This may come as a surprise to you all and you are correct in thinking so. I figured that since I dropped the ball with Dally, I outa give you guys something as a way to say "Sorry" to you all. and with me rewriting Act III, the only thing I can think of as a token of your patience, is to give you all the two surviving chapters of Lost and Found.
The story won't return untill way after Dally, but I think you all will appreciate a little taste of what's to come. So without further ado...
Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to a very exclusive sneak peak at Lost and Found!
A Temple of Doom side story, taking place during Chase and Marshall's exhilarating adventure in Wintergreen, where Ryder and the Paw Patrol search for their whereabouts. This story also is the actual debut of Everest in the DragonsFire Paw Patrol universe, and let me tell you. I'm sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy I finally get to write her. (Huge Everest fan!)
Just to let you know, this story isn't a full on project, only being 6 parts with a prologue and a epilogue. Think of it as a bonus story for Temple of Doom...because it is.
Before we get into it, I have to disclaim...
I do not own any of the characters or the rights to Paw Patrol. The only thing I own is the OC's I've implimented, and the setting of Sticksburg.
With that being said, welcome to Lost and Found: A Temple of Dooooooooooooooooooom Story!
Lost and Found
A Temple of Doom Story
Sean Thames
Lost
Adventure Bay, 2015
Ryder walked into his office with a tired groan. Even though it was three-o-clock in the afternoon, Ryder felt like he spent all his energy and wanted to sleep. He had to get up very early today, for a court hearing at City Hall.
Yeah, a court hearing. Against the U.S. government no less.
To make a long story short, a few months ago, an anonymous caller informed the government that the Paw Patrol were monetizing their rescue, and not taking taxes in consideration. For the past few months, Ryder has had to deal with a very long campaign that should've ended when it started.
It of course wasn't true that Ryder was charging for their services. The Paw Patrol was a non profit organization that was directly funded by his father's software company, Normality. There were times where Ryder accepted donations from generous and insistent clients, but he never asked for them, any one. But thanks to this, "anonymous caller" misinformation was spread, and it has been more difficult than it should be.
The endless hours of this legal battle has taken a toll on Ryder. The Paw Patrol was on the line because of this ridiculous accusation, so it has been a very stressful few months for the boy, who just wants this to be over with so he can get back to handling rescues.
He sat down in his chair and almost drifted off to sleep. The thought in his mind kept him from going completely. He thought about whatever he had to do today, but strangely couldn't think of anything, maybe he could get away with taking a short little nap on his…
Ryder gasped suddenly. In the midst of dealing with courtroom drama earlier, he forgot that he needed to pick up Chase and Marshall from the Foggy Bottom airport!
Ryder swifted his pup pad out and swiped over to the nearest pup tag which was Marshall's. He pushed it as soon as it came on the screen.
"Marshall! I'm so sorry. I completely forgot about you two. Where are you at?"
No answer
That's weird, normally Marshall wouldn't miss a call out. He tried again.
"Marshall? Buddy? You there?"
Still no answer.
This was out of the ordinary. Marshall would've answered him by the second call. Come to think of it, Chase was supposed to contact Ryder when they got to Foggy Bottom, but no call came all day long.
Ryder was starting to get very worried, as he swiped over to Chase and called him.
"Chase? What about you? Are you there?"
Same as Marshall, nothing.
Something's wrong. Chase never missed a call. Even when he was tied up with something, Chase always answered his owner no matter what.
"Chase? Come in. Come in Chase!"
A sharp pain formed in his heart as he got nothing but dead air. He was really scared now.
"Come on Pups! Stop kidding around! Answer me!"
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's as if Ryder was calling a ghost to the lookout.
Ryder tried not to panic, but he found that he didn't even have signals from both pups. Nearly pushing him over the edge. Even if their pup tag was dead or not, they should've been her by now, thanks to the train. Sticksburg was not far away by air. Only about five hours or so. If anything, Ryder should've gotten a call in the middle of the night or so. He knew they got on a plane because Chase said so last night in his last transmission.
Did…...did their plane not make it? Did they…..Crash?
Ryder's mind twisted at the thought. The mere thought of Chase and Marshall crashing anywhere that he couldn't reach them, made him worry for their lives...if they survived.
Ryder shoved the grim thought away. He then remembered a function he put in case something like this happened. He could pull up the last known location the tags were when they lost signal.
He shot out of the office, and over to the console in the observatory. He pulled up Chase and Marshall's pup tags which displayed a profile shot of them, along with….a heart beat sensor, that wasn't going off. Ryder ignored it though. If the pups didn't have a signal, the sensor wouldn't be reading anything, right?
Ryder pulled up the last reported location and was almost brought to his knees at the screen. According to the computer. They didn't even make it far out of the Sticksburg city limits. In fact, that's where Chase made the call last night!
