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In two days time Frink was ready to do the only thing he had been living for in the past few weeks. The thought of seeing Owen go down consumed him and was constantly on his mind. At last the day had come. He was through being nice. This was what being nice had gotten him. Hank Scorpio waited in the parking lot and jumped in surprise when Frink floated down beside him in his flying car.
"Good gracious, Frink! You built this?" He asked. Frink nodded. "Alright then, let's go just like we went over." Frink nodded again and flew off. Scorpio watched him go and said to himself, "This is going to be fun." He jumped in his covered jeep and tore off down the road.

Darkness fell on Springfield and Frink flew through it, his soul filled with that darkness. The words of his father rang in his mind, "Life doesn't always turn out the way you want it." He thought of Caroline lying dead and wounded, he felt as though he carried her stab wounds. He saw Max falling, shattered, he heard his last words, saw his limp little form tossed in the street. It felt like he had been the one shot. Again his father's words came to him, more images of Caroline hurt, of Max hurt, of helplessness, of Owen laughing at him. He'd never hated, perhaps he had repressed this emotion all his life and now it was out with a vengeance. The wind struck his face blowing his hair back as he streaked through the sky in his car. "I'll make him pay. I will make it up to you. I'm sorry I failed to protect you. I will make it up, goh Hay, I'll make him pay! I'm doing it for you so he'll never do this again!" He said out loud to no one at all.

Scorpio pulled up to the new security booth. The guard looked at him suspiciously.
"Hi there. Is Mr. Thanatos here today?" Asked Scorpio.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Asked the guard.
"Well I wanted to meet the owner of this place. I was told that we had an appointment and I would be let in."
"There's no appointment for today. You better just turn around and OH MY GOSH!!" He yelled as he saw what he thought was a red UFO fly over buzzing them. A thick red beam shot out from the flying thing and began to take out the foundation of the left side of the building and that wing crumbled to the ground.
"Ah, there's my appointment." Said Scorpio as he pulled out a machine gun and filled the guard full of lead. He sped through the barricade and screeched to a halt next to a wall that lead to a back road. Frink hovered down and Scorpio jumped in his car. He lifted off in silence and flew toward the tallest part of the building. He hovered over the balcony that led to Thanatos' office and Scorpio leaped out. Both of them wore contraband so they could communicate from across the compound. "Go get 'em Frinky!!" Yelled Scorpio as he grabbed his backpack, threw it on his back and stormed towards the entrance. Frink didn't look back and went straight to the research facility. It was late and very few people would be working tonight. He pulled out his death ray and again the thick beam shot out. It was a huge red and white stream three feet in diameter. Frink flew around destroying all the exits at the bottom. It was like having a cake on a turntable and carving the bottom with a knife. Owen would not get away this time. He turned his ray of destruction on the adjacent structures and watched them burst into flames.

Scorpio blasted out all the windows laughing maniacally as he did so. "Come on out you coward!" screamed Scorpio. A Woosh sound warned him to duck, and three jagged daggers just missed Scorpio's head by inches. In the darkness he saw a form and a glowing ember from a cigar.
"Thanatos!" He said as he squinted trying to see better. His enemy stepped into the light.
"Evening, Hank!" He said as he greeted him with a spray of machine gun fire. Scorpio dove behind a desk and returned fire. There was no one there when he looked up.

