Chapter 27

It had been four days since three members of the Paw Patrol had left and things have been busy. With Marshall leading, the rest of the pups had to follow his strange orders. Not having experience with being in command, the dalmatian received some help from the other pups. After the second day though, he got the jist of it but some of the missions were starting to get out of hand. They had to rescue farm animals from an island, rescuing Chickaletta, repairing a building, rescuing Chickaletta, rescuing Chickaletta, and oh yeah did I mention they rescued Chickaletta? Because they did. Mayor Goodway, though, was giving them a hard time doing their jobs, as in always trying to help out but resulting in HER needing to be rescued and the original problem to solve as well. Currently, they all slept outside of the Lookout, tired beyond belief until they heard someone walking up the driveway. Skye, who was first to open her eyes, smiled and greeted the visitor. "Hey Katie!"

"Hey Skye," the girl smiled back. By that time, everyone was awake. "What are you pups up to?"

"We were taking a nap but now that you're here how about we play a game?!" Rubbled jumped up, wagging his tail. Katie giggled.

"Sure, I have some time. By the way, is Ryder around?" She asked, looking around. The pups looked at her oddly, as if she grew two heads.

"Um, Ryder's not here. Actually he hasn't been here for four days," Rocky informed. "Didn't you know?"

"No I didn't actually. I had to go on a trip and barely came back," the parlour owner revealed, getting surprised looks from the others. They didn't even notice she was gone. 'I can't believe my best friend didn't tell me that he was leaving. I told him!... I think' she thought. "Where is he anyway?"

"He, along with Zuma and Chase, are in Foggy Bottom. They are going to be back by the end of the week," Marshall answered with a yawn. Katie sent a confused look so he clarified. "We were given a chance to help Foggy Bottom for their crimes, so we decided to split up. Ryder, Chase, and Zuma went there while we stayed here."

"Ah," she nodded. "Then let's start playing!"

"Yay!" The pups exclaimed, all started running around. They decided to do some role playing. Katie and Skye as the two princesses while the boys played the knights. Rubble volunteered to be the dragon guarding the 'castle'. After a good fun hour, they all decided to head inside.

"How about I get you pups some dinner?" Katie suggested, getting cheers from them. Giggling, she left then returned back with their bowls and filled them with food. In only a few minutes, they were all empty.

"Wow, you guys were hungry," Katie raised her eyebrows.

"I'm always hungry," Rubble chuckled, getting the others to laugh.

"You should sleep over Katie! And bring Callie over! It could be fun!" Skye suggested, jumping in her place. The others wagged their tails in agreement.

"Hm well," the girl placed a finger on her chin to pretend she was thinking, but after a second she agreed. "Okay."

"Yay!" They all howled. The human ran over to her Pet Parlour and grabbed her things, including her cat, then she ran back. Everyone knew for a fact that she could run, and that's no joke. "I'm back."

"Fast as always," Marshall joked.

"Why thank you."

"Do you guys want to see what Ryder's up to? We could call him and find out!" Rubble suggested with a tail wag. The others agreed as well, so Katie called him and connected the video feed to the large TV. After a few rings, the boy picked up. "Hey pups and Katie."

"Hi Ryder!" All the pups howled.

"Hey Ryder, having fun in Foggy Bottom," Katie crossed her arms.

"Y-Yup, definitely!" Ryder stuttered under her stare. The pups weren't even going to ask.

"So, how is it over there anyway?" Marshall asked.

"It's been an adventure all right," he said coolly, but then he broke into a grin. "It's so awesome! We actually fight crime here!"

"Are you like Apollo the Super Pup? Defeating bad guys and saving the day?" Rubble asked, getting more excited by the second.

"Yup. I prefer the peaceful side of Adventure Bay though, and you guys of course. It's hard to keep up and we are running with little sleep so that's a con," he frowned slightly.

"Well we can't wait until you, Chase, and Zuma are back!" Skye backflipped.

"Me neither. Speaking of, how's everything over there?"

"The usual. Marshall has been a great leader," Rocky complimented.

"I thought so. I always knew you were a great leader pup, all of you are!" The pups wagged their tails by his given inspiration. Katie, who was sitting quietly petting Callie, noticed the background of where the boy was.

"Hey Ryder? Where are you?" She asked, causing his face to pale. The pups looked closer and noticed it too.

"Yeah, it looks like you're in a hospital…" Marshall squinted.

"U-Uh no I'm not," he waved his hand off but the nonchalant motion didn't reach his voice.

"And are those cuts and bruises all over your arms and face?!" Katie pointed out, now standing up. Ryder sighed dejectedly.

"Okay okay. I just got a little hurt from my last mission," he admitted getting gasps from the rests. So he rushed in something else. "But it's not that bad! I'm okay."

"What's hurt?" Skye asked, also standing along with the rest of the pups.

