ZWEI - THE DODGING GAME: WORK
Foxglove landed in front of the door, feeling quite energetic, as her ears and tail showed. She entered the tree house and made a beeline to her bedroom, ignoring Chip, who was on the couch and watching the morning news. Quietly, she entered her room, and when she saw/heard her husband asleep, yet another naughty look crept on her face. Locking the door, she echosounded her tamias once more. Ever since puberty, she had felt these urges during the fall season, but now that she had a husband, it seemed that this year all the previous urges came in a single bundle and landed on her like an anvil, all wanting to be released from their long-held denial. For a moment, she became scared, and almost ashamed, of the ideas that were currently running through her head. Always a shy one, she had suppressed these thoughts whenever they came, but now, they seemed to have a mind of their own, and would not be placated until they were put to action. The pipistrell wondered for a moment if *she* was being the selfish one, or even an immoral one, wanting to do with Dale whatever came to her mind, but then she saw/heard the ring on his digit.
She looked/echosounded down and saw/heard the ring on *her* thumbclaw as well.
Well, while the ideas were a trifle kinky by definition, they weren’t immoral at all, because, after all, they were legally married. Something in the back of her head then made her realise something else:
Her desires were natural.
Her feelings were natural.
And he was most certainly willing to help her, well, until last night, but the night was over.
This was all perfectly moral.
And perfectly legal as well.
*……Luceeeeeeeeeelle……* she thought. Not wanting to waste any more time thinking about all this, she sneaked over to the bed, leaned down, and with a tremendously feather-light touch, began stroking his right ear with her wingtip.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” was his response to that, as he had just dreamed that his mutant cub was about to bite his ear off.
“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” was *her* response to his response. At more or less the same time, he sat up on the bed while she jumped back from the bed. Nearly hyperventilating, both looked/echosounded at each other. Dale held the sheets in a death-grip, covering his chest, and looking at her as if she were some kind of monster. Foxglove, on the other paw, was once again trying to unstop her ears, frightened by his unexpected response to her affections. Before anyone could begin to explain, there was a knock on their door.
“Guys! I’m sorry to interrupt, but we have an emergency case! Come on!” They both heard Chip run down the hall toward Gadget’s room. Almost relieved that they had this interruption, both decided that it would be best to discuss this incident later. The chiropterid left their room while the sciurid looked for his shirt.
At Gadget’s door, Chip knocked and chattered, “Gadget! We need both planes ready now! We have an emergency case!” Barely awake, Gadget left her room some two minutes later and began padding down the hall, promptly passed by Dale, Monterey, and Zipper. At the hangar, Chip handed her a note and told her, “Quick! Take this to the Rescue Aid Society! We’re gonna need all the help we can get on this case!”
“Golly, Chip, what’s the case?” she asked, still a bit sleepily.
“No time to explain now! Let’s just say we’re gonna do more rescuing than detective work! Let’s go!” Grasping the seriousness of the situation, the mousemaid blinked away the remainder of her lethargy, boarded the Ranger Wing, and the others boarded the Ranger Plane. The hangar’s new automatic door lifted out of the way, letting the sunlight inside. As they took off, and the hangar’s door closed, Zipper sounded his bugle call, and they all yelled,
“RESCUE RANGERS AWAY!!” As they left the park, Chip called out,
“Gadget, go to the RAS! The note will explain everything! Hurry! Meet us at the north side of the city!” Pulling her goggles over her eyes, she replied,
“Gotcha!” Both aircraft banked and headed in opposite directions, with Foxglove flying beside the Ranger Plane.
“Now, what’s the rush?” she asked. Chip explained,
“Remember that case when the moles tried to bring down every single building in the city?”
“Too roight!” replied the murid. “But didn’t they fix all the foundations already?” Chip’s grim expression intensified,
“They thought they did. One building at the north side just collapsed. It was an old masonry building; no humans in it.”
“So if there are no humans involved, what’s the emergency?” asked Zipper. Chip took a breath, and replied,
“Under the building there was a mole colony.” Everyone gasped and flattened their ears at this reply. The sciurid continued, “The collapse was mentioned in the news. They said that it happened a couple of hours ago. Since there were no humans inside I was going to ignore that, but right after Foxy came back this morning, a rabbit, a mole, and a badger arrived. The three were covered with dirt and they were bruised and cut all over. They had told me that they had escaped from the rubble and came to call us. After they explained everything I gave them the address of the nearest animal hospital, for their own injuries, and to bring ambulances to the site.”
“Oh no! I thought I heard a rumbling sound a couple of hours ago!” exclaimed the verspetilionid. “I thought it was thunder, but I didn’t think much of it because I saw a few clouds up north and thought it was just a small storm!”
“That’s okay, Foxy,” soothed her husband. “I know you were distracted with—other things. It’s not your fault. Others must have heard the noise and rushed to help by now.” Still, Dale couldn’t help but feel guilty himself. Then again, neither would have known about this anyway if Foxglove had stayed inside.
“There may already be other rescue teams, but we have to get all those moles out of there!” yelled Chip, trying to get as much speed out of the Ranger Plane as he could. Suddenly, Dale thought of something,
“Waittaminute, why? If they’re moles, can’t they dig themselves out?” Chip’s response was one well placed bonk. Foxglove was about to land on the plane and bonk Chip with both wings for doing that to her husband, but he explained,
“Many of the moles are injured, AND they’re surrounded by bedrock and masonry. According to the badger, no set of burrowing claws can get through except through one narrow passage, and since there are no humans there, the humans won’t pick up the rubble for days! We need every single burrowing mammal around, and that’s why I sent Gadget with the note to the RAS!” The pipistrell then said,
“But Chip, I’m not a burrowing mammal! What can I do?” The tamias replied, while still keeping his eyes up front,
“Find Otis. Find every single bat you can get, and bring them to the north side! We need sonar and super hearing to know where to dig! Meet us at the north side!!”
“Okay! See you, Cutie!” With that, Foxglove banked and went to find Otis and the other bats. Meanwhile, the males continued to fly toward the downed building in total silence. That was until Chip quietly asked,
“Dale?”
“What?”
