"Isn't it wonderful, Skye?" asked Chase, looking up at the stars. The night was still, and a cool summer breeze ruffled the pup's fur. A few crickets chirped in the distance, and the moon shone brightly. They loved their missions, yes, but sometimes, they just wanted a break.

"Yes, Chase. It really is." Skye replied dreamily. "Thanks for bringing me back here. The first time was too short.

"You're welcome," Chase said, nuzzling her chest. Skye giggled and batted his snout away.

"That tickles, Chase," she said happily.

"Skye, there's something I need to tell you…" Chase said, after a short silence, blushing red.

"What's up?" she asked, turning to look into his eyes.

"I...umm...I really...you really make me…" Chase stuttered. "What I mean is…"

"Come on, you can tell me…" said Skye softly

"I really like you, Skye. Like, a lot. You make me happy all the time! Your smile is cute, and it makes me want to kiss you sometimes. I think… I think I'm in love with you." Chase admitted, caressing Skye's cheek with the back of his paw. Ske lifted her paw and touched it to his.

"Really?" she said, in wonder. "What's so great about me?" she asked shyly.

"Everything, from the color of your eyes to the smell of your fur. You are one of the kindest pups I know, and that makes you truly beautiful. You are trusting and open, with a little adventurous streak in you. You are perfect in my eyes, no matter what happens." Chase said, kissing the top of her head.

"Chase, I never knew you felt like that towards me, but I'm really happy you do, because I love you, too," Skye said, licking his nose. Yes, Chase thought. This is all I've ever wanted. Just to be with her. Chase licked her back and they continued to look up into the stars. Everything began getting just a little bit fuzzy, but Chase ignored it. No, not yet! He thought. Just a little longer… he pleaded with himself, but to no avail. It was inevitable. Chase looked at Skye happily one last time before he was jerked back to reality. And it sucked. He was hungry, cold, and uncomfortable on the hard marble floor. He tried to hang on to the last remnants of his dream, but it wasn't going to work. Sighing, he opened his eyes wearily. He was so sick of it all. It had been a few days since he'd last eaten, He also suffered from extreme apathy. The pups and Ryder had been held captive for much longer than they expected. It had been eight weeks since their capture, and all the pups were just running on fumes at this point.

Well, I guess I'll get something to eat today… or not...Chase thought, struggling to his feet. There was a morning routine that the pups followed every day. The lights snapped on, they leave the room, compete for food, come back, wait for Jason to come up with whatever game he had planned, recreation (rarely), then bed (maybe). Sometimes, they stayed up at night making plans. They finally had some type of base to work off of. Except, it contained some variables they had yet to solve for, meaning, there were some things they didn't know yet. The first problem was Jason. They could take him in a fight, but he could manipulate the entire building with that remote, and they couldn't fight that, not without their powers.

"But how are we going to take out the remote, Rocky?" Rocky had been nominated, team leader for this mission.

"It's not the remote we have to worry about, it's the computer it controls. No remote can control an entire building! We've gotta take out its medium! If we take that out, we can shut of Jason's control for good, and unlocked the doors so we can get out!" Rocky answered.

"Yeah, but there are two problems with that. One, where is this computer. Two, how are we going to get to it without being caught?" asked Marshall. Nobody had an answer to that question yet.

"We've still gotta work that out," said Rubble, scratching his head.

"Assuming we can get you to the computer, after you take down the system and unlock the doors, how are we going to get out? There are going to be masses of people coming after us, and without our powers, we can't fight them all, even with our Pup-Fu." Zuma said. "And where are the doors?"

"Yeah, we gotta figure that out too," said Taja. Marshall was teaching the siblings Pup-Fu in their spare time, and they learned the basics, but were nowhere near as good as the Master Pups.

