Based on Chip n' Dale's Rescue Rangers, Copyright Disney, used without
permission for a non-profit porpoise.

------If you thought you'd never----------
------see stupid commentary again...------
------...You were WRONG! MWAHAHAHA!------

Well, I've been out of the Fanfiction loop for quite awhile,
but my muse fired me up again and demanded I rejoin the Rangers.
Besides that, I feel my "First Season" as I put it, is coming to
a close, thus I am trying to finish up all my scheduled projects
so I can begin my spiritual "Second Season" on a new leaf. I've
been told I write bizarre fanfics, well, hopefully that will never
change. Enjoy the fruits of my labors, for surely they shall be
surpassed in the future.

------And now the fun begins again!-------

THE DARKEST CORNER
THE FIRST HALF

Prologue

It's been months since the Rescue Ranger's last adventure,
and life has settled down. On this morning, Gadget was working on
one of her new inventions, one of those gizmos she makes in her
spare time that does nothing in particular. Chip and Dale were
watching TV, from the sounds of it they were debating over wether
to watch the news or another Japanese monster movie. Monterey Jack
and Zipper were outside, excercising.
Mademanna, ever since she had been accepted into the Ranger
household, had done her part by keeping the place neat and tidy.
Her brother, Dumb Frog, and his friend Pennywinkel also kept their
place via helping with anything Mademanna was either too busy to
help with or otherwise didn't know enough about.
About a month back, Frog and Pennywinkel had begun school
at an elementary only a few blocks away from the Police Station.
It was a human school, but fortunately Pennywinkel was able to
magically resize both herself and Frog from rodent-sized to
human-sized using some magical coin that Gadget had never gotten
a good look at, but then Gadget didn't really care, either. There
are two types of people: Technical people and Magical people.
Gadget, of course, was technical, and technical people typically
don't have any interest in magic.
She heard the door open, and glanced up at a clock. Three-
fifteen. "Must be them," she thought. Dropping what she was doing
(literally), she went out to meet them at the front door to the
Ranger HQ.
"So, how was school today?" she questioned in the way she
figured a legal guardian should.
Frog was obviously frustrated, "Oh, same old. Pennywinkel
*again* got into fights with pretty much anyone who looked at
her the wrong way..."
"I did *not*!" She vehemently denied. "He *deliberately*
ran his hand into my left--"
"You still didn't have to *paralyse* the guy!"
"He's not paralysed. The school nurse said he'd be fine
after he got some sleep. He's not even seriously hurt." under
her breath, she added vindictively "He should've been, though."
Gadget held back a yawn as she told them "Well, that's
okay." and let them walk off, and herself went back to her
workshop. She sometimes thought letting them enroll in a school
was a mistake. Frog and Pennywinkel were from an alternate
universe anyway, had all sorts of magical abilities, and
Pennywinkel was already something of a genious due to a strange
brain condition that allowed her to think in more than three
dimensions. Both of them, thanks to their experiences, already
knew more than most scientists, and since living as rodents
with the Rescue Rangers required no income, there was no practical
reason for them to go to school anyway. Yet they (particularly
Pennywinkel) had chosen to do just that.
The result was that Pennywinkel had become increasingly
more violent. Every week, she had come home with notes from
her teachers and other authority figures mentioning one thing
or another, typically requesting her come to the school for
a conference (to which Gadget always had to make up an excuse
not to do, for obvious reasons). Particularly she seemed to
not get along with boys, behavior Gadget thought was odd as
Pennywinkel had never had a problem with boys before.
But maybe it's just a sign of puberty, Gadget thought.
But then she thought that couldn't be it because Pennywinkel's
aging process was stopped when she started universe tripping,
but then that doesn't mean she can't have romantic interests,
or does it? Perhaps it does, but maybe she can stand men but
not boys? No, she can stand Frog, and he's hardly a man...
Gadget's mind suddenly snapped back to reality when she
happened to glance out her workshop window. She stared at it
for a moment, investigating. "Funny, I coulda swore... I must
be seeing things."
With that, she continued work on her next wacky gizmo.

CHAPTER ONE - Unlike Any Other Day

The first thing Frog and Pennywinkel had done when they
got done talking to Gadget was to head into their rooms. Due to
a shortage of space (which they hadn't had time to work on) Frog
and Pennywinkel slept in bunk-beds, and Mademanna bunked with
Gadget. No one had any problem with the arrangements, especially
since no one assumed Frog and Pennywinkel had any sort of
"Involvement" with each other.
Frog knelt down in the doorway. Pennywinkel could tell from
his moaning that his bad leg had begun to give him pains again.
Nonchalantly she slung her backpack to a far wall, then went to
help Frog make it to the bottom bunk.
"Why did you chunk your stuff?" he asked. She had never
been so disregarding of schoolwork before.
But she soon explained "I'm quite tired of doing homework.
It's really pointless. There is nothing educational about the
games of memorization this school seems to like."
"Well, okay, just wonderin'..."
After she got him into the bed, she went over to the CD Player,
and inserted a disc. After setting the track, she pressed Play.
Frog immediately recognized the song as "Give in to Me" by Michael
Jackson, one of his darker songs. After a few minutes of listening
to it, Frog asked "Can we *please* listen to something a little
happier?"
"Sure," Pennywinkel responded, "You have anything by Enya?"
Before he could answer, she sat down, and said "Actually,
Frog, I'm considering quitting altogether."
"Okay."
"I meant this reality."
Frog sat up at this. With a look of surprise (Well, however
much of that look can be made out when your eyes are shadowed out
because of your hair) he blurted out "Why?!?!"
"Because nothing interesting is happening, because it's too
much like the world we came from, because I'm bored..."
"Well," Frog said, suddenly standing up (apparently the pain
had went away) "When one is bored, there is only one thing to do!"
"What's that?"
"Either watch television or bet on who'll win the next fight.
I vote Chip."
Pennywinkel smiled. "You're on!"

Monterey and Zipper were back from their excercises (And
possibly grabbing themselves some cheese) when Frog and Pennywinkel
entered the room.
"Hey, lads!" He greeted them. "Hey, Penny-me-lassie," (Monty
was the only person Pennywinkel allowed to call her by a nickname,
because it was in his nature to do so), "Gadget 'ere tells me you
got into quite a scuffle at school today. So tell me, did ya give
him a black eye?"
"Monty!" Gadget exclaimed, "Don't encourage her! She should
*not* be fighting at school."
"When I was in school in Amsterdam, we used to get into fights
all the time! It's just harmless fun, Gadget-love." He looked at
Pennywinkel and said "You shoulda seen your old pal Monty when he
was an exchange student at Bangock!"
"But Monty!" Chip stepped in to support Gadget, saying that
Pennywinkel should find less violent ways of solving her problems.
But then Dale entered the arguement, and the two chipmunks
eventually came to fists.
In the background, the news droned on. Stan Blather reported
that, due to the lack of crime, the mayor was considering cutting
funding to law enforcement. Suddenly, and unknown to the room's
residents, the picture went jumpy for a moment, and then became
normal again.
Gadget had given up the arguement in exhasperation. To put it
bluntly, when the chipmunks popped, the fun didn't stop, so she let
the issue rest. She could always discuss it with the child later, in
private. Just as she was calming down, letting her mind wander, she
seemed to think of something, stood up, and said "Oh, hey guys, can
I get back to you later on this? There's something I have to do."
She walked out without waiting for a response, which was fine
because only Mademanna heard her anyway.
So she stepped out the door. Suddenly she found she could
not remember what it was she was supposed to be doing, so she turned
to go back in, but, much to her astonishment, the door was refusing
to open! She refused to give in, and tried jiggling the handle.
"That's odd," she thought, "There's no lock..."
But she tried to jiggle it some more, yet no matter how hard
she did or how hard she tried to turn the handle, it wouldn't even
budge.
Finally she tried knocking on the door, but it was no use,
as apparently no one could hear her over Chip and Dale fighting.
That couldn't be it, she decided, because they've heard people
knocking before. It seemed to her, in this moment, that every time
she beat at the door, their fighting only got louder, drowning out
her own incessant poundings. But she decided that notion was absurd.
In frustration, she went to her knees. After another ten
minutes, she started crying out, but again she was not heard.
Finally, in annoyance, she got up, and began to pace across the
runway, never letting her eyes off the ground, puzzling out what
sort of invention she could make to open a door with no lock.
Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head.
Momentarily, she fell to the ground, unable to stand. As the world
was going black around her, she noticed she was being dragged away.

