[Mushverse: For Enter, Dillon, and Tenaya. possibly Escape]

[brilliantshadowpuppets]

I have to keep my cool, you know? Have to stay calm for Dillon's sake. He's been through enough with his sister already, this recent stress of not being able to find her is just not fair at all.

...of course I'm worried about Tenaya too! She's like a sister to me! It's just... well, she's the one missing, so she doesn't exactly need my moral support right now. But Dillon does, and I'm his partner, and I've got to be strong for him!

And if that means going out and getting him a bagel and coffee for breakfast, well, I'm a big boy now, I can wander the streets of a foreign country by myself. Besides, I'm only going to the corner bakery down the street from the apartment our team has been renting.

So maybe I also picked up some fruit from a stand on the way, and maybe I got baked goods and coffee for the whole team instead of just Dillon. No big deal, I can totally carry all this by myself.

Oh, there goes an apple, damn.

Comments

[interpolate]

Enter turned the little device over in his fingers while Dillon raged, smirking all the while. A manual override, a reactivation of the virus lying dormant within him, really quite simple. Perhaps his self-proclaimed sister deserves more credit than he usually gives her.

Either way, the data collected from this exercise will be more than worth it.

"You would do well not to associate Vaglass with this Venjix of yours. You see, the difference lies with me entirely."

Escape appears to threaten the obnoxious green boy and Enter almost laughs at her impeccable timing.

"Well, and her, I suppose."

[relativelyarmless]

"You don't want Ranger Green hurt," Tenaya tells Ranger Black, seriously, earnestly, perfectly reasonably. She knows he'll agree with that. "Just submit, brother."

She strolls over next to Escape, smiling at her, then takes Ranger Green's helmet in her hands. "Whether his neck is snapped, or his head is blown off, he'll still be dead. Brother, just surrender. Serve Papa, as we do."

[hybridoperatorblack]

The sight of the woman threatening Ziggy overwhelmed Dillon with the need to get to and protect his friend. A need that came from both heart and soul, though he didn't have the concentration to realize it at the moment. He fought the cables as hard as he could, Tenaya threatening to snap Ziggy's neck only adding to the horror, before he let himself come to a horrible conclusion. The only way he could save Ziggy was to let them convert him, just as they had Tenaya.

Dillon closed his eyes and stopped fighting. "I surrender," he growled out softly, hating to admit defeat and to cover his fear. "Let him go and I'll do whatever you want." Living his own worst fear would be hell, but worth it, if it meant Ziggy was safe.

But he also had faith that as long as Ziggy was still alive, he'd find a way to save both siblings from Vaglass' control. His partner would not let him down. It was a small comfort, but comfort all the same.

[interpolate]

As a group, they seem to have discovered Dillon's weak point, such as it is. His preoccupation with protecting his sister seems only to go so far when his darling little flaily boyfriend is under greater danger.

"Trés bien!" He says, about as ecstatically as he can, which is to say not terribly much. He sounds happy, anyway, and he makes a point to pat Dillon on the cheek. "Not that you would have won anyway, but it's nice to know we have such an efficient means to control you should you start to rebel later..."

He leaves this pronouncement hanging in the air as he flips the device once more between his fingers before pressing it deftly to the back of Dillon's neck, right at the base of his skull.

Provided the thing works properly, and as efficiently as his sister's original prototype had (and it should, seeing as he constructed it based on her plans, and he is nothing if not better than her at least), they will certainly be a group of four quite shortly.

[hybridoperatorblack]

It wasn't so much protecting Ziggy as much this was the best way for the other RPM ranger to find out what was going on and find a way to rescue the two hybrid siblings. Or so Dillon was telling himself and ignoring anything else.

Dillon's glare at the pat on his cheek would have melted steel but he made himself not react otherwise. He didn't want to encourage any of them to hurt Ziggy now that he'd given in. Even if wanted to protest what Enter was implying.

He felt the device touch him in the back of the neck, instinctively tensing as he waited for the change to take place.

