The other Rangers give Kip a lift in the plane to the poetry cafe where he'd agreed to meet Foxglove; he's about ten minutes early, but as the plane touches down it's nonetheless accompanied by a bat. She's obviously taken some pains with her appearance; her fur's neatly combed, and she's put a ribbon in her hair.

"I'm so glad you could make it!" she says, with a hug, as Kip hops out of the plane. "I was worried you might not come."

Kip returns the hug, then bows, paws together.

"My teammates promised they could handle everything on their own, so that I could accompany a lovely lady tonight. It is my pleasure."

He is freshly bathed, his fur neatly combed, his hat cleaned as best it could be and Trouble gleams fresh from the cleaning.

Kip gestures towards the cafe.

"Shall we?"

Foxglove giggles, resting a wing on his forearm. "Why, I'd love to, sir!" she says, accompanying him into the Cafe.

--------------

The inside of the Cafe is full of humans; one human waitress walks along an aisle, high heels clicking on the ground, moments before Kip and Foxglove cross the aisle and step under the seats. Below the human-sized tables, they find chairs and tables more suited to their size; three hurried waitresses (two mice and a vole) rush between what appear to be CDs, balanced on cotton reels, and covered with tablecloths.

Exactly why no humans ever seem to spot them down there is a mystery, but not one that any of the other rodent restaurant-goers are particularly interested in solving. They quickly find an empty table, and one of the mouse waitresses stops to take their order.

Kip smiles at Foxglove.

"I don't know about you, but what I like to do at new places is just leave it up to the chefs. I just ask for whatever they feel like making. It's usually good, sometimes interesting and I never know what I'm getting!"

"That sounds like fun!" Foxglove smiles at Kip. "Let's go for the surprise." she adds to the waitress.

"Surprise it is." nods the waitress, heading off towards the kitchen.

Foxglove opens her mouth to say something, then frowns, and twitches her overlarge ears. "What is that noise?" she asks. (Whatever it is, it is at this stage still inaudible to Kip; bats are justly famed for their hearing). "It sounds like... some kind of miniature rocket? It's coming closer..."

Cue dramatic entrance of the Iron Mouse. At this point, the nearest window explodes inward as something slams into it from the outside, scattering broken glass all over the restaurant (Kip and Foxglove, under one of the human-sized tables, are protected from the falling glass).

As for what came in; it appears to be a mouse, in armour, with a jetpack. It hovers over the smashed glass...

Kip: Alertness: +3 Roll: +2 Total: +5

Kip notices the Iron Mouse hit a button on his belt before a pre-recorded voice belts out "I will destroy you all! Mua-ha-ha-ha-haaa!"

It sounds like the recording was spliced together from recordings of several humans; Kip recognises the mad laugh at the end as being that of the mad scientist the Rodent Rangers met back in their first case, but he can't immediately place the source(s) of the other words. Either way, the effect is immediate; the humans rush screaming out the doors, and most rodents make a run for it as well. The Iron Mouse watches them go without comment, and without making any effort to stop them. Then he turns his armoured head... to look directly at Kip and Foxglove. Foxglove squeals in fright and holds onto Kip.

There's no sign of the person inside that flying armour, but the jetpack looks a lot like Buck's, only more heavily armoured.

Kip's paw is on Trouble, his eyes on the suited mouse but his words are to the bat at his side.

"I don't suppose that you know who this is? I'm guessing that this concerns me, and if so, I'm sorry for the interruption. How about we reschedule? I'm free next week."

He looks over at Foxglove and grins, though he now has Trouble in his paw.

"Never seen that armour before." whimpers Foxglove. "I'd love to help, if I can, but I'm not sure I'd be any good..."

The Iron Mouse points something at Kip... something that looks an awful lot like a bulkier version of Buck's blu-ray laser.

