Lilac stirs, her head throbbing with pain. Ugh… Beaten again… By an imposter… Where am I? Feels like I'm upright, but… I'm hanging? Lilac slowly opens her eyes to find she's still in the dojo, and seemingly alone. Where's Merga? Lilac tries to move her legs, only to find them tightly chained together, meaning her efforts merely cause her to swing gently. OK… Déjà vu like crazy here… At least there's no glass tube, and I hope no electricity.

Lilac takes a few moments to fully explore her situation. OK, so, I'm tightly chained, unable to move my arms, legs, or hair whips. I can swing a little, but that'll achieve nothing. I appear to be alone, but that won't last for long. Not to worry: Carol will‑ Oh…

Lilac takes another look around the room. No sign of anyone. "Hello?"

"Hello," Merga replies, walking into Lilac's field of vision. "Enjoy your nap?"

"Not really," Lilac answers, figuring that as she's going nowhere anytime soon, she may as well stall for as much time as possible. "I'm not impressed with the sleeping arrangements: they're a bit constrictive. And what if I need the bathroom? Wetting oneself is so undignified. And don't even get me started on number two."

"Your current concerns are rather more severe than the lavatorial arrangements," Merga replies. "Corazon's on her way down here."

A shiver runs down Lilac's spine. "I guess there's no way I can appeal to you for mercy, dragon‑to‑dragon?"

"Not a chance," Merga confirms, deliberately echoing Lilac's declaration in the research lab.

"Worth a shot," Lilac sighs.

"No, it wasn't," Corazon corrects.

Startled at the voice right behind her, Lilac tries to turn to face Corazon, but only causes herself to swing slightly. "Where's Carol?" she demands.

"Safe," Corazon confirms, turning Lilac to face her. "Right now, she's in her new quarters, working out what outfit she wants to wear while she serves aboard my ship."

"Liar!" Lilac snaps. "Carol would never join you!"

"See for yourself." Corazon unclips a small touchscreen tablet from her belt and plays the video loaded onto it.

Lilac watches the video in horror as Carol walks over to the bin, disposes of her scarf, and walks away without looking back. And when Carol salutes Corazon as her captain, the hybrid sheds a tear.

"Maybe if you had actually cared for my sister, you wouldn't be hanging here like a purple piñata," Corazon mocks.

"She won't stay with you," Lilac argues. "Before long, she'll remember who she really is, and she'll take you down."

"On the contrary, she has already remembered who she really is," Corazon counters. "She is a Tea, and I am family. Her rightful place is at my side."

"Her rightful place is at my side!" Lilac barks.

Corazon tilts her head curiously. "You still don't get it, do you? I've exposed your deceit. I've shown my sister the truth of who you really are. She doesn't care about you anymore."

"You lie," Lilac growls.

"You're feistier than I anticipated," Corazon replies flatly. "No matter: I'm sure we can beat that out of you soon enough," she adds, producing two hanbo from behind her back. "It's been a while since I had a piñata to play with."

Lilac can only watch as Corazon hands one of the weapons to Merga.

"Shall we see if she's full of candy?" Corazon asks Merga.

"Thought you'd never ask," Merga grins malevolently.

For the next five minutes, both Corazon and Merga repeatedly attack Lilac with their hanbo, raining down hundreds of blows combined all over the hybrid's torso and limbs. The first blows are the worst: sharp spikes of pain course through Lilac's body, the jolts slowly merging into a constant stream of agony as the blows keep coming. As the assault progresses, both Corazon and Merga begin to laugh, gloating over the torture they're putting Lilac through.

Mercifully, the onslaught eventually ends with Lilac breathing heavily, grimacing from the pain, her whole body shaking as its healing mechanisms swing into action. "You… monsters!" she grunts.

"We're just getting started," Corazon grins manically. "By the time we're done with you, you'll be begging for death."

"Brevon electrocuted me twice," Lilac reminds. "Whatever you can dish out, I can take it."

"Only twice?" Corazon asks. "Lame."

Lilac's eyes widen in fear.

"I think we're getting through to her," Corazon remarks to Merga.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Merga replies.

Corazon unclips a handheld radio from her belt and activates it. "Greasemonkey, are the capacitors fully charged?"

"Y‑Y‑Yes, b‑boss!" the greasemonkey replies. "G‑G‑G‑Good f‑for f‑f‑five sh‑shocks!"

"You spoil me," Corazon smirks. "I would have been happy with three." Corazon shuts off the radio and returns it to her belt. "Ready?"

