Chapter 32

"About time you three made it! I thought we would have to start the party without you," Daring Danny X taunted with an evil smirk. He moved out of the way and positioned himself so the three newcomers could see his prizes. "Do you like what I have? I can't wait until they're gone."

"They have the pups and Katie," Zuma stated the obvious in a low whisper.

"Keep them distracted, I have a plan but it might take a while before they get here," Ryder whispered to them back with clenched teeth, making it look like he isn't talking. The two pups slightly nodded, still in their aggressive position.

"How did you know about the things said in your note?" Chase suddenly asked to the evil boy. He shrugged, started to pace, and not making eye contact with them. As Danny started to rant, Ryder security dialed his contact using his pup pad as well as other things.

"Well, obviously you're confused by how I knew about all of your pasts, so I'll fill you in," he stated. "My father, he was in charge of the most powerful gangs in Foggy Bottom, having control of everything and everyone. So, he got everything he wanted. There's one thing you three should know; he knew all of your parents or owner. I'm serious. Ryder, your parents were providing some help to my dad so they wouldn't have to pay the price and to especially protect their newborn child. One day, out of the blue, your family stopped funding him so, he got upset. He sent one of his men to pour gasoline all over your home and light it on fire. You and Chase escaped but it still worked the charm because the main two were gone. Chase, my father was the person that murdered your previous owner for some money. Yup, he was the thief. Zuma, you had the same coincidental luck as Chase. You were only accidental when some of his friends or 'henchmen' captured you, but you were only tortured for fun. Same said for your families deaths. You see, once my father was rudely taken to prison and scheduled for execution, he let me run everything for then on. The only thing mission he left was to end the Paw Patrol, the main reason why he couldn't take over Adventure Bay. So, that's why I posed myself as a helpless kid needing to be saved for every stupid action I do, so I could learn more about your weaknesses and strengths. I mean come on! I appeared one day out of nowhere and start putting myself in danger and no one's going to question where I came from or where my parents were?"

Ryder rolled his eyes. It wasn't his job to keep track of who moves in or not. He saves people, not renovate them to new homes.

"So, the police are on their way so if you want to just surrender, that would be great," the boy smiled, gun still locked onto his enemy. The one with the helmet rolled his eyes this time and turned to two of his men, which were Roger and Rich.

"Get them," he ordered, getting a nod from the men.

"Don't overdo it pups, we don't want to be arrested… again," the leader warned, putting away his weapon. Zuma and Chase nodded and rushed off, taking a criminal each and started attacking but not harming. Ryder in the meanwhile rushed forward and tackled the betraying boy to the ground, immediately going into a wrestling match.

"Get off me motherf-" Ryder cut him off by successfully pinning him down to the ground, hands restrained to the top. The boy with the spiked hair smirked in triumph but it soon turned to shock when Danny tucked his legs in between the gap they were in and launched the kid up and over him, getting an 'ouch' when he landed. Danny immediately got up and turned to the rising boy, who raised his fists, so he mimicked.

"Come on, Deadbeat Danny X," Ryder laughed, mostly at his wordplay. His commentary seemed to spark the fury in the boy though, he went in for the first punch, which the other dodged. Danny went in again but was dodged, making an opening so Ryder can take to punch. This made the one in yellow fall back to the sand while the white jacket boy shrieked in pain and clutched his hands. "Ow! Your tooth hit my knuckle."

Danny saw the opportunity to rush back up and uppercut the boy's stomach, getting an 'oof' as a response. When the boy looked up, Danny went in for another blow, knocking the boy down completely. "I bet that hurts more than a tooth," he mocked. Ryder struggled to get up but Danny kicked him back down, making him spit up blood.

"Ryder!" The apprehended pups and girl cried, seeing the pain he was in. The people of Adventure Bay would have helped but they too were held at gunpoint. Danny sighed, expecting more, but walked over to where the boy's head was and took out a pistol, pointing it at the boy, who was looking at him.

"You know, I was expecting more from the famous leader of the Paw Patrol," Danny shook his head in shame. "But now, you have to die."

"Well-" Ryder cut himself off when he saw something in a distance, making his eyes go wide. "Oh my god!"

Danny, curious to what has got the other's attention, turned his head. Ryder looked back and smirked, then got up in a flash and smacked the gun away. When Danny looked back in surprise, he was knocked down to the sand once more, feeling the blood in his mouth.

"I can't believe you feel for that," the boy standing remarked. He looked over to see that Chase and Zuma were easily apprehending the men that they've taken and move onto the other three, who left their positions from their prisoners to attack.

"Ryder look out!" Katie suddenly cried out, catching his attention. He looked at her with confusion in his eyes and, in his peripherals, saw Danny directly behind him. Ryder was a little too late to turn around and get stabbed in the back, or right-shoulder blade to be specific.

