Chapter five: Plan In Motion
"Woah!" They gasped at the strange sight.
"Cool! Another secret passageway." Zuma breathed.
"And our way back to the Lookout." Rubble emphasized.
"That's right, come on pups! Let's go get Chase back." Ryder decided racing down the tunnel on the far side of the cavern. All the pups howled and barked as they followed after him; Jake not far behind.
Chase felt himself growing weaker and weaker, he hadn't a clue how much longer he could take this. But he also didn't now how to stop it either. All he was hoping was that Ryder and other pups had left like he'd told them to. He let them get captured once, he wasn't about to let it happen again! But then again, he still very slightly wished they'd come to rescue him. All his energy was seeming to be drained out of him, giving him no way to object. Unable to fight back, he tried to think of something that would work. 'Ryder never gives up... so neither will I!' He thought to himself.
"How will we find our way through, Ryder?" Marshall wondered.
"We couldn't the last time we tried." Skye pointed out.
"How will we make it back to the Lookout without getting lost in there?" Zuma whined uneasily.
"My GPS may not work down here." Ryder stated slowly. "But a compass will. He pulled out an old compass from his pocket. "We know which direction the Lookout is in. So as long as we keep going in that direction, we can find our way through this maze."
"Alright!!" Zuma cheered.
"Let's go!" Skye called.
"Yeah!" The pups agreed.
"It worked!!" Ryder cried, when they emerged from the hole in the Lookout basement a little while later. "Now that we're here we need to figure out how to get Chase out of that robot." Ryder paced for a second; thinking. "I've got it. Skye, you and I'll distract Harold long enough for Rubble and Rocky to get onto the robot's back. So they can bust Chase out of the container that he's trapped in."
"Then what can we do?" Jake asked, gesturing to him and the other pups.
"The rest of you pups can help us keep Harold busy until Rocky and Rubble get Chase. And Jake, I need you to help Rocky and Rubble, for when they rescue him." Ryder replied simply.
"You got it, dude." Jake smiled, giving him a thumbs up.
"Alright pups. Let's go get Chase back. And stop Harold Humdinger!" Ryder declared, pointing towards the elevator.
Chase was beginning to pant a little, his energy level growing lower and lower by the minute. Have.. to think.. of something! He thought to himself, his thoughts sounding as breathless as he felt. Suddenly the ground jerked under him, and he slid to the other side of the containment unit. Shaking the dizziness from his head, he peered around the robot's shoulder.
"Harold!" The younger boy turned to glare at the intruders. "Let Chase go!" Ryder demanded.
"What?! How did you get in here?!" Harold gasped.
"Doesn't matter, Harold." The older boy responded firmly.
"The Lookout doesn't belong to you!" Marshall said.
"And you can't keep Chase locked up like this!" Skye agreed, pointing at Chase.
"Sure I can! And you can't stop me!! Hahahahaha!!" Harold cackled evilly.
Rocky, Rubble and Jake peered over the edge of the balcony. The robot was standing right next to the Lookout, thankfully with his back to them so he wouldn't see them. They could see Chase laying down now, clearly in distress.
"Ok, you pups ready?" Jake asked, looking at the pups on either side of him.
"Yeah." They both nodded.
"Then go, I'll be right here when you get back." Rocky and Rubble jumped onto the robot's back pack, hoping they wouldn't be detected; to which they weren't, much to their relief.
"Rubble, pry the top off. Then I'll go in and unhook Chase from... whatever that thing is." The green recycling pup decided.
"You got it!" The bulldog responded. Taking the top of the container, he pried it off and the grey mixed breed jumped in next to Chase.
"Chase?" Rocky addressed his friend softly. Materializing a small screwdriver, he manage to wrench the armored harness off of the German Shepard and draped his forepaw over his own shoulder; helping him to stand.
"Rocky? What are you doing here?" Chase asked weakly.
"Don't worry about that now, let's just finish this rescue ok." Rocky told him. The pups looked up, as Rubble lowered his claw, keeping it closed for them to grab a hold of.
"Come on!" Rubble called. "I don't know how much longer they can keep Harold busy." Rocky took the claw with one paw and held Chase with the other; and hoped he could hold him long enough to get back up again. Thankfully they got up just fine and Jake was able to lift them all back up into the Lookout balcony. All of them kneeling by Chase. Looking up at the conversation going on outside, Jake scooped up the German Shepard and they all ran back into the Lookout.
"You can't stop me, because I have mega meteor and Mighty Pup power." Harold scoffed, when a powering down sound jostled the robot. "What?! What's happening? My power levels have gone down again?! How did-" the screen lit up showing an empty containment unit behind him. "No!!" He yelled, anger erupting within him.
"Ryder! We have Chase, we're good to go!" Jake called, waving at him from the Lookout's lower level.
