The Great Saiyaman and the Two Legions of Terror

The Great Saiyaman and the Two Legions of Terror

Part 3

\"Shouldn\'t we go help them?\" Goten asked.

Across the remains of one of the largest candy shops in DreamLand, Trunks munched on an almond chocolate bar and shrugged. \"Nah, I\'m sure they\'re okay. Their ki\'s all over the place. Besides, if we fly out right now, the reporters might get a good shot, and then mom\'ll go nuts.\" He tossed Chaotzu, squirming and dazed, through the air towards Goten.

They both hovered near the top of the last two standing walls, the type storeowners would need extended poles for to reach the displays, each covered in shelves of different kinds of candy. Several feet beneath them, Roshi had given up trying to blast them and instead tried to climb onto his nimbus. Laying half over a chunk of masonry was Krillin, dazed spirals spinning in his eyes.

\"I guess you\'re right.\" He caught Chaotzu, held him up, then threw him back at Trunks. \"Still, I feel like we\'re missing all the fun.\"

Trunks caught Chaotzu, who screamed and fired small ki bursts that tingled against their super Saiyan skin. \"Maybe, but they\'re missing all the chocolate.\"

\"True, that.\" Goten fou box box of sticks full of powdered candy. While he caught Chaotzu in one hand, he used the other to pick up one stick. He bit the end off and swallowed all the powder in one go. Then he threw Chaotzu back again.

\"Dammit!\" Roshi fell on his butt again. As he rubbed the soreness out of it, he swung his cane at the nimbus cloud that refused to let him on. \"You rotten, good-for-nothing, useless piece of crap!\"

\"Gee, no wonder he can\'t get on,\" Goten said.

\"Hey, you think we could?\" Trunks said.

\"I don\'t think you could.\" Goten blinked as his mate frowned. \"No, I didn\'t mean it like that. I mean, you usually can\'t get on anyway. And we\'ve been tossing Chaotzu around for awhile now. That can\'t be good.\"

\"Hmm.\" Trunks hefted Chaotzu up to his face. \"Well, clown, you gonna stop pestering us and let us be?\"

Chaotzu growled, and his face reddened despite the white look. \"The minute I get my hands on you\'ll I\'ll rip your--\"

\"Guess not.\" Trunks tossed him back to Goten. \"We\'re not hurting him. It\'s self-defense. I think you could still get on the nimbus.\"

\"You think?\" Goten caught Chaotzu and flung him back. \"Nimbus!\"

The nimbus sailed out of Roshi\'s reach and floated up beside Goten. With a deep breath, he plopped onto the soft, cool cloud...and didn\'t sink. He smiled and puttered the cloud over to his mate. \"Cool!\"

\"That\'s great.\" Trunks looked around at the mess, Krillin and Roshi on the ground and Chaotzu squirming in one hand. \"It\'s pretty boring here. Wanna go help \'em anyway?\"

\"What about the reporters?\"

\"Oh yeah...forgot about them...\" His eyes lit up and he reached into his jacket. \"I only have the masks and a few capes. I didn\'t really think we\'d get a chance to use \'em.\"

\"Capes?\" Goten took the offered items and slipped the mask on. Large enough to cover most of his face, the mask conformed perfectly to his skin. The black cape fit comfortably around his shoulders and covered his clothing. \"Cool, it\'ll be like one legion against the other.\"

Also masked, Trunks looked back at the small emperor in his hand. He didn\'t want to hit him again, but he didn\'t want him on his tail either. Winding his arm like a pitcher, he whirled Chaotzu around and around before flinging him out of the shop, out of the dome and out of sight. A split second later they saw the usual sparkle of light that meant he\'d fully blasted off.2

\"Great, let\'s go!\" He plopped down in front of Goten and sank straight through. He was so surprised only Goten\'s hand fisting into his shirt kept him from falling.

