The Greatest Japanese Hero
Disclaimer:
Danganronpa is owned by Spike Chunsoft and Lerche
The Greatest American Hero is owned by Stephen J. Cannell
Hello, fellow fic readers and Danganronpa fans! Welcome to a new Danganronpa fanfic. This time something new popped onto my head and I decided to see how this would go as this story has a new twist while retaining most elements from the anime while incorporating "superhero"-like twists here.
It all started when I came across a local mall where on of its stalls was selling a DVD of "The Greatest American Hero", and having seen a few episodes on cable TV in the late 1990's, and watching the opening theme on youtube, along with the info from wikipedia, and watching the DVD that I bought, I decided to try this out and see how this would go as I'm going to combine the plot elements of the two shows, as I feel this story I'm making would be a lot of fun.
While most of the main characters of Danganronpa characters will be shown here, with Makoto Naegi being the main character, some other characters from various Danganronpa series will be making occasional guest appearances.
While there will be some romance in the chapters, in which Sayaka Maizono will be Naegi's partner, he will occasionally be working with other girls in the Danganronpa series, such as Kyoko Kirigiri, while the main villain in this fic will be Junko Enoshima and Mukuro Ikusaba, which they will appear sometime later.
Lastly, the events are set during the first year of Hope's Peak Academy.
So buckle up and enjoy.
The scene shifts to the other side of the galaxy, where you can see a planet similar to that of Earth, though it is shown that it was covered with "pollution", and as the scene zooms in closer, you can see that the unidentified planet is in a state of civil war, and that there were many casualties from both sides, and the ensuing war involves the use of what appeared to be high technology which seemed to be far superior than that of Earth's technology.
As the war reaches its pinnacle, three of the planet's inhabitants, who roughly resembled humans, though their appearances were covered in white silhouette, are revealed to be scientists, and the planet's leader now tasked them to escape their planet and safe-keep what appeared to be a box containing unknown items, and spoke to the three persons, identified as Cherubi, a once disgruntled scientist who indirectly caused the civil war, and is now repentant and redeemed, wanting to make up for his misdeeds. the scene shifts to the other two persons alos covered in white silhouette, though their shapes shows that they are a female and male, and they are identified as Ophani and Seraphi, and like the planet's leader, they also accepted Cerubi's redemption and the four persons are now making preparations to make their escape sensing that the enemy faction are heading their way, and the four of them are determined to keep the item away from evil hands.
"Ophani…Seraphi…forgive me...it's my fault that we are in this dire situation..."
"It's alright…"
"We forgive you…and for the sake of restoring peace…let's work together…"
"But…but…after all the wrongdoing that I've done…"
"The enemy leader did this to you…he manipulated you...but you are okay now…"
"The three of you...you must move on…leave without me...you must safeguard the item no matter what...we can't let the enemy faction get their hands on THAT…"
"What? You…can't be serious…!"
"Great leader…we can't just abandon you…!"
"Please…there has to be another way…!"
"This is the only way…When you find the someone who is better suited for using this item, and proved to be a benevolent user…and once he has proven him/herself, then we shall enlist that person's aid in saving our planet...but for now...you must survive...go now...and good luck."
As the three silhouetted persons banded together and boarded an escape ship, taking the item with them, they left the beleaguered planet and they were saddened by what has happened, yet they must fulfill their mission in which they are now working hard to bring peace back as well as repairing the damage that was done due to the attacks made by enemy forces, As the ship, resembling a UFO, flew farther away from the planet, the scene shows that the planet's leader was captured and taken prisoner, and the enemy forces are unaware that three more targets have escaped, and are unaware that the secret item was with the three persons who fled.
-x-
As the years passed by, the ship traveled within outer space, drifting as they passed by certain solar systems and using a small device they sent it to nearby planets to see if the inhabitants there would be benevolent or malevolent, and so far some of certain planets' inhabitants are somewhat technologically left behind, some rule through monarchy and others through ferocity, thus the ship's inhabitants deemed them not suitable to have the item tested on them.