"Um...arms, face, head, ribsandnervoussystem," he rushed the last part.

"What?!" Marshall and Katie exclaimed, the others were confused as they didn't have much experience in the medical field.

"How did you hurt your ribs?!" Marshall questioned.

"How did you damage your nervous system?!" Kstie asked incredulously.

"Well I cracked some of my ribs because I was roughly kicked there and I SLIGHTLY damaged my nervous system because I was forced to drink alcohol," he answered in one breath.

Silence.

"What about Chase and Zuma?" Rocky asked, hopeful that they aren't hurt.

"Well Zuma is great!"

"...And Chase?"

"Well," he started. "Chase had a little problem with his mission as well but he's okay now."

"And what happened?"

"Nothing too big. Just a bump to the head," he lied. Although they had a rough time believing him, the boy was still their leader so they had to obey… but not Katie. She decided to wait until he came back to interrogate him.

"And what is stopping me from dragging you back here where it's safe and a place where you can't get a 'bump to the head'?" Katie cocked her head and narrowed her eyes.

"I have multiple reasons why," he grinned. "One: you are my dear best friend and I wouldn't want you to get hurt. Two: you don't have a car so you can't get here."

She rolled her eyes.

"And three, the best reason of all: I order you to stay in Adventure Bay."

"You think your order is going to stop me?" She snorted.

"No, but being older than you is," his grin grew even wider. All of their jaws dropped. He did NOT just pull the 'I'm older than you so you have to do what I say' card.

"He's older than you?!" Rubble questioned incredulously.

"Yes I am!" Ryder answered for her, proudly at that.

"Yeah by three months!" She shot back.

"A great three months at that. *sigh* I love reason three," he chuckled.

"Is it just me or do they sound like teenagers?" Rocky whispered.

"Yup," the pups replied.

"You'll regret that your older when you come back," she muttered, but he heard it.

"Can't wait," he dismissed. "Anyway, since I have to get back to healing, I'll have to leave our conversation here. Bye pups! See ya soon Katie!" He smirked the last sentence.

"Bye," they all said then hung up. The pups all turned to the girl who shrugged. "What?"

"Nothing," they answered. They decided to give Zuma a call next, to see how everything was going on with him. He, unlike the boy, picked up immediately. "Hey Zuma!"

"Sup dudes and dudettes," he greeted. "How's it going in Adventuwe Bay?"

"It has been harder without the rest of the team here," Marshall complained. The labrador giggled.

"I'm suwe that you have evewything undew contwol," he reassured.

"How's it over there?" Skye asked.

"It's totally diffewent fwom Adventuwe Bay! Like today, we had to awwest thwee people fow muwdew," he said getting wide eyed stars for the rest.

"That's sad. Who'd do such a thing?" Rubbled whimpered.

"Did you arrest them though?" Katie asked.

"Eh sowt of. We have two out of thwee," he shrugged.

"And the other?"

"He… didn't make it, if you know what I mean," he winced. All of them nodded somberly. To lighten the mood, he decided to tell them the big news. "But hey I have even bettew news!"

"What's that?" Skye wagged her tail slightly.

"I got a date with a pup!" He exclaimed, the others howled while Katie gigled.

"Who is she?"

"What's she like?"

"Where are you going?"

"How does she look?"

"Well first hew name is Chloe and she is a pawesome pup. She has golden fuw and a bow on hew ear. We awe going to ouw date in the pawk to get to know each each othew bettew latew," he answered all of their questions.

"She sounds pretty," Marshall complimented. Zuma nodded.

"Have fun on your date Zuma," Katie said.

"We want all the details when you get back," Skye joined in.

"Suwe. I have to get weady fow the pawk, see ya latew dudes," he wrapped up. "Oh wait! If you decide to call Chase, if you haven't alweady, he doesn't have his pup tag so I don't think you can weach him. I'll tell him you said 'hi' though."

"Thanks, bye Zuma." They hung up. Canceling the final idea of ringing up the german shepherd, they decided to watch Apollo instead. After a while, they got a call from someone you wouldn't guess in a million years…

"Hello Mayor Goodway," the pups tried VERY HARD not to groan.

"You have to help Paw Patrol!" The mayor screeched. "Daring Danny X is stuck on the flagpole of the town hall and-"

"You're stuck up there too?" Rocky guessed with a raised eyebrow.

"...I tried to help and yeah. We're stuck," she shrugged. The pups sighed, Katie noticed their irritated state so decided to see for herself when they went out.

"Don't worry Mayor, we're on our way," Marshall declared with a face full of determination. They hung up and rushed to the elevator.

"Hey Katie, you want to come?" Skye politely asked.

"Sure. I could maybe drive Ryder's ATV just to rub it in his face," she giggled. They all continued up the tower and reached the command center, or the observatory. They all hopped into a line while Marshall moved up to the front and Katie to the side.