No, wait, not at Kip... the little red dot of the laser sight is dancing around on Foxglove's nose. She notices this as well, and ducks behind Kip; at which the Iron Mouse points his weapon at the ceiling instead.

"Kip." says the Iron Mouse. His voice grates like someone whose vocal cords have been badly damaged at some point in the past, possibly why he used a recording to chase away the bystanders. "Step away from the bat, please."

"Hi Iron Mouse guy. I'm sure you have an important reason for blasting in here and threatening the lady who saved my life on our first date, but since you seem to know me, you'll know that that is very unlikely that I'll let you hurt her."

As he talks he walks towards the rodent, keeping himself between Foxglove and the laser. Hopefully Foxglove will seek cover, but a squirrel's got to do what a squirrel's got to do.

"I don't want to hurt you, Kip. And I'll try not to. But you know I can't let her live, not after what she's going to do. Just stand aside, I'll deal with the real villain here."

The iron mouse blasts straight up into the air, and aims a blast over Kip's head at Foxglove.

Iron Mouse: Guns: +4 Aspect: 'Sorry, Ma'am, I'm union' +2 Roll: +0 Total: +6
Foxglove: Pilot: +3 Roll: -2 Total: +1
Foxglove: OOOOX

Foxglove screeches in pain as the laser blast singes a line down the fur on her back.

Kip sprints towards the mouse and flicks Trouble at the gun, attempting to wrest it from the grip of the Iron Mouse and fling it away.

"That's crazy talk! You can't try and kill someone for something they might do!"

Kip: Weapons: +5 Trouble: +1 Roll: -3 Total: +3
Iron Mouse: Pilot: +5 Roll: -1 Total: +4

The iron mouse twists effortlessly away from the tip of Trouble. "Might do?" he asks. "There's no 'might' involved! I saw it with my own eyes!" He fires another volley at Foxglove.

Iron Mouse: Guns: +4 Roll: +1 Total: +5
Foxglove: Pilot: +3 Roll: +1 Total: +4
Foxglove: XOOOX

This time, he only manages to snag a wingtip as Foxglove tries a bit of evasive flying

"This happened as well? Did you see this?"

Kip leaps up, and tries to snag the gun again.

Fate point spent. Aspect: When trouble strikes, Trouble will get me out.

"Because if you didn't, this changes everything."

Kip: Weapons: +5 Trouble: +1 Aspect: +2 Roll: -1 Total: +7
Iron Mouse: Pilot: +5 Roll: +0 Total: +5

This time, Trouble wraps itself around the Iron Mouse's laser cannon and rips it from his grip. "Hey!" objects the Iron Mouse, shocked. The laser cannon skids across the room, towards Foxglove...

Foxglove: Pilot: +3 Roll: +3 Total: +6
Iron Mouse: Pilot: +5 Distance: -2 Roll: +2 Total: +5

Foxglove reaches the weapon first, and picks it up with her feet, trying to keep it out of the Iron Mouse's reach. It's painfully obvious, though, that he's the better flyer; it probably won't be long until he wrests the weapon from her grasp again.

"Throw it in a glass of water!"

Kip grins at his success and aims for the Iron Mouse once more. This time, he seeks to wrap Trouble around the jetpack so he can climb aboard. If his weight rips the pack free, that is good, if not he'll have a good grip to climb up.

Kip: Weapons: +5 Trouble: +1 Roll: +2 Total: +8
Iron Mouse: Pilot: +5 Roll: -1 Total: +4

Trouble wraps itself about the Iron Mouse. He slams into the ground, then drags Kip along until he hits a wall. He stands up and shakes off the whip.

Iron Mouse: OOOXO

Foxglove, no longer closely pursued by a flying engine of destruction, drops the laser cannon into an abandoned, and miraculously unspilt, glass of wine. There's a great big spark.

"Kip," grates the Iron Mouse, "I didn't want to have to hurt you. But there's more at stake here than you know. I have to stop her, and if I have to go through you to do it, then I will."