Chapter twenty-one: It's Official!
"Oh no! They're starting!" Chase gasped. "What if Billy doesn't make it?! What if-.."
"You really thought I'd miss this?" Said a voice he was deeply elated to hear, almost believing it wasn't real until he shot his glance toward the sound and saw the man it belonged to standing there with a couple sno-cones in hand.
"You really need to chill out, man." Billy told him, kneeling down to offer him a sno-cone; which he took slowly in a couple bites. "I had plenty of time to get here."
"And now let us bring up our four new recipients and their trainers." Said the female announcer upon the stage.
"That's us." Chase mentioned, as Zuma gobbled up his sno-cone, shivering from the Arctic rush it gave him. "*deep breath* Ok,.. let's go." Following a collie and a shepherd mix, the two pups strode onto the stage with Ryder and Billy among the other trainers.
Cheers and applause arose, and even grew as Chase and Zuma appeared. A particular cheering section becoming more animated, and for good reason; making Chase and Zuma grin, bumping paws as the announcer continued.
"Right then,..uh.. first up we have.."
"Dude, this is so cool!" Zuma murmured to Chase. "Both of us.. up here.. about to become real deal Zoom-It dogs.. I mean how crazy is that?!"
"Totally insane, dude." Chase murmured jokingly, making the two of them chuckle. And they looked up when a presence appeared before Chase.
"And we also have.." the lady took a look at the paper on her clipboard and Chase saw her eyes flash. "Oo.. a long time coming here, folks.. An all-star police pup trained in the academy of the Barkingburg police department; and a member of this town's very own.. The PAW Patrol;.. Chase!" A pin was handed to Billy and he knelt down to secure the small metal band onto his collar, which fit snugly upon the shiny black material so that it remained in place next to his pup-tag. Again a specific group of voices could be heard amongst the crowd, as the announcer lady continued.
"And finally, coming from the PAW Patrol as well,.. the water rescue pup of the group.. we have.. Zuma."
"Thank you." The pup smiled happily as the lady left him so Ryder could pin his new Zoom-It shield onto his collar, wearing it with pride. The applause died down a bit, but grew again when all four pups strode forward to stand closer to one another where people could see them better; and even take pictures.
"And now that we have our newest Zoom-It dogs certified.. all competitors may take their spin on things, in the demonstration segment of our festivities." The lady announcer declared.
"Pawsome!" Zuma gushed. "You in, dude?" And even Chase developed a grin.
"Let's hang ten, dude." The German Shepherd jeered, in his version of a cool-dude style demeanor, which made the two share a laugh as they descended the stage with Ryder and Billy.
"That was soo cool!" Skye bubbled, when they met them at the bottom of the stage steps.
"You guys look great!" Chester commented proudly; big, fluffy tails wagging beside him.
"Looking good, pups." Daniel swagged, sounding almost like Jake for a second. "How does it feel to be the real thing?"
"Awesome!" Zuma barked. And then everyone turned to Chase.
"Yeah.. it's ok." Chase smiled, smirking as though not as interested as he should have been. Then grinning a bit more, he came forward into the man's embrace and pressing his forehead to Daniel's in a kind of proud nuzzle, then laying the side of his head against the man's chest.
"Now who's ready to strut your stuff?!" Billy declared.
"Us!" The two Zoom-It pups called in unison.
"Then let's do it!" Billy announced, raising both hands out wide from his body, above the shoulder level, and holding a couple Zoom-It's in one hand.
"Yes!"
"Alright!" The two pups bellowed.
xxxx
Air whipping,.. heart pounding,.. another small jump and the far flung disc was caught. Dashing the sand in the landing, he felt almost proud to leave paw prints where they were when he marched the Zoom-It back over to Billy.
"Strange landing.. but it works." The man said, accepting the Zoom-It from him graciously.
"At least I'd get a score out of it." Chase reasoned. "Cause what I was doing a couple weeks ago would ruin me, for sure!"
"Hey.. that was just training." Billy protested. "We weren't actually trying to get score worthy runs back then.. we were just trying to get you going again.. so you could actually start getting back in the groove with it for getting back to this point."
"Well.. I guess it worked." Chase smirked, realizing now what he had missed before.
"Exactly.." Billy nodded knowingly. "Ok,.. ready for another?" He went on, holding another Zoom-It up.
"You bet!" Chase confirmed, crouching ready. And Billy launched another throw that Chase took off immediately after to make another good catch.
"Here's another one, Zuma!" Ryder called, throwing it hard. Zuma, standing several feet away from the boy, ran toward him a couple strides before leaping up; catching the Zoom-it head on, and landing into a roll onto his paws.
"Nice work, Zuma!" Ryder praised, as the chocolate lab brought the special disc back to him. "You're really starting to get it."
"Thanks!" Zuma smiled. "But I'll never be as good as Chase. He's done this for like ever."
"I'm sure if you keep practicing you'll be able to someday." Ryder told him.
"Yeah,.. maybe." Zuma sighed thoughtfully. "But for now.. I'm just glad I'm here."
Chase hit the sand not far from Zuma, but got back up pretty much right away, turning gingerly toward Billy to return the Zoom-It.
"He's already getting tired." Zuma noticed, observing the slight heartiness of his gait. "He'll need to quit while he's ahead soon."
"You're right." Ryder confirmed, shielding his eyes from the sun to watch him as well. "And I think that's probably why we should take a break too. You're still kinda new to this.. we don't wanna burn you out before your big day next week."
"Good idea." Zuma agreed, falling in step with the boy, as they headed toward the refreshment tent.