“I’m thinking of asking Gadget to soundproof your room.” The Comedian suddenly became nervous, as his sweat glands showed, along with his ears, and his speech pattern,
“Uh…w-why?” The Detective’s grim face relaxed slightly, and he sighed,
“Let’s just say that I got a rude wake-up call at four a.m. by a screaming chipmunk.” The sweating tamias began to blush.
“Oh. Uh…um…sorry about that, Chip. What happened was that—”
“DON’T EXPLAIN, PLEASE,” he interrupted, getting nervous himself, and with his face now expressing a bit of regret for bringing up this subject. “Dale, I don’t want to embarrass you by having you go into detail. I know you two are newlyweds and it would be very rude of me to ask you to keep things quiet.”
“But Chip, that’s not what—” Chip’s eyes now showed just a hint of longing and loneliness, but he still kept his gaze ahead.
“Look, Dale, I already feel awful by interrupting you this morning. I heard you scream again, in fact, I think the whole park did. You don’t have to feel guilty. We all knew we’d have to make adjustments, and so we’re gonna adjust a bit more.” Dale opened his mouth and was about to explain what had happened, but then he hushed. Since this *was* between him and Foxglove, maybe they should keep it that way, for now.
“Dale?” asked his best friend again.
“Yes?” The Detective was silent for a moment, and then said,
“I—I just want you to know that—that I—feel a little—jealous of you—of you both.” The Comedian blinked and raised an eyebrow as he turned to ask,
“Jealous? Why on earth for?”
“Well, like I told you before, you found the love of your life, and you are now together—forever. It’s—it’s just that sometimes I wonder if—if—if I will ever experience what you two have.” Dale’s ears relaxed and he put one arm on his friend’s shoulder,
“Aw, don’t feel that way, Chip! I know you will have that, too! Gadget will soon see what a great guy you are!” Chip sighed once more, raised his ears, and then smiled at his lifelong friend.
“Thanks, Dale.” Monterey and Zipper, who had been hearing all of this, decided to add their own opinion.
“Too roight! I’m sure Gadget will come around soon enough!”
“Just be patient, Chip! It will happen to you as well!” Then, Monterey tapped Dale’s shoulder. The sciurid turned around, and saw that both the murid and the muscid were winking at him and had one thumbpaw/thumb-appendage up, not to mention they had that you’re-certainly-proving-yourself-as-a-male-to-your-wife look on their faces. Dale blushed and turned around again. His own image as a male wasn’t exactly what he hoped it would be, not since last night, anyway.
Ten minutes later, they arrived at the scene. Before them was a huge pile of grey stony rubble surrounded by a wide expanse of grass dotted with a few trees. Littered upon the rubble were several rabbits, moles, badgers, and ground squirrels. The Rangers jumped off the Ranger Plane and ran/flew to where a distraught rabbit was standing, surveying the whole scene before him. Chip saw his face and drooped ears, and asked,
“You had friends in there?”
“Plenty,” replied the lagomorph, still looking at the rubble.
“What’s the situation, mate?” asked murid. The leporid sighed and began explaining,
“It’s not good. Those stupid moles decided to use the basement of the building as a base of some sort, when it only had one entry through the bedrock, which is sealed off now. Then they began digging under the basement, down to the bedrock, to make more room. A while back, some crazy moles messed with the foundations and the building nearly collapsed right there and then, but they got some sense knocked into them and they repaired them. They thought they had the foundations all nice and stable again, but I guess that an engineering error and the earlier damage was just too much. Now, several galleries, three, I think, may have collapsed under the basement.” The Ranger’s faces became as grim as the rabbit’s now, and their ears were just as low, too.
“Have any burrowers got here?” asked Dale, wondering how they were going to rescue everyone.
“You can see that there are some badgers and ground squirrels above, trying to reach them from the top, but there are too few.” The fly piped up, and patted the rabbit’s shoulder,
“Don’t you worry! More burrowers are on the way, as well as echolocators! We’ll get everyone out!”
“Where is the main entry?” asked the Detective, looking around for a moment. The rabbit’s ears straightened somewhat as he replied,
“The *only* entry from above ground is behind the building, inside a tree. The tunnel goes straight down for a bit and then levels off, and there’s no light. But it’ll take *days* to reach the main gallery, not to mention the ones below it!”
“Then we’d better start working now!” said Chip. “Monty, Zipper, stay here and wait for Gadget and Foxglove, and see if you can help the others above ground! We three will begin digging right away!”
“Roight! Reminds me o’ the time I was trapped inside one o’ King Solomon’s mines…” The mus’ tale faded as he ran toward the rubble, with the musca following him.
“Interesting friend you have there,” commented the oryctolagus, as he began hopping toward the tree. The tamii dropped to all fours and joined in the sprint.
“Don’t mind Monty,” said Dale. “He’s been in plenty of sticky situations before, and he pulled himself out from them. I’m sure he can help us with this! Uh, by the way, what’s your name?”
“Noel. And thanks for the help.” The three then arrived at what appeared to be a normal sycamore tree, with a large hole near the base. They padded inside and dove into a well concealed hole on the ground, running as quickly as they could, first in a steep slope that went some ten metres down, and then sharply turning into a horizontal tunnel, until they reached a huge slab of masonry. “I think the tunnel extends some two feet after this before you reach the actual basement,” panted Noel. “We’ll need a jackhammer to break through!” Chip pulled out his penlight and examined the slab. It seemed smooth and polished. He tapped it, and it sounded quite solid. He turned to the other rodent,
“Dale, I guess we’ll have to dig around it.”
“Dig??!! We’re surrounded by bedrock!” exclaimed Noel, gesturing all around himself. Chip looked around, flashing his penlight all around the tunnel, and explained,
“But do you know how close the actual bedrock is to all the loose dirt here? Maybe it would be better if we got all the dirt out to see how much actual bedrock we have in this tunnel. But we have to start digging somewhere. Come on!” The three then began digging around the slab.
Above ground, Monterey was helping a badger move several slabs aside, trying to reach the basement. After both hauled over what used to be a wooden door, the badger sat down, exhausted,
“That’s one. Four more stories to go. I just hope my friends can hold out until I get there.”
