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Chapter 30: Heartbreak on Either End

February 23rd. Twelve days after the crash.

The Air Patroller was finished. The new wing had been securely bolted in place, the interior had been refurbished, the new windows were installed, and Rocky had just finished securing the last external panel after running a system check on some of the wiring behind it.

"Ryder," the recycling pup grinned as he faced the rest of the Paw Patrol, taking care not to fall off of the ladder that he stood on, "I'm pleased to announce that the Air Patroller is ready to fly!"

"Way to go Rocky!" the boy beamed back, pumping his fist.

"We can go home!" Zuma cheered.

"Finally!" Chase blurted.

"Oh, home, I've missed you so!" Rubble sighed.

"Oh, Rubble!" Skye giggled.

"I just hope I haven't missed the snow," Everest mused.

"Oh yeah, there was that big snowstorm when we left," Skye recalled. "Is there still snow in Adventure Bay, Ryder?"

The boy's face fell. "I don't know what's going on in Adventure Bay. I've been texting Katie for updates on hazards and rescues every day, but the past few days she hasn't responded, and neither has anyone else in Adventure Bay. I'm worried the storm knocked out their communications."

"Oh no!"
"That's terrible!"
"I didn't know the storm was that bad."

"When we get back, it might still be out, so Rocky, you'll need to be ready to help fix the cell towers."

"I'll do my best," the mixed-breed nodded as he made his way down the ladder.

"When will we be leaving?" Zuma asked.

Rocky finished getting down off the ladder before answering. "Well, the Air Patroller is finished, but Gizmo is still working on the geothermal turbine. He said he'd be done by the morning though, so we should be ready to go by then."

"We're leaving tomorrow? ¡Ay, caramba! I wanted to explore the island some more!"

"Sorry, Tracker. If we had a choice, I'd be fine with staying longer, but we have to get back to Adventure Bay. People could be in trouble, and we've already been gone far too long."

Rubble tilted his head to the side. "Wait, Tracker wants to explore more? After everything he's been through?"

Chase nodded his head, "Yeah, I can't believe you want to keep exploring, even after we ran into that puma!"

"Oh, yeah…" Tracker muttered, lowering his ears. A moment later though, he perked them back up. "But I'm not scared of pumas anymore! If I run into another one, I'll have my cables."

"But what would you explore, dude?"

"We haven't seen the northern part of the island at all, and I'm sure the mountain has some views that are magnífico! And there's so many locations the Bullet can go to-"

"Hold up, you want to ride that again?"
"Wait, Chase, you don't?"
"No! That was terrifying!"
"But trains are awesome!"
"Yeah, Rubble's right! And the engineering in that one is so cool!"
"What about how it almost got you killed?"
"But it's safe now!"
"¡Sí! And it's so fast! It felt like we were flying!"

Everest's eyes glazed over as she stopped paying attention to the conversation taking place around her. The full impact of what Ryder had said took effect. Tomorrow morning they would be flying away from Franklin Island, never to return. Over the week, through everything that had happened, Everest felt like she and Gizmo had a real friendship start to form, and she enjoyed his company. She knew he would have a miserable life here alone, whether he would know it or not. Leaving him behind was out of the question, but she couldn't force him to come. He had to want to. As the work on the Air Patroller progressed, she knew there would be a definitive time when they would have to leave. It was something she always tried to push out of her mind as if it were a threatening stormcloud on the horizon. But now that it was here, she couldn't ignore it any longer. It was time to ask him again. And what better time to do so than after telling him they would be leaving? The sooner, the better, so the husky decided now would be the perfect time to tell him.

Suddenly Ryder's voice broke into Everest's thoughts as he echoed her sentiment. "Speaking of Gizmo, we should probably call him and tell him."

"What are we telling him?" Everest inquired, seamlessly entering back into the conversation.

"That we finished and we'll be leaving in the morning."

The Siberian husky shook her head. "You should go talk to him in person and let him know. I'm sure he'd appreciate it more than a phone call. And… and can I go with you?"

"Sure, Everest. I think it'll be a good idea to have one of you pups come too. I don't think Gizmo has quite gotten used to me yet, being a human and all."

"You do look rather funny with no fur…"

"Like a bald monkey."

Ryder opened and closed his mouth a couple times as the rest of the pups stifled giggles. He didn't know what to say. "Thank you, Rocky and Tracker… That gives me a lot of confidence to talk to a pup who clearly isn't comfortable with me. Let's go, Everest."

Everest turned to wink at her friends. She then followed Ryder out of the room. "Y'know, you really don't look that much like a monkey. Maybe like a peach colored seal… or walrus."

