(A/N) Hey guys! Back with another one for you.
Things are starting to heat up as the story is starting to accelerate.
Hope you enjoying the ride so far, cause its about to get very exciting!
Welcome back to Paw Patrol: The Ballad of Dally!
Chapter 5: Spark of Disaster
If you were to ask what her purpose was, normally Skye would have an easy answer. But for this moment right now, she had none.
The one thing that she loved to do above anything else was forcefully ripped away from her like her favorite toy taken from her as punishment for her bad flying.
She didn't doubt her flying skills as she didn't really think that she was a bad flier, there was no debating that. But it was clear to her that this was god's way of teaching her a lesson that she needed to be more careful when she flew. The eagle could've been easily avoided, and flying through the forest littered with tall trees was not the most effective way to get rid of the eagle. She should have landed back at the lookout and let the eagle win. After all, a dog definitely didn't belong in the sky and it was definitely not her right to stick it to the animal that ruled the skies.
But Skye's love of flying prevented her from thinking straight. She didn't want the eagle to ruin her perfect flight that day. All she wanted was to have a normal and peaceful flight like she had been getting for a while at that point. But no, the eagle had to come and ruin it, and in turn, ruin her life. At least for a couple of weeks.
She had forgotten what her brother and parents had always said about eagles. When it came to eagles, let the eagle win. That was the one thing they drilled into her over all the flying lessons they gave her. It didn't matter what you were doing because the eagle didn't care. If it was in the sky, it was it's playground, no questions asked.
Some eagle's were nice, yes. But the one Skye met was obviously not in a good mood. Added the fact that some cocky little cockapoo who was not meant to fly normally was challenging it, was not helping. It harassed her to the point where she made the stupid decision to going into the forest low and lose it that way. The eagle didn't even bother going through it as if he were to say "Oh that was a BAD decision." She ended up clipping her wing on a tree, crashed, and then just to add insult to injury, the eagle perched on top of a tree and stared at her. Skye swears to this day that she heard the eagle laugh at her before it flew away.
Skye wasn't really injured, only coming out with a conclusion, bruises, and scratches, but her pup pack was trashed. A wing was missing and it was dented all to hell, and obviously needed to be repaired. While it was a bummer that her pup pack was non usable, at least she had her copter right? Right?
Wrong. Very wrong, as soon after her crash, her helicopter developed a busted fuel line, making it also out for repairs. Deeming her completely grounded and her out of normal action completely. She was called on for missions but they were basic stuff and were few and far between. The ones that hurt were the rescues where Skye would've been an easy choice to help with her flying. It sucked to sit on the sidelines and watch as the other pups did the rescuers and had to work around the fact that their pilot was grounded making jobs a little more difficult. She felt like she was useless, a burden, and didn't belong on the team. The other pups would insist that wasn't the case, citing that she would be okay and would be up in the air in no time. She kept brushing them aside in her mind and thought that they would never understand. If they were to be out of their element for a week, they would, but that wasn't going to happen and even if it did by some chance, she wouldn't want it to.
Though she did condone them and believed them a little bit, it only got worse day after day. She thought that if she at least helped Ryder repair her equipment, everything would be back to normal in no time, but the big problem with being a rescue team, especially if you're the only public service in town, was that there was very little time to do anything outside the missions. The time they had to word on them was very limited due to the constant distractions of the missions, some of them would be jobs where the Paw Patrol didn't really need to be there and it irritated the snot out of her. Then, just to add on to the annoyance, they would spend the rest of the day having fun in the city instead of going back to the lookout. It wasn't that Skye didn't like having fun. Far from it, but it led to more time not being able to fly. Making her more miserable. She didn't say anything though because she felt she would be a jerk if she did, so she let it go.
But, through all of that, she felt that today was finally it, no more being tethered to the ground. She could finally get back to doing what she loved to do. Doing what she was destined to do. To be able to fly again. She was so excited when Ryder told her earlier that the pup pack was ready to be tested. She immediately barked with joy. It felt that finally, she could fly again.
Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be, the test failed terribly with her crashing, again. Although Ryder claimed responsibility Skye felt that it was really her fault thanks to her getting excited to fly again. Making Ryder want to make her happy and put out insufficient equipment. She was right back at square one with nothing and forced to suffer longer because of it.
