Chapter three: Go! Go! Oh no!
"I don't understand." Chase gasped, rubbing his nose after another sneeze. "That hole wasn't there before." He looked back, to gaze questioningly at Ryder. The boy scratched his chin and then his head in confusion.
"Well since the meteor is gone, someone must have broken in and taken it, and escaped back through this hole." Ryder hypothesized.
"It must have happened after we found Chase." Skye guessed.
"Maybe." Ryder thought.
"What? No way!" Chase decided. "We were down here just a few minutes ago. It can't have been that." He shook his head definitively.
"Ok. So when do you think it happened?" Marshall asked innocently.
"I think it was when we heard that rumbling sound and felt the ground vibrate." Chase stated. "Whatever they used to get in here had to be a big digging vehicle. And it would make a lot of noise when it drills."
"Chase actually has a point." Ryder agreed, thoughtfully running it through his mind a few more times. "Great detective work!" Chase smiled proudly, as the boy gave him a thumbs up.
"What do we do now, Ryder?" Rubble asked worriedly.
"We find out who caused all this damage." Ryder responded, determination ringing in his voice. "PAW Patrol... to the Lookout!" Ryder called, pointing to the elevator. Howls sounded as they all piled back into the elevator. As Marshall raced for the elevator though, he accidentally crashed into a box labeled: 'Rocky's stuff' and a tire rolled out of it and Marshall landed on top of it; running while it rolled underneath him.
"Marshall!! Look out!!" Chase cried, stretching a paw out toward him. But the pup rolled right into them, crashing into them. Marshall sat upright on top of the pile, his friends all tangled up in one another.
"Who knew making a mess would be so... tire-ing." Marshall joked, as they went up. All of them laughing together at the hilarious joke.
The Lookout tower lit up as they put on their Mighty Pups super-suits. Chase zapped forth with his super speed, and the other pups followed, gathering in their usual lineup.
"Mighty Pups, ready for Mighty action, Ryder sir!" Chase declared.
"Great, ok pups. We all know exactly why we're here." Ryder hit the button on his gauntlet pup-pad and the screen retracted down. "Someone broke into the Lookout basement and stole the meteor. And it's up to us to find out who, and get it back from them." The pups all howled excitedly at their new mission. "Mighty Skye," Ryder selected the right icon. "I need you to use your wind-rider wings to search the cave and follow it to wherever it leads."
"Wah-hoo! This mighty puppy's going for a spin! Yeah!!" The Cockapoo barked, spinning into her whirlwind.
"And-"
"Ryder?" Chase's voice stopped the boy short, and he looked up in confusion. "I think we can both agree, that my allergies have given use a big clue on who could've taken the meteor." The German Shepard pointed out, setting his raised paw down again.
"You're right, Chase." Ryder confirmed. "Which is why..." he selected Chase's icon and it flashed up onto the screen. "I need you to use your super speed to go to Foggy Bottom; to find Mayor Humdinger."
"Mighty Chase is ready to race!" The speedy blue pup responded confidently.
"Alright! Mighty Pups are ready to go, go, go!" Ryder called. Skye and Chase slid down the slide and Ryder jetted out the Lookout window. As soon as they landed on the ground, the other pups slid down after them.
"Ok, Skye, let's go down and see where that hole goes. Chase, go find Mayor Humdinger." Ryder instructed.
"You got it!!" The two pups replied. Skye rode her whirlwind back to the elevator, Ryder and the other pups in tow; and Chase took off in a flash for Foggy Bottom.
"With my super speed, I'll be there and back in no time!" Chase thought to himself, then zapped himself faster.
"It's awfully dark in there." Zuma shuttered a little.
"It's not that bad." Marshall gulped, peering into the darkness.
"At least there aren't any spiders in there..." Rubble remarked. "Right?" He suddenly wondered, and became a little worried that there were.
"Don't worry guys." Rocky piped up. "I'm sure there's nothing scary in there. It's a new hole; it hasn't been there very long. We should be ok. Come on." The grey mixed breed hopped into the darkness, holding a flashlight in his claw arm. Ryder and Skye hovered into the dark space, the other pups slowly inching inside bunching together as they followed.
"Yeah, I think I'll stay here." Jake decided nervously. "You know, until Chase comes back."
"Ok Jake, we'll be back soon." Ryder called back. Then Jake walked quietly off to go back up to the surface, whistling cheerily; glad he didn't have to go into that dark tunnel.
Chase screeched to a halt in the hazy atmosphere of Foggy Bottom. Looking left, then right he was gone again in a flash. Little zaps of blue light streaking here and there were all one could see through the moist air, hanging down like low-cut clouds around them. When Chase stopped to observe his surroundings, he suddenly saw the meteor being dropped into something in the back of his mind; and a zapping wave of pain rushed over him. He grimaced coming out of the brief flash, then gasped and took off again. The speedy blue pup arrived at the shoreline in seconds. He sniffed the air and sneezed. Kittens. He knew he was on the right trail, but then he realized that it may just be because they travel here a lot. Dashing off he came to the door of Mayor Humdinger's not-so-secret Lair. More kitten sneezes, no surprise there. But a zapping energy in his paws and through his body, drew him away from the stone doors. Climbing up the rocky ledge in which they'd spied on Mayor Humdinger on, he climbed over the rocks and landed on sand once more.
"Huh. Didn't know this was here." Chase remarked aloud. Another hit on the meteor slammed him in the head. He then looked up in realization, as if learning something from the flash, and took off across the hidden sandy beach.
Their footsteps echoed down the long dark tunnel, as Ryder and the other pups continued down it.
"How long is this tunnel." Rocky complained. "Seems like we've been walking for a while."
"Yeah, shouldn't we be out by now?" Marshall agreed.
"You're right, we should be." Ryder realized, slowly hovering to the ground. "Well at least this is the only tunnel otherwise we could easily get lost."
"Uh Ryder?" Everyone looked at Rocky, who shined his light on two tunnels going in different directions. Turning around he found a few more.
"Uh oh." Ryder said.
Chase zapped to a stop yet again. He looked about some more, hoping to find any sign of the Humdingers; but to no avail. Chase sighed and lowered his head, despair creeping up on him... as was something else.
"Hahaha!" Chase looked up quickly in hearing that familiar laugh. The owner of the voice hovered down in a brand new super suit, a pleasureful smirk on his face.
"Harold?!" Chase gasped. The boy's smirk never changed, especially when he went on to say...
"Gotcha!" Pressing a button a platform jerked under Chase; but when he tried to run away, a transparent shield met him. A glass-like wall had leapt up from the depths of the soft, shiny sand, to trap him in its hidden snare. Chase zapped several times to break through it, trying to get free. "Hahaha, you'll never get in my way again. And neither will those silly Mighty Pups." Harold snickered, deviously.
"Let me go Harold!" Chase demanded. "Or you'll have to deal with the Mighty Pups. We've stopped you once! We can do it again!"
"Ha! I'd love to see them try. Especially since..." Harold hit another button on the small controller he held, and a loud clang sounded behind Chase to his right. A large door hidden in the rock face slowly glided open, and the German Shepard was shocked when he saw what was inside. It's footsteps shaking the ground, as it's shadow rose up to fall over Chase like a dark blanket or net.
"The robot from before!?" Chase breathed. The ground jerked again. Chase began to rise up, and into something where darkness completely ensued.
Well here's the next chapter! Glad you're all enjoying it, and I can't wait to see what you think of what comes next. Thx!!