"Reporting in Status from Agent Holland with Agent Reno, no sign of the German Shepherd down at the beach, I want someone to search around the Lookout atop the hill just in case, over" The Agent radioed as he continued his walk from the Beach side back to him and his partner's cruiser. "Roger that" A voice was heard over the radio before turning off and concealing his communication.
As both got closer to the Cruiser they had left, they immediately realized something was wrong. "Reno, Did you leave the Trunk open?" The brother asked.
"No, I didn't" he said before rushing over to the vehicle and inspecting the scene more carefully, first closing back the Trunk before looking in the back seat. Seeing all their disguises ruffled and tossed over as how they left them folded before they left. "Damn crooks in this town looking for valuables to steal" He said as he scoffed.
"I wouldn't say that this was the work of crooks"
"Why say?" The other asked, only to see his brother hold up a small wad of cash he had taken from the glove compartment. "Because they didn't take any of the money" A clever point made by the Agent as he tossed the small roll of Bank notes over to another seat.
"These obviously weren't no saints though, check around for something they might have taken" Holland said before looking through the glove compartment even further. The other joining in the search for anything out of the ordinary. "Reno, where are the Reports?" He asked.
"I left them in…the backseat" He slowly answered before turning and searching around through the clothes for the small book. "Its…Its missing, they must have taken it also" He stated, leaving his other brother stunned before letting him jump back in the Driver's seat and access the console, revealing a small camera was present inside the Vehicle, hoping to catch what their intelligence thief might have looked like.
All too familiar to him as it was revealed to be Chase, Rummaging through paper to paper to backseat, finding the note pad and a thumb drive attached to it at the back and making off with it through the Trunk. "That darn mutt" He uttered as he jumped out of his seat and looked off into the direction Chase ran off in.
"Every single Agent that can hear this, Code 553 has occurred, Operation is possibly compromised. German Shepherd is currently located at the Hospital, All Agents converge on the location immediately to intercept and detain" The Agent said whipping out his radio and barking commands to his other comrades all throughout the line.
Starting the Vehicle and driving off back to the Hospital with undercover blue and red lights flashing under the main headlights and along the railings to indicate their emergency.
"Yup, This is the room" Eli said as he flashed the beam of mobile light that the door in front of him. Eli clenched the doorknob as he pushed the door forward, but only slammed right into it instead. "Dang, Door's stuck" Eli commented as he backed up and began to slam his canine body against the door repeatedly as one by one he heard the hinges on the door loose, but not budging.
"Hey Marshall, gimme some help with this" Eli asked as he motioned for the Dalmation to pitch in his assistance. Them stepped back a decent distance away from the door. "Now" Eli said as both charged at the door, knocking the door down themselves along with it. Both Eli and Marshall groaned as they started to get back up, looking all around the room.
"Eh, I'll get someone to fix it back up, Cmon, The Power Box is around the corner" Eli said, dusting himself off making his way further into the room, Marshall and Skye following behind.
"How do you know where it is?" Skye asked.
"I used to be here, remember"
"Shh…You hear that?" Marshall suddenly said, patting on Skye and Eli to stay quiet to hear what Marshall was hearing. Coughing noises coming from ahead and around the corner.
"Hello, Anyone around there?" Eli shouted, hearing his own voice echo all around the room. There were no words after Eli's call, just more coughing. As they advanced on further, the coughs seemed to be getting more and more violent. Truly a pain to even hear, someone going through immense pain and was struggling to breathe.
"Hello?" Eli said finally as he turned the corner to see his friend, Lambeth, laying down on his side, bleeding profusely all over the cold hard ground that slowly started to stain crimson. "Oh God, Lambeth!" Eli said as he rushed over and grabbed Lambeth by the fur underneath his muzzle. "Lambeth, Cmon man speak to me, Who did this to you?!" Eli pleaded for an answer.
"B-Bellion, He-He lured me in here and…did a number on me. Hes the Traitor Eli, Go get him" Lambeth silently uttered trying to stay alive with the multiple slashes and gashes all around his body that causes him to ache in agonizing pain with each breathe he took. "Where is he, where did he go?" Marshall stepped in, bowing down before the badly wounded Terrier. Lambeth lifted his head above off the ground and point to a slightly open wooden door across from them.