Ryder's heart rate slowed to a crawl. He lowered his head down to the buttons as he accepted the reality of the situation.
Chase and Marshall have disappeared.
Ryder didn't want to believe they were dead. There's not enough evidence to prove that. The only way to find out was to go to Sticksburg, find out what plane they got on, and go from there.
But first…..he needed to call his pups to the lookout and tell them the grave news. Which felt so cruel to his pups who just learned about Skylar's death just last night.
Skye's been looking at Rubble's puphouse all day from a distance. She only seen the bulldog once today, when they were eating breakfast together.
He didn't say anything, neither did Skye, Everest, Zuma or Rocky. All of them ate their food in complete silence, and moped around, not wanting to do anything.
Skylar's death was devastating to the pups. While Rubble had the worst of it, the other pups were not far behind them. For Skye, she lost a dear sister. Even in a short time, Skylar, Everest, and Skye were a pack together. Even though most of her time was spent with Rubble respectfully, Skylar would always make it a point to hang with Skye and Everest, sometimes with Rubble in tow.
Then there were the performances. Her singing and dancing was a highlight for Skye. Every time she watched her and heard her, she could feel the passion and excitement the pup had whenever she was on stage. In one of the last performances Skye was present for, where she played the female lead in a musical, Skylar felt so alive on stage, like she had made it to where she wanted to be and Skye and the pups couldn't have been more happy for her.
She was also happy for Rubble, who loved Skylar ever since he met her. Confessing to her after putting on the best performance the Paw Patrol band had ever done at the talent show. Rubble and Skylar sang a heart warming duet that struck the audience like gold, easily winning the overall show.
The two were perfect together, and Ryder and the pups were so happy for them. But that is gone now, and in its wake, a lonely bulldog lays in his puphouse, not knowing what to do in the future.
Everest walked up to Skye with a sad expression. "Well Skye. It's been fun with you, but I've got to go now."
Skye snapped her head to Everest. "What? You're leaving now? But Chase and Marshall ain't back yet!"
"I know Skye, but I've got to get back to Jake sometime. There's no telling how much he's missing me." Everest whimpered.
Skye whimpered along. "You're right. Thank you for being here on Everest, I'm sorry if the slumber party didn't end well for us."
Everest bowed her head in sorrow. "I can't believe Skylar's dead. She's been here for as long as I have. I'm going to miss her so much."
"I'll miss her too, Everest." Skye whined. "But not as much as Rubble will."
The two pups look over at Rubble in his puphouse, who was laying down, looking as if his favorite toy was taken away.
"Is that all he's been doing since breakfast?" Everest asked.
Skye nodded. "Mhm. That's all. He's just laying there. Probably lost in the world right now."
"Should we go talk to him?" Everest suggested, in her worries for her friend.
Skye sighed sadly. "I don't think there is anything we can say Ev. Nothing's going to cheer him up right now."
The two pups look on, their worries and sorrows for the bulldog at an all time high. Though Rubble continues to lay in his paws. Completely unaware of the two gazing on to him.
Everest whimpered and whined. "Poor pup….I hope he will be alright. Skylar meant so much to him."
"I hope so too, Ev. He's been through a hard death before with Marshall, but it has to be very worse for him right now. He loved Skylar. I couldn't imagine being in his paws right now."
"Me neither." Everest agreed.
Bleep! Bleep!
"Paw Patrol. To the lookout!"
"Of course. Right on time." Skye groaned.
Everest groaned. "Indeed. Guess I'm going to have to wait a little before I go back to Jake."
Everest then bounds toward the doors of the lookout, which Skye follows behind. They couldn't have been more relieved to see Rubble getting up almost immediately and following them.
When the elevator opened, the pups all lined up as usual, with Skye in the middle once everyone was ready, she looked at her owner with confidence. "Paw Patrol ready for action Ryder sir!"
Ryder was nervous. His eyes were shaking and his body was tense. "H-Hey pups. Uh...thanks for coming quickly. We..have a dire situation."
Zuma caught on to his nerves instantly. "Wyder? Dude? You okay? You look mowe nervous than a baby deew."
"Well….uh….I have an update on Chase and Marshall and…its not good." Ryder announced reluctantly.
All of the pups gasped, with Skye and Everest's faces showing horror, but even they weren't as shocked and worried as Rubble was, whose eyes were about to pup up.
"Ryder? What is it?" Skye let out. "Where's Chase and Marshall?"
Ryder scratched the back of his head, with his nerves at eleven. "I….uh….I don't know."
Another wave of loud gasp sounded out of the pups as Rocky spoke up with massive confusion. "Wha-What do y-you mean you don't know?! What happened to them?!"
