it back as he launched a shin kick on the monk's shin. Chaloem's kick made the monk fell. Jingshi made several swift movements and made his fall seemed harmless and did a quick sweep, tripping the tiger to the ground.
Chaloem collected himself up and charged at the monk with a downward punch. The llama leaned his head quickly and dodged the punch before hitting the tiger with a side kick on the side of his waist. The kick caused the tiger stagger back considerably. He roared and leaped forward, hitting Jingshi on his abdomen with a strong punch, stunning the monk greatly. Before the monk could recoil back from that attack, Chaloem grabbed Jingshi by his both wrist and pulled him towards him before striking his stomach with a knee strike. The llama tries to break free, but the tigers grip was too great and kept sending knee strikes to his midsection whenever he tries to escape. With one last strong knee strike, Chaloem tossed the llama to the ground. Before the announcer could speak, the llama placed his hooves on the ground and began pushing himself up before regaining his balance. Holy shit, that was brutal, I don't think I would survive and get up like him after taking that session of knee strikes.
The llama's body movements and breathing is visibly strained from all those knee strike he took, but he's still seemed to be ready to go. Jingshi rushed towards the tiger and sent a lightning fast thumb jab. Chaloem failed to block it as it the speeding thumb struck him on his sternum, stunning and causing the tiger to yell in pain. The monk delivered a straight punch followed with a hook punch to his face, knocking the tiger down. Chaloem got up and charged to the monk and tried to hit him with many deadly strikes, only to be evaded. Jingshi caught the tiger's fist and threw a jab on his forehead as the tiger stumbled back.
Chaloem recovered and is approaching the monk slowly with a more defensive stance. Jingshi saw a slight opening and immediately went for it with a fast hook punch. The tiger caught the monk's arm and headbutted him, leaving the monk in a dazed state. Chaloem lift his leg up in an almost ninety degree high and let it crash down, striking the top of the llama's head with an axe heel kick. The impact of the strike even produced an audible sound that I bet all of us could hear. The sound that was made had me cringed mentally.
Briefly, Chaloem's face grew in shock as the monk was still standing from that axe heel kick with a his both arms slightly limping down. Soon, the monk tries to move, but only in a stumbling manner. Jingshi got close to the tiger and threw his fist. The punch missed, but the monk was able land a clean hit on the tiger's jaw with a backhand punch by reeling his fist back. The tiger growled and pummeled the monk's face with a powerful straight punch.
The monk was surprisingly resilient, recoiling back slightly from that punch. Jingshi's nose began bleeding and some parts of his face is starting show bruises. The llama breathes out tiredly as he threw a punch to the tiger. The punch landed on Chaloem's face, but only made a light and weak thud sound as it didn't fazed the tiger one bit.
He grinned, striking the monk with a hook elbow strike on the side of his head. Jingshi dropped down on the ground and stayed unconsciously immobile. The tigers raised his fist up and let out a triumph roar. The crowd began cheering the tiger's name.
"Chaloem! Chaloem! Chaloem!"
"As expected from our previous first place fighter Chaloem! Although it looks the monk Jingshi could stand a chance against our previous winner, but it looks like we were mistaken and I believe Chaloem will win this Quinquennial Tournament and become the champion of this tournament again!" The announcer paused for a breath for speaking. "With four fighters left, Master Shifu had already planned the upcoming matches. The thirteenth match will start now with the unknown southern martial artist and the mighty German boxer Hartmann." The bison boxer and the cheetah guy from before arrived at the arena square. Both of the warriors exchanged a brief glance and bow before initiating their own stances. The battle began when the gong rang.
The boxer made an instantaneous step with a several swift jabs, but was swatted away by the cheetah. The cheetah retaliated with numerous fast strikes, but the boxer evaded them by leaning his head. Hartmann took another quick step forward, launching more punches to the cheetah. One of his punches made the cheetah staggered, allowing Hartmann to deliver a strong lunch to the liver areas and a rising hook punch to his jawline. The punch flung the cheetah down to ground.
