Chapter 29: Oakmont's Thirteen

The contradicting commands made those who were standing in front of the locker turn around. Chip and Dale dropped the box upon the unexpected sight, and Monty who had been pushing the box until then was as surprised as everybody to find Fat Cat and his four goons stand behind them. The crime boss himself held Todd in his left hand and—which was even more surprising—Francis in his right. Francis' two lackeys were held captive by Mepps.

"Fat Cat?! How did you get in here?" Chip demanded to know.

"Why, through the door, of course," Fat Cat answered. "I found these three rats snooping around. I remembered I had seen them somewhere before, and that somewhere happens to be my very own place. It was easy enough to figure out what they wanted here, and by chance, I wanted the same. And to answer the questions you're surely about to ask next: There are signs that show the way to the vault. And the reason why we simply stepped in here without taking care of the security systems is because if you were in here—and these gentlerats were kind enough to tell me you had to be in here—, you would have shut them down anyway. Wart, Snout, get the box."

"At your ssservisss, Fat Cat," Wart hissed.

"Oh no," Francis shouted, "not if I can help it. CHOMP!"

"Huh?" Louie and Moe asked.

"Chomp, I said!"

Fat Cat held Francis up. "What, you—OW!" he cried out in pain as the rat sunk his incisors into the feline's hand. The pain was doubled by Todd doing the same on the other side. Apparently, Louie and Moe comprehended the order given to them and bit the other cat. Out of reflex, all four rodents were released and fell down.

Francis had already spotted the chipmunk in the white tuxedo. "You! You again!"

"Oh yeah," Dale said, "me again. Now what?"

"Now tell your friends to return the box to where they found it," Francis growled, his henchrats standing to his left and right.

Dale crossed his arms. "And what if not?"

"There ain't no 'if not.' Louie, Moe, make him obey."

"Sure, Francis," the two rats said and approached Dale who detached one of his cufflinks and dropped it. When it hit the floor, it filled several square feet of surroundings with dense smoke despite its size similar to a pinhead.

Dale snickered. "If you want me, come find me. Chip an' everyone else," he ordered, "take the box away from here!"

"Fantastic idea, Dale," Chip commented. "Where shall we take it? We can't even see where we are!"

But Dale didn't hear him anymore. He ran away from the crowd, trying to escape from Louie and Moe. While he ran, he frantically searched his jacket for the helicopter fan triggers. He didn't have to run far to leave the cloud of smoke. But when he stopped and took a breath of clean air, he saw the two rats emerge from the cloud. He was so surprised to see them that when he started to run again, they took a leap each and caught him by his heels. With his hands still in his jacket, Dale fell over and landed on his belly, accidentally activating a trigger.

"Francis, we got—" Louie wasn't able to say anything more than this, because before he could, a stream of white smoke hit his face. And before he or Moe knew what was going on, something dragged them forward at high speed. They both believed things could impossibly turn for the even worse when they were pulled upward and raced towards the ceiling.

"AAAAAAAHH!" the chipmunk they held onto screamed. "Gadget! How do I steer this?!"

Gadget replied, "I haven't built a steering in yet," but Dale was unable to hear her because of the noises both he and the rocket pack produced.

The more the smoke from Dale's cufflink spread, the less dense it was, and very soon, it was possible to see through it again. Rocketing around the room, Dale distracted almost everyone. Monty took advantage of it and shoved the box out of the locker completely. It landed on the floor with a dry thud. "Chip, Gadget," he said as he jumped out of the locker, "'elp me with the luggage, will ya?"

"Sure, Monty!" they answered and heaved up their end of the box while Monty took the other.

"Chip," Gadget suggested as the three Rangers headed for the entrance room, "now that the door is open anyway, what about leaving that way?"

"And run into the guards' open arms? Better not! We go on like we planned!"

Without the smoke hiding them, they were easily tracked by Fat Cat who simply picked the box out of their hands. "What about going on the way I planned? What I planned for you will of course not be so pleasant."

Being the first to have seen enough of Dale flying around, Tammy tapped Todd on the shoulder. "Todd, where's Melissa?"

"Don't worry about her," Todd said, "she's safe."

Melissa stood high above the mayhem in the open air vent. "Had I known that this would happen... Clarice, is this the usual way a Rescue Rangers case works?"

Clarice shrugged. "I don't know, it's the first time I see them in action, too."

"Chaos or not, I can't just stand here and watch." Having said this, Melissa climbed onto the tightrope again.

"And what about your computer?" Tammy asked on.

Todd almost panicked. "My PDA!" He left the group and ran into the direction in which Fat Cat had just acquired the gems.

"What, he's got a computer?" the feline gangster asked more himself than anyone else. "Mole! Snout! Go fetch that mouse's computer! You never know what it can be good for."