"Great!" Ryder smiled, as Rubble and Rocky ran up to join the rest of the team. "Ok pups! Let's take down that robot!" Zuma splashed water in the robot's face, and Everest froze it to ice. Harold lifted hand to the robot's face and it got frizen as well. But yanking the hand free shattered the ice and he could see again. He was about to open his net launcher to catch them, when Ryder dove down in front of him and up; shifting his focus.
"Over here Harold!" The boy called, waving his hands. Harold stopped, then smirked and reached behind him. Taking out a long ray-like device, he shot it. The ray hit Ryder directly and sent him backwards into the Lookout balcony, locking onto the railing. Now Ryder hung there from the balcony, with energy cuffs holding him there.
"Ryder!!" The pups cried, in horror. The robot turned around and Harold stared down at them.
"Now, where were we." He said deviously. He readied his nets again when...
"Stop!" A shockingly familiar voice from the Lookout made them all turn to look. Chase stood there in the doorway confidently gazing up at the robot, Jake standing not far behind him.
"Chase?!" The pups cheered, both surprised and excited at the same time. The German Shepard grinned at them, then frowned up at Harold.
"Ok Harold, enough is enough. Give back that meteor!" Chase declared.
"Ha! You won't stop me this time!" Harold snapped and shot the net at Marshall. A blue streak ran across and the net landed catching nothing. "What?!" Harold sneered. Chase stopped with Marshall at his side.
"Phew! Thanks Chase." Marshall sighed gratefully, beginning to get up again.
"No problem, Marshall." Chase smiled. The robot stomped up toward them; both pups looking up at.
"Rubble, knock him off balance!" Chase called, glancing over at him.
"You got it! Arf! Super strong claw!" When the metal arm retracted out he grabbed the ankle of the robot and pulled. The giant bot stumbled about, as Harold attempted to regain control.
"Rocky, use your energy tools to build a giant catapult. Everyone else, scatter. We have to keep him distracted, while Rocky does his thing." Chase zapped off and proceeded to run circles around Harold. The boy squinting in an attempt to see him so he could grab him; but to no avail,... he was too fast.
"Yoo-hoo! Over here!" Skye called, flying up to his left gaining Harold's attention.
"No! Down here!" Zuma called, splashing water across the glass face of the robot, from his glowing orange paws.
"It's done!!" Rocky called, finishing up the build. Chase screeched to a halt.
"Great!" He smiled at him.
"Chase look out!!" Marshall called. The German Shepard looked back and zapped away as a net came down, failing to catch him.
"Thanks Marshall!" Chase called, the two of them exchanging a firm nod. "Rocky, got anything we can use to launch at Harold to knock him off balance?"
"What about pillows and pup-beds?" The green recycling pup suggested.
"That'll work! Rocky, Marshall, Zuma go get some. Skye, Rubble, Everest and I will cover you." Chase instructed. The three pups bounded to the Lookout, while the other four distracted Harold, again. Harold's giant metal hand slammed into the ground right in front of Chase, and he screeched to a halt. The other hand came down on top of him; pinning him to the ground.
"Chase!" The pups called. Everest hopped forth and breathed her icy breath on the robot's field of vision. And the giant mech had to stand up and wipe his face.
"Nice work, Everest." Chase stated getting to his feet again.
"Thanks Chase." Everest grinned, her tail wagging happily.
"Pillow launcher ready to go, Chase!" Rocky called, setting a pillow in the catapult.
"Fire away, Rocky!" Chase barked. Rocky hit the lever launching the pillow right at the robot. "Keep going! We need to get that meteor back!" Rubble's claw pulled Harold off his center of gravity once more, water, snow, and pillows ambushing him from all sides. Chase observed the battle going on, and then caught s glimpse of the empty container on the robot's back. His eyes flashed, as a thought popped into his head. He looked to the catapult, as Rocky shot another pillow at Harold. The German Shepard raced over to it, appearing at the grey pup's side in a snap. Before Rocky could reload, Chase hopped into the catapult's launcher.
"Chase? What are you doing?!" Rocky gasped in confusion.
"I need you to launch me onto the robot's back." Chase responded determinedly.
"What? But I-"
"Just do it!" Chase cried and Rocky obediently, without any further hesitations, shot the catapult. Everyone seemed to freeze and look up as Chase went flying through the air. Harold snapped out of it and tapped frantically at the controls. The German Shepard twisted in the air, and a skinny claw retracted from the robot's mid-section grabbing him and sucking him into it, injecting him into the container once again.
"No!" The team gasped.
Ok I am almost certain that the next chapter will be the last. Hope you've enjoyed and it and here's to hoping many more stories proceed it that are just as great. Speaking of which, I did just start a new one called More Than A Cold. Hope you guys are interested enough to go check it out. But til next time my friends!! Thx!!!