It wasn't a sudden change per say, more like he was loosing control of his body piece by piece as the Venjix virus within his hybrid parts was awaken and mutated. Changed to serve a different master. Enter had improved the process, Dillon felt no pain, at least physically. Only the mental fear and pain as his body and mind were taken out of his control.

Sometime during the process, Dillon's eyes had closed. When he opened them, it was obvious the transformation had taken hold as his expression twisted into a downright arrogant smirk.

"Much better."

[brilliantshadowpuppets]

"Dillon, no!" Ziggy shouts, practically screams, at his partner when he agrees to their deal.

He struggles, strains against the women holding him back. The one he doesn't know laughs, shrill and piecing, and tightens her grip around his middle, nearly crushing all the air from his lungs.

I'm not worth it, Dillon.

He can't watch as the device is pressed to Dillon's neck, as the change happens. As his friend slides away from him, back into darkness. He closes his eyes inside his helmet, fighting back tears.

Something inside him breaks when Dillon speaks, his voice wrong and hollow and not Dillon.

After a swift kick to the back, Ziggy is let go to crumble to the pavement. Vaguely aware of the woman that was holding him as she steps over him.

He opens his eyes in time to see her slide an arm around Tenaya's waist, and that would chill him for the bone if he wasn't already numb from... from Dillon...

[hybridoperatorblack]

The cables were useless now and Dillon shrugged them off. He rolled his shoulders and stretched, as if trying out his body for the first time. And in fact it was, the first time he'd been consciously aware while all of his circuit were active. And he couldn't have felt better.

Except the inner part of him that was screaming in resigned frustration.

His smirk still in place, he walked over and crouched next to the downed Green Ranger. He flicked the switch on the morpher, causing the suit to disappear, then reached down and lifted Ziggy's chin so he could look him in the eyes. "Pathetic. To think, I cared about such a pitiful creature. But I suppose I should be thanking you. Those misguided 'feelings' lead me to this and I have never felt better. So, I will give you this, since I hate being in debt to anyone."

Then he leaned down and kissed Ziggy softly, almost lovingly. Which was contrasted sharply when he shoved Ziggy's head away as he stood. "As an added bonus, we'll spare you. Have fun explaining to the others how you failed." Then with laugh, Dillon turned back to join his new family.

[relativelyarmless]

Tenaya watched with every outward sign of satisfaction as her brother fell, as Messiah wormed its way inside him.

He wavered into view in her other senses, now. Stronger than Enter or even her precious Escape, now with an arm around her. Tenaya tilted her head slightly, resting her temple against Escape's. She wouldn't be able to read Dillon's mind or anything, but she suspected that even if they were out of view of each other she'd be able to point at exactly where he was.

(Fallen to Messiah, just like her. Ziggy was crying, despondent, surrounded by them all and completely alone.)

"You have your life, little Green Ranger," Tenaya said idly. "Scurry away."

[extricate]

Escape laughs loudly at the lovely kiss her brother's new toy bestows upon the weak little Green one. It's delightful, and wonderfully wicked. Papa will be so pleased.

Tenaya rests her head against Escape's, and the Avatar delights in the contact, turning her head to press a brief kiss to her pet's cheek.

She looks at her brother after, since this has mainly been his show, he should be the one to bring it to a close.

"Shall we move on, niichan?"

[interpolate]

Enter smirked when Dillon shrugged out of the cables so easily. Well done. He's almost impressed by his sister's programming prowess, but then again, he did make modifications.

He raises an eyebrow in subtle surprise at the dark taunt complete with Judas' kiss that he bestows upon his former bait.

"Trés bien!" He's less than enthused about leaving the child alive, but then again, Messiah does appreciate human suffering, and that broken mess of a human child is nothing if not human. And suffering. "Magnifique."

He holds a hand out towards the boy, fingers splayed, and waits for Dillon to return to his side, which he does nearly obediently.

Of course Enter does not expect perfection. He still has some shred of humanity in him.

"Now." He spreads both arms. "Shall we take our leave?"

He places a hand on Dillon's shoulder- fingers spread, nails digging into the leather of his coat slightly- to guide him in his first, but no doubt hardly his last teleportation.

"Au revoir, Ranger Operator Series Green."