"And some of us are really weak from hunger…" said Ryder, looking down at the poor pups. Ryder wasn't made to do everything they were forced to do. He was cooked delightful meals every day, but wasn't allowed to share them. Namely, the weak pup he was talking about was Rocky. Needless to say, Rocky fought Jason in everything, never doing what he said willingly, but even more so that all the other pups. And he was always letting someone else eat before him, and it was slowly killing him. If he had lost constantly to one pup, they would've figured it out and told him to stop, but Jason had them on a rotation, and he never raced against the same pup twice in a week, so no one really noticed.

"Yeah, and what of Chase? We don't know if he's been freed for Jason's control yet. He could unintentionally betray us." said Marcus, looking at Chase in sympathy. Nothing worked, Chase could still sense the buzzing in the back of his head, a constant reminder that he was not operating under his own will, and his actions could be altered at any time Jason saw fit.

"There's nothing we can do about that…" mumbled Marshall.

"We don't know how Jason's power works yet, so we can't figure out how to reverse it," said Skye. They had a plan with holes in it, and now there were trying to plug them up. Plan after plan had been thrown away, and Rocky had just about given up hope. This plan also was thrown out, and they were left again with nothing. That's all Jason ever left them with.


The door opened, and the pup walked down the hall to the familiar room. It was getting old, and all the pups had become apathetic concerning this. The games were ever-changing, never the same. They ranged from harmless to deadly. Today as they figured out the course set before them, no one really moved with any kind of hurry.

Quite the opposite of Marcus and Taja's prediction, their hungry did not drive them, it slowed them down. No one wanted to move from their holding cells. No one wanted to do anything. The pain and hunger was a gnawing irritation in the background of the pups' minds. Today, Chase did manage to win (only because Skye had noticed that he hadn't eaten in a while and lost to him on purpose.)He ate what was provided, and it did nothing but take the edge of the sharp, biting pain in his belly. It wasn't enough. It was never enough.

He looked dully at the other pups as they filed by him. The winners for the day were he, Marshall, Marcus, and Zuma. the rest went hungry again. Nothing made Chase feel anything anymore. He'd given up on getting out. The plan has too many holes, and we can't figure them out. Chase had accepted this as his new reality.

Jason, however, was on cloud nine. His plan to slowly break the pups was working. He'd broken Marshall's spirit first, he was the easiest. Rubble had come next, then Chase. Marcus and Taja's spirits were all but gone, but they still held to the hope that Rocky would figure out how to get out.

Then there was Zuma. He was rougher than he usually is, and more insensitive. But he still held fiery resentment against Jason.

And lastly, we had Rocky. Everyone's hopes depended upon him. Rocky could literally feel the pressure on his shoulders, and he stayed up many a night, remembering everything he knew about the place, always trying to come up with a solution. But to no avail. They were still imprisoned and that was that. Even worse, Rocky could feel his self-esteem and self-worth slipping away from him, becoming nothing more than words to him. The pups tried to tell him that all this wasn't his fault, but Jason told him every single day that he was worthless and that everything was his fault. At first, he hadn't believed him, but now he was starting to. I wonder how Adventure Bay is fairing without us? Mused Chase as they dragged themselves back to their prison. Those people were always getting in trouble… Chase thought. Skye walked over to his side and looked at him. A sudden spring of energy sprung up into his heart as he looked into her still, sad eyes. She was the only one that could change his apathetic mood into anything other.

"What's up?" he said. Skye laid down and cried into his fur.

"I hate it here!" she cried. "I'm sick of being hungry, I'm sick of seeing all my friends abused by that man. I'm sick of playing Jason's twisted games! I'm tired of it all!" she screamed, voice muffled by his semi-brown fur. Chase's heart cracked down the middle.

"I just want it to end!" she cried.

"We are going to get out of here. The plan just isn't complete yet." Chase said.

"When will it be complete? Will it be complete?!" Skye asked, looking up at him.

"It will be," said Chase, not answering her first question. He looked at Marshall. Marshall had tried to keep morale high for a good bit, but even Marshall had given in too. Ryder hated seeing his family like this, but there was absolutely nothing he could do. He was sure the authorities had been called concerning their disappearance, but no one had come to help.

