"Dillon, just get me some steak and flounder, with a Cobb salad and some fresh bread on the side! It's not that hard. I'm not just eating for myself anymore, and I deserve to be happy!" Summer screamed down the stairs of the garage. Dillon cowered at the bottom. Scott poked his head out of his room. "Dillon, get her some food so I can get some SLEEP!"
Dillon shook his head, wondering how he ever got into this mess. He entered the pass code on the lab door, hoping to sneak some money out of the lockbox for Summer's defined tastes. What he didn't expect was the Doc sitting at her computer, working tiredly. "Can I help you?" She stifled a yawn. "I just needed some cash… what are you doing up?" Dillon questioned.
"I would ask you the same question, but I think Ziggy is the only one asleep. Soundproof walls…" She hit a few more keys on her computer, and sighed in annoyance. "Come on Doc, there can't possibly be anything you need to work on this late at night." The black ranger went around to the back of her desk to see her screens. On one was a medical report, filled with Jezibel's injuries. Another showed the scan of her brain, what parts held technology, and which parts were still her. Yet another showed a complex series of numbers and letter, something Dillon couldn't follow.
"Quite the opposite, actually. I don't have enough time in the day to finish this. I've got some pretty bad news though. Besides part's of Jezibel's brain being more than 50% robotics, this chart shows her injuries should be completely healed by now. That means she can fight back. I'm trying to upgrade this anti-virus, so it works on both Jezibel and Tenaya, but I just can't do it." Dr. K's voice faltered, as she wasn't able to say the words of defeat.
"Doc, you're the only one who can do it. We will get your daughter back, and we will kill Venjix, I promise." Dillon placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort. "Thank you, Dillon, but you have Summer to take care of, and your future family. Here, go get here something to eat. I really don't want you dead tomorrow morning." She pulled out a few bills and gave them to the black ranger. He nodded in thanks, and disappeared into the garage. The doctor only returned to her work when she could no longer hear his car down the street.
Dr. K was surprised to hear her husband's light footsteps from behind her. "Couldn't sleep?" She asked absentmindedly. She could see him shaking his head in a dark computer screen. "Haven't been able to for a long time."
"Look," he said, pulling up a chair. "I'm an orphan. My mom died in a car crash when I was three, and my dad was an alcoholic. He beat me every night, till I was almost dead, but not enough that I wouldn't be there to beat the next night. I wasn't allowed to go to school, so I taught myself from home. One night, my dad came home extra drunk. He started screaming that I was a disgrace, and I was stealing from his drinking money by being alive. So, he gave me a fighting chance. He beat me for a few minutes, then told me to run. He told me to run as fast as my seven year old legs could take me. So I did. I ducked through alleys, cut across lawns, did everything I could to get away. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move. I could hear him laughing, but couldn't see him."
Ziggy paused, as if he was short of breath just remembering, and then continued. "Then I saw a building in front of me. It was dark, and scary, but it had to be better than outside. So I went in. I was in a lobby of some sorts. There was a desk at the end, with a small bell to ring if you needed help, or so the sign said. So, I hit it. Nothing happened. I hit it again. Nothing. I banged and banged, and threw it against a wall, anything to get it working. Finally, a woman came running out of a small room, dressed in a long nightgown, to see what was going on.
I started crying, saying that he was going to kill me over and over again. She tried to calm me down, gave me a warm glass of milk and a cookie, and called the police. They came, asked me a few questions, left, and came back. Different policemen, different questions, all except one. 'What's your name?'
I was baffled. I had no idea. Mom had named me, she called me something, but Dad always called me boy, or son, or idiot, among other things. I tried to remember, something from my infant years. Just a name. But I came up blank. All I could remember was a short memory of my mom teaching me art, and me watching TV. 'This is a Zigzag line, sweetie. It goes in one direction, then changes its mind and goes in another. It keeps doing that forever.' 'Oh, that? That's Grover, sweetie. Isn't he a silly little monster?' That's all I remember of her voice. So, I made my own name.
From that day forward, I was Ziggy Grover. I would go in whatever direction I wanted to, but I would keep a good outlook on life, like that silly little monster Grover. It's all had left from my past, and all I was taking with me to my future. I didn't trust very many people. But when I did, I stuck to them. I didn't let anything hurt them. I would not let anyone take away what I had left.
But that's what Venjix is doing. He's taking away what I have left. He took away my daughter. He took away my freedom. He took away my Grover. You and I, K, are getting our girl back. If she has one thing left in her life, it's her humanity. And that's what she's going to keep. Now what can I do to help?"
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J-89 screamed in agony. Venjix had not been happy with the performance on the last mission. It had devoted it's time to planning the next attack and punishing her and Tenaya-17. He was currently adding more technology to her recently recovered leg. Grinders were carelessly digging and scraping her flesh. Stupid human insecurities. One grinder hooked a machine up to her head, and it sent shocks through her. One shock, jeez that hurt. Two shocks, oh God, what did I do to deserve this? Three shocks, struggling to stay conscious. Four, and she was out.
