The Ranger Plane soared high above the trees on its way to the Thorn Valley conservation lot and the colony of the Legendary Rats of NIMH, of which three of the passengers there are--or should be--active members. 'Should' applies to Gadget, who's piloting while Jonathan rides shotgun. Jennifer, John's Great-grandmother and widow of his namesake sits blindfolded in the back--she's acrophobic--with Monterey and Zipper. Gadget: How much farther, JB? Jonathan: Not far, Gadget. Just over to those trees, and I'll guide you into a secret entrance. Trust me, you'll know when you're there, heh-heh. Gadget: Riiiiight--Hey! What's that over there? Jonathan: Where? Gadget: To the right and down. Jonathan grabbed a spy glass and searched the countryside until he found an orange cat big enough to fill his entire scope, who just dropped his binoculars and screamed something along the lines of what the mouse say by reading the cats lips: "RESCUE RODENTS?!?! I THOUGHT THEY BROKE UP!!!" Jonathan: Hey, Monterey, is that the cat you told me about? Montey: Yep. He's Fat Cat all right. _______________________________________ FoxFire Studios Presents The Rangers of NIMH II: Gadget Hackwrench and the Rats of NIMH Issue II By David Gonterman Based on 'Chip 'n' Dale's Rescue Rangers' by the Walt Disney Company and 'The Secret of NIMH' by Sullivan/Bluth Studios. ________________________________________ Mole: Not really, Boss. When the chipmunks moved out to join the Rescue Aid Society, a new mouse has been added. Meeps: Yeah, a long haired heart-breaker packing more magic than Mickey, from what I hear. His name's Jon-- Fat Cat: Jonathan Brisby, I know. So what I heard *is* true: The so-called Legendary Rats of NIMH. They actually *do* exist. Wha--HE CAN'T FLICK ME OFF LIKE THAT! I'M A DISNEY STAR DAMNIT! MAN THE CANNON!! Jonathan hops back in his seat. "*That* sure got their attention. Get ready. Hold on to your guts, Grandma; this is gonna suck." Jennifer: "Oh Boy..." Fat Cat's cronies whipped off the tarp to reveal: Montey: Crikey! An antiaircraft harpoon?! Gadget, get us outta here!" They aimed. Gadget pressed the button marked 'Balloon Release.' They fired. A 'click' was heard as the balloon above the Ranger Plane was let go. Gadget pressed 'Prop Convert' before the fall can begin. The Harpoon struck the balloon head on as the Ranger Plane plummeted straight down, as it did, wings unfolded, each with two propellers at each wing. Jennifer took a peek from behind her blindfold, eeped, and placed it back over her eyes, she took a white-knuckle hold on the chair in front of her, hoping that Gadget will pull out before they went splat. She did, sending them head-on for Fat Cat and his cronies. Then Jonathan leapt to the front of the wing, on the nose. Montey: Did I ever told you that you're nuts, JB? Jonathan: Get ready to fry, Tubby Tabby! Fat Cat was dead in JB's sights: TUBBY TABBY!?! The name's 'Fat Cat,' you young punk! Jonathan: READY! AIM! FIRE! Monterey and Jennifer hug each other and scream as the plane rushes into the flames. "I hope you know what you're doing, Gadget Love!!" The Plans blows past the fire unscathed, only that JB hopped from the front of the Plane to the back. "Hot enough for you, Tubby Tabby?" Fat Cat runs after him: Stop calling me that!! Jonathan makes a marble appear between the fingers of his free hand. Then he made 1 marble turn into 3, then he threw them, where 3 became 300! Fat Cat screamed bloody murder as he is sent slip-sliding through a wood fence and into a pig pen. Everybody in the Ranger Plane had a big laugh at the cat's expense, and banks left. All: See you around, Tubby Tabby! Fat Cat: AHHHHHHHGGGGGGHH!!! ________________________________________ Gadget easily found that entrance in, and followed her new boyfriends lead over the swoops and turns through the ever darkening tunnel, she couldn't even see the wheel in front of her as she relied only on her faith in him as they cleared the last rise.... ....and got their breath taken away. Gadget: Golly and a Half! Montey: Too-La-Loo! Will you check it out? Zipper: Outtazight! Jonathan and Jennifer: Eh, it's just Home. What greeted the Rangers was a Earth Woodland version of what reminded Gadget of the Ewoks' Village in 'Return of the Jedi.' Several trees all around them are covered with tree houses and rope bridges until they resembled a naturaly-made apartment complex, a small brook cut through the ground turning a rather environment-friendly