Professor Nimnul muttered as he dropped his last invention into a garbage can. He had invented it for no real reason, and could now find no way to use it for his own gain. As usual, he blamed the invention. "Stupid thing. You're useless to me." He muttered, walking away down the alley.
    Up above, Gadget watched with curious eyes. "I have to see what that man is up to." she said to herself. The new steering system she had installed in the Ranger Wing had worked perfectly, and on the first test. She had been on her way back to Central Park when she had spotted Professor Nimnul skulking about in the alley.
    Cautiously, she watched as the Professor departed, sitting precariously on a fire escape. She got to the pavement by climbing down the escape ladder, dropping from step to step. The trash can, however, proved just as big a problem. Gadget couldn't climb the smooth metal sides. “Well, golly! There has to be something in this alley that can help..." she said, glancing around.
    Her ears perked up as she saw a shoelace and a rusty paperclip. "These ought to do it! I have to find out what the Professor has gotten rid of!" She said. With some quick bending and a good knot, Gadget had transformed the paperclip and shoelace into a grappling hook and line.
    "This should do the trick! Well, here goes nothing... Bombs away!" She said. She whirled the paper clip over her head with the string. After it was whirring at a good speed, she made some mental calculations and released. The paper clip soared up and up, then fell to catch on the rim of the garbage can.
    "Wow... That's twice in one night that something I built worked the first time!" She mused, climbing up the string and over the rim. Luckily, the can was nearly full to the top, and Gadget would be able to climb out without the grappling hook.
    Needless to say, it wasn't long before she found the device that Nimnul had thrown away.   "Golly! I wonder what it could be?" She said. It was a black plastic rectangle, with three buttons on the side, attached to a handle like some kind of science fiction laser gun. Gadget could dimly see letters, but it was too dark to read them.
    After some real work, the strange object was in the back of the Ranger Wing, on it's way back to Gadget's workshop for examination. She reached Rescue Ranger HQ without incident, though the dead weight kept the Ranger Wing flying low. The trick, she had decided, was carrying it in. "I don't think I can carry this all by myself. I'll wait until Morning, then the gang and I can carry it in together." She said. She knew all too well now that it was heavy, and it had taken nearly an hour to load it into the Ranger Wing on her own, even though she had landed right next to it for the pick up.
    As she climbed out of the Ranger Wing, one of the landing gears collapsed under the weight, causing the entire plane to tip over and toppled off the tree branch. The heavier device Gadget had decided to salvage hit the ground first, and it fired a beam of dark blue energy before it was buried under the Ranger Wing. Trust Nimnul to leave the batteries in something when he throws it away!
    The beam hit Gadget like a lightning bolt, knocking her flat on her back. She rolled over quickly, but before she could get up, she felt her strength leave her. She was suddenly short of breath. Her eyesight blurred without real cause, giving her double vision. She groaned. 'I don't feel so goo..." She began, but never finished. Her eyesight blacked out suddenly, leaving her to rest as she began to grow...

    Gadget awoke suddenly, in an unfamiliar bedroom. She didn't notice the unfamiliarity, since she was half asleep. She blinked her large blue eyes twice, then rubbed her temples with one hand. "Golly, what a night..." She began. Stripping the covers off the bed, She saw that she was still wearing her coveralls. Yawning, she got up out of bed, and staggered over to the nearby dresser and mirror.
    She checked her strawberry blond hair in the mirror quickly, then turned away. She suddenly made a double take when she realized what else she had seen in the mirror. She examined her image more closely.
    Her soft, light tan fur was missing. In it's place was soft, lightly tanned skin. Her teeth were even and straight, her front teeth had shrunk to the same size as the others. Her ears had seemingly disappeared, but she found out that they had simply shrunk and changed shape after moving her hair aside. Her nose was now a small button-like thing, the same color as the rest of her. Reaching behind her, she groped for a tail and found nothing. She stared at her reflection for quite some time, only one thought in her mind.
    She had somehow become a human.

