Gohan could now see Papaya island, he heard the cheers of the audience as Goku's battle with Giren took place and felt nervous because now he could sense the worriedness in Goku's ki. Gohan rarely felt his father become worried or anxious and feeling it now terrified him.
Hold on daddy, I'll be there soon.
He landed near the edge of the tournament grounds and hopped over the perimeter wall that kept all those without an entry ticket from sneaking their way into the tournament stands. He ran through the Tournament Main Hall slower than he usually would have to avoid suspicion, just in case any of the staff saw him.
As he got closer to the ring he heard the cheers grow louder which caused his heart to beat faster and faster with every minute his father wasn't in his sight. As he made his way to the stage entrance he saw Master Roshi in the exact same spot as before not having moved a muscle since early that morning. He was distracted by a familiar yelling.
"C'mon Goku you can break through it! It's just some stupid gum anyway!"
Gohan looked up and saw Krillin hanging over the wall that contained the stage, he quickly joined him and assessed the situation.
Giren stood over Goku like a massive boulder, the sheer size difference was enough to make any audience member question the ethics of putting a little boy in a tournament full of adults, not to mention dragons. Most of the people watching hushed as the boy struggled to break free from the disgusting restraints holding him captive.
"Foolish boy, you can't break out of my miracle gum. It's made from the toughest parts of me, so it's indestructible!" Giren laughed as he picked up Goku and held him over his head.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" Goku asked.
Giren growled and said, "I'm throwing you out of the ring just like you did to me."
"Hey, that's no fair! I didn't tie you up when I did that!." Goku exclaimed.
Giren grunted as he threw Goku as hard and as far as he could from the ring, the force of his throw was enough to fling Goku far out of the tournament grounds and over the city that was nearby. He stood there for a moment basking in his easy victory over what was clearly an overconfident toddler. "Ah, it's all too easy."
"What's too easy?" Goku asked innocently while still floating on the flying nimbus.
"WHAT?! W-What is that thing!"
Goku, while wobbling, stepped carefully off the cloud. "It's just my nimbus, he's really fast and caught me while I was falling."
Giren tried to stop the beads of sweat falling from his forehead, perhaps he misjudged his opponent, he's more resourceful than he originally gave him credit for. "H-hey, tournament guy! Isn't that cheating, it's technically an outside tool isn't it?"
The young announcer looked to his side where the panel of judges sat. The tournament implemented judges during the last tournament in case there ever are disagreements during or at the conclusion of a match. One of the judges motioned him to come closer. The audience waited impatiently as the elderly dog whispered into the young man's ear. "Yes, I see... Of course... Okay, got it."
The announcer stepped away from the judges and held the microphone to his mouth. "Goku has been found innocent of using an outside tool because the clouds are a part of the natural setting of the arena however, he is forbidden from using it again." Giren crossed his arms; he was slightly displeased by the judges ruling but accepted it nonetheless.
Goku hadn't been listening, he had started wandering around the stage scanning the audience for Gohan.
"Hey, where are you going?" Giren asked.
Goku continued looking around the stadium. "Hold on mister Giren, just give me a second..."
"Give you a second?" He saw Goku begin waddling towards the edge of the stage. "Hey, just where do you think you're going?! We're in a match here!" He said. When he got no response he looked to the announcer for some insight as to what was going on but the man could only shrug his shoulders, he was just as lost as Giren.
"Up here Goku! We're up here!" Gohan yelled in an enthusiastic voice waving one of his arms along with Krillin.
Goku looked up to where he saw the two holding onto the walls. His vision focused on Gohan and he felt his throat tense, he struggled to stay where he was, all he wanted to do was leave the arena and embrace his previously lost friend.
"Jack?! Where'd you go? I got so worried after you left during Krillin's fight, I looked everywhere for you. I only stopped looking when the announcer came to get me because I was late for mine."
Gohan felt guilty that he put so much stress on his father. "I'm sorry Goku I just had some stuff to take care of, but I'm here now. I'll tell you all about what happened after the match but right now you've gotta' go beat up that monster!"
Goku smiled, happy to see his friend was all right "Yeah! I'll get em'." He said before waddling back over back to Giren, who was impatiently waiting for him.
Krillin looked jealously over at Gohan upset that Goku hadn't said a word to him.
All Goku seems to talk about lately is you. What makes you so special? I've known Goku for almost a year now and he's never seemed that worried over me...
Gohan sensed Krillins anger towards him and grew concerned. "Something wrong Krillin?"
"Nope. Nothing's wrong" he said and looked back towards the stage.
Gohan knew that Krillin had lied to him but decided to say nothing because he didn't want to escalate things. They both looked towards the match which was finally beginning to resume.
"Well kid, after that fiasco, I think I'm tired of playing around with you. And, since you're all tied up, I'm gonna finish this fight nice and quick."
Gohan sensed Krillin's anger dissipate and fear take its place. "Jack, he's really gonna hit him. Goku can't even fight back and Girens going to stomp right on him!"
