Chapter 10: Taking Back Foggy Bottom
It had been twenty-two hours now. Mayor Humdinger only had two more hours to make up his mind; either he joins Henry Debinger in world domination or he, along with everyone held hostage with him, will die. Humdinger didn't know what to choose, though. He had given up evil for good almost a year ago. He didn't wish to turn back to evil, but if he didn't then he, along with his friends, would suffer. He knew that he had to join Debinger, for the safety of his friends. He sighed in his cage.
Although she wasn't crying as much anymore, Skye was still grieving over the loss of Chase. What really didn't help her was Marshall saying, "I know how you must feel, considering that your one year anniversary with him is in two days." She knew Marshall meant no offense or harm, but it still upset her greatly. She did have to admit, however, that she felt better getting her "incident" off of her chest for the others to know.
"If only Chase was here," she kept muttering, sometimes to herself, other times to no one in particular.
"Ruff, spy goggles," said Chase. He was decked out in his Super Spy gear, and he had spotted Debinger's hideout. He had secretly send the coordinates to the President, who then forwarded them to the Marines. He peered through his spy goggles. All of his friends, and Mayor Humdinger, were locked in cages. And his six teammates were in their own cage. He noticed some of them crying. He then remembered that the last time he saw them was before the PAW Patroller was under attack. He assumed that they thought he had died.
Chase was able to launch little radios onto the hideout walls to pick up any sounds from inside. He heard a deep grave voice say, "Thomas, you have one hour to decide, or everyone in this room dies."
Chase paled and became nauseous upon hearing that threat. He jammed his pup tag. "Mr. President sir, how much longer?
"Not much longer. Give them half an hour. Why?"
"Debinger threatened to shoot everyone in the room in one hour!"
"Try to relax, Chase. We'll make sure he's suppressed once and for all. Talk to you later. Good luck."
Chase took a deep breath. He proceeded to a cave he found up on a hill within viewing distance of the hideout. He pulled out an album of pictures of himself and Skye. He opened it and saw a bunch of pictures from their rescues: when Jake and Alex were stuck on the cliff while snowboarding, the day they adopted Rubble, the hoedown, Alex's first day of school, saving Ryder and Garby, just to name a few. He had pictures of them playing tag the day they had to save the baby bat, and bouncing a soccer ball around the day they rescued the sea turtles, and playing Pup Pup Boogie together. Chase cherished these memories greatly.
He then saw a picture of them on their six month anniversary. Chase had taken Skye to the pup park for a picnic that evening and then watched the sunset with her. Tears threatening to fall, he closed the album booklet and promised to make their one year anniversary Skye's best day ever.
Just then, he heard a noise. He turned and saw them: a group of about three dozen Marines were quietly marching up the hill from behind towards Chase. The leader knelt down next to Chase.
"You must be Chase?" The German shepherd nodded. "I'm Captain Richard Phelps. My men and I are here to help take down this Debinger guy. So what's the situation?"
"There are sixteen hostages, six pups and ten humans. Debinger has threatened to kill them in less than half an hour. So we've gotta move fast."
"Alright here's the plan. My men and I will storm the hideout. There's no doubt that he and his men will resist. So while that's going on, you sneak in and lead the hostages to safety. If anything happens, my men will protect you guys."
Phelps then ordered a squad of twelve men to creep down the hill and wait by the back door. "That's the Bravo Team," he told Chase. Another group of twelve men crept over to the front door. "That's the Charlie Team. Whoever is left up here is part of the Alpha Team. We storm in after the initial attack. Got it?"
"Yes, sir, Captain Phelps."
"Alright, now it's just a matter of waiting for the President's orders." He pressed his radio. "Sir, all three teams are green and in position."
"Alright. Initiate attack in three, two, one...now!"
Phelps nodded to the leader of the Charlie Team and they burst in, immediately killing three guards. The Bravo Team charged in and took down five other guards.
"Chase, head on in there, now!" Phelps yelled over the roaring gunfire. Chase did as he was told and sprinted inside. He immediately saw the pups' cage. Through all the chaos, none of the scared pups noticed Chase unlock their cage until the door swung open.
