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

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CHAPTER ELEVEN: The Captive

Frog had been opted for the job of checking in on Max Alpha on a
daily basis, a situation neither of the two liked in the least. It was
as clear this time as any other.
When Frog entered the room, he saw the same look of disrespect that
he had been seeing for the three days they've had the young Klimakti
captive in the Ranger HQ, in a new room I had used my powers to write
in for them for this very purpose.
"You again," Max sneered. "Bah. Why can't you guys send me down
one of the nice girls?"
"I'm sure your brain doesn't function well enough to realize this,
but you just *happen* to be a *prisoner*. I'm supposing you're not gonna
be like a usenet troll and make me have to tell you what that means,
right?"
Max put his hands behind his head, "Yea yea, I'm not supposed to be
treated respectfully and all that. But geez, you guys have been starving
me!"
"You never actually told us what Klimakti eat."
Max laughed evilly, and then sarcastically answered "Brains, my
boy! We eats BRAINS!"
"Uh-huh. Howsabout a finger?"
"I'd like some popcorn--with a movie, of course."
"Got it." Frog proceeded to leave the room, bumping right into the
door. Another of his temporary bouts of blindness had set in.
"Damn it, you moron! I wasn't serious about the popcorn!" He
looked disdainfully at Frog, who was bumbling blindly around the room.
"Gah! Do they send you down here because your EXPENDABLE?!"
Frog didn't answer.
"In any case," Max turned his head away from Frog, "I won't tell
you what Klimakti eat unless they start sending down a girl. And of
course, if I die, you'll never know the truth behind what I'm doing here
AND you'll never find Chip, but at least whatever I was up to will be
put to an end, right?"
Frog finally found the other side of the door, and right before
he left, said "All right, I get the message, you'll only talk if we
entertain your little fantasies. I'll pass the message already!"
With that, he left the room, closing the door.
Max looked at the door for a moment, and then laughed. "The poor
fools," he said to himself, "They still think I'm my brother. It's been
three days, and they *still* expect me to turn that sap into a power
source, because in their minds that will confirm their silly idea that
I'm just another Klimakti and well, of course all we ever think about
is turning people into power sources! I bet they sit around all day
expecting the Japanese to bomb another harbor, too."
With that, he picked up and began reading the only pleasure he was
allowed: An old issue of GamePro.

Frog entered the den of the Ranger HQ, and reported "Bad news, he
still won't talk. Says he won't unless we send down one of the girls.
For all I know, he probably entertains himself by making slanderous
remarks about the Japanese."
Mademanna sighed. "Did he specify one of us in particular or...?"
"Nah, he just said OWWW!" Frog knelt to the ground. "Damn, why
must both my ailments set in in close proximity to each other?"
Pennywinkel helped him to the sofa, "I dunno. To remind you they
exist, maybe?"
"Perhaps. So, which of you young virgins is willing to sacrifice
yourself for a noble cause?"
Gadget stood up, exclaiming "I have an idea!" Then she assumed a
thinking pose. Everyone waited patiently, but then asked "Well?"
"Oh, my idea," she remembered, "Well, I had one, but then I had
another one I thought was better, and then I decided my new idea wasn't
that good so I had another new idea and well..."
"Get on with it!"
"Okay! My idea was that we'd draw straws!"
And *then* everyone groaned as Gadget briefly went off to get the
straws. She returned within seconds. "Okay, now you all know how this
works, whoever has the longest straw..."
"We know," the girls confirmed, and all four drew one straw. Then
they saw who got the longest.
"Awww!" Mademanna moaned, "Why does it always have to be *me*?"
Though she had drawn the largest straw, the other girls mutually
decided that there was no way they were going to let a child near a
girl-crazy loon. But before they could say anything, she stood and,
apparently having a change of mind, stated "Never mind, I have a plan."
As she got up and began to walk around the sofa, Frog stopped
her, putting his arms on her shoulders, and pointing out "But Mademanna,
you're not the planning one!"
"Yea, so? I have a plan, give me a chance!"
"No. What's your plan. It has to be evaluated." Frog said,
trying but on some level failing to maintain seriousness.
"Simple, I'll give him Stockholm syndrome. Then I'll do what I
did to the last evil person who fell in love with me." She giggled
merrily at the thought.
"Ummm, you mean DiMM? Didn't you bop him in the head with a bottle
and make him an avatar character?"
She stopped laughing and, putting a hand to her mouth, said
"I meant the one before that."
"Ummm..."
"Trust me, okay?!"
"No, it's too--"
"TRUST ME!"
And he retracted his hands. "Okay, okay, have it your way, do
what you want, don't even consider the consequences or even bother to
see if there's someone who's even more crazy..."
But she didn't hear the rest of his ranting as she headed for the
kitchen.

Max heard the door opening. "You know, you guys are really
starting to--eh?" He looked, and was surprised to see that, instead of
that loopy fool who hadn't eaten in years, he was staring at an adorable
babe about his own size and weight. His surprise turned to confusion
when he saw she was carrying a bowl of spaghetti noodles towards the
bed.
"I brought you something."
"Ummm, I see... but I haven't told you what Klimakti eat!"
She put a hand on the spoon, "It doesn't matter. Eat eat eat!"
with that cry, she pulled a spoonfull of noodles out of the bowl and
began stuffing them down the metal boy's mouth in a rapid flurry, to
fast for him to digest, so finally he had to grab her arms and, best
he could with the noodles muffling his speech, demanded her to stop.
When she did, he proceeded to digest all the noodles already in
his mouth, then let her know "Ya know, I could learn to like you."
She giggled gleefully.
He sighed and, putting his head on his hands again, looked at the
ceiling. "Truth is, I could always have just digested the regular
nourishments of this universe."
"Goodie, now eat!"
"Hold on!" He grabbed her wrists. "Thank you, but I am perfectly
capable of feeding me myself."
"Fine." She put the spoon in the bowl, which she put in Max's
cupped hands, "So where's Chip?"
He sighed. "Remember when I said I don't know? I wasn't kidding.
I don't kidnap guys. Girls are more fun to torment."
Now she scowled at him, a part of her realizing that yes, he meant
that. She resumed her chipper mood, however, and asked playfully "Oh?
Given the chance, would you kidnap *me*?"
"Definately. There's a lot about you I want to know." She was
shocked at this, until he continued "Like how they managed to program
you to be so human, and what sort of motorization they must've used to
emulate human body functions. What kind of computer do you run on?
Surely none of the primitive kinds from this reality." Awaiting her
answer, he made to finish the noodles.
She hesitated for a moment, not knowing quite how to answer. She
sat on the end of his bed, near his feet, and remarked "Ya know, you
don't seem like such a bad guy now..."
"Of course not, I'm too busy eating to pose a serious threat!"
he said after gulping down some noodles. "And anyway, I'm pure evil,
and (thanks partially to media misconceptions) pure evil is very hard
to recognize. Watch the Omen trilogy sometime, that Damien is pretty
much the only real instance of a truly evil person I've ever seen on
screen.
"And you didn't answer my question. What kind of computer do you
run on?"
"Oh... Ummm..." She closed her eyes to think, "A Sycop 128, 1.4GH
processor, running on a Unix operating system."
"And how, exactly, did they program you to be so human?"
She opened her eyes. "I have no idea.
Soon enough, he handed her the empty bowl (Well, empty except for
the spoon). "Oh, by the way, I'm done."
She grabbed the bowl. "You need more or...?"
"I only eat enough to keep myself going. Eating more than that is
never a good idea. But I promise," he lowered his tone threateningly,
"I went easy once. I won't be so nice again, bowl or no."
She stood, and laughed. After all, he had no power as of now, for
while they never found out what his power source was, he was cut off
from it. Besides that, Frog had disabled his legs (Which was the only
reason they had been able to capture him in the first place). He was
at a serious disadvantage and was not in a position to make threats.
Mademanna slowly and confidently left the room.
When she did, Max laughed.
"Ha. Interesting girl. Young and cute, as well. What do you
think?"
"Yes, nice choice." said a voice from under Max's bed...

