Chapter 21

Chase, Zuma, and Sebastian all arrived just in the nick of time. They all gasped when a large guy about to slice their friend up, but thankfully thanks to the german shepherd's quick thinking, he used his tennis ball launcher to distract the guy.

It worked!

But now they're the main target because they saw all seven people in the room turn to them. The men in there all glared at them, especially the big one near the boy, but Ryder looked relieved. They all stared at each other, not sure of who should start talking, but the large guy did the pleasure. "Who are you?"

"None of youw business," Zuma growled. Once again, he hated the fact seeing his dearest friend in danger. The man walked up to them, keeping his distance all at the same time, and taunted them. "Oooooh! Looks like the little doggy wants to play tuff guy."

"Let Ryder go or else," Chase warned next. The guy just squinted his eyes, looking as if he was trying to remember something, then smiled and snapped his fingers. "Now I recognize you two pups! All three of the Paw Patrol members went to the big house. Boy, was it great to watch that on television? If only I had front row seats."

"Let Ryder go," Sebastian repeated. While the 'conversation' went on, Ryder observed his situation more clearly. He saw the ropes tied to his hands and ankles, were thin and pretty old, easy to cut through. He also noticed that the scalpel he used earlier was on the floor a couple of feet away. Ryder also saw that a revolver was on a desk next to him. Everything was literally laid out for him to grab. The boy rolled his eyes. 'Idiots,' he thought. Gradually, while all the attention was on their new guests, he moved his joined ankles toward the knife's direction. The other three saw what he was doing, so they decided to keep up the distraction.

"Wait a second, I recognize you," the large guy pointed at the teenager. "You were in that gang...Mischievous Makeshifts right?"

Sebastian didn't respond so Bologo took that as a 'yes'.

"I'm sorry to hear what happened to them, they were a great gang." He then smirked. "But they weren't good enough. Do you remember Snake?"

"H-How do you-" Sebastian looked at him with wide eyes. The drug dealer's smirk became even wider and he had a sinister glint in his eyes.

"His screams were his final words before," he lifted his fingers, to represent a gun, to his head and mouthed a 'bang' then he laughed. Sebastian was shocked but shook his head and maintained a glare. Meanwhile, Ryder had successfully reached the scalpel, going unnoticed, and he gradually cut the rope until they were so thin that all he hand to do was pull at it a little and they snap off. Back with the three, they all got into a fighting stance. One by one they charged at each other; Chase, Zuma, and Sebastian against the minions of the drug dealer. Chase used his tennis ball launcher to paralyze two of them and used one of his new tools in his pup pack, he shot them with tranquilizer darts. Zuma knocked out two of them with his special water cannons, having a similar use of Marshall's but he had two cannons and were much more powerful. Sebastian could only take down one because of his small melee weapon. Out of nowhere, Bologo grabbed hold of Zuma by the neck and pointed a gun to his head, grabbing the attention of everyone else in the room. "Put your weapons down or your friend gets it."

"Let Zuma go-"

"DROP YOUR WEAPONS!" Bologo demanded. They all glared at him but did what they were told. Once their weapons drop to the floor, the drug dealer smirked. Behind him, Ryder knew that even though they let their offense down, the man was still going to hurt his pup. This fueled the rage in him once more, but even stronger than before, knowing that one of HIS pups were being threatened. Zuma, on the other hand, started shedding tears. Their attention focused on the labrador when he started whimpering. "P-P-Please. D-Don't k-kill me."

"Zuma," Chase mumbled, frozen in place. Just seeing the stream of tears flow down his chocolate fur coat was overwhelming. He wanted the pup to calm down and tell him everything was going to be okay, but his mouth seemed to be glued shut. The forgotten boy has had enough. Once he heard Zuma whimpering his last sentence, he went berserk. In one swift motion, he snapped the ropes from his hands and ankles, got up, and grabbed the revolver. Without thinking twice, Ryder shot Bologo in the knee cap, causing him to let go of Zuma and cry out in pain. Zuma scurried away before the man hit the ground. Chase and Sebastian followed the aqua pup out of the warehouse, they thought he most likely ran back to their vehicles.

All who was left was the boy and the drug dealer.

"...I'll give you one last chance Bologo. Tell me where your boss is," Ryder spoke, looking him directly in the eye, his mind getting fuzzy again. The man's eyes widened when he saw the emotion behind the blank expression.

Pure hatred.

"I told you kid. I'm not Rodriguez, I will never spill." Ryder didn't respond, only saw a pillow in the far corner in the room, and went to grab it. The man watched from the ground, confused. Once the boy returned, he asked a question. "Well, aren't you going to call the cops? Or are you just going to leave us here?"

