AN: Hey there everybody, sorry that it took me so long to get a chapter out. The reason is because my old laptop died and it took me until now to get a new laptop to use to write the chapters. I went insane when I didn't have something to write on, but now that I have the means to write again I am going to go crazy. Anyway, let's continue with the next chapter shall we?

Disclaimer: I do not own Paw Patrol

Just as soon as he heard the first shots, Rubble quickly brought up his rigger's blade by pressing his paw on the up arrow button. The bulldozer's blade quickly blocked the bullets heading for Rubble's head, reflecting them off in different directions which caused the gunmen to duck for cover. Rubble sighed in relief when he realized he wasn't on a one way ticket to the great beyond, but that still left him with two armed bad guys with motorcycles.

Just as he was about to question what to do next, he heard a familiar helicopter sailing downward from the air. With a look of hope, he gazed upward and saw Skye's helicopter heading towards him. "Skye! You're here!"

"I heard the gunshots and came straight back here!" radioed Skye as she made for the gunmen, the heavy bucket still attached to her cable. "Bombs away!"

She detached the bucket from her cable, sending it downwards towards the gunmen, who scrambled away on their motorcycles to avoid getting crushed. The bucket smashed onto the ground, making a large crater. The two gunman turned around and aimed their guns at the stunned pups, but the sound of empty clicks echoed in the air.

"Shit! Out of ammo!" said one of them as he turned to the other. "Bail?"

"Bail!"

The two cyclists kicked up their gas and headed out, retreating until they were a speck in the distance. Rubble released the breath he was holding and started to howl in triumph. "Yeah! We did it!"

"We sure showed them!" shouted Skye with a smile on her face. Suddenly, both her and Rubble's puptags lit up.

"P-pups…" said Ryder's raspy voice on the other end. "I… I need help…"

"Ryder?! What's wrong?!" asked Skye with worry in her voice.

"Explosion… triggered… fire truck is totaled… my leg is hurt… fire everywhere…"

This made Rubble and Skye gasp as they looked at each other with worry. From the sound of it, Ryder was done for the count and hurt pretty bad. Neither of them were equipped to head into the fire and find Ryder with all the flames and smoke. Even Skye's helicopter wasn't going to be able to fly throughout all the trees.

"Ryder, sir! What about Marshall?!" asked Chase on the other line, his tone showing concern for his adopted brother.

Ryder was silent and for a second they feared the worst until he answered, "I don't know… I can't see him…"

Even it left the dalmatian's fate up in the air, it was clear to say that there was a very good chance Marshall was just as injured as Ryder was. Or worse… thought Rubble with a whimper.

"Hang on! I'm coming to get you!" shouted Chase.

"No! Find Alex! He's still our main priority!" shouted Ryder.

"But…"

"That's an order, Chase!"

"… yes sir."

"But, Ryder," said Skye. "What about you?! We can't just leave you there!"

Before Ryder could answer a new voice came on the com. "Have no fear! Rocky and Zuma are here!"

Both pups nearly jumped upon hearing Rocky's voice, but then turned around as they heard a vehicle coming right towards them. It was Rocky's Recycling Truck, but they almost didn't recognize it for what had been added to it. The two pups nearly had their jaw's drop by what Rocky had added to his truck. It was the fans from Zuma's hovercraft, taped and wired to the back of the truck, where a giant car battery was powering them. Zuma, in his gear, was right be a large switch for the fans while Rocky drove the truck.

They stopped in front of the two other pups, with Rocky smirking with pride as his creation. "What do you guys think?"

"What is it?" asked Rubble looking at it with amazement.

"I attached the motor fans from Zuma's hovercraft to the back of my truck. After a little modification, I made it so that they can blow thick air, including smoke, away in any direction. The large battery I took from the Paw Patroler, and Zuma is activating the switch and control to turn it on and make the fans turn in whatever direction he chooses.

"Twust me, I was just as suwpwised when he told me what we were doing," said Zuma with a smirk.

"Rocky, you are a genius!" shouted Rubble. "But you better head out and find Ryder, and quick!"

"Roger!" Rocky then tapped his puptag. "Ryder, activate the locator signal on your puppad. Zuma brought a second one just in case so we can use that one to track you down."

"Nice work, Rocky and Zuma. I'm activating it now. Please, hurry!"

Once the call ended, Rocky turned to Zuma who was working on the puppad. "Do you have Ryder's signal, Zuma?"

Zuma nodded. "I got it, Wocky. Head straight for a mile and then turn forty-five degrees to the left!"

The two quickly went to work as the truck drove as fast as it could into the forest, with the other pups howling for their success.

Almost immediately, the two of them faced with smoke that was coming in from all directions. Rocky, barley able to see, coughed a bit before shouting, "Zuma! Activate the fans!"

Zuma didn't waste any time as he flipped the switch and the fans of his hovercraft came to life. With the power of the huge battery powering it, plus a little Rocky engineering, the fans blew even more powerful than Zuma had ever heard them. Using some buttons on the control panel nearby, Zuma moved the fans left and right, blowing the smoke away in a seven feet mile radius.

Rocky sighed as he felt the air enter his lungs better and his vision clearing up a bit. "Thanks, Zuma!"

