Water crashed against the hull, throwing the crew to the rails. The salty water sloshed across the deck, covering it in a slick layer. Rain hammered down as another wave came crashing over the bulwarks, thunder pounding the sky like a relentless hammer, the ship a nail. The crew, each dressed in neon-colored rain suits, walked the deck like gentle rolling hills were beneath their feet. A crab net came over the side of the boat, empty.

"She's empty!" someone shouted. The crate was thrown onto a pile of other empty ones. Water dripping from the crane to hoist the crates, a pup stood watch. The pup's fur was salt crusted and matted, currently soaked through.

With deft, precise movements, the pup swung down from the arm.

"Send 'em back out!" the pup yelled in a rough voice. One crew member had once called the voice crusty, and old. He had a week of unpleasant duties to think about that careless comment. Not being one to sit, the pup moved with the crew. The pup was large for its age, as well as muscular. A lifetime of hauling ropes and cages made sure to that.

One by one, the crew sent the crates back out. Lightning flashed, thunder rolled. Another wave. Hold on. Lift, shove. Repeat. A dreary, never ending cycle. One hour, two hours. Three. Crate after crate was hauled up, emptied, thrown out. It was well after midnight, the frigid water pelting each of the crew.

The crew breathed a sigh of relief as the last crate was gone. However, celebrations would come later. Exhausted, the crew went below deck, wanting to get out of the world of water. Another wave came, another moment of fear. The crew half-dragged themselves with the railing, nearly dropping from exhaustion. The pup wobbled as the boat crashed into another wave. Every ounce of heat was gone from her fur. The cabin was ten feet away, five feet, a foot. The pup stumbled down the two stairs and nearly fell in the process.

She couldn't help but let a grin spread across her face as she thought about the haul they had brought in. It was good for thousands of dollars, more than a good enough reward. The crew felt the same, smiles and slaps on the back spreading as the coats came off. A man stepped forward with a towel, rubbing off the pup. He was grinning as well, having watched from the cabin the haul that was brought in. The pup smiled as well and nodded her thanks. She was too exhausted to speak.

Gingerly, the pup made her way to the bridge. Her owner looked down from the windows and controls to smile at her.

"Good haul, eh, Zoe?" The large pup nodded.

"Very. Should be 'nough for a couple thousand."

The captain flashed a toothy grin, revealing several empty spots. "That's great news! Tell the men to open a case!" Smiling yet again, Zoe nodded, liking the idea. She wasn't sure if there were any rules about pups drinking, but they were in the ocean. Who would know?

Making her way downstairs, the crew had already gotten out cards. A bowl of mints, a stack of money, a couple cigars were in the center of the table. Compared to what was normally there, it was a big pot.

"Capt'n Mark said to open a case to celebrate," Zoe said. They turned to look at her. Without a word said, one of the men set his cards down and bolted to a small fridge. He came back with a case of beers in his arm. Everyone's spirits lifted even more at the sight. It was going to be a good night. Without a moment's hesitation, the men dove right in. The pleasing sound of "Crack!" followed by a hiss made Zoe's mouth water. The person who brought the beer opened one and poured it into a bowl for Zoe. He brought it down, and Zoe brought her head down to lap it up when the ship shuddered violently.

The bowl of mints crashed to the floor and shattered. The table rocked and almost fell over, the cigars rolling off. A loud screech rang out as the ship vibrated. Zoe knew what that meant. Without any hesitation, she started shouting. "Life vests! Get to the lifeboat, we're sinking!"

The entire six-person crew leapt to their feet. The door was thrown open and the crew ran out. Zoe stayed in the doorway as footsteps thundered up the few steps. "Go, go!" she shouted unnecessarily. She turned to run out the door just as a wave came pounding towards her. The last thing she remembered was being thrown against the wall.

A soft beeping echoed through the room. It soothed him, reminding him of his favorite things. The sound of feet shuffling was barely audible above the beeps, but posed no threat. He became conscious of breathing, wondering who it was from. A bright, white light blinded him. Is this heaven? he wondered. Strange, how there was noise.

Then he realized he was laying down. It was remarkably soft, it even felt clean. He tried to lift his head, but it wouldn't budge. Light-headed, he wondered why he couldn't get up. The bright light had dimmed, and he opened his eyes farther. Groaning, he tried to sit up once again, but a gentle hand pushed him back down.