"Come one Jezibel, were going to be late. We need to be at the airport in an hour." The girl groaned, "For the last time, please call me Amanda. Jezibel is way too old fashioned." She raked a comb through her wet waves, squeezing excess water onto the floor. "Fine, Amanda, make sure you grab your phone and charger." Amanda dropped her comb and ran around the corner into the kitchen, yanking the phone charger out of the socket. It felt like something bit her, and she was on the floor, pain pulsing through her arm. Her mom came through a second later, and saw her daughter on the floor
"No, Amanda! You didn't touch the socket with your wet hand. Are you okay?" She was on her knees, feeling her young girl's pulse. "I... I…" Amanda lifted her head and started to answer, but was cut off as she started to shake violently. –Ztez-Ztez- The sound of malfunctioning electronics echoed through her body. Her mom started into her eyes, which flickered with red light. Then, it was over.
"What… what just happened?" Amanda asked, pulling herself off the ground. Her mom was clearly shaken, but tried to hide it. "Nothing, nothing. You just touch the socket with a wet hand and got a small electric shock. Nothing too big. The pure shock of the event much have made you fall. Come on, we'll be late." Amanda felt as if there was something her mom wasn't telling her but shrugged it off and grabbed her phone, heading out the front door.
J-89 woke up in her small room. The dream had unnerved her. She had almost completely forgotten about her past life, her family, her humanity. She subconsciously ran her fingers through her soft waves, before pulling them up in a messy bun. Venjix mustn't know about what was going on in her head. He would punish her even more. She could barely stand from the last time.
"-J-89, Tenaya 17, you're presence is required-"a voice crackled through her room. The hybrid didn't need to be told where to go, or who needed her. It was always the same. J-89 met Tenaya 17 outside her room, and they made their way through the twisting hallways together.
"What is you wish, master?" The girls spoke together, dropping to one knee in front of Venjix. "Rise, Generals." They did as told. "I have a new mission for you. You know well the contents of the medical records you retrieved. Thus, the yellow ranger must not be hurt. I understand the yellow ranger is very emotional during her pregnancy. Once she is far enough along, you must cause such emotional damage that it sends her into labor. We will then capture her and take what is hers for our use. As for now, we need to keep them occupied as to not get suspicious. Take your favorite toys and cause some damage."
The Generals grinned. "Yes master," they agreed, and made their way out of the room and towards the city.
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On their trek towards Corinth, the hybrids caused damage to anything in their path. However, Tenaya 17 noticed her counterpart seemed a little less enthusiastic about the destruction. "Something's bothering you." J-89 turned away from a group of children she was half-heartily terrorizing, and watched over her shoulder as they ran away crying.
"Yes," she agreed, but didn't do anything else to elaborate. The elder 'bot let it go, but promised she would confront the younger later.
Tenaya didn't have much more time to dwell among her thoughts, though, because they had arrived in Corinth. She sent a blast at a group of pedestrians, and smirked at their screams. "5, 4, 3, 2-"The roars of a motorbike and jeep cut her off. "Ah, right on time." She mused. "Ready to stall?" She asked her co-General.
"Well, if this doesn't break me out of my slump, I don't know what will." J-89 cracked her knuckles and straightened a mechanical headband. "Let's do this…" Her attention was caught by a boy standing on a nearby sidewalk. His gaze was fixed straight on her, but he was not screaming in fear like all the other citizens. He was calm, but he had a deep look of hurt in his eyes. J-89's feet began to carry her towards the boy, unsure of the connection between them.
"I know him," she muttered to herself. She didn't even hear Tenaya call her name in warning, and the rangers suit up. Her eyes kept locked on the boys even as a body collided with her, sending her to the ground. The person held her still, pinned her arms to her sides, but she wasn't putting up any fight. The boys didn't move, barely blinked, and just stood with his sorrowful eyes.
Only as a needle pierced the soft skin on her neck did her mechanical instincts kick in. The robot inside her pushed the body off, sending it flying. She yanked the needle out of her neck, hissing as it tore more skin. Blood fell in droplets down the pierced flesh. She could feel the unknown drug pulsing through her blood, and all she knew was it had to come out.
She bent over, gagging violently. It was useless, she knew. The drug was in her blood, not her stomach. But the mechanics inside didn't understand. It just wanted this foreign substance out. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think. The hybrid was barley aware of her counterpart throwing her on her back and sprinting away, couldn't hear the rangers chasing behind them. All she could focus on was getting the drug out. She looked up for a brief second, between her gagging, and looked towards the sidewalk. There she saw the boy, head bowed sadly, hands in pockets, turning and walking away.
"Derik." Was all she could murmur before the contaminated blood reached her brain, shutting her down. She heaved one last time before flopping like a rag doll on Tenaya's back.
A.N. Um, surprise? 2,200 words on something you probably never thought would be written on again? Call it boredom. Call it inspiration. Call it "this internet connection sucks and won't let me go on facebook or play mindless games so I guess I might as well be creative." I really don't care. I just hope someone still has this in their alerts and will bother to read. Now, if fanfiction would just let me sign on…