When Mademanna had come back up, everyone was waiting, and all
had been trepid with concern for her safety. Immediately she was jumped
with questions and notes of concern as everyone (most especially Gadget
and Foxglove) wondered if she was okay, if Max had harmed her, if this,
if that, etc.
"Calm down!" Mademanna said out loud. Lowering her voice to
adjust to the newfound calmness, she continued "He's a softie. I think
I've got him wrapped around my finger."

CHAPTER TWELVE: Tell-tale Signs

As previously mentioned, things had been calm for three days.
Calmness Mepps was beginning to get really tired of. It was now night,
only hours until day number four passed.
"Boss," he wrote, "Nothing much has happened in the last three days.
I somehow doubt I will be able to learn anything new for now. As such,
I am returning--"
He looked up at the Ranger HQ, and hastily amended "Never mind,
something's come up."

Mademanna and Gadget were both up late and in their nightdresses,
having been unable to get to sleep, though both were being totally quiet.
However, Gadget's sensitive mouse ears picked up a sort of rubbing (or
scraping) sound, and she whispered "Mademanna? Did you hear that?"
"Yes! I see it, too!"
Gadget looked out the window, and immediately knew what the child
was talking about, for right outside was some green, glowing thing,
rubbing along the window. Soon, a monstrous "Arrrrggghhh!" Sound was
to be heard, which caused the inside of the tree to vibrate. Then
whatever it was disappeared.

Max was once again reading that one issue of GamePro when he heard
rapid stomping outside his door, which soon opened to reveal a night-
gowned Mademanna.
"This is interesting," he remarked.
"*What* is that green thing?"
"Oh, so HE'S the one shaking up this tree. I see." He layed his
head down as if trying to sleep.
The little girl growled with frustration at not getting a direct
answer, and abruptly left the room. As she walked away, she heard him
cackling evilly, intentionally loud enough for her to hear, and probably
loud enough for the rest of the park, as well.

Unlike Max's original attacks, these were not just once-a-night
occurences that went away after they were through. Whatever that green
thing was, it kept up all night, and then suddenly stopped.
"Are you all right?" Gadget asked.
Mademanna didn't hear, however. She was already mad and had nothing
on her mind except the many ways she was going to torture the annoying
brat they had locked up elsewhere in the tree. Gadget could hear her
mumbling ideas off to herself, and decided to leave well enough alone.

Of course, Dale was screaming "Aliens!" and Monty and Zipper
weren't so sure they disagreed, either. All three were huddling close
together, even after the shaking stopped. They didn't notice a thin
green crystalline sheet slipping under the door, nor did they ever find
out as they cringed the night away.

The three boys were still there when Mademanna came and sat on the
sofa in the morning, trying to work her thoughts out, and still angry as
heck. Dale had never thought it possible that he could see Mademanna
angry. With stern resolution maybe, but not angry.
"What's wrong?"
She sighed. "That boy... Now that he's locked up, he's sending
monsters after us, and it kept me up all night. I SOOO want to hurt
him."
"Ya better be careful, luv," Monty suggested, "Or he might hurt
*you* instead!"
She giggled. The thought of a disabled softie crawling
threateningly towards a fully-functional and spry little girl with
harmful intent was just the thing she needed to break her out of her
foul mood, not even being the least bit remorseful that in most cases,
this kind of degradation might be seen as cruel. He had only assaulted
her twice as well as kidnapped and tormented miss Gadget, not to mention
terrorizing everyone and...
Mademanna suddenly had another thought, and ran back to the
bedroom. But she didn't go all the way, as she soon discovered that
Gadget was awake, too, and that was who she wanted to see.
"Hey Gadget, you wouldn't mind cooking a bowl for Max, would you?"

This time Max was genuinely surprised. "It hasn't even been a
day yet!" He exclaimed. "And it's not dinner time, either." he added
when he saw the bowl.
But Mademanna wasted no time in commanding him to eat, and then
forcing spoonfulls down his throat. "Ack!" He finally managed to let
out, "What is this, some sort of POISON?!?!"
"Yes."
He put a hand over his mouth, and refused to eat another bite.
Then she get silly, and tried to trick him using the "Plane flying into
the hangar" trick mothers use on children. Then, dropping the playful-
ness, she tried to pry his hand away from his mouth.
He pulled it away, but just enough to say "You really hate me,
don't you?"
Instead of answering, she put the bowl down on the head of the
bed (where the magazine was kept) and tried to pry the hand away farther.
That was a mistake, for the minute he saw she no longer had the bowl,
he grabbed and held her in a hug, trapping both her arms while he was
at it, and holder her head close to his chest as he lay back down.
"Okay," she asked, "So what's this?"
"Me, warming up." Then he added, realizing how that sounded, "I
mean, I did say that I would stop being nice, right?"
"Let go of me!" She commanded off-hand. He was surprised and
therefore complied without thinking, allowing her to get up. Then,
just as suddenly, she sat on his chest, holding his arms back with
her legs, and grabbed the bowl again.
"Payback time."

