The PR/ JLA Crosspoint, Vol 1, Act 1, Scene 1

[Windgrail]

* Revised! The fanfic that Commander Crayfish deemed "Rancid!" is back at full force, divided into more simplistic forms.

* I'll post one scene at a time so that I won't overwhelm the readers (like last time).

* Scenes have been edited, cut, and replaced throughout Volume One.

* The "PR/JLA Crosspoint" is a 4-volume piece. Act 1 of Vol. 1 is entitled "Day of the Portal." I now give you the NEW scene 1 of Act 1- "Fate of an Enterprise."

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Scene One
Fate of an Enterprise

“Captain’s log, supplemental, September 15, 2076. Captain Charles Briggs reporting on the A.K.S. Enterprise-C. Boring, boring and more boring; that’s how I describe this mission. We have been out here for a month looking for life, but all we find are lifeless lumps of rock. There was an asteroid with crystallized bacteria on it a few light years back, and I'm sad to say that's the most excitement we've had, enough to declare it an official holiday, but that’s not real life. Most of the crew wants to go home, but that’s not happening soon. I, too, want to go home and see my wife and kids. All I can hope for is some excitement... preferably something higher on the evolutionary scale than plankton. We should at least be waiting for on the other side of the galaxy for an attack from the Almerac and Skrull.”

His laughter was shattered by an abruptly violent shaking, rattling the captain’s tea off a side table next to his chair onto the floor; it broke into millions of pieces and tea spilled out, moving back and forth with the ship.

The captain screamed out, “What in hell is going on?”

A young ensign replied, “Some kind of disturbance in this sector.”

“You think? What kind of disturbance?”

“I don’t know, sir.”

“Captain,” chimed the science officer, “...I believe this is some kind of inter-dimensional disturbance. I suggest we move away.”

“Good idea, lieutenant. Helmsman, back us off.”

“Yes, sir,” replied the Helmsman.

As he started up the engines, the ship began to shake more violently, forcing the captain to bark out, “Now what!”

“There is some kind of force pulling and pushing us consecutively; that is why we are shaking,” said the science officer, pointing droopily to the main viewing screen.

As they gazed, no one crewmember knew how to reply to the distorted vision they saw before them, not even Captain Briggs as first. The captain took a few investigative steps forward from his chair, eyeballing everything within the screen, and able to identify none of it. It was truly transparent, almost ghost-like in this dead sea of space that the Enterprise drifted in. The disturbance, still unnamed by the crew, carried varied shades of smoky blues and greens, and would periodically blip in and out, sometimes disappearing completely for seconds at a time before returning. It didn't move, not one inch. It was there to stare at the Enterprise, and for the crew to do likewise as the ship continued its forced descent towards it. The captain's strong confidence shattered the suspense.

“Fine, we'll just have to be more forceful than this disturbance. Helmsman-”

“Sir, that may not be a good idea. It could be our engines that is causing the disturbance,” interrupted the science officer.

It was something Captain Briggs had already theorized, the first thing in fact. And if it was the Enterprise's doing, he thought, then it would be a simple matter for the Engineering, a task they would welcome to endure in this dead-stumped adventure, but, he considered, just what if it weren't that simple?

Captain Briggs negotiated with himself, debating the risks in an instance's notice, noting the evidence so far, most primarily, the sickening feeling developing in his gut. It was time to decide.

“Well, there is only one way to find out. Helmsman, activate the Hyper-Drive and go to Mach 1.”

“Yes, sir.”

As they would soon discover to their utter regret, the disturbance had maintained too strong of a grip around the Starship. It was being vacuumed towards this unknown spatial phenomenon.

“All power to engines,” fired the captain.

But the science officer yelled out, “No, it’s the engines that are causing this. We must stop them now!”

Briggs was trapped in between decisions. His crew knew the Enterprise better than those who built it.

“Maybe your right....Helmsman, stop engines.”

“I can’t! None of my controls work.”

“What?!” fired the captain.

“I can’t stop it; we are being pulled in.”

“I’m reading some kind of life on the other side of that portal and I don’t think it's friendly," said the science officer.

The readings were naturally unclear, but the science officer could make out vague portions of what he guessed was another vessel; one that he'd never seen the class of in his life. He could see the shades of blue which covered it, and what almost looked like the letter "M" embedded in red on the vessel's back side.

