"What was that, old man?" Tenshinhan's face shriveled like a dried out prune. So far the martial artist has only been working his matches out of professionalism. He had a goal to clash with the pair of Saiyans and defeat them, the goal he trained so hard and abandoned so much of what previously defined him for. Anything else was just stepping toward that goal. This was beginning to get personal, however.
"You've heard me. The reason why you are as strong as you are now is not that you've abandoned everyone and sought power on your own. It is because you've had a friend by your side and stayed true to your spirit and pride as a martial artist." Jackie Chun declared, taking a brief moment to glance at Chiaotzu who was observing the brawl from the sidelines.
Tenshinhan placed his hands by the center of his face, fingers spread out toward his eyes. "Solar Fist!" he yelled out, forcing bright light flash and reach as far as the rays of light could, blinding everyone present within its range with its unmatched brightness. Chayote and Goku grabbed their eyes and grunted in pain, they could only assume that Jackie Chun and everyone in the audience would have been similarly distracted by the technique.
Tenshinhan's battle cry, followed by Jackie Chun's grunt of pain relayed the message just fine, utilizing the advantage that his Solar Fist technique provided him with, Tenshinhan drove a brutal elbow strike to Jackie Chun's solar plexus, knocking the seasoned veteran off his feet and turning off all of his defenses. Tenshinhan proceeded with a relentless flurry of blows, which Jackie had to cover his head to shrug off, taking only minimal damage as the blows failed to penetrate his broadened defenses.
Despite limited success to his rapid attacks, Tenshinhan had scored a notable achievement of having forced Jackie's defenses to falter, his raised arms kept on slipping down from time to time and Tenshinhan had timed these openings just right for a cross chop headed for Jackie's neck. A hit like that would have turned off not only just Jackie's defenses but put the old man out for the count, no matter how lively and powerful, how experienced or skilled he was.
Jackie's hands seemed to erupt with girth, overflowing with power that resulted in awesome muscular growth as the old-timer, with his eyes still closed and suffering from the irritation of the Solar Fist, reached out to the sides and caught Tenshinhan by the three-eyed warrior's wrists, locking the arms in place.
"An impressive technique, but it does little to prevent me from sensing your Ki after the initial flash," Jackie explained why he was able to defend himself after the first series of onslaughts to his bodily integrity. "Are you sure that you wish to challenge me to a battle of techniques, for my techniques are nothing short from magnificent."
"Interesting…" Tenshinhan smirked while the two struggled in close proximity, each trying to overpower the other to deliver a finishing strike of this particular engagement. "Nothing would be more pleasing than to prove a know-it-all old-timer wrong, I would know, for I've done the same to Tsuru Sen'nin."
The two stopped their struggle by forcefully pulling each other's limbs apart from one another and disengaging to catch their breaths. Jackie wiped the slobber and traces of blood from his lip, his body canceled out the excessive muscular growth that had overcome his upper half temporarily during the clash to preserve strength during times when it was not needed.
"Oh! What a breathtaking engagement, ladies and gentlemen! Contestant Tenshinhan has employed the might of the sun itself to attack his opponent, striking with a blinding flash of light, luckily for you, yours truly was equipped with this pair of shades which helped him keep track of the battle! Well… As much of it as I can normally…" the announcer looked excited over his successful way of defeating Tenshinhan's technique before letting his embarrassment consume him and scratching his cheek.
"So you've humiliated your old master, you say?" Jackie Chun stood straight, canceling out his normal, wide and balanced fighting stance. Given how he just declared to accept Tenshinhan's challenge of comparing techniques, one he considered foolish, it was of no shock that he'd adopt a stance used by one of his techniques.
"If we were still following him, he would still have us scamming people out of their money, abusing what he thinks is power instead of looking on to what's ahead!" Tenshinhan grit his teeth in anger when recalling his old master. "It was an important first step on our journey. He was an old fool, not even master Taopaipai would have killed him if given the chance, old master no longer deserves a warrior's death."
