CHANNELS OF TIME

By 8-Bit Star

This fanfic has a short but happy history. I wrote it on a whim, for no real reason than just for the hell of it. Initially I didn't think it was that good, but I didn't delete it, and instead ended up putting it on Fanfiction.net, where someone actually gave it a good review. I then realized "Maybe someone else will like this" and posted a link to it on the Cafe, where it got one more good comment. Now I'm deciding to post it on my web site for the sake of not losing another of my entries into the realm of fanfiction.

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Dale was bored. Nothing was on TV. Nothing whatsoever, and at this moment he didn't really feel up to the task of finding a comic book to read. Despite this, he just kept flipping the channels using a rodent-sized remote Gadget had built which, except for all the buttons (Including VCR buttons such as fast forward and rewind) look more like a sci-fi device out of, well, a children's cartoon, really.
Out of pure desperation, Dale turned to a passing Chip, and asked "Hey, do we have a case today?" Chip stopped, looked at Dale, and said "Do you know what kind of weather it is out there?"
"No."
"It's raining cats and dogs! I sure as shooting don't want a case today." Chip calmed down, and then said "Sorry, I suppose you're growing rather agitated at the whole mess, too."
It had been raining like that all week, and even occasionally lightning. Dale had to admit the situation was beginning to get to him, he had read all his comic books five times and the Television either was playing nothing good, or was not getting good reception. Out
of pure boredom, Dale had even cleaned his room. So Dale lifted up the remote to turn off the TV, and accidentally hit the Rewind button. He suddenly felt a slight but momentary dizzyness., but noticed
the TV was still on, and realized he had hit the wrong button.
"Guess I'll just turn the show off manually."
When he got up to do so, he noticed that the movie, a monster flick, was showing the last few seconds all over again. He then turned, and saw Chip passing by again, the same as he had been passing a few seconds ago. Dale almost said something before he noticed this fact. But instead he sat down, and grabbesd the remote, and tested his theory.
He pressed rewind, and sure enough, Chip walked backwards very quickly, as if his actions were being quickly reversed. Dale waited a few more seconds, then did it again. Then he stared by in awe.
Chip noticed this, and said "What are you gaping at?"
"This remote can reverse time!" Dale wildly exclaimed.
Chip laughed out loud. "So you're that bored, huh?"
"I'm serious!"
"So am I. I would ask if you want to go on a case hunt, but I assume you know the weather conditions..."
"Chip, listen to me! This remote controls time!
Here, try it!"
"Oh, all right..."
And Chip pressed the fast forward button. He felt the dizzyness, then Dale said something to him, and Chip
saw the words come out, but didn't hear them. Then Dale went outside, and immediately came back in followed by Gadget who said something to Chip. Again the mouth moved but no words came out. Chip stood there and held the button. At least hundreds of times had all the Rangers passed him, and at one point Gadget seemed to yell at him, at which point he put away the remote and said
"I'm sorry, what Gadget?"
"I was saying you're being useless! What's wrong with you? You haven't even slept! You've just stood there for three days!"
"Three days?!?!" Chip exclaimed. "You must be joking! I've only been standing here for ten seconds!"
"No, It's been three days, Chip. Do you know what we've gone through while you were just standing still?"
Chip, rather than answering, quickly pressed the Rewind button, until he finally got back to the point where Dale had handed him the remote, looking at the monster movie to make sure he had the right place in
time, then said "Wow, you were right, Dale! Either that or I'm going crazy."
"Uhh... what happened?"
"Well, I held the fast-forward button for ten seconds, and when I let go, it had been three days!"
"Does that mean you've seen the future?"
"Well, no, apparently I had just stood there while things happened around me. Dale, we have to show this
to Gadget and Monty."
"Okay."

