Chapter Two: Return of the Cola Cult

Chip walked out of his room, adjusting his bomber jacket over his body. Was all of this true? Was he still dreaming? Was Dale trying to play some kind of prank on him? Shortly, the chipmunk found out the answer: Dale was telling the truth. There were, as a matter of fact, six weapons on the couch, seven if one was to count the second bat-usable clawed bracer.

"Aye, Chip!" said Monty, carrying the sword in his hands and looking it over. "Who do ya think brought us these things? And what bloke makes a sword out of lead, anyway?"

"Outta lead?" asked an incredulous-sounding Dale. "When I held it, it felt light as a feather!"

Zipper buzzed in his normal unintelligible way, having trouble lifting so much as the black leather bullwhip, its cracker made up of a metallic chain instead of a cord. And this, he must have been trying to say, feels like I'm lifting a thick chain.

Chip patted Zipper on the back. "Easy there, Zipper", he said, lifting the handle of the whip with no problem. "Rangers, I know you'll never believe me on this, but, these weapons... hey. Wait a second! Where is Gadget?"

Dale snapped his fingers. "Oh, shucks! Forgot to get her! Be right back!" With that, the Hawaiian shirt wearing chipmunk scampered to Gadget's room and knocked on the door. Meanwhile, within her room, Gadget continued to sob, but her crying was broken as she heard Dale at the door. "Uhm, just a minute!" called out Gadget. "I'm, uh, getting dressed!" She, thankful to have an excuse, got up and went on to actually get into her clothing.

"Hey, Gadget!" called out Dale. "I don't mean to bother ya, but there are these amazing things waiting for us out here! Come out when you're ready and check 'em out!"

"Golly! Will do, Dale", said the blonde mouse, by now slipping into her outfit and putting on her goggles.

Meanwhile, Chip had managed to give a brief explanation of the weapons' mysterious appearance, according to what happened in his dream, to Monty and Zipper. "Why, I'll be a croc's uncle", said Monty, a hand on his chin. "It's definitely far-fetched, but..."

He walked over and lifted the axe by its handle. With his other hand, he went to pick the sword up once more. "Huh... this axe DOES feel light as a feather, but this sword..." he put down both weapons. "That only leaves one question unresolved..." Lifting the axe up, he tried to imagine letting loose a shockwave as he swung it in the air. Amazingly, a roar like thunder shot out from the axe as a visible orb of translucent force, not unlike the heat from a fire, shot forth and struck the wall near the front door with a slam!

"Crikey!" exclaimed Monty. "This thing IS the real deal after all!" Chip and Zipper, along with Dale who just entered the room, were equally surprised.

"Golly!" called out Gadget as she left her room. "I thought I heard a crash out here! Is everyone okay?"

"Y-yeah, I think", said Dale. "About that crash... Monty, try it again!" Monty nodded, and evoking the focused thought of letting loose a shockwave swung the battle axe once more. Again, an orb of translucent force was launched, flew at the wall, and burst with a slam as it hit the inside of the tree.

Chip cleared his throat. "Uhm... yeah. About all this... I had a weird dream last night, that I think, believe it or not, can help shed some light on this...

As Chip finished the explanation of his story, he said to the other Rangers, "...and that's all I know. Apparently, we're supposed to learn more of this... Taal'Reh... soon enough. So, any questions?"

Gadget nodded. "Yeah, uhm... well". She lowered her head a bit. "...you see, last night, I had a dream where I saw my parents again, and... it was in the same place where you encountered this Sirocco person..."

Chip blinked. "Really?... I wonder. What happened it the dream?"

Gadget sighed, lifting her head. "Well... they came and told me that I could meet them again in a place called Memoryscape, and that I'd be a part of a big adventure with you guys".

"Boy", said Dale, "You don't think...?"

"Think what, Dale?" asked Chip with genuine interest.

"Well, Chip, from what you've said, this Sirocco guy must have lived a long time ago. So... maybe he was talking to you from Memoryscape, too, along with Mr. and Mrs. Hackwrench?"

"It's a possibility, I suppose", said Chip. "Well, either way, I guess we all know who gets what. But the big question is, what is supposed to go on regarding this Taal'R-" At that particular moment, there was a knock at the door. Zipper flew to it and opened it, and on the other side were two people: Foxglove and Mother Squirrel.

"Rescue Rangers!" cried out the lady squirrel, much desperation in her voice.

"Hey, it's Tammy and Bink's mom!" said Dale, walking forth. "What's the problem? And, uh, hey as well, Foxy".

Foxglove waved, a worried look on her face to match the countanence of Mother Squirrel. "They... they took them! My daughters, taken by those freaks!" cried out the squirrel.

