After Effects
(Third Chapter in the Visitor Series)

	Gadget awakened rapidly, she had always been a lite sleeper.
She quickly dressed and headed to the kitchen for  breakfast. At
first she was shocked to find that the others hadn't gotten up yet.
Then she remembered. She sat on the  floor and cried. It always hit
her hard to know that she was the last of the Rescue Rangers. Even
Zipper and Arron, the  human from an alternate reality, where gone.
She had been living in the old HQ alone for almost two weeks now, and
still  she hadn't gotten over the loss of her friends. It seemed like
yesterday, to her, that they had started that fateful case.......

	It was a normal day at Ranger HQ, Dale was watching T.V while
Arron and Gadget worked on some new  invention. Monty and Zipper
where puttering around in the kitchen and Chip was down at the Police
station looking for a  new case. Suddenly there was a loud explosion
from the workshop, Arron and Gadget crawled out, coughing. Smoke 
rolled through the doorway. 
	"Crickey!, what happened to you two?", asked Monty as he
stuck his head out of the kitchen.
	"<Cough> We hooked <Cough> it up wrong <Cough>", Arron tried
to explain.
	"Don't worry <Cough> just a small set back...", Gadget
informed them. 
	"Hehehe, you two are filthy!", Dale giggled, this was more
interesting than the news anyway.
	Just then the door banged open and Chip ran full tilt into
the room. 
	"We got a case!", he said between breaths, he apparently had
run all the way from the station.
	The others just looked at him, then he noticed Gadget and
Arron.
	"What happened to you two?", he began, "wait, I don't want to
know...."
	The others were practically bursting with anticipation.
Finally Dale snapped.
	"What is this case!?"
	"Huh? You mean you haven't seen the news?", Chip pointed to
the T.V.
	The reporter was just finishing a report on a break-in at the
museum that had resulted in the theft of one large  diamond. He was
also saying that the security systems hadn't been tripped and that
there where no clues or suspects.
	"Sounds like Fat Cat!", Monty announced.
	Chip shook his head vigorously, "Thatÿs what I thought....but
he is still trying to get his gang back together." He  was referring
to the time the Rangers had destroyed Fat Cat's headquarters, with
his gang in it! That was when they had  met Arron.
	"Then who?", asked Gadget.
	"Thatÿs up to us to find out."
	"Rescue Rangers awa....uhhh...wait, let us clean up first",
said Gadget.

	Thirty minutes later the Ranger Wing touched down on the
museum's roof. The Rangers quickly piled out and  entered the air
conditioner ducting through a vent. They watched as the security
guards locked up. With a squeak the vent  was pushed open and a piece
of fishing line was lowered to the floor. One by one the Rangers slid
down. In the middle of  the room was the display for the diamond, now
empty and surrounded by police tape.
	"Spread out, look for anything interesting", ordered Chip. 
	For several minutes they searched and found nothing, then
Gadget discovered the security system.
	"Hey, guys! Look at this!", she pointed at the emitter for a
laser. It was supposed to sound the alarm if the  beam was broken.
The others crowded around.
	"What?", asked Dale.
	"The optics are scratched", she announced.
	"Thatÿs right! The beam is bounced back from that mirror over
there!", said Arron, catching on.
	Gadget shook her head, "Right, it looks as if someone placed
a mirror over the laser emitter!"
	"Wouldn't that set the alarm off?", asked a confused Dale.
	"No, the beam still would be bounced back, just not from
across the room.....", replied Arron.
	"Why this one?", asked Monty.
	Gadget considered this new question, "Because whoever stole
the diamond is about your height..."
	"Like a mole or.....Thatÿs it....Rat Cappone!", exclaimed
Chip.
	"Who?", Arron looked confused.....he didn't know Rat Cappone.
	"An unsavory character, mate...", replied Monty.
	"He kinda has a thing for Gadget", stated Dale. 
	Gadget shuddered," Don't remind me!"
	"Why would he want the diamond though?", Chip pondered.

	Rat Cappone sat across from an old mouse. He eyed him
suspiciously. 
	"Tell me again, Mr. Ingrad, why you need my help?", he asked.
	"You and me both have a problem, the Rescue Rangers...",
Ingrad began.
	"Yes, so? Tell me why I stole this diamond for you!"
	"Er...The diamond is needed for bait."
	Rat Cappone looked interested, "Go on."
	"Well, when I worked for Fat Cat I was given free run of a
rather interesting piece of equipment. I don't know  how, but he had
a miniature space craft. I was supposed to figure out how it worked
and create weapons for him. But the  Rangers had other ideas and
destroyed the craft..."
	"Spacecraft? This sounds a little unbelievable....."
	"I assure you it's true. The explosion of the ship is what
destroyed Fat Cats HQ. Apparently it was from an  alternate reality,
there was an accident. Both the ship and it's human inhabitant were
shrunk and sent here. Now where  was I?"
	"The weapons."
	"Oh, yes. The weapons. I did learn one thing from the craft,
how to build lasers! Lasers powerful enough to  burn through three
inches of concrete in a second! I plan to build a much bigger model,
and use it on the Rangers!",  Ingrad finished. He was obviously
slightly demented.
	Rat Cappone considered what he had just heard. There had been
roomers of Fat Cat having laser weapons. And  once having a
spacecraft in his possession. Then there was the new Rescue Ranger.
Ingrad's story began to look more  believable. 
	"OK, I'll help. On one condition", he said.
	"What would that be?", asked Ingrad.
	Cappone smiled evilly, "I get to keep the girl....."