"There, He w-went down into the…the tunnels below the sewer. I turned off the power to get someone's attention to come find me" Lambeth explained as he slowly laid his head back down. "We can find him another time…I need to get you back to the-" Eli stated until he was suddenly grabbed by Lambeth by the fur of his chest. "No…don't waste your time on me, Im sure he got me at least once in the heart, Im..Do-Done for, Just go and bring that son of a bitch to Justice….for me" Lambeth said as he began to violently cough again, this time seeing Blood come out along with it.
"I'll save y-you guys a spot….in hell" Lambeth smiled and he chuckled, but soon began to cough once more before his Chuckles began more and more silent. Closing his eyes and passing on to the other side. Eli took a large sigh as the clenched his paws, scrapping together what little bits of concrete were found in his grasp.
"Lets go get this back stabber" Eli said as he stood up with a more determined look on his face, immediately turning around and running through the old door frame that Lambeth had pointed out before passing. Marshall and Skye both sharing a concerned look before looking back at Lambeth and realizing this was going to be for him. Standing up and running after Eli, 3 was always better than 1.
Chase huffed and breathed heavily as he finally reached all the way back at the Hospital, never thought he was back at a place like this so soon after fleeing. Chase ran inside the lobby still with the small notebook and black stick in his grasp, no staff in sight as thought of when Paw Patrol would be on scene. "Hello?!" Chase yelled, trying to get someone's attention that might hear him.
"Are you feeling alright now, ?" Marshall asked as he walked through the door on the other end of the hallway with the disoriented doctor walking right beside him, trying to keep his balance. "Yes Marshall, Thank you and the rest of Paw Patrol for coming here, I don't know what happened, All I remember is waking up on the floor and that's it" The Doctor explained.
"That's alright, Theres plenty of medical tools around here that I can-can….I-" Marshall stopped himself before looking directly Infront of his down the hallway to see Chase, starring back at him. "C-Chase?!" Marshall shouted in glee as he sprinted down the hallway. Chase saw the sprinting Dalmation charging toward him, paralyzed by an unknown emotion that he was feeling within.
"Chase man, Its soooo good to see you again!" Marshall said before wrapping his paws around Chase for a big hug, glad to see his friend well and back on his paws. "Its uhh…Good to see you too…man" Chase said awkwardly, taking he knew his old memories were going to slowly come back to him over time, but for now. He was just as clueless to all these people he was starting to meet as soon as he woke up.
"Wait, Why are you down in the Lobby, The Hospital did tell us you got discharged" Marshall questioned. "I uhhhh" Chase tried to think of a way to bring in the fact that he was part of an experiment but was unsure how knowing that It was sound crazy. "Marshall, Did you escort Doctor Dawn back to the…Chase!" A familiar voice came from back down the hallway, revealing to be Ryder with Rocky right by his side.
"Chase, We've been looking all over the Hospital for you after the staff said you went missing" Ryder proclaimed as he knelt down to Chase's level and hugged him, now seeing he was okay. Chase, with still no member, felt just as awkward as the embrace from the Dalmation just a few moments ago.
"I-Im fine, but listen theres something I need show you guys" Chase stated, holding out the notebook to Ryder to take, Ryder glanced at the hard copy before hesitantly taking it and flipping through the first few pages just to get a glimpse of what Chase was trying to point out. Ryder was shocked to see the contents contained troubling details, secretive things about the Lookout, Possible Weak spots, Sniper points all around Adventure Bay and even pages upon pages of singular details about everyone. "Woah Chase, where did you get this?" Ryder asked.
"These two guys that came to the Hospital earlier, they-"
"Chase and other members of Paw Patrol, We have surrounded the entire Hospital Building, We are here for Chase and him only, Surrender him now and we wont have to use any other means of Lethal and Non-Lethal Force!" An amplified voice suddenly shook the building and waved through everyone, Ryder and the rest of the team looked outside from the front door to see multiple pitch-black painted SUVs with their undercover red and blue lights flashing. Tens of Agents with their rifles and handguns already aimed and ready at the front door.
"I Repeat, we are asking for you to turn over Chase the German Shepherd, Comply with Federal Demands and no harm will be done!"
"Federal Demands, who are these guys, and what do they want with Chase?" Marshall questioned to himself trying to get a better look at the men in black, but unable to make out who they might be aligned with.
