It was dusk when the last person waiting at the hospital was treated, thanked them, and left for home. Eric had accepted their help, and set them up with a supply of serum which was now almost gone. The hospital grounds contained only tired Guardians, medical personnel, and a few recovered venom victims either talking or helping out.

Wes looked around, feeling relaxed for the first time in days. Everything was going to be all right. He looked at Jen to find her smiling at him.

“No one died. Thanks to you,” she said. She took Wes’s hands. He smiled and squeezed her hands gently.

“Thanks to you and Trip too.” They shared a warm look, content with the world for the moment.

Wes noticed Eric a few yards away, walking slowly by and surveying the scene, his face tired but satisfied. As he looked in their direction, Wes grinned happily. He saw Jen, Katie, Trip, and even Lucas all smiling too. Apparently caught off guard, Eric gave them back a brief but genuine smile before walking on.

Wes looked back at Jen’s face and saw her smiling at him again. He moved closer, still holding her hands. She lifted her face slightly. Recognizing the invitation, Wes started to lean forward.

“Hey guys! We’re all done here. Let’s get home, I could sleep for a week!” Wes pulled back and looked at Trip. For a guy with psychic powers he could be awfully dense. Apparently Lucas thought so too; he poked Trip in the shoulder, only half playfully.

“Okay, let’s go,” Wes sighed. He put his arm around Jen’s shoulders as they started for home. That would have to be enough, at least for now.

“The Rangers got Venomark. He’ll spend the rest of his life in cryogenic suspension. That’s good, isn’t it?” Nadira asked her father.

“It’s too good for him. I would have preferred to deal with him myself, permanently.” His expression still angry, Ransik turned away from her and stalked to his workroom. Nadira followed, still concerned.

There was a crunch as Ransik stepped inside. Nadira looked down to see the floor covered with broken glass and blue wetness. Confused, she looked around the room. Every surface was covered with the litter of glass and liquid. All of the cases of serum were scattered around the room, empty and discarded. Ransik took another step, his breath coming faster. Frax stood quietly behind the desk, watching him. They both ignored Nadira, who stood in the doorway, starting to realize something terrible was happening.

“Can you believe it?” Frax said, his mechanical voice expressing something very close to emotion. “It looks like someone’s spilled all of your precious serum.” Ransik snarled and started for him. “Careful.” Frax held up one claw-like hand, which held a single tube of blue liquid. “The last one. A stupid, useless robot like me might accidentally drop it.”

Ransik stopped, his eyes fastened on the tube. “Frax, my old friend,” he said, controlling himself with an obvious effort. “We’re on the same side. Humans are our enemies.”

“Humans are your enemies! I should know. I was human when you destroyed me.”

“What!” Ransik stared at him. Nadira gasped softly.

“Do you remember the foolish human doctor who saved your life, after Venomark -- another mutant -- attacked you? You thought you had killed him. And you almost did. But he survived your attack and the fire that destroyed his laboratory. He was barely alive, hideously maimed, in constant pain. But he was not only a doctor, but an expert at robotics. So he rebuilt himself, changed himself into one of the stupid robots you despise so much.”

Ransik and Nadira were staring at him in silent horror. “That’s right. I am what remains of Louis Fericks. My transformation made a perfect disguise. Years later I joined you as an ally. Or rather, a servant. I worked for you, building the cyclobots I had designed. The design you took from me.

“I’ve waited a very long time for this moment. I showed you kindness, and you showed me hatred. Now the Doctor is going to give you some of your own medicine.”

Frax raised the tube of serum. Ransik reached out helplessly for it. Frax slowly opened his hand. The tube fell, smashing on the floor like the others. Ransik stared at it, unmoving.

“Oops. That was the last one,” Frax said mockingly.

Ransik looked up at him with a face full of horror and despair, which quickly changed to fury. He roared incoherently, drew his blaster and fired. But it was too late, Frax had already teleported himself to safety. With a shout of rage, Ransik turned back to the door. He stopped when he saw Nadira, seeming to become aware of her presence for the first time.

“That traitor destroyed every drop of serum. Without it, I’m dead the next time the venom strikes. He’s gotten his revenge.”

“We’ll have to go back to our own time,” she said. “We can get more serum there.”

“Out of the question. We don’t even know what we’ll find there. And I’d rather die here than be captured by Time Force again.” Ransik started for the door.

“Daddy, wait!” Nadira called after him, her voice suddenly hopeful. “Didn’t Bio-Lab make the serum? There should be some left.”

Ransik stopped short, and turned back. He smiled at his daughter. “Bio-Lab. Of course. Nadira, my dear, you’re a genius. Help me get the cyclobots ready. I’ve got to work fast.” His smile became ferocious. “Frax must have liked the idea of destroying me by destroying the serum I took from him. But it won’t be that easy. I’ll survive. But he won’t.”

Nadira watched him leave, still shaken. Frax was human. Frax was Dr. Fericks, the man her father had treated so shamefully. Ransik was her father, and she loved him, and had always found excuses for the things he did. But this time….

Frax stood in an abandoned warehouse, the same one the Rangers had confronted Steelix in, months before. He had made quite a few changes. This was now his headquarters, and his laboratory. Cyclobots swarmed through the dim interior, and a large metallic shape hulked against the far wall.

“Just wait until I’m finished, Ransik,” he muttered. “Killing you isn’t enough. I’m going to destroy your people, and your precious cause.” He stood quietly for a few minutes, admiring his creation, and then continued, “It will be hard on the humans of this time. Too bad. Casualties of war. Besides, it will all turn out for the best.”

He looked at his creation proudly. It was magnificent, a flying fortress, heavily armed, bigger and more deadly than the Q-Rex. He had had the cyclobots paint it to resemble a dragon, and that’s what he called it. A dragon, to spew fire and destruction, and bring on the end of the world.

Frax had studied the same records Ransik had, and had access to other data he had secretly brought from 2200. And he was a good deal more intelligent than Ransik. He knew what would happen if Bio-Lab was destroyed. The end not only of Time Force, but eventually of most of the mutants in the world. Most of the humans, too, but that couldn’t be helped. It would be better that way. It would be a cleaner, purer world, with no one left to feel hatred, or make war.