    Meanwhile, above the Happy Tom cat food cannery, Fat Cat was grinning like a wildcat. He read the brochure again: Come See the Diamond Jubilee... You'll have a rich experience. Suddenly he began to laugh. "A rich experience indeed. But I'll be the only one who can show off their experience!" He guffawed. The ding of the elevator caught his attention.
    Somewhat hesitantly, Meps, Mole, and Wart climbed out. All three were wearing boots and headlamps. “Well? Are you finished digging?" Said Fat Cat. Mole answered before anyone could stop him. "Gee, no boss... We've hit a layer of concrete." he said. Fat Cat expertly bounced an apple off of Mole's forehead.
    "Of course you've hit a layer of concrete! That's why I so graciously provided you with PICKAXES, YOU DOLT!!! I'll bet you couldn't put a SANDWICH together without my help!" Said Fat Cat, suddenly changing from their boss to their worst nightmare.
    Mole, recovering from the apple, chimed in again. "B-but we thought that you wanted us to shore up the tunnels with them... D'OWCH!" Another apple nailed him in the nose. "Shore up the tunn... SHORE UP THE... WHERE ON EARTH DID YOU GET THAT BRAINLESS, IDIOTIC IDEA FROM?!" Roared Fat Cat. Mole opened his mouth as if he was about to speak yet again, But Meps stifled him quickly, and wisely. "Quiet, Mole! Can't you see that the Boss is mad enough now without more of your help?" growled Wart. "Yeah, Mole. Shut up!" said Meps.
    Fat Cat, his temper up, leapt heavily over his desk. "GET OUT OF HERE, YOU INSUFFERABLE MORONS! FINISH THOSE TUNNELS, AND USE THOSE PICKAXES RIGHT!" He didn't even have to finish the sentence before his three henchies had made an undignified scramble into the elevator.
    Muttering, Fat Cat stalked around his desk, sitting heavily. "If only I could find good help for the same price as those three buffoons... What are the odds of that happening, I wonder?" He mused to himself. His temper was quickly forgotten as he read the brochure once more.

    Chip burst through the door to Gadget's Workshop, for the umpteenth time. For the past few hours they had searched the treehouse looking for her. Well, her and Dale, really. "Gadget, are you here? Hello?" He called desperately. There was no answer. The workshop was deserted, the tools scattered where Gadget had left them last, the half finished inventions untouched since Gadget had left the night before.
    "Chipper, me pally, I found Dale!" Called Monty from downstairs. Chip rushed down the hall and went down the slide, landing in the living room. Monty had the closet door open, and inside, Dale was curled up in his pajamas, shivering.
    "What're you doing in there, you big goof?" said Chip. Dale looked up. "I'm hiding from the alien's shape-changing beams!" he replied. Chip hauled him out of the closet. "What aliens?" He demanded. "The ones that got Gadget last night!" said Dale. "Wait a minute, pal. You're saying that our Gadget was attacked by aliens last night?" said Monty, scrutinizing Dale carefully as he rubbed his chin.
    "Did you see it happen, Dale?" asked Chip, wondering whether his friend was crazy. "Uh-huh! Uh-huh! Gadget landed the Ranger Wing and got out. Something broke, and the Ranger Wing fell into the bush. Then the Aliens zapped her with their shape-changing beam from their hiding place in the bushes, and she turned into a... a..." said Dale in one breath, trailing off.
    "What! What did she turn into, Dale?" asked Monty. "A... a HUMAN!!!" moaned Dale. Chip frowned. "How did you know it was aliens if you didn't see any?" he said, doubting the whole story. "Even so, Chipper, old pal, we should check the bushes. Maybe there is some proof of Dale's story." said Monty.
    Within minutes, the Rescue Rangers had gotten dressed and begun searching the bushes. Sure enough, they found the remains of the Ranger Wing and the strange object. In the daylight, the wording on the side could be read. "Humanizer, property of Prof. N. Nimnul." read Chip aloud. "HUMANIZER?!" They all exclaimed at the same time.
    Leaving everything behind, they hurried back to the living room of the treehouse and turned on the news. “Maybe Gadget’s being found is on the news, since now she’s human and all.” Said Monty. The TV newscaster, however, was speaking of something very different.