\"Guess they\'re right about you.\" Goten hauled Trunks back up and onto his lap. \"You are perverted.\"

\"Pervert!\" Roshi yelled, pointing at Trunks. \"You\'re a corrupting influence!\"

\"Like you can talk, you withered sex fiend.\" Trunks crossed his arms and scowled at his mate. \"And you...you\'re just as bad as me. You just don\'t know it. The butterflies haven\'t told you yet.\"

Goten grinned and kissed his nose. \"See what I meant? You\'re as bad as your father sometimes.\"

\"Just get us out of here.\"

With Goten holding Trunks securely in his lap, the pair took off to find Gohan. Before they made it to the theater, though, they spotted Vegeta walking out of the crushed pink and white wreckage of the candy shoppes. His jacket was gone and his shirt torn and bloodied, but if he was walking and 18 was nowhere near...

\"Fly this thing lower,\" Trunks said.

Goten guided the nimbus down until they pulled even with Vegeta, floating just a few feet from the ground. The prince glanced at them, then shook his head and groaned. \"Not those damn masks again. Does everyone have some kind of sick fetish about masks?\"

\"Mmm,\" Goten said. \"That would explain why Trunks can\'t sit on the nimbus...\"

\"It\'s \'cause of the reporters out there--\" Trunks started.

\"That reporter excuse will only work so far, brat.\"

\"I\'m serious, that one woman nearly got pictures of us.\" Trunks grinned and played his trump card. \"Of course if you want mom to see you unmasked on national tv--\"

The threat of the woman\'s anger did the trick. Vegeta caught the mask tossed to him and fit it over his face. Soon he had the cape around his shoulders and the cowl over his head, and unlike the two demi-Saiyans, he seemed swallowed up in the shadows left by all the broken lamps and li aro around the park. He flew a few feet into the air, keeping beside the nimbus as they rose over the park for a better view.

Camera flashes sparkled beneath them, and they glanced down at the throng of reporters still at the entrance of the amusement park.

Closer to the fighting, the female reporter and her faithful camera man huddled under a doorframe, earning serious promotions. \"We can still see the Great Green Bean,\" Angela said, her voice finally steady again. \"I think he\'s got the Pansy with him now...but I don\'t know who they\'re fighting. Whoever it is has shown no regard for anyone else, and our heroes have been forced to destroy huge chunks of exploded bricks to keep them from killing bystanders. There\'s still no quick way out, even though Bulma Briefs herself is repairing the emergency systems. We\'re all trapped and--oh my God, Green Bean\'s hand has been shot off!\"

In the air, Goku and Piccolo hovered on one side of a demolished souvenir shop, 17 on the other, all three nursing bloody injuries and the Namek trying to regrow his hand. Piccolo chuckled and glanced at his friend. \"Feels pretty damn familiar, doesn\'t it?\" he asked. \"Except he doesn\'t have a tail to grab.\"

\"If only I could use some real attacks,\" Goku said, \"but anything stronger and this whole park\'ll come down.\"

\"We could really use another pair of hands right about now.\"

\"Maybe Gohan--\"

\"Gohan\'s got own own mess to deal with,\" Piccolo said. \"He\'s in no shape to fight.\"

\"And you? Can you still fight?\"

His severed hand lay on the ground below them, and his stump dripped profusely, but he nodded. \"I think so. But all this pounding isn\'t doing much but destroying things.\"

They both stared at 17, who stared right back. \"There\'s gotta be another way,\" Goku said, \"but how can we use our full power without killing everyone?\"

\"Are you two really that stupid?\"

The already cool air seemed to drop several degrees as they looked over their shoulders. In front of the demi-Saiyans on the nimbus, Vegeta floated with his arms crossed and his cloak pulled tight around his body. Most of the lights nearby were dark, leaving him in nothing but moonlight. His face hid in the shadows of his cowl, making him look like death itself.

\"Hey, you won!\" Goku said. \"I can\'t believe it!\"

\"What do you mean, you can\'t believe it!\" Vegeta snapped. \"I defeated 18 easily.\"

Seventeen flinched.

