Everything's Super

Synopsis:  In this crossover, set after Street Fightin' Sanbot, we find out the backstory behind Zordon and Rita's war all those eons ago. Poison Ivy captures Alpha 5 with the intention of charming him and placing him under her control, but Rita agains wants Alpha 5 for herself so she and Zedd need the aid of the Rangers and the Justice League (including new hero-in-training Harley Quinn, Ivy's best friend.)

Chapter 1--San Francisco Comic Con

It was the ‘Con to end all cons’ and any nerd, geek, dweeb, fanatic, casual collector, purist or dork was going to be there.   That included Billy and his friends.   Normally they would’ve turned something like this down, but the Rangers were still pretty much big kids at heart.  Besides, they were helping Kimberly and Aisha raise money for good causes.   The money they pooled together would help orphans find good homes and give pets excellent owners, amongst other things.    

One of the things they were selling were issues of the latest Justice League comics.  Zack didn’t want his friends to know but he was a super DC nerd and he had gotten extremely psyched about the upcoming film after the huge box office success of Wonder Woman.   Typically nerd dom and geek dom was reserved to Billy but when it came to DC, he was an expert.    With the latest issue, Zack had shelled out just a little money to complete his collection.  Adam and the others saw him and joked around with him a bit.  

Bulk and Skull had come to the convention dressed as superheroes, not unlike their made-up ones from Mayor Jane Carrington's "Power Ranger Day". Bulk had decided to be Thor and Skull was Loki, appropriately. The two of them were having a blast, especially at the meet and greet area where the celebrities were located.

Meanwhile…

Brainiac began to formulate his wicked plot to destroy the Justice League once and for all. ‘I can erase them out of existence. If I eliminate the source material and its entirety. Some human must be the main seer and prophet of our realm. I must eliminate them.’, he thought foolishly, not thinking that obliterating the prophet would subsequently erase him as well. It didn’t matter to Braniac. He was tired of being labelled ‘second class’ and ‘subpar’. He would show the Legion of Doom exactly what he was made of. ‘They’ll take me seriously now since I have the ability to manipulate space time !’, he thought, rubbing his hands together greedily. Maniacally, he set the portal into place, not knowing that heroes were going to get inadvertently sucked into it as well.

Chapter 2--She’s Pretty As a Daisy

Poison Ivy had been tying up potential plant slayers with her new breed of piranha. It would only devour those Ivy felt needed to learn a lesson. More often than not, she dealt very well in techniques of manipulation but plea bargaining worked even more sufficiently. Ivy had the would-be flora assassins a bit tied up at the moment. Before she could leave undetected, the fuzz had broken down the door and the SWAT team followed. ‘Really ? This is how you treat a woman ? You should be ashamed of yourselves !’, Ivy said, easily knocking the SWAT team out of the way, tossing them aside as if they were flimsy rag dolls. Her piranhas easily allowed her getaway and she fled into Gotham until she met up with the Dark Knight. ‘Hmmph. You’re always spoiling my fun. You should really find a new hobby, Crusader.’, she scoffed.

‘Keeping Gotham safe is more than a hobby, Isley.’, Batman retorted, tailing her. As they engaged in their typical cat and mouse chase, they began to phase in and out of existence. Come to think of it, they weren’t the only ones. Wonder Woman, her mom Hippolyta and her sisters back in Themyscira experienced the same oddity as well as Aquaman, Flash, Zatanna, Harley Quinn, Constantine, Doctor Fate, Green Lantern and even Superman. Something very fishy was happening here, and if Superman’s guess was any indicator who was in charge, Doctor Fate and Constantine would have to work together to weave the threads of destiny itself back into alignment. However, that was easier said than done. They would have to find a way out.

Chapter 3--Playing League of Legends

‘Aw, sweetness. Check it !’, Adam said, pointing the team to the arcade the Con had. Of course, a fee had to be paid for entry but once deposited, the whole lot of them could play videogames to their hearts content.

A few hours later, the convention hall's lights began to flicker, as it a thunderstorm was raging outside. The other convention goers gasped.  Some little children had begun whining, mewling and crying in their parents’ arms, getting their fears asuaged.   Some of the parents were just as terrified as their youngsters, though.    There was a rather large quake, big enough to send everyone out of the building to save themselves.     There was a rush of wind and it was far too dark to see the superheroes make their grand entrance.  

