Chapter 13: Clocking in

"What have I become, my sweetest friend? Everyone I know goes away in the end" – Johnny Cash

Chase and Silvex had returned to Rocky's room after their heart-to-heart conversation about Silvex' past and Chase promised the Husky that he wouldn't tell a soul about any of it. Now that they were all gathered, and Chase and Zuma managed to let go of their mates, it was time to get down to business.

"So, here is what we know." Silvex started his briefing, while Chase, Marshall, Rocky and Zuma were sitting in front of him. "The Port-to-Port killer, or PtP for short, is a female that walks on four legs. She is ruthless and efficient, but she is also forced to stick to a routine. However, this routine was interrupted when she killed the wrong person and again when we chased her down after she had killed her target. Normally, we would just assume that she fled town the moment we lost her trail. But this isn't a normal case, which is why we're including Marshall and Rocky, who are technically not cleared to know any of this. Now, the reason that this isn't a normal case is because of the PtP-killer's unknown connection to the PAW-Patrol. Not only did she react strangely to Zuma and Chase, but she also said the PAW-Patrol's name just before she fled."

"Her connection to us also explains what happened in New York." Zuma added. "If she knew that I worked for NCIS, or if she is scared of the PAW-Patrol for some reason, it would explain why she acted differently in that city."

"In other words, if we figure out who she is and how she knows us, it might give us the chance to take her down." Chase concluded. "Does anyone remember someone we helped or put away that could become a serial killer?"

The only response Chase got was a bunch of empty stares, which made Chase realize that even if they had known the PtP-killer, no one would accuse just anyone of being a serial killer.

"Right, that didn't work." The shepherd said. "Maybe if we looked at it a different way?"

"Well, if we assume that the PtP-killer recognized Zuma in New York, it would mean that Zuma had met them before." Silvex theorized. "Why don't we take a look at everyone Zuma has helped or worked against in his PAW-Patrol days, and then eliminate everyone but females that walk on four legs. That should give us a place to start."

When he woke up, he was once again lying in a bed. But this time, Shadex recognized that he was lying in a hospital bed. He tried to rub the sleep from his eyes but then noticed that his paw was cuffed to the side of the bed.

Right, I tried to rob a bank and then I killed four people. I should've expected to be arrested.

He looked around the room, which had a table and a chair, as well as a door that probably led to a private bathroom. As he looked at the door, he could faintly see the blue shape of a uniformed officer that was guarding the room. Between the strong drugs, the handcuffs and the guard, Shadex wasn't going anywhere.

They had been investigating for hours, without any results. Rocky and Marshall had even fallen asleep, but none of the other canines wanted to wake them. They had looked into everyone that Zuma had come in contact with on rescues, be it friend or foe, but no one matched their profile. Not to mention the depressing discovery that most of the people that Zuma had helped rescue ended up dying later on when the PAW-Patrol wasn't there to save them when they did something foolish. Zuma couldn't bear the thought of the current Adventure Bay, and the insane amount of carnage there would have to be.

"Ugh!" Silvex groaned as he threw a file on the ground. He had spent about half an hour reading through it, only to find zero leads. "This isn't getting us anywhere."

The husky then got up and walked over to the window and looked outside as if he expected the PtP-killer's identity to be written in the clouds.

"Let's say that we are looking for a girl walking on four paws, that knows the PAW-Patrol." Silvex said, rubbing his head to try and clear it. "Is there anyone that comes to mind?"

"Huh…" Chase responded, which earned him the full attention of Zuma and Silvex. "I'm not sure, I don't think she would be capable of it."

"But there is someone who could fit our profile?" Silvex asked Chase, his tail wagging from excitement.

"Yeah, there was a cat we knew and had to rescue a few times. Her name was Cali, but again, I don't think that she would be capable of it." Chase said. "Come to think of it, I don't know when I saw her last. I know it wasn't at Ryder's funeral, she didn't attend."

Zuma suddenly gasped, loud enough to make both detectives snap their heads towards him. "Guys…" the Labrador spoke quietly. "Do you remember that thing that the PtP-killer was wearing? The colour scheme seemed somewhat familiar to me. The red, white and blue reminded me of something, but I couldn't place it."

"But now you know where it is from?" Chase asked, the shepherd was starting to get just as excited as his partner. This excitement died down when he saw the devastated expression on Zuma's face. The lab was trying to fight back tears.