Floating backwards out of the reach of his mate\'s hands, Goku looked down at Vegeta\'s stomach. \"She didn\'t hurt the--\"

\"No, it\'s fine.\" Vegeta hoped Goku wouldn\'t bring up his pregnancy again, at least not in front of the Namek. He glanced at Piccolo to make sure he didn\'t suspect anything. \"If you two can\'t defeat this piece of junk, then I will.\"

\"No, wait!\"

Just as Vegeta flew forward, Goku grabbed his cloak and yanked him back. Vegeta nearly choked and turned around, taking a punch at him. \"What the hell? Let me go!\"

\"We can\'t use strong attacks,\" Goku said. \"People could die.\"

\"I mated a fool,\" Vegeta muttered. \"You think too much about strength, you never think about speed.\"

\"Huh--?\" Goku suddenly found himself holding a torn edge of Vegeta\'s cloak, and his prince already blurring in front of 17. A cold chill ran down his spine. For all his mate\'s bravado and strength, he\'d never actually seen him win against anyone, and even though he\'d just defeated 18, he was still carrying their child...

The camera on the ground couldn\'t follow the fight, catching only blurs and streaks of light. In the air, no one had ever seen Vegeta move so quickly, seeming to surround 17 and yet dodge every punch and kick sent his way. His speed meant he sacrificed some of his brute strength, but each blow he landed jarred the android\'s head and wore him down.

\"You couldn\'t have defeated my sister,\" 17 said, trying a roundhouse that swept harmlessly through Vegeta\'s afterimage. \"She beat you last time.\"

\"Things change.\" With the android\'s confidence shaken, Vegeta used the same move that had sent 18 , gr, grabbing 17\'s punch and using his momentum to double the impact of his fist. A quick kick and 17 landed in a crater in the concrete. Dust shot up in a cloud around him, so thick he couldn\'t see anything. Before he could move aside, Vegeta\'s boot planted hard in his back and pinned him there.

\"I let her go back to her daughter,\" the prince said, growling out his words. \"The only thing keeping me from killing you are the brats watching us.\"

\"Goku has nothing to do with it?\" 17 said. Despite the pain, he smirked.

\"Smart ass robot...\" Vegeta ground his heel down a few times before backing away. \"18\'s gone, so you might as well take off.\"

\"Didn\'t wanna fight anyway...\" 17 got to his feet, wobbling back and forth. \"You won\'t blast me in the back?\"

\"If you don\'t leave now, I will.\"

As the android left, the dust around Vegeta cleared, leaving him standing in the middle of the crater and giving the reporter her best scoop ever.

\"The other torture twin!\" she screamed into her microphone. \"He\'s just saved the Great Green Bean and the Pansy!\"

Foatelately for his pride, no one could see his face his eyes widened as far as they could and his jaw dropped. He clutched his cloak tighter and looked for an exit, but everything was flattened rubble. Still in the air, the others noticed her for the first time.

\"What the--we\'ve been recorded?\" Piccolo said.

\"It\'s not true,\" Vegeta whispered. He wanted to shout, but the shock crippled his voice. \"I\'m still evil, I am.\"

\"And look,\" she kept going, \"the terror twins on the side of angels!\"

\"Trunks...\" Goten couldn\'t stop staring at her. \"She\'s looking at us.\"

\"Mom\'s gonna kill me.\" Trunks hid his face in Goten\'s shirt and tried to disappear.

With his usual grin, Goku waved to the camera and gave them a victory sign. Vegeta groaned and flew up to his mate, blocking him from the camera, and smacked his head.

\"Bad enough I\'ll have to listen to the woman rant about this,\" he swept his arm back over the flattened park, \"but now you\'re on national tv!\"

\"But \'Geta, so are you.\"

\"Not unmasked, I\'m not! Argh!\" He grabbed Goku\'s wrist and yanked him across the sky, followed close by the brats and the Namek. \"Fate cursed me with a dumb mate...\"

\"\'Geta...\"

*

From his seat on the ruins of the main theater, Gohan leaned back against the wall and listened to his mother cry on the other side. She never said anything through her tears, but though she tried to stop several times, Gohan heard her start crying again and again. He hugged his knees against his chest and stared at the stars. He\'d removed his Saiyaman costume and sat in his usual outfit, brown pants and a white long sleeve, but he didn\'t think to look around for reporters or bystanders who might have noticed him. His eyes started tearing up, and his wet eyelashes made streaks on his glasses that blurred the stars. As he wiped them off on the edge of his shirt, several blurs descended iont ont of him. He blinked the last tears away and put his glasses back on.

\"I guess the fighting\'s over?\" he asked.