The Patrol still didn't know where they were, and it didn't matter. They hadn't seen the outside for two months now. Chase bowed his head down and nuzzled Skye, comforting her as she cried her heart out. But there was nothing he could do. The buzzing in his brain got louder, and slowly, but surely, Chase had been giving in to it. He couldn't fight it off he couldn't do anything. He looked down at Skye, and he began to fight back. No. I can't...give in… he thought, pushing back. It took a lot of mental strength from him, but the wave receded, returning to a light buzzing in his mind. I hope something happens soon…or I'm going to come completely under his control...


Rocky stared blankly at the wall in front of him. His brain, always analyzing something, wasn't doing anything at all. He hadn't figure anything out, and at this point, he didn't care.

"I'm done," he said to Zuma, who constantly attended him.

"What?" asked Zuma, glancing at him.

"I'm done trying to figure this out," Rocky said.

"But...you can't...you have to!" Zuma said.

"Figure out what?! There is nothing to find out or learn! No plan is going to work! Jason's been preparing for this for years!" he shouted in Zuma's face, who pulled his ears back in fear.

"There's nothing we can do. We need a miracle to get out of here." Rocky said remorsefully. As Zuma looked into his eyes, he saw dark bags up under them, evidence of insomnia.

"What about your powers?" asked Zuma.

"Like I told Marshall, I can't use them here, the Bloodstone is too strong. And if I take this chain off…" Rocky left the sentence hanging."All the power in the universe and still powerless…"

Zuma looked at him in dismay.

"I'm just going to lay here and not get up…" Rocky said finally.

"Weally, dude," said Zuma.

"Yep, I don't feel like do anything anymore," Rocky replied, rolling onto his side. His body was thin and lean, and his ribs were slightly more visible than normal.

"Oh, Wocky," said Zuma in dismay. "When is the last time you've eaten?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter," Rocky said.

"Wocky…" said Zuma warningly.

"It's been a while, ok?" Rocky answered.

"You aren't answering my question…" Zuma said worriedly. "Why won't you tell me?"

"I don't want you worrying about me," Rocky said quietly. He sighed. "It's been about 14 to 15 days now." Rocky wouldn't meet his eyes. Zuma had told him multiple times that he was going to hurt himself if he didn't start eating.

"Wocky...no…" said Zuma, placing a paw on his side, feeling the ridges in between each bone. "What did I tell you?" he murmured.

"I know, I know, don't always be the hero and yah de yah, yah," Rocky said. "But I can't help it. I just can't live with myself knowing I could be doing more to help you guys. You and everyone else should eat too." said Rocky.

"But that doesn't mean kill yourself!" said Zuma.

"Everyone is hungry all the time Zuma. And someone has to lose, and someone has to win." Rocky said.

"But the loser shouldn't always be you!" said Zuma, laying down beside him.

"Zuma, I'm fine, really! Don't worry about me." Rocky said, closing his eyes.

"No, you aren't!" said Zuma, taking in just how thin his friend was. "This is suicide! You are going to kill yourself! What happens when you're too weak to move? What about our plan!"

"There is no plan! This is reality now, and I'm ready for it to be over." Rocky said. I'm so tired, so very, very tired of all of this. Jason works us to death, and he particularly hates me. He takes such delight in not only starving us, but just plain abuse. His games only get crueler and crueler. Fire, ice, sharp things, acid, electricity, he doesn't care. As long as it hurts really badly. I only see one way out of it." Rocky said sadly.

"Wocky…don't say that. You can't weally believe that, can you?" he asked fearfully.

"The only way out of this is death, Zuma," he said weakly. "He'll never let us go." There was silence for a while, and Rocky felt himself drifting off into unconsciousness. He felt something warm and wet hit his side. Then another, and another, and another. He didn't want to open his eyes, but he felt like something was wrong. He opened them, and looked up at Zuma. His face was contorted as he tried to keep his emotions behind closed doors, but he was quickly losing his hold. Tears streamed down his face as they plopped onto Rocky's thin pelt.