"You need to rest," said the owner of the hand. Doing his best not to feel sick, he looked at the voice. It was a boy, one who couldn't be older than fourteen or fifteen. He had dark brown hair, and deep blue eyes. Almost like sapphires. The boy had a very square jaw. Those eyes spoke of knowledge. He had a comparatively small nose, and was dressed in a sky-blue T-shirt and jeans.

"Where...where am I?" he weakly said. The boy smiled. It was such a nice smile.

"In the hospital. You lost a lot of blood." A dull-throbbing made itself noticed in his paw. He looked down to see it wrapped in bandages.

"What...happened?"

"The doctors said it looked like a knife wound. It was deep, but they managed to do a good job patching it back up. You should be back on your feet in a day or so, so long as you're careful. Do you have an owner?"

"No. Who...are...you?"

"My name is Max."

"Thank...you...for saving...me," he said between breaths.

Max smiled, and said, "Thanks, but it isn't me you should be thanking. My pup found you. What's your name?"

"Don't….have one...mostly called...mutt…"

It was that point where a nurse walked in. He put a needle into the IV, and pushed the stopper. "This should help you recover," was all he said. He checked a clipboard, then walked out. The pup immediately started feeling better, but still felt weak.

"Do you want me to call you something else?" Max asked politely.

"Just call me...Rocky…" The name caught Max off-guard. He had seen the file named "Rocky", but it was just a file.

"What do you like to do, Rocky?" He thought a moment

"I like...computers...never had one….live on streets…" Max bit his lip. If he could see how handy this pup was, it was possible that he might very well be the next pup Max recruited. The boy wasn't expecting to find another member so quickly.

"What can you do with them?" Max asked. Rocky inhaled deeply, preparing to talk.

"I can program...them...built one out of random parts...didn't have a stable power source...other pups broke it...tried to stop them…" A tear slid down his cheek. Max was silent for a moment.

He was about to speak when he heard a snore. Rocky had fallen asleep.

Moving quietly, Max crept out of the room. He shut the door carefully, then made his way down the hall. There was almost no one around, as the hospital clearly wasn't used much. A couple nurses made their way through the halls, and a few staff members were walking around. The place was quiet.

Emma and Ranger looked up as Max entered the waiting room. Both were in uniform, the pup-packs sitting o Ranger's tail was wagging back and forth lazily, like an old fan. Emma sat at attention, ears perked to hear any news. It had been four days since they found the pup, whom they were now concerned about.

"What's the word, Max?" Emma asked.

"He'll be fine," Max said, "But needs at least a day or two of rest. He'll be allowed to leave in about three days, and then he just needs to stay off his paw."

"Are we going to take him in, sir?" Ranger asked.

Max smiled. "If he let's us. I'm surprised that we're already taking him onto the team, we were only here for a day when we found him."

"Sometimes miracles happen," Emma said. Max nodded.

"They sure do."

The silence lasted for a few minutes as Max sat down.

"So, where do we go after this?" Emma asked.

Max shrugged. "I don't know. There's no more instructions of where to go for members, which will make it difficult."

Emma decided she didn't like that answer. It made her feel uneasy, as if there was an itch that changed spots no matter where she scratched it. She hated that feeling.

"Well," she started, "what other-" Emma got no further.

Another nurse poked her head in, saying, "The pup you brought in is awake, and he's asking for you." Max stood up, and started walking to the nurse. Emma and Ranger looked between one another and back to Max, and slowly started to rise. He must've known what they were doing, because he turned to stop them. "All of you," the nurse said. Emma and Ranger shared a victorious glance with one another.

The nurse led them down the hall, and opened the door for them. She didn't enter, but closed the door after the trio. The soft click of the latch made Rocky perk his ears and turn to them. Max strode purposefully forward, with Ranger and Emma hesitating slightly.

"How are you feeling?" Max asked, kneeling at the side of the bed.

"Sorry...needed a...power nap...feel much better…" Rocky said.

"Well, Rocky," Max continued, "I'm glad. I also brought my pups here to meet you." Max looked at the two standing their, and used his head to gesture them forward. Ranger answered quickly, walking forward and jumping on the bed.

"Hello, Rocky," Ranger said, sitting down. "I'm Ranger. Are you okay?"