Piccolo nodded once. \"Yeah. We won.\"

\"Oh. That\'s good.\" He stood and looked up at him. \"This\'ll happen again, won\'t it? Krillin and Roshi and Tien aren\'t gonna give up...\"

\"Well, Tien has different reasons,\" Piccolo said with a glare at Vegeta, who ignored him. \"But yeah. As long as they think they can change you, they won\'t stop.\"

\"But I don\'t wanna live like that. Them always trying to get me to be straight, I mean. And they\'ll inevitably get hurt.\" His mother started to quiet down again, but they all heard her sniffling echo between the ruined walls. \"No. I\'m ending this today.\"

Vegeta smirked. \"Dibs on Triclops.\"

\"No,\" Gohan said. \"No killing. This started because I tried to hide who I am. Not anymore.\" He flipped on his Saiyaman costume again and took Piccolo\'s hand. \"Let\'s go meet the reporters.\"

Trailing behind the small group, Goten glanced into the theater. \"What about mom?\"

\"It\'s okay,\" Trunks said. \"It\'s better if she doesn\'t have to see us. Someone\'ll find her and think she got hurt in the first blast.\"

The yells and screams from the crowd still at the blocked entrance had quieted now that the blasting had stopped, and the humans watched as the Great Saiyaman led his newly increased team out of the dust cloud. Their hes hes were torn and singed, they were bruised and a little bloody, but they each walked as if there was nothing left to fear and the atmosphere lightened as the crowd cheered.

\"Why are they yelling?\" Goten asked.

\"\'Cause we stopped Roshi an\' Krillin and everyone.\"

\"So we\'re heroes now?\" Goten asked.

\"Ah, no big deal,\" Trunks said. \"Just means you can blow stuff up and people like you for it.\"

\"Oh.\" Goten grinned. He loved blowing things up.

ks sks shook his head and leaned against his mate, wondering how he stayed on the nimbus.

On the left of Saiyaman, Goku spotted a bit of movement and glanced at the edge of the shattered dome. \"Wow.\" He watched 18 grab Krillin\'s shirt and drag him into the sky out of sight. \"How\'d you do it?\"

Vegeta watched her, but seemed to thr through her at the sky he\'d been staring at before. \"I...I haven\'t had something to lose in a fight before.\"

\"Huh?\" Goku scratched his head and looked at his mate, confused by the strange expression on his face. Or what he could see of his face, since the cowl was still down. \"We\'ve lost people before. We were just lucky to get them back.\"

\"More than their lives.\" His head lowered and he shrugged. \"I don\'t know. I still don\'t understand it. My anger always hurt me before. I learned to ignore my feelings in a fight.\"

Not pressing for more, Goku put his arm around Vegeta\'s shoulders and hugged him closer as they walked.

Questions started as soon as they came within earshot and the undamaged cameras zoomed in on the small group as they stopped slightly behind Saiyaman and the Great Green Bean. One reporter in particular, streaked with blood and gray dust, pushed her way through and put her mike out front.

\"Saiyaman, has the legion of terror changed forces and joined you?\"

The sound of the three villains choking didn\'t reach her, but they made Gogringrin. Despite everything that had happened, he still had to fight back laughter. \"They sure have! I\'m pleased to say they\'ve all seen the error of their ways and joined the forces of good.\"

Almost on instinct, both Goten and Goku grabbed their respective mates before they could fly off. Trunks still managed to pull Goten off the nimbus, but Ve did didn\'t fight much to keep his cloak in place. In the back, Yamcha snickered. Bulma\'s shoulders shook with silent laughter as she finished up the last repairs to the electrical system.

\"Saiyman, who was this new enemy? Another legion of terror?\"

\"In a way.\" He took a deep breath and stepped closer so everyone could hear him. Across the country, anxious viewers watched a close-up of him as he spoke. \"They were a group so strongly opposed to me being with...who I love...that they were willing to endanger hundreds of lives in the hope that they could destroy mine.\" He held a hand up to stop their questions. \"We defeated them, yes, but I think this battle goes farther than just a handful of villains. We have the ability to protect ourselves, to defend our right to love who we want. As the Great Saiyaman, I can live inside my mask and love whoever I want, be who I am, and for awhile that was enough.\"

Under his cape, he slipped one hand over the watch that would change his costume again. \"But it\'s not enough anymore. I can\'t live behind a mask forever. It\'s who I am underneath it that matters, and this fighting will only end when I\'m strong enough to be who I am without it. This...this may be the hardest thing I\'ve ever done but...\"

With a press of a button, his costume vanished. Camera flashes threatened to burn out as the entire nation saw not Saiyaman but Son Gohan standing in front of them, unmasked and glowing with power.

