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Tifa had a lot of cleaning up to do from the party the night before. Having fought in so many matches within the span of a week, Tifa was looking forward to just bartending for a bit as a means of taking a break from fighting, even if it was just for a short while.
However, not long after Tifa opened The Seventh Heaven for the day, a woman entered the bar and made a beeline toward her. “Tifa Lockhart?” the woman asked.
Tifa examined her. She was wearing what looked like a modified version of a blue qipao. Modified in a way to give her better movement in fighting. Even without the outfit, Tifa could tell from the way the woman carried herself that she was a martial artist. Not only that, but there was something familiar about her as well. “Yes?” Tifa answered with caution.
“My name is Chun-Li. I’ve seen your fights and would like to challenge you to a boxing match at your earliest convenience.”
“If this is about the event, I’m sorry to say that was concluded yesterday.”
Chun-Li shook her head. “I know. I had no interest in the prize and avoided entering to give others a chance to earn it.”
“Wait a minute…” Tifa tilted her head at Chun-Li as the name banged on a part of her brain. “I thought I recognized you! You’re a participant in those Street Fighter tournaments. The ‘strongest woman in the world!’”
Chun-Li nodded. “I’ve been considering entering the boxing league for a while, and after seeing you fight this past week, I would like you to be my first opponent.”
Tifa put a hand on her hip. “I figured you’d want to take on Faye Valentine considering she’s the one who beat me.”
“She earned that victory and is a good fighter, but she wasn’t the one who went through a weeklong gauntlet. To my understanding, the event’s conclusion depended on you losing to one person, yet you managed to hold out until the very end.”
“Yeah. To be honest, I would’ve been bummed if I hadn’t lost in that last match. I wanted someone to have the prize…not that I threw the match or anything, mind you.”
Chun smiled. “I know. I watched the whole fight and could tell you did your best. It was close though.”
Tifa smiled back. “And you feel confident having me as your opponent for your debut match because I’m not invincible?”
“You may not be invincible, but if I believed you would be an easy opponent, I would not be here asking you.”
Tifa thought for a moment. “Well, I was going to take a break from boxing for a bit, but what’s one more match? When and where?”

The very next day, Tifa was in a boxing ring, standing face to face with Chun-Li, now wearing boxing attire reminiscent of her qipao. Blue shorts and a top with yellow designs, long white boots, and blue boxing gloves. She still wore her hair in buns which were wrapped in…what were those called? Those cloth things? Tifa would have to ask after the fight. She also saw Chun-Li’s cornerman: a teenage girl who had introduced herself as Li-Fen before the match. A student of hers, perhaps? Between that and the hair dressings, Tifa figured they wouldn’t be short on conversation topics later.
At the start of the match, Tifa approached with a stern guard. She was at a disadvantage against Chun-Li. Since this was the Street Fighter’s debut boxing match, Tifa had no idea how she would fight. Not only that, but Chun-Li had watched how she fought during the event. At least with her fight with Faye, but Tifa had suspected it was more than the one. Still, she had more experience boxing professionally and had fought many tough opponents. Hopefully, that evened things out between them. Still, Tifa remained wary of even throwing out test jabs. She thought it best to let Chun-Li make the first move, but said opponent was being cautious as well. Tifa could tell it wasn’t hesitation; she was just trying to find the best opening, so Tifa did the same.
Feeling out her opponent, Tifa launched a right cross at her…only for Chun-Li to do the same at her. It all happened in an instant. Tifa noticed Chun’s cross, but she was already committed to her own and couldn’t block it. Instead, she guided her punch to her’s to cancel it out. As she did so, she noticed Chun was doing the same; redirecting her punch to Tifa’s. Leather-covered fists collided, creating an explosive smacking noise that forced both fighters back. In all her boxing matches, Tifa had never started one where she and her opponent made the exact same move. If this fight hadn’t excited Tifa before, then this sealed the deal!

