Rumble...

Rumble...

What happened?

Rumble...

Rumble...Crack!

Chase awoke with a start, panting heavily. He quickly looked around, wondering what happened to him. He soon realized that he was in a vehicle that looked like the PAW Patroller, yet a bit different from what he was used to. It must've been the vehicle Ryder and the other pups used to get to Adventure City so quickly. He gently rubbed his head, trying to remember how he got there. Last thing he remembered, he was ready to start the first mission in two weeks all of the pups were there for, even switching up his phrase to fit the special occasion.

"PAW Patrol, back in action and ready for action, Ryder Sir!"

If he was about to begin the mission, then what happened between that moment and now?

He looked out of the window, his ears and tail falling as soon as he did. Adventure City was in shambles. It was quickly brought to his attention that the earthquake started again, but greater than the first spurt.

Chase turned around and headed to the driver's seat, hoping that somebody, anybody was there for him to talk to about this.

"Autopilot?" The Shepherd asked confusedly, looking at the destination listed on the screen. He was well on his way back to Adventure Bay, "When did Ryder do this!?"

Wait...

"Ryder!" He shouted, turning around.

Had it been his owner to put him in this PAW Patroller and send him home? Why couldn't he have remained in the Adventure City lookout? The sound of a building collapsing reminded him that being unconscious in Adventure City was pretty much a death sentence by this point.

Chase ran to the back of the PAW Patroller, looking out of the back window, "...I gotta go back."

"That should be everyone, Sweetie!" Skye exclaimed, piloting her Adventure City helicopter.

The white Terrier was sitting next to her, albeit reluctantly, as she had nothing else to do and no other way to get home after this all ended. Not only that, but they had found Busby, promising to give it back as soon as they were done with the rescues.

This absolutely wasn't for them, it was for Busby.

The pups watched as Ryder returned to the main room, "There, Chase is well on his way back to Adventure Bay now. As for us, we still have a big rescue to complete before we go home."

The pups nodded.

"I'm going to need all paws on deck for this." He continued, "That means you guys as well."

He turned to Siren and Sweetie, who looked respectively confused by this statement.

"You know, your special talent could be a good help for evacuation." Skye commented, "Especially since we don't have Chase with us right now..."

"Special talent?" Rocky asked confusedly.

"Oh, I can show you guys if you want me—"

"No!" Both Skye and Sweetie shouted in unison.

The Cockapoo put a paw on the little Lab's head, "But we will need you to show them later."

"Wait, you really want me to help you guys?" Siren asked, his tail beginning to wag, "Of course I will! Let's do this!"

The other pups watched as the youngest in the room began jumping up and down cheerfully, laughing to himself.

"There is absolutely no way I'll be helping you!" She declared with disdain, "Helping others was a one time thing, and once only!"

Marshall grinned at her, pulling something out of his pocket, "If you help, you'll be rewarded handsomely..."

The Dally brandished Sweetie's favorite toy in the world, Busby. She had come to terms with the fact that she would never see him again, yet he was in the clutches of the PAW Patrol for who knows how long? Absolutely unforgivable!

"Unhand him this instant!" She demanded.

Marshall waved the toy in front of her, thoroughly enjoying having the royal pooch on the defensive end, "Help us save Adventure City, and you get the toy."

"Ugh, you'll pay for this..."

"She's on board!" Skye cheered.

"Alright!" Ryder returned to stand in front of the screen, "For this mission, I'll be splitting you pups into teams."

They nodded in response.

"First, I'll need..." He tapped in his pup pad, a familiar helicopter blade insignia appearing on the big screen, "Skye. I'll need you and Rocky to be on watch duty. I need you to make sure that everyone has evacuated."

"Let's take to the skies!" For the first time in what seemed like ages, she performed her signature flip, wobbly landing on her paws, "...Whoops, a little rusty." She giggled.

"Rocky, while you and Skye are watching, make sure none of the buildings collapse any further by building some disposable beams to hold them still."

He smirked, "Green means go!"

