Title: The True Meaning of Hero
Author: DemonicangelGREED
Summary: After watching his mentor and best friend die, Ziggy ran out into the Wastes where he met a old survivor who taught him what love and family were truly about. After a terrible accident Ziggy meets Dillon and goes back to the city he ran from.
Warnings: Slash fic, will eventually be Dillon/Ziggy, cage fighting and murder.
Pairings: Dillon/Ziggy
Chapter 4
It was seven in the morning when the others rangers were awoken by the beautiful smell of breakfast being cooked. Over the last two weeks the heavenly smell of omelets and bacon had awoken them, since Ziggy took over the housework of the Garage that was. The young man had healed all his injured and was now a bouncy and energetic young man who had become a permanent figure in their lives.
When he had taken over all the house work: Cooking and Cleaning Flynn and Summer had objected until Ziggy had said that he wasn't going to just live here without doing anything, so now he was there personal butler in every way. He would cook, clean, go shopping with Summer, work of the cars with Flynn, monitor and help Scott with his training and would distract Dillon when he got in a particularly grumpy mood.
As the rangers stumbled into the kitchen they were met by the beaming face of Ziggy who was dishing out bacon onto a large plate next to a range of plates filled with waffles, fruit, eggs and sausages.
"Hope you're hungry" he said as he ran the hot water over the pan as he finished the dishes.
Flynn moaned in happiness and was about to reach for some food when Summer smacked his hand away, "Summer" the blue ranger whined "I'm hungry!"
The yellow ranger pointed to the dining table and then smiled at Ziggy who had already set it up beautifully "Thank you Ziggy. Will you be joining us?" she asked as he brought over the bowl of fruit to the table.
The young man shook his head and dusted his hands on apron before he slipped it off, "Nah, I got to clean the Ranger room, and with Doc watching me it takes a few hours longer than it should" he said and cracked his knuckles.
Summer nodded and then let the boy go; before she joined her team who had all began to eat the large amount of food that Ziggy had prepared for them. When she had taken the boy shopping she had been surprised at the taste the boy had, until he had told her he was gay. It had made a little more sense but when she had questioned the boy, Ziggy had been able to tell the difference between Jag skinny black jeans and the Ralph Lauren pairs she had given him.
"How did we survive without him" Flynn groaned as he shoved the sausages into his mouth.
Scott laughed and then nodded, despite their rocky start it had only taken a few moments for the bubbly young man to worm his way into his heart. "Ziggy does make thing run a little smoother" he said and then glared as Dillon gave him a smug look "Shut it Dillon" he barked making the other rangers laugh.
"The boy is quite the emo dresser though isn't he" Flynn commented suddenly.
Summer nodded and thought back to how the boy was dressed, black skinny jeans, clack shirt with a green symbol plastered on the back with a leather arm band, his goggles adorning his head and she was sure he was wearing a bit of eyeliner.
"Yeah but that's what makes Ziggy, Ziggy" Dillon said shoving tow waffles in his mouth.
The others all shrugged and went back to their meals, and then once they were finished and everything was gone, Ziggy appeared almost from thin air and collected their plates, "All done?" he asked cheekily as he moved off to the kitchen to finish the dishes.
Scott burped and then patted his stomach happily and hummed in affirmation. Ziggy laughed and then clapped getting the rangers attention.
"Right so if I remember correctly, today is a big day" he said and the rangers all tuned in as Ziggy ran through their tasks for the day. "Scott: you have a meeting with your father at twelve, Flynn your father expects you to help out at the auto-shop today, Summer you have a lunch date with your parents today and yes I'll help you get ready, and Dillon you said that you wanted to go and explore the city" he said looking at each of the rangers in turn.
This was just another thing Ziggy had taken on when he had started taking care of the Garage, he had started reminding the others of what they had to do early in the morning when he found out that they were almost late to have their meetings and events because they forgot about them.
"Thanks' Zig" Dillon said warmly.
At the sound of Jak's nickname for him Ziggy froze and his eyes went wide with fright, the pain of losing the older boy was still there and the sound of his nickname made it rush through him strong, but at the same time, hearing Dillon say it so warmly made happiness flush through him and before he realized what was happening he was beaming at the elder.