The feline quickly got up and put on a defensive stance before slowly walking to the bison. He began with a flurry of lightning fast punches as the boxer began blocking them, but his defense was slowly dropping as the volley of punches kept continuing crumpling down his defense. The cheetah saw a tiny opening of the bison and took it, sneakily landing an uppercut to the bison's chin.
Hartmann grunted as he lurched back. The boxer regained his balance and shook his head. He rushed to the cheetah with a rapid cross punch. Unable to dodge that, the cheetah blocked it. The force of the punch pushed the feline back a couple feet back. The boxer dashed, hitting the feline's about with a jab followed by a direct haymaker punch to the side of his head. The cheetah fell on the floor and remained still. The crowd gasped at how quick this match has ended.
"Well, this match was quite unexpectedly quick, but that what happened when you are up against the previous second place fighter. This quick victory goes to-" The announcer's words were cut off as the fallen cheetah made a quick twitch with one of his arm. After briefly twitching, he lifted his head up. The audience released gaps in astonishment as the cheetah managed to slowly collect himself back on his feet. "Wow, even after taking that brutal right hook to the side of his head, the southern martial artist is still able to get up and stand on his feet!"
The feline struggled briefly before recovering and placed back his bearing. Hartmann chuckled and flung his arms, asking if that's all the cheetah has to offer. The cheetah inhaled a long breath with his paws raised up. The feline began slowly lowering his stance to a considerable degree as his hindquarters are very close from touching the ground. He made a small gesture with his paw, telling the bison to come at him.
Hartmann chortled as he casually walked to cheetah before throwing a side punch. The cheetah blocked and sent out several swift sweep kicks with his both legs as he eventually managed to trap both legs of the bison. Hartmann glanced down and threw a downward punch, only to be obstructed by the feline before he shifted himself to the bison's side while keeping Hartmann's legs trapped as he launched a volley of punches on his opponent's side with unreal speed. The bison tried to retaliate back, however, he was still stunned from those volley of punches, allowing the cheetah to stop his barrage of punches for a quarter of second and sent a strong hand chop on the side of his back. The bison grunted loudly and staggered as the cheetah grabbed one of his leg and lifted it up before delivering a low kick on the back of his knee of his other leg. Hartmann stumbled and dropped down on one knee.
While one of his leg is still held up by the cheetah, the feline threw a straight punch that is aimed for his head. Hartmann leaned his head and evaded it. The bison grabbed the cheetah by his arm and locked the feline with him in clinch. Before the boxer could began pummeling the clinched feline, the cheetah slowly began moving backward and attempted to lift the bison up. As the two fighters struggling to overcome one another, a shocking moment happened as the cheetah let out a roar and managed to budge the bison. The feline lifted him up over his head and threw Hartmann on the floor. The bison was taken by surprise as his guard dropped with him being suddenly lifted up by the feline. The cheetah moved to the bison's side and started overwhelming the fallen boxer with flurry of fast punches to his head.
Hartmann managed to broke the flurry of punches by landing a clean punch to the cheetah's liver area. The sheer power from that punch made the cheetah flung back a couple feet back. The feline released few painful groans from that liver punch he took. The boxer got up and quickly advanced to feline and delivered a mid uppercut as the cheetah tried to block it. The uppercut broke the cheetah's guard and Hartman sent several jabs to the cheetah. The feline managed to block them, but each punch he blocked wore down his blocking efficiency as the muscles of the feline's arms is screaming for this to end. The martial artist delivered a quick front kick on the boxer's chest, causing him to stumble back as the distance between the two warriors widened.