"What's happened to you, Wocky?" he said, wiping tears from his eyes.

"I've been kicked a few too many times while I was already down, Zuma. I'm just accepting the truth." Rocky said. He could finally sleep now, not worrying about how to escape and things. He'd come to terms with that, and made peace with it. Zuma hugged the thin figure tightly.

"You can't give up, Wocky! If you give up, everyone else will as well," he said. Rocky caught on to Zuma's beautiful brown fur and pulled him close to his heart. "I'm trying, Zuma, I just can't anymore," said Rocky remorsefully.

"Let me help you!" Zuma cried, quietly.

"There's nothing you can do Zuma," Rocky sobbed. The two broken pups laid there for a minute, Zuma softly crying into Rocky's fur.

"If only there was someone else who could help us!" Zuma said, finally accepting the truth. And it hurt.

"Someone else who could help us...someone else who could help us...someone else who could...ZUMA! You're a genius!" Rocky shouted. Zuma pulled back from his furry chest and look at him with confused, tear-filled eyes.

"I...I am?" he said.

"Oh, Zuma!" Rocky said, kissing him."This is why I love you." Zuma-who had enjoyed the kiss, but was confused at Rocky's words-just looked into his eyes with a small flame of hope.

"What...what do you mean?" he asked, licking his lips, where Rocky's had been. He tastes so good! Zuma thought. He'd always loved the taste of Rocky on his lips, and he kissed him again to taste him some more.

"There is someone else who can help us! And better yet, Jason has never seen him!" The wheels began turning in Zuma's head. Then it clicked.

"You mean…" he began

"Yes, Zuma. It's time to enlist our friend's help again." Rocky finished for him, locking lips with him for a full 30 seconds. When Rocky finally pulled back, Zuma had a star-struck, dopey, look on his face, a small smile creeping on the corners of his lips. Rocky cradled his head in his paws, looking into the eyes of the puppy he loved.

"Oh, Zuma…" he murmured. "What would I do without you?" Zuma blushed red.

"But are you sure this is going to work? Michael said he could only separate from you when there was a massive amount of energy around, particularly heavenly.."

"Marcus told me this entire building was made of Bloodstone!" Rocky said. "It's been modified, but it's still the same stuff he used to leave me the second time."

"But, it repeals powers now," Zuma said sadly.

"Yes, but it doesn't matter. No stone can keep in my father's power. The stone was just a reflection of him. And with Michael separated from me, we will both become intangible. We could literally walk through walls! Michael can find out where the computer is and get me there. I can shut Jason down from the inside. Michael can make some type of distraction, and get Jason out of the way for a bit. This can work!" Rocky said. Hope instilled into him full force, he jumped out and spun around happily. Rocky's happiness was contagious, and soon, Zuma had caught hold of his paws as they were two love-struck puppies spinning around each other. Then Zuma came to an abrupt stop.

"Wait a second. How are we going to explain this to the pups and Wyder? If you do this, questions will lead to more questions, and soon, we are going to be convicted of framing Copy-Cat! Even if we get out, our lives will never be the same." Zuma said. The light died in Rocky's eyes.

"I don't care," he said quietly. "I'd rather live in a regular prison than this one," Rocky said. "No one will connect the dots from you to me. You can always say I took control of you."

"And thwow you under the bus further! Never. Besides, if I'm sepawated from you, then what is the point of living anymore?" he said quickly. "There is no point," he said. Rocky blushed a spoke timidly.

"You sh...shouldn't...get s..so...att..atch...hed...to ...me…" Rocky stuttered, red creeping up into his ears. "You ca...ca...can't..lo...ove...me...so..mu...much…" he said, shaking a little bit.

"You can't tell me what to do. If I want to love you to death, then I will." Zuma said, stubbornly, squeezing his bestie tightly.

