I remember that move! That's the Thunder Shock Surprise!" Goku gasped, his hands gripping the stone wall until it cracked.
His eyes were wide, reflecting the erratic flashes of lightning in the ring.
"No way..." Krillin stammered, his face draining of color. He leaned over the railing, trembling.
"He actually used it? I thought he swore never to use that technique again! That's the same one that nearly killed you in the last final, Goku!"
Bulma covered her mouth with her hands.
"Chi-Chi! You have to give up! You're going to die!"
In the ring, the air crackled. Chi-Chi hung suspended in the electric field, her body convulsing as the high-voltage current surged through her muscles.
Her teeth were clenched so hard they threatened to shatter.
"Ggghhh... nnnngh!"
"Give up, child!" Jackie Chun shouted, his voice strained as he maintained the flow of energy. Sweat poured down his face; the technique was taking a heavy toll on him as well.
"There is no shame in submission! You cannot break free from this! If you don't say I give up, the shock will eventually stop your heart!"
He poured more power into the attack, the lightning turning a blinding white.
"Do it now! Surrender!"
"AAAAHHH!"
Chi-Chi's scream pierced the air, her body trembling violently under the yellow arcs of electricity. The crowd watched in horror, convinced they were witnessing the end of the match—and possibly her life.
But then, the screaming changed.
It started as a jagged gasp, then morphed into a low, shaking sound.
"Heh... hehe... ahahahaha!"
The entire stadium went dead silent.
Jackie Chun's eyes widened behind his sunglasses. He stared at the girl suspended in his energy field, sweat pouring down his face from the exertion.
"Have... have you lost your mind?!" Jackie shouted, his voice cracking with strain.
"If you don't surrender right now, your heart will stop! You are going to die!"
Chi-Chi slowly lifted her head. The grimace of pain was gone.
The lightning continued to zap and crackle around her skin, but she stood there as if she were merely standing in a light drizzle.
"Hey, old man. Don't sugarcoat it. What's the output of this technique, more or less?"
She tilted her head, ignoring a bolt of electricity that struck her shoulder.
"Is this... what? Twenty thousand volts? Maybe thirty on a good day?"
Jackie Chun's jaw dropped.
The concentration required to maintain the technique faltered for a split second.
"W-what...?"
Chi-Chi looked down at her empty right hand.
"Do you know what sword I carry?" She scoffed, closing her hand into a fist.
She looked back at Jackie Chun, a terrifying grin spreading across her face.
"Kumokiri. The Cloud Cutter. It is a legendary storm blade. When fully awakened, it unleashes the fury of a thunderhead—roughly ten billion volts of raw celestial lightning."
Jackie Chun's eyes nearly popped out of his skull.
"Ten... billion?!"
"I spent three years synchronizing my body with that blade. I endured its residual energy every single day to prove I was worthy of holding it. My nervous system has already been hardened by the storm itself."
She took a step forward, forcing her way through the resistance of the Thunder Shock Surprise as if walking through a strong wind.
"Compared to the bite of Kumokiri... this little static shock of yours is nothing."
With a piercing shout, Chi-Chi clenched her fists at her sides.
"HAAAAAAA!"
A blinding white aura erupted from her body.
The sheer pressure of her rising Ki shattered the electrical field instantly, scattering the lightning into harmless sparks that fizzled out on the ground.
She stood panting slightly, smoke rising from her shoulders, but her eyes were burning with defiance.
The Thunder Shock Surprise had been completely nullified by her raw spirit.
Jackie Chun stumbled back, his hands smoking from the failed technique.
He looked at her, his expression shifting from shock to a look of profound, solemn respect.
"Remarkable… breaking the Thunder Shock Surprise with sheer Ki alone. You're no longer just talented, you've become something dangerous. I see now that I misjudged you by treating you as a child."
He straightened his posture, his demeanor changing entirely. The playful, perverted old man was gone. In his place stood the God of Martial Arts.
"However." Jackie said, his voice dropping to a low rumble that vibrated in everyone's chests.
"This test has gone on long enough. It is time to end this."
He spread his feet wide, digging his heels into the cracked tiles.
"HAAAAAAAA!!"
The air in the stadium suddenly felt heavy.
Jackie Chun's muscles began to bulge and writhe. His chest expanded, his arms thickened into tree trunks, and his height seemed to double. In seconds, the frail old man transformed into a hulking mountain of muscle, his legendary Max Power form.
"He's doing it! He's using the same form he used to destroy the moon!" Krillin screamed, falling back.
The massive Jackie Chun cupped his hands at his side. A blue light, far more intense than before, began to gather between his palms.
The energy crackled with terrifying density.
"KA... ME..."
Chi-Chi took a step back, sweat beading on her forehead. She could feel the heat radiating from him across the ring.
He's not holding back anymore, that form... that energy... if that hits me directly...
She dropped into her lowest stance, her white aura flaring up to match his blue one.
She knew she couldn't dodge this. She had to meet it head-on.
"HA... ME..."
"I'm not running away from this!" Chi-Chi shouted, her voice cutting through the roar of Jackie's energy.
"If you want to test my power, then here it is!"
She stomped her foot, shattering the tile beneath it, and drew her hands to her waist. Her fingers curled into the familiar, cup-shaped dome.
"KA... ME..."