waterwheel generating the energy that lights up the trees with light reminiscent of the trees in the Disney Parks (JB: "You can't imagine how many trips we made to the Disneyland trash bins looking for broken bulbs to fix." "Yeah, sometimes we find otherwise perfectly fine strings of lights that they just pitch because of one measly bulb. What a waste!" Gadget: "Tell me about it, I've been salvaging from Disney all the time I've been there, where do you expect I'd get the parts for all my stuff? ") At each side of the brook was access tunnels into what could only be an even more complex system of tunnels that the Rats are using. JB: That spot looks good to land on. Land over there, Gadge. Gadget easily landed vertically onto the spot. The rat, who wore a black denim jacket with a baret with an 'R' on it and an earring, greeted them. "Welcome to Thorn Valley, Rescue Rangers." Montey: "Hey, Racso!" Gadget: You know him? Racso: Yeah! He was in my cage with that Nimnul creep. (He begins to help Rangers and Brisbys out) I'm the guy from outside, get ya anything you want; chips, cheese, crackers . . . (He helps out Gadget) . . . flowers, candies, Mr. Tool Time starter kit . . . Gadget giggled at him, as well as JB leapfrogging over Racso to distract him from her. "HEY!" ________________________________________ "Golly," Gadget said, looking around as she walked with them, "You've got everything here. Electricity, Running water, Even Satellite TV!" Racso: We sure do, and nearly everything you see here, we made it ourselves. We only need to pick up whatever else we need on occasional trips to the refuse. Gadget: I go there myself. You never know what perfectly good stuff Disney throws away. Racso gave Gadget a sly look behind his shoulder. "Tell me about it," but he was stopped when he heard a loud "*POP!*" One of the Christmas tree lights fizzled out. Racso and Jonathan made like they were taking a sip from an imaginary stein, until they saw Gadget actually fix that bulb. It was glowing again in no time. The two finished off the stein and threw it away. ________________________________________ As they went further, they heard some heated arguing in the Auditorium. Jonathan: Heather and Sullivan are at it again. (Rolls eyes) Racso: About that observatory, no doubt. Montey: You mean that construction site we passed over on the way here? Racso: Yeah. Some of us Rats are afraid they'll just bulldoze Thorn Valley into dust. Others say that they wouldn't be concerned with a colony more than a mile away, even if they know about us, they wouldn't-- At this point, a dagger flies out a door. Jonathan: We gotta break this up. Heather's PMSing again. Racso: Right! (The two kick the door in) _______________________________________ Sullivan: "Stop changing the subject, Heather. We just don't know who we're going against." "Exactly, Sullivan," Jonathan countered. "We don't know a thing about those scientists. We have got to find out more about them." "And that's what we intend to do, Jonathan," Justin responded. "We are not about to just go off half-cocked on this, not when we have more pressing matters." "Yeah, like how the hell did those two come in here?!" Sullivan bellowed to the two mice. "They're not from us?" "Monterey Jack, no," Ages began, "But Gadget Hackwrench is! Her father was Geegaw, one of the mice that survived--yes, the rumors are true-- the air shaft before Big Jonathan opened that gate." The silence was so thick, Heather *had* to break it after a long minute. "I suppose every one of us can't figure out what's worse: The fact that our lost founders survived, or they have kids that are Disney Toons . Imagine the scandal." Gadget: Yeah, but know what I know how far Disney has fallen in certain circles, having a mouse who belongs in a Don Bluth show wouldn't even register. That created some chuckles. Heather: I like you already, Gadget. So, you brought all your Ranger friends with you? Montey: I'm just with them, Ma'am. No shots, no sparklies, I'm just wi-wi-wi-wi-wi-wi-wi. Heather looks around. "Hey, where's your Chipmunk friends?" Jonathan: Oh Chip and Dale both got promoted to the Rescue Aid Society, we all probably heard of them. Justin nods, knowing that he has several Rats in the organization. Heather cracked about finding out that Mickey Mouse himself left Disney as well, only to be told to her back that Mickey's in St. Louis with some Freelancer even as they speak. Justin: Nevermind that. If Monterey