Saiya-man and the Legion of Super-Heroes
Chapter 1: The Test
By claudius
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I don't own anything. This story is based on the plot of "The Legion of Super-Heroes" by Wort Mesinger, which was published in Adventure Comics #247 (owned by DC Comics). However, I've decided to change things around to suit this crossover. DBZ characters were created by Akira Toriyama (owned by Toei Studios and Shonen Jump).
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One afternoon, Gohan was exploring his closet. He knew there was something he needed for his work. There was some old primary sources he discarded long ago, something he found for a research project. However, at the time he discovered the source to be useless to his work, so he junked it in the closet. Now, another line of research was commissioned, and this time the source was needed. He sifted through boxes, old papers, and the like, his object at the moment unattainable.
Looking diligently, the professor saw a box marked "Memories." It was not the thing he was looking for, but the chances of nostalgic value attracted his attention. Instantly, he took out the box. Opening it, the man was mesmerized by the objects. There was his old orange and blue Gi. Kabito had created it, patterning it after his father's. He wore it with pride the day he faced Majin Buu. Carefully moving the outfit aside, Gohan saw his old Saiyaman uniform. Thinking back, Gohan realized that it was a dumb looking costume. Still, its value (in the case of bringing back memories) was just as priceless as the Mystic uniform.
Then there was a small box. Quickly, Gohan broke the strap wrapped around the box, unsealing the objects inside. It was a ring. It appeared gold-platted, though years of use had dulled its shine. On the signet was the letter L. Of all the things he just found, Gohan considered, none was as rich and special than this old ring. It had a special power, the ability to give its wearer the power to fly according to the strength of his will. For a demi-Saiya-jin like Gohan, that power was useless, so there was a different reason to value this trinket. For the Professor, it was a symbol of honor. It also stood for importance, of belonging, for comraderie, for joy, for pain, but over all these meanings, the ring stood for heroism, and he showed it to the best of his abilities when he was a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
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17 Years ago.
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The Great Saiya-man flew through the air in great speed. It was not to stop a fire, nor to stop a burning building. It was to avoid being late for school!
Perhaps he stayed up a little too late practicing his gestures and mannerisms, decided the hero. He certainly rued the time spent making his craft. Oh well, hopefully the practice would make him look less ridiculous (according to the reactions of the witnesses he met, saved, or apprehended).
By now, he was over Satan City, named after the man supposedly celebrated for saving the world from Cell. If only they knew, the lad thought. Still, at least that blowhard was taking all the attention, giving him and his family privacy.
Hovering above the streets, Saiya-man's ears were taken by a sound of possible danger. Cries for help sounding in his ears, Saiya-man saw a boy hanging from a ledge. Though afar, Saiya-man could see that the person was about to lose his grip and fall. So much for getting to school early, rued the teenager. With speed, Saiya-man zoomed below the kid, turned straight up, and grabbed the kid before he could fall.
Landing to the ground, Saiya-man checked for any signs of injury on the kid. To his relief, the boy was unharmed. In fact, he hardly looked worse by the experience. He had a handsome face, looked about his age. He was also smiling. To Gohan, it was a weird kind of smile, as if the boy was looking at him the way one would look at a movie star or someone big.
"ARE YOU ALL RIGHT!" roared Saiya-man in a voice full of overblown heavy-handedness. By then he had put the kid down to safety.
"Yes, I am!" the rescued boy said. "Thanks to you, Son Gohan!"
That line struck the Saiya-man with the strength of a thunderbolt. This guy knew his secret identity! But how?!?!? Did anybody else knew?!? Reflexively, Gohan decided to save face. Going back to his hero voice, he responded: "I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN, CITIZEN! I AM THE GREAT SAIYA-MAN!" Then the costumed hero made a few poses worthy of a ballet dancer, but not to any self-respecting super-hero.
"Oh yes, sorry," apologized the driver, thought the tone of his words sounded like patronizing rather than actual error. "See Yam" the boy continued, walking away with poor Saiya-man standing confused.
"Maybe I was just hearing things." The teenager said to himself. He then looked at his watch, jumping at the time symbolized. 10 minutes to 8!
=
Luckily, Gohan got to the school a few seconds before 8. The memories of the meeting faded after the morning hours. After English and history, lunch break was sounded out. Everyone got to their own lunch groups, except for Gohan. Seemed no one wanted to sit with the nerd. Videl was also absent from the place for some reason. Sharpener confided that she had better activities besides school like stopping a bank robbery. By then, Gohan had accepted the fact that Videl was hardly a damsel-in-distress.