"I see… I am glad to hear that you did not cross a line you'd have regretted once you've abandoned your youthful foolishness and looked ahead to a path of honesty and pride." Jackie's expression gleamed with serenity while he flexed his hands out and began waving them in front of him as if channeling great amounts of Ki.
"That's…" Tenshinhan's eyes widened. He had seen this technique, not even too long ago – in Jackie Chun's last fight even.
"That's right, the Hypnosis Technique!" Jackie Chun declared while his eyes began shining red and Ki waves sensible only to those capable of sensing Ki left from his relaxed hands while they worked through the motions.
Tenshinhan's body slumped, his upper body hunched over with only his shaking legs maintaining some degree of stance while his face sunk in the shadows. The Hypnosis Technique was a dangerous tool when employed in a World's Martial Arts Technique setting, after all, someone might have simply obliged the opponent to ring themselves out or surrender outright like that.
"You old fool!" Tenshinhan yelled out into the air as his body flexed out again and charged forward with a nimble and flexible dash. Tenshinhan delivered a cross straight to Jackie Chun's jaw, throwing the old man off his feet and making him stumble back before transitioning into a stiff middle kick. Jackie blocked it and vaulted over his back a few times, approaching his back to the ring wall while his hands continued to make massaging motions over the air in front of him.
"Did you really think I would be unable to defeat mere trickery like this? I've trained with Chiaotzu, you know!" Tenshinhan clenched his fist out in front of him and then swiped his hand aside as if physically dismissing Jackie's technique. It was then that Tenshinhan stopped and his eyes began twitching as his resolve to go on with the fighting faltered, the martial artist then turned for his paled out companion before returning back to the fight on hand.
"Well, well… I see that you've finally stumbled onto your answer all by yourself. Experience dictates that young people don't learn unless they think they've come onto the answer by themselves… What a pain…" Jackie stroke the back of his wig while he caught his breath. "That's right. It isn't because you abandoned your master that you've grown this strong, it is because you've hardened yourself alongside your true friend and partner, just like Krillin and Yamcha did."
"Th-That's not… You're wrong!" Tenshinhan clenched his fists in denial.
"Oh? Then I challenge you to look me in the eye and tell me that Chiaotzu is nothing but a pawn to you. Just a lackey you use to rig tournament matches more to your liking and someone who fights the fights you deem unworthy of your attention," Jackie pressed on with a harder tone of voice.
"I… I cannot…" Tenshinhan admitted. "Chiaotzu has been alongside me the whole time. He's a friend, one whose pride and wellbeing is as important to me as that of my own."
"Now that you have abandoned your foolish misdirection, you can begin walking the path of honesty with yourself, the path that leads to strength of body and mind – the very thing every martial artist seeks," Jackie Chun nodded to himself exuding calmness and wisdom.
"Hmph…" Tenshinhan smirked, finally breaking out of the spell he was under while struggling to get himself to his grips. "Fight me, old man. Now that you claim that I am ready to walk the path of true strength, I am curious to see what exactly has changed. I wish to see where this new path takes me!"
Jackie stroke his beard. "Hmm… Normally I would have left this fight alone for there is no point to it anymore. You have discovered the path of truthfulness that is essential to any martial artist, I have witnessed first-hand the eagerness to improve that defines the next generation and the fact that it would never grow lazy or dishonor the memory of their masters. There is no use for me to fight anymore but… Very well. I shall help you by pushing you as far on your new path as my old back will let me."
Jackie's hands reached out in wide waves, once more resuming the soft and subtle motions that he used for his Hypnosis Technique earlier. Tenshinhan looked so confused by the fact that the old man would employ a technique he knew for a fact to be pointless that he almost broke his stance and his lowered his guard.
"What is the meaning of this, I have shown you that no technique which I have seen will work on me the second time!" Tenshinhan inquired, looking almost offended that Jackie would resort to the same technique again.