    “… as Police are still baffled as to the whereabouts of the missing shipment of mining tools that were supposed to arrive late last night. The cargo truck was found empty, and a clean sweep of the truck’s route was conducted, but not a trace was found of the tools in question. Police are still searching, but now have less men on the case as the Chief of Police  has deemed it a quote-unquote ‘Hopeless search’”
    The three friends forgot Gadget for a moment. “Why would anyone steal mining tools?” Asked Chip. Suddenly, he spotted something in the back of a security photograph of the truck that was being shown. Meps was clearly outlined in the background, carrying a shovel.
    “We’ll worry about Gadget in a little bit…” began Chip, but he was silenced by the reporter.
    “And now, in other news, a young lady was found late last night, unconscious under a tree in Central Park. As of yet, she remains unidentified. She has strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes. She was found wearing a pair of welding goggles and a set of purple-blue coveralls. Curiously, she was lacking shoes. Quote the young man who found her, ‘She’s really, really cute.’
    The young man in question has taken her into custody until she awakens or a family claims her. We’ll have more on this story as it develops. If you know this girl, see Sergeant Spinelli at…” said the newscaster, right before Chip shut the TV off.
    “Now that we know Gadget’s okay, we can go find out why Fat Cat’s minions were out stealing mining tools last night. Rescue Rangers, away!” Said Chip as he lead them out the door. They would have to take the old Gyroplane… None of them knew how to fix anything that Gadget had built.

Gadget was still staring at the mirror when she heard someone knock on the door. "Excuse me, miss? Are you decent?" Gadget answered timidly, already very shaken. "Ye-yes.."
    The door opened and a young man walked in, dressed in a pair of denim overalls and an apron over a green t-shirt. Awkwardly, he too was wearing welding goggles in his dark brown hair. He carried a plastic tray with a bowl of cereal and some orange juice on it. On his face was a friendly, nonchalant smile.
    "I'm so glad you're awake. I thought you'd never wake up, the way you were sleeping last night." He said, smiling. "Wh-where am I?" asked Gadget, on her guard against this stranger. "You're at my small three-room studio apartment, where I ply my trade. You know, there are a lot of shady characters in this city, and none of them would object to finding a cutie like you passed out in Central Park." said the young man, setting the cereal on the foot of the bed. "You're lucky an honest guy found you first." he added, sitting on the bed as well.
    Something about the young man's casual comments made her feel like herself. Gadget sat on the bed next to him. "My name's Johnny Reilly, but everyone who doesn't know that calls me 'Mr. Fixit'. What's your name, mim?" he asked. Gadget was by now fully comfortable with this man. His overall niceness had won her over
    "My name's Gadget Hackwrench, but everyone I know calls me Gadget. It seems nice to meet you, Johnny." said Gadget. "Well, Gadget, I brought you breakfast. I hope you like grains and nuts, since that's all I can afford right now." Said Johnny.
    "It's okay, I do like nuts and grains." Gadget said, picking up the bowl, dipping the spoon into the cereal and taking a bite. Johnny smiled nicely, showing even white teeth. "So, uh, Gadget, where do you live?" he asked. Gadget swallowed before answering. "Central Park, for a while now." she said, quite honestly. "So you live there? Who's your family?" Johnny asked, a little put off. "Three nice guys... well four counting Zipper, though he doesn't really live with us. Chip, Dale, and Monty." answered Gadget, once again honest.
    "What do they look like, so I can get you home?" asked Johnny, looking dumbfounded. "That's easy: Chip and Dale are both chipmunks, while Monty is a rather large, stocky mouse... or is he a rat? Zipper is a fly, I'm pretty sure." Said Gadget, after swallowing some more cereal.
    "So, Where in Central Park do you and your... friends... live?" asked Johnny, growing more confused as they went along. "If you'll take me back, I'll show you." She said, putting the bowl aside. She hopped up and rushed out of the room, through the adjoining room, and out of the apartment without really seeing anything, Johnny's call of  "Wait, It's not safe!" chasing after her. Likewise, she didn't see the street punk in the hall until he had put a switchblade to her throat.
