A SSR/CCC production.

Authors Note: This was a collaboration between myself (Stainless Steel Rat) and CCC, a two person Round Robin on the Rescue Rangers RPG (RRRPG) site. He came up with the initial idea, and I joined in happily, playing my version of Chip from the RRRPG Main thread. This is also the version of Chip from ‘Case of the Mind Control Moll’.

Background: This Chip has grown up some, due to the break up of the Rangers in his timeline two years previously. In the intervening time he restyled himself as ‘Charles Maplewood - Consulting Detective’ (inspired by Sureluck Jones). He worked solo to combat crime and solve mysteries. The Rangers have now have come back together just recently, and he’s once again leading them. Tiring work, so he’s glad of his bed at the end of the day…

&&&

It had not been too odd a day.

Chip had gone to bed as normal. He had preceded this by brushing his teeth. This was perfectly normal.

What was not normal was how he woke up. It was the voice that woke him... a voice naggingly familiar, but in a completely different tonal range to normal...

"But this is a chipmunk! What's a chipmunk supposed to do about this sort of situation?"

The second voice was paternal, with an Australian accent... "'Ere, Gadget-luv, it's not yer fault. That thingy's complex enough ta have ta work with anyhow, yer gotta realise that there's no way you could've been roight first try."

"But -" There was a sigh. "But I was so sure I had the right parameters set... an alternate Chip who could rescue the others without putting his own team into danger... I don't know what else to even try..."

"Alternate Chip" thought Chip. He'd been exposed to the 'multiple worlds theory' from some hair raising articles in Scientific Rodentia (and truth be told Dale's comic books). This was obviously a very lucid dream based on those... the phrase 'alternate Chip' meant there was a 'native' Chip. And there was a Gadget and someone who was probably Monty from the accent...

A third voice entered into the conversation. "I've found that what often works is to -"

"No, Sparky." said the Australian voice. "Yer not to touch it. Not yer own fault, I know, but nonetheless."

So there was a Sparky too...

From their discussion, Gadget had built some sort of dimensional grapple to fetch a Chip to help with a rescue attempt, probably of his alternate, Dale, Foxglove and Zipper. But why was Gadget of all people surprised at him being a chipmunk, and what was with the different voice tones...

A fourth voice entered the conversation. "Guys? I think it's awake."

It was at about this point that Chip opened his eyes, only to get a bit of a shock.

He was surrounded by four humans.

One burly, muscular fellow was patting a young lady in a lavender jumpsuit gently on the shoulder, trying to calm her. Leaning over him was a second young lady, freckled and with red hair in a long ponytail, while the fourth person in the room was a young man with a lab coat over his clothes and his hair standing on end, wearing glasses.

"Look," said the burly fellow with the Australian accent, "maybe you just plugged one wire in the wrong place or somethin'."

Chip looked up at them, dumbfounded. They were human? And their talk implied that they considered that normal. He stood up on his hind paws and sighed. "Oh, boy, I should _not_ have had that slice of acorn pizza before bedtime."

Since it had to be a dream, they might be able to understand him, unless his own nit-picking mind refused him an easy way out. This seemed to be the case since he wasn't wearing the nightshirt and nightcap he'd been wearing when he went to sleep. Seemed like the transportation effect had been really specific.

Actually this might be quite good fun, even if he didn't have access to any of his usual stuff. ‘This will be an interesting challenge...’ he thought, as he looked around the room for a notepad and pencil, a PDA, anything he could write with.

Chip was currently on the floor; as the red-head moved her head he could see some sort of giant ray-gun attached to the ceiling pointed right at him. Presumably part of the system that got him here...

To his right was a table on which several pieces of paper could be seen sticking over the edge. Considering the situation, they may well be blueprints. He couldn't see from where he was whether or not there is a writing implement up there. To his left was a wall and in front of him was a second desk, with a computer on it, currently powered on.

"Everyone makes mistakes, Gadget." said the redhead. "Just because you didn't get an alternate Chip this time doesn't mean you can't find one next time."

Gadget sniffed. "But I checked everything, Tammy! Three times!"

The boy in the lab coat (Sparky, presumably) frowned. "Um, I hate to bring up this possibility, but what if the chipmunk's got some form of inter-dimensional rabies?"

The other three looked at Sparky. And then, slowly, all four turned to look at Chip.

Or, at least, to where Chip had originally arrived...

Of course he wasn't there any more. As soon as they'd started talking, he'd hit four paw drive over to the computer and run under the desk. As he'd hoped, there were cables at the back that were an easy climb for a chipmunk. He scampered up them and moved around to the keyboard out front.

The screen was displaying several windows full of information and control panels presumably relating to the dimension device. He moved around to the mouse which was almost as big as he was, and minimised them. The background was a group shot of several people standing in front of what appeared to be the Ranger tree, including everyone currently in the room, together with a black-haired girl dressed entirely in black, two young men who were obviously his and Dale's alternates, and a large dog of Plato's breed.

He quickly moved the pointer over a pop-up menu for programs... Lin-vue OS? Still, there was a Notepad-like icon which he clicked.

Oh, this was nice. It was more like Wordpad than Notepad, but more streamlined. He checked the cursor was in place and jumped onto the keyboard edge. For a chipmunk or mouse using a human keyboard it was a lot like a game of Dance Dance Revolution combined with Twister, but Chip had put in the practice writing e-mails to unknowing human contacts in his own world.

'H...o...l...d... ...e...v...e...r...y...t...h...i...n...g...!' he typed. There was a speaker symbol on the menu, which popped up as 'Text to Speech' when he moved the mouse pointer, so he pressed it.

The humans turned as the computer spoke, and saw what the creature had done.

Monty's law dropped. "But - but you're a chipmunk!"

Chip responded. 'well done monty, you get a gold star in nature appreciation! and here i was thinking that eating acorns and living in a tree was just a lifestyle choice. and that answers Gadget's original question. in this situation, a chipmunk finds the nearest computer terminal and makes sarcastic comments.'

"And that proves that we don't have too thick an accent to be understood." said Sparky, softly.

"I see." began Gadget, while Chip continued typing. "This - device - must have picked a Chip from a universe where chipmunks are the dominant species, rather than humans. A chipmunk detective... intriguing."

"That doesn't explain his mastery of the use of a human-sized keyboard." pointed out Sparky. "But he can type English, at least, so we can communicate -" he turned to Chip...

'correct, sparky. youre partly right, gadget, but does my other self ever tell you it's a capital mistake to theorize from too little data?'

"'e's Chip, all roight." muttered Monty.