So the boy sat alone in his eating. He was used to the loneliness. A strange thing happened; the teenager felt like he was not alone. He suddenly had the feeling of somebody watching over him. Searching around, Gohan saw a girl looking at him. She looked rather cute, with blond hair combed back. She also had very piercing eyes that made Gohan a little wary. It was almost as if she was looking right through him. The teenager's face turned a shade of pink. It was just like that girl Angela, who forced him on a date because he thought she knew his secret, only to reveal that the 'secret' was of him wearing teddy-bear boxers.
To his surprise, the girl from far away started laughing, almost as if she knew what Gohan was thinking.
When the bell rang, the students went back to their lockers to switch to their afternoon curriculum. As Gohan was switching his books, a tap came to his shoulder. Turning around, the student saw that it was the blond-haired girl smiling before him.
"Uh…Hello there!" said Gohan with manners, a sweat coming down his head.
"Hi…Saiyaman!" spoke the girl.
A large sweat drop flew down the boy's face. "Uh…what did you call me?"
The girl started to look in his locker. "So do you have your costume in here?"
Gohan slammed the door. It was not because his costume was in there, but he was afraid some kind of obscure evidence might be found inside that would somehow reveal his alter ego. Yes, he was that paranoid.
Another voice came: "Hey Gohan!" cried Videl. The boy turned even more pale. Mr. Satan's daughter was back. Now he was really in for it! He knew that Videl was spending her time discovering the Saiya-man's identity. One peep from this blond would give out the information she needed.
Videl walked over to the tense boy. "You're going to be late for class!" she shouted. The blond took her notice as well.
"Hey, who are you?" Videl asked.
Gohan was stuck. This new girl was going to reveal his identity to the world!
The blond walked over to Videl and smiled. "I was just getting to know your boyfriend."
Both Gohan and Videl jumped. "What do you mean BOYFRIEND!" The two simultaneously sounded. "I'm not Gohan's boyfriend!" yelled Videl.
The girl smirked. "Oh, really. I apologize. It's just that the way you two look at each other made me think otherwise."
Videl's face went blank, then angry. "How dare you think that! Did Gohan say otherwise?"
Fear came to Gohan again. Here was the moment. Last time was a brief respite.
"No he did not." The blond replied. "I guess I shouldn't have interfered in things I didn't know. I'm sorry." With a smile, the girl looked at Gohan, slapping in the back.
"Give my regards to your mother and brother!" she said, walking away.
Like before, Gohan stood still at the unexpected actions of what happened. Videl looked at him in this condition. "Who was that girl? I never saw her before!"
"N-Neither did I." said Gohan. She didn't say anything about his identity. Was he just hearing things again?
Videl looked at the way Gohan was reacting to this. Almost as if he was attracted to that girl, or so she thought. This recollection made her feel a little…threatened? With a
groan of anger, she stormed away.
=
The afternoon classes went by quickly due to Gohan's attempts to understand what had happened. Already two people knew who he was, or so he believed. Was he just not feeling well? Maybe he should go straight home. Once school was over, Gohan went to the institution's roof. Changing to the Great Saiya-man, he flew toward his destination.
Passing out of the city, Gohan was over the canyons and mountains. Suddenly, a pillar of lightning exploded in front of the teenager. It didn't touch him, but it sure gave him a surprise. What was lightning doing here? There wasn't a cloud in sight. It did not come from above.
This might not have been coincidence. Caution now settled in Gohan's mind. If this was some threat, he had to look into it. Instantly, he thought mentally, searching for any large KI's. There was a big one. Not as big as his, but pretty formidable. Perhaps it was not one, but a group?
Detecting the source, Saiya-man flew down to face the unseen menace. Getting closer, he was horrified to see three individuals standing on a ledge. They could be in great danger, thought the teenager. He had to spirit them away, then fight the menace.
"Hey!" he cried, landing to the ground before the group. "You've got to get out of here! There might be some dangerous enemy nearby!"
"That's a matter of perspective," said one of the individuals, his back to Gohan's view. He then turned around. Shock came to Gohan's face, for this person was the same boy he rescued earlier! Walking a few steps back, he saw there was a girl in the group. He got a good look at her face, to his added surprise.
"Recognize me, Saiya-man?" asked the girl. It was the blond girl at school!
He then realized something: both these people said something that had much to do with his secret identity! Oh, how he prayed he was just hearing things before.
That hope died when the unknown kid standing before those two dropped a bomb.
"It was us you detected, Saiya-man" he spoke with a grin, "Or should I say, Gohan."