    "What's the rush, Sweet Cheeks? Stay a while, I won't bite. So you're the girl that loser brought home last night... I'll enjoy this, sweetheart." the punk dryly chuckled. Gadget swallowed. "Good morning, Jimbo!" came Johnny's voice. The punk turned around... to be hit in the face with a small frying pan. He fell over, unconscious.
    "Okay, Gadget, now it's safe. I've had to deal with that jerk every morning since I moved in. It's become a hobby of mine, taking him down with something new every day." smiled Johnny. He pressed a pair of sneakers into Gadget's arms. "Here, put those on, and we'll go." he said. Gadget laughed.
    As Gadget pulled on the shoes, Jimbo groaned and started to stand up. Johnny flattened him with another smack from the frying pan. "Ah-ah-ahh. No getting up for you. I remember the last time." he said scoldingly.
    Quickly he bent over and grabbed the switchblade. He folded it carefully, put the safety on, and dropped the knife into a nearby air-conditioning vent. There was a clatter as the knife landed in a pile of other knives. "That makes twenty-six. Sooner or later he'll run out of switchblades." chuckled Johnny.
    Gadget laughed lightly. This human was friendly, she reasoned. No need for caution around him. She watched as Johnny produced a length of string and tied the punk's fingers awkwardly together.
    "That aught to hold him for a while, at least. Always carry string... you never know when you'll need it." smiled Johnny. He hurried inside to put away the frying pan. As soon as he got back, Gadget led him off.

    Chip wracked his brain, trying to think. "How do we get out of this one, Monty?" he asked. The Rescue Rangers, sans Gadget, were all trapped in a large jar. Dale was silent, attempting to clear the cobwebs from his head and trying to imagine what his comic book heroes would do in this situation. Monty was pummeling the side of the jar with all his strength.
    The clock ticked down how long they had until the jar flooded with water. Monty flopped down, exhausted by his own efforts. "If only Gadget were here, she'd have us out in a wink." He said, glancing at the debris littering the bottom of the jar. "But Gadget's not here, Monterey, so we'll have to puzzle things out for ourselves." said Chip.
    Dale jumped up. It was if something had gone click inside his mind. "I've got it! Why don't we all hit the side of the jar at once? Maybe it'll tip over!" he said, his tail wagging. "I never thought I'd say this, but great idea, Dale. Ready?" said Chip, putting himself in a ramming position.
     "Ready." came the simultaneous reply from Dale and Monty. "On the count of three... One... Two... THREE!" He shouted. They charged the side of the jar like bulls, slamming into it with a resounding thud.
    The jar tipped over, but it started to roll down the gentle slope of the pier instead of letting the Rescue Rangers out, like it was supposed to. The Rescue Rangers bounced around inside the jar like ricocheting bullets.
    "Mateys... I think I'm gonna be sick!" moaned Monty, spinning with the jar. "Stop... This... Crazy... Thing!" called Chip, spitting out one word each time he was close to the ground. Dale was plastered to the side of the jar by G-forces, his eyes wide open.
    It looked for a minute like the Rescue Rangers were about to roll off of the wharf, when there was a stroke of pure luck on their part. The jar hit a badly hammered nail as it rolled, and naturally, it bounced. When it bounced, so did the Rescue Rangers. When the Rangers bounced, they bounced OUT of the jar, landing in a heap on the rough planks, totally disoriented.
    Chip climbed out from underneath Monty, staggering dizzily. Dale stood up, just to stagger into Chip, knocking them both over. Monty lay still until he could get a firm grasp on which direction he was facing. Where was Zipper throughout all this, you may ask? He had flown off to get Gadget for help.
    Chip and Dale shook their heads and finally got their bearings. Shakily, they stood up. "Hurry, guys! We have to catch Fat Cat!" called Chip. Monty managed at last to stand up, now that the world had stopped spiraling out of control. "No, Chipper. We'd probably just end up caught in another trap, and we might not be so lucky next time, pally." He said, crossing his arms.
