The game's just getting interesting.....


                         RHYME & REASON
                        By Michael Demcio
                   PART IV: The Enemy Unkown.

                          Part 1 of 4
                 
*****   

     "*DALE*!!" Gadget and Zipper cried in fear, as their
Hawaiian clad friend disappeared into the ebon cloaked tunnel
before them, hypnotized by one of his irrisistable cravings as he
had caught the scent of chocolate.
     "C'mon Monty! We have to stop him!" Gadget called, shooting
a glance behind her. Throwing caution to the winds, Zipper
streaked down into the tunnel, followed a split second later as
Gadget dove in as well, leaving behind a frightened, though
somewhat annoyed Monterey Jack. 
     It's *disgusting* the way some people lose control! he
thought to himself in a slight huff, diving into the tunnel and
not remembering his own similar behavior minutes before in
reaction to the scent of cheese. The trip within the enveloping
black shaft was a dizzying ride, hurling Monterey along at a
stomach churning velocity as he spun through wicked curves, and
even down a straight vertical drop or two.
After almost eight seconds of this thrilling but somewhat
debilitating decent, he finally saw, so to speak, the light at
the end of the tunnel. And it was coming up fast. Still, it was
none too soon for him as he was beginning to turn quite green,
his state helped along considerably by the cheese he'd
recently inhaled. "Look out below, mates!" Monterey bellowed,
hoping that none of his friends had fallen in a heap at the end
of the tunnel to give their stomach a rest, much as he expected
that that was what he would indeed be doing. 

     Shooting out of the tunnel like an Australian football
punted towards it's goal by an ace kicker, Monterey fell the foot
or so to the ground, landing hard on his belly. The impact from
the fall knocked the wind out of him. As much as he wanted to lay
there and indulge an almost overpowering desire of his stomach to
return the cheese he had eaten, he forced himself to his feet and
looked around. The burly Australian mouse was alone in a darkened
office. His nose told him that much, in spite of the lack of
light in the room. In the corridor, as it was upstairs, the
emergency lights were on, being the only source of illumination
around. Glancing behind him at the black tube which emerged right
from the wall of the office, Monterey swayed slightly and started
forward, hoping that with his body in such a unwieldy state for
persuit, that Gadget and Zipper would be able to catch his
impulsive friend before he managed to get himself hurt. The
anguished cries he next heard, dashed those hopes to pieces.
     "Dale! Are you all right? Say something Dale! Speak to me!
*DALE*!!" He heard Gadget's voice yell out, with Zipper buzzing
out similar worried exclaimations. Forgetting his nausea as best
as he could, Monterey staggered out of the room and down the
hallway to where the pair were, poised before a solid wooden door
that seemed to be shut tight. Pausing slightly to listen for a
response, Gadget and Zipper continued their worried calls once
again.
     "Dale's *trapped* in there!" Zipper exclaimed to Monterey,
seeing their friend approach as he drew near them.
     "And we heard him making some sort of moaning or whimpering
sounds," Gadget added, in a trembling voice, gesturing to the
tiny space under the door, "just when we were going to try to
find something to force the door open with....He sounded like he
was *crying* Monty!" Gadget finished, turning an anxious, almost
pleading look, from Monterey, to the door and back again. "Like
he was in *pain*!" 
     Turning toward the anguished expression which his young
friend wore, Monterey placed a gentle but firm pair of hands on
her shoulders in support, hoping somehow to ease the tension that
he could feel within her.
     Gadget hated to see anyone in pain. Monterey knew this all
too well of her. *All* the Rangers did. Physically or
emotionally, even if she'd just met a person as it had been with
Mrs. Booby among many others(), if she saw that they were hurt or
troubled, she immediately felt their pain and wanted to help.
Human, animal or insect, it didn't matter who it was. Even with
natural enemies like cats, if there was a problem, she wanted to
fix it. Her sweet kindness was a big part of who she was, and a
big part of what endeared her so much to Monterey, as well as to
the rest of the team. Veritably, unless it was an adversary of
theirs who rightfully deserved such just rewards, to see or hear,
or even hear *of* someone who was in pain, her enormous gift of
compassion often would always make her feel to be in pain as
well. It was one of the main reasons why she had become a Rescue
Ranger, and one of the main reasons why she enjoyed her work so
much. It gave her a chance to help. A chance to use her abilities
to make things right. 
     However, even with all the times that she had helped set
things right, there were also times when the problem was out of
her hands, when she hadn't been able to do much, *if anything at
all* to help the person or persons in need. The times like those
that always came up in life, when there *were no* happy endings,
were the times that really tore at her and brought her down. She
knew she shouldn't let it, that circumstances  were just out of
her power to help that particular time, but logic never helped
during those sad moments of defeat. The experience never failed
to cause her a bit of poignant anguish for a time. Thankfully
though, her normally sunny disposition usually allowed her to get
over those depressed episodes fairly quickly. 
     However, even worse than seeing just *anyone* in danger, in
pain, or with a problem, was any time when the one in need was
someone she knew well, and was close to. Those were the times
when the person's troubles really hit home, and made her heart
cry out. Worst of all as it was in this particular instance,
something more agonizing than any other situation, was if during
such a close friend's torment, she saw that she wasn't or even
*prevented* from being able to help.......!
     
     "It's all right Gadget luv." Monterey said soothingly,
knowing and understanding what she was going through. "He'll be
all right." Patting her shoulders, he tenderly placed one of his
hands against her cheek, stroking it softly to try to ease her
anguish before turning to look at the lock of the door. Like the
stairwell doors and the room he had been trapped in minutes
before<> it appreared to be gummed up as well. "Dale's a *Rescue
Ranger*." he said confidently.  "He's been in tight spots before
and he'll hang on until we can get through to help him. C'mon
now, let's go see if we can find something to pry that lock off
with! Zipper, you go right." he instructed, "Gadget and I'll take
the left. Hang on pally, we're coming to get ya!" He shouted
finally at the door, hoping that Dale was able to hear him and
take heart from his words. 
     As Gadget and Zipper nodded in compliance at Monterey, the
three Rangers hurriedly split up. Taking a last glance at the
door as he turned away though, a worried and frightened look to
equal even Gadget's entered into Monterey's eyes. As Gadget and
Zipper had described, he could hear no sound of sorrow from
beyond the door which obstructed their path. In fact, he could
hear *no sound* at all. He wasn't at all sure if this fact was a
good thing or a bad thing. "Ya hear me pally, *hang on*." he
whispered heavily, his words inaudible to the others. Splitting
up, Gadget and Monterey entered the rooms across the hall, while
Zipper as instructed, entered the next one down on the side that
Dale was on. Hurrying into their rooms, none had the opportunity
to notice the shadowy figure who suddenly appeared within the
hall a a half minute later, emerging from the direction that they
had come. 

               *              *              *

     2:20.....

     Turning away from the chilling sight, Chip hung his head, a
wave of shame and sorrow washing over him. He should have
anticipated this, he felt. He'd known from the death card in the
mobile back at headquarters, that he'd probably be ambushed along
the way. However, while he had remembered about Ivana's
potentially violent and psychotic behavior in the book, he knew
now that he hadn't considered just to what extent his adversary
might take her association to the character she was imitating,
particularly her uncaring attitude toward innocent bystanders. It
was all too clear now that this self dubbed "Ivana" was every bit
as cold, brutal and unbalanced as the one in the book. By not
anticipating this tragedy, he felt with a great deal of remorse,
that he was partially to blame for it.  
     "Chip?...You Okay?" a voice asked from beside him.
     Turning, Chip looked over at his newly met ally Rick, leader
of the rescue team of S.A.M.A.R.I.T.A.N.S. "Yeah," he replied,
casting what he could of a smile toward him. "I'm just feeling a
bit sick...from the smoke that is." he added quickly.
     Rick looked at him questioningly, as if he knew Chip wasn't
telling him something, but said nothing further about it.
     "Listen," Chip said, half turning away from him. "I've got
to go. I have to find who did this."
     "Wait a minute, what about the Rangers?" Rick called
urgently.
     Stopping, Chip let out a worried, shuddering breath. "Where
are the other Rangers?" he replied, repeating Rick's question of
a moment before. "....*I wish I knew*." he replied simply, unable
to hide the slightly pained look on his face before darting off
into the crowd.
                         *        *        *
     2:24.....

