Chapter 20: Showtime

Unnoticed by the many humans below, the two planes took off and flew over the park to the palace. The main entrance for rodents was hidden well underneath some bushes on a side of the building, but it was not too hard to find, the Rangers simply had to see where the other rodents went. Although it didn't share the style of the human entrance, it was more than just a mere hole in the wall. Multiple glass doors, four times as tall as an average chipmunk, stood open below an illuminated sign reading, "THE CHIPMUNK DIVINE," and, "TONIGHT – THE RETURN OF LAS VEGAS' GREATEST SHOW". The doors and the sign were built into a recess in the wall which could be covered by a wooden panel with a thin layer of concrete to match the rest of the building on one side and four handles and a set of locks on the other side when the theater was closed. Said panel was leaning against the wall outside. Next to the doors, an armadillo in a black tuxedo stood and waved at the Rangers as they got off their craft.

Monty remembered him. "I've seen this bloke before, Chipper. 'E was there when we brought Todd an' Melissa 'ere."

"He might be one of the staff," Chip supposed.

"And he seems to be informed about our arrival," Gadget said. "See, he's waving at us."

The Rangers came closer. This was not their first encounter with the armadillo, but as they didn't really know him other than what he roughly looked like, they prepared themselves for anything. They had been tricked by false friendliness often enough in the past.

Yet this armadillo's friendliness was for real, although it was part of his job. "Good evening," he greeted the Rangers, "and welcome at the Versailles Palace. You must be the Rescue Rangers from New York City, right?"

"That's right," Chip confirmed.

"Well, from what I heard about you, I must say I'm honored to meet you. My name is Armando, I'm the official director of the show you're going to see tonight. Allow me to show you your seats..."

"Wait a minute, Armando," Chip interrupted him. "Do you have security here? Someone who can have an eye on our planes while we're in here?"

"Of course," Armando answered, "the entrance is guarded as long as the place is open to keep unwanted visitors away. And you can believe me that aircraft thieves will be taken care of, too. Anyway," he continued as he led the Rangers through the hallways, "you're here tonight on a special invitation from our star, you're the guests of honor, and I've reserved the VIP seats in the first row for you. That is, if you prefer sitting elsewhere, I'm sure I can arrange this, too."

"Thanks," Gadget said, "but I guess the first row is okay. How many rows are there, if I may ask?"

"I'd like to say, 'enough,' but I've seen enough nights when every single seat was taken. It's of course a lot different to play in front of a full house than to play in front of a dozen or two, unevenly distributed about the theater."

Armando went on telling the Rangers about the theater and its history and a bit about his tasks on the show as well, from musical director to piano player. He also mentioned that he had written or co-written some of the songs. He did not, however, say a word about the star of the show, at least not before the group reached one of the doors to the theater which Armando pushed open then.

The Rescue Rangers were truly amazed about what they saw. It was a full-blown theater and music hall similar to the human one above them, but kept at a size suitable for small animals. Countless folding seats in dozens of rows filled the stalls, and even more were above on the three terraces. Everything was crafted and installed perfectly, nothing gave the impression that anything had been scavenged from human waste. Up to a height of two inches, the walls were covered with plywood in a dark varnish, and above that level, dark brown fabric had been applied. Most of the stage on the far end of the room was hidden behind a red curtain, but the lack of an orchestra pit was visible. Light was provided by many small light bulbs which were mounted in holes in the ceiling. Gadget reckoned that LEDs would have required special electronic devices to eliminate the flickering caused by the alternate current, not to mention special LEDs to avoid either too cold or too yellow light. It was most probably easier to use these tiny bulbs and replace them in case one happened to burn out.

"Your seats are down there," Armando explained. "You've got plenty of choice, I've reserved the first four rows for you. That is, I don't expect so many spectators to come, it's still largely unknown that The Chipmunk Divine is back, so I'm sure you'll be able to enjoy the show with no disturbances. But in case of any troubles feel free to call the staff, and things will be taken care of."

"Who needs staff," Monty said and pushed up his sleeves, "I'll take care o' the troublemakers meself! They won't dare disturb us!"

Chip shook hands with the armadillo before he and the others went to their seats. "Thanks for everything so far, Armando. And see you later!" Not knowing what the Rangers would have to expect, Chip referred to the show and to Armando's involvement as a piano player.

With little to no discussions, let alone debates, the Rangers took their seats in the first row, right in front of a catwalk which led from the stage to the audience, albeit not reaching between the seats. Chip and Dale took the two seats in the middle, Chip to the left, Dale to the right. Left of Chip sat Gadget, her sister LaWahini who wore the infamous red dress that used to be part of one of Gadget's disguises, and Sparky. Foxglove's seat was of course next to Dale's, followed by Tammy and Monterey Jack on whose shoulder Zipper had his place. By and by, more small animals entered the theater and sat down, but it still did not get filled up to more than a quarter. It was obvious that Armando's spontaneous advertising campaign which he had pulled off while gathering the members of the orchestra didn't reach very far in such a short time. And many were interested in attending the show mainly because it was expected to be a special one, the first one after a hiatus of half a year. But the show still was about to have more than only nine spectators.