'in my universe humans are also the 'dominant' species, at least they have the cities and technology. looking at the artifacts in this room i'd say roughly the same level of technical advancement.'

He paused for a moment, resting and breathing hard, then continued.

'however, members of other species are also intelligent, chipmunks, mice, rats, cats... a fact we normally keep secret from humans. not that its hard, they seem to have a blind spot for the fact that animals are acting intelligently.'

Another rest period and, 'however since this has to be a very lucid dream, im going to ignore that, and bonk dale around the head when i wake up for convincing me to eat acorn pizza with anchovies just before going to bed.'

"Talking of pizza," said Sparky, "shouldn't Foxy be back by now?"

"Just arrived." said a voice from the doorway. There was the girl from the photo, still dressed in black, carrying a pile of square cardboard boxes which definitely carried more than a hint of the smell of cheese with them. "Any luck on that dimensional whatsit thingy?"

"You could say so." said Monty, not taking his eyes off Chip.

Foxy looked at the chipmunk. "Oh. A chipmunk. Cute." she said flatly. "What about the parallel Chip you said you could get?"

"This - is - the parallel Chip." pointed out Gadget. "He types and everything."

Foxy looked around the room. "You're not serious?"

"You think you're finding it weird?" asked Tammy. "I'm looking at my boyfriend in chipmunk form!"

"Everybody just 'old on a minute!" bellowed Monty.

There was silence.

"Roight. Now chipmunk or not, what we 'ave 'ere is a Chip, who thinks 'e's in a dream. No matter, long as 'e can 'elp get the team back in one piece."

Chip typed away. 'well wouldn't you? this is weird even compared to the normal strangeness that goes with being a rescue ranger. But i've already decided to treat this as real. there is no way chip maplewood could ever ignore someone in trouble, especially his team mates.'

Foxy closed her eyes. "Chip, a chipmunk. Right. One thing you're right about, this has got to be a dream." she muttered.

"We'd need to first explain the situation." pointed out Sparky.

'So go ahead. I can't work blind.'

Chip sat on the edge of the keyboard. It was clear there were differences in this world, beyond the obvious. Tammy and him, an item? Monty clearly not having a cheese attack? And what was Foxglove wearing? It appeared to be a black, long-sleeved shirt, long black pants, and black shoes, rather plain compared to the clothes horse version of Foxglove in his reality. Still it made sense that as a human wouldn't ever go around nude.

"To be quite honest, we don't know all too much ourselves." began Sparky. "But it all started with my uncle Nimnul."

"At first, it was just the normal warning signs; he stopped allowing anyone into his lab, started talking about making a breakthrough and 'showing the world' something."

"Of course, I immediately warned the group. We tried to figure it out, and I found an old set of blueprints that he'd tossed out. Gadget worked like mad to get it done, and the result brought you here."

"Now, yesterday afternoon is when the problem started. Specifically, at 18:10. Mom had invited my uncle over for supper; he was terribly smug the whole time, but I put it down to successful completion of his device. But he stayed in the dining room from 18:00 to 19:00."

At this point, Tammy took up the tale. "Me and Foxy were out with the boys at the movies. Surejones Skill and the Patagonian Ruby. As far as we can estimate, it was around half past six when both boys just - vanished. As in into thin air -" Tammy tried to stifle a sob.

"She was resting her head on Chip's shoulder at the time." pointed out Foxy. "No-one went past either of us, at least not until she screamed. Then there was - chaos."

"Oi was out walkin' Zip at the toime." continued Monty, as he opened the last of the pizza boxes. "'E vanished so fast 'is collar almost didn't notice. Would you like cheese with extra cheese, anchovies, Hawaiian, steak, or cheese and mushroom?"

"I don't know that it was my uncle," said Sparky, "he's a bit scatterbrained at times and he knows it. If he had something on a timer he'd've been checking the clock every ten seconds."

"On the other hand, our other major options are an obese businessman and his incompetent lackeys, or a gangster who's still behind bars after those jewel robbers, neither of whom could possibly build that sort of tech. And Nimnul's been too busy on that -" he pointed at the device that had fetched Chip - "to have had much time to complete a teleporter.

"We can't get access to Nimnul's lab at the moment, not that that's odd, so we can't see if they're there or not."

"We'd rather like to be able to find they are, and how they were taken there."

"Hmm..." Chip had one paw on his chin. "If he did have a dimensional transporter, it could have been used to provide him with allies..." He looked up and realised none of them would be able to understand him. He got up and started tapping away.

'It sounds like there are more differences to this world than the obvious. A few things occur to me right away. Can this device be used for time travel or transport within a dimension?'

"No." said Gadget, immediately. "It can only shift matter to this dimension, or back to its original dimension. He called it the Genieator."

"Scratch that then." Chip muttered and typed, 'What is the targeting range?'

"For fetching, almost infinite but not from this dimension; for sending an item or person back to where it came from, line-of-sight."

'Could he have hit them from his lab, or gone back in time and set things so they'd vanish at the correct time?'

"Not with the genieator."

'Heck, he could have summoned in dimensional alternates as allies.'

The human rangers nodded. It was not impossible.

'Also, why just Chip, Dale and Zipper? How were they the only ones vulnerable?'

"We don't know." said Sparky, simply. "We've gone through dozens of ideas, but unless it only works on boys in movie theatres and dogs outside, we don't have a clue."

'What are your previous interactions with Nimnul?'

"These days," said Sparky, "it normally starts out with me warning everyone, then he pulls out some new whatsit and tries to take over the world. We stop him, after which I try to figure out how the thing works, write up a paper with my and his names on the top, him first, and take out a patent on the technique in his name. That's how come he lets me into his lab most of the time - he needs the cash from the patents to keep going."

'You said this set of blueprints was old, could he have stopped work on this, and gone on to something else entirely?'

Sparky shook his head. "Unlikely. The prints are two weeks old, and he was still working on it three days ago."

Chip slumped down, tired. Doing this much typing was exhausting.

"Looks like it's critical we investigate the lab, if only to clear up a false lead."

He got up and started typing. 'Maybe I can get into the lab. I may not be in Gadget's league on electronics, but when it comes to physical security, I can go through just about anything humans can build.'

"Maybe that's why a non-human Chip came out of the genieator." mused Gadget, munching on a slice of Hawaiian pizza.

We need more information. And I need a less tiring way of talking.'

"Would pencil and paper help?" asked Sparky. "Or clutch pencil lead?"

'Did this Nimnul ever create a gigantico ray?'

