Episode 24: Pups Save A Super Pup! His Own Super Way Isn't Always The Right Way!
November 27th, 2029
Ben, Rocky, Marshall, Alex, and Chase were watching some animated cartoon about a character named Apollo the Super Pup. Rubble was wearing his Apollo cosplay as they watched the show. "Personally, I don't see the appeal, but if you pups enjoy it, I don't mind watching." Ben sighed, sitting down in a chair while the pups laid on the bean bags.
As Apollo howled, the sound reached Rubble outside, and brought him into the lookout. "It's time for another adventure of… Apollo the Super Pup!" The narrator announced.
Rubble came sprinting in and flopped onto the beanbag with Rocky, sending the mixed breed flying off of the beanbag and onto the floor. "I LOVE APOLLO THE SUPER PUP!" Rubble shouted happily.
"You comfy, Rubble?" Rocky asked from the floor.
"Thanks Rocky! Hey wait a minute, what are you doing down there? You can come share with me!" Rubble exclaimed, gesturing for Rocky to sit right beside him, oblivious to the fact that he was the one who had gotten Rocky off of the beanbag in the first place.
Rocky giggled at this and took his spot next to his brother. "Thanks, bro." Rocky chuckled.
"No problem!" Rubble nonchalantly replied.
"Can Apollo save the day his own super way!?" The narrator asked as the screen showed a kitten on a boat, meowing for help.
"You can do it, Apollo!" Rubble cheered, leaping up and landing on the beanbag… which sent Rocky flying again. "He's flying the kitten on his back! That's so cool! High five! …oh… sorry Rocky." Rubble spoke animatedly about the events of the cartoon happening on the screen, then noticed that he had sent his friend off of the beanbag again by accident.
"No… problem." Rocky sighed, this time with gritted teeth and a bit more of a forced smile.
Rubble squealed and cheered as the rest of the episode played. "Once again, Apollo saves the day his own super way! Tune in next week for another exciting episode of... Apollo the Super Pup!" The narrator yelled out as the episode ended and the credits began to roll.
"Wow, that was so amazing. Isn't Apollo the superest super pup ever?" Rubble gushed.
Ben let out a sigh as he grabbed his gear and began to walk to the elevator, taking it to the halfway point so he could make some more modifications and upgrades to his Green Ranger Rescue suit. "He sure is." Chase groaned, his nerves also getting tired of Apollo.
"Since you like Apollo so much, why don't you go and be Apollo?" Rocky halfheartedly growled at Rubble, a bit irritated at the bulldog.
Rubble gasped as he jumped up and down. "That's a great idea, Rocky! I'm gonna go save the day my own super way!" Rubble shouted happily, running out the lookout tower and heading into town.
Ryder came into the Lookout lobby holding a soccer ball. "Hey pups, who wants to play some soccer?" Ryder asked. Marshall, Alex, Chase, and Rocky all nodded yes enthusiastically as they followed Ryder outside to the front yard.
Rubble managed to corral Farmer Yumi's chickens into her pen, which gave him a sense of accomplishment as the farmer gave him an ear scratch and belly rub in gratitude. So when he was told by Mayor Goodway that the train tracks were blocked by a rockslide, he leapt at the opportunity to do some superheroics on his own, without the help of the other PAW Patrol members. He was Rubble, the SUPER PUP! He could do anything!
And so, the bulldog made his way to the train tracks, panting as he got there a half hour later. "Maybe I should have… taken my bulldozer!" Rubble thought to himself as he paused to catch his breath.
"There you are, Rubble! I knew the PAW Patrol would come!" Mr. Hudson, the train conductor sighed in relief. "Rubble the Super Pup is here to save the day!" Rubble roared.
"...That's nice… but where's your rig, and the rest of the team?" The conductor inquired.
"We don't need Ryder and the PAW Patrol. Rubble the Super Pup can handle this, just like Apollo the Super Pup does... on my own!" Rubble declared, confident in his abilities.
"All by yourself? Looks like more rocks could come down, if we're not careful." The train operator mused.
"Stand back. I'll take care of everything in no time. I... just... need to move... this... boulder!" Rubble grunted, pushing with all of his might. Taking a leap and charging the rock, the self proclaimed super pup whimpered as rocks fell down and covered the tunnel entrance. One of them even landed on his paw, trapping him!