In just a few minutes, all the Rangers were gathered around a table in the main room, and Chip told them about
Dale's discovery.
"Strike me starkas!" Monty exclaimed, "A Time-travellin' remote control? This isn't a joke, is it?"
"I've already set up a way to prove it's not. Dale?"
Dale got up from the table and was carrying a bowling ball made from a hallowed out walnut. He walked a ways from the table until he was in front of a makeshift, easily broken wood statue Chip had made just for this. "Now, Gadget, I'm going to give you the remote. When I say 'Now' press the rewind button until the ball is back in Dale's hand."
Dale watched until Chip gave him a hand signal, then he threw the ball at the wood statue, breaking it. The ball
bounced off the wall, and slowed to a stop.
"Now!"
Gadget pressed rewind, and watched the whole scene in reverse. When she let up at the appointed time, the ballwas back in Dale's hand, and the wood statue was back to perfection.
Chip turned, and said "Now it's Monty's turn..."
"No way mate, I saw it all the first time."
"And Zipper?"
"Bzzzz."
"So we're all agreed, that this remote control has the ability to send us all back or forward in time?"
Nods from all around.
"Now here's the biggest question: What should we do with it?"
Surprisingly, Dale said "Ditch it! In the movies, these kinds of things always cause trouble!"
"Dale," Gadget said, "Those are only movies. We shouldn't let this kind of opportunity just fly by, so to speak."
"She's right, Pally," Monty agreed, "This is probably the best thing that could ever happen to us! Our gateway
into the future!"
"Right! Prevent crimes before they start!"
"But I'm tellin' ya," Dale said, "Something always goes wrong!"
"Well, Dale," Chip said, "What usually happens in the movies?"
"Uhh, the badguys find it, and steal it--"
"This is too small for Nimnul or Fat Cat to use, and Rat Capone doesn't know we have it."
"--Well, I saw this episode of this cartoon once, where there was a device like this, except it *made* the
future happen--"
"But this has a Reverse option, as well."
"--One of us could become a bad guy and try to use it for our own purposes--"
"Well, now that we know of *That* danger, we'll just have to be smart enough not to let it happen."
"--Ya know, you're right! I dunno what I could have been thinking!"
"I knew you'd see it my way. So, friends, should we use it right now?"
Everyone gave a unanimous "Yes!"

It had been three seconds by Chip's count, which made it sometime the next morning. He let go of the button, and said "Right, let's see what's in the news."
"Right!" and the Rangers scampered over to the sofa, flipped on the tube (Manually--you don't use time-travelling remotes on TVs) and heard Stan Blather's latest report. "Last night the community was shocked by the theft of the Pink Girl Painting, a rare and valuable painting by Vincent Vad Gag. The only clue was a pawprint, resembling a cat's, believed to be a calling card of sorts--"
But the Rangers didn't bother to listen to the rest of the report. They could already guess who the culprit
was and now simply needed to work out a plan. So Chip pressed Rewind and held it for three seconds. When he let up, he found himself and the others back at the table.

Kirby and Muldoon were standing nearthe park, right outside their car, in the middle of a conversation.
"--Ya man, I've been feeling that Dizzyness too, I almost got carsick."
"And ya know what's wierder?"
"What?"
"These, I dunno, memories. I seem to be able to remember tomarrow, or something. Like Nimnul's robbery..."
"And that jewelry store."
"You remember 'em too?"
"Yea, it's wierd."
"Yea, but I'm over it now. We better continue our patrol before Spinelli catches us."

The next three days went by quickly and often in reverse. It was no mystery that Fat Cat had stolen the Pink Girl Painting that night, and the Rangers had set up a trap to keep him from reaching his goal. Fat Cat was sure surprised when he found out that the one he had actually gotten had been replaced with a photocopy which, when held to a light, had the hidden message: "It's time you learned Crime doesn't pay. Signed, The Rescue Rangers. PS, this is a photocopy. The real painting is safely back at the museum where it belongs."
Fat Cat almost tore his fur out, wondering how the Rangers found out about his plan.