CHAPTER TWO - A Tense Period of Time

Finally Chip and Dale had stopped fighting after half an
hour, featuring many bruises wherever one bothered to take a gander.
Finally, Chip said "I'm sorry. Are you okay?"
"Yea, me too. And you?"
"Hey!" Chip suddenly realized, "Where's Gadget?"
Quickly he was answered by Mademanna, "She went out to do
something. She'll be back."
Chip sighed with relief. "Thank goodness. I know it's silly,
but I suddenly got this feeling that something bad was about to
happen!"
Suddenly Pennywinkel stood up, and walked towards the front
door with earnesty.
"What's up?" Dale asked, to which Pennywinkel turned and
quickly answered:
"Dale, when people have a bad feeling, there is always a
reason for it. Especially if they shrug it off!"
With that, she turned and opened the door with quick and
sudden reflexes. The door yielded to her the same way it refused
to do for Gadget moments ago. Stepping outside, Pennywinkel glanced
around, and yelled out "Gadget!" She listened, but heard no response.
So she turned and called in another direction. "Gadget!" Still no
answer. Chip put a hand on her shoulder. "You're probably just
worrying yourself over nothing.
She went out, she told us she was going out, she didn't say
for how long."
"I dunno, Chip-me-lad." Monty commented as he himself came
out the door, "The wee lass is right. Bad feelings are meant to
be trusted, mate."
Zipper chimed in what sounded like an agreement.
"Nonsense, Monty. Just wait, you'll see. Now, everyone back
inside!"
Reluctantly, and murmering uncertainties, they did as told.
Chip hesitated before following them. He scanned the surrounding
area, looking for a trace of Gadget, mumbling to himself "You'll
be okay, they'll see... I hope."
Then he followed his own orders and went back inside.

* * *

Hours later, Gadget still had not returned, and it was
now dark out. It was hard work just keeping Dale and Monty from
going hysterical with concern, Chip managing to keep down his
own simply due to the fact that he was pacing around in circles.
He, too, was worried, but he kept rationing out "She's only been
gone a short time. I shouldn't worry, I shouldn't worry..."
Pennywinkel, overhearing this, exclaimed "I told you we
should've went after her!"
"Now, now!" Mademanna reprimanded, "For all we know, she's
probably just hung up in a junkyard."
"Or maybe she's been eaten by a c-c-ca-cat..." Monty theorised.
"Maybe even Fat Cat!" Dale added.
"No," Chip said, his mind being relieved by having something
else to think about, "Fat Cat would want to get rid of all of us
with one clean stroke. He wouldn't have... well, not yet, anyway.
It is possible that he has her under lock and key, however." This
new theory thrilled Chip's mind and heightened his expectations.
He could almost picture Fat Cat using Gadget as bait for one of
his insidious traps. "Yea!" Chip exclaimed, "That must be it! She
was captured by Fat Cat!"
Dale heroically jumped to his feet, "Then what are we waiting
for?"
"Right, everyone with me?"
Everyone was. Everyone, that is, except for Mademanna (who
never goes on missions), and Pennywinkel. Frog, seeing Pennywinkel's
vote, gradually retracted his own hand.
Chip and everyone else didn't take a second thought about this,
and said "To the Ranger Wing, then!"
As they ran to the runway, they who were leaving gave their
triumphant yell of "Rescue Rangers, Away!" Zipper, the last one out,
managed to pull the door shut. Frog then turned to Pennywinkel and
asked the obvious question: "Why?"
"Because," She explained, "Someone needs to investigate the
other suspects. And in any case, I think Chip has the wrong idea
altogether."
Frog scratched his head, but knew well enough not to argue with
Pennywinkel. "Okay," he gave in. "That leaves us to trash Nimnul's
place, right?" he continued as they walked outside, calling out to
Mademanna "Wait for us, and you know the safety stuff."
"Yea," Pennywinkel said, They were now climbing down the tree,
eventually reaching the ground, "But first we need to re-size." Upon
saying this, Pennywinkel pulled out a strange octagonal medallion
which featured a simple of a small man standing under a large man,
both surrounded by some sort of magic. As if on an impulse, Frog
put his fingers on it, as Pennywinkel said "Resize!" with such an
accent that it sounded more like she was saying the name of a
certain Peanut Butter Cup.
Suddenly they were their normal, human sizes, instead of the
rodent-sized people they were just a second ago. Immediately,
Pennywinkel pointed towards a series of hills in the distance,
and said "Okay, let's go."

* * *

Chip's expedition to Fat Cat's Casino was going fine so far,
except that he had found out Dale was looking less for Gadget and
more for interesting sights. Chip had caught him at this, and
switched places. Now Dale was driving the Ranger Wing (Fortunate
that Gadget forced all of us to learn it, Chip thought). Due to
a lack of confidence in his own abilities, Dale did not take any
chances with the thing, and as such had kept them on a pretty
steady course.
Fat Cat's casino was already looming in the distance.
Chip resumed watching below with binoculars. "See anything,
Monty?"
"Nothin' but a lot of buildings, pallie. I'm beginnin' to
worry."
"About what?"
"Well, what if we're wrong, and Fat Cat ain't got 'er? What
if we're putting ourselves in danger for no reason?"
Chip had, in fact, been considering that. Almost immediately
after Dale had taken over control, his mind kept going back to what
Pennywinkel had said: "When people have a bad feeling, there is
*always* a reason for it, especially if they shrug it off!" Chip
remembered that he had, indeed, shrugged it off, but hadn't he also
accepted it as a warning and went to investigate?
"Yea," he thought, "after several hours in which who-knows-what
could've happened to her!"
"Okay Chip," Dale said, "We're here. Can you land this thing?"
Chip broke out of his reminiscing, and said "Yea, sure." Then
Dale got over to the passenger side, allowing Chip to get in the
driver seat. Calmly he landed the Wing near an open window, careful
not to get to close to it, for Chip noticed just in time that Fat
Cat was leaning on that very window, looking outward, and in a state
of deep thought. Staring into space, as it were.
So the Rangers landed on the roof of a chimney nearby. A little
known fact is that a cat's whiskers can detect movement. Fat Cat
is a cat, and he has whiskers. Feeling them vibrate, he came out
of his state, and demanded "Who's there?"
Before Chip could tell him to keep quiet, Dale demanded "What
have you done with Gadget?"
"Gah," Fat Cat said to himself, "It's just the Rescue Ragglers."
He then said, loud enough for them to hear, "What do you want?"
Chip pulled out a megaphone Gadget had built a long time ago.
Using it, he again asked "Where is Gadget?"
Fat Cat thought, trying to place who exactly Gadget was. As
much as he had encountered the Rangers, he had never bothered to
learn their names. He did, however, know their appearances, and
looked into the Ranger Wing. He recognized the chipmunks, the sole
mouse, and the fly. "Shouldn't there be another mouse?" He wondered,
"A girl? Wait, that's probably who they're looking for."
Finally the crime kitty called "So sorry to disappoint you,
but I don't happen to know where your girlfriend is hiding!" He
wanted to make an insult, but he didn't feel up to it right now.
"Why don't you go bother some dogs instead?"
Chip rolled his eyes. "Why would we do that?"
"Because of how rambunctious they've been getting! Earlier
today, I had to put Mole in the infirmary when Mepps found him
scratched up, with a green paw print, right outside my office!
You hear that? The miserable animals broke into my casino and
attacked my men!"
Chip's interest piqued at this news. "Sorry to hear that,"
he said with mock apologeticness, "Did you catch the mongrel?"
"Fat Cat left the window, and seemed about to tear his fur
out. "No," they heard him say, "The mangy mutt somehow managed to
slip away. None of my men saw him come in or go out, and I've got
them stationed at every entrance! Those stupid little... they can't
even keep a dog out! One day I'll drive out every dog in the city!"
"Uh-huh," Chip said, mouth away from megaphone, "And I'll be
a goose's cook." Truth is, he thought this was some sort of elaborate
scheme. "What's his game?" Chip wondered, "He's reaching quite far
if he thinks he can trick us into helping him scare away dogs."
"Chip!" Dale said aloud, "Maybe we should see if Frog and
Pennywinkel have found anything!"
"He's right, Mate." Monty added, "Now that we've come here,
I see no reason to think Fat Cat has done anything wrong at all.
Sounds to me like he's a victim of somethin' himself!"
Chip sighed, and gave in, saying into the Megaphone "We'll
let you go for now, Fat Cat. But until we've found our missing
member, you're still a suspect."
"Yea yea," was the most emotional reply Fat Cat could give.
As the Rangers flew away, he began thinking. Cat's can hear four
times as well as humans, so Fat Cat could make out everything the
Rangers had been saying, with or without the megaphone.
"Pennywinkel? Frog?" he thought, "My god, there's *more* of
them? And here I thought it was just the five."
Fat Cat had another thought, and pressed the button on his
desk. Almost immediately, Mepps entered the room. "You called,
sir?"
Fat Cat put a blank piece of paper and a pencil on the other
side of his desk, and asked "Can you write?"
"Yes, yessir!" Mepps answered. He picked up the pencil, and
began writing on the paper. "The flowers, like the morning sun..."
"That's all I need, Mepps." He snatched up the paper.
Surprisingly, Mepps had beautiful, easy-to-read handwriting. But
then, Mepps had always been the most competent of Fat Cat's cronies.
It's possible there was a lot more to him than meets the eye.
Fat Cat handed him a bunch of note cards and the pencil and
said "I want you to find out everything you can regarding the
Rescue Rangers, and write it down! Because of the nature of your
assignment, do not make yourself known to them. Do not attempt
to capture or otherwise harm them. Stay hidden when and if
possible."
"Yes sir!" Mepps confirmed. "Is that all, sir?"
"Yes. You may go."
Mepps saluted, then walked out.

