Chapter Nine
By: Winston deLeon
When 11 o'clock came around, Jade announced that it was time to start getting ready for her meeting with Rat Capone. "Here, wear these." Jade said, handing Tammy a wide-brimmed pitch black fedora with a white band and a black tie that was already loosely tied in a loop.
"Huh? Why?" Tammy asked, staring at the strange articles of clothing.
"Because it'll help hide your face and make you look a bit more like a criminal." Jade said as she changed out of her plain grey shirt and into a black button-down shirt, then donned a white necktie and an ivory colored fedora with a charcoal-grey band.
Tammy pulled the black tie around her neck and tightened it carefully, then put on the hat. Tammy looked around for a mirror, but there didn't seem to be any in the room. "Good enough?" Tammy asked Jade.
"Your tie's fine. But pull your hat down lower. Try not let Capone get a good look at your face." She said.
Tammy pulled the hat down lower, as low as she could without making it too difficult to see.
"Perfect. You look positively sinister. Let's go." Jade said, leading the way to elevator. Tammy had the sneaking suspicion that Jade was being sarcastic about looking 'sinister', but it was the best she could do with what was available, so it would have to be good enough. It was better than nothing, at least. Or so she hoped.
The point at which Jade had agreed to meet Rat Capone was another abandoned warehouse a short walk from this one, three blocks away. When the two of them climbed in through a small hole hidden in a back wall, Tammy noticed that it looked much like the warehouse that Jade lived in, except that this warehouse was one big open concrete floor, there were no interior partition walls splitting it up into separate areas.
A rope ladder had been rigged up to a steel electrical box affixed to one wall with a conduit running out of it and a pair of switches sticking out the front. Jade climbed the ladder and flipped one of the switches. A row of flourescent lights on the ceiling started humming softly and flickered to life, filling the building with a soft whitish glow. Almost half the bulbs were burned out, but the illumination the rest provided was more than sufficient.
When Jade climbed down, she led Tammy to the wall nearest the street, which had a door cut into it. It was obviously intended to be used by rodents, because it was far too small to have been installed by humans. The door was a square, a foot and a half on each side.
"That's where Rat Capone is going to come in." Jade pointed to the door. "It's the only unlocked entrance and exit, aside from that hole we came in through, but that's hidden and Rat won't know about it. I'm going to instruct him to leave his merchansise on the middle of the floor. Once he and his goons start wheeling it in, they'll discover the real reason I chose this warehouse in particular."
"And what reason would that be?" Tammy asked, looking around and not seeing much but a few old steel drums and various other empty containers scattered around the floor in the distance. The remains of what was once a wooden packing crate were lying nearby, smashed into pieces long ago, but otherwise, there was nothing of interest in the room.
"We're standing on it." Jade said, pointing down at the floor.
Tammy looked down, and noticed a small seam running in the concrete. It ran around in a wide square almost four feet on each side, and started about a foot back from the door that Capone was going to enter through, centered directly in front of it. Another seam ran down the middle, dividing the area into two separate two foot by four foot sections. Jade and Tammy were indeed standing in the middle of it, and Tammy hadn't even noticed, so well was it concealed.
"What is it?" Tammy asked, as she stepped off it quickly.
Jade walked to the edge that was to the right of the door, and stood next to the stump of a steel bolt that protruded straight up from the concrete. It looked like the anchoring bolt of some long removed piece of machinery, left behind when the building was abandoned.
However, it was much more than that. Jade gave the bolt a firm kick to one side, and it shifted a bit. As it did, the floor inside the seams suddenly collapsed, revealing itself to be a trapdoor above a two foot deep pit. The "floor" that had been covering it was, in reality, plywood covered with a thin layer of concrete to give it the same texture and color as the floor around it. When the trapdoor was triggered, the two sections had dropped flush against the walls of the pit, offering no grip or handholds which might be used by someone trying to climb out again. Tammy couldn't help but admire how cleverly it was constructed and hidden.
"That's why I chose this building." Jade said as she reset the trapdoor while Tammy watched. "Just before it was abandoned as a writeoff, they were in the middle of a plumbing project that required cutting out a good section of floor and digging into the ground. They got halfway done, but then never finished and never bothered filling in the hole because it was assumed that no one would ever use the building again. Lucky for me. Not very lucky for Rat." She smirked.