From that point, the two became more aggressive. Punch after punch was thrown, but neither fighter landed a solid hit. Either because of a well-timed block or a graceful dodge. It was the closest to a martial arts fight Tifa had experienced in a boxing match. However, she finally found an opening and connected a left hook with Chun-Li’s side, causing the Street Fighter to gasp. She countered with her own hook, but Tifa backed away from it. However, Chun finally managed to find her first hit two punches later, landing a straight on the left side of Tifa’s chest. The bartender felt her entire body jolt. Not long after, the bell finally ended the first round. Three whole minutes, and both contenders had only managed to land one hit on the other.
“That had to have been more intense than it looked,” Cloud said once Tifa returned to her corner. “I’m out of breath just from watching.”
“Yeah,” Tifa said as she caught her own breath. “I wouldn’t have thought this was her first boxing match if I hadn’t been told beforehand.”
In Chun-Li’s corner, Li-Fen was doctoring her fighter’s side. “That was a good hit, Jiejie! You should’ve seen her face!”
“It probably looked like mine when she got me.” Chun-Li felt her side throb from Tifa’s hook. She couldn’t afford to let her guard down too often, especially with the power Tifa packed with her punches.
And so, the match continued. For the next two rounds, both fighters struggled to gain ground over the other. Though both had managed to land more than one hit in both rounds, it was hard to say which of them came out on top for either of them. Tifa had more power and managed to break through Chun-Li’s guard on a few occasions, but that was only when she could hit her. Chun-Li’s footwork was impressive as she managed to dance around the bartender. Tifa was fast enough to react to her hits, but even she had a hard time keeping up with them. Funny enough, Tifa could tell that her opponent had to fight herself as well. Throughout the rounds, Tifa noticed Chun-Li’s legs twitching at certain points as if she was holding back the urge to kick. She knew all too well that feeling. When Tifa had first started boxing, she had to fight back that instinct to kick too many times. It was difficult for a martial artist who had been trained to use every limb of their body in a fight to restrict themselves to punching. It took a while before Tifa felt confident enough to enter a professional match without worrying about her legs acting on their own out of habit. It must have taken longer for someone like Chun-Li given how much she was known for kicking based on Tifa’s knowledge. As much as she wanted to win, Tifa would hate it if the referee disqualified her.

Fortunately, Chun kept herself in check and never threw a kick the entire match. Unfortunately for her, Tifa managed to finally break the stalemate in the fourth round. It wasn’t much, but she managed to break her guard and pummel her into a corner for a bit. Chun-Li answered back, though. Not just in the next round, but the round after as well, even managing to knock Tifa down in that latter round. Cloud couldn’t give much advice against Chun-Li, but his encouragement stirred the bartender enough to make a comeback for the seventh round by knocking down her as well…and again in the eighth. For that latter round, the Street Fighter had to clinch Tifa almost immediately after beating the count.
At the end of the round, Li-Fen clumsily handled the smelling salts to reinvigorate Chun-Li. Tifa felt sorry for the teenager; it was a lot of pressure for a cornerman to be responsible for keeping their fighter well enough to continue the match. Clumsy or not, however, Li-Fen’s treatment—along with Chun-Li’s determination—proved effective enough to allow the Street Fighter to take the ninth round by knocking down Tifa again. With a haymaker even. It hadn’t been enough for a KO, but it felt close to one as far as Tifa was concerned. In fact, it was enough to force Tifa to give Chun-Li the next round as she had to clinch in the beginning and play defensively for the rest. However, Tifa managed to get enough of her strength back to take the eleventh round by knocking Chun-Li down once more. She had hoped that it would be enough, but Chun-Li beat the count at nine. Still, it became clear to Tifa that Chun was running on fumes at this point. A good sign to be sure, but Tifa wasn’t doing much better. She only managed to beat her last count at eight. The two boxers had both of their eyes blackened, with Tifa having trouble opening her right eye while Chun struggled with her left. They had one round left, but it would take a miracle for both of them to see the end of it. One of them was going down before then for sure.
Cloud and Li-Fen gave their respective fighters one last whiff of smelling salts, splash of cold water, and whatever inspiring words they believed would help. Just one good hit, Tifa thought. Maybe two. That’s all she needed. The bell rang, and like the first round, she and Chun-Li circled each other cautiously. Then, at the same time, the two launched into one another in a full-on assault. Again, it almost felt like a repeat of the first few rounds with the two failing to land a clean hit on the other. However, the fatigue of a long fight had taken its toll on them. Tifa’s punches felt sluggish as they couldn’t get through the Street Fighter’s blocks. Chun-Li in turn had been sloppy with her movements, making her easier to read.
Finally, Tifa got the hit she needed: a hook to Chun-Li’s face. It left a small gash right below her closed eye, with blood slowly dripping down. Chun kept herself up but was dazed from the hit. Tifa tried to follow through with another hit, but her body wasn’t responding properly. By the time she got her arm raised for the second hit, the blood from Chun’s gash had reached her chin. Huh, Tifa thought as she noticed that there was also a dry blood trail on Chun-Li's cheek, going down from her right nostril to her chin. When did that happen? No. Tifa had to focus. Get it together for that final hit! She readied another hook to Chun-Li’s face…and noticed the Street Fighter readying her right arm for an uppercut.
It was now or never.
Tifa watched Chun-Li’s head turn as her hook smashed into her cheek. Seeing her spit out her blue mouth guard should have been a joyous sight for Tifa…if her own black mouth guard hadn’t shot out from her mouth too. The blow from Chun-Li’s uppercut planted itself into Tifa’s gut, forcing all the air out from her as she gasped.
It’s okay, Tifa thought. She just had to…had to…
“Tifa…Tifa!”
Her eyes opened when she heard Cloud’s voice and saw him staring at her…with the lights of the stadium’s ceiling behind his head. Just like when she fought Faye…
“Shit,” Tifa said. “I lost, didn’t I?”
Cloud gave her a faint smile. “Kind of.” As he got her up into a sitting position, he showed her Chun-Li lying across from them, still out cold as Li-Fen attempted to wake her up. “Ref declared a double KO,” Cloud said before casting Cure 3 on Tifa. A good portion of the audience were making their way to the exits.
“Well, I’ll be…” Tifa stared at Chun-Li as she began to stir. “I had her seeing stars and she still mustered enough strength to get me back.”
Cloud cast Cure 3 on Chun-Li as well and got her up to speed. “I guess a draw’s better than a loss for my first boxing match,” she said.
Tifa smiled. “Honestly? With the way you fight, I don’t think you got anything to worry about.”
Chun-Li smiled back. Then, their cornermen helped them back onto their feet. “Thank you, Tifa. I wanted a good fight for my first foray into the world of boxing, and you’ve surpassed my expectations.”
“You’re welcome, and thanks for the challenge! This has been one of my best fights yet!”
“I hope we’ll have a rematch at some point. In fact, I wouldn’t mind taking you on in a regular fight as well. A martial arts bout.”
“I’m sure both of those things will happen, but not any time soon.” Tifa exchanged a look with Cloud. “Right now, I just wanna take a break and run my bar.”

