Well, for what I have planned for the rest of this story, we're approximately 1/3 of the way through it, give or take. This chapter ends phase 1 of the story not to mention this chapter is the longest one yet. I hope you enjoy chapter 9: The Master Plan
Marshall and Chase stood there in shock. Both of the pups were hoping that Al would've been anywhere else but inside the remains of the barn, but their hopes were shattered.
"M...Marshall?" Stuttered Chase. "You… you think he's…"
"Dead?" Marshall said coldly finishing Chase's question. "I don't see how he couldn't be."
"Don't you think you should check for a pulse just in case?" Asked Chase.
"I guess I should." Replied Marshall while taking a pulse-ox out of his medical bag and putting on Al's finger.
"I hope he's still alive." Chase said to himself.
"Come on, come on…" Marshall quietly said aloud watching the device try to get a reading.
Finally, the device got a reading but not what Marshall wanted to see, the pulse-ox was giving a pulse of zero. Farmer Al was dead. With the reality of the situation hitting them, both Marshall and Chase began to cry.
"Now what do we do?" Marshall asked while wiping his face.
"We have to tell the others." Answered Chase. "It's gonna take more than us to get his body out."
"I guess you're right Chase, that hay bale probably weighs five-hundred pounds easy." Marshall added.
Chase and Marshall slowly worked their way back to the others, as they approached the others, the weight of the situation got even heavier, farmer Yumi had returned and was sitting with the others.
"Oh great…" Both Marshall and Chase mumbled to themselves.
"Well, did you find him?" Asked Skye.
No one noticed the duo's return until Skye spoke. Now all eyes were on Marshall and Chase. No one except Ryder and Rocky noticed the still wet fur around Chase's and Marshall's eyes.
"Well…" Began Marshall. "We did find him…"
"But unfortunately, he was crushed." Said Chase finishing Marshall's sentence.
"Crushed, but how?" Asked farmer Yumi.
"We're not sure how exactly, but it was a hay bale that crushed him." Responded Chase.
"Oh…" Farmer Yumi said flatly. "If you guys don't mind I need some time to myself. Feel free to remove the remains of the barn and take what's left of Al to the mortician. I'll be in the house if you need me."
Ryder and the others watched as farmer Yumi slowly walked to her house and disappeared inside. She didn't start bawling her eyes out till the door closed behind her.
"Now what dude?" Asked Jake.
"Now, I guess we remove the barn and get Al's body out." Replied Ryder. "Katie, think you could take my ATV to go get the coroner and the mortician?"
"No problem Ryder." Said Katie leaning in to kiss Ryder but stopping inches from his lips.
Once Katie realized what she almost did in front of everyone, and everyone looking at her in shock. Her face turned as red as Marshall's truck, she giggled and ran over to Ryder's ATV, got on it and drove off in a hurry.
"Wow, that was weird." Ryder thought to himself.
"Anyway…" Ryder now talking aloud and trying to change subjects. "We'll need to head back to the Lookout to get Rubble's ultimate truck. I think we all can fit on Marshall's truck somewhere."
"Ryder? Don't you think we should leave a Water Cannon Cart here just in case it rekindles?" Asked Marshall.
"That probably wouldn't be a bad idea, Marshall." Replied Ryder.
Everyone climbed aboard Marshall's truck and all eleven members of the PAW Patrol started on the journey back to the Lookout. Unknown to them, Ember watched the entire situation unfold.
"Such a pity…" Ember said to herself. "I only wanted to destroy the PAW Patrol, not anyone else. I actually liked farmer Al, grew some of the best food in the area. All well, his own dumbass fault for going back into the barn once it was on fire."
Ember now monologuing to herself aloud. "It's hard to believe that two years ago the PAW Patrol almost destroyed itself when a rescue went bad, Marshall fell off his ladder onto a ledge above a raging river, and Chase failed to save him with his net. But somehow he managed to survive, beating all odds. How, HOW am I going to end the PAW Patrol once and for all?"
Ember thought to herself for a moment and a huge smirk formed on her face. "I have the perfect plan, even Harold or Mayor Humdinger couldn't think of it. I'll have to go around town and get some supplies before the night's up and phase one of my plan will begin."
Meanwhile back at the Lookout, everyone was gearing up to go retrieve farmer Al's body and clean up the remains of the barn.
"You all ready Rubble?" Ryder asked.
"Sure am Ryder!" Rubbled yelled from inside the cab of his truck.
"Everyone bucked up?" Rubble asked looking back at the other pups.
"Yep!" Yelled the other pups in unison.
Rubble then started to move forward only for the truck to stop.
"What the f…?" Rubble said confused.
Rubble looked down at the screen to see it say that seat four was occupied but the seat belt wasn't latched.
"Marshall!" Rubble yelled back to the Dalmation. "Your seatbelt isn't latched."
"Oops, sorry." Said Marshall.
Marshall fixed his seatbelt and with Rubble leading the way, the PAW Patrol headed back to farmer Yumi's.
With the PAW Patrol busy, this gave Ember the perfect opportunity to start her plan. As she walked down the streets of Adventure Bay, she sang the "Temptation Song" to herself. (Changed to match her liking)
"Let's see…" Ember thought to herself. "The first thing I need is a burlap sack, then enough Benadryl to knock out the hardest insomniac, and finally eighteen pairs of handcuffs." Ember then got to work on her "shopping list", continuing to sing "Temptation" to herself.