Shortly, the boxer resumed his stance and moved forward with a fast cross punch. The feline made a swift sidestep and dodged the attack. Dodging more attacks, the bison growled and threw a straight punch. The cheetah blocked his punch and struck his bicep with his other fist. Hartmann grunted in pain and threw another straight punch with his other arm, only to be blocked again and got his other bicep struck by a strong punch. As Hartmann kept throwing more punches, desperately trying to land a blow to the cheetah. However, each punches the boxer threw were blocked and his bicep were struck in an almost instantaneous speed. The last attack that the feline blocked, he sent a heavy elbow strike to the bison's bicep. The boxer yelled in pain as he retracted his body back, wriggling his arms.
While Hartmann was still wriggling his arms, the cheetah dashed forward and sent a jab to the bison on his snout. Hartmann's head resiled back as the cheetah made a swift step forward and began throwing a fast salvo of punches to the chest of the boxer. This made the bison unable to threw a punch as the cheetah's salvo of punches was stunning and overwhelming him. The martial artist ended his punches and hit his opponent's chin with an upper palm strike. The boxer stumbled back as the cheetah dashed and lowered his body, grabbing the back of the boxer's calf and flipped it up. This made Hartmann's body spun and fell out of the arena. Many cheers and wows were given to the southern martial artist, emanated from the spectating audience. The cheetah hit his fist on his paw and bowed before leaving off the arena square.
"My goodness! Though we were expecting the boxer to be victorious, but it looks like our former second place fighter Hartmann has lost to the quick-witted and speedy southern martial artist!" The announcer ceased for a moment. "The upcoming fourteenth match will be the Korean martial artist prodigy, Myeong against the previous champion, the Muay Thai fighter, Chaloem!"
The white wolf and the tiger head to the arena square. The two looked at one another and bowed. With the metal gong disk being struck, both set up their fighting stance. There were short silence between the two fighters, causing to the audience to remain in silence as the tension is slowly growing. In a flick of a moment, the Muay Thai fighter made a quick forward leap kick. Myeong blocked it and landed a crescent kick on the tiger's face. Chaloem staggered back, recovering quickly that attack and proceeded to attack the white wolf. He did a fast jab followed by a straight punch to the wolf. The wolf dodged the first punch, but got struck by the second punch on his cheek.
This damaged Myeong's balance considerably and almost flew back. Recovered, the wolf advanced forward and spun his body, performing multiple spinning side kicks after each landings. The last kick's speed doubled and caught the tiger's guard off, striking him on the side of his shoulder. Chaloem floundered as the power from that kick broke through his defense, enabling Myeong to land a spinning back kick on his chest. The tiger was pushed back. Chaloem growled and began his assault.
The orange furred warrior fired a series of punches and kicks to the Korean martial artist. The wolf was great in evasion, dodging all the incoming attacks from the tiger. Myeong delivered crescent kick to the tiger. Chaloem blocked it with his forearm and delivered a jab to the wolf's face. He stumbled about two meters and regained his balance. The Muay Thai fighter did a double stationary kick, hitting the white wolf on the side of torso and shoulder with each kick. Myeong almost fell to the ground from that.
Chaloem moves forward and whip out a hook kick, hitting the white wolf at the side of his head. Myeong reeled back from that kick before receiving another kick to chest, knocking him down. The Korean martial artist made a swift kip-up and slowly approached the tiger. The white wolf spun his body and did a spinning back kick, the tiger leaned his head back and avoided it by an inch or two. Myeong managed to nailed the Muay Thai fighter with a front kick on his abdomen, stunning the tiger as the canine spun his body and performed a bolley kick that landed on Chaloem's jawline. The body of the tiger flew up and twirled in midair before hitting the ground.
The orange feline got back up to his feet. He snarled and propelled himself toward the white canine. Chaloem did a side punch followed by a strong front kick. Myeong blocked the punch and hopped backward, avoiding the kick. The wolf leaped and performed a twisting butterfly kick, hitting the tiger clean in his face.