Story and idea by TheCrimsonDuke

This art was made by the amazing and talented josuegnr1993

Description
Tifa had a lot of cleaning up to do from the party the night before. Having fought in so many matches within the span of a week, Tifa was looking forward to just bartending for a bit as a means of taking a break from fighting, even if it was just for a short while.
However, not long after Tifa opened The Seventh Heaven for the day, a woman entered the bar and made a beeline toward her. “Tifa Lockhart?” the woman asked.
Tifa examined her. She was wearing what looked like a modified version of a blue qipao. Modified in a way to give her better movement in fighting. Even without the outfit, Tifa could tell from the way the woman carried herself that she was a martial artist. Not only that, but there was something familiar about her as well. “Yes?” Tifa answered with caution.
“My name is Chun-Li. I’ve seen your fights and would like to challenge you to a boxing match at your earliest convenience.”
“If this is about the event, I’m sorry to say that was concluded yesterday.”
Chun-Li shook her head. “I know. I had no interest in the prize and avoided entering to give others a chance to earn it.”
“Wait a minute…” Tifa tilted her head at Chun-Li as the name banged on a part of her brain. “I thought I recognized you! You’re a participant in those Street Fighter tournaments. The ‘strongest woman in the world!’”
Chun-Li nodded. “I’ve been considering entering the boxing league for a while, and after seeing you fight this past week, I would like you to be my first opponent.”
Tifa put a hand on her hip. “I figured you’d want to take on Faye Valentine considering she’s the one who beat me.”
“She earned that victory and is a good fighter, but she wasn’t the one who went through a weeklong gauntlet. To my understanding, the event’s conclusion depended on you losing to one person, yet you managed to hold out until the very end.”
“Yeah. To be honest, I would’ve been bummed if I hadn’t lost in that last match. I wanted someone to have the prize…not that I threw the match or anything, mind you.”
Chun smiled. “I know. I watched the whole fight and could tell you did your best. It was close though.”
Tifa smiled back. “And you feel confident having me as your opponent for your debut match because I’m not invincible?”
“You may not be invincible, but if I believed you would be an easy opponent, I would not be here asking you.”
Tifa thought for a moment. “Well, I was going to take a break from boxing for a bit, but what’s one more match? When and where?”