Upon hearing that, the captain yelled out, “Red Alert! All hands to battle stations, raise shie-”

And as abruptly as the disturbance appeared, it was equally abrupt of the manner in which the crew and technology of the A.K.S Enterprise-C vanished from outer space. All that was left behind was echoes of ship debris and the disturbance left to itself.

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[Knuckles]

Cool opening.

[Alan Keller]

Sounds pretty cool so far! Don't stop writing this now!

About the "red M," is that talking about the Astro Megaship? Andros? :)

Is the "disturbance" explained in the next section?

-Keller

[comicstar100]

Man I am so glad someone is doing a PR/JLA crossover.Windgrail I was wondering when this fic would be back on RB.As long as Tommy (morphed) fights Batman I'm happy.:cool:

[Windgrail]

Thanks for the comments, guys. Alan, the disturbance will be explained in full, but not until a few more scenes pass by. And as you'll see in scene 2, that "red M" is what you suspected.

I found others who did this kind of crossover, but it was too limited and too kiddie in my opinion. For "Crosspoint," I hope to get everyone in the act, yet keep the focus on the characters who actually drive the story.

I'll be posting a succeeding section every TWO days on RB. If you want to skip ahead, the first few Acts are on the Crosspoint website below:

http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/force_factor/00PRJLAHomepage.html

I'll use this thread for the remaining scenes of Act 1.

[Windgrail]

* And now for the second scene in act one.
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Scene Two
Illusions

And there it was again, the all-too-familiar viewing screen that gazed at Andros' pearl-dark pupil. The screen again replayed the same haunting surveillance data recovered from a Karovian scavenger. Andros had now memorized every second of the footage, yet was cursed to draw himself in a little deeper with each showing. Even with all the grief, and all the regret that came along with it, he was compelled to analyze the ill-fated battle. Grief, he thought, is a crutch I've used long enough. It's demoralized me more than Drake ever could. The dormant passion of vengeance Andros had now ignited was not to be ignored any longer.

"Deca," he said, his right fist cupped against his tilted lips as he remained stationed at the captain's chair of the bridge, "...how close?"

"ASTRO MEGASHIP MARK II"

The plated sign was mounted in all of the twenty-some rooms of the ten decks of the ship. And above each one was a small protruding black camera with a bright red light consuming the lens. The cameras were mandible via the hardened cord connecting them to the walls. The one on the bridge, to Andros' left, turned to face him and a deep feminine voice echoed with a response.

"Destination in Bandora Galaxy will be acquired in ninety seconds," spoke the monotone voice.

Andros' sole response was a simple nodding, his fist remaining. Again, he started the surveillance CD over.

"Andros," Deca continued with an offensive remark, "the energy readings within this galaxy are too critical. It is suggested that you pull back."

He didn't blink now. Andros watched as the tipped-end of a bladed staff pierced through the sternum of his comrade. And as Andros watched, his eyes stayed fixed on the staff's architectural design, its distinctive curves and thickness, and the blood of his best friend which stained it.

"Show me the cryo-chamber, Deca."

The viewing screen instantly shifted from the Silver Ranger collapsing lifelessly in front of morphed Andros to that which displayed a cryo-genetically frozen body encased within a misty bed.

"Her vitals?" he asked softly, abandoning his authoritative tone.

"Vitals read critical. Life expectancy is still uncertain."

"It's been two years, Deca. How can you still be uncertain?"

Deca's camera extended out over the left doorway, snaking around ten feet and scanning Andros' eyes.

"It is our nature to hold onto illusions."

"What illusion?"

"That you can be everywhere at anytime, doing the impossible whenever possible."

"First of all, stop downloading Dr. Phil. Second, you don't watch massacres without feeling some share of guilt, okay? So whatever philosophical or religious gesture you have, keep it yours. I'm not interested...not anymore."

"Your anger is necessary, but misplaced. It is not like you to be this irrational. Our present location places this ship and Karone at grave risk."

"It was sure as hell rational for Zedd to butcher all those Karovians. And that's why I've got to end him, Deca. He's too good at it. But to get to Zedd, I've got to knock out his master."

Deca noted that the well-being of Karone was not a part of Andros' argument. Karone's frozen body remained on the viewing screen.

