Goku was the only one to hop on the wall this time, Krillin stayed at the bottom watching the fight next to where the disguised Master Roshi stood. He was still frustrated that Goku refused to talk about how suspicious of a character Jack seemed to be.
Goku wasn't handling it much better, he hung there, holding to the top of the wall, as Gohan and Nam prepared to fight. He reflected on Krillin's outburst.
I guess Krillin is kinda right. Jack does seem to act a little strange sometimes, but he couldn't be hiding anything from me, could he? He seems so caring and nice...
He rubbed his temple as the gears in his head turned.
I don't know...I don't like thinking like this, I should just watch the fight.
He lifted his head a little higher to get a better view of the entire arena, he could see Gohan standing firm as he prepared for Nam to make the first move.
Gohan felt himself become unbelievably impatient as he waited for Nam's attack. Nam's calm disposition radiated as he stood completely motionless, almost egging Gohan on to make the first attack. Eventually, Nam broke from his stance and tried to talk to him. "Child, I do not wish to hurt you. I request that you surrender this match. I have come to this tournament seeking to bring water to my village with my winnings and I wish not for you to be harmed in my quest."
Hearing Nam plead for his surrender was definitely unexpected; most of the people at the tournament had been pretty cruel so far, and hearing of Nam's noble goal of bringing water to his village made Gohan wonder how he could justify beating him, especially knowing that he was participating in the tournament just to be around his father more. He felt ashamed that he would take away any chance of winning that Nam had but knew losing wasn't an option. "Mister Nam, sir, I appreciate your concern but I really wouldn't be worried about me. I'll be just fine. And if I win this fight and move on to fight in the championships I promise I will give you my earnings. You seem like you need it way more than me."
Nam was stunned by his opponent's good nature, he appreciated that Gohan would just give up his winnings to him while expecting nothing in return. "I thank you for such a gracious offer. I promise that when I win this match you will not be harmed beyond some minor bruising."
He rushed forward at Gohan faster than most other opponents due to his slender body but even his fastest run looked like a crawl to Gohan. He stood completely still, not even in a defensive stance, and once Nam closed the distance, Gohan dodged his punches and kicks with ease, still managing to make it look like he was struggling, at least from the perspective of the audience. Gohan began his counterattack with a light uppercut to the stomach, he didn't expect such a light hit to throw Nam halfway across the stage and land him on the course concrete.
Nam lifted himself off the ground, panting heavily he said, "Impressive. Your speed and technique are most admirable, I am sorry but...I must retract my statement from earlier. It is clear to me that you are much more powerful than I originally thought. I am sorry to have to do this to you." Nam crouched and shot up like a bullet into the sky, moving as fast as he possibly could. As he reached the peak of his jump he spoke, although he knew no one else could hear him, "This attack will not kill you but it will be immensely painful, many have not awakened until many days after suffering its strength and might." He crossed his arms and aimed downward to where Gohan stood "Please forgive me."
Nam dove through the air and traveled at a speed that Gohan could now recognize as someone taking a brisk walk. When Nam was just seconds away from hitting Gohan he sidestepped incredibly quickly, so fast even Goku had trouble seeing it. Realizing that he was going to slam into the floor Nam braced but instead of hitting the concrete he was kicked in the stomach by Gohan, sending him firmly out of bounds and into the grass surrounding the stage.
The audience was completely silent, still in shock from the amazing performance they just witnessed. Slowly the announcer rose the microphone to his mouth and spoke, "I-I don't believe it. That speed was unbelievable! Jack is the winner!" The announcer leaped onto the stage and lifted Gohan's arm high up above him. "How incredible am I right? Such an incredible young lad!" He turned to Gohan and asked, "Say, Jack, how old are you?". Gohan blushed as he wasn't used to getting so much attention at once.
"I'm" He cleared his throat, "eleven."
"Wow! Absolutely amazing isn't he? Just eleven years old and he's going to the semi-finals! Give him a hand folks!" The audience cheered for the shy boy as he blushed and gave a quick wave before running back towards the entrance of the stage.
Gohan slowed his pace as he passed Krillin who gave him a half-hearted, "Good job Jack." This new tone upset him, he wasn't used to Krillin being so harsh and cold. He was under the assumption that Krillin was always the selfless, kind, caring friend he grew up knowing. As he walked away he gave a rather quiet and hurt, "Thanks Krillin." When he made it to his father, Goku hopped off the wall offering a much warmer greeting. "Jack, that was amazing! You were so fast, you were even hard for me to see! And you said your only eleven, wow! I'm twelve and you are just as fast as me!"