"These inhabitants...they are not worthy..."
"Yes...they are malevolent..."
"Some are feral in nature..."
"What shall we do now...?"
"We continue..seek out other planets and observe its inhabitants..."
"You are right...we mustn't let our leader's sacrifice be in vain..."
"Then we must not give up..."
"Yes..."
"let us continue the search..."
And so the ship continues to drift in space searching for any planet with life forms who are hopefully benevolent and that they are not fallen to any form of temptation sop that they can judge if any of them are worthy of being given the secret item that the space explorers are carrying.
-x-
In the months that passed, the ship is now within Earth's solar system, and there Cherubi, Ophani and Seraphi saw the nearby planets, and the trio wondered which of the planets have "intelligent inhabitants", and a beam of hope flow within them as they believe that there may be persons who have a "good heart and soul" and may be suitable for using the secret item they've been carrying so long.
"This solar system..."
"It's quite beautiful..."
"And captivating to watch..."
"This is a good opportunity...let's sent our drones to each planet and see what these planets' inhabitants are like..."
"Yes...they may be life forms who are peaceful and benevolent..."
"That planet over there...it resembled ours..."
"You're right..."
"Let's send our drones there and see what its inhabitants are like..."
"Indeed...I will sent it there now..."
And so they sent miniature scout machines to each planets so that they could evaluate and calculate before they make their moves in meeting a chosen planet's inhabitants so they can choose a suitable person they would deem worthy of giving the secret item to.
-x-
The scene shifts to the planet Earth, and the scene zooms in right at the heart of Tokyo, Japan where the timeline now is five years after the events that happened the unidentified planet. You can see the streets are filled with people and vehicles while everything is business as usual. As people are walking the streets and crossing the road, you can see
The scene shifts to Makoto Naegi, lamenting how today was not a lucky day for him. Makoto's life has been nothing but normal up till that point - normal school, normal friends, and a normal family. He's pretty much the textbook example of a normal high school student. However, something went wrong on that particular day.
It all started on a clear day after school. Makoto was in a cheery mood thanks to the weather, and he had a feeling that something good might just happen to him. One thought occurred to him - maybe he should take the long way home. He thought about doing something different than usual.
And that was the beginning of his misfortune. Makoto passed by a park, and saw a group of his friends trying to decide who to send to the convenience store in a game of rock-paper-scissors. They invited Makoto to join the game, and although Makoto would've usually refused it (he didn't know more than half of the people anyways), he felt that he might as well do something different in this case as well. Plus - there were about 10 people in the group. He didn't think losing was a big possibility.
Yet he lost on the first round. Everyone except for him put out rock, while he played scissors. His friends were astonished at just how unlucky Makoto was, but sent him off to the convenience store to buy them snacks and drinks regardless.
Ten minutes later, Makoto was struggling with the two heavy bags filled with the stuff he got from the convenience store. He tried to distract himself by thinking of the music show that'll be on TV tonight - featuring a certain former classmate of his. Yet as his mood began to improve, misfortune struck again. Both of the plastic bags tore open at the same time, spilling their contents all across the pavement.
A few minutes passed and Makoto finished collecting all the cans and bags, but wondered for a moment, as he felt like the stuff he managed to gather was less than what he had started out with. He looked around and spotted an old man sitting on the bench. The old man slowly bent down and picked up a can of coffee that rolled to a stop at his feet, opened it up and drank it.
That can of coffee belonged to Makoto - yet the old man said he felt that it was natural to drink it since it ended up right in front of him. Makoto is flabbergasted at this incredulous excuse, and revealed to the old man that he seemed to be having a very unlucky day, complaining that he didn't do anything bad enough to deserve this streak of misfortune.
The old man laughed and told Makoto that he didn't believe in karma at all. He'd seen plenty of evil people be blessed with fortune, and plenty of kind people suffer all sorts of misfortune. In the end, he says, luck isn't something that a man can control, no matter how much talent one has or how hard one works. He suggests for Makoto to just accept things the way they are.
