The Great Saiyaman and the Two Legions of Terror

The Great Saiyaman Movie and the Two Legions of Terror

Part 2

Although some reporters might have noticed the two fighters in the back strongly resembling the Cell fighters, or the one who looked like the Pansy without his petals, all of the tv cameras focused instead on the two superheroes in front of the flashing cameras. The Great Green Bean stood behind the Great Saiyaman and kept an eye out for screaming girls.

\"Are you going to act in the next movie?\"

\"Turn this way!\"

\"Have you heard any more from the legion of terror?\"

\"Turn this way, Great Green Bean, turn this way!\"

Smiling, Gohan waved his hands and answered in his deep superhero voice. \"No to both, actually. We\'re fighters, not actors. As for the legion of terror,\" he glanced quickly at Vegeta, Trunks and his little brother, all standing in the back, \"I think they might have learned their lesson that good always triumphs over evil.\"

The legion of terror frowned and stared back at him. Goten stuck his tongue out, and Trunks and Vegeta both snarled in unison. Gohan cleared his throat and looked back at the reporters for the next question.

One microphone nosed its way ahead of the rest. \"Saiyaman, is it true that you and the Great Green Bean are romantically involved?\"

Silence. Everyone stopped talking. All they could hear was cameras still flashing. Gohan and Piccolo froze.

\"Ah...wha--?\" Scenes passed through Gohan\'s mind, images of what life would be if the entire world knew that he was in love with his wise Namek. The name calling, the anti-gay-hero movement he knew would pop up, the tabloid headlines, the switch from screaming fangirls to screaming fanboys...the catcalls on the street.

Thinking Gohan was at a loss, Piccolo took a deep breath and shook his head. \"Where in hell do you--\"

\"Yes.\"

The Namek stared at Gohan, his jaw dropping. They looked at each other for a moment, and then Piccolo smiled. Both of them did.

For a moment, the cameras stopped flashin cou couple people coughed. In the audience, Bulma and Yamcha stared at them with open mouths. Goku grinned. And the legion of terror smiled. For a moment, Vegeta felt proud of his mate\'s son. Across the city, the sound of a thousand female groans reached the Saiyans\' sensitive hearing.

Someone started clapping, and the sound woke everyone out of their stupor. The crowd started cheering, and the reporters had to yell to be heard over them. Cameras flashed even faster now, zooming in as Gohan took Piccolo\'s hand in his. Their capes swirled together as they stood closer.

\"Great Saiyaman, turn this way!\"

\"Will this influence your next movie?\"

\"Have you set a date?\"

\"Great Green Bean, turn this way!\"

\"Who\'s on top?\"

Gohan looked up at Piccolo, his face lightly tinged purple. When Piccolo saw his lover\'s grin, though, he grabbed Gohan\'s shoulders, bent down and forced a rough kiss from him. The crowd cheered louder and the cameras clicked so fast the light from their flash didn\'t die down. Knowing the entire city was watching, Gohan at first tensed every muscle in his body, but then relaxed so much that Piccolo had to hold him up. When he broke away, Piccolo held him against his chest with one hand and held up the other to the cameras.

\"I think that\'s enough of a story for tonight,\" he said, and turned to take the boneless Saiyaman into the theater. Of course the cameras zoomed in on their clasped hands.

Bereft of their main story, the reporters descended on the crowd, asking for reactions and commentary. While everyone else was questioned, Vegeta pulled Goku behind the cameras and slipped inside the theater, just behind Bulma, who was also tugging Yamcha with her. They stopped at the open concession stand, everything free for one night. Yamcha leaned on the counter before he noticed Vegeta coming closer with a scowl.

As Yamcha rushed behind Bulma, Trunks and Goten zipped in his spot at the counter and ordered several tubs of popcorn and enough hot dogs to make a pile as big as their heads. Goku noticed and got behind them, eager to order something before they finished everything off.