Jack and whatever else is left of the Rangers wants to move in, so be it. We would definitely need them, especially with one of their old sparring partners snooping around. Gadget: Then you heard of him? Justin: We've spotted him as you did, madam. I'm wondering if any of you had something to add... ______________________ Fat Cat was taking his usual cat nap, after explaining to his underlings how they can become super-smart by eating one of the Legendary Rats of NIMH will give them the intelligence-enhancing serum as well, when he heard voices around him. Words such as "Tubby Tabby," and "Wuzzy House Kitten," can be audible. Curious as usual he cracked an eyeball at who's whispering all around him. What he saw was Jonathan Brisby, looking straight down that eyeball "*HI!!!*" Naturally, Fat Cat screamed bloody murder, but when he opened his eyes again after his outburst, there was no one around. Of course, all of the mice and rats hid themselves just before he did so. Fat Cat just chuckled, excused it to the Pizza he ate, and went back to sleep again. The chuckling and whispering resumed shortly afterward. "Crikey, JB. That was a good one." "Just wait, it gets better." _________________ Jennifer led Gadget around Thorn Valley, pausing every now and then for the Rescue Ranger turned Mouse of NIMH to pounce on and fix the occasional broken doodad. "My Gadget, for someone who just came here, you come in handy already." Gadget blushed: "Force of Habit. I've been doing this all my life. Is this your house?" Jennifer: "It sure is. You're invited to stay here if you want. Little Johnny thinks so much of you." Gadget stammers, "Yeah, err..." and looks around the living room which was decorated very much like an upper-class mansion, with the fancy furniture (Fancy for farm mice, that is), Music Box piano, painting above the mantle of every Brisby born from the original JB on. ("Little Jonathan" was above Mr. and Ms. "Big Jonathan") She also saw another mouse, larger and more elegantly dressed then her Jonathan, but the suit is similar, but her eyes was glued on his face. It hid behind a mask, shaped like one of those Mickey Mouse figurines, which was hiding the scars she could find in the spaces between eyehole and eyelid, or slightly under the cheeks. The masked mouse speaks "You never notice, Gadget love? JB talked to me a lot about you. From what I heard, you two are close." Gadget blushes some more, but her voice never betrayed it. "You must be Copper. JB's mentor and uncle. He talked some about you." Copper: I'd bet. Jonathan's the only one who'll mention my name above a whisper. Humph, must be this image I get with this, huh?" As he points to his 'face' he gave a chuckle what reminded Gadget of JB's; I touch on the enigmatic side, but still friendly. "Now I know where he gets it from," Gadget nervously laughs. Copper turns to her and smiles. That made her felt more welcome, more at ease. "Moving to a new community does seem as strange as we Brisbys can get at times, but trust me on this, you'll get used to this. . . . Heck, eventually, the shock over being near someone who looks like some Phantom of the Opera'll go away..." ______________________ Fat Cat scattered out of Town with the Fear of God in his face, which was somewhat obscured by it being all banged up. He was screaming for his underlings who have by now ran past the 12th hill to the horizon. No doubt scarred crapless by Brutis. Brutis is the largest of the still-living original Rats of NIMH, and is the main bodyguard and bouncer of Thorn Valley. He stands 24 big inches from his hind legs, and goes a good 36 from nose to tail. That's big even for a housecat like Tubby Tabby. Monterey Jack only goes up to Brutis' thigh. He bellows out with a bear-like voice of thunder: "AND DON'T COME BACK, YOU PUTZ!!" Racso: Did you see the look on his face?! That was a Kodak Moment! Put 'er there, Bruti!" The High Five Brutis sent Racso sailing past the nailed-down furnishings of the Upside-Down room and into Montey, who had his face crammed deep into the cheddar that he had up to now denied himself so. Gadget would have been proud of him. Of course that got the cheese dislodged from its spot and it began to roll it's way back to Thorn Valley, with Racso and Monterey riding it like a tire! Heather: You were saying about Monterey Jack's Cheese Addiction, Jonathan? ____________________________________ Ha! You thought I gave up on the story, huh? More to come :)