CHAPTER THREE - A Surprise Left at Home

Frog and Pennywinkel had managed to get to Nimnul's place
on skates. After they had made it, the skates and gear magically
disappeared, and the two entered the large, dome-like structure.
Immediately they knew Nimnul must be home, because the lights
were on, and because someone was making a maniacal rant about how
he was going to get even with everyone for everything. Following
his ravings, the two made their way to the main room in his head-
quarters, the room that had all his science stuff.
"Ya know," Frog commented, "The way this place is set up,
it's almost like a demented mad scientist in a cartoon from the
eighties lives here."
Though Frog was oblivious to it, Pennywinkel gave him an
annoyed look. But she forgot all about his silly comments and
continued, pulling Frog along.
Eventually they got sight of the man himself. "Hey, it's
the midgetized Doc Ivo Robotnik!" Frog whispered.
"Quiet with the stupid jokes. You're no Spider-Man."
"Wanna see me shoot webbing?"
The idea of afflicting physical pain on the guy seemed very
attractive at that moment, but Pennywinkel regained herself, deciding
she'd hurt him later.
She analyzed the situation, and whispered "Let's just walk up
to him. Chances are he won't even notice us."
And so they did, and, accurately predicted, he did not notice
them until they were right behind him. Then he looked to his left
and, seeing Pennywinkel, jumped with surprise.
"Well, hello my dear!" He said in his maniacal tone. "What
brings you to this awful place?"
"I'm looking for a mouse. You wouldn't happen to have caught
any little meeses would you?"
"Dear me no. I've been staying away from rodents and small
animals ever since those chipmunks with the flying garbage started
messing up all my plans."
Frog scratched his head. "So whaddya do now?"
"Come over here, and I'll show ya." He led them down a hallway,
through a side-path, behind a secret door to a room with a skylight
and sunlamps that was just full of all sorts of plants, including
edibles.
"These are my newest creations!" Nimnul exclaimed with glee.
"Ever since I got out of jail, I've been devoting less time to
planning robberies and more time to my plants! And now I don't
have to steal anything because I make good on the proceeds from
the sales of these things."
"Interesting," Pennywinkel said. "Well, this is certainly a
nice place. Perhaps we'll visit you again. If we do, you tell us
if you see a mouse wearing a purple outfit, right?"
"Right. Now run along."
Frog and Pennywinkel just shrugged, and left. Fortunately
they were able to find their own way out.
Nimnul just stayed in his secret garden. "Mouse in a purple
outfit," he mused, "What such creative imaginations kids have these
days. Oh my!" He turned to one of his carrots, which seemed to not
be doing half as well as the others, "It must need water, yes!" He
took a watering can, and virtually splashed the dying carrot. Then,
he decided to be cautious and give it a bit of fertilizer as well.
"There, now you'll be all right!" And with that, he left the
garden.

Frog and Pennywinkel again skated back. It wasn't much of
a distance, indeed the Rangers often crossed that distance in no
time at all no matter what vehicle they use. When the two got to
the park, the skates and gear again disappeared, and they walked
the distance to the tree.
"So," Frog reminisced. "Nimnul's really come clean this time."
"Oh, it's not gonna be long until a power surge or an offhand
comment makes him go on another crime spree. But I guess Chip and
them had better luck than we did."
"And if they didn't? Think we should investigate Rat Capone
next?"
Pennywinkel chuckled. "Nice theory, but it just so happened
I saw the little pipsqueak and his men running from a snake the
other day. Something odd about that snake..."
"Oh, what's his name? Elliot Hiss?"
"Heh."
"So what was odd about it?"
"I can't remember." While saying this, she took out the same
medallion from earlier, and again Frog put his fingers on it. Again
saying the word, Pennywinkel and Frog found they were once again
rodent-sized. Then they made their way up the tree, and onto the
launch pad. "Maybe Chip's home already..." Pennywinkel suddenly
stopped when she put her hand on the doorknob, and found the thing
was not even shut all the way. The two looked at each other, both
having a feeling of foreboding, and abruptly rushed in.
Right inside, they saw Mademanna, sitting on the floor,
panting heavily. Outside of all sorts of green, glowing marks on
her skin and clothing, however, there was nothing wrong with her.
Chip, Dale, Monty, and Zipper were already home, and had
apparently been keeping an eye on the girl for some time already.
Frog walked over, sat down in front of her, and asked "Are you okay?"
No answer.
Frog made to lift her up, saying "Come on, let's get you
onto the sofa--"
"Don't touch me!" She abruptly screamed, causing Frog to
keep his hands well to himself.
"She's been like this for five minutes." Chip told him.
"So she has," Frog whispered to himself. Deciding not to heed
what had just happened, he picked her up anyway. Again she reacted
surprisingly by screaming and struggling as if this was the worst
torture ever.
Finally Pennywinkel covered her mouth. After muffling her
screams, she asked "So, Chip, what did you find out?"

CHAPTER FOUR - Passing the Time

The Rangers filled the kids on what they had found out at
Fat Cat's casino. In turn, the kids had told the story of what's
going on at Nimnul's place.
"So," Chip said thoughtfully, "Nimnul's turned to gardening..."
"And Fat Cat's being attacked by what he thinks are dogs,"
Pennywinkel concluded.
Chip had noticed the phrasing of that, and responded "In a
hurry to pull some goblins and ghosts into this, eh?"
"No, not at all, but still, a green pawprint! Unless he used
a stamp, that can't at all be natural. Still, it leads up to the
same thing, Gadget's still missing, and we still don't know where
she is or even if she's been abducted, period."
She turned and looked at the sofa, where Frog was still trying
to keep the still-frightened Mademanna under control. Pennywinkel
got up from where she was, came over to the sofa, and sat down next
to the two. She did nothing for awhile, then she decided the best
course of action would be to surprise the child somehow. This called
for little more than a simple action that involves the palm of a
hand.
As predicted, suddenly being slapped brought the youngster
back to reality. "Owww..."
"Sorry, kid, but you needed that. Now, would you mind
explaining to us what happened?"
But rather than obliging, Mademanna just looked at her, and
didn't say anything.
Frog squeezed on her a bit, and added "Can you please answer
the nice lady's question?"
She looked down. "Well, I locked the front door, but right
after you guys left..." Suddenly she buried her face in Frog's
chest and, holding on as if her life depended on it, began crying.
The Rangers had been surrounding them in the meantime, but
when that happened, everyone reached the same conclusion: That she
wouldn't be able to tell them anything else that night.
Frog stood up, still carrying the girl, saying "I'll take
her to her room."
"No!" She screamed, "Anything else but please don't leave
me alone!"
Frog hesitated for a minute, but then decided to sit back down.

