RHYME & REASON By Michael Demcio Typeset in LATEX and rendered in pdfLATEX by Midnight Man, 2021 Contents Foreword 7 Part I: Opening Moves 9 Section 1 .................... 9 Section 2 .................... 22 Section 3 .................... 41 Part II: Pawns 59 Section 1 .................... 59 Section 2 .................... 79 Section 3 .................... 95 Section 4 .................... 120 3 4 CONTENTS Doubts About Dale . 122 Part III: Playing By The Book 145 Section 1 .................... 145 Section 2 .................... 167 Section 3 .................... 185 Section 4 .................... 205 Part IV: The Enemy Unknown 227 Section 1 .................... 227 Section 2 .................... 246 Section 3 .................... 263 Section 4 .................... 280 Part V: Playtime 299 Section 1 .................... 299 Section 2 .................... 315 Section 3 .................... 333 Section 4 .................... 353 Part VI: Choices 371 Section 1 .................... 371 Section 2 .................... 390 Section 3 .................... 408 CONTENTS 5 Section 4 .................... 425 Section 5 .................... 446 Part VII: Players In Check 467 Section 1 .................... 467 Section 2 .................... 488 Section 3 .................... 509 Section 4 .................... 523 Section 5 .................... 539 Section 6 .................... 555 Part VIII: Endgame 573 Section 1 .................... 573 Section 2 .................... 586 Section 3 .................... 605 Section 4 .................... 620 Section 5 .................... 630 Section 6 .................... 650 Part IX: Final Points 677 Section 1 .................... 677 Section 2 .................... 693 Section 3 .................... 715 Section 4 .................... 733 6 CONTENTS Section 5 .................... 750 Section 6 .................... 772 Section 7 .................... 781 Section 8 .................... 801 Section 9 .................... 822 Conclusion 841 Foreword 7 This story (probably like all stories) was a just a small idea that I had one day, which, as I be- gan to write it out for the Disney apa “Where The Fun Begins”, quickly grew into the saga that you now see before you. A saga which took me over two years to complete. At any rate, right off the bat, I would like to thank Jeff Pierce, my editor at WTFB ([email protected]) again for the patience that he gave me as I worked this story along from issue to issue, giving comments and suggestions along the way. Much thanks also are due to Dot wrnr ([email protected]) for taking all the time that she did to edit this story for errors and to give comments and suggestions. Thanks also to Esbeckras (esbeck- [email protected]) for her input as well. Please feel free to distribute this story to whoever and wherever you the reader, might feel that people would enjoy it. Rescue Rangers and all related Disney material and characters are of course, trademarked by the Walt Disney company, and you guys know the rest. And now, what many who know me consider to be my “Magnum Opus”, a Rescue Ranger story the likes of which I doubt would ever have been shown on 8 Foreword TDA....a mystery thriller that I called....... Rhyme and Reason. It is said that the worst kind of terror is that which strikes in your own home. It is also said that you should be careful what you wish for, since you just might get it. One of the Rescue Rangers is about to discover these truths.........first hand. RHYME & REASON BY MICHAEL DEMCIO Part I: Opening Moves. Part 1 of 3 It was a sleepy fall morning. Bright and clear, but with a cool crispness in the air that spoke of the changing of the seasons. The sun’s gentle early rays glistened into the windows of Rescue Ranger head- quarters, dispersing the darkness of the night, and slowly awakening one of its residents. Chip blinked 10 Part I: Opening Moves against the daylight streaming into the room, his eyes focusing as he slowly came awake. Contentedly, he yawned and stretched as far as he could. Then, snuggling deeply once more into the blankets, enjoy- ing the sensation of their warmth, he rolled over on his side to gaze out the window. Well here it is, Chip thought, smiling to himself, my birthday. Has it really been more than two years already? he mused to himself wonderingly, thinking on how quickly the time had flown by since he and Dale had met Gadget, Monterey, and Zipper, and formed The Rescue Rangers. Over that time, each of them had become as close to him as Dale had been before they all had met. Each of them was, in his or her own right one of his best friends, like no other friend could ever be. They had become like a family over that time. Both to him, and to each other. Thinking fondly for a while