After finishing their conversation, the old man returned the half empty can of coffee back to Makoto and left, yet Makoto noticed that the old man had left his phone on the bench. He called out to the old man, who was already a distance away, but the old man seemed deaf to his calls. Makoto was conflicted - should he just ignore the phone and bring the snacks to the park, or should he leave those snacks and chase after the old man? He eventually decided on the latter, and rushed after the old man.
His calls were once again drowned out - this time by the sound of a bus coming to a stop ahead. The old man immediately took off towards the bus station - Makoto panicked slightly and upped his own pace as well, and managed to hop into the bus after the old man in the nick of time. Makoto found the old man sitting in the back, and just as he was about to head there, his legs wobbled from the intense running and he lost his balance. Just before he crashed to the ground, he instinctively grabbed onto something. He heard the sound of something tearing, and fell to the ground regardless.
Makoto's sole consolation was that he managed to soften his fall somewhat by grabbing onto the mysterious object, but even that turned out to be simply a continuation of his misfortune.
He happened to tear open a bag, from which spilled dozens of precious jewelry. The owner of the bag, someone looking like your average salaryman, immediately took out a knife and demanded everyone to freeze.
That man was named Jutarou Akafuku. He was a man whose life had been blessed with fortune for as long as he was alive. He found himself in several dangerous situations in the past, but he survived all of them thanks to a series of unlikely coincidences and lucky accidents. He believed that luck was his strength - yet he did not want to admit that. In fact, he sought to eliminate all traces of uncertainty and luck-dependent factors in his job - that of a robber.
He works alone, and only takes on jobs that he knows he can fulfill with absolute certainty. And thanks to his careful planning, he had been extremely successful thus far. He was just done robbing a small jewelry shop, and was on his way home, dressed as a salaryman that nobody will think of looking at twice.
It all went smoothly, until he was involved in somebody's misfortune. It was a misfortune powerful enough that he could not overcome even with his unnatural luck.
In the meanwhile, Makoto was experiencing a minor breakdown thanks to the series of incredibly unlucky events. And to think it all started from him taking the long way home - he couldn't even wrap his head around everything. Correctly identifying Makoto as the cause of his recent misfortune, Jutarou decided to take him hostage, and got the driver out of his seat by threatening to slit Makoto's throat if he didn't comply.
Jutarou sat Makoto down in the driver's seat and used him as a hostage. In the meanwhile, he ordered the passengers in the bus to gather the scattered pieces of jewelry for him, promising their safety if they cooperated. However, just as someone finished gathering all the pieces, the old man, who had been faking sleep up till that point, sprang up and tackled Jutarou, pinning him on the ground. The old man was a kendo master.
At that precise instant, one thought ran through Makoto's mind particularly strongly - he must save the old man.
We get a slight hint of Makoto's optimism and willingness to fight, but that was all for naught as the bus suddenly accelerated - Makoto had accidentally shifted the gears and stepped on the gas pedal. The bus lurched forward, throwing both Makoto and the old man off balance. The old man yelled at Makoto to step on the brakes, which Makoto did immediately, putting the bus to an abrupt stop that knocked him off balance once again. As he was regaining his balance, his hand accidentally brushed over a button.
It was a button to open the bus's door. Jutarou saw this as an opportunity and immediately hightailed it out of the bus. The old man was writhing on the ground in pain, and shouted at Makoto to chase after the robber. Makoto couldn't believe that he'd ask someone of his stature to chase after a grown man - and capture him, no less. But for some reason, the entire bus seemed to be in agreement. Makoto sought out the bus driver for assistance - surely he would point out how ridiculous this situation was - but found the bus driver passed out. How unlucky.
Left with no choice, Makoto jumped out of the bus, only to crash into a postman who took note of the bus's erratic movements and came over to check. Both of them fell over - Makoto lamenting his bad luck again before noticing Jutarou riding the motorcycle that once belonged to the postman. Jutarou was frustrated with the series of irregular happenings that disrupted his careful planning - something like this had never happened before -, and threatened Makoto by saying that he'd hate Makoto for the rest of his life if he ended up being arrested.