"It is also come to our attention that you Chase, have taken Federal Document from our Possession. Please hand it over back to us along with the USB Drive and no Harm will be conducted to you or the occupants within the Hospital"
"U-S-B?" Chase spaced and worded out in a questioning and curious manner, un-aware what that new term meant in this new reality. Ryder felt the back of the Notebook and felt the small stick, It was the USB. Ripping it off the back of the Notebook and looking it closely seeing a familiar small logo on it. "Oh No…. These guys are CIA!" Ryder said, almost on the verge on panic knowing that ticking off the Government wasn't something he should be aligned with.
"Ryder, Ryder, stay calm, W-We can get through this" Rocky tried to assure Ryder as he places his paw against Ryder's leg. "Your right Rocky, there is something we can do, We're Paw Patrol after all. Rocky, go upstairs and see if you can download everything off this USB. There's bound to be secrets on there that they don't want the public to see" Ryder said handing over the USB to Rocky for him to do his work.
"Green means Go!" Rocky yelled as he turned around and bolted down the well-lit hallway, back upstairs to search through the drive. "Chase…I need you to go out there and talk to them" Ryder knelt down to the German Shepherd, knowing even without say, he would oppose coming face to face with them. "Wh-Why, What if they grab me, I-I don't even understand who they are, who you are, what any of this is"
"Chase, I understand you were unconscious for a long time and putting into this situation is very stressful, But I need you to pull yourself to together and just stall them until we can extract everything off that drive…Just buy use some time, that's all I'm asking" Ryder said, Chase signed before turning around to look back out the window to see what he was up against, a line of men in black armed, behind their car doors and ready to take on the whole town if they wanted to.
"Okay, I'll try" Chase nodded just as he began to walk to the front door and out into the open air, well within the view of all the Agents, within seconds of the him in sight, every barrel in front of him locked onto his canine figure as Chase stood there.
"Get on the Ground!" One of the Agents said into their attached speakers on their cars.
"I just want to talk!" Chase shouted back at them. Most Agents still had their guns drawn, knowing it could be a trick, They all didn't buy it, But one in the crowd of agents was skeptical. "Is that so?" Said Agent Holland, closing his Driver side door, taking away his only option of cover and slowly walking toward Chase in a cocky way.
"Alright, We can talk the talk, only one condition" He said loosely gripping his belt buckle.
"Whats that?" Chase asked.
"When this little talking thing is over, you come with us, you don't fight and don't resist, This whole wild goose chase ends here" He proclaimed with a small smile, giving the vibe that he was in charge of the situation.
"Then I better make this as long as I can then…" Chase grinned.
"Go ahead, Me and my team aint going nowhere, trust me…Now cmon, Ask away" The Agent said as he motioned his hands back to his colleagues for them to stand down, as by command, one by one they lowered their weapons just started to observe the talking session in front of them, stalling enough time for Ryder and Rocky to extra whatever they needed.
"Show yourself Bellion, We know you're down here!" Eli shouted within the dark tunnels below the sewers, his growled voice echoed multiple times off the walls and back at them, the atmosphere made it seem like they were alone and talking to a ghost, but they just felt his presence not only present, but watching with an evil satisfaction.
"These Tunnels don't lead to the outside Bellion, You're trapped down here, Might as well show yourself" Eli shouted once more until hearing the familiar voice replied back. "I did what I had to do, This Revolution never was going anywhere, If you were in my shoes, You'd do the same to save yourself. It doesn't matter you side with, The Japs in the West, The Klan in the Neutral Zone or just the mindless 'Resistance' members hiding the Reich that think they're making a difference!"
Eli looked around, hearing the voice sounded like it was coming from all around, but everywhere he looked was just engulfed in a pitch-black view. "The World is already screwed, That Old World that you people keep talking about is gone, and its never going to come back. Taking back the country was long gone, It all about Which side has the most power and gives the best survival!" He shouted; his motive clear that he just wanted to be alive in the end.
Ahead of Eli and the rest, A Dark Figure stood tall who seemed to be advancing on them slowly, it was all too clear who it was to the rest of them. "The time for my rambling is over anyways, its time for some action" Bellion said as he raised a handgun toward Eli and the others in one hand, and another small device in his other hand.