about the past two birthdays he’d spent with his teammates, in addition to all the adventures, and hardships, celebrations and quiet moments they’d shared with one another, Part 1 of 3 11 Chip rolled out of bed, a shiver running through him as his body adjusted to the slight nip in the air. “Bet- ter turn the heat up a bit,” he murmured to himself, rubbing his arms. Glancing up as he removed his nightshirt and cap, he spied Dale’s empty bunk bed, his blanket laying in it’s usual crumpled heap atop it. The untidiness of the unmade bed was no surprise to Chip, as Dale seldom fixed it without being asked to. His sloppiness was as ingrained in him as was Monterey’s craving for cheese. The absence of his oldest friend however, was. “That’s odd,” Chip mumbled, still staring at the upper bunk, as he reflexively grabbed and donned his familiar bomber jacket and fedora. Dale was not by any stretch of the imagination, an early riser. Even when he went to bed at a normal hour, if he didn’t stay up half the night in bed reading comic books, he still normally needed someone to nudge him awake in the morning. Without such a wake up call, he would more than likely snooze his way into midday or even later. Dale was one of the best, all time, hard core, late sleepers that Chip had ever 12 Part I: Opening Moves known. Unless there was a darn good reason for him to do so, (for Chip, like the others, knew that when Dale put his mind to something, he could overcome even his worst fears or habits) Dale would never have gotten up at this time......... Unless something was wrong........... A concerned look creasing his brow at the thought, Chip tossed his nightclothes onto his bed and slipped out the door to investigate. Moving silently down the hallway, he system- atically checked the bathroom, the exercise room, the upstairs outside terrace, the hangar, and even Gadget’s workshop. Normally, he knew that Dale would have had little or no reason to enter Gadget’s workshop. Remembering as he checked the terrace though, that they had watched a new Dirk Suave movie last night, he thought that Dale might have taken up the idea of making more spy equipment for his use as had happened the last time a number of months back.1 Even this idea though proved to no Part 1 of 3 13 avail as he moved to check the forward portion of the treehouse. The living room, he also saw as he entered it, was empty. Must be in the kitchen getting an early breakfast, he reasoned after checking the outside landing pad, the eerie feeling in the back of his mind starting to sub- side. Figures. Though after all the popcorn he inhaled during the movie last night, you would think that he had enough food in him to last the winter. Chip shook his head in amazement, a grin spreading over his face. When it came to eating, sleeping, and being lazy, Dale was almost as bad as that cat in the comics! As he passed back through the living room area, he glanced at one of the watches hanging upon the wall. It was 7:00. Walking toward the kitchen, Chip’s grin spread a bit farther as he pondered another thought. In a race to get a chocolate covered cheesecake, he mused, I wonder who would win, Monty, Dale, or that cat....if he were real, he added to himself with a mental shrug. Lost 14 Part I: Opening Moves in the thought of such a race, he almost didn’t notice the closed kitchen door, stopping himself short right before bumping into it. Staring at the closed door, Chip quirked a bemused eyebrow at it. The only time the kitchen door was ever closed was when Monterey was cooking up a new dish and didn’t want to be disturbed. Dale couldn’t be in there with him, since Monterey always worked alone when he was creating something new. Though if Monterey was in the kitchen,.....then where was Dale? The only place he hadn’t checked so far out of the en- tire treehouse, was Gadget’s and Monterey’s rooms, though why he might be in either place at this hour was beyond him. He was about to turn from the door to head back in the direction of the bedrooms when something touched his foot. Looking down, he saw a small puddle oozing out from under the doorway. A small, thick, RED puddle. Unless something was wrong...........the thought from a few minutes back flashed through his mind again as eyes grew wide with shock, his heart leap- Part 1 of 3 15 ing into his throat. Fearing the worst, Chip seized the door handle and bolted into the room. The door halted abruptly with a thump a quarter of the way open as it ran into something solid, fol- lowed immediately by an ear shattering crash. Cring- ing against the din, Chip hastily pushed the door the rest of the way open, to discover his friend laying face-first on the floor in the dim light...lying in a dark, red puddle.