"RUBBLE! Are you okay!?" Hudson asked worriedly.
"N-no… my paw's stuck under this pile of rocks, and it hurts really badly!" Rubble cried out, howling in pain.
The other entrance also had a rockslide covering it, trapping the train, the pup, and the conductor in from both sides. The terrifying realization set in for Rubble. They were stuck, and he couldn't get his paw out from underneath this rockslide! His paw hurt so much, he hadn't felt this much pain before. The pup began to sniffle, before tears flowed from his eyes as he cried. "I'M SORRY, MR. HUDSON! I'm SO, SO SORRY! I thought I could do it myself… but I didn't save the day, I JUST MADE EVERYTHING WORSE! Now we're trapped in here with no way out!" Rubble bawled.
"There there, Rubble. It's okay. You were just trying to help. Why don't we call your friends?" Mr. Hudson suggested.
"O-okay…" Rubble sniffed, before using the pup tag to call the pup pads.
Ryder and Ben's phones rang, but Ryder was in the middle of a round of Soccer, so he didn't pick it up right away. If Ryder didn't pick up a call within ten seconds, then Ben would answer it. "Hello, this is Ben of the PAW Patrol, how can we help- oh, Rubble. What's going on?" Ben greeted the construction pup, setting down his screwdriver. He had just installed the night vision mode for his helmet's visor. Then the eighteen year old noticed that Rubble was in a pretty dark area. "...Rubble, where are you?" Ben asked.
To his shock, the superhero-cosplaying canine started crying. "I… I helped Farmer Yumi with her chickens, and then she told me to go to Mayor Goodway's, and then Mayor Goodway told me the t-train tracks had been b-b-blocked off by a r-rockslide, s-so I went to g-g-go help the conductor… and I wanted to d-d-do it on my own… and then there was a r-rockslide…" Rubble cried.
"There was a rockslide!?" Ben gasped.
"Uh huh… a-and then my paw got trapped underneath the rocks… Please help me!" Rubble sobbed.
Ben stood up, dead serious. "You got it, Rubble. We'll save you!" Ben promised.
Immediately, he stood up and put on his suit. There would be no catchphrases from him today. When he shouted out his catchphrases like the other pups did when they were given assignments, it was part of the fun and games. Sure, people needed rescuing, but it took his mind off of the risk they were getting themselves into. Today, however, it wasn't just Mayor Goodway or Captain Turbot or any of their usual callers. Today, it was one of their own who was in dire need of help. Their boy, their baby, Rubble. Out of all of the pups, Zuma and Rubble were the youngest, with Zuma only one month younger than the bulldog. Once his suit was on, he rode the Lookout up to the control room and made the call. "I need everyone to the Lookout. NOW." Ben yelled over the pup tag communicators.
Ryder and the pups emerged from the glass elevator a few minutes later. "PAW Patrol, ready for action, Ben, sir! Well, most of the PAW Patrol. We're one pup short." Chase reported.
Ben inhaled, prepared to deliver the bad news. "Pups. We have a severe situation. This time, Rubble's the one who needs rescuing. Rubble was playing pretend as Apollo the Super Pup when there was a rockslide at the mountain tunnel. Rubble tried to fix it all by himself, and now he and the train conductor Mr. Hudson are trapped inside. Rubble's paw is stuck inside the rocks." Ben gravely told them.
Everyone gasped in fear. "Rubble… oh no!" Skye whimpered.
"That's too big a problem to take care of alone!" Marshall exclaimed. Ben nodded.
"It is, so me and Ryder are going to talk to him after we make sure he's okay. But first we have to get the tunnel cleared. Chase, I need your winch to move the bigger rocks out of the way. I'll be using the strength enhancements that my suit gives me to lift some of the rocks up. Someone else needs to drive Rubble's rig." Ben instructed, giving the assignments out for their rescue.
"I'll do it. This is all my fault, I gave him the idea to play Apollo the Super Pup! Besides, I drove his rig a few times before he joined, and I do maintenance on it regularly." Rocky volunteered, a somber expression on his face.