“Well, mate, ye ain’t workin’ alone. Zipper ‘ere can move through the cracks ‘n tell us exactly where t’ dig, roight, Zip?”
“Aye aye!” he buzzed. The carnivore sighed, drooping his ears,
“But even with all of us working non-stop, it will take forever to get to the basement! Will they be alive when we reach them?” The large rodent sat next to him, and patted his arm,
“Doncha worry, mate. ‘Elp is on the way. ‘N lots of it. We Rescue Rangers ‘ave sent word out t’ the four winds, ‘n ‘elp will *come* from the four winds! Now let’s git crackin’!” The mustelid perked up his ears again. With renewed strength, both continued digging wherever Zipper signalled them to.
Thirty minutes later, Gadget arrived with the Ranger Wing. At the same time also arrived a large number of moles, badgers, rabbits, bloodhounds, a few anteaters, and even a pangolin, all wearing the RAS armband. She spotted Monterey on top of the rubble, so she hovered the Ranger Wing just above him.
“Monty!” she called out, and he looked up at her.
“Gadget luv! I see ye brought the cavalry!” he replied. The mousemaid gestured all around,
“All the muscle the RAS could offer, and a few more! Where are Chip and Dale?”
“They’re inside the main tunnel, tryin’ t’ get through! Go inside that tree ‘n you’ll find them!”
“Got it!” Gadget flew the Ranger Wing toward the tree Monterey had pointed at, and landed beside the entrance. Then she pulled out a rather large bundle from the back of the Wing, and hauled it inside the tunnel. Inside, Chip, Dale, and Noel were in the process of pulling the slab down to a horizontal position. They did, but behind the slab was yet another one, only bigger. Noel lopped his ears and cried in desperation,
“We’re not getting anywhere with this!” The chipmunks also sighed and drooped their ears and tails as well. Chip then said,
“Look, Noel, I know this all seems overwhelming, but we sent out for help. Others will come and help everyone out! Others will—”
“Chip!!” All three looked behind them and smelled/heard Gadget approaching. She then stepped in front of the penlight, which Chip had placed on the ground.
“Gadget! You’re here! Did you get the message to the RAS?” he asked, exhaustedly.
“Even better! Once I learned what had happened, I let the RAS get their teams together and bring them here. Meanwhile, I went back to Headquarters to get this!” Gadget then put down her heavy bundle. It looked like a large flat-blade screwdriver with a motor where its grip should have been. Chip immediately identified it with a human machine, but Dale was just a trifle slow to identify it on the spot,
“Hey, neat-o! Uh, what is it?”
“It’s my new battery powered pneumatic jackhammer with a self-contained compressor. I would have made it *hydraulic*, but I was pressed for time. Sorry I’m late.” Noel was more than just a trifle surprised. He partially raised one ear and asked,
“What? You mean you built that thing from scratch in less than an hour?” The mus tilted her head a bit and pondered,
“Well, if you’re referring to the actual assembly process, yes, it took me some twenty minutes to put together but that’s only because I was working like crazy to put it together because it was an emergency but if you’re referring to the whole creation process then it took me about a month to first come up with the idea and then writing down the blueprints which of course took a while since I was working on some other stuff for a while though I wasn’t pressed for time as I was just now so what I did was take what I had already written down and begin the assembly and making a few modifications on the fly because as I said before I didn’t have the time to make it hydraulic and then there’s the problem that I couldn’t test it out yet but seeing that I already had the idea written down and that all the main problems were worked out before today then it should work with no prob—”
The tamii gasped and stiffened their ears and tails.
“Oh, my name is Gadget. What’s yours?” she asked, extending her paw.
“Noel,” replied the oryctolagus, a trifle confused, but still extending a dirty paw out to her. The mus didn’t mind, since she was used to being dirty and greasy. Dale then came up to her, still with his ears and tails stiff,
“Um, Gadget, I know you always know what you’re doin’, but—um—lives are at stake. Are you *sure* this thin’ will work with no problems?”
“Yes,” she replied, quite sure of herself.
“And no anomalies, either?” asked Chip, also with stiff features. The murid thought a bit, and replied,
“Well, I can’t guarantee that. I did try to use the best parts I could find, and the batteries are new, so any chance of anomalies should be kept to a minimum.” Chip knew it was a big gamble. But wasn’t she also taking a big gamble by just dating him? Weren’t they *both* taking a big gamble? He took a deep breath, and said,
“Okay, Gadget. I know we can trust your abilities, especially on emergencies.” He kept in mind all the inventions that *did* work the first time around, including the tank she made when she fought against Bubbles. Maybe extreme situations brought out the best in her—
“How does it work?” asked Dale. Gadget pulled her goggles over her eyes, and with a bit of an effort, lifted the hammer to a horizontal position and pressed it against the slab. She was a bit unsteady with the bulkiness of the hammer, so Chip and Dale flanked her and held it steady for her.
“Oh, thanks guys, I didn’t think we would have to operate it in this position, but I guess it’s too late to modify it now. Now, here’s the power switch,” she nodded to the right handle, “and the speed throttle is on the left handle. Dale, turn it on.” The sciurid was about to say, “Okay, ‘I love you, jackhammer’,” but he realised that while it would have caused confusion on Gadget, Chip would then have bonked him, and it was likely that they would have dropped the jackhammer, with the possibility of damaging it and maybe even hurting Gadget, and lives were at stake, so for once, he decided to keep the Comedian down. After all, this was an emergency.
Everyone closed their eyes, and Dale turned on the jackhammer.
And it seemed that the viscera of the three rodents turned to jelly.
It also seemed to Gadget that the whole world around them had turned into one big blur, as her eyes vibrated with incredible speed. She had underestimated the power of the jackhammer, that, or she had underestimated the strength needed to hold it steady, especially in a horizontal position. All three rodents grabbed the rogue machine with all their strength and planted their foot-paws on the slab under them as firmly as they could, but the jackhammer had a life of its own.
Right before it fell out of their paws, the mousemaid felt two huge paws close over hers, and felt fur on her back. She looked up, and saw the rabbit behind her, eyes closed, adding more stability to the rogue machine.
