"So you want to take Everest back to Adventure Bay with the rest of the pups?" Jake asked, interested in what Ryder was telling him.

"Yeah. Chase and Marshall are in an unknown location right now, as is Skye..." Ryder explained, "So we're going to need Everest as a main responder for a little while in case all of the other pups are doing their jobs."

Jake nodded, "But what about her head injury?"

"She's not going to jump right into rescues immediately, but she should be all good in a few days, based on what Marshall told me."

Ryder and Jake watched as four pups ran past the cabin. Rocky, Everest and Zuma were in a three-way race to a tree nearby. Rubble was announcing their race as it unfolded Everest, despite her previous concussion, was in the lead, followed by Zuma, then Rocky.

It had been six days since Skye was taken, and Everest got her head injury. The Husky had been improving steadily over the past few days after waking up, enough to be able to run without affecting her injury negatively.

"It looks like Everest is going to take this race home today, folks!" Rubble announced, "But wait, what's that?"

Zuma began running faster, slowly catching up to the oldest pup.

"Zuma is catching up to Everest, but will he overtake her?"

The Chocolate Lab began slowly passing Everest, trying his best to win the race. The Husky pup wasn't having any of this, though, as she began picking up her pace.

Rocky, even though he was in last place, didn't really mind it. He had front row seats to the events unfolding before his eyes. He knew that the two competitive pups would be completely out of breath afterwards.

Ten feet from the tree, Zuma managed to pass Everest.

Seven feet away, Everest took her first place spot back from Zuma.

Five feet...

Four...

Three...

"Woah!" Suddenly, Everest slipped and began tumbling on the snow. Rocky, who wasn't able to stop in time. The mongrel tripped over the snow rescue pup and landed on his face in the snow.

"The winner is Zuma!" Rubble announced before howling.

"I win!" The Chocolate Lab cheered, his tail wagging, "That was a little too easy, Ev— Oh..."

Zuma turned around to see Rocky and Everest on the ground and covered in snow. Rubble and Zuma walked to the two pups and went to help them up.

"You good, dude?" Zuma asked, helping Rocky up.

"I'm fine..." Rocky smiled at his best friend.

"Are you okay, Everest?" Rubble helped the Husky to her feet, "That was Marshall level crashing."

"Right..." Everest's ears fell, "...Marshall..."

Rocky, Zuma, and Rubble all exchanged looks. They had completely forgotten why they were having the race in the first place. After the strange call from Marshall, Everest didn't exactly seem too happy. Neither did Ryder, but the boy seemed more confused than anything.

Everest, meanwhile, was fuming. She, like everyone else at the cabin, knew that there was more going on than what Marshall was letting on. That, and how serious Chase sounded when calling out to Marshall. It was almost as if he was more mature.

So was Marshall, for that matter. When confronted about what was going on, Marshall remained firm and resolute. He would usually fold the moment any pressure was applied to him. How much were they unaware of? What was happening outside of Adventure Bay? And most importantly, what was happening to Marshall and Chase?

The Husky sat there, staring at the snow. She had been completely unaware of the fact that she had been sitting there, staring at the ground for five minutes.

"Everest..." Zuma put a paw on her shoulder, "I think we're not giving Chase and Marshall enough credit."

Everyone's eyes turned to the Chocolate Lab with great interest.

The very same pup who had broken down over the state of the PAW Patrol and the unknown variables pushing the four ahead to a destiny yet unwritten, was comforting Everest about it. It seemed as though his talk with Rocky had helped his point of view, and after a good night's rest, Zuma was back to the lax and laid-back pup he had always been since joining the team.

"What do you mean?" Rocky chimed in with a question of his own.

"Dude, they're Chase and Marshall!" The Lab smiled brightly, "When those two are together, what can't they do?"

This seemed to convince Rubble, "You're right. We're all so worried about them, that—-"

"—-We forgot that they have each other's backs!" Rocky continued, seeming motivated by this sentiment.

"And they have Skye's." Zuma nodded, "We saw that despite the fact that things went wrong, Marshall and Chase are still fighting for her."

"That's right, pups!" The four heard a voice, "And we won't stop fighting for her either."

The four pups saw a smiling Ryder looking down at them.

He certainly needed to have a talk with Chase and Marshall once they got back, but aside from that, he decided to trust his pups' judgment and leave them to their devices. He was just glad that the two were okay enough to keep chasing after Sweetie.

"How are we gonna help?" Everest asked.

"By making sure they return to a peaceful Adventure Bay." Ryder kneeled down to Everest, "And Everest, I have a suggestion for a way you can help us more."