"Oh I will call the cops," the boy notified. He was directly in front of the man and kneeled in front of him, the pillow in one hand and the revolver in the other. All locked and loaded.

"But I didn't like what you did to my pup, and now you'll have to pay the price." Bologo's eyes grew as large as beach balls when he figured out what the boy was going to do. Before he got a chance to say anything else, the pillow was forcibly shoved into his face.

"Mmmf!" His voice was muffled. He started to lose consciousness with the lack of air, but before he did, Ryder whispered in his ear.

"Say 'hi' to hell for me you bitch," Ryder swore. He aimed the gun to the pillow and shot it, the noise was stifled by the object. He knew that the man was dead because his body went limp afterward. The leader of the Paw Patrol stood up, pocketed the gun, and dragged the body to a closet, not wanting his friends to see what he had done. He then used the same pillow to clean the blood as best as he could and threw it away. All by himself, he tied the still unconscious minions with rope and called Chase in to bring his SWAT vehicle to transport the criminals. He agreed to it but once it was done, he noticed something. "What about the big guy?"

"Bologo? He got away," Ryder lied. He put on a fake smile to reassure the pup. "We'll get him next time."

"Okay," Chase nodded. He knew that his owner just lied to him because EVERYONE saw Bologo get shot in the leg. Once the boy was gone, Chase checked the area for anything. He followed the scent he picked up to a closet. He opened the door and saw the missing man dead, a bullet to the head. The german sheppard just sighed and shook his head, knowing it was only a matter of time before one of them change in Foggy Bottom. He had a feeling it was going to be Ryder first as well. Closing the door, the pup slowly walked over to his vehicle and drove off to the police station, going to drop off the people in his back seat.

Throughout the entire car ride, no one made the effort to talk and the air was tense, even if they were all in separate vehicles. Zuma was traumatized and too afraid to talk to anyone. On the outside, his expression was blank and seemed to be staring off into space while driving, but in the inside, he's a startled young pup. He just faced death and his life before his eyes not only ten minutes ago. Chase, he glared at the road in front of him. What was he thinking about, you may ask? You guessed it - Ryder. He knew, as a police pup and just basic morals, that what the boy did was WAY over the limit. He could understand that the boy has had a tuff month, so has he, but letting out some of his anger on a guy was too much. Chase needed answers from him and he needed it soon. Ryder was lucky it wasn't Zuma who found Bologo, knowing that it would crush the pup's heart. He never had to gotten angry at his owner. Annoyed, yes. Angry, no. But what he was feeling at that moment was not happiness.

Not at all.

In the main car, Sebastian was biting his lower lip, unsure of how to feel with all the mixed emotions. He was devastated to having to see Zuma witness what he did, he felt angry by everything, he also felt somewhat proud of how his friend took the matter into his own hands. Shoot the villain in the leg. He did NOT see that coming. He slightly smirked at the replaying memory. Ryder, on the other hand, was frowning. He had multiple thoughts and emotions overpowering others. He felt angry, sad, overwhelmed, confused, and most of all - guilty. He didn't know he'd go that far. He didn't want to go that far, but his body just moved on his own while his mind was protesting. It was like he didn't have control at all. Sure, he wanted Bologo to pay for what he did to Zuma, but his body was the one that accomplished his wish. If he could do it over and STOP him from doing what he did, he would absolutely do it. He also was a little ticked off that he couldn't find the person who framed them but that thought didn't last long.

Eventually, they arrived at mayor Humdinger's hideout after their visit to the police station. The pups converted their vehicles to their pup houses while Sebastian moved to the back seat, his side of the car. The aqua pup and teenager quickly fell asleep but the other two laid awake, unable to copy their comrades, their minds too cluttered to rest. A few hours past and the two still were having trouble. Ryder checked his pup pad and it read '2:15 am'. He quietly sighed and silently opened the car door and left the car, in search of a place to think. Chase's ears perked up at the door opening. When he saw the boy walking further away from their camp, he decided to follow him. The pup ultimately found the boy at a bench that was directly above the mayor's hideout, seeming to be deep in thought. He walked up to him and hopped up the bench, taking a seat next to him.

"Hey Chase, what are you doing up?" Ryder turned to him, curiosity in his eyes. The pup saw something else in them too but he couldn't tell. His friend was a good liar.

"Couldn't sleep," he said simply. They turned to the beach that was in front of them, the quiet waves were soothing. The boy all of a sudden started stroking the pup's back, making him relaxed in the process. Then he remembered that he needed to discuss the boy next to him, his body stiffened by the thought. Ryder noticed. "Are you okay Chase?"

"...No. I'm not okay," he replied quietly after a few moments.

"What is it pup?" Chase took a deep breath and looked at him directly in the eyes.

"Ryder. We need to talk."

To be continued...