A brilliant sphere of blue light ignited between her palms, mirroring the one in Jackie Chun's hands perfectly.
Jackie Chun's eyes widened, his massive, muscular frame freezing for a split second in sheer disbelief.
"You know the Kamehameha too?!"
"I told you, old man. I've been watching you for a long time!" Chi-Chi gritted her teeth, the light from her hands illuminating her fierce expression.
"HA... ME..."
Jackie Chun's shock quickly morphed into a competitive smirk.
The veins on his biceps bulged as he poured even more energy into his attack.
"So, you think you can beat me at my own game?" Jackie roared, his aura flaring violently.
"You may have copied the form, but you lack the decades of mastery required to perfect it! A mere imitation can never hope to surpass the original!"
The air in the stadium began to scream as two massive energy sources reached their critical point simultaneously.
The crowd shielded their eyes, the blinding blue light turning the arena into a sun.
"HAAAAAAAAA!!!!"
"HAAAAAAAAA!!!!"
Both fighters thrust their hands forward at the exact same instant.
Two massive beams of blue energy—one from the hulking master, one from the determined challenger—erupted across the ring.
They collided in the dead center with a cataclysmic boom, sending a shockwave that nearly blew the spectators out of their seats.
The beam struggle had begun.
The two beams clashed.
The point of impact was a blinding sphere of volatile plasma that hissed and popped like a dying star.
The ground beneath the center of the struggle instantly vaporized, turning into a glowing crater of molten rock.
"Gggghhh!" Jackie Chun grunted, his massive muscles trembling from the strain.
Impossible! Where is a girl her age getting this kind of output?!
He dug his heels in deeper, the veins on his forehead throbbing.
"Push back! HAAAA!"
With a roar, Jackie poured more power into his beam. The blue torrent expanded, slowly but surely pushing the sphere of energy toward Chi-Chi.
"I... won't... LOSE!" Chi-Chi screamed, her voice raw.
Her white aura flared up wildly, turning violent.
She didn't yield an inch. channeling every ounce of stamina she had left, she shoved the energy back. The beam struggle returned to a dead center stalemate, neither side able to overpower the other.
The air pressure in the stadium dropped.
The sound of the energy clash transformed from a roar into a screeching, high-pitched whine that threatened to shatter glass.
"It's too much energy!" Krillin yelled, covering his ears.
"It's going to blow!"
"Everyone down!" Bulma shouted from his stretcher.
The sphere of energy at the center finally reached critical mass.
It collapsed in on itself for a fraction of a second, turning pitch black, before expanding outward in a blinding flash of white light.
KA-BOOM!
A cataclysmic explosion engulfed the ring.
A massive shockwave ripped through the stadium, knocking the front row of spectators out of their seats.
Bulma had to grab onto the railing to keep from being blown away, while the announcer ducked for cover.
Debris, dust, and chunks of tile rained down from the sky.
For a long moment, there was only silence.
The entire arena was buried under a impenetrable blanket of gray smoke and dust.
The ring was completely invisible. No sound came from inside the haze—no breathing, no movement, no sign of life.
"Chi-Chi!" Goku shouted, leaning over the wall, trying to pierce the smoke with his eyes.
The announcer coughed, peeking out.
"Can anyone see the fighters?!"
The crowd waited with bated breath, the suspense hanging heavy in the air as the smoke slowly began to swirl.
As the thick gray haze slowly drifted away on the wind, two silhouettes emerged from the gloom.
They were both still standing.
Chi-Chi stood near the edge of the scorch mark, her chest heaving violently, sweat dripping from her chin.
"That... was your best technique, wasn't it?"
She looked at Jackie Chun with gleaming eyes.
"You neutralized the destructive energy at the very last second... didn't you? If you hadn't dispersed that blast when it collapsed, you wouldn't have just destroyed the ring... you would have taken this entire continent out with it."
Opposite her, Jackie Chun let out a long, shuddering breath.
His massive muscles seemed to melt away, steam rising from his body as he shrank back down to his skinny, elderly form. He slumped forward, his hands on his knees, gasping for air.
"You... you really are something. To think you could hold back my maximum power... I'm getting too old for this." Jackie wheezed, looking up at her with weary eyes.
He was lying, and he knew it.
As Jackie stared at Chi-Chi, a realization settled in his mind.
She stopped my Kamehameha, but I get the distinct feeling she still had more in reserve. She wasn't fighting with everything she had...
He smiled softly.
The time has come. The new generation doesn't need an old man holding their hand anymore. They are ready to shine on their own.
Jackie straightened up, looking at Chi-Chi one last time.
"Well! I suppose that's that!"
With a casual hop, he jumped backward.
Hop.
He landed on the grass outside the ring.
"Oops! My foot slipped!" Jackie exclaimed, throwing his hands up in mock surprise.
The crowd went silent.
The announcer dropped his microphone.
Chi-Chi froze, her smile vanishing instantly. She stared at him, her eyes wide with confusion.
"What? Why did you do that? We weren't finished!"
"Ring out!" the announcer finally screamed, recovering from his shock.
"The winner is Chi-Chi!"
Jackie Chun chuckled, dusting off his pants. "Look at me, I can barely stand up, let alone fight another round. Besides..."
He gave her a knowing thumbs up.
"...it's much more interesting to see how far you kids can go without me in the way."