The Mission Cruiser sped through the relatively quiet streets in Barkingburg. After a while, they arrived back at the castle. The group filed out of the Cruiser and headed into the throne room where the Earl, the Princess, and the butler were.
"PAW Patrol, thank goodness you're back." the Earl said sounding relieved.
"Yes, and I can't find Sweetie again." the Princess said.
"Were you looking for me Princess?" Sweetie asked as she walked into the throne room, Busby behind her.
"No, but since the specter and heart went missing, I assumed you'd taken them." the Princess replied crossing her arms.
"What? No, I didn't take them." Sweetie replied, trying to look innocent, "I was playing with Busby in the gardens."
"Alright then, carry on." the Princess said. Sweetie then strolled out of the throne room with Busby behind her. The suspicious gazes of the PAW Patrol were locked on the West Highland White Terrier as she turned the corner in the hallway and disappeared.
"She's lying." Chase said.
"Definitely." Rocky added.
Just then, Andrew burst into the throne room looking red faced and panicked.
"Has anyone seen Alexandra? I can't find her anywhere." the sorcerer asked quickly.
"No, do you know where she was going?" the Earl asked.
"She was meeting with the head chef to finalize a few things, but no one's seen her." Andrew replied.
"Chase, Tracker, go with Andrew to find Alexandra ." Ryder said, "Rocky, Zuma, Skye, start searching for the relics. Everyone else, follow me to the kitchen."
The team split into their groups and headed in different directions. When Ryder and his group reached the kitchen, they were stunned at the mess.
"Marshall, start treating the maid's injury." Ryder said, "Rubble, Everest, move the shelf to free the cook."
"On it!!" the pups exclaimed.
While the pups did their jobs, Ryder asked the staff what had happened. Sid and Arrby walked around the kitchen, hoping to find some clues. Arrby soon came across some white fur below the vent and Sid saw the cut heating element on the stove.
"Ryder, we found something." Arrby called.
The leader of the PAW Patrol rushed over to the pirate duo.
"What is it Arrby?" Rubble asked.
"Look familiar?" Arrby asked as he held up the clump of white fur in his claw arm.
"Too familiar." Ryder replied before turning to Sid, "Find anything?"
"Yeah." Sid replied, "One heating element that was clearly cut through." The pirate held up the broken heating element.
"Nice job." Ryder said. He tapped a button on his wristwatch to check on the others. "Rocky, Zuma, Skye, find any trace of the relics?"
"Not yet." Rocky replied.
"Sorry nothing." Skye added.
"Nothing dude." Zuma said.
"Alright, keep looking." Ryder said. He then checked on Chase and Tracker who were with Andrew.
"Chase, Tracker, any sign of Alexandra?"
"Nada." Tracker replied.
"Nothing so far Ryder sir." Chase added.
"Keep searching." the leader of the PAW Patrol said, "I'll still be here in the kitchen if you need me."
In the castle hallways, Chase was following Alexandra's scent trail with Tracker and Andrew behind him. Little did they know that Sweetie was in one of the secret passageways behind the walls watching their every move.
"Tracker, can you use your Sonic Ear to sweep the halls?" Andrew asked.
"Si." Tracker answered, "Ruff, Sonic Ear." The sensitive listening device popped out of his pup pack and he began listening. Sweetie saw this and knew she had to do something before the scaredy-cat Chihuahua found her.
"How about you keep your nosy ears to yourself." Sweetie snickered as she took a device out of her pup pack and pressed it.
"Wait...I think I hear something." Tracker said. All of sudden, a loud, high pitched sound entered Tracker's ears. The sound was so intense it caused Tracker to cry out in pain and cover his ears to get away from the piercing sound.
"Tracker, you ok?!" Chase asked, "What happened?"
"Si." Tracker replied rubbing his ears to stop the ringing, "I thought I heard something, but then this high pitched sound came out of nowhere. Ay Ay Ay, it was loud and hurt my ears."
"Can you still hear?" Chase asked.
"Nada, my ears are still ringing." Tracker replied.
"I bet it's Sweetie's doing." Andrew huffed, "Let's continue but be careful."