Everyone hit the ground planting their feet into the soil.   Most of the superheroes on earth resumed ‘normal’ activities that they were pursuing in Gotham.   For instance, Poison Ivy saw Alpha from a distance and was instantly intrigued.   She had always wondered if her pheromones could entice him as easily as they did anyone in the vicinity.   It even worked on animals that might have wanted to cause her harm.

‘I might as well give this experiment a little shot.’, she mused to herself, opening her hand and blowing pheromones his way.   He was a bit dazed by the pink pollen causing him coughing paroxysms.  

‘Ugh, what is this pleasant smelling stuff ?   Uhhhh…’, Alpha said.  The moment the pink cloud cleared, all he could see were hearts and stars and all he wanted to do was make this unusually green lady happy.    He simply called her ‘Green Lady’ at first.  

‘Come with me, I have a plan that involves you !   I definitely know you can be useful, I just don’t know how yet !   Oh, and the name is Poison Ivy, or Ivy.   Green Lady’s cute and all, but it sounds more like the Jolly Green Giant’s wife.’, Ivy said with a pleasant and seductive smile.   Infatuated and devoted, Alpha 5 followed the mysterious plant lady to wherever she was going and hoped to execute her plan with alacrity.    

Chapter 4--Realization

The quake had literally shaken up everyone quite a bit.  The Rangers had adjusted to the lack of light outside only to find that their best friend was gone.

‘Have any of you seen Alpha 5 ?’, Aisha questioned.

‘No.  He doesn’t seem to be here.’, Sanbot chirped sadly.  Sico did a scan and found an unusual residue.

‘There seems to be a trail.  I suggest we follow it.’, she stated, hope in her electronic voice.   The team was less downhearted, but still concerned that Alpha 5 might be in big trouble, quite possibly doing something that normally he wouldn’t if he was in his right frame of programming.

As the Rangers were roaming along, they came across Superman and the others.  Batman was trailing Poison Ivy just like the others.  

‘I don’t know how we got here, but I am thinking Brainiac is behind it.’, Constantine began.

‘Yeah, one moment, I’m at a kid’s bar mitzvah, entertaining, the next, I’m in this unusual realm, unlike anything I have ever seen.’, Zatanna concurred.   'You're in Angel Grove, California.', said Conky 2000. 'Welcome to the Power Chamber. Does its computer consoles look familiar ?'

'Hey, the King of Cartoons gave me some of your comics to read once, when I was really sick with a cold. It's nice to see you guys. The name's Herman Reubens, but everyone I know calls me Pee-wee.', Pee-wee said with a big smile.

"How about I call you Herm ?", asked Blue Beetle.

‘Go ahead, Blue Dude.’, Pee Wee retorted.   Beetle liked the sound of his new nickname, it was indelibly cool.    Quickly the whole squad was brought up to date on the situation and no sooner had that happened that Alpha 5 had gotten on the news.   He had become a veritable Elliott Alderson hacking into banks and stealing money for his ‘Rose Queen’.   

‘She definitely has some sort of hold over him.’, Somnibot concluded obviously.

‘It’s her pheromones.   We have to put an end to this before the Stock Market is cleaned out completely.   At the rate your friend is going that might not be long from now.’, Batman said.

‘Come on, what are we waiting for ?’, Flash huffed, speeding ahead of them.   

Chapter 5--But Alpha 5’s My Servant !

Rita had just awakened out of recuperative slumber when she had heard the bad news from Baboo.  

‘Looks like someone else got their grubby hands on your Alpha 5, my horribleness.’, he sniveled.    Rita roared.   She wasn’t about to have some plant lady take advantage of Alpha 5’s evolving skill.    Using her teleportation sequence, she appeared right in the middle of the robbery, yanking Alpha into her clutches.    

Poison Ivy roared, getting into a tug of war over Alpha until he shrieked, shrilly, causing them both to hold their ears in alarm.

‘OW !’, Ivy whined, cleaning out her ears.   Rita had some ringing in her ears but hit her head a few times gently to make it stop.  

‘Do I have your attention ?   Good.’, Alpha began.   Apparently the pheromones had worn off and he was coming to his senses.   The two had stopped straight in their tracks to listen to the little robot’s speech.   

‘What’s happening now is bigger than you, me and all of us combined.    We can’t have these tawdry arguments while the Universe itself is being rewritten.’, Alpha said.    Neither Ivy nor Rita understood what the brilliant robot meant by that.   Someone somewhere had been responsible for all the chaos but they weren’t sure who or how to stop it.   All they knew is Alpha made a semblance of sense and his logic was overtly trustworthy.  