"Wh..hat...if...som..something...hap..p...ens...to...me…and I d.d….di..die?" Rocky said. Whenever Zuma made him feel very excited, Rocky would stammer. Zuma hugged him tighter. "Don't say that!" he reproved him. "Words have power. I don't want you to die. No one is dying! We're going to get out of here and live our lives in peace." he said.

"But if I was taken from you, would you go on mourning for me, or would you continue living?"

"I'll cross that bwidge when I come to it," Zuma said, holding him at airs length, staring into his eyes.

"Just...don't love me too much," Rocky said.

"Huh, don't hold your bweath," said Zuma sarcastically.

"Really, I'm not worth it," Rocky said. "I really shouldn't be with you. It feels wrong to feel so good. And what if anyone finds out about us? We aren't exactly going to be received very well, if you know what I mean." he said. "And with us being the same sex…" Zuma's snout was very close to his, and Rocky began to pant a little bit.

"But you still love me anyway, don't you?" Zuma whispered. Rocky nodded fiercely.

"I could never stop loving you, Zuma." the mix said.

"Then it doesn't matter about our sex, or the way we make others feel. If we truly love each other, then those things won't stop us." Zuma stopped.

"Unless, you feel ...uncomfortable...being with me," he said, looking down. "I don't want to mess your life up or anything.

"No, Zuma, don't say that!" Rocky said, lifting Zuma's head with his two front paws. "I didn't mean it like that! I just wanted to make sure you know the consequences of us being together. You have a future too." he whispered in Zuma's ear.

"Believe me, I don't want anything or anyone else in my life!" Zuma said.

"Then we tell them together, ok?" Rocky said. Zuma touched his forehead to Rocky's and nodded.


Midnight

The day had been long and hard. The pups had been asked multiple, seemingly random questions that day. Anytime they got an answer wrong, Jason would tear a long gash down the side of the pup that got it wrong. Luckily, Rocky was a whiz when it came to random trivia, and did not suffer any lacerations. But the others were not so lucky, and each pup had at least three tears down their sides. Zuma had fixed them all, staying up late into the night. He got about three more hours of rest before Rocky nudged him.

"Wake up, Zuma! It's time…" he hissed in his ear. Zuma was awake in an instant.

"So you do you...you know...get him to come out?" asked Zuma.

"Ummm… I'm not really sure." Rocky said. "He said he'd be around." Suddenly, Rocky's amulet began glowing up under his fur. Rocky removed it from its hiding spot on his bare chest and looked at it. It was a mixture of both white and gold, each swirling into the other, but never mixing. Rocky placed a paw on the warm jewel. The swirling colors from his necklace traveled up his paw, quickly consuming the rest of his body. A bright light began to shine, and Rocky worried the pups would wake up. But they were too tired. When his entire body was swirling in the majestic light, Rocky whispered these words, "Michael, we need your help. You said you'd be around, so please make good on your promise. I, your mortal side, summon you to help me." Everything happened at lightspeed after that. There was an explosion of light, and Rocky's divine side stood by him.

"You called?" he asked. Rocky quickly took of his amulet and slipped in around Michaels' neck.

"Hey. Umm, we need to ask you something." Michael raised a paw.

"No need. I'm still you, just your divine side. I know everything that's going on, and will be glad to help you." he said.

"Hey, can you calm the light down a bit?" asked Zuma. It went from light to dark in a second.

"That better?" he asked.

"Yeah," Rocky answered. "We don't want to wake anybody up." Michael nodded and walked straight thew the wall, Rocky following him.

"Oh, I should probably go back and get out friend, eh?" Michael asked. He went back to grabbed Zuma, pulling him through the wall too. He touched noses with him, and Zuma took on an intangible form too.

"Cool!" he whispered loudly.

"Shh!" whispered Rocky just as loudly.

"You were right about Jason. His computer is in the very center of the facility, and it's behind multiple closed doors. Even worse, it located smack dab in the middle of Jason's room." Michael said, leading them through the halls. "We will have to be quiet until we make it there, because once I create a distraction, all the alarms are going to go off." the pup said. "We don't want to lose the element of surprise too quickly." He stopped, walking into the pool room.