Skye wanted to be alone. She couldn't face anyone with her misery looming over her. She felt she was forever useless and would probably be better off not being part of Paw Patrol. If she couldn't do her job, what use was she? Nothing, absolutely nothing.
Skye felt that her time on Paw Patrol was numbered. It was fun for a few months but she was unneeded baggage at this point. It was time she moved on and went crawling back to her families stunt group. At least there, she wouldn't have to worry about being a useless pile of wasted…..
Knock, knock, knock
The door of the pup house sounded off as Skye was thrusted out of her thoughts. She rose up on all fours and faced the door.
"Skye? It's Chase. I wanna talk to you." A voice sounded which Skye recognized as Chase no doubt.
She really didn't want to respond, but felt that it wouldn't be easy to just shoo him off. Marshall probably told him what happened and knowing Chase, It was no surprise hearing him at the door.
Despite not wanting any visitors, Skye felt a little bit of warmth that Chase wanted to talk to her. It showed that Chase really cared about her and did not want to go on with the cockapoo in the dumps.
"Give me a minute!" Skye responded, trying her best to not sound distressed. Thank god she wasn't crying, there would've been no way of hiding that.
She went up to the door and opened it, putting on the best smile on her face. She saw Chase standing in front of her with a very calming look, Marshall was beside him with a slightly concerned one.
Her smile stayed as she addressed them. "Hey guys. What's going on."
Marshall looked surprised a little at Skye's appearance but Chase kept his look on.
"I heard you had your test today and you crashed." Chase stated sadly. "I wanted to see if you were okay."
Skye froze up a little at the question. As she didn't really know what to say. She didn't want to tell him about her thoughts about leaving, fearing that Chase and Marshall would worry about her and try to talk her out of it. Plus she wasn't sure it was what she was going to do and they more than likely wouldn't help the fact that her pup pack and copter were down. She didn't want to add those to their plate so she tried her best to act casual.
"I'm a little banged up and sore, but rest can help with that. I should be okay." Skye reported, still keeping her smile on.
Chase and Marshall looked at each other suspiciously before Chase responded. "Um… I'm glad that you are Skye, but that's not all I'm asking about. Are you okay?"
Chase's addition to the question scared Skye. She could tell from the way Chase was talking that the shepherd was asking for her mentality. She had nothing to direct his attention away from it. Chase wasn't going to give up that easy and neither was Marshall. Maybe she could let them in a little.
She hangs her head and sighs sadly. "Yeah Chase. I'm okay. Just another day without my wings."
Chase waited a bit before he put a paw on Skye's shoulder. "It won't be much longer Skye. You will fly again."
"That's what you said two days ago." Skye replied, not missing a beat.
Chase was caught off guard a bit as a painful pause filled the air.
"Yeah, I know I did. But it's true. Ryder will have your gear up and ready in no time at all."
"Like he did already, where he screwed up?" Skye growled without thinking, sending shockwaves to Chase, Marshall, and even Skye herself. The pups looked on in disbelief that Skye would speak ill of Ryder.
Skye quickly regained her composure. "S-Sorry, I'm just so frustrated. I'm fine Chase. Really. There's nothing that we can do to change the result. I'm just going to have to wait longer to fly again.
The shepherd sat down and looked at the disappointed cockapoo in nothing but silence. For some reason, Skye expected him to say something. When he didn't, it crushed her. Does he really have nothing to say? Does he think she's useless like she does already?
Suddenly, Marshall spoke up like he just remembered that he was there. "Come on Skye, it's not that bad."
Skye looked at the carefree dalmatian with annoyance. "Marshall! I can't fly! I can't do the one thing I'm known for on this team!" Skye started to tear up a bit during her rant. "Do you have any idea how it feels? To not do what you're meant to do?! The one thing I'm good at! I can't do it Marshall! And each day it just gets worse and worse and worse! It's getting to the point where I may never fly again! How can it be worse than that!?"
Marshall cocked his head. "What? What do you mean you may never fly again?"
"Wha? H-How can you be confused Marshall?! You saw what happened today! I crashed! Again! I'm a travesty in the sky!"
"But Skye." Marshall interjected. "That last one wasn't your fault. It was the backfire. It scared you while you were landing. Ryder made that mistake, not you."