“G-G-G-G-G-G-G-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-LY-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-TH-TH-TH-TH-A-A-A-A-N-N-K-K-K-K-S-S-S-S-S-S-N-N-N-O-O-O-O-O-E-E-E-E-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-G-G-U-E-E-E-E-E-E-S-S-S-TH-TH-TH-TH-I-I-I-I-I-S-S-S-S-S-W-W-W-W-W-O-O-O-O-R-R-R-R-K-K-K-K-S-S-S-S-S-T-T-T-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-W-W-W-W-W-W-E-E-E-E-E-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-?-?-?-?-?-!-!-!-!” she yelled-stuttered.
“Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-O-O-O-U-U-U-U-U’-R-R-R-E-E-E-T-T-T-T-T-E-E-E-E-E-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-I-I-I-I-I-N-N-N-N-N-N-G-G-G-G-G-G-U-U-U-U-U-U-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!” yelled-stuttered the males back at her. And all had their ears laid back because of the noise. After about a minute of this, no one could stand it anymore, and Dale automatically turned the jackhammer off. Shakily, the four put the machine down, and tried to flex their limbs in order to bring some feeling back into them. Then they began unstopping their ears. The mus pulled her goggles up, and then shook her head. She then saw the others also shaking their heads, and that caused her to suddenly stiffen,
“Shoot. I *knew* I forgot something!”
“WHAT?!” yelled Dale, still with ringing ears.
“Earplugs!!” she yelled back. Chip had already recovered a bit to understand what Gadget had just said. His sharp mind came up with a quick solution. He yelled, trying to hear his own suggestion over the ringing in his ears,
“Wait, we *do* have earplugs! And we have the right material for a custom fit for all of us!”
“We do?” asked the murid, with the ringing in her ears going down now.
“Of course! Dale! How much bubble gum do you have?” It took ten seconds for Dale to decipher what Chip had asked him.
“What? Oh, bubble gum! Hey, I have plenty of it!” He searched in his pockets and pulled out a small stick of a human-size chewing gum. The four took small pieces of it, chewed them for a moment, and carefully inserted the gum in their ears. Quickly, they took their positions again, and Gadget looked at Dale. She nodded two times, and emphasised the third nod. The tamias understood his cue and activated the jackhammer one more time.
Above ground, Monterey and the RAS members were still trying to dig out the moles as quickly as they could. It was when he paused to remove some sweat out of his eyes that he looked up and saw a large flock of birds approaching. As they came closer, he saw that they weren’t birds, but bats. Foxglove heard Monterey, swooped down, and landed in front of him, gasping.
“Huff-puff-sorry I’m late, Monty, it’s just that I had a hard time finding Otis and then getting all the bats to wake up—” The mouse patted the bat lady’s shoulders,
“Now, now, luv, I know ye did yer best. Now that all the ‘elp is ‘ere, ‘elp the others by findin’ the moles under all this rubbish!” The pipistrell perked up,
“You got it!” She then flew above the rubble, hovered, and called out, “Excuse me, can everyone stop for a moment and be quiet?” Other bats joined in and also asked for silence, which quickly settled over the rubble. Foxglove continued, “We need to hear where the moles are exactly, and try to hear the quickest route to them!” All the mammals present stopped digging, and the bats began to echosound the entire structure. That was until they heard a low rumble underground.
“What’s that?” asked one bat. Monterey explained,
“Sounds like one o’ Gadget’s inventions, I think I saw ‘er brin’ one alon’ jus’ now. Will some fellas go in the tunnel ‘n tell ‘er to keep it down for a moment?” Several badgers decided to do so, and went into the tunnel. A minute later, the rumbling stopped. With silence as their ally, the bats echosounded the entire structure again. And it was only the bats’ ultra-sensitive hearing that heard the muffled cries for help. Immediately, the chiropterids began giving directions of where to dig, and how to dig, in order to avoid further collapses. The rumbling in the tunnel continued when the rescue resumed above ground.
The digging continued throughout the entire day. Above ground, every animal was hauling away as much rubble as they possibly could. Inside the tunnel, badgers and ground squirrels, who were able to handle the jackhammer more steadily, eventually relieved Chip, Dale, Gadget, and Noel. Rubble and dirt was hauled out of the tunnel non-stop, and eventually the basement was reached. With the tunnel enlarged, the rescue teams were able to remove more rubble and approach the trapped moles, badgers, and rabbits. But it wasn’t until midday when their efforts were rewarded.
Within the rubble now, Chip, Dale, and a ground squirrel lifted a door to find an unconscious dust-covered mole, breathing in a distressingly shallow manner.
“He’s alive!” exclaimed Chip. Cheers shot out from the tunnel, and when the news reached above ground, the rest gave cheers as well, and all received their second wind. Carefully, Chip and Dale pulled the mole into a stretcher, and several rabbits hauled him out. But as with any rescue operation of this kind, not all discoveries meant good news. Right under the mole they had just rescued, Chip and Dale found another one.
And he wasn’t breathing.
“The first mole fell on top of this one, trying to shield him from falling debris,” deduced the Detective, surveying the whole scene. “But the gallery they were in also collapsed. The second mole fell between two slabs that crushed him, but the first one would have been crushed as well if the second one hadn’t filled the gap first. Ironic, isn’t it?” The Comedian, looking at the peaceful mole, began to cry,
“He couldn’t save his friend, and instead, his friend ended up savin’ him—” Dale suddenly sat down and began sobbing almost uncontrollably, but as soon as he started, Chip moved in front of him and grabbed his shirt,
“Dale!! We can’t stop to mourn yet! Others may still be alive, so we have to keep working! Please, get a grip on yourself and help us!!” Dale looked into Chip’s eyes. Odd, they weren’t filled with anger, just frustration.
And he was crying as well.
Dale took a shivering breath and wiped his eyes, “I’m—I’m sorry, Chip. I’ll—I’ll—try to save it for later. You—you’re right. Let’s get to work.” Again, Chip felt terrible by asking his emotional friend to keep his emotions in check. But it was either that, or lose precious time, and time was something they didn’t have much of at this point. With sad sighs, the tamii pulled the dead mole out from between the rubble, covered its face with a nearby rag, and continued digging. The others would eventually take out the corpse.