Gohan worried he may have shown off a little too much. "Thanks, Goku..."
Goku's face filled with worry as he heard the displeasure in his friend's response "What's wrong? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. It's just-" Goku cut him off and Gohan could see he was angry.
"Was Krillin being mean to you? I don't know what his deal is, as soon as you left for your match he came over to me and said you were acting funny. He kept talking about how it was weird you looked like me and ate like me. He also said you knew about my tail." Goku's tone shifted and he softly said "I never told you about my tail Jack so how'd you know? Y-You're not, hiding something from me, right?" Goku blushed and felt stupid for even asking the question.
Gohan looked at the ground, unsure of how to answer, eventually, a response came to him although he was ashamed it involved more lying "No Goku I'm not hiding anything, I promise".
It broke his heart to lie to his father.
Goku's face was now full of angst and anticipation. "You promise?"
Gohan looked up to meet Goku's eyes. "I promise."
Goku's spirit seemed to lift but was still curious, "Well how'd you know about my tail then?"
"My dad told me a story once that an old man who lived by us found a boy in the woods and that boy was incredibly strong but also had a tail. I assume your grandpa is Gohan right?" he said, realizing how odd it felt saying his own name out loud.
"Yeah! That's my grampa!"
"Right, so I just assumed you lost your tail and that it would grow back." He breathed a silent sigh of relief as he could see Goku's satisfaction with his response, despite it not making perfect sense how Gohan would know the exact moment his tail would grow back.
Goku hugged him, finally relaxed after hearing what seemed to him, a rational explanation for the entire ordeal. "That's great to hear! Krillin got me all worked up over nothin' ". Gohan hugged him back trying to bury the guilt of his lies before they turned into tears like they always did.
Goku's stomach growled causing him to let go of his friend and rub his belly. "Man am I starving! Hey, do you want to go get something to eat? It's almost lunchtime anyway."
Gohan put away his worries as he noticed he was starving too "Yeah that sounds great." The two began walking off but Gohan stopped because he noticed Krillin wasn't with them, he looked back to see Krillin standing next to the arena entrance, no doubt trying to ignore the two. "Hold on Goku, I'm gonna see if I can get Krillin to come with us." He walked over to the jealous bald boy who refused to even look at him. "Krillin are you upset with me? I'm sorry if I upset you."
Krillin spoke harshly "I heard your whole conversation, I know you're lying to him. Don't even bother trying to cover it up. What I don't get is why?"
"Krillin I'm not lying I-"
"You are! And now you're trying to lie to me!"
Roshi intervened "That's enough!" The two could clearly see the red hot, fiery frustration in his face "Now I may just be a handsome bystander but this old man knows that you two are fighting over nothing. Krillin it's clear that he isn't lying, think about it, what does he stand to gain by lying, hm? It's ridiculous to believe that he would lie over something as simple as a silly tail."
Krillin rubbed his head thinking up a witty response "Oh yeah? Well, what do you know huh? You're just some old guy competing in the tournament, you probably need help with going to the bathroom at your age."
Roshi's face grew red, trying to be patient with an insolent student wasn't as easy as it used to be. "Why you!" He stopped himself from yelling. "Listen here, you think you're good at telling when people are lying? Well, I KNOW when people are lying. It's a technique I learned many years ago, out on the outer edges of the globe, and it is a technique that takes decades to learn and even more to perfect. I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that Jack hasn't told a single lie since I met you boys here at the tournament...And just to note, I can still go to the bathroom by myself you little twerp."
Krillin stood silently, feeling dumb for even having come up with the notion that his newfound friend would lie about anything, considering that there seemed to be no real reason for it. Feeling a sense of clarity he turned to face Gohan and sighed. "I'm sorry, maybe I just got too jealous that Goku's made a new friend, especially since I've been the only kid he's been around for the past eight months."
Gohan saw the genuineness in his apology "It's ok Krillin. You're my friend too!" He went in for a hug and winked at Roshi who seemingly knew just what to say to clear any suspicion. The old man smiled mischievously back.
