Frax laughed to himself as he looked through the prisoners of the Hell's Gate cell block. "Let's see, who to well begin my own brand of vengeance? Not you, certainly not you...ah! Dagra!" he exclaimed, pulling a cryo-frozen mutant down and carrying it to a secondary cryo-chamber. This mutant, Ransik could not learn of, not quite yet. It was one the man knew all too well from his past.

Within minutes, the mutant was released from his frozen sleep, looking about and seeing only Frax in the room. "What the hell is going on?!"

"I suggest you keep your voice low," Frax stated quietly. "There are those on this prison who would be quite...disturbed to see you up and about again. Namely, Ransik."

"Who?"

Frax chuckled as he patted Dagra on the back. "Not to worry about him for now. I have a little, task for you to do."

"Nadira, have you seen Frax lately?"

The pink haired woman looked up from a data pad and shook her head. "Not for the past two days. Why?"

Ransik frowned as he rubbed his arm, feeling it start to hurt again. "I need to speak to him about something, it can wait a bit though." He winced and walked into the warden's office, then pulled out a case and opened it to reveal a set of hypospray cartridges. He delayed a moment to find an injector, then loaded the cartridge and pressed it against his neck to release its contents into his bloodstream. "Running out, I need to have Frax synth up some more."

"Ransik!"

Ransik's eyes went wide as he heard Nadira's scream and raced out of the office. What he saw froze his blood cold. "You?!" he bellowed, slamming into the mutant and sending him away from Nadira. "How did you get loose?!"

"Do I know you?!" Dagra snapped, his hands dripping with some kind of fluid. Ransik knew that fluid all too well, it was what caused his virulent pains, his reason for needing the enzyme to hold it off. "You look a bit familiar, but I can't place your face."

"You infected me, you sick bastard!"

"I infected a lot of people!" Dagra replied with a laugh. "Be more specific next time!" He ran off and vanished, causing Ransik to yell out only one word.

"FRAX!"

Crash and Burn

"Frax!" the scream continued throughout the prison ship. "Where are you?! Frax!"

"I'm afraid that at the moment, I'm unreachable through your means!" the robot's voice snapped while a holo image of him appeared before Ransik. "Consider this my way of repaying you for bringing those armored men upon me! You led them to me, you sick freak, you caused my death as a normal being!"

"What's he talking about?" Nadira asked as she ran over. The woman was making sure to stick close to Ransik after almost being 'bitten' by Dagra. "Ransik?"

"It was a long time ago," Ransik whispered. "And it was something I hate to remember because it caused me just as much pain as it did him..."

2980.148

"Aaaaahhh! Someone make it stop!"

As a man clad in an overcoat walked through the streets, he heard the scream for help, a scream of pain. It was one he well knew from the days of late. "Damnit, he's done it again," he whispered. Turning to a robot that walked by his side, he nodded and took off in a run to find a young mis-shapened boy laying on the ground, screaming in pain. "Enzymes, he needs them!"

The robot handed him a case. Opening the case, the man pulled out a tube and hypospray, then pressed it to the boy's neck and injected the medical tool's contents. Within moments, the boy's pain eased away and the bubbling of his skin ceased. "You alright?"

"I think so...thank you, but why did you help me? I'm a mutant, normal humans are supposed to hate me."

With a smile, the man helped his young patient up to his feet. "Other people are unknowledged in your pain, I actually bothered to learn about your troubles. As such, I do not fear those pained with deformation, I try to help them." He pointed to the deformations on the child's arms and face. "I've been working on a way to heal mutatives such as your own, to let you rejoin the 'normal' human society."

"Despite what some of us have done, you still helped me."

"My boy, you are not responsible for what others do, only what you do." The man smiled and took his coat off to give the body some shelter from the rain that was pouring down. "I saw that you were in pain from one of your 'fellow' mutants, so I helped you. Unfortunately, the virus he infected you with affects mutants different than humans, so the serum I gave you must be taken once a week for the rest of your life." He sighed as if in apology for the great pain the boy now had to live through.

"I, guess I owe you my life then," the boy replied with a smile.