"Yes." said Sparky. "But I was never able to reproduce the effect."

Chip started typing again. 'Scratch that idea. But the clutch pencil lead would work.'

Sparky quickly got hold of a pad of paper and a piece of pencil lead.

Chip started writing in big letters, at least from his point of view. 'Gadget, my Gadget that is, devised a necklace that acted as a frequency modulator, and allowed humans to hear us. Useful for phones and such. She's a field mouse BTW. And Foxglove, who's a bat, can do the trick naturally.'

"A frequency modulator." muttered Gadget. "Just give me a minute... wlactually 52 seconds should be enough..."

Already she was pulling bits out of this and parts out of that to put something together; fortunately the Genieator was now over on the other side of the room.

"I've always wished I could fly." said Foxglove wistfully.

Chip was getting into his detective role now, and added, 'Could you tell me more about your team, your history, what your current role is, relations with the official law enforcement groups, major enemies. The slightest detail could be crucial.'

"The Rangers started out being just y- just Chip." said Sparky. "He went through police academy, and on his first day on the job, Chlordane stole the Clutchcoin ruby, framing Drake, a senior detective. Chip, unknown at the time, had spotted Chlordane and followed him, accompanied rather against his will by his brother, Dale."

"The two of them managed to spot the businessman, crook, and casino owner Felix Vetman swipe the ruby again and take it down to the docks, where he attempted to steal the day's oyster catch. That's where Monty came in; he was working in the harbour, loading ships, while Zip was the best rat-catching dog on the docks."

"I," continued Gadget, passing Chip a frequency modulator, "was an orphan at the time - I guess I still am, but I was living in an orphanage then - when Monty came looking for my dad, who he'd known for years, to follow a fleeing plane. Actually, he'd just spotted the screaming eagle on the runway; Dad's will left me enough to keep it in repair and do the occasional chapter flight. Unfortunately, I'd just done one; the tanks were dry. Fortunately, it turned out that I had been Nimnul's transport, and he couldn't shut up, so we knew they'd be back with a ton of ice."

"Chip took the opportunity to return to the station and report; on the strength of his report and Gadget's ear-witness account, Drake went free."

"When Chlordane returned, he found a lot of police waiting, and quickly saw the inside of a jail cell; but Chip got his far almost shouted off for not calling for backup sooner. Wasn't his fault, though; his radio antenna turned out to be damaged."

"Chip's a perfectionist." continued Sparky, "He kept the group together to solve those crimes too small or insignificant for the police, while keeping up police work as well. We've never been able to prove that half the crimes we investigated ever happened, not that they were believable to start with; Foxy joined the group after her foster mother tried to release magical power into herself - she's now doing time for theft among other charges - I joined after the case in which Chip found out that my uncle was testing some of his devices on me - Tammy joined after Felix kidnapped her."

"We have no official role except as police reservists, and except Chip, who is a police detective; in general, the local police know about us and are friendly, of our major enemies only Nimnul and Felix and two of his goons are not currently behind bars, but Rateau, the gangster, may be able to communicate with other gangsters from prison.

Chip had switched on the device and adjusted it, now he spoke. "Amazing... am I audible?"

When he proved to be so, he turned to Gadget with a smile and said, "This is great. Thank you!"

"It's similar to our history, but not the same. Dale and I befriended Detective Drake's dog, Plato, after we helped stop a crook that was crossing under our tree. Drake was chasing him across Central Park, and the goon was firing a gun back at him. We were collecting winter supplies and dumped a load of nuts in front of him, which caused him to slip up and drop his gun. Then Plato dashed up and gave his famous 'crime bite'."

"We watched from afar, and I started to feel there was more to life than playing around. Dale of course was interested in the excitement of police chases and such. But I wonder if I'd ever have done anything beyond watch if we hadn't dropped in on them that day Dale and I were testing the Furball XL5. A manned, or should it be 'munked paper glider. In our world Clordane was out for revenge, and we saw it all happen.

"Plato lost it when his master was arrested and got put in the cells with him. We visited and promised to get the ruby back. Clordane had a cat, he was a real Dirk Suave villain after all, and while his master wasn't looking he stole it to show off at his casino, it looks like your Felix Vetman corresponds to our Fat Cat. Velvet waistcoats, taste for the finer things in life, smarmy manner, temper so short you could slide it through a door jamb."

Chip had wandered over to the pizza box and helped himself to a hunk of mushroom pizza. He wondered about asking just how Chip had ended up with Tammy, but decided it wasn't relevant.

"We almost got it at the casino, but his goons caught us, and then we almost 'got it' at the casino." He made a slicing gesture across his throat with his paw.

"It sounds like you have analogues to Fat Cat, a casino owner and organised crime boss, complete with incompetent goon squad, and Rat Capone, an out and out gangster. And yes, they are a cat and a rat. But my Rangers have stopped human crooks too, everyone from Alvin Clordane's attempt to rob the global gold reserve, to Winifred the witch trying to make herself super powerful. But Nimnul is our most frequent enemy. But in our universe Sparky is a lab rat with a permanent electric charge from Nimnul's electro-shock experiments. He was being used to rob banks."

"So me and my uncle are rats in your world?" mused Sparky. "Well, I've also got a charge from something he was working on, although all he wanted to do was get me to work for him for free instead of for 1% of the profit."

"Uh, no. Well you are, but Nimnul is human, in the loosest sense of the word. He does have a nephew, a brat called Normie who's just as unpleasant. Clordane wanted the ruby to use in Nimnul's laser and cut the ice from the glacier. Of course his ultimate aim, apart from finishing Drake was the Global Gold Reserve, but it sounds like my counterpart stopped him before he got that far. We did too, but it was a darned close run thing."

"It wouldn't've made any difference if we'd caught Chlordane later." said Gadget. "In this universe, his plan centered on causing an earthquake with lime gelatin."

"Nimnul's inventions may sound crazy, but they generally work." Chip didn't say any more than that, not wanting to admit that although they'd stopped Clordane from stealing the gold, the Global Gold Reserve building had been destroyed.

"Yer roight there, mate." nodded Monty. "But even fer Nimnul, lime jelly quakes are kinda implausible."

He took a bite of pizza. There was still plenty to go, otherwise he'd have been acting not sitting around.

"I could tell you the full story, but we have your more immediate problem. Suffice it to say that after that first adventure, we decided to stay together. Plato gave us his honorary police badge, and we set up in the Treehouse. We also go after the crimes and mysteries that are too weird for the regular police, though of course we're more like vigilantes, we have to be. But I'm studied police procedure, even audited courses at the police academy, and I've always tried to ensure we act lawfully."

