AN: Here I am, thought I had forgotten about all of you, huh? Well, work is just busier and busier so its harder to update and update. Hopefully if I get my old job this summer, I'll have a better schedule but for now this is how things are. Haven't even had time to see anything new Paw Patrol wise, that's how busy I am.

Disclaimer: I do not own Paw Patrol


"The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley." -Robert Burns


Marshall had seen plans go to hell before. Ryder, despite his record, sometimes had his plans ruined by something unexpected. One of big ones that came to Marshall's mind was when they discovered Zuma had a fear of blood. He didn't know if he was thinking about it now because Zuma, his friend who had been missing for months, was now in the area or if because it was the mission before the whole Damian Stone incident started.

Regardless, Marshall didn't know why Zuma was there, but if the police found him it would only be trouble. Arriving at the Command Center, Marshall banged on the door and waited until someone opened it only to push past them to find Ryder turning around in confusion. "R-Ryder, can you come out here for a moment…" He noticed other eyes were on him and he gulped in his efforts to try and think of a lie. "Uh, I think something is wrong with my… Pup Pack."

"Want me to fix it?" Rocky asked from his seat.

"N-No! I mean, you should stay here and keep assisting Chase. Ryder will be fine," Marshall said, rushing over and grabbing Ryder by the shoe to drag him out.

"Uh, okay, Marshall I… woah!" Ryder said, hurrying out by force much to the confusion of the others.

Once they were far enough away, Ryder stopped and crossed his arms. "Okay, Marshall. What's really going on? You weren't even attempting to hide the fact that you were lying in there."

Lowering his head, Marshall apologized, "Sorry, Ryder, but this is bad. Chase contacted me in private because he saw Zuma in the warehouse!"

Ryder's eyes widened as he quickly got out his Pup Pad and called Chased who answered on a private line. "Chase, it's Ryder. Marshall told me you saw Zuma. Is it true?"

"Yes, sir," Chase whispered, doing his best to remain quiet. "I saw him sneaking around the target Blue is heading towards. I didn't say anything out of fear of what the others want to do with him."

Ryder bit his lip and closed his eyes. "How did he… look?"

"From what I could tell? Thinner. Plus, he had a cloak around him. I'm not sure what else to say because I didn't get a good enough look at him," Chase answered. "Sir, what do we do?"

Marshall took a good look at Ryder who was doing his best to concentrated, but it was clear by his facial expression that he was having a hard time. The Dalmatian couldn't blame him. Zuma was all alone in a room full of armed guards without knowing that both the Paw Patrol and the Feds were inside planning an attack. He had the gangsters who wanted him dead as well as the Feds who wanted to arrest him. There was no way out unless Zuma had a backup plan.

Their pondering was interrupted when Rocky called on the Pup Pad. "Ryder, something weird has happened!"

"What is it?" Ryder asked.

"You know that guy that Agent Blue was going to get the keycard from? Well, he got the keycard, the problem is that… well… he's already dead!"

Both Marshall and Ryder looked at each other with wide eyes as they quickly realized who could have done it.


(A few minutes ago)

Zuma stalked his target just as he had been taught to do these past few months. Wait at the right distance. Eyes always on your surroundings. Watch for the slightest movement for direction and intent. Hold your breath and take in air from the nose. All of it was key to hunting down prey.

In some ways, Zuma felt more like a wolf then he did as a dog. Long ago, such thoughts would never have crossed his mind. How long ago was it that he was just a simple pup playing with his friends and rescuing those who needed assistance to a stalking killer out for blood? It seemed like a lifetime ago, and it was those once happy memories that were getting fewer and fewer to remember.

Would he go back to them? Of course.

Could he go back to them? No, never.

Putting his thoughts of the past away, Zuma slowly made his way past a few boxes to follow the golden jeweled gangster. To his fortune, the human was heading towards a hallway nearby that was devoid of any other guards. A perfect chance to strike.

Slipping close to the human as he made the turn, Zuma waited until they were far enough from the door to tackle the human via jumping on his back, and gripping the back of his neck with his jaw while forcing him down. Naturally, he screamed, but Zuma shushed him by growling, "If you don't want your neck torn out you will be quiet."

"Oi! Lenny! You okay?!" a voice from the main room asked.

"Tell him everything is fine," Zuma hissed.

Gulping, Lenny replied, "Uh… y-yeah! Just stubbed my toe! I'm cool!"

"Okay, watch your feet next time. Spooked us all with that yell," the voice said before going silent.

When he was sure that they were going to be uninterrupted, Zuma growled, "Alright, asshole. I'm going to ask one question and you had better give me an answer. Where. Is. Stone?"

"Oh, god. You're that Zuma pup aren't you. Look h-he's not here! I swear!" Lenny replied.

"Quieter, and I know that. But you know where he might be in general, don't you?" Zuma asked again, applying more pressure to the neck.