"W-We never f-found Ryder's jacket, d-did we?" Zuma asked Chase, looking him dead in the eye. Zuma's voice was trembling, and so was Chase's when he replied.

"N-No, that c-couldn't be, r-right?" Chase said as his body started to tremble. In spite of his words, the shepherd started to believe that the lab was actually right and that the blood-covered cloak wrapped around the PtP-killer was actually Ryder's jacket, which was indeed never found after their leader had passed away.

"Guys, I'm sorry to have to ask this…" Silvex started. Both Chase and Zuma were reliving what was most likely the worst memory of their lives and Silvex was about to ask a heart-breaking question about it. As much as he hated to have to do it, he had to. "Is there any chance that Ryder's death wasn't an accident? And that this Cali was somehow involved?"

For a moment, there was only silence. Neither Chase nor Zuma wanted to reply or even think about Silvex' question and Silvex didn't know what else he could say. But then, the silence was broken by Chase.

"Our leader, Ryder, died falling off a cliff." Chase's voice sounded monotone, like he was presenting any ordinary case file. "His injuries supported that and the local police ruled his death accidental. Whether he was pushed or fell, we can't say for sure."

"Beep-beep-beep." This time, it was Silvex' phone that rang. After Silvex answered it, his face paled and his eyes turned white before he hung up abruptly.

"What's going on?" Chase asked, who noticed Silvex' change in behaviour instantly. Then again, even a blind man could have noticed.

Silvex' shocked face turned towards his partner. "Captain Xavier has been kidnapped, they suspect by the PtP-killer." The husky explained. "In other words, we just ran out of time."

When Shadex woke up again, he was still lying in the hospital bed. The view was the same, the room was the same and even the bored police officer standing outside was the same. Right now, Shadex had two goals to achieve. The first was to find his brother, Silvex. The second was to take revenge on Bloodrazor, who had him subjected to extreme forms of torture. However, despite his situation, Shadex didn't wish for vengeance on Xeno. In spite of the circumstances under which they met and worked together, Xeno never abused him in any way. It almost made Shadex feel guilty for knocking Xeno out the way he did. Almost.

So which should I do first? Kill Bloodrazor in the most painful way imaginable, or find my brother? If that even is my brother, I'm not even sure of that. Regardless, I'll get to do neither as long as I'm stuck in here.

"Hello? Officer?" Shadex yelled at the guard, who turned around and entered the room, just as the husky intended. What he didn't expect was that the cop closed the door behind her and pulled her gun. For it was indeed a her. According to her badge, she was Officer Cara Redwood.

"So, you're awake then? Perfect." She said, her gun still aimed at Shadex, though her finger wasn't on the trigger yet.

"Are you here to kill me?" Shadex asked, his eyes wide from disbelief. "I thought cops weren't supposed to kill people in cold blood?" Despite the horrors Shadex had endured, all he ever learned about cops came from old tv-shows, in which the cops were always honest and good.

"You're right, I won't kill you in cold blood. Bloodrazor wouldn't want me to." She said, which made Shadex sigh with relief before she added: "Which is why I'll say that you attacked me, to which I reacted with lethal force. Sound good?"

"W-wait!" Shadex said as he tried to figure out how he could possibly survive this. Then, from the back of his mind, sprung an idea. "Go ahead and kill me, if you really want to. But if you do so, then I'll have the last laugh."

"How come?" she asked, and Shadex could tell she was getting a little nervous. At exactly that moment, Shadex twitched his shoulder a little, as if there was something uncomfortably hidden under it. Officer Redwood immediately moved over to that side of the bed and reached a hand under Shadex' shoulder. But her confusion only grew when her hand didn't feel anything. Then, her eyes grew wide as she realized what was about to happen, about a millisecond before it did. In one quick motion, Shadex threw his head up to hers and bit down on her throat. He put all of his strength in that one bite and eventually, he tore away most of the flesh. Officer Redwood then slowly staggered back, her left hand clutching her throat while her right hand let the gun slip from her fingers.

Before long, she collapsed, but she was dead before she hit the ground. Shadex climbed partially out of bed, just far enough so that he could reach her keys, one of which he used to unlock his handcuffs. Shadex thought about dragging her body out of sight, but there was far too much blood to clean up. So Shadex settled for washing himself off in the bathroom, before exiting the room as if there was nothing wrong. He did make sure to close the door behind him and hang up the 'Do not disturb' sign. He snuck into a supply closet, where he found an adequate disguise. He then left the hospital dressed as a canine security guard.