"Only because I rushed him Marshall! He felt so bad for me that he tried to get it done quickly! He forgot to check the engine! All because I couldn't get over it! And now I will never fly!"
Chase then puts both his paws on Skye's shoulders and looks dead at her. "Hey. Hey Hey! Calm down."
The cockapoo stopped ranting and hung her head again. Taking in deep breaths as she eased control of herself.
"Calm…..down." Chase said again. "Now I don't know where you got this idea that you will never fly again or Ryder's mistake was your fault, but it is completely ridiculous. You will fly again. There is nothing that says you never will, and as for what happened today, it was just a freak accident."
"But…...but…...but Ryder…"
"I don't give a dog bone what Ryder did!" Chase cut Skye off, making Marshall gasp in shock. "What Ryder did was his fault not yours!"
Chase took his paw off of Skye but continued to stare at her. "I don't mean to scare you Skye, but I can't stand here and watch you berate yourself."
Skye spoke up again. "But Chase! That was not the first time! Me crashing was what got me into this in the first place."
"So?" Chase countered . "So what? Are you going to let those crashes haunt you for the rest of your life?"
"No! That's not it at all!" Skye blurted out.
"Then what is it Skye? Why are you so worried that you will never fly anymore?" Chase asked back.
"Because I'm scared that I won't be on the team any longer!" Skye confessed, stopping the conversation dead.
Marshall stood appalled at Skye's revelation, but Chase kept firm, as if he wasn't surprised at all. Skye went on with her reasons.
"I thought if Ryder couldn't fix my pup pack, There would be no reason to keep me. I'm useless without my equipment. For the past week, while you all go out and perform rescues, especially the ones where I would be the most help, I've been tortured by being forced to sit and watch instead of helping you all. It's degrading. A reminder that without my pup pack and copter and don't belong on the team."
Skye whimpered on the last line. "It's like I don't matter anymore."
Skye's head dipped again. Marshall looked as if he wanted to cry but Chase still kept his firm stare on her, although he had tears of his own. "Skye. That is the most….." before he could finnish, his pup tag beeps twice.
"Paw Patrol! To the lookout! On the double!"
"What?! Really?! Now?!" Chase growled, sounding very annoyed at the timing of the call to action.
"Duty calls Chase and it doesn't care. Ryder needs us." Marshall replied as he turned towards the lookout.
Without saying a word, Chase went to follow him. However, he turned back around and looked at Skye, who had not moved from her spot.
"Skye? You coming? Ryder needs us." Chase asked with a concerned tone.
Skye raised her head and gave a long sigh. "He doesn't need me, but i'm coming anyway."
Skye slowly walked by Chase who was watching her with sadness as she picked up speed.
"Of all the times for an emergency….." He said, as he followed her to the lookout.
Alex looked upon his drawing on his banner with a warm feeling. He put all of his admiration for the Paw Patrol in it, with detailed drawings and all. IT wasn't the best in the world, but for a five year old, It was pretty impressive.
All the pups were dang near accurate with the exception of the faces a little but it wasn't too bad. The colors were beautiful, with every one of them blending naturally with each other and the pups themselves along with Ryder couldn't be posing any much cooler than they were. All six pups were accounted for, standing side by side in the sitting position ready to receive their orders with Ryder being behind them with a pose of his own, pup pad in his hand. The words thank you Paw Patrol appeared above them in very colorful and big lettering. He was so proud of it. It was the best he could do to show his appreciation for who he considered his best friends.
"Hey Alex! How's that banner coming along?" He heard the mayor ask.
"It's awesome, mayor. Take a look for yourself." Alex said back with glee, As held up his work of art.
The mayor looked at his banner and clapped with joy. "My my! Alex! It's wonderful! Truly a great way to say thank you to them!"
Katie, who was helping the mayor at her desk, also was impressed. "No kidding Alex. You truly outdone yourself."
Alex couldn't help but with pride. "Oh it's nothing really. Just doing my best to show my best friends in the whole wide world how much they mean to me."
The mayor's smile grew wide as she spoke with a very flamboyant tone. "My dear Alex! I knew I chose the right boy for the job. You too Katie! I can't tell you how much I appreciate you two helping me out for the Paw Patrol appreciation Day tomorrow. The pups and Ryder will be soooo happy!"
