Hello everyone, and yes, I'm still alive, if somebody still remembers me. You might think that this story is familiar to you, and you will be right, it is a remake of one of my stories, but the only thing the original story and the remake have in common is the begging, that's it. If you haven't read the original story (you can recognise it because of similar summary), I would recommend you to read this one first, even though it's not done yet. Anyway, it is up to you, but I hope I will make this story good. And yeah, huge "thank you" goes to The Charismatic, who edited the story and made it better. Okay, I think that's all I can say for now. Hope you enjoy.
Editor's Note: :D (Idk what to say. Good stuff here, as always.)
It was a rainy day at Adventure Bay. The rain was quite heavy, so the Paw Patrol spent most of the day in the Lookout watching TV. But come evening the rain stopped, leaving behind a bunch of puddles and mud, so Ryder advised the pups to stay inside for the remainder of the day so as not to get muddy outside. The boy himself was on the top floor and looked around the city after the rain shower. The clouds had gone, and the sun illuminated the town, glinting off roofs and car hoods, and a rainbow appeared overhead, arcing over the buildings and hills. But he couldn't admire the scenery for long, because he received a call from the Earl of Barkinburg. He took his pup pad out of his pocket and touched the screen.
«Hey Earl, how's everything going?» Ryder asked, generally polite as always.
«Ryder, hello, we have a serious problem in the castle!» Earl said quickly and sneezed loudly. «Today there was a big storm in Barkingburg, and now the gardens are a terrible mess! But more importantly, Sweetie is missing! We've been searching everywhere, I'm afraid something terrible could have happened to her, because none of the relics are gone. Usually if she's missing something catastrophic would have happened, but nothing has. I'm worried about her.»
«Don't worry, we'll find Sweetie! And fix up the gardens while we're at it.» Ryder said, grinning in amusement. «No problem's too big, no pup is too small!»
The pups had just finished watching a ghost movie and were talking about it. Suddenly they heard their pup tags activating and Ryder's "Paw Patrol, to the air patroller!" was heard. «Ryder needs us!» They exclaimed collectively, and rushed outside to the patroller, which was already waiting. However, Marshall accidentally got caught up in a now-soggy white blanket left outside on the pavement by a sleepy Rubble, blocking his view. Everyone had by now gathered on the air patroller, but Marshall was nowhere to be seen.
«Oh no, ghost!» Rubble suddenly shouted, who had been by far the jumpiest pup during and even after the film.
«Rubble, ghosts don't exist.» Chase answered and chuckled.
«But then what is that?!» The bulldog pointed to Marshall running towards them.
«Ghost!» All five shouted. Everyone had been so scared by the film, and their nerves so fried of fright, that they didn't doubt for a second that this stumbling blanket-covered Marshall was a real ghost. However, after a couple of seconds of stumbling around and up the ramp leading into the air patroller, the "ghost" knocked them all down into a heap and fell down on top, creating a doggy pile in the most literal sense. Now all the pups were covered and soiled with the soggy blanket.
«Ghost? Where!?» Marshall's voice was heard from somewhere beneath the cover.
«We finally should learn that all the ghost we see are just Marshall under a white blanket.» Chase said sarcastically, causing others to laugh.
The aircraft doors closed and the team set off. Upon arriving at their Mission: Paw base in Barkinburg, Ryder explained their plan of action. Everyone had very clear goals: Rocky and Chase were to find Sweety, and the rest of the team was to help clean up the mess in the gardens. After the debrief, the Paw Patrol went directly to the castle. It didn't take long, and as soon as they arrived at the castle, they were met by a still-sneezing Earl.
«Ryder, pups, I'm so glad you are here!» Earl said and sneezed even louder than before. «Pardon me. We still can't find Sweetie!»
«Don't worry Earl, we'll find her." Ryder assured. «Where did you last see her?»
«In the gardens, in the courtyard.» The Princess said as she walked up into the conversation. «She was there when the storm started. I saw her through one of the windows.»
«Alright, Rocky, Chase, you know what to do.» Ryder said. «The rest of you, let's help clean up the gardens.»