"I don't know Rocky. Chase was supposed to call me when they got to Foggy Bottom, but as of right now, no call has come in, and I can't get a hold of them. I'm sorry pups, but I'm afraid that Chase and Marshall are missing."
The word cut through Skye and Everest's soul like knives. Zuma and Rocky were frozen solid, and Rubble was shaking furiously.
Everest started to chuckle suddenly out of the blue. "Heh heh heh. You're funny Ryder. I didn't know you were into jokes like this."
"I wish I was joking, Everest. But I've lost all contact with Chase and Marshall. I truly don't know where they are."
The team looked at Ryder as if he confirmed their friend's death like he did last night with Skylar. They all started to whimper, which turned into whines and was about to go to sobs, until Ryder spoke up a little frantic.
"N-Now now. Let's not jump to conclusions here pups. They can still be okay. We'll never know until we go out and look for them ourselves." A sudden determined, but shaky smile appeared on the boy's face as he tried to keep the team together. "That's why we are going to find them."
The pups all start to be lifted up a little, as their determination to find their friends. But Rubble had some concern.
"But Ryder, they could be anywhere from here to Sticksburg. How are we going to find them? If their plane…..crashed….they could be in a jungle, or another town, or the ocean!"
The pups all whine at Rubble's point, which made sense, but Ryder had to steer away from that.
He raised his hands in front of them. "Hey hey hey. Quiet down pups. We can't make assumptions until we figure out what happened. Okay?"
The pups looked at Ryder sadly as he nodded.
"Now, according to the pup computer, the last time it had a signal on them was in the outskirts of Sticksburg. It's possible that they may have had to land prematurely. Not crashed, just landed. So we need to go to Sticksburg, find out what plane they were on, and see if we can find their plane. Got it pups?"
The pups all nod in agreement except for Rocky. "Ryder, Sticksburg is far away from here. It'll take us days even with the Paw Patroller. How are we going to get over there quickly?"
"That's a great question Rocky. That deserves a great answer." Ryder pushes a button on his pup pad, and a few seconds later, the sound of an engine with rotors being run. The pups looked outside, and were awestruck, to see a grey airship the size of two Paw Patrollers stuck together.
Zuma, Rubble, Skye, and Everest all go outside the balcony, completely amazed by the ship, while Rocky and Ryder follow them.
"The Air Patroller? But...I thought it was still in prototype." Rocky let out with an excited tone.
"It still is. As you can see, I haven't even painted it yet." Ryder informed. "I figured that this trip would be a great field test."
"Oh….really?" Rocky gulped. "I hope it passes then."
Ryder petted Rocky to ease his worries while he addressed his pups. "Okay pups listen up. I need to make sure the air patroller is safe for us to travel. After I'm done, we will make our way to Sticksburg. In the meantime, I need you all to prepare your vehicles for boarding. This may be a multiday trip, So I want you all to be as ready as you can be. Is that understood?"
The pups all nod in agreement. "Yes Ryder sir!"
As Skye pulled her copter to the back of the Air Patroller, she was surprised that Rubble was there before her. She parked her vehicle and went up to the bulldog who was noticeably frightened thanks to him shaking in his paws.
"Rubble?" Skye called softly.
"Geyah!" Rubble squealed, as he jumped a few feet. He then calms when he sees that it was Skye. "Oh….uh...h-hi Skye."
A wave of worry washed over Skye after seeing Rubble's nerves control him. "Are you okay Rubble?"
Rubble gave her a wide shaky smile. "Who? Me? Of-of course I am! Why wouldn't I be? The-The girl of my life died yesterday and my best friends are missing. Why would I ever be not okay right now Skye?!"
Skye went up and draped a leg over him snuggly. "Rubble, Rubble. Calm down."
Rubble was too far from calm. "And what's worse is that I….I...I…" Rubble looked at Skye and suddenly winced from her. "No! No! You don't want to talk to me Skye! You don't want to!"
Before Skye could assess Rubble's breakdown, the bulldog turned to run away, but ended up slamming into his rig, causing him to fall backwards on the ground with his paws in the air. His helmet lay next to him.
"Rubble! Are you alright?!" Skye yelped, as she ran up to him.
Rubble was seeing nothing but stars. "Did anyone catch the license plate of that truck?" He groaned, before he shook his head clear as he looked at Skye. "Oh, hey Skye. When did you get here?"
"A few seconds ago." Skye answered. She wanted to press him about what he was running for, but thought it was not a good idea right now. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah Skye. I'm okay. I'm just trying to keep up with all of this." Rubble answered with a groan. "Everything is happening so fast."
"I couldn't agree more with Rubble. Especially with Sky…"
"Skye. Please. Don't say her name right now." Rubble interrupted with a whimper.