"You wanna know whats going to happen if I press this button?" Bellion taunted as he shook the device in his hand with a smug smile on his face. "Every single explosive up there goes off, imagine it, that kind of explosion. Think of all the death, Think of that mushroom cloud."
"You're bluffing, Even if you weren't, Surely that explosion would kill us too" Marshall claimed.
"You could be right, and you could be wrong too, But I guess Im willing to take my chances. Brace of impact" Bellion said as he tightly gripped the device. Motioning that he was going to do it, someone had to do something. Fortunately, someone was ready.
Eli leaped forward like a superhero in an action movie, immediately brandishing his sharp canine teeth and sinking them into Bellion's thigh, causing both to fall over and knocking the firearm and device out of his hands. The other were taken back the sudden action before running in to help and hold down Bellion.
"Damn Rebels, Don't know when to quit!" Bellion shouted as he delivered strike after strike to Eli, opening his hands and wrapping them around Eli's neck. Trying to choke him out and lock his airway. "Marshall, Skye, Get his Gun!" Eli shouted, trying to stay conscious in the fight.
Marshall looked all around on the stone floor to try and find the dropped pistol, but not avail. "Where is it?!" Marshall said to himself as he looked within the area, knowing the Eli's life was on the line and everyone else's life above him. Marshall kept searching before seeing Skye beside him, rack the slide of the gun that was already in his position and aiming it at Bellion.
Bellion took his eyes of Eli to Skye, seeing his own gun being pointed at him. "Oh no you don't" Bellion said as he got back on his feet and wrapped his bicep around Eli's throat. Putting Eli between him and Skye. "Make the choice Skye, you shoot me, You shoot Eli" He said.
Skye tried to get a clearer shot, but there was no opening for her. "Skye, just take the shot!" Eli said, knowing he was going to get shot as well, but still was onboard for her to do it to stop Bellion.
"I-I can't!"
"You can't do it, You don't have the guts you shoot you fri-" With that said, a lone shot rang throughout the halls. Within seconds, Eli's fur started to ooze and stain red. Feeling the pain as well, Bellion dropped Eli on the ground before clenched his lower abdomen and walking away. Not making it very far before falling over and bleeding out on the ground. "Eli!" Skye shouted before dropping the gun and her and Marshall ran over to him. "You-You did it, W-We did it" Eli said between every huff and puff of breath he could muster from his lungs.
"Heh, Its funny, I thought I'd die on my front porch…Yall are tough as nails, You made a tough decision Skye, and I don't blame you for it" Eli said before walking over to the nearest wall and leaning against it, leaning soon turned to laying down on his side just like Lambeth. "Give me hell guys, That invasion is going to be one….helluva…thing" Eli said before laying his head down one finally time with the pass of his finally breathe.
Skye whipped her eyes of tears, knowing even though Eli wanted her to do it, She still pulled the trigger and she had to live with it for the rest of her life. "Its okay Skye, You did what you had to do in that moment, Cmon…Lets go and tell Lupe what happened here" Marshall said as both of them started to walk back to Lupe, until suddenly.
Another gun shot was heard, Marshall jumped at the sound before turning around and seeing Bellion on verge of death, holding out his pistol at the two of them before falling back down to the ground. "S-Skye?!" Marshall looked back the Cockapoo who was holding her paws at the position of her heart, before falling over and revealing that the bullet, ripped through the vital organ.
"Skye, Skye!" Marshall shouted as Skye closed her eyes and felt her soul rise up, passing on to the other reality that was dying for her call back.
"It was really easy, Im not going to lie to you about that, All we really had to do was slip in the serum into a drink you were going to have you or just put into one of your drinks" The Agent explained.
"So why, Why did you do it to me?" Chase asked.
"Hey man, I don't pick who to drug and who let go Scott free, That duty is up to my HRs back at HQ, But if you want me 2 sense on why, I think you were just handpicked, But I do know that Cockapoo was intentional. Her getting injured in that crash I guess was just too perfect to ignore."
"Then how long…how long have I been apart of this-this…experiment" Chase said.
"I'd say roughly 6 months or so, It takes a while of the serum to kick in too. Takse a few minutes for humans, but for Canines….I cant really remember, I'll have to review my notes that see…speaking of which, I know you took my hardcopy file, Where the hell is it" The Agent approached the German Shepherd seemingly to do harm, Chase stepped back after noticing such.