"I think that's worse than being compared to a bald monkey." Ryder looked down at himself as they walked, "And I don't look like a bald monkey either."

Everest and Ryder soon walked into room 105 of FIR, where they found Gizmo in his normal place at the holographic table. As they entered, the inventor looked up and greeted the newcomers.

"Hi Everest! Hi Ryder. Are you guys done with the Air Patroller?"

"Yep! How'd you guess?" Everest questioned.

"Well, I estimated you'd finish about now. I take it you'll want to be leaving soon?"

"Yeah… we're leaving tomorrow morning," the husky revealed.

Gizmo looked up again, this time setting down his work. "Wait, tomorrow? But… but I haven't finished the device to deactivate the Island Dome yet."

"But you'll be finished by tomorrow morning, right?" Ryder inquired for confirmation.

"Well, yes…" The black Labrador trailed off dejectedly.

"Is everything alright?" Ryder asked in concern.

"Well… I just didn't think you'd leave so soon."

"You know, it's not too late," Everest replied. The perfect opportunity to extend the invitation to him had opened up, and she took it. "You could still come with us if you want to."

Gizmo looked out the darkened window. Everest held her breath. Last time she had pointed out that he didn't have to stay on the island back when they first met him, the pup hadn't taken it well. But what he said this time surprised her.

"I've thought about what you said back on that first day. And I guess you're right. There's no real reason why I can't leave. Every now and then I've wondered what it was like out there."

"So could you still come back with us?" Everest blurted in anticipation.

At that the retriever lowered his head. Everest felt her heart thudding in her chest as she waited for a response.

"Can't you guys stay any longer?"

Ryder shook his head sadly. "No. The snowstorm in Adventure Bay knocked out communications, and we need to go help."

The boy crouched to level himself with Gizmo. The Lab's copper eyes were full of wariness, and Ryder could tell that the Lab was uncomfortable. The boy had put much thought into this matter, so he continued, "We are going to have to leave. Our city needs us, and we can't decline to help them." He paused for a moment, "I know that this place is important, but you could come back with us. You can even bring whatever you want, as long as it fits on the Air Patroller. I'm sure I'd be able to convince Mayor Goodway to let me adopt. After eight dogs, I'll need a special license… I think."

"Adopt? What's that? Why would you need a license?" Gizmo questioned.

Ryder thought for a moment before responding, "The law requires a license to make sure I'm not adopting a ton of dogs just to do crazy experiments on them."

"But what's adopting?"

The boy sat down as his injured leg was growing weary of crouching, "That's where I would tell the state I live in that I own you."

"Own me?" Gizmo's ears flattened against his head, and he took a small pace backwards.

"Not really own… Tracker lives with his friend, Carlos, but he's still on my license. So is Everest; she stays with Jake. It's mostly just a formality to make life easier when running the Paw Patrol."

Everest bounced forward, hoping against all hopes that he would accept. If he didn't… What would happen to him here? And for that matter, what would happen to Marshall? Gizmo needed to join the Paw Patrol and save him in the cabin! "We would be a big family! Please?"

Gizmo's brain echoed with what Everest had said. We would be family… He already had a family. He didn't need another. He couldn't have another. He didn't need to be adopted.

"I'll think about it… I need to check the turbine one more time." The black Labrador turned and left.

Everest watched as the pup disappeared through the doorway. A lump formed in her throat as she realized what his response meant. He might have not said it outright, but his language was clear enough. He wasn't coming.

They stood there in silence for what felt to her like hours. Ryder stood to leave and gave Everest a nudge to help her start, "Come on, Everest. We should go. Let's go and pack our stuff as much as we can."

Everest raced out the door ahead of Ryder and turned the corner before he was even able to duck through the dog-sized entrance. 'Uh oh… That's not a good sign,' the teenager thought to himself. Managing to hobble around the corner on his crutch, he was about to call for Everest as the door closed behind him, but when he rounded the corner, the boy saw the husky huddled on the ground close to the hallway wall. Ryder slid to his knees beside her as quickly as he could.

"Everest, are you alright?"

He heard a muffled sob coming from under her fluffy coat of fur. Quickly and tenderly, he scooped the snow pup onto his lap. Without knowing the exact reason she was crying, he reassured her.

"It'll all be okay. I know it will."