He brushed his paws together. "If I'm going to check out this lab of your uncle's, I'm going to need some things." He moved over and started to write on the paper.

"It sounds like you have different action heroes in this world, so I doubt I'll get anywhere asking for the clothes of a Louisiana James action figure. But if there's another character that wears a fedora and bomber jacket, that will probably serve."

Tammy nodded and left the room for a moment, saying "I'll get Chip's Texas Smith figure."

"Texas Smith... I guess that works."

He'd sketched an LED torch, and written a list of items including darning thread, bobby pins, thumb tacks, friction powder, itching powder and sleeping pills.

"Looks like I have to make all my regular equipment from scratch. Sparky, could you please draw out whatever you remember of your uncle's lab layout. Especially ventilation or air conditioning ducts. Anything you know about his security systems will help."

"So my cousin Normie's not my cousin in your world?" asked Sparky as he started to sketch. "Sounds like a much better organised reality. I'm afraid I don't really know much about the aircon system, besides that none of us can fit in it, but I do know where all the vents are; there, there, there..."

It appeared that Nimnul's lab was largely the same in this world, only tidier due to Sparky's influence; the security system was excellent, but operated on the assumption that any possible intruder would be over half a metre tall.

Tammy returned with an action figure in hat and jacket, as requested; Foxglove in the meantime fetched what she referred to as "Dale's bag of tricks" including itching powder; Monty got hold of sleeping tablets from the emergency medical chest, and so on; Chip's list of requirements was quickly filled.

<McGuyver music starts playing>

The first thing Chip did was strip the figure of jacket and hat. He pulled on the jacket, then used a craft knife blade to make ear holes in the hat brim and lowered it onto his head, adjusting it. It even had a toy magnifying glass in an inside pocket.

He gave a satisfied little sigh, and said, "Ahh! Now I feel... human." and chuckled.

He'd sketched out several of his regular devices, thumb-tack bolas with enough cable to tangle a humans leg, paw thrown sleeping powder and itching powder bombs, rubber gloves made from the fingers of a human glove, several other devices writ large so the humans could read them.

Now he started putting things together.

"Gadget, could you add a radio circuit and a harness to the frequency modulator? That way I can report back. It doesn't look like Nimnul keeps a radio watch. Or robot watchdogs, which is helpful."

"The radio circuit's easy enough," began Gadget, but Sparky cut her off there.

"Wait a moment. Wouldn't it be simpler to just carry the radio, and we can alter the frequency on this end? Less dead weight to be carried, plus no eavesdroppers would be able to understand you."

Chip let the grapnel swing down and slapped one paw to his forehead. "Uh... Duh! Yes, by all means do it that way."

One of his first creations was his darning thread and bobby pin grapnel and line. He popped the pin open and swung it a few times, testing the weight. It felt a fraction heavier than his usual one - no more than the merest hint, though.

It and the other items went into his jacket, and an improvised backpack. A covered craft knife blade, edged with masking tape, which acted as screwdriver, knife and mirror combined, several pins, a chewing gum stick cut into much smaller pieces, a salad oil sachet, rubber gloves, thumbtack bolas and grenades, the red LED torch, and his grapnel line. Minimum weight, maximum utility.

<Background music ends>

"This should be about everything. I could make more things but this mission probably won't require them, and I don't want to carry weight I don't have to. Stand back while I check something."

He smoothly drew the grapnel line, popped open the booby pin and threw it to catch on an angle-poise lamp frame then jumped off, swinging around. Some cotton reels had been set up on cardboard stands on the floor and desk.

He swung down, dropped off and flung out dummy, talcum loaded thumb tack discii at them. A bolas went for chair legs, and one discus flew high towards a target painted with a red mustache.

Chip successfully powdered and entangled a few inanimate objects, which elicited brief applause from Gadget; less fortunately, her first attempt at a chipmunk sized radio harness was a terrible fit. However, with a few pointers from Chip, she adjusted it until it is a correct fit.

Controls were simple enough; there were none. The radio was simply continuously locked to 'transmit', largely because, as Sparky points out, any advantage Chip could gain by requesting information would almost certainly not outweigh the potential loss if his position (and, more importantly, existence) were given away.

Finally, Sparky offered to drive him to Nimnul's lab, if he was ready to go.

"No time like the present... So no Rangerwing or Rangerplane... oh, of course, you still have the Screaming Eagle." He grinned, it wasn't like this Gadget would be able to build vehicles out of bleach bottles.

Chip climbed back up the rope and reloaded his backpack from his spares. He checked over the layout map one more time, though it was already committed to memory, and not that different from the one in his own universe.

"Ready when you are Sparky." the chipmunk detective said, looking up at the human. "No not quite." He slipped on rubber glove finger boots.

"Right -" Sparky reached out one hand, and then suddenly drew it back. "Wait, my charge might injure you."

"I'll help!" offered Gadget quickly, offering a hand for Chip to climb onto, in order to carry him to the car. Chip quickly removed the booties. Although he would have been okay with Sparky, he wasn't about to pass up the chance to be carried by Gadget.

---<Scene fades and dissolves, cutting to a generic 'later'>---

Sparky's car was a bright electric yellow. ("More visible." he explained. "If other motorists can see me more easily, they're less likely to run into me.") His plan was to simply turn up at Nimnul's lab accompanied by Monty, Tammy, and Foxglove (Gadget staying behind to keep an ear on the radio), make an obvious attempt to bluff his way into the lab (which Nimnul will see through right away), and then head back to RRHQ, leaving Chip behind.

"Park with the passenger side door away from the lab and when Monty gets out, I will too. I'll get around to that eastern vent, should have the best cover."

As they pulled up Chip confirmed Nimnul was just as ineffectual as a gardener in this reality as in his own. The weeds and other vegetation could have hidden a cat, so a single chipmunk wouldn't be noticeable to the security cameras covering the exterior.

As the door opened he hopped down from the dash to the seat and to the ground then hit four paw drive before Monty, in the front seat could properly get moving. It took only moments to get around to the vent high up on the wall.

Chip stepped back, pulled out the grapnel and whoosh, ch'ck, flung the bobby pin end to catch on an overhang. He could operate relatively freely because a camera was directly overhead. Of course it was trained outwards, quite effective at detecting any intruder trying to approach the wall. Human intruder that is. A moments climbing and he was below the grille that covered the vent.