"The door is actually up under this pool. Except, you have to drain the water before you can open it. It leads to a tunnel 20 meters up under the ground. From there, just run. You'll find your way out eventually."

"Whoa! How do you know all of this?" asked Zuma.

"Omniscience is hard to access, but I manage to do it every now and then," Michael said. He turned around and walked back the way he came. Halfways through the hall, Michael spoke again.

"Tell Marshall I said thank you for training you," said Michael. "If you hadn't confronted your past, we would never be able to do this." Instantly, the pups left the visible light spectrum and effectively turned invisible. Zuma fell over, but before he hit the ground, Rocky caught him.

"Sowwy, it's hard not seeing where you awe putting your paws," he said.

"Oh, sorry about that. Rocky, you learned to become invisible, but you never learned to see in all spectrums of light, so, you will just have to sense where you are putting your paws."

"I thought you were the all-powerful one," Rocky said.

"Yeah, but I'm more like a storage container for them. I can only use powers you already know." Michael said.

"But how come you could do things before I had my powers?" Rocky asked.

"That was before I gave your power to you. Now, I'm a reflection of you," he said.

"Wow! Does that mean I learned to know everything?" Rocky said.

"A little bit," he replied, smiling at him. A groan erupted from Zuma.

"You were alweady a know it all, now you weally will be," he said in dismay.

"Tough luck, Zuma," Rocky smirked at him. As they passed through the walls, Rocky stored all this information in his brain for later.

"You know, once we escape, I'm going to turn Jason in to the police," Rocky said.

"That's not going to work. All the policemen in the district have been mind-controlled, Rocky. We need to shut off his powers before anyone can do anything. Which we don't know how to do yet." Michael said.

"Yeah, wight," Zuma said. They stepped through the last wall, and walked into a large bedroom, lavishly furnished. Jason was sleeping peacefully, and directly opposite him was the computer. It was on, and cameras were connected to it, feeding Jason info about the entire facility.

"Okay, Michael. You're up. Don't get caught, okay?" Rocky said. Michael nodded.

"Good luck," he said. He went through Jason's bedroom door and made himself visible again. Red, flashing lights snapped on, and a loud alarm began blaring. Jason was up in a snap, fully dressed, and armed with an ar-15 rifle.

"Wrong way!" Michael said loudly. "Let's go, pups! Don't let him catch you!" he turned himself into a dark, unrecognizable blur. He took off down the halls, and Jason opened the door and ran after him.

"Come back here!" he said. Rocky came out from hiding.

Perfect! Thanks, Michael!

You're welcome! Do this quickly, ok?

Yeah, of course! This won't take long.

Rocky hopped up into the chair right at the computer. Another alarm went off the moment his paws touched the pad.

"Shut, up!" said Rocky through gritted teeth.

Unauthorized Access. The computer read.

"Nobody tells me I have unauthorized access!" Rocky declared, paw typing in a fury. The screen soon began spitting out random lines of code as Rocky hacked into it. When it was open, a page opened up with everything about the facility.

How is it going back there?

Jason has got an entire swarm of people with him, and he's firing at me.

Does he know who you are?

No, he thinks I'm you!

How much longer can you keep him?

If I don't get shot? Gee, I don't know. Ten, fifteen minutes tops before he realizes something is up.

10-4

"Wocky...is your celestial double ok?" Zuma asked.

"Yeah, don't worry about him," Rocky said. He clicked on a file named, EXIT. The page loaded, and it showed the pool at its current condition, water illuminated with red.

"Ummm…" Rocky mumbled. There was a button on the console named, P.A. He pressed it.

"Guys! This is Rocky! I and Zuma are okay! If you are hearing this, go to the pool room as fast as you can! And be ready to fight. As soon as the water is drained, go without us! We'll catch up with you. Rocky, out!"

Great move, Rocky! The pups are leaving now.

Awesome! Things are going my way for once!

No, there still aren't.

Why?