     Standing between the paws of one of the stone lions upon the
steps, Chip saw that the scene in front of the human library was
not much different from the one he'd just left. In fact, they
pretty much paralleled one another exactly. A great crowd of
people and news crews clustered nearby, while the firefighters,
paramedics, and police respectively worked, trying to put out the
fire, tending to the wounded, and trying to figure out what or
who *and* what had caused this disaster in the first place.
Little did they know that the one person who had any idea of what
was going on and *why*, was standing but a few feet away. In some
cases, right under their very noses. Glancing up at the grayish
black smoke pluming into the sky from the fires, Chip looked
around him at the carnage, devastation, and chaos that had
occurred, absorbing it all in almost a state of shock. The fact
that such things had been done to both the animal and the human
worlds, the fact that it had been done by one person, and to do
it all in the name of "a game"....*it was almost beyond belief*.
"Who *is* this person?" he whispered to himself in a tone of
astounded horror. /How could anyone be so brutal, so callous, so
totally unfeeling?/ he wondered. This one act beat even Fat Cat
and Rat Capone both, in terms of sheer ruthlessness. Then again,
he considered further, neither of those rouges were potentially
insane.      
       
     Descending from the lion, Chip quickly made his way through
the crowd and towards the end of the block. "To think of the
Rangers, my closest friends in all the world, *my family* in the
hands of such a maniac.....!" he whispered to himself and
shuddered. Actually, he reconsidered a second later, that wasn't
entirely true. From the main poem he'd gotten at
headquarters, he knew that Foxglove hadn't been captured, and
again he found himself wondering why. /What's the connection?/ he
wondered to himself again, the enigma of it nagging at him. /Why
not *her*? Ivana had mentioned Foxglove, so surely she must know
that she's part of the team.../ he'd thought earlier, /even if
she isn't living with us. And if she's been keeping tabs on the
team, then surely she must know where Foxy lives as well. Why
would Ivana leave her out of the team's kidnapping, and then
forbid her to be in the game as well to find them?/ It didn't
make sense he knew, but then very little of this case did so far,
any way that he thought about it. 

     His mind dwelling upon Foxglove a moment further, he
wondered once again as he had many times before, exactly *why*
the friendly young female bat had chosen to live with Tammy and
her family near Chinatown after joining the team, instead of
living with the rest of them at headquarters. Gadget had been
more than happy to share her room with Foxy, as both of them were
overjoyed that she had become a member of the team. Yet, to the
surprise of all of them, particularly considering the heavy
attraction that was obvious to the team that she felt toward
Dale, she had turned them down, stating only that at least for
the time being, she wanted to live apart from them. She gave no
other reason, and respecting her wishes, odd though they seemed
to them all, they didn't press the issue. 
     Living with Tammy and her family though, didn't present a
problem as far as her being involved in the casework. She was
always ready and waiting outside, meeting them at the front door
before they went looking for cases at the station or elsewhere.
She was rarely apart from them save for when they all turned in
for some sleep, and if an unexpected situation or an emergency
came up where Foxglove's presence was needed, it was a only two
minute flight for Zipper to reach her at Tammy's house, and
another two for both of them to return. Other than sleeping and
ocassionally eating, the situation seemed that Tammy's house was
just simply a place for her to store the few belongings that she
had. All of her time awake, both on casework and freetime, she
spent with the Rangers. It was as if she were living with them
anyway.....And yet, he still wondered *why*,...taking Foxglove at
her word that it wasn't due to the superior cooking abilities of
Tammy and her mother over himself, Monterey and Gadget. 
     On a more related note of pondering, he wondered if Ivana
had been the reason behind Foxglove not showing up at
headquarters this morning as she usually did. Even on their days
off, as it was on case hunting days, Foxglove normally showed up
*early*, waiting outside the front door for the first of them to
awaken and let her in. She knew that she was welcome to enter the
treehouse at anytime and use any part of it before anyone was
awake. Still, she had stated that she was perfectly content to
wait outside and enjoy the solitude and natural beauty of the
tree as well as the rest of the park until she had someone to
talk to. Up until the incident of this bizarre and disturbing
kidnapping had occured, he had assumed that she would show up a
little later than usual, due to the late hour they had stayed up
watching movies last night. Yet now for whatever reason, and with
whatever means she had done it, he believed Ivana had somehow
delayed their teammate, steering her clear of the treehouse for
the purpose of capturing the rest of the Rangers, and for sending
him on his clue hunt, without her showing up unexpectedly. He
wished he had the time to check upon her, to at least see if she
was all right. His concern for her was now in his mind, as he
wondered if Ivana had perhaps drugged her somehow, inducing her
into a longer sleep than usual. He knew that he couldn't though,
for as the rules had stated to him quite clearly, Foxglove was
currently an ally who was strictly "off limits." 

     As it was, even though he hoped fervently that she *was*
awake and all right, he was glad that with the news reports of
this catastrophy all over the radio and television, if Foxglove
was awake and had simply been somehow delayed, he hadn't met up
with her here at the library. After all, she could logically
assume that with this bombing being the biggest crime in the city
by far at the moment, and an emergency by any standard, this is
where her friends would be if anywhere. If anything, if she had
simply been delayed, she was probably still wondering and
worrying what was the reason behind the Ranger's absense, as well
as over the reason for the sinisterly ominous mobile and black
dart that she might have found by now, waiting in the living room
of headquarters. At any rate, he was glad that she wasn't here,
or at least she hadn't spotted him yet if she was. It would have
been a far more difficult task keeping the truth of what had
happened to the others from a fellow teammate, as opposed to the
answer he'd given to a new acquaintance like Rick. 
 
     Walking now down the cordoned off avenue with the crowds
still thick around him, Chip brought his mind once more back to
the clues that he'd been given by Ivana. The newest clues which
would reveal the next location on his quest. Since he had
received this newest rhyme clue many minutes ago, it had been the
only thing on his mind, other than the occasional thought that he
had just had once more about Foxglove's absense in this case.
>From the moment he'd begun to help out in the rescue operation,
until the time he'd left the scene moments ago, he'd been
pondering the rhyme in the back of his mind as to its meaning.
Thus far though, and to his extreme frustration, he still hadn't
come up with much. /All right, let's go over it *again*./ he
thought resolutely, bringing all his concentration to bear upon
the task once more. One tentative conclusion that he had come to
before was thus: Since the clues in the library all seemed to
have a *connection* to each other, as opposed to the ones in the
treehouse which stood on their own as far as a topic, then the
clues at the library were what Ivana had meant when she'd wrote
"Through *all* of the clues, and what they all share." Those
then, he'd decided, would be the ones that he would concentrate
on now. The connection or what all the clues shared, had been
simple to figure out as well. The sun, the Aztecs, leaf eating
insects, and the rainforests, as was the topic of the book all
had to do with nature, or more specifically and basically, with
*plants*.

     He'd remembered reading as he'd skimmed the article about
the Aztecs, that they were highly advanced in agriculture for
their time, placing an even stronger indication on this
conclusion. However, even with seeing that obvious connection,
it still left him with too many potential areas to investigate.
Parks, florists, nurseries, gardens,....*all* of them had a
connection with plants. He knew he had to narrow down the search
to *one* place in the city, and to do that, all he had to do was
to figure out the clue he was given. *Easier said than done*. he
thought sourly.
     "A place that is rare." the paper had said. /What did *that*
mean?/ he pondered to himself yet again as he had before. /Well,
a place that has very few other places like it, or a place that's
one of a kind for starters. The only thing is, while the layout
of an individual park, store, or farm *would* make it unique, as
its name would as well, how in the world could I use that to
narrow the list down to the one place that has either my next
clue or my friends hidden there?! I need more information!/ he
frowned, his brow darkening even further as he tapped his chin in
contemplation, /But what could I have overlooked?/  A minute and
then another minute passed as he continued to ponder this
question, sifting through the facts before his mind finally
locked onto something. /How about the *way* the clues
were presented?/ he told himself, lifting an eyebrow curiously.
/Ivana *could* have hidden the first clue in the library in any
number of different ways. Why have the first message spelled out
through tiny lines?/ "I don't know about the second one," he
mumbled to himself, "there didn't seem to be anything special
about the microfilm as far as is being the medium for a clue, but
the third one, now *there's* something to think about." he nodded
definitively. Creating a message from letters cut out of a
newspaper was a trick so overdone by villains on T.V. through the
years, it had become almost as cliched as the act of tying a girl 
to the railroad tracks had become in its day. Besides being a
villainess who was brutal and seemingly extremely psychotic, Chip
had to admit one thing, though quite begrudgingly. The game and
the clues that Ivana had set up so far, though quite sick,
certainly showed a level of style and originality, as well as a
measure of finesse. "So why revert to such a overdone, unoriginal
idea now?" he wondered curiously. There had to be a connection.