‘Fine.  I don’t want to work with this freak but I suppose I have no other choice.’, Rita grumbled.    Ivy, too, harrumphed, crossing her arms in childish manner.  

‘We’re probably going to be more powerful together.   I think it behooves us to work as one.’, Rita said.    Reluctantly, Ivy uncrossed her arms and exhaled sharply, extending a tendril for Rita to shake.   It felt rather unusual to be giving a handshake to a vine but the meaning was apparent.   Alpha knew he had no time to waste.   At any rate, his friends would be looking for him and he’d have to explain everything to them, so for the time being, they stayed put.   Matters were quiet for the time being, but as with any super-villain plot, looks can be hideously deceiving.   

Chapter 6--The Oblitibots

Brainiac was getting bored that his plan wasn’t moving nearly so quickly as he had liked. Therefore he sent the Oblitibots from his realm into ours. Their only purpose was to exterminate any do gooder, superhero or no. They were odd looking creatures, orbs with arms, basically, with laser beam eyes and razor claws for hands. Their method of killing could be anywhere from merciless to merciful depending on how much Brainiac wanted to be entertained. With a flourish of his cape, deviously pleased, the despot sat in his throne, watching his creation make their descent upon earth. ‘Now is where the real fun begins.’, he thought, interlacing his fingers. It wasn’t time to celebrate just yet, but the anticipation was only the beginning, he knew.

Chapter 7--Tougher Than They Look

Flash and the others were racing towards Alpha's location when they spotted several Oblitibots. 'This must be Brainiac's welcoming committee.', Kimberly said astutely. 'We've dealt with tougher robots than these. Let's get 'em !', Jason said bravely. They all lined up in typical formation and the bots made the first attack upon the first wave of Oblitibots. They were far too easy to take down. It proved to be a distraction, Starfire, Doctor Fate and Zatanna had warned them of that, so they didn’t allow themselves to be diverted. The prophet of the DC world was happily writing his latest magnum opus. It had been the finest issue of Justice League comics that the world would ever see. All he had to do was finish inking it and he could begin mass printing it. The other artists had done a magnificent job putting their blood, sweat and tears into August’s issue but they had gone home for the night. ‘Once this puppy sells, I’m going to have a bit of a party at the local wind tunnel and roller rink. Heck, I’ll just make a whole day out of it.’, Magnus thought to himself, putting the final touches on what he called ‘The Ultimate Crossover’ Issue. It was labeled ‘Time/Space Continuum Conundrum’. He felt it had a rather pleasant, catchy and austere ring to it. He looked at his hands and thought maybe lack of sleep was getting to him. ‘Man, I must be really losing it. Either that or I have gotten too involved in my work.’, he felt, pensively. His hands were beginning to become transparent. Yawning, he went to bed and clapped to turn the lights off. ‘Probably nothing more than my imagination.’, Magnus Brewer mused, falling quickly asleep. All the while, his comic collection, the manuscripts, his laptop and finally Magnus himself were beginning to be erased from history for good, but just then…

Heroes from both dimensions literally leapt forward. Magnus woke up from a nearly delta sleep, shocked at what he was seeing. He had to rub his eyes and pinch his cheek to make certain he wasn’t going cuckoo.

'Am I dreaming ?', he thought to himself. He rubbed his eyes yet again and was lifted into Wonder Woman’s arms. ‘I hope I never wake up !’, he said, completely smitten. Diana had to laugh, even if this man was her current creator (William, his wife Elizabeth and his friend Harry Peter had died years ago). As a human being in rather good shape, he wasn’t at all heavy. To her, he felt like a sack of flour or bag of potatoes; extremely lightweight. ‘We need to get you out of here before you disappear completely. There has to be a connection between you and your media…’, Batman deduced. Harley deduced it was the media itself that had enchantment. Having the most experience with all things occult, Zatanna examined the first issue, encased in linoleum with her ‘Sight’. ‘This has been cast in powerful elixirs. I am unsure of who did it but it will take me a while to cleanse it completely.’, she said.

‘Will I still see the visions ?’, Magnus asked. ‘Did you see them before you purchased this first edition ?’, Zatanna inquired, curiously. Magnus sat down, looking akin to Rodin's Thinker. He didn’t think long because he already knew the answer. ‘You are. That makes you unique amongst human beings. I’m probably stating the obvious though.’, Zatanna said. She began the long, deliberate process of cleansing the pristine NRFB edition and yawned. Seeing it was late, the heroes and heroines wondered if they could crash for the night at Magnus’s place. He had plenty of room and it wasn’t at all cramped. ‘Sure, make yourself at home. I’ll get whatever you need. As for me, I’m turning in for the night. I’m bushed.’, he stretched and found himself yawning. The others found places to sleep for the night, completely enervated by their fight. Brainiac was getting annoyed. ‘So they found all possible pathways of my plot. No matter. I’ll simply enter their dreams and make them paranoid…’, he said, closing his eyes and beginning to meditate.

