Chapter 23: Jealousy

"So we're gonna meet our contact person here?" LaWahini asked as the Rangers entered the hall outside the theater.

"That's what we were told, yes," Tammy said.

"Well, I'm pretty sure it's not him." The former Hawaiian mouse pointed at a certain short rat in a brown suit who began to applaud as soon as he saw the Rangers.

"Bravo! Bravissimo!" Allan shouted. "I've never seen the original finale of this show, but it can't be any better than yours!"

A part of Chip wished this wasn't real. "Allan?! What are you doing here?"

"I was told this was the best piece of entertainment for our likes in the whole city, and it was to return for maybe only one night. I swear I didn't know you were here, too, let alone you were part of the show. You must really have enjoyed your time in the limelight."

"Oh, you can bet they did," Gadget almost growled.

"Gadget, you've just seen a marvelous Las Vegas show, why are you so angry? Oh, I hope you don't mind me calling you Gadget, do you?"

"Of course not, Allan." Gadget's mood improved within mere seconds, and she smiled again. "It's just..."

Before she could continue her explanations, Allan and the Rangers were distracted by loud rattling noises coming from a large door at the end of a corridor. "You stupid door, open up!" Todd's voice could be heard from the other side."

"Sounds like 'e needs 'elp," Monty said, and the Rangers went to help him open the door, that is, not all Rangers.

Gadget was about to go with them when Allan made her a better offer. "Maybe a cool nightly breeze will clear up your mind. Mind if I accompany you outside?"

"No," Gadget replied, "why should I?"

In the meantime, Chip tried to open the door from his side, but he tried in vain. "Todd," he called, "can it be that it's locked?"

"It's not locked," Todd answered, "it just gets stuck often."

"Step aside, Chipper," Monty said, "an' let me give it a try." He went a few steps away from the door, and the other Rangers made way. "'Ey Todd," the Aussie mouse shouted, "ya'd better get outta the way, too!"

"Okay! Wait a minute!" Some noises could be heard which did not sound like Todd's walking. "Ready!"

It was a whole lot of mouse that rushed for the door and hit it, unjamming it and sending it against the wall to the side. Monty's impact on the door was notably overdosed, so even on the other side of the door, he was still in motion and unable to stop himself. He hit Todd's PDA which was standing in the corridor on its wooden stand, slid over its top, and went tumbling behind it before he came to a halt.

The other Rangers came through the door to see if something had happened to him. Tammy helped him up. "Monty, are you alright?"

"Fer sure, Tammy lass." Monty brushed himself off as though he had landed in something dusty. "But I can tell ya that slidin' down a glacier in the Swiss Alps is a lot more fun, also 'cause it lasts longer."

"What lasts longer? The bumps and bruises from your landing?"

"That, too, yeah. But mostly it's the reputation ya get among the groundhogs."

Todd checked his small computer for damages, but he didn't find any. "Say, did you like the show, Rescue Rangers?" he asked.

"Todd," Monty said, "I've been all 'round the world. Several times, I don't know 'ow many. But I've never seen or 'eard somethin' like this. Would sure be a pity if ya dropped it again."

"Oh yes," Tammy added to it, "even if I don't know how many of the songs were written for the show, I liked it very much."

"It was truly amazing how acoustic instruments worked so perfectly together with an electronic instrument," Sparky gave his opinion, "actually, even only software running on a handheld computer." Todd grinned. Sparky truly knew what he was talking about, especially the computer part.

Foxglove stood with her wings crossed. "I liked it, too... apart from the ending, that is."

"Yes," Todd said, "to be honest, I was quite surprised when I saw what she was really up to. She had told us she was planning something different from what we had always done. We rehearsed some extra music, that is, Armando had to do the most rehearsing as the piano parts were his. But she had not told us what it was all about. She must know you guys very well, Chip and Dale."

"Very well, yes," Foxglove commented, "if she even kissed you and then let you kiss her."