Lilac shakes her head, her eyes pleading for mercy.

"Tough." Corazon and Merga retreat to a thick rubber mat a safe distance away, the wildcat unclipping a small wireless control panel from her belt. Once both are on the mat, they turn to face Lilac.

"Please, no," Lilac pleads. "Keep beating me if you like: just don't‑"

Corazon presses the button.

Two hundred thousand volts pass down the chain, through Lilac's body, and arc to the floor six inches below her feet. The electricity causes every muscle in Lilac's body to spasm uncontrollably, wracking the hybrid with intense agony. Unable to stop herself, Lilac screams loud and long, her world utterly consumed by electrical torment.

The shock lasts for just five seconds, but to Lilac it felt like an eternity.

"That was fun!" Corazon chirps. "I wanna do it again!"

The second shock hurts more than the first. The amount of energy coursing through Lilac starts to burn patches of her fur and skin, and small holes appear in her clothes. Left gasping for air when it's over, the third shock takes Lilac completely by surprise. When it ends, Lilac can do no more than hang, tears streaming down her cheeks, her whole body shaking violently, twitching as residual electricity discharges itself over her.

"That'll do for now," Corazon decides, returning the control panel to her belt and walking up to Lilac. "Then again, I am interested to find out just how far I can push you."

Lilac slowly lifts her head, makes eye contact with Corazon, and spits blood in her face.

"Gross." Corazon wipes the blood from her face. "Looks like we have more breaking to do."

Corazon returns to the rubber mat and triggers the last two shocks. When they're over, Lilac hangs burnt, silent, and limp.

Concerned, Corazon approaches Lilac, looking for signs of life. "Lilac?"

Lilac lifts her head slightly in response.

"Ah good, you're still alive," Corazon breathes with relief. "I thought I'd killed you."

Lilac spits blood onto the floor, but otherwise doesn't respond.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say we just broke you," Corazon ventures.

Lilac finally summons enough strength to look Corazon in the eye. "As long as I have breath… I will never break."

"Wow," Corazon remarks, genuinely impressed. "You really don't know when you're beaten. You're hanging here, helplessly bound, stinking of burnt flesh and hair, and quite frankly, you should be dead. Yet you still defy me. How much more will it take to finally break you?"

"I'll never break," Lilac hisses.

Corazon thinks for a moment. There must be something that will‑ Aha! "Say, how about a haircut?"

Lilac's mood switches instantly from defiance to terror. "No! Anything but that!"

"I think we've found how to break her for good," Corazon remarks to Merga.

"Please! You can shock me again!" Lilac pleads, desperation taking over. "Do anything you want! Just don't cut them off again!"

"I think it's time for you to be quiet." Corazon takes a red square of cloth from her pocket and shakes it out. "Is it ironic to be gagged with your former best friend's symbolic scarf?"

Before Lilac can respond, Corazon stuffs the scarf in her mouth, then secures it in place with three strips of duct tape. Lilac shakes her head furiously in a vain attempt to dislodge the tape, but it doesn't budge.

"Hold still," Corazon commands, grabbing one of Lilac's hair whips, removing it from the chains, and pulling it taut. "Huh… Feels like rope," she comments, unintentionally echoing Milla's description from two years previous.

Unable to speak, Lilac can only whimper pathetically as Corazon extends her claws and begins cutting through the flesh at the base of the hair whip. As she cuts deeper, the dragoness's muffled screams fill the room, blood pouring down her body and onto the floor. It takes thirty seconds for Corazon to completely cut the flesh; pulling the hair whip even tauter, a quick swipe severs the ligaments, and the hair whip snaps free of Lilac's head. Discarding the severed appendage, Corazon repeats the process with the other hair whip.

With both hair whips removed, Lilac's spirit shatters. Finally accepting she is beaten, she hangs limp in surrender.

Corazon wipes her hands dry on Lilac's bloodstained white karategi, then removes the crystals from Lilac's chargers. "Three down. My victory is complete. Merga, she's all yours."

"I have no interest in her anymore," Merga decides. "To kill her now would be a mercy I refuse to give her. She's your pet."

"You sure?" Corazon asks. "I don't want her: she's of no use to me."

"If it was up to me, I'd throw her off the ship with the rest of the garbage," Merga suggests.

"I like how you think," Corazon smirks. "Come, we have a superweapon to find."

Satisfied Lilac is no longer a threat, Corazon and Merga leave the room, leaving the dragoness to hang defeated, bleeding, broken, and truly alone.