Author's Note: This one's shorter than previous chapters because as the title suggests, it's just an intermission. This one was also fun because it's almost completely original. In the anime the Semi Finals start immediately but I wanted to give the characters a break as well as follow up on my OC's. We'll also see some dark foreshadowing, enjoy!

Chapter 9: Intermission

Everyone in the audience was completely stunned as the chimera's head smashed to the ground and ceased moving. Even the MC was momentarily speechless before he remembered his duties and gave a quick commentary.

"Ladies and Gentlemen this is astounding! The young Goku just unleashed a powerful onslaught against the tall and terrifying chimera, Momo! And now Momo isn't moving at all! I'll begin the countdown! 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10! That's it! That's a knockout! The winner of the final match of the Quarter Final is Goku!"

The audience's shock turned to roaring applause. Goku relaxed his stance and smiled, then he was jumping up and down with joy and shouting, "I did it! That was so much fun!"

Krillin ran out from behind the wall and grasped Goku's hands in congratulations. Then looking down at Goku's tail he bluntly stated, "Um, Goku…you have a tail on your back."

"Of course a tail is on my back silly." Goku laughed, "They look weird anywhere else!"

As they were talking paramedics placed Momo on a large stretcher and with a great effort, heaved him up and slowly took him from the ring. As they passed the entryway of the ring, Ranko stepped up to one of the paramedics.

"A little hint for the doctor, douse him with hot water first. The beast will become easier to treat if bathed first, trust me."

As she said the last part, she winked at the paramedic. This time her wink was very effective as the paramedics were much older than Yamcha. They smiled a bit sheepishly and promised to pass her message along to the doctor. She then turned back to the arena where the MC was making a new announcement.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we'll call it quits for today! The Semi-Finals begin at 1:00 p.m.! Don't be late! But for now, good night everybody!" He then switched off the mic and walked off stage.

Infirmary

The crowd then dispersed talking happily of the days events. Ranko meanwhile slipped off to the infirmary where she found doctor's whispering with each other looking startled. There were also several young nurses that were blushing and giggling. She grinned knowing that they must have taken her advice and dowsed Momo with hot water. She slipped past them and into the room and approached the occupied bed.

Sitting up in the bed would be best described as an Adonis. If he was standing he would be about 6'4" and was thin but powerfully built. He had long dark hair that reached his back and high cheekbones. His eyes were a deep sea green and from the neck down he shirtless so his finely tone muscles were visible. There wasn't a single blemish, mole, pimple, or scar on his bronze skin. The only thing ruining this visage was the bandage on the center of his forehead where Goku's final blow had knocked him out.

"Woof" Ranko said licking her lips.

"Down girl" Roshi said sternly.

The handsome man looked at Ranko and frowned. His disappointed expression somehow amplified his smoldering good looks.

"I lost" he said bluntly. His voice was quiet but carried well. "That little boy is strange. At first I was certain I could overpower him but when that tail grew out of nowhere it seemed as if his power increased dramatically."

"I don't think he actually got stronger, but the tail was certainly the reason he seemed stronger." Ranko said as she sat on the bed.

"How do you figure that?" Momo asked. He didn't object to her sitting on his bed but recoiled his feet closer to him.

"When his tail grew back I noticed that he carried his body in a different way. As if his equilibrium and center of gravity changed." Ranko said in a teacher lecturing sort of way. "I think that Goku was always that strong but couldn't utilize his full abilities because he was unbalanced. It makes sense when you think of monkeys in the wild that use their tails as a counterweight to stabilize their movements. Looking at his movements from before and after makes me certain that I'm right. Like night and day."

"Hmm, then it was just bad luck that his tail grew back at that moment." Momo said ponderingly with his eyes closed and finger cupped under his chin as he considered. After a moment he opened his eyes, "Come to think of it, I've never heard of a tail that grew back on any creature other than certain species of lizard. And Goku is certainly no reptile."

Ranko twirled her hair braid as she mulled over her answer. After about 10 seconds she answered, "Everything about that boy is strange. His growth, his natural abilities, even his origins are a mystery. Gohan said that he found a boy with a tail abandoned in the mountains and adopted him, and Goku himself claims that Gohan was his grandfather. I'm positive he's telling the truth, but where he truly came from is a mystery."