"Foxy," Chip tried to explain, "I swear we didn't expect that... second kissing part either. All the rest was part of a, well, sort of show Dale and I did years before the Rangers were founded. But she never let us kiss her. Whenever we tried, and even that wasn't often, she always ducked away, and we ended up kissing each other. And we expected her to do the same thing again tonight."

"Really?" The bat couldn't help but grin. "That I would've loved to see. It's almost a pity that she remained standing. What do you say, Gadget?" She turned to see where the mouse inventress was. "Gadget? Chip, where's Gadget?"

"Yeah," Dale asked, "an' where's Allan?"

"They're both not here? Well," Chip said, "I'm pretty sure that there's one common answer to both of these questions. Will you excuse me for a minute?" With these words, he stomped off, back to the hall.

"Chip!" Monty shouted after him. "Chipper me lad, don't do anythin' ya'd regret later!"

"I'd rather regret not having done this, Monty!" Chip shouted back and went from walking to running.

Dale shrugged. "I dunno what he's up to."

"But I know," Foxglove said, "and it's not gonna be the Rescue Ranger way." She motioned her friends to come with her. "We probably need to save him from himself. After him, everyone!"

Clarice came down the corridor when the Rangers were leaving. She was still wearing the same light blue dress, but she had put away the cap and the stole. "Todd, what's the commotion here?"

Todd looked at her. He suddenly saw her in a different light, now that the special show was over. "This might not sound like me," he said, "but you've ruined the show."

"What do you mean? Where's everyone going? I thought we wanted to meet here!"

Outside, Gadget and Allan were having a stroll and a talk. "It's a pity we can't see the stars from here," Gadget said, "at least not without an optical aid."

Allan smiled at her. "We would be able to see them if we were up high enough, on the roof of a hotel or on a mast."

Smiling back, Gadget suggested, "We could take the Rangerwing for example, fly up into the air, and just hover there."

"Would you do that with me?"

"Well..." Something caught Gadget's attention, something appearing in the corner of her eye. "I believe there's someone who wouldn't let us!"

She was able to step back just in time before Chip leapt upon Allan, performed an uppercut on him, and tackled him down, all within one fast movement. "HANDS OFF THE MOUSE!"

"Ow! Chip, what are you doing here? What do you want?"

"What I want? WHAT I WANT?" Kneeling upon Allan's stomach, Chip grabbed him by his collar and yelled into his face, "I WANT MY WOMAN BACK! GOT IT?!"

Allan grinned. "Well, when you were on stage in there, it looked like you found a nice substitute, one of your species no less."

"Say that again." Chip punched him once more. "DARE TO SAY THAT AGAIN, YOU SCUM! Listen, and listen well, for I won't tell you twice. I haven't spent eighteen years, yes, EIGHTEEN YEARS OF MY LIFE fighting for this here mouse, PHYSICALLY FIGHTING IF NECESSARY, to let her go with the NEXT BEST RAT WHO'S NOT A BIT BETTER THAN HIS DARNED CROOKED BROTHERS AND WHO MADE US PULL OFF HIS PERSONAL VENDETTA SO HE DOESN'T GET HIS HANDS DIRTY! NO WAY THIS IS GONNA HAPPEN AS LONG AS I'M ALIVE!!!"

Allan stared at Chip. One moment, that chipmunk had been up on the stage, singing and shmoozing around with the star of the show as if there was no Gadget, and one moment later, he was requesting to get his girl back violently, and this girl had practically nothing in common with that singer. Against a Rescue Ranger or not, Allan didn't want to give in that easily. He tried to struggle himself free, but that made Chip even wilder. He was taller, heavier, and physically stronger, but whatever he did, he was no real challenge for Chip who used all the fighting experience he had gathered not only in countless fights with Dale, but also and especially as a Rescue Ranger who had gotten used to defending himself against and even necessarily defeating opponents much larger than even a tall rat.

The next thing Allan saw was a bright flash of lightning. He thought Chip had drawn a sort of Taser or so, but he didn't feel any significant amount of electricity in his body. When he looked up, he saw a weakened, half-unconscious Chip sitting on the ground and held by the hands of a tall blond rat. "Alright, this equals things a bit," he said and got up for his counter-attack on defenseless Chip. But he was rendered unable to get that far by someone who grabbed him from behind. Another glance made him realize that he was surrounded by Rescue Rangers.