	"Mates, we've been up here for hours without any sign of
Cappone.....", began Monty.
	"We keep looking", replied Chip.
	"Chip, the batteries are almost dead, lets go back for the
night", pleaded Gadget.
	Chip looked at Gadget, and melted, "OK, we'll call it a
night..."
	The Ranger Wing banked and headed back home, soon the had
landed.
	"Arron, give me a hand with the Charger...", asked Gadget.
	Arron grinned, "OK, Gadg."
	"Don't call me that!"
	The two inventors hooked the Wing to the Charger, joking the
whole time. The others entered HQ, Chip  immediately turned on the
news and sat on the couch. Monty and Zipper went into the kitchen to
whip up a quick snack.
	"Hey! I want to watch the movie marathon!", complained Dale.
	"To bad, I'm watching the news."
	Dale opened his mouth to argue, decided against it and
stalked off to his room.
	The next morning the Rangers awoke to find Chip still
watching ESPN. He was half asleep and looked rather  upset. The
others decided it would be best not to bother him and went into the
kitchen for breakfast. Soon they heard the  TV turn off and Chip
stumbled into the kitchen.
	"Coffee.....", he muttered. Monty poured him a large cup,
which was swallowed quickly regardless of the  scalding temperature.
	"Did you see anything on the news last night?". asked Dale,
he was still upset at not getting to watch the late  night movie
marathon.
	"No", Chip looked at Gadget, "How soon will the wing be ready
for flight?"
	"We can have it ready in five minutes", she replied.
	"Good we leave in five minutes then."
	Gadget left the table to prepare the wing for flight,
mentally kicking herself. The others, except Chip, scurried  off to
get ready. Chip just sat and drank almost a full pot of coffee. Soon
the Rangers where soaring over the city.  However, this search ended
much the same way as the one the night before.

	Ingrad fussed over a large optic lens in the center of a
warehouse floor. The lens was connected to several  large and complex
looking pieces of hardware. A large power cable snaked over to the
corner where it plugged into the  outlet. Rat Cappone entered the
room, along with several of his bodyguards.
	"Ingrad! How much longer?", he asked, eyeing the machine.
	"Eh? Soon....soon we will be ready", Ingrad replied.
	"It won't work", said Cappone, "The Rangers will just unplug
it."
	Ingrad chuckled, "They will regret it if they do that, the
device will exploded, it should destroy the building!".
	Cappone looked the machine over again, "Good plan. Call me
when your done". He turned to leave.
	"Wait!", Ingrad bellowed.
	Cappone turned back, he didn't like being bossed around,
"What?"
	"You want to see a demonstration?"
	"No", Cappone hurried out of the warehouse.
	"Jerk.", Ingrad muttered under his breath.

	"Come on Chip! You can't stay up all night again", Gadget
pleaded with him. The others agreed.
	"Why not?", he snorted.
	"Because, if we do find Cappone, you'll be too tired to
help!", answered Arron.
	"I suppose that makes sense.....OK, I'll go to bed." Dale
began to change to the movie channel.
	"But, someone must watch the TV tonight to see if there is
any new information on the news."
	"OK, I will.", answered Arron. Dale looked upset, then
stalked off to his room.

	Cappone was sleeping when his head bodyguard entered the
room.
	"WHAT!?"
	"Sir....the device is ready", the trembling rat said.
	"Oh, why didn't you tell me sooner? Never mind you dolt, tell
Ingrad I'll be right down."
	The guard turned and left. Thirty minutes later Cappone
entered the warehouse. Ingrad was visibly upset.
	"What took so long?", he demanded.
	"I was asleep....", Cappone dismissed the other's anger with
a glance that caused Ingrad to flinch.
	"Well, it's ready. Can you get the Rangers here?", Ingrad
asked, trying to act brave.
	"Yes, but remember, leave the girl for me", Cappone grinned.
Ingrad shuddered.
	Cappone turned to his henchmen. 
	"Go cause trouble, make sure everyone knows you came from
this warehouse. Got it?"
	"Yes sir.....lead the Rangers here....got it", the two
gangsters left.

	The Rangers were awoke by Arron's frantic pounding on their
doors.
	"GET UP! Somethingÿs happened!", he was yelling.
	Chip stumbled out of his room, "What?"
	"Someone robbed a cheese store last night....", Arron
started, unfortunately Monty heard him.
	"Cheese? Stolen? They must pay! Why I'll.......", Zipper
slapped him across the face, he calmed.
	"How do you know it was Cappone?", asked Dale.
	"I don't, but the security cameras didn't see anything and
the security system wasn't tripped."
	"Sounds like Cappone! Rescue Rangers away!", Chip yelled. 
	"Umm....can we get dressed first?", asked Gadget.
	"Uhh......", Dale grinned. Both Arron and Chip bonked him on
his head.
	"Yes, then we leave", answered Chip.

