It was the animals that made her want to cry. Nadira sniffled and rubbed the back of her hand across her nose as she watched a squirrel run up the trunk of a nearby tree, pausing halfway up to stare at her with bright little squirrelly eyes. It was the birds she could see overhead, the dogs whose owners were walking them in the park that day, all the unseen and unknown cats and horses and cows and fish, even the ants swarming over a dropped piece of bread in the pathway. All the innocent animals, just living their animal lives. All of them would die too, when the war happened.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered to the squirrel. Unforgiving, it continued on its way into the branches. Nadira sighed. Humans and mutants… but really the same thing, underneath. Mutants were only what humans had done to themselves. And they would wipe each other out… but what right did they have to take everything else with them? What right do we have? she wondered glumly. Because she was surely just as much to blame as anyone.

It had been a long and sleepless night for her, after Frax’s visit. At first she had refused to believe what he had told her. But the echoes of his mocking voice gnawed at her, until she opened her father’s workroom, determined to prove that the robot was wrong. All the research files were still there, the readouts, the records Ransik had used as sources. It wasn’t too hard to run her own analysis, to extend the simulations and probability projections beyond what her father had done, to predict what would happen if their mission succeeded, and Time Force was eliminated from history.

She had done it, set up the program and run it. Made adjustments and run it again. Searched for mistakes, made corrections, and run it again. Examined the algorithms, widened parameters, and run it again. By morning, she could no longer avoid the truth. Frax was right. It had been in front of them all along. Ransik had never seen it because he had never projected the probable outcome of his interference with history to its logical conclusion. Maybe he hadn’t wanted to know.

Now she sat on a bench in the park again, surrounded by the beauty of a living, breathing world, inside the artificial but no less living world of the city. All these people, unsuspecting. The young mothers she nodded to every day. The man who always ate his lunch on the next bench. The children, running across the grass after a ball… They would all be Frax’s victims, if he had his way. She had heard the news reports of the attack on Bio-Lab, and knew it was just the beginning. The beginning of the end. Unless there was something she could do…

They saw it coming in time to evacuate most of the people from the downtown office buildings. It walked towards the city, crushing a few cars as it moved through the suburban streets, ignoring the few police who dared to shoot at it. Perhaps fifteen minutes later, it was in the thick of tall buildings, and the attack began in earnest as sirens shrieked, police cars and Silver Guardian SUV’s converged, and people fled in screaming masses.

“It’s chaos here, this mechanical monster that a few people have started to call Doomtron seems to be destroying whatever it can…”

“Doomtron…” Alex murmured, mostly to himself, as he watched the images on their small television set. “It’s a good name…”

“Alex?” Jen’s voice pulled him back to the immediacy of the clock tower room, his teammates standing around him, waiting, he knew, for him to give the order that would send them into action. The order that would almost certainly send them to their deaths. He glanced around at all of them, feeling something made almost equally of regret, desperation, and resignation.

Lucas, Trip, and Katie, their eyes wide and bright, their faces grim and determined. Wes, the untrained civilian, his rival, ready to give his life to defend his city and his future. And Jen, watching him with concern, seeming in his eyes to glow with the dedication and spirit he loved so much. His heart squeezed with the thought that this might be the last time they would all be together. Alive.

“What we do now will determine history,” he said softly. “And I want to say -- there’s no one I would rather be going into battle with. It’s an honor working with you. All of you.” He directed a look at Wes, who offered a surprised smile in return. Then with a deep breath, he gave the order.

“Let’s go. We’ll take the ‘cycles, fight it from the ground while the Q-Rex attacks from the air.”

It didn’t really sink in until they were on the street, speeding on their vectorcycles, as they looked up to see smoke wafting on the breeze over their heads. Until they saw the destruction, a trail of buildings looking as if holes had been punched in them with some giant fist -- not far from the truth, he realized.

This was it, no more time, no more preparation. He had seen the records in the history files, the Time Force historical specialists had described it. But a faded image in a viewing monitor couldn’t compare to the real thing as he stared up at the monster confronting them.

Eric felt only a numbing horror as he saw it, looming above them, moving through a haze of dust and smoke. Doomtron, they were calling it. The giant robot was striding slowly through the densest part of downtown, pausing to methodically smash a building here, fire a blast of energy there. The streets around it were choked with rubble, impossible to drive through.

“Get these people out of here!” he shouted, waving at a limping man being supported by a woman, dragging their way towards safety. A couple of Guardians ran to obey. Eric saw more movement, and saw a group of cyclobots charge out of the smoke and wreckage, headed straight for them.

A barrage of blaster fire took care of some of them. As they approached, Eric ran forward, part of him welcoming the chance to strike out at something solid, something he could hurt, even if it was only a robot; to have something to fight. Because he sure couldn’t fight that monster demolishing his city.