"R-Right, Sorry." Skye whined. "Anyway, we just need to do what we can do to get through it, Rubble. We have to be strong."
"I don't know if I can Skye. I can't stop thinking about Chase and Marshall." Rubble replied with another whimper."
Skye had to admit, she too was scared. Although the thought of losing Marshall again made her fur stand on end, she was more scared of losing her guardian shepherd.
Skye has been telling herself over and over, to keep her mind intact and stay strong for the team. Because of Chase and Marshall obviously not being here, she was next in the line for leader. While Chase and Marshall were not officially dead….yet and were just missing, she had to push on and never give up till the very end. Hoping in the heart that Chase and Marshall were at least okay.
"I can't stop myself, Rubble." Skye slurred. "But we can't give up before we even start."
"But what if Chase and Marshall are….."
"We won't know that until we see it for ourselves." Skye insisted "Don't start crying until the truth is found."
Rubble lowered his in sadness. "I know Skye. I just don't want to lose Marshall again, along with Chase." His voice gets as low as his head. "Especially if it's my fault.."
Skye put a paw on the whimpering pup, almost whining herself. "I don't want to either…...wait, what did you say?"
The construction pup shot his head up. "N-Nothing Skye. All I said was that I didn't want to lose Chase and Ma-Marshall."
"Nah uh Rubble, you definitely said something else." Skye picked, giving the bulldog an annoyed look. "Come on. Out with it. What did you say?"
Rubble started to shake. His mind froze solid as Skye interagiated more. It's not that he would feel embarrassed about it, he just knew that Skye would be angry with him.
Last night, He did something terrible. In his unfiltered grief for Skylar, he wished upon a falling star that he would never see Chase ever again. The minute he wished for it, he wanted to take it back. It was unfair to Chase to point the paw at him for Skylar's death, even if he promised him. Anything could happen and Rubble realized that last night only after wishing it. He shrugged it off, thinking nothing would come of it, not believing in it so that the wish wouldn't come true. But it did come true, and Rubble felt he should be hung by his neck ten times over.
Rubble doomed Chase, and sacrificed Marshall for exchange. He could tell Skye that. Not even if she kept all his treats hostage would he tell….well…. maybe he'd consider it.
"Really Skye it's nothing. Let's just forget about it and go find them. So this nightmare can finally be over." Rubble insisted.
Skye did want to give up, but Rubble didn't seem like himself right now. She'll have to ask later. "Okay Rubble, I won't harp on you."
"I think I can handle things u[ here a little while longer." Jake determined. "It's not really busy right now, so I should have a smooth time."
"Are you sure Jake? You sure you don't need me to come back?" Everest asked.
"Yeah girl. I'll be a-ok. Just be careful. Although, I'm not worried about you at all, Ev." Jake smirked. "Especially if you're with Ryder. I wouldn't trust anyone with you more than him by a longshot."
Everest beamed, wagging her tail swiftly. "Thank you soooooo much. You don't know how much this means to me."
"I think I do Ev." Jake smiled. "Good luck girl. I love you."
"I love you too Jake." Everest warmed, before she got in the elevator and pushed the button to go join the pups. Leaving Ryder to take over the call.
Ryder notices an uneasy face upon Jake's face. "Jake? Are you good?"
"Yeah dude. I'm alright. Just a little worried about Everest." Jake answered.
Ryder popped an eyebrow. "Huh? I thought you said you weren't worried about her."
"I'm not worried about her being safe. I trust you and her to do that." Jake replied. "I'm more worried about how she will be when you all get back. Lord forbid something bad really happened to Chase and Marshall. If that's the truth, She'll be crushed to pieces."
"I understand Jake. To tell you the truth, I'm having a little snafu myself." Ryder admitted. "I don't know what I'll do no matter if I find them or not."
"I would imagine so man. No one likes their friends in danger." Jake replied with sympathy.
"Yeah. Especially since they weren't supposed to be on this trip." Ryder commented with a degrading tone. "I was supposed to go, not Chase or Marshall."
"Whoa whoa man. Slow down. You're going into dangerous territory for yourself." Jake warned with sudden concern. "Just because things turned out differently doesn't mean it's your fault. You might wanna stop chopping yourself down before you find out for yourself. Go get them first, then you talk. Okay man?"
Ryder smiled at Jakes's effort to keep him in line. "You can't be more right, Jake."
"You need anything, just give me a call. Until then, I'll leave you to it. Stay safe, and bring them home man." Jake ended the call leaving Ryder with a mellowed smile.
He couldn't help himself. Chase and Marshall going to Sticksburg was at the very last minute. He was supposed to meet Bubba and carry out his plan himself with the help of Skylar, but the United States government decided to be a nuisance and demanded a court hearing at the last minute, leaving Ryder with his hands tied. Chase volunteered himself along with Marshall to go in Ryder's stead, and carry out the plan, while Ryder made his court date.