* * *

Hours later, Dale was alone except for the sleeping Mademanna.
The thought of turning on the TV was attractive right now, but
strictly on a no monster movies basis. Fortunately, Frog had left
him a book he could read, one that he would like: "Spider-Man:
Revenge of the Sinister Six" by Adam-Troy Castro.
He was well into the book, when something caught his eye, and
he immediately turned towards the window. "Funny," he thought, "I
coulda swore..."
Then, something went by the window. Something that emitted a
red glow. Dale "Eek!"ed in surprise, though not necessarily in fear.
He kept his eyes on the window.
Eventually a morbid sort of curiosity overtook him, and he
walked over, and looked outwards.
Immediately, he heard something impact (But not break) the
window, and he ducked immediately after getting a split-second look
at the red glow which had now returned. Though he didn't get much
of a look, he had clearly seen that the red glow happened to be the
eyes of whatever was out there. First rule of evading monsters:
Never let them know you're there, he thought, then he began crawling
out from under it, and towards the front door, next to which was a
light switch. Dale stood briefly, and turned out the lights. Maybe
that'll make it harder to see us, Dale thought, It's at least worth
a try, though he actually doubted a creature with glow-in-the-dark
eyes was hindered by darkness.
Then Dale realized with a shock, "Oh my god! Mademanna is
still asleep on the sofa!" Dale had learned from movies that monsters
only attack if they think someone is in the room. If this thing saw
her, he might jump through the window and do who-knows-what. Quickly
Dale dashed (hoping the creature didn't see him) to the other side
of the sofa, and pulled the child off, startling her awake. She
almost yelled, but he covered her mouth, which gave him time to
point out the monster in the window. "Be quiet," he whispered,
"If it doesn't think anyone is here, it'll go away."
So they stayed where they were, hidden by the sofa, both
cringing in fear and holding on to each other.
Dale's curiosity overtook him, however, and he suddenly decided
"Ya know, I sure would like to know what we're up against." so he
peeked ever so slightly over the sofa, but he didn't learn much, as
the creature seemed to discover that it was being analyzed. As if
it had some fear of being found out, it quickly jumped away and was
gone.

Mepps had been watching all this. Like Dale, he wanted to know
what, exactly, was going on. But all that really mattered was getting
all this written down for Fat Cat.
"It's early morning, I think it's Monday... the twelth I believe.
Right now I am seeing some glowing red something flying around the Ranger
Headquarters. I do not know if this is some new Ranger we haven't heard
about or if this is just some stupid alien."
Mepps happened to look to the side, and something caught his eye.
"Note: I just noticed a mouse laying next to my foot. I think
it's a girl, and I don't think she's dead, but I'm afraid to touch her."
Mepps looked up when he noticed that the thing with the red,
glowing eyes was flying at him. No, not at him, at this unconscious
mouse. The orange-furred cat didn't know what he was thinking, he knew
he could do only one thing.
Quickly he swatted at whatever it was. He didn't hit because it
flew around his palm just in time. But then it hovered there in midair,
and the two looked at each other, eye to eye.
There was long silence, until finally Mepps asked "What are you?"
The thing responded by backing up, and then ramming Mepps in the
chest. Despite the size of the little whatever-it-was, it managed to
push the cat thug a foot or two, and make him fall over.
Mepps groaned with pain. He couldn't see, couldn't feel, and
could just barely hear. But all he heard were the sounds of the night,
and nothing sounded out of the ordinary.
His mind, however, told him that he must get up, and with that
resolve, he slowly but surely did. He managed a glance, and saw that
the unconscious, blonde-haired mouse was still there. Quickly he
retrieved his pen and paper which he had dropped.
"Note: Red thing is not a friend of the Rescue Rangers--or anyone
else. I still think it's an alien. That unconscious mouse is still
here. I'm pretty sure I've seen her with the Rescue Rangers before."
With that, he took yet another glance, and got a nagging feeling
in his mind. "Where are those Rangers, anyway? Are they asleep?" he
thought, "Do they not know one of their own is laying unconscious out
here?" Not that he thought that would be bad. Fat Cat's been fighting
the Rangers for years, but Mepps had been order to record information
and "Make no move to harm or apprehend them." To his understanding, if
this mouse was a Ranger and she died, his mission would be a failure.
He bent down to pick her up, thinking he'd leave her at the door
of the headquarters, but stopped, realizing his action might kill her.
Thinking this over, he came up with a better idea. He pulled out a
blank sheet from the notepad, made a note on it, and tore it off. Then
he went up and slipped it under the door of the Headquarters.
Sitting next to the unconscious mouse, he pulled two more blank
sheets out, crumbled them up into balls, and layed them near her. Then
he grabbed some sticks, and began rubbing them together. "Let's see, I
believe it went like this."
Eventually, it sparked off, and the papers became enflamed.
That accomplished, he looked back at the door. "What is taking those
blasted rodents so long?" he wondered. "I know, I'll just get their
attention..."
He went up, and knocked on the door. Quickly he ducked as to not
be seen. When he noticed no activity, he knocked again, louder, and in
a series. This time some lights came on. He heard a voice say "Hey!
A note!" and he quickly got on the other side of the tree, where he
could watch with little chance of being seen himself.

Chip looked over the note. "Dale, see if you see anything
outside."
"Well, there's a fire..."
"A fire?!?! Oh my... We've got to hurry! Rescue Rangers Away!"
Quickly Chip, Dale, Monty, Zipper, and Mademanna ran outside.
They all saw where the blaze was, and began to make their way (Mademanna
having to be carried down by Monty since she couldn't climb herself).
When they touched ground, they ran towards the fire, and discovered the
unconscious Gadget nearby, laying face-down.
Mademanna came close first. She took a pulse, and said "She's
alive." She proceeded to try and turn her Face-up, but then stopped.
"What is it?" Dale asked. Then he looked at the ground, where
three teeth lay.
"Something, or someone, hit her really hard. We've gotta get
her in as fast as possible."

* * *

The minute they got in, they found Frog and Pennywinkel awake
and waiting at the door.
"What's going on?" Frog asked, just before seeing them pull in
the still-unconscious Gadget. "Oh."
"It was terrible!" Dale exclaimed. "First there was some red-eyed
monster, and then, this..."
Chip looked at Dale skeptically. "Dale, we don't need this right
now."
"Actually," Mademanna added, "He's telling the truth. I saw it
too."
Chip shut up, and gave this some thought. Dale he would be less
likely to believe, but his experience with Mademanna was that she's
usually honest and tends to only say what she saw, not immediately go
getting her head in the Horror Movie clouds like Dale does. He put
it in the back of his mind, however, deciding it would be better to
get Gadget into a bed first. Quickly they ambled on into her bedroom,
and layed her down.
"Okay, what now?" Chip asked.
"I'll handle it from here," Mademanna replied. "You guys go do
whatever, but *do not disturb me*.
"Right. You heard the lady, everybody out." Chip ordered.
Mademanna had been programmed to have great medical skills, and Chip
was confident she could handle this. He himself had been in her care
once, and was unable to find fault with her abilities.
And everybody except Mademanna (and, of course, the unconscious
Gadget) filed out of the room. When the door closed, the child turned
back to Gadget, whispering "What happened to you?" as if she expected
her to answer.

Back in the den of the Headquarters, the first thing Chip did was
ask "Dale, exactly what happened?" To which Dale recounted the entire
story of the red-eyed thing up to the point where they heard a knock on
the door and found the note.
"Hmmmm," Chip thought. "Certainly is strange. And you say
Mademanna can back up your story?"
"Yea, every last word!"
"Hmmm..."
Suddenly, I, 8-Bit Star, appeared on their TV screen.
"Hey Rangers," I asked, "What's going on?"
"Maybe you can help. It seems that Dale and the kid are seeing
monsters. Also, Gadget was kidnapped this morning, and we found her
unconscious just now." After a thought, he added "Just out of interest,
why did you decide to check in on us?"
"Because my thingamajigs here on the console were detecting some
sort of anomaly in your universe. I wondered what was up."
"Well, we didn't get pulled into another reality!" Dale joked,
referring to a previous attempt by someone using my name to off the
Rangers. That time, however, I didn't find out by detecting an anomaly,
I found out by, of all things, reading a fanfic.
Anyway, I smiled at the reference, and said "Glad you're all safe.
I'm going to keep monitoring your universe, however. Something is up,
I just know it. Yesterday..." I stopped and grabbed my head.
"Yesterday what, lad? Are you all right?" Monty asked in concern.
"Ohhh... I'm all right. But yesterday, I slept almost the whole
day, and when I woke up, I felt like some part of me had vanished. It
left me with a sorta empty feeling, but I've gotten over it now.
"Anyway, to repeat, I'll be keeping a constant vigil. Now you
stay safe, ya hear?"
"We hear, thanks." Chip concluded.
I waved, then the TV went off, severing our connection.

