The Greatest Japanese Hero
Disclaimer:
Danganronpa is owned by Spike Chunsoft and Lerche
The Greatest American Hero is owned by Stephen J. Cannell
First off, many thanks to those who reviewed this fic, I really appreciated it and this gave me inspiration to work on the next chapter as the Sayaka Maizono arc continues, and here Naegi and Kirigiri are working together to figure out who took the Idol and where she is kept, while the Class of 78 joins in to conduct their search for Maizono to help and save their classmate which would take place after classes have ended for the day.
Lastly, the "stalker" makes a move to go after Naegi in an attempt to "put him out of the way for Maizono's sake"…
The scene shifts to an abandoned establishment, where it was morning and the scene slowly zooms inside, and there you can see Sayaka Maizono is tied up in a chair, blindfolded and gagged, yet still sedated as she is still under the effects of the chloroform, which indicated that she has been there for a several hours after being abducted from the parking lot of a hotel, and so far she wasn't harmed in any way.
The next scene zooms around where every space at the wall are plastered with posters, which showed the five-girl band idols, with Sayaka Maizono in the center, and another scene shows that some of the areas of the wall have Maizono's picture plastered, and soon the scene zooms at a silhouette of a fan who is watching a TV where Maizono and her idol band are performing a live show, and there the scene zoomed closer towards the TV where it showed a live TV news where reports stated that Naegi wasn't charged for the Maizono's abduction, in which the kidnapper was infuriated as he is expecting Naegi to be detained so that Naegi "will not bother Maizono again" and began stabbing the picture where Naegi's portrait is shown.
Believe It Or Not by Joey Scarbury
(Opening Song from The Greatest American Hero)
Look at what's happened to me,
I can't believe it myself;
Suddenly I'm up on top of the world,
Should've been somebody else.
Believe it or not,
I'm walkin' on air,
I never thought I could feel so free;
Flyin' away on a wing and a pray'r,
Who could it be?
Believe it or not, it's just me.
Just like the light of new day,
It hit me from out of the blue;
Breakin' me out of the spell I was in,
Makin' all of my wishes come true.
Believe it or not,
I'm walkin' on air,
I never thought I could feel so free;
Flyin' away on a wing and a pray'r,
Who could it be?
Believe it or not, it's just me.
Ch. 12: Aidoru o Kensaku
The following night, the scene shifts to the place where Maizono first disappeared, and it shows that Kirigiri is standing at the spot where Maizono's personal belonging, and Naegi's school ID are found, and Kirigiri is in deep thought as to who would do this and how the culprot managed to take Naegi's ID and as much as she hate to admit, the culprit made a good job of diverting the police's attention, as they were preoccupied in pinning the blame on Naegi resulted in the culprit in making a clean getaway with Maizono.
By then Naegi arrived, who answered her call and went to the site in secret as the time now is midnight, and there Kirigiri saw naegi arriving, and he is dressed in a hat and trench coat, while noticing that he is wearing the RED SUIT underneath it as she advised him earlier to wear it in case they get a glimpse of the culprit, while at the same time she had an idea that Naegi might have other super powers hidden if he were to wear the red suit. As the two teens meet, she began telling him the reason for the secret meeting.
"...and that's why..."
"Ehhh? You got to be kidding!"
"Humiliating as it sounds...but this is the only shot we have..."
"But..."
"You said that the aliens gave you that suit for "benevolent purposes"...and we are doing something benevolent by using the suit's power to try and trace Maizono-san's whereabouts..."
"But..."
"For your friend..."
"..."
Naegi sighed as he realized that Kirigiri brought him here so he could make use of the red suit's power even though he knew he has no control over it and that he is unsure if the suit grants him other powers, but after some prodding in which she claims that Maizono's fate rests within him, Naegi decided to go along with her plans and he knelt down and touched the floor where Maizono's bag and his school ID were found, and to his surprise, he discovered another power given him by the red suit, as a holographic image appeared on the ground, in which only Naegi could see.
"What the...?"
"Naegi-kun...?"
"Is that...Maizono-san...?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I saw her...Maizono-san!"
"Where? I don't see her...only the concrete ground..."
"But I could see her...!"