The feline's body jolted strongly to the side before falling on ground. Seconds later, Chaloem collected himself up. The tiger again, thrusted himself to the wolf and sent a cross punch. The wolf leaned, but unfortunately got struck by it, sending the wolf rolling across the floor. This might look bad for the wolf guy. While it's true that Myeong has greater speed than Chaloem, but the tiger appeared to have far more endurance than the wolf. Myeong is starting to become visibly drained, mostly from taking hits from the tiger.
The tiger rushed toward the wolf with a roar. Chaloem spun his body and did a spinning hook kick on the wolf. The kick struck him on the side of his head as Myeong's body recoiled heavily as he lost his balance. The feline waited for the wolf get up before continuing his assault.
With the white wolf tired, Chaloem dashed at him and grabbed the wolf in a tight hold. The tiger began giving the immobilized wolf a series of hard and brutal knee strikes. Once the session of knee strikes has ended, the tiger shoved the white wolf back before leaping high, striking the canine with a devastating flying knee strike to the forehead. With that, Myeong fell on the ground.
"Holy moly! What an amazing, yet brutal finishing move! I bet that flying knee could tear through solid iron like nothing! It looks Chaloem might be the champion once again. But there is only one obstacle that blocking him from achieving the number one spot, and that obstacle is none other than the southern martial artist!" The announcer said.
Three individuals from the Korean group arrived at the square, picking up and taking away the fallen white canine.
"Ladies and gentleman! Bare witness the fifteenth and final match of Quinquennial Tournament with Chaloem and the southern martial artist! Who will be this champion of this tournament?!" The crowd was truly pumped, cheering and shouting way louder than usual.
Both felines made their appearance to the arena square. The two did short stare-off before slowly bowing to one another. With their stance in places along with the gong has been struck and rang, the tiger without hesitation, charged towards the cheetah.
The cheetah blocked two fast hook punches from the tiger. In response, the black robed cheetah sent a straight punch to the striped feline on the chest, pushing him back slightly. Chaloem growled and lashed forward with a flying side kick, the cheetah sidestepped and planted a fast front kick to the side of the tiger's hip. The orange feline crashed down and rolled on the floor. The southern martial artist remained still on his spot, waiting for the tiger's next attack.
Chaloem sent numerous jabs and cross punches, trying to create an opening, but was all were swatted away by the cheetah as he did a quick front push kick on the tiger's midsection, pushing him back. Before the tiger could resume with his attack, the cheetah went on the offensive and start firing barrages of attacks. The Muay Thai fighter's was able to quick enough for him to a block a few before dashing back to a safer distance. Chaloem stepped forward and threw a high hook kick on the cheetah's head, only to be obstructed. The kick made the cheetah staggered. Seeing this, the tiger repeated the same kick, increasing the force of his kick each time he does it. The fifth kick managed to break the cheetah's defense, allowing the tiger to sent a spinning back kick and struck the cheetah on his chest.
The southern martial artist flew several meters back and rolled shortly on the ground. He recovered and slowly got back up to his feet. The tiger grinned before putting on his stance. Chaloem made some slow and steady steps forward before launching a high kick. The cheetah struck the tiger's foot with a sharp smack, causing the tiger to immediately retract his foot back. Chaloem lifted with his other foot and swung in a spinning forward motion. The cheetah's defense was weakened still weakened from those five kicks he took from the tiger. The kick broke through the cheetah's defense again as Chaloem landed a powerful haymaker punch on the side of his opponent's head following up with an uppercut to his chin.
The feline fell on his back with a hard thud. He slowly get up while massaging his chin. Chaloem chuckled at the sight of the cheetah not being finished yet. The tiger returned back to his stance. The cheetah's breathing is strained and is becoming more visible and audible. The orange feline rushed to the smaller feline and performed a flying knee strike. The southern martial artist's entire being tensed up as he took a step forward, grabbing the flying tiger by the back of his feet and the side of his lower hip as he threw the orange feline down to the ground. Before the tiger could recovered from his brief dazed state, the cheetah dashed to him and crouched, sending salvo of rapid strong punches to the tiger's ribcage.