When Mademanna came back, she was covered with chunks of food,
apparently whatever the mighty Max Alpha couldn't (or wouldn't) digest.
Gadget was the first to notice, remarking "Golly, Mademanna, you need
a bath!"
In response, the child handed her the empty bowl, then remarked
"Hey, where's Frog and Pennywinkel? I haven't seen them all day."
"Zipper found a note on their door. They went out early to search
for Chip, and they're not back yet. They took the Ranger Wing."
Mademanna half-sighed, half-moaned. Frog and Pennywinkel were
in for a world of trouble when they got back, as neither were official
Rescue Rangers yet, and she didn't think either one really knew how to
fly the thing. She walked down a hallway, saying "I'm going to go wash
this all off now."
Gadget, seemingly confused, didn't seem to register this until
she was already gone, and then shrugged. "Okay."
Then she heard the front door open and close, and turned to confront
Frog and Pennywinkel, who had just arrived home.
Minutes later, Mademanna came out of the shower, fully bathed and
clean, and went to the sofa, passing by the kitchen where Gadget was
reprimanding the two kids and they were trying to make excuses.
"Say, why *did* you go down there, anyway?" Dale asked.
"I realized," Mademanna answered, "that we never brought up the
school bombing with him."
"'E didn't give ya any trouble, did 'e?" Monty asked, "'Cuz if
he did, I'll..."
She giggled. "He didn't put up much resistence."
Zipper buzzed.
"Huh? Oh, right. Well..."

Let's backtrack a few minutes.
"Payback time." Mademanna had stated to the pinned-down Max Alpha,
whom she was force-feeding Gadget's cooking, some of which ended up
coughed out onto her.
Finally, the pure evil one cried "Mercy! Okay, okay, what is it
you want?"
She tapped his head playfully with the spoon (producing a klang
sounding, almost inspiring her to begin playing a tune on his forehead,
but she managed to restrain herself). "Now, will you tell li'l ol' me
why you bombed that school?"
He seemed almost repulsed at the notion. "Child, I don't use
bombs. Bombs are so dull and undependable. And besides, why waste it
on a school, of all things?... Waitaminute." He seemed to remember
something. "This wasn't a regular explosion, was it?"
"Huh-uh. 8-Bit Star's computers registered strong anomalies when
it happened."
"Hmmm... Oh, the pink-haired floozy on the TV." he remembered.
"Come to think of it..."
Max gave a knowing smile. "Yea, I figured you would figure it
out."
Mademanna got off him then, and, grabbing the bowl, simply left.

"So you see," She was telling Dale, Monty, and Zipper, "I have
to talk to 8-Bit Star as soon as possible."
"Well, make it quick!" I said after having been on the TV for
like five minutes. It was just then that she realized I was there.
"8-Bit! I just wanted to tell you that, those anomalies, they're
not Max Alpha!"
I waved my hands in a sort of crazed frustration. "No doi! I'm
picking up anomalies left and right as we SPEAK! I somehow doubt that
rust-gathering boyfriend of yours is behind it if his LEGS ARE DISABLED
and he's LOCKED UP IN A ROOM I MADE!"
"Gee, you're emotional."
Dale and Monty stood up, however. "Ya means there's more weird
stuff happenin'?"
"Any around US?" Dale asked in a slightly terrified tone of voice.
I checked my computers. "Around your place? Nah, just a snake."
Now Mademanna stood. "A glowing green snake?"
I looked at her, and answered cynically "No, Peabody the Easter
Snake, OF COURSE the glowing green one with the crystalline build! I've
been following your universe for quite awhile now, and this is the only
snake that has shown up without fail on my sensors."
"You COULD be less rude about it!"
That hit me like a slap on the face, and I sighed. "Sorry," I
apologized, "It's just that my beloved City of Neo-Pathetika has been
suffering difficulties lately. IT'S A MAGIC CITY THAT ISN'T SUPPOSED
TO HAVE PROBLEMS but, last night, I suffered," And I counted on my
fingers, "Three power outages, two barely bearable temperature increases,
and one of my blasted computers exploded! COMPUTERS DON'T EXPLODE!
But anyway, this is the first time I've been ticked off in about seven
months. Oh, there was some---"
Suddenly and inexplicably, I lost contact, making me even more
ticked than I was before.

"Oh, golly," Dale said shakily, "I sure hope Chip's all right."
"Guys, come'ere!" they heard Gadget call from the kitchen, and
they ran to see what had caught her attention. Reaching it, Monty asked
"What is it, Gadget-love?"
But she didn't answer. Her, Frog, and Pennywinkel were too busy
looking out the window, and the other three had no problem seeing what
had caught their attention. The morning sky outside had become a dark
purple, like night, and the cloud were twisted into freakish patterns.
A wind was bustling up, and it seemed as if everyone now looked like
some sort of monster.
"If this is another Klimakti attack--" Gadget began angrily, before
Mademanna informed her "It's not Max."
"It isn't?"
"No. 8-Bit doesn't pick up Max's magic on his readings, but he
*is* picking up this."
"Which can only mean," came the voice of Foxglove, "That this is
not real magic!"
Everyone turned to her, simultaneously asking "What?"
"8-Bit Star picks up *anomalies*! Magic, no matter when or where
or what kind, can not be anomalous since it is a natural force, therefore
this has to be something very frightfully *Un*natural!--Huh?"
The "Huh?" was in response to when Max Alpha's evil laugh was
once again resounding all around the HQ.
Frog and Pennywinkel walked away from the group, Frog explaining
"We better check around outside."
"Yea, we should," Pennywinkel agreed.
"Wait, I'm coming too!" Mademanna added. Before anyone could
argue, she whispered something in Pennywinkel's ear, and the older little
girl seemed to turn from reluctant to more-than-eager to have the younger
one along.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: A Brother's War

The rest of them, meanwhile, had ran downstairs to confront Max
Alpha one last time. They kicked open his door, but he didn't notice,
and he just lay there, cackling like a maniac.
Foxglove and Gadget slowly walked forward, Gadget saying in mock
seductiveness (and obviously hiding something behind her back) "You
wouldn't mind telling us nice ladies what the HECK IS SO FUNNY, would
you?"
At this, he calmed down his laughter just enough to talk.
"It's funny... I know what's going on! I'm barely even involved
with any of it, and I know what's going on! Suddenly it all came
together for me. I know where Chip is, I know who bombed the school
and who also is darkening your world! I know everything you want to
know and more!"
"Then why don't you..." Gadget revieled what she had been hiding:
A very large spatula, "...just TELL US!"
Then, both her and Foxglove attacked, but much to their shock,
Max Alpha, spinning on a hand, KICKED their spatulas out of their hands
and both reeled back in surprise. "B-b-b-b-But your legs!" Foxglove
stammered out.
Hearing that, he stood, and seemed to glow with a dark yet
brilliant radiance. "You bloody morons!" his voice echoed, "I know it is
so beyond you to make reasonable conclusions. Already you've mindlessly
grouped me with my brother and my race, and now you assumed that I would
go into battle unprepared?"
Without further warning, they all felt a sensation as if something
had hit them all really hard in the head, and they fell to the ground.
Not even bothering to make another jibe, he ran past them, intentionally
stepping on a few of them as he did so. But almost immediately, the
Rangers and Foxglove recovered. For some reason, whatever it was seemed
like it had hurt like hell but hadn't had much of an effect.
Foxglove figured it out first. "It's a bluff! He's running on
some sort of backup power!"
They absorbed but didn't acknowledge her words, instead they looked
and nodded at each other, and ran up the stairs, following their escaping
prisoner.