Even from here he could feel the stream of warm air ruffling his fur. But he had other things to worry about. Hanging by on paw, with a leg wrapped around the thread, he picked a piece of foil covered gum from a pocket and lobbed it gently underarm at the grille watching for the spark that would indicate it was electrified...

No spark sparked from the grating.

It didn’t take long at all for Chip to open the grating and move in; it appeared that there were absolutely no security measures on it at all, as if Nimnul had never expected anyone small enough to fit through the air conditioning vents to ever try to sneak in.

The downside, however, is that no-one small enough to fit in ever had tried to sneak in; that is, the occasional bit of string or wood carefully placed by the Rangers back home to make navigation of the air conditioning system easier, weren't anywhere to be seen.

Generally, this was merely a minor annoyance, easily solved with a piece of grappling string or a little extra exertion (often both).

Fairly shortly, he was standing in an air conditioning shaft, knowing that when he turned the next corner he will be able to see into the lab but (technically) anyone in the lab would be able to spot him..

Which is why he ate a piece of chewing gum a moment before. The sticky wad went on the end of a pin, and the mirror polished craft knife blade is stuck to it at an angle, making an improvised periscope.

From where he stood, in fact for the last length of pipe traversal, the occasional voice was audible...

Nimnul: "And stay away! Hrmph!"

Vaguely familiar voice: "Want me to, shall we say, speed their passage?"

Nimnul: "You can do that?"

VFV: "An interesting question. Do I call down a storm of lightning upon them for bothering you, or upon you for bothering to answer the door? Or perhaps I should do both..."

Nimnul: "I'm back! I'm back!"

VFV: "So, what do you say?"

Dale, sounding tired and drained and, more importantly, sounding like a chipmunk: "I - would never -"

VFV: "Not ready yet."

Sound effect: *TZZZZZZT*

Dale (chipmunk voice): "AAAAAAH!"

Dale (human tonal range): "Stop that! What's he ever done to you?"

Chip sees several people.

Nimnul has his back to the shaft Chip is in (well, more his left shoulder, but there's no way he can see Chip with turning his head), facing a machine covered in dials and buttons. Chip might feel there is something not unfamiliar about the design...

Attached to the machine, held down and prevented from escaping, is Chipmunk-Dale. For unknown reasons, he's wearing a green shirt instead of his usual Hawaiian one - he's also the only one facing even roughly towards the grille in front of Chip.

He's looking rather more than mildly singed, and it doesn't take much imagination to see what's going on, especially when Nimnul pulls a lever and shocks Chipmunk-Dale.

The VFV is immediately recognised as well; Foxglove. (Bat, not human.) Facing the chipmunk in the machine and ignoring the air conditioning shaft.

Up slightly, and further from the shaft, there is... some kind of sphere, made, apparently, of pure electricity. (Or possibly lightning.) On the inside - somehow supported by the lightning - are two humans and a dog, all pretty badly singed (but not as bad as chipmunk-Dale); the humans are instantly recognisable (largely in their choice of upper-body clothing) as Chip and human-Dale, while the dog is the same one as was on the team photo earlier, wearing no collar. He actually reminds one rather of Plato...

"What's he done to me?" screams Foxglove, firing lightning from her wings at human-Dale, who staggers backwards, looking even more singed. "For the fiftieth time, you're a prisoner, you're not supposed to ask ANYTHING!" She sighs. "I've had it with you lot!"

Lightning flies around their heads, narrowing down until it is a narrow band around the mouth; from their reactions, it is pretty obvious that this is not exactly a painless gag, although it appears effective.

Chip thought fast. The bat that looked like Foxglove seemed to be in charge... If she was actually _listening_, he was already done for. Even an ordinary bat could hear a penny drop in a crowded room, but Foxglove could tell you which side it landed on.

Fortunately she appeared to be completely absorbed in a villainous rant. He was something of a connoisseur of these, having heard so many, and he had to give her full points for style. This hopefully meant she would be aware of a cannon going off right behind her.

He was already moving and formulating a plan. He spoke quietly into the microphone, cupping his paw to reduce stray sound further. He wished he hadn't let them talk him into making this a one way affair.

"They're here! Also Nimnul, some alternate bat Foxglove and an alternate chipmunk Dale. The bat is hostile, apparently in charge and a magic user or has elemental electrical powers. She's using them to hurt your friends. Come in force as fast as possible, but with protection against electrical attacks. She may have other powers, teleportation would explain the disappearances.

"You'll have to get the door on your own, the controls are across a wide open stretch of floor, and I'd be seen. Neutralising the bat is my primary objective, Nimnul secondary. If I get captured I can probe for motives. Keep listening on this channel, you should be able to follow my progress..."

He removed the mike and put it in the top of his backpack, and made a couple of other arrangements. He was now at a grill nearer the wall, and further away from the action, though unlike his original one it gave him access to cover that led all the way to a piece of equipment by Foxglove, and past the device Dale was being tortured on. He winced slightly at each whimper, but he was going as fast as he could.

He filled his mouth with gum and then reached through and undid the screws with his craft knife in a practiced manner, chewing all the while. Two small bobs kept it secure at the top, and he did some mental calculations, muttering 'adjusting for equilibrium and applying Guttamech's principle of opposing forces in motion...' through the chewing gum.

He pulled the sticky mass out of his mouth and tested the viscosity, just right. The lump was stuck with precise force just inside the edge. Then grabbing the end of it in a piece of foil, he jumped. As he fell, the chewing gum stretched and slowed his fall. At the right heartbeat, he let go and dropped lightly to the floor, rolling to one side. The chewing gum had reached it's plastic limit, and the shock snapped back up the thread, releasing it from the top. The thread of gum glooped down into a heap which he left, only grabbing a couple of pawfuls in foil. They would be useful later. Much faster and less audible than sliding down a thread.

It is at this point that Chip is noticed, but not by the bat, who does not seem to be paying attention...

"You're a nasty traitor, Nightbloom!" says Chipmunk-Dale, suddenly, apparently trying to ensure that Chip remained unnoticed by keeping the bat's attention. "When were you planning on telling Nimnul that your spell to kill everyone who is an alternate of a rescue ranges back home will kill him too?"

Chip thought fast. 'So they're from the same alternate, it seems and Fox... Nightbloom is a villain. But why... unless there's some sort of sympathetic component to this spell that needs this world's alternates... but why only those three.'

"What makes you think I was planning to tell him at all?" asked Nightbloom, keeping her voice well out of human range. Then she dropped into human-audible tones: "He's still defiant. Zap him again, a big one."

There was another shock.

