Chapter 18: Pups Save A Goodway At The Bottom Of The Bay! Go Zuma!
October 25th, 2029
Two days after their adventure in the jungle, Ben, Alex, and the others were still recovering from their adventure there- they hadn't slept well because of having to get up in the middle of the night to recover the stolen crown. Today, they were taking it easy while still helping around the town. They were celebrating the deeds of Genevieve Goodway's ancestor Grover, who was the first mayor of Adventure Bay.
"Your great grandfather did a lot for this town. I'm not sure that Adventure Bay would still be around if it wasn't for Grover." Ben commented as he stood next to Mayor Goodway. He wasn't that good at blowing up balloons- he had weak lungs.
"Oh, why, thank you, Ben. Yes, Grover was a great man. He would have been saddened by the things that had happened to the town in the absence of our family… but now, I think he would be proud of this town." Genevieve sighed happily.
Ryder tied a balloon to a string and handed it to Zuma, who bit down on it and added it to his already large collection of balloons he was holding. "That's a lot of balloons, Zuma." Ryder chuckled.
"I know!" Zuma grunted, before he started floating up into the air. Thankfully, Ryder caught him.
"Zuma, you can't fly away until after we get City Hall all fixed up!" Ryder joked, taking the balloons from Zuma so he wouldn't fly away.
"That was fun!" Zuma giggled, jumping up and down before going to play with Alex.
"Time to make these steps sparkle! Ruff! Water cannons!" Marshall barked out as his blasters flared to life and started washing down the stairway to City Hall. Rubble was patching up the soil, and Skye laughed as she flew in with another batch of balloons.
"Say, Ben, why did you come? Usually you stay back at the Lookout for this sort of thing." Mayor Goodway remarked.
Ben smiled at her. "I like talking with you, miss mayor. You remind me of my mom. And plus, Alex needs to be with the pups so he can observe and learn how to help when he eventually becomes a member of the PAW Patrol." Ben explained.
Genevieve gasped and put a hand on her heart. "Benjamin! That's so sweet!" She gasped.
Then she went over to Ryder, Zuma, and Rocky. "Ryder, pups, is everything ready?" Mayor Goodway asked.
"Almost, Mayor Goodway." Ryder assured. "My whole family will be here soon to celebrate Great-great-great-great-Grandpa Grover Day! Wait. I just realized that Grandpa Grover's statue isn't here yet!" Mayor Goodway announced before noticing the statue was still missing from its usual resting spot.
"Where is the statue, Mayor?" Zuma asked. He was gradually getting better at losing his lisp, though it still popped up in a few words.
"I sent Grandpa off to be cleaned as good as new and he's coming back by boat. Captain Turbot is bringing him back on the Flounder. He should be here already." Genevieve enthusiastically said, before getting worried.
Using her phone, she called up the captain of the ship. After a bit of conversation between the two, she put down the phone and Ryder was given a call. "Ryder… I might uh... I might need a little PAW Patrol help. It's Grandpa Grover, he's… gone overboard!" Captain Turbot exclaimed.
"ON GREAT GREAT GRANDPA GROVER DAY!? WE HAVE TO GET HIM BACK! CALL THE PAW PATROL- oh, you already did!" Mayor Goodway shrieked, before calming down a bit.
"Don't worry, Mayor Goodway. We'll get grandpa back. No job is too big, no pup is too small!" Ryder declared, calling the rest of the pups to the Lookout. Alex hopped in Ben's motorcycle basket and the two drove off. Marshall rode beside them in his fire truck as they returned to the Lookout tower. Ben and Alex walked into the lookout, and then Marshall came into the tower with his water cannons out.
"Marshall, your water cannon!" Rocky yelped.
The dalmatian looked back at his pup pack and noticed that Rocky was right. "Oh yeah! Water cannon! Woof!" Marshall yipped, accidentally turning on the cannons and spraying Rubble and Ben with it. "MARSHALL!" Rubble growled as he was hosed down.
"SORRY! I meant water cannons away! Arf!" Marshall apologized, making his cannons go back in the pup pack. He then walked into the elevator, slipping on the puddle he had just created and knocking Rubble over. Everyone laughed as the elevator went up to the control room, stopping halfway and letting the mechanical arms dress the pups in their outfits for the mission before continuing to ascend.
When the elevator reached the top of the Lookout, the glass doors slid open and the pups all leapt out, lining up. "PAW Patrol, ready for action, Ryder, sir!" Chase exclaimed.