Max was running for freedom now. Any second and he'd be free, so
he sped up, heedless of the dark figure who stood in the doorway. He
knocked him down, assuming he must be Frog or maybe even Chip--until he
realized the impact had made a "klang." It was then that he stopped on
the runway, and turned to see who he had hit.
And a sly smile went across his lips.
It was then that Gadget and the others had made it to the den
of the Ranger HQ, but even from there, they could see outside, and could
tell what had transpired. Foxglove walked closer to see who the fallen
figure was, but was held back by Gadget.
"Hold on, Foxglove. Unless I missed my guess, that's--"
But Max, being already worked up about it, instead kicked the
figure inside, and lifted him up so his face was visible, proclaiming
"Can there be any doubt?"
And indeed there couldn't, as Gadget realized. "It's... It's Miles
Alpha! But he's dead!"
As if being empowered by hearing his name, Miles suddenly got to
his feet, answering "Yes, yes, but one reason for our massive victories
is that we can be revived through a simple process of putting leftover
essence in compression chambers and transmogrifying that essence into
a clone of our original personic makeup--"
"Oh please!" Max sneered, "They can't understand that babble.
Simply put, after we die our souls hover around for a day or two in which
it can be out in a jar, sent through a machine, and made into a clone of
the stiff, essentially reviving him."
Suddenly Max was grabbed by his arm, and thrown clean out the door,
taking a chunk of the doorway with him.
"You should've known, little brother, that I can not be defeated
that easily, yet you tried to influence the circumstances leading up
to my defeat! You were the one that allowed the young one to escape
the power of my Rings! You were the one who gave those things to the
enemy! You--"
"*What?!?!?!?!*" Monty, Gadget, Dale, and Zipper exclaimed. All
had been in that particular fight, and while the wands in question had
been delivered unanimously, it was later assumed that they had gotten
them from 8-Bit Star.
"You mean, Max gave us...?" Gadget questioned.
As opposed to actually answering her question, Miles instead put
his hands on Gadget's shoulder and said "Listen, Max Alpha is evil. Pure
evil, even by Klimakti standards. Nothing he gives can be trusted, for
there is always either a price or a purpose. No one, least of all you,
is safe as long as he lives!" With new resolve, the elder once-dead
brother turned and ran at Max.
Max, however, stood defiantly and said "I may have been bluffing
once!" As if acknowledging what Foxglove had said earlier, though he
couldn't have possibly heard it. Then he began to spin, and as he did,
some green crystal-like thing seemed to form in the palm of his hand.
He began to tilt, like a top losing it's spin, and when he had tilted
just so far, he threw whatever it was up into the air, where it formed
into a humanoid shape. As he threw it, he yelled "Green Being, Go!"
The glowing green, crystalline, humanoid shape above the trees
spread it's arms as if expecting extravagent gifts, and saying "Like the
truly everlasting night, Green Being is renewed!" Lightning struck him
just then, and as if he was a favored target, bolt after bolt kept running
into him, until he seemed like a fly caught in the middle of an electric
spider web.
"Green Being?!" Miles exclaimed with horror. "You've *found* one
of them?"
As if on que, the lightning stopped, and Green Being began to fall
towards the Earth, but managed to land on--or rather, IN--Max Alpha,
filling him with a garbage truckload of raw energy! The young Klimakti
stood in a dark triumph.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Intensity

"Max!" Miles called. "You were dangerous before, and I should
not have allowed you to live..."
"What are you babbling about? You tried to *murder* me! It just
happened that I was smart enough not to fall for your lame tricks. Hear
that? LAME! You failed once, Miles. You're just too damned direct."
"...Direct or no, even though I myself have sins compounded on
my chest, even I could never forgive letting you live--"
Max was done waiting when he picked up, and threw Miles to the far
edge of the Landing Strip, shouting "The problem with you is that you
never shut up! We fully understand that you want to kill me, no need
to drive us nuts with it!"
Miles managed to land on his feet. "Is that so. Then I suppose
you don't mind..."
Immediately he pointed, but not at Max, but rather behind him.
Before their very eyes, the Rangers and Max saw Foxglove slowly turning
into some dark form that was radiating energy. It didn't take long to
figure out that she'd just become a power source.
"There!" Miles exclaimed, "Now our power is even!" Without
another word, he ran at his little brother--who was up, over, and behind
him all in seconds. Then Max turned and roundhoused him away from the
door of the Ranger HQ, and almost off the side of the Landing Strip.
Miles quickly sprang to his feet, however, and the two were locking
fists. All the while, Miles couldn't help but notice a strange glow in
his brother's chest.
And then it hit him. No, not realization, but a strong blast, and
right before his feet went above his head, he had seen his brother's
hand sparkle with dazzling radiance. He managed to muster his own power
and control himself, however, forcing gravity to twist and launch him
back at Max, whom he flew at foot first.
Max did something surprising. Rather than run left, right, or
jump, he instead ran forward, UNDER the kick, and ducked. Miles was
then impacted by an upwards thrust, and eventually fell.
"Hand-to-hand, Brother?" Max sneered. "Where's your power?"
In answer, the older Klimakti built up a swell of power, and
launched it at Max. It must've been something, for it almost knocked Max
over the nearby edge (Not that it would've meant anything if it had--Max,
too, knows the technique of shifting the pull of gravity to produce an
effect that is a mix between flying and swinging on an ethereal elastic
rope). He fired another one, and fired them in flurries, which Max
seemed desperate to block... right before a column of blueish-green
flames went up around the younger Klimakti.
Miles backed away in shock, but then the flames around his brother
formed into a flock of birds, who seemed intent to fly like daggers
through the elder one's chest.
At that, they succeeded. If you couldn't tell by that Miles was
down, then you could judge by that Foxglove immediately returned to her
normal self.
The Max laughed. "That was even more pathetic than usual! And
for being the guy who discovered the assimilation process in the first
place, you show a lot of ignorance about it. Did you forget that a
power source powers *all* Klimakti on that particular planet and *not*
just whoever decides to use the power?"
Miles was, apparently, too hurt to speak.
Max laughed on, into the night. Then he heard some sort of
electrical cackling coming from behind him, and ducked to the right just
as a bolt of electricity shot up at him from the ground.
Curious, he looked towards the ground, and saw a diamond-shaped
tank, with some object resembling a tuning fork sticking out the barrel
of it's gun.

