Based on a prompt from tumblr. I don't own Power Rangers. Hope you enjoy!
The group watched in horror as the tape played.
"Give us the information we want and we'll give him back," Tenaya snarled.
"Don't do it!" Ziggy fought against his restraints.
"What did I tell you about talking?" Tenaya slapped him leaving a large red mark behind.
The video ended as the group looked around.
"We can't give them the information," Scott decided.
"But we also can't leave Ziggy behind," Dillon argued.
"We'll have to figure something out," Summer sighed, "and hope he's ok in the meantime."
"I'll start working on something," Dr. K headed back to her lab.
The next day a video appeared on their screens:
"I'm a very impatient person," Tenaya admitted, "but I'll give you a week. Every day I'll do something to this pathetic creature to help pass the time. By the end of the week, if he hasn't died already, he will."
"You know green ranger, your friends are watching," Tenaya turned to Ziggy.
"So what?" he spat.
"You already knew you were the weakest team member, and now I'm just showing them more proof."
"We all know I wasn't supposed to be a ranger," Ziggy sighed. "They know it, I know it. What is there to prove?"
"You make a fair point," Tenaya nodded, "but just imagine how they feel having to watch you get tortured?"
She cracked her whip at him leaving a bloody gash on his arm.
He bit back against the pain and answered, "Not entirely sure they'd care."
"What the hell Ziggy?" Dillon growled at the screen, "Are you serious?"
Summer put a hand on his shoulder to help calm him, "We can talk to him once he's safe, ok? Until then, try not to focus on what he says."
By the time the video was over he had ten gashes around his body, dripping blood onto the floor.
The same time the next day a live video appeared on the screens around the garage.
They saw Ziggy, still restrained against a wall, breathing heavily.
"The fun is about to start," Tenaya smirked, "He's been given an injection of hallucinogenic drugs so let's see what happens, shall we?"
"I'm fine," Ziggy muttered, head hanging low.
"Are you though?" Tenaya questioned.
Ziggy was quiet for a while, the rangers and Tenaya watching for any sign of change.
"Why isn't Dr. K done with a plan? We need to get him out of there," Dillon growled.
"I know," Scott nodded, "If she doesn't finish soon I'll barge in there myself to get him."
Their conversation was cut short when Ziggy started talking, "I know you're a hallucination, so can you please shut it? I don't want to hear your shit, especially when my own mind is creating it."
He was silent for a few seconds before whispering, "You died years ago, don't tell me you are real."
They heard Tenaya laughing.
"What is making me hallucinate going to do Tenaya?" Ziggy looked up, "I have no information to give you. I know my mind is playing tricks on me."
"I'm just having some fun," Tenaya admitted. "Though I wonder if you hallucinate long enough if you'll finally reach a point you can't decipher reality."
Ziggy looked up at a figure his mind created, "I can't believe you'd show up." He sighed, "You're not real either. You abused me enough during my life, I was so happy when you died. You can't hurt me now. You don't exist."
He rested his head down again and shut his eyes. For a while everyone wondered if he had fallen asleep but his head snapped up, eyes showing fear. "Get off of me," Ziggy flailed.
He saw a figure cloaked in black, holding down his arms. He tried kicking out at the figure wondering why he wasn't making contact. His breathing soon increased as the panic spread throughout his body. "Let me go!"
Finally, after another minute of fighting against it, his current vision vanished. He stared at the ceiling, getting lost in the patterns in the tiles.
"Oh, hey Dillon," Ziggy glanced to his left.
Dillon looked up at the screen, wondering what the hallucination version of him was saying to Ziggy.
"Yeah, I know you are trying to rescue me. You're pretty good at getting me out of trouble, aren't you?" Ziggy spoke.
He laughed before asking, "Have I told you that your sister is a bitch? Because if I haven't I want to make it clear now that I think she is."
Tenaya growled and cracked her whip at Ziggy's face, leaving a trail of blood running down his face.
"Oh right, you're here," Ziggy's eyes met Tenaya's. "I really hope after Dillon rescues you from Venjix that you are less of a bitch."
"Shut up!" Tenaya kicked him in the gut.
He moved as much as he could to help ease the pain.
Ziggy smirked once he could talk again, "Hallucination Dillon thinks you're a bitch too."