"All right. Ryder, you're with me. The rest of you pups will stay here and wait if we need you. Call Katie and tell her that we're going to need to have her examine Rubble for injuries. The ambulance and EMT gear still haven't been completed for Marshall, so Katie will have to help us. Let's go and save our friend!" Ben continued, not using his usual 'roll to the rescue' line.
Ben and Ryder took the fire pole to the garage and mounted their vehicles, while Chase and Rocky took the slide to their pupmobiles. They quickly left the Lookout and headed to save their friend. Rocky struggled with the controls a little bit, as it had been a significant amount of time since he had driven the construction rig. Thankfully, he quickly got the hang of it.
Rubble perked up when he heard his friends arrive. "Is that my rig!?" Rubble asked, having stopped crying. His paw still hurt a ton, but he had calmed down to the point where the tears had stopped.
"Rubble, I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, or have you get hurt trying to rescue someone on your own!" Rocky apologized.
Ben and Chase started to remove the boulders, with Chase and Ryder wrapping the winch around rocks, and Ben using the Ranger suit's enhanced strength to lift the rocks and clear them away from the tunnel entrance. "What are you talking about!? You didn't hurt my feelings! I thought playing Apollo sounded super fun, so that's why I went off on my own!" Rubble replied.
"Still, you got yourself hurt, and I feel really bad about it." Rocky whined as he used the rig to clear some more rocks away so that there was a space large enough for Ben to squeeze in.
"Mr. Hudson. I need you to help move Rubble out from under the rock. I'm going to lift this. I need you to carefully and slowly drag him out." Ben told the train conductor.
The armored teen lifted the rock Rubble's paw was pinned under, and Mr. Hudson helped move the pup out from underneath. Ben grabbed Rubble and crawled through the opening that the others had created. "Ryder, you, Chase, and Rocky finish up here. I'm taking Rubble to Katie's so she can give him an exam and determine if anything's broken." Ben told his best friend, who nodded.
"I hope you feel better soon, Rubble." Chase told his bulldog sibling.
Ben laid Rubble down in the basket of his motorcycle and slowly rode through the off roads before reaching Adventure Bay and parking in front of Katie's pet salon. He was too scared to drive quickly out of fear that it might agitate Rubble's injury and cause it to hurt or further harm the pup. Gingerly carrying Rubble into the clinic, he set down the engineer pup on the examination as Katie used her portable X-ray scanner and other veterinarian tools to look Rubble over. She confirmed that Rubble had a sprained paw, and splinted the limb to minimize the movement and irritation. As she looked at Rubble and gave him a checkup, Ben spoke to Rubble about his behavior today.
"Rubble, you shouldn't have gone off by yourself and tried to save the train conductor on your own. What were you thinking?!" Ben scolded.
"Sorry Ben, I was just having fun, and I got caught up in playing… and my ego. I was having so much fun doing things my own super way, that I lost sight of what the right way to do things was." Rubble sadly said.
"Rubble, you know I'm only upset because you got yourself hurt, and you didn't call us. We're a team. All of us PAW Patrol members are a team. When there's an emergency, we call each other. Unless someone's about to die, we wait for backup before moving in." Ben reminded the yellow hard hat wearing pup.
"Yeah… I know. I won't do that again. The next time we need to save the day, we'll do it the PAW Patrol way!" Rubble agreed.
"You were really brave today, Rubble. You're one of the best pups ever… but you scared me. Don't do anything like that again or… I'll ground you!" Ben replied, cradling Rubble in his arms.
"Eep! Got it!" Rubble squeaked, before giggling. Ben booped his pup on the nose before turning to Katie.
"Now Rubble, your paw is sprained. That means you have to stay off of it for about two weeks. Meaning no playtime, drink lots of fluid, eat a little bit extra than you usually do, and most importantly of all, no rescues. Even operating your rig or going down the lookout slide could damage your paw again." Katie told the two.
Rubble pouted. "I'll give you lots of treats, and share my pizza with you." Ben promised the pup as they walked back outside, getting in Ben's motorcycle and driving back to the Lookout.
I took inspiration from Pup Pup Boogie, where Rubble got his paw sprained, and combined that concept for when it felt like it would have been more logical to happen, like during the rockslide that Rubble accidentally caused. Fun fact, I felt really bad about hurting Rubble in this chapter, and that motivated me to finish writing it!