Monty looked around. Mole and Snout pursued Todd. Fat Cat had the box with the gemstones. And Dale was flying around helplessly. "I've never been a friend o' plans anyway!" he decided and marched towards Fat Cat who paid more attention to his most recent prey than to anything else. The XXXL-sized tabby suddenly felt a tug on his tail.

Unknown to the animals in the basement, two humans came into the reception hall from the parking garage underneath the Versailles Palace. The one with the ridiculously overdone Elvis outfit asked his companion, "And, did you like our little nightly trip through Las Vegas, uh-huh?" He sounded much less like the King than he believed.

"Very much," the bald guy at his side answered. "This city is really living up at night."

"Well, let's go to bed now. I'd like to take you somewhere very special tomorrow, no, later today, you and the... presents you brought."

On his barely controllable flight through the vault, Dale was heading for the massive steel door. "Oooooooh," he said, "this is gonna hurt." A part of his subconsciousness seemingly had learned how to steer, because almost out of a reflex, he pulled up and performed two and a half loops, making Louie and Moe let go of his feet. The two rats flew wide arcs through the air and landed on top of the door.

Foxglove was still watching Dale. She asked the blond mouse next to her, "LaWahini, what did your sister say how long the rocket would work?"

Her question was answered when Dale's rocket pack suddenly ran out of fuel and the white, baking soda-based stream ceased. It took him two seconds to realize what had happened before he started to fall.

The next to be airborne was Fat Cat. Monty hurled him around and around by his tail. Once again, he wondered how a mouse living on cheese mostly was able to gain such strength. Due to his sense of balance which was as sensitive as that of every cat, he quickly grew dizzy and thought he was still spinning around when Monty released him and sent him flying upon the vault door. Louie and Moe could crawl away just in time before the massive feline landed. The impact had him lose the box which flew and hit the tightrope, causing the plunger to detach from the niche.

"We haven't had this for years," Foxglove commented as she took off to catch her rapidly descending boyfriend in mid-air. "For way too long, actually."

Todd managed to reach his PDA before Mole and Snout reached him. And even before they were able to come close enough, a female, half-Asian mouse with long black hair fell seemingly out of nowhere, landed in front of them, and took a fighting stance. "If you want him or his computer, you have to get past me!"

"Aww, ain't she cute?" Snout said. "Step aside, cute mousie, we need to—" He didn't speak any further. He suddenly felt something in his stomach, and that was Melissa's right foot.

"Wart! Mepps!" Mole shouted. "We need some help here!"

"Oh, I'm sure you do," Melissa said as she flipped him through the air. "Heh, it's true what they say. The heavier opponents are, the easier they're to defeat."

"I'm busyyyyy," Mepps whined while flying the same way that Fat Cat had flown seconds before.

"Leave them in peassse, mousssie," Wart threatened, "or elssse..." He picked up Sparky, but instead of a hostage, all he got was an electric shock. "Wow," he said, "that sssavesss me two hoursss of sssleep. Then again..." His physical strength abandoned him, and he fell over.

Melissa looked at the pile of Mole and Snout. "I guess they've got enough."

Foxglove managed to carry Dale down to the floor safely. "Thanks a lot, Foxy," he said and smiled at her.

She smiled back. "You're very welcome."

"As usual," Francis said, "I've got to do everything myself." He stomped towards where Chip, Gadget, and Monty were preparing to lift the box up into the air duct. All of a sudden, he felt like looking into a mirror.

"Hello, brother!" the mirror image spoke to him. "Surprised to see me here?"

"Allan! How did you—"

"Find all this? Well, for a start, it was me who alerted the Rescue Rangers. It was me who took your place and gave the diamond to the human. It was me who knew the Rangers would intervene on this case. And last but not least, it was me who followed you and your many playmates down here and snuck in. I believe no-one notice my presence in all the chaos yet."

"Get lost, Allan, I'm on a mission!"

"Guess what? I'm on a mission, too! What a coincidence! And do you know what my mission is, Francis?"

Chip was standing on top of the box with the gems and about to fasten the crane's rope on it when he realized the two Francises, one of which he quickly identified. "Wait, what does this creep Allan do here?"

"Well, Chipper," Monty told him, "from 'ere it looks like 'e's beatin' 'is brother up. Or rather they're beatin' each other up."

Dale took a glance around to see what the others had achieved while he was on his short but wild flight. Of the altogether six minions, only one was still moving notably, and that was Mepps. Like Fat Cat, Louie, and Moe, he seemed to be stuck upon the vault door. Dale was surprised to see Allan, too, but this surprise was a positive one as Allan kept Francis busy. He realized that this was a chance to depart without further disturbances. "Chip, how are things goin' ahead with the crane?"

"Just another moment, and the box is up and away!"

"Perfect. Then let's make like the tree an' leave!"

"Erm, Dale," Todd reminded him, "shouldn't we revert this place into its usual state? It'd be quite suspicious if the door lock and the infrared sensor are both uncovered, and if the security is partly shut down, partly in maintenance mode."