All six of them stared at Chase with big eyes and mouths agape. Skye was the first to tackle him, hugging him to the point of strangling the police pup to death.
The rest soon joined the cockapoo, all crying. Chase hugged each and every one and then led them outside, where Captain Phelps was waiting for them. Chase then turned around and sprinted back in the building.
"What? Where is he going?!" Skye yelled.
"His job is to rescue the others and bring them out here," said Phelps.
Skye whimpered, but Everest gave her a hug. "Don't worry. Chase will do just fine."
"Yeah, but he'll do better with some help," said Marshall, charging in there to help his best friend, despite Phelps's orders. Rocky soon joined them. In no time at all, the three pups returned with Farmer Yumi, Farmer Al, Alex, Mr. Porter, Francois, Captain Turbot, and Jake. They rushed back inside.
"Rocky, you get Mayor Humdinger. Marshall, you get Ryder and Katie," said Chase.
"But what about you?" said Rocky.
"I'll make sure no one tries to ambush us," said Chase, looking around. He noticed that most of the terrorists were dead, as well as many Marines, but he did not want to take any chances.
When the three remaining hostages were freed, Rocky led them outside, while Chase and Marshall took a body count.
"We all thought you were dead," said Marshall. "I thought I lost my best friend."
"Don't worry Marshall, it's gonna take a lot more than a grenade to-" Chase started, but was interrupted by a loud bang followed by a sharp pain in his side. Marshall turned to see Debinger, armed with a revolver, wearing a devilish grin on his face. This was the last straw for Marshall. He charged at Debinger before he could finish off Chase, catching the terrorist by surprise. Phelps and the pups, along with Ryder and Katie, had just made it inside when they saw the German shepherd lying in a pool of his own blood while the dalmatian jumped at Debinger.
Debinger was taken aback, and the force of Marshall's jump caused him to discharge the weapon on himself, leaving a fatal wound in his chest. "That's for trying to kill my best friend," Marshall said as Debinger choked on his own blood, struggling for breath. The most wanted man in the world finally took his last breath and succumbed to his gunshot wound.
Everyone turned their attention to Chase. Marshall rushed over to him and held him.
"M-marshall, w-what happened?" the German shepherd stuttered.
"I jumped him and he shot himself. He's dead, Chase. You did it. You saved us."
"Yeah, I guess so. But can I get to a hospital like right now? So I can have this wound checked out?"
"Sure thing buddy," said Marshall. He placed Chase on a stretcher and Ryder helped him take the stretcher to an ambulance. All the pups rode in the back with Chase to Foggy Bottom Hospital.
After a brief examination, the doctors said Chase's wound wasn't fatal, much to the joy of Ryder and the pups. After a quick surgery to remove the bullet, which was lodged in his side, Chase was bandaged up and good to go. The other hostages were examined as well. They were all treated in their own separate rooms.
Ryder was expecting his examination to be brief, but it ended up lasting three hours. When he was finally able to ask a doctor what was going on, she hesitated.
"Ryder, I have no choice to be straight with you. I have some bad news. We've discovered that the leukemia you had as a young boy has returned and is terminal. I'm afraid that you have only a few months left to live. I wish we could try to remove it, but it's spread so much that nothing we can do can help at this point. I'm so sorry."
Just then, the pups entered only to see the saddened look on Ryder's face.
"Ryder, what's wrong?" asked Skye.
"Yeah," said Zuma. "Why the long face?"
Ryder sighed and knew that his pups have to know about this sooner or later. "Pups, I'm afraid I have some very bad news. You all know how my parents died of leukemia right?"
The pups nodded, not sure where Ryder was going with this.
"Well, when I was three, I had leukemia myself. The doctors were able to remove it though. But I was just told that it's back and widespread. I hate to say this, but I only have a few months left to live."
All the pups stared with emotionless expressions. They couldn't believe that Ryder, their owner and leader, has terminal cancer and only a few months left of his life. Soon enough, the seven pups broke down crying, all hugging Ryder and each other. Ryder couldn't help but cry either. All the while, no one heard the door open. Everyone stopped crying when they heard a voice.
"Is that really you Ryder? It's been so long since I've seen you."