"Paw Patrol, ready for action Marshall!" Rocky called out. The dalmatian pushed a button

"Thanks pups. As you heard, Daring Danny X and Mayor Goodway are stuck on top of the town hall pole. I'll use my ladder to reach them and Skye, you could use your helicopter's harness to carry one of them," Marshall instructed.

"Let's take to the sky!" She flipped.

"And I'm fired up!" Marshall barked then turned to the human girl. "You can come watch Katie. You can drive Ryder's ATV if you want."

"Cool, I've seen him drive it plenty of times, how hard could it be?" She agreed with a rhetorical question.

"Paw Patrol is on a roll!" The pup exclaimed, then rushed/ tripped to the slide and down to his fire truck. Skye did the same but with her helicopter, and Katie slid down to the ATV. Eventually they drove off to their destination with Marshall in the lead, Skye in the...sky, and Katie behind the dalmatian. At first, she was swerving all over the place but eventually she got it down.

"Driving this thing is harder than it looks!" She mumbled to herself, but since she had the boy's helmet on, it had a built in microphone so the pups still heard her. "When he gets back, I have to ask Ryder to give me some lessons…"

"Good luck with that Katie," Skye giggled. The sudden voice startled the girl that she almost lost control but eventually got it.

"Woah, you could hear me?" The girl asked the pup, dumbfounded. She heard her, along with Marshall, giggle.

"Yup, you have a microphone attached to your helmet so we could hear you," the cockapoo explained.

"What do you mean 'good luck'?"

"She means that Ryder can be a little protective with his vehicles," Marshall answered. "His ATV, Paw Patroller, and all of our rides mean a lot to him, since he built them. Anyone could tell that the ATV and Patroller are his favorites though."

"So when one of them gets taken, Ryder goes crazy," Skye continued.

"How crazy?"

"As in he won't stop until he gets it back."

"Good to know," Katie nodded. They had all finally reached the town hall and looked up to see that, indeed, Mayor Goodway and Danny were hanging there.

"Don't worry Mayor, we'll get you down!" Marshall called, then turned to his pup tag. "Skye. I need you to carry Mayor Goodway with your harness while I get Danny."

"I'm on it," she came through. The pups did what they planned to do and got Danny and the Mayor to the ground safely.

"Thanks Paw Patrol! That was so daring!" Danny exclaimed then skateboarded off to who knows where.

"Thanks again Paw Patrol," the Mayor thanked next.

"It's no problem Mayor. If you're ever in trouble, just yelp for help," Marshall smiled.

"Um pups. Technically, if you think about it, isn't it true that the Paw Patrol is MY team?" She asked, catching the other three way off guard.

"Wait what?" Skye questioned.

"Well I am founding for the Paw Patrol so it would be technically true that I am the leader and owner of the Paw Patrol," the Mayor elaborated. The pups started glaring.

"And what do you mean by that?" Marshall asked slowly.

"Well before Ryder left, he said that the Paw Patrol is HIS team and I couldn't lead it like he can. So I just wanted to make sure-"

"Mayor Goodway, no disrespect but you are not our leader, Ryder is," Skye stepped up and cut her off. Goodway opened her mouth but the dalmatian beat her to it.

"And don't think we didn't forget what you did to Ryder," he softly growled making her pale. "He told us all right. I can't believe you Mayor, after all we did to help you, that's how you repay him? You slap him!"

Katie gasped at the newly found info.

"He had no right to talk to me like that," she crossed her arms. The pups just shook their heads. "He was going to help my rival! And after we helped him!"

"SERIOUSLY MAYOR?!" Marshall full fledged barked and started baring his teeth. "Is that what this is?! A little rivalry that makes you have the right to hit my family!"

"That's not right Mayor Goodway, at all," Skye maintained a calm attitude, but you could tell she was also pissed off. She placed a paw on the dalmatian's back, to calm him. After he did, they made their way back to their vehicles but not after him saying something else.

"I can't believe we elected you as Mayor," Marshall spat then jumped into his truck and sped off, the others following in pursuit.

Elsewhere, a mysterious shadow zoomed along the alleys of Adventure Bay. A ringing was heard, so the figure stopped and reached for his phone. Checking the number, he picked it up afterward. "What do you want?"

"We are ready to start Operation: Nowhere to run," the voice spoke. "We are waiting for your command sir."

"Good," the figure grinned. "Are our 'guests' enjoying their stay?"

"Two of them are hurt but I don't know about the other two."

"Well it's perfect. Foggy Bottom always had an affect on their tourists. Start the operation, I can't wait until I hear good results Ray."

"Yes sir," Ray agreed then hung up. The figure put his phone away and continued racing past the houses with a small malicious smile on his face.

"This plan is going to be…daring," he laughed maniacally.

To be continued...