*****

                         Part 2 of 4
                 
*****   

     Turning the corner to get away from the tightly packed
crowds, Chip made his way down the other side of the block near
the curb, as he continued to mull over these thoughts. /The
message was composed of letters clipped from a copy of an
article, that was taken from a newspaper....and newspapers come
from trees....Hmmm....Nah./ he shook his head, crumpling the idea
and pitching it into a mental wastebasket. /It's still too
general. Besides, the trees for our newspapers come from outside
the city. Ivana's at least told me indirectly that the places I
have to get to, are *within* the city. So again, why did she make
that type of message?........ The pages with the underlined
letters making the first message were randomly picked, and the
letters clipped from the article were randomly
picked,.....someplace having to do with the word random or a word
similar to it like casual? Someplace like the 'Random Books'
publishing company? Hmmmm. Maybe. I'll keep it in mind if nothing
else shows up. Let see, he continued. the letters were cut or
clipped from a clipping,.....and then glued.....maybe a special
tree found in one place in the city that's known for its sap or
resin. A resin that could be used like glue. That *could* be the
lead I'm looking for. he thought, removing the latest message
from his pocket and pulling up one of the letters. No, this is
ordinary paste. he observed, examining the adhesive. Bother this
is frustrating! There's a connection here, I'm can feel it!...But
what is it?/
     Though his mind was turned inward upon the problem at hand,
Chip continued to observe the people walking about in front of
him, as well as the humans upon the other side of the street.
Casually observing people and things he had found, often helped
him to think upon clues and problems with better accuracy, by
letting his thoughts run freely. Still, even with this well
proven method of his, it didn't look to be helping much at all.
For from what he could tell, it was going on ten minutes into
considering this new puzzle, and with ever increasing
frustration, he was beginning to consider himself stuck. Even as
he thought this though, trying to keep his mind clear and calm,
as he turned his head to cast his gaze in a new direction, he
suddenly stopped in his tracks. A dozen or so feet in front of
him, a young woman and man who looked to be the same age had just
come out of one of the stores along this block, and standing
right before him, were now locked in a loving and passionate
embrace. Chip turned his gaze aside gruffly, not caring to watch
other people who were so happy when his mood, as well as the
situation of his friends was so serious. It was little of him he
knew, but he couldn't deny how he felt. Still, even though his
eyes were now averted, his ears were another matter.
     "Where do you want to go now, darling?" the woman's
affectionate, and almost sultry tone floated over to his ears.
Roughly, Chip moved to put his hands to block their words from
his hearing, but before he could, he involuntarily caught the
man's response as well.
     "How about over to Golden Gate park?" the man replied, his
tone similar to hers. "A nice romantic walk,....no crowds....and
I hear the turning leaves are really spectacular over there."
   
     "Arrrrrrgggggghhhhhhh!" Chip cried, letting out the muffled
scream from between gritted teeth as he clenched his fists, every
muscle tensing within him. Leaning against a nearby parking
meter, his body now feeling tired and limp from the frustrated
and anguished scream, Chip watched as the happy couple crossed
the street, arm in arm, bound for the park that he called home.
/I don't *believe* this! This isn't fair! Chip cried in his mind.
This is my birthday for crying out loud! *I* ought to be in the
park right now, taking a romantic walk with Gadget! *I* should
the one be there right now, enjoying the turning leaves with her!
*Where* am I though...?-Ah, forget it!/ he finished disgustedly,
cutting his selfish thought short with an angry sweep of his hand
as he turned his mind back to the clues, his mood even darker
now. He knew it was stupid for him to be feeling like this. Walks
could be made up, but lives *couldn't* if he was unsuccessful in
this case. He knew this, he realized the thought had been
somewhat childish in fact, but he just couldn't have helped those
thoughts from overcoming him, the cruel irony of that
coincidental scene seeming almost too perfect that he knew that
if she could have done it, Ivana herself would have arranged for
him to come across that couple just to taunt him further. 
     Picking himself up to continue on his walk down the block,
he once again commenced trying to break through his stumbling
block on the new location clue, bringing all his concentration to
bear upon it once more. /Why would she use a message made of
clippings like that?/ he wondered again. /A message made of
pieces,...letters, vowels, consonants.../ A last twinge of
jealousy tugging at him from the picture in his mind of the
couple and their peaceful day out, Chip glanced across the
street to direct this last bit of envious rage toward them,
wishing right then and there though that he hadn't.
/...Clippings..../ He spotted them all right, at the far
corner across the street where the man was now buying his
companion a rose /...from a book..../ from a street vendor, the
woman's face all aglow with /...cuttings..../ happiness. 
Averting his gaze again, Chip mentally kicked himself for letting
his feelings get the better of him once again, and then paying
the price for it, since he was even more resentful now at the
irony of the innocent scene /......Cuttings...../
"!" 

     His anger and frustration instantly forgotten, Chip flashed
a double take toward the rose held outstretched by the man toward
his lady love. The rose. *A plant*. The pieces fell into place.
/Clippings from a clipping, or *cuttings from a cutting*!/
     "*That's it*!" he cried triumphantly. He'd been wrong until
now. The lines under the letters and the film had nothing to do
with the next location. Like all the other clues, each was simply
meant to lead to the next one. They weren't meant to be linked
together, save when indicated. Ivana had led him astray once
again, by having him think that "all of the clues" meant all of
the obscure ones as well. The next location had only to do with
the last clue. 
     The pasted message had been created from cuttings, cut from
a book called "The Edge of Extinction." In other words, *cuttings
from "The Edge of Extinction*." *A clue within a clue*. "Just
like back at the tree house with the watches." he murmured,
instantly realizing what both of these things shared in common
besides plants. A store. A very special or "rare" store to be
exact. Slipping into one of the more crowded shops on the block,
he quickly went to work. Ducking around the counter to where he
hoped the phone books would be located. With a sigh of relief, he
saw that they were, knowing as he worked, that with the crowd in
the store, the proprietor would be paying enough attention to her
customers to be oblivious to his presence.  
     Sometime ago, going on nearly a year now, there had been a
gala event for the opening of a new building in the city. He'd
read about the celebration from studying a month's worth of
newspapers that Tammy had saved for him when the Rangers
had gone to Africa on an extended case. In this standing favor
that she did for him whenever the Rangers were out of the country
on a mission, Tammy had always come through for him with
salvaging the newspapers for him to peruse, since even old news
was always important to him as a detective. In the new
skyscraper, among the regular compliment of law firms, doctors
offices and assorted businesses that such new buildings usually
attracted, this one had garnered the status of being the first to
host a new venture by the world renowned actor and charitable
entrepreneur Paul Leuman. The store was the first of it's kind,
combining the three related businesses of nursery, florist, and
confectionery into one area, placing it at the forefront of all
other nurseries, florists and confectioneries that were likely to
follow its example of becoming such supermarkets. Being the first
to introduce this new idea of course, made Leuman's new venture
nothing less than-"Cutting's from "The Edge" or...." Chip said as
he ran his finger down the page, finally jabbing it into a
store's name in the yellow pages-"...*The Cutting's Edge*." 

     "Gotcha." Chip whispered, allowing himself a self satisfied
smile of competitive satisfaction. Making a mental note of the
address, he quickly slipped back out of the shop again as the
door opened. Rapidly ascending the brick face up to the roof top,
and checking the direction his target was located, Chip removed a
small square of heavy grade paper from the lining of his jacket,
swiftly unfolding and refolding the paper with practiced ease
into a sturdy paper plane. Seconds later, he was airborne and
headed rapidly across town on the glider, bound for Cranston
Tower.