Back in another room in the same hospital, three sleep-deprived canines woke up their sleeping comrades, before quickly filling them in on their new theory. They left out the part about Cali somehow being involved with Ryder's death. They also told them about the kidnapping of Captain Xavier, which was presumably the work of the PtP-killer.

"….Right now, the entire CCPD is looking for Captain Xavier." Silvex finished his explanation. "But they have no idea where the PtP-killer could have taken him. To be honest, I don't think they'll find him in time. Which means that it is up to us."

"But all we have is an unproven theory, nothing more." Chase replied. "Besides, if we're right about Cali being the PtP-killer, then it raises more questions than answers."

"True, but right now, it's all we have." Silvex replied quickly. "Now, I never knew Cali, but you guys did. So tell me, is there anywhere that she would possibly take someone?"

"I don't remember her ever even leaving Adventure Bay, let alone find hiding places outside of it." Zuma said depressingly.

"Yeah, me neither." Rocky chimed in.

"I mean, if she would've taken him back to Adventure Bay, I think I could've found her." Marshall said. "But outside of that town, I don't have any idea where she could be."

All eyes were then focused on Chase, who had remained silent the whole time. "I think I know where she is."

"What?!" Silvex asked. "Where?!"

"Back in Adventure Bay, Cali was always fond of high places." Chase added solemnly. "If it's really her, then I'd be willing to bet everything that she's hiding in the clocktower downtown. The one that's under construction."

"Chase, are you sure about this?" Silvex asked him. It wasn't as much a question of whether his answer was correct, but more to see if Chase had faith in his answer.

Before replying, Chase looked up and stared Silvex dead in the eye. Chase seemed to understand Silvex' intention behind the question. The shepherd then answered with a single word: "Yes."

"Good." Silvex said. "Then, let's go!"

Shadex was now a fugitive. Officially, he was a bank robber and a cop killer. Not to mention the fact that he had made an enemy out of Bloodrazor, arguably the most powerful man in the city. Truth be told, the husky didn't know what to do, or where to go. He didn't even think that he could go out and find his brother, seeing as that brother was apparently a detective and would be forced to arrest him. After he had left the hospital, he didn't make it very far before running into a police car. He managed to avoid being seen and changed his route, only to run into yet another police car. This time he was too scared of the other one to be able to avoid them seeing him, but they completely ignored him. Turns out, the cops weren't after him. They were on patrol because of some missing police Captain. Still, Shadex was nervous about the cops so he avoided every police car he saw, until he ended up right where he started, at the hospital. He climbed into a structure at a kid's playground across from the hospital, to try and think of his next move. It was then that he saw something oddly familiar across the road. It was a dog, a husky, that was leaving the hospital with a Labrador and a German shepherd. He was too far away from them to recognize the husky from the photo back in the vault, but he knew it was him. That husky was his brother. Shadex climbed out of the playground structure and tracked Silvex with his eyes to a car. Shadex snuck over to another car on the parking lot and quickly carjacked it. When the three dogs left the parking lot, he was driving right behind them. He followed them all the way through the city, up to a creepy-looking clocktower in the centre of the downtown region. The three dogs got out and immediately pulled their guns as they approached the clocktower's front gate. They quietly entered, unbeknownst that Shadex was right behind them. Shadex had no idea why they were there, but he knew that whatever it was, it was serious.

Rocky and Marshall had stayed behind in the hospital, seeing as the former still needed to be in there and that the latter wasn't a cop either. This left the two detectives and the federal agent to test their theory and head to the clocktower. Chase, Silvex and Zuma had just breached the tower when Chase beckoned the others over to him.

"Guys, I think I just heard someone behind us." Chase whispered to his comrades.

"Alright, I'll take a look." Silvex replied as soft as he could, before retracing their steps. Chase and Zuma continued their way through the poorly lit clocktower, avoiding debris and construction equipment as they made their way forwards. They zigzagged through the room to the stairway that led to the tower.

Silvex didn't like this tower at all. It may have been under construction, but the state it was in called for nothing less than demolition. The stairs were either broken or just about, and there was debris everywhere. Not to mention the holes in the floor that Silvex could barely see in the semi-darkness. The husky quietly retraced his steps towards the entrance, when he spotted a lone figure approaching him. The other hadn't seen him yet, so Silvex made sure to stay hidden. He waited until the other was right by his hiding spot when Silvex leapt at him. He took the other, whom he realized to be a husky like him, in a chokehold. The other husky struggled with all his might, but Silvex didn't let him go. Not until he caught a whiff of the other's scent, which seemed so familiar that he didn't have to think twice and he released the husky. He did, however, draw his gun on the other.