"You owe me nothing," came the reply. "Humanity owes you for the pain you've suffered. Oh, so sorry, I've forgotten introductions. My name is Samuel Gien, I'm a doctor. You are?"

"I..." The boy paused. He didn't have really much of an answer to the question. "I don't have a name...not one my parents gave me. People who see me have named me Ransik."

"Such a horrid name!" Gien said in disgust. "As long as you're in my care, you will go by a name you choose. Come, let's get you to my home, we can try and figure out a more permanent cure to your problems there."

With a smile, the young Ransik nodded and followed Gien and his robot through the streets. Never had he been given such kindness save by a few. But those that had helped him before were now dead, killed by dark faceless figures in black armor. He could only pray that they were not still following him. "I've never been told to choose my own name, I've been so used to Ransik all my life."

"It's a terrible name to accept when it was given in revile," Gien stated with a shake of his head. "Choose your own name, but I suggest to not use the one people forced on you. Ransik is such a horrid label for one so young and undeserving of such pain that you have."

The boy blinked and nodded while following Gien through the streets to a building. The man tapped on a keypad to open the door, then walked in and motioned for Ransik to do the same. "I have to admit," he continued. "I haven't been able to find many mutations willing to be aided by me. All too many would rather live as they are to self-justify their acts."

"Like the one that bit me."

Gien slowly nodded. "Yes, like him. You're not the first one he's done this to, I've had to help several people that monster infected. Normally, the enzyme I created only needs one injection to heal someone, but that's with normal humans." With a sigh, he picked up a hand scanned and ran it over Ransik's arm to check for damage from the poison he had been infected with. "Mutants, however, are different. The DNA is changed so much that it would require a more, unfortunately, life long medicative. I have been unable to help the two mutants I found before infected, you are the first lucky enough for me to have reached. Arm has some muscle damage, but that should heal with time. It'll be a bit stiff for a while though."

Ransik sighed as he looked away from Nadira. "Enough on that for now. I need to stop that thing before he gets out into the city and spreads his virus now." He walked down the halls and into the weapons storage to grab a rifle, then strapped a personal barrier field to his arm. "Stay here, and keep your field up until I call with a message that it's safe."

"What about Frax?" she asked, a bit frightened. "It just feels so much like when-"

"I know," Ransik replied. "I know, that's why I've taken care of you. I wish you didn't act like I am really your brother, but so long as you are safe, it doesn't matter to me." With a sigh, he turned and headed toward the main cryo room. "I'll stop him, then we'll handle Frax if need be."

Deep in the forest near Silver Hills, Matt sighed while working on the small device that would one day become the V-Fire that now sat on his left wrist. "Might as well make sure it's around to be sent here," he muttered, then looked up to the resting V-Rex. It had been two days since he had arrived and taken the V-Fire from Eric Okibi, and given the Rangers his very hard view of what was going on with their mission.

"Makes me wonder if I should even bother." He resumed work on the small device, then sighed and finished locking it shut. Indeed now, it was in fact the finished V-Fire, color, design, and all. "Work of art," Matt remarked. He'd already programmed in the command codes for the overrides, now he just need to lock his own voice into the system as a secondary user. "Activate secondary user voice locks."

"Voice lock active."

"Covert to inactive mode upon lock and set for primary voice scan upon reactivation." He sighed. He didn't like to set this up, but it had to be done. "Store voice lock for secondary user."

"Processing...Voice lock confirmed."

Matt knew that he was merely setting in motion Okibi's abuse of the TimeFire, but he had to make sure time was preserved thus far. Besides, since the V-Fire was only a design Zordon left in wake of his death, who better to actually build it than the one the old sage had ordered to released the Wave. "Time to get you to Eltar," Matt remarked with a smile while standing up. He brought the future V-Fire up as he walked out of the trees and to a clearing. "FireEagle, enga-"

"Matt! This is Circuit, we need you!"

Brows knitted, Matt canceled his order and tapped the com control of the V-Fire. "What do you want, I've got something important to do right now."