Chip retrained the urge to jump straight in. First he’d have to set up a distraction. When it went off, that would be the best time to strike. 'She's calling the shots, as I thought. But what has she offered Nimnul.. the death of this world's Rangers?'

"I know you won't kill me." gasped Chipmunk-Dale after it was over. "So -"

"What you're getting is designed to reshape your brain." said the bat. "Either to control you or shatter your fragile mentality so that I can permanently rebuild it my way."

'So she wants him as some sort of trophy, sort of a twisted reflection of our world... But why is human-Dale held then? And where are the other Rangers... unless in their world those three are all that's left...' the thought sickened him.

He scampered across under machines to the back of the device Nimnul was using. The back was a rats nest of cables... No, he'd know some very fastidious rats who'd never let their places get into this kind of shape.

Power cables went every which way plugging into multi-way sockets. There was heat from the cooling fans at the back of the device, and the overloaded multi-way sockets, and that gave him an idea. He pulled out the salad cream sachet and scored it lightly, then pulled up on a multi-way adapter just enough to leave a small gap between it and the socket without disconnecting anything. It almost burned his paws.

He was tempted to pull it and stop the torture above, but that would only get him caught and wouldn't stop it for long. Still he felt like a heel, even as he jammed the sachet into the crack. Now it would heat up, and the air inside would expand, and at a certain point... sploot! Since salad cream changed to a polar solvent at elevated temperatures, it would conduct and hopefully short the entire works.

He continued across the floor under benches, moving as quietly as possible to avoid alerting Foxglove's hearing. As he got to his target machine, he pulled out the globs of chewing gum, and used them, one in each paw, to climb up the slick plastic.

As soon as he reached the top, he'd spring up and lob a net-discus to entangle her, taking her out of the sky and preventing her casting spells that required gestures, and a sneezing smoke discus on a curve to prevent verbal spells and serve as a distraction. Hopefully he'd have at least one clear shot before she noticed him...

"Back home." gasped Chipmunk-Dale. "If we were back home, you could be stopped; the DAMES would protect us."

"There is no DAMES here." replied Nightbloom. "It was never invented in this reality." Then, to Nimnul, "Shock him again."

*TZZZZZT*

*Ka-splortch!*

With surprising suddenness, the salad dressing packet exploded. Chip jumped, firing a net-discus and sneezing powder as fast as he could...

Both were direct hits. Nightbloom, entangled in the net, and sneezing crashed to the ground. Human-Chip looked hopeful, and mimed cheering as well as he could with the lightning gag. Chipmunk-Dale, whose restraints had popped loose as the power went, was already up and moving as fast as he - rather shakily - could, grabbing a blunt object and...

And then the net turned to dust.

Chipmunk-Dale rose through the air, apparently lifted by nothingness around his neck. Simultaneously, so did Chip; he could feel a force around his neck, holding him up, making breathing difficult but not impossible; that is, his neck could feel it, it appears to be intangible to paws.

"Pick." snorts Nightbloom. "I should have guessed you'd turn up, Doodad would have to have traced us and sent you. But what's this? No Dames? Oh, poor preparation, poor, poor preparation - unless - you're another alternate?"

Chip finds himself pulled through the air until he's face-to-face with the bat.

"Let me teach you a lesson." she hissed. "Rule one: you don't mess with the bat."

It was difficult to focus... difficult to think as he instinctively grappled at the immaterial bands around his throat. But she was right in front of him...

He snapped at her muzzle with his teeth, while pulling a sleeping powder discus from his jacket and slamming it, face on and with all the force he could muster, into her solar plexus.

The bomb should explode and she would exhale, then inhale just as the cloud engulfed her. Maybe she could cast spells without having to speak or move, but there was no way she could do it while unconscious.

The sleeping powder discus slammed into what felt rather like a steel wall; hard and unyielding.

Nightbloom grinned, evilly. "Oh, come now. You don't think I'd have protected - myself against (yawn) mere physic-al - al vio - vi - violins?"

Chip felt the bonds around his neck relax slightly as Nightbloom yawned again.

He remembered instinctively gasping for breath as this happened, realising only a moment later that he was breathing the same powder-laced air as Nightbloom...

...and next thing, he was being revived by a thimble-ful of water to the face. Coughing and spluttering, he looked up to see Chipmunk-Dale holding an empty thimble and smiling.

"Thanks for the rescue." he said, keeping his voice fairly soft. "Things were looking really grim there for a while." He held out a paw to shake. "My name's Lad."

Behind him, a now-free Human-Chip and Human-Dale were standing guard over a pretty thoroughly cowed Nimnul.

A short distance away, Nightbloom continued to sleep quietly.

Chip's immediate reaction was to look around. Seeing things under control, he spoke.

"I’m Chip. It's okay, we Rescue Rangers need to stick together. So you did spot me doing my bungee act. You didn't do so bad yourself, feeding me that information, and under torture too."

"Thanks. Incidentally, have you got another of those sleep grenades? I'd prefer not to take any chances with Nightbloom..."

"Always carry plenty of them..." Chip handed over another sleep discus.

He took the paw and shook it. He was kind of surprised at how steady this Lad seemed. While his determination had been expected when the chips or should that be Chip was down, now that things were safe he should have been cracking a joke about Dark Invader or getting there in the 'neck' of time.

"One second." He got back up and spoke into his mike. "Things are okay here. Your friends are free and Nimnul and the bat are neutralised. But get over here for the cleanup please."

He turned back to Lad. "No need for thanks. Besides, I messed up. I meant to hold my breath when that sleepy cloud went off. If the ball lightning hadn't been Foxglove's doing... It would have been bad..." He looked the other up and down. "Or did you have to take a hand?"

"The ball lightning was Nightbloom's. You were out for less than a minute; Nightbloom fell asleep about the same time you did, and all her magic collapsed."

"In my dimension your analogue is called Dale, my best friend and a guy you can rely on, but a bit of a goofball at times, and Foxglove is a key member of the Rangers. What's the full story behind this little scene?"

Lad doesn't answer this until after Nightbloom has been fed the contents of another sleep grenade, but once that's done, he'll find a place to sit - he looks exhausted - and explain: )

"Your 'Dale' sounds like my world's 'Pick' - your analogue. I can only infer the beginning; I assume that this Nimnul managed to summon up Nightbloom as someone who could easily destroy the Rangers and could be persuaded to do so. I do know why he summoned me up - Nightbloom's never forgiven me for deciding that I'm not interested in her; my capitulation would have been her price." Lad pointed one paw at the three humans and the dog: "From their conversation, I gathered that Nightbloom was going to release a spell to kill the analogues of our universe's rangers; that is, the two humans and the dog in the cage, together with Nimnul himself."

