The announcer's voice boomed over the loudspeakers.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! The moment you've all been waiting for! The 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament finals are about to begin! For the first match, we have the Desert Bandit, Yamcha, versus the Crane School disciple, Tien Shinhan! Fighters, to the ring!"
Yamcha leaped over the wall and landed in the center of the ring, the crowd cheering wildly. Tien floated down gracefully, landing without a sound.
"I'm going to end this with my new technique!"
Yamcha shouted to his friends.
The fight wasn't as easy as Tien expected.
Aflicker of surprise crossed his three eyes.
The Turtle School... I expected them to be pathetic, It has been a long time since I faced an opponent who could actually make me use my hands.
Yamcha leaped back, cupping his hands at his side. The blue light of energy gathered between his palms.
"KA... ME... HA... ME... HA!"
The energy beam roared across the ring.
Tien didn't dodge. He stood his ground, thrusting his hands forward with a shout.
With a Kiai shout, Tien deflected the Kamehameha, sending it hurtling back toward its creator. Yamcha's eyes widened.
Reacting on pure instinct, he launched himself straight up into the air, letting the blast scorch the ground where he had just been standing.
Tien was right behind him.
Before Yamcha could turn, Tien slammed a double-axe handle strike into Yamcha's back.
Yamcha plummeted like a stone, smashing into the ring floor with enough force to crack the tiles. He bounced once and lay still, completely unconscious.
But Tien wasn't finished. With a cruel sneer, he dove down from the sky, landing knee-first directly onto Yamcha's left leg.
CRACK.
The sound of snapping bone echoed sickeningly through the silent stadium. Yamcha let out a strangled gasp of pain even in his unconscious state.
"YAMCHA!" Puar screamed.
Goku and Chi-Chi vaulted over the wall, rushing to their fallen friend.
The announcer stammered, calling for a medic immediately.
"His leg... his leg is broken! Get a stretcher!"
"Yamcha..." Puar sobbed, shapeshifting into a floating magic carpet.
"Quick, put him on me! We have to get him to the hospital!"
Goku gently lifted Yamcha onto Puar, his face darkening with a rare anger.
Chi-Chi, however, spun around to face Tien Shinhan.
"You coward... the match was over."
"He was already unconscious!" Goku added, stepping up beside her, his fists clenched.
"Why did you do that?!"
Tien Shinhan wiped a speck of dust from his shoulder, looking completely unbothered.
"He should consider himself lucky, If I weren't such a merciful guy, I would have aimed for his neck instead of his leg. I just wanted to make sure the trash stays in the bin where it belongs."
Chi-Chi stepped forward.
"If we meet in the arena, I promise you… you'll regret it."
Tien laughed, a harsh, grating sound.
"Bold words coming from a girl. As if either of you has the skill to reach the finals against me."
He turned to walk away, but stopped and glanced back at Chi-Chi.
"Clear the ring. You're only buying time. Jackie Chun knows what he's doing, so don't be careless. I'd hate for you to lose before I get my turn."
With that, he floated away, leaving Goku and Chi-Chi standing over the bloodstained ring.
"Chi-Chi, don't lose. I'll be waiting in the finals." Goku said, looking at her.
Chi-Chi took a deep breath, composing herself.
The rage in her eyes turned into cold focus. She looked at Jackie Chun, who was stretching in the corner.
"I won't." she said.
Jackie Chun walked slowly to the center of the ring, his hands clasped behind his back.
He looked at the young woman standing opposite him, studying her composure. The rage she had shown Tien moments ago was gone, replaced by a terrifying calmness.
"Ho ho ho. I remember you well from the last tournament, my dear. If I am not mistaken, you gave young Goku quite a hard time... until you lost your temper. You let your emotions get the better of you, and that was your downfall."
Chi-Chi nodded, her expression unreadable.
"You are right, I was a child back then, ruled by my feelings. But I remember you as well, Jackie Chun. I watched your final match against Goku very closely. I saw your techniques and your habits. I know exactly how you fight."
"Is that so? Well, don't get too comfortable relying on old memories. I haven't spent the last three years napping. I have changed quite a bit since that day."
"Coincidence, so have I."
The air between them seemed to vibrate as they simultaneously dropped into their fighting stances.
On the sidelines, the group watched.
"Man..." Yamcha groaned from the stretcher, forcing his eyes open to watch before Puar could carry him away.
"That old man... he's tricky. Chi-Chi better not let her guard down like I did."
"I don't know." Bulma said, leaning over the railing, her eyes fixed on Chi-Chi.
"She looks so confident. It's like she's a completely different person from the little girl we knew."
Goku, however, was staring intently at the old man, his face unusually serious.
"Be careful, Chi-Chi, that old guy... he's really strong."
...
"Begin!"
Chi-Chi vanished from her starting position, leaving a crack in the tile beneath her boot.
She reappeared instantly in front of Jackie Chun, unleashing a jab aimed directly at his face.
Wham!
Jackie Chun didn't give an inch. He raised his forearm, blocking the strike.
Before the dust could settle, the two locked into a fierce exchange of close-quarters combat.
Fists and feet blurred as they traded blows, the sheer speed of their movements whipping up gusts of wind.
Jackie Chun saw an opening.
Planting his left foot, he snapped a powerful front kick toward Chi-Chi's midsection.
But Chi-Chi had anticipated it.
She twisted her torso like a willow branch, letting the kick sail harmlessly past her ribs.
Using the momentum of her dodge, she whipped her leg around in a counter kick.