Saiya-man tried a defense. He laughed forcefully. "HAHAHA! I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SAYING! THIS GOHAN MUST BE ANOTHER PERSON ALTOGETHER!"
"I don't think so!" said the boy. Moving his hand to the air, he made a gesture.
Before Gohan could understand any further, he felt his watch tear off his wrist. It floated right into the gesturer's hand. In seconds, Gohan could sense his costume change around him. It vanished completely, revealing his school clothes. Shock, surprise, and shame came to his mind. His identity was now blown to the world.
The unknown kid was the first to take comment. "We know who you are, Son Gohan."
The rescued walked toward Gohan. With a face full of curiousity, the boy looked at the demi-Saiya-jin as if he was a statue. "Son Gohan. Son of Son Goku and Chi-Chi. A hybrid of Earth and Saiya-jin origins…"
Gohan stood even more dumbstruck. Not only did they know his identity, but his Saiya-jin blood as well!
The rescued continued with introspection, "Though you had great potential for power, your mother had you educated to become a scholar. All that changed when you were kidnapped at four by your uncle Raditz. Under the training of the Daimon Piccolo, you started to hone your potential, facing at age five the Saiya-jin warrior Vejita."
Gohan couldn't believe this! It was as if they knew his life firsthand. But he never met any of them in his life!
"At six, you went to Namek, where you witnessed firsthand your father's ascendance to Super Saiya-jin level 1. At age eleven, you became the first to become Super Saiya-jin level 2, at which you destroyed the android Cell."
"You know that!" cried Gohan.
"We know plenty," answered the girl, "especially when it comes to you."
The rescued continued, "However, the peace at present has made you retire as a fighter. You let your training sag in the last few years, hitting the books and being a father-figure to your young brother Goten."
Despite his puzzlement, the smug mention of Goten forced a strong reaction from Gohan. "You leave my brother out of this!"
"However," added the unknown. "Your dead father's example of heroism was too much of an influence on you. To hide your identity, you became a crimefighter named the Great Saiya-man."
"Pardon me?" said Gohan. "Can I know how you found this out?"
"I guess you deserve an answer." Said the unknown. Instantly, the normal clothes of the three changed into colorful costumes like Gohan once had. The unknown had a black shirt under a long cape. On his chest was a white chestplate with lightning bolts embedded on it. The girl had a red bodysuit with white boots. She also had on her chest a white chestplate, this time with the insignia of the planet Saturn. The rescued had a purple and black uniform with shiny buttons embedded around the chest.
"You have some lousy outfits." Remarked Gohan.
"And yours wasn't?" replied the rescued.
"What are you saying?" demanded Gohan. "Mine's the pinnacle of style!" A sweat drop appeared on the head of all three strangers.
"Anyway!" the girl replied. "The three of us are putting together a team, and we are looking for new recruits. People we consider worthy of our tastes."
"A team?" said Gohan. He never thought there would be other people like him who would get the same idea of being a superhero. Guess he was starting a trade or something. "So how do you know who I am?"
"That's for me to know, Gohan," answered the Girl. "I am a telepath. I just simply read your mind."
Gohan felt surprised. Then he realized that she knew about the boxers.
"The history books also helped." Answered the rescued.
Gohan wondered about that question. "History books?"
"Gohan," said Saturn Girl. "This might be shocking to consider, but the three of us come from the distant future."
Gohan was astounded. Not another time-traveler. Were they more of Dr. Geros' androids, or were they like Trunks?
"Our time is far more distant then the one Trunks came from," the rescued said.
"Try the 18th century," added the lightning one.
Gohan put the math together inside his mind. The answer was shocking. They came 1000 years from the future!
"In our universe," the girl explained in a serious tone, "people from all over the galaxy possess great powers. We hope to bring these people together."
"And we thought that you, Gohan, might have….some potential." The caped one snobbishly added.
"We thought you might be an interesting sort." Said the rescued.
Gohan thought about this. They wanted him for a team? He didn't belong to any group save for the Z Senshi. He became interested. Of course there were problems, like how his education would bode, not to mention the long distance in centuries, if their story is true. Still, things have been a little boring these days. It might be interesting.
With a calm face "What do you want me to do?"
"For your initiation, you must prove your worth." the caped one explained. "A test of your abilities is needed."
"Look!" cried the rescued as he pointed to the air. From looking, one could see in the distance a plane coming closer. Smoke was coming from its wing.
"The plane is going to crash!" cried the rescued. The girl put her hand to her temple. "I sense a lot of people inside the ship!" she answered grimly.
Gohan was equally shocked. He then heard the caped one speaking to him. "If you think yourself a hero," he said. "I order you to prove it by protecting the plane."