An explosion rocked the research facility. Owen who had been working very hard on the Thanos project was thrown out of his chair. "What the Hell is going on?" He said angrily. It was like being in an earthquake. Frink knew that the soldiers would come after him again, but this time he was prepared. He floated over the parking lot in front of the research station as they all came out on foot firing at him with all types of guns and projectiles. Two compartments opened up on each side of Frink's car and miniature rockets lifted up in the space. He angled his car down and fired both simultaneously. The soldiers scattered when they saw them streak from the sides of the hood, white smoke trailing behind them. They struck the pavement and exploded into huge fireballs. Frink watched as several of them vaporized in the heat, others ran around screaming on fire and in agony. Two more rockets loaded replacing the ones that were just fired. He lifted his gaze to an edifice before him. Sure enough two men on its roof were targeting him. Frink aimed his car in that direction, fired the rockets and watched the face crumble into dust, flames and the roar of falling concrete and screaming glass. He looked at a screen on his dashboard that was a combination of X-ray and heat sensor. He knew where people where in the buildings and how many there were. The majority of soldiers were out here. They were fools to gather all in one place but again he had anticipated this and it made things so much easier. Military types thought with their muscles and not with their brains. Frink's car veered left, right, up, down, back and forth dodging their fire but managed to keep his place in space despite it. He pulled out two orbs from his coat and casually threw them over the side. Instead of exploding on impact they opened out and sent out a huge discharge. Blue fingers of electricity crawled and arced over the pavement electrocuting anyone in contact with the ground. Frink watched as the bodies convulsed back and forth like puppets on a string. He pulled out a hand held control with a crooked spirally antenna and pressed a button on it. The electric field stopped and all the bodies fell to the ground. A quick glance at his monitor now confirmed that it was safe to proceed inside.

Shards of glass flew through the office as Thanatos and Scorpio exchanged bullets.
"You can not win, Hank. Give it up, you know I always beat you to the punch."
"Talk is cheap" Said Scorpio as he leaped over the over turned desk flamethrower in hand. Thanatos ducked into the next room as the flames spurted from the nozzle trying to reach him.
"I caught your spy. He's already been executed." Yelled Thanatos as he threw a gas bomb at Scorpio. When the smoke cleared he saw his enemy standing there wearing a gas mask.
"That's your problem Thanatos, you don't care about your employees." He let out another burst of flames and then ran behind a marble pillar as Thanatos pulled out two semi automatic handguns and emptied his rounds into it trying to hit Scorpio.

Frink pulled out his original version of the orb and detonated it on the side of the research building. Again he set his vehicle on autopilot, though he had more control over this one as he could just speak into his mic and give it commands. Frink went to the key structural supports of the compound first placing his own make shift explosives on them. Now it was time to pay Owen a visit. Doors opened automatically for Frink as though in fear of his presences and trying to stay out of his path. Owen got up from his fall. The place had been shaking so violently that parts of the ceiling had caved in. He stumbled over toppled chairs and broken glass. The door in the lab looked blocked off but it was the only way out. He glanced out the window and only saw chaos and fire. The place was a mad house and he had to get out. As he made his way to the door it was suddenly blown open. The sound was deafening and the door flew into the room smoking. Owen's eyes went wide and he tried to see in the dim light. When the smoke cleared he saw a tall dark figure standing in the doorway, only the lenses of his glasses shimmered in the dark giving the appearance of round emotionless unblinking eyes.
"You killed them." He said in a low tone. The voice was familiar yet different and Owen cocked his head trying to make out whom this was. "You killed them you bastard!"
"FRINK?" Said Owen completely surprised to see him. He saw Frink lift his arm and aim the death ray at him. He had lowered the setting on the death ray to that of a normal laser. It would emit a thin beam and only destroy its target and not bring the building down on Frink in the process. Owen threw his hands in the air when he saw this.