"Wait...maybe that red suit is showing you something which only you can see..."
"Okay...I'm getting something...she's tied up on a chair and..."
Naegi could "see" what the image shows where it showed Maizono being tied up in a chair, and there Naegi tries to make up of what he is seeing, but as the two teens are bickering, a nozzle appeared through an open window of a parked van and it is aimed towards Naegi, and there the weapon opened fire, firing a bullet and struck Naegi on his back, but because he was wearing the red suit underneath his trench coat, the bullet simply bounced off and struck a passing pedestrian on his head, which resulted in his instant death which startled the two teens, and Naegi lost signal of the image that he's trying to analyze.
"Naegi-kun...are you okay?"
"Yeah...I'm okay..."
"The red suit...it protected you...I saw the bullet bouncing off your back..."
"You're right..."
"The pedestrian!"
"Eh?"
"Let's go!"
"Okay..."
As Kirigiri and Naegi attended to the fallen victim, the parked van began driving away from the scene and Kirigiri realizes that the culprit is the one who opened fire and believed it to be the one who took Maizono and told Naegi to go after the van and pin down the driver, even though Naegi was still bewildered at the turn of events but Kirigiri's prodding eventually persuaded him to do so even though he was not fond of the idea.
"That must be the culprit who took Maizono-san!"
"..."
"After him, Naegi-kun!"
"How?"
"Use the red suit and fly!"
"Ehhh? You got to be kidding!"
"It's our only chance to find and save Maizono-san!"
"Oh, man...!"
Left with no choice, Naegi removed his hat and trench coat and it shows that he was wearing the red suit and cape, and ran a few steps before jumping upward and started to fly, and even though it was his third try, he was still having difficulty controlling his flight pattern and had to wave his arms just to steer his flight but to his relief he was starting to get the drift and focused on chasing after the van that is getting away, and willed himself to try and get closer to the fleeing vehicle as it is now at the main road, speeding away like a crazed driver controlling the vehicle regardless of whether there is a pedestrian on the road or not.
As the minute passed, Naegi is struggling to catch up with the van and he is starting to get close, intending to land on the van's roof so he could hold on and try to find a way to make it stop knowing that he still has difficulty in controlling his flight, and as he is close to landing on the van's roof, the van suddenly turn left, and this proved to be BAD LUCK for Naegi, as he is unable to make a sharp turn and instead flew straight ahead and he tried to make himself stop but is unable to and ended up colliding and landing at a parked dump truck's compartment.
"Damn...!"
Thankfully, no one is around as Naegi gets out and he is covered in trash and found a discarded trench coat and took it and began walking home while there is no one around, and an hour later he managed to sneak back home and talked to Kirigiri on the cellphone and told her of what happened, and the Detective sighed as the Luckster told her about his failure to catch the culprit and she told him to rest up as she is about to talk to investigators about the crime scene where she would have to convince them about what really happened without giving away Naegi.
-x-
The next two days, the scene shifts to Hope's Peak Academy, where Naegi arrived a little early, as he is still dazed from what happened two nights ago, and he felt a bit traumatized after everything he went through and yet he is relieved that he wasn't suspected of Maizono's abduction yet being manhandled by the police chief is something he wanted to forget, and as he is walking the hallway, he felt the piercing stare from other students, some still believed that Naegi is the culprit over Maizono's kidnapping while others remained neutral, yet he can hear the whispering from other students who are in to gossips and rumors.
"That's him..."
"The news says that Naegi's cleared..."
"I don't believe it myself..."
"I'm sure he's the culprit..."
"Maybe he and Maizono eloped..."
"He's a pervert..."
"A lucky pervert..."
"What a loser..."
Ignoring them, Naegi went towards his classroom where his classmates are there, save for Enoshima and Ikusaba, and the scene shows that the classmates are relieved to see him and approached Naegi, talking and comforting him after being told by Ishimaru about what Naegi went through at the police station and they said that they are thankful that Kirigiri showed her support and helping the "Luckster" in clearing his name which Naegi is touched by their sympathy and support.
"Naegi-kun!"
"Naegi-chi...we heard...and we're glad that you were cleared of any suspicions...!"
"You sure are lucky...if you were a gambler like me...maybe you could be luckier that you already are..."