"No problem" he said giving each of the rangers a bright grin.
Ziggy continued to scrub the floor as he listened to the doctor K screen go on and on about his bio-field and how it was very strong for someone who wasn't bonded to a morphor. He really was bored out of his mind but he wouldn't say anything, apparently according to the other rangers this scientific talking was just the Doc's way of saying that he cared for him.
"And if my theories are correct it means that Venjix may find you to be a target" the screen finished and Ziggy's head shot up in fear.
"Wait, what rewind for a sec there: target?" he said in a scared voice.
"That is correct Ziggy. Venjix will find you to be quite an interesting subject. May even try to turn you into a half bred like Series Black" the screen said confirming the younger mans fears.
Ziggy groaned and then looked around himself "Well then I'm just going to have to become a hermit aren't I?" he snarked
"That would be impractical Ziggy" Doctor K said "Considering Tomorrow you and the other rangers begin your search for the Ranger Green operator"
Ziggy picked up his bucket and nodded at the clean floor before gathering his window cleaning supplies and strode over to the cases where the ranger suits were displayed. "The things I do for you" he grumbled as he began polishing Scott's suit case.
"The rangers and I are very grateful to you Ziggy for all you are doing for us" Dr K said with a kind voice-or at least as kind as a mechanical computer can get.
The young man snorted and then smiled warmly into the glass case, before he moved onto the next case which housed Flynn's suit. "Hey Doc" he asked kindly.
"Yes Ziggy?"
"Well you know how you need this Green ranger still?" he asked as he polished the glass carefully and to the very most detail.
"Yes?" the screen asked in a puzzled tone.
Ziggy grinned and then looked at the screen above him and cocked his eyebrow "Well then why'd the heck did you let Dillon become the black ranger" he asked in an amused voice.
A moment of silence past and Ziggy couldn't help but become intrigued until he heard a staticy sigh "Because when I created, the Ranger Green suit, I forgot to calibrate the suit to fight a larger form. Ranger Operator Series Black wouldn't have been unable to morph comfortably"
Ziggy stared at the screen for a moment and then nodded "I won't say a word" he said seriously and then turned back to his work and began humming a beautiful tune.
A few moments later the backing music for the song flowed through the speakers of the garage making Ziggy grin and then start to sing happily, he knew he was in no way an amazing singer but he did know that he had a nice voice, or at least one that people could listen to without their ears bleeding.
"Wow Zig, never thought you'd be a singer" Dillon said as he followed the younger man's voice into the ranger room where he was lovingly polishing the glass windows.
The younger man smiled at him and shrugged "It was something Cid taught me out in the wastes" he said and then smiled sadly at the thought of his old father figure before he shook himself, "He taught me a few songs, but Early One Morning was my favorite"
"Early One Morning" Dillon asked in confusion.
"That name of the song Series Black" Doc K said "It was a old Irish folk song and was normally sung with a pipe in accordance"
Ziggy smiled and then moved onto the Ranger Green suit and stared at it for a moment, he couldn't tell why but there was something about the green power suit that made him stop and think about things for a moment. He had never really wanted anything before; the cartels hadn't really given him room to.
Fernso Bob had given him what he thought would be best and as one of his youngest "sons" he took it gratefully and thanked the elder man happily. Then as he got older he had been too busy with the different jobs he had been given. But as he stared at the green suit in front of him he couldn't help but want it, and it was strange for him.
"..Iggy…Ziggy!" The younger man was startled back into reality as he heard Dillon calling him.
"Huh?"
Dillon smirked and ruffled Ziggy's hair making him push the elder away before giving him a bright grin "Ah so he returns from dream land" the black ranger joked.
"Ha Ha. You're so funny" Ziggy said and then began to polish the glass window trying to keep his gaze of the suit that in the next few days would find a new owner.
Dillon looked at the younger man affectionately and then wandered over to the kitchen where a large plate covered with his name on it was lying innocently on the bench "Ziggy?" he called back uncertainly.
