"The next fight is between contestant Lazuli and contestant Chi-Chi, please come to the arena," Muten Roshi announced after both girls' names were shown on the screens.
Lazuli vs. Chi-Chi. Bulma looked at her friend, who seemed to be seething with excitement. Chi-Chi looked sideways at Goku, as if waiting for him to do something, but the young Saiyan just wagged his tail gently, like a lazy cat.
Bulma had to pat him on the back to get him to react, causing Goku to turn his head and look at his older sister. Not knowing what to say, he noticed the gestures she was making to him and pointed at Chi-Chi.
"Oh yes, Chi-Chi, I wish you luck, even though I know you will win, you are trying so hard," Goku understood Bulma's message and quickly wished Chi-Chi good luck, even patting her shoulder to show her confidence.
This simple gesture of touching her shoulder made Chi-Chi's face turn tomato red, and white steam rose from her head. Then, full of determination, she jumped towards the arena where Lazuli was already standing.
Lazuli was about five feet tall, perhaps not much when there were fighters among the participants who were much taller, but compared to Chi-Chi, who was barely a pre-teen, the difference was noticeable.
But Lazuli had no intention of letting her guard down, despite the obvious height difference. Just recently, Krillin had defeated her brother, and the height difference was similar to the current situation, so any thoughts of underestimating him disappeared from her mind.
Especially since Chi-Chi had demonstrated her magical abilities in past fights, and since she was from the group that had been hanging out with Bulma, it seemed that everyone she came in contact with was powerful in their way, so she couldn't be careless.
Even though Lazuli already knew that her freedom was practically guaranteed, she still wanted to fight. It could be said that she was much more of a warrior than her older brother Lapis, even if money was not a motivation, her intention to fight was high.
Noticing her desire to fight, Chi-Chi became serious and adopted a fighting stance. Although the confrontation had not yet officially begun, both women were focused, just waiting for the signal.
"Begin!" This time, it was Whis who gave the starting signal.
The starting gong sounded, and no one expected it to be Whis, who seemed to be excited about this tournament. To him, these fights were not even close to what he would consider a 'game', but human creativity impressed him greatly.
It also helped that he was being introduced to the taste of strawberry ice cream, the best flavor in the world, so Whis, who was extremely enthusiastic, was subtly persuaded by Muten Roshi and the moderator.
The two young women took off and found themselves in the middle of the arena. Neither tried to test the other, knowing what the other was capable of, so a crimson aura covered Chi-Chi's body while a blue aura covered Lazuli's.
Their forearms collided, trying to press against each other. The force of their struggle cracked the ground beneath them, causing some pebbles to float uncontrollably in the air. Despite her small body, Chi-Chi's strength could be considered superhuman; after all, her father was technically a giant capable of controlling his size.
But generally speaking, the maximum height that Ox Satan could reach was 4 meters, so he could be considered a giant among humans. This strength was perfectly inherited by Chi-Chi, who slowly seemed to take over the situation, pushing Lazuli back.
"Thunder!" Even though there was barely two meters between them, Chi-Chi cast a spell directly at Lazuli.
Yellow thunder erupted from her left hand, quickly hitting Lazuli's body, but then there was a cracking sound, and chunks of blue energy flew from the blonde's body, who quickly stepped back unharmed.
"I don't have my brother's talent to form ki into a permanent barrier, but I do have my defensive techniques," Lazuli said, noticing Chi-Chi's curious look, causing her opponent's eyes to widen with interest.
"No wonder she likes you," Chi-Chi muttered before her body felt a terrible chill as she could tell without turning around that Bulma was staring at her.
Fortunately, the noise of the crowd prevented Lazuli from hearing Chi-Chi's words, something that indicated her inexperience and short time as a martial artist; what competent fighter wouldn't sharpen her senses? So when Chi-Chi realized that he had spared her, she let out the murky air she didn't know she was holding in.
"Then I guess I'll just have to break your technique." Chi-Chi's eyes regained their determination, and she quickly selected the spells she would use for this confrontation.
"We'll see," a smug smile appeared on Lazuli's lips before she shot at Chi-Chi.
Her blue aura-covered body was like an arrow piercing the air, but suddenly her feet slipped and she fell heavily to the ground. Her body seemed to have no friction, sliding almost uncontrollably to the edge of the sand, so she had to act quickly and hit the ground with her hands, clinging to it.
Lazuli smelled a strange odor on her body, similar to oil or grease. She saw that the entire floor was covered in a clear liquid that seemed to have a strange consistency and realized that she had fallen into a spell trap.
"Magic isn't just bombarding everything you see with fireballs," Chi-Chi said before opening her right palm and creating a volleyball-sized fireball.
"But... It's fun to make them." Chi-Chi showed no mercy and threw the fireball floating in her palm at Lazuli, who was unable to stand up properly.
Although she was confident in her defensive technique, the oil on the ground gave her a very bad feeling, so she tried to get up again, but fell heavily to the ground again.
At that moment, the fireball hit her and exploded. Although the shattering sound was heard again along with the scattering of blue energy, the flames covered the entire ground around Lazuli, enveloping her.