"I noticed something else." Momo interjected. "His friends seemed extremely frightened of the fact that his tail grew back. Could it be a source of evil or calamity?"

"Well I don't know about that…" said Ranko slowly. "But it is another puzzle." She sat in thought for another moment before standing up. "I should go, the doctors don't know I'm here and those nurses look awfully excited." She added with a mischievous smile.

Momo scowled looking both disgusted and unbearably handsome. "This is why I prefer to be in my cursed form most of the time. People only fawn over me because of my natural beauty. People are far more honest in the face of ugliness and terror."

"True, people tend to hyper fixate on the superficial" Ranko said walking to the window. "But you've never really tried to show people the real you!" She then leapt out the window before he could respond. Leaving him alone to mull over her words.

The Arena

As Ranko visited Momo, elsewhere Goku, Krillin, and Yamcha had stopped to talk with each other in the meeting hall and after about 10 minutes they leapt over the barriers to join Bulma, Oolong, and Puar. Bulma threw herself into Yamcha's arms with a pouting expression on her face.

"You fought so hard! You deserved to win!" she said angrily.

"It was always your dream to win the tournament" Puar added dejectedly.

"It's alright you two, really!" Yamcha said in a cheerful tone. "I managed to get all the way to the Quarter Finals, and that's an accomplishment that 129 fighters didn't get."

"Still, it's a shame how badly you lost." Oolong said in a monotone. "You couldn't even touch that lady!" He was silenced by Bulma punching him atop the head.

"Be quiet pig!" she said angrily. The rest of the gang just laughed. Calming down a bit, Yamcha spoke again.

"It certainly was frustrating to lose that badly. I thought I had gotten stronger, but she didn't even seem to break a sweat!" He looked down at Krillin "You've got your work cut out for you tomorrow."

"Don't remind me!" Krillin said looking pale. Looking for a change of subject he coughed and said, "Hey, where's Master Roshi?"

Bulma frowned. "We haven't seen him all day! That dirty old geezer! I bet he was hitting on girls the whole time and didn't even watch your fight!"

"And just how much would you want to bet? Because you'd lose!" said a voice behind them.

They whirled around and saw Master Roshi in his black suit, fedora, purple turtle shell and sunglasses. He held a wooden staff in his hand.

"Roshi!" Bulma began in a huff. "Just where have you been! We looked all over for you! How could you miss your students fight!"

"I didn't miss the fights!" Roshi retorted indignantly. "I got stuck behind other folks in the crowd and couldn't get to you! But I still saw everything!" He then turned to Krillin. "Krillin, you fought very well against a superior opponent. You overcame him with speed and ingenuity, your clever use of the Breaking Point was inspired."

Krillin blushed and bowed. "Thank you, Master!"

"However, the opponent you face tomorrow is both swift and intelligent. You'll have your work cut out for you." he added sternly.

Krillin sulked at this last comment as he was not at all looking forward to fighting Ranko.

"Which brings me to you, Yamcha." He said looking up at the tall youth. Yamcha seemed startled to be addressed by the great Master Roshi and stood at attention as Roshi continued; "Don't be discouraged by your defeat. You fought well despite being outclassed. You are still young and have a great deal of potential. Keep your determination and nose to the grindstone, you will grow stronger."

Yamcha flushed hard at his praise and bowed low yet rigidly. "Thank you sir!" He was shaking slightly and Roshi suspected he was moved to tears.

"Oh, Yamcha!" Puar said putting a paw on his shoulder. Bulma sniffled behind him.

Ranko giggled a bit in his head. "I like him. Maybe we should take him as a pupil as well someday?"

Without answering her, he turned to Goku. "And you Goku, quite frankly I'm at a loss for words. You completely overpowered a monster with brute force! Add to that your tail grew back, that was particularly surprising."

Goku just smiled with his arms resting behind his head. "Thanks! It was so much fun! I missed my tail a lot, I always feel so much stronger with my tail."

"Well all I can say is don't get cocky. Strength alone won't win this tournament." Roshi said sternly.

"Don't worry, I won't!" Goku said still smiling.

Roshi sighed and looked at the sky. "Well it's getting close to dusk. Should we find somewhere to eat and then head back to the hotel? My treat!"