It may have still ended with Skylar being killed and his plane not making it, which would've caused a more crucial problem for the Paw Patrol, but Ryder felt that he should be in trouble, not Chase and Marshall.
Ryder shook his head from his thoughts. Jake was right. Now was not the time to think of what if. If anything, he can't feel guilty until he knows for sure what Chase and Marshall's…..
Bleep, Bleep.
Ryder turned around to the computer to answer the call and all the air was stolen from him.
He had completely forgotten that Marshall was supposed to call his parents and set up a week to visit them today, and guess who was calling now.
Ryder shivered in his shoes. How in the world was he going to explain this? He couldn't just ignore them, that wouldn't work, so he had to get on with it, and hope Sparky and Ashley won't hate him by the end.
He slowly pushed the button with a shaky hand, as he swallowed a bowling ball down his throat. "Mr. Sparky! Mrs. Ashley, and…" Ryder noticed that Marshall's sister, Ember, was on the screen as well. Shooting his anxiety through the roof. "...oh….and Ember! How's it going, little pup?"
Completely unaware of Ryder's fragile smile, Sparky and Ashley produced smiles of their own, but Ember beat them to the response as she had much more enthusiasm than both her parents.
"Marcie! Marcie! I wanna see him! I wanna talk to him!" Ember jumped over and over, nearly exploding in excitement.
"Ember. Settle down now." Ashley softly ordered. "You'll see your big brother in a second. Let Mr. Ryder speak okay?"
Ember reluctantly sat in between her parents trying to hold back but was obviously having a tough time in doing so. Her father draped a leg over her to help as Ashley began to address Ryder.
"Sorry for that Ryder. You know how Ember gets when it comes to Marshall." She said with a warm smile.
"It's-It's fine Ashley." Ryder nervously stated.
"Oh come on Ryder. You've known us for years at this point. You don't have to be nervous with us." Sparky chuckled. "Now, could you put our son on the line please?"
Ryder started to visibly shake under pressure. "Um….a-about that um…. I...uh…..I can't do that right now…..he's….not here."
Finally catching on to Ryder's struggle, Sparky frowned in response. "Uh? Oh, I'm sorry. I guess we'll have to call him directly."
"You can't do that, either." Ryder blatantly said, somwat regretful.
Ashley started to catch the hint that something was wrong. "Ryder? Where's Marshall?"
Ryder gulped again, deciding to go ahead and get it over with. "Well….be-before I tell you this, I want you to know that nothing has been confirmed, yet okay?"
Ha-Hang on Ryder." Ashley said, as she grabbed the attention of a confused Ember. "Ember, sweetie? Mommy and Daddy has to talk with Mr. Ryder alone for a bit. Can you go and continue with your chores, Please?"
"Wha? But I wanna see Marcie!" Ember whined. "I wanna tell him how my twaining's doing!"
"You will see your big brother Ember. I promise. But it seems that Marshall is busy right now. You can talk to him later okay?"
Ember lowered her ears in response and let out a sad "Okay" before she dragged her paws away from the screen, murdering Ryder's heart. Ashley then looks back on the screen. "Now, Ryder. Please tell me what happened to Marshall."
Ryder looked straight at the screen as he let out a long sigh. "We had a mission down at Sticksburg where I was to carry out a plan to swindle Bubba and hurt his business a little. I ended up not going due to something completely out of my control, so Chase and Marshall volunteered in my stead. They went out yesterday and succeeded for the most part. Chase called me right after and replied that both he and Marshall were fine, and were on a plane set for Foggy Bottom. He was supposed to call me and let me know that they made it, so I can go pick them up but,...no call came in. I tried calling and….nothing. I lost contact with them…..and….I...don't know where they are."
The looks on Sparky and Ashley's face told the story. Stern, confusion, and shock.
"I-If-If I may re-recap." Ashley bereathed. "You sent my pup, to Sticksburg, to double cross a notorious crime boss, and lost all contact with him?"
Ryder shook, noticing the gruffness in her voice. "Y-Yes mam."
Ashley's pupils slowly shrunk, as she started to breathe in and out deeply. Trying to process everything in her mind. Sparky glanced at her.
"Ash? You okay hon?" Sparky asked, Showing his massive worry for his son as well.
"Oh no….no…..I'm not okay, Spark….I'm not." Ashley whined as the tears were slowly rolling down her cheeks. "How could you Ryder? How could you send my son on such a dangerous mission by himself?"
"I….I didn't send him by…."
"I know you sent Chase with him!" Ashley snapped with a growl. "You sent them by yourself without you watching over them! Now they're missing!"