"Won't the alarm go off if we switch everythin' back on?"

"Not if we do the same thing we did with the lock in reverse, and if I give the maintenance mode thirty seconds before it ends."

"Okay, then let's do this!"

"Not if I can help it," Fat Cat snarled. "Down with you, Mepps!"

"But booooooss," Mepps complained, "that's really high!"

"Cats always land on their paws, you moron! Now down with you!" Fat Cat pushed his lackey off the door. Mepps landed on his tummy, but Fat Cat did not really expect anything else.

"What about us?" Moe asked.

Fat Cat grinned. "Oh, right, where are my good manners?" He grasped them by their tails, spun them around like it had been done earlier with himself, and tossed them right into their own boss who was still fighting with his brother. "Hope you had a soft landing!" Then he jumped himself, perfectly landing on his paws.

Chip hadn't even finished knotting the rope above the box when Fat Cat returned into the game. "Great," he said, "what now?"

"Now," Fat Cat suggested, "you little nut-munchers give me what's mine."

"No way we're gonna give up now!" Dale yelled. "Todd, turn on the security! Now!"

"But Dale," Todd reminded him, "that'd set the alarm off!"

"Just do it!"

"You wished it..." Todd tapped onto the touch screen of his PDA a few times. Only a few seconds later, the security system began to react upon the sensors which had all been triggered, from the touch-sensitive floor to the motion and noise detectors. A loud siren and more than a dozen red lights signaled that the alarm was working as desired.

"Zipper," Todd ordered, "replace the wall tile before the security is here! Everyone else, help me with the PDA and get back into the air duct!"

The Rescue Rangers and their friends were on their way out, successfully no less, and the present crooks were too stunned by the alarm to do anything against it. Only Allan reacted in time. The box with the diamonds in it and most of the team and Todd's PDA upon it was cranked upward by Monty who had climbed up the rope before and Zipper who added his strength. Literally on the last second, Allan managed to get hold of the rope underneath the box and hung on to it.

The alarm sounded everywhere in the whole building. Professor Nimnul, also known as Elton Nimley, and the self-proclaimed Greatest Thief in the World who were waiting for an elevator to arrive at the reception hall on the first floor were startled by the loud siren that was suddenly howling, also because they both had the same suspicion where the alarm had been set off. "The vault!" the thief shouted. "The gems!" Nimnul added. Together, they ran down the stairs to the vault and over the guards who took a bit too long to check the systems for what had been triggered, and who were too used to false alerts to take a real one serious enough.

So it was no wonder that the scientist and the thief were the first to arrive at the entrance room, just when the Rescue Rangers were about to pull the box into the air duct. "No!" Nimnul cried and jumped up and tried to catch the box. "My gems! Give me my gems back!"

The thief came to his aid, grabbed the box, and yanked it away from the air duct, causing the knot to open and Allan to slam against the wall. He slipped down the rope, but he could save himself from falling by clutching its end firmly with both hands. "Could someone please pull the rope up?" he requested.

Gadget looked down and discovered him. "Allan! What are you doing there?"

"I'm just hangin' around. Now pull me up, or don't you need this rope?"

"Monty, crank up the rest of the rope. I believe we're 'Oakmont's Thirteen' now."

Nimnul greedily took the box from the thief's hands. Looking up to the still open air vent, he saw who had tried to steal 'his' gems. He would have suspected them in New York City, but he had always believed he was safe from them in Las Vegas.

Finally, the guards entered. "Mr. Nimley?" one of them said. "I'm afraid there's no public access to the vault."

"These pesky rodents tried to steal my precious... well, what I had in this vault!" the short scientist tried to explain, speaking with his normal voice, and pointed upwards to the now closed air grille.

"Mr. Nimley, according to our records, you haven't got anything stored in the vault. Your guest has, but you haven't."

"Nimley, Nimley," Foxglove muttered, "I can't hear this stupid name any longer." She pushed against the grille.

"Foxy!" Dale shouted. "You may be able to carry me or Sparky, but you can't carry this box!"

"I'm sure there are other ways to get the box," Foxglove answered. "Besides, I don't want it. Not now."

The grille snapped open again, and out flew a small red bat. Foxglove didn't mind being seen by the humans, in fact, she enjoyed Nimnul's panicking as she approached his face. With a swift upward motion, she stole first his shades, then his wig, and placed both items into the hands of one of the guards before she disappeared into the air vent which was immediately shut again.

"My disguise!" Nimnul touched the thick glasses he had been wearing behind the shades all the time, his bald head, and what was left of the glasses.

The guards might have been slow, but they recognized a nationwide outlaw when they saw him. "Wait, you aren't Elton Nimley. You are..."

"Professor Norton Nimnul, yes!" The scientist and the thief pushed the guards aside and ran out into the corridor. Unknown to them, the rodents plus one insect and one chiropteran followed them inside the air duct.