Chapter four: Trouble Returns?!
"Thewre's so many of the them!" Zuma breathed, looking around at all the holes. "How will we know which way they went?"
"I think this is meant to throw us off. So we don't find them, whoever they are. Let's head back the way we came, and see if Chase is having better luck."
Jake was standing outside the Lookout facing outwards, scratching the back of his neck.
"Hey Jake! Is Chase back yet?" Ryder asked, when they came alongside him.
"Actually... no haven't seen him." Jake admitted. "I really thought he'd be back by now."
"Yeah me too." Ryder sighed, perplexed by this development. "He should've at least checked in by now." Tapping his pup-pad he swiped it to Chase's icon. "Chase? Can you hear me? Come in Chase." The screen snowed over and all that came back was a staticky buzz. "He's not answering, and his pup-tag isn't sending out a signal."
"You mean we can't track him?" Skye asked, disbelief erupting in her tone.
"Not that way, at least." Ryder confirmed, shrugging his shoulders. "Let's head to Foggy Bottom and see what we can find."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Mayor Humdinger insisted, gesturing with his hands in front of his body. "I haven't seen your missing pup. Never even knew he was here. And why would I want to do such a thing?"
"I don't know. But do you have any idea what could've happened?" Ryder asked.
"How should I know. Perhaps he got lost for all I know." The mayor shrugged sarcastically, but Ryder could still tell he genuinely had no clue.
"Um.. ok, well thanks Mayor Humdinger. Let's go pups, maybe we can find him somewhere else." Ryder flicked his pointed thumb over his shoulder and they all turned and left.
"Maybe he made it back to the Lookout while we were gone." Rocky suggested hopefully.
"Let's go find out." Ryder decided reluctantly, he found he was running out of ideas. And though it didn't happen often, he was beginning to get increasingly worried rather quickly. Especially since one of his beloved pups was missing in action. But with Mayor Humdinger not knowing about where Chase was or where he'd gone; or what may have happened to him... things weren't adding up; and he needed to find some answers... fast!
Returning to the Lookout, though, was a surprise when... a force field when up in front of them before they could even reach the garage.
"Woah!" Rubble cried, stopping short when the shield cut them off. "What?" A cackling laugh soon informed them, somewhat, of an explanation. Harold Humdinger emerged in his robot from inside the shield, part of it lifting to allow him to exit; and stand before them. His smug look followed by a smirk.
"Harold?" Ryder gasped, the pups gasping after him.
"That's right! This is my headquarters now..." He adopted a curious expression. "Again." His smirk returning in saying this.
"Woah! Not cool dudes." Jake said nervously, thinking his thoughts out loud.
"Of course! Harold must have taken the meteor." Ryder realized. "Pups! We have to get it out his robot again."
"Not so fast, Mighty Pups!" Harold taunted, pressing a few buttons a wheeshing noise came from the robot's backpack. And something began to rise out of it, Ryder and the pups were horrified to see...
"Chase?!" They gasped together. Chase was still zapping to escaping when he heard his name.
"Ryder!!" He cried, pressing his paws to the glass.
"That's right PAW Patrol!" Harold snickered. "You can't defeat me! Not without harming your friend here. I win!!"
"No way, Harold!" Marshall cried, almost in tears.
"We will stop you!" Rocky snarled.
"And get Chase back safely!" Skye added, glaring up at him.
"Yeah, good luck with that." The boy said, waving them off, as he turned and went back toward the shielded area.
"Pups! Ryder! Run! Before he tries to catch you!!" Chase cried, pressing his paws to the glass again. The floor jerked under him and fell over.
"Hey! Pipe down back there." Harold snapped at the German Shepard.
"Get out of here, guys!" Chase called again.
"I said quiet!!" Harold bellowed, slamming his fists into the arms of his chair inside the robot. When he did that, the screen registered something,... something that intrigued him. "What's this?!.. Well let's find out, shall we?" He said out loud, pressing a few buttons. Chase felt a vibration under him and heard a rumbling sound as well. Unsure, and a little concerned of what was happening, he looked around uneasily. Suddenly two arms retracted out of two of the four metal posts on the container, and locked onto Chase in a harness like device; till granting him maneuverability. The device began to glow and a zapping energy seem to pull on his body. Chase felt slightly weakened by this instantly as the surge continued.
"Chase!!" Marshall exclaimed, in seeing this.