"It's no problem with us Mayor Goodway. We truly don't give the pups enough credit for helping us. I just hope this will be enough." Katie gratefully stated.
"Not to worry Katie. I'm sure the pups will be very happy with what we come up with." Mayor Goodway assured.
"Yeah, I just can't wait to show them the banner I made. Oh I wish they could see it now." Alex said excitingly.
"I know you do Alex." The mayor confirmed. "But we have to wait till tomorrow. This is a surprise after all. Ryder doesn't even know about it."
"But how are we going to get them here if they don't know about it?" Alex asked.
The mayor smiled widely at the question. "Oh it's simple my dear boy. I'm going to make some phony rescue and call them saying we need all the pups. Then we're going to surprise them as soon as they get here and watch the smiles grow on their faces. Oh it will be the most pawsome surprise ever!"
Alex felt a little doubtful of the mayor's plan. While he was very excited to surprise Ryder and the pups, he was very hesitant on the phony part. He didn't want to mislead them. "So…...you're going to lie to them?"
The mayor's smile faded at Alex's innocence. "Well…..yeah. But it's a good lie. It's just to get them down here."
"I don't know Mayor. Grandpa always told me that lies are never good, and it hurts everyone." Alex replied, very doubtful of the Mayor's plan.
The Mayor started to say something but couldn't think of any way to respond to Alex's troubles. She didn't blame him. The boy was well taught by his grandfather on morals and how to be a good person. Sure he screws up every now and then, but he never acted on himself and had enormous respect for his elders and friends.
Katie stepped in and gave a try to ease the five year old's doubts. "What is true Alex, but this one won't hurt anyone. It's just to get them down here. The Mayor's not going to give them a nasty one. Just a little one. One that won't hurt anybody."
"Yeah, maybe something like we need them to help decorate! Not something very serious like a fire." The Mayor added confidently.
Alex was eased a little bit at the idea, but he still had some doubts. "I guess you're right, but I still don't feel good about lying to them."
There was a short pause until Mayor Goodway suddenly smiled as she thought of something. "How about this. I will do the call. That way I will get the blame for it if they get upset. There would be no way they will get mad at you because you won't be the one doing the lying."
Alex thought about the Mayor's proposition. While he wouldn't feel good about it, it was a way to get the Paw Patrol to come here. Plus he did have trust in the Mayor, so if she said it had to be done, he has full faith in her.
"Okay Mayor Goodway, if you say it's okay, I will stand by you." Alex said in a yielding tone.
The Mayor gleefully smiled again as she went back to crafting various things for the big day.
"I've got to say Mayor. It's pretty nice of you to throw this for them." Katie commented, hoping to change the subject. "I couldn't tell you how much i've been wanting to do something like this for them."
"Oh thank you Katie, but it really wasn't my idea. Oh no no no. As much as I want to take credit for this wonderful idea. It was actually Chickletta's Idea!" The Mayor proudly stated. On mention, her pet chicken walked up to her on her desk with some streamers in her beak.
"Oh thank you Chickletta. You're such a good help!" The Mayor thanked, as she took the streamer from her pet, who clucked in response. "Chickletta has been so grateful of the Paw Patrol for saving her so much this past year and a half along with everyone else and doing all they can to make Adventure Bay the safest and most cleanest town to live in. So she thought this would be the best way for the city to show our appreciation, in which I full heartedly agree."
Katie chuckled and rolled her eyes at the incompetent Mayor. "Okay. Whatever you say Mayor Goodway."
Alex laughed as he looked back at his banner, admiring his work until he spotted a big problem with it. Marshall's red was not dark enough! He panicked as he wanted everything to be perfect. He looked for the red crayon he used but soon discovered that it was too short to do anything with.
"Oh no!" Alex cried out.
Katie looked at Alex with concern. "What's wrong Alex?"
Alex was so distressed that he looked like he was going to cry. "Marshall's helmet isn't red enough, and this crayon is donso!"
Katie went over to him and draped an arm over his shoulder. Hoping to comfort him. "Hey Hey Alex. It's nothing to get upset about. I'm sure it's not that bad." She looked at the banner and noticed Marshall's color. 'Hm' She thought 'it is too light for him.'