Dale didn’t know how many times he shed tears when he found a dead mole, rabbit, or badger. He didn’t want to know. All he and the others could do was say a quick “I’m sorry”, and continue digging, because maybe the next victim was still alive. The rescue continued all day long, and by nightfall, the RAS sent another team to relieve the first. As the sun slid down the western horizon, the Rescue Rangers were sitting next to their aircraft, and their surroundings were littered with dead batteries, half-eaten acorns, bubble gum wrappers, and two worn-down screwdriver heads. The Rangers were, as was the first RAS rescue team, completely fatigued. Ears and tails were low all around. Gadget looked at one worn-down screwdriver head, and said,
“If I had used one with a titanium or diamond head, the drilling process would have been 20% more efficient. We could have reached the basement faster—”
“Now, now, Gadget luv, don’t go blamin’ yerself for any of this tragedy. This whole troop brought out the bess’ o’ themselves, includin’ ye.”
“That’s right, Gadget,” added Chip, softly patting her sore shoulder. “And the RAS mechanics replaced the heads as soon as they wore down. It was all one huge and well-organised rescue done with perfect teamwork.” He raised one eyebrow. “Or are you amazed that you’re not the only mechanic in town?”
“Yeah, Gadget! You’ve got competition!” exclaimed Dale. Chip bristled and scowled at him, and growled,
“Dale, if I wasn’t so tired, I would bonk you.” Turning back to the mousemaid, he continued, “But really, Gadget, it’s good that we’re letting others help us, especially in situations like this. Everyone, including you, did their best, and made sure the others did their best. Foxy and her friends helped us dig them out by pinpointing their location!” Foxglove put one wing around Gadget,
“And—and—AHEM!!!!” Echosounding all day long, in the daytime, with dust all over the air, took out a lot from one’s vocal chords, especially ones as delicate as Foxglove’s. She continued, with her voice a trifle raspy, “And even if your jackhammer was twice as slow, we made the most efficient use of it—AHEM!!—instead of having everyone dig wherever they wanted—COUGH!!”
“And the head wasn’t the only thing that wore down,” said Zipper, while nodding toward their right. All turned, and saw an RAS hospital tent. Outside, a gerbil was attending one of the rescue badgermaids by binding up her bloody digits one by one. Upon closer inspection, the badgermaid’s claws had practically disappeared. And other badgers, moles, and other burrowing mammals were being treated similarly. Foxglove echosounded at her husband’s paws, which were also blistered and bandaged, and with near non-existent claws. This was all part of being a Rescue Ranger. Monterey then turned to Gadget,
“We gave it all we could, includin’ all our strength. But we’re not the only rescue team aroun’. Now’s time to let others continue where we left off. Come on, luv, let’s go ‘ome.” Slowly, sorely, the Rangers boarded their aircraft, and left the scene. They would go back for Gadget’s jackhammer tomorrow, now that the other mechanics knew how to replace the head and batteries. All flew home in silence, and as they did, Chip pondered on when Dale held back that joke earlier.
It seemed that Dale *had* been getting more serious lately, that he knew more and more when the Comedian would make problems should he be unleashed. Ever since that profound talk everyone had the night of the kidnapping, Dale had resolved to keep the Comedian in check. With more control over his personality, it also seemed that he had now acquired a sense of insight, thoughtfulness, and foresight that he didn’t have before. Or, that he did have, actually. Spending plenty of time in front of the television and reading comic books made him notice a pattern in some of the stories he saw and read. Lately, it seemed that he could figure out the ending on some shows he saw, or at least, figure out what the character would do next. Now he had brought that talent to everyday life, and it was this foresight that brought him to keep the Comedian in check in this particular situation. However, it wasn’t as much an increase in seriousness as it was a shift. During that talk on the night of the kidnapping, he brought out the option of getting rid of the Comedian for good, *killing* him. And again, Monterey advised him against it, that killing a part of one’s personality, especially such a large part, would inevitably bring about physical death. Dale took this advice, and so, with plenty of practice, learned that there was indeed a time for comedy and a time for seriousness. He was now learning to balance the two, and to basically “archive” the Comedian until a more convenient time allowed him to be brought forth. The Comedian didn’t need to die; he just needed to be put in the right time and place. So, Dale decided to archive this little joke and save it for a better time, which would also lead to Chip bonking him at a better time, say, when he needed to vent some frustration. Still, he couldn’t help but smile at his own private joke.
Chip, too, with his own keen insight, had expected Dale to try to say something funny/stupid at this time and place. He was quite surprised, naturally, when he saw him open his mouth and about to say it and then suddenly close it again, but still with a smile nonetheless. The Detective wasn’t sure if he should feel relieved that the Comedian didn’t say something that would have caused problems in this life-and-death situation, or guilty because he knew that his best friend was repressing an integral part of his personality, for the benefit of all involved. But he knew that with the wedding, major changes would be coming along, and this was one of them. Still, he was glad that Dale smiled, glad that Dale still had his sense of humour in full strength despite the circumstances, and glad that Dale would always find comedy even in the middle of demanding seriousness. It was one thing that he would always admire in Dale: finding the lighter side of dire situations, a talent *he* didn’t have. Maybe his own imposing seriousness was what held back Gadget and him from getting together the way Dale and Foxglove got together. Maybe he should learn to relax a bit more and not always be so logical. He would ask Dale later what he was about to say just now, and maybe everyone would have a good laugh. After all, a perfectly timed joke or wordplay was something everyone could enjoy.
The Comedian was still alive and well.
But it wasn’t easy, especially after seeing death all around them all day long. By now they had reached the tree house, and Gadget noticed the grim expression on Chip’s face.