               *              *              *    

     Entering into the room she had picked, Gadget began her
hurried and frantic search for something that could be used to
break the lock open, or to pry it off. It was a search that
became more and more frantic with each passing second. She was so
used to finding common, everyday items lying around everywhere,
items that she could use to save the day on almost every case, to
see the room she was in, stripped of absolutely everything, right
down to lightbulbs and stray paper clips, made her feel like
screaming in frustration. It was as if Ivana knew all about her,
she thought, and knew enough not to give her even the most
unassuming of materials to use, knowing that she might work
miracles with them. Before, they'd been able to get through to
Monterey when he'd been similarly trapped, by breaking though the
glass strip set into the door, with some metal handles taken from
desk drawers. Now, with no glass in the door to break though, and
worse, not even any furniture or anything else to fashion a tool
from this time, her mind began to grow into a near hysterical
state, wondering how they were going to break Dale free. Trying
her best to calm herself and telling herself not to panic, Gadget
took a deep breath and tried to relax, in spite of the fact of
knowing that a dear friend in such dire straits would certainly
cause her to feel such anguish normally. /Maybe Ivana *doesn't*
know all about us as Monterey feared, and this room was just a
fluke!/ she thought hopefully trying to keep her spirit up and
her mind positive. Releasing the breath, she exited from the
room, having found it totally dry. 

     Fervently hoping that the next room down the hall might
prove more fruitful, she headed toward it and entered it. It was
upon searching this also bare next room though, at the far end of
it to be exact, that the shadowy figure none of them had seen
before.....*struck*. Jumping with fright as something abruptly
and roughly grabbed her arm, she let out a startled cry, whirling
around to see a black covered figure standing before her. In that
instant, she acted. Grabbing and yanking the arm of her ebon
cloaked assailant to throw the person off balance, she delivered
an expertly placed kick toward the intruder's stomach.
Surprisingly though, the newcomer evaded the blow with a speed
and ease that spoke of a very practiced opponent. Whether this
person was Ivana herself or one of her assistants, she didn't
really know or care, but it was apparent to Gadget that he or she
had been trained in unarmed combat just as well as the Rangers.
/Or perhaps they just knew what moves the Rangers might use.
Maybe she *does* know all about us./ the thought flashed through
Gadget's mind, surprise momentarily crossing her face as the
intruder dodged aside. Sidestepping the kick, the unidentifiable
masked intruder then shot out with its free hand, and grabbing
the arm she was still holding him by, pivoted and with a forceful
throw, spun her away to fall hard upon the floor. As she fell,
the amused chuckle from her opponent echoed throughout the room.  

     Regaining her bearings from the sudden throw, Gadget sprang
back onto her feet, and turning herself to face her adversary
once more, sank herself into a crouch on all fours. Narrowing her
eyes slightly, she stared at the figure intently with her teeth
slightly bared, as if she were a feral huntress of sorts,
stalking her prey. /This is *one* Rescue Ranger you're not going
to take captive,/ she thought determinedly, /and *you're* going
to help me free Dale./ Watching her, the figure stood it's ground
and uttered another muffled, but clearly amused laugh, daring her
with a wave of it's fingers to try to attack again. She was only
all too willing to oblige. 
     Springing into the air like a lioness, she lunged towards
her assailant's chest, her intentions obvious that she meant to
pounce onto her opponent, and drive the headstrong stalker to the
ground. As before though, with excellent reflexes, the figure
swiftly swung itself aside, letting her pass through empty
air..........and in the space of two heartbeats, the battle was
over with *Gadget* victorious. 
     Before lunging, she had anticipated what her opponent might
do. Telegraphing the jump as much as she could, though not enough
to make her intentions *too* obvious, she meant to let her
opponent dodge the move, her actions disguising a second
intention. Flipping in mid air to land on her feet, she touched
down right next to the masked intruder in a crouch, and swinging
a leg around,...kicked her opponent's legs right out from under
him or her, sending her assailant down hard. In an instant, she
was sitting atop her opponent's chest, pinning the figure to the
tiled floor. A feeling of satisfaction rushing through her with
her excitement, she took one of her hands from restraining the
figure's wrists and stretched her hand forward toward it's face. 
Still seemingly stunned from the fall, her adversary put up no
resistance at all against her. 
     Reaching for the mask of the figure, she was about to remove
it when Zipper suddenly streaked into the room, having heard her
cry a moment ago, and having looked for her in two other rooms
before finally finding her in this one. 
     "Are you all right, Gadget?!" Zipper exclaimed, flying up to
her.
     "I'm fine Zip, thanks." she replied, smiling appreciatively
at him. "Look what I caught, Monterey!" she called with a slight
growl of triumph in her voice, turning to look at Monty as he
darted into the room as well right behind Zipper.
"Someone who wanted to take another one of us hostage!" 
     "Bonza work, Gadget luv!" Monterey replied with admiration
as he drew up to her, snidely looking down upon the person that
Gadget had captured. "Well don't keep us in suspense luv," he
said after a pause, "Let's see who this blighter is."
Giving Monterey a look that seemed to say "With pleasure!",
Gadget laid her hand upon the mask of her captive once more, and
giving it a tug, pulled the cloth away to reveal the face of
her attacker. With a collective gasp of surprise emanating from
them all, one name escaped simultaneously from their lips. 
The person beneath the mask was *Dale*. 
     As though his mask hadn't yet been removed, Dale looked
dazedly up at his three friends, and responding to Monterey's
curious question, stated in a slightly mumbled tone,
"I'm.......*RamDale*?.....*I think*."   
     "Oh, *Dale*!!" Gadget cried, her hands shooting to cover her
mouth in horror of what she'd done, what she could have done, and
of what had been done to her friend. In an instant, Gadget
scrambled off his chest and helped him to sit up. "Dale are you
all right?! Did I hurt you?! What happened?! Who did this to
you?!" she blurted out anxiously.
     "Slow down a sec Gadget, luv." Monterey stated, kneeling on
the other side of his friend. "I think our pally's having a bit
of trouble remembering his *own name* right now."
     Raising a hand to his head, Dale shook it once, trying to
clear it. "It's okay Monterey, I remember now." he stated with a
slightly woozy air. Removing the red bandanna that had been
wrapped around his head, Dale looked at it with amazement. "not
to mention who I just was."
      "But, how did you turn into RamDale?" Gadget asked, a
worried edge for him still in her voice. "I mean, you didn't bump
your *own* head, did you?"
     "Nope." Dale stated, looking at her as he got to his feet.
"but I'll show you what *did* happen. Come on!" he called,
motioning them toward the open doorway. Continuing out of the
room he sped down past the door which Gadget and Zipper had seen
shut behind him, minutes before. 
     "Wait a minute." Zipper stated in confusion as they past the
noted door which was still shut tight. "Where are we going and
how did you get out of that room? The door's still shut!"
     "You'll see, Zip." Dale said confidently, leading his
friends down to the next office. The door was open, with the lock
ungummed as Gadget noticed and mentioned, and as they entered
into it, Dale gestured to the side, directing their gazes toward
the far end of the room. "That's how." he said simply. Looking
where Dale was pointing, Zipper, Monty and Gadget observed an
open collapsable partition, that served as a wall that could
seperate or join the two meeting rooms. Looking at the partition
which was now partially folded into one of the walls, Monterey,
Gadget and Zipper glanced at one another with a slightly ashamed
look. In their haste and worry, none of them had even thought of
such an obvious possibility as another entrance into the room.
      "I came through that door," Dale began, pointing toward
the further locked one, "following the chocolate I smelled, and
something or someone hit me on the head. I....*sorta* remember
being dragged past the open wall into this room here," he
continued uncertainly, pointing at the room they were now in as
he looked at them, trying to remember the entire story, "And I
also sorta remember a voice talking to me. I couldn't see who it
was though, and I don't quite remember what it said." With this,
Dale shrugged. "Everything went black, and when I woke up, I
was dressed in these weird, black pajamas. All I knew then, was
that I was RamDale, and that my enemies, the Rescue Rangers were
around." He finished, giving them a curious look. "It's almost
just like what happened to me back in France.>>" he stated with a
curious air. "You were just the first one that I spotted
Gadget....Sorry for scaring and throwing you like that."
he finished, smiling abashedly.
     "That's all right Dale." Gadget replied, factually. "It
wasn't your fault. It's *Ivana's* fault for telling you to do
those things." she finished with a touch of anger in her voice.
Pausing for a moment then, she looked at him guiltily before
continuing. "I'm *really* sorry for what I did to you." she
stated with a heartfelt look of apology, folding her hands
sheepishly before her in embarrasment. 
     With a good natured chuckle that spoke of his normally
cheerful and happy go lucky nature, Dale waved her apology aside.
"Ah, it's okay Gadget." he replied. "It's what *Ivana* did to
me, if that was her, that I'm sorry about." He shrugged. "You
didn't do anything. You just *undid* it. If you hadn't gotten me
to hit my head again, we might still have been fighting."
     "Or worse." Zipper stated with a forboding air, as Gadget
Dale and Monterey turned to nod at him in somber agreeance with
the meaning of his words. There was no telling what else Ivana
had put into his mind as a "suggestion", or what Gadget might
have had to do to defend herself. The consequenses of the battle
could have turned up a great deal worse than a few bumps and
bruises. Thinking about this, Dale supressed a shiver.