"Miss Ashely, they volunteered. I didn't send them against their will." Ryder insisted, although he was still willing to take full punishment for it all.
"YOU STILL LET THEM GO!" Ashley shrieked.
"Ash! Cool it!" Sparky let out, placing a paw on hers. "You need to step away and cool your jets."
"But Sparky…"
"Ashley. I'm not going to say it again." Sparky insisted sternly. "Getting mad at Ryder will not help. Go cool off until you're ready to come back.
Tears formed in Ashley's eyes, as she suddenly started to sob. Sparky hugged her snuggly, letting her cry on his shoulder. He looked at Ryder with hopeful eyes. "Ryder…..I hope you can find them. Especially our son."
Ryder could see the tears in Sparky's eyes as well, tearing him inside. "I will. I'm going to go look for them...I'll….I'll let you know if I see anything."
Ashley let go of Sparky and looked back at Ryder with damp eyes. "Please find my pup Ryder. I can't go through losing him again."
Ryder couldn't have been more glad to see every pup next to the air patroller, waiting for Ryder's cue to board. They were all looking in awe except Rocky of course who helped develop it.
Despite the troubling time they were in right now, Ryder felt pure excitement for the ship's unveiling. He spent many days and nights working and developing it to be suitable for the pup's travel, and was very happy with how it turned out. Although it was technically still prototype Ryder felt that it was safe enough for his pups to fly. Treating it like a field test.
"Well pups, what do you think?"
"It's amazing Ryder, what's all in it?" Rubble asked.
Ryder walked in between the pups and the airship and pushed a button on his pup pad, opening the door. "Why don't you go inside and see for yourself?"
The pups all yiped and barked as they piled into the ship, with Ryder following them in. They looked around in the mission bay/bridge of the ship. Even though it was discolored due to it being it's prototype phase, the inside still mesmerized them of how spacious it was, with the seats on either side of the pups along with two chairs in front for Ryder and….
"Robodog!" The pups all yipped in unison, earning a couple of barks from their robotic friend, who they have not seen in ages.
"I see you all have missed our little metallic friend." Ryder chuckled with delight.
"Totally Wyder. It's been fowevew!" Zuma wagged and panted.
"I had to do a lot of work on him to get him suitable to pilot the air patroller." Ryder stated. "It's been a long time coming, but now Robodog is back in action!"
The pups howled and yipped as they surrounded the pup, with Rubble giving a big hug to it. "We all missed you so much Robodog!"
Robodog hugged back with a joyful bark, with its eyes showing loving hearts, causing everyone to let out a satisfied awe.
"Aww. It sounds like Robodog missed us too!" Skye warmed with a wide smile.
"This is all so nice and cool Ryder." Everest let out, but her tone had no hint of happiness and excitement. Everyone turned to the husky who looked lost in her sadness. "I just wish Marshall and Chase could see this."
Whines filled the airship as the pups were reminded of why they were leaving.
Ryder went up to the husky and patted her delicately. "We will find them, Everest. I promise you we will."
Although Ryder's assurance eased her, Everest felt more miserable for her friend's well being. "Wh-What if we find them and they're…..they're…. Th-they're…" Everest trailed off as her eyes formed sad tears.
The other pups couldn't move as it got worse for them. However, Ryder continued to reassure her, despite her hinting at a possible dreadful fate for Chase and Marshall. "Maybe we will….Everest. I'm aware of that. But we can't give in now. Chase and Marshall are counting on us to find them, no matter what we find."
"Wyder? I don't want to go through it again!" Zuma creid. "I don't want to lose Mawshall again, and I down wanna lose Chase Also!"
Rocky comforted Zuma on the spot. He was scared too, but he had his faith in his friends. "Zuma, we don't know if they're gone yet. In fact, I think they're okay."
"How do you know that Wocky?! How do you know that Chase and Mawshall awe not dead wight now?!"
"Because Zuma, they are so much stronger than we say they are. Chase may have thought of something to keep kicking, and if it's one thing I know about Marshall, it's that no matter what kills him, Marshall just refuses to die."
"Skylar was strong too."
Rubble's voice cut everyone's in the air like a knife, prompting everybody to direct their attention to the lone bulldog who was usually optimistic. "Skylar was the bravest and strongest pup I knew. But that didn't matter. She still died. If it didn't work for her….how's it going to work for Chase and Marshall?"
To add on the ignorance of Chase and Marshall's fate, the reminder of their friend's death yesterday crushed everyone's growing spirit. Ryder had to restore their spirits if he wanted to have any chance of finding Chase and Marshall. "Pups….listen up."
Everyone looked at Ryder with their fallen faces, wondering what their leader might say.