"Ahh, it'll be good ta visit the old gang, eh Zip?" Monty asked. Zipper buzzed his agreement as they walked up to the Ranger's tree and knocked on the door. The day was sunny and bright, the perfect day to drop in for a visit, and Monty was eager to catch up with the other Rangers after so long off on his own, wandering around the world like old times. Only one tiny thought troubled him. "I just hope Dale's calmed down about that thing with the cheese and the comic book..." He muttered to himself.
After a few seconds, Chip opened the door, and when he saw Monty, a look of surprise and joy came over him. "Monty!" He exclaimed. "Am I glad to see you! I thought you were never coming back! Come in, come in!"
"Hiya, Chippa! Glad to see you, too!" Monty said with a smile as he stepped inside.
As he walked in and looked around, the Ranger HQ was mostly as he remembered it. The other Rangers all came to the living room and greeted him. There was Chip, and Gadget, of course. Tammy was there. She was all grown up, in her mid twenties by now, and had been made a full-time member of the Rangers. Foxglove was there, also now a full time member. Monty was glad to see that they were still active and doing well, as evidenced by several special awards and other commendations hanging from the walls that they had been awarded since his departure. As he looked around the room, however, one person was missing.
"Hey, where's Dale?" Monty asked. "Still being as much of a goof-off as ever, I expect..." He began with a grin.
To Monty's surprise, when he mentioned Dale, a hush fell over the room, and everyone looked around uncomfortably. Chip removed his fedora and twisted it in his hands with a sad expression on his face. Finally, Gadget stepped forward. "Um... we lost Dale... nearly a year ago..."
The words filled Monty with a cold dread. It was almost the same sentence, word for word, that Gadget had used to inform him of Geegaw's passing away. A lump rose in Monty's throat and his stomach twisted into a knot as he realized he'd made the same horrible mistake twice. He and a good friend had been driven apart by a stupid argument, then, by the time he got enough nerve together to go visit them and settle the past, it was too late. And now Dale, like Geegaw, was gone forever...
Monty suddenly awoke with a start, nearly falling out of his hammock in his pitch-black bedroom. He flicked on a lamp and glanced over at the clock. It read 11:15. To his immense relief, it was just a dream. He tried to go back to sleep.
Sleep wouldn't come. One worry weighed heavily upon him, occupying his thoughts as he lay there in the dark: His disagreement with Dale wasn't getting any better. Chip was right, someone had to be the mature person and apologize first. Gadget's comment that she'd made after breaking the news that the diamond really had been destroyed stuck with him, too. It had been sticking with him, in fact, ever since she'd said it. She was right, the most important thing was that everyone had remained safe. In the field of work that they were in, after all, there was definately that chance that someone might not always be so lucky...
Well, it's not like something's actually gonna happen to him, Monty reasoned with himself. It was just a stupid dream. But, then again, was it worth running that risk? He rolled uncomfortably in his hammock at the thought. But it's the principle of the thing, he thought stubbornly. Dale started this mess, and he should be the one to apologize first. Plain and simple...
Something in the back of his mind just didn't agree, though, as much as he tried to rationalize it. Deep down, he knew that this had turned into an ugly power game and that he was letting his ego get the best of him. When he thought hard about it, the cheese he lost didn't even matter to him anymore. He realized that it was all about squeezing an apology out of Dale, and in that realization, he felt some surprise and disappointment with himself. Am I that immature? Am I really going to make the same mistake twice because I can't figure out when to swallow my pride? He wondered. He might not do anything as drastic as leaving the Rangers, but if he couldn't bring himself to have some humility, then the rift between him and Dale might never really close, either, and that would hurt the team's performance. Letting the Rangers as a whole suffer over a small personal disagreement, he had to admit to himself, felt pretty childish and shortsighted. Not to mention that he already knew the regret that an unsettled argument could eventually cause.
As if on cue, A faint noise drifted into Monty's room from the hallway, echoing in softly. It was the TV. Dale was still awake, watching some sort of monster movie.