Apart from the fact I've had to answer that again, sure, Rocky thought. "Feeling….alright...just a little...tired…"

"Understandable. After nearly dying, I would only assume that one would be exhausted. When I found you, you had almost bled out. A major vein must've been cut in your leg. What happened?" Rocky breathed deeply several times.

"Two dogs...something sharp... can't really remember…"

Ranger looked at the pup in front of him curiously. He hadn't really seen one such as this pup before. "What breed are you? The gray in your fur is fascinating."

"Mixed...breed…"

"Wha-"

"Ranger, a Mixed Breed is a type of dog that doesn't formally belong to a specific breed," Max intervened. He didn't want Rocky to be hurt.

Rocky, for his part, looked at Max with genuine surprise. "That's the...nicest definition...I've ever heard...used to just...'mutt'..."

Max smiled, and turned to Emma. Knowing what he wanted, she jumped up onto the bed just as Ranger was jumping off. She sat down, and spoke, scratching her ear as she did so.

"I'm Emma. It's nice to meet you, Rocky."

The Mixed Breed focused his eyes on the little Dally. "Nice to...meet you...too…"

Emma was surprised to see that one eye was brown and the other was blue, but didn't let that make her stumble. "I'm glad you're mostly alright, it'd be a shame to lose someone I hoped to live."

"Thanks…" Rocky blinked as his vision swam momentarily. Then he realized it was tears. "Sorry…" he said, wiping his eyes. "Never had...someone care...before…"

"Well, now you can say someone does." Emma let a stupid grin slide onto her face. "So, why Rocky? Do you like that name?"

The Mixed Breed regarded her carefully. "Emma," Max snapped, "don't be rude."

"I'm not," Emma snapped right back, "I'm genuinely curious."

"Because...it describes...my life...rough...Rocky…" Rocky felt his eyelids start to go droopy. It was a matter of seconds until he drifted off to sleep.

"Rocky?" Emma asked cautiously, nudging him. The only response was a small snore. The pup blinked. "Looks like he needed another power nap."

Emma really hated the Air Patroller. Its constant shuddering and rumbling made her feel uneasy, as if it were some type of monster. The only thought she had was I hate flying.

Rocky, on the other hand, kept looking around like he was a kid in a candy shop. He was sitting in Max's lap, looking at all the dials, buttons and switches. Emma caught him staring at Robo-dog on several occasions.

"So that robot dog flies this thing by himself?" Rocky asked Max.

"Yes, he does," Max replied. "Both of these were made probably fifty years ago when I found them. I had to spend a few moments repairing them, but I was surprised by the fact it still worked." This made Rocky stare all the more. "Ranger's pup-pack was the same. We found it half constructed but surprisingly functional. I've been working on it while we've been in the air and during some of the evenings." Now Rocky stared at Ranger's pup-pack.

"You can come and check it out," Emma volunteered the German Shepherd. "Last I checked, he doesn't bite." She added a wink at the end of the sentence. Both Ranger and Rocky looked towards her. Ranger's look was more of a glare, with Rocky's being one of interest. Rocky then turned to look at Ranger, who glared back. Rocky decided it was better to not push it.

"You can check out mine," Emma said with a small sigh. She hated seeing someone sad. Rocky's ears perked up. Maybe the trip wasn't going to be so bad.

With an excited spring, he jumped off Max. Max, who was braced for something like that to happen, managed to escape any sort of bruises. Barely. Shaking his head in both amazement and thankfulness, he looked to the Pup-pad. He knew he was on it a lot, but there was so much information there. Most of it was just looking at infor-

"Don't do that!" Emma called, just before metal against metal sounded. Silence.

Fearing the worst, Max turned around. A curious, interested Rocky was looking at the pup-pack on the floor. It was in pieces after just having been in his paws for ten minutes. A distraught Dalmatian completed the picture.

"I can put it back together," Rocky stated. He further deconstructed it, peering closely at the tools and circuitry. Wires looped around like spaghetti.

The Pup-pad vibrated.

Max turned to see the mayor calling again. Tapping the screen, Max saw the now familiar form of Mayor Goodman on the screen. "Hello, Mayor," Max said.

"High, Max! It's good to see you again. Look, how long until you get back home?"

"It depends on whether I stay away to find another pup or come straight home."

"Do you think you could come home first? A situation came up, and we need more help. I figured it'd be a good idea to test your new team."

"What's wrong?"