"Where do ya think yer goin', mate?" a meanwhile familiar Australian-accented voice asked. Monterey Jack went around him and stood between him and Chip, his collar in a firm grip. "Do ya believe I'm gonna let ya knock me li'l pally senseless?"

"But he attacked me!"

"I don't care fer what 'e did, 'cause 'e surely 'ad a good reason. But there's somethin' you'd better care fer. I've been through jungles o' concrete as well as real ones. I've fought everythin' from stray cats to dingoes to bloomin' crocodiles. I 'elped me ol' friend Geegaw bring up this 'ere sheila," Monty pointed at Gadget with his free hand, "but not ta let 'er end up with a blighter o' your kind. If Chipper beat yer up that badly, guess what I'd do with yer!" Monty pulled him close and snarled, "Right?"

Allan didn't say a word.

"Right, I said?"

"R-right..."

Monty tossed him to the ground. "Ya can be glad that Chip's not armed. Ya should see 'im fence. 'E woulda chopped yer into shishkabob."

"Step aside, Monty," Chip's weak, raspy voice spoke, "I wanna see him."

Monty did so. There was no need to protect a weakened chipmunk and an intimidated rat from each other.

"Alright, Allan," Chip said. "Get up. Get up and leave the city. Or better emigrate, leave the country. For if I ever see you anywhere near my Gadget, I'll hunt you down, no matter if you lead us onto this case or not."

Allan got up and looked at the Rangers, trying to find something to say.

"You're still there," Chip said, "you're still not gone."

After a bit of hesitation, Allan turned around and slowly walked away. The Rangers stood except for Chip who was sitting and watched as he faded away in the distance and the darkness.

"Can someone now please tell me what's going on here?" Clarice had made it to the crowd together with Todd and squeezed herself through the circle of Rescue Rangers. She sat down next to Chip and laid an arm around him. "My poor Chip, what have they done to you?"

"Away from my Chip," Gadget hissed. "You haven't seen me go mad yet."

Chip coughed a few times and said, "It's okay, Gadget, I'll explain. Dale and I have known Clarice since the spring of 1983. We found out she was a singer at the Acorn Club, that little jazz bar under the Coo-Koo Club, that joint named after the soda brand, y'know. Anyway, that one evening, she invited us to see her at the Acorn Club, and neither of us knew that the other had gotten an invitation, too."

"Chip," Clarice interrupted him, "do you have to go into details?"

"Yes, Clarice, I have to. Anyway, we found out when we met each other at the door of her room, and we did what we could to outplay each other. We even continued when she went and sang at the club. We kind of got into accompanying her, me on the piano, Dale on the bass, very much like what you just saw. And yes, she kissed both of us that evening. And no, we didn't kiss her. We tried to, but she got herself out of reach quickly, and Dale and I ended up kissing each other. Few spectators were there except for us, but they liked what we did, and Clarice asked us to do the same show every Saturday night when she sang at the club. Well, we did, because that gave us chances to hit on her. It was fun, it wasn't as serious as it is with you, Gadget, and me, but it was fun. It was over in '85 when Clarice got an offer from Las Vegas and left New York City. So, after more than 20 years of not seeing her, Dale and I got a little carried away when we joined her on stage."

Clarice's eyes widened. "It wasn't serious? I mean, I enjoyed that attention you paid me..."

Dale took up here. "Clarice, neither Chip nor I ever wanted you as a girlfriend. We loved the chasin', but we never really thought about keepin' what we got if we ever got anything."

"Face the facts, Clarice," Chip said again, "it was a game for silly young chipmunks. I'm sure that if it had gotten serious, one of us would have been here with you all the way from the 80s, the other one would be I don't know where, but certainly broken-hearted and with one friend less, and there wouldn't be any Rescue Rangers today." He got up again, still a bit wobbly. "Speaking of which, we've got a case to solve."