"I know the chances of finding Chase and Marshall alive are slim and I definitely know that something happened to their plane, but we have got to keep our heads on, because the odds are dead even. Now I can't lie to you all and say that I'm prepared for whatever we will find, but I'm not going to give up because Chase and Marshall are still counting on us to find them, and I ame dead set on doing that no matter what we find. If…..we do find them dead…..we'll go from there, but right now the only thing that matters is finding them. Is that clear?"
The pups all look at eachother, unsure what all of them are thinking. However, Skye of all pups stepped up and glared at Ryder.
"Ryder, If you won't give up, we won't. I know that if Chase were here, he would kick our tails and tell us to get the job done. I may not know as much as you do, but I want to find them, and I imagine everyone else wants to as well."
Skye's valiant effort to push on seemed to have motivated everyone else, as they too stood firmly with her, eyeing Ryder with their sudden confidence.
Ryder smiled widely, feeling their energy to go on. "Well, we're not going to get anything done sitting on our tails. Let's get the vehicles loaded and get this show on the road!"
The pups all howled and bark with enthusiasm as they ran out of the ship to their vehicles. Before he opened the loading bay, Ryder looked out the window towards the direction they were heading.
"Chase? Marshall? Wherever you are, stay strong. We're coming."
The night skyline of Sticksburg came into view after long hours in the air. Not much happened in the airship the whole trip. The pups mostly slept in their seats. The only ones who stayed up were Rubble and Everest, who were sitting across from each other, not saying a word the whole trip.
Ryder looked at the approaching city, reflecting on it's eventful history.
Sticksburg can basically be described as the sister city to Adventure City. The only difference of course is that it was largely occupied by dogs. There are a good number of humans but it didn't start out that way.
Sticksburg was the result of many years of frustration from dogs alike demanding for their freedoms and rights from governments. While political battles around the world were going on, the epicenter of it was Adventure City. The city had a very shady history with dogs, where it was known as one of the biggest places for breeding and adopting dogs for hundreds of years.
An uprising however grew in the city many years ago, as dogs wanted to push for their independence and not wanting to be "owned" by humans. However, Adventure City was less than enthusiastic about it, wanting to keep the industry alive and well for their own gain, ignoring their cries for freedom.
Ages passed and dogs started to get more desperate, which only made it worse for them, as authoritarianism clamped down harder and harder to suppress them. Eventually leading to thousands of dogs, running away from their owners and pushing back as hard as they could. But no matter how hard they pushed, the mere might of Adventure City's government pushed harder.
After realizing that they were fighting a battle they couldn't win, the dogs fled the city, migrating to an uninhabited land, miles away from Adventure City, opting to develop a place that recognizes canies as independent beings, and when they claimed their independence, they meant it. They detached themselves from the United States, and developed their own society with no help from humans. That did take a while as they had to find ways to make their settlement suitable, while wanting to emulate what the success the humans have achieved.
In the years past, Sticksburg grew from a small settlement to a full fledged skyline city that could rival Adventure City. They were still behind in some areas, as they tried to keep up with but they still impressed everyone who claimed that it wouldn't last a century. It grew and grew as more dogs came to grow with the city and restart their lives.
One of the reasons was that they took a big risk by annexing themselves from the United States, and opted to self govern themselves and were successful at keeping the US's nose completely out, at the US's displeasure. They were essentially their own nation, governing themselves by emulating the wolves' culture and mixing democracy in it.
The city was separated into five districts. Glare districts, Bone district, Hector District, Richter District, and Precious District. Glare was the epicenter, where the elected Alpha of Sticksburg resides and governs the city with senators who were dubbed Betas, with each district having elected Deltas to oversee them and assist the Alpha. They also have a judicial system of course, complete with a supreme court and district courts. It was pretty much a bare basic democracy. Pretty ironic that they ended up imitating the United States government, the only glaring difference is that The Alpha had more power over the legislative due to the wolves' influence.
For a while, the system actually worked, with Sticksburg attracting many dogs from around the world, with businesses and entertainment building the city more and more as the center for dog's freedoms and the city had the potential to be a global power for the world.
However, one issue has constantly prevented the city from reaching that potential, and that of course was the city's unbelievable crime rate. Entering into the mid 2000s, Sticksburg's crime rate became the highest in the Adventure Plateau. Ironic considering that they aimed to be better than Adventure City. For years, the districts has suffered under the paws of notorious crime bosses, like Bubba and the kingpin of it all, Ozzie.
Ozzie's grip has strangled Sticksburg so thin, the many citizens exiled themselves for survival. If there were any citizens still residing in the city, they were either more corrupt than a two dollar bill, or residents that stay because the attraction of freedom from humans is far too great.
Bottom line, What used to be the centerpiece for dog's rights, morphed to a typical fallen metropolis, just with dogs.