"I thought it was something like that, but if so, why was your analogue a part of the spell? I thought she wanted you submissive, not dead. And does that mean that in your universe Nimnul is part of the Rangers, but Gadget Hackwrench and Monterey Jack Colby aren't? ... sorry, a blonde haired girl mouse with a mind bashingly high IQ, and a big tough Australian mouse with a cheese..."

It's at about this point that there's a thump from the doors that shakes the building. From here, the screen showing the door view is visible; it shows some sort of giant, apparently part-chipmunk creature; big enough to have trouble fitting through the doors he they were open, and covered in muscles.

It's voice carried over the speaker circuit - "CHIP SMASH PUNY DOOR!"

"Uh oh! Just before I started, I called this world's Rangers for backup in force. Looks like they took me at my word..." Chip dashed towards the door control, calling on his headset, "Guys, get that... me to stand down! Everything's under control!"

He bounded over and flung his bobby pin grapnel line to hook over the top of the control panel, then swarmed up. He called into the intercom. "Calm down Chip! Everyone's safe in here." He hoped that this guy still understood chipmunkese.

"What is that thing?" asked human-Chip. Unable to understand the chipmunks, he had no idea where it was from, watching as it prepared for another charge...

"CHIP CALM. PUNY DOOR DARE TO STAND AGAINST CHIP. CHIP SMA-"

It's at that point that the huge Chip outside vanishes. Directly behind him, Gadget, Sparky, Monty, Tammy and Foxglove are all visible; Gadget's holding the Genieator that she just used to send the latest incarnation of Chip back to his home dimension with. She's also wearing the frequency modulator on a string around her neck.

"Tammy!" said human-Chip, opening the door.

Tammy rushes in to hug him, while Foxglove rushes in to hug Dale, and Zip, like a good guard dog, keep his eyes on Nimnul and growls if he so much as moves a muscle. Gadget sighs in the background, and Monty puts a comforting hand on her shoulder, saying something quietly.

Lad comes up behind Chip during this: "I think I know the two you refer to. Our analogue of "Gadget" was a con artist; the first case we had involving her was, oh, years ago now. It was Doodad's - that is, our version of him -" Lad indicates Nimnul - "first and only field assignment; he was a little too enthusiastic with his dimensional portal generator, though, and ended up sending her into an alternate universe. Years later, we found out that she'd taken the name 'Lawhinie' and lived on some Hawaiian island, eventually causing problems for that world's rangers."

Chip did a double take. "_We_ have a Lawhinie in our world... but I'm certain she's not an alternate universe version of Gadget."

Lad grinned. "Until our second visit, that's what most people in the other universe thought, too; including Lawhinie. From what I understand of this dimensional travelling theory, though, that doesn't mean a thing.

"As for Monty - the only big tough Australian mouse with a cheese fixation I know of in my world would be Mozarella Jim. He's kind of the big cheese of the criminal underworld, really.

"And yes, she did want me submissive, not dead. But she couldn't care less about any other versions of me. Well, technically speaking, anyone who looks like me as well - she's tried getting at a parallel version of me a couple of times."

"This would be the parallel world where your 'Lawhinie' is. Oh, I see, the spell was going to kill the ones _here_. Sorry, I just realised what you meant. For some reason I thought she might be after the Rangers in your universe. It seems unusually elaborate though. I assume the idea was to kill them without leaving a trace of foul play."

"That's probably what Nimnul thought, too. And she could do it, make the bodies vanish or something, or even just trigger four simultaneous heart attacks. But I find myself doubting she'd do that. It would be of no importance to her, and she tends to ignore things like that."

Lad thought back for a moment over the recent conversation, and continued. "I think that's about it... but tell me, you look like a fellow used to going solo, but you say you've got a fairly large team. How did that turn out to be the case?"

"That's a long, depressing story, though it does have a happy ending, well sorta. Short version, in my world the Rangers broke up about two years ago. Oh, we're back now, and stronger than ever, but in the mean time I had to take over the work myself. I had to become a bit of an all rounder, because I didn't have the others backing my plays.

"I like to think it made me a better leader, a more capable Ranger, and a better person, surviving on my own. Before I'd gotten by mostly on what I'd learned from watching detective Drake and reading Sureluck Jones novels. And my only real leadership experience was bossing Dale around. But during those two years I studied, everything from criminal psychology to blind reading, audited courses at the Police Academy, developed my own techniques... and got a lot of hands-on experience."

"It sounds like an interesting story. A one-munk anti-crime crusade? I think a fellow can learn a lot that way."

Chip grimaced. "Mostly, when to duck, and not to lead with my chin. Seriously, I suspect it would be a lot better to hear about than experience. But if you're interested, I could talk some more when we get back to the local Ranger's headquarters. Maybe you can avoid some of my mistakes."

"It would be interesting, but I might find I have to go back with Nightbloom or something."

Chip glanced around. "Looks like our local counterparts have finished their romantic reunions. What do you say we go over and meet our selves?"

"Yes... I'm still struggling with the idea of me as a human, though." said Lad.

Chip shook his head. "You and me both, but a version of me with Tammy? _That’s_ beyond weird."

It was, conveniently, at this point that Gadget, kneeling down next to the table, bought her face level with the chipmunk's. "I want to say thank you for what you did." she says, smiling. "You might not have saved the universe, but you certainly saved the Rangers."

"Allow me to add my thanks, too." said human-Chip. "Quite aside from finally having something to charge Nimnul with that people can believe and saving my life and those of my team mates, you've opened my eyes to a whole society I'd never known of before, a -"

"Chip." said Gadget, "They're from an alternate universe. Meet, well, Chip and, um..."

"Lad." said Lad.

"...Lad." said Gadget.

"Pleased to meet you." Chip said, nodding politely. "I'm just glad I could help. I'm still trying to get used to the idea of talking to humans like equals."

Human-Chip nodded. "Yes, I'm having trouble getting used to the idea of talking to a chipmunk, too..."

"I've rarely met Speakers in my home dimension... sorry, that's a very rare human, usually an innocent such as a very young child, who can understand us. I'm apparently your analogue in my universe. Looks like I don't have anything to worry about if someone zaps me with a metamorphiser set to human."

Human-Chip grinned.

Chipmunk-Chip paused for a moment. "Maybe we could sit down over a glass of orange juice and discuss police methods before I go back. I've audited police academy courses, talked shop with police dogs, but it's not the same."

