by Allen Hopper

It has been many years since foxglove had any contact with the Rescue Rangers. An ache filled her heart as she thought of Dale. The magic had left their relationship, but they’d parted on good terms. Since she left she couldn’t help wondering what had made their time together uncomfortable. For most of the night she and Dale had stared at each other like two strangers, not really saying anything.

From her roost on the ceiling Foxglove wondered what the rescue rangers are doing now. Suddenly, she was hit with an idea. It’d had been a while since she’d taken a vacation. Why couldn’t she visit them? Dale would be there and that would give them the perfect opportunity to put things in order between them. The next morning she got up early and started to pack the necessary things: hairbrush, toothbrush, toothpaste, and all the other toiletries that kept a girl pretty. Once that chore was completed, she wiped the sweat of her brow and sighed a contented Whew. After one last glance around, making sure she didn’t forget anything, she eased the backpack in place, being careful of her wings, and locked the front door behind her. With one quick stride she was airborne.

While soaring high above the countryside, Foxglove realized that most winged animals take the privilege of flying for granite. But not Foxglove. Before long, the city loomed before her on the horizon. She smiled knowing that she’d made excellent time. With each flap of her sleek leathery wings, the city grew closer and closer along with the memories. Especially the unusual circumstances surrounding the way she’d met the Rescue Rangers. Tears burned her eyes, but Foxglove refused to let anything distract her. She might have an accident.

Entering the city, she coughed when the filthy air threatened to clog her throat. How had she survived living in such cramped, polluted quarters?

At the Ranger HQ, Chip was getting some much-needed time off while the others were patrolling the city. Not much had happened since the disaster in New York had claimed many of its infamous buildings.

Chip sat down at the kitchen table and stared to look at the walnut gazette when a knock on the door interrupted his relaxation. Grumbling the entire way to the door, Chip hoped he wasn’t about to have his afternoon disturbed. That thought disappeared immediately and a dumb founded look changed his expression. Rubbing his eyes in disbelief, Chip could barely manage to get the words out of his mouth, "Foxglove is that you?" There she stood looking beautiful in all her splendor with the sun gleaming of her back.

"Why Chip," she said with a giggle and a smile, "don't tell me you forgotten me already have you?"

Remembering his manners, he said, using her nickname, "Please, Foxy come on in. What are you doing here?"

"Oh I thought I’d come for a visit. Hope you don’t mind?" she said.

“We won’t mind at all Foxy, come right on in". They both proceeded into the

front room and sat down. Looking around, Foxglove asked, "Where's Dale?"

"He’s out with the others on patrol" Chip explained.

"When are they going to be back?" she said.

"About an hour or so we have some leads on a hot case right now." She looked at Chip with a puzzled look on her face "Then why are you here and not out with them?” she asked.

Crossing his arms, Chip scowled. "They said I was working to hard and needed some time off. You’d think I was a workaholic or something to hear them talk!"

Meanwhile, Gadget and the others where still on patrol. "I don't see any activity going on,” Gadget said. “It's like everybody just packed up and moved"

“Don't worry about it, Gadget love,” Monty said with enthusiasm. “Things will pick up soon, but not to soon I hope.”

“Let’s head back to HQ for something to eat, ok?" Dale said as his stomach growled. "What a great idea Dale,” Monty said. “I’ll make my favorite dish, cheese soufflé" Gadget said "sound good Monty, let’s go!" She turned the ranger plane around and headed back to HQ

Back at the Ranger HQ, Foxglove and Chip were chatting when the crew walked in. Dale was the last to walk in when he looked up and saw Foxglove sitting there. He stopped in his tracks and demanded, "What are you doing here?"

“I thought I’d visit."

Gadget walked over to her and gave her a hug. "We're happy to see you, Foxglove. Why didn't you come before now?"

"Personal reasons. But I’m here now lets party!" Foxglove said with excitement.

Later that night they went out on the town to the drive-in theater where they’d all first met. Well where Foxglove and Dale first met. It brought memories of the terror Foxglove had experienced when she was with the cleaning lady. Her face tightened and though Dale must have known what was going through her mind, he didn't say anything until they were seated in the theater.

When the movie stared foxglove and Dale were sitting in the back seat, he leaned over and whispered, "It really is good to see you again." Foxglove looked at him. The moon was full that night and it reflected in her eyes. "You’re even more beautiful then I remember foxy," Dale said. She said coldly, "It's over between us, Dale. We should move on with our lives. That's one of the reasons I came back here. It's time to close this chapter in our lives. Wure we had something once but we drifted so far apart that the flames are out and gone." she said Puzzled by the distance settling between them, Dale, said, "But…I still love you, Foxy. Are you sure you don’t feel the same way down deep?"

"No, Dale. I do consider you as a friend but that’s all. Let’s not start an old argument tonight.”