"It's for you" the young man called back "The others were going to be out all day so I took the intuitive to make you something"
Dillon lifted the cover and couldn't stop the warm smile that spread across his face when he looked down at the handmade pizza that was lying innocently there.
Ziggy stared at the group of people before him and couldn't stop the groan that fell from his lips. None of the people before him were good enough to be the green ranger, hell he would have been a better candidate for being a ranger-or at least that's what he wanted to believe.
"No luck" Ziggy turned around at the sound of the pretty female voice and smiled at the brunette standing before him.
The girl looked fit and was dressed for the gym which raised Ziggy's hopes just a fraction. "Yeah you could say that" he said grinning.
The girl moved up beside him and smiled at him warmly, "What's wrong with them" She asked motioning to the others with her head.
The young man barked out a laugh and then shook his head sadly "They all have the will and the heart to become the green ranger but they are missing one key point of being a Power ranger" he said "They need to know how to fight" he said plainly.
The girl nodded slowly and then stepped in front of him "I'm Tenaya. I have a black belt in Ju Jit Su" she said proudly.
Ziggy stared at her for a moment and then enveloped her in a tight hug. "Thank you" he cried and then began pulling her towards the theater where the other rangers were waiting for him to return. "You're going to go great!"
Ziggy was so focused on the joy of having a ideal candidate that he didn't look back and notice that Tenaya's eyes flashed red for a moment and she was smirking happily at his back.
It turned out that Ziggy had found the jackpot when he had found Tenaya, and it seemed that the other rangers agreed with him because moments after finding out that she could go toe to toe with Summer who was a black belt herself they sent him back to the garage to get the morphor.
Ziggy bounded into the garage and smirked when he saw how bored Dillon looked as he tried to learn his shield ability. "Doc! I'm here for the morphor" he called out happily.
The black ranger turned around and smiled at him but his eyes were screaming out for help which was something new to the younger man. "Hey Ziggy" Dillon drawled in a blatant attempt to keep the younger man there.
"Hey Dill" Ziggy said beaming and then there was a bright flash and the green morphor was by his feet.
"Ziggy, this is the Series Green Morphor: which means you have to guard this with your life!" K said over the intercom.
"Yes sir" Ziggy said sliding the morphor into his bag and then gave Dillon and the Doctor K screen a quick salute before he was rushing out of the garage and towards the theater.
The run back to the theater didn't take as long as Ziggy thought it would take and when he arrived he wasn't even winded, but what he found when he arrived scared the hell out of him. When he walked into the clearance room he was terrified when he saw that Tenaya was beating down the several guards that had been put in charge with giving her clearance.
"Venjix!" Ziggy heard himself snarling.
Tenaya looked up at him and frowned in confusion at his furious tone "that was unexpected from someone so small" she said plainly.
Ziggy glared at her and pulled his bag closer to him. He had no idea where his anger came from, but ever since he had learnt how to fight he had acquired a fury that was almost feral in a way, but unconditionally his. "Yeah well we aren't always what we say we are!"
Tenaya gave the younger man a warm deceiving smile and took a few steps towards him and held out her hand "I like you" she said as she raked his body with her mechanical eyes "If you give me the morphor then I'll let you be my pet" she said cocking her head to the side.
"Hmmm let's see….how about no" Ziggy growled and then turn and fled. Tenaya sighed and then took off after the younger man.
Ziggy took a deep breath and vaulted himself over a brick wall and then scrambled under a broken down car, before he started fishing out the communicator he had be gifted with a week earlier.
"Doc!" he hissed as he heard Tenaya's whistling of Farmer in the Dell getting closer to his position.
What is it Ziggy?
The young man pulled himself away from the intimidating whistling so that he leaning against one side of the car and gasped as the adrenaline flooded his veins, "Ah it turns out Tenaya was one of Venjix's attack bots, and has been chasing me around the city tiring to get the morphor!"
Ziggy took another deep breath and steadied it and tried to calm his frazzled nerves when he heard Dillon's voice snarl out of the communicator:
Ziggy keep moving! I'm coming for you!"
