Dale was unceremoniously ushered to a rear room of the courthouse and shoved out the back door.

"Hey!" he yelled, pounding on the metal door that quickly shut behind him, "What about my stuff?" The door opened slightly and Dale's coat was tossed outside. "Thanks a lot," he said, his voice bitter.

As Dale turned around to figure out where he was, he shielded his eyes from the bright sunlight that reflected off the frozen ground below. After being in solitary confinement for so long, the light was practically blinding him. He wondered where the others were.

He then heard a sharp whistle coming from a nearby tree. As he got closer, he could see that Reginald was there waiting for him. He was wearing a brown overcoat with an upturned collar and a flat red tweed cap. His hands were in his pockets and he was pacing back and forth furiously, smoking a cigarette.

"Reginald!" he said. "Where are the others?"

"I don't know, Dale." Reginald flicked his cigarette to the ground. "I had a feeling they might do this to you, so I've been waiting here for hours. Your friends' releases were staggered so you couldn't get together. I can tell you that they will meet you at your emergency safe house at 2300 hours tonight. Do you have some place to go in the meantime? You're welcome to stay with me if you like. It's not much, but it's warm."

"No thanks. I don't want to get you mixed up in all this," Dale said.

Reginald smiled. "That's what the others said as well. Chip chose his companions carefully. I will do what I can to help your brother. If you need my help again, you know where to find me."

"Thanks, Reginald."

"Be careful, Dale." The two shook hands and went in opposite directions.

The park was eerily beautiful this night as the sky was filled with a dim white glow from the full moon. One by one, a series of small creatures quickly darted from tree to tree, cloaked in shadow.

Dale arrived at the designated checkpoint and felt around the base of the dead oak tree until he detected a split in the bark that he wedged open enough to slide through. Once inside the tree, he looked upwards to see that a series of small lights had been nailed to the inside of the trunk that illuminated a rope ladder. Dale climbed the rungs, his breath hanging in the cold air as he ascended. When he got close to the top of the ladder, a slender gloved hand reached out toward him. He grasped it and was lifted up into a narrow passage.

"Thank goodness you're okay, Dale," Gadget said. She held him tightly. "We weren't sure if you'd get Reginald's message." She took his hand and led him to a small room where Monty and Zipper were waiting for them. The room was lit with a single incandescent bulb overhead and the walls were hastily surrounded with fiberglass insulation. In the harsh light, they looked like ghosts.

"Glad to see you again, Dale," Monty said warmly. "Have you had a bite to eat yet? Food's a bit hard to come by these days, but I managed to get us something." He took a small piece of cheese from his knapsack and offered it to Dale.

"Thanks, Monty," Dale said, quickly shoving the food in his mouth. "I'm starving!"

Monty's face became very somber. "I have something else for you, too," he said, producing a paper package. As Dale tore away the wrapping, he saw that it was Chip's hat and leather jacket, neatly folded.

"I found them in the trash when I was searching for food."

Dale clutched the items tightly to his chest. His tears fell onto the cold, stiff leather.

"Thank you," he said at last.

"We'll get Chip back, I promise you that," Monty proclaimed, trying to boost his friend's spirits.

"Right!" Gadget agreed energetically. "But how do we do that?"

Monty scratched his chin. "Someone clearly set us up, but who?"

"It could be someone in the police department," Gadget suggested.

"Or it could be that crazy prosecutor," Monty added. He turned to Dale. "What do you think, mate?" he asked.

Dale wasn't paying attention. His back slid down the wall until he fell to the ground in a sitting position. "I- I want to go home!" he cried out, sniffing back tears. The loss of his brother brought Dale's world to an end. He desperately wanted some degree of normalcy, something to cling onto. He wanted to go home.

"We've already checked headquarters," Gadget said. "The police have seized it as evidence."

Realizing that Dale was in great pain, she changed her approach and spoke to him in a motherly tone of voice. "But we could go in and get something for you if you like," she offered. "Maybe you'd enjoy reading some of your comic books?" Dale nodded in agreement.

Once the Rangers emerged from their hideout, they began to walk the length of the park to get to headquarters. When they got closer, they saw that there was a crowd of animals that had gathered underneath the tree that served as their home. The crowd was in a fervor, holding protest signs and howling for revenge. The city's animal population was extremely unhappy with the plea deal as they wanted all of the Rangers to die for their crimes.

One of the protestors had a clear container of liquid in his hand with a piece of cloth sticking out of it. He used a match to light the cloth and flashed a sadistic smile as the flame took hold. The mouse ran toward the tree and grunted as he hurled the bottle over his head. The bottle flew through the sky and produced a thunderous boom as it hit the hangar bay door, shattering and spraying liquid fire around it. A torrent of orange balls filled the sky as the others joined in and the Rangers' home was soon enveloped in a living mass of flame that writhed and roared as the structure began to burn. Smoke poured out of the broken windows.

"Oh, God!" Gadget buried her head in Monty's arms, sobbing uncontrollably. The others silently stared at the burning tree. They knew there was nothing they could do.

Dale's mind was racing. He didn't know how to react. He felt dead inside. Then, suddenly, a spark inside of him came to life. He thought of what Chip had said to him in the courtroom. Someone had taken away his brother, burned down his house, and ruined all of their lives. He vowed not to let them get away with it.

He stepped in front of the others, who were still watching the fire. "We're going to break Chip out of jail," he said, his voice filled with determination and rage.

"What?" Monty responded, bewildered. "We don't even know-"

Dale cut him off. "You heard me! Chip could die at any time in there and we can't solve this case without him!"

Monty had never seen this side of Dale before. He thought to protest again as this was a foolish, impulsive idea even to him, but he saw the fire in Dale's eyes and realized there was no changing his mind.

He relented. "Okay, mate," he said. "What's your plan?"

"Follow me!" Dale yelled as he charged boldly into the darkness.