Ryder had to be careful in Sticksburg. Sure the city eased up on human relations, they still weren't popular with the citizens. Though Ryder contributed to dogkind was notable, so he wouldn't be egged on per say. But he also recently double crossed one of the city's huge crime bosses, Bubba, who has a strong relationship with Ozzie. Ryder hoped he wouldn't confront Bubba, though he had a gut feeling that he would face him anyway.
Before Ryder could wake his pups up to announce their arrival, Ryder saw that a call was coming through on the line.
"This is The Sticksburg airport control tower. Please identify yourself and state your business in Sticksburg."
Ryder pushed the button to answer the call. "This is Ryder of the Paw Patrol. Requesting to land on your airstrip."
A few seconds went by as the airship got closer to the airport. Ryder instructed Robodog to slow up on their approach while waiting for clearance to land.
"Ryder, you are hereby cleared to land. We strongly request you to register your aircraft for future arrivals."
"Roger that control. I'll have that squared away as soon as I land. Thank you."
"Of course Ryder. Cause no trouble."
Ryder chuckled the remark off as he turned to his pups. "Okay pups, we're here. Get ready to land."
The pups slowly get up and shake themselves awake, before joining Ryder at the controls. They were immediately awed at the mere size of the city below them. Most of them had never seen a city of that size in their lives. What made it better was the time of day dictating the lights that were on in the various buildings and billboards, producing a slight glare along the outline of the skyline.
"Whoooooooa." Zuma slurred. Stunned by the magnificent sight. "That is totally cool, and sooo big."
"Eh. You get used to it." Rocky commented, being one of the two pups who'd been in a city before, even lived in it. The other being Skye of course, who had been to countless cities, thanks to her family's traveling airshow. Though even they couldn't deny the beautiful night a bit.
"I would hate to get lost there." Everest said in awe. "I wouldn't even know which way to go."
"Much said Everest. Which is why we need to stick together." Ryder implored. "I don't want any of you pups straying off and getting lost. So no isolated adventures. Understood?"
"Yes Ryder!" The pups acknowledged as Robodog begins to land the air patroller in a specific spot on the airstrip.
After a lengthy preparation, Ryder helped the robot land it safely as they could. It would've been a smooth landing if the airship wasn't still in prototype mode, as they pounded the ground a little too hard, causing everyone to comically jumble to the ground.
"Ow. Nice landing, Ryder." Skye mocked with a grin, earning a collection of laughs from the patrol.
"Y-Yeah. I guess I still need to work on that." Ryder chuckled.
When they all collected themselves and fastened their gear together, the team all poured out of the airship and onto the landing pad. They aimed to get to their vehicles, but suddenly noticed the sound of sirens and blinding blue and red lights growing in their ears and eyes. They then see a brigade of police patrol cars suddenly surround the air patroller. Ryder and the pups froze as police dogs burst out of the cars, crouched behind their doors, and aimed their guns at them. Causing the pups to be completely confused and scared.
"Bellies on the ground pups and paws behind your head!" An officer announced with an authoritative voice. "Hands up human!"
Due to the shocked state of the pups, neither one of them had any ability to follow the harsh orders. Zuma and Rubble started to shake, while Skye, Rocky, and Everest were completely paralyzed in fear. Ryder was very confused, but before he could ask, the officer barked coldly.
"I said on the ground! NOW!"
The pups slammed their bellies to the pavement, placing their forepaws behind their heads, filling the air with terrified whimpers.
Ryder slowly raised his hands up in the air for the officers to see, not wanting to cause any sort of trouble. An army of police officers then approach them, shackle, and muzzle the pups, while a lone deputy cuffs Ryder's hands.
"Ryder, fraid you and your pups have to come down to the precinct with us. You're under arrest." The deputy announced.
"For what purpose?" Ryder grimed. "We just got here."
"For being accomplices, in the murder of Skylar." The deputy replied, as he shoved Ryder to his car. While the rest of the officers did the same, as they arrested the Paw Patrol.
(A/N): Uh oh! That's not good. That's not good at all. It seems that before the Paw Patrol can even start their search, They are arrested the minute they set paw in Sticksburg.
How in the world are they going to find Chase and Marshall behind bars? Will they even get out at all?
Find out next when Jailed is released!
Part 2 will probably be uploaded sometime near the beginning of May. Hopefully by then, Dally would be all ready to go and I can get back to working on Lost and Found.
Once again I want to thank you all for having so much for your patience and understanding, and hope you all liked this slight return of Lost and Found!
Question of the Chapter: Do you think there is still hope for Sticksburg? Or is it doomed to fall?
let me know in your review!
Please review and tell me your favorite parts and if you have any questions about the story or anything else, just put it in your review or pm me and l'll get back with you as soon as I can.
This Is Sean Thames of Dragonsfire Entertainment signing off!