"N-no! I don't… I only know he doesn't stay in one place for too long… and that his captains know where he'll be every week. I'm not a captain, so I don't know! Please don't kill me!"

Zuma smelled the urine dripping down his pants so he knew that man was telling the truth. "So I have to find a captain, huh? Is there one here?"

"N-no… GAH!"

That was all Zuma needed to hear before ripping out the side of his throat and letting the scum bleed to death. Spitting out his flesh, Zuma pondered his next move until he heard someone coming. Cursing at the fact it would be too late to move the body, Zuma rushed behind a nearby cardboard box and hid behind it, ready to take the poor soul down. However, to his surprise it wasn't a human but a fully-grown German Shepherd. At first, Zuma thought it was Chase, but the outfit was different, almost police like which made Zuma wonder if this was a police dog or something.

The German Shepherd was surprised to find Lenny's body and rushed over, checking to see if it was still breathing. Growling, he spoke to a radio in his ear while Zuma listened in.

"Overlord, this is Blue. The target is dead. I repeat the target is dead…" He spoke, waiting for a response. "No, I didn't do anything. I just found him like this… yes he still has the keycard." The police dog walked over and took a keycard off the back pocket of the dead human. "It looks like his throat got torn out… we're not alone here. Officer Chase, did you see anything from your position?"

Chase is here?! Then that means… Zuma realized with horror.

The rest of the patrol was here too. Ryder. Rocky. Marshall. Everyone.

If they saw him like this…

No, they shouldn't even be here! Not with Stone around! He'll just hurt them like he did before! Zuma closed his eyes, trying no to remember the horrors his friends had to face because of his enemy. Because of Zuma's failure.

"Roget, we'll keep an eye out," The German Shepard said before ending communications. He turned around and made back the way he came while leaving Zuma to ponder his next move.


Chase held his breath as Blue continued to report in the strange death of their targeted gangster. He knew that Zuma had to have done it, but why? Why was he here in the first place? If only I could get in contact with him, Chase thought as he tried to think of his options.

The first, and most obvious problem, was that what he was seeing was being recorded. If he even approached Zuma without doing something to stop him, the other members of the joint task force would question Paw Patrol's involvement at best or accuse them of helping a wanted suspect at worst. He also had to deal with the fact that he couldn't just go there without a reason, wherever "there" was that Zuma went off too. The guns and other smells were interfering with his nose in trying to get his scent. Plus, he still had to focus on the mission at hand.

No, as much as it pained him to think it, he couldn't approach Zuma. One of the others may have better luck, and he hoped that Ryder would get the same idea as he did. Before he could confirm with his owner, Blue signaled for Chase to form up. Carefully, Chase crawled down with his crawlers and, after some careful timed bursts of sprints, managed to regroup with Blue.

"Officer Chase, did you see anyone with Lenny earlier? Someone who wasn't supposed to be there?" Blue asked, staring carefully into Chase's eyes.

If he were someone like Marshall, who couldn't lie to save his life, Chase would have cracked in an instant. However, Chase kept his cool and shook his head. "Like I said, I thought I saw something, but it was just a rat."

"Your sure?" Agent Blue asked again, getting a nod from Chase. "Alright, let's focus on them mission. Which way do we need to go now?"

"The room you need is just up the stairs nearby," Agent Kennedy said on the other line.

Both half-brothers nodded and made their way to the nearby stairs. Cautiously, guns drawn, they made their way up the stairs where they spotted a steel bolted door with a keycard reader by the lock. Chase covered the corner while Blue swiped the keycard, resulting in a satisfyingly beep and green light going off.

The two entered and closed the door, noticing that there was a glass wall that gave them a good view of the floor downstairs. Blue walked over to one of the computers and pressed a few keys. "Okay, I'm in. What's next?"

"Just put in your wire jack into the computer. I'll handle the rest," Rocky said on the other line.

Blue proceeded to do so, getting a wire from his pack and connecting it to the CPU of the computer. Files and encryption started to show up as Blue then asked, "How long is it gonna take-"

"Done. Security is down."

Chase couldn't help but giggle at the shocked expression on Agent Blue's face. "How did…"

"Like I said, I've handled harder," Rocky said, smugly.

"All units, the security system is down. Processed forward with your objectives. We're green light!" Agent Kennedy announced on all channels while others gave their affirmation.

"So now what?" Chase asked, tilting his head. "Do we join in on the fight?"

"Only if backup is required, for now we're going to stay here and-"

Blue didn't get a chance to finish as an explosion from below went off near the grenade pile, sending bodies flying, shrapnel everywhere, and debris in all directions. The two German Shepherds got down on all fours and ducked as a flaming pile of box debris shattered the glass wall and nearly took their heads off. Screams and orders were being yelled at as fires began to spread around the building.

"I think…" Chase muttered, coughing up dust. "We're the ones who need back up."