"What the heck is that, Gadget-love?"
Gadget speculated, "Mademanna must've gotten the code to Chip--
or figured out what it's for. Monty, remember that weapon the Trix
Rabbit used?"
"Yea?"
"Also, remember how me and Chip worked on a 'secret project' for
about a month afterwards?"
Monty saw where this was going. "Oh, I get it! You used that
rabbit's 'Pawser' Weapon as the principle to create that, that Pawser
Tank!"
"Exactly. All I had to do was figure out how to create a limitless
source of electricity, but it turned out it used the same principle as
one of Nimnul's contraptions--Except with rugs instead of cats. That
tank generates enough so that it can run on it's own power after an
initial startup."

Of course Max was hearing none of this, As he was dodging short
bursts, but whoever was driving the tank must've figured something out,
for soon Max found himself being chased by one constant stream.
"Max!" The Green Being asked from inside him. "Why are you
running? Let the fool empower me!"
"You have to absorb and convert the power, remember? Unconverted
electricity would hurt ME, and if this hit me, it'd have to go through
me to get to you. Besides that, the power you use, you call solely for
the purpose of empowering--" he jumped into the air, "--And energy always
carries out it's purpose. This energy is meant to harm us, and besides
that is coming in masses we are not prepared to accept, so we'd only
end up killing ourselves."
Max drifted into the air, and when he fell he did not land on the
Landing Pad, instead he fell to earth, landing with a foot right into
the Pawser Tank, cracking it's hood. Removing his foot from the hole,
he peeked in, wondering who the driver could be.
"Well well," was his response to what he saw as he jumped off the
tank and managed to get back onto the landing pad. Within moments he
was in for another surprise, however, as the tank seemed to be flying
after him (when it went above him, he saw some jet thrusters on it's
underside). It, too, soon landed on the Landing Pad.
Then Max called out "I told you I didn't have Chip Maplewood! And
as it happens, I don't have the two kids hiding behind those branches
right behind me either!"
To confirm his statement, Frog's voice called out "What the heck?"
Then Max ran at the tank, which wasn't actually a huge whopper,
in fact it was about as tall as Monty, and just big enough to hold one
person. The Tank began firing another stream of energy, whcih Max Alpha
just managed to run and roll under. In one smooth motion, he got to
his feet, and made a threatrical motion of spreading his arms.
When he did, the ground under the tank seemed to explode, not
actually damaging either one but causing the tank to bounce uncontrollably
like the dice in the board game "Trouble." Then Max ran until he was
just outside the doorway.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: The Ransom

"As I was saying. I don't have Chip, Frog, or Pennywinkel... but
I wouldn't mind having the girl who's hiding out right next to the door!"
Saying this, he reached off to the side, and pulled over Mademanna,
making her fall to her knees. He then began hovering off the ground,
and picked up the child. Then he blasted right into Gadget's Workshop!
She and the Rangers ran into the Workshop, but only Gadget entered,
for a green field pushed the rest out and shut and barricaded the door.
on one of the tables was Max, laying face down, with Mademanna pinned
under him, arms trapped, and herself yelling "Get off me!"
"Hey!" Max answered, "I *did* warn you I was going to stop being
nice, it's time that began!" emphasizing his point, he began squeezing
her, hoping her lung system was that human. It wasn't, so he settled
for pulling on her ears instead.
"Stop! That hurts!"
"Leave her alone!" Gadget yelled.
Max snapped back to reality just then, and demanded "Fix me."
Gadget was confused. "But..."
"In case you haven't noticed, my green friend here has shapeshifting
powers. He was acting as a bridge between the circuits Frog broke until
I could get them fixed. So, Fix me."
"Let her go first!"
"What, and lose my bargaining chip?" He laughed evilly again, but
not so loudly that it made everyone deaf. "Of course, right now, I could
just take you instead, or even better, take and imprison both of you
forever..."
Gadget sat down next to him, herself becoming intimidated, not
sure wether she should comply or fight back. "Look, you, why are you
doing this? You've been giving us the message that you're not like
your brother and that you don't want to dominate the planet or anything.
So why are you attacking us?"
Max laughed. "A soul in need, my lady." In addendum, he handed
her a note he had stored in one of his pockets. "This is a special
style of writing called 'Mysekretson'. Only the people it's meant for
can read it. Everyone else will just see weird symbols..."
But Gadget was not seeing weird symbols. She saw a message, and
read it aloud:
"Lady, just do as he says, there is a lot more to this than you
can presently understand. Signed, someone you know, but have never
really known."
Max was somewhat surprised by this, for that was not the message
he had been given. "Someone has a high stake in all of this." he said
in a tone of serious thought.
Gadget just gave him back the note, and said "I still don't see
*why* I should help you--"
"How about this?" Max threatened in a sort of agitation, "Either
you fix me or I'll take this young lady away and you'll never see her
again! Furthermore I'll come back for *you* after I get someone else
to fix me, and I'll beat and torture you until you die, then--"
"All right!" Gadget finally gave in. "But I'm not doing this for
me. I'm doing this for her."
"That's fine. Same results either way."
"No!" Mademanna cried, "Gadget, don't! He wouldn't hurt me. He's
a softie, remember?" The little girl and Max Alpha looked eye to eye,
and she repeated, "A SOFTIE!"
And NOW Max cackled evilly as Gadget removed his trenchcoat which
she had to if she was going to effectively repair the guy) and the shirt
he had on underneath. Then she opened a hatch on his back and began
looking for the problem area.
"Ha. So you think I'm soft." He mused silently. "In a way, I am.
I would never try to kill you, but not for the reasons you probably
think."
"Then why?" She answered back, feeling amused.
"Because you're a wonder of human creation. To destroy you wouldn't
be evil, mean, cruel, or whatever words television likes to overuse--that
would simply be wasteful. You shouldn't be wandering around in a world
where fools who don't know the difference between evil and stupidity
could destroy you, anyway. You should be kept safe somewhere."
As he was saying this, Gadget had been working on his circuitry and
had found the broken circuits that needed to be repaired. Having heard
that, however, she responded "Wait! She is safe, here, with us!"
He held up a hand, and with each point extended a finger. "Strike
one, You left her all alone and there is no way to lock the front door,
I got in and terrorized her. Strike two, even when nearly everyone was
here, I managed to get to the exact room she was in and attack her.
Strike three... Well, you're looking at strike three." He pulled back
his hand, and Gadget had to admit he was right. With that, she simply
continued trying to put his circuitry back together.
As she was doing so, Max and the now-human Green Being started
thinking of ways to pass the time. Mademanna had long since stopped
struggling, since that would disrupt Gadget's work and would probably
tick off one of the two villains. Max, attempting to annoy the robot
child, tapped her once on the forehead. Then again, a few seconds later.
Then again. "Third time not the charm." He whispered to himself. Then
he tried again and again, until finally she told him "Stop it!"
All the time, there had been banging at the Workshop door, and
various Rangers yelling stuff like "Gadget, you okay?" and "Let us in!"
and "You better not be harming them!" Green Being had, in his own
boredom, taken to knocking back in rythmic patterns. He then got another
idea, and said (loud enough to be heard) "These girls are great, right
Max?"
The young Klimakti responded, also loudly, "Yea, we could stay in
here all night!"
And then they both took to laughing hysterically. Mademanna just
shook her head, "You boys have one sick imagination."
Max put a finger on her nose, and answered "And yet *you're* the
one who tried to choke me on spaghetti noodles, then forced me to eat
Gadget's cooking!"
At that remark, Gadget opened a drawer. Sure enough, there was
a mouse-sized clock she had built some time ago but had wound down.
Instantly she began modifying it, but Max saw what she was doing and
remarked "Lady, I have a well enough sense of time, you can put the
clock away." Reluctantly, she did, and returned to the routine.
Finally, she closed the hatch. "There, now see if you can move
your legs."