Gohan smiled while looking over at the arena "Nah it's okay, Goku's tail is about to grow back anyway." Realizing what he'd just said he quickly glanced over at Krillin who was still watching in terror as his friend tried to break free, he hoped he didn't hear him.
Giren threw a massive left hook that connected with nothing but air, "What the-" He gazed at where his opponent should have been only to be met with the stares of the crowd. He looked at his left arm which was being held onto by a long furry brown tail, he looked down and saw Goku hanging from it.
Krillin was speechless, he looked over at Gohan with suspicion.
How did he know it would grow back? How did he even know Goku had a tail to begin with? I Didn't even know Goku had a tail!
He heard Gohan cheer for Goku as he avoided the punch that certainly would have ended the match, but didn't really listen to what he said.
Something's off with you isn't it Jack? You always seem to know a bit more than you're letting on. I'm a good liar and can tell when other people are lying easily... but whether it was with the flying nimbus or Mount pau...pozo or whatever, the way you explained how you knew about them doesn't seem like a lie or the truth. Something about you just feels... weird. I'm keeping my eye on you.
"Yay! My tail grew back! All right!" Goku flung himself a few feet away "Now to get this stuff off me". He grounded himself and took a deep breath as he used every muscle he could to try and free himself from his gummy constraints. His face gradually turned red as he used every ounce of effort to try and rip the gum off of himself. He felt his constraints loosen and with a final burst of energy broke them. He breathed a sigh of relief "Man, those things were strong."
"How did you...What kind of..." Giren sighed "I give up" He waved a little white flag that seemed to materialize from nowhere.
Goku looked disappointedly over at Giren. "Aw come on really? But we just started."
The crowd cheered for Goku but his shoulders drooped as he slowly made his way off the stage. Goku's disappointment faded as he remembered that Gohan was back.
Goku hurried past the stage entrance for contestants and saw his friends. He grappled onto Gohan almost immediately causing Krillin to sigh, seeing someone who was supposed to be his best friend ignore him completely was seriously annoying.
"Where'd you go Jack? I thought you got hurt, I mean even at one point I thought I felt you get hurt, like on your arm or something." Goku let go of Gohan and inspected his shoulder which was slightly pale but sheened healthfully in the sunlight. "Maybe I'm just crazy..."
"No it's okay Goku, you technically aren't wrong." Gohan tried to think about his encounter with Gero without focusing on his words too much while also putting it in a way his young father could understand "I ran into this guy who really hates me and my dad. He said a lot of awful stuff about him and then tried to hurt me. He did hit my arm but other than that he didn't really put up much of a fight; I beat him pretty easily."
Goku smiled, he felt proud of Gohan for being so strong. "I'm sorry he said that stuff about your dad." He patted Gohan's shoulder. "If your dad's good as you are he must have been really special."
Master Roshi finally moved from where he had been standing all morning "I do hate to interrupt, but Jack, you should know your match begins in the next five minutes. I recommend you head out on stage a little early to get acquainted with the announcer, he'll need a reminder on your name before your match."
He turned to Roshi and said, "Thanks, Mister Chun."
Just before beginning to move towards the stage, he remembered the senzu beans, he knew that he couldn't carry any outside tools with him on stage so he was forced to ask Goku. "Hey Goku could you hold this for me?" He handed a little brown pouch off to Goku, who quickly tied it around his waist. "It's super important so please don't lose it ok?"
Goku was puzzled "What's in it?"
"Just some stuff I got that helps if your very hurt. So please keep it really safe." Gohan said.
"I promise." Goku smiled while playfully flexing his arm "It's safe with me!"
"Great! Wish me luck!" Gohan said, waving as he ran out to meet with the announcer.
"You've got this!" Goku replied enthusiastically.
As Gohan disappeared from the arena entrance Goku turned to see Krillin standing behind him and he was clearly livid.
"You know Goku the way you just grab onto Jack is really creepy, I swear you crawl all over him like a mom would. Not to mention I was standing here the entire time but you didn't say a word to me, you're supposed my best friend so stop being so rude and ignoring me!"
Goku felt a tinge of shame over how he'd been acting and wanted to justify himself. "I'm sorry Krillin, I didn't mean to upset you. I know I've been focused on Jack a lot but that's because...I feel like I've known him forever. We may have just met Jack but I feel this closeness with him. I feel like...I love him like how I loved my grampa. And after he died I thought loving someone like that was..." Goku struggled with pronouncing the word "im-poss-ible."
"But Goku I don't think he's been telling you the whole story. He's hiding something!"
"Like what? Like a secret?"
"Yeah like a secret! Don't you think it's a little funny how he looks like you, sounds like you, eats like you, lived near you, and was alone just like you? He even knew you had a tail, did you ever tell him you had a tail?"
Goku frowned. "I don't think so..."
"Exactly. That's why I think he's-"
"Let the match begin!" The sudden loudness of the announcement disrupted the conversation.
Goku's face was a mixture of hurt and betrayal "Look, Krillin all this stuff makes my head hurt and I just want to go watch Jack fight. Can we please talk about this later?"
Krillin sighed, upset, and exhausted after his spiel. "Fine Goku. If you really want to push this off, we'll talk about it later."