"Don't say things like that, Celes...Naegi is still be shaken by the experience...Naegi, you should thank Ishimaru and his dad...they provided a lot of help in getting you out..."
"Ohgami is right...my dad helped you..."
"I see...tell your dad that I say thanks..."
"Don't be so complacent...you are still considered a suspect until Maizono is found..."
"Oi...don't be so mean!"
"Ohwada's right, Togami-kun! We all know Naegi is not the kind of person who would so something like kidnapping Maizono-chan!"
"Until Maizono is found...until there is definite proof...we consider Naegi innocent until proven guilty..."
"That's right...according to what my fortune telling states..."
"Oh come on...your prediction's only 30% accurate..."
"But at least it's accurate..."
By then Kirigiri arrived and there she told everyone that Naegi's situation is far from over as she stated that they still need to do something and find out where Maizono is being held, and said that ransom is out of the question as she suspected that the kidnapper has an "obsession" towards Maizono and that he has a "hatred" towards Naegi due to Naegi hanging out with Maizono at a mall a few days ago, and the others slowly sensed Kirigiri's theory being right given that death threats sent to Naegi a few days ago and Kirigiri stated that someone within the school may be the culprit as he managed to steal Naegi's school ID so easily.
By then Maizono's manager came and is looking for Kuwata which Kuwata approached him and the two exchanged words about setting an appointment with a recording company that would help launch Kuwata's music career, and there Kuwata asked the manager if he has any word from Maizono's abductor, in which the manager said that he has received none, and then glances at Naegi and approached the "Luckster" and said that he is glad that Naegi is cleared of suspicions while lamenting that Maizono "is too young to be taken away" and hoped that she be found so he can "take good care" of her, which Naegi seemed to relate.
After that the manager leaves but Kirigiri approached him and asked for his calling card in case she wanted to contact him just in case, in which he obliges and gave her his calling card before leaving. Kirigiri glanced at the card, where his name and contact number is shown - Taren Tomaneja. Kirigiri then glanced at Tomaneja for a few moments before heading back to the classroom as she decided to talk with her classmates in to enlisting their help in finding Maizono, sensing that something is amiss in the midst of the situation they are in.
-x-
Later in the day, during lunch break, Kirigiri glanced at the people assembled, in which Leon Kuwata, Junko Enoshima and Mukuro Ikusaba are absent, and she sighed as she'll have to deal with whoever is available, and there Kirigiri told her classmates that she would suggest that they split up and see if they could find a clue that would lead to the abductor's whereabouts and in turn show where Maizono is being held captive, and the rest agreed, in which the class decided to split up and commence the search, in which the group is split up and consists of:
- Celestia Ludenberg, Yasuhiro Hagakure and Hifumin Yamada
- Kiyotaka Ishimaru and Mondo Ohwada
- Sakura Ohgami and Aoi Asahina
- Byakuya Togami and Toko Fukawa
Chihiro Fujisaki asks why she is left out in which Kirigiri stated that she'll handle the computer and use it to try and locate any possible areas via the internet and Fujisaki nodded, and there Kirigiri whispered to Naegi and told him to wear the red suit underneath his civilian clothes as she thinks that the suit's power might help in locating Maizono, just like what he did two nights ago, which Naegi felt a bit uncomfortable with the idea.
"...and that's my advice..."
"Eh? You got to be kidding me..."
"It's the best idea I can come up with..."
"But..."
"You were partially tell that Maizono is alive and fine...but at the same time it saved you..."
"But..."
"Trust me on this..."
"..."
Kirigiri reasoned that with the powers the red suit displayed so far, it would be their best chance in finding and nailing the abductor assuming that he is "armed and dangerous" due to the death threats he sent to Naegi days ago, and the "Luckster" reluctantly nodded and went to the toilet and went inside one of the cubicle room to put on the red suit then his casual attire, feeling a bit hot wearing two sets of clothes at the same time, yet he did this knowing that time is of essence in finding Maizono.
