Chapter 9: The Incident
"Hello, Chase? Are you there?"
"President Clifton! Boy am I glad to hear from you. So, how did the meeting go?"
"I have a very secretive plan I am going to privately implement. Without the media knowing, Debinger would never suspect a thing."
"What is it?"
"I issued an executive order to have the troops storm Foggy Bottom, and they're going to either take down Debinger or die trying, though I'd prefer the former option. It's a risky plan, but I truthfully think that it could work."
"Great idea, Mr. President!" Chase complimented. "But, one question?"
"What's that?"
"Where do I come into play in this scenario?"
"Hmm, oh I know. When the Marines storm Debinger's hideout, you sneak in and save your friends. How's that sound?"
"Great idea!" Chase said. "I'll head towards Foggy Bottom and hide out right outside of the downtown area until the Marines arrive."
"Okay Chase. Stay safe and tell Ryder I said hi."
"Sure thing, Mr. President. And thanks again for helping me with this."
"No problem. Bye." With that, President Clifton signed off the call.
"Amigo, what's going on?"
"Oh Tracker you scared me," Chase said with a chuckle. "POTUS is helping us take down Debinger."
"Wow, that sounds cool, but what's POTUS?"
"It's the President of the United States. Fun fact: I spent my early years with my parents working for the President's Canine Unit."
"Well how did you end up in Adventure Bay?"
Chase paled when he heard the question. "Do you really want to know? Only Ryder and Marshall know about this."
"If you don't want to say how, then you don't have-"
"The year was 2001. It started out just like any normal day. When we heard about the two plane crashes in New York and that a third plane that was bound for DC, we had the White House evacuated. The President at the time wasn't in DC that day, though. Anyways, the Canine Unit was sent up to New York that morning to help evacuate these two huge skyscrapers that these planes crashed into. But then," at this point, Chase started to tear up. "But then, the two buildings eventually collapsed, right onto my mom and dad. Although I was only a few months old and had just started training, I can still remember every detail. I had no parents. At their funeral, a Navy SEAL walked up to me and said that I was to go to my dad's owner, who turned out to be Ryder's dad. So I packed whatever belongings I had and came to Adventure Bay."
"Madre de Dios, Chase. Lo siento mucho." Tracker gave Chase a friendly embrace.
"Thanks Tracker," Chase said between sniffles. "Muchas gracias."
"On a less personal note, in what order did the others join?"
"A few weeks after me, Marshall joined. Then Skye, then Rocky, Zuma, Rubble, and Everest. You wanna know something?"
"Huh?" said Tracker.
"Though I had a small fear of the dentist, I have not only a fear, but a hatred for terrorist attacks. And these past two on our own towns have really gotten to me."
"Chase, if you ever need anything, you can come to me. I'll be there for you."
"Thanks Tracker. Well, I should be heading towards Foggy Bottom. Gotta meet with the Marines the President is secretly sending in."
"Chase, this is the most dangerous mission you'll ever embark on. Are you sure about this?"
"As sure as Skye is my girlfriend. You take care, buddy. I'll see you around. Bye!" And with that, the German shepherd turned and started for Foggy Bottom.
After eighteen hours of non-stop crying, Skye finally was able to calm down. She assumed it was partially because she was parched, but those words Henry Debinger had told her about Chase not being able to save them really hit her hard. For all she cared, the man could just stick a steak knife down his throat. Everest had almost let her secret loose, one that would haunt her forever. Besides Everest, only Chase and Ryder knew about what the incident was. Chase was there with her, and Ryder came to their rescue.
Skye glanced around at the other pups. All were asleep, except for Zuma and Rubble, who still were sorry for hurting Skye's feelings. Skye understood, for they all had been trapped in the cage without food or water for almost an entire day. The two awake pups glanced at her.
"Do you want to know?" she asked them.
"Know what?" said the chocolate lab.
"The incident that Everest mentioned?"
"I mean, if you're okay with telling us, then I wouldn't mind hearing it," said Rubble.
Skye closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "It happened seven months ago..."
Chase, Rubble, and Marshall were playing soccer down at the park against Zuma, Rocky, and Everest. Skye was off visiting her family.
"Ahh," said Skye's dad. "It's so nice to just spend the day as a family, isn't it?"
"You bet!" said Skye with a backflip.
"Dang, sis, you've gotten so much better at those," said Skye's brother, Mike.
"So tell us," said Skye's mom, "how's working for the PAW Patrol?"
"Wonderful," said Skye. "I have the best owner, some of the greatest friends, not to mention the best boyfriend, and a really nice puphou-"
"Wait, wait, wait, did you say 'boyfriend?'" said Skye's dad.
"Oh yeah, I never told you guys. His name is Chase. He's a very handsome German shepherd. Here's a picture of us on our first mission together. We had to save Jake and Alex, two of our friends, who were stuck on a snowy cliff after a snowboarding accident."
"Wow, he's quite the handsome fellow," said Skye's mom with a wink.
Meanwhile, in some nearby bushes, a white pup with a British accent was watching the cockapoo family.