"I'd love to." (OOC: It might be best if that happens off-stage, though, since I have no idea how a policeman would talk shop to anyone, nevermind a chipmunk...)

"Just a question:" began Lad, "what happens when Nightbloom and I get sent back? Where do we turn up?"

Gadget frowned. "You know, I'm not entirely sure... but probably right back where you came from, just a while later. Well, of course that's under the assumption that time runs at the same speed in all universes, which is quite frankly no more than an assumption, I mean if time in this universe runs slower or faster than your universe then the time you spend here will be expanded or compressed by the relevant factor, and then of course there's the question of movement from where you entered this universe, I mean what with the Earth moving around the sun and rotating around it's own axis, if your Earth was at a different point in it's orbit then I suppose it's not impossible that you could end up at a completely different location, and then of course there's the assumption that time goes in the same direction in both universes, if that's not the case then simply being here for several hours would translate into a potentially substantial change in position..."

She considered briefly. "Well, getting you back shou-"

"GADGET!" shouted Chip. "Don't do that!"

"Don't do wha- oh, right, I nearly said 'shou-'"

"Gadget!"

"Oh, um, ooops. Right. Well, getting you back..." Gadget paused a moment to consider the options. "...would probably work with no problems, but even if there are problems, I can get you back to the right universe and probably the right planet."

"Sorry about that." said Chip. "It's just that whenever Gadget says 'should', bad things tend to happen."

Chip, chipmunk Chip that is, chuckled at the exchange. "Which only goes to prove that some things are pan-dimensional and pan-species. I'm guessing when she uses the words beginning with N and P the result is also anything but…"

He shrugged. "Well her inventions usually push the envelope so hard you can taste the gumming, so I guess you have to expect the occasional paper cut."

Human-Chip nodded. "Exactly." Lad looked slightly confused by the exchange, but let it pass.

"So... if I have no idea where Nightbloom was fetched from, then I won't be able to find her before that sleeping tablet wears off?" asked Lad, sticking to his original concern.

Gadget shook her head. "No. You wouldn't arrive in the same place. Well, probably not. And, since the sleeping powder came from this universe, it'll stay behind, so she'd wake up pretty quickly as well."

Lad frowned. "Taking her into custody is going to be difficult, then. Is there any chance I can fetch something from my home universe?"

Gadget glanced towards Nimnul's genieator. "It's possible... why, what would you like to fetch?"

Lad grinned. "One of Doodad's inter-dimensional radios. Then, once we have communication, he can open a portal home. He's been working for a long time on a jail cell capable of holding Nightbloom... I think it's time we put it to the test."

Chip had refrained from butting in, but now he said, "I'm glad that's sorted out. But if material from this universe stays here when we're returned, I'll have to have a rain-check on that orange juice. But I still want that talk. Shall we go?"

"Well, I'd need to re-configure Nimnul's genieator for the inter-dimensional radio for Lad, but really the best place for that would be wherever Lad's version of RRHQ is..."

"Right here, in Doodad's lab." said Lad.

"Oh. Well, then, if everyone can wait a few minutes... well actually it should take about seventeen... sixteen minutes and thirty-two seconds to be exact..."

Sixteen minutes and thirty-two seconds later, during which time Chip, Chip and Lad had been discussing police procedures, the radio arrived; and shortly after that, Lad managed to arrange with Doodad for a portal to carry Nightbloom through; which would both take the sleeping powder in her bloodstream with and make sure that he knew where to find her to put her in Doodad's new anti-magic cell. After a round of goodbyes, Lad stepped through the portal (a voice very like Chip's was heard to make some comment about how batty one would have to be to carry Nightbloom over any sort of threshold just before it closed).

Another two hours and forty-two minutes later, the two Chips had finished talking about police procedure; they'd found, in their discussion, no less than seventeen differences in procedure between the two dimensions, all minor points that could be chosen either way with equal or near-equal efficiency. During that time, Nimnul had been incarcerated in a cell, on charges of kidnapping. (Human-Chip didn't think he could make conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to torture stick when both the co-conspiring torturer and the torturee were in a different universe and non-human on top of that).

And finally, it was time for Chip to leave; the insistent demands for liquid refreshment that his throat was making were slowly becoming more important, and he wasn't all too sure that he necessarily wanted to drink water that wouldn't stay with him when he left.

And so, finally, it was time to say goodbye. He ended up with a series of goodbye hugs (from, in order, Gadget, Tammy, and Foxglove), handshakes (from Chip, Dale, and Monty), a wave from Sparky, and a lick that left him glad that liquids from this universe would stay in this universe from Zip (who had, fortunately, decided after a vigorous bit of sniffing that Chip was evidently not deserving of harm, although Monty had kept a very close eye on the dog, just in case).

"Goodbye!" was Sparky's final word as Gadget reached for the button on the genieator that would send him home.

Gadget paused just a moment before hitting the button. "Normally, at this point, the polite thing to say would be 'see you later', only in this case there is an extra difficulty in that that's only really possible if we pull you out of your home universe yet again, which would be very impolite, I mean it's not as if we could ask permission first or anything, unless of course it was in a case of dire emergency as was the case this time, only I really hope we never need you that desperately again, so please don't take it the wrong way when I say I really hope we never need to bring you here again."

"It's okay. I'm just really glad I could help. Fare well, and now, Rescue Ranger away..."

Chip had a sensation of falling a few millimeters, and came to in his own bed. It was still dark out, though the first gleam of morning was showing through the window. He sat up quickly and looked around. For a second he thought he'd been dreaming, but when he looked down, he saw that he was on top of his covers and undressed. His nightshirt, however, was still under the covers where he should have been.

"Ohmigosh, it really happened. I hope Lad is alright, and things work out. He has a tough row to hoe as leader of his Rescue Rangers, it looks like." he said to himself. His throat was dry, and his mind was racing. As he got up, he speculated on telling the others. No, it wasn't like he had any proof.

"Alternate universes, and alternate Rangers..." he said quietly to himself. "Why there could be anything out there! One's where we're all bad guys, or even a where the genders are reversed... nah, that would be just too weird."

And then he got his glass of orange juice from the kitchen, and went back to bed. Tomorrow, they would start on Operation Treasure Hunt, and he needed to be rested up.

Fin

Afterword: In case you're wondering, Nightbloom, Lad, Pick, and Doodad are all characters from CCC's most excellent 'Lawhinie Cases' series, specifically 'Case 4 - Fractured Mirror' and sequels.

Read these, they are well worth it. I want to thank CCC for letting me play in his universe, and hope we can do it again some day.

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