*****

                          Part 3 of 4
                 
*****   

     "Well Gadget luv," Monterey said turning to her, a touch of
apprehension at their situation clearly visible upon his face.
"You said that Ivana wouldn't be able to trick us again. Now
what?" 
     "I don't know Monty." she replied simply with the shrug of a
person who's options were clearly limited, "She *does* seem to
know a lot about us and our cases. I'm still wondering though,
why she would dress "RamDale" up like one of those Ninjas from
Bubble's gang, or the-"
     "Phantom Blotch." Dale finished, recognizing the similarity
as well between his outfit and one of the prized comics in his
collection, the Phantom Blotch being a notorious villan in comic
literature that he had talked about often. "I don't know, but
speaking of which..." Letting the sentence trail off, Dale began
to remove the black jumpsuit that he had been dressed in,
revealing one of his familiar Hawaiian shirts beneath it. Taking
the top off  was easy enough for him. However, while trying to
take off the loose fitting sweatpants, one of his feet abruptly
caught within the folds of the cloth, and losing his balance as
he had before with his battle with Gadget, he went down like a
rock. Along with Monterey and Zipper, Gadget visibly cringed as
Dale crashed heavily to the floor. Kneeling beside him instantly,
she carefully helped him to sit up as Dale gingerly rubbed his
head from where he'd hit it upon the stone floor. 
     "Are you all right, Dale?" she asked with concern before
stopping herself. Looking at him again carefully now, worry
covered her face, both as to whether Dale had hurt himself, and
as to whether from hitting his head he had reverted back to his
battle ready 'RamDale' persona once more. ".......*Dale*?" she
asked uncertainly after a pause.
     "I'm okay, Gadget." Dale replied dazedly, alleviating her
fears, though not quite catching the meaning behind her tone.
"Ouch! Three times in one day!" he murmured, touching his head
gingerly.
     "You always considered yourself a headbanger, mate!"
Monterey smiled, referring to Dale actions when playing his heavy
metal rock and roll. "You're getting good practice at it!"
     At Monterey's joking response, Gadget shot him a sour look
that was laced with the tiniest of smiles, as did Zipper. Hearing
Dale moan slightly from the throbbing in his head though, a
memory suddenly flashed in the smallest Rescue Ranger's eyes.
"Dale, do you remember you or anyone else crying or moaning after
you got hit on the head?" He asked curiously, hovering next to
him.
      "Why?" Dale asked, looking at him curiously as Gadget
checked his head for further injury than just the bumps that she
knew would be there. 
     "Well, almost right after we saw the door close behind
you, we heard you or at least *someone* crying." Zipper replied.
"It was kind of muffled through the door though, to tell for
certain." 
     Thinking for a moment more, Dale grimaced slightly. "Oh,
*that*." he replied. "I guess I did, though I don't think you 
could blame me." he stated seriously. 
     "But why, mate?" Monterey asked, intrigued. "What happened?"
     "Ivana sure seems to enjoy teasing people." Dale replied
with a grumble. "Right before I got hit on the head, all I found
was an empty chocolate wrapper! "Ivana or at lweast someone had
eaten it right before I got there! Can you think of anything so
cruel?!" he asked in all sincerity. 
     Their mouths dropping, almost unable to believe what they'd
just heard, a similar look of mild exasperation crossed the faces
of Gadget, Zipper, and Monterey Jack. Turning to look at them,
and then smacking a hand over her eyes, Gadget turned her gaze
back towards Dale. A look of mild amusement creeping into her
exasperated look, Gadget shook her head at him and smiled.
     "Dale," she stated seriously but with small chuckle. "If you
hadn't gotten injured by this time, I'd hit you." Then, looking
at him affectionately, as Dale's eyes went wide at her previous
words, she added in a more caring tone, "I'm glad you're all
right, though." The kiss she then gave him upon his cheek to
emphasize her words, nearly made Dale fall over a forth time.  

     Resuming their search for Chip with all due haste, a half
hour passed without incident as the quartet continued to search
the various rooms of the floor. As Gadget had found before, a
great deal of the rooms were now depleted of furniture as well.
Instead of searching alone now, the foursome had split up into
two teams to reduce the likelyhood of Ivana being able to trick
them again. Though even with Zipper paired with Monterey, and
Gadget paired with Dale, the little green fly and the young
inventor had wondered what they would be able to do to stop their
friends should Ivana try to lure Monterey and Dale with their
respective bait again. As each of the foursome knew that these
"attacks" were almost completely beyond Monterey and Dale's
ability to consciously control, all of them had good reason to
worry. To that end, to help insure against letting them get away,
Gadget and Zipper each made it a point to keep their respective
teammates in sight at all times as they searched, as well as
positioning themselves so they could always reach the doorway
first to block them. All in all though when it came right down to
it, they knew that all they could do was to *hope* they'd be able
to stop them. With Ivana's cunning ways up against them, coupled
with the strength of the attacks of Monterey's and Dale's
cravings, they knew there were no guarantees. As they searched,
they saw that as it was upstairs, the rooms that sported windows
were also coated over with shatterproof paint, the stairways were
locked, the elevators were dead, and the only thing new they
found upon their quest for their missing friend, was a quiet
sense of dread that so far, and perhaps not for much longer,
*they were just being toyed with*.   

                         *         *         *



     The trip to the skyscraper took considerably less time than
the first trip had taken to get from headquarters to the library.
Regretfully though, Chip wished that he had remembered about the
paper plane in the first place which would have saved him some
precious time. For in his rush to get to the library, his anxiety
had made him momentarily forgetful to the point that he had
discarded the idea of using one of the simple planes at all. The
reason for this was understandable. Since the team had first been
formed two years ago, the Rangers had used the makeshift gliders
to rescue them from perilous plummets and to transport them quite
frequently when one of the other air based vehicles were not
available. As their hectic line of work so often caused them to
get caught in such uncertain situations, in his quite frantic
anxiety to get to the library, Chip had momentarily forgotten an
important fact. That fact being that despite all the new and
better designs Gadget had studied upon and came up on her own to
fold the gliders, making them fly longer, faster, and with more
precision for maneuvers, the original idea to use the paper
planes as a means of emergency transport could not be credited
exclusively to her.
     The credit for that particular idea had come from himself
and Dale, for like Orville and Wilbur White, they had begun
experimenting with using paper planes for flight at least a week
before they'd met Gadget. Their misadventurous flight from a
rooftop in the city had been their acid test to see if they could
fly one of their planes over the *entire* city, given a good
enough
lauch site. If Ivana knew as much about the Rangers as she seemed
to, then certainly she or whoever else was watching him, would
see that since this was not completely one of Gadget's
ideas or inventions, he was clearly still playing by the rules.
Even so, and just to play it safe though, he'd folded the paper
into a standard generic plane shape. A less efficient craft to be
sure than the planes which Gadget had taught the entire team to
make, but considering the circumstances, much safer for his
friends.

     Now riding swiftly upon the buoyant air currents, he flew
the plane gratefully, appreciating it like never before since it
was one of the few pieces of equipment the Rangers used that
hadn't come from the wellspring of Gadget's imagination. So many
of the things Gadget had created, they used everyday, and had
become so second nature to them, the Rangers had become quite
dependent upon them and upon her, if not taking her inventive
genius a bit for granted even. /What would the Rescue Rangers be
without Gadget?/ he considered, Probably nowhere near as
successful a team as they were now, he well knew. Not to mention
a number of cases in their past where Gadget's inventions had
saved the day. Without her inventions, he knew that he and the
others wouldn't even still be alive today. /And without Gadget's
inventions,/ he considered somberly, /how much of a chance do I
stand of completing this gauntlet if I'm going to be walking into
a deathtrap every time?//...Still,/ he considered again, perking
up slightly a few moments later, even in the days before the
Rangers when his only teammate had been Dale, the two of them
always had quite a full proverbial bag of tricks which they had 
constantly used, improvising just as Gadget did with what was at
hand, and using their wits to get out of trouble and save their
tails. Now, he mused further as his target came into sight, was
certainly a good time to see just how many of those tricks of
self reliance he could remember. He had a strong feeling he was
going to need every one he could remember for this caper. 
     