“Chip?” she asked him, as they entered. The chipmunk turned to look at the most beautiful mousemaid in the world, and sighed. “Chip, what’s wrong?” He sat down on the couch, and lowered his head,
“Gadget, we couldn’t rescue them all. I don’t know how many dead ones we found, but it must have been hundreds! Did we really act quickly enough?” Monterey sat down beside him, and patted his sore back,
“Mate, it’s not yer fault, nor anyone’s. I know ye pulled out plenty o’ live ones as well. ‘N ye can bet yore life they’re thankful t’ us for that. The whole mess would ‘ave been worse if ye ‘adn’t acted as quick as ye did.” The mousemaid smiled,
“Monty’s right. Thanks for the wake-up call.” With that, the murid hugged her sciurid friend, who was becoming more than a friend each day now. Dale, on the chair, then decided to add,
“Chip, I more than anyone know all about random accidents, and believe me, this accident could have been much more worse than it was. It could have been rainin’ or snowin’, there could have been humans in the buildin’—it could have been worse—I know—I—————————————know————” He lowered his head as well.
“Aw, Cutie,” cooed Foxglove, sitting on the armrest and wrapping her wings around him. Dale was too exhausted to react. Chip didn’t notice that, so he summed up the matter,
“Guys, you’re right. We all did our best. I’m proud of everyone, of all of us. Now, let’s get some rest.” Slowly, the Rangers retreated to their rooms, too exhausted to shower off all the dirt and sweat. As Dale and Foxglove padded inside their room, the bat lady wondered if maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t too late for some affection time. Seeing how her chipmunk was after seeing death too many times today, however, gave her second thoughts about that. So, she wasn’t too disappointed when she heard Dale remove his shirt, flop on the bed, and pull the covers over himself. His last thoughts were “relief, at long last, relief”, and he wasn’t necessarily referring to all the work they did today. He involuntarily shivered when he felt Foxglove slide beside him and wrap her wings around him again. Exhaustion, both physical and emotional, too, had calmed her down, for tonight, at least.
“Tomorrow, Cutie, tomorrow, I’ll make it all up to you. I love you, Dale…” And with that, she slipped into slumber land.
Dale was burrowing as fast as he could, but his sore muscles made him feel like molasses, his blistered paws stung like never before, and the tunnel he was making was getting more and more rocky, until he finally reached solid rock. There was no way out.
“**DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY……!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**”
Oh, shoot, he forgot, the Batmunk, being part bat, could hear him very well and pinpoint his location, and being part chipmunk, also made it part burrower—
His last thoughts were interrupted by the sudden blinding daylight that shone in his eyes as all the dirt and rocks exploded away from him, being tossed away by the wing-paws of the Batmunk.
And this time, the Batmunk didn’t bother to ask why it was the way it was. Balling one wing-paw, it pulled it back, and smashed Dale into the bedrock—
Dale gasped and snapped his eyes open, but he didn’t jump or fall off. He was too sore. Luckily, Foxglove was just as tired as he was, so she was still asleep. The sciurid took deep breaths, trying to calm down, trying to relax his ears, tail, and bristled fur, and trying to bring back the much-needed drowsiness to his exhausted body.
It was long in coming.
This would be a *long* night.
The Rangers woke up late the next day, well rested, but terribly sore. Foxglove groggily opened her eyes, and turned to look/echosound at her husband again. Not two seconds after she began, she coughed slightly. This was certainly a strange turn of events—
She was hoarse.
Oh well, perhaps this would be a good opportunity to rely more on scent, sight, and touch, and basically explore different facets of their love life—
*……Luceeeeeeeeeelle……*
Dale was already awake, but he didn’t dare move. One, because he knew he was terribly sore, and two, because he knew his wife would wake up with more romantic feelings, despite yesterday’s exhaustion. Well, maybe, just maybe, she *might* be as sore as he was and perhaps dismiss any romantic thoughts at this point, after all, everyone was very dirty and sweaty and—
His wife kissed his furry lips.
With a cacophonic “GAAAH!!!!” he jumped away from her and nearly fell off the bed again. This time, the pipistrell was a trifle angry as well as shocked and frustrated, but before she could bristle and demand an explanation, the tamias’ brain came up with another random plan to avoid this,
“Foxy! We overslept! We have to take the next shift in the rescue!!” Once more, for one brief instant, the chiropterid felt guilty again, for thinking of herself first, and putting her Rescue Ranger status on hold. The chipmunk, meanwhile, tried to get dressed as fast as he could, but every single sore muscle in his body slowed him down. Groaning, he put on his shirt, and said, “Hurry, Foxy! Those moles and rabbits and badgers need us!!” The bat lady was torn. She knew she was needed elsewhere, and that lives were at stake, but her own need was also demanding attention. Then again, she knew that she would face circumstances like this. She knew that as a Rescue Ranger, she would have to set her priorities, and adjust her married life accordingly. But again, she knew that this didn’t exactly happen every day. *And* that being newlyweds, Chip would be more than happy to let them off for the weekend tomorrow, maybe…
Dale ran to the living room where everyone was slowly eating breakfast.
“Guys, what are you all doin’ here!? We have to relieve the night shift and get back to rescuin’ those moles and rabbits and badgers!!” The others looked at Dale a trifle quizzically for a moment. Then Gadget asked,
“Golly, Dale, you don’t have to get all hyper with this! The RAS told me that they were going to send out a third shift today!”
“But don’t they need all they help they can get? And we *are* the Rescue Rangers, aren’t we? We *have* to continue with the rescue!!” Foxglove padded behind him and said,
“Now, now, Cutie, other rescue teams got there last night, even before we left. The news must have already spread to all of New England; so many other teams must have arrived already. And we all need to rest a bit more.” Before she could give him a suggestive smile, Chip said,
“Well, Foxy, you’re right, but Dale does have a point. We *are* the Rescue Rangers! We just can’t put this behind us just yet!”
“Not to mention that I have to check on my jackhammer,” added Gadget. “Golly, they must be in terrible need of replacement parts!” The mousemaid suddenly bolted to her workshop and began packing the appropriate items, that is, as fast as her sore body would allow. Meanwhile, the bat lady nearly scowled.
“Too roight! No sore muss’ls e’er got the bess’ o’ Monterey Jack!”
“Rescue Rangers away!” hollered Dale, while grabbing his wife by her wing and dragging her to the hangar.
“But what about breakfast?” she asked, getting more and more riled and bristled.
“I’ll make it up to ye, lass! We’ve got rescuin’ t’ do!” replied Monty, as everyone boarded both aircraft. Moments later, Gadget ran into the hangar carrying a large bag, obviously filled with replacement parts. Once she was aboard, both planes took off. And when both planes were outside—
“Hey, it’s raining!” exclaimed Zipper.