CHAPTER FIVE: Problems Away From Home

"Boss," Mepps wrote, "You won't believe this!--Oh, it's Tuesday
Morning, by the way--The Rangers happen to have two kids who can,
what's the word? Errr, I'll just say 'Morph' from being small little
pipsqueaks to being humans! It's amazing!
I made like a normal cat to get further information. One of
them is named Frog. Sorta blueish hair, covers his eyes. Kinda
creepy, that. Dresses like someone with secrets to hide, but I got
the impression he was a complete dope despite his clothing.
The other one was a girl with some long name. Pen something.
Anyway, she looked about like any normal human girl-child. I pawed
around in her backpack, where I got her name... Oh yea, it was
Pennywinkel! Silly me, wrote it down on my hand and didn't notice!
I'm now waiting around the Ranger Headquarters--In case I didn't
mention it, its in the park. I found it by remembering that time you
wanted a Rescue Ranger to get a pearl for you, and, well, you know
how it goes. Anyway, the tree has a small 'RR' logo above the door.
So far, I keep hearing them talking about someone named Gadget.
She sounds sick, and I believe they're talking about that blonde mouse
I found. There's also constant mention of someone named Mad Madonna?
Well, she sounds like a doctor, but that's all I know."

Almost the moment Frog and Pennywinkel entered the double-doors
to the school, there was trouble. The two had been targets of bullies
for the short time they've been there, despite the fact that both of
them were experienced fighters and could usually top 'em all (which
for some reason actually caused their problems to get worse) but today
was special.
First some bald, thug-like kid ran up to Frog, yelling "Hey,
blindie!" and was about to start a storm of fists, but Frog quickly
put out a foot to knock him where it counts.
This, for some reason, caused most of the loons and idiots in the
place to come crawling out of their holes, and surround the two.
"Geez, aren't the boys rambunctious today," Pennywinkel remarked.
Bullies were normal, but this was like a scene straight out of the movie
"Class of 1999"!
Then Pennywinkel felt someone put an arm on her. She looked and
saw a stereotypical smoker with a stupid punk hairdo. The minute he
said "Hey baby!" she knocked him to the ground. Already she was about
to get upset. Guys had approached her before but they had never been
that bold.
Two others had run up and grabbed her arms then, and Pennywinkel
began to wonder how these idiots were getting so close without her
senses going off. Usually she was three steps ahead of everyone and
knew all their moves, but today, she was three steps into yesterday.
The guy with the stupid hairdo got up. "Don't wanna play, do
we?"
Get with the program! Pennywinkel thought to herself, but her
mind just didn't seem to be working right. Eventually, she decided
there was only one thing she could do. She began to feel power building
inside herself, but needing time, she distracted the punk:
"If you kiss me, I'll..."
As she expected, he tried... and ended up on the floor, feeling
numb.
And now she began to glow with the power she had been building up.
The two other guys let go of her, suddenly becoming less sure of
themselves as she formed the power into a ball, aimed...
And then there was an explosion, which shocked her so much she
lost her buildup. Soon, she noticed everything was being engulfed in
flames, and that *people* were blowing up as well. Quickly thinking,
she grabbed Frog and the two dashed out of the building, ducking to
the ground just as the whole building exploded.
Frog slowly got up. "What happened?"
"I don't know," Pennywinkel whispered.

Things were hell back at home. The News had been playing the
story straight for three hours, with Stan Blather reporting about
the mysterious bombing at Midwest Elementary in Midwest, New York.
He tallied up the casualties and the damage and other essentials.
Then someone turned the TV off.
Chip was fuming. "Okay, I can forgive a few fights, and I can
forgive 'accidentally' poisoning the Trix Rabbit. But I can *not*
forgive blowing up a school, Pennywinkel!"
On the sofa, she pleaded "But I didn't blow it up! We've told
you that already!"
"She's right, Chipper me lad," Monty jumped on the defense.
"Any ol' match lit by, say, a leakin' gas pipe coulda caused that!"
He looked Monty square in the eyes, "But isn't it a bit
coincidental that all the trouble there started when she enrolled?"
"She *and* Frog, mate."
"Furthermore, isn't it a little convenient that her and Frog
were the only survivors?"
Pennywinkel defended herself, "So we were smart enough to run."
"And!" Chip pressed the offensive, "You seem to not mind in the
least that over three-hundred lives were just wiped away!"
"If you were nearly raped you'd feel the same way. Besides that,
they were jerks. They deserved everything that happened to them."
Frog whispered in her ear "You're not exactly helping your
case, here."
She turned around. "Like I care? He's already dead-set not to
believe me. Not that I mind. Even if he could take me to court or
something, he couldn't prove anything."
Chip paced around, and plopped himself in the sofa. "You seem
like you've already got your defense and everything worked out..."
"All logically thinking people sound like criminals. It's key
to being that as well as being a good detective."
"It's also suspicious."
"Guys, I'm confused," Frog suddenly stated, "Chip, are you
seriously accusing her, or is this just an act?"
Chip stood. "Frog, I have to talk to you outside. Monty, keep
an eye on her, see that she doesn't eavesdrop."
"Right, lad."
Frog then got up, and walked outside with Chip, who closed the
door behind them. Pennywinkel waited, wondering what they could be
discussing, but Monterey Jack stopped her when she wanted to go stick
her ear to the door.
After about five minutes, Chip and Frog returned, with very grim
looks on their faces.
"Okay," Pennywinkel asked, "Now can you tell me what you were
talking about?"
"You don't want to know," was all Frog would say. Then he put
an arm around her, and whispered "But don't worry, I'm still on your
side."
That didn't sound at all pleasing.
Suddenly I bleeped in on their TV, asking "Hey, what's goin' on?
I just woke up, and my computers and stuff tell me that there was a
large burst of power--Hey, what's her problem?" I asked as I saw
Pennywinkel get up and leave the room.
Then Chip walked up to the TV screen, and whispered, as close
to my ear as he could get, "We think she blew up her school. That's
probably the large burst of power you're talking about."
I thought about this, and realized I had my misgivings. "Well...
Okay, but I somehow doubt my computers would register something as
normal as a school bombing."
"Normal?!?!?!" Chip (and everyone else but Frog) exclaimed.
"Oh, sorry..." I hit myself, "Where I come from, there were parts
of the world that were just fine, but in other places, especially New
York, violence and bombings were common place. In any case, I meant
insofar as normal means. A regular bomb would not have shown up, and
nor would just a simple explosion spell. Guys, you're dealing with
something else..."
And the screen began to go hazy. My words muffled, and soon
enough, we lost all contact.

Back in my abode, I hit a blank table, and started cussing out my
communications device, as I usually do when a simple malfunction causes
me to have to put important matters at risk.

Chip just scratched his head. "Well, that was weird."
Then Monty stood up, "Chip, I been thinkin', and after what
happened with 8-Bit Star here... I'm not so sure it's Pennywinkel who's
dun it!"
Chip regained himself, seeming to have remembered something
seemingly important, and sternly stated "Nonsense, my friend. She is
obviously the guilty party! Now if you'll excuse me, there is something
I have to do."
Before anyone could argue, Chip stepped outside.
And wasn't seen again all day.

CHAPTER SIX: Restless Nights

Hours after Chip walked out the door, Gadget finally came to.
Mademanna, being a child after all, almost skipped with joy, but managed
to contain herself, realizing there was still a margin of error. She
dared not talk, since that would probably provoke a response, and the
last thing you want to do with someone who just regained consciousness
is push them too hard.
So Mademanna just stood still next to the bed, waiting to see what
would happen.
Gadget managed to whisper "Mademanna?"
"I'm here. Need anything?"
"No..." Gadget was not the type to ask anything, wether she needed
it or not. Mademanna, like everyone else, knew this, and opened the
door, calling for someone to bring Gadget a glass of water anyway.
Momentarily Dale arrived with a glass, which Mademanna took and gave to
Gadget.
"She gonna be okay?" the timid chipmunk asked.
"Yep. But she's gonna have to stay in bed for a day and a half
more. The more sleep she gets, the better. I still can't think of what
kind of impact could knock out teeth without fracturing her jaw..."
Then Dale suddenly thought "Hey, that's right! We need to ask her
what happened! Gadget, where--?"
"No, Dale. She needs rest first."
Dale wanted to go on, but he listened and decided not to press the
issue as Gadget continued drinking the water. Mademanna sat down on the
floor next to the bed, being patient with her patient, knowing that it
would all come out in due time.

Then the sun had went down, but it was not yet bedtime, just night
time. Everyone was at that dinner table. Everyone, that is, except for
Gadget, her little doctor Mademanna, and Chip.
"Hey, where is Chip anyway?" Pennywinkel asked.
Dale looked at her quizzically. "You mean you don't know?"
Oddly, Frog seemed to not be paying any attention whatsoever, and
just continued feeding himself.
"Know what?" Pennywinkel asked in return.
Then Dale looked at Frog, and began to ask "Frog, are you sure--?"
But he was silenced when Frog quickly put up a hand, signalling him to
be quiet.
Pennywinkel examined the scene, and herself just returned to
eating. Quickly she finished her meal (she only had one serving) and
then she got up and left the table, not asking to be excused.