Gohan didn't like this test. Not when the lives of innocent people were concerned. But he saw there was no choice. With a stern and calm face he accepted. There was no time to get his costume back; Gohan had to risk going without it. Changing into the golden haired, jade-eyed Super Saiya-jin, Gohan took flight. With swiftness, the hero hovered close to the ship. He then flew underneath it. With strong hands he touched the bottom of the plane. Exerting strength, Gohan attempted to move the vessel's descending course. All looked all right, until the right wing exploded. Shrapnel flew as the remnants of the wing broke to pieces. This sudden change forced the plane to fall faster.
Throughout all this, Gohan cursed himself. This was sloppy of him. He should have been ready for anything. His slack-off years had finally caught up with him. He had to make the best of it. Quickly, Gohan angrily applied more pressure to the plane. Pushing harder as before, Gohan forced himself as a support to slow the plane. The pressure at first was huge. But soon it lessened. That meant the descent was slowing. The boy made a smile of victory in his lips. He was going to save the ship.
Suddenly, the plane exploded. Shards of metal fiber flew everyplace, hurled by the large fire that exploded from within. This firestorm engulfed Gohan. Soon, the plane was now a phoenix. It hurtled to the ground, creating an even bigger explosion.
Ten minutes waited by as no sign of the teenager could be found. Then, a creaking sound of twisted metal was heard. This sound was shown by a large slab of sharded metal being pushed up. The flames still burned, making anything inside appear to be shadows. One shadow came out of the fiery inferno. The shadow revealed itself, burned, sooted, tattered, but otherwise all right. At least physically.
Gohan walked slowly, his dirty face failing to mask the anger and grief of his failure. His Super Saiya-jin eyes revealed sad emotion. His face was a ruckus of shame and pain. Despite his powers, he had failed. He was too sure of himself. Thought he knew every obstacle, but cruel reality had shown his faults. He should never had slacked off, he told himself. If he hadn't, he would have been ready to prevent the things that now occurred. Those people, their safety entrusted to him, saw their hopes die with the flames. He had failed them, like he had failed Dad years ago.
This did not escape the notice of the three strangers. Although his head was depressingly bowed down, Gohan could still hear them arrive. Looking up, he saw the threesome walk toward him, their frowns showing Gohan what they really thought of him.
"Those people!" shouted lightning one in shock.
The girl's face was miserable. "I felt them die!" she cried, tears in her eyes.
"And all because of you!" said the rescued, placing an accusing finger at you-know-who.
Gohan looked at them all. Thoughts came up from these accusations. That it might not have been his fault came among these ideas. He didn't know the plane was to explode. Something else must have-
Oh, what's the use, Gohan reconsidered. No matter the cause, it was his responsibility to protect. He could not blame anyone or anything but himself.
"Its all my fault!" said the boy grimly. "I thought I could save them, but I was too arrogant, too sloppy. I take whatever responsibility there is!"
The lightning one faced Gohan. "Is that all you can say!" he angrily cried.
Gohan's silence was his answer. He expected more insults to prove his incompetence. All he heard was clapping.
"Bravo!" cried the girl. "You've passed the test!"
The tragic figure was repulsed at this cruel celebration over the death of these passengers. "You monsters! How dare you act like that!"
"For what reason?" asked the rescued. His arm went up. Suddenly, two burning stumps came hurtling out of the wreckage, and into the group. They hit the ground, the impact snuffing out most of the flame. With guilty eyes, Gohan saw the remains of the dead. He saw no bone and skin. Instead he saw scorched stuffing and dummies.
"No one living was on the plane." Explained the girl with a smile. "If they were, we would have helped you save them."
"And it doesn't take a scientist to guess that the plane was supposed to blow up." Said the rescued.
Anger raged in the Siaya-jin's temples. "What possessed you to make this sick joke!"
"Calm down!" reassured the lightning one. "It was no joke, believe us." He placed a hand on Gohan's shoulder. "We wanted a test to see if you were worthy."
The rescued continued. "Only a true hero would accept his failures, rather than blame them on somebody else. You showed true humility and strength in admitting your responsibility. You are truly a hero."
Anger started to ebb from Gohan's emotions. Although he didn't like being tricked, he was relieved to know that no one suffered for his mistakes.
"I understand that all this needs a lot of getting used to," said the lightning one, "But I hope you can think of us as allies in your cause…maybe friends."
"We have read a lot about you and your father." The girl added. "About your heroics and noble sacrifices. It inspired us to continue that work in the future, as you have in the present. That's why we are forming this team."