-x-
At the hidden lair, Maizono slowly woke up after the effects of the chloroform wore off and soon she finds out that she is tied up, blindfolded, and gagged, and began to struggle in order to escape, but right now she couldn't and she started to pray that she would escape the situation she is in right now but then someone removed the blindfold and then her gag, and there Maizono saw who did this in which it was a person wearing a hooded jacket, jeans, shoes and is wearing a "Phantom of the Opera" mask and he began stroking her cheeks affectionately which made her scared.
"My precious Sayaka...I am glad that you are safe..."
"Why..."
"What do you mean?"
"Why are you doing this?"
"It's for your own good..."
"But...this is wrong! Release me at once!"
"I cannot...you are not safe...not after what that tabloid reporter and your rival idol did to you...so I took care f them so they won't harass you again..."
"Then...it was you...you killed them!"
The masked person stated that he is Maizono's "number one fan", and that he will not take anyone degrading her lightly, such as her rival idol and her manager, as well as the rude tabloid reporter, and there she realized that HE is the one who committed the murder and said she did not want HIS help, and then she noticed the picture on the wall where Naegi's portrait is struck with a knife and the masked person noticed it and said that Naegi is a "bad influence" that must be dealt with and there Maizono lashed verbally at the masked person while defending Naegi.
"That brat...he has corrupted you...and I will see to it that..."
"NO!"
"What...what is wrong, my beloved..."
"LEAVE NAEGI-KUN ALONE! DON'T YOU LAY A FINGER ON HIM!"
"Eh...? Why? Don't you see he is messing with your head..."
"You're the one whose head is messed-up! Naegi-kun is my friend! I won't let you hurt him!"
"NAEGI-NAEGI-NAEGI-NAEGI...ALL I HEAR FROM YOU IS THAT NAEGI-BRAT! HE IS NOT FIT FOR YOU...BUT ME...ONLY ME! YOU HEAR ME?! I'M THE ONLY ONE FOR YOU! NOT THAT NAEGI-BRAT! I'LL SEE TO IT THAT NAEGI IS REMOVED SO THAT YOU CAN ONLY SHIFT YOUR AFFECTIONS TO ME!"
"..."
The masked person appeared "hurt" at hearing her defend Naegi and went in to a fit of rage and began thrashing the boxes and a table, telling her that he is a BETTER person than Naegi, and branded the Luckster as "someone who is boring and not worth her time", and said that once he kills Naegi, Maizono will shift her affections to HIM, and then stroke her cheeks as he "promised" that HE will take "good care" of her while letting her know that Naegi will be "erased" from the face of Japan, in which he gagged her again before leaving, and there Maizono felt scared and shed tears, silently calling for Naegi's name.
"Naegi-kun...please save me..."
-x-
Later in the day, after classes ended, the Class of 78 left Hope's Peak Academy and splits up to find and cover some areas they think would help in pinpointing Maizono's location, and there Celes used her "connections" to ask if they see anything out of the blue, in which they got nothing much, and Yamada notices Hagakure using his crystal ball in an attempt to "locate" Maizono in which Celes shook her head seeing that the Super High School-level Fortune Teller is using "cheap tricks" that would do little in helping their search for Maizono, something that Yamada readily agrees with her.
"Hmm..."
"What?"
"You're crystal ball's not doing anything..."
"Hush...you're distracting me...can't you see I'm concentrating?"
"Sigh...you boys are so childish..."
"Eh?"
"I didn't do anything strange...!"
"Me neither...!"
"Come on, you two..."
Celes told the two boys that they'll go to the next area and see if she could ask someone else who could provide clues to help and widen their search for Maizono, though Hagakure is still holding his crystal ball and is vainly attempting to try and pinpoint her location. Yamada looked on with doubt, while Celes sighed in annoyance as she told Hagakure to knock it off stating that what he's doing isn't going to help, in which Hagakure tried to rebut her statements.
"You're better off joining the circus..."
"What was that?"
"You heard me..."
"I'm not a fraud!"
"Really...?"
"Really!"
"Shrink..."
"I'm not!"
-x-
Elsewhere, Asahina and Ohgami are searching some known areas where delinquents are frequenting, and there they asked someone there if they happen to know anyone who would play a hand in Maizono's abduction, and "intimidated" by Ohgami's "muscular built", some of the delinquents honestly answered that they don't know anyone who would kidnap a popular idol, reasoning that they too have admired and respect for her, which seemingly convinced the two girls.