Grab.
Jackie Chun's hand shot out with, clamping onto her ankle just inches before it made contact with his neck.
With a heave of his old muscles, he swung her around and hurled her across the ring.
Chi-Chi flew through the air, she flipped gracefully mid-flight, her boots skidding against the tiles as she braked to a halt near the edge of the ring.
She planted her feet firmly, drawing both fists back to her waist. Her aura flared, displacing the dust around her.
Sokiai!
She shouted in her mind.
She thrust both fists forward simultaneously, punching the empty air with explosive force.
Two compressed spheres of high-pressure wind screamed across the ring toward Jackie Chun like projectiles.
Jackie Chun's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, realizing he couldn't see the attacks, only hear the tearing sound of the air.
He shut his eyes tight, shutting out the visual distractions and focusing entirely on the shift in air currents.
At the last possible second, Jackie Chun swayed his head to the left, feeling the first blast of wind shear past his ear, cutting a few strands of his beard.
As for the second blast, he didn't dodge.
He stepped forward, snapping his eyes open, and drove a straight punch directly into the center of the invisible projectile.
POW!
His fist collided with the pressurized air, shattering the technique instantly.
The wind dispersed harmlessly in a gust that ruffled his clothes.
"Impressive..." Jackie Chun breathed, lowering his fist.
"You've learned to weaponize the air pressure itself. But let's see how you handle this!"
The old master suddenly blurred.
He didn't just move, he seemed to split into two, then four, then eight. In the blink of an eye, Chi-Chi was trapped in the center of a dizzying carousel of Jackie Chuns.
"Afterimage Strike!" the voices of a dozen Jackies echoed in unison.
The circle tightened.
The afterimages rushed in from every angle, striking with synchronized precision.
Chi-Chi gritted her teeth, her eyes darting frantically.
She blocked a kick to her left, parried a chop to her right, but there were simply too many of them.
Smack!
A fist caught her in the shoulder.
Thud!
A boot grazed her thigh.
She was being overwhelmed, pushed back toward the center of the ring by the relentless assault of phantom strikes.
She stopped trying to defend. Instead, she planted her feet wide, dropping into a deep stance.
She drew her arms in close to her chest, inhaling deeply, condensing every ounce of her Ki into her core.
She flung her arms outward, unleashing a massive, explosive roar.
"HAAAAAA!"
A tremendous dome of invisible force erupted from her body. The shockwave blasted outward in all directions, ripping up the floor tiles and shattering the circle of afterimages instantly.
The real Jackie Chun was caught mid-strike.
"Wha—?!"
He was hit by the wall of wind like a ragdoll, thrown violently backward by the sheer force of the explosion.
He skidded across the ring, digging his heels into the ground to stop himself just inches from the edge.
As the dust settled, Chi-Chi stood in the center of the crater she had created, looking triumphant.
"You really think you're the only one who can pull that off?"
Before Jackie Chun could recover from the shockwave, Chi-Chi flickered out of existence.
Zip.
She appeared behind him. Jackie spun around to block, but his fist passed through her body like smoke, another afterimage.
Zip.
Zip.
Zip.
"What?! She has mastered the afterimage as well?!"
Suddenly, the ring appeared completely empty.
To the ordinary spectator, it looked as if both fighters had simply vanished into thin air. The only evidence of their battle was the sound, a rapid-fire series of sonic booms and the sudden, violent cracking of floor tiles appearing spontaneously across the arena.
BOOM!
BAM!
CRASH!
Sparks flew in mid-air, and occasional blurry outlines of a fist or a foot would flicker into existence for a millisecond before disappearing again.
"I... I can't see them!" Bulma cried out, leaning over the railing and frantically scanning the empty ring.
"Where did they go? Did they leave?"
Krillin was sweating profusely, his eyes darting back and forth, trying to catch even a glimpse of the fight.
"This is insane... I can hear them, I can feel the wind from their punches, but they're moving too fast! I can't track them at all!"
However, not everyone was blind to the battle.
Goku stood by the wall, his head moving rhythmically from left to right, up and down. His eyes were locked onto the empty space, tracking every invisible movement with perfect clarity.
In the shadows of the waiting area, Tien Shinhan watched with crossed arms. His three eyes moved in unison, effortlessly following the high-speed duel.
Chi-Chi shouted, driving her fist straight into Jackie Chun's chest.
But there was no impact.
Her knuckles passed through his torso as if he were made of smoke. The image of the Jackie Chun flickered and dissolved into nothingness.
An afterimage!
"Over here, little lady!" Jackie's voice teased from directly behind her.
He materialized from thin air, swinging a sharp chop at the back of her neck.
Swish.
His hand passed harmlessly through her body.
Chi-Chi's figure shimmered, distorted, and vanished just like his had.
Another afterimage!
For a few breathless seconds, the ring became a hall of mirrors.
Chi-Chi struck a fading Jackie.
Jackie kicked a dissolving Chi-Chi.
Chi-Chi swept the legs of a phantom.
Jackie punched a ghost.
They were trapped in a loop of high-speed deception, neither able to land a solid hit on the real body, their movements perfectly synchronized in a dance of feints and counters.
Finally, realizing the stalemate, both fighters pushed off the ground with a burst of explosive speed.
WHOOSH.
They leaped backward simultaneously, putting distance between them.
They landed on opposite sides of the arena, their boots skidding against the tiles as they braked to a halt.
"Phew." Jackie exhaled.
You really are something else. To think you can keep up with my speed... I might actually have to start trying.