"And for our group," added the rescued, "We decided that no better person can be found than one of history's greatest defenders, Son Gohan."
Gohan sat down at this. He understood that all this was done with good intentions, with no real mean tendencies to be shown. He realized that he was actually believing their story, as well as believing in their convictions of being good guys. It was so amazing to believe. On the other hand, there was enough weird things to show him that he might as well accept this as well.
The girl kneeled beside Gohan. "So what do you say? Will you join our group?"
Gohan thought for a moment. "You know my thoughts right now, Saturn Girl." He smiled. "You can guess what my answer is."
The girl's face showed approval. "My name is Saturn Girl, but you can call me Imra."
The lightning one took out his hand for gratitude. "You can call me Livewire, but my real name is Garth." Gohan grabbed the hand. He felt some electricity coursing through it.
The rescued also greeted the new member. "My real name is Ranx, but my title is Cosmic Boy." He then handed Gohan back his watch. "You don't know how great an honor this is."
Gohan smiled. "So what is this group called?"
"The Legion of Super-heroes." Answered Cosmic Boy.
The boy smiled, "That seems like a nice name." Questions on the matter was made in his mind. "But how do I meet you guys? I don't have a time-machine."
"We'll work that out," replied Livewire. "For now, just stay at this time until we come to get you."
Gohan turned around to see the burning wreckage. "What about that?"
"Leave that to me." Cosmic Boy then flew into the air. Now over the ruins, he waved his arms. Gohan suddenly sensed some energy vibrations. They came from the wreckage. Shards of metal came flying before Cosmic Boy. These pieces then manipulated into a long sheet of metal. This sheet fell upon the fire, snuffing out the flames. Before any flames could fly upon the witnesses, Gohan, Saturn Girl, and Livewire took to the air.
"As you can see," Livewire explained, "Cosmic Boy can control metal objects by magnetic energy."
Gohan was astounded. He never knew a technique like that.
Once the flames had died out, Cosmic Boy got closer to the wreckage. "Saiya-man!" he yelled. "Can you help me crush this debris into one piece?"
Gohan complied. Together, the two used their powers to grab, crush, squash, and turn the giant metal ruins into one large metal ball.
"So how do we rid of this?" asked Gohan.
"With this." Livewire flew beside them. Out from his pocket was what seemed like a hoi-poi capsule, except it was shaped like a cube.
Livewire threw the cube, which exploded into a giant metal box. It floated in the air, no doubt due to Cosmic Boy's powers. Gohan lifted the giant metal ball and put in inside the box. Saturn Girl flew to that box. Pressing a button on it, the whole thing vanished, leaving a cube, which flew into Cosmic Boy's hand.
"Anything else?" cried Livewire.
"No," Cosmic Boy assured, "I've magnetically grabbed every metal fiber the plane had."
"You know," said Gohan, "My mother and brother are going to get worried. I better get back home soon."
"Yeah, it's about time we left too." understood Cosmic Boy.
"When will I meet you again?" cried Gohan.
"Come back here two months from today." answered Livewire, "A ride will come for you." He flew away.
Remembrance came to the teenager's thoughts. "What about my secret identity?"
"Don't worry." said Saturn Girl as got closer. "Nobody but us know."
Gohan was relieved, until Saturn Girl got closer to Gohan's face. "Don't get yourself killed until then." She joked with a smile.
"I won't." was Gohan's answer as the girl flew off.
"Famous last words," added Cosmic Boy, passing by the demi-Saiya-jin. "Especially what's in store for you." That puzzled Gohan. What did he mean by that? Before a question could be found however, Cosmic Boy was far away. Once together, the three waved goodbye in a distance.
Gohan waved his hand in farewell. These people seemed a nice bunch. It would probably be cool meeting new friends. Who knows, this whole idea could be a cool adventure. Mom would not like it, but at the moment he did not care.
Gohan looked at his destroyed school clothes. Having placed his wristwatch back on, he switched back to Saiya-man. His next thought was how he was going to explain to Mom how his clothes got ruined.
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As some comic buffs no doubt realize, this story is a loose retelling of how Superboy got into the Legion of Super-Heroes, with Gohan filling in for the Boy of Steel. This should imply that I do not intend to be completely faithful to the facts. I wish to have the Legion of Super-heroes exist in the DBZ universe, but here were inspired by the adventures of Goku and Gohan, instead of the heroes from the DC Universe. Although I will use characters, ideas, and events that existed in the Legion canon, I will be doing my own adaptation that will sometimes contradict from the actual continuity. From what I did here, that intention is evident. That I be faithful to the spirit, if not the letter, of the Legion story is my hope.