He stomped the ground, cracking the tile beneath his boot.
"I'll wipe that arrogant look off your face permanently!"
Chi-Chi didn't take a fighting stance immediately. Instead, she looked at Tien with a gaze that wasn't filled with malice, but with a strange, piercing clarity. She remembered Master Roshi and the plea in his voice.
"Make him see that true strength comes from the heart, not from malice."
"Tien. Stop for a second. Look at yourself. You're trembling." Chi-Chi said, her voice dropping to a serious, almost conversational tone amidst the tension.
"I am trembling with rage! Because a novice like you dares to look down on me!"
"No, you're trembling because you're terrified of losing. And do you know why? Because without victory, you don't know who you are."
Tien flinched as if he had been slapped.
"What did you say?"
"I promised a certain old man that I would try to knock some sense into you."
Chi-Chi continued, stepping closer.
"Master Roshi saw something in you. He saw a martial artist, not a murderer. But right now? All I see is a puppet dancing on the Crane Hermit's strings."
"Silence!" Tien screamed.
He charged forward, throwing a vicious elbow aimed at her face. Chi-Chi caught the elbow in her palm, her feet sliding back slightly, but her eyes never leaving his.
"Is this what you want your life to be?" Chi-Chi asked, holding his arm in place.
"To just be a weapon for Shen? To break people's bones just to make a bitter old man happy? Look at Tao Pai Pai. He spent his whole life killing for others, and in the end, he was discarded. Is that the future you're fighting for?"
Tien grit his teeth, trying to wrench his arm free.
"You know nothing of our ways! The Crane School is supreme! Strength is absolute!"
"Strength isn't the problem. It's what you choose to do with it!" Chi-Chi shouted back, shoving him away.
Tien stumbled back. For a split second, his three eyes flickered toward the sidelines, where Master
Shen was screaming obscenities, demanding he gouge her eyes out. Then, he looked at Chi-Chi, who stood tall and honorable, fighting not to kill, but to compete.
"You're better than this, Tien. You have incredible skill. But you're fighting with someone else's hate. If you want to beat me, you need to fight for yourself, not for him."
Tien stood frozen, sweat dripping down his face.
Conflicting emotions warred in his mind.
The teachings of the Crane Hermit told him to crush her immediately for her insolence. But deep down... her words were striking a chord that vibrated in his very soul.
"Enough talk!" Tien screamed, his voice cracking with intensity.
He needed to silence her, to silence the doubt her words were sowing in his own mind.
He launched himself forward in a desperate, straight-line dash. It was powerful, but reckless.
She saw the opening clearly.
She willed her body to lunge forward.
It didn't.
Suddenly, a unnatural sensation washed over her.
It was as if invisible steel bands had instantly wrapped around her arms and legs.
Her muscles locked up completely in mid-motion.
She couldn't step.
She couldn't raise her hand.
What...?! I can't move!
Tien didn't notice her paralysis. He saw a target standing still, and he took it.
WHAM.
Tien's fist connected squarely with Chi-Chi's cheek.
There was no defense, no rolling with the punch. It was a clean, brutal, unprotected hit. The force of the blow snapped Chi-Chi's head back violently, lifting her feet off the ground.
She spun in the air before crashing hard onto the tiles, skidding several meters across the ring.
"Chi-Chi!" Goku yelled from the sidelines.
"What happened?! Why did she just freeze like that?" Yamcha exclaimed, leaning dangerously far over the wall. .
Chi-Chi groaned. Her head was swimming, and her cheek burned with throbbing pain.
She pushed her hands against the cold tiles, her limbs shaking.
My body just... disobeyed me.
She staggered back to her feet, swaying slightly, and glared at Tien with confusion and anger.
"If you can stand, I can knock you down again!" Tien roared, seeing her stagger back to her feet.
He didn't give her a second to recover.
He lunged forward, his fists flying in a barrage of rapid-fire strikes.
Chi-Chi shook her head violently to clear the dizziness and snapped into action.
She met him head-on.
Clash.
Block.
Parry.
For a few seconds, the fight returned to an even keel.
Chi-Chi ducked under a spinning backfist and slapped away a kick.
Despite the ringing in her ears, her movements were crisp. She was matching him blow for blow, proving that the previous hit hadn't been a result of her lack of skill.
Seeing Tien overcommit to a right hook, Chi-Chi dropped low.
She coiled her legs, preparing to launch a devastating uppercut right under his chin.
She fired her muscles to strike.
LOCK.
The invisible clamps tightened around her body again, instant and absolute. Her arm froze halfway through the uppercut.
Tien, seeing her suddenly stop moving in the middle of her attack, didn't question his luck. He saw the opening and capitalized on it with ruthless efficiency.
He pivoted on his heel and drove a heavy, steel-hard knee deep into Chi-Chi's exposed stomach.