	Ingrad paced back and forth, "Are you sure they'll come?"
	"Yes! Now quite pacing!", Cappone roared, Ingrad stopped.
	"We should leave, we don't want to be caught in the blast",
Ingrad informed him.
	"No, we stay till they arrive...I want to separate Gadget
from the group...."

	The Rangers had briefly set down at the scene of the robbery.
Long enough to confirm that it had been  Cappone's men. Luckily a
small mouse had saw them heading to the warehouse at the end of the
road. They were heading  there now. 
	"Strange that they would goof up like that....", Arron mused.
	"Not really, Cappone only hires people dumber than he
is....", Chip began.
	"And he's pretty dumb!", finished Dale smugly.
	As they approached the warehouse something rose from its roof
and impacted on the Wing. Gadget fought the  controls.
	"What was that??", asked Monty.
	"Something was launched at us, probably by slingshot.",
answered Arron.
	"Hang on! We're going to crash!", Gadget said, rather
panicky.
	The Wing landed rather roughly, snapping off part of the wing
and tearing a motor of its mounts. The Rangers  sat in the wreck,
catching their breath.
	"What a ride!", said Dale.
	"Must be the right place.....", said Arron.
	They climbed out of the damaged Wing. Chip turned to Gadget,
who was inspecting the damage.
	"Can you fix it?", he asked.
	"Well.....maybe, it will take a while though....", she
replied.
	"OK, you stay here and fix it, we might need to leave in a
hurry", Chip ordered.
	The others entered the warehouse, while Gadget worked on the
Wing.

	Ingrad pointed, "See? They left her outside....can we go
now?"
	"Yes, lets leave before they see us...", Cappone and Ingrad
disappeared into the alley.
	In the middle of the room the laser powered up. Its internal
sensors saw the Rangers and prepared to fire.

	"I don't like this....", Dale began. He was cut short by a
laser blast that just missed them all. 
	"Take cover!", Arron yelled. The Rangers dived behind some
boxes.
	"What was that?", asked Chip.
	"A rather large laser...", answered Arron. Just then another
laser blast shot through their cover.
	"We gotta stop that thing!", Dale said.
	"Where is it?"
	Monty pointed, "In the middle of the room. I see the power
cord!"
	The Rangers sprinted from cover to cover, heading closer to
the wall plug. Still the laser tracked them, letting  random blasts
fly. Soon they had reached the plug, they all pulled on it and it
slid from the socket. The laser stopped  firing.
	"I want a closer look at the thing", Arron said. They all
headed closer.
	"Just as I thought, this is just like the lasers that were in
my ship....", he began.
	"Hey! Whatÿs this flashing light mean?", Dale asked as he
pointed. Arron looked, his eyes grew huge.
	"Oh no....", he began. He didn't get to finish, the laser
exploded, vaporizing the building and the Rangers inside.  The
explosion was so big in fact, that it destroyed several adjoining
buildings. Gadget looked on in horror as they  collapsed. As soon as
the shock wore of she began to jog in the direction the others had
gone, only to find a large  smoking crater. Just then Rat Cappone
tried to grab her, she was still in shock so he thought it would be
easy. It wasn't,  she went bezerk. Crying so hard she couldn't see
she kicked and scratched her way free. She later awoke in her bed at 
Ranger HQ, confused and feeling very empty.

	.......Gadget picked herself up off the floor and walked,
sobbing, through each room. Touching various items of  the others and
remembering. Soon she had entered the kitchen, and was holding
Monty's favorite cheese knife in her  hand. It was then that she came
to a decision, she couldn't be alone again, she couldn't stand it.
She turned the knife on  herself and plunged it into her chest. It
didn't hurt much as darkness enveloped her......

	"Gadget! Wake up!", Gadget opened her eyes to see the others
over her, looking worried.
	"Am...am I dead?", she asked.
	Chip and Dale looked at each other and shrugged, Arron looked
confused.
	"No, luv, you were having a nightmare, you woke us all
up....", Monty said.
	"Yeah, you were screaming and crying, it was kinda spooky",
said Dale.
	Gadget broke down and cried, "I....I dreamed you all
died....."
	Arron looked sympathetic, "It must have been brought on by
that tranquilizer you were shot with."
	Both Chip and Dale glared at him, "I can't believe you let
her get shot! Now look what happened!"
	"Hey! Don't take this out on me! It wasn't my fault, how was
I to know what he was planning?"
	"Guys.....don't fight, I'm OK, really...", Gadget said.
	"Good, we have a new case, someone stole a diamond from the
museum....", Chip began. 
	Gadget's eyes got huge, she began to scream. The others tried
to calm her down but it took several hours to do  so. Even after they
calmed her down she just laid there, sobbing.....

Well, so closes another chapter in the visitor series. I apologize for the shortness of this story, but I thought it would be OK. It may be a while before I can write anymore, as I am now at college. I will write as my studies allow. Until next time.....