Back in the city of Neo-Pathetika, I was still agonizing over how
contact had been so quickly and brutally shut off, and was still working
like a bee to re-establish it. Peter Parker walked into the same room
as me, and asked "Hey Eight, what's going on?"
"Blasted computer malfunction. Even worse this time, since some-
thing is up in the Rangerverse."
"Oh."
"Gee, you're taking this awful seriously." I said sarcastically.
"Well, the Rescue Rangers have always pulled through before. You
know that, you're the fanfic writer here, and heck, nothing their up
against now could possibly be worse than another one of your villains."
"My villains? Oh, yea, my villains! Had a temporary lapse there."
"Yea, anything less is like putting Spider-Man up against street
thugs." I couldn't help but notice how Parker referred to his alter-
ego in third person, even though it was hardly unusual. "Need any
help?" He continued.
"Nah, I've almost re-established contact!... THERE! YES! I am
back online!... Damn."
"What?"
"No one's in the room with the Television. Meaning essentially
I'll have to wait until someone IS. Until then, there's always books..."
Saying that, I picked up and began reading Spider-Man, the movie
novelization. Parker noticed, and was amused by it, but made no comment
before he left the room.

Pennywinkel was in the hallway, and openining the door to her room,
when she heard Frog coming down the hallway. He abruptly stopped behind
her and, following her into the room, asked "So, where is Chip, really?
What have you done with him?" he made that last line as accusatory as
he could.
"Quit pretending you don't know," she answered, shutting the door.
Then she whispered "I know your game, Frog."
Frog stood dumbfounded. "Oh," he finally managed to say.
"At least, I know that much. Be a dear and enlighten a poor little
girl on the matters of the world, would you?"
He responded by whispering something in her ear. He then pulled
away, and added "But remember, *You're* the scapegoat!"
She smiled. "I'll remember."

After the dinner, Dale, Monty, and Zipper had went back to the sofa
in the Den of the HQ. "Don't worry tonight, Pally, I'm gonna stay up
and wait for that monster, and when I see it, blammo!" Monty hit his own
fist in an exemplary style.
"Uhhh, thanks, Monty."
"No problem, lad!"
But nothing happened for five minutes, then, the Rangers heard it,
a rapping, a rap-tap-tapping on their chamber door. At first, the three
were petrified out of their senses, but then Zipper pantomimed, realizing
it might be Chip.
"Hey, you're probably right!" Monty exclaimed, getting up and
quickly running to the door, and throwing it open--only to discover not
a thing was there. Monty stood confused for a moment, and of course
looked around outside. Then he walked back in.
The moment he did, the door abruptly closed itself, and the knocking
began again, and laughter was heard, like the maniacal laugh of a demented
child.
Again Monty opened the door, but there was something there this
time: Gloves, like the type cartoon characters wear, hovering disem-
bodied, knocking on the door. Monty stepped back at this, while Dale
and Zipper came to see what was wrong, and ended up gazing onward in
a morbid sort of curiosity.
The laughter came again, and it signalled the moment the gloves
faded into nothingness. The knocking was not heard again.
However, almost immediately, some black wind came into the room
through the door, threatening to knock the furry critters off their
feet, but momentarily it was gone.
Then they heard a scream.

"Dear Boss," Mepps wrote, "Something huge is happening at the
Rangers' place! I thought I heard a scream even! Their place has been
in a tizzy ever since I--" Mepps hastily scratched that out. He didn't
want Fat Cat to think he had messed up and got detected. So instead
he wrote "Their place must be one heck of a mess!"

CHAPTER SEVEN: The Story Unfolds

Frog and Pennywinkel had heard the scream too, and ended up meeting
Dale, Monty, and Zipper right outside Gadget and Mademanna's room. "What
is going on?" Frog asked.
Then Mademanna called for help, and instantly they all ran into
the room. Dale managed his way in first, followed by Monty and Frog,
though all of them were surprised to see that, well, *something* had
wrestled the girl to a sitting position on the floor. Whatever it was,
it looked up and, seeing them, dashed up and out a window, not breaking
the glass, but rather *going right though it*.
Frog hastily knelt, and heartfully demanded to know if Mademanna
was all right. When she was too busy panting to answer, he feared this
would be a repeat of what had happened only yesterday, except this time,
when he finally *did* lay a hand on her, she didn't feel compulsively
afraid. Instead she managed to calm down, and finally said "I'm all
right."
"How's Gadget?" Frog asked as calmly as he could.
"I don't think she's hurt." Mademanna stood with her brother, and
looked at her patient. "She seems to be okay," she confirmed.
Frog didn't respond, he just stared on at Gadget, who had somehow
managed to sleep peacefully through all that had transpired. Then he
made his way through everyone and out of the room.
Dale looked around again, paying special attention to the doctor
and the patient, and asked "Ya sure you don't want one of us to stay in
here and guard ya?"
"I'd work better alone," Mademanna responded. That was half true,
at least. The real reason was that she didn't want distractions. About
the only person who could actually manage to stay in the room without,
well, bugging her would be Zipper, and he couldn't do much in terms of
defense. Dale would get bored and probably do something irresponsible.
Monty would want to always talk about something. Frog would be like a
mix of Dale and Monty.
Course then there was Pennywinkel, who Mademanna would have no
problem with and might even find helpful... no, she remembered, Penny-
winkel had an "I'm always right" attitude and would probably end up
having some unfounded doctoring notion that would foul up the whole
operation.
Mademanna re-stated "Yea, I'd rather work alone."
"Okay," Dale said, finalizing it. "Come on, fellas, we better
go."
And they went.
The girl sighed, and then turned when she heard Gadget moan softly.
"Gadget? Are you all right?"
"Yes," the mouse inventor replied, nearly in a whisper. "Mademanna,
I've got to tell you what happened."
"No, save your strength..."
"No, you have to know."
Mademanna knelt down beside the bed with resolve, for it was rare
Gadget was ever dead-set on doing anything, no matter how important.
"All right, I'm listening."
Gadget began. "Well, it starts out as kind of a blank. We were
discussing Pennywinkel getting into fights at school, and the next thing
I remember, I was outside, and I thought 'what am I doing out here?' so
I tried to get back in, and the door refused to open, so I pounded on it,
but no one heard me over what I assumed was Chip and Dale's fighting, but
looking back I guess some other force must have nulled my sounds to near
silence somehow.
"Anyway, then something knocked me unconscious. I had trouble
telling when I became conscious again, because when I did, it was still
as black as pitch. But something, or someone, realized I was awake, and
revealed his knowledge by running his hand across my--features.
"I yelled for whatever it was to back off, and, while it did, it
also began laughing at me. Then the blackness... I guess it was a
blackness, but I couldn't tell wether I was in a room or not, or maybe
just inside a light-proof hole... oh, yea, the blackness. While it was
still dark, illuminated images of all sorts of beasts and monsters began
to turn around me. Slowly, of course. I didn't get epilepsy or motion
sickness or anything.
"So then the voice that had laughed at me asked 'How do you like
this? This is a collection of everything anyone has ever been afraid of.
Look, there's one of those dinosaur creatures. And here's a spider!
Ha, such a little thing can spark so much terror. Oh, isn't that a
mouse? Aren't you a mouse? Are people terrified of you?'
"'What is this?' I demanded.
"'This,' he explained, 'is my Room of Terror. I take all my victims
here.'
"I didn't want to show any fear, but I went ahead and demanded to
know what he wanted to do with me.
"He laughed, and responded--well, he said he'd like to do something
I shouldn't really tell you about. But then he added 'But right now, I'll
settle for scaring you witless.'
"And I asked him why he would want to abuse me like this. I also
pointed out that I didn't know who he was.
"He laughed, and told me 'Do you ask your friend Dale why he enjoys
those comic books? Do you ask Chip why he recieves pleasure in solving
mysteries? Or, best of all, why Monty likes to eat Cheese? Well, then
why do you ask me why I get thrills from the things that thrill and amuse
me?
"'And since I know who you are, and you've openly wondered who I
am...'
"Then the lights came on, and from what I could make out, this
'Room' was nothing more than a cardboard box. And I saw..."
Apparently, the shock of whatever she had seen renewed itself, and
she could talk no more. She began to cry, ranting "And that was only
while I was awake. No telling what that monster did to me while I was
sleeping!"
Mademanna put a supportive arm on her. "Gadget, I'm..."
Then the mouse inventor remembered something important. "If you
see Chip," she blurted out, seeming to lose her sadness, "tell him the
Access Number is 60652."
"60652, got it. Access to *what*?"
"Chip'll understand."
Mademanna just took her word for it. "So, did the badguy have a
name?"
"M-M-Ma-M-M-Mmmm..." Gadget trailed off, dazed.
And the laughing began again. This caused Gadget to come back to
reality for a moment, demanding "Mademanna, find Chip, quick!"