The very next day, Tifa was in a boxing ring, standing face to face with Chun-Li, now wearing boxing attire reminiscent of her qipao. Blue shorts and a top with yellow designs, long white boots, and blue boxing gloves. She still wore her hair in buns which were wrapped in…what were those called? Those cloth things? Tifa would have to ask after the fight. She also saw Chun-Li’s cornerman: a teenage girl who had introduced herself as Li-Fen before the match. A student of hers, perhaps? Between that and the hair dressings, Tifa figured they wouldn’t be short on conversation topics later.
At the start of the match, Tifa approached with a stern guard. She was at a disadvantage against Chun-Li. Since this was the Street Fighter’s debut boxing match, Tifa had no idea how she would fight. Not only that, but Chun-Li had watched how she fought during the event. At least with her fight with Faye, but Tifa had suspected it was more than the one. Still, she had more experience boxing professionally and had fought many tough opponents. Hopefully, that evened things out between them. Still, Tifa remained wary of even throwing out test jabs. She thought it best to let Chun-Li make the first move, but said opponent was being cautious as well. Tifa could tell it wasn’t hesitation; she was just trying to find the best opening, so Tifa did the same.
Feeling out her opponent, Tifa launched a right cross at her…only for Chun-Li to do the same at her. It all happened in an instant. Tifa noticed Chun’s cross, but she was already committed to her own and couldn’t block it. Instead, she guided her punch to her’s to cancel it out. As she did so, she noticed Chun was doing the same; redirecting her punch to Tifa’s. Leather-covered fists collided, creating an explosive smacking noise that forced both fighters back. In all her boxing matches, Tifa had never started one where she and her opponent made the exact same move. If this fight hadn’t excited Tifa before, then this sealed the deal!

From that point, the two became more aggressive. Punch after punch was thrown, but neither fighter landed a solid hit. Either because of a well-timed block or a graceful dodge. It was the closest to a martial arts fight Tifa had experienced in a boxing match. However, she finally found an opening and connected a left hook with Chun-Li’s side, causing the Street Fighter to gasp. She countered with her own hook, but Tifa backed away from it. However, Chun finally managed to find her first hit two punches later, landing a straight on the left side of Tifa’s chest. The bartender felt her entire body jolt. Not long after, the bell finally ended the first round. Three whole minutes, and both contenders had only managed to land one hit on the other.
“That had to have been more intense than it looked,” Cloud said once Tifa returned to her corner. “I’m out of breath just from watching.”
“Yeah,” Tifa said as she caught her own breath. “I wouldn’t have thought this was her first boxing match if I hadn’t been told beforehand.”
In Chun-Li’s corner, Li-Fen was doctoring her fighter’s side. “That was a good hit, Jiejie! You should’ve seen her face!”
“It probably looked like mine when she got me.” Chun-Li felt her side throb from Tifa’s hook. She couldn’t afford to let her guard down too often, especially with the power Tifa packed with her punches.
And so, the match continued. For the next two rounds, both fighters struggled to gain ground over the other. Though both had managed to land more than one hit in both rounds, it was hard to say which of them came out on top for either of them. Tifa had more power and managed to break through Chun-Li’s guard on a few occasions, but that was only when she could hit her. Chun-Li’s footwork was impressive as she managed to dance around the bartender. Tifa was fast enough to react to her hits, but even she had a hard time keeping up with them. Funny enough, Tifa could tell that her opponent had to fight herself as well. Throughout the rounds, Tifa noticed Chun-Li’s legs twitching at certain points as if she was holding back the urge to kick. She knew all too well that feeling. When Tifa had first started boxing, she had to fight back that instinct to kick too many times. It was difficult for a martial artist who had been trained to use every limb of their body in a fight to restrict themselves to punching. It took a while before Tifa felt confident enough to enter a professional match without worrying about her legs acting on their own out of habit. It must have taken longer for someone like Chun-Li given how much she was known for kicking based on Tifa’s knowledge. As much as she wanted to win, Tifa would hate it if the referee disqualified her.