Ignoring Yamcha for a minute, Bulma stepped close to Vegeta and lowered her voice. \"Did you put Gohan up to that?\"

\"Up to what?\"

\"That little stunt outside? The coming out, the kiss, everything. Or are you gonna tell me it was Piccolo\'s idea again?\"

\"I had nothing to do with it,\" Vegeta said. \"The brat\'s finally decided to be honest with himself is all.\"

\"Mm.\" Bulma glanced at Gohan and Piccolo, both walking towards the theater followed by several reporters and celebrities. \"Well, he does seem happy.\"

\"I got the food!\" Goku said, his arms loaded with popcorn, nachos and hot dogs, with two drinks balanced in his hand. \"\'Geta, could you give me a hand?\"

The prince stared at Goku f hef he were insane for suggesting it. \"You\'re so keen on taking care of me, you carry it,\" he said and walked away.

\"Aww...\" Goku followed him, trailing popcorn behind himself.

Half an hour later, Goku sat cuddled up with Vegeta in the back of the darkened theater. He had a feeling Vegeta had fallen asleep, since the prince had said nothing about the bad effects or big rubber heads for several minutes now. The last scene featuring Saiyaman defeating the fighters who\'d appeared at the Cell battle, one of whom had sported a flame-like hairdo, would normally have drawn at least a sarcastic comment from him. Instead Vegeta snuggled against his shoulder, partially covered by Goku\'s coat, listening to his mate\'s heartbeat.

\"\'Geta?\"

\"Mmf?\" Vegeta cracked one eye and looked up. The movielight shone blue on Goku.

\"You asleep?\"

\"Baka...\" He eased off of his mate\'s shoulder and leaned more against his chest. \"Not anymore.\"

\"Oh. I thought you were. You were so quiet.\"

Vegeta thought about biting Goku, but decided against it. He sighed and closed his eyes again.

On the screen, a rubber-headed Saiyaman blocked clumsy punches from the Gold Fighter. Every time he landed a hit, a giant Pow! or Boff! popped up for a second. Gohan shook his head and put one gloved hand over his masked face.

\"What\'s the matter?\" Piccolo whispered, trying to fight down a smile.

\"I can\'t believe this,\" Gohan said. \"I\'m fighting myself...\"

\"Pretty Jungian.\" Piccolo watched Gohan groan and sliden inn in his seat. \"Hey, it could be worse.\"

\"How?\"

\"Could be Freudian.\"

\"...\" Gohan would\'ve answered eventually but noticed something strange on the screen. \"Is it me, or is the screen starting to glow?\"

Piccolo looked back at the screen. Sure enough, the colors of the action onscreen were starting to turn yellow, gradually fading into a solid gold that grew brighter and brighter. As it got brighter, the theater looked as if the lights had been on. People started to murmur to one another and ask if it was another effect.

\"Yes,\" he said. \"It\'s ki energy, and it\'s not stopping!\"

\"Everyone,\" Gohan said in his superhero voice, flying out of his seat, \"clear the theater. It\'s gonna blow!\"

People screamed and rushed the doors. When the exits didn\'t open immediately, Piccolo blasted them. The audience ran out, eventually leaving no one but several brave reporters, Goku and Vegeta in one corner and Yamcha and Bulma in the other. Chunks of the ceiling came down, and the reporters dove for cover. The couples making out didn\'t stop.

\"Hey!\" Piccolo yelled. \"Quit making out already!\"

Startled, Bulma leaned back and readjusted her gown straps while Yamcha sat straight. \"Huh? What? Hey look, we\'re so good we bring the house down.\"

Gohan glanced over his shoulder at the pairs. \"Man, and I thought the terrible chibis would be the worst ones.\"

\"We\'re not chibis!\" Goten\'s voice came. There was the sound of Trunks falling on his back and yelping, and then Goten looked over one of the chairs in the very back row, his shirt on backwards. A second later Trunks\' head popped up, his hair mussed as he put on his shirt.

\"Look out!\" Trunks said, pointing at the screen.