    "Monty's right, Chip! We need Gadget!" Said Dale, also crossing his arms. "B-but, Guys! Fat Cat is getting awa-" He began. "-and that is why we need Gadget, Chipper. Don't you see? Without Gadget, our team's incomplete. We know what Fat Cat's plans are. The git gloated at us, remember? Let's find some way to help Gadget, and then stop Fat Cat." interrupted Monty.
    Chip merely nodded.

    "So, this is where we live together, Johnny." said Gadget, indicating the tree Johnny had found her under the night before. "So you live in the branches?" asked Johnny, more confused than ever. "No, silly! We live inside the trunk... better construction." Gadget said with a smile. "Wait... INSIDE the TREE?! How do you fit in there?!" said Johnny, now confused beyond the point of reason.
    "Well, this is going to sound a little crazy..." began Gadget. "It sounds crazy already..." said Johnny under his breath, making sure Gadget couldn't hear him. "... I'm not actually a human being." she finished. "So what are you, then?" asked Johnny, completely lost.
    "I'm a mouse." said Gadget, smiling at him sweetly. "That explains a lot, certainly you living inside this tree, but if you're a mouse, how did you come to be human?" asked Johnny, arching an eyebrow.
    Gadget bent into the bushes and picked up the laser-gun shaped device's halves. "This is why, Johnny. It went off last night and zapped me, and when I woke up, I was a human." She explained, showing him the words. "Norton Nimnul! I've heard of him... Mad scientist who uses his inventions for personal gain. Gadget, you have a believer with you now." said Johnny.
   He took the broken pieces from Gadget, examining the broken part. "Hey... This bears a remarkable similarity to the wiring in a vacuum cleaner... I could fix this, at least temporarily. Or it could explode like the LAST vacuum cleaner I fixed..." said Johnny after a short examination.
    Immediately he pulled out a small magnifier, and closely examined the circuits. "I see... I don't know if I can recreate the original beam form... I have no idea how that worked..." He said. Gadget laughed as she collected the Ranger Wing's pieces. "Don't you have a workshop?" She asked sweetly. Johnny looked up suddenly at that. "Great Scott!! You're right! We have to get to my home so I can actually fix this thing!" he said, and they hurried off, Johnny cradling the Humanizer, Gadget cradling the Ranger Wing.

    Meanwhile, The other Rescue Rangers had managed, through the unwitting help of Spinelli, to find out where Gadget was staying, and were in the apartment building's vent system. "If I'm right, this grate leads to this Johnathan Reilly's apartment." said Monty, cracking his knuckles. With little effort, he lifted the grate, and the Rangers slipped through.
    "Wow... It's like a non-lethal mousetrap museum in here." said Dale, looking around at Johnny's attempts to build a better non-harmful mousetrap. They littered the small kitchen table and the workbench in the main room, and were scattered across the room in various stages of reconstruction, repair, and revisal. They had seen what Gadget had been too excited to earlier.
    Monty sniffed, and a sudden dreamy look came over his eyes. His moustache twisted. There, in what appeared to be a wooden box, sat a chunk of cheese. "Cheeeeeeesuh...." said Monty dreamily. Chip and Dale both realized what was happening simultaneously. "Monty, No!!" yelled Chip as they both wrapped themselves around Monty's legs.
    Admittedly, it did slow Monty down, but he kept moving towards the cheese. In no time, he reached it and lifted it up. A glass bell jar dropped on top of them from above, neatly trapping them inside. A bell started ringing, and lights flashed, but Monty had eaten the cheese. Monty then regained control. All they could do, however, was wait. They didn't have wait long.
    "... at most, maybe an hour, and it'll be fixed." said a male's voice as the door opened. "But you're sure you can't fix the beam function?" came Gadget's voice. "Of course I... Oh wait, I seem to have caught something in my trap." came the male's voice again. Two rapid knocks came on the ceiling, and a sliding panel opened up so Johnny could look inside.
