Gadget Hackwrench had been working tirelessly on a new project at her home in the Rescue Rangers' treehouse HQ. Gadget was almost always working on some brilliant project or another, so the time she spent on this one came as no surprise to the other Rangers.

Gadget brought her welding helmet over her head and began to melt a sheet of metal with it. This went on until there was a knock on her workshop door. She stopped welding and lifted her helmet from her attractive face, which was now covered with grease.

"Come in." She called. Chip, Dale, Monterey, and Zipper came into the room. "Aw, you guys know I don't like to be bothered while I'm working."

"We were just interested in seeing what you were working on." Chip said. "You haven't come out all day."

He and the other Rangers moved closer to see what Gadget was working on. It looked sort of like a smaller version of a bazooka. It was made of a thin metal pipe with a toy flashlight as the handle. An actual gun trigger was the trigger to the device.

"Well, I'm calling it the Exorcisor." Gadget said. She moved away so the other Rangers could look. "It's not quite finished yet, though."

"It don't look like a workout machine ta me." Monty said. He placed his hands on his hips.

"Not exercise, exorcize." Gadget answered, being careful to annunciate her vowels this time.

"It means to do away with evil spirits or somethin', right?" Dale asked.

"That's right."

"You been havin' nightmares, luv?" Monty asked.

"No, not really. I thought it would be an interesting project and I guess I just lost myself in it. Foxglove helped me with it a little bit just before she went on her vacation."

"Speaking of Foxglove, how come you didn't go to California with her, Dale?" Chip asked.

"Eh, she said she just needed some vacation time alone, to get away from the busy Rescue Ranger lifestyle. She's only been gone five days, but I miss her."

What the Rescue Rangers did not know was that a pair of glowing evil green eyes was watching this whole scene. The eyes peered into a white crystal ball. The crystal ball was showing the Rescue Rangers, and the eyes continued to spy on the Rangers through the ball.

"Hmm, excellent." A sultry female's voice said. It belonged to the woman behind the eyes, a beautiful mouse-sorceress with straight jet-black hair, and a voluptuous figure. The only thing that was not friendly about her face, which bore an evil, twisted smile. The woman carried a scythe just a head taller than herself in her left paw.

"Now is my perfect chance. As a former assistant to a witch, that female bat is the only one among the Rangers who would be able to sense my presence, and she is away on vacation. Gadget Hackwrench will make a most perfect host body. Once I control her, I'll destroy the Rescue Rangers when the time is right, and they won't even see it coming. Then I, Melceena, will rule this world, ha ha ha ha! But that device she's working on could be a problem. I must act quickly before she finishes it. When she goes to sleep tonight, that will be my chance."

The next morning, Gadget was the last Ranger to wake up. She came out of her room looking very tired and soaked with sweat. Oblivious to the other Rangers, Melceena now had complete control over Gadget, and the sweating was a side effect of body possession.

"Good morning, Gadget luv. You really slept in this morning ." Monty said. He and the other Rangers were watching a weekday morning judge show.

"Jeez, Gadj, you're soaked. What happened?" Chip asked.

"I don't know." The possessed Gadget said. She feigned rubbing her face, making it look like she was trying to wake herself up. "I guess I must have had a nightmare or something."

"Well, it's your turn to cook." Chip said. No matter how many times he tasted it, Dale never did get completely used to Gadget's cooking.

"My turn to cook? Right." Melceena answered. (Oh, this will be all too easy.) Melceena thought to herself as she was in conscious control of Gadget's body. (I do consider myself a decent cook.)

Melceena walked into the kitchen to prepare breakfast, but was not aware of Gadget's calling card when it came to cooking; the inadvertent taste of machine oil.

(I could kill them all now by poisoning this food, but there's too much risk of being spotted. However, I need to do away with them before the female bat returns and sees through my disguise. I'll just play their game a little longer). Melceena thought to herself.

The boys continued to watch their judge show while Melceena worked on breakfast. Dale was lying down on the couch and looking very depressed. He didn't say much, which was unusual of him.

"Ha! Them humans are suin' each other over a bike accident!" Monty said, referring to the newest case on the judge show. "It don't get much better'n that, eh lad?" Monty asked. He put his paw on Dale's shoulder, but Dale only grumbled. "What's the matter, mate?" Monty asked. "Usually, you're yakin' our ears off during these judge shows. This morning, you ain't said nothin'."