And so they did. Rocky and Chase began to search in one corner of the square garden, with Chase's nose leading the search, while Ryder and the rest of the pups began cleaning up the gardens from the opposite corner. A little over half an hour passed. Ryder and the pups had already cleaned half of the gardens, and Chase and Rocky had gone through the other half, but there was no sign of Sweetie. Finally they met in the center of the gardens.
«Nothing so far?» The Princess asked anxiously.
«Nothing.» Chase shook his head. «We checked every place she could be, but we couldn't find her anywhere, your Majesty.»
«Keep looking, she's gotta be around here somewhere.» Ryder said.
«Alright, we've found the torso and leg, all that's left to do is collect the rest.» Rubble said as he moved pieces of the knight's armour into place on the armour stand.
«I found a glove.» Zuma replied, bringing a solid piece of armour. «Oh, look, there's the helmet. I'll get it.»
Zuma trotted over to the helmet, and Rubble began to fasten an arm to the torso of the shining armour set, occasionally glancing over at Zuma. But as soon as the Labrador approached the helmet, it moved. Zuma was baffled and confused. He just stood stock-still and stared at the helmet in bewilderment. It moved again, and he backed away a couple steps. He could clearly see that the helmet was moving! After a while, Rubble finished attaching the arm, but Zuma was still staring at the helmet. This surprised the bulldog.
«Zuma, I thought you already got all the other parts.» He approached the Labrador. «What are you looking-«
Suddenly, the helmet began jerking towards the pups, making the sound of an empty can clanking to the ground. The pair was beyond frightened and screamed, backing away.
«G-G-Ghost!» Rubble exclaimed, who was still scared by the film they had seen at the Lookout.
Marshall, Rocky and Chase were nearby finishing up with the flower beds. They heard a couple screams and quickly rushed over to help. Running to the place, they saw how the knight's helmet autonomously jerked and skidded towards Rubble and Zuma, until they did not know what to do and simply kept backing away. Chase ran up to the helmet and smacked it with all his might. With a crash, the head protection flew off to the side, hit the side of the castle, crashed back down the stone pathway, and fell still. Something white had fallen out of it, and it now lay motionless on the stone pavement a couple feet from the helmet, but no one seemed to notice.
«Guys, are you okay?» Marshall said worriedly, checking the pups for injuries. He was too paranoid at times.
«I think they're fine Marshall.» Chase commented, rather flatly. «Ghosts don't exist, so they can't hurt anyone. And this... I think we'll find an explanation for this. Somehow.»
«Guys, something else is moving.» Rocky said cockily, and everyone looked up, confused. «Look!»
The pup pointed to something white hidden behind an overturned helmet. Everyone stared at it as it moved, but no one dared to take a closer look at it. Suddenly, this thing rose to its full height and the pups realised that it was not a ghost at all. It was Sweetie. She had been under the helmet the whole time, which is why Chase and Rocky couldn't find her to begin with.
«Paw Patrol! Where have you been?!» The royal pup was outraged. «I couldn't get out from under that thing for so long and you just didn't do anything! Where's the Princess? I need to take a bath and brush my fur, it's been ruined by that stupid thing.»
She kicked the helmet in disgust and, with her nose up in disdain, ran over to the Princess. The pups looked at each other, giggled, and shrugged. Rocky and Chase followed her while Marshall, Zuma and Rubble continued cleaning.
«Sweetie!» The Princess exclaimed when she saw the pup. «There you are! Are you okay? I was so worried. Rocky, Chase, thanks for finding her.»
«I am NOT okay! I need to take a bath, my silky white coat is in a terrible state.» Sweetie said as the Princess picked her up in her arms.
«It's okay, we'll finish cleaning soon and head to the castle.» Earl replied and sneezed again.
Twenty minutes later the gardens were completely clean and tidy, and Sweetie was getting the treatment she "so desperately needed". The mission was successfully completed. Earl and the Princess saw the Paw Patrol off. They gathered at the exit of the castle to thank Ryder and the pups.
«Oh, it was no big deal about Sweetie being missing all, just-« Ryder was interrupted by Earl's loud sneezing.
«Sorry, there's just something a little wrong with me today. Probably just caught a cold is all.» Earl said, sneezed again and started coughing.