The younger man was going to say something when he heard the beating footsteps of Tenaya rushing to his position getting louder and then decided to leg it. The attack bot leapt and grabbed Ziggy's wrist just as he began to run off and peered deep into his brown eyes and frowned.
"You are different to normal humans" she said "You are able to run for longer than any normal person should"
Ziggy glared and the attack bot and shrugged out of his jacket and began running away from her at the fastest speeds he could go. He leapt over baskets, walls and he was pretty sure he even ran over the top of a car at one stage just to get away from the attack bot that seemed to have taken such an interest in him.
"ZIGGY!" he heard Dillon shout and he froze.
Looking down from the car he was perched on top he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the Fury tearing down the street towards him. "Dillon!" he shouted as he panted harshly.
The fury closed into his position and stopped violently next to him and Dillon swung the door open "Get in!" he shouted and Ziggy wasted no time in throwing himself into the black car.
'Go, go, go!" Ziggy shouted and Dillon stepped on the accelerator and the Fury became a carefully control black blur speeding down the streets.
"How the hell'd you stay away from her?" Dillon shouted as Ziggy threw his bag down and slid the morphor into his jean pocket.
"I don't know. I ran" Ziggy panted as he tried to catch his breath, his lungs burning from the lack of air.
Dillon clamped his jaw shut as they reached the docks and slowed down a fraction, but it seemed that a fraction was all Tenaya needed because as soon as he did she had leapt upon the car bonnet causing Dillon to slam on the breaks. Ziggy couldn't help but notice that she was wearing some ugly visor to hide her identity.
"Hang on" Dillon shouted and was about to reverse when the attack bot reached through the open window and yanked Ziggy through the opening and caused him to land painfully on the cement.
The young man ignored the pain and pulled himself into a crouch with his two hands resting on the ground so he took a animalistic pose while Tenaya gazed at him smugly "You crazy bitch!" Ziggy snarled.
Dillon didn't think about talking to the attack bot and launched into a flurry of attacks which the girl easily blocked but seemed to be intrigued by him, and when she pulled him close she finally addressed him.
"You've had upgrades" she commented lightly.
"Who are you?" Dillon grunted as he tried to get out of the attack bot's grip.
"I am Tenaya generation 7: human infiltration Attack bot, I am your thoughts, I am your memories-"
"I really don't care" Dillon growled and delivered a swift kick to her stomach making her fly into a wall behind her. Then with a smirk he quickly morphed "RPM! Get in gear!"
Ziggy watched happily as his friend turned into his Black ranger formed and palmed the Morphor in his pocket making sure it was still there. Tenaya saw this and smirked, now at least she knew that the young man had the device on him, and so she set to work quickly taking out the black ranger who was causing her so many problems.
Ziggy looked up alarmed when he heard Dillon groan, but before he could even shout his friends name Tenaya was in front of him reaching for his pocket. Ziggy saw this and then reached for it first and managed to hold it away from the attack bot.
"Not today" he growled as he wrestled her for it, not noticing that it was lying straight against his wrist.
Tenaya didn't notice either because she foolishly pulled the lever up. Ziggy saw this and then slammed the lever down, and then his vision flashed neon green.
Deep in her lab, Doctor K looked at each of her rangers stats as the rushed to fight the gofer bot that was heading towards the city when she saw the ranger green suit disappear.
'Oh no!" she gasped and rushed to the final screen which flashed to life.
"Warning, Lupine DNA already evident in Subject" The computer relayed to her making her frown.
'Over ride!" she snapped
The computer made a large buzz making her eyes widen "Unable to override. DNA is a part of subjects base DNA" Doctor K groaned and ran her hands through her hair when the computer made a chiming noise "Subject is allowing DNA morphor bonding sequence to activate: evaluation of physical subject-perfect host"
K looked at the computer screen warily as the new ranger stats flashed across her screen, who was this person who was the ranger greens perfect match?
Ziggy shook his head as the green faded from his vision but then froze when he noticed he was looking out of a helmet visor, he didn't, he couldn't have.
"Please no" he whispered and then began patting his body as if to make sure what he was thinking wasn't real, but to his display he was garbed in the bright green spandex suit, helmet and all.