Later that night they returned to the HQ. They all sat down and decided to catch up and find out what Foxy was up to. Dale, of course, sat next to Foxy but she ignored him. If he asked her a question she would answer him but then turned her attention to the others. Much later that night, Foxglove and Dale found themselves alone. They sat there for a while just looking at each other then Dale started to speak, but Foxglove interrupted. “Dale this can’t work, it is over between us,” she said with a shaky voice. She got up, glanced over her shoulder. A sad look settled on her face when she opened the door slowly and walked out. She closed the door carefully, not wanting to wake the others. She immediately took to the sky, but without warning something grabbed her from behind. Her struggles proved useless and before she could see who her attacker was, Foxglove passed out.

The next morning Dale was still on the coach sound asleep. Gadget found him and asked where foxglove was. Dale told her what happened the night before.

“WHAT!” gadget said with such a fright “You just let her go?”

“I didn’t know what to do I…” Dale explained.

“That’s no excuse, you should have gone after her” Gadget shouted.

“What’s going on?” Chip asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Dale and Foxglove had a talk last night and she went out and hasn’t returned yet,” Gadget said in a panic

This woke Chip up. “OH NO! We got to find her and fast! I hope that nothing has happened to her!” With that said they got Monty up and they all went on a search party for Foxglove.

Foxglove woke up to see that she was strapped to a table. She immediately struggled to get out of her bindings.

“It is useless to escape, my dear. Please keep still.” a gruff voice said.

“Who…Who are you? What do you want?” she asked very frightened.

“Oh not much. Just a sample of your DNA,” he said gleefully

“My…WHAT?” she said.

“Your DNA. It’s the stuff that makes you, you.” he said.

He stepped into the light. He was a very pale old man. Above Foxglove he took out a syringe and stuck it into foxglove’s arm. She looked away with eyes shut it only stung for a second and then it was over.

“There, my dear, all done. Now that wasn’t so bad was it” he said with a greasy smile. Before thinking about it, she blurted out “YOU BULLY!” Realizing what she’d said she felt really bad

“Well I see this little bat is quite a fireball, don’t you think?” he said handing the needle over to his assistant.

“Yes. Master. She is quite a handful,” the assistant said.

“Very well. Jeffery prepare the machine for cloning,” he said “Tonight let our little friend go. We are done with her,” the one called ‘master’ said with a smirk.

In the meantime, the Rangers were desperately looking for Foxglove. It seemed like days but it was only a few hours. Darkness was falling and the Rangers decided to head back for HQ. Dale was slumped back in his seat, saddened that he couldn’t find his former girlfriend. He also felt guilty that she had run away after he’d told her how he felt about her.

"Cheer up, Dale," Gadget said sympathetically. "We'll find her. She can't be too far away." The unasked question between them was what happened to Foxglove?

Back at the HQ, the attitude was very somber. A very quiet dale held onto the hope that Foxglove might come through the door at any moment. He sat down with a thump, facing the door. No one would get in or out without him being aware of it. He wouldn’t even move when Gadget called for dinner he never budged from that spot.

Later that night the assistant, Jeffrey, returned to the laboratory.

"Well, Ms. Foxglove, you’re free to go. Master said so…" he said with a cackle.

"It's about time, jerk. Let me out of this bondage" she said irritated.

"Very well, Ms." He proceeded to untie her bindings and finally she was free. He grabbed her and took her to an opened window. "Now beat it, deadbeat. You flying rodent!" he said

"Before I do, I would like to know why he took a sample of my..umm what he call it DNA?" she said curiously Jeffrey just stood there and said gleefuly, "You'll find out soon enough! Now get lost!" And then slammed the window in her face. She was utterly disgusted yet puzzled, then realized she had to get back to the RRHQ.

It was getting late at the base. Dale was still sitting in the same spot watching the door

"What are we going to do with him chip he's just sitting there watching the door?"

Gadget said, "I don't know what to do except just let him be for now," Chip said with worry.

"Well I don't know about you, but I'm heading for bad it's been a long day," Monty said yawning. Just then there was a rapid knocking at the door. Dale stood straight up and ran to the door. He opened it and there she was all out of breath. "FOXY," Dale shouted. "Are you all right?" dale said worried "I'm fine, were is the others we need to talk and quickly we don't have much time!" foxy said. Foxy began to tell the others what happened. They sat there in horror of what she was telling.

"I don't know what he's planning, the little assistant didn't tell me anything!" Foxy said "Calm down foxy, right now we can't do anything until he does something." chip said "so let's all get a good nights sleep." Chip said. None of them disagreed and all went off to bed except for dale he slept on the coach and let foxglove his room for the night.

The next morning dale was the first to be up and he was still worried about Foxy. Everyone else got up and foxy was the last. Monty thought he'd cook breakfast for a change because he thought to himself that he was tired of everything tasting like machine oil. He headed off to the kitchen to whip something up, while the others sat around wondering what’s going to happen. They didn't have to wait long, a knock came at the door it was foxglove answered the door. It was Sandy the crow she was breathing hard. She gave Foxglove a puzzled look. "Foxglove is that you? But I just saw you down the street pick pocketing someone’s pocket. What’s going on here?" she wondered "I don't know what your talking about I was here the whole time." she said proclaiming here innocence "but it's true I just saw you" she said. They invited her in and she began to tell the story about what she saw downtown. "It was about twenty minutes ago when I flying, looking for something to eat, when I saw this thing zoom right by me I couldn't make it out at first. But once I got my senses about me, I looked closer and saw that it was foxglove grabbing someone’s wallet then flying off. I went after her and called her name but she ignored me completely. I was dumb founded," she said. "It must have been one of those...what did he call it...a clone?" foxy said. "YES..." chip said figuring it out. "We must get to that doctors lab and quick, foxy do you remember were it is?" chip said,