    "Gadget, remember those friends you told me about earlier... These wouldn't be them, would they?" he asked, moving away from the hole so Gadget could look. "Golly! Chip! Dale! Monterey!" She exclaimed. "Here, I'll let them out." said Johnny, smiling. There was a beep and the Rescue Rangers tumbled out to be immediately scooped up and hugged by Gadget.
    "Oh, guys! I missed you! Where's Zipper?" she said. Chip and Dale immediately, and simultaneously, began jabbering about Fat Cat's plans, including Zipper going for help and how they came to be at Johnny's apartment. All Gadget was able to comprehend fast enough was that Fat Cat was tunneling into the Diamond Jubilee Exhibit at the museum.
    "So... How fast can you fix that thing, Johnny?" she asked, after quickly relaying the jabbering duo's message. Johnny thought for a minute, then smiled. "If I cut a few corners and reroute the power source, maybe it'll take thirty minutes, but it'll have even less of a chance of working." he said.
    "Good. That should give me enough time to fix the Ranger Wing and get us to the sewers." said Gadget. Without a further word, the two mechanics sat side by side at the workbench and got to work.

    "hmm.... oh!.... AHA!!!" called Johnny suddenly. Gadget looked up, just one rubber band short of a repaired Ranger Wing. Johnny leapt out of his seat and did a somersault. "What is it, Johnny?" asked Chip. Gadget relayed his message.
    "It's fixed! It's fixed!" he said excitedly. All of the Rescue Rangers grinned almost maniacally. Gadget tackled the inventor with a big hug. "I knew you could do it, the moment you first saw the Humanizer!" She said. Johnny chuckled.
    "Okay, Gadget, we're all set to change you back. But promise me this..." he said. Gadget climbed off of him. "What?" she asked. "Come visit me once in a while." he said.
    The inventor stood at the ready, aiming the lasergun-like device at Gadget. He pulled the trigger... and two things happened. A beam of dark red energy fired out and hit Gadget, and the device exploded in a dark red energy ball. Everything was bathed in the energy, and the blast destroyed part of the apartment completely, but six things were small enough to escape unscathed: the Ranger Wing, two mice, two chipmunks, and a hamster!
    Johnny had changed into an animal himself, from being bathed in the energy before the explosion. He shook the dizziness off as he sat up. "Whoa... what'd I miss?" he asked. Then he found the ears... and the fur... and the tail nub. He reacted a lot better to finding his hamster body than Gadget had to finding her human body. "Well, it could have been worse." was all he said.
    "Are you all right, Johnny?" asked Chip. "I can understand you now? SWEET!" said the newly-made hamster, shaking the chipmunk's hand. "Looks like he's fine." said Gadget, hugging her tail, which she'd missed while she was a human. "I'm sorry to break up the joyous reunion of you and your tail, Gadget, love, but we still have to stop Fat Cat." said Monty.
    Johnny grinned, showing off his new incisors. "Your friend there is right. Duty before celebration, my dad always said." he said. Gadget handed him one end of the final rubber band. "Hold this, please, thank you." she said. She stretched it out between them and put it into the works of the Ranger Wing.
    The Rescue Rangers all climbed into the vehicle, Gadget hopping lightly into the driver's seat. Johnny plopped in between Chip and Dale, leaning back. "Nice, Gadget. You build this yourself?" he asked. The two chipmunks shot him icy looks from both directions.
    "I sure did, Johnny." she said. The Ranger Wing limped forwards, then hopped into the air, wings shaking. It soared through the hole in the wall that had conveniently been blown out by the Humanizer's destruction. The two chipmunks suddenly thought of something at the same time.
    "Hey, waitaminnit!" said Chip, looking cross. "Why are you coming with us, Hamster-man?" asked Dale. They both pressed into either side of Johnny, waiting for the answer. Johnny yawned bemusedly, completely unruffled by the chipmunk duo's attitudes.
    "Well, I gotta do SOMETHING while I dream up a way to change back. So, I figure, why not tag along and see if I can be of assistance?"  he said. Then Johnny leaned back, his hands behind his head, and whistled a merry tune to himself. Chip'n'Dale were left totally speechless. How do you argue with that kind of logic? You can't, and this was the only conclusion the two could come to, though they certainly tried to find a good argument.