"I'm a Power ranger!" he shouted and then looked up at Tenaya who had her lip curled in disgust "I don't wanna be a Power ranger" he shouted and leapt back into a crouch as the attack bot swiped at him.
Dillon stared at Ziggy in shock as he continued to dodge the attack bot's moves, "I really can't be a Power ranger!" he shouted once more before he kicked up hitting the robot in the stomach making her kneel over a little at the unexpected attack.
"Ziggy!" he called over the worried green ranger "Come here!"
The younger ranger hurried over to his side and stared at Tenaya who glared at Ziggy pointedly "You will pay for this" she hissed and then threw a ball on the floor at their feet.
'Huh?" both rangers asked before the ball beeped once and exploded into smoke.
When the smoke cleared Dillon turned and looked at Ziggy who was staring at his hands and then put his hadn on the younger's shoulder making him look up at him quickly. A moment passed and Dillon couldn't figure out what to stay so instead gulped and shrugged "Come on"
Ziggy followed after Dillon without missing a beat and when the black ranger broke into a run the green ranger was only a step behind. When the two of them reached a more forest covered area, Ziggy froze as he heard a thundering below him.
"Dillon wait!" he cried and then pulled the black ranger back just in time to save him from the large attack bot that blasted through the ground just where Dillon had been about to step.
Dillon looked back at Ziggy who was focused on the bot and then thanked his luck that his friend had been paying attention. The two rangers got ready to face the monster when three blurs rushed in front of them making Ziggy's limbs lock together and fear to crawl up his throat.
Flynn was the first one to spot Ziggy and pointed at him in shock "Oh my god!" he cried and Ziggy then looked up at him thanking whatever god that was looking out for him that they couldn't tell who he was.
Summer looked over at Ziggy and then pulled Scott to get his attention "No way" she whispered and was about to say something when the green ranger tackled her just in time to save her from the arm that the golfer bot had swung in her direction.
"Thanks" she panted at the green ranger above her who nodded and then jumped up and delivered a quick kick to the bot making him stumble.
Dillon grinned at Ziggy's enthusiasm and joined Ziggy's attack with a kick of his own. The other rangers watched the black and green ranger work together and finally realized why the Doctor was so forceful about getting the two other rangers on the team. The red, blue and yellow rangers were a team that they were a part of but they were a team in their own right.
When Ziggy was slammed into a nearby tree Dillion quickly forgot about the monster and ran to Ziggy's side leaving the monster to the original rangers who quickly got to work. But it turned out that the new bot was too strong for the three rangers and quickly took them all out.
"Come on!" Dillon urged dragging Ziggy after the digger bot who was terrorizing Conith.
The three original rangers stared after the green and black ranger and Flynn was the first one to say what was on all of there minds.
"Who was that!" he asked in shock.
Summer shrugged and then rubbed her shoulder where the green ranger had slammed into her to save her "I have no idea. But he did save my life" she said "and that is good enough for me"
It turned out that the golfer bot, why strong was very stupid and had left a large trail of destruction for the two rangers to follow. Dillon had dragged Ziggy for ten minutes before the green ranger froze and then pointed right in front of him where the large robot was snarling at them.
"I think he's mad" Ziggy said his voice shaking slightly.
Dillon didn't respond but instead drew the blaster at his side and gave Ziggy's a quick stare, sighing Ziggy drew his own blaster and then leapt up into the air with his friend, he just knew he was going to look so stupid.
"Ranger weapon: Nitro blaster" the called out and then shot several times blasting the creature with each shot and for once Ziggy was completely thankful for the shooting lessons that Jak had given him.
When they landed Dillon clapped Ziggy on the shoulder and gave him a quick nod before they stood side by side, "Ready: Ranger weapon!" he shouted
"Download!" Ziggy finished hoping that it worked, and then to his amazement a large axe appeared in front of him.
"Lustier Blaster!" Dillon shouted as he wielded a large black blaster, which looked completely natural in the black rangers hands.
Ziggy gulped and wrapped a hand around the handle of the axe and suddenly he knew that the weapon was meant for him. "Nitro Axe!" he said and then did a quick swipe with it before resting it on his shoulder like a baseball bat.