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Aftermath

He stood. "Yes, I can move my legs!" He made a few simple
movements, and seemed on the verge of dancing, but he managed to calm
himself. He turned to Gadget while replacing his shirt and trenchcoat,
and picked up Mademanna, saying "Now we must be going. Thank you."
"Wait!" Gadget called, "You said--"
"I said I'd return her safely. I never said I wouldn't take her
away for awhile! I don't intend to keep her long, three days at most,
and I *assure* you she will be returned unharmed--Unless, of course,
something happens to me."
Gadget didn't know quite how to respond, and was still honestly
angry, as she felt she had been tricked (which, in a way, she had).
Mademanna was kicking and screaming, obviously not taking this too
well herself, but Max just held her tighter and demanded "Calm down!"
With resolve, he walked out the door, the still-humanoid Green
Being following, being a snake, a forcefield, or whatever was needed
to keep anyone from attacking his friend and master.
Finally, Max got outside, and face-to-face with the Pawser Tank.
Max smiled, walked right in front of the nozzle, and challenged "Come
on, attack me!"

For a second, Chip (whom Max must've guessed by now was driving
the tank) considered it, but he looked on the viewing panel (which,
thanks to a camera, shows him what's up outside) and saw he was holding
a defenseless Mademanna in his arms. Oddly, it seemed that he could
hear Frog and Pennywinkel yelling "Shoot!"
But, of course, he didn't. Like all good guys, he couldn't risk
hurting one of his own.

Max must've figured that out, for he began laughing, and him, his
prisoner, and the Green Being went off into the night, jumping off the
Landing Pad. Where they went, no one found out for three days.

When Mademanna finally opened her eyes, she saw she was in some
place like a mix between an actual living space and a mad scientist's
labratory, even down to the grey, dull, metallic walls. However except
for some chairs near a computer terminal, there didn't seem to be
much in the way of science. Right behind her was one door, and a few
feet ahead and on the opposite wall, another door (The chairs and
terminal were at the far end of this hallway).
In an unsure tone of voice, she asked "Where are we?"
"In *our* Headquarters!" The Green Being answered meanly, pinching
her cheek. "And here we're going to have fun... well, *we* are, anyway,
You're probably going to be traumatized for life!"
"My friend exaggerates." Max amended, heading into the door on
his right. In this room was just chairs, a bed, and some manacles on the
wall.
"But Max!" Green Being complained, "Why do we keep kidnapping girls
if we aren't going to, you know...?"
Max layed Mademanna on the bed, and, removing her vest, whispered
soothingly "Don't worry, as of this moment my interest in you is purely
scientific. And don't worry, I can restrain my friend if his tries
anything animal." This didn't really soothe the child that much since
he was undressing her, and it was hard to trust two boys when you're the
only girl in the room, so she resisted all she could.
Max rose his voice, and said to the Green Being "I've told you,
you must hold your desires. That way, they build up more and more so
that when we finally release them, it'll be the greatest! And besides,
wouldn't you rather wait until we've found the other four Beings?"
Pinning down a now-clotheless Mademanna, he turned her face-down,
and said to himself "The master blood-emulation switch was in your back,
right? Of course. Green Being, I need a knife."
Instantly, the green guy turned into a medical scalpel in Max's
hand, which he used to open up an area of skin. Clearing out the
emulated blood, he found a switch, and flipped it, causing her blood to
stop running.
Mademanna, now crying, stifled it just enough to ask "What are you
guys doing?"
After shutting off her blood flow, Max proceeded to cut more of
her skin, until he coul pull it off the robot girl's endoskeleton. He
answered "As I said, my interest is scientific. I want to commit your
design to memory so I can figure out how you were made... Wow!"
From any viewpoint, the Mademanna below the skin seemed like a
marvel, like, well, like a system of pulleys and levers, and it was
easy to see exactly what parts emulated what. The only mystery now
was the head, which without the skin looked like some sort of faceless
alien. Nonetheless Max was impressed, and Mademanna couldn't help but
notice some faint whirring noise going off in his head.
"Girl, you're amazing!" He commented.
"That's great, Now can I *please* have my skin back?"
"Let me take a few more snapshots." He took a few more from
various angles. "There, now you can."
Still with a bit a crying in her voice, she proceeded to replace
her skin. When she had it back on, Max flipped the blood switch back
on, and said "Sorry I don't have bandages--you're skin *Does* heal,
right?"
"Eventually."
"Well, the only thing I can see doing is you laying face-up on this
blanket."
Mademanna could see that solution too. "Okay, just let me get
my cloths back on."
"Oh, don't dirty your own outfit!" He said. Then he took off his
trenchcoat, saying "You can cover yourself with this." He didn't really
give her much of a choice as he stood her up and put it on her. Then he
layed her face-up on the bed. Then he motioned to the Green Being to
follow him into another door next to the manacles.
She looked at him, and asked "Why are you being so nice?"
Before closing the door, he turned and answered "Because I'm a
softie."