Because Jason is now heading in your direction. ETA two minutes. Should I come back to you and fight him off or lead the pups out of here? I can't keep my invisibility and intangibility on you anymore. He was right, Rocky and Zuma suddenly appeared from thin air.

Rocky?

Silence

Silence

Silence

Get the pups out. Then come back if you can.

10-4, leader.

"Come on, come on! Where is the button!" Rocky looked around on the screen for a bit. There was one with the icon of a plug being pulled.

"Found it!" Rocky hit the button, and the entire bottom of the pool fell through. He watched as the pups hopped down and out, Michael in the lead. There was a gunshot, and Rocky fell off the chair, blood streaming from his side.

"AHHHHH!" he screamed, hitting the floor. Jason shooting from down the hallway, a whole posse of people behind him."I don't know how you got in here, but you aren't coming out alive! I lost all the pups, and that boy of yours today! I'm going to tear your little friend here to pieces, then I'm going to kill you!"

Michael, I've been shot! Where are you?

Still leading the pups out of the system. Hold on for a little bit longer! I'll be there shortly!

Rocky managed to climb up onto the chair, and he hit the button to close the door. It closed just in time, and Jason slammed into it hard. Cursing and swearing he beat on the door, then began firing at the locks.

There was another bang, and Rocky again fell off the chair, an identical gunshot on his other side.

"AHHHH! Zuma it hurts!" he screamed. "You have to get out of here!" he said, panting in pain.

"I'm not leaving you here to die!" Zuma screamed back at him.

"I can...walk...it hurts... too bad…" Rocky said in agony, blood pooling up under him and staining his fur.

"Zuma, I taught you...to code...shut the...facility...down…" Rocky said weakly, beginning to faint from blood loss. Zuma was at his side, and pressed his paw against one of the bullet holes, trying to stop the bleeding. Blood trickled through his toes as the blood refused to slow. Rocky struggled to get up, and Jason managed to shoot him in the leg as he rose. There was a sharp crack as he fell, blood spilling from another wound. Zuma was trying to heal him, but the Bloodstone said otherwise. Rocky was howling in pain, then he stopped unable to muster enough energy.

"The computer, Zuma!" he shouted. Zuma pressed harder into his wounds, blood pouring through his toes at this point. Zuma's eyes got big as he looked around and saw that he sitting in a pool of blood, and it was spreading.

"Zuma, stop. There are more important things...right now…" he wheezed. "Come back to me...after...you...shut down…" Rocky passed out. Zuma tore himself away from Rocky, and got onto the computer. Rocky had already started the last command and Zuma finished it.

Are you sure you want to terminate all functions? Doing so will destroy all hardware permanently.

"Yes!" said Zuma firmly, pressing the button. Everything turned off. The siren, the lights, everything. Zuma went into the computer's core and corrupted the files to the point of no return. He then punched the screen through.

"Rocky, I did it! Rocky? ROCKY?!" Zuma shouted, jumping off the chair to his still form. His heart was beating slowly, and the bleeding was still as fast as ever. It splashed everywhere as landed in a puddle of it, sending blood all over Zuma. "No, too much blood! Too much!" Zuma whimpered as he felt it penetrate his pelt. Rocky coughed, spitting blood out.

"Zuma...where are you…." he mumbled.

"I'm right here! I'm right here!" Zuma said in anguish.

"Zuma, get out of here…" he said thickly.

"No, what about you…?" Zuma asked. Rocky smiled weakly at him.

"Goodbye, Zuma…" he closed his eyes and fell limp.

Shock

Shock

Shock

"ROCKY!" Zuma howled. "No, don't leave me, don't go! You can't die! You can't!" Jason had finally knocked the door down, and was met by fierce opposition. Zuma didn't say a word, but he bit and snapped at the man so quickly he didn't know what hit him. Zuma punched him up the chin, knocking him out. He attacked the next man in a fury, and the others were so afraid of him that they ran away, screaming in fear. The lights had been shut off, and no one could see anything. They just saw bodies fall, limp. With that problem taken care of, Zuma ran back to his friend's side. Blood, so much blood, not again! No more! Not again! Zuma took Rocky's pulse. It was there, but it was all but gone. "Don't leave me." Zuma cried into Rocky's bloody fur.