Chip approached, holding his paws forth. "Wait, slow down, Mrs. Squirrel. Tammy and Bink... someone took them?"

Mother Squirrel nodded. "Yes... we had gotten up not too long ago, and these people dressed up in red, like ninjas, knocked down the door! They... they had these strange, living blobs of soda pop with them... they moved so fast, and took Tammy and Bink with them. They told me to tell you if I want my daughters returned safely, that all of you have to go and get them..."

Chip nodded. "Don't worry about a thing, Mrs. Squirrel. We'll make sure we get them home safely. Though... Foxglove, what are you doing here?"

"I was just coming here to see you guys", said the pink bat, "But then I saw Mother Squirrel going the same way, and, well, I found out what happened".

"Hey, Foxy", said Dale, his tone not quite as cheerful as usual. "Come on in. You two, Mother Squirrel. There's something that might concern you going on..."

Walking to the lady squirrel and patting her on the shoulder, Monty told her, "Come on, miss, it'll be okay, trust me. For now, let's getcha something to eat to calm your nerves a bit..." With that, Monty lead her to the dining room to make her some breakfast.

"So..." Foxglove walked in on weak feet. "...what's going on?"

"Do you mean", began Gadget, "What we might know about who took Tammy and Bink, or about how you might be involved?"

"Well, I guess I'll take either or", she said, sitting down on a couch cushion that the weapons were laying on. "And, uhm, what's with all of these?"

Chip sighed. "Long story, but, I'll do my best to explain once again..."

After the encore of his best explanation of what was going on, Foxglove was in awe, trying on the bracers that had been apparently made for her with Dale's help to strap them on the ends of her wings. "So let me get this straight", said Foxy. "Some jewel from the museum was used to house an evil rat's soul, and its being cracked means he might be escaping to this world?"

"That's the gist of things", said Chip. "And as for who took Tammy and Bink... this has that one big guy from the Cola Cult written all over it with those red ninjas. What was his name again...? Pop-Pop?"

"No, that was the guy who thought the Cola Cult was real", said Dale. "It was Bubbles! How could I forget such a goofy name like that?" Dale began to snicker a bit, soon bonked on the head by Chip.

"Dale, this isn't funny!" reprimanded Chip. "My dream was REAL! And that means that Taal'Reh probably is doing just what Sirocco warned us would happen: he's making monsters - in this case, those soda slimes! On top of that, who knows if Bubbles has any powers now from Taal'Reh, and who knows how soon Taal'Reh will get to return to this world with our enemies' help?"

So, buzzed Zippper, What can we do about this?

"I know what we can do", said Monty, just in earshot of Zipper's buzzing as he returned. "We go and bring that fight to Bubbles and rescue those little sheilas, that's what!"

"But, where could they be?" asked Gadget.

"Only one place comes to mind", said Monty, "The old locale of the Cola Cult; the Coo-Coo Cola Bottle Storage Plant. Me 'n Zipper will stay here and make sure Mother Squirrel will be okay. You four should grab yer arms and go investigate".

Gadget looked down at the Spiral Spear. Only now did she get a good glimpse at each weapon. The Storm Whip, aside from its chain cracker, had a sapphire with a lightning bolt etching set in the butt of the handle. The Inferno Sword looked like a typical medieval longsword, and had a ruby with a flame etched into it on the butt of its own handle.

Set into the base of the partisan-like spearhead of the Spiral Spear, where the weapon's projections branched off and the blade began to extend, was an emerald with a twirling tornado symbol etched into it. On the butt of the Glacier Dagger was an aquamarine with a six-pointed crystal-like design on it.

Set into the butt of the Blast Axe was a piece of amber with a burst symbol cut into it. And finally, over where the blades of each Wave Claw had what looked like diamond with a wave design on each diamond. Other than that, each weapon looked as if it was made of steel, leather, and wood. Lifting the spear, Gadget said with an uncertain voice, "Do we really have to fight...?"

Chip shrugs. "I don't know. All I know is that I have a feeling those monsters won't hold back. And... when you hold your weapon, it feels like you've covered in some kind of force field, doesn't it...? With any hope, we won't have to take the lives of anything other than a monster, and with any luck, if we do have to fight Bubbles, I hope he'll have similar protection as what I can feel from this whip".

Dale nodded, taking up his sword. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but we're wasting daylight".

"Dale's right", said Foxglove, "Who knows if Tammy and Bink are going to be okay if we wait too long?"

Gadget nodded. "Alright then", she said with a resolute voice, "I'm ready when you all are".

"And I'm ready right now", said Chip, coiling up his whip, holding the curled weapon in his left paw and curling his right paw into a fist. "Rescue Rangers, away!"

-End Chapter Two-