"Do you not think that this is a little extreme?"
"No."
"I understand that the visions you have had for the past two years are perhaps a little distracting, but you yourself have said that they have not harmed you in any way."
Given that OL knows the alternates all exist
for real, I can understand the desire to not get caught up in more dimension-crossing mayhem.
"One thing I learned from that mess with Krona. Parallel universes cause intersecting problems. I saw no sign that Ambush Bug was involved last year. None of the other versions of me I met at Vanishing Point admitted to experiencing anything like it. Which means that Ambush Bug might have done something to me that caused a lasting change to how I work. If so, that is a problem, because… Yes, a few visions one day a year isn't a problem, but if I don't-" Kaldur nods. "-know why it's happening, I don't know how to stop it if the visions start coming more often."
And if they're as
immersive as the ones he experienced first time around, he probably doesn't want the hassle of being tied up sorting through the memories for Ophidian knows how long.
"And if this year none come?"
"Then… Great, it was probably something to do with Krona and I can stop worrying about it."
...It
won't be, will it?
Kaldur smiles a smile which makes it clear to me that he's leaving me to my folly. "Then I will wish you the best of fortune."
"Thank you."
Yeah, generally, when OL's in this mood, you just stand well back, let Batman know about it and wait for the explosions.
"Will you require someone to check in on you?"
"No, that's fine. People have been in close proximity to me both times this has happened-"
And it hasn't stopped any of it. It's probably a good thing the effect wasn't contagious. Can you imagine the locals getting to see stuff like Earth Prime versions of themselves? New Earth? Pre-crisis Earth? Hell, imagine Robin seeing his Golden Age costume... "So, did my guy just hate
pants or something?"
The world around me turns slightly, moments in time being interspersed with brief flickers of white like a projector reel.
"-and can you see that?"
...Oh, dear. Already? That's got to be a freaky thing to see, though.
//
Kaldur frowns at my alarm and
//
looks around. "I cannot see anything usual."
Okay, so it's
just OL getting this trip.
Bon voyage, Paragon!
//
He turns back to me. "Can you describe-?"
//
//
///////////////
...Yeah, that's not
worrying at all.
The universe tilts and whirls and peels away and I'm sent flying and none of my time-wasting machines register anything unusual! There's a street, a road, American road signs, people running while a group of five brightly-costumed individuals fight a mob of grey humanoids and I'm flying or falling-.
/
Uhgh.
Fun fact, DC has done a
crossover with Boom Comics' Power Rangers title. It was apparently...
About
what you'd expect, really.
I land face-down on the asphalt-
"Oh dear. That wasn't supposed to happen."
Oh, boy. That's the
last thing you want to hear upon arrival in an alternate universe.
-and push myself up, construct armour appearing around my body.
The alien looking at me in concern resembles some sort of
uplifted chimpanzee. With… Wings and a monocle. His body... Looks like he's either been heavily bio-engineered or he's wearing organic armour, and he's looking at me like he thinks I'm about to explode.
Ah, yes. Tokusatsu villain
designs. Always an amazing thing to see. Amazing what the costuming department can do with spandex, latex and leather...
The
figure next to him is looking awkwardly at a large bottle in his right hand. His skin is blue, his head and most especially his jaw are far larger than the humanoid norms, while the rest of his body is squat and muscular. His clothing is…
Weird. Baggy trousers with some sort of circular decoration, armoured helmet, boots, shoulder pads and breastplate. The teeth from his lower jaw protrude uselessly from his mouth in a way which puts me in mind of the designs I've seen of Japanese Oni masks.
And of course, the comedy relief bad guy crew. Beware if they get
serious.
"Ahhhh…" He tosses the bottle over his shoulder, and it smashes when it hits the ground. "Not my fault."
"Oh who else could it be? I gave you a simple task-."
Based on a quick wiki-walk, that isn't a '
Punk Potion', is it? Regardless, Baboo (or his 'Zyuranger' counterpart Totpat) is meant to be an alchemist, so this makes
some sense?