"It is bad Katie! I wanted this banner to be perfect so I could give my full thanks to them! Now it's ruined!"
Alex clasped his hands on his hands on his face and sobbed loudly. He was really torn up about this, as if his pet turtle just died in front of him.
Katie fully embraced him. "Alex, Alex. It's okay." She then grabbed a tissue from a box nearby, and proceeded to wipe away his fresh tears. She then went on in a very caring tone. "Dry these very sad tears Alex. The event isn't till tomorrow. We can fix it till then."
Alex calmed a bit before he spoke. "R-Really?"
Katie then moves in front of him and kneels to his level and looks at him very caringly. "Of course Alex. You have nothing to worry about. We'll have it fixed." Katie assured the boy.
"Allow me to save the day for once dear Alex." The Mayor proudly added. "There's an extra big box of crayons downstairs in the study you can grab."
"There is?" Alex asked back. "Cool! Can I go get it?"
"Why of course you can." The Mayor accepted.
"Yay! Thanks Mayor Goodway! You're the best!" Alex exclaimed, as he got up to exit the office.
"Hold on a minute Alex!" Goodway called out.
"Yes Mayor?" Alex properly called back.
"While you're down there, could you please go into the kitchen and grab dear Chickletta a corn cob? She seems to be very hungry and I don't have one in my purse." The Mayor requested, as Chickletta clucked in response.
"Yes mam, I will." Alex accepted, as he went through the doors.
"Oh, and make sure you cook it a little! Chickletta loves fried corn!" Goodway requested.
Alex went down the hall to the stairs at a quick pace. Although he wanted to run, he was always taught that running inside was not a good idea most of the time and he could get hurt.
City hall itself was a pretty decent size, matching the size of a plantation house. On the inside though, you probably wouldn't think it was a government building. Mostly because, It looked more like a house than a city hall. The scary part was due to the lack of funding, the once proud structure definitely had a get it, being that it was built in the early seventies. Unfortunately that also meant that the building wasn't up to modern standards, and if any little thing were to go wrong, even a tiny spark of disaster, the house would be boned.
Alex went down the stairs to the front lobby of the building. He turned right into the hallway that was on his right, as he knew where exactly where to go. A little ways down, he found the doors to both the study and kitchen, right across from each other. He figured that he could prepare and get the corn first, as it was the most timely task.
He walked into the kitchen and noticed that it was unusually chilly. He then discovered why as the fridge door was seemingly left open. He thought it was weird that it was open as he walked over to it.
"Hm, guess the Mayor left it open. Silly Mayor." He says, as he plunders in there and finds the corn cobs. He grabs one and closes the door, and proceeds to walk out, when suddenly, he remembers what the mayor requested.
"Oh yeah, right. She wanted me to fry it. Good thinking my grandpa taught me how to fry corn."
He then turned back and got a medium sized pan and put it on the store, he had to go get a stool as he wasn't quite tall enough.
"Now what did grandpa say?" He pondered "Oh yeah! Turn it on high!"
He grabbed the knob and turned it to the highest setting and waited for it to get hot enough. He then heard what sounded like a chair scooting across the floor behind him. He turned around and only found nothing. Seeing that there wasn't anything weird, he turned back to the pan.
"Hm, probably nothing."
He then placed the cob in the pan which then started to sizzle in return.
He then grabbed a pair of tongs nearby, and turned the cob around, making sure the other side got cooked.
Another sound goes off behind him and Alex shot his head around to see what it was, starting to get a little spooked.
Again, nothing.
"Is…..Is someone in here?" he shakingly said, the dead silence scaring him more as his heart rate climbed. Hoping that it was just his imagination, Alex went back to the corn cob.
It was just about done as Alex turned it over to the last side. Then he got a strange feeling. A feeling like he wasn't the only one in the kitchen. As if on pure instinct, Alex spun around one last time. This time, he found it. A little golden retriever pup now stood in front of him.
"AHA! Got you!" Alex blurted out. As the pup winced close to the back wall and started to shake in fear. "Huh? A pup? What are you doing here?"
The pup stayed silent, shaking furiously as she was truly terrified. Alex gathered this and started to walk closer to the pup.