"I'll never forget a place like it was horrible," she said. Soon they were out the door and into the ranger plane. Sandy came with them to see what she can do. She could fly higher than foxglove and scout the area out. They didn't go far when they found mad doctor's laboratory. They reached the place where foxy was let out. It was quiet and eerie. It dawned on foxglove in places like these might have other bats like her. She wanted to find out of there was but the others thought it was a bad idea and that they should stick together for it would be dangerous with another foxglove running around even she agreed.

Later sandy came down and reported her news "I’ve spotted a opening on the roof we all could fit through" she said. "Good job sandy, lets do it!" chip said. So they proceeded to the top. Once there, Sandy said excitedly, "Look there it is just like I said!" They all filed out of the ranger plane and looked down the hole. "It looks awful creepy," Dale said scared. "This is no time to be frightened. Let's go" chip said forcing his bravery to the limit. "This is foxgloves life at stake," he said. As they went down farther into the abyss, their excitement and curiosity grew and grew. They finally reached the bottom, landing with a thud, with Sandy on top of the pile. "Thanks for the soft landing," sandy said "your welcome, love," Monty said "now will you get off my back" "oh sorry Monty" she said. They got up and dusted themselves off and proceeded down the dimly lit hallway. Naturally they were causes, which is understandable. Just then there came a swoop and a figure landed in front of them. "What--or who--are you?" chip said, the figure came closer until it finally came into the light. It was foxglove's double. "My name is foxglove two I am scientific perfection. I shall destroy all that stand in my way!" foxglove two said with hate in her voice. "But before I destroy you all there is one that I want to take apart peace by peace," she said "and who is that?" chip questioned, she pointed her wing straight at foxglove "Her, the genetic flaw," foxglove two said. What do you mean genetic flaw, I’m all girl from the tip of my ears to the tip of my tail" she said posing "if you don't believe me ask dale he knows" she said, dale stood there with a dopey look on his face then he blushed and giggled. "I don't care about your past. What I’m concerned about is do you except my challenge?" foxglove two said

"Common..." foxglove said, "Bring it on!" They began to fight. The others ran by the fighting bats, but dale couldn’t resist a quick look back. Foxglove two was giving foxglove a good punch and she fell to the ground with a thud and a grunt but dale just closed his eyes. Foxglove knew what she was getting into. "Welcome you must be foxgloves' friends. You must be in a hurry to die?" the doctor said "You're going down, doc. We've taken bigger problems out!" chip said angrily. "Well you have spunk too don't you, you little rodent. As you can see I have many more foxgloves on the way but they must mature first," the doctor said. Sandy took flight and started to attack the doctor but he was quick for an old man and grabbed her, the rest didn’t like this and charged but they were caught by Jeffery and they were all put in cage.

In the mean time, foxy and foxglove two were fighting. Each taking one blow after another. From time to time the two would take a break "I WILL DESTROY YOU FOXGLOVE AND I WILL BE THE VICTOR!" foxglove two said

"I don't think so" foxy said panting and out of breath, and they began again.

In the cage, the rangers could hear the battle going on out in the hall. There was a scream and then there was silence. A moment later a bat appeared dragging a bloody and dead body. "Very good my pet now I know what your capable of," he said with a pleased look "Yes master I aim to please," she said "now my pet why don't you finish off the rest of them" he said "yes master" she said. After the shock wore off, they all began crying they will miss their friend. "Don't worry you'll be joining her soon enough" she said she grabbed the key to the cage off the table and proceeded to unlock the cage/ Dale cried out "How could you do that to her she did nothing to you" he said "shut up cutie." she said. She unlocked the cage door. He looked up sharply "Foxy..." he whispered "is that you?" he said "the one and only," she said and opened the cage door. She looked over her shoulder and saw the Doctor smiling. "Now, my pet, destroy them!" he said with a sly voice "not today doc" she said

"WHAT your not the clone your the real foxglove!" he said. "That’s right baby..." she said "in the flesh" she said. Chip sounded the charge and they attacked the doctor and his assistant but foxglove headed to the cloning machines and flipped the overload switch "NO stop! the doctor said "my precious clones!" and started a chain reaction and things started to exploded around them so they got out of there as fast as they could they managed to get out with very few seconds. They looked back and saw the whole explode with no trace of the doctor or his assistant and they all let out a sigh off relief.

Back at the HQ the started to party like there was no tomorrow, "were glad that your alright foxglove," chip said "here's to our one and only favorite bat Foxglove!" chip toasted. Dale walked over to foxy "I’m sorry foxy I didn't mean to drive you away I know it's over but it was hard to except" he said "I know dale but we must go our separate ways cutie, lets just be friends" she said. And with everything all right and settled they close another chapter in the book of the RESCUE RANGERS.

FIN ^_^

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