“Oh, NO!!!” yelled Chip. “The lower levels will flood! Now we REALLY have to get there!! Step on it!!” All ears lowered again with fear. With an extra burst of speed, both planes sped to the north side. Again, Foxglove was hit with tremendous guilt. If she hadn’t been so focused on herself, she would have heard the rain and everyone would have left for the building several minutes earlier, minutes that may have meant life or death to a mole, rabbit, or badger. The rain itself was light, however, not a sudden downpour or a cloudburst. But with no outlet or drain of any kind, the lower galleries would be sure to flood. With fear increasing every moment, both planes finally arrived—
The RAS was pulling up camp.
Animals were taking their leave of each other, shaking paws, hugging, crying over lost ones, staying beside their injured friends and relatives as they were being taken away to animal hospitals, or just looking at the rubble, turning around, and padding away. All the bats were flying away now. Both planes landed, and Chip jumped off. He nearly ran into some squirrels carrying away a covered stretcher. Nearby stood a ferret with an RAS band on his arm, apparently supervising the last movements. The chipmunk ran up to him and asked,
“What’s going on? Why’s everyone leaving?” The ferret lifted a clipboard and replied as he read,
“Well, that one was the last of them. All the animals that were inside the building have been taken out and are accounted for. Too bad not all of them made it.”
“You mean the rescue’s over?” asked the Inventor.
“Yes. You’re the Rescue Rangers, right?” asked the mustelid, turning to look at them.
“Sure. How did you know?” asked the Comedian.
“The insignias on your planes kinda gave you away. I suppose you’re here to pick up your jackhammer?” The Detective replied,
“Well, that, and see if the rescue operation was still continuing, especially now that it began to rain.” The carnivore looked up at the falling rain and replied,
“Well, no, fortunately, we finished just in time. Anyway, your jackhammer is over at Tent 17,” he pointed to his left. “Incredible piece of machinery. Rescued at least thirty animals just by itself.” The mus blushed a trifle,
“Um, thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” replied the mustela. “You’ll also find several rescue officials waiting for you. It seems they want more units manufactured for this type of work. Congratulations.” The mousemaid gasped. The huge mouse exclaimed,
“Leapin’ tadpoles! If everyone liked it juss’ as it is, I can’t imagine ‘ow many more would ‘ave been after it if ye *‘adn’t* made it on the run, Gadget luv!!” The Inventor was too shocked to reply, so the Adventurer held her shoulders and led her away, “Come on, Gadget luv, let’s go get yer jackhammer.” As they left, the Detective sighed. He knew he had to ask one more question, and it was never a pleasant one. Finally, he gritted his incisors and asked,
“Um, d-do you have the final numbers?” A look of sadness overcame the RAS officer for a moment before he looked at his clipboard again, and read,
“At 5:25 a.m. yesterday, two hundred and fifty animals were waking up when a structural failure in one of the foundation columns triggered a domino-reaction collapse of the entire structure. Fifty-two are dead, one hundred and seventy-six are injured, and twenty-two somehow managed to get by with only a few scrapes and some minor suffocation. Of the ones that died, practically all died instantly due to multiple sudden traumas—crushing, if you want to call it that—or within five minutes due to suffocation.” The chipmunk took off his fedora and wiped his head.
“So, I—I guess that—they—they didn’t suffer—much—well, I—I suppose—it could have been worse—” The ferret continued,
“Of course it could have. The rain could have come yesterday, or the original emergency call could have come two hours later, and in case many more would have died. You guys mobilised everyone just in the nick of time. Thanks, Rangers.”
“So, there’s nothing else we can do here?” asked the bat lady. The mustelid looked around for a moment, and replied,
“Not really, unless you want to help pick up camp, but it seems everyone’s almost done with that as well. But thanks for the offer. You all are the top heroes of this whole rescue. Many moles, badgers, and rabbits will be very grateful you helped mobilise the RAS and all the bats.” The other sciurid raised his ears and hugged his wife,
“Hey, Foxy, you hear that? You’re a hero!” The pipistrell looked/echosounded into his eyes, raised her ears as well, and smiled,
“Thanks, Cutie. For a moment I thought *I* was the one who messed up big time here, with—with the way I’ve been getting distracted—you know.” Her husband was too exhausted to feel scared at this point, even when he looked at her eyes. Then the other tamias turned to her,
“You didn’t do anything wrong, Foxy. You, and everyone else, acted in the nick of time. We didn’t lose anyone because of any errors. We rescued all we could, and—and we did well. Great job guys.” The bat lady heard the mice loading up the jackhammer into the Ranger Wing, and she asked,
“So, um, Chip, I guess we can now go home and rest for a bit?” At this question, panic came over Dale once more, as his ears and tail showed. And once more, his survival instincts brought forth his randomness,
“Waittaminute, Chip, shouldn’t we be at the police station scoutin’ out for cases?” Chip was stunned by this sudden question. If he had come up with that suggestion, Dale would probably asked, no, *pleaded* for some time off—
“Are you sure, Dale? Maybe we should all get cleaned up first and have a decent breakfast. And it seems you need a shower more than anyone!” The rodent looked down at himself, and realised he had the same dirty and bloody shirt he had worn all day yesterday. Suddenly the chiropterid held his arm with both wings and cooed,
“Looks like we *both* need a shower, don’t we, Cutie?” Before Dale could protest, she dragged him back to the planes. Chip and the ferret also padded to the planes. The tamias then looked at the mustela, and noticed he had one eyebrow raised.
“Newlyweds,” explained the rodent.
“Oh. My condolences,” replied the carnivore. Dale obviously heard that, as he tried to turn and ask,
“Condolences?”
“Confirmed bachelor,” explained Chip.
“You can bet on that,” added the CB, smiling a trifle, and finally raising his own ears. With that, the Rangers climbed on their planes again, and waved good-bye to the ferret, who waved back. The planes took off, and flew back to headquarters.
On the way home, Dale was still arguing with Chip, while shifting uncomfortably as his wife kept pressing against his arm. His ears were down.