I'll talk to him in the morning, Monty decided. He was tired, and wanted to get back to sleep. But he couldn't. He knew, in the back of his mind, that the time was now. Waiting until morning was really just another way to delay having to admit that this was partly his own fault, and the sooner he bit the bullet, the better. Finally, though still reluctantly, he tumbled out of his hammock and walked out into the dark hallway, heading to the livingroom, tiptoeing to avoid waking anyone else.
As he entered the livingroom, Dale was sitting on the couch in the dark, watching an old black and white zombie movie. As Monty walked around to the side of the couch, Dale turned and looked at him briefly, with a blank expression, then went back to watching his movie, as if Monty wasn't there. Dale had a strange look in his eyes, however, as if he wasn't really paying attention to the show. Monty couldn't tell if Dale was thinking about something or was just annoyed to see him. Hesitantly and uncertainly, Monty approached a bit closer.
He found himself unsure of what to say, and worried that he would blow it before he even started. Now's the time, so spit somethin' out! he kicked himself mentally. "Dale... I, uh, gotta tell you something..." Monty started.
"No," Dale interrupted him unexpectedly. "I want to say something to you first..."
That caught Monty offguard, and he was afraid that he'd lose his resolve, especially if it turned out that Dale had something less than kind to say. In that instant, he decided that nothing was going to derail him now, no matter what. "No, listen, Dale, I'm sorry I ruined your comic book. Really, I mean it, pally. I hope ya can forgive me." He spoke quickly, before Dale could stop him again.
"Oh..." Dale said simply, with a look of mild surprise. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry about sinking your cheese. I shoulda said sorry a while ago." Dale paused for a moment to think. "And, yeah, I forgive you for that comic book."
"Really? You mean it?" Monty asked, feeling both surprise and relief that it had actually been so easy to clear the air.
"Aww, well, sure." Dale replied. "After I watched that diamond get smashed, I thought about what that girl said, about things not lasting forever, and I guess it just made me realize that, really, a comic book's not such a big deal, especially after I saw a giant diamond turn into nothing but dust. If I've gotta choose between a comic book and a friend... I'd rather have a friend."
"I know what ya mean." Monty said with relief. "I don't even care about that cheese anymore. There's lotsa cheese, but only one team of Rescue Rangers, and I don't wanna ruin that. So... still friends?" Monty asked, extending his hand to Dale.
Dale got up off the couch and shook Monty's hand. "Yeah... still friends." He said.
It was nearly midnight, and Tammy and Jade were standing outside the rodent's
door to the warehouse, one of them on each side, waiting silently for Rat Capone.
The rain had stopped long ago, but the night air was cold and a misty fog hanging
low to the ground had rolled in, diffracting the hazy yellowish-orange light
under the sodium vapor streetlamps. At this hour, there was no traffic or other
animals around, and the city was eerily quiet and still.
Finally, there was a scraping sound off in the distance, down the sidewalk, and it slowly began to grow closer and closer. Presently, emerging from the fog, Tammy could make out a large (for a rodent, anyway) wooden cart being pushed from behind by three people. One of them, a rat of average size, was wearing a suit and black hat. She concluded that he was Capone. The one in the middle, doing most of the heavy pushing, was also a rat, but he was almost freakishly large and muscular. That would be Arnold Mousenegger, she thought. The third one was a lizard, of some species Tammy didn't immediately recognize, wearing a cap. The cart was loaded nearly to the point of overflowing with sealed clear plastic bags containing white powder.
"Jeeze, he's got even more than I thought." Jade said softly under her breath as she caught sight of the cart approaching.
As the cart got closer, Jade walked forward to the sidewalk to meet the approaching gangsters. Rat Capone signaled them to stop pushing the cart as he saw her advancing. Tammy followed Jade at a distance.
Rat Capone stepped out in front of the cart, and Jade stood in front of him. They stared silently at each other for several seconds. "Heh. So we meet again, Jade. I knew you couldn't stay outta the crime game." Capone finally said. "How could the greatest lock cracker in the biz stay away? I knew I rubbed off on ya, kid."
"Yeah. Whatever, let's just get down to business." Jade shrugged, sounding cold and disinterested.