    It wasn't long before the Rescue Rangers had found the tunnel Fat Cat was digging. By now, he was almost finished, though he had run into an unexpected snag earlier. The water main had forced Fat Cat's faithful (and none-too-bright) lackeys to dig around it, consuming another couple of hours.
    Gadget and Johnny crouched quietly behind a mound of dirt. "You remember what Monty told us, Mouse-girl?" he said jokingly. "Of course. The tunnels are badly braced. If that water main were to rupture, the tunnel would collapse on itself." she said. "Right, and our job is to make sure it ruptures, or Fat Cat'll have some new ice around his home." said Johnny, chuckling.
    Further away, Chip, Dale, and Monty were all recapping on Chip's plan. "We need to cause something very distracting so Gadget and Johnny will have time to get up there and rupture that water pipe. Any good ideas?" asked Chip. "Just one, pallies. Follow my lead." said Monty.
    The stocky mouse (or rat?) scampered over to where Fat Cat was just beginning to doze off in a lawn chair. Monty beckoned for the chipmunks to follow, which they quickly did. Then he pointed at Fat Cat's tail, and clicked his teeth. Mischievous looks passed between Chip and Dale. The three of them, in one smooth motion, seized the tail, opened wide, and bit hard into it.
    Fat Cat was instantly awake. His scream of pain echoed down the tunnel and back into the sewers. Needless to say, Meps, Mole, and Wart threw down the digging equipment and rushed to their boss' aid.
     "Rescue Rangers!? GET THEM! GETTHEMGETTHEMGETTHEM!" He howled, dancing about in pain and clutching the bitten piece of his tail. Like a bunch of rockets, the three Rescue Rangers dashed off down the tunnel, closely followed by Meps. The chase soon ended as Meps ran past Mole, who blindly whacked him with a shovel, laying him flat as he tried to grab Chip, Dale, and Monty.
     Meanwhile, Johnny and Gadget had 'borrowed' a hand drill from the baddies. Johnny was holding it upright, and Gadget was vigorously turning the handle, slowly drilling into the pipe. Wart chased Chip right into the pipe suddenly... two down, two to go. Mole was chasing them now, blindly whacking at them with his shovel. Meanwhile, Fat Cat had joined the fray.
    Dale had meanwhile ducked under the lawn chair to catch his breath. It was quickly crushed out of him again by Fat Cat's massive pudgy paw. The huge cat grinned wickedly as he brought the chipmunk closer and closer to his mouth. He opened wide and-
    A rumbling hiss came from the pipe. Water was spraying out, highly pressurized. "Uh, Gadget... I don't think this is just any water main... I think this is a fire hydrant feed pipe." said Johnny, looking concerned. "Then it'll do quite a bit of the work for us. We need to escape."  said Gadget. They abandoned the drill and ran on all fours to the grapnel, sliding down to the tunnel floor. Johnny saw Fat Cat standing confusedly, Dale in one hand. "I gotta help your friend... go and get the Ranger Wing started. I'll meet you there. Hurry!" he said. Gadget hurried off at top speed to the concealed Ranger Wing.
    Johnny adjusted his overalls and pulled his goggles down over his eyes. He sped right up to Fat Cat, and bit hard into the back of his ankle. The effect was immediate. Fat Cat yelped and threw Dale across the tunnel. Seeing his first prisoner gone, he snatched up Johnny from the ground. "Since you cost me that tasty little appetizer, I guess I'll just eat you." he said. Johnny squirmed futilely to escape.
    Meanwhile, Dale had run to the Ranger Wing. "Help! Johnny needs help! Fat Cat's gonna eat him!" Gadget and Chip began to unbuckle themselves when there was a loud screech. Fat Cat heard it too. He turned away from his 'snack' and looked at the water pipe in horror, quickly joined by Meps and Snout. With a hideous screech, it exploded, spraying gallons of pressurized water directly into the tunnel. Naturally, Fat Cat was hit by the water first.