"And I'll also need you two to take Sweetie along for an extra pair of eyes."

Skye elbowed the Terrier, who was sitting on her left.

"What?"

"Say something. Like a phrase or quip." She told her.

"I'm not doing that."

Marshall chimed in, "Do it or you're not getting Busby back."

Sweetie sighed faintly, her eyes lowering to the ground. Had she really stooped this low during her time in Adventure City? She had never been so embarrassed. She would definitely get them back for this when she became queen.

"My radiance will shine, this rescue's mine!"

All of the other pups, with the exception of Siren for obvious reasons, let loose a cheerful howl.

"S-Shut up..." Sweetie blushed embarrassedly, looking away from them.

Ryder chuckled. While he was well aware that Sweetie was the reason they were even in Adventure City in the first place, it was clear from the various bruises on her body that she had paid the price for her actions dearly. She even had more on her body than Skye herself had.

He realized that it could wait a bit before he dealt with Sweetie. For now, they needed all of the help they could get.

"Rubble and Liberty, you two will work on finding citizens and taking them to Marshall for a checkup for injuries."

"Rubble on the double!"

"I'm ready to ride!"

"Ready for a ruff-ruff rescue!"

"Everest, Zuma and... Siren, was it?" Ryder looked at the two Labs, "You guys are with me, making sure the stragglers are attended to properly."

The Husky grinned, "Off the trail, Everest won't fail!"

"Let's dive in!" Zuma exclaimed.

"You can use Siren's talent to work as a substitute for Chase's megaphone!" Skye recommended.

"Your talent?" Ryder turned to the little pup.

"I have a sup...Super..." He tried to say, but couldn't properly articulate such a long word by his standards.

"Supersonic howl, little mutt." Sweetie rolled her eyes, "And it isn't nearly as strong to be considered supersonic."

"Like Chase's charged up mighty power?" Ryder raised an eyebrow.

"Not... Exactly..." Skye thought, "Chase's only works in one direction, and is more like an attack. Siren just lets it rip everywhere."

"He lets it rip everywhere?" Rubble began giggling at the immature thought.

"Rubble..." The pups chorused with their own exasperated groans.

"Gross..." Sweetie remarked.

"Siren, are you willing to use your talent to assist the PAW Patrol?" He asked, kneeling down to the young pup, "It will be a little dangerous, but we need your help."

The Labrador Retriever's eyes sparkled, "Yes! Yes! A hundred times yes!" He exclaimed, jumping up down.

"You're with me and Zuma. Let's do this."

Ryder held out a hand to the little pup.

"Scream and shout, I'll go all out!" He bellowed, putting his paw on Ryder's.

Once again, the pups howled, but this time, Siren couldn't hold in his excitement. He let loose a howl, making each of them cover their ears with yelps and screams. A bit of the glass overlooking Adventure City cracked a bit as well. Once Siren realized what he was doing, he smiled sheepishly.

"Whoops, sorry..."

Sweetie groaned as they flew over a building, leaning back in the passenger seat of Skye's cockpit, "Let's just get the final scout over with."

"How's it looking down there, Rocky?" Skye asked through her helicopter speaker built into the Adventure City based gear.

"Everything looks good!" She heard him reply, "I've been stabilizing these buildings, and I still have stuff to use."

"That's great! We're making final rounds, then we're good with our side of the mission! Over and out."

What Skye didn't notice, however, was that a nearby building was beginning to collapse. Rocky hadn't gotten to that building yet, and it proved to be more of an issue than what they had initially expected.

As the building crumbled, debris was sent flying in every direction with a loud crash, alerting everyone's attention. Rocky dived into his vehicle to avoid being hit by any of the debris, while Skye tried her best to pilot through the debris flying thir way.

That was until the helicopter was impaled at the bottom by a long metallic object. Skye and Sweetie were both able to feel the impact of this object, nearly slamming into the cockpit controls as they rocked in the helicopter.

"Oh no..." Skye whimpered.

As soon as she spoke, the helicopter began careening toward the ground.