Rocky's subconscious mind.

"It's time to go now, Rocky." Rocky looked around.

"Who are you?" he asked, looking at the pure white figure in front of him.

"I am your father, or more so, the non-divine parts of me. You still have those. I am what wasn't reincarnated into you. You did what was right, even at the expense of your own life."

"Am I...dead?" Rocky asked.

"No, not yet." Mere's answered him. "You don't have to go back," he said. Rocky looked down at his blood-soaked pelt and sighed. "You were in a lot of pain. The suffering, the hunger. You don't have to feel that anymore." Mere's said.

"But, if I go, what will happen to Zuma?" Rocky questioned. He looked as he saw his spirit double appear beside him. He picked him up and he and Zuma ran down the halls through the secret building, and out the room. He watched as he was laid down outside, the other pups making a semicircle around him, crying their hearts out.

"Is he…" he heard Zuma say, very quietly. Marshall checked his pulse, and nodded sadly. The howl of grief that ripped its way from Zuma's throat was so horrific, so bloodcurdling, that the other pups fell under its spell, howling their hearts out to the moon.

"Come now, son. You can either return to your body and return to all the pain, or you can stay with me, forever. And when Zuma dies, I promise that he will come and live with you, forever. Just take my paw, and it will all be over. Rocky went to take his paw, then hesitated.

"What about Zuma?" he asked again.

"He will never recover fully from your death, son." Mere's told him gently. Rocky sadly turned away from his body, and moved to take his father's paw into his.

The present

"Zuma! Please! You've been trying to resuscitate him for hours now! He's gone, he's not coming back!" Chase told him, tears streaming down his face.

"Leave me alone! He's still in there somewhere, I know he is!" Zuma shouted, tear blinding his eyes. Taja stepped forward, and lightly drew her tail across his flank.

"Zuma," she whispered into his ear. Her warm breath tickled its inside. "You have to let him go." she finished. Zuma continued trying to heal him, but nothing worked. Zuma broke down in tears and collapsed as he accepted reality. Taja licked his ears, comforting him, but there was no comfort to be found. They had escaped, but they had paid a horrible price, a price so expensive, it took an entire life to pay.

Rocky…

Was…

Dead…

There are literal tears in my eyes right now. Rocky and the rest of the pups have been imprisoned for 8 weeks now and they all gave up hope of ever seeing the light of day again. Just as he gives up, Rocky and Zuma realized that they can call on Michael to give them the assistance that they need. The plan works, but just as Rocky has finished, he is shot fatally. His father offers him a choice, return to the pain and suffering, or take his paw and never go back. In the present, the pups are heartbroken over the loss of their friend. Will Zuma ever be the same? Can Taja calm him down? Find out in the next chapter.

P.S- Yeah, so sorry this took so long to come out. I never get writer's block, but I wrote and rewrote this chapter 5 times before I was satisfied with it. Every time I started, I thought of something that would make it better and on and on. But this version is the one I liked best. Also, I will be writing certain parts of this story from the pups' POV later, such as, what the pups were doing while Rocky was having his meltdown inside his pup house, what their lives were like in prison, their escape, etc. I would post it here, but it would take up too much time and I would lose your attention really quickly. So those stories will be published at a later date, when I finish with this story. This story is wrapping up quickly, and there will be a maximum of three more chapters in this story, maybe less. (Probably less.) There will be a part two to this story and I will start writing that very soon after I finish this. Also, I'm going to take a break from this story and write some cute, funny one-shots for Paw Patrol (Maybe a little romance.) I should probably stop rambling and let you guys go... So yeah! I've got a lot to write, so I'll be updating this story next week (hopefully, life is getting very busy.)

So, see you in the next chapter! (of whatever story…) Peace!