As Gohan and Piccolo turned, the screen exploded, sending the pair into the far wall. The Saiyans and demis all flew into the air, waiting for the smoke to clear. Trunks turned and looked at Yamcha. \"Get my mom out of here, okay? We\'ll handle this.\" Yamcha nodded and scooped up Bulma, flying with her through one of the smoking exits.

\"That\'s weird,\" Goku said. He frowned and peered into the smoke. \"Was it me, or did that ki feel kinda familiar?\"

\"A little,\" Gohan said, turning golden under his costume. \"But it\'s different, too. I don\'t get it.\"

\"That\'s because you\'re not thinking,\" Va saa said. He blasted the smoke, clearing most of it. \"It\'s not one ki, it\'s several.\"

\"Who--\"

Wisps of smoke disappeared, and through the blasted screen they could see an exploded part of the theater wall, and standing there, wearing white fighting gi\'s and masks, were seven familiar people.

Gohan blinked. \"Mom?\"

\"Remember,\" Krillin said, \"just like we practiced.\"

\"Right.\" Chaotzu nodded and looked up at Tien, whose mask had three eye holes. \"Ready?\"

\"Ready,\" Tien said, smacking his fist into his open palm. \"Time for some payback. Great Saiyaman, prepare yourself! Your \'legion of terror\' may have been holding back for you, but we won\'t!\"

\"What the hell?\" Piccolo asked. He looked back at Goku and Vegeta, then at Goten and Trunks, but all of them shrugged. \"Is insanity contagious on this planet?\"

\"We\'re not the insane ones,\" Roshi said. He floated on a nimbus, cane in hand, his mask nearly pushed down by the weight of his Jackie Chun wig. \"I know three of you are from different planets, but that gives you no right to influence the boys. They\'re just chibis!\"

Now with their clothes fully on, the demiSaiyans flew in closer. \"We\'re not chibis,\" Goten said.

\"You\'re confused is what you are,\" Roshi said.

\"We\'re not confused!\" Trunks said, and stomped his foot. Since they were in the air, though, his foot cracked a chair in half.

\"Don\'t worry, though.\" Chichi readjusted her mask and smiled. \"It\'s okay, boys. You may be confused, but I haven\'t given up on you.\"

\"That\'s right,\" Krillin said. \"We\'re gonna take you to some of the best doctors we could find. They\'ll get you back to normal.\"

\"But I am normal!\" Gohan yelled. \"I\'m not gonna change, no matter what.\"

On the floor, a cameraman sat back in one of the unbroken seats and wiped dust from the camera lens as he turned it on. Behind him, one of the reporters got to her feet and clutched the mike to her face. Gray with dust and her head lightly streaked with blood, she coughed a few times and wobbled beside the camera. \"T-T-This is Angela H-H-Harker, from in...in...\" she coughed n. \n. \"From inside the DreamLand theater. There\'s b-been an explosion...the legion of terror...but different, there\'s more of them.\" The camera zoomed in on the glowing shapes both in the air and where the screen had once been. \"I don\'t know if you can see them...I can\'t make them out, the smoke\'s too thick...\"

\"Saiyaman\'s facing them,\" the cameraman said.

\"Can you see Green Bean?\" she asked. \"It looks like there\'s more than just two in the air...\"

Hovering in the thickest part of the smoke, Gohan glanced at the two humans and spotted a few other reporters, unconscious in the debris.

\"We shouldn\'t fight,\" Gohan said. \"There\'s still people here.\"

\"So?\" Vegeta said. \"They\'re too dumb to get outthe the way.\"

\"Vegeta!\"

\"Reporters, right,\" 18 said, crossing her arms. She shook her head. \"Wouldn\'t wanna embarrass the Great Saiyaman.\"

Everyone not wearing white tensed. If it had only been the humans, it would\'ve been no problem, but the androids were a real threat. \"Why are you two here?\" Gohan asked.

17 shrugged and tilted his head towards his sister.