"Matt, it's Wes. Circuit's picked up a prisoner from what's called Hell's Gate, it's the worst of the worst in the thirtieth century. I know you don't agree with the methods that Time Force uses, but this guy is a cold blooded killer!"

The boy groaned, then stuffed the V-Fire in his back pack before pulling out a small tracker. "I'm about ten miles from the city, I'll be there in a few minutes at most. Hold him off in the meantime." He cut off the com line, then sighed and brought up the V-Fire. "Time to Burn. TimeFire!"

He gasped as he felt the rush of power from his own creation. Fire burned about him as the energy surge pulsed into his body. Matt never thought that what he had created would be this powerful, and even as the armor built around his body, he was left without breath the moment his transformation completed. What this really his doing? Had he really made something this powerful?

"Oh god," he whispered. "No wonder Eric didn't want to give this up."

"Good god..."

Yuuri didn't bother to say anything in response. Wes' reaction to the dead and sickly deformed corpse before him wasn't exactly a unique one in the dealings with Dagra. "He's a plague spreader," she explained almost mechanically. "Dagra's body produces some kind of virus that attacks a person's DNA and RNA, makes the genes attack itself. That bastard is how my mother died. Circuit, how long has this man been dead?"

"Roughly two hours," the eagle stated after a scan. "Why would Ransik release Dagra, that goes against his motive and patterns so far."

"He could be getting desperate," Domon remarked as he readied his V-Cannon. "Something doesn't feel right. Circuit, do a grid scan on the area."

The eagle nodded, his eyes flashing briefly just as a loud boom filled the air and the FireEagle shot down from above. The canopy swung open to let the TimeFire clad Matt jump out, V-Defender already drawn and ready for trouble. "What's the situation?"

"Plague spreader from Hell's Gate," Domon replied, then glanced to the corpse. "We already have a casualty, we've gott'a find any other victims before it's too late."

"It's already too late!"

The six were surprised when Dagra suddenly leaped out of nowhere, latching to Syon and Lucas with his hands. The two fought to break away, the collapsed in pain when the mutant let go, turning his sights to the remaining four. "Next!" he exclaimed, racing at them and managing to grab Domon by the arm and infect him, then catch Wes when the man tried to help his friend. Both TimeRed and TimeYellow fell, demorphing and showing the mutated sores that were forming on their bodies.

"Son of a bitch!" Matt screamed, then raced at Dagra. The mutant dodged the V-Defender's slash, grabbed Matt by the neck, then suddenly let out a scream of pain when something back lashed into him. Dagra backed away with smoking hands and leaped up to flee, leaving Matt, Yuuri, and Circuit to handle the four infected Time Rangers.

"What the hell just happened?" Yuuri asked, looking at Matt while the boy pulled off his helmet. "He had you, then screamed like something was biting into him and just left."

"Something about me," Matt muttered, looking at his armored hands. Something indeed about him had cause the mutant to give up infecting him. Possibly some remnants of his Delta powers, but this strong, enough to protect him? It couldn't be the Eltarian stone, that was given to Ma'aya as a gift, so what was shielding him?

"We've got to worry about it later," Circuit stated. "The others need help, or they won't live very long."

Meanwhile, while Matt and Yuuri transported the infected Time Rangers back to the Clock Tower, Eric and the Guardians were out on call of a mass sickness spreading. The man was horrified by what he was seeing, but something in him was now making him help, despite his thoughts to get through with business. "What the hell happened here?"

"Reports are that some kind of alien being is grabbing people and causing them to end up like this. My guess is some kind of virus."

Okibi narrowed his eyes, then snapped his head back, having heard something behind him and the man with him. I could never hear this good before, he thought, then realized that part of V-Fire's enhancement must have been increase in his senses. His eyes caught an almost minute movement, and he shoved down the man with him just as Dagra leaped out from a crop of bushes and ferns. "Holy shit, glad I still got something left!"

"A cop, I assume!" Dagra taunted, his hands dripping with thick fluid while he lifted his palms to reveal several sucker like mouths 'breathing'. "Too bad you won't enjoy sick leave then, you'll be dead in a few hours!"