Nimnul's bank heist and the jewelry store robbery, which was done by Rat Capone, were a bit tougher since both happened at around the same time, however use of the Time Remote (as they had dubbed it) allowed the Rangers heavy advantages of watching every move both made, and therefore allowed them to perfectly determine the best plans. The only thing was that they had needed to split up into two groups.
Chip and Dale had went to the jewelry store with arather basic plan: Set off the alarm ten seconds before Rat Capone and his cronies arrive. At the bank, Gadget, Monty, and Zipper had used a similar plan, setting off
the silent alarm right before Nimnul (with a new laser ray and a ski mask) entered the door.

Both groups came out alive, having never felt better. "You should have heard Rat Capone!" Dale was bragging, then imitating Capone, said "'Some dirty rat musta squealed on me!'"
"Well I dunno about you guys, but watching Nimnul flip like he did was one of the brightest moments in my life. I never laughed so hard!" Monty bragged.

That night, just before Gadget went to bed, she walked through the Headquarters one last time that night, and saw the Time Remote lying on the table. "It's just like those boys to leave it lying around," she thought, and she picked it up to put it up in her workshop...
... then a thought struck her, and she instead took it back to her own room. She lied down, wondering, "Should I sleep or should I...?" she wasn't actually that tired, so she decided to take the plunge, and held down the Fast Forward button.

She held the button down for what seemed like a full minute, after which Chip came in her room, and in what to her was a split second, saw the remote and took it out of her hands.
"Gadget!" Chip said, his voice sounding somewhat muffled, "Do you know what you're doing?"
"No--what the?!" Gadget said as she suddenly found that her own voice was muffled, and that it was hard to
talk. "Oh no, I didn't... I'm not..." Acting on her new thought, she felt around her mouth with her tongue, then
exclaimed "Where are my teeth?! Gimme the remote!" She grabbed it, and quickly pressed the Rewind button,
and watched as Chip's actions all reversed... until she got to one point where Chip came into her room wearing formal clothing, at which point she stopped, wondering what *this* was about. She was relieved to see that neither her nor Chip were, well, toothless *somethings* before their time.
Her and Chip were back to being their normal, young selves.
"Gadget," Chip asked, "Why did you have to do that?"
"I'm sorry, I just wanted to know my future. Hey, what's with the fancy clothing?"
"Oh, sorry, slipped my mind," and then Chip did the most surprising thing Gadget could remember. He pulled out a little black box. Gadget opened it, and found a ring, and realised what this was leading to.
Then Chip popped the question, "Will you...?"
Almost immediately Gadget wanted to give it back, but then she thought about it. She didn't know what this level of romance was like, and she could always press Rewind if she didn't like it. Again her curiosity got the best of her, and she said "When?"

That night, Her and Chip were happily married. Gadget looked around, everyone she knew was there. Monty, Zipper, Dale... Dale...
Gadget couldn't help thinking that Dale was taking this whole thing hard.
"Now," the preacher said, "If there is anyone here who feels these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace."
Dale almost stood up and objected, but didn't. He couldn't keep himself from crying, not for the rest of the night. Gadget wondered, just before she herself did, if Dale would ever get to sleep, or if he would drown in his own tears first.

The next morning Gadget was awakened by an alarmed Monterey Jack, who said simply "Gadget love, you better come quick." "What is it, Monty?" she asked, following him out of her room, and onto the landing strip.
"It's not good, love. It's about Chip. You better brace yourself."
They walked past the sofa, where Gadget noticed Dale, still crying.
"Chip? What's wrong with him?"
Then they walked out on the landing pad, and Gadget saw for herself. Unable to bear the sight, she turned away, and began crying herself.
"Gadget love, I'm sorry..."
Then suddenly, a thought clicked in Gadget's mind, and she ran to her room, and grabbed the remote which she had put on her dresser the day of their marriage, and quickly pressed Rewind.

It was back to that moment, the moment it all began, with Dale watching that monster movie. He turned to see Chip walking by.
In a choking voice, Dale said "Chip, I..."
But Chip passed him by without looking at him. Dale looked at his eyes. They looked like the eyes of a vengeful person. Worse, they were the eyes of a dead 'munk.