Meanwhile, Ryder and the others just got back to farmer Yumi's where Katie, Lance the mortician, and Greg the coroner were waiting for them.
"How long have you guys been waiting on us?" Ryder shakily asked.
"Not long." Answered Katie. "I'm sure you remember Lance?"
Ryder closed his eyes and shivered at the mention of that name, the last time he heard it was when everyone thought Marshall had died. "Yeah, I remember him." Replied Ryder.
"Who's the other fellow?" Asked Skye.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Answered Lance. "This is Gregory, Gregory Maxwell. He is the new coroner for the area."
"Pleased to meet you." Said, Gregory. "But please, call me Greg, Gregory sounds too formal. Now then, where is farmer Al?"
"He is in the barn under a hay bale." Said Chase.
"Ah, that explains the heavy equipment then," Greg said in amusement looking at Rubble's truck.
"You bet." Ryder said speaking up. "Well guys, let's get to work."
The PAW Patrol began working removing the barn and moving it over to a field to be burned at a later date, much to Rocky's disapproval. After three hours, and the sun starting to set, they finally had just the hay bale that was crushing Al left to remove.
"Alright pups," Ryder started. "If you don't want to see this happen, you don't have to. I can operate the crane to move the hay bale."
Everyone except Marshall took a step back. Marshall then looked around to see everyone looking at him.
"What?" Marshall said confused. "Death doesn't bother me."
Ryder chuckled to himself as Marshall wrapped the chain around the bale.
"All set Marshall?" Ryder asked Marshall.
"All set!" Marshall answered back.
Slowly Ryder lifted the hay bale up and set it off to the side. Greg could tell just by looking that farmer Al was indeed dead. Lance helped Greg load Al into a body bag and into the back of the van.
"Well thank you PAW Patrol for the help." Said Greg.
"Yeah, if it weren't for you we would still be removing the barn.
"No problem." Said Ryder.
With that, Lance and Greg went on their way and Ryder and the others went back to the Lookout for a well-deserved dinner.
"Man am I hungry." Rubble yelled over the roar of the engine.
"You're always hungry." Everyone yelled back in unison before laughing.
Before any of them knew it, dinner had come and gone, and it was well past everyone's bedtime.
"Come on pups," Ryder said stepping out of the elevator to see them all watching Apollo the Space Pup. "Time for bed, we all need a good night's sleep if Ember keeps this up."
"Come on Wyder." Pleaded Zuma. "Just one mowe episode?"
"No Zuma," Ryder said shaking his head and chuckling. "It's already ten-thirty."
"Alwight," Zuma said in a defeated tone before joining the others headed for their pup houses.
"Man what a day," Ryder said with a yawn. "We need to do something about her before something really bad happens."
Ryder quietly went up the elevator trying not to wake, Jake, Carlos or Tracker. They all had brought tents to sleep outside but Ryder insisted that they sleep in the Lookout. Ryder almost went into a panic seeing Everest was missing but he remembered since Marshall and herself let their feelings be known, she's been sleeping with him.
"Tomorrow is a new day…" Ryder said as he crawled into bed. "I hope it's better than to...day"
"Oh, it won't be," Ember said to herself from atop of a tree. "Now that they're all asleep, I can start my plan."
Ember climbed down from the tree and started her way towards the pup houses. Quietly she put on a gas mask and pulled out a large spice shaker. Inside the shaker was a sleeping powder she had made earlier in the day. One by one, she sprinkled it onto the pup's noses, knocking them out cold. Once Ember was sure they were all out for good, she decloaked herself.
"Now then who do I take first?" Ember said to herself. "I think I'll take Chase first."
Ember walked over to Chase's pup house and carefully placed the handcuffs on his legs, as a precaution if he woke up, took off his collar and pup tag, and placed him in the burlap sack.
"With the PAW Patrol's number two out of the picture, who will step up when Ryder is a sobbing mess like he was when he thought they lost Marshall?" Ember happily said to herself.
With Chase now in the sack, Ember made her way back to her car on the other side of the bridge.
"Better recloak just to be safe." Thought Ember. "And just like that, Ember disappeared along with Chase.
The next day, it wasn't until ten o'clock when the first soul woke up, which was Ryder.
"Hmm, that's odd." Ryder thought to himself. "It's not like Chase to let anyone sleep that late into the day."
Ryder opened his bedroom door to find a note from Jake, Carlos, and Tracker saying they went for breakfast and would be back later. Ryder then made his way down to the first floor of the Lookout and opened the doors and took a deep breath in.
"I can feel it, today is going to be great." Ryder said happily.
Ryder then started towards Chase's pup house, only to find he wasn't there, the only thing inside was his pup tag.
Man, a lot has happened in a short amount of time, from the Cheetah making an alter ego, to her stealing Chase and everything in between. I hope everyone has liked the story so far, Monday starts the beginning of phase 2, along with tying up some loose ends. I also want to thank PyreFly77 for letting me mention his story in mine. Anyway, hope to see you then,
Chunkman128