"Good, now that you two have made up, go enjoy some lunch. I can see Goku is pacing back and forth over there waiting for this conversation's conclusion. Oh and make sure that Yamcha eats as well, he will need every advantage he can get before facing against the mighty Jackie Chun!"
Goku walked over to the group with his hands resting behind his head. "Speaking of Yamcha, where is he?"
Roshi chuckled a little. "He was under the impression that you had to wait in the Main Hall and that you couldn't watch the fights hehe."
Goku immediately disappeared from the group. Eager to stuff his face, he collected Yamcha as fast as he could. The group collectively laughed as Yamcha was dragged out of the hall without so much as an explanation from Goku.
"Okay everybody's here, let's go eat!" Goku said, again running ahead of the group as they made their way to the all-you-can-eat buffet the tournament had hosted. He looked behind him to see that Chun was not joining them. "Um, Mister Chun aren't you hungry? You should come eat with us."
Roshi looked down at the boy, he saw Goku wearing that same smile he seemed to carry everywhere he went. "Oh, thank you, Goku. You are a fine young man, but I don't eat on the day of a tournament. It is strategic fasting."
Goku confusedly responded "But being hungry won't make you faster at all, will it? and how is that stru-tegic?"
Roshi couldn't help but laugh at the boy's innocence. "You crack me up, you know that? Hehe...just go get some food. The next time you'll see me will be on stage where you can see just how fast I-" He paused, Goku had already run back up with the rest of his group, ready to feast on whatever the tournament chefs offered to him.
After their short walk over to the cafeteria, the group was seated and brought tray after tray of extravagant courses. Fried fish, buttery shrimp, t-bone steaks, whole chickens, fresh vegetables, fruits, rice, and even a chocolate cake all came complementary with their semi-finalist status. Goku and Gohan could hardly contain themselves seeing the massive portions being laid out in front of them and salivated like rabid dogs.
They consumed plate after plate of food quickly and without mercy. Yamcha and Krillin watched in horror as the two seemed to wolf down half the table's food within a matter of minutes. Gohan noticed neither were eating.
"What's wrong guys?" He swallowed the fish he was chewing "It's all free, dig in!"
Goku, having no concept of money, chimed in "Yeah! Whatever 'free' means, it's delicious!"
The group finished their meal and walked slowly back to where the match would begin. They could see Chun stretching before stepping onto the stage, meeting a warm welcome from the audience. Yamcha took this as his signal to get going.
"Alrighty, guys. Watch me show you how it's done." Yamcha walked past them out onto the path up to the stage. He could hear the swooning women in the crowd as he walked by, but one voice stood out in particular
"Kick his butt Yamcha!"
He could see Bulma, Puar, and Oolong in the audience, he gave a cocky grin and waved as he stepped onto his battlefield. He was met by a familiar yellow-haired man wearing sunglasses.
"All right you two line up at opposite ends of the stage and we can begin. Remember there are no time restrictions and the fight is finished when one fighter can no longer compete with the other. The only rule is no killing; and if you do accidentally kill your opponent, you are disqualified." He could see both were ready to get the fight underway and he was happy to get it started, he quickly walked offstage.
"You may begin!"
Yamcha immediately took his preferred stance and was unnerved to see Chun had stayed standing still, not lifting a finger, completely unguarded.
What's with this guy? I could hit him right now and there'd be nothing he could do to stop it. He must either be extremely confident or incredibly foolish.
Yamcha decided to take this opportunity while it presented itself, he leaped into the air towards his opponent hoping to get in a few opening hits. He attempted to punch, then kick Chun who easily dodged both attacks with incredible speed. Yamcha continued with an assault of punches aimed towards his head, all of which seemed to phase right through the old man. He hopped away, landing on one foot, and decided to goad Yamcha, hoping for more aggression. "That time you almost touched me."
His attempt to anger Yamcha had worked, "Oh yeah? Well, let's see how well you dodge against my Wolf Fang Fist!"
Yamcha charged forward his open hands glowing red with the energy of his signature attack. Chun's expression was one of complete tranquility and calm as he dodged the rapid punches. As the barrage neared its end, Chun jumped from the stage onto the exterior wall and pushed off of it landing behind Yamcha. He moved his hands to his chest and took in a deep breath
"You must be tired after using up all that energy. Let me cool you down with this refreshing summer breeze!"
He motioned his hands forwards causing a massive wind to push Yamcha from the stage landing gently on the soft grass, out of bounds.