"Any second now Busby. With these babies doing our dirty work, it'll make that German shepherd too traumatized to stay on guard to protect the royal crown of Barkingburg," said the voice. She activated a button on her toy minion and robots that looked exactly like the mother eagle flew in and surrounded the four dogs.
"Oh no!" gasped Skye. "Eagles!" She whimpered in fear.
"Everyone get behind me!" yelled Skye's dad.
"I'll call Ryder!" said Skye, tears threatening to fall. She jammed her pup tag. "Ryder, are you there?!"
"What is it Skye?"
"Help! Eagles! Attacking us! Pup park!"
"No problem Skye. Chase and I are on our way!"
"Mom, Chase and Ryder are coming."
"Okay, we'll have to try to hold these guys off until they arrive."
Back at the Lookout...
"Chase, we have to help Skye. Eagles are attacking her family!"
Chase whimpered but quickly geared up in his Super Spy Gear.
"Let's roll!" said Ryder as he and Chase took off for the pup park.
In no time at all, Ryder and Chase arrived. "Skye!" the latter yelled.
"Chase! Help me!" Skye begged.
"Quick, Chase, activate your drone to distract the eagles," said Ryder.
"Yes sir, Ryder, sir," said Chase. He launched his spy drone and commanded it to circle around the eagles. The drone did as it was told, giving Chase enough time to lead Skye away from them. But as he went back for the other three, one of the eagles caught the drone in its beak and crushed it. Chase and Skye paled when they saw the eagles pick up the other three cockapoos and carry them high in the air.
"Mom! Dad! Mike!" Skye shrieked. The eagles took them higher and higher, despite their screams, and dropped them off the edge of a cliff by Big View Trail. "Noooooooo!" Skye cried.
"Success!" whispered the voice in the bushes as she turned around and ran off before she could be discovered.
Ryder could only watch with despair. Chase wrapped the crying Skye in a tight hug, letting her cry all over him. Just then, they heard a familiar cawing noise. It was the real mother eagle, even though they didn't know that the others were robots. Skye jumped in fear and hid behind Chase.
"Chase," said Ryder slowly. "Let's get back to the Lookout. It's much safer there."
"You head on back. I'm gonna wait until Skye's ready."
"Okay, stay safe. See you back at the Lookout." As Ryder turned to leave, Skye spoke up.
"Ryder?" she said. "Don't tell the other pups about what happened. Please."
Ryder gave a sad smile and nodded as he hopped on his ATV.
"Skye?" said Chase. The cockapoo looked up at her boyfriend.
"I'm so very sorry. The pain you're going through must be unbearable. I should know; my parents died in one of the most gruesome ways possible."
"Really?" sniffed Skye.
"Yeah, but it's something I do not want to talk about. Now why don't we head back to the Lookout? You can ride with me."
"Promise you won't let those eagles get me?"
"I promise. They'd have to get through me to get to you." With one paw around her, Chase led Skye back to his Spy Cruiser and helped her in. "Hopefully Ryder made a spare drone," he chuckled. Skye couldn't help but chuckle slightly as the two took off back to the Lookout.
At this point, all the pups were awake and tuned into Skye's backstory. Some even had tears in their eyes.
"Skye, I'm so sorry," said Zuma. "I had no idea."
"Yeah, and all that did was leave you traumatized and intensify your fear of eagles," said Rocky.
"No wonder you were so heartbroken about Chase," said Rubble. "He saved you from that and helped you with your recovery."
"Not trying to be rude," said Marshall, "but how did all those eagles just appear out of the blue?"
"I don't know," said Skye, "but without Chase's help, my PTSD would be so bad right now."
"And what's this about Chase's parents' deaths being worse? I can't imagine it being worse than this," said Rocky.
"I don't know, but I'm sure it was. I mean, he hasn't told any of us about it," said Skye.
All Marshall could do was bite his tongue and keep quiet. But I know, he thought.
"Well, I'm going back to sleep. Good night," said Rocky.
"Good night," said Everest as she too lied down, followed by Zuma, Marshall, and Rubble.
Skye just sat in that cage, thinking about how Chase really helped her during and after that crisis, not to mention helping her overcome her fear of eagles. "I wish I could just see him once more, to thank him once again for being there when I really needed him," she said to no one in particular before lying down and finally falling asleep.
It took three hours, but Chase was finally able to get to the outskirts of Foggy Bottom. If he thought it looked bad before, now it looked like Omaha Beach during the Normandy Invasion. Dead bodies of innocent civilians were scattered everywhere, blood stained the grass, buildings were destroyed all along Main Street. It was too much for Chase as it reminded him of his own incident involving his parents' deaths. After reminiscing for a little and shedding a few tears, Chase regained his composure. He found a hiding spot overlooking Foggy Bottom and camped out there, awaiting the Marines that would help him save his friends.
Author's note: Not gonna lie this chapter hurt to write, telling the story of how Skye's family was killed by eagles controlled by Sweetie. Now you may be wondering why I made Sweetie the one to do this, but it'll all come together in the next story. So that's Chapter 9 for you all. Be on the lookout for Chapter 10 and remember to read and review!