"Heh, but this is not the Hypnosis Technique, young man, this is the Sleepy Boy Technique!" Jackie Chun declared before beginning to humming a lovely lullaby which he had thoroughly ruined with his choppy, old man's voice.
"Mock me at your own peril, old man!" Tenshinhan clenched his fists with so much tension that they began to quiver with force. He spread his own hands out and began mirroring Jackie Chun's motions. "Hypnosis Technique!"
"Oh! Contestant Tenshinhan displays previously unseen talent by perfectly mirroring the technique of Contestant Jackie Chun he had seen only a few times previously!" the announcer yelled out.
Tenshinhan's knee took a plunge as the young man struggled with sleepiness. Jackie Chun's eyes gleamed red, mirroring the three-pronged glow of his opponent's own eyes. The first-time hypnotist drove his left hand out to keep his body from hitting the ground as the pull of gravity and the allure of the hardy ring tiles beneath him became more and more attractive to Tenshinhan. With a dull thud, Tenshinhan fully slumped his body onto the floor.
"Oh no!" the announcer turned to the audience while gesturing with his hands in an exaggerated manner, as was his way, "It appears that the technique which Contestant Tenshinhan had mocked so much has claimed him! Contestant Tenshinhan is down!"
"No way!" Chayote whistled.
"Quick, throw him out!" Yamcha yelled in encouragement to Jackie's victory. While his lid wasn't tilting with nearly as much of a distaste for the three-eyed martial artist at the moment, having just seen him being humbled and taught a lesson, Yamcha still didn't like Tenshinhan all that much and would have much preferred to see Jackie pull off the win.
"He can't…" Krillin shook his head, "Look!"
"Ah!" Goku exclaimed in shock, "The old timer's hypnotized!"
"Oh no!" the announcer stumbled back, "It appears that we've hit a hypnotic standoff! Contestant Tenshinhan was put to sleep by Contestant Jackie's Sleepy Boy technique but, before he could collapse, Contestant Tenshinhan had successfully hypnotized Contestant Jackie Chun! What an unexpected, shocking turnout!"
The audience rustled in their own version of what was to be done, the ones that were on board with Tenshinhan's journey and cool vibes were all for disqualifying Jackie Chun for being hypnotized, some of them advocated letting the situation play out and seeing what would come out of the situation. Jackie Chun, despite his hypnotist having fallen asleep, was just standing there back by the wall, waiting for orders to fulfill.
Those that preferred the hip old guy vibes of Jackie, wanted the announcer to begin the count or flat out disqualify Tenshinhan, for his consciousness had slipped away into slumber and surely that meant the same thing as being knocked out. At least it did so in their eyes.
"Order in the audience!" the announcer exclaimed, utilizing the full might of his microphone while he took it onto the ring. "That is just the kind of a situation in which you need a trained professional! That is why I am here, to make the tough calls and it is self-evident that while both contestants are compromised, only one of them is down, while the other one is still standing. For that reason, even if Contestant Jackie cannot call for the count, I will begin counting anyway. If Contestant Tenshinhan cannot get back on his feet by the count of ten – the match will be over!"
The audience had mixed reactions. They had some reasons to question such a ruling, some of them were behind Jackie Chun the whole way so they had no problem with the ruling, the others felt that with Jackie Chun being unable to call for a count, it was unfair for the announcer to begin counting anyway. Either way, the announcer raised his finger and started counting.
"Hey, you!" Yamcha turned to Chiaotzu, "Don't even think to try some of your funny business with waking Tenshinhan up mentally, we're onto you!"
"No." Chiaotzu shook his head. Something in him was much different this time, he reacted with emotion, there were crystal specks of tears hanging on the bottom of his eyelids. The little guy must have taken being acknowledged as Tenshinhan's friend in public pretty close to heart. "Ten-san wouldn't like it if I woke him up. He would throw the fight if I did anyway. I will not do anything like that."