"There is no known information on Unagi Garenth."

"And yet, I was still able to find him. The first to find him. Being a Karovian Corp spy helped out more than I ever imagined...how far?"

"Seven seconds."

"Slow the ship to impulse...and then wait for my command. Do you follow?"

"Energy levels are already de-stabilizing throughout the Megaship. Decks seven, six, and one are shutting down. Karone's deck remains unaffected."

Andros' eyes, having not acknowledged Karone's existence on the screen for over minute, shifted towards the controls in front of him. His hands were anxious to engage his enemy.

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[Knuckles]

Great and seriously interesting part. Keep it up.

[Windgrail]

* Thanks guys. Here's Scene Three (only one more left in this Act)

* This scene underwent a LOT of cropping and rewrites for those who read the original version (that is, if you had a few hours to kill!)
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Scene Three
Chessmaster

The viewing screen was then shut off as the Karovian turned his attention to the pressing matter at hand.

"It's showtime, Deca. Deploy the Cranial Drones from all five transport bays. Arm all lasers and wait for my order."

Five doors slid open with depressurizing hums. The drones, their rear thrusters firing off blue afterburners, their shiney white exterior reflecting a nearby star, lifted off into deep space. The drones, designed after Earthen shuttles, circled around the mammoth Astro Megaship.

"Lasers armed. Andros, consider the risks of this strike. His energy prison is unlike anything in my data banks. The Megaship's weapons will have little effect."

I don't need a mosquito in my ear, thought Andros.

"Channel seven Megaship plasma converters and tap them into the laser cannons. Have the drones target-lock all weapons on the prison's center. I'll fry his ass with everything I've got."

"Your thinking is not logical. Andros- "

Just then, Andros pressed the "mute" button on his control panel, leaving only the echo of silence to fill the air. Cold and sweet silence at last, he thought. Is ridding this universe of the Monarch ringleader so irrational? What the hell am I supposed to do? Should I pray for a miracle? Let the Chancellor get around to it in five years? He continued to enter course settings and scanned the area to ensure that only he and Unagi were currently present. The only two people I loved was taken by this monster, and I'm supposed to sing about it? What justice is that? Where is the justice promised by Drake? What the hell is he using Time Force for besides an elaborate penthouse to get laid in? We've had more than enough time and more than enough chances to destroy Unagi in the past, but Time Force did nothing. It's more concerned over elections and looking nice to interplanetary councils. I hope you're satisfied, Alex, I really do. You'd better be the one praying. After I'm through with Unagi, you've got some answers I've been dying to ask you. I've had enough of being your lap dog.

There is was. The energy prison shielding Unagi was as crisp of an image as one could get, which was now zoomed in on the main view screen of the bridge. A collage of bright blues and greens lit up Andros' face. "Unagi..." Andros whispered to himself, starring into the depths of the blue and green spherical energy prison that lay afloat in this deeply hidden region of outer space.



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Opening the door to the shuttle cockpit, he kept his hand on the handle as he absorbed the setting, staring coldly first at the view of deep space, and then at the control panel which he chose to man himself. With only brief hesitation, Andros let go of the handle and reached for his wrist-mounted Morpher, pressing open the hinged latch which carried the Karovian emblem. Beneath that latch were all the buttons he'd not used since the Karovian massacre two years ago, but it was the circuit underneath the sheet of buttons that interested him now. The sheet snapped off, and the Karovian had already disconnected the circuit by the time he sat in the gray cockpit chair.

"Deca, upload this power transfer. Charge the drones with the plasma energies from this circuit," explained Andros, having already inserted the chip into a hidden drive beneath the dark glass of the control panel. After encoding was complete seconds later, a set pattern of computer chimes signaled to him what he wanted.

"Engage accelerators of the lead drone towards the core of Unagi's energy prison. When it reaches 6,000 kilometers, re-route all its circuitry powers primarily to its shoulder cannons. That includes the backup generator."

Andros, his loose fist propped underneath his bottom lip, sat leaned against the front edge of the panel as he laid out his tactics to the onboard computer. He cursed himself for not seeing Unagi's face at this moment.

"Have drones IV and V meet I, and then circle them to the sides of the prison at the same altitude. II will position itself towards the front-top shortly. Has III been prepared as instructed?"