"I'm Detective Silvex Knyght, CCPD, who are you?" Silvex said as he kept aiming his gun at the other husky.

"If you're Silvex, then that would make me your brother." The husky said in-between coughs. The chokehold may not have left any permanent damage, but it did hurt like hell. "I'm Shadex Knyght."

"…Shadex…?" Silvex whispered, his voice had lost all of the strength that it usually held. "…You can't be, my family was killed…"

"I wasn't, I survived that fire too." Shadex replied. He had recovered from the chokehold, though his voice was still a bit unsteady. "But the others…"

Shadex didn't need to finish that sentence, they both knew the truth about that. Shadex had lowered his head in his sadness, in a failing attempt to hide his tears. Silvex saw them regardless. When Shadex felt his long lost brother hugging him, he hugged back without hesitation. But then Silvex abruptly ended the hug when he remembered why he had gone to the clocktower in the first place. He quickly brought Shadex up to speed on their enemy and led him to the staircase.

"Hey Silvex, there's something you should know. It's important." Shadex said while they were walking towards the stairs. "There is a powerful man going by the name Bloodrazor that wants me dead, today he sent a cop to do it."

"Seeing as you're still alive, I take it that the cop isn't?" Silvex replied bluntly. "Did you manage to catch their name?"

"Yeah, Cara Redwood." Shadex replied. "She spoke to me right before she tried to kill me."

"Redwood, huh?" Silvex asked. "Never expected her to be-" Silvex' sentence got interrupted when the floor under him gave way and he fell into the basement. Shadex could hear his brother hitting the floor below them, but before the husky could jump down, Silvex yelled up at him. "Head to the top, Zuma and Chase will need your help!"

Shadex immediately followed his brother's orders, while said brother started looking for a way to climb up.

No matter how quiet the two canines were, in the absolute silence every sound they made seemed as loud as a shotgun blast. The slight creaking of the stairs, the almost inaudible sound of their breathing, or their beating hearts blasting into their ears. Both canines expected to be lit up by gunfire with every step they took, but it didn't happen. They ascended to floor after floor, but no reaction came. When they eventually made it to the top floor, both canines felt so mentally drained that they just wanted to go to sleep. But they couldn't, seeing as they were suddenly looking right at a bloody, tied up Captain Xavier. They looked around the room, but there was no sign of the PtP-killer anywhere. Chase quickly made his way to the unconscious Captain Xavier, whose entire face was covered in blood from a gash on his forehead. Chase quickly undid the restraints, when he heard a faint sound behind him. When he looked back, he saw Zuma lying still on the floor. Chase was relieved to see his chest rising and falling slightly, but now he stood alone against a highly efficient killer. The shepherd looked all around the room, but he couldn't see the PtP-killer anywhere. He didn't even see any movement anywhere, until he heard a slight crack above him. As he looked up, he had a serious case of déjà vu as he remembered this exact scenario from when he killed Marcus Black. Only this time, he wasn't looking into the dark eyes of a mobster, now he was looking into red eyes of pure evil. The PtP-killer leapt right at him, but Chase managed to dodge and punch her in the face. She jumped back, knocking over a barrel that had been standing there. Chase didn't know what its contents were, but one of the barrel's labels identified it as flammable. The creature in front of him didn't seem the least bit interested in the barrel, but far more interested in him.

"PAW-Patrol…" her coarse voice said with a mixture of hate and respect. "You came…"

"Tell me something." Chase said with his gun aimed at the creature in front of him. "Are you really Cali? The cat that we knew back in Adventure Bay?"

In response, the PtP-killer didn't say anything, she just slowly removed her makeshift hood. The face underneath was scarred, bloodied and seemed to look permanently angry. But Chase would've recognized it anywhere. The cat in front of him, the cat with so much blood on her conscious, was indeed the fun, mischievous cat that he had once known.

"So it is you." Chase remarked sadly. "I had hoped it wasn't true. Tell me, Cali, what happened that day that Ryder died? Why did you disappear? And why did you start killing people?"