Tenaya picked up a pipe and hit Ziggy in the head with it, knocking him out.
The rangers weren't sure if Tenaya forgot the camera was still transmitting or if she wanted to keep it on, but things were quiet on the other side of the screen for a few hours.
Finally, Ziggy started moving a little bit, finally lifting his head.
"Oh you're still here?" Ziggy looked to his left. His speech slurred, "I don't feel good."
Soon, Ziggy started gagging, his empty stomach having nothing to expel. He soon became quiet again, unconscious.
After another hour he whispered, though the team wasn't sure if he was talking to them through the camera or hallucinations, "It's ok that I'll die here. It's pretty good I made it this long in the first place. You guys can get a new green ranger, I'm sure you'll find someone better this time."
Though his words continued to come out slurred, the emotion behind them grew angry. "Don't tell me I'm not going to die Dillon. Everything is hazy and I can't feel a part of me that doesn't hurt."
Ziggy winced, "Quit yelling, my head is going to explode."
Dillon watched in horror as Ziggy continued talking, "It's inevitable. I'll be dead soon. Just help me end it now. I can't move my arms to do it myself. Take your blaster and kill me."
"I know you don't want to, but I'm begging you, please just take the pain away," tears dripped down his face. "Just do it, Dillon."
Dillon's eyes were pulled from the screen when the others approached.
"Come on, we have a plan."
Summer and Flynn approached Ziggy while Dillon and Scott fought off Tenaya and an army of grinders.
"Stay away," Ziggy flinched back from the two.
"It's us, we're your friends," Summer said in a calm voice.
Ziggy shook his head, "I don't know you, stay away."
Flynn called to Dillon, "We have a problem in here."
Summer and Flynn left to fight the bots while Dillon entered the room Ziggy was in.
"Hey," Dillon approached cautiously.
Ziggy gave an awkward smile, "Hey, Dillon."
"I'm going to get you down from there."
"Down?" Ziggy looked around and realized his arms were tied up. "When did that happen?"
"What do you remember?"
Ziggy shook his head, "I don't feel good."
"Ok," Dillon nodded, "Just hold on to me, ok?" He slowly swung Ziggy onto his back and Ziggy wrapped his arms around Dillon's chest.
"Who are they?" Ziggy hid his head behind Dillon when they approached the group.
"Friends."
"Are you sure?"
"Do you trust me?" Dillon felt Ziggy nod, "Then just close your eyes and focus on hanging on to me. I won't let anything bad happen to you."
Ziggy complied. By the time Dillon got him to the car, he was barely conscious.
Ziggy woke to the sound of talking. He slowly blinked his eyes open and noticed Dillon talking to a woman in a white coat.
"Dil?"
"Hey Zig," Dillon smiled. "This is the doctor who has been taking care of you."
Ziggy nodded slowly.
"Can I check a few things?" She asked. A light was soon flashed into his eyes, a cuff wrapped around his arm, and a stick shoved in his mouth.
After she concluded he was fine for now, she left the room to attend to other patients.
"Are you real?" Ziggy asked.
"Yes."
"She was real?"
"Yes."
"And I'm in a hospital?"
"Yep. Anything else?"
Ziggy shook his head.
"You seemed to lose sense of reality the longer the drug was in your system. You also got a nasty head injury."
Ziggy yawned before drifting back to sleep.
The next few days anytime he would wake up he kept asking if things were real. Finally, he was allowed to go back to the garage.
Ziggy closed the door to his and Dillon's room. "Why is everyone acting so strange around me?"
"You were just kidnapped."
"Still, I might have gotten a little hurt but I'm still the same me."
"Give it some time. We all saw you getting tortured and hallucinating. I think some of the things you said shocked them."
Ziggy sat on his bed. After a moment he asked, "Did anything I say shock you?"
"You were begging me to kill you. Or a hallucination version of me," Dillon admitted. "I just hated seeing you that low."
Ziggy nodded in understanding. "Thank you for rescuing me. Though I did mean everything I remember saying." He smirked, "Especially the part about Tenaya being a bitch."
Dillon chuckled, "She's my sister so I want to save her. But there were a few moments when she was hurting you that I really wanted to kill her."
"Hopefully she'll be better once we save her from Venjix, but if not I won't hang out with you when she's around."
The two glanced at each other and burst into laughter.