\"My name is Son Gohan. And this is who I am.\"

He turned and grabbed Piccolo\'s hand, dipping him down for a long kiss. Bulma chose that moment to flip the lights back on, and the glowing exit tunnel spotlighted the two.

The cheers now made their earlier applause seem tame. Beside them, Goten whooped and tugged his own mask off before grabbing Trunks\' mask. The purple haired demi-Saiyan shrieked and tried to turn around, but it was too late. Dozens of photos had been snapped.

Any cameras not turned on those pairs now switched to the Pansy and the shadowy person next to him. Vegeta glanced aside and flipped them off.

\"Aww, don\'t be like that,\" Goku said, reaching for the cowl. He yelped and drew his hand back instantly, sucking on his bloodied fing \"Q \"Quit biting me!\"

Wiping a bit of blood from his lips, Vegeta snarled. A moment later he was pinned growling against his mate\'s body in a tight hug.

*

The next week, the picture on the front of Nakayoshi Magazine was not a photo from the cameras but a still frame from one of Angela\'s cameraman\'s shots of Son Gohan dipping Piccolo backwards with Goten and Trunks on one side and Goku with his \"mysterious partner\" on the cover\'s folded inset. Inside were articles ranging from Son Gohan\'s life and how coming out had changed how his students treated him (\"enrollment is up fifty percent!\") to speculation on how Trunks Briefs was juggling life as his mother\'s corporate assistant, student and supervillain-turned-hero all at once (\"grounded doesn\'t begin to cover it\").

In-depth coverage and a first hand account by Angela Harker of the damage done to DreamLand included how the newest Saiyaman movie\'s profits would go to help rebuild, as well as the new Saiyaman coaster that would be the tallest and fastest in the world. An interview covered a typical day in the life of the Great Green Bean and his dietary habits. A selection of the Pansy\'s favorite recipes followed and an entire section had been devoted to who the mysterious partner (now dubbed the Saiyashadow) could be, including photos of him flipping off the crowd, being snuggled in the Pansy\'s arms and an earlier picture of him fighting the group now suspected of being the second legion of terror at a local carnival.

In order to appear fair and balanced, the magazine also included an editorial about how superheroes used smoke and mirrors to accomplish their seemingly amazing feats, but sadly Mr. Satan was not an engaging writer and was shunted near the back of the magazine, next to an ad for male enhancement pills.

*

A few months later, Piccolo sat at the base of the waterfall near his home, the spray just light enough to take the edge of the summer heat. He\'d snaked his arms around Gohan\'s waist and held him in his lap, enjoying having him close.

\"Roshi called me again,\" Gohan said.

\"About the nimbus?\"

\"Yup.\"

\"But you\'ve told him you don\'t have it.\"

\"I know.\" Gohan lay his arms over Piccolo\'s. \"But he can\'t call Goten and Trunks\' secretary screens his calls, so he yells at me.\"

\"Mm.\"

\"Krillin called, too.\"

\"More yelling?\" Piccoskedsked.

\"Actually, he apologized and asked me to thank Vegeta for him.\"

\"What? No-nose wants to thank Short-shit?\"

\"Yeah, whatever Vegeta said to her, it\'s made her stop training. She\'s concentrating on raising Marron now.\" Gohan laughed. \"Krillin said he\'s not bruised all the time anymore.\"

Piccolo chuckled. \"Nice that one of \'em stopped obsessing over what you\'re doing.\"

\"It\'s funny. I thought it\'d be harder, but it wasn\'t so bad. Even the ones who didn\'t approve at first.\"

\"No one can change in one night,\" Piccolo said. \"You just have to be willing to give them time. Everyone\'s got prejudices in some way. You can\'t judge them for it.\"

Gohan smiled at him. \"When\'d you get so wise?\"

\"Probably around the same time this little clumsy brat taught me how to be friends.\"