CHAPTER EIGHT: The Truth Revieled

Mademanna quickly exited the room, only to notice it was something
close to pandemonium in the rest of the headquarters. Immediately her
way was blinded by mysterious mist, which it seemed was trying to knock
her off her feet. But she managed to stay standing and, putting her
hands on the wall, managed to make it to the den of the Ranger
Headquarters, where the mist cleared up, but she was instead greeted by
a room where drops, glops, and puddles of watery slime were not only
dripping from the ceiling, but also shooting out the walls, and even
coming up towards the ceiling from the floor in total defiance of gravity.
Trying her best not to heed any of it, she ran across the room to
Pennywinkel, and asked "Where's Chip?"
"Don't you know?" she said loudly as if she had to make sure the
child could hear, "He's been gone all day!"
Mademanna was dumbstruck, though of course she didn't know anything
of this, as she had been too busy caring for Gadget on a strictly-no-
visitors basis. She then looked and saw, to her horror, that the door
to the outside was wide open. This fact she made known through a yell.
"Guys! The door is open!"
"Then let's see what's out there!" Frog challenged, running for
it, abruptly being blocked by Dale, who claimed "Whoa, are you cuh-razy?"
right before an impact from behind sent him rolling across the room.
Frog stared in shock, then turned to face Dale's assailant... and
fell silent with the rest of the room as everyone's attention was on
the figure in the doorway. The mist and the slime suddenly cleared up,
but not a person took notice of it.
"Miles Alpha?!" Frog exclaimed in surprise.
"B-b-b-b-But you're dead!" Dale added, getting up.
But the thing in the doorway was not Miles Alpha, leader of the
Klimakti race of metallic humanlike beings. While the silverish-skinned,
blue-eyed humanoid in the doorway sported the same long, light-silver
hair as the deceased foe, as well as a trenchcoated-figure outfit, he
was, in fact, about the same size as Mademanna, and did not seem any
more muscular than you'd expect from a pre-teen. Miles Alpha had been
the same size as Frog, and with a physique like that of an average
cartoon male.
Not to mention the figure in the doorway made it clear he openly
despised being mistaken for the other, when he demanded "Don't you *ever*
mix me up with him again!" and almost lunged at him, but Frog stepped
into the defense.
"Then why don't you tell us who *you* are?" Frog demanded, calming
down the metallic kid.
Cockily, he answered "Well, since you asked, my name is..." he let
the tension build, for drama "...Max Alpha. And now I suppose you mice
and men--and women--would like to know what I'm doing here." Here he
began to advance threateningly on Frog. "Well, do you?"
"What are you, an exposition machine?" Frog drew his sword as the
young Klimakti continued advancing towards him. "It's not like we don't
know what the purpose of you and your race are. The Rangers only had to
deal with your kind once and even they know that you guys try to turn
living creatures into energy sources."
Frog's words hearkened back to the adventure that had erupted when
he, Mademanna, and Pennywinkel had entered the Rangerverse. Himself and
Pennywinkel had initially been under the control of Miles Alpha's Evil
Rings, which caused their memories and personalities to be altered in
subtle ways so that the wearers would, sometimes without even knowing it,
accomplish a task Miles himself had tricked them into accomplishing.
Frog and Pennywinkel had themselves fought the Klimakti many times before
then, but not even with the help of the Rangers could they actually kill
him, until finally they decided to call on devine intervention.
They had never known Miles Alpha had... well...
"Hey," Frog suddenly thought, "You *are* Miles Alpha's little bro,
right?"
Max was standing right in front of him now. "Ha." was all he
said before he proceeded to stomp Frog on the foot, and then grab and
begin to twist his arm, eventually forcing the teenager to the ground
in a kneeling position. And there he stayed, not saying anything more,
until suddenly he disappeared at around the same time Frog felt a hard
impact on his head.
He heard a gasp, and Pennywinkel's voice saying "Oh, Frog! I'm
sorry, I didn't mean for that to hit you!"
sprawled on the floor, he groggily said "It's okay, Pennywinkel."
"Okay, you!" Pennywinkel turned, finding Max right behind her.
"Now that hit was perfectly timed, and there's no way you could known
I was about to--how did you--?!" She began to fume with frustration,
but then Max somehow managed to force her on and over the sofa and,
pinning her down, explained:
"I found a flaw in that 'Multidimensional Thought' pattern of
yours."
She was about to ask him what flaw it was, but his attention was
not on her anymore. He had turned and was advancing towards Mademanna,
asking "And who is this?"
She backed off in fear, yelling "Stay away from me!"
Instead he held her, and responded softly "Now why would you want
me to do that?"
"Gee," Frog said from behind, "You've only attacked her twice!"
"Oh, so I have," he acknowledged in half-concern. "Of course,
she is an interesting work of technological advancement."
"All right, matey!" Monty exclaimed, "We get the idea that you
somehow know all of us, so why are ya attackin' us?"
"Yea!" Dale suddenly let out, "If you just want to turn us into
energy sources, why so roundabout it with all the scares and stuff?"
Suddenly, Max Alpha was in front of Dale, and stomped, hard, on
his foot.
"What an idiotic assumption."
Not waiting to hear any more, Max flew to the far side of the
room, and began to build up power--no, the magically-enlightened people
soon saw that his power was actually coming from inside him, as opposed
to an external force, and they could tell because his chest area began
to glow (usually magic gathers *outside* the body). Soon, he began to
fire blasts of energy at everyone who was still ground bound. Fortunately
for whoever had the chores next, the blasts were very precise and only
affected their intended targets: all the living things in the room.
All, that is, except Mademanna, who was the only one left standing.

CHAPTER NINE: To Trap a Monster

Max landed back on the ground and, stepping carefully over all the
people who were laying on the ground with massive headaches, made his
way towards the robot girl with a human appearance who was now cringing
in fear. When he managed to get his arms on her, he stated "And now
I believe I'll take my reward."
"Get off me! This isn't medieval society!"
"Are you saying the victor doesn't get the spoils anymore?"
Around this time, everyone was managing to get up, but unluckily
Max Alpha noticed. He made a sweeping gesture with his arm, and
suddenly the floored individuals began to feel as if they had tons of
concrete blocks on them, and they could not move. He turned back to
Mademanna. "You didn't expect them to rescue you, did you?"
She didn't respond, she had her eyes closed and fists clinched
with fear. She couldn't even get her teeth to seperate.