Chapter 8--Guardians of Dreamworld

'Guys, what happened to the Justice League ?', Jason asked.

'No idea.', Kim responded.

'Same thing with Ivy, and Harley, can't find them...anywhere.', Alpha said, beginning to yawn as if Somnibot was casting her spell already.

SICO, Sanbot, ASIMO and Pepper did a quick scan for any type of life signs and found that Zatanna had spirited all of them away to a ‘limbo type realm’ in which Brainiac had no sway or power.   

‘Why can’t we reach them ?’, Aisha asked, clearly confused.  

‘It’s magic.  I don’t really understand it, but it is high white alchemy of the metaphysical variety.’, Beta explained as well as he could.     Somnibot could capture a glimpse of what was going on in that alternate realm.   They were protecting Magnus and keeping themselves occupied with card games, board games and basic D&D.   Some of them told incredible tales of valor and might passed down from mother to child.   Needless to say, Magnus was about to have plenty of material for his next comic book.    

‘Don’t worry about them, Pasitea.  They’ll be fine.’, Somnibot said to her daughter.  

‘I know Brainiac's suggestions can’t get to them and he can’t reach them there, but eventually they’re going to have to travel back to their world.   I don’t really see much of a way out of this.’, she said, feeling helpless.

‘We have the Lord of Dreams on our side, remember ?   This is his realm, his rules.’, Morpheus said.    

‘Did someone mention me ?’, the lank, pale Lord asked.  

‘Well we are in somewhat of a pinch.’, Delta responded obviously.

‘I am well aware.   Let me take care of it.’, Dream responded, unflinchingly.   With a flick of his wrist and the twinkle of the Cosmos in his eyes, he levitated and hovered mid-air, cross legged.  After a few seconds he returned to the ground of the Dream Realm.

‘That should keep Brainiac occupied for quite some time.’, Dream stated, almost poetically.   He nearly cracked a smile as he sent everyone back home and they awoke from their dreams.

Meanwhile…

The Oblitibots were confused and continued barraging him with lasers.

‘NO YOU FOOLS !  I’m not the enemy !   Cease !  Desist !  I command it !’, he bellowed.  There were too many and the attacks were far too fierce.   Feeling cowardly, he waited for the best invention he had created thus far to destroy itself.   He also no longer had any connection to the Prophet and could no longer reach the Justice League.  

‘Curses.   Next time, they won’t be so lucky.   I won’t let them get the upper hand on me again.’, he vowed as he came out of hiding.    The aftermath of the Oblitibot slaughter had been brutal but at least now it was all over.   With a swipe of his hand, his lair was back to normal.    Then an insidious thought hit him.   

‘I could just kill them all in the real world !’    Delirious, Brainiac allowed himself to sleep for the night, healing from his wounds, preparing himself for the inevitable, and most likely epic skirmish to follow.  

Chapter 9--It’s Brainiac We’re Talking About, Guys !  

That morning, everyone had gotten a very pleasant night of sleep and there wasn’t even any fighting in the Dream Realm.   Dream had been successful in his magic against Brainiac and he had transported Zatanna and the others back from their pocket universe existing somewhere in the nether parts of the aether.    

‘Man, that was a rolicking good lucid dream.  I wish I could have more of those.  It was so exciting !’, Supergirl winked with a smile.    She was still getting used to human life here on earth and ‘sleeping’ had become a relatively new and delightful experience for her.   

‘Time to head back then.  Feels good to be victorious !’, Cyborg exclaimed.  

‘This is Braniac we’re talking about, Cyborg.   Don’t get overly confident.   He’s up to something.’, Robin warned.  

‘Once I see that egomaniac loser, I’m taking my hammer and bam, boom, crash, slam !  To the moon and don’t you come back !’, Harley vowed.   

‘Glad you’re not part of the Injustice League, Harls.’, Catwoman said, with a bit of a playful wink.    

‘And miss all this great action ?  You kiddin’, toots ?’, Harley teased.  

‘Man, I’m hungry.   What'cha all got for eats ?’, Blue Beetle inquired.   