"Okay, let's try this one more time, Chase..." Marshall glared at him.

Chase cracked his neck, "Only if you think you can take it, Marshall."

"Oh I know I can take it."

"I don't think you can take it."

"You better believe I can take it."

"Then let's find out."

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

"Ha!" Marshall grinned, "I win!"

"What?" Chase looked at him confusedly, "We both held out paper."

"No, I held out scissors."

"What's the difference? We have paws, this is a human game!" The Shepherd questioned as he pointed at Marshall.

"True... Perhaps..."

"So you know that there's no point, so then why—ow!" Chase yelped, holding the bandage on his right cheek. He must have irritated the cut with his rapid speaking.

The two were interrupted by the now familiar sound of Robo-Dog barking.

"What's up, R.D?" Marshall asked as he and Chase walked into the driver's area, "What is it boy?"

Robo-Dog barked once more, prompting the two to look forward.

Once they did, the duo gasped with surprise. They were currently approaching a small, rustic town.

"Rufftopolis?" Marshall asked slowly, hopping onto the passenger seat and looking around, "It's so... Old looking..."

Chase looked at a river, which was flowing into a waterwheel, "No kidding. It's like this place is..."

"...Trapped in time..." The duo remarked in unison.

Once finding a hiding spot, Chase ordered Robo-Dog to remain on standby for a call from either himself or Marshall before the duo walked out of the PAW Patroller.

Chase and Marshall agreed to keep their Mission PAW uniforms on, so they could avoid damaging any more of their clothes. Marshall grabbed his EMT pack in case he or Chase got into any more trouble.

Chase looked at Marshall, "Let's split up, and meet back at the PAW Patroller by sundown."

"Split up!?" The Dally seemed shocked by what his best friend had said, "Why?"

"It's almost been a week since Skye was pupnapped, we need to pick up our pace."

Marshall nodded, realizing that the police pup was right. Quickly deciding to go to the left of the PAW Patroller, he watched Chase walk off to the right of the large vehicle. For the first time since embarking to Barkingburg, he was on his own. Taking a deep breath, he headed in his own direction.

"B-Be careful out there. You know what happened last time you were piloting in such weather."

"I'll be okay, Chase. I'll be back before you can say Chase is on the case!"

"Awww!"

"Chase has puppy love!"

The memory of his final interaction with Skye before she had been pupnapped by Sweetie continued to haunt the Shepherd with every moment spent looking for his lost crush. He hated that he couldn't blame himself. Whenever he would do something wrong, all he would have to do was work harder next time, but what would he do when things were out of his control? Sure, he could plan ahead and think about the situations, but how much could you really plan before you would eventually become paranoid?

Six whole days. He let Skye be missing for almost a week. What was he going to do? If Skye and Sweetie weren't in Rufftopolis, then the trail would undoubtedly run cold, and they'd be forced to return to Adventure Bay to get more information.

He was going above and beyond just trying to find clues, proved by the wound currently on his right cheek. Most of the time he had forgotten that he even had such an injury, only reminded of it whenever Marshall would look at it or when it would hurt from talking too much. He hadn't even thought about how the other pups would react to such an injury.

Heck, how would SKYE react when she finds out he got such an injury over her.

She'd surely feel guilty for it. The Shepherd knew that Skye would blame herself for getting captured, resulting in Chase and Marshall going on such a mission and him getting injured. That was one of the many things that spurred Chase to have feelings for the Cockapoo. He admired how empathetic and gentle she was while treating the other pups when they were in danger or sad, almost acting like a protective sister to all of the pups. That drove the Shepherd pup crazy.

Chase then pulled out a familiar pup tag.

While in Adventure Bay, Chase had grabbed Skye's pup tag to take with them to Rufftopolis. He planned to return her pup tag when they found her, but it seemed as though he would have to wait a bit longer to give it back. He didn't care how much further he had to search, he would round the whole world for her. He'd do it for any of his team mates, but this hit a bit closer to home. It actually hurt him knowing the types of situations Skye could be in.

"I'm gonna find you, Skye..." Chase stopped as he began speaking to her pup tag, "And when I do, we're gonna get home—"

"Chase!" His pup tag suddenly lit up, Marshall's voice coming out of it, "Big trouble!"

"Huh? What's wrong?" The Shepherd replied, looking down at his tag.

"The knights tracked us down!" The Dally whimpered quietly, "I don't know how, but they did. We have to get out of here."

"But what if Skye's—"

"What about us? We have to go!"