"Remember the bank robbery I told you about a few days ago?" Max nodded. "We can't get any good leads as to who they are or where they are. Do you think you could come home for a while, at least to help us get any sort of lead?" Max considered a moment. He looked to the three pups that were in the Air Patroller. One was reassembling a pup-pack, one was looking in horror at the tangle of metal and wires in front of her, and one was sitting on a bench feigning disinterest.

"You know what, let's do it. I am curious to see how my team would hold up in a situation like that."

"Thank you, Max. If there is anything you need, let me know. I'll be sure you get it."

"Will do. We'll be home by the end of the day."

It was, in fact, night when they finally arrived back in Adventure Bay. For the most part, the little town had stayed the same over the past few decades. It hadn't spiraled out of control in terms of the size of the town, but had grown taller. There was a restaurant sitting by the town water tower that had sat there as long as anyone could remember. It was now known as The Porter's Family Diner, but had once been known as merely Mr. Porter's. Town Hall was unchanged architecturally, but the interior had changed to suit the changing times.

Robo-dog flew over the town, towards the Lookout. The pups had fallen asleep, Ranger in his customary tight curl, Emma was sprawled out as if she were in a competition of who could take up the most room. Rocky was in the corner, trying to make himself as unobtrusive as possible. He called out occasionally in his sleep.

Max watched lazily as the Lookout grew larger. It was could to be home, especially now that he had somewhere pleasant to go. As if in a dream state, the Air Patroller slowly hovered next to the building. A rumbling was heard somewhere, and the plane slowly descended. The Lookout seemed to rise above the plane even more, with grass visible at eye-level. The ground swallowed them like a massive shark would swallow a seal. Two panels slowly slid closed like the jaws of some monster.

It was only when the Air Patroller shuddered and went silent that Max realized they had landed. Looking at the clock on the Pup-pad, Max saw it was one-thirty in the morning. "Where are we?" a worried voice quickly asked. Bleary eyed, Max looked to see Rocky awake, eyes wide in fear.

"We're at your, *yawn*, new home. Why don't you go wake up Ranger and I'll, *yawn*, wake up Emma?" Rocky looked at the sleeping German Shepherd. He quietly padded over to him, and tapped him on the shoulder. Ranger instantly awoke.

"We home?" he asked groggily. He stretched out his front paws and gave a massive yawn.

"I think so," Rocky replied. Ranger raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it. The prospect of his pup-bed was too tantalizing.

Mac wasn't having as much luck as Rocky. "Emma, wake up," he said, gently shaking her. She remained asleep. "Emma?" Max said a little more loudly, shaking her harder. Still nothing.

"Max, sir? Can I try?" Ranger asked from behind. Max turned to see his dog's eyes half-closed.

"Sure," Max said. Ranger jumped onto the bench Emma was on, staring at her for a good moment. Coming to a decision, he smacked the side of her hind leg.

A tremendous force hit his chest, launching him off the bench. He rubbed his chest, thankful that the wind didn't get knocked out of him. His excitement faded as he realised a massive bruise would be there.

"You don't learn, do you?" Emma asked, wide-awake. Fire was in her eyes as she stared Ranger down. Said German Shepherd gulped loudly. He tried to back up as Emma jumped off the bench and started walking towards him, but found himself against the front of the plane. Moving slowly and deliberately, Emma brought her mouth down next to Ranger's ear. "Don't ever disrespect me like that again. I'm not here to be used as your eye candy, I'm here for a job. And if I ever find you doing that again, you and I will have some...complications. Got it?" Ranger nodded fearfully. "Good." Stepping back and walking towards the rear hatch of the Air Patroller, Emma called out, "I'm going to find someplace to crash. Next time, use an alarm."

A/N: Look at that! I got a new chapter out in a week! New high score! (Kidding XD) Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Last chapter I wasn't really content with what I wrote, so I made sure to take a bit more time each day to write this. And now we have a mystery pup named Zoe who seems to be in trouble, and events in Adventure Bay that already require the PAW Patrol. Ryder must've been psychic to predict when the new PAW Patrol was going to be needed... So, no guarantees about when the next chapter comes out, hopefully within the next two weeks. As for "Sweetie's Frenemy", I'm at a bit of a writer's block. Hopefully I can figure out what to do for that soon, it's been too long since I've updated it. Until then, this is TheMattdude signing off!