Eric growled and whipped out his gun in an instant, surprising himself with his increased reflexes and speed, but surprising Dagra even more just before firing and catching the mutant in the arm with a pair of bullets. "What the hell kind of mutant are you?!"

Dagra held his wounds tightly while backing away, his eyes locked in hate against Okibi. "You hurt me!"

"There's gonn'a be shot three right between the eyes if you don't back down now!" Eric snapped as he trained his gun on the mutant. "Your choice, make it fast!"

"That's far enough!"

Both Eric and Dagra turned to see the black leather clad form of Ransik arrive, rifle in one hand and a sword in the other. "Who the hell are you?!"

"You're not involved in this, human! It's Dagra I want!" Ransik raised his rifle to aim at the mutant, a cold hard look of hatred in his eyes. "I made a creed I would not kill anyone if I could help it, but for you, I'm willing to make an exception, monster! Do you remember now, a young boy pained by the rejection from humanity, a young mutant child you infected and left to die?! That was me, and I've been waiting twenty years to pay you back! You did ill against the one humans named Ransik!"

Dagra suddenly backed away in fear, realizing that someone very, very dangerous to have as an enemy had been infected by him and lived. "Oh frak," he muttered just before he ran, not getting far before he was halted by the arrival of TimeFire. "You again?!"

"Time to freeze up!" Matt exclaimed, then noticed Ransik standing ready to handle Dagra as well. "Who may I ask are...oh god."

"Corbett?" the mutant whispered, then felt a presence touch his mind. "You have to be. God, you have any idea of the troubles I have to warn you of?!"

Matt held lock with Ransik for a moment, then turned to face Dagra, V-Defender drawn and ready. "First thing's first. He kicks the bucket, then we can discuss what I have to stop from happening!"

Growling, Dagra leapt forward at Matt and grabbed him, fighting to ignore the painful backlash that shot through his arm. He finally let go when his palm suckers pierced the TimeFire armor and bit into Matt's skin, then leapt away, holding his hand as it burned from the energy surge. "Damnit, what the hell is protecting him?! Doesn't matter now!"

Matt yelled as his armor dropped, metallic boils forming on his arms, then suddenly falling apart as his pain faded. "What?" he whispered, finding the infection was gone. He looked to see Dagra staring in horror before leaping away, then at Ransik as the future mutant gazed in wonder. "What the hell just happened?"

"You're immune to him," Ransik replied, still in shock himself. "By God, he can't infect you. No one has ever had protection against his plague, not even in our time. How come someone from an era where his virus didn't exist be immune?"

Matt narrowed his eyes and looked to where Dagra had fled and vanished. "I'll let you go since we have a common interest, Mumei. That thing has to be stopped, and I think you know how to counter the virus he spreads. Until you give that information, I have to go with knowing I'm the only counteragent."

As Matt walked away, Ransik looked to where Eric was breathing heavily, then quickly ran after Matt. "Corbett!" he called, causing Matt to turn and halt. Ransik took the chance and pulled out a spare catridge of his enzyme, then, pausing, tossed it to the boy. "That medicine can cure the plague, but I don't know how fast you can reproduce it." He slowly nodded and teleported away, leaving Matt to gaze down at the hypo-cartridge.

Okibi stood up and grabbed Matt before the boy could leave, turning him around. "What the hell was that about, you acted like you saw something in his mind that scared you."

"He's the one the others are trying to recapture," Matt replied sharply. "I let him go because he and I have much in common; both of us are mutants, and both of us are being affected by the racial hatred that's just now starting to ignite. The difference is that he has lived with violent hate all his life, and I'll come to be forced off Earth by it."

Eric blinked as he tried to take in what he was being told. Humanity was fated to drive away its next step, to hate and outcast what should be welcomed? It was like something out of a comic book. "Then why keep fighting for them? They'll only reject you, so why protect them?"

"Because at least I will be better than those who want to shun me," Matt replied. "Giving in and giving up is exactly what they want, for me to just surrender and be what they say I am. Do you know what that's like, Okibi?"