Fortunately, Chun kept herself in check and never threw a kick the entire match. Unfortunately for her, Tifa managed to finally break the stalemate in the fourth round. It wasn’t much, but she managed to break her guard and pummel her into a corner for a bit. Chun-Li answered back, though. Not just in the next round, but the round after as well, even managing to knock Tifa down in that latter round. Cloud couldn’t give much advice against Chun-Li, but his encouragement stirred the bartender enough to make a comeback for the seventh round by knocking down her as well…and again in the eighth. For that latter round, the Street Fighter had to clinch Tifa almost immediately after beating the count.
At the end of the round, Li-Fen clumsily handled the smelling salts to reinvigorate Chun-Li. Tifa felt sorry for the teenager; it was a lot of pressure for a cornerman to be responsible for keeping their fighter well enough to continue the match. Clumsy or not, however, Li-Fen’s treatment—along with Chun-Li’s determination—proved effective enough to allow the Street Fighter to take the ninth round by knocking down Tifa again. With a haymaker even. It hadn’t been enough for a KO, but it felt close to one as far as Tifa was concerned. In fact, it was enough to force Tifa to give Chun-Li the next round as she had to clinch in the beginning and play defensively for the rest. However, Tifa managed to get enough of her strength back to take the eleventh round by knocking Chun-Li down once more. She had hoped that it would be enough, but Chun-Li beat the count at nine. Still, it became clear to Tifa that Chun was running on fumes at this point. A good sign to be sure, but Tifa wasn’t doing much better. She only managed to beat her last count at eight. The two boxers had both of their eyes blackened, with Tifa having trouble opening her right eye while Chun struggled with her left. They had one round left, but it would take a miracle for both of them to see the end of it. One of them was going down before then for sure.
Cloud and Li-Fen gave their respective fighters one last whiff of smelling salts, splash of cold water, and whatever inspiring words they believed would help. Just one good hit, Tifa thought. Maybe two. That’s all she needed. The bell rang, and like the first round, she and Chun-Li circled each other cautiously. Then, at the same time, the two launched into one another in a full-on assault. Again, it almost felt like a repeat of the first few rounds with the two failing to land a clean hit on the other. However, the fatigue of a long fight had taken its toll on them. Tifa’s punches felt sluggish as they couldn’t get through the Street Fighter’s blocks. Chun-Li in turn had been sloppy with her movements, making her easier to read.
Finally, Tifa got the hit she needed: a hook to Chun-Li’s face. It left a small gash right below her closed eye, with blood slowly dripping down. Chun kept herself up but was dazed from the hit. Tifa tried to follow through with another hit, but her body wasn’t responding properly. By the time she got her arm raised for the second hit, the blood from Chun’s gash had reached her chin. Huh, Tifa thought as she noticed that there was also a dry blood trail on Chun-Li's cheek, going down from her right nostril to her chin. When did that happen? No. Tifa had to focus. Get it together for that final hit! She readied another hook to Chun-Li’s face…and noticed the Street Fighter readying her right arm for an uppercut.
It was now or never.
Tifa watched Chun-Li’s head turn as her hook smashed into her cheek. Seeing her spit out her blue mouth guard should have been a joyous sight for Tifa…if her own black mouth guard hadn’t shot out from her mouth too. The blow from Chun-Li’s uppercut planted itself into Tifa’s gut, forcing all the air out from her as she gasped.
It’s okay, Tifa thought. She just had to…had to…
“Tifa…Tifa!”
Her eyes opened when she heard Cloud’s voice and saw him staring at her…with the lights of the stadium’s ceiling behind his head. Just like when she fought Faye…
“Shit,” Tifa said. “I lost, didn’t I?”
Cloud gave her a faint smile. “Kind of.” As he got her up into a sitting position, he showed her Chun-Li lying across from them, still out cold as Li-Fen attempted to wake her up. “Ref declared a double KO,” Cloud said before casting Cure 3 on Tifa. A good portion of the audience were making their way to the exits.
“Well, I’ll be…” Tifa stared at Chun-Li as she began to stir. “I had her seeing stars and she still mustered enough strength to get me back.”
Cloud cast Cure 3 on Chun-Li as well and got her up to speed. “I guess a draw’s better than a loss for my first boxing match,” she said.
Tifa smiled. “Honestly? With the way you fight, I don’t think you got anything to worry about.”
Chun-Li smiled back. Then, their cornermen helped them back onto their feet. “Thank you, Tifa. I wanted a good fight for my first foray into the world of boxing, and you’ve surpassed my expectations.”
“You’re welcome, and thanks for the challenge! This has been one of my best fights yet!”
“I hope we’ll have a rematch at some point. In fact, I wouldn’t mind taking you on in a regular fight as well. A martial arts bout.”
“I’m sure both of those things will happen, but not any time soon.” Tifa exchanged a look with Cloud. “Right now, I just wanna take a break and run my bar.”

Story and idea by TheCrimsonDuke

This art was made by the amazing and talented josuegnr1993