I'm guessing that's not what they were expecting, though.
"Excuse me, gentlemen."
They freeze, the shorter one looking directly at me for the first time.
Yep, very much not what they thought would happen, I see.
"Oh… That's not good."
"Would one of you mind explaining what's happening?"
And let's make it quick, I'm sure the Rangers won't take long to defeat the
Putties.
"Ah." The simian raises his right forefinger. "One question first."
"Okay?"
"Are you evil?"
...Let me guess, it was meant to be a summoning potion to call forth an 'evil monster' from another dimension, and it snagged... OL?
"A.. completely honest answer to that question would be fairly complex. I have killed a lot of people-"
"Oh?"
Aw, building up his hopes of actually managing to do something right...
"-and I don't feel any reluctance when my goal requires ruthless action-"
The monkey man nods. "Good, good."
Dammit, I can easily picture the suit actor doing a classy chin-rub motion for that. This promises to be
fun.
"-but my goals are generally altruistic; I try to improve the lives of the people and.. society around me."
The blue-skinned one grimaces more, and the two of them look at each other.
...And down they crash. And don't think we missed that slight hesitation, OL. You have done
good. Can't blame yourself for the usual DC events.
"So really it depends on how you define evil."
They both return their attention to me.
Sadly, I don't think he fits it.
"We…" The simian raises his right hand uncertainly. "Might… Need you to help us conquer the Earth."
"I'm.. going to need some evidence that you're some sort of godlike administrator before I even consider that. Do you have a… Curriculum V-?"
Ha! And of course he wants to make sure it's
legal before he considers it.
"Hey!"
The two of them take a nervous step back at the shout, and I turn to see that the brightly coloured fighters have defeated the grey humanoids. The fighters appear to have some sort of empathic shielding; I can see that they're alive and have emotions but that's about it. The figures on the floor… Either dead or they were never-. No, that one twitched. Some sort of automata? A robot or-.
Interesting. The Ranger suits (which I assume are the classic
spandex rather than
either movie's
armoured style) block empathic vision?
They vanish, in… I think that was a teleportation effect.
"Uh-oh."
Because the Putties never leave 'bodies'. Not when they can be recalled to be remoulded by
Finster.
The five of them -yellow, pink, blue, red and black- form up on the red one and adopt… Silly pseudo-martial art poses like it's a photo shoot or something. Hm. They're clearly capable enough, and… They each have weapons and side arms they're not using.
Ring, identify.
Because of their rule about avoiding escalation, of course... 'They only use their weapons for defense' and all that.
Alert! Internet size vastly decreased since last scan. Identifying with paper archives. Targets are vigilante group 'Power Rangers'-
The… Fuck..?
-and are identified by colour.
Bonus, Mr Zoat almost
certainly knew what the Power Rangers were as a kid, even if he might not have been a
fan, and thus would not have had it scrubbed from his memory like the Young Justice info was.
So I expect all manner of snark about their behaviour, rules of engagement and equipment...
"Two of Rita's goon and a new monster." The Red Ranger… Darn, I can't remember what his name was. He draws his sword, which is a sign for the others to draw their main weapons as well. "Let's stop their evil plan right now!"
"Right!" / "Right!" / "Right!" / "Right!"
...Rita's monsters
usually didn't look human, unless they had a magical disguise. So I can see the misunderstanding...
The blue alien cringes further. "I'm outa here!"
His body shimmers and vanishes, and from the look of the other one he's not far-.
Heh. The usual reaction when the henchmen face the Rangers without a handy monster to toss at them...
Something occurs to him.
"Go, my Orange… Warmaster! Destroy the Power Rangers!"
...Well,
spit. And the Rangers are just hot-blooded enough...
"Excuse me?"
He shimmers away as well as the five Rangers charge me.
...To fall for it. Well, time to armour up. Wonder how close his gear would be to a Tokusatsu hero suit.