     Cranston Tower was a building built about as modern as they
came. A shining full glass exterior that seemed to reflect half
the city in its face, Chip had to shield his eyes against the
glare the building momentarily threw at him from the mirrored
sun. Landing the craft in the pot of a large palm tree that was
part of the shaded outer and plant filled courtyard, he rapidly
refolded the plane into its condensed square. Replacing it in his
jacket, and running to join a dapper looking man as he reentered
the building, they left behind the other workers from the
building who now relaxed among the benches and tables dispersed
throughout the shaded enclosure. 
     Proceeding into the lobby, Chip didn't bother himself with 
checking the building's directory for the location of his
destination, for from what he'd read of it in the newspaper, he
remembered the location of "The Cutting's Edge" by heart. It's
location was exactly what made the store so "rare" in the first
place. In addtion to the two others in the bay area, there were
branches of "The Cutting's Edge" all across the state and
country, but besides being the one of the first stores opened, it
was the *only* store and *would be* the only store as the article
had stated, that would be located on the top floor
of a skyscraper, monopolizing the *entire* floor. 
     Making his way near the bank of elevators located along one
wall of the lobby, Chip waited for the car to arrive as some
humans milled about before the group, waiting as well. In a few
moments, one of the elevator doors opened to receive its
passengers. Concealing himself as much as possible since he'd
encountered humans before in an elevator and didn't want to cause
an undue panic, he made his way forward. He didn't quite make it
though, for as he was about to slip onto the elevator, he paused.
Ducking out of the way as the humans continued to board the
car, he watched the doors close and then looked around the
lobby......*considering*.
     /Ivana probably has a trap waiting for me somewhere around
here, but is it just on the top floor or could she mean to lay
waste to the whole building?/ He wondered with a visible shudder.
/Whatever the case, I can't put anyone, animal or human, in
danger on my account, again./ Beginning to walk, he cast his gaze
carefully about him. /What I need is...ah, *there* it is./ he
thought, breaking into a sprint toward the desired door across
the way. 

     2:47.....

     Out of breath, his work below done, Chip stood in the back
of the elevator, riding the car behind the human passengers
within it. After the last rider had disembarked upon the 53nd
floor on the ascending elevator, he made his move. With no stool
to stand on, or plant to climb up, and with no one like Zipper to
reach the elevator buttons for him, getting where he was going
required a little dexterity. Casting his climbing rope upward, he
caught the hook upon the grid of the ventilation grill above,
which made up the ceiling of the car. Deftly shimmying up the
rope before another call came for the car, he stretched out a
foot, hit the button for the 68th floor and slid down. Snapping
his rope down off the grill as the car made its way up, the doors
hummed open before him, seconds after he'd finished coiling the
rope back into his jacket. 
     The Cutting's Edge was an expansive store to say the least.
Actually, with the exception of the candy, fruit and nut section,
with the entire floor of the skyscraper being occupied by plants
of every shape, size and type, it was more like stepping out of a
building and into a lush rainforest. "Bushroot would love it
here." Chip said dryly as he looked about him, referring to one
of the characters on a cartoon show he sometimes watched with
Dale. Glancing at a clock on a nearby wall, he checked the time
in regards to the game........as well *as in regards to something
else.* /If the two clocks are anywhere near in sync,/ he told
himself, /I still have a minute or so. Might as well start
looking. /
     Attaining a vantage point atop the sprinkler system which
sported exterior pipes, Chip carefully began to reconnoiter the
store from above. /Wish I had some idea of what I should be
looking for./ he wondered to himself as he searched. /Ivana gave
me no other leads here, other than the place itself. How do I
find the next rhyme clue?/ The question sticking in his mind, he
continued to ponder it as he was about to descend back down to
the floor as he reached the "Confection Corner", for here, the
pipes were swallowed back up by the foam ceiling panels. It was
at that moment though, when his eye caught sight of another
clock. He stopped. "Should be any second now." he whispered to
himself, keeping himself perched on the pipe. A second ticked by,
then ten more...before everyone in the store started in surprise
as series of alarm bells ripped through the air. "Bingo." Chip
said, nodding with satisfaction. 
     A look of respect crossing his face a moment later, Chip
watched with admiration as the store's employees collected
themselves immediately from the barely perceptable shock which
the alarm had momentarily given them as they instantly began to
escort the customers out of the store's exits and towards the
stairwells, explaining calmly that the call to evacuate the
building had been sounded. "Well trained employees." he murmured
approvingly, watching as the workers strived to keep the crowd
organized and calm as he descended his rope to the floor. "Though
when you're attracting the wealthiest customers in the city who
only want the best and want it now, I guess it pays to have
people that are prepared for anything." He paused then as he
snapped his grapnel down once more. /I just hope that *I'm* ready
for anything./ he thought with a touch of trepidation as he
looked around, wondering if another bomb lay hidden in the store.
     Recoiling his rope into his jacket as he walked, ignoring
the alarm bells, Chip entered the "Confection Corner", thinking
briefly about what he'd just done. Knowing that he had to get
everyone out of the building, he'd decided that perhaps
he could use Ivana's anonymous, though now notorious reputation
to his own advantage. Entering into the kitchen of the building's
immense cafeteria, what he'd done was basically to build a bomb
or two of his own. Finding one of the microwaves that weren't in
use, he'd placed within it: three eggs, a couple of potatoes, a
few hot dogs, and a small rubber food storage container that he'd
filled with water and securely capped. He knew full well from
past culinary experiences with his friends, just what these items
could do when overcooked, and about how long it would take to
happen. 
     Finding an old and underused pressure cooker while looking
for some paper for a note had been a bit of extra icing on the
cake. He'd actually laughed upon finding the device as the idea
came to him to use it, for he'd never thought that that cheesy
disaster Monterey had caused within headquarters some time ago<,
would ever have served to help him with a plan in the future.
Setting up the microwave and the pressure cooker so they would go
off at about the same time, he'd raced back to the elevator,
stopping only to tape the note he'd written in an obvious place,
so someone would be sure to see it when people came running to
check on the explosive noise. The message he had written had
read: "What I did at the Heights and Ashbury library is nothing
compared to what I'm going to do here. Have fun trying to
evacuate." He had signed the note as "The mad bomber." He knew
that the signature was corny, but he knew that the odds were that
no one who read it would know who Ivana M. Killjoy was either. He
logically mused to himself that a moniker with more obvious
connotations would be more effective. Since reports of the
bombing at the library were still all over the radio and T.V., he
knew there was pretty much no chance of his words not being taken
seriously. All he'd had to worry about really, was setting up his
"bombs" with just enough time so that he could reach the store
before the elevators were stopped and shut down. Fortunately
though, he'd timed the operation very well.