The kids were very excited by the prospect of a meal. Unfortunately everywhere was completely crowded and it was impossible to be seated anywhere without reservations. Even the Okonomiyaki restaurant they visited before had a line all the way down the block. In the end they went to a small convenience store and bought a few ingredients to make a small homecooked meal in the hotel they were staying at. Afterwards they played cards for a bit and Bulma smacked Roshi for another skeevy comment about her underwear, and around 9 Roshi sent the boys to bed telling them they'd need their rest.

Meeting Hall

They woke up early the next morning and just like the day before they had to literally drag Goku away from the breakfast buffet to make it to the arena on time. His cheeks were still bursting with pancakes as they finally got him into the cab. They arrived at the arena within 30 minutes and walked together towards the gate before the gang would be separated as Goku and Krillin would head to the competitors entrance. Yamcha would also join them, as a finalist even though he lost he still had the right to view the fights from the meeting hall.

"Good luck you two!" Bulma said.

"Yeah, knock 'em dead kid!" Oolong said shaking Goku's hands.

"I'll do my best!" Goku said confidently.

"I think I'm gonna be sick…" Krillin said turning green.

As the boys turned around and entered the building, Bulma and co. likewise made a turn for the spectator seats.

"Wait!" Puar said suddenly, "Where's Master Roshi?"

"God, again?!" Bulma said angrily. "Where does that disgusting troll keep vanishing off too?"

During their goodbyes to the boys Master Roshi had taken advantage of their distraction to disappear to the bushes so he could transform again.

"The things I do for my students." He grumbled as he changed into Ranko's attire. He then lit the incense and breathed deep. The transformation was almost instantaneous this time, which slightly disturbed him as the transformations haven't been this quick since…

"Don't worry about it, love." Ranko said sensing his thoughts and stretching as she exited the bushes. "We're simply more attuned than usual, that's all."

"Hmm…perhaps" Roshi thought.

If he could see Ranko's face from the outside however, he would have noticed that her blue eyes momentarily glowed red.

The Arena

As Ranko entered the building adjacent to the arena she immediately took note of Goku and Krillin doing some stretching while Yamcha spoke encouragingly to Krillin, who seemed to have gained some of his color back. On the other side of the room Nam was attempting to meditate but was having some trouble as Aloe was sitting far to close to him and trying to flirt. Nam seemed to be blushing hard despite his attempts to remain his usual stoic self.

Ranko giggled, "The stoic tough guys are always the weakest to a little charm."

Suddenly the MC came in and stood in front of the room and cleared his throat.

"Attention everyone! We'll begin the Semi-Finals in a few minutes. Before hand I have a couple announcements for you all." He cleared his throat again. "First thing, if it's all right with you two, we would like to conduct a little interview for the audience." He said looking at Krillin and Goku.

"Oh! Um, I guess that's fine…" Krillin said turning green again.

Goku seemed to have no opinion whatsoever as he was busy working out his new tail by balancing on it and doing bunny hops.

"That's great! I'm sure the audience will be delighted!" Then MC said looking at his clipboard. "Next is to let you know that the Finals will also be held today. But don't worry, the victors of the Semi-Finals will have time to rest as we'll have a half time show in between." He looked at his clipboard one more time. "And after the final match there will be a short awards ceremony where the champion will receive the prize money and have their photo taken for the paper." He then put down the clipboard and said, "And that's it! Let's get started!"

The MC then beckoned Goku and Krillin to follow him on stage to conduct the interview. As they walked into the arena, they were met with huge applause. After a few moments the MC managed to get the crowd to calm down and began to repeat the announcements he gave to the competitors moments ago. After that he listed the remaining competitors and began the interview.

"The Semi Final matches will be as follows, Krillin vs Akane, and Nam vs Goku. But aside from that, let's take a moment to discuss these two competitors, Krillin and Goku. Not only are they incredibly skilled, but their age is also intriguing! Who are they and how did they come this far? Stick around for a moment as we find out!"

First motioning to the crowd for quiet, the MC then turned to the boys and asked his first question.

"You two have such talent for your age. Krillin, I heard you're 13, but Goku, how old are you?" he said placing the mic in front of Goku. Goku just stared at the microphone and looked puzzled.

"What's this?" he asked pointing at the microphone. "Is it for me?"

"It's a mic, you dummy!" Krillin said embarrassed.

"A mic-you? what's that?"

"A microphone! You're supposed to talk into it!"