"Mayor Goodway has an emergency, pups! Captain Turbot was carrying the statue of her Great-great-great-great Grandpa Grover. But it fell overboard into the ocean! The PAW Patrol will get it back. Skye, I'll need you, your copter, and your cable to lift the statue to the surface. Zuma, I'll need you to scuba dive down to attach the cable." Ryder explained, before giving out the assignments.
"Let's take to the skies!" Skye yipped.
"Let's dive in!" Zuma barked.
"All right! PAW Patrol is on a roll!" Ryder exclaimed as he took the fire pole down to the garage, while the pups took the slide to get in their vehicles.
Ben smiled as he saw Zuma go down the slide. Whenever Zuma went on a mission, it made the pup super happy. Since his specialty was water rescue, he didn't get called too often. At times, that would make Zuma feel… well, less special compared to the other pups. So whenever Zuma did get called, he would get super excited and happy. As one of the two youngest pups alongside Rubble, Zuma was playful, curious, and talkative. The lisp he had made him even more adorable. "Dudes, how're you doin?" Zuma asked as they rode out to sea in their vehicles.
Ben smiled as he heard Zuma's voice. "I'm great, Zuma. We all are." Ben replied. Meeting up with the Flounder, the group spoke with Captain Turbot before Skye began to lower her harness where the Grover statue was located on Ryder's sonar. They heard Zuma and Ryder gasp, which made Ben get worried.
"Status update, you guys?" Ben asked in concern. He heard the splash of them surfacing and getting on the Flounder.
"Grandpa Grover got knocked over and now he's at the edge of a deep underwater canyon!" Zuma exclaimed.
"Skye's cable isn't long enough to reach him now." Ryder remarked.
"Then what can we do?" Skye wondered.
"We have to think of something. I promised Mayor Goodway I'd take care of Grandpa Grover!" Captain Turbot bemoaned.
Ben could picture the gears in Ryder's head turning as he came up with a solution. "We need some way to float the statue to the surface. Something like... balloons!" Ryder suggested.
"Balloons! Oh, great idea, Ryder. That's how they raise sunken ships." Captain Turbot agreed.
Rocky was at City Hall, trying to calm down the mayor. Ryder called up Rocky on the pup pad, and the mixed breed brought up the helium and balloon. Ben heard them hook the balloon up to the statue and lift it to the surface, then into the air. He heard Ryder call out for Skye to save the statue and fly it to its pedestal.
"Pups, I think it's time for us to get to City Hall." Ben announced. The pups took the slide to their vehicles as Ben slid down the pole to his motorcycle as they all drove out to City Hall.
Background Music: PAW Patrol Good Pup - YouTube
When they got there, they saw that Skye had gotten the statue back successfully. Mayor Goodway was there with her brother Gustavo, her niece Julia, and her nephew Julius. Ben and the rest of them arrived as Ryder told the group that if they ever needed the PAW Patrol's assistance, they could simply yelp for help. Ben stifled a laugh at that. All of a sudden, a purple limousine pulled up, and out stepped Mayor Henry Humdinger of Foggy Bottom! "Henry, well, isn't this a surprise? What… what are you doing here?" Genevieve asked.
Mayor Humdinger adjusted his hat and brought out a bouquet of roses, walking up to the statue of Grover and placing the floral arrangement at his feet. "Calm down, Genevieve, I didn't come here to cause trouble or gloat. I came to pay my respects to your great-great-great-great-grandfather Grover, and your family." Mayor Humdinger remarked.
Not a hint of deception, treachery, or gloating was in his voice. He was being sincere. "Why, that's very touching, Mayor Humdinger. I didn't know you held my ancestor in such high regard!" Mayor Goodway mused.
"Indeed. Grover did a lot for the colonization of this area of California. He even helped motivate my ancestor, Harriet Humdinger, to settle Foggy Bottom! We have a statue of her right outside the Brume Buffet restaurant in my town. Would you like to eat dinner there?" Mayor Humdinger offered.
Goodway gasped and put a hand over her mouth as Chickaletta bawked. "Why, that's very sincere of you! I would love to." Mayor Goodway exclaimed.
Before the two of them left, Ben stepped forward to ask Humdinger a question. "Mayor Humdinger, sir, is it just me, or does Grover's statue bear a resemblance to you?" Ben inquired.
Humdinger twirled his mustache as he looked at the statue. "He does. As a matter of fact, the statue of Harriet resembles your town's mayor." Humdinger answered before they left.