Chip, having sat in there for a minute, hating himself for letting
Max Alpha get away (Even though he had rationalized several times that
he had to) finally got out of the Pawser Tank--to be greeted by an
angry Pennywinkel.
"You IDIOT! We told you to SHOOT!"
"B-b-b-b-b-But that would've hurt her!" Chip defended.
Pennywinkel fumed again, "Here's a hint, Chip: She doesn't run on
Gasoline!"
Now Chip felt REALLY stupid. "You mean this thing couldn't hurt her
no matter how much I fired it?"
"Exactly. She RUNS on electricity that she generates herself. You
blasting her would merely have merely given her an excess amount of it,
and would've made her hyperactive for a few hours. But now she's probably
being stipped naked and cut open by that deranged sicko!"
"Now now," Frog reprimanded (The best he could without sounding
silly), "Chip didn't know. So are we going to drag the stiff in?"
By "the stiff" he meant the unconscious form of Miles Alpha.
"Well," Chip thought. "He *is* one of the worst enemies we ever
faced, but then again he could be our best ally right now."
Thus, it was mutually agreed that they should drag him inside.
Just as they made it in, they closed the door, for it had begun to rain.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: The Story of Max and the Klimakti

After a few minutes, Gadget had managed to fix Miles Alpha to full
working order. As he awoke, he actively wondered "Where am I?" As he
got up, he surveyed his surroundings with recognition. "Oh. I'm still
at the home of those rats..."
"Mice!" Gadget called. "Chipmunks!" Chip called. "Flies!"
Zipper managed to say.
"Why am I here?" he asked.
Chip explained first. "Look, you want Max Alpha, and so do we.
He's already proven a tough enemy for both of us, so, as much as you
probably won't like it, we have to work together. Sit down, there is a
LOT we need to talk about. Umm, ya need anything?"
Miles, being weak, complied with sitting, and refused food or drink.
"I see the reason in your words." He responded. "But why do *you* want
Max?"
Frog hastily answered "He's got my little sister locked up
somewhere."
Miles looked at Frog, recognizing him and Pennywinkel from the
times they've met in the past. "Ah, so the three of you are still alive.
And Max has the young one... how depressing."
"Umm, right. So, uhh," Chip was struggling, "What--why--What is
with Max Alpha, anyway?"
Miles took a breath. "Right then, let me explain that..."

I, Miles Alpha, was born--or created, no one really knows which it
is--with an ambition for conquest and power. Early on, I turned my
ambitions to research, and created the method used for assimilating power
sources. Until then, Klimakti power had come from an energy field
radiating from our planet. Now that we knew this secret, we could go
about conquering other worlds, which we did.
All the while, though, I began to get lonely, with no one to share
my conquests. But soon was born my brother, Max Alpha. As always with
tragedies, it seemed like a blessing at first. He was fun, cheerful,
energetic, intelligent... but he lacked my ambitions for conquest. What
he had instead, however, was terrifying. Instead of wanting to have
accomplishments he could praise, he instead gave in to more elementary
desires.
It didn't seem like something to make such a fuss over at first,
and anyway he made several discoveries that helped my own conquests, such
as how to store power in one self for later use (Which was terribly useful
because leaving for a new universe cuts off our contact with external
power sources). However he soon began to delight merely in torture and
terror, especially of females. Again I failed to take notice of any
abnormalities, as this desire at first made him a great asset.
But he then claimed the kind of terror I delivered was "Too simple"
and that he wanted something "More and different." He took to terrorizing
specific individuals like yourself, even going to extremes. He began to
throw off Klimakti traditions, habits, and procedures, using totally his
own style. It was now that I began to get worried.
One night, I was reading a book of ancient Klimakti legends. I
have always loved legends, they contain such epic proportions. But I
came to an abrupt halt when I ran across a particularly familiar-sounding
one. In English, it recites:
"By sacrificing one life, another may flourish
So a brother will one day find.
Worlds and beyond will be his, but never a companion
One offer only he will get, his hopes betrayed
The elder's conquests begin to falter
The younger can not bear the elder's ways
Friends in pleasure he will find
Beings of Green, Brown, Blue, Red, and Yellow
Then a special time will come."

Chip looked at him cynically. "I think someone was pulling your
leg. There's no way that could've been so spot-on."
Miles looked at him. "I do not believe in that particular type of
coincidence."

However, you are not in bad company, sir Chipmunk, because I, too,
at first thought it must be nothing, and put it aside.
Then one day my cousin, Miles Beta, came over so we could celebrate
our long string of victories. He's always been a master of the mind and
heart, however, and knew that something was wrong. So I told him about
the problems with my brother and about the legend. He thought about
this, and wanted to see the book I had gotten the prophecy from, but to
my horror, when I showed him the book, that particular page was missing.
My suspicions had been confirmed, and he became a believer, for incomplete
paragraphs and inconsistant page numberings proved that a page had
previously been there.
Still, we could do nothing, but we mutually agreed to have men
keep an eye on Max Alpha, and report via communicators any time he was
spotted. For him, it became as if he was in prison and didn't realize
it.
We went, and tried our first *real* endeavor at conquering realities
(all of which up til then had been mere tests). This first time was a
near-success--except we lost at the last second. We never discovered
why, but later missions made us suspect it had been due to interference
from Max. As time went on, he began interfering more and more openly.
Finally, I confronted him on the battle field, accusing him of
trying to upstage me so he could take my place as leader of the Klimakti.
He laughed at me. He balked, calling me foolish for thinking
so low of him for wanting my "Lousy" role. He then claimed that I had
always been nothing more than an egotistical buffoon, and that my plans
were "Lame."
Then he outright denounced his claim to the "throne," announcing
he was going to look for those five beings, his prophecized followers.
Until now, we had not seen him again.

Miles Alpha stopped, closing his eyes in some sort of remorseful
retrospect. "And now he's found one of them," he finally concluded.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Lost in a Room of Terror