«Sounds really bad.» Marshall commented. «Can I take a look?»
After a brief medical examination, Earl looked anxiously at the Dalmatian, waiting for his diagnosis. Everyone else was also waiting to hear what Marshall would say. It was obvious that Earl was sick, so the team simply could not leave without solving this obvious problem.
«You've got a really nasty cold, with a fever no less. I'm afraid you can't continue with your duties while you're sick. You need rest.» Marshall said.
«What? But I can't stop!» Earl replied. «This job is part of my life. If I am not next to the princess, who will replace me?»
«Maybe... I'll try?» Chase suggested.
«Chase, are you sure?» Ryder asked. «Last time, Sweetie tried to frame you and convince us that you stole the crown. I don't want anything like that to happen again.»
Those words made Chase doubt himself. Ryder was right, and Chase knew that very well. However, Earl had other ideas.
«I think you can replace me for a while, the main thing is to tell you what to do and how to do it.» Earl said and sneezed again. «If Ryder doesn't mind, you can stay. But I still insist that I should continue to work on my own.»
«That's out of the question.» Marshall answered firmly. «If you don't take a break, it will only get worse.»
«Okay.» Earl took a deep breath. «But then who will replace me, Ryder is rather opposed to Chase staying helping out, right?»
Everyone looked over at Ryder, waiting for his answer. The boy thought for a moment, but then, he sighed and smiled slightly.
«I believe you can do it Chase.» He said. «But be careful.»
Chase's face lit up with a grin of anticipation and excitement. After saying goodbye, Ryder and the Paw Patrol, minus Chase of course, went home, while Chase, Earl, and the Princess went into the castle. Within an hour, Earl had explained and showed what Chase would have to do while Earl was on bedrest and he also showed the room the Chase would live in for the time being. It was a spacious room with one large window opposite the front door, which was in the middle of the wall. In the far corner of the room there was a large brown wooden cabinet made of an elegant Lebanese Cedarwood, and in the opposite corner there was a bedside table, made of the same Cedarwood as that on which the lamp stood. Next to the bedside table was the bed, the frame also made of the same wood, and on the other side of the bed was a old-style bookcase. Opposite the bed, next to the closet, was a low table with a oval mirror leaning against the wall atop. In general, the room was decent, if rather empty-feeling. The only thing that bothered Chase a little was the location of the room. It was in the farthest wing of the castle from the main hall, providing more than ample privacy but also meant he was farthest away from anything that may happen in the main sections of the castle.
«Sorry the room is so far away from the main part of the castle.» Earl spoke, seeming to voice Chase's own thoughts. «I'm afraid that Sweetie might try to hurt you, but you're safe in this room, under the watchful eye of our guard.»
«Guard?» The pup was surprised, because the castle never had guards as far as he knew.
«Yes, a guard. You didn't think we didn't have one, did you?» Earl chuckled. «But his powers are very limited, so he can't keep an eye on everything . Even so, I'm very glad you agreed to help me here. It's much appreciated. If you manage to get into any kind of trouble with Sweetie or whatever else, be sure to tell me straight away so I can take your place if need be.»
«I'm sure I can handle it.» Chase answered. «Moreover, Marshall said you need to get well before you can do your job, so I'll try my best not to bother you. You need your rest after all.»
«Okay, Maybe I really need a little break.» Earl said.
An hour later Chase was all at work. It was exhausting, but he was ready for it, willing to put in the work for Earl. For the rest of the day, the pup did Earl's duties; fortunately it didn't last very long, and at eight o'clock that evening Chase's "shift" was nearly over. His last job was only to turn on all the castle's booby traps for the night, but he finished lightning-fast and ended up having two whole hours of his shift. Chase decided to call Ryder as he had the time to kill anyway. He lay down on his bed, the mattress and bed frame creaking in worn unison, and called his pup tag with as quiet of a bark as he could muster. A few seconds later, Ryder answered with a smile.
«Chase! Hey! How's it been so far?» Ryder was glad to see his dear pup.
«Hey Ryder! I'm fine, and the shift was good, if rather long, so yeah, just a little tired.» Chase answered, stifling a yawn as if on cue. «What about you? How are the pups?»