He turned and whirled into a kick, sending the first cyclobot crashing back into its companions. Two more came at him; he ducked under their reaching hands and plunged forward, jabbing them in the middles with his padded elbows, having learned the hard way not to hit them with a fist. As they fell back, he jumped, a high kick hitting a robot in the face, then grabbed a metal arm, yanking another over his outstretched leg and spinning it head-first into the cracked pavement.

His men were around him by then, taking care of the rest. Eric paused for a moment to catch his breath. He looked around. A few small fires had started in wrecked cars and damaged buildings. Had to hope the gas mains wouldn’t catch. Another look up, at Doomtron’s back, moving away from them, uptown. Had to hope the Rangers could stop that thing before the whole city was destroyed.

Alex jumped off and let his vectorcycle drop to the ground. Looking up, he raised his morpher and called for the Q-Rex to attack, seeing it swoop in only a moment later from the sky above the city. It fired at Doomtron, scoring a direct hit before Frax’s robot turned to target it. The two fighting machines exchanged blasts, lighting the air between them in bursts of radiant energy as the Q-Rex passed slowly overhead.

“We’ve got to get it out of the city!” Jen shouted over the noise.

“I know, but how?”

“The Q-Rex will have to land. Fight on the ground. Shooting from above, it’s doing more damage. Maybe it can be more effective close up.”

She was right, the Q-Rex needed to get closer to do real damage. Which would expose it to harm too. He raised his arm again and gave the order. They ran closer, dodging over rubble in the street, stopping for a few moments to help a man trapped inside a car.

The two robots towered over them, facing off as the Q-Rex lowered to the streets, transforming into its dinosaur-like walking form. Again they blasted at each other. Alex hoped absently that no one was still inside the buildings nearby, as stray beams of energy set off a dozen small explosions and sent more chunks of concrete and brick cascading down.

“Q-Rex! Cannons!” he shouted into his morpher. “Fire!”

The Quantasaurus brought its arms forward, the cannons built into them erupting into flashes of light and deafening noise as they fired, sending balls of white energy blasting into the other battle robot. Doomtron staggered back. But it gave as good as it got, chest artillery chattering in a staccato burst, lines of light tracing the destructive effect. Now it was Q-Rex’s turn to stagger.

“They’re evenly matched!” Jen shouted, her voice barely audible.

“Don’t let up, Q-Rex!” Alex ordered. “Use the cutting lasers!”

Red beams arched from the Quantasaurus’ ‘eyes’, darting over the enemy robot, finally finding a spot at the base of its ‘neck’ that produced a burst of sparks and a puff of smoke. “Concentrate fire on that spot!” Alex cried.

“We should find Frax!” Trip said. “He must be directing that thing!”

“Right.” Alex glanced at the rest of them. “Jen, take Lucas, Trip, and Katie. Scout around, but stay out of the line of fire.”

“Yes, sir!” They moved out, running quickly from one bit of cover to another.

Alex tried to keep an eye on them, but the battle was heating up. Q-Rex and Doomtron crashed together, pushing each other and struggling to stay upright. If they fell, they’d crush anything underneath... “Q-Rex! Back off! Get clear!” he ordered. Q-Rex obeyed, stepping back. Doomtron pursued, its footsteps crunching through the rubble scattered over the street.

“Come on!” Wes cried, starting after them, startling Alex, who had almost forgotten he was there.

He followed at a run. As they moved, he caught sight of the other Rangers, crouching behind a line of cars. Doomtron would pass right by them... “Jen! Get out of its way!” he shouted into his morpher. But it was already too late, as Doomtron seemed to see them, drove the Q-Rex back with a renewed barrage, then turned and fired at them.

“Watch out!” Wes shouted.

They both ran forward, but they were too far away. “Jen!” he screamed, seeing them sent flying by the impact.

The giant robots had resumed their struggle as he dashed past, Wes right behind him. Four unmorphed forms lay on the scorched pavement, starting to move, to his relief. He checked Jen, and saw Lucas, Katie, and Trip starting to sit up, looking dazed.

“They won’t be able to morph again for a while!” Wes exclaimed, casting a glance at the battling robots. “We’ve got to get them out of here!”

“You’re right,” Alex said. He looked back at his teammates. With the energy drained from their morphers, they could no longer fight, for now. And maybe that gave him a way to save them after all, send them somewhere relatively safe. He even had a good reason to do it... “The four of you go to Bio-Lab. Wes, you go with them, make sure they get there all right.”

“What?” Jen exclaimed. “No, you need our help!”

“You’re no use here with your morphers not working,” Alex said bluntly. “I need you to be at Bio-Lab. Work with the Guardians. Protect them.”

“Bio-Lab?” Wes asked. “Why, is Frax going to attack them?”

“He attacked them first, remember? They’re his main target.”

“But why? What does he-”

“I can’t tell you that, Wes. Just go. Please. Your father could be in danger, too.”