\"\'Brat\'?\" Gohan smacked Piccolo\'s shoulder and veered just enough to avoid his own smack. \"You\'ve been hanging around Vegeta too much.\"

\"He\'s got some good points, far and few between.\" He reached up and gently plucked the glasses off Gohan\'s face. \"He occasionally gives some good advice.\"

\"Oh? Like what?\"

Piccolo leaned down until his lips brushed Gohan\'s. \"Lemme show you.\"

*

In the back of a local comic book shop, Goku and Vegeta transmitted quietly in and looked around. There was no one else except a lonelygin gin paging through his comic at the cash register. Vegeta nodded to his mate and took him to a set of shelves in the corner. One by one he examined each comic, skimming the pages and setting an occasional one aside.

\"What are these?\" Goku asked. He stood behind his mate and put his arms around him, lightly touching his mate\'s distended stomach as he looked over his shoulder. \"Why\'d you wanna come get them?\"

\"I wanted to,\" Vegeta said. \"I like some of these.\"

Realizing it was probably just his mood swings, Goku glanced at the inside of the comic Vegeta was holding. His eyes widened when he saw the two drawn figures in a twisted sexual position. Then his jaw dropped when he saw who they were.

\"Oh my God, that\'s us!\" He grabbed another book and looked through it. For half the comic, the Pansy, trapped in an enemy\'s tight and painful bondage, was forced to play dog for his captors until the Saiyashadow dropped in, destroyed the enemy in one panel, and then merely loosened Pansy\'s bonds and took his \"reward\" for freeing him. The bonus story in the back showed the Pansy as a flower growing in the Saiyashadow\'s backyard, nurtured and taken care of until he was ready to be plucked. \"Oh my God...\"

\"These are the best,\" Vegeta said, placing that one on a growing stack. \"If it\'s not rated X, it\'s usually not any fun.\"

Faintly disturbed by these unauthorized stories, Goku noticed covers including Gohan and Piccolo, Goten and Trunks, Trunks and Piccolo, Goten and Piccolo, Trunks and Goten and Piccolo, Goku and Piccolo, Goku and Trunks, and he wondered why Vegeta was hardly in any of these.

And then he noticed that the second shelf was devoted exclusively to stories of the Saiyan Shadow. He picked one that looked half-decent. On the cover, Goku stood with a surprisingly accurate Vegeta cradled in his arms. Inside was a more romantic story as the Pansy saved the Saiyashadow from an evil enemy and nursed him back to health. With a warm and fuzzy feeling, Goku flipped the page and found a splash page of the Saiyashadow caught in an enemy\'s tight and painful bondage until the Pansy came in, killed the enemy in one panel, and proceeded to take his reward for saving him.

\"You\'re right,\" he said, \"these are neat. Do the others know about--\"

\"No. The woman found these, that\'s how I know.\"

*

And late that night, in Bulma\'s bed, Yamcha lay with his eyes closed while the genius used a reading light clipped over a comic. She giggled as the Pansy and the Saiyashadow danced a ballet.

\"And he didn\'t explode?\" Yamcha asked.

\"Nope.\" She turned a page. \"He asked where he could get them and then went to find Goku. Aren\'t pregnant Saiyans weird?\"

Yamcha would\'ve said something about pregnant women being weird but held back. Bulma finished her comic and turned off her light, easing under the covers for the night. Several silent minutes went by.

\"You\'re sure it\'s not contagious?\" Yamcha asked.

\"Oh, for heaven\'s sake...you can\'t catch gay, Yamcha.\" Bulma shook her head and turned on her side to face him. \"Besides, they\'re Saiyan.\"

\"Piccolo\'s not.\"

\"Mm, you have a point. It is a little weird statistically.\" She looked at him as she mulled that over. \"Maybe it\'s Saiyan hormones. They could affect Nameks. I\'d have to try a few experiments to find out. Or maybe it\'s just their high ki levels.\" She giggled behind one hand. \"In which case, you have nothing to worry about.\"

\"Hey!\"

The End

NOTES:

1. Hooded swan...let\'s just say I don\'t think Goku ever got his snipped. And that\'s all I\'m saying.

2. Anime characters make a little sparkle when they blast off like Chaotzu did. Just ask Team Rocket.