"It was all because of him!" She shouted. The sudden volume seemed to make her voice sound coarser than ever, almost giving Chase the impression that she was tearing her throat apart. "Him! Yes, him! Everything because of him!"

Chase couldn't make any sense of her words. "Who? Ryder?"

"No! Not Ryder!" Cali screamed back, maniacally. "Ryder was good! The man was bad! Very, very bad!"

"What man?" Chase asked desperately. In truth, ever since they had found Ryder's body, Chase had thought that there was something more behind it. That they didn't know the truth. And now, after two long years, he finally had the chance to find out what happened. So yeah, he was desperate. "Cali, what man?"

Cali seemed to be just about ready to answer when she was distracted by something behind Chase. When the shepherd turned around, he saw a husky standing behind him that looked a lot like Silvex. But it wasn't his partner. Chase then aimed his gun at the husky, which turned out to be a mistake. He heard Cali move behind him and before he knew it, she was on top of him. Chase could feel her claws in his back, and he could almost see how she was preparing to sink her fangs into his neck. But then the husky stormed at them and threw Cali off him. Chase quickly crawled back up, only to see the husky in about the same position that the shepherd had just been in. Chase was about to shoot Cali when he noticed something wet at his paws. On a hunch, he looked over at the barrel that Cali had knocked over earlier, which turned out to be the source. This meant that Chase couldn't risk firing a shot because it could set fire to the entire tower. So he dropped his gun and tackled Cali off of the husky, just before she would've sunk her teeth into his neck.

"Thanks!" The husky said as he crawled back up. "I'm Shadex."

"Chase. And I was only repaying the favour." The shepherd replied, not taking his eyes off the serial-killing cat in front of them. Cali then stormed at them, clawing at their faces and biting whatever she could. Chase and Shadex fought back with everything they had, but they were both outmatched. Chase and Shadex were both skilled fighters, with excellent training and technique, but Cali was on a whole other level. Her ferociousness, natural talent and complete lack of sanity made her a fighter straight out of hell. What's more, she didn't even seem to feel any pain. It wasn't long before both Chase and Shadex were lying on the ground, bleeding from several wounds, while Cali appeared to be just fine. She had her claws inches away from Chase's throat and for a moment, the shepherd thought that was it. For a second, it would seem that he was to die at the hands of an old friend. But then a loud gunshot echoed through the tower, and Cali was knocked back, way from Chase. Chase looked back, right at where Silvex was standing with gun in hand. Then Chase remembered the flammable chemicals that were all over the floor. To the shepherd's extreme relief, none of it had caught fire. But that relief was only temporary, for he saw Cali stumbling backwards, straight at an old oil lantern. Before he could shout out to her, she knocked it over. The lantern fell in what seemed like slow-motion to Chase, slowly tumbling through the air, before finally hitting the ground and shattering. The flame from inside the lantern instantly set fire to the floor, which quickly lit up the entire clocktower.

"Shadex, grab that Labrador!" Silvex yelled at the other husky, who was trembling with fear. But Silvex' voice snapped him out of it and he rand over to where Zuma was lying unconscious. "Chase, help me with the Captain!"

"On it!" Chase yelled as he ran to the chair that Xavier was tied up in. However, he couldn't resist looking back at Cali, who had been standing in the centre of the fire. Through the flames, he could faintly see her burning body collapse. He could almost hear her say the words: 'PAW-Patrol', but he refused to believe those to be her last words. He then helped Silvex hastily untie the Captain and together they carried him outside. Once they left the burning clocktower, Chase called the fire department and an ambulance for the Captain. Zuma didn't need one, he was already starting to regain consciousness.

"Ugh, what happened?" Zuma asked as he rubbed his head at the place where Cali had hit him to knock him out. He then laid eyes on the burning tower above them, which made him add: "Chase, what did you do?"

"It was Cali, she knocked stuff over." Chase replied. Everyone knew that cats were infamous for knocking things over. In a way, Cali's death was fitting.

"So, I take it that the cops are on their way?" Shadex chimed in, which made Zuma wonder who he was. Shadex noticed the look of confusion on the lab's face, so he decided to introduce himself yet again. "I'm Shadex."

"He's my brother." Silvex added, which summoned looks of surprise on the faces of both Zuma and Chase. "But, yes. The Police are coming, so you should get out of here."

"Copy that." Shadex replied. "I'll be in touch!" Shadex then ran off, just as the sound of sirens was coming around the corner.