Gadget kept the remote with her when she went to dinner. The whole headquarters had an air of death and vengeance about it, and it was amplified at the dinner table.
Monterey Jack had, as usual, done the cooking, as usual putting lots of cheese in everything. Chip and Dale were sitting right across from each other, Chip still having that vengeful look on his face, which Dale seemed to be afraid to look at.
And then Gadget saw Chip do the other most surprising thing she'd ever see him do. When Dale wasn't looking, he attempted to dump poison into his food!
"Chip, what are you *doing*?!" Gadget cried out as she grabbed Chip's hand and yanked it away.
"Gadget," Dale said in a low tone of voice, "I deserve it."
"What--" Then realization struck, and she, surprised, said "You mean you...?!"
"Who else?" Chip affirmed.
Then Gadget got over her shock, and said "But that doesn't change anything. He was wrong--or rather, will be wrong--but he admits to that, and you can't blame someone for something that hasn't happened yet."
"If it hasn't happened yet then why do I remember it?"
Gadget took a bite of her food, and said "I don't know."
No one said anything for the rest of dinner.

That night, Dale was walking to his bedroom, having stayed up late for another movie, when he was confronted by Chip, who had a harpoon, and *not* the plunger-loaded kind, either.
"I oughtta just kill you where you stand!" Chip stated.
"I guess so," Dale said, still feeling guilt. "All right, do it. Then we'll be even."
"You mean it? You won't resist?"
"Not a bit."
"Then..."

Gadget was awakened by Dale's cry of agony, and, figuring what had happened, immediately pressed Rewind on the remote, then she got up and ran to the Main Room.

"So, we're even now," a now-alive-again Dale said.
"Yes, you certainly are." Chip said, chunking the harpoon away. He sighed, not noticing Gadget had just entered the room, and said "And, actually, that didn't at all feel satisfying.
Dale, I feel like such a fool... I'm..."
"Don't say it, Chip. I know. I feel the same way."
Gadget watched as the two friends-turned-enemies hesitated, then Chip extended a hand and said "Friends again?"
Dale took the hand and said "You betcha!"
Gadget smiled, and quietly slipped back to her room, and caught snippets of a conversation.
"So, Chip, what was it like being dead, anyway?"
"Weren't you dead too?"
"Yea, but not for as long as you."
"Well, it's kinda like..."
Gadget didn't hear it. She shut the door and went back to sleep.

The next day, the Rangers had another meeting.
"All right," Chip said, "I know we've already had this discussion, but I have reason to believe many of us will have a different perspective now. So, I ask again, what should we do with the Time Remote?"
Despite the bad things that had come out of it's use, the Rangers had to agree that those were *their* fault, not
the fault of any inanimate object, and that many good things had come out of it, as well. Gadget had to admit that it was ignorance on her part that had caused the whole mess between Chip and Dale.
So Monty said "Well, While I still think that thing is the best thing we've ever had, I *don't* think we're ready
for that kind of power, so I suggest..."

Now the remote sits in a triple-locked box in Gadget's workshop, which has a label reading "For extreme emergencies only."

------Afterword------

This story, as I previously stated, was my first go at totally serious story. I admit, sometimes I stopped and
asked myself "What *am* I writing?" (Well, except for once, when I wondered exactly when I switched mindsets with John Nowak) but obviously that kind of thing never stops me, but I hope you liked it anyway.

(*PLEASE* someone! Do a MiSTing!)

------Continuity Notes------

For those familiar with my Ranger fanfics that feature my original characters Frog, Pennywinkel, and Mademanna, you're probably wondering "Why aren't they in this story?" Well, this story takes place before they arrived (And since they come from another reality altogether, they obviously weren't affected by the remote). In my regular chronology, the Rangers still have the remote, but haven't had a situation extreme enough to warrant it's use.

------Disclaimer-----

Oh yea, and Chip n' Dale's Rescue Rangers is copyright Disney, used without permission.