"...and that's all we know..."
"We have no idea about what's going on..."
"That's the truth..."
"We're also Maizono's fans..."
"We may be delinquents, but we wouldn't stoop that low..."
"So sorry if we couldn't tell you anything other than what we just told you..."
"I see...thank you for your cooperation..."
"Uh...sure..."
After that, Asahina and Ohgami left and the two girls wondered if the culprit really abducted her for some reason, having heard no news from the abductors and that no ransom has been made until now, and Ohgami felt that the culprit may have indeed been an obsessed fan, and suspected that the culprit may have been the one who set Naegi up, and when they came across another alley, they came across Ishimaru and Ohwada, who are being confronted by a rival biker gang, and Ohgami told Asahina to wait here as she goes to see if their classmates need any help.
The scene zooms in on Ohwada and Ishimaru, and the two classmates are in a bind as Ohwada attempts to "muscle his way through" but Ishimaru persuaded his classmate to let him try to use diplomacy believing that he could get some answers from them but he would soon find himself wrong after getting a response from them.
"Eh...? You're asking us if we happen to see a singing bitch?"
"You sure have some nerve asking us that..."
"You should know better poking your nose in our territory..."
"But your timing is right..."
"We're in need of some punching bags..."
"And you'll be the ones we need..."
"Hope you two would provide some entertainment..."
"Let's get started, shall we...?"
The rival biker gang began surrounding the two boys with Ohwada getting ready to defend himself and Ishimaru, but then Ohgami came to even the odds, in which the rival biker gang was intimidated by an ogre and they called more of their gang members which increased their numbers, and said they're going to put their lights out but then Ohwada and Ohgami began fighting back, in which Asahina pulled Ishimaru away and the two teens watched their classmates beating the hell out of the rival biker gang, and both Ohwada and Ohgami defended themselves until help arrived in the form of the Crazy Diamond Gang, and soon the rival biker gang were beaten up, and Ohgami began using her intimidating presence to force the rival gang to tell the truth, and they soon learn that the rival gang have no knowledge of who took Maizono, and there Ohwada told the rest that he's going to join his gang to see if they could get some intel on Maizono, and the Crazy Diamond Gang left, leaving Asahina, Ishimaru and Ohgami to do their own research, and they too left.
"Is Ohwada-san going to be okay...?"
"I doubt it since all he do is blew his top off..."
"I think he will be fine since his biker gang are with him...they'll be able to calm him down should things get intense...for now we should focus on what we can do for now..."
"You're right..."
"That's Sakura-chan for you..."
"Let us go then..."
"Okay..."
"Right on..."
"Let's try going to that alley..."
-x-
Meanwhile, Togami and Fukawa are doing their own search in which Togami used his own means to figure out who took Maizono and where he kept her, yet he is impeded by the "loving stare" of Fukawa, which irritated him to a degree though he had to put up with her and said to her he'll be needing someone to go to certain places which he believed to be a clue and Fukawa fan-girlishly obliges, which Togami sighed in relief as he managed to trick her in to doing the odd jobs for him.
"Me?"
"Yes...I'll be using my means to get some clues...and you're the only one I could ask..."
"Thank you, Byakuya-sama..."
"Now get going..."
"Of course..."
"NOW!"
"EEK! I'm going!"
"Sheesh..."
As Fukawa went to the areas Togami asked her to, Togami checked the map and looked at certain areas which he believes would give him clues to where Maizono would be at, yet all he could do is wait for Fukawa to come back, and by then she came, holding a bouquet of flowers and offered them to Togami, and the Super High School-level Heir sweat-dropped as Fukawa began hugging him and he tries to get her off him, to no avail and soon the limousine began shaking at the antics of the two teens which the driver smirked at seeing Togami finally having some fun, and congratulated his master, in which Togami rebutted and pleads to the driver to help in restraining Fukawa.
"Congratulations, Byakuya-sama..."
"What?"
"You finally made friends..."
"What are you talking about?"
"You made a truly fine catch with that girl..."
"You're making a mistake!"
"Good luck..."
"SHUT YOUR TRAP AND HELP ME RESTRAIN THIS BRAT!"