With that, Batman surprised everyone and actually whipped up a very elegant breakfast for all.    Somehow they all knew that they’d be dealing with Brainiac very soon.   Fate had a feeling that the villain had finally gone off the deep end once and for all.   

Chapter 10--At Least We’re FIghting In An Abandoned Parking Lot This Time

30 minutes after breakfast, Ranger HQ's alarms went off.

'Brainiac just won't quit, will he ?', Blue Beetle said with a groan.

'He gave us some time to finish eating before continuing. He's somehow generous, if only for this time.' Wonder Woman said.

‘I just realized something.  We have to head back to Ranger HQ.   They must be very worried about us by now.’, she added.  

‘Agreed.’, Catwoman replied.   

Zatanna provided a spell to portal them directly to HQ but by the time they were there, Zordon had some dire news.  

‘Brainiac challenged them in the nearby parking lot.   He’s lost his sanity.   The Rangers are holding their own pretty well with everyone giving it their all but I don’t know how much longer they can hold out like this.’, he warned.  

They could tell all of them were getting beaten pretty badly, even with the superior moves of their robot friends.    Alpha 5 had Poison Ivy assist him in a move they called ‘the deadly fly trap’, and yes, it did do damage, but only enough to merely scratch Braniac.   It was unreal that he could do this all on his own without the League of Doom or Injustice faction helping him.   He had grown nearly invincible with power.   

‘We have to go, now !    Thanks for the AV update but the Rangers need us !’, Flash retorted, becoming heated.   His ire had been kept at bay so far but Brainiac was really starting to annoy him at this point.    Coming in at just the right time, the League acted as a well-oiled machine to finally have their revenge on Braniac.   Magnus was safe now and he could no longer be deleted from existence.   His death would come as all humans do in their own time with age, wear and tear.   He could savor a long existence and continue making money from his popular comics.   Besides, with all that had happened, the League knew he had plenty of best-selling material to keep him occupied.   

Brainiac was doling out haymakers, uppercuts, right hooks and clotheslines like they were going out of style.   The Rangers and heroes formed a chain reaction that even Brainiac couldn’t escape.    Sensing that the end was coming, he mustered what was left of his psychokinesis and teleported back to the Legion’s lair to collapse in defeat.    

Chapter 11--So, What Now ?

Totally tuckered out, the Justice League took one last stop at a familiar watering hole for a well-deserved victory meal.

When they got there, Wonder Woman's mom Hippolyta and some of her sisters were there. They too were somehow equipped with Zeo power.

‘This must be some sort of gift from the Gods.’, Hippolyta trumpted.   Diana wanted to explain to her why they had this ‘leftover from man’s world, but allowed her mom to have her moment of glory.   Evil was no match for their newly acquired abilities.   They couldn’t help but smile and savor the rest of the day, taking a much needed vacation from crime fighting for once.  

Angel Grove was quiet and Zordon was the only one that was still awake.

‘Can’t sleep ?’, Somnibot asked, yawning a bit after having headed from the kitchen to fetch a glass of water to quench her thirst.   

‘I suppose I was remembering my past with Rita.   I’d love to have my bodily form yet again.  One day, I’ll be able to maintain it but for now, I guess being in this state is better than none at all.’, Zordon replied with a bit of a chuckle.    Somnibot thought of a song to hum to him and that was all he needed to get the sleep he desired.   She thought long and hard for a moment, and knew that if all the Rangers put their heads together, they might be able to bring Zordon back to his original glory.   It would take time but if anyone could do it, it had to be the bots and the now ‘young adults with attitude’ crew.   

Epilogue

The weekend had certainly been memorable and coming back to Angel Grove High had given the friends a lot of nostalgia.   Ernie was still there and hadn’t aged a day and the shakes, malts and other meals he made were top notch.   Quality control hadn’t budged in over all those years he had manned the establishment.   Someday, he planned on letting his son, EJ take it over, but EJ still wasn’t old enough yet.   EJ did hold a ton of promise, having the same ambition, drive and talent that his old man possessed.   

As usual, each of the young adults went their own way and said their goodbyes while the robots manned HQ and chatted energetically amongst each other.  The superhero battle was going to be one for the ages and one that they would never forget.   Zordon had known all along that they could do it if they linked their abilities as one.   Every day, he learned more and more from them and lived vicariously in all they said and did.   Even though he had no children of their own, he was their beaming, proud papa, and would always be.    Someday, he knew, he’d be able to tell them just how elated they had made them and perhaps even give them all a much deserved pat on the back with the strong arms that sent Rita and her gang to the moon.  

Someday, he mused...someday.  

The End