Chaloem budged out as he managed to sent an elbow strike to the cheetah's abdomen before sending another one that is aimed to his shoulder, causing the feline to stumble backward. The tiger did a kip-up and jumped forward with a spinning hook kick, striking the cheetah on the jawline as he got pushed back with his body turned around. With the cheetah's line of sight being removed from the tiger, Chaloem sent out a downward punch.
The feline's ears perked up as he ducked and made a quick twirl while ducking, performing a spinning turn kick, hitting the tiger on the side of his lower torso. The cheetah's kick made the tiger staggered, giving the cheetah enough time to start delivering a powerful combo of punches. Chaloem became overwhelmed by the punches and began blocking it. The cheetah shifted his barrage of punches from his forearms to his abdominal area before swiftly ducking down, grabbing the back of his calf and flipped it up as the tiger spun shortly before falling down on his back. The cheetah resumed with his barrage of punches to now his opponent's head as the tiger laid on the ground, helplessly blocking and taking the volley of punches.
With a sudden burst of energy and rage, the tiger let out a loud roar, ignoring the pain from the barrage of punches as he sent an overhand punch to the top of the cheetah's head. The punch caused the cheetah to ceased his series of rapid punches and tottered back. Chaloem get up quickly and immediately started attacking the cheetah with continuous attacks. As the southern martial artist's defense kept weakening, the Muay Thai fighter shattered through the cheetah's defense and landed a direct hit with a high kick on the side of his opponent's head.
The cheetah fell down to the ground sideway. As the feline tries to get up, the tiger walked to his opponent's side planted his feet on the side of the cheetah's head. Chaloem grinned, shaking his head horizontally while waving his finger horizontally as well, taunting and gesturing the cheetah that it's best for him to give up.
"After several moments of intense combat, it appears Chaloem had the southern martial artist pinned down on the ground in a humiliating way. It looks like the cheetah cannot move anywhere and is it seemed giving up is the probably the only option for him." The announcer spoke. The tiger looked at the cheering audience with a flashy grin filled with glory and triumph, raising his fist up.
In one swift motion, the cheetah grabbed the tiger by the ankle and sent a strong elbow strike to the side of his knee. Chaloem roared in pain as he let of his feet from his opponent's head as the cheetah stood back up. The orange feline growled as he charged towards the black-clothed feline. Chaloem sent several attacks at once, but was evaded and countered by the cheetah. The tiger lifted his leg and was about to sent a kick on to his opponent. The cheetah reacted and was quick enough to sent a fast low kick, kicking the ankle area of the tiger's feet and sent a spinning roundhouse kick, striking the tiger by his face.
Chaloem reeled back before swiftly recovering his senses. He launched out multiple jabs and straight punches, trying to pummel the smaller feline. He began incorporating his punches with elbow strikes, but it was all the same the cheetah blocks and swatted them away. The cheetah delivered a short burst of fast punches followed by a hard upper palm strike to the tiger's chin, stunning and dazing the striped feline.
The southern martial artist placed his finger tip to the center part of the torso of his stunned opponent. He would then performed what looks to be the one-inch punch, causing the tiger to stumble back significantly. Chaloem barely maintained his balance after taking that one-inch punch before slowly slumping down to the ground.
"My goodness! I couldn't believe what I'm seeing! Our champion has fallen to the our tactical and shrewd cheetah. With the final match has been concluded, our new champion is the southern martial artist!" There was a moment of silence and after that, I could see must of the audience jumped from their seat as they started blasting the entire Palace Arena with lots of loud cheers and shouts.
The skills of this cheetah guy is very intriguing. Man, I wish I could have know his name at least...
The cheetah looked around at the crowd with a smile. Bruised and weakened from all the matches, it only made his smile bigger and brighter. He placed his fist on his palm, bowing to the audience for a moment before leaving the arena square.