Andros flipped on a red switch on the panel which allowed the computer to speak again.

"Affirmative. But I should warn you, if-"

Andros flipped the voice back off. "Thank you," spoke Andros, nonchalantly. "The drones are set. Now, deploy the Mega Winger via the rear hatch. Unagi won't know what hit him."

"Mega Winger unable to comply," read an electronic message from Deca.

"He's already mounting a counter-strike. Damn it!" He slammed his hand through the glass of a control console. The deep cuts went ignored.

Now rechecking the vital statistics of the Winger, Andros' suspicions were confirmed. Unagi had telekinetically shut down Zhane's old Zord. A fiery spark lit in the commander's eyes.

"Nothing's going to stop him from cutting the power to the other Zords, Deca. If I don't strike now, I won't have another chance."

His hand squeezed a golden locket draped around his neck as tears began to trickle over his chiseled face.

"Deca..." he took in a deep breath and tried to refocus his thoughts, "Deca, initiate self destruction sequence of Mega Winger and Astro Megaship mark II; authentication: Commander Andros of Karova, 08-28-1993."

Andros' telekinetic pathways were alerting him. This wasn't the first time, but each time was weighing more and more on his shoulders.

"Alright, Deca. Engage drones I, VI and V, now!"

A laser barrage now followed. Deep space became littered with the spectral energies from the two drones on the prison sides. Andros alarmingly noted that when the rounds darted into the prison, there was never an impact. The blasts vanished into thin air after entering the prison.

"That's...great." Prying his eyes away from the viewing screen, Andros continued steering the ship's course.

A tentacle deriving from the energy prison shot out and penetrated the crystallized metals of Cranial Drone IV. The drone was then vastly thrown off orbit and drifted as the tentacle, having obviously broken through the life-force shield provided by the circuit from Andros' Morpher, drained what energy was left.

The drone's power was converted to crimson energy which traveled down the tentacle and into the core of the prison, which was thus far unfazed by the barrage. Then with unseen swiftness, the drone was hurled across space, the tentacle sliding out of its mechanical remains, until thrashed into Cranial Drone V. An immediate explosion followed which lit the dark pupils in Andros' eyes.

[Knuckles]

Great scene, Windgrail.

[Alan Keller]

This version is a lot cleaner and clear-cut than the original. I noticed that you replaced the Mega Vs with "Cranial Drones," and you cut out the "Astro Winger" transformation. Wow, my memory is better than I thought!

Nice job. Can't wait to see what other rewrites you've done.

-Keller

[Windgrail]

* Thanks for noticing the edits. I'm impressed, lol. Yeah, I got complaints that the transformations were too long and confusing, and ultimately I agreed. I was wanting to show off what I knew about the show, and it turned out terribly wrong.

* As for the Mega Vs, I wanted more attentions focused on Andros and his quest to "castrate" Unagi Garenth, so I replaced them with "Cranial Drones," which are basically standard shuttles designed after the Astro Megaship shuttle.


* Okay, the FINAL scene in Act 1. (Note that my favorite powerful moment in this scene is when Karone begins to awaken from her two-year sleep as the Megaship mark II is being ripped apart)
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Scene Four
Check or Checkmate?

Drone I charged its shoulder silos, boosted by Andros' circuit and all available power, leaving the shuttle replica to float steadily as the silos were unleashed with a fury which rattled nearby planets.

Andros, his fingers working lightning-fast at the control panel, worked thought the heated intense heat plaguing the ship from the inside out. Punching in his final commands, the Megaship was propelled with high velocity before shutting down the engines all together.

The Cranial Drones had been a planned distraction. But it was the Megaship that had been Andros' primary tactic all along; getting it close enough to the prison core for a single concentrated crash. The Karovian had no doubts of his victory. Failure on his behalf was too alien to acknowledge. This war, he thought, has cost too many lives. The only way to justify this is for a Ranger to do his duty.[/i]

The silos thundered onto the prison; the impact, this time, heard a mile away. As Andros peered, he though he saw the infant screaming with wide open eyes staring straight at him. But then, the infant cackled, cooing with pleasurable ease. Next to Zhane's death, it was the most disturbing thing Andros had ever witnessed. The Megaship speared with parts of it combusting and igniting.