*****

                          Part 4 of 4
                 
*****   

     Walking now through the huge candy, cake, cookie, coffee,
fruit, nut and pastry section which took up about a quarter of
the store, Chip hungrily licked his lips as the aromas and sights
of the area enveloped him. The section featured thousands of
domestic and extravagantly exotic treats from all over the world.
/I'll have to remember to get something from here for Dale on
*his* birthday./ he smiled to himself, /He'd go absolutely *nuts*
in this place!..........Yeah,...his...birthday..../ Chip thought
as his smile then faded away. /All I gotta do is make sure we
*both* live to see his next birthday./ he thought grimly. With a
violent shake of his head to cast the negative thought from his
mind, he put his hunger in check and studied his surroundings
even more closely. /Birthdays./ he sighed. /Sure wish I had time
to enjoy *my own* birthday./ he put in absently as an
afterthought. 
     Exiting the candy section a few minutes later, the area
having turned up empty to his examination, he entered
the nursery area, wondering once again just where his next lead
was hidden. However, he didn't have to wonder for any length of
time though, for as he was looking up, down, and all about him,
trying to observe everything he could, he quite literally
stumbled over his next clue.  "What the..?!" he cried, falling
forward as he tripped. Regaining his balance, he looked down at
what he'd nearly tumbled over. It was a small heart shaped candy,
the type of small confection which were so popular around
Valentine's day. Also he instantly saw, the small sweet was
sitting next to of all things, *a chocolate chip*. Another heart
candy and chocolate chip lay a few feet ahead of the first pair,
followed by many other pairs further on. /Obviously a trail to
follow./ Chip thought to himself, starting forward. Following
the candies, he carefully checked each piece to see if there was
any sort of clue or message upon any of them, but other than the
normally sentimental message upon each heart shaped candy, there
was nothing else for him to observe. Leading across most of the
distance of the store, the trail stretched out in a straight line
before him as he followed it until suddenly, it broke to the
right into an aisle of the nursery. Standing at the periphery of
the aisle, expecting another ambush of some sort, Chip shot a
quick look around the corner to what might lay waiting for him. 
What he discovered was.....*a rose*. 
     A single young red rose, still closed and being held in an
ornamental glass vase, stood at the end of the aisle. Sitting
next to the rose and vase was a unshelled chocolate covered
walnut. Turning into the aisle, and checking over the candies
that led up to it, as well as the walnut laying beside it, Chip
stood before the flower, scrutinizing it carefully. Noticing a
tag wrapped around the stem of the flower, he carefully took it
in between his fingers and opened it. The message within the tag
read: "Don't you just love fate, my dear Chip? That tender little
scene was so deliciously perfect, I really couldn't help myself
but to add this newest rhyme.: Ah the budding of romance, the
suggestion of a date. Might it be said, the two met by fate? Yet
Nicole will be crushed, as the words were a lie, she picked the
wrong person, for affection to vie. For the heart of this
chipmunk we know has been sold, upon a girl who's own heart, it
seems is on hold. Though with a manner that resolute, and with
feelings untold, does he hope that one day his dream will
unfold." 

     For several seconds upon finishing the message, Chip stood
there, his mouth hanging open in exasperation before he was even
able to create a coherent thought. /I-...she-...How..*I don't
believe this*! *How did she know*?!/ he finally exclaimed in his
mind. It seemed that at every turn, he was vastly underestimating
the abilities of "Ivana M. Killjoy". Not only was his opponent as
violent as the character in the book, he also saw now that she
was just as astute as the character in knowing her opponents
inside and out. There was one consolation though, for he knew
that Ivana was wrong about one thing. That thing being that
Nicole would be crushed with his let down. After all, how
could she be when she was unconscious? 
     After leaving Rick at the entrance to the library}}, he'd
spotted her being carried on a stretcher toward one of the
ambulances. She'd been pretty banged up by the explosion with
some minor injuries, but the medics that were attending her
assured him that it was nothing life threatening and that she
would be all right. Still feeling somewhat guilty about having
lied to her, he'd resolved to visit her later on to explain his
situation,..if he made it through this case he ameneded to
himself. /Though other than to taunt me, what does all this have
to do wi-hold it!/ he caught himself, stopping his thoughts as he
glanced at the message again. /"The *budding* of Romance," at the
beginning of the poem,/ he observed, /and "his dream will
*unfold*", at the end of the poem. *Both* have to do with roses!
A beginning..../ Tipping the vase over, he gently began to unfurl
the petals of the unblossomed rose. 
     Grasping the note which he had suspected he would find
hidden within the petals, he pulled it out and began to unfold
it. /Just like the two times before./ he thought as he finished
unfolding the paper. /A clue within a clue. Ivana may know me
pretty well, but at least I'm beginning to get a pattern with her
that I can work with. One that'll help me get to know *her* well
enough to lead me to her I hope./ Opening the paper, he glanced
over it's words. The message on it stated simply: "Like nuts and
flowers, a heart can be crushed.....*or it can crush you*." 

     Already moving, having caught the growing shadow out of the
corner of his eye, Chip dove forward as far as possible and
tucked himself into a roll, a split second before the object
hit. It barely missed him, crushing the walnut, the rose, and the
vase beneath its massive weight with an echoing crash upon
impact. Coming out of the roll and springing to his
feet, Chip looked up at the hole in the ceiling where the panel
had been removed, to hear the sounds of two sets of running feet.
The brief glimpse of the hole in the ceiling was all he saw
however, for even as he reached into his jacket for his
climbing rope, meaning to follow his assailants, he was suddenly
dazzled by a blinding burst of light. Crying out, Chip twisted
away and fell to the ground, covering his eyes from the painful
radiance of the phosphorus flair. It was many minutes before he
could even begin to open his eyes. /Well/, he thought angrily,
waiting for the stinging effect to wear off as he struggled to
open his eyes and clear his vision. /Ivana and her cronies
certainly know how to keep from being followed./ When the effect
had finally worn off and only some dim spots remained to annoy
his vision, Chip stood up and looked at the heart shaped candy
box that had brought an untimely demise to the red rose, and had
nearly done the same to him. A few of the rose's petals lay
sticking out from underneath the enormous box. Slowly, he shook
his head at the meaning of it, glad that he had caught on early
enough to the other meaning behind the rhyme, the one which had
alerted him to the impending trap which had just been sprung. 
/A beginning....and an *ending*. Ivana's violent all right, he
thought. but you have to admit,.....she's almost *poetic* about
it./ Regarding the heart shaped box for another moment, a wry
smile played across his face in spite of himself and the
seriousness of the situation. /Whoever said that love can hurt
was certainly right./ he mused. 

    Looking over the cover of the box, he saw that there was
nothing upon it which held any clues for him to use. Getting a
grip upon the cover then, he gently tugged the cardboard up until
he could see inside it the box, knowing that whatever was inside,
as it not having exploded upon its impact with the floor, what
was in the box was most probably not a bomb. "Concrete?" he said
curiously, pulling the cover away all together to see what he had
uncovered. Running his fingers across the coarse surface that had
been cut into the same shape as the box, he reached inside the
box toward what was attached to the stone slab. /Sure brings new
meaning to the definition of *rock candy*./ he quipped
sarcastically. /Not to mention this being an accurate portrayal
of Ivana's *own* heart if she isn't insane./ He brooded darkly. 
     Taped onto the center of the stone heart was yet another
folded note. Removing the note and opening it, he mumbled 
its message aloud to himself. "To find the next clue, look to
the past, and link it to a like, term that has cast, the measure
of balance for good or for ill, and then you will see, why those
who now fill, an arena with sport, though they can be quite
small, when you single them out, they can be quite tall, yet when
you examine them one and all, remember the one who heralds the
call. P.S.," The note finished lastly at the bottom of the paper.
"Have you ever had a really bad case of *heartburn* Chipper? If
not,....*you're about to*." 
     Instantly alert, Chip pivoted and sprinted away from the
candy box, putting several tables of plants between him and the
message box before he finally turned around, darting a look back
at it from behind a wooden table leg. Curiously though as he
watched, nothing happened. Even more wary now, he stepped out
from the table and shot a look up towards the hole in the
ceiling, at the box on the ground, and all around him as he
tensely waited for the other shoe to drop. In the deafening
silence, every nerve was tingling with a mixture of fear and
anticipation. Yet still nothing happened. /*A dud*?/ he wondered
hopefully. 
     Making his way back toward the box, he examined it as
closely as he could, under the partial shelter of the nearest
table leg. In a spot on the concrete where the note had
previously covered it up, he noticed now yet another cruel taunt
by Ivana, similar to the one he'd gotten in the library. Drawn
upon the concrete slab in a black chalk, was a smaller heart,
within which were the words "Chip and Gadget?" And though the
year was 1991, the only date below the names, was a darkly
familiar "'86." "This is getting to be a running gag with her."
Chip mumbled humorlessly, the term "Eighty Six he knew, being a
term meaning to cut short or to kill. Ignoring the foreboding
omen, he turned his attention to another, much tinier etching of
yellow chalk along the outer border of the stone heart. It was
just a simple line that seemed to curve slightly, but Chip stared
at it intently for close to nine minutes.........*pondering*.
Then, watching above him for any sign of another ambush, he
stepped out from under his shelter and quickly tore the candy box
down to reveal the sides of the broken stone heart. Nothing was
there, but as Chip ducked back under the table, he smiled to
himself confidently. He was certain now that he knew where to go
for the next clue, but first, he wanted to check on something
before he left.

