Dillon had no choice. He had to pick a fight with the rangers. Everything in him was against it, but he had to do it to keep the people in his life from further harm. He and General Shifter brought their prisoner to a wide-open field so that they had plenty of room to battle the rangers. But Dillon also gathered that it would be easier for him to miss them in a space so vast, so that gave him some relief. He was already in his ranger form with his helmet retracted, hoping that if his friends saw his face, they would know it was the real him.
Shifter pushed Dillon forward. "Call your friends. I want this capture to be a swift one." He ordered.
Dillon just turned and glared at the attack-bot. He wanted nothing more than to destroy him right then and there, but he just couldn't risk the lives of his parents. "I'll call them when I'm good and ready." He answered coldly.
"Need I remind you, Ranger Black, that every second you postpone this, the closer your parents and this prisoner here are to meeting their end." Shifter answered, jerking the prisoner in front of him.
Dillon was silent for a moment. He felt like he was in a nightmare, he had to either get his friends captured or let his parents be destroyed. His mind was running ragged. "I want a minute alone with the prisoner." He said firmly.
"Never!" Shifter shouted back. "Master Venjix would never allow it!"
"Would you rather me destroy you instead?" Dillon threatened him, though deep down he was bluffing.
Shifter just grumbled and handed over the prisoner who was still shrouded in a black cloak. "One minute—that's it. And don't even think of trying anything." He warned him, then stepped back a few feet.
Dillon pulled the prisoner in front of him so Shifter couldn't see. "What are you going to do with me?" the prisoner asked. But the tone in his voice wasn't fear like the others, it sounded sad and empty.
"I'm going to give you back to your family." Dillon told him.
"What?!" the prisoner exclaimed. "Y-you can't! Your parents—"
"I'll figure something out." Dillon assured him in a low voice. "You've been through enough, so has your family." He knew all about what it was like to be separated from his family, having no idea where they are or if they were still alive. Dillon knew what it was like to be a prisoner of Venjix, and he knew that if he could save someone from all of that, he would.
"What should I do?" the cloaked man asked, willing to do anything to help him.
"Don't let the rangers see your face, at least not until Shifter and I are gone." Dillon told him, peeking over his shoulder to make sure Shifter wasn't eavesdropping.
"Okay, you got it." The prisoner agreed.
"Take this too." Dillon said lowly, secretly handing the prisoner a Nitro Blaster. "Hide it in your cloak somewhere. I'll let you know when to use it."
The cloaked man took the blaster and a stuck it deep inside of his cloak. "Why are you doing all of this for me?" he asked. He didn't know Dillon until a few hours ago and couldn't understand why he would risk everything to help a stranger.
"Because I know what it's like to be apart from the ones you love." Dillon answered sady.
"Minute's up!" Shifter announced, storming over to them.
"You ready?" Dillon asked his new friend quietly. He answered with a nod of his head.
"Call your friends!" Shifter yelled, grabbing Dillon's arm that held his morpher and put it up to his face. "And make it sound believable."
Dillon jerked away from the bot and rolled his eyes. He brought his morpher to his face and called the Red Ranger. "Hey, fearless leader." He said in a cold and evil voice he hated.
"Dillon?" Scott answered with surprise. "Is that you?"
"Dillon is gone. I work for Venjix now." He lied, closing his eyes hard as he spoke the horrible words. "I want a battle—now. If you're not here in five minutes, this prisoner I have with me will be destroyed."
"We'll be there." Scott answered coldly.
"See you then." Dillon responded, and then killed the feed. He hated everything he just said, he hoped that once the rangers got there, his plan would go as he hoped. "There. You happy?" he asked Shifter in a snide tone.
"Ecstatic." Shifter answered. "Now, all we have to do is wait." He said with an evil snicker.
All Dillon could do was look down at the prisoner, hoping and praying that his plan would work. Because if he were to get caught before every piece fell into place, he'd lose everything.
When Scott got Dillon's message, it was around midnight. When he went to the ranger's rooms to see if they were asleep, he wasn't surprised when he saw none of them there. He knew that they were all downstairs still looking for Dillon, little did they know, he found him. Scott hurried down the stairs to tell the others about the call he had just received.
"Guys!" he called out to them. "I just got a little ring from Dillon. He's in the plains and has a prisoner. He said if we didn't give him the battle he wanted, he would destroy him."
"What?" Summer exclaimed. "I thought the virus was under control!"
"That was the strange thing about it, he didn't sound like he does when the virus takes over him…he sounded like plain old Dillon." Scott told them, trying to figure out what was really going on.
"I see what's going on." Doctor K stated, going to her computer and beginning to type rapidly. She pulled up an x-ray of Dillon and his robotic. Just like the one before, it showed all of Flynn's powers flowing throughout him. "I knew it." She said suddenly.
"What is it, Doctor K?" Summer asked with concern, looking at the screen.
"My readings show that the virus hasn't in fact taken hold again." The doctor told them with a faint smile.
"But wait, if the virus isn't active, then why is he doing all of this?" Ziggy asked, folding his arms.
"Someone must have some sort of leverage on him. That's the only explanation." Flynn stated, looking to his team to see if there was any objection.
"Yeah, but what? What could be used as leverage against Dillon?" Ziggy asked in response.
Taryn's eyes grew wide, she knew the answer, and the mere thought of what it was nearly made her panic. "Our parents." She said in a frightened tone.
"Doctor K, could that be true?" Summer asked.
"What she says does make sense." Dr. K announced. "If Venjix ordered him to lure you rangers out in the battle to capture you, threatening to destroy his parents if he did otherwise, that would explain the strange call Scott received."
"Then what should we do? We can't just fight him when he's trying to save someone." Summer said, looking to her friends for any answer.
"He and Venjix have a hostage with him right now—that has to be our first priority. Dillon will figure something out until we get the prisoner to safety." Scott told her. This made Summer and Flynn shoot each other a worried glance. They knew time wasn't exactly on Dillon's side.
"Then let's head on out." Ziggy said as he and his teammates made their ways to their vehicles. Before he went to ride with Flynn, he stopped by Taryn. "Maybe you should stay here and rest your arm. You can help Doctor K if you feel restless." He told her, stroking her broken arm gently.
"Right. I'll do all I can from here." She told him with a small frown. She wanted to go with them desperately to save her brother, but if she were to get captured as well, that would only make things worse. Ziggy kissed her head and began to head to the jeep. "Ziggy!" she called out to him.
"Yeah?" he asked, turning to her.
"Please…don't hurt him. Evil or not, he's still my brother." She told him.
"And my friend." He reminded her. "Don't worry, I'll bring him and your parents back safe and sound." He assured her, hoping deep down that he'd be able to do so. He hopped in Flynn's car, and it pulled out of the lot along with the others. As Taryn watched them go, she had a feeling that what Ziggy said would happen—she just knew it.