Chapter 6: Discoveries

The two pups sat there as Chase glared at the husky. One of his closest friends working with murderers, and on top of that, justifying the murdering. It made him sick, but he needed answers right here right now.

"Are you going to explain why the hell you're involved in these murders or are you not, because if you're not I'm walking out the door!"

"What do you want to know?"

"First of all, I thought you were in Antarctica with Jake. How were you still there, in that alley?"

"Before we left I told him I wanted to visit a friend. He let me go while he went to Antarctica. Obviously, there was no friend. I just needed an excuse to stay here"

"Okay. Second, why are you helping them?"

"The reason I'm helping them is because they're my family. Before I was born, my parents were a part of this group. When they were killed, the others took me in. They showed me and taught me everything I know, good from bad, right from wrong"

"Okay so if they showed you good from bad, then why are they killing these people. They act like some murderous cult"

"We're not a cult. We're simply a group of people, fighting for what we believe in. If anything we're the guardians of this town"

"How are they guardians? As of recently, they've been killing left and right. If I remember correctly, guardians protect not attack"

"Chase those people, they were never innocent. If you knew what I knew, you would be on my side"

Chase looked her dead in the eyes, a serious expression plastered on his face.

"Then show me"

"What!?"

"You heard me. Show me. Convince me to change my mind"

"Chase you don't understand I can't just-"

"Why not? Your claiming to have vital evidence against these victims that somewhat justifies a murder. So I'll say it again, show me and convince me"

Everest sat there in silence, debating with herself.

She sighed.

"Fine, but if I show you this, you have to promise that you will not tell a single soul about what I do and what I show you"

"I promise"

"Okay follow me" she said, leading Chase out of the cabin.

The two walked for a good thirty minutes until stopping at an apartment building.

"This is it" said Everest walking into the building.

"Wow, an apartment building, this changes everything"

She ignored his comment and walked towards the lobby.

"How may I help you?" said the man at the desk.

"I'm here to see Inspector Sands" said Everest. The man looked at Chase then back at her. "He's with me"

He nodded. "Right this way" he said, leading them down a hallway to a flight of stairs. They took the stairs down to the basement. They walked out of the stairwell into the hallway towards a door. He unlocked it and held it open for the two before walking back up the stairs. Chase looked around, it was a janitor's closet.

"Uh, who is Inspector Sands?"

"It's code" she said as she walked over to a variety of tools on the wall. She grabbed a sideways screwdriver and turned in vertically. The pair looked to their right as a secret door opened.

Everest and Chase walked through as the door shut behind them. Chase was on high alert. He had seen some sketchy stuff during his time as a cop, but this took the cake. After a few minutes of walking they entered a large room. A variety of tools and weapons were organized into various piles. A few beds, food, and water were also scattered around. The thing that caught Chase's eye however, was a board with numerous pictures on it. Each picture had small pieces of paper with writing pinned under them. Some pictures had an X on them or a knife in them while other pictures were left alone.

"What is this place?"

"Among the variety of safehouses around Adventure Bay, this is our main one"

"So kinda like your HQ?"

"Exactly"

While Chase continued to ask another question a dog walked into the room. He stopped short upon noticing the new face and started to slowly backtrack out the door. Before he could fully get out he bumped into a table knocking over a few cans and tools which made a loud thud once they hit the floor. Chase spun around, however the face he saw was not one he was expecting.

"Tuck!?"

"O-oh uh hi Chase, funny running into you down here"

"Tuck you have to stop knocking things over, I swear you're clumsier than Marshall sometimes" said a voice from outside the room.

"Is that Ella!?" said Chase.

"Uh...no" said Tuck as Ella walked in from behind him.

"Chase!? How did you get here?"

"He came with me" said Everest stepping in.

"What? Why? I thought he was trying to take us down?" asked Ella.

"Yeah what gives?" added Tuck.

"Listen, I'm not going to get into it, but he found out what we're doing. So I brought him here to convince him to help us" said Everest leaving out the part where she compromised herself "and in return he promised me that he wouldn't tell anyone about this"

"How do we know we can trust him?" asked Tuck as he looked skeptically at Chase.

"Hey! I might not agree with the shit you guys have been doing, but when I make a promise I keep that promise"

Ella sighed.

"Listen Everest, I don't know if it was the best idea to bring him down here, but try your best to convince him. We need all the help we can get" said Ella walking away.

"Yeah, especially if they're attacking soon" Tuck mumbled following his sister.

"Wait, what? Who's attacking soon?" asked Chase.

"Don't worry about it. Come with me" said Everest walking over to the board on the wall.

Once they got closer Chase recognized some faces on the board.

"Wait, that's the politician, that's the guy in the alley, and that's the hiker. Why did they have to die, what did they do?"

"The politician accepted bribe after bribe and actively worked towards taking over the government. The alley guy had vital information about the whereabouts of our enemies. The hiker knew the identity of multiple operatives as well as this safehouse. All the people on the board, including the three I mentioned, belong to a group known as The Ancients. Their order believes that the key to achieve utopia is through imposing a new world order of, in their eyes, enlightened people that will control humans and dogs alike. They're all a bunch of sadistic murderers"

"So what makes your group any better than them. I mean you both don't seem to have a problem with killing"

"Well for starters we believe that freedom is the way to achieve utopia. We want people to be able to make their own choices and live their own lives how they want to. That's what we protect and if it means killing one to protect many, then so be it"

"That… seems like a noble cause. Although it seems like a big cause for such a small number of people. Are there others?"

"Yes actually. We have safehouses in other places besides Adventure Bay. There are some in Foggy Bottom and Barkingburg for example"

"However our numbers have been dwindling" said Ella as she and her brother walked back over to Chase "hence why I said we need all the help we can get"

Everest turned her attention back to Chase.

"Can you help us?" asked Everest.

Chase sat in silence. This was a massive decision. On one hand he could leave and pretend this never happened because like he said, he wouldn't break his promise. On the other hand, he could help them. If the Ancients are as big a threat as they were described as, then Everest, Tuck, and Ella need all the help they can get. It would be dangerous. He began thinking about his life. All he wanted to do was help people, that's why he joined the Paw Patrol, that's why he began working as a police officer...and that is why he'll help his friends. If he has to kill to protect his friends, so be it.

"If you and the twins are on board with this, then I'll help you. I may not know you guys as well as I thought I did, but I know you all have a good heart. If you tell me that this is a cause worth fighting for, then I trust you"