"So..." Capone pulled a small case from inside his jacket, extracted a cigarette from it, and lit it. "Where's my diamond?" He asked as he took a puff.
"Took up smoking?" Jade asked. "Those things'll kill you, ya know."
"Yeah, well... had to do something to calm my nerves after you bailed out on me and took all my money." Rat Capone said, with a slight edge of anger in his voice. "Nearly gave me a heart attack when I opened the safe and it was cleaned out. I swore I'd slit your throat... But I'll forget all about that if I get what I want tonight."
"Relax. You'll get your merchandise as soon as I've secured mine." Jade said icily. "No tricks, or you get nothing. Understand?"
"Aww, you hurt me." Capone said in a mocking voice. "What makes you think I'd try anything?"
"No one with a brain in their head would trust you." Jade pointed out. "Especially not someone who knows you. And especially not me."
"Hmmm. Good point." Capone grinned. "Don't worry. I'm not looking for trouble, see?" He took another long drag on his cigarette, then dropped what was left on the pavement of the sidewalk and crushed it out under one of his shoes.
"Alright, boys," He said, turning back to his henchmen, "let's deliver the lady's merchandise and get this over with."
Jade turned to Tammy, pointed to her, and motioned to the door. Tammy played along with her "hired thug" role, and silently walked to the door and opened it to make way for the cart. Once she was inside, she quickly stepped off to the side of the trapdoor opposite the triggerbolt, then crossed her arms and tried to look bored. Jade quickly entered the room and took up position right next to the trigger.
Capone entered the room ahead of the cart being pushed by his two thugs and took a quick look around at the mostly empty warehouse. As he scanned the area, he seemed to notice Tammy and looked at her with a bit of puzzlement.
"Hey, Jade, who's the bushtail?" He asked, rudely jabbing his thumb in Tammy's direction.
"My main enforcer." Jade said. "Just recently exhiled from L.A. for killing two guys who crossed her, so watch it." She warned.
"What? That scrawny little treerat?" Capone chuckled. "That thing couldn't hurt a..."
Tammy decided to have some fun with her newly fabricated fictitious history. Pretending to take excessive offense at his disrespectful nicknames for her species, she growled angrily, and advanced threateningly on Capone by a few steps.
The smirk fell from Capone's face. "Hey! Hey! What is this?" Capone demanded, instinctively recoiling and backing off from Tammy by a few steps. The look in his eyes showed that his certainty that she was harmless was shaken, and Tammy had to fight to stop herself from breaking into laughter at how much of a big coward he really was. While Capone's back was briefly turned to her, Jade smiled and gave Tammy a quick thumbs-up.
"Alright, that's enough!" Jade said gruffly a moment later, getting back into her crime-boss charactor. "We're not gonna have any trouble here, so everyone cool it, now!"
"Yeah. That's right. We don't need no trouble." Capone said, nervously straightening his jacket a bit. He turned and shouted to his henchmen. "Hurry it up, knuckleheads. Let's get the show on the road here!"
"Yeah, yeah, we're comin'." Mousenegger mumbled as he shoved the cart in through the doorway. Slowly, it crossed the floor until it was in the middle of the trapdoor. Neither Capone nor his henchmen had taken any notice of it.
"Hey, Rat." Jade suddenly called as the cart moved into position.
"Whaddya want?" Capone asked impatiently.
"You know that stuff I said about not wanting any trouble? Well... I lied." Jade said with a grin. A look of confusion and surprise briefly crossed Rat Capone's face as she kicked the trigger and the doors suddenly swung open beneath him and his goons.
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Disclaimer:
The charactors of Chip, Dale, Gadget, Monterey Jack, Zipper, Tammy, Foxglove
and any other charactor originally appearing the animated series "Chip
and Dale's Rescue Rangers" are all © Disney and are used here without
permission. Any other charactors appearing herein that are not © Disney
are my own creations. This story may be freely copied, transmitted, printed,
distributed, used as bird cage liner, or whatever, I only ask that it is not
modified from it's original form and it is not used for profit in any way. I
believe that that concludes the legal mumbo-jumbo for now... On to the story!
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