Chapter 4: Idol Combat
Foxy Roxy continued on the path towards the castle, she had taken many hits in her fights, she was feeling the pain in her legs and stomach. All this made her feel a little vulnerable as she wondered how she would continue on like this for the remainder in the tournament. She was getting close to her destination, when all of a sudden she just stopped in her tracks, she felt some presence all around her.
Feeling this strange presence, she got herself into a meditative stance, closing her eyes. Just few seconds she found herself in the presence of the Dali Llama himself, sitting on some kind of throne in a floating shrine. He was looking wise and patient, why he would contact her through her mind was beyond her.
"Young lady, you possess a noble, selfless spirit and a graceful art, let me help you in your knowledge of your craft. Sometimes you may have to taunt your opponent to gain the upper hand, especially for what's up ahead. This technique will also recover some of your strength as well" The wise Dali Llama spoke. Foxy was confused by all this, how on earth would taunting really help her? "I see some skepticism in you just think of some way to do it". Foxy pondered for a minute and then thought of patting her rear end, it felt strangely satisfying to do so. "Brutal!" The Dali Llama said with joy. With this, Foxy got out of her meditative trance and continued on her journey, at the same time, the meditation seemed to have healed her, her pain was no longer there. Feeling renewed and encouraged, Foxy continued on her way along the path, through the forest.
There was one area in the forest which held a large ape idol, sitting cross legged, waiting there was her next opponent: large very muscular bear wearing a blue singlet. This was Ivan the Russian bear, who was not trained in martial arts but hand to hand combat having been military trained for 3 long years. He had a gung-ho, no-nonsense attitude, yet very little intellect. Prior to this he took a job in construction and then immediately left after getting a letter from the Dali Llama, in the rush, his thunderous steps completely undid all the construction in the process.
"Well well, a little pipsqueak who needs a squashing! Don't think I'm going to go easy on you because you're a girl!" Ivan loudly exclaimed.
"You can loudly boast all you want big bully, but we'll see who prevails!" Foxy said with confidence as both got into fighting stances. Ivan slowly approached her, the earth shook with every step he took, Foxy realized she should take this opponent very seriously. Ivan then charged at Foxy, but she held her ground and then delivered a quick high kick sending Ivan down with a thunderous thud. The bear got up, and then charged again, but Foxy jumped overhead, and then delivered another kick to Ivan's head. The bear then jumped up and then slammed his two fists down, but Foxy was able to jump up before contact was made. Foxy approached him, but Ivan delivered a fist to Foxy's stomach, it was more powerful than the other two opponents before. Foxy jumped back and then turned around patting her rear end, the bear became furious, Foxy felt a little more confident as the bear charged at her, but Foxy stood still and then at just the right moment, delivered one more high kick. It was over, Ivan was knocked out, Foxy couldn't have felt more proud of herself to humble a big burly bully who was stronger than her, but not the brightest.
Ivan slowly stirred and then slammed a fist into nearby tree growling with rage and then stalked away towards the path leading to the boats. Foxy smiled to herself that the bully got humbled, but now realized that the opponents she would be facing would be a lot tougher from here on out, and continued on her way.