"Hmph." Dale grunted.

"It's Foxglove, isn't it?" Chip asked. Dale nodded his head. "Dale, she said she wasn't coming back for at least a couple weeks. It's not going to do any good waiting for her."

Dale just sighed heavily and never gave a word of response.

"Hey, boys, breakfast's ready!" Melceena called from the kitchen. Monty, Zipper, and Chip got up and headed for the table, but Dale didn't.

"Come on, lad. A good breakfast'll cheer you up." Monty said.

"Alright." Dale grumbled. He moped into the kitchen where the others were.

The whole lot of the Rangers took their seats at the table and Melceena served them their plates.

"Alright! Scrambled eggs with a little bit of cheese melted in and some sausage on the side! One o' Monterey Jack's all-time faves!" Monty said. He and Zipper licked their lips, ready to dig in. Melceena gave Monty his plate, and he was disappointed to find out the serving given to him was minuscule by his standards, though it was actually the same size as the others'. Zipper gave the helping a disgusted look.

"Come on, Gadget. What kinda helping ya call this? It'll barely fill Zipper up!"

"Sorry, uh... Monty." Melceena said. She walked over to the pot and scooped the rest of the food onto Monty's plate, which was now almost overflowing.

"Ha ha, that's more like it!" Monty said. Melceena had now taken a seat amongst the others.

Chip dug in and took a bite from his food. Much to his surprise, the usual taste of machine oil was nowhere to be found. "Hey, this is good, Gadget!" He said.

"I'll say." Dale said. "It doesn't even taste like machine oil."

Monty, however, began to grow suspicious. "Gadget, are you feeling okay this morning?" He asked. "Just a minute ago, you looked like ya couldn't even remember me name. And you cooking ALWAYS tastes like machine oil."

(Are they on to me?) Melceena asked herself. (Come on, Melceena. You can do this. Think!) "Uh, I guess I'm still a little out of it from...working on my invention. Sorry, guys."

"That's okay, Gadj. No harm done, right?" Chip asked.

"Uh, right." Melceena answered. (I had better do away with them soon, before they ask me to do something complicated.).

The Rangers, except for Gadget-Melceena, spent the rest of breakfast talking about their memories of old cases and about the judge show that was just on T.V.

"Alright, breakfast is finished, I guess I'll just get back to work on my inventions." Melceena said. She got up and headed for Gadget's room, but turned at the sound of Monty's voice

"Hey, Gadget, we gotta take the 'Wing for a spin. Little fresh air'll do ya good."

"Uh, right. The Ranger Wing." Melceena said. (This is bad...)

"Come on, Gadj, let's go." Chip said.

(Now's my chance!) Melsiena thought to herself. "Um, hold on for a second, Chip. I forgot something."

"Yeah, what's that?" Dale answered. In almost an instant, Melsiena grabbed Chip by the throat and lifted him with only one hand.

"Your soul!" Melceena answered, forcing her eyes to become menacing and return to the evil green glow they had in her original form.

"Gadget! What are you doing?" Chip gagged. His lungs cried out for air.

"Why, Chip, I'm loving you." Melceena answered.

"Let him go, Gadget!" Dale yelled. However, the possessed Gadget didn't respond. Dale turned around to Monty and Zipper who were to his side. "Monty, do something."

"M-Me? I don't wanna hurt Gadget any more'n you do."

"But if we don't do something, Chip could get hurt really bad!"

Melceena only tightened her grip around Chip's throat, and his eyes began to glaze over; his vision began to blur.

"Gadget, what do you think you're doing?" Monty yelled. Zipper flew over to try and loosen Melceena's grip, but it was no use.

"Something I should have done when I first met all of you!" was Melceena's response.

"Do...something." Chip gagged, which took every ounce of his strength. He began to feel his life slipping away.

Not knowing what else to do, Monty rushed at the possessed Gadget and tackled her. Having brought Melceena to the ground, Monterey quickly put Melceena's hands behind her back and held them there. Melceena tried her best to escape Monty's hold on her, but he was too strong.

"Let me go!" Melceena screamed. She threw her body from side to side, trying to escape Monty's grasp.

"Not until you settle down, lass." Monty said. The more Melceena struggled, the more pressure Monty applied to his hold.