Skye quickly turned on her speaker once more, "Mayday! Mayday! Helicopter going down! I repeat; Mayday, Mayday! Helicopter is going down!"

"We're on our way Skye. Try to get out of there!" They heard Ryder speak.

Sweetie, on the other paw, was panicking, "What do we do!?"

"Don't worry, I have parachutes just in case." Skye answered calmly, grabbing two packs, "Just put it on and jump. It activates automatically."

"Okay, okay!" She quickly put the parachute on, unbuckling her seatbelt.

Sweetie was about to jump, until...

"My belt's stuck!"

The Terrier turned around to see that Skye, in fact, was still in her seatbelt, desperately pressing the button on it. It was then that time seemed to grind to a slow stop. She obviously wanted to get out of there, but why was she hesitating so much?

"Home isn't a building or where you lay your head at night. Have you ever heard the expression, 'home is where the heart is'?"

Sweetie shook her head, "Not in the slightest, old man."

Sweetie shut her eyes tight, trying desperately to shake away the thoughts that were bubbling in her mind. There was no way that she was actually thinking about what that old mutt said to her. It was just the delusional rambles belonging to a piece of the past that was just waiting to disappear.

Right?

"The way I see it, you only truly become homeless when there is nobody left that cares about 'ya. I've had a home ever since Jackson came into my life, and that home kept getting bigger and bigger when Marcy and eventually Siren came along. Now, there's a house big enough for the four of us. Laughter is our beds, and progress is our nourishment."

And yet here she was, having taken Skye from her home and put her in the situation in the first place. Could she really consider this a success? Sure she had gotten Skye to Adventure City successfully, but where did that get her?

In a falling helicopter while seated next to one of her least favorite PAW Patrol members?

Home, huh?

Sweetie completely turned her body to Skye, moving over to sit next to her once again. Skye looked at the Terrier with confusion.

"Is that so?" The white Terrier asked, seemingly disinterested.

"A little food for thought, Terrier to Terrier." With that, Grandpa walked away to leave Sweetie with her thoughts.

The royal pooch then leaned down, beginning to gnaw at Skye's seatbelt, planning to get her out of it.

"What are you doing?" Skye asked, looking down at her.

"I'm getting you out of here. So be quiet and stop squirming so much!" She shouted back.

The Cockapoo was in utter shock, "Get out of here! Leave me! I'm not going to make it!"

"Typical Skye, always thinking of others!" Sweetie barked at her, "You've always been so selfless!"

The aviation pup's eyes widened. She could've sworn she heard that somewhere before. But it sounded different from whatever it originally was. Regardless, she couldn't believe her eyes and ears. The very pup to take her from her home, friends, owner and crush for her own personal gain was currently trying her hardest to break the belt keeping her from escaping. She was risking her life. It was dumb of the Terrier, but a surprisingly selfless thing of her to to do.

The ground was approaching fast, something that both pups were aware of. Both felt a cold sweat develop beneath their floor as they both struggled against the jammed seatbelt.

Before Skye knew it, she was out.

But it seemed to be too late. They were dangerously close to the ground, and the only way either of them would be able to escape is with a jumpstart.

Sweetie seemed aware of this, grabbing Skye by her backpack in her teeth and throwing her out of the vehicle.

Sweetie looked at the Cockapoo, "Go home, to him..."

She felt her parachute open and fling her toward another building. Everything went dark.

"Ryder, come in Ryder!" Chase shouted into the speaker in front of the PAW Patroller 2.0.

"Chase?" He heard from the other end, "How are you up? And why is the PAW Patroller heading toward us and not to Adventure Bay?"

Chase, who was at the driver's seat, glared forward at the road, "I took over! I'm on my way! What's our status?"

"Chase, I can't just—"

"With all due respect, Ryder Sir, but I swore not to go home without you guys." Chase swerved, trying his best to control the large vehicle, "What is our status!?"

"Sweetie and Skye went down in her helicopter, and they're both missing. However, I see a parachute sticking out of a nearby building. That might be one of them, or both."