Matt's words struck Eric all too close to home as he began to realize perhaps giving up back in his days with Wes in school had been a mistake, that being bitter had been exactly what those snob rich kids had expected and wanted him to be. "I did a long time ago," he finally whispered. "But I gave up. It wasn't like the life you'll have to live, but maybe we're not so different in that."

Matt looked at his companion. Maybe he wasn't such a bad person to leave the V-Fire with. But he couldn't afford to give the TimeFire back to Eric, not yet. "Maybe not." Matt sighed as he reached to tap the V-Fire, but it wasn't on his wrist anymore. "The hell?!"

"Sorry kid," Eric stated as he knelt down and picked up the device from the ground. It had fallen off when the armor shut down, it was the only reason for the device to have been off of Matt's wrist. He smiled while putting the V-Fire back on his own wrist, feeling much better with it back on. "But I need it more than you do."

"Eric, don't do this!" Matt spat angrily. "Don't make me wrong about you!"

Eric turned back to the Guardians, then glanced at Matt. "I'll handle the casualties here, alright? You try to find a way to get that cure." He paused. Even though he had the V-fire back again, something felt wrong about just going back to the way he had been using it. "You and the Rangers have the best chance of anyone of find it, but right now-"

There, that's what Matt had been looking for. He held up his hand, then tossed Eric the medicine catridge. "Ransik has a cure, he gave me this to help us. I almost considered my own immune system, but that probably has to do with all the power and surges that go through my system." He paused for a moment. "This should work though, I don't think Ransik is lying. Tell them though that Matt Corbett sent it, that should help get it going through."

Eric nodded and smiled faintly while Matt ran off, walking to jump into an SUV and drive off to follow the boy's advice. TimeFire could wait to be back in action, he had to the entire city to save from a plague.

"Let's move it, get this stuff to every clinic and shelter in the city!"

True to Matt's word, even Bio-Synth had ignored FDA approval procedure at the mention of his name. Within a mere hour, maybe less, the vaccine development was finished and the enzyme replicated with alarming speed. Eric lead the swarm of Guardians that raced across the city to deliver the vaccine. The first victims showed immediate recovery, Eric breathing with relief when he saw those of his own men who had been infected recovering within minutes.

Despite his own reservation, Eric personally delivered a case to the Tomorrow Research clock tower, surprising Yuuri with his presence. "I don't have much time to explain," he stated as she took the case. "It's a gift from Matt, the whole damn city is going to owe him and that mutant guy their lives for this."

"Help me at least get the others cured," she begged, Eric finally decided to stay and rushing upstairs with her to spread the vaccine to the four infected Rangers. He took a vile and ran to Wes, then propped the man up and helped him drink it down.

"Easy Wes, just down this stuff and you'll be fine. Little present from Matt."

"Eric?" Wes croaked as he recovered. "What...why are you here? Where's Matt?"

"Consider this a bit of repaying Matt a favor," Eric replied, faintly smiling. "Yuuri, how are the others doing?"

"Better," the woman replied as Domon and Lucas were able to sit up. "Syon's taking a bit longer because he's non-human, but he'll recover."

With a nod, Eric stood up and headed down the stairs. "Sorry to cure and run, but I have a job to do, and that's make sure this city recovers. Matt's out there right now hunting the mutant down, and believe or not, so is the guy you're after. This guy may not be so bad if he doesn't attack me and Matt." He saw the look in Yuuri's eyes. "He gave us the cure, Yuuri. That alone tells me something is seriously wrong with your mission."

Dagra continued running, then ran into the golden form of Frax, sighing with relief. "You didn't tell me the guy running the show was someone I infected! I'm a dead man if he catches me!"

"Apparently, you've already failed!" Frax replied. "The city has somehow found a cure! It has to do with the Corbett boy, it's the only explanation!"

"Frax!"

Both Dagra and Frax turned to see Ransik approaching, rifle trained on them both. Dagra backed away, then turned to see Matt nearing as well, V-Defender aimed and ready to fire. "Oh shit!" he swore. "You've gotten me in a death trap, stupid robot!"

Ransik narrowed his eyes as he saw Corbett, then focused on Frax again. "For now, you get to the prison ship. We'll discuss this when either Corbett or myself have handled the monster you let loose."