\"I asked him to come,\" she said. \"Krillin wants me here, and if I\'m fighting Saiyans, I want backup a little better than just these humans.\"

\"What the hell is wrong with you people?\" Piccolo said. \"What do you care what Gohan does?\"

\"It doesn\'t even affect you,\" Vegeta said. \"The harpy, maybe.\"

\"Why are you doing this?\" Gohan asked. \"I don\'t understand.\"

\"Look at yourself,\" Roshi said. \"Running around in costumes, pretending you\'re something you\'re not.\"

\"That\'s not true,\" Gohan said. \"I became Saiyaman so I could be who I really am.\"

\"You were dating girls before,\" Krillin said. \"I wouldn\'t be much of a friend if I didn\'t try to help you.\"

Tien smacked his fist into his palm. \"This isn\'t just for you. I\'m here for payback. I\'m gonna beat Freiza\'s little bitch into the ground!\"

A ki blast slammed into his head, sending him crashing through the DreamLand glass dome and off the edge. Chaotzu screamed as he watched his friend disappear and flew after him. Everyone\'s jaw drd, ed, even 18\'s. At first they looked at Vegeta, expecting to see one hand raised. Instead they saw the prince staring at Goku\'s upright hand, smoke still trailing from his palm. His familiar smile was gone, replaced by his pissed off battle face.

\"No,\" he said. \"This isn\'t play. This isn\'t a game. You want to threaten my family and my mate, then you deal with me. He\'s made his choice. The boys love each other. Vegeta is mine. It has nothing to do with you. Go home, leave them alone, and this never happened.\"

\"They\'re my sons too,\" Chichi said. \"And I\'ll be damned if I see them perverted. Get \'em!\"

As they rose into the air, Goten and Trunks dove towards them, clotheslining Roshi off his cloud. Goten flew up towards the dome\'s top, but Trunks turned and blasted Krillin on the way up.

\"Dammit,\" his wife said. \"Don\'t tell me they burned your hair off again.\"

Krillin rubbed the top of his head, feeling the inch long locks carpeting his scalp. \"No, it\'s still there!\"

\"Kakarrot, Namek, you take 17,\" Vegeta said. \"The brats can handle the humans.\"

Without questioning his tactics, Piccolo and the boys focused on their chosen targets. \"What about you?\" Piccolo asked.

\"18\'s mine.\"

\"You sure?\" Goku asked. \"You\'re fighting for two, remember.\"

Vegeta gave a small smile and put one hand over his stomach. \"I can\'t forget. Not to worry. My strength was lower when we last fought. This time I rearrange her damn parts!\"

\"\'Strength was lower\',\" Piccolo mumbled to himself. \"He\'ll never actually say he was weaker than anyone.\" Shaking his head, he flew side by side with Goku, streaking towa17. 17. When the android flew backwards up toward the glass dome, they followed, firing blasts that made bits of glass shower down on him.

In the theater, only Gohan and Chichi, 18 and Vegeta were left, but each pair didn\'t notice the other. 18 smiled and crouched, ready to lunge. Vegeta matched her stance.

\"Last time we fought, I nearly took you apart,\" she said. \"Think this time\'ll be any different?\"

\"Tell me, woman,\" he said. \"Are you fighting because you agree with your husband, or because you thought he\'d be killed if you weren\'t here?\"

The smile disappeared. \"I just saw Goku blast Tien out of the park.\"

\"That\'s what happens when you insult a Saiyan\'s mate.\"

\"So it\'s true then. You forced yourself on him.\"

A yell, and then she was dodging a ki blast that left a crater in the floor she\'d been standing on. More followed her up and over the crowd of premier goers huddled near the exits. \"Idiot!\" he yelled. \"I forced nothing on him.\"

\"Hit a nerve, huh?\" She fired her own blasts, taking out a dome over the people.

Glass rained down on the humans, stopped only inches from them as Yamcha blasted it all away. He took a deep breath and looked around for injuries.

\"This is insane,\" he said, about to join the fight. \"They\'ll end up hitting bystanders.\"

\"Wait,\" Bulma said, grabbing his arm. \"Don\'t go. You\'re the only thing between us and flying debris.\"

Another explosion, this one destroying another wall in the theater, pelted them with brick fragments that Yamcha blasted.