Chase shook his head, acknowledging that Marshall was right. He didn't know what about the high stakes situations caused Marshall to be right more than usual, but he had no time to question it.

"Get back to the PAW Patroller. If you encounter the knights, survive by any means necessary."

"You got it, Chase!"

Chase looked around before beginning to sprint in the direction of the PAW Patroller.

Marshall, meanwhile, walked into what seemed to be an old-timey bar. The Dalmatian looked around, figuring that this would be the best place to hide out from the knights. The bar seemed to be empty, only the bartender cleaning a glass cup facing the Dally.

"Bartender!" Sir Pupcival burst through the doors, "Your finest drinks for me and my companions!"

Bad move...

The Dally dived behind a nearby table, hoping to hide himself for the time being. He watched as the five knights that attacked him and Chase walked in and took their seats. Marshall put a paw over his mouth, hoping that he hadn't just been spotted.

"Are you also grabbing one for your friend?" The bartender asked.

"Friend?"

"The Dalmatian over there."

Marshall let out a faint whimper.

"Dalmatian!?" The five pups of the roundtable instantly became alert.

"Oh dog oh dog I'm so done for..." Marshall began quietly rummaging through his medical pup pack for something, anything, to defend himself with.

He then felt a cloth press against his paw, something that wasn't supposed to be in an EMT pack. The Dally pulled the item out, and smiled enthusiastically at what he found.

"Come out and surrender!" Sir Growlahad shouted, stepping in front of the group of knight pups.

The knight pup walked over to where the bartender pointed, peeked around, and saw nobody.

"What...?"

"Quiet as a mouse..." Marshall thought, using his forepaws to hold himself to the underside of the ceiling.

He thought he had lost his pup-fu belt months ago. He wasn't sure why, but whenever he had the belt on, originally given to him by Farmer Yumi, his confidence shot up by leaps and bounds. For some reason, he was the top at pup-fu out of Rubble, Chase, Rocky, Zuma, Skye, and himself. He had even managed to achieve a rank above the others because of his efforts. If he wasn't able to hide out, then he'd surely fight his way out.

"Up here!" Marshall shouted down at them.

"Witchcraft!" One of the knights exclaimed.

"No, it's pup-fu!" The Dally let go of the ceiling, landing on one of the knights, making him drop his sword.

Sure, Marshall could have just escaped while the pups were looking around, but with the pup-fu belt on, anything seemed to be possible, even a five on one against a bunch of pups with armor and swords.

"Sir Bone the Younger!" Sir Growlahad exclaimed, letting out a disdainful growl.

"Wait, that's your name...?" Marshall looked down at the unconscious knight, "You poor pup..."

"Get him!"

Marshall yelped, grabbing Sir Bone's sword and dashing out of the small building.

"Where is he...?" Chase paced back and forth within the PAW Patroller, worried for his best friend.

Marshall had always been a bit more airheaded than Chase. Not dumb by a long shot, but Chase often found himself helping Marshall not get himself into trouble during their younger years. He was well aware of how much this experience resonated with Marshall, but the Shepherd couldn't help but think that his best friend had gotten into trouble.

Little did he know, he was right.

"Start the Patroller!"

What?

"Chase, Robo-Dog, start the Patroller!"

Chase opened the PAW Patroller door to see a familiar Dally, sword in mouth, pup-fu belt on, sprinting towards them with four knight pups in hot pursuit.

Robo-Dog noticed this as well, turning the vehicle on and starting the engine.

"Step on it!" Marshall shouted as he approached the vehicle.

"Go!" Chase shouted at Robo-Dog, who barked in reply and began rolling slowly to allow Marshall to catch up.

Chase, meanwhile, dashed to another area within the PAW Patroller and grabbed one of the many nets he would use on his missions. The Shepherd then ran back to the open door, noticing that the PAW Patroller had picked up its speed.

"Hey, Marshall!" Chase threw the net out, holding onto the other side with his teeth, "Grab on!"

Marshall jumped forward, grabbing onto the net with his paws.

As the PAW Patroller shifted to full speed, Chase finally pulled Marshall in and closed the door behind them. The duo flopped on the floor of the vehicle, breathing heavily and staring at the interior ceiling.

Chase glanced at Marshall, "Did you steal that sword?"

"Whaaaaat?" The Dally asked with a smile, "No, I just confiscated it!"

"Why'd you take that sword?"

"Well, you seemed to be great at sword fighting back in Barkingburg." He shrugged.

"I wouldn't say great is the right word..." Chase looked away, "I saw the sword on the ground and did the best I could to survive..."