I, as usual, had fallen asleep during my wait. Unfortunately the
PC I used to monitor the Rangerverse had reset during a power failure
(Which I thought was odd, as my magically-created city wasn't supposed
to have power failures). I had to re-open the connection to the
Rangerverse, and promptly appeared on their TV screen in time to see a
metallic looking boy assaulting a sweet little girl.
"Hey!" I called, "This is the Rescue Rangers! How dare you pull
a stunt like that in this otherwise G-Rated reality!"
The metal kid looked at me, seeming to be glad to see me. "Oh,
and what's a face on a monitor gonna to do to me?"
"That depends," I said confidently, "What's a pipsqueak rustbucket
going to do to me?"
"Ha, just as I thought, all talk. Now if you don't mind, I've got
a girl to brutalize..."
"Go ahead. I could always just contrive a plot device to make
her well again after you leave, just like I contrived a plot device to
kill your brother, Miles."
NOW Max had his attention thoroughly on me. "So, that dimwit
brother of mine was defeated by an egotistical loudmouth with a computer?
Ha, I knew he was pathetic."
I laughed like a crazed loon. "And you're his brother. Tell me,
does the 'Pathetic' gene run in the family? Your brother at least had
a legitimate reason for his actions. So what's *your* excuse? Just
hit puberty, shiny boy?"
He was standing right in front of the TV now. "Ha. I see you're
really trying to hit, how is it? Oh yes, below the belt. But what
should I fear from someone who isn't here?
"And as for wether my actions are appropriate, do you question
murderers as to wether they care how 'Appropriate' or 'Out of line'
their deed was? I'm the bad guy here, I don't care about rules or
guidelines! Indeed, it was that apathy towards your rules that is
allowing me a victory."
While I wasn't showing it, this kid was irking me, so I responded
"Yea." Then I fired ring-shaped blasts at him, which he managed to
dodge. "Oh, did that scare you, squeaky boy?" I fired again, and again,
and again, and kept firing, always saying "Does that scare you? eh?
Eh? Does it? Hey, *this* is against guidelines! That means you're
right! Whoa, I never thought I'd see the day..."
Finally Maxy Boy stood in one place, and was gathering power to
try and fire a blast at me. "Oh try it!" I prompted, "You'll simply
shatter the TV, and I'll just put it back together!"
In his buildup, he did not notice that whatever he had put on
everyone had been lifted, and they were all standing. Just as he
was about to fire whatever he was going to fire, I quickly yelled
"Gooblygoo!"
He stood in surprise. "Gooblygoo?"
Then a sword entered his back, and came out his stomach, and Frog's
voice added "And a great Gooblygoo to you, too!" just before the teen
himself pulled out his sword. From the sparks flying in the impact area,
we now knew that the Klimakti were, indeed, of some sort of mechanical
origin (or at least were a mechanically altered species).
Max Alpha, stunned, fell to a sitting position. He began to feel
among himself, and began to lop to a side and had to prop himself with
a free hand. It was then that he realized:
"Oh no... I can't feel my legs! DAMN! I CAN'T USE MY LEGS!"
He stopped ranting, panted, and then went on "But that's okay... I can
fly, I don't *need* my legs..."
And he began to build up power in his chest again... but it all
suddenly flickered out.
"This can't be happening," he raved.
"Oh whine whine," I jibed. "Sure it can happen. It's happening,
isn't it?"
Then he began to laugh. "Why you clever bastard..."
"Well," Dale said, "I guess you're caught. So... What are we
gonna do with him? Anybody have any suggestions?"
They all looked at each other, waiting for the other to talk first.
"Well, *I* say," Monty began, "That we should get rid of the little
blighter before he causes any more trouble!"
"No!" Came a voice from the hallway. Everyone looked, and saw
Gadget, in her night dress. She explained "Wait, before you guys decide
on anything, I want to know where Chip is."
Then Dale looked at Monty, "Say, where is Chip? We haven't seen
him since noon."
Immediately all eyes turned on Max. "Okay, boyo!" Monty threat-
ened, "You better tell us where Chipper is or I'll..."
But Max became unconscious just then.

CHAPTER TEN: And it's still not over.

"Boss!" Mepps wrote. "I know I must've said 'You won't believe
it' many times, but last night, some sort of alien monster broke into
the home of the Rescue Rangers and nearly killed them! The sun is just
rising, and I have yet to see anyone walk out. Oh, Someone's coming...
I'll have results soon.
"Oh yea, and I've got tons of info, thanks to a weird snake I
met a few minutes ago. He seemed to know the Rescue Rangers in and out.
"Their leader is a chipmunk named Chip, he's the smart one, but
supposedly kind of a jerk.
"His second in command is another chipmunk named Dale. Dale is
sort of a 'Party animal.' Chip used to get onto him for playing around
too much, but Dale's gotten over it--well, somewhat. This is the one
that pretended to be psychic.
"That girl mouse I mentioned is their inventor and pilot. Her name
is Gadget. I hear she's kinda crazy, but the chipmunks love her (I hear
that causes fighting in the group.
"You remember Monterey Jack. He's that big, fat mouse who hated
you for sinking his home when you hijacked that ship. He's the strong
arm of the group. I know from personal experience, however, that he has
a thing about cheese.
"The weird ones, however, are the three kids. They're supposed to
be some sort of aliens from another universe or something, who came here
via a 'PortalMaster Project' whatever THAT is.
"According to that snake, the first one of these three they met
was Mademanna. She's supposed to be a robot who acts and appears totally
human (And she DOES, despite being mouse-sized--I've seen her). Her
role, it seems, is housekeeper and keeping track of the other two kids.
"One of those kids, Dumb Frog Helsing, is her 'big brother.' A
strong fighter, and he is supposed to know something called 'Ki attacks'
but he barely ever uses them because he had a bad leg and tends to go
blind (So the question is, why bother to learn 'em?).
"The last of these kids (Did I mention that they all look like
mouse-sized humans?) is Pennywinkel Vanmuus (I found this funny. It
sounded so much like "The Moose"). She's another brain, supposed to
have a thing called 'Multidimensional Thought' but I'm not exactly sure
what that is.
"That's all for now, boss."
Mepps put down the pencil and note cards, and looked up at the
sky where he saw a bat coming towards the Ranger headquarters.

Foxglove landed precisely on the landing strip of the Ranger HQ,
wearing some sort of luggage around her neck. She knocked on the door,
which was answered by Monterey Jack. When he recognized Foxglove, he
requested "Oh, justaminute, let me get Dale..."
"Oh don't worry. Can I come in?"
"Oh, sure." He opened the door further to let her in. "We had
a real bonzer bash last night."
"So I heard." she entered the HQ, "That's why I came back from
my studies in Chinese Mysticism a week early. I wondered if you guys
needed any help."
"Well, 'fraid you missed all the excitement, but the blighter
is still around." Monty finally closed the door. "Hey, how did you
hear about it, anyway?"
Foxglove assumed a seat at the sofa, and responded "I recieved
this note from Chip. I don't know how he managed to get it from here
to China in two days, but it seemed urgent and requested my presence."
"Well, I'll be darned. Chip musta sent that before he went
missing!"
"He's missing?"
"Yea, and we think our prisoner had something to do with it."
Foxglove stood. "Show him to me."
"Right away, lass."

Monty led Foxglove down the hallway, past the bedroom of Frog
and Pennywinkel, into a new, freshly-made hallway which Foxglove could
sense was magically constucted.
"Yea, we had that fanfic writer friend of ours carve this out.
Down these here stairs is where we keep Max Alpha. Depressing room,
really, there's no windows, no closets, the one shower doesn't have
a curtain, and there's only one door and one bed in the whole place,
otherwise it's empty. No way he can escape. Not that it matters since,
well, Frog disabled his legs."
Foxglove simply oooohhhed with amazement. Finally she was brought
to the door, behind which was the barren room Monty had mentioned.
And there, on the bed, lay Max Alpha. Hearing them come in, he
put down the only pleasure he was allowed--An issue of GamePro magazine
(from back in 1994 when the magazine was worth reading) and looked to
see who it was coming presumeably to interrogate him yet again.
"Oh. Another gal." He remarked disdainfully.
"Don't like girls?" Foxglove sarcastically responded.
"Oh, I do, but you're not exactly the best one who's ever
interrogated me."
"I'm not here to interrogate you. I'm here for answers."
"Ha! And I suppose you can get them without forcing me to talk."
"Yes. In China, I learned a mind-linking technique which will
allow me to figure out anything you're hiding. Just stay still..."
Foxglove proceeded to put a paw on one of his cheeks, and closed
her eyes in deep concentration. She stood like this for several moments
as the room stayed silent. Finally, she sighed. "It's not working.
This can only mean one thing."
"What's that, Foxglove?" Monty inquired.
"He must have some strange thought pattern"
Max laughed. "Or perhaps my mind isn't located in my head! Don't
you know that Klimakti brains are located in their upper thighs?"
Foxglove turned to leave, already seeing what Max was trying to
make her do and knowing full well she wasn't gonna fall for it.

This wasn't the first time things had to be explained on the
breakfast table, and probably wouldn't be the last. Between them all,
the story had been fully recapped for Foxglove and the newly-recovered
Gadget. Gadget also re-told the story of her captivity for everyone
in the room.
"Gadget-love," Monty said in a note of concern, "Did he do anything,
ya know, 'Too wrong' to ya?"
"I don't know," she answered while trying to hold back tears.
"I'm not even sure there's a way to tell."
"There is," Mademanna said, "And," she whispered to Gadget, whom
she was sitting next to, "You don't have to worry. I took the liberty
of testing--After all, it's a punishable crime if he did--and he didn't."
Now, the guys couldn't hear any of this, but as they saw the look
on Gadget's face brighten they knew the news was good.
"Two things I still don't get," Dale said. "One, where is Max
getting his power from, if he's not assimilating people?"
Foxglove easily explained that. "The power came from inside him,
right? For that to work, he must've charged up somehow, either by
causing a surplus of emotional energy, or by absorbing it from another
source for later use. Both are entirely possible. In fact the use
of emotional energy is the basis of the Shishi Hokodan technique...
"So, what's the other thing you don't get?"
Dale looked thoughtful. "Max keeps saying he doesn't have Chip.
If that's true, then where is he?"
That question prompted only silence. The one question no one could
answer. Coming up from below, they could hear Max's mocking laugh. So
much was left unexplained, so much they don't know, and yet the only
question on everyone's mind has only three words...

...Where is Chip?

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END OF THE FIRST HALF