"I'll give it back when you finish answering my questions" Chase exclaimed as he motioned his paw in front of the agent, giving him the signal to not come any closer.
"I've been answering your dumb questions for about an hour and a half, I know you said it was going to be long, but not this kind of long!" He shouted, clearly frustrated from the time. He knew he could just pull out his service gun and hold Chase up there, but he felt like he owed him answers after all this time.
"Just a few more, then you can have me and your stuff back, no fighting and no violence" Chase proclaimed which seemed to slightly ease the Agent, just a bit for him to step back to where he was before. "Fine, three more questions, and that's it"
"Has this Experiment ever…failed?" Chase asked, "Yeah, It has a few times, Sometimes the serum doesn't exactly do whats its meant to do and just fried the brain, or people are just eternally stuck in the dreams and die from natural causes, Or if someone is having a nightmare and cant wake up, they'll just die from shock, Or you know, They could just…not dream at all and when they wake up, their minds will be blank as a piece of paper. He said.
"What would you do if this experiment failed, what if I died in my dream?" Chase asked.
"In normal cases, I would just dump the body and make up some story to the family that you just died some other way, or you were never seen again. Silence the witness, burn some files, and leave without a trace. After that, I don't know, probably be assigned to do the same thing over in Adventure City or something. Like I said before, up to the HRs in their thousand-dollar suits for that kind of planning. This is your Last Question, make it count" The Agent said as he began to reach around the back side of his belt and pull out a pair of handcuffs.
"Uhm…I uhh…Whats your life story?"
"…"
"…"
"Get on the ground now" The Agent demanded with his gun already in hand, Chase was in the middle of the motion to get on the pavement before Paw Patrol in all their glory, arrived behind Chase.
"Get your diwty hands off our friend you Govewnment Bullies!" Zuma shouted along side the rest of his friends.
"Really, Government Bullies, I guess I can add that to the pile of insults we get from the public every day. What's next, Alphabet Boys?" The Agent stated. "Anyways, Stay back Patrol Patrol, This is under the radar Federal Business, No here needs to know about any of what went down tonight" He stated.
"You're Wrong, If you don't stop, Everyone will know" Ryder claimed. "What do you mean by that?" The Agent asked.
"Holland, we have witnesses coming on scene!" Agent Reno shouted to his brother. "How many are…are…My God…" The CIA Agent turned around to see the entire town making their way all the way to the hospital in the distance.
"And another thing…" Ryder pointed out, holding in front his pup pad with a large amount of checked files selected and one large 'Upload' button clear on the screen. "Imagine how the Public is going to react, Think of the Headlines too. 'CIA Kidnapping and Brainwashing Citizens for Cruel Experiments'" Rubble claimed the outrage of the Headline, surely a story like that would put the U.S. Government is serious waters.
"…I can't believe it too, Everything think I thought I knew was fake" A Female voice appeared behind Ryder and the Rest, Revealed to be Skye. "I woke up and they showed me the Files too, It feels like a Second Life, like I had just been cheated just for the heck of it" Skye said, walking over and standing right beside Chase.
"You're not going to take us…. not today, not any day, nor with anyone else that you think is under your thumb" Skye stated. The Agent just stood there in shock in total, at a total loss for words at how badly he had thought he handled everything.
"Sir, Awaiting Orders!" One of the Agents asked into his earpiece, The Agent still unresponsive. "….Call it off"He whispered.
"W-What?"
"Call it off, Everything, Tell the other Operators to take recall the Barriers, Burn down both the Safehouses…. We're done here" The Agent said, turning around without a second glance. Refusing to look at his victorious adversaries in their faces. "You heard him everyone, pack it up and head to the Airstrip!" One Agent shouted, relaying the order.
"Langley is going to have my badge for this" He muttered as he got back into his SUV, Driving off at a normal speed before the other Pitch Black Escalades followed behind in a sleek convoy. "Heck yeah dudes, we just took on the CIA and made them wet theiw pants!" Zuma shouted in pure glee, as he jumped up and down. "Welcome back Chase and Skye, Im so sorry you guys had to live through all of that" Ryder said as he knelt and hugged both of them.
"We really missed you guys!" Rocky proclaimed joining in on the hug before Zuma, Rocky and Marshall did the same. "Aww yeah, Happy times call for some Pup Pup Boogie!" Rubble shouted with excitement.