"Location?"

"Northwest Adventure City."

Chase slammed his foot on the pedal, "Copy."

"Be careful."

"Yes sir."

"And Chase?"

"Hm?"

"I love you, too."

Ryder went to leave, Chase and Marshall watching his back. The Shepherd looked down at the floor. A faint mutter escaped the police pup's mouth.

"I love you."

Meanwhile, Marshall had just finished patching a few citizens up. He thought about what he had heard over the radio from his Adventure City ambulance. Skye and Sweetie were going down, but he had hoped they managed to land properly. That hope had been tarnished when he saw the explosion. He began to wonder how Chase would react, before hearing the sound of a familiar tune entering his ears.

"PAW Patrol!"

"PAW Patrol!"

"We'll be there on the double!"

Was that a radio?

The Dally turned around to see the PAW Patroller 2.0 heading his way. Upon closer examination, he recognized his sworn brother clumsily operating the wheel. He was able to tell that the Shepherd felt fatigued by how he was barely able to keep his eyes open. Well, there was his answer as to how Chase would react.

The vehicle raced past.

"Whenever there's a problem..."

"...'Round Adventure Bay!"

"Ryder and his team of pups are here to save the day!"

"Marshall!"

The Dalmatian ran towards the PAW Patroller, which was quickly fading from sight, "Go for it, man!"

"Rubble!"

The Bulldog pushed a bit of debris to the side as he watched Chase pass by.

"Chase!"

The police pup slumped in his seat, the exhaustion catching up with him, "I can't faint again... Get it together, Officer Chase!"

"Rocky!"

"Wait, he's coming here?" Rocky asked, "How did he bypass the location lock on the Patroller."

"Love makes you do crazy things..." Ryder smiled faintly.

"That still doesn't answer my question!"

"Zuma!"

The aquatic rescue pup watched with Siren as they saw the PAW Patroller swerve around a bend.

"Skye!"

The Cockapoo groaned as she opened her eyes, "...What...?"

"I'm on my way!" Chase shouted to the tune of the song.

"PAW Patrol!"

"PAW Patrol!"

"Whenever you're in trouble,"

"PAW Patrol!"

"PAW Patrol!"

"We'll be there on the double!"

"No job's too big, no pup's too small!"

"PAW Patrol, we're on a roll!"

"So here we go, PAW Patrol!"

He smiled to himself. The song currently blasting through his radio had always served as a beacon of hope after a popular artist made them the song after their rescue in Adventure City, free of charge. Marshall always loved the song, and even used it while trying to cheer him up after they initially lost Skye.

He silently thanked Marshall. He was certainly getting amped up for a ruff-ruff rescue.

Chase huffed through his nose, "I'm not letting you go again."

Skye stumbled as she tried to get up. She looked around as she racked her brain to think about what had led to her getting in there. She took a step forward, only to fall on her face, "Ow..."

"Your paw, what happened to it?"

She shot up, seeing the familiar Shepherd looking back at her.

"How'd you find me so quickly?" The Cockapoo asked confusedly.

"Well this time I actually knew where you were" He remarked, "Don't worry, I wasn't going to take two weeks again..."

"Right." Skye nodded.

"I also have your scent..."

The two looked away. It was a bit awkward between them, but they couldn't put a claw on it. Something felt unnatural about their conversation. Maybe it was the fact that Chase was even awake in the first place.

"Chase... Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why are you going so far?" Skye asked, "You fainted not too long ago, yet here you are trying to save me all over again— woah!"

As she tried to walk over, she stumbled on what seemed to be an injured paw.

She attempted to walk on three legs, but immediately fell onto Chase's back, which was lowered close to the ground. The Shepherd soon stood back up, lifting her up, "You're not walking like that. I'll carry you."

The Cockapoo's eyes widened a bit, "No, you don't have to–"

"Skye."

Chase picked her up, walking toward the exit.

Here he was, carrying her once again. It reminded her of the times they spent before she was pupnapped. Carefree and full of life. She missed those days.

"...Thanks Chase."