Apparently, once the last winner has been determined at the final match, the winner not only can get to challenge the Furious Six and the Dragon Warrior, but also can get to stay at the Jade Palace for one night. I am excited to finally meet him after seeing how skilled he is at the Quinquennial Tournament. Me and the guys are sitting at the dining room having a small supper for dinner.
"Today is totally AWESOME!" Po exclaimed excitedly. "Man, that cheetah guy was all like bam! Kapow! Thwack! Ratatatatata!" Enthusiasm was swelling greatly within the panda. We all made a small chuckle to his exuberance as he almost dropped his ladle.
"I fully agree with Po." Mantis spoke before placing a quizzical expression. "I have to say, the guy fought with a Kung Fu style which I don't seem to recognize or have the faintest clue of it."
"His reaction and reflexes are most very impressive... and kinda scary if I'm being fully honest about it." Crane added.
As the soup was served at the table, we heard soft footsteps coming from outside the dining room.
Eventually, a cheetah wearing a long black Chinese robe with a white vest underneath and wore a pair of sandals had entered the dining room. We were caught off guard of his sudden arrival. Po dropped his ladle, but was fast to catch before it could reach to the ground. The cheetah doesn't seemed to be feeling awkward at all, he just has a straight and serious face.
"Grandmaster Shifu has instructed me to have dinner with you all since I am going to stay at the Jade Palace for one night." The cheetah spoke.
"That sounds great, I was hoping we could meet you and have a nice conversation." Viper said. "Please, have a seat." She gestured with her tail before returning back to chopping vegetables. The cheetah nodded as he took a seat between Monkey and Crane. There were a short of moment of silence after he took his seat.
"So... umm... mind if you tell us a bit of yourself?" Monkey asked.
"I came from the Thunderstorm School at Hong Kong in the Guangdong province. I started my training in Kung Fu there at the age of thirteen and progressed from then to now." He spoke. Well, that was pretty straightforward.
"Okay... so what style of Kung Fu do you use, because I have never seen a style that's exceedingly fast and reactive." Mantis asked.
"The Kung Fu style I utilize is called 'Wing Chun'." The cheetah simply replied. The green bug began pondering by himself.
"Wing Chun... Wing Chun..." The praying mantis uttered. "Nope, never heard of it." Mantis shook his head. "Does anyone have an idea of what this 'Wing Chun' style is?" We responded to the bug's inquiry with horizontal nods.
"Well, since we are going to have a conversation soon, could you tell us your name?" I asked. The cheetah looked at us before telling us his name.
"Yip Mon."
Author Note : I hope you guys know what movie character I used as a reference for this particular character. Anyway, the movie character I used for this character is the main character "Ip Man" (actor : Donnie Yen) from the the "Ip Man franchise".
I remembered watching the entire series in December 2020. The story and characters in there were great and they all become more interesting with each movie. The fight scenes and the choreography were amazing, which I have used some of them in this chapter.
Aside from that, I also had fun writing different fighting styles other than Kung Fu such as Boxing, Pankration, Taekkyon and Muay Thai. However, when I was writing the fight between Myeong and Kojime, I felt like I may made Myeong's fighting style more like Taekwondo than Taekkyon. From what I know, I believe Taekwondo uses kicks mostly while Taekkyon uses both kicks and punches. You can correct me if I'm wrong about something, but please be respectful if you wish to do so. Well, I hope my rambling about fighting styles and the difference between Taekwondo & Taekkyon didn't bore you all to sleep.
I'll might incorporate more references from other fight scenes of the Ip Man franchise and other martial art movies for the next chapters of this story arc. I guess I'm gonna have to watch more movies in this weekend.
If you are enjoying this, please give this story a Follow, Favorite, or Review this story if you have time to do so. I will respond to your questions and reviews. Any support would be very much appreciated! I'll be seeing you guys in April.