\"Dammit, you\'re right. Can\'t they evacuate the park any faster?\"

Bulma looked at the exit ramps. \"I think the power to the lights was hit. They\'re trying to walk down in the dark.\"

\"Well, you\'re a genius. Can\'t you fix it?\"

\"Um...I don\'t have any tools, but I guess I can try.\" She rolled up the sequined sleeves on her gown and opened up a gray box bolted beside the exit doors. Multi-colored wires sparked and fizzled as she gingerly eased them aside.

For a minute, Goku and Piccolo and 17 zoomed overhead, the Namek tossed backwards but the move giving Goku a chance to kick 17 into the pavement. They all dived out of sight.

Left behind in the rubble, the cameraman stumbled around broken chairs and blocks of masonry as he followed the fighters outside. Angela followed after him, limping out of the cloud of smoke and into the cleaner air outside the walls. \"What\'s going on?\" she asked. \"Can you see them?\"

\"I\'ve got Great Green Bean and...someone else...fighting...wait, there\'s two others fighting over there! It\'s like a second legion of terror,\" he said.

*

Left alone in the empty wreckage and vaguely aware of a battle raging around him, Gohan walked close to his mother until they were only a few feet apart. The glow of his ki spotlighted them in the darkened wreckage. \"Mom, you have to stop this.\"

\"You\'re the one who can stop it,\" she said. \"Agree to come home and bring Goten with you, and say you\'ll try to get better.\"

\"There\'s nothing to get better from. I love Piccolo. And Goten loves Trunks.\"

\"I knew you\'d say that.\" She looked up at the sky and watched the three battles rage. \"That\'s why I brought them. Once they\'ve finished off Vegeta and Trunks and that green monster, we\'ll bring you back. Then you\'ll see why we had to do this.\"

The word \'monster\' stuck in his head. \"Did you call you Goten a monster?\"

\"What? No, that green--\"

\"Not Piccolo. Before, when you first saw Goten\'s tail, did you call him a monster?\"

She frowned. \"I don\'t remem--\"

\"He does. He said you saw it and called him a monster. Your own child.\"

\"He had one of those awful tails,\" she said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. \"My sweet little Goten, and he had a tail, just like Vegeta and Goku and you.\"

\"Being half Saiyan doesn\'t make him a--\"

\"No!\" She stood straight and stared at him, her eyes bright and unblinking. \"He\'s human. You\'re human. Your father may be alien, but you\'re not. I won\'t lose you.\"

\"And you won\'t,\" Gohan said. \"I\'ll always be your son. So will Goten. You\'ll always be our mom.\"

Grinning widely, Chichi grabbed his hands and held them. \"Then you\'ll come back peacefully? You\'ll be my little Gohan again?\"

\"I...\" He looked back up at Piccolo, still fighting 17 with his father. A ki bolt took out the wall behind them. \"I love you, mom, but I can\'t leave Piccolo.\"

\"Oh, if you really want, you can still train with him,\" she said. She tightened her grip on his hands. \"You\'ll see, when the doctors are tgh, gh, you won\'t even feel a--\"

\"No.\" He stepped back, pulling out of her grip. \"No doctors. No trying to change me. I love Piccolo--\"

\"That\'s not true,\" she said.

\"--Goten loves Trunks--\"

\"Not true.\"

\"--and dad loves Vegeta.\"

\"No!\" She slapped him as hard as she could.

He didn\'t expect the hit and couldn\'t react in time. Both of them heard bones crunch as her hand struck his cheek. She cried out and fell to her knees, holding her hand against her chest.

\"Mom--\" He bent to touch her.

\"Stay away from me,\" she said, shying away. \"What are you? You\'re not human. You\'re a monster, just like them.\"

\"Mom, I\'m not...we\'re not--\"

\"No,\" she whispered. \"Don\'t touch me. Monsters...I\'ve given birth to monsters...\"

Paralyzed by her voice, he watched her for several seconds. He shook his head and looked away. She heard the bricks turn under his feet as he turned and flew. She whipped her mask off and put one hand over her face, crying so that her tears slipped between her fingers.