"I said unhand me!"

The Ranger's attention was diverted from this interesting scene by the sound of the door opening. The entire group was surprised as Foxglove made an early return. Dale lost interest in all other matters and ran to her.

"Foxy! You came back early!" Dale said as he ran into Foxglove's welcoming wings.

"Yeah, California was just too far. I missed you guys too much..." Foxglove's happiness was short lived. Just as Melceena had predicted, Foxglove could sense her presence. She pushed Dale away and a wary look came into her eyes.

"Foxy. What's wrong?" Dale asked.

"I can sense an evil presence, and it's a powerful one. It's scaring me."

"An evil presence? Are you sure?" Chip asked. "Gadget's gone off the deep end, but..."

"No, I definitely sense a presence. It's coming from this very room." Foxglove held her head high and looked around. When she saw Monty holding Gadget in a chicken wing, her eyes widened. "It's coming from Gadget!"

"What are you talkin' about, lass?" Monty asked, keeping his grip on the struggling Melceena.

"I think Gadget might be possessed by some kind of evil life form."

"So how do we get her free?" Chip asked.

"Get me a mirror, and hurry!" Foxglove answered. Dale did as told and brought a small mirror into the room. He handed the mirror to Foxglove, who held the mirror to Gadget's face.

"Evil demon, show us your true form!" Foxglove chanted. Gadget's image melted away from the mirror and Melceena's came into it.

After Melceena's true form was revealed in the mirror, Gadget's body began to glow green. The green aura formed a ball and moved away from Gadget's body. Gadget's eyes closed and her body became limp as Melceena materialized from the green ball of magic.

"Wow, she's beautiful." Chip said. Monterey gently set down Gadget's limp body and joined his comrades. Foxglove's eyes were hardened into an almost fear-induced determination and she had taken up a defensive stance.

"Don't be fooled, Chip. I can sense a terrible power coming from her. She's not to be trifled with!"

"Who are you?" Monty asked. "And what have ya done ta Gadget?"

"My name is Melceena." The strange woman answered. "I was merely possessing Gadget's body, but I never expected you to see through my disguise so easily. I must compliment you."

"But why?" Chip asked. Melceena gave no answer and only sauntered up to Chip. She gave him a sultry scratch under the chin.

"Hmm hmm hmm, you're cute. Too bad you're on the wrong side."

"You possessed Gadget's body?" Monty asked. "So you must be a witch!"

"Hmph, how rude. I'm a sorceress, not a witch. Witches are ugly, vile creatures. I'm a delicate beauty."

"They mean the same thing in my dictionary, witch." Monty said.

"Well, if you're going to be so rude then I'm simply going to leave." Melceena said. "But it's a good bet that we will see each other again."

"Don't ya run from me, witch!" Monty shouted. He ran after Melceena and drew his fist back. Melceena held out her left hand and the scythe appeared in it. Melceena spun around and hit Monty with the handle of the weapon. Monty staggered backwards from the impact.

Melceena held out her hand and spun around. She turned back into the green ball of light. This time, the ball of light went into Foxglove's body and the green aura surrounded her. It lifted her into the air without even using her wings.

"Foxy!" Dale shouted. He ran to Foxglove, but it was too late. Melceena had possessed her body. She lifted herself up by flying and headed for the open door.

"Foxglove!" Dale yelled again. He ran outside after Foxglove and the others took after him.

"Dale, stop!" Chip said.

Dale didn't seem to hear Chip; he just kept running. By the time he had reached the ledge of the outdoor patio, the only thing left of Foxglove was her silhouette flying towards the morning sun.

"Foxglove..." Dale moaned. He turned around to the other Rangers behind him. "We have to go after her. I just got her back."

"Now's not the time, mate." Monty said. "We have ta take care o' Gadget. Can't just leave her here."

"I hope she'll be okay." Chip said. "Let's go put her in her bed and wait for her to wake up. Then we'll figure how we'll go about rescuing Foxy."

"I wonder who that woman was." Dale said. The Rescue Rangers headed back inside. "Anybody who can make Monterey stagger like is pretty strong."

"I don't like hitting women, but this particular one's gone too far." Monty said. "She'll be lucky if Monterey Jack doesn't give her a good thrashin'.'

Who is Melceena? And where do her powers come from? Find out when "Melceena" continues!