«We're doing well too, just, you know, a little strange not having the whole team at home.» Ryder laughed good-naturedly, if not a with a hint of worrisome weariness, but right after that his pup pad could be heard ringing through the voice call. «Oh, sorry, somebody is calling. I guess I have to go.»
«Oh, well, that's okay, I'll call tomorrow.» Chase said. Ryder chuckled again, and Chase's lit up pup tag faded as the boy ended the call.
In the meantime, darkness had fallen over Barkingburg. Before heading off to bed, Chase had to turn on the traps. An hour later, the traps were all set. He was proud of himself for being so efficient at his job. He turned and walked along a secret special route the Earl used so as not to stumble upon any already activated traps. Earl had shown him the tunnel-path earlier that day. Chase reached his dorm, walking through the stone arched doorway, wooden door slightly gaping, and settled into his bed, yawning and strecthing before laying out and slowly drifting off to sleep.
Suddenly, he woke up at a table, with a bunch of phones lying about all around him, scattered all over the wood surface. He was in some large room, in some kind of rescue station as made apparent by the variety of fire axes and nets and whatever else a rescuer might need in any given situation. Like a school bell gone haywire, an alarm began to ring, a deafening sound. Then, all the phones started ringing at the same time. Chase, confused and scared out of his mind, began shakily answering the calls, but there were too many of them. One of the phones seemed to be louder than the others. Chase picked up this phone and heard "We need help! We don't have enough rescuers!" In that instant, a brown labrador, wispy along the edges, ran into the room. He grabbed a gas mask and oxygen tank from the closet to Chase's right and rushed out the door as fast as he had come. Chase just blinked, even more confused. A siren suddenly sounded, adding to the already cacophonous room. It was so deafening that Chase, frightened, closed his eyes, trying to clam himself down. Suddenly, he eyes opened his eyes. He looked around wildly and realised that he was back in his room in the castle. The siren did not disappear, but only faded, slowly growing quieter and quieter until it became the beep of the alarm clock on the bedside table. The German Shepherd breathed a sigh of relief. It was just a dream.
That day passed without incident. Chase was pretty tired, but by then his work day had already ended. The pup came up to the trap control panel, located just outside of the secret entrance to the Trap Escape Tunnel, and activated all the traps. But then, he seemed to hear someone's voice, faint, still. At first Chase thought he had just imagined it, but then he distinctly heard that small, unfamiliar voice again. He whipped around, looking down both ends of the hall.
«Where are you?» He said in a raspy loud-whisper. «I know you're around here somewhere. Show yourself.»
The echo created by the castle made the mysterious voice even more haunting to Chase. The voice seemed to come from everywhere all at once, like being in a labyrinth cave. Chase immediately remembered the movie about ghosts he and the team watched at the Lookout. He was tired, he was surrounded by darkness, he didn't know who it was or why this voice was looking for Chase, but he was scared. The pup hid behind a standing suit of armour a little ways down one of the halls, hoping that he would not be seen or found. However, despite his conspicuous hiding spot, whomever owned that ghost voice knew he was hiding.
«I know you can hear me.» It said. «Come on out. You can't hide, we'll find you anyway.»
Chase's heart sank with trembling fear, and he, forgetting all the careful safety instructions instructed to him by the Earl, rushed into the nearest corridor. However, the trap worked and a hatch opened right in front of his nose, but Chase managed to slow down just in time. He froze in shock of what had nearly become of him. He didn't know what to do. He was cornered between a pit and a mysterious voice that apparently knew where he was. His pup tag activated, startling him again and nearly sending him into the pit, and another voice, less scary, wash heard.
«Uh, hello? Hello, hello! Listen, I know you're a little bit scared and confused right now, but please, please listen to me. I want to help you.»
If you have read up to this point, then I will be glad if you share your opinion about this story. To the question "When will the second chapter be released?" I can't say for sure. I really want to work on my main story (Iron Heart) but I'm having some problems with motivation to write it and a few other problems that prevent me from writing, but I think soon I will work on both stories more actively. Of course, I'll try to write the next chapter as soon as I can, but I can't promise anything. Anyway, see you in the next chapter, good luck everyone.