It was hours later, and Mademanna was now in her regular cloths,
her back completely healed. The catch was Max had thought it prudent
to tie her hands behind her back, bind her legs together, and gag her.
Her muffled protests brought only one answer, ever, from Max:
"Now now, you're a *Prisoner*! You're not supposed to be treated
with *respect!*"
And she always moaned in response.
The situation right now wasn't much different, except that Green
Being seemed to be petting her and massaging her shoulders (more because
he liked touching her than because she wanted it). She tried to tell
him to stop, but if he understood her at all he wasn't acknowledging it.
Then Max entered the room, coming from the door near the manacles,
which Mademanna figured, from the sound of running water, was probably
a bathroom. Max's hair was dripping wet as he emerged, but if he cared,
he didn't show it.
Instead he went over and picked up the little girl. "Come on,"
he said, "It's time to start playing!"
She kicked and tried to scream in protest, but he simply answered
"Trust me, you don't wanna take your bath just yet."
He took her out the other door, and into the door down and across
the hall. In there was what looked like just a plain, empty room. Max
put her gently down in the middle of this room, which had a soft floor.
Here he seemed unable to decide, and said mostly to himself "Should I
leave her tied up or not?"
Mademanna started to plead "No." But decided against it. Knowing
Max, that would inspire him to pick "Yes!"
He himself lay down next to her, and called out "Being, can you
run the Room of Terror? I want to stay in here with her."
"Why?"
"So I can fondle her during the scary parts."
Mademanna attempted to say "You sicko!"
"I'm KIDDING! Geez! Start the room, Green!"
And the Green being closed the doors. Soon, the room turned into
what Gadget had seen: Initially black, but soon images of everything
anyone's ever been afraid of, from silly things like spiders and cats
to seriously worrying things like demons and devils and even the unknown
was represented by the blackness. She closed her eyes in fear.
Max noticed, and said "You know, you really are a marvel of human
creation. You scare almost as easily as real little girls. I just
realized something." he waited to be sure he had her attention, and
remarked "I should never have let you put your cloths back on!"
At this she growled at him, but not for long. He stood, and the
room changed from being the dark, terrifying place it was, to being an
abandoned street corner. She opened her eyes when she had felt the
difference.
"A street corner?" She thought. "I mean, sure, it looks creepy,
but what's so great about an abandoned street corner?"
Apparently, Max was thinking the same thing. "Green Being, set
reality factor on 3, scare level on 5, and put the setting on 'Mix
Physical/Psychological'."
The locale switched, and they were on a cruise ship, at night,
again, with no one else. Mademanna was freaking now, for she *had*
been in a similar locale before.
Max, however, had a different idea altogether. He picked her up,
and said "Oh, I see the terror factor here." With that, he threw her
over the rails. When she hit water, she tried kicking, desperately,
but was unable to make herself float. So she closed her eyes, awaiting
the moment she hit bottom.
Oddly, she fell right through, and ended up on dry land. She
didn't bother to realize how crazy that was, as she proceeded to struggle
to undo her bindings. But the ground below her caved away, and she
ended up falling into a hole she could not see the bottom of. Frantically
she screamed and kicked.
Then she heard Max Alpha laughing wildly. She looked, and he seemed
to be walking right across the chasm and at her, not running or anything,
but still managing to catch up to her.
Then he lay down next to her again, and began playing with her hair.
It was then that Mademanna realized the big secret: This was all an
illusion! Only Max here was real, everything else was just mind-play!
She wasn't really drowning or falling or anything! Knowing that, she
calmed down, and relaxed, and would've giggled except she was still
gagged.
"So," Max commented, "You've figured it out, eh? Just to let you
know, it's only an illusion at reality factors 1-4. Reality Factor 5
can be deadly. Anyway, you better get used to the Room of Terror, You're
going to spend a lot of time here, most of it unsupervised."
She muffled out an "Okay."
He picked her up. "Now it's time for your bath. Green Being,
deactivate the Room of Terror!"

CHAPTER NINETEEN: The Tale of Chip

They had listened as Miles told his story, and were surprised.
Chip was already trying to think, but could not come up with a plan.
"What to do?" He asked himself.
This seemed to snap something into Dale's mind. "Say, Chip, where
did ya disappear to, anyway?"
"And why?" Gadget added.
Chip sighed. He knew this would come up sooner or later. It was
best to be honest.
"Well, the truth is, guys, I didn't mean to disappear--not at first,
anyway..."

I was just going outside to vent my frustration. I honestly felt
Pennywinkel was responsible for what happened at the school, but my
logical side told me it couldn't have been her, because 8-Bit detected
it as an "Anomaly" and he's never done that with regards to her powers
before. So I went to come back in, but got sidetracked when I noticed
Mepps--Yes, the Fat Cat cronie--was hanging around. I wondered why, so
I snuck a peak at these note cards he was carrying. Seemed he was
taking down information on *us*. But it didn't seem to mean much, and
I got sidetracked following a glowing green snake. I eventually saw
him transform, and figured he had something to do with all that was
going on.
It was around this time that I figured I'd need the Pawser Tank,
so I meant to head back home, but I saw that things were going on, and
I thought it'd be best to stay away.
The only person I talked to was Frog. When I did, I formulated
a plan involving scapegoats. The first Scapegoat was Pennywinkel, but
I noticed no one was buying that one. However it worked anyway, since
security was tightened on Max Alpha for the brief period we had him,
but I figured he'd escape.
Frog and Pennywinkel were already in on the plan, but I had
strictly told them not to let anyone else in on it, thus I was surprised
and miffed when I saw Mademanna come out. I figured that, in her
innocence, she would blow the lid off my secondary plan of staying
hidden in case we need a sneak attack, but it turned out she was out
there to give me the Code Number to get to the Pawser Tank (I had not
known that Gadget had changed it).

"Using that code, I went to where we had stashed the tank, and
decided to start it up. I had guessed right, but unfortunately it was
a waste of a good plan, since Max won anyway." Chip said with a note
of self-pity.
"Don't blame yourself." Miles replied. "The fact that your
enemy is stronger than you is nothing to be ashamed of."

EPILOGUE

Miles then stood. "In any case, I must be going. I have plans
to fabricate if we are going to pull this through. Good day, my allies!"
With that, he walked out the door.
"At least *that* went over well," Chip said. "Still, I wish I
had blasted Max when I had the chance..."
Frog tisked. "I already pointed out that you didn't know Mademanna
was naturally immune to electricity. You need not be ashamed of it.
Ignorance is bliss and all that."
During this discussion, I appeared on the TV.
"Hey guys, I've got some... wait, isn't someone missing?" I said,
looking over the area.
"Yea, Mademanna." Chip answered. "And it's all my fault, too."
"Oh, well whatever, I've still got some bad news.
"All throughout these events, I've been detecting strange anomalies.
My viewscreens show me all sorts of wackiness acting up in your reality.
Wait, Mademanna's been kidnapped?"
"Yea, by Max Alpha, and it's all--"
"Yes yes. So rustbucket has her, eh? Well, she's in safe enough
hands. My predictions tell me that you're in an even worse position."
"How?" Gadget asked.
"Because, besides some new evil brewing in your Ranger Reality,
you're about to meet up with an enemy from the past. Guys, I have reason
to believe that Fake 8-Bit Star is about to return. Prepare for another
DiMM attack, guys. It's going to happen in about three days."
With that, I flipped out.

THE END

------Afterward------

Well, my friends, you have just read what may just be my most
risky story yet. Originally I had a qualm against putting any sort of
sexual orientation in a Rescue Rangers' fic, but getting my own website
kinda relieved some of the stress.
But anyway, this fanfic, in my eyes, is a new watermark. It's
darker in style than even Channels of Time, and it's also the first
fanfic by me to have a downer ending. I expect this one, if it's
popular at all, might cause some sort of stir among Rangerphiles, and
I might be seen as a sick, demented freak (But hey, who isn't?).
I hope you enjoyed it anyway, regardless of wether it agreed
with you or not.

The Darkest Corner finished on Friday, May 24, 2002, at 11:28 PM.

More 8-Bit Star fanfics available at:
http://www.angelfire.com/comics/nes_star/