"There will be no-"

"Gien, I mean it!"

Frax stared at Ransik in shock from the name the mutant had called him. "Gien...you called me Gien...you know...but how?!"

Ransik merely walked past Frax and glared at Dagra with pure rage burning in his eyes. "That is what I will speak to you about later. For now, go, because I know your misgivings and to not hold it in ill. Him, however, will not be given the same."

With a turn, Frax vanished, letting Ransik and Matt close in on the renegade Dagra. Matt noticed Ransik's willingness of treaty in this, and held ground to block Dagra off should he try to change his route of escape. "Looks like just you, me, and one pissed off victim of yours, plague boy. Wann' give up now and freeze, or resist and get a FireBlaze up the ass?"

Dagra looked back and forth between his two foes, then ran for an opening, not expecting the rounds fired by Ransik's rifle that caught him in the legs. "Damnit! You both are going to pay for this! Let's see how you like fighting me in giant size!"

"I don't think so!" Matt snapped, trick shotting a blast that tore the injector from Dagra's shoulder. "The last one of you I faced was killed out of pity for the pain he suffered, but for you, I'll do it out of disgust! V-Defender, FireBlaze mode!" He snapped down with his weapon to convert it to blade mode and power into its deadly finishing powered form, then raced forward and slammed the V-Defender through Dagra's chest. Raw energy crackled over the mutant before he exploded apart, Matt not even flinching at what he had done.

With a snap of his wrist, Matt converted the V-Defender back to gun mode and slipped it into his jacket, then turned to face Ransik. "As I promised," he stated. "You can go. Our goals are now the same, Mumei. I only hope that one of us will succeed, or the future will be lost."

"And the Time Rangers?" Ransik asked. "Will you continue to help them?"

Matt nodded, looked out at the city. "Yes, but I have my reasons. They are fighting to stop the destruction of the past, but I also will not aid any attempt to capture you. You're not the killer they think you are, and I believe they are now seeing that they've only heard one side." He smiled softly and shrugged before turning. "Maybe soon you both can meet in cease fire and hear both sides of your problem, and figure out a peaceful solution."

"I hope then you are right," the mutant crime lord replied in honesty, setting down his rifle. "Destroy this for me if you would, and do stay with the Rangers, they need one such as you to temper their misunderstandings. Both sides have a lot to learn." Ransik back away and turned to leave, then paused and looked back at Matt. "You called me 'Mumei', I know that means 'Without Name'. Why?"

"You are nameless, your own mind told me that." The boy gave a sigh and shook his head. "Rather than call you something that was given in hate, I call you 'Nameless', to me it that means you are what you make yourself. Until you choose your own name, that is what I call you. Unless you have a name you want to be known by?"

Ransik gave no answer as he vanished, Matt racing away to get back to the clock tower and hoping he wasn't too late.

Fires burned all about in the lab, the young boy climbing through the debris in attempt to find the man who had saved his life. "Doctor Gien!" he called, hoping that the black armored forms that had tried to kill him hadn't killed the kind doctor. "Doctor Gien! Please, where are you?!"

He finally stumbled upon the wounded and burned form of Samuel Gien, gasping in horror, then turning to the three surviving robots he had earlier found. "You, help me get him out of this debris. You two...find what spare parts you can, I can't save him without your help."

As the three robots carried out his orders, young Ransik looked at the unconscious face of Doctor Samuel Gien, pain and sorrow in his own eyes. "I'm sorry, but they tried to kill me, and you paid the price for something even I don't know what it was I did. I'm sorry you can't be human anymore...but I can't let you die, doctor, I need you."

"Robert," Gien whispered, Ransik blinking then nodding as two of his three robots returned with a large bundle of parts.

"We don't have long. I'm sorry to order this...but you have to turn him into a cyborg, or he will not live." He sighed as the three nodded, knowing that the logic was the only one possible for Gien's survival. Ransik watched as they tenderly began work, then whispered the name Gien had muttered. "I have a name," he spoke, tears in his eyes. "My name is Robert."