Dillon grinned when he saw his tiny friend wield the weapon, which was almost as large as he was with ease. "Nice axe" he said and then leapt at the golfer bot using his blaster as a sword just as easily.
The young ranger watched the fight closely and when he saw Dillon stepped back he jumped forward and swung the blade in an uppercut making the machine stumble back with a pained roar. Ziggy swung the blade again catching the beast in the face tearing out an optic. The Golfer bot was livid at this point and began beating down the younger ranger who used his axe as a shield.
Dillon saw Ziggy crouched with his axe acting as a shield and then saw a golden opportunity for something they could dub as "their" move. "Ziggy launch pad" he shouted hoping the green ranger would understand.
Luckily Ziggy did and straightened his arms so that his axe was flat against his back. The black ranger grinned and then raced up Ziggy's back and leapt off firing his blaster quickly. The golfer bot fell and Ziggy jumped up and without a word they connected their weapons. "Oh yeah!" Ziggy said smugly.
Dillon grinned and nodded "Nitro Lustier Blaster" they shouted and then Dillon pulled the trigger.
The green and black blast hit the golfer bot sending it sparking and unmoving. Then it began to grow. Ziggy gulped and stepped back until they saw the Megazord come out of nowhere and began to beat it down.
"You did good Zig" Dillon whispered and put a hand on Ziggy's shoulder.
The green ranger stood in front of the others and fidgeted uncomfortably as the others inspected him closely.
"You'r Kinda Short" Flynn commented "But I guess considering how fast you were out there, it works in your favour" he said his accent coming through strong.
Ziggy shifted again and Dillon decided that it would be a good time to take charge of the situation. "Right: Fellow Rangers, Creepy Doctor K screen" he said addressing each of them before he went to stand next to his friend. "I present you with: your new Green ranger"
Ziggy took a deep breath and powered down the suit letting the green energy flow back into his body. A gasp filled the room and Ziggy didn't have to look up to know that it had been Summer who had gasped, he knew that they would be shocked but still...it hurt a little.
"No way" The yellow ranger whispered and took a step towards the younger man hesitantly reaching out almost as if he wasn't real "Ziggy?"
The younger man nodded sadly and locked eyes with Scott who was glaring at the morphor that was snugly strapped to his wrist "Scott..." he began only to be halted when he held up a warning hand.
"No, this isn't possible!" he hissed and then turned to Dillon "What the heck happened out there"
Ziggy looked down and then clenched his hands into fists "I stopped Tenaya Seven from getting the Morphor at any means-I was doing what the doc asked of me" he said softly.
The red ranger turned and gave Ziggy a tired look and then shook his head "Look Ziggy, you can't just chose to become a power ranger-"
"YOU THINK I DON"T KNOW THAT!"
The other rangers-Dillon included-took a shocked step back at the furious tone in the young green rangers voice, not once had they ever heard him scream or raise his voice. "Ziggy" Summer said in a clam voice.
Ziggy looked away from them and clenched his fists tighter so that his knuckles were white "You think this is what I wanted?" he whispered "I just wanted to help, not to become a power ranger" he said and choked when he felt his throat tighten. "I'm the worst possible candidate to be a ranger" he admitted sadly.
Dillon but his hand on Ziggy's shoulder and the younger man shook his head and gave them all a sad smile "Look I can't offer you more than my best. I can fight but I'm not used to any of this so you're going to need to be patient with me" he admitted before he started to walk towards his room only to be stopped by Summer who had grabbed his wrist.
"You have a new room now" she said and smiled shyly at him.
Ziggy cocked his head to the side and then let her lead him to the door that would lead him into the Ranger Green room. "I can't" he whispered taking a step back.
The yellow ranger pushed his back lightly and shook his head "This is your room now" she said and then swung the door open in front of him revealing the beautiful green room to them.
Ziggy looked back at the yellow ranger and then stepped into the room, and sighed, there was no going back any more-he was in this to the end. The young man stared at his wrist where the morphor was strapped on innocently and then collapsed onto his bed and let out a tired sigh; he was screwed.