He pet her until she calmed down a bit, and only then did he venture to ask what was wrong. Unfortunately, that was more than she could handle. She started sobbing all over again. Ryder put her front paws over his shoulder and stood up. He grabbed his crutch that was resting against the wall and walked without using it. He was pretty sure that his leg was fine anyway, as much as Marshall would object. After ducking into a side room that looked like it hadn't been touched in years, Ryder sat again and set Everest back on his lap. She wasn't as heavy as she seemed. All of her fur gave the impression of a sturdy body. Though she was strong and larger than most of the Paw Patrol, Ryder had no trouble carrying her. She was still only a puppy after all.

"Thanks, Ryder," she sniffed.

Ryder knew that Everest would want to tell him, but he decided to ask anyway, "Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"

She nodded meekly and wiped a paw across her eyes, "I'm just so sad that- that Gizmo isn't coming with us. I'm going to miss him an awful lot, and I thought for a while that maybe… Maybe he would… come back. And now what will happen to Marshall? If he doesn't go back in time to save him… then…"

Ryder had guessed what was running through Everest's mind. He knew that the lonely islander wouldn't want to come, but he ruffled his pup's ears and did his best to sound hopeful, "Marshall will be fine… let's just not give him reason to worry. Besides, Gizmo didn't say that he wasn't coming. He only said that he would think about it. I'm sure he'll decide to come."

Everest peered up at him for a moment with a curious and sad look. She then pressed her forehead onto Ryder's arm, "You're a horrible liar."

"I know," Ryder whispered as he squeezed Everest close. Although he didn't want to admit it, the boy's eyes weren't dry either.

It was one in the morning by the time Gizmo made it to his house after finishing his work on the turbine. All adjustments had been made and all Gizmo would need to do would be to flip a switch to shut off the power across the entire island, thereby deactivating the Island Dome as well. In his bedroom, the Labrador retriever took off his helmet and set it on the charging station next to where he had placed his satchels. He switched on a fan and turned out the lights before padding over to his mattress, where he curled up into his blankets. He closed his eyes, listening to the calming hum emanating from the fan. Or at least, it normally was calming for him.

As it was, Everest's question still gnawed at him. 'I don't need a new family. I have one!' he thought to himself. 'One of these days I'll find out what happened to them and somehow I'll get them back.' Satisfied with his mental response, he tried to push the topic from his mind. As he tried to fall asleep, though, his thoughts kept returning to the friends he had made over the past week. They all welcomed him so warmly, and he found that he enjoyed their company. For the first time in his life, he wasn't alone, and he wasn't sure what it would be like going back to solitude.

Truth be told, ever since the first day he had been thinking about Everest's suggestion. He knew she was right. He didn't have to stay there and guard the technology if it was all destroyed. Even though he wasn't ready to leave the island for good, he was eager to explore the world outside. He had already downloaded the island's technology database to his helmet. Even now he could just barely make out the words he knew were in the upper right-hand corner of the visor: "Database Download Finished - 100% Complete." He had started the download the previous night, and it had finished that morning. All day it reminded him of how he might not be staying on the island for much longer. Gizmo rolled onto his other side and whimpered. He only had a couple more hours to decide, and his mental timer ticked off the seconds until he was forced to make a decision.

Live alone forever and continue as he had always known life, guarding the island's legacy?

Or discover the world and obliterate the only thing he knew?

No decision is the perfect one if it comes with heartbreak on either end.

But as Gizmo thought, he realized something. How could there be a legacy if there was nobody to pass that legacy on to? If he truly is guardian of this city and its technology, then who would guard it after him? If it's too dangerous for humanity, then why guard it in the first place? Destruction would provide a far safer surety.

But if that were the case, why was he so loath to depart?

After an eternity of indecision, he eventually came to a realization. There was no need to decide anything with finality yet. He could stay on Franklin Island, but if he ever wanted to leave, he would be able to easily enough. Finally at peace with his choice, Gizmo drifted off to sleep.

It was five in the morning when Gizmo woke up. He yawned and stretched, ready to get up before noticing the time. 'Ugh… Four more hours until I normally get up,' he groaned internally. As he tried to go back to sleep, he noticed something missing. 'The fan is off…' he observed, 'That's what woke me up.' The black pup stood up and padded over to the wall outlet where the fan was plugged into. Then he paused. It was still plugged in. After taking a moment to clear his sleep-fogged mind, the Lab realized what it insinuated, and his heart skipped a beat.

"Oh no…" he breathed. "The power's out."

Two days ago I realized that the publication date for this chapter was the day before St. Valentine's Day. I laughed when I realized how the chapter title lined up with the holiday, but it was completely unintentional. So, after almost 30 chapters, the Air Patroller is finally finished being repaired! Hopefully I haven't made things too obscure and the gravity of the power outage carries over. Can't wait to publish the next chapter! It's currently scheduled for March 7th. See you then!