“But Chip, we didn’t go yesterday, so who knows how many cases must have slipped by!”
“Oh, come on, Dale, you know that at most we get one big case per month, and it looks like we met our quota already!”
“And you haven’t had breakfast yet, Cute Stuff,” added Foxglove, with a very soft tone in her voice.
“But who knows what may happen today!” insisted the Comedian.
“Now mate, juss’ relax. The police station’s not goin’ anywhere!” said Monterey, on the other aircraft, now beginning to wonder why Dale was so hyperactive all of the sudden.
“But—but—all the bad guys! Fat Cat, Rat Capone, Sewer Al, who knows how many of them took advantage of this! We need to catch up with them—”
BONK!!
“Thanks, Foxglove,” said Chip, relieved. Dale rubbed his head, quite surprised that a wing membrane could pack so much force, even when balled up. At last, the tree came into view/sound. “Dale, we’re going to take the day off. Everyone’s too sore to do anything else. Now, stop worrying, and get cleaned up!” The Comedian knew that his bedroom was getting closer and closer. His panic was about to go into overdrive, when at that point he heard his stomach growling.
“Hey, Cutie, looks like you need to get your strength back!” giggled his wife, while fluttering her eyelashes at him. The sciurid was torn once again by her provocation and his own sudden fears.
“Uh, I think I do, Foxy. I didn’t eat anythin’ last night or this mornin’. Come to think of it, you didn’t either.” She sighed for a moment, and replied,
“No, I guess I didn’t. I need to get my strength back as well.” The look in her eyes clearly told the chipmunk just *why* she needed to get her strength again. Now that he had a shirt on again, he was able to tug on the collar.
“Say, Monty, what do you say you fix us up a HUGE breakfast—I mean—to make up for last night?” he asked, leaning away from his wife and toward the murid, suddenly getting yet another idea.
“No problem, lad! I’ll whip up somethin’ for ye two lovebirds in no time!” The bat lady giggled at the term “lovebirds”, while her husband visibly winced. They finally arrived at their tree house, left the aircraft in the hangar, and entered the main room. Chip and Gadget took the jackhammer back to her workshop.
“Thanks, Chip! I’ll need to make some refinements on this before preparing the final blueprints for the RAS. Hey, they told us that for payment, they’d grant us a lot of new material and equipment…” The mousemaid trailed off as they padded down the hall. In the kitchen, Dale and Foxglove sat opposite of each other, with the verspetilionid GAZING into his eyes as provocatively as possible. Of course, she could hear him sweating abnormally, but she didn’t give it much thought because she considered that to be quite *normal*, knowing what was going to happen after breakfast, and it didn’t help that she was rubbing her foot-paw on his leg, no matter how much he tried to move it away. Then Monterey placed down two huge servings of flapjacks in front of them.
“Smells great, Monty!” buzzed Zipper. It was this comment that gave Dale another random plan.
“Zowie, you’re right, Zipper!” He suddenly stood, and chattered, “If I smell good to Zipper, then that means I must stink! Jeepers, I’m sorry, Foxy and Monty!”
“But—”
“ThanksforthenoteZipperbuddy!FoxyyougoaheadandfinishbreakfastI’llgoshowerrightquickandthenI’llberightbackhereIloveyou!” The chipmunk then dashed out of the kitchen, leaving behind a very confused mouse and fly, and a very annoyed bat lady.
“Honest, Monty, I meant the food, not Dale!” explained the musca.
“Aw, ye know Dale can sometimes get a bit mixed up on the ‘ead. ‘N ‘e *did* smell rather sweaty, roight, luv?” The mus turned toward the pipistrell.
She was eating her flapjacks with a definite scowl on her face, bristled fur, and flattened ears.
There wasn’t much that “Monterey” Jack Colby was honestly afraid of, but right now, for some reason, he had the strangest feeling that he’d better leave the kitchen now…
“Dale, Chip said we were going to take the day off today!” Dale had already showered and finished his breakfast, and since Foxglove had finished her breakfast while he had showered, she had no choice but to shower while he had his breakfast. She stepped out of the bathroom to find him, much to her frustration, with a clean shirt, obviously preparing to leave for the police station.
“Well, yeah! Why do you think I’m lettin’ you rest?” The pipistrell blinked.
“Huh?” With guilty features, the tamias turned slightly away from her and explained,
“Honey, yesterday we had a horrible time gettin’ everyone out. And today we’re all sore and everythin’. Do you really think I want to put you through *more* workouts?” the verspetilionid’s body partially agreed with him. Her emotions didn’t.
“But Daaaale???” she pleaded, lowering her ears and swishing her tail. Her tone of voice now had as much painful yearning as it had frustration. It took a moment for the sciurid to put his brain back on line before his own emotions scrapped this new random plan and gave in right there and then.
“Foxy, you said you felt terrible about being distracted. Don’t you think *I* feel terrible about *bein’* the one who’s distractin’ you?” Logic appeared to be winning the battle within the chiropterid, as this sudden new line of reasoning brought all her emotions to an abrupt halt. “It would also be wrong of me to have you sleep horizontally, after all you went through yesterday, not to mention the fact that you know you don’t rest well during the night. Foxy, please, you need this. Rest on your perch and sleep today. I don’t want to wear you out, not after all that happened.” His own expression and features were quite filled with guilt. She had to admit, he *did* had a point and he was very convincing—
Wearing HER out?
“But Cutie, I thought *I* was wearing you out!” The rodent let out a nervous giggle/chatter that almost caused her to giggle as well. He brought his ears up for a moment and turned to her,
“Now have I complained one bit since September? Come on, Foxy, I know you need a break. I’ll be at the station listenin’ for cases. And don’t worry, I won’t jump into any by myself. If anythin’ comes up, I’ll be right back, and Chip will decide what to do.” A yawn caused Foxglove to relent. “Then when I get back, I’ll do all our laundry. See you later, Foxy!” In a rather sudden manner, he left the room, without even giving her a good-bye kiss. Stunned, Foxglove fluttered to her perch, and was about to wonder, and worry, why her husband was suddenly such a workaholic, but exhaustion prevented that, for now—
*Laundry?*