GASSSSSHK.
The paralysis released her just in time for the force of the blow to lift her off the ground and send her tumbling violently across the ring.
She rolled to a stop near the edge, clutching her stomach.
"Something... is wrong..." she wheezed, her vision swimming.
"Chi-Chi isn't the type to hesitate like that. She had that counter ready perfectly. It's as if... her body just stopped obeying her." Master Roshi muttered from the sidelines.
Next to him, Krillin and Yamcha looked equally disturbed.
"Yeah, it's weird." Yamcha agreed, sweat forming on his brow.
"She stops moving right before he hits her."
Goku couldn't take it anymore. He cupped his hands around his mouth and screamed at the top of his lungs.
"CHI-CHI! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!" Goku yelled, his voice cutting through the noise of the crowd.
"WHY ARE YOU STOPPING?! DODGE HIM!"
In the ring, Chi-Chi staggered to her feet, wiping blood from her lip.
"I don't know what game you are playing," Tien said coldly, walking toward her.
"But if you think acting pathetic will make me show mercy, you are mistaken."
He rushed her again.
Chi-Chi gritted her teeth, forcing her battered body into a defensive stance.
Tien threw a high kick. Chi-Chi saw it coming a mile away.
She signaled her legs to duck.
STOP.
The invisible force clamped down. Her knees locked.
CRACK.
Tien's shin slammed into the side of her head. The world spun violently.
She stumbled sideways, dazed, trying to raise her arms.
Tien followed up with a punch to her chest.
BAM.
"Guh!"
Chi-Chi was launched backward, her feet dragging across the tiles before she lost her balance completely.
She crashed onto her back, rolling painfully until she came to a stop near the center of the ring.
She lay there for a moment, staring up at the blue sky.
Tien lifted his heavy boot, aiming to stomp directly onto Chi-Chi's chest to pin her to the ground.
But Chi-Chi wasn't ready to give up.
Summoning her Ki, she channeled a massive burst of energy into her back, utilizing the propulsion principle of her skywalk technique against the floor itself.
BOOM.
An explosion of air pressure erupted beneath her shoulders, launching her body backward across the tiles like a hockey puck.
Tien's heel smashed into the empty floor, cracking the stone where she had been a split second before.
Sliding to a halt, Chi-Chi scrambled into a crouching position, her hands thrust forward, palms open.
"SOKIAI!" [1]
A concentrated, spiraling shockwave of white energy erupted from her palms. It caught Tien completely off guard, slamming into his chest before he could raise his guard.
BAM!
Tien grunted, his feet skidding backward, carving deep grooves into the arena floor, he was still standing, his arms crossed over his chest in a defensive X.
He roared, his aura flaring violently as he charged at her again. He closed the distance, cocking his right fist back for a finisher.
Chi-Chi's saw the path of the punch. She planted her feet, ready to execute a sweeping leg takedown to trip him.
FREEZE.
The sensation returned, but this time, it was suffocating. It wasn't just a momentary pause; it was a total lockdown.
Her muscles turned to lead.
Her lungs froze.
She couldn't even twitch a finger.
She was completely, utterly paralyzed, stuck in an awkward, half-crouched position, staring helplessly at the incoming fist.
Tien thrust his fist forward, aiming for her face.
Why isn't she moving?
Tien thought, his combat instincts screaming at him.
She's not even trying to block.
He stopped his fist inches from her nose.
The wind from his punch blew her bangs back, but Chi-Chi didn't blink. She couldn't. Her eyes were wide with panic, darting frantically, but her body was as still as a statue.
Tien narrowed his three eyes, his expression shifting from rage to suspicion. He pulled his hand back slowly, watching her.
"You..." Tien whispered, looking at her rigid form.
"You aren't just freezing up... you literally cannot move, can you?"
Chi-Chi struggled against the invisible bonds, sweat pouring down her face, but she remained frozen solid.
Tien stepped back, his gaze darkening. He turned his head sharply toward the sidelines.
"TIEN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
The Crane Hermit's shrill, hateful voice pierced the air like a rusty knife. Master Shen leaned over the spectator wall, his veins popping in his neck as he screamed at his student.
"She is helpless! Why do you hesitate?! This is your chance! Strike now! Decapitate her! Rip her head off and kick it into the crowd! Show them the absolute terror of the Crane School!"
Tien didn't look at his master. Instead, his gaze shifted slowly past Chi-Chi, looking toward the shadows of the waiting area.
His third eye narrowed, locking onto a small, pale figure.
There, hiding behind a pillar, was Chiaotzu.
His hands were extended toward the ring, his fingers twitching. A faint, psychic aura shimmered around him, an invisible tether connecting him directly to the frozen Chi-Chi.
Tien's expression softened. He saw the way Chiaotzu was trembling.
[1] (Twin Spirit Blast)