"What are you doing? Be careful with that thing."
"Shut up, Owen. I can't believe I have been so blind all of these years. I know now why you hate me. It's because I AM better than you. Bwah Hay. I have always BEEN better than you and you couldn't stand that. That's why they hired me to lead the project when you and your team had failed at it miserably."
"That's no true."
"I said shut up!" Yelled Frink. It felt good to be the one saying that for a change. "Alright pretty boy, I want you to admit it. You killed them didn't you!!" He was screaming at Owen. The pain was clear in his voice and his hand shook as he tried to hold his aim steady. "You killed them!! You killed Max and Caroline!!! Why did you do it??" Owen was backing away the whole time as Frink pushed him toward the back of the room.
"Ok, Alright!! I admit it. Yes I killed them. I truly regret doing what I did to Caroline. Perhaps you do not realize it but I loved her, possibly more than you."
"Glayvin, yet you still killed her! And my little Max. He was only a child!!" Cried Frink as he looked down hurting.
"Your little brat on the other hand deserved everything he got!"
"WHAT?!" Yelled Frink. Owen quickly hit a switch above his head since he had his hands up and Frink was bathed in a hot steam as a pipe above him released its pressure.
"You were a fool to attack me in my own lab Frink, on my grounds!" Frink got up after having been blown over by the searing steam and felt something stab his leg. He screamed out and found a mechanical spider about four inches wide piercing his leg. He kicked it off smashing it against the wall and instantly recognized it.
"You creep!! You stole my spider design from back in elementary school." In response to that 50 more crawled onto the floor making their way toward Frink ready to climb up him and shred him to pieces with their blade like legs.
"Well as you can see I actually improved on your design. You know what Frink? Now that I think I about it, I really do regret killing your wife and son. It was a big waste of time. I should have just killed YOU from the start. Let's see if I can't rectify that now." Frink aimed his death ray and fired at the spiders that were advancing. A bolt of electricity shot over his head, and he looked up to see that Owen had his own gun, though his was more of a zapper. A push of a button and it fired long streams of lightning in the direction that he chose. Lucky for Frink, Owen was a lousy shot. Frink leaped onto a counter and continued to blast away at the advancing spider horde all the while dodging Owen's lightning bolts. The spiders vaporized the moment the death ray struck them but they were relentless. Owen got tired of watching Frink dance and pulled on a lever on the wall.
"If you like my toys so much I would like to introduce you to my side project. A door at the back of the lab opened up and a huge robot stepped out and headed straight for Frink. It was a dark red and green. The colors crossed over in a banding pattern over its chest. It had a single, long, curved slit for an eye and it scanned Frink. He could make out the lens behind it as it zipped back and forth. It was at least seven and a half feet tall, heavily built with curved edges at its joints. It was very different from the angled boxy robots Frink had built.
"I hate robots!" Cried Frink when he realized that now he would probably have to dodge three things.
"Idiot. This isn't a robot, it's a cyborg. Much more advanced that any stupid robot you've ever put together." Said Owen in a disgusted tone. As a demonstration of strength the robot brought down one of it's arms on a metal table causing it to buckle in the middle. Frink fired at the robot with no effect. There was no time to set his death ray to a higher power, keep the spiders at bay, avoid the robot and dodge Owen's electricity. He was being backed into a corner and the situation didn't look good at all. His mind raced as he tried to think of a way out. Then he remembered.
"Oh yes, how foolish of me!" From his coat he pulled out a sphere that was larger than the previous orbs he'd used. He pulled back and threw it out into the middle of the room. Owen lifted his arm shielding his face not knowing what to expect. The sphere broke into two perfect halves and out came….Nothing. Owen lowered his arm and began to laugh.
"What was that? It seems your little explosive device was a dud."
"Hardly Owen." Said Frink. He spoke into his mic. "Down." All the spiders that remained went flat, their legs out in all directions. "Cannibalize." Then they got up and turned on each other. Mechanical legs flew as they were torn off of the bodies by the mandibles of their cohorts. Frink turned his gaze on the robot. He pointed at the wall and on cue the robot made for it, crashed through it and fell to its ultimate destruction on the pavement far below. Owen tried to fire his zapper but nothing happened. He looked up at Frink wide eyed. "The Thanos Project! You…finished it?" Frink said nothing and once again lifted his death ray in Owen's direction.

"They're called electrophages, goh hay!" He said all the while glad that he remembered he had brought them. Owen fell backwards over the table as he tried to get away from Frink. Frink stood over the fallen Owen and just stared at him. An explosion from Thanatos' office caused Frink to look back. It was only for a second but it was all the time that Owen needed to kick the death ray out of Frink's hand. It flew through the air and Owen caught it on its way down. Frink turned back, looking at Owen with an unsettling calm in his face.
"Well then Frinky. Looks like the tables have turned and once again I know hold something of yours in my hand." He held his arm out straight, aimed at Frink and pulled back the trigger.
Nothing.
"What the?" He exclaimed and frantically pulled on it some more. Click, click, click, click. Frink rolled his eyes, walked up to him and gently took the death ray back from the shaking Owen. "You're such an idiot, Frink. Nothing you make ever works properly. It looks like your electrophages are against you as well." Frink pointed the ray at him again. "Why bother, it doesn't work." Said Owen in a cocky tone. Frink pulled slightly to Owen's right and fired a blast that went straight through the wall and into the hallway outside missing Owen's head by centimeters. Owen took a deep breath realizing that Frink had him where he wanted him.
"The death ray can only be fired by me. It only responds to my hands. I made this modification to it after I had a similar encounter not too far back."