The Rangers spent the next few minutes patiently waiting and occasionally adding to the quiet, dampened murmuring which filled the theater. Unlike by far the majoprity of the audience, they did not know what to expect, but they were willing to be surprised. After all, they were in Las Vegas, and the "best show" attribute was certainly not just yet another blatant lie to lure small animals into the theater, much less so since The Chipmunk Divine was an established and well-renowned show which didn't need that sort of promotion.

The ambient noises fell silent when suddenly the lights in the ceiling were dimmed to almost darkness. It seemed as if the whole theater held its breath for ten seconds. And then the moment arrived that everyone had been waiting for. The show began.

Yet it didn't start in a breath-takingly spectacular way with a big bang, but rather softly and gently. First, a familiar rhythm pattern sounded from the stereo speakers concealed behind the fabric on both sides of the stage. Despite being generated by a kind of electronic beat box which was part of Todd's software, it was quickly identified as the one from Maurice Ravel's Bolero, and the bass and pizzicato, both played on real strings, helped recognize it.

Amazed by the sound quality, Gadget leaned over to her sister and quietly said, "This PA system is awesome, LaWahini. Considering the music is playing on a pianissimo-like level now, the signal-to-noise ratio must exceed 115 to one."

"It's better than the one at the Rodent City Music Hall, huh?"

"Way better. I wish I had found such high-quality parts back then. Remind me to upgrade it when I find some time."

"You mean you built their speaker system?"

Gadget nodded.

"Hey Gadget," Sparky whispered, "Buzz can get you whatever parts you need."

"Thank you, Sparky!" Gadget replied.

The former lab rat was about to tell her to thank Buzz instead of him when, as soon as the theme was played for the second time, his and the twin sisters' attention shifted back to the stage where the heavy red curtain was pulled away to both sides and revealed a single sheet of thin white fabric which hung down from high above the stage to the floor. White lights illuminated the stage from behind and projected the shadows of the orchestra onto this white screen, but left out the area above. For the first time, the melody was played in its entirety.

When the next repetition commenced and the number of instruments playing increased again, the upper part of the white sheet which had remained dark turned into a projection surface for light effects which were shot onto its visible side. "Golly," Gadget commented, "they've got scaled-down Varilights? Now I'm really impressed!"

Two seats farther to the right, Dale expressed a different opinion. "Bawwwwring..."

He managed to upset Chip who had enjoyed the music and the light show until then. "So, what's so boring about it?"

"Where's the singer, Chip? The action on stage? We don't even see the stage! Where are the electric guitars?"

"Dale, I don't think there will be electric guitars. this isn't a heavy metal concert. And if Todd said there'll be a singer, there'll be one."

Another four times was the famous theme repeated, far fewer than originally composed, bug always played by more instruments than the previous time, and slowly raising the volume. In the middle of the fourth and last repetition, a single white spotlight projected the silhouette of a rose onto the middle of the white sheet while the whole orchestra played and the piece of music approached its climax. The very moment that the key changed from C major to E major, the sheet was detached and fell upon the stage floor.

Not only the orchestra was visible now, but also something that stood in the center of the stage, amidst the musicians, and that resembled a rose. The stem was a straight pipe painted green and with thorns attached to it, and it carried on top of it, at a height of twelve inches, a platform made of polished aluminum upon which the four-inch-tall red bloom stood. It was illuminated by the already known white spotlight from behind and a red one from ahead which had been lit up when the white cloth had been dropped. In front of this artificial rose, stairs made of the same material as the platform led down to the stage. Mouse members of the stage crew tried to stay unnoticed while they removed the white sheet.

The Bolero went on for about half a minute and back to C major before this instrumental overture ended. And it ended spectacularly. When the rhythm stopped and the orchestra went into the ending, all lights on stage were shut down with the sole exception of the one spotlight that shone upon the rose and switched from red to white. Together with the final notes which sounded as though they tumbled down, the petals of the rose did just that.

Up on the platform, where the bloom used to be, a female chipmunk stood and held her arms up in the air as if to form the letter 'Y'. A slim, strapless, glittering black dress with long slits on both sides flowed down her body and legs and almost onto the floor. She was wearing only little make-up, but she didn't look like someone who needed to be painted all over to be beautiful. In her right hand, she held a piece of technological marvel, a rodent-sized wireless microphone. She smiled at the bewildered audience, yet she did not say a word, nor did she move at all.

In the first row, two chipmunks got up from their seats. They had seen her before, and they had heard her sing before. And although this had been more than twenty years ago, they both recognized her easily and said her name.

"Clarice..."