"AH!" He yelled, kneeling to the ground and started panting with heavy breaths. Everyone immediately turned to his direction and gasped.

"RYDER!" All the pups practically screamed. Everything that the pups tried to hold back - snapped. The pups with the muzzle leashes started thrashing widely until the restraints came loose. The two that were taking care of the other men rushed over to where Danny was and, almost immediately, every pup made a threatening circle of furious growls around the two boys.

"Woah, you all get feisty, don't ya?" Danny chuckled, removing his gun out from his pocket that he picked up earlier and looked at the bullets. "Looks like I have enough for each of you, so, who's first?"

"You are." Danny, shocked, turned to a standing Ryder. The boy had a gun pointed to the other's chest and, with a disgusted look of revenge, he pulled the trigger and a loud shot rang through the area. The once living terrorizer dropped to the floor, blood gushing out of his wound. The men that were still there moved forward, about to attack once more, but when the still furious pups and boys with the gun turned to them, they meekly surrendered. Captain Turbot and Mr. Porter tied them up with some found rope. Kaite dug into the pockets of one of the dead men and unlocked her handcuffs, then rushing over to the pups and boy, along with Jake.

"Ryder, you need medical attention, fast!" Katie informed, causing the boy to roll his eyes in amusement. It was obvious he needed medical attention.

"It's fine, I'm fine," he dismissed, but the drain of color from his already pale face didn't make it better. Neither did his shaky legs.

"She's right, Ryder," Marshall stepped up seriously, taking the boy a little off guard. Of course, he only did that when he was on a mission that he needed his EMT equipment. He didn't need it now, he's completely fi- oh wait. He was stabbed. 'Huh, it's harder to grasp onto things' he thought, physically putting on a confused expression, which worried the people and pups outside of his mind.

"See, I'll show you'll I'm okay," he smiled. The boy started reaching behind his back with his other arm and, with a hard tug with a gasp, he pulled the knife out and held it in front of him. His smile was still on his face when he looked up to the shocked beings in front of him.

"Um, Ryder…" Skye squeaked, getting little creeped out by the stare. The boy took a painful deep breath in and let it out.

"You know what? That was a bad idea," he remarked. The weapon feel out of his hands and crashed to the sand as his legs gave out under him but, luckily, Jake was able to speed in and catch him.

"He passed out from blood loss, we need to get him to the hospital," the young man informed with a frown. Zuma and Chase winced.

"About that…" the german shepherd started.

"The hospital kinda sort of… blew up," the labrador awkwardly ended. Katie and Marshall gasped at the new info.

"Let's take him to the Lookout, there I could patch him up," the girl decided, helping the older one to the PMV. They hopped in when the boy was strapped in the back, with Katie, while Jake rushed out of the beach, driving like a maniac, with the other pups hitching rides from Zuma and Chase, they too were driving madly. Not even ten seconds later, the group arrived and rushed the ten-year-old to the med-bay the large tower had, in case any of the pups ever got seriously hurt. When he was placed on the bed, Katie immediately got to work on him. "Jake, I need you to help me here and pups, you're going to have to wait outside."

They nodded, following the stern orders given to them. As Katie commanded what she needed, the young man gave it to her. The pups just waited in the living room, they're anxiety and nervousness skyrocketing so much that they couldn't sit still. They didn't even talk until the two humans returned from the room they were kicked out from. So, when the two returned, they stood up.

"Ryder's going to be okay," Katie informed them. The pups immediately let of a breath of relief and started howling in happiness, tails waving madly. "I stitched up his wound and connected a new blood bag to him so he could get it back from what he lost. All Ryder needs now is rest because he's exhausted. That goes the same for you too, Zuma and Chase. You both need sleep before you collapse from sleep deprivation."

"Can we stay in Ryder's room?" Chase asked. The girl seemed to think about it but nodded.

"That's fine, but only you two. If I let more of you in, he might be overwhelmed when he wakes up."

"What do you mean?" Rubbled tilted his head in confusion.

"Well, I put a little medicine in his body before I put the stitches so, he might be a little jumpy when he wakes up. It will help him calm though and relax his body," she explained with a smile. "Now, let me prepare your dinners, like I was supposed to before."

"Yay!" The pups exclaimed, heading outside to be by their bowls, with the girl and man following in tow. Zuma and Chase walked into the room and tensed when they saw how peaceful their leader looked in the bed, as if he were to be sleeping. But what made them uneasy is seeing like that in the first place. They're indestructible and fearless leader should not look so… weak. Without making any sounds, the two pups hopped onto the bed, careful not to disturb the boy, and laid beside him, each taking aside. Chase raise his ear, hearing a very faint siren outside the Lookout. He assumed it was the help Ryder called earlier. They continued to look at him until the two put their heads down and close their eyes, exhaustion and worry leaving their bodies but let them consume in darkness.

To be continued...