The red Ranger stared at him for a moment and then straightened and faced the others, all gathered around them now. “All right,” he said. “We have to get back to the vectorcycles.” They started away, then stopped and turned as Jen stayed where she was.

“Are you telling the truth, about Bio-Lab?” she asked, her voice lowered. “Or just trying to get us out of the fight?”

“It’s true, Jen.” He knew it was the only way to get her to go; giving her something more important than him to worry about. And perhaps keeping it secret was no longer important, now that their time here was almost over. “The Silver Guardians will become Time Force someday. You have to make sure they and Bio-Lab survive this. I need you to be there, in case I can’t stop this here.”

She stared, surprise and hurt struggling in her face. “The Guardians? Why didn’t you tell me?”

No time to be tactful. “You might have told Wes. Now go on!”

“But… what are you going to do?”

“What I have to. Just go! That’s an order, Lieutenant! Now!”

He saw her lips move, whispering his name once more before he stepped back. In another moment he was leaping to meet the TF Eagle as it swooped down, then watching as Wes pulled her away. One last look was all he gave himself, before he put her, all of them, out of his mind and concentrated on the battle ahead.

She had forgotten her wig, but it hardly mattered. The people around her were too panicked to even notice that the young woman pushing through them had bright pink hair. Not so bright, now, when coated by a layer of dust. Nadira stopped in the shelter of a doorway to stare at the giant robot several blocks away. She spent a moment wondering where Frax was, whether there was something she could say to persuade him, if she could find him.

Then into the street again, hearing screams ahead, and seeing several cyclobots charging out. She ran forward, not stopping to think, and found herself between a group of terrified people and the silver forms of the attacking robots.

“Stop it! Leave them alone!” she screamed. But they were not programmed to obey her, and Ransik wasn’t there to command them. They advanced, slowly, metal hands reaching out for her… With a cry of fear, she ran.

Bio-Lab was only a few blocks ahead. She stopped, gasping for air, leaning against a wall, still afraid. She would only find enemies there. They wouldn’t trust her, wouldn’t want to listen. But she had a plan. She had to make them listen. Had to convince them somehow that she was on their side now.

If she succeeded, then would come the really hard part. Convincing Ransik.

History. Destiny. Fate. Alex soared into the sky in the Eagle, tightly circling the enemy robot, firing at its back with the Quantum Defender, looking in vain for a weak spot. He had to end this fight now, alone...

It came back to him again, what the Time Force scientists had told him, months ago and two hundred years in the future. If they restored the timeline the way it was supposed to be, according to history Jen, Lucas, Katie, and Trip would die, leaving him and Wes to live on without them. But if he could defeat Doomtron now, history would be rewritten. The rest of them could live. Jen would be safe.

“Q-Rex, move in!” he commanded. “Closer! Fire all weapons, full power!” Had to stop it now. At any cost. He flew in closer, dodging as the giant robot tried to swat him like a fly. The two machines faced each other, moved together, both firing full force just before they impacted, the combined energies exploding around them. Alex tried to swerve away at the last moment, but it was too late. The world seemed to come apart in a nightmare of fiery destruction.

Wes pulled over at the side of the street in front of the main Bio-Lab building. To his relief, it seemed untouched, so far. But that might not last much longer. He could no longer see Doomtron and the Q-Rex, but the sounds of their battle reached him, and a cloud of smoke and dust marked their location. Jen, Lucas, Trip, and Katie parked behind him and dismounted. The five Rangers gathered.

“Wes, we have to find your father, try to contact Eric,” Jen said.

“What can the Guardians do against that thing? We need more firepower than they’ve got.”

“I don’t know. I don’t know what Alex expects us to do.”

“Alex’s timeship’s no use,” Lucas said. “It’s got no weapons. Even if I rammed it into Doomtron, it would hardly make a dent.”

“We’ll think of something,” Jen said. “Come on.”

They had only taken a few steps when the sound of an explosion blasted them. Wes gasped as they all whirled to look back, seeing a massive burst of flame sending a fireball into the sky where the two robots were fighting. Where they had left Alex.

Wes grabbed Jen’s arm as she started forward. “Jen, no. There’s nothing you can do.” He let go. “Go on into Bio-Lab. Find my father and see what you can do here.”

“Aren’t you coming?”

“No. Alex could be in trouble. Someone has to help him, and I’m the only one who can morph, for now. I’m going back.”

“Wes...” Her chin came up, firm with determination. “I’m going with you.”

He reached to touch her cheek, gently. “Not this time. You know I’m right, you’d only slow me down. Take care of my dad, Jen. I’ll see you soon.” Without giving her a chance to argue he mounted the ‘cycle and roared away, a quick glance back showing her still standing there, Trip, Lucas, and Katie beside her, as he headed back into the wounded heart of the city.