"Hey, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you," Alex said, as he got closer and held out his hand to pet the pup. The pup didn't trust Alex, shown by the way it tensed up and closed its eyes in terror, whimpering softly. It was then that Alex heard a faint growl rising from the door. He looked left and saw another golden retriever pup, directing his growl straight at Alex.
Alex froze on sight, as the new pup then looked at the one Alex was trying to pet. "SKYLAR! RUN!" He called out.
The pup then took advantage of the distraction, and ran out of the kitchen with the other pup. They bolt down the hall, Alex then runs after them to give chase, hoping to find out who they were.
"Hey! Come back! I wanna be your friend!" Alex called as he chased them down the hall, completely forgetting about the corn cobb he was cooking which was still in the hot pan.
Alex ran as fast as he could to catch up to the pups though he was only fast enough to only see the pup who was in the kitchen with him, which was Skylar. Alex could only determine that there was no way to catch up to him.
"Hey! Come on! I just wanna help!" he called out.
The pup didn't respond to Alex's call. She kept running and running to lose the boy. Alex was very thankful that the hall didn't have many doors for the pup to dart and hide. Though he found it strange how the pup didn't go into any rooms to hide from him.
The chase went on until Alex started to tire after a few ways down. He kept trying but the pup was just too fast to keep pace. Even though he was getting farther and father and farther, Alex kept running to at least keep the golden retriever in his sights. But then, he suddenly tripped on his feet like, and fell to the ground.
"Ack!" He cried out as he watched the tail of the pup disappear from view, making him officially lose the pups.
He pounded the floor in frustration as he really wanted to know who they were.
He got up and stared at the hallway where the pups disappeared into. He hoped that the pups weren't homeless, as that would mean that they were hungry and looking for food. He wished he could feed them and maybe, possibly, give them a home.
Alex gasped as the thought of food reminded him of the corn cob he was cooking and the fact that he left it on the stove.
"Oh no! The corn!" Alex cried out, as he doubted back to the kitchen. He hoped he wasn't too late.
Unfortunately, he was, as when he was a little ways from the kitchen, smoke was flowing out of the open doorway. He looked inside and saw that the kitchen was fully engulfed in flames. The table, chairs, and counters along were on fire. It had spread tremendously as Alex panicked and ran from the kitchen into the lobby. The only thing he could think of doing was go get help from Katie and the Mayor.
He ran up the stairs, calling out to the both of them. "Katie! Mayor! Fire! Fire! We need to….AHH!"
While he was almost at the top, Alex tripped on a step and slammed on it, causing him to fall down the stairs. Each step felt like baseball bats swinging at his body and never stopping.
Alex flailed as he tumbled down, having his breath knocked out from every step. After what seemed like forever, he finally hit the bottom of the stairs. His body was littered with bruises and scrapes, as he wanted to cry, but it was too painful. He could only gasp as the wind was knocked out of him. He laid on his side and slowly blacked out and lay on the floor. With the fire just now reaching the lobby.
It wasn't long until Katie noticed that Alex was gone a long time. She wondered if he ever made it to the study, as it was very easy to get lost in the halls. She turned to the Mayor with a concerned face.
"Hey Mayor? You think Alex would've been back by now?"
The Mayor looked up from what she was doing to address Katie. "Hm, now that I think about it, he has been gone for a long time."
"You don't think he got lost do you?" Katie asked back.
"I don't see why." Goodway replied. "Alex has been wandering these halls since he was little. He knows this place inside and out."
Katie's concern for the boy grew at the Mayor's statement. Alex had always been like a little brother to Katie, and other than Ryder and the pups, she could tell that Alex looked up to her. She would hate to find that something bad happened to him.
As if she needed more to worry, she remembered what the Mayor requested Alex to do while he was out. She had requested Alex to fry up a corn cob for Chickletta. When that thought crossed her mind, a massive pit formed in her stomach. Although she thought Alex was a smart boy and could cook thanks to his grandfather, he has been known to make mistakes. Not all the time, but just enough for someone to worry when he was by himself. When the Mayor sent him along, she didn't think too much about it but now that it has been a bit before she heard from him, she regretted not going with him.
Out of the blue, a smell entered the room. It was a very bitter smell as it almost caused Katie to cough on the spot. It shot her alarm off as she looked at the office door and saw that smoke was coming from the bottom of the door. Her heart raced up and without warning, she took off out of the office, which scared the Mayor.