Jutarou started the engine and accelerated, believing that he could escape successfully with this motorcycle. He'd have to abandon it eventually since post delivery motorcycles tend to stand out - but that'll be a while ahead. The postman shouted at him, and Makoto simply stood there unmoving. He was tired of the streak of misfortune that seemed to follow him at every step, and decided to give up and do nothing. He just wanted to go back to his normal daily life as a ordinary high school student.
At that moment, the motorcycle that Jutarou was riding tipped over and threw the man across the street. The motorcycle spun wildly and hit a streetlamp before exploding in a shower of sparks and smoke, burning up the bag of letters that the postman had put on it.
Makoto walked towards the accident site, unable to believe his eyes. What he found was a bent and broken can of juice - the cause for the motorcycle overturning, and one of that cans that Makoto accidentally spilled all over the streets just a while ago, and one that he wasn't able to locate when he searched for missing cans.
It was a series of impossible coincidences caused by Makoto's bad luck. And this situation was merely a result of Makoto's overwhelmingly bad luck managing to defeat Jutarou's careful planning and luck. It rendered all sorts of talent and hard work futile.
Yet this was not the end of the worst day in the life of Makoto Naegi - but he himself would not realize this until much later.
The scene shifts back to Jin Kirigiri, who has been informed that the letter addressed to that year's Ultimate Lucky Student has been burnt up in an unfortunate accident involving a robber and a motorcycle stolen from a postman. Having heard that, Jin Kirigiri decides to hold the lottery again, because he feels that the misfortune of having her admission letter burn up disqualifies her from being accepted as Ultimate Lucky Student. In fact, he's already gotten the results of the draw - Makoto Naegi.
Meanwhile, Makoto was returning home after a long period of questioning by the police (and of course, he missed Sayaka's performance on the TV that he was looking forward to). He was dead tired, yet his nerves were still on the edge as he was wary of more unfortunate things happening to him on the taxi ride home. Fortunately, he arrived home rather smoothly - only to be greeted by his enthusiastic younger sister, who told him that a letter from Hope's Peak Academy had arrived for him, accepting him as this year's "Super High School-level Luckster".
Makoto was overjoyed - he felt like all the misfortune that he'd experienced in this day had been overturned by this news, but little did he know that he was wrong.
As the Naegi siblings were rejoicing the news, they did not notice that a small floating device was actually trailing Naegi and recorded the events he is involved in, and then leaves as it heads upwards and less than an hour later it reached outer space where Cherubi, Ophani and Seraphi received the footage and after witnessing it, they deemed Naegi "morally fit" to receive the secret item they intend to give, seeing that he is benevolent enough to face the challenges and believed that once he adjusts to his would-be challenges they would later approach and ask for his aid.
"That boy...he appeared to be an ordinary life form..."
"Indeed..."
"Yet he is very benevolent...and innocent..."
"Is it wise for us to send this secret item to him?"
"We have nothing to lose if we give it to him...and if her turns out to be a very undesirable one...then we will take it back..."
"I see...are you two fine with this?"
"I do..."
"I agree..."
"Then it is decided...now let us analyze the data we got...hmm...Makoto Naegi...aged 15 years old..."
To Be Continued…
Hope you like this opening chapter, and my apologies if the other Danganronpa casts have not been shown, apart from Jin Kirigiri and Komaru, with a brief mention of Sayaka Maizono, and only the "three humanoid-like aliens" are shown throughout the chapter but this is because of it's an integral part of building up the story of this fic, which I decided to give more on the plot.
Don't pout…I'm going to give our Danganronpa cast more screen time once the next chapters come in to play…
Preview:
The next chapter jumpstarts the story as Naegi starts his "normal life" at Hope's Peak Academy, and there he will immediately get involved in situation where his "luck" would kick in while befriending some of the Danganronpa cast…
Moreover, the three "humanoid-like aliens" finally make their moves as they made their presence known to Naegi and…well…that's where his "luck" would change his life for the better...or worse…