"Besides." Ryder spoke up again. "We'll be practicing all week till the competition. You'll have lots of time to enjoy it before you compete."
"Good point, dude." Zuma nodded. "And with Chase along for the ride we'll double the fun! Even if he is gonna crush me at the competition."
"Don't be so sure about that." Ryder smiled. "You keep catching those Zoom-It like you have been,.. you might get closer to winning than you think."
xxxx
"You good?" Billy called to the pup far beyond him, holding the Zoom-it up again.
"Yeah!" Chase called, still panting a little with the growing fatigue of his shoulder and legs.
"Ok.. one more and we'll take a break, alright?" Billy decided, not seeming convinced by his noticeable huffing and puffing; even from the distance he stood at.
Chase nodded, and dropped into a ready stance.
"Ok, here goes!" Billy called, readying his arm with a wide stance. Tossing it hard, Chase watched it fly toward him and began to move with it's direction till he was sprinting down the sand after it.
xxxx
"Come on.." Billy breathed, while shielding his eyes to watch him chase the Zoom-It across the beach.
xxxx
Almost got it.. Chase's mind mused. And as he drew closer, his internal range monitor flashed green and he paced himself for lift off.
xxxx
"Yes!" Billy hissed under his breath, barely pumping a fist like he'd redundantly done many times by now.
xxxx
He'd barely gotten a hold of the Zoom-It however.. when some paws used his back to hop up higher to retrieve another Zoom-It flying off above him. And he'd hardly realized what'd happened until he hit the ground.
xxxx
"Oh no.." Billy gasped, beginning to run across the sand towards him.
xxxx
Chase bounced a little when he hit the ground and after a moment of laying there, sprawled out how he landed, he began to sit up and shake the sand from his coat.
"Chase you ok?" Billy asked, helping to dust him off as he proceeded to shake his entire body to finish it off.
"Yeah.. I'm ok." The pup sighed finally. Then a Zoom-It hit the ground nearby, earning his attention.
"HaHA!" The voice of a Belgian Malinois Shepherd standing before him jeered. "Now that's what I call big air!"
"Spencer really?" Another voice faded in with shifting footsteps through the sand. And they looked toward it to find a young man with mixed race skin tone and dark brown hair jogging across the sand toward them. A surfer type style made up his overall appearance, given by the long shorts, sandals, and tank-top shirt all colored brightly and very hawaiian in style.
"I thought I told you to-.." His green eyes, bright and full of character, struck both Chase and Billy with a familiarity just from the mere beholding of them.
"Billy?" The young man addressed him. "No way, dude?! So this is where you ditched me to."
"Hey, how's it going, brother?" Billy greeted, as they shook hands into a manly embrace. Chase fumbled over his wounded shoulder to sit facing them, and waited patiently for the embrace to end.
"Been a little while hasn't it," the young man went on. "Really missed you from your academy days. How come you just up and quit, I thought you loved it there? I mean what was the fallout?"
"Heh heh,.. um.. well.. this guy." Billy then turned to Chase and the pup was almost taken aback by this.
"Chase? Is that you?" The stranger gasped.
"Um.. yeah?" Chase answered, his gaze wandering then lifting back up as he spoke.
"Dude, it's me." The man said. And at that moment, the odd quirk of his smile zapped him back in time to a much younger version of this same face and the connection clicked near immediately from there.
"Jack?" Chase addressed him.
"Yes! How's it hangin buddy?" He asked, accepting the pup into a half-hearted hug.
"Haven't seen you in forever." The man added, studying him carefully out of the embrace. "Man, you've grown!"
"Thanks." Chase nodded, an unwanted disconnect with this fondly known person of his past barring him from a greater response. "And I guess it's been a long time for a lot of things lately."
"Really? How so?" Jack asked curiously.
"Chase, are you ok?!" Ryder called, as he and the rest of the pups and Prescotts came rushing up to them. "Skye saw that crash.. what-..happened?" Ryder froze mid-sentence when noticing the young man standing there with them.
"I'm ok." Chase confirmed, turning to stroll towards the boy, and ease his head under his hand; to which the boy instinctively knelt down to scratch his head and neck. "Just catching up with another old friend.."
"This is Jackson Callaway." He introduced the man, who waved in kind of a loose, laid-back sort of way. "He was someone who used to come watch us Zoom-It train for the academy."
"And from watching Billy and his boys, I always told myself I'd be a Zoom-It dog handler someday. And as of two years ago.. I haven't done anything else."
"Wow really?" Chase asked, genuinely interested now; coming toward him again.
"You betcha!" Jack smiled. "An-"
"Eh-hem.." the Malinois pup by now seemed impatient when clearing his throat and cocking a glance to the young man expectantly.
"Yes, I know, haven't forgotten about you, pal.." Jack nodded. "Meet my first Zoom-It pup ever,.. Spencer."
The Belgian Malinois by now shot them a proud smirk of greeting, glad to finally be recognized to this odd group of people and pups.
"Yo, what's up?" He swagged, and those among the large group, the pups in particular(mainly Chase), returned strange looks; wondering how to respond. And if this was even a good time to bring up the fact of what had just happened, just a few moments ago. And it even drove some of them to take into consideration the way this pup held himself, and wondered what he must feel about what he had just done.
Hey everybody I'm back! A new chapter FINALLY ready after quite a bit of hang time! Soo sorry about that, but here it is! And yay this chapter was so fun! ;D
Can't wait to continue on into the next stage of my plans! Stay tuned, you guys! Enjoy this new chapter,.. and I'll see you next time! Thx!