Katie entered the hall and was immediately coughing a lung out, as she had run right into a thick cloud of smoke that had occupied the top floor. Her eyes burned as she dove to the bottom and crawled on her hands and knees all the way to the rail. She got up and looked down to the lobby to see Alex, down below at the foot of the stairs laying on his side, seemingly unconscious, while the lobby was surrounded with flames.
Her heart dropped like a rock as the sight made her scream out. "ALEX!"
She bolted down the stairs to him. Completely disregarding the flames around her as she coughed on the way down. Tears formed in her eyes half because of her worries, and half because of the smoke.
When she got there, the front door was blocked by fire, so she couldn't get him, the mayor, and her out of there, but that wasn't her immediate concern right now, as she picked up Alex's limp body and ran out of the lobby towards the other door in the back. It led into another halfway which thankfully, wasn't taken over by the blazing fire.
She ran until she found the dining room, which was clean of any smoke and flames, although she didn't know how long that would last.
She set Alex on the floor and checked for vital signs and discovered that Alex was still alive. She hugged him as she immediately got out her phone to call the Paw Patrol.
For the first time in his life, Marshall wished he was the last one in the elevator.
When he got there, Zuma and Rubble were already in position which made sense due to them having already been in the lobby and Rocky had just gotten there. The only ones left were Chase and Skye. Marshall dreaded seeing Skye walking behind Chase with a sad look. Her head was up and her face was emotionless as she dragged his paws to the elevator. Not too slow, but definitely not quick ethier.
He thought of the last thing Skye said before they were called. When she said that she was scared that she would be kicked off the team. He didn't think that would happen, but he had to admit, there probably wasn't much the cockapoo could do without her equipment. The thought made him worry that while Ryder would probably never consider doing that to any of the pups, he wouldn't be surprised if Skye herself would leave, and that scared the heck out of him.
She finally got to the elevator, turned around, and got into a ready stance with her face lifted up a little as Chase got into his position.
As the shepherd made sure everyone was present and activated the elevator, Zuma was the one who broke the tense silence, when he turned his head to look at Skye.
"Skye? Awe you ok?" Zuma asked, very worried about his close friend.
Skye turned her head to Zuma and gave a small smile. "Yeah Zuma. Don't worry. I'm okay."
Marshall himself looked at Skye and was amazed how calm and ready she was. He would think that Skye would still be down after what happened today, but it didn't look that way. He had to give her credit, as he couldn't imagine if he was in her position.
"Okay, whatever you say Skye." Zuma replied very sceptically.
The conversation was dropped as they got ready for their pup packs to come on. Once they were on, Marshall looked around while straightening his helmet, when he suddenly looked at Skye and was immediately confused.
Skye had Marshall EMT pack on. Hat and everything.
He could tell that Skye and the others were confused. "Skye? Why do you have my medic pack on?"
"I-I don't know." Skye answered, truly baffled "Did Ryder set this up for me?"
"I don't know." Chase sounded, a little confused. "But there's only one person that can answer that question."
All the pups nodded in agreement, as the elevator got to the top. The doors open, revealing an impatient looking Ryder at the console.
The pups jumped into their respective spots in front of him, ready to receive their orders.
"Paw Patrol ready for action Ryder sir!" Chase announced with pride.
"I don't have much time to explain pups, so I'll make it quick." Ryder began in a bit of a rush. "As I speak, City hall is engulfed in flames!"
All of the pups gasped at Ryder's announcement but it didn't compare to what he said next, which scared the pups to no end.
"What's worse, is that we have three people trapped inside, and that's the Mayor, Katie, and Alex!"
Marshall's eyes went wide in terror along with the rest of the pups at the mention of their friends in danger. He was about ready to turn immediately to the slide, get into his truck and race over there. Apparently, Rubble had the same idea as he was getting antsy.
"What are we standing here for? We need to go rescue them!" He cried, as he got up to go to the slide.
However, Ryder stopped him before he did so. "Whoa whoa whoa whoa! Rubble hold your bones for a bit, not yet!" Ryder ordered.
"But Ryder! We don't have time! Katie, Alex, and Mayor Goodway could be burning right now!" Rubble urged.