"My robot is gaining even more power!?!" Harold gasped to himself. "Perhaps there is something special about this pup? Time to find out." Harold walked back into the shielded area and disappeared. Marshall ran forward hoping to get in, but the shield went down before he could, and he slammed right into it.
"What do we do Ryder?!" Rubble cried sadly; already feeling defeated.
"We have to rescue Chase." Ryder decided, hammering a fist into his other hand. "And I think that the tunnels can help us. We just have to find the opening and figure out which tunnel will lead us back to the Lookout. We can sneak into it from their. Once we're inside that bubble, you can use your superpowers to rescue Chase and get that meteor back!"
"Ryder, what was that robot doing to Chase?" Marshall asked, calling attention to what had just happened.
"I think Harold has realized that Chase now has the same power as the substance from the meteor inside him; and is using Chase to power his robot, as well as the meteor." Rocky guessed.
"I think you're right, Rocky." Ryder agreed. "Which is why we need to help him fast. He won't be able to withstand that for very long. So we've gotta to hurry. To Foggy Bottom! Robo-Dog, bring the Air Patroller!" The underground hanger opened and the Air Patroller soared out over the bay; it landed just long enough for them all to get aboard, then blasted off for Foggy Bottom.
The Air Patroller landed silently on the shoreline beach of Foggy Bottom in no time at all.
"Mighty Skye! Fly along the shoreline and find out where the openings are." Ryder instructed.
"Why would the tunnels be here?" Everest asked curiously.
"Now that we know how's behind all this, we can be sure that it connects to this area somehow. And we'll be more likely to find the other opening to the tunnels we found under the Lookout." Ryder explained.
"Ryder! Come quick!!" Skye called frantically. The boy looked over and jetted to her immediately, the other pups following suit.
"What'd you find Skye?" Ryder asked hurriedly.
"Look! Paw prints, that's gotta be Chase!" The Cockapoo thought, more surprised than excited.
"Ok, so he was here." Ryder guessed, scratching his chin. "I think that means we're on the right track. Chase must have found something out here, when Harold found him." Skye led the way as, they followed the paw prints on. They were far apart; because Chase was probably going pretty fast when he made them.
"What? They just stop, right here?" Zuma stated in confusion.
"Now what do we do?" Rocky asked.
"Well Chase didn't just disappear." Everest pointed out. Skye rose higher and caught a glimpse of something she hadn't seen before.
"Wait a minute?! Guys, there's another beach on the other side of that rock wall. Chase must have figure this out and climbed over the rocks to check it out." Skye inferred.
"Good thinking Skye!" Ryder smiled. "Let's go pups!" Everyone proceeded to climb the rocky ledge and over it they found the hidden beach.
"Look! More paw prints! Chase definitely came this way!" Marshall realized, pointing a paw at the trail. Skye followed the trail further.
"Uh oh. Ryder, the trail stopped again." Skye reported. "And at a random point in the middle of the beach." Ryder and the pups made it to the end of the trail; all of them gathered around it and stared.
"The scuff marks mean something was placed here." Rocky observed, carefully studying the scratches in the sand.
"Like a trap of some kind?" Marshall wondered, attempting to follow the grey pup's train of thought.
"Exactly." The recycling pup in green nodded.
"And look over here!" Rubble squeaked, "big foot prints! Harold's robot must've shown up here too."
"But where did it come from?" Everest wondered aloud. "There's no trails leading here? The only reason Chase made it here was by climbing over the rocks." Rocky retraced the foot prints and found one half covered.
"I think we found that other opening." He stated, putting his paws up onto the wall in front of him, and gazing over his shoulder at them.
"So now that we found it, how do we get in?" Marshall asked.
"By using your super powers. Rubble, Rocky, we'll use you super strength and energy tools to pry this door open." Ryder articulated, gesturing to both of them in turn.
"You got it!!" The two pups replied.
"Ruff! Screwdriver!" Rocky barked, as the tool in question materialized in front of him.
"Arf! Super strong claw!" Rubble called. Rocky jabbed the end of the screwdriver into the crack of the door, and Rubble tightly gripped it with the claw.
"Ok everybody." Ryder said. "Let's all do this together." Everyone gathered around the tool. "Ready... set... go!!" They pushed and pulled with all their might, Rubble's paws glowing yellow and amplifying his puppy strength, and finally the door opened. The metal crunched and squeaked when it opened, darkness lay in front of them; as they peered into the secret door.
Hey everybody. What up?! So I think there will only be one or two more chapters of this story left. Glad you guys have enjoyed and I can't wait to see what you think of the ending! Thx!!