The three continued down the hall in search of the missing bride-to-be. In another hallway, Rocky was still searching for the relics. His Radar Scanner was out and scanning the walls for anything close to the relics. However, Sweetie was watching the messy Mixed Breed's every move.
"Wait...what's that?" Rocky said to himself as he saw something on his scanner.
Sweetie realized he was near the secret compartment where she had stashed the relics. She had to get rid of him before he got to them.
"Time to take a detour you filthy mutt." Sweetie snickered. She pulled a lever and the floor underneath Rocky opened. With no time to react, the eco pup fell through and the floor closed.
With Rocky gone, Sweetie quickly came from her hiding place and retrieved the relics from the compartment. She then disappeared back into the wall to continue messing with the PAW Patrol.
Meanwhile, Alexandra was examining every detail of the stone room she was stuck in. She knew that there had to be a trigger which would open the wall so she could get out. She cursed under her breath for trusting Sweetie.
A noise caught her attention. She looked up and saw the hatch opening. A green and gray mass fell from the slide, knocked her to the ground, and landed on her. Alexandra lifted her head and was staring into Rocky's brown eyes.
"Rocky?"
"Alexandra? What are you doing down here?" Rocky asked.
"Sweetie." Alexandra replied rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, me too." the Mixed Breed added, "She also stole the wedding artifacts."
"Not surprising." Alexandra said.
"Found a way out?" Rocky asked.
"Not yet." Alexandra replied, "Hey, could you use that Radar Scanner of yours to scan the walls for a hidden door?"
"I would...if it weren't broken." Rocky sheepishly replied as he looked at his broken tool, the scanner itself hanging by its wires.
"Drat." Alexandra huffed, "Well, I think we can put our minds together and find a way out."
Meanwhile, Ryder called everyone back into the throne room for a progress check. The situation in the kitchen had been taken care of and Katie, Carlos, and Summer joined them after looking for the relics themselves.
"Find anything?" the 10 year old asked.
"No." Everyone replied.
"But I think Sweetie's messing with us." Chase said.
"Si." Tracker added, "When we were looking for Alexandra, I heard this high pitched sound through my Sonic Ear. My ears are still ringing."
"Yeah, I thought I had seen something near some bushes, but when I went to investigate, I felt someone push me into them." Skye added covered in leaves, "It took me a while to get out of them."
Ryder sighed. They had had trouble with Sweetie doing stuff like this before to slow them down, but she was taking it to a whole new level.
"Alright, let's keep looking."
"Hey...where's Rocky?" Everest asked.
Everyone looked around to find that the eco-friendly, hydrophobic grey Mixed Breed was not among them.
"Last time I saw him was when we split up to find the relics." Zuma said.
"His pup tag signal's not registering." Ryder said as he looked at his wristwatch. "I'll try calling him. Rocky, it's Ryder, where are you?" Nothing was heard over the line except static. "Rocky, come in." The line was still filled with static.
"I hope Sweetie didn't get him." Rubble said.
"She probably did." Marshall added.
"She's probably spying on us right now." Arrby said.
"Let's not jump to any conclusions." Ryder said as he tried to quell the worry welling up over the team's beloved eco pup. Suddenly, a loud boom echoed from outside the castle. It was very close, so the entire castle shook with the intensity of the sound.
"What in the name of Captain Blackfur was that?!" Sid yelled.
"It sounded like it was right outside!!" The Princess added.
Everyone ran out of the throne room to investigate the sudden noise. When they got outside, they saw that the front of the Mission Cruiser had been blown to pieces. While the pups' vehicles and Robo Dog had managed to avoid any damage, the Mission Cruiser hadn't been so lucky. They also saw that a part of the road next to the Cruiser and the moat had been blown away which meant that someone had most likely planted a bomb there.
"What in the name of King Benjamin is going on?!" The Earl exclaimed somewhat exasperated.
Just then, steel slats fell over the castle door and windows, sealing it up so no one could get in or out. And in all the confusion, the team heard a familiar laugh and snort form inside the castle.
Inside Sweetie was on the throne with the crown on her head, the scepter, heart, and Busby beside her, her magenta eyes gleaming with pride and joy, and a devious smile adorning her face. She laughed, overjoyed with the fact that she had managed to outmaneuver the PAW Patrol and their allies.
To be continued...