But Chi-Chi didn't let her guard down, she never thought that they could defeat their opponent with something as simple as the combination of two basic spells, and besides, Bulma always told them that when flames or smoke cover your enemy, you have barely hurt them.
Bulma was right. Lazuli jumped, and it looked like something was holding her up underneath. Since she had not yet mastered the flying technique, Lazuli had to find a way to propel herself through the air.
There was a faint glow of energy under her feet, supporting her body, but it soon disappeared, causing her to fall downward. Her body fell quickly, and although smoke rose from the clothes the blonde was wearing, the blue aura that covered her pulsed strongly.
This time, her right foot became a heavy battering ram that threatened to crush Chi-Chi, who responded with a ki attack in Lazuli's direction. But the same shattering sound rang out as the energy attack struck her body, allowing her to escape unharmed.
Chi-Chi recoiled, and as Lazuli fell to the ground, she left a crater in the sand. Chi-Chi couldn't help but cluck her tongue as she realized that her opponent's defensive technique was much more annoying than she had expected.
Even though it didn't seem to react very well to the environment, which he had just demonstrated, it seemed to be the perfect counter to the energy attacks usually used by martial artists or mages.
Lazuli pulled her hair back as she walked slowly, noticing the doubt in Chi-Chi's eyes, but she wasn't going to explain how her technique worked, at least not while they were fighting.
Then, realizing that Chi-Chi might have more tricks that could get her into trouble, Lazuli decided to throw energy attacks as well. The blue aura around her body stirred slightly before a small Ki ball appeared in her right hand.
Soon, similar energy balls appeared around Lazuli, glowing menacingly. Chi-Chi's face darkened, and she quickly cast a defensive spell, creating a shield of golden energy around her, but she sensed that it might not be enough.
It wasn't. Lazuli's attack came down on Chi-Chi's body like a torrential rain, and her magical shield could barely withstand the bombardment of energy, so her body took the brunt of the marbles.
Perhaps due to the nature of the tournament, the Ki attack Lazuli unleashed was pure kinetic energy, but this made Chi-Chi's body feel a lot of pain; each impact on her body was quite powerful, and even though they did not penetrate her body, they left bruises.
Still, her mind was racing to find a way to escape, so she decided to take a chance and end the fight quickly. She had many powerful spells to use, but she knew from Lazuli's ki that she would not be able to withstand the intensity of her magic, which was probably quite intense.
So she decided to take the path of a martial artist. After all these years of training, her will was strong, and the pain of the blows would not stop her so easily, so her body was once again covered in a crimson aura, but this time it burst with power.
Chi-Chi had been working on her body-enhancement technique, and this was the first time she had used it in actual combat. The intensity of the energy emanating from her body was such that Lazuli's attacks were parried and dispersed before they reached her.
A vague image appeared behind Chi-Chi, a woman of regal bearing, with black hair pulled back, long red nails, a noble white dress, and a merciless look in her eyes.
The image fully materialized, and then Chi-Chi acted. Although Lazuli continued to attack her with her Ki Marbles, Chi-Chi's reaction was not to resist with her body as before, but to evade.
Under a barrage of similar attacks, anyone could get confused and hurt, but Chi-Chi was a witch; how could someone who knew magic not see patterns?
That's what she saw, an inherent pattern in Lazuli's attacks that allowed her to dodge all of her ki attacks, no matter how many adjustments the blonde made, she was simply exposed to Chi-Chi who had clasped her hands together above her head and the ki that accumulated between her palms became quite chaotic.
Knowing that her attempt to regain the initiative would not work, Lazuli jumped back before closing her right fist and channeling all of her energy into it. She didn't quite understand Chi-Chi's outburst, but she didn't hesitate, knowing that her opponent was much stronger and more experienced than her, though she was at least letting her gain experience in this battle.
She felt that she was going to lose, you could say it was obvious from the beginning, but she didn't want to fall just like that, so her fist turned completely blue, and the ground underneath her didn't support her anymore; it cracked.
Both women looked into each other's eyes, recognizing the determination in each other's eyes, and then their attacks were launched.
"Stellar Cannon!" Lazuli lunged forward, firing a thick cannon of blue ki at Chi-Chi.
"Heaven's Fall!" Chi-Chi's hands suddenly separated, releasing the energy attack he was holding between her palms, a wave of reddish ki shooting out towards Lazuli.
Both attacks collided in the middle of the arena, but Chi-Chi's energy was much more abundant than Lazuli's, so her attack was gradually covered by Chi-Chi's ki wave, and then her body was pushed uncontrollably out of the arena.
"Fighter Lazuli has been disqualified! The winner of this match is Fighter Chi-Chi!" announced Muten Roshi, causing the crowd to get even more excited, especially since the arena had been heavily damaged during this last match.
But something interesting happened, as Chi-Chi came down from the arena, Goku appeared in front of her and suddenly kissed her on the cheek.
"Bulma told me to do that, but I don't understand why, why would a kiss on the cheek be a reward, Chi-Chi? Hey, don't fall asleep!" Goku stopped Chi-Chi from falling to the ground, even though the girl was passed out with a flushed face.
No doubt, she received a fitting reward! Or maybe a well-planned revenge of Bulma, who knows?