    "No time to go back, mateys! Gadget, get us out of here before we drown!" yelled Monty. Gadget nodded, a small tear falling from her eye. The Ranger wing zoomed down the surprisingly long tunnel, followed close by a wall of foaming, pressurized water. Left twist, right twist, the foaming water had nearly caught them. They shot free of the tunnel just in time, the water shooting into the sewers.
    Gadget put the Ranger Wing down next to the tunnel. Fat Cat, pummeled unconscious, was swept out of the tunnel, followed by his cronies and much of the stolen mining equipment. Not a trace of Johnny. With a rumbling crunch, the water steeped to a trickle as the tunnel filled up with saturated dirt.
    "Hats off, pallies. That was one courageous hamster, even if he was a human first." said Monty, pulling off his flight cap. Chip removed his hat and looked solemnly at the waters. Gadget pulled off her goggles, and sniffed loudly. Dale looked at the ground, hands folded in front of him. Johnny hadn't been in their company long, but he had left an impression on them.
    It was like this for a long time, at least an hour. Then a voice spoke. "What's the matter? Somebody die?" it asked. "It's our friend... he... h-he..." Gadget began, breaking off into a sob. "I didn't know him long, but he was a brave chap." said Monty, eyes closed.
    "Oh, I would save my grief. Your friend is quite okay." said the voice. Gadget turned to look, and stared dumbfounded. Chip soon looked, and so did Dale. Monty was the last to look and see. Not one of them could believe what they were seeing.
    There, totally encrusted in sewer muck, wet as a sponge, and wearing a huge grin, stood Johnny. The Rescue Rangers tackled him, nearly crushing the breath from him with their hugs. "We thought you had been drowned, or buried alive, or both!" said Chip, his fedora forgotten on the floor. Gadget kissed the hamster full on the lips, so happy she was to see him alive. Then she coughed and spat the sewer muck out, a disgusted look on her face. Johnny, however, stiffened like a statue, totally stunned. His jaw hung open, twisted into a silly smile.
    "How'd you survive that tsunami, Johnny?" asked Dale, his tail wagging. The other voice snapped Johnny out of the stupor Gadget's kiss had put him in. "Luck, maybe. Or science. A combination of both, I guess. Being light as I am now, the initial surge of water carried me right behind you guys to the sewer, where I was swept quite a ways down the sewer waterway before I managed to climb out of the water and onto the catwalk. Then I just tramped back to the tunnel, and here I am. I'll never forget the look on that felonious feline's face when he saw that wall of water." he explained, laughing lightly as he pulled his goggles off and emptied out the water.
    Laughing together, their reason to grieve gone, they all climbed into the Ranger Wing and flew to the treehouse, where Johnny received the grand tour, after receiving a bath. Later that night, Zipper came home, still carrying the message for Gadget, but now having no reason to deliver it.

    Two days passed before Johnny decided to leave. "I'll miss you all, and I promise to visit every so often. I'll certainly send word when I find a place to live." he said, standing at the door.  "Goodbye, Johnny, ol' chap! Next time I see you, I'll make you some more of my walnut walleroos! You seemed to like those." called Monty. Gadget hugged him. "I hope you find a way to change back into a human. Good luck, Johnny." she said. Johnny grinned. "Goodbye Gadget. You take care of yourself... and stop teasing the boys." he chuckled quietly. Then his voice dropped into a whisper. "I really do think they're both after your heart. Give one of them a chance, eh, cute stuff?" he said. Gadget instantly blushed, taking on a shy pose.
    Johnny waved a goodbye to Dale, and shook Chip's hand vigorously.  "You two be good... pound a few baddies for me, and if you need me, I'll probably be at or near Professor Nimnul's lab, trying to find the Humanizer Plans." he said, before exiting. A whirring noise indicated he had taken the snub plane he and Gadget had designed and built together. The last words that the Rescue Rangers heard from his voice before his next visit they repeated in a loud saluting cry:
    "Rescue Rangers away!!"