The audience roared with laughter at this exchange while the MC struggled to maintain a straight face.

"Just answer the question knucklehead!" Krillin said impatiently.

"Question? Oh right, you want to know how old I am!" Goku then started counting with his fingers and after a few seconds he shouted, "That's right, I'm 12!"

The crowd burst into excited talk at this news of Goku's young age. Bulma was equally shocked.

"12, huh?" she said with her arms crossed. "I could've sworn he was closer to my age then that! You think you know a person."

"Incredible! Your both so accomplished for your age. And I can't help but notice you're both wearing the same uniform, so obviously you train together. Can you boys tell us more about your training and who your master is?" the MC inquired placing the mic in front of them.

"Well, we do normal stuff like farming and delivering milk and since Master Roshi trains us, we wear heavy turtle shells." Krillin said into the mic.

"DID YOU SAY MASTER ROSHI!" the MC shouted into the mic as people in the audience gasped and ogled the two boys in disbelief. "Master Roshi is a legend in the martial arts world! If he is truly your master then it's small wonder how boys your age came so far! The Turtle Style is legendary, and as old as he must be, it's amazing he's still alive!"

At this last comment Ranko had to cover her face and hunch over as she fell into a state of violent giggles.

"That seemed uncalled for, the greasy haired brat." Roshi said angrily.

"Now, now my love" Ranko said gaining control of herself. "You ARE as old as the hills."

"…"

Placing the mic towards Krillin he asked his next question. "Krillin, you're next fight is against Miss Akane. Being Master Roshi's student, what do you think of her, and will this be an easy fight?"

"Well, she may be a lady but she's tough and super-fast. I think I can still win, but I haven't had an easy fight yet!"

"Well let's find out, Akane would you please report to the arena!" the MC stated into the mic.

Ranko walked out to polite applause.

"Alright without further ado, let's get the first match star-" the MC began.

"HEY! Aren't you going to interview me?" said Ranko getting up in the MC's face.

"Huh? Wha-, well, there's no time?" the MC said haltingly.

"Baloney!" Roshi said.

"Nonsense! Give me that!" Ranko said snatching the mic. Prancing to the center of the ring she waved to the audience winking, "Hey everyone! I'm Ra-! Er, Akane!" She then started singing and dancing like a pop idol…from 300 years ago.

"YAPPA PA! YAPPA PA! Don't know what to do! My heart is not a game, it's Mahjong to you!"

"YAPPA PA! YAPPA PA! Feel like such a shrew! Who needs boys? Don't you dare make me wild like you!"

As she sang some people laughed or sang along, others looked really embarrassed by proxy. Most, however, including Bulma and co. were just staring, not quite sure how to react to what they were seeing. About halfway through the song Goku got really excited and started singing and dancing with her. Krillin on the other hand turned tomato red at his companion's behavior. Aloe who was watching from the sidelines seemed to be bouncing a bit like she wanted to join in.

"Before you come in like a breeze, won't you stop and use the bell, please?"

"Before you make my heart a home, why not let me love you on my own?"

"I'd be better off without you-. But just tonight it's all right…Until tomorrow, all right!"

Goku displayed an unknown talent in keeping up and matching her steps. This is undoubtedly what got even the shocked and embarrassed people to start smiling and clap or sing along. Those who were resolutely embarrassed didn't have to suffer long as the end came soon.

"Can't you see that you've, made me wild like you!"

She ended the song on a long note and bowed. There was a great deal of whooping, applause, and a fair amount of laughter. Goku was bowing next to her and then stood up to shake her hand. She took it and pinched his cheek with her other hand and whispered something into his ear as the MC approached them. Reclaiming his microphone and blushing a bit with a reluctant grin he spoke.

"Well that was a delightful side show! But if it's all the same to everyone, let's get the long awaited Semi-Finals started! The first match is Krillin vs Akane!"

Goku exited the arena and the change in tone was immediate as Krillin and Ranko faced each other in the center of the arena and the familiar drums began playing again. Faster and faster the drums beat as Krillin took a fighting stance and Ranko stood upright with her hands behind her back just like when she faced Yamcha. But this time her face was serious, not her usual look of boredom. The drums suddenly stopped.

"Begin!"

End of Chapter 9

Author's note: Sorry for the cliffhanger, the semifinals begin in chapter 10! Look forward to it!