     Starting towards the manager's office on the opposite side
of the store, he moved away from the candy box, but only a few
feet had he advanced before a sudden whistle call snapped him
back around in a flash. He turned....and as he did, his jaw went
slack with another look of shocked surprise. Standing upon the
broken heart shaped stone now, with no indication as to how it
had gotten there or who had put it there, was a rodent sized
holiday greeting card. Though not just *any* ordinary greeting
card was this one. This particular memento he instantly
recognized, was a card he'd been meaning to give Gadget for the
next Christmas season, as that particular holiday he knew to be
her favorite time of the year.  Upon this card he had created was
what he considered to be, the best attempt that he would make to
win her heart. It was true that she knew he was attracted to her,
but somehow, even after two years of living and working alongside
her, he'd never had found the right opportunity to tell her the
true extent of his feelings toward her, or exactly the right
words to tell her just *how much* he thought of her and cared
about her. 
     In the card, he'd basically poured his heart and soul out on
paper, telling her at last, all that he thought and felt about
her. What he felt when he was around her, or even when he only
caught a glimpse of her, or looked at the picture he had of her,
or pictured her in his mind. Everything that he'd dreamed of and
wished regarding her, he'd told to her in pages of this card. He
had worked on it for months, going through endless drafts so he
could get just what he'd wanted to say just right, until the
words came out as gracefully as poetry. It was, he considered,
the greatest thing he'd ever written. When he'd finished it at
last a few weeks back, he'd placed the card under lock and key in
a secret part of the tree house where he knew none of the team
would ever stumble across it, and *yet someone else had*. How
Ivana had found it he didn't know, but found it she certainly had
and,.......Racing forward, a look of desperation on his face, he
barely took half a dozen steps, before a burning match suddenly
dropped from the ceiling's hole toward the card. He watched it
drop with a look of horror as he knew he would be unable to stop
it in time. Two steps further, and the card burst into a roaring
flash of flame, burning intensely from the chemical or fuel
substance it had been soaked in. He had caught a whiff of the
flammable substance an instant before, alerting him all too late
to the looming fate of the card. Burning brightly for about five
seconds, the intense fire then died away, as the remains of the
card crumbled down into a thin pile of ashes. 

     Chip turned away, a feeling of pain and humiliation burning
within him. It would take him months to create something that
perfect again if he could at all. All that soul searching, All
that work of finding just the right words, of all those
months......wasted. "So that's how she knew." was all he said in
a low, angry and disappointed mumble with an anguished grimace.
Shoving his clenched fists into his jacket pockets as he started
back towards the manager's office, he was too upset to consider
for the moment just why during that brief fire, the sprinkler
system hadn't gone off.... /Score another one for *you* Ivana./
He thought menacingly, /You weren't kidding when you said a bad
case of heartburn./ 
     Heading into the manager's office, he ascended up to the
computer on the desk which had been left on, and reset it.
Accessing the operating system, he saw with satisfaction that the
manager did indeed have access to an online service as he'd
hoped there would be. All he had to do now was to crack the entry
code. In the past, up to around seven months ago, he would have
considered such a task as cracking a password far beyond his
abilities, since computers and technology weren't  his field of
specialty. Then again though, seven months ago he didn't have
something that he did now, namely a first cousin once removed
named Elwood. Soon after his cousin Chet had taken in, and
consequently adopted the young orphaned mouse* they had had the
need to enlist his services. While on an urgent case invoving a
counterfitting ring, the Rescue Rangers had soon found themselves
in need of the talents of a skilled computer hacker, when they
had needed to break into the F.B.I.'s mainframe database for some
vital classified information. It was a task that even Gadget had
found herself consistently unsuccessful upon after numerous
attempts. Soon after that time, realizing how necessary computer
skills could be in their line of work, Chip had again enlisted
the aid of Elwood, though this time in the capacity of a
teacher, for him to make the Rescue Rangers as computer literate
as he, particularly in the art of code breaking and hacking. It
had taken some time, but in the end, the lessons were an enormous
success. Elwood had basically  ended up teaching everyone on the
team most of everything he knew. Now, armed with this knowledge,
Chip began to set about applying what he knew for the second time
in the field, since the long training had begun those many months
ago. In the matter of a minute breaking through the passwords, he
had accessed the system.
     After "mousing" his way into an electronic encyclopedia from
the start up screens, he quickly found the information he was
looking for. Making a mental note of what he had found, he was
about to check on one thing further before leaving when suddenly,
his computer session was interrupted as a sharp, intensely
burning sensation abruptly scorched his tail. 
     "Yeiiaooooww!!!" Chip cried, jumping in pain and reaching
around to smack at his posterior with his hand. Touching his
tail, he found his hand beginning to burn slightly as well to his
surprise. Continuing to smack away at the liquid he'd felt fall
upon him, he suddenly then became aware of the distinctive sound
of something else....*sizzling*. Looking around at the slight
wisps of smoke that were beginning to curl up from different
points in the room, he then turned his gaze up toward the
sprinkler system overhead. A look of horror freezing upon his
face, he realized what was going on even as the sprinkler heads
suddenly switched from a slow drip to a steady spray.......*The
trap*. he thought with a feeling of terror. More *heartburn*....
*Acid*. How Ivana herself, or her helpers had managed to pump
acid into the sprinkler system he didn't know, but one thing was
painfully clear. If he didn't hightail it out of the store and do
it *right now*, he was going to be turned into a flash fried
Swiss cheese chipmunk. 

     Grabbing a nearby 3&1/4 inch floppy disk and shielding
himself with it over his head even as the torrential spray began,
Chip jumped from the table, hoping that the disk would hold
together until he could get out of the deadly rain. It almost
didn't, with the acid eating through in many spots even as he
left the office, and the entire disk breaking apart even as he
climbed up one of the plants sitting upon the floor to attain the
open window beside it.  Jumping outside and teetering on the
narrow, almost nonexistent ledge which was barely as wide as his
own feet, Chip held his breath, trying not to look down from
the dizzying height. Carefully turning around, he leaned against
the steel border for the window and removed the paper square from
his jacket pocket. 

     Stealing a glance back inside the store, he watched with
sorrow as all the plants within the scope of his vision withered
and died quickly from the burning onslaught, collapsing onto the
floor in pieces. He knew he had been lucky that the floor of the
store had been lined with sand pebbles to allow for water seepage
instead of being set with tiles. It was the only thing that had
saved his feet from being scalded or the acid would have begun to
puddle from the downpouring spray, vastly hampering his escape.
Setting his feelings aside for the fate of the plants within, he
unfolded the square and refolded it reflexively upon the sill
without looking at it, recreating it into its much needed paper
plane shape. Then, carefully keeping his balance and pivoting
himself around with the paper securely in his grasp, he
simultaneously pushed off from the building, and jumped aboard
the plane, never seeing the telltale hole in his jacket near the
inner pocket that had held the paper square....

     The drop of acid that had slowly eaten a hole in his jacket
onto a portion of the paper that Chip now rode, began its work
in earnest now with the breeze fanning against it, spreading the
liquid out as it rapidly began to burn away the paper in its
path. Starting with the tail section, it worked its way sideways
toward the wing.....

     Noticing the increasing instability of the craft after a
moment, Chip glanced over just in time to see the left wing of
the plane begin to disintegrate beneath the liquid's corrosive
touch. He didn't even have time to gasp. Going into a sudden
tailspin, the plane bucked once, and Chip was sent sailing out of
the craft, plummeting headlong towards the street from the
*height of the 59th floor*.......

     Somewhere in the city, an evil glint twinkled in the eyes of
one who now watched the chipmunk's deadly plight as a malevolent
grin spread from ear to ear. "*Goodbye, Chipper*." the voice
growled sinisterly, watching with twisted pleasure as Chip fell
screaming toward his certain doom........     

() CDRR-Three Men And A Booby.                    
<> Rhyme and Reason-No. 3.
**RamDale first appeared in "Le Purrfect Crime."
>> CDRR-Le Purrfect Crime.
< CDRR-Short Order Crooks.
*Elwood and Chet (Chip's cousin) were first seen in Disney
Adventures, Rescue Ranger
story: "The Whiz kid of Elm Street."
S.A.M.A.R.I.T.A.N.S. Rick and Ivana M. Killjoy are all copyright
1994, Michael Demcio.







.