"One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six…" the announcer went on with the countdown to Tenshinhan's inevitable elimination. Chayote could hardly believe that she'd lose the opportunity of fighting one of the two people she stayed on Earth to fight for three more years. If Tenshinhan lost, she'd leave this stupid tournament behind after settling things with Goku and challenge him to a fight outside the ring. Before she departs, she needs to settle these things, she's invested this much time into it already!
A sound of human-cannonball hurling through thin air snapped Chayote out of her frail frustrations, Tenshinhan had hurled through the space between him and Jackie Chun and delivered a stiff knee strike to the back of Jackie's head after arcing over his opponent with more flips than Goku could probably count to. With whited out eyes, Jackie collapsed to the floor in a pathetic sprawl of defeat.
"Astonishing!" the announcer called out after a brief pause of disbelief. "Contestant Tenshinhan has risen up from his sleep! How did he do it, does he only sleep for seconds a day?! Did he somehow manage to break out of Jackie's technique through sheer willpower!? Did someone in the audience hint him to an external stimulus that woke him up, we will soon find out!"
The announcer wriggled onto the stage and ran up to Tenshinhan, shoving the microphone into his face. Before the announcer could even complete the repeat of his question, he could hear faint breathing into the microphone, a visual inspection of Tenshinhan's face revealed that two of his human eyes were closed but the third one was open and racing across the stage.
"Oh!" the announcer jumped up and turned for the audience. "Contestant Tenshinhan appears to still be asleep! Incredible, he attacked his opponent while still fully asleep! And now the stages had turned, Contestant Jackie is down and I must begin the count!"
"Wait, this is all Chiaotzu's trickery!" Yamcha pointed at Chiaotzu who shook his tearful head and tried to convince everybody it wasn't him. His expression seemed troubled enough by these accusations that Chayote would have called him innocent. She knew what a guilty person being caught looked like, she'd seen it plenty of times when the boys back at Planet Vegeta looted the meat warehouses and ate their fill before being caught grease-handed. Chiaotzu seemed innocent and hurt that he was still being accused.
"No, I swear, this wasn't me! Ten-san is sleep-walking, that's all!" Chiaotzu pointed at Tenshinhan who kept on standing on two feet and wandering across the ring.
"Sleep-walking my ass! How is such a thing even possible!?" Yamcha took a couple of steps toward Chiaotzu's side of the spectator's area.
"Ten-san honed his mind and body through meditation, even when he's entranced, he's is completely aware of his environment, he might be asleep but some subconscious part of him is still displaying limited control over his body." Chiaotzu pointed out.
Yamcha looked only half-satisfied by such an explanation but he didn't have anything better to suggest so he looked back at the ring to see how this situation would unfold. The announcer raised his finger up into the sky and began counting.
"One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six…" the announcer went on.
"Hmph… What a useless old man…" Chayote mumbled, disappointed by such an underwhelming conclusion to the match between two martial arts legends. "He seems to care more about his Pichi-Pichi girls than martial arts…"
"Pichi-Pichi? Where…?" Jackie lifted his head up and then peeled his entire upper body off the floor. Having heard Pichi-Pichi in his trance but seen no Pichi-Pichi, Jackie stood up, dusted off his uniform and began examining the fighting ring more carefully. "Where are the Pichi-Pichi girls!?"
"Unbelievable!" the announcer exclaimed, "Contestant Jackie Chun also stood up at the six-count, his trance was broken up by… Well… I'm not quite sure what but… He is up regardless!"
"Huh…?" Jackie Chun looked around frantically, examining the surroundings that have changed drastically in his "absence" and then massaged his numb neck in the back where his wound was beginning to swell purple. "What did I miss? What's wrong with Tenshinhan?" he pointed at the subconsciously drifting opponent of his.
"Contestant Tenshinhan appears to be sleep-walking, since he is up on his feet and so are you, you may continue the match!" the announcer explained the gist of things, with a rather taken aback expression, Jackie Chun took his fighting stance and prepared to continue this clash of generations match against his sleep-walking opponent.