"Well you can get better while we travel!" Marshall optimistically dropped the sword in front of his best friend, "And I think sword fighting would look really cool!"

The Shepherd shook his head, "Pups don't fight because it's cool. It's because they couldn't use their words properly."

"I think we're way past the point of using our words." The Dalmatian chuckled, "Besides, we have to defend ourselves. Self-defense is pardonable in law, right?"

Chase raised an eyebrow. While Marshall was correct, maybe he could find other ways to defend himself than learning a new way to fight just for this mission. It seemed entirely too unnecessary. Not to mention that Marshall seemed way too excited for this. Suspiciously excited.

"You just want to see me sword fight, don't you?"

"Chase PLEASEEEE!" Marshall childishly begged, "If we want to keep ourselves safe, you'd be able to do it really well! Besides, think about how cool it would look! You know, to Skye?"

The Shepherd's tail instantly began wagging at the mention of the aviation pup, but Chase tried to remain unaffected, "She has nothing to do with this."

"I think Chase's tail says otherwise..." The Dally looked at his best friend's wagging tail.

"Shut it, Marshall."

As the Dalmatian laughed, Chase heard a familiar ringing from the screen in the mission briefing section of the large vehicle.

"What the...?" Chase turned to where the noise was coming from, "Is that a ring?"

As Chase got up to leave, Marshall followed behind him, "Don't change the subject."

The duo walked into the mission briefing section. They saw a familiar phone insignia on the screen. The two looked at the other, a bit confused as to who could be calling them. Chances were that Ryder was back in Adventure Bay and saw that they had taken the PAW Patroller, and they were well aware of it.

They nodded at the other, knowing that they had to accept the call regardless. Chase went to hide as Marshall answered the call.

"Ryder! Ryder!" A face came into view, but was too close to discern who exactly was calling the PAW Patroller, "...Wait... Marshall?"

Backing up from the screen a bit was a familiar Dachshund, who looked extremely worried.

"Liberty!?" Marshall asked loudly.

"Liberty?" Chase peered from his hiding spot, confused.

"Chase?" Liberty's eyes turned to the Shepherd, "Woah, you look rough, my guy! Both of you do, for that matter!"

"Thanks..." The Shepherd sighed, gently rubbing the bandage on his cheek.

"I've looked loads better..." Marshall smiled awkwardly.

"Anyways, where's Ryder and the pups?"

"Not here, they're still in Adventure Bay." Chase replied.

"Wait then why are you two so far from...?" She began to ask, but stopped herself, "Better question, is Skye with you guys?

The Shepherd's ears fell, "...What are you getting at?"

"I think Skye might be in Adventure City." Liberty told them, "She didn't have her collar or anything, but I could have sworn that she looked just like Skye."

"How'd you find out about all this?" Chase looked a bit confused, "And why did you call the PAW Patroller to address it?"

"I saw in the Adventure City lookout that the PAW Patroller was on the move. I kind of thought you guys were going somewhere so I called."

"And where did you see Skye?" Chase asked.

"On the news, everywhere!" Liberty exclaimed, "Adventure City is buzzing about two wild pups fighting each other on the streets! This doesn't happen very often!"

"Two pups?" Marshall chimed in.

"Yeah. Skye, and a white female pup."

"Sweetie!" Chase and Marshall chorused.

"Who?" Liberty was confused.

Chase sighed, "We'll explain everything. Grab a snack, you're in for a long explanation."

Marshall went to tell Robo-Dog about their next location.

The Shepherd and Dachshund looked at each other, Liberty realizing that the situation she had just unknowingly joined into was a lot more serious than she had originally thought. Sure there was the bandage on Chase's cheek, but she knew that the PAW Patrol were always doing dangerous things. It could've just been another accident during a rescue.

She would know, as she was a fully-fledged member of the PAW Patrol now. Not just the self-proclaimed honorary pup with a dingy wagon that constantly and annoyingly made that horrific squeaking noise. Those days were behind her, thankfully...

Chase, on the other hand, was hit with a bunch of emotions. He was possibly getting information on the current location of Skye! But on the other paw, he was about to reveal everything to somebody who wasn't on this mission. If she told Ryder anything, then everything would fall through. But what other choice did he have?

Marshall sat in the passenger seat, thinking that it would be better for Chase to explain everything. Besides, he couldn't hold himself back. He was so excited! He and Chase were going to find Skye, and everything would be okay! He'd get to watch Chase finally confess to her, and things would go back to their peaceful state.

The Dally chuckled to himself, "I'm really fired up now!"

Full speed ahead! Destination: Adventure City!