-x-
Elsewhere, the scene shifts to the crime scene where Naegi is seen looking at the areas where Maizono's rival idol and her manager are found hanged, and Naegi wondered if there is a clue that would help shed light on the incident while at the same time is worried over Maizono as there has been no word from her father about the abductor contacting him and is starting to believe that the one who sent him the death threats could be the one who took her and looked around and see if there is anything he could find, and noticed a hidden camera near the crime scene and the angle of the camera shows that it was aimed at the position where the victims are being hanged, and seeing that it would be a helpful hint, Naegi, who is wearing the red suit underneath his casual attire, looked around until he saw a room not far, and the red suit's power randomly activated and Naegi gets an "X-ray vision" kind of power, where he located the security room where the hidden camera is connected to a computer, and there he went around and saw a technician and asks if he could take him to the control room where the camera is attached, and the technician allowed Naegi to go with him after showing him a "detective badge" which Kirigiri loan to him in order to allow Naegi access to certain areas of a crime scene.
"Whoa...you're a detective?"
"Um...yeah..."
"So what do you need?"
"See that CCTV up there?"
"Yeah...?"
"Can you take me to the security room? I think the CCTV's computers are hooked there...and maybe I could take a look at the tape that's recorded the incidents from the previous days...it might help in solving a murder case..."
"I see...follow me..."
"Okay, thanks..."
At the security room, Naegi play the computer where the footage is being stored and saw the footage of someone killing the rival idol and her manager and then being hanged, but before the face of the culprit was about to be shown, electricity inside the room went off, and the footage was "shut down", and though he failed to see the culprit's face, Naegi did not give up and managed to have the security tape ejected and placed it inside his backpack before taking his leave, telling the technician to try and get electricity back on.
Outside, Naegi is walking and called Kirigiri on his cellphone and there he told her of what he discovered and there Kirigiri became concerned, as she believed that the culprit is following him and told Naegi to get out of the area immediately and head for her house as she suspected that the culprit may be an employee of that studio and is after him because of the security tape which Naegi slowly absorbed what Kirigiri meant.
"Eh? Seriously, Kirigiri-san?"
"Yes! So get out of there and head for my house!"
"But..."
"Don't argue! If the culprit realizes that you survived because of that red suit that you're wearing, he might shoot you on the head! Now get going!"
"Okay...I'm going...!"
"Are you wearing the red suit?"
"Yes...okay, I'm nearing the exit...huh?"
"What is it...?"
As Naegi is nearing the exit, several equipment and support beams began falling on the "Luckster" and he screamed at the sudden turn of events, dropping his cellphone, and the teen is soon buried under huge pile of beams and equipment which would normally kill or maim and victim, and at the Kirigiri house, Kirigiri tries to call out Naegi via the cellphone while Fujisaki watched in horror seeing Kirigiri's worried look.
At the hideout, a still tied-up Maizono felt a "shock", and then saw the picture of Naegi slowly falling off the wall with the knife dropping and hit the picture, squarely on Naegi's facial portrait and Maizono stared wide-eyed in horror as she getting a "premonition" on Naegi's fate, and tears fell from her eyes fearing for his safety and is mentally wishing for someone to save him while praying for Naegi's safety.
"Naegi...Naegi..."
To Be Continued...
Hope you liked this chapter though not much action is shown here apart from Maizono's classmates splitting up to try and search for her with a few action scenes from Ohwada and Ohgami, with some assistance from the Crazy Diamond Gang. A bit of humor scenes from Togami and Fukawa, while the opening scene shows the culprit trying to "get through" Maizono, and this only worsens the situation as she defies him.
After seven chapters, Naegi puts on the red suit again, and this time he gets a few super powers besides flight, as the suit protected Naegi from an assassin's bullet, showing that the red suit is bullet proof, while at the same time he shows a holographic image where he briefly saw Maizono tied up but he is abruptly interrupted by the culprit, and then an x-ray vision-type of power, and there make use of it to get him to retrieve a possible evidence before getting crushed by debris.
Preview:
The next chapter commences the search for Sayaka Maizono, and there Naegi figured out where she is hidden, and having a showdown the culprit, whose identity is finally revealed...
The Sayaka Maizono arc concludes...