Thanatos leaped through a window into the next room, glass shattered around him as he fell. He did a backwards roll firing his guns the whole time. He took cover behind a large couch. There was an explosion as Scorpio threw a grenade into the room and it sent Thanatos flying into the next one. Scorpio entered the demolished room and saw three doors before him. His eyes became slits and he wondered which one his enemy had gone into. He took a chance and chose the door on the left. It was another office, and the lights were out. Scorpio pulled out a handgun and tried to see through the smoke and dark. He saw a figure standing against a wall. His eyes went wide. He had him! Thanatos hadn't seen him. Scorpio switched from his handgun to a small machine gun and ducked behind some furniture. He crawled on the cold tiled floor then stood and emptied his rounds into the shadowy form. He laughed hysterically as he did so. "Die! DIE You jerk!! HAHAHAH!" Bullets flew and went into everything, the walls, the figure the furniture. Everything was becoming a polka dot painting. Satisfied at last Scorpio stopped and waited for the smoke to clear. His eyes went wide to see that his target was still there. "What the?" He said as he fumbled for a light switch. He found one and the lights came on. Scorpio had emptied his rounds into a manikin and it fell forward stiffly before him. He heard laughter behind him and leaped into the air firing his handgun as he and the real Thanatos exchanged bullets.

Enough was enough! Scorpio was growing tired of this game. He pulled out his flamethrower and ran at Thanatos. The dark haired man hadn't expected this suicidal move and fired, but Scorpio was on top of him. Hank Scorpio pulled the trigger and a wall of fire caught Thanatos and flung him back onto a glass desk, smashing it as he hit it with his back. "I got you! I got you, you bastard!! HAHAHAH!!" Screamed Scorpio as he torched his enemy. He became consumed by this triumph and looked up. "You'll never use this office again HAHAHAH!!" He yelled as he unleashed his flames on the walls. "Oh look, there's a painting of you! HAHAHHAHAHA!!!!" He laughed maniacally as he incinerated that portrait as well. "You're mirrors, they used to have your reflection. HAHAHAHA!! Anything that was you or was yours is now toast! TOAST you hear that?? No of course you can't because you are dead! I killed you! I won! HAHAHAH!!" Scorpio looked around and realized the whole place was now a raging inferno. "Uh oh." He said softly to himself and ran for the nearest door.

At last here was Frink's moment. He had his rival, he was a frightened puppy and Frink could end it all now, but instead he relaxed his grip. "Oh, Owen you are the idiot not me. Why did you do all this? From the moment we met I offered you my friendship, goh hay on more than one occasion! Do you realize just how far we could have gone had we worked together instead of against each other? I…I…almost hate to do this." Said Frink suddenly unsure of himself.
"Then don't do it." Said Owen trying to regain his posture. "This isn't you. You are not a killer. Perhaps you are right, we could have gone real far working together. Frink, please put down the gun. That's it." He watched as Frink's arm slowly lowered. "You aren't a killer, Frink….but I AM!"
"Huh?" Frink realized he'd made a serious mistake. Owen rushed him and before Frink could raise his hand Owen had plowed into his stomach with his shoulder. The blow knocked the wind out of him and Frink felt himself lifted off his feet. A sound of crashing glass and Frink found himself flying through the air as he was shoved out the window by his rival. Owen breathed heavy.
"I've won again, now splatter to your death below creep!"

