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. .