A new tentacle pointed its end towards Andros himself.

"Give me your best, you rugrat bastard."

After a brief standoff, each tentacle, one-by-one, jabbed through space. The first one impacted the ship with great force, enough to rock the insides. Within, the tentacle steered through hollow hallways and smashed dents in the walls and collapsed ceilings. The hangar holding the Mega Winger was targeted next. Stalking the vessels, two tentacles simultaneously speared both the Winger and drone I. Fuel tanks were penetrated and began a destructive chain reaction.

Cranial Drone I was ripped apart at every angle conceivable, most of them soon after exploding and sending out powerful shockwaves. Inside the Megaship, the Winger's fiery implosion severed the end of its destructor tentacle; the remainder of which retracted immediately back to the prison.


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A shooting fireball raged through Karone's cryo-chamber. Tremors followed as it engulfed everything in its path. The shaking was with the fury of a dozen pachyderms. Karone's eyes began to open up as the rattling continued. And as they opened, the peaceful mist that flowed over her precious face and against her sleeping body was all at once swallowed by the flames. The incineration of her dormant body was instant.


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Andros didn't concern himself with how much damage was done or left undone, for he only desired the chance for one Megaship strike. He needed this decoy.

"We're reaching perimeter range, Deca. Engage accelerators!"

As the tentacle disengaged the drone I debris, a massive shadow bore down on the prison. The Megaship was on course.

Andros' fingers waved over his controls anxiously, not jittering in the slightest. He stared into the bright yellow eyes of Unagi Garenth.

The Megaship propelled itself through an independent energy inhibitor; vacuuming energy debris from all around to launch.

With the Cranial Drones destroyed, only the Megaship was left to contend with the prison itself.

Unagi Garenth observed the incoming inferno with clear sight; his body curled into fetal position and a "disturbingly" joyous smile surfaced on his face.

Impact...

The silence of space prevailed once more, with only smoky energy debris to occupy it...

The galaxy was an area of dust particles and debris...

What energies remained now surged through all circuitries of the Zord pieces as most floated magnetically into the energy prison; assimilated immediately. No ships were left for Unagi to worry himself over. His threat had passed.

However, the next event which transpired caught Unagi off guard.

It began with lightning strikes appearing from nowhere, which nonsensibly vanished as quickly. It was a repeated pattern with multiplied strikes. The brightness of the strikes began to light up a type of alien scenery in the dead air of space. The prison itself was now stricken by the succeeding lightning bolts.

Unagi determined it to be a rift in spatial fabric, due to the vision being as if it were projected on a flat screen; a screen which transparently divided down the center of the prison. The vision soon became much clearer as more lightning strikes lit it up. It showed a ship, gray in nature and shattered beyond recognition.

However, on one of these pieces, there were markings. They were letters embedded into the metal, scorched letters which displayed half of a name. It read "E-R-P-R-I-S-E C."

The vision plate was now a permanent "guest" and almost twice the diameter as it remained inserted into the prison's center. The lightning strikes had gone. The plate, determined to be a portal to another universe completely unknown to him, displayed various ruins and vast races of life forms which he'd never before encountered; life forms, which upon instinct, he wanted to taste the life force of. They were not like any Ranger he or his armies had rivaled with. They were beings of flight, speed, and strength alien to that of the Rangers, as well as their suit designs. One of them in particular caught his eye, though he did not yet understand why. This one being seemed average enough, with the exception of the emblem on his chest which was triangular, trapping in the red letter "S."
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End of Act One

[Alan Keller]

Great finish to Act 1! Is Andros really gone? What other heroes go against Unagi? Will the JLA be introducted in Act 2? The part with Karone was great. Can't wait for Act 2.

-Keller

[Knuckles]

Great part. That was actually quite sad with Karone.

[Windgrail]

Originally posted by Alan Keller
Great finish to Act 1! Is Andros really gone? What other heroes go against Unagi? Will the JLA be introducted in Act 2? The part with Karone was great. Can't wait for Act 2.

-Keller

You'll have to keep reading to see who else goes against Unagi (besides the JLA). Speaking of which, the JLA will be gradually introduced throughout the next few scenes.

I just posted scene one of the next act.

Knuckles, thanks for the comment.