Owen walked back to a counter and rubbed the back of his head with his hand. That had been too close. He had NEVER seen Frink like that, but at least that was the last time he'd ever have to see him. All of a sudden there was a huge explosion and the shockwave caused him to stumble forward. His hair and tie flapped in the wind and his back was pelted with fragments of broken glass. It couldn't be! Owen spun around and saw all the windows on the side of his lab blown out and suspended in mid air hung Frink as blue jets shot from his feet. His death ray had taken care of all the windows and now he hovered before him. He'd modified the jets he made for Max's skateboard and incorporated them into his shoes. There were four total one on each ankle. They had a short range so he flew into the building before they gave out. The look in his eyes was completely different from earlier. It could only be described as vicious hate. For the first time Owen was frightened of him.
"You're absolutely right, Owen. This isn't me. The Frink you knew is dead. What might have remained of him died with Maximillian." Their supply replenished the jets fired back on and Frink sped toward Owen planting a nasty kick in his stomach. The blow from his rocket shoes sent Owen sailing through the air and into a wall with his back. Spider web cracks were left on the wall as Owen slid down and hit the floor. He stood groggy holding his head. Frink was on him and again he powered up his jets. He flew straight up to Owen's height then nailed him in the temple with a right kick. As Owen's head spun in the opposite direction it came in contact with Frink's left foot as he planted another kick on his other temple. The conflicting directions caused Frink to flip backwards and he turned off his jets in time to land on his feet a few yards back. Owen was bludgeoned, his handsome face bloody and battered. His right eye was swollen and blue. He lifted himself off the floor as blood dripped to the ground from his broken ribs. It was possible one had punctured his lung as he was having difficulty breathing. A blazing light shone in nearly blinding him. Was it a helicopter?
"Now meet MY latest inventions. My flying car and my ornithopters."

Owen's focus returned and he could make out the shape of the flying car, but what was Frink blathering about now? Suddenly about seventy mechanical birds flew up into sight from below the windows. Their shapes left long shadows in the light and dust from the bright headlights. Unlike his previous ornithopters these continually flapped and were under his complete control. Their beaks flashed in the lights and were made of razor-sharp silver metal.
"Get him." Frink said in a cold quiet voice. Owen screamed as the birds converged on him, their beaks stabbing into his flesh all over his body. It was like he was being dissected alive, a vivisection. They pierced him straight to the other side pinning him like a poster to the wall behind him. Each time a bird entered him little fountains of blood would splash out of him in tiny droplets and rain down like a red mist to the ground. He had never experience this level of pain. His horrific screams echoed off the lab walls. Owen felt his strength fading away, and his head lulled as it hung down and rolled left and right. Blood dripped from his mouth. He felt a warm hand on his cheeks. It was Frink's hand. He was forcing him to look into his face.
"Your pain is nothing compared to mine." Frink said. "You made me. You taught me to hate. I now carry in me Caroline's hate for you as well as my own. I carry Max's fear and have also channeled it into loathing. You were a very good teacher, and now the student has surpassed the master."
Owen wanted to yell at him, tell him that he was not better, that he wanted to destroy him, that he wished they had never met, but it was too late. He was too weak to do anything, he could not even speak, all he could do was look at him and hope that all of this came across in his eyes. No, there was one last thing that Owen could do. If Frink liked birds so much he would give him one. His right hand had not been impaled on the wall by the mechanical birds like his left one had. With what little strength remained in him, Owen lifted his middle finger at Frink. Frink cocked his head to one side curiously at the defiant gesture. Did Owen still expect him to just take this the way he always had? In silence he lifted the death ray firing a think beam at the erected digit. Owen's middle finger shot off severed from his hand and fell to the floor twitching nervously, spewing out little sprays of blood as it wriggled. Had this been his only injury he would have yelled at the top of his lungs in pain, but all that Owen could do was make a nasty gurgling sound as the bile and blood rose into his throat. He had no strength to cry out anyway. Frink pressed the death ray against Owen's chest and said, "At least I'm gonna put you out of your misery." And then he pulled the trigger.