"What's that?" Chase asked.
"Oh yeah, Your Memories, guess we'll just have to wait until those come back, until then, you guys are off duty" Ryder said.
4 MONTHS LATER
"Hey Chase, Can you go and wake up everyone now, Time for Breakfast" Ryder said with Chase already by his side. "Sure, thing Ryder, Chase is on the case!" Chase said.
"You know you don't have to say that every time I asked you to do something, right?" Ryder chuckled a bit, knowing Chase seemed to be overusing his catchphrase at times. "I know, it's just fun to say sometimes" The German Shepherd said running to his friend's pup houses with a hop in his step, this wasn't the first time he had to do it, but he sure did enjoy it sometimes.
"Rubble, Pancakes and Bacon all you can eat!" Chase shouted at Rumble who was still in his dream state, just like magic, The Bulldog sprung up almost immediately and began running inside. "Those Pancakes and Bacon are mine!" He spoke. Chase chuckled before making his way over to Rocky whom just like Rubble, was dead asleep.
"Wake up Rocky before I chuck this water on you" Chase stated, and just like Rubble, He was awake. "Im up Im up!" Rocky said before looking at Chase and seeing there was no water in his possession in the first place. "Uggh, Fell for it again!" Rocky groaned as he walked past Chase back up to the Lookout.
"Hey Marshall, Rocky is up already" Chase said in tone, knowing that was the only line of tempt Marshall needed. "Cool, Thanks Chase, Time for a good old Prank" Marshall said with an evil grin across his face, with his pup pack already on.
"ZUMA WATCH OUT THERES A CROCODILE ABOUT TO KISS YOU!" Chase shouted, immediately seeing the Labrador start to flail and turn over, trying to fight off the 'Crocodile'. AHHH, GET ITS DISGUSTING LIPS AWAY FWOM ME!" Zuma in plea for help until seeing no reptile near him, only Chase. "Not cool Chase, those things are Terrifying" Zuma replied to Chase's bad tasting joke whilst getting up and stretching for the day.
"Hey Skye, You wanna…S-Skye?" Chase looked inside Skye's pup house to see the cockapoo not present. With no trace of her, Chase looked all around before spotting her, sitting along on the hill side. Looking over at Adventure Bay with the Sun rising from horizon in the background.
Skye starred dead off into the distance, watching the people making their way early around town and the water that would push itself up against the shoreline as natural intended. "Couldn't sleep much?" Chase asked appearing behind her. "I didn't sleep at all" Skye softly replied.
"C'mon, you know that's not good for you" Chase jokingly with a slight chuckle. His chuckling turned silent however when Skye didn't even look back at him, laugh with him or just by the tone in her voice, she was serious. "Its about the Dream thing, isn't it?" Chase asked.
"It just….I-I just don't know how to explain it, That fact that I lived through all of that, and these new memories…I love this life, but I also miss the people in the old one and what I've done" Skye said. "What do you mean, they are real, We're all here"
"I know, But I mean…Themselves, The ones I thought- "
"They weren't real Skye, but this is. People back then didn't care, but every person from that nightmare of a dream that you thought cared about you, I can name you 10 people down there and up there that care about you a thousand percent more" Chase said, pointing down to Adventure Bay and the Lookout.
"You're Right, Thanks Chase" Skye and Chase hugged before suddenly their pup tags began to beep and Ryder's voice came over along with it.
'Chase and Skye, To the Lookout, Adventure Bay needs us!'
"Cmon Skye, We've got a Job to do" Chase said as both of them put on a determined smile to protect and serve, running down the hill. Finally, Complete with their life as this life that they have come to know well, felt like where they truly belonged.
Yup, This definitely felt like Home.
AN: FINALLY GEEZ, ITS OVER AT LAST, But anyways, Thank you guys for sticking around with this story for a total of 36 Chapters. Yall are Chads for doing it, I mean it. To those who are interested in my next story, 'Welcome to Adventure County' will be the next, more popular told as the Sequel to my Previous story 'Operation Mud and Blood'. The First Chapter of the Story is still being worked, so I predict it will come out near Early or Mid December. Thanks again for sticking around with my story, If you want to know more about what I do and my future stories that I plan on doing. Head on over to a Discord server that I'm in with other Writers.
With that out of the Way, Cya next time.