All the pups looked at Ryder like they overwhelmingly agreed with the bulldog. Ryder raised his hand and waved it down. "I know, I know, I know. But we can't just rush in without a plan. I'm trying to hurry this up so we can get out there, but I need you pups to listen okay?"
Although they wanted to go, Ryder is their leader and they trusted him with their lives. They all sit back down and wait for Ryder to give them the plan.
"Okay Ryder, what do you need us to do?" Chase asked formally.
Ryder smiled as he quickly ran down his plan. "Thank you pups. Now, for this mission, I'm going to need all paws on deck! First….." He swipes his pup pad to Marshall's tag. "Marshall I need you and your fire pup skills to go in and get the Mayor, Katie, and Alex out of there."
"I'm ready for a ruff, ruff, rescue!" Marshall sounded off.
Ryder then swipes to Chase's tag. "Chase. How's your paw?"
Chase looked at his bandaged paw as he answered quickly. "It's a little stingy, but I should be fine Ryder sir!"
Ryder hesitated for only a second at Chase's response. "I guess I'm going to have to take your word for it Chase, because Marshall's going to need your help to save them!"
Chase stood proudly as he responded. "Chase is on the Case.
Ryder then swipes to Skye. "Skye, you're probably wondering why you have Marshall's medic pack on."
Skye stood up. "I was just about to ask, Ryder."
"Well, It's because Alex is also critically injured." Ryder stated.
Upon hearing that, Marshall shot a question out. Super concerned. "What? Oh no! What happened to him?!"
"According to Katie, He fell down the stairs, trying to warn her and the Mayor. He is unconscious at the moment."
Marshall's heart dropped at the revelation. The thought of Alex being hurt made him shake in his paws. Alex was a close friend of his, along with the pups. He wished he was already there helping him.
The pups whimper at their friend's condition. Ryder sees this and tries to cheer them up. "It's okay pups. We'll rescue him, and to do that, I need you Skye, to go in with Marshall, and help Alex."
Skye looked at Ryder very nervously in response. "B-But I don't know how to be a medic Ryder."
Ryder smiled confidently at Skye. "You have nothing to worry about Skye. Marshall will be right there to walk you through it."
Marshall and Skye locked eyes with each other. Marshall could tell that she was unrelentlessly nervous about being a medic. He gave her a reassuring smile as if to say, 'Don't worry, I got you.'
Skye swallowed as she sounded off still nervous. "Uh….okay….um…. this pup's gotta…...um…...heal?"
Ryder chuckled a bit before swiping to Rocky. "Alright, Rocky, Do you have some fire hoses in your truck?"
Rocky smirked and chuckled mockingly a little. "Do I have fire hoses? Of course I do Ryder."
"Great. I need you to take those hoses, and connect them to the nearby fire hydrants so we could subdue the flames outside. The building may be a lost cause, but we need to make sure the fire doesn't spread to other parts of the city."
Rocky rolled his eyes, as that meant that he would have to deal with water. "Green means go…..I guess."
After that, Ryder swiped to both Zuma's and Rubble's tag. "Finally, Rubble and Zuma. I need you two to help me with the hoses outside to subdue the flames."
"Ready, set, get wet!" Zuma acknowledged.
"Rubble on the double!" Rubble added.
With that, Ryder put away his pup pad. "Alright Paw Patrol! Let's Go!"
Up on Ryder's command, the pups howl as Ryder fires down the pole. The pups then run over to the slide and one by one, they slide down to their vehicles. Marshall was last, as he went to slide down, but as he always does, he tripped and slid on his butt down to his pup house and it transformed into his firetruck. He takes a deep breath and steps on the throttle to join the others, as they race to city hall.
(A/N): Alright here we go! The stakes are high as City Hall is now on fire! Plus, The Mayor, Katie, and Alex are trapped inside! I hope the Paw Patrol will be able to save them in time!
Chapter 6 is going to be a bit long, so it may take a bit for it to go up. I ask for your thinnest of patience, as It will be worth it. I promise you that.
Question of the Chapter: How much was it a bad idea for the mayor to send Alex to cook the corn by himself?
Leave your answer in your review if you choose to!
Please review and tell me your favorite parts and if you have any questions about the story or anything else, just put it in your review or pm me and l'll get back with you as soon as I can.
This Is Sean Thames of Dragonsfire Entertainment signing off!