"Frink I could use a little help!" Scorpio's voice rang in his ear. Frink took a final look at Owen's corpse then ran to the window and leaped into his car, leaving him there tacked for all to see. He turned the steering wheel hard to the right and flew towards the office.
"Are you alright? Where's Thanatos?" Screamed Frink into his mic.
"I'm fine. Thanatos is dead, but I went a little crazy with the flamethrower."
Frink rounded the corner and saw the entire structure ablaze with Hank pressed up against the balcony.
"No kidding. Zoi!" Said Frink as he dove down into the inferno. Scorpio leaped off the balcony as Frink passed below him and the scientist caught him in his car.
"Woo!! That was incredible!!" Yelled Scorpio high from his adrenaline rush and punching the air in triumph. He looked over and noticed Frink solemn. "Well, did you get him?" Frink nodded affirming his empty victory. "Well congratulations. I hope you find some peace after this." Frink set the car down beside Scorpio's jeep.
"You better go. I'm not through here. I have some unfinished business." Said Frink.
"Oh I get you. Give me time to put some distance between us. So I'll see you tomorrow?"
"No. I'm going to retire."
"Retire?!?!" Said Scorpio surprised. "Well I can't say I blame you. Wow, retiring at 34. I guess I should also stop paying my people so much, but what the heck. You were one of the best employees I've ever had, I'm proud to have had you on my team Professor. Oh and what I said about the labs, it's still true. They are yours. If you ever feel the need to come out of retirement, or you need to use them you feel free to. Oh and one more thing, don't worry about your future. Like Thanatos I too am a master at covering my tracks…our tracks." He said with a devious smile.
"Thank you." Said Frink and he flew off into the night sky.

Satisfied that Scorpio was gone he got up from his seat, placed his car in hover mode and stood on the hood several meters away from the smoldering Thanatos building. He held his death ray in one hand and a detonator in another. His forehead furrowed and he pressed the large red button on his detonator. The research building ignited into a huge mushroom cloud as the explosives he had set went off. The chemicals that were in storage helped the place blow sky high and took out the adjacent structures. Fire rained down from the sky onto the city setting the entire landscape ablaze. The last few buildings that remained were also incinerated as Frink pointed his death ray at them set on its maximum setting. He had to brace himself from the recoil of the thick beam that blasted forth. The structures roared like thunder as they were consumed by the ravaging flames and more brimstone rained from the heavens onto Springfield. The scene was reflected in his glasses and it seemed as though the fire burned in his eyes. It was an eerie mix of fire and water as the blaze danced on his face while tears rolled down his cheeks from behind his lenses. The wind was warm and blew his hair back, his long green coat flapped elegantly behind him, and embers sparked around him. Perhaps he had been wrong when he told Owen that the old Frink had died. Perhaps the old caring Frink was still in him...somewhere.
" You're vision is of our city in flames? Is this your vision of the future of?!?!" His old Principal's words came back to haunt him. What he saw now was exactly what he had seen so many years back when his model caught fire in the science fair. He now knew that Owen had been to blame for that as well. Frink sat on the hood bringing his knees close to him and put his head down with his arms around them and wept.

Frink forced himself to get up. It was almost over. There was one last thing he needed to do. He flew his car slowly through the night and brought it down gently in the cemetery. He reached into a hidden compartment and pulled out a gorgeous bouquet of crimson roses. He leaped out of his car and stood before two graves, Max and Caroline's. More tears cascaded down his face. "Forgive me what I've done. I did it for you and I succeeded. He will never hurt anyone again. I miss you." He kneeled down and placed the flowers between the two graves. "Please do not be angry with me, it is something I had to do. I miss you. Oh how I miss you both. I...I wish you were here." A soft chirp caused him to look up. Frink gasped when he saw the pair of white budgies he'd let go days ago standing before him, one on each headstone. The birds were not frightened as he put his hand out and picked them up. Gently he pressed them against his face and felt their soft warm feathers against his cheek. He held them out and watched them fly away into the night. Frink stood alone in the darkness and in silence. Finally he spoke.
"One day we will be reunited. Everyday I come closer to you and we will be one once again." And like the birds Frink flew off into the night.

Twenty million free USAON disks were sent out by the Globex Corporation that year. More were produced the following year. In time the disks carrying the electrophages would find their way into every business, building and house in America.

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