*

\"You see, that\'s your problem,\" 18 said, blasting Vegeta again. The prince staggered back a step, blood streaming from a gash in his left arm. \"You get so pissed off in battle you act stupid. Didn\'t like hearing the truth?\"

\"What truth?\" He fired a blast just to force her back and give himself some room. \"I\'ve only heard lies.\"

\"I heard you forced yourself on Goku.\" 18 dived down, smashing her foot into the ground Vegeta had been standing on seconds earlier. \"That you\'re so desperate for action that you\'re manipulating him.\"

A gallic gun attack exploded against her, sending her through a corner candy shop. Melted lollipops and licorice coated her face and hair as she stood up in the smoking rubble. She ripped off her mask, leaving a candyless patch around her eyes.

\"Then how does that explain the brats and the Namek?\" Vegeta landed a few feet in front of her.

She shrugged. \"I don\'t know and I don\'t really care. I\'m just here to make sure Krillin isn\'t killed.\"

\"And for that you\'d destroy six lives?\" Seven, he thought. He spit out a bit of blood. \"It didn\'t occur to you to keep him at home?\"

\"You know men,\" she said and smirked and crouched again. \"Call \'em short and they go ballistic.\"

Stones and candy flew up as Vegeta\'s ki surrounded him and burned bright. Anger, indignation, hurt, all familiar friends, filled his head, fueled by his rocketing energy. Stop her from mocking him, stop them all from insulting him and his mate and his children and...as he powered up, his child\'s ki joined his.

One hand, still clenched into a fist, touched his stomach. His child\'s ki sparkled in a small burst, already imitating his own, growing angrier. He looked back at 18, about to throw her next punch. His anger faded and he breathed normally, the hatred and wounded pride stinging less than they had before. A thought hit him, one he\'d felt before but never so keenly.

\"I\'m going to win,\" he said, more to himself than her.

\"You wish.\"

A flurry of punches aimed towards his head all missed as he dodged back and forth. I only cared about the fight before, he thought. But I ascended because I grew angry at Kakarrot. I ascended because of my anger, my emotions. When they\'d fought Frieza, he\'d had nothing left to lose, but Kakarrot had everything. It isn\'t soft-heartedness, it\'s...

On the battlefield, my feelings are my guide.

He watched 18\'s face between her punches, cold and purposeful. She started kicking again, and he blocked them as he usually did, but now he blocked them not from himself but from the child inside of him. And the thought of her damaging his child, causing the least amount of pain to him--

His normal clothing burned away as he ascended to the second level, leaving behind his familiar black training suit. Screaming, he grabbed her outstretched arm and yanked, driving her face into his fist. As her head snapped back, he clasped his hands together and doublefisted her down into the concrete. Before she\'d finished landing, he dropped like a stone onto her arm. The crack of bone echoed over the sound of pulverized rock. He grabbed one of her ankles and picked her up, then slammed her back into the floor. Her head bounced on the hardfaceface and blood trickled from the corners of her mouth. One eye was beginning to swell shut.

As she groaned, her good eye opened and focused on him. Points of light sparkled in her sight, shapes blurred and wavered. She saw the blur of his body come closer and one arm come up.

His hand opened and faced her. She couldn\'t look away. She didn\'t look into his face, didn\'t look for Krillin, didn\'t look for something to hide behind. The world focused into her sharp breaths and his hand, open and ready to fire. He\'d never moved so fast before. Something had changed and she didn\'t know what, only knew that she wasn\'t going to see Marron that night. She tried to close her eyes but they wouldn\'t obey.

And then his hand relaxed and fell to his side. \"Go home,\" he said, his voice tired. \"Go home to your daughter.\"

Feeling like something dark and awful had passed over her, she watched him turn and walk through the wreckage. She didn\'t challenge him again.

TBC...