"No pwoblem! It's weally thanks to your skills as an inventor that we can do this. You weally are a smawt pup, Wocky! Maybe the smawtest ever!" complimented Zuma with a huge smile on his face.

Rocky was glad that he was focusing on the road, because a huge blush was now decorating both his cheeks. At first he thought it was because of the heat, but he felt something in his chest that made him feel… happy to hear that comment. But why? I have heard that comment from everyone I know. Why does it matter if Zuma is saying it?

"Hey! Wocky!" shouted Zuma, snapping the mixed breed away. "We have to turn now! Ryder's only a mile away!"

"R-right!" said Rocky as he made the turn.

He put the thought away to think about on later, right now saving his owner was the most important thing to do.

When Chase heard that Rocky and Zuma were on their way to fetch Ryder and bring him to safety, the german shepherd relaxed. If any team of pups could get the job done, it would be those two. Chase trusted all his friends in Paw Patrol, but if he had to rely on a team of pups for a rescue it would be the teamwork of Rocky and Zuma. In many aspects, the two reminded the spy pup of him and Marshall. While Marshall and himself never had a problem calling each other brothers due to being adopted at the same time, Rocky and Zuma had always silently been a brother duo.

He knew of Rocky's urge to always protect Zuma, mainly because-even more so with his past revealed- they were survivors of tragedy. For Rocky, it was the heartbreaking betrayal of his old owner that he once loved so much that caused him so much pain to this very day. Even though Rocky said he hated his old owner, you could tell that there was a hint of regret and sorrow to that statement. That deep down he wished things didn't turn out this way.

It wasn't a surprise to Chase when he started watching over Zuma when he came over and quickly becoming his best friend. Until recently, none of the pups knew of Zuma's dark past, but Chase had a suspicion that Rocky suspected it was bad. He could still remember all the times Rocky let Zuma sleep in his pup house whenever he had a bad dream. Rocky saw himself in Zuma, and so he unofficially became his big brother.

And he's going to need to be that big brother during all this, thought Chase who shook his head, making sure to keep clear of any burning debris. Chase didn't once think he would be on a case where he was going toe to paw against Damian Stone, but if Zuma's life was at risk he would do anything to make sure it was protected.

Even use… that.

Chase bit his lip upon thinking of that. It was something he never wanted to use until he was older, or even at al period. But with the seriousness of this case, it seemed like there was no other choice but to ask Ryder for permission to use… that.

Chase's thoughts were interrupted when his spy drone detected something. Another Alex like figure was spotted, but Chase quickly inputted orders for it to take a closer look. Since his first encounter with the dummy explosives, he had already avoid three others so far. Come on, be the real Alex!

To his joy, it was the real one. The way it moved and struggled to get the spy drone to look at him. It had to be Alex!

Chase hit the gas petal as hard as he could as he made his way towards his spy drone's location. It didn't take him long to arrive there, and thankfully he didn't smell any explosives despite the overwhelming scent of ash and fire that was only a few feet away.

Chase got out of his car and made his way to the ropes, biting on them as hard as he could. It took some tires, but he managed to free Alex as he cut through the ropes with his sharp teeth. Alex, with his arms free, took out the gag in his mouth and quickly hugged Chase. "Oh, thank you, Chase! Thank you! I knew the Paw Patrol wouldn't let me down! I wanna get out of here! I wanna go home!"

"Don't worry, Alex! We're going to get out of here! Follow me!" shouted Chase as he guided Alex to his spy mobile.

Activating the second seat on his vehicle, he gave Alex the air breather to use and soon started driving both of them through the burning forest. Activating his puptag, Chase called out, "Chase, here! I got Alex! We're making our way back to the rendezvous point right now."

"Nice work, Chase! We just got word from Detective Shaw, he's coming with reinforcements!" said Skye on the other end.

Any word on Ryder and Marshall's condition?" asked Chase.

"Rocky and Zuma should be picking up Ryder any minute now. We… we haven't heard anything about Marshall yet."

This made Chase bit his lip a bit. Come on, buddy. Where are you?!

Zuma double checked on the puppad and saw that they were getting close to Ryder. "Wocky! Wyder should be awound here!"

"I see him! Hang on!" shouted Rocky as he skidded to a stop. Blowing the smoke out of the area, the two pups saw their owner with his breather on, waving at them.

"Ryder!" shouted Rocky as he and Zuma jumped off and rushed over to their human. The two of them winced at the sight of Ryder's left leg which was covered in blood and had a few pieces of wood in it. "How bad is it?"

"I don't think I'll be moving any time soon," chuckled Ryder as he shook his head, wincing at the pain. He turned to the recycling truck and asked, "Is there any chance of moving me on your truck?"

"No, I have the entire back holding the battery for the fans," whimpered Rocky.

"B-blood…" whimpered Zuma, who started burring his paws over his eyes. "No… not blood… please no more… make it stop…"

"Zuma!" shouted Rocky as he lifted his friend up and had him stare at him straight in the eye. "Look at me! Look at me!"

Zuma opened his eyes and did.

"I know you don't like blood. I know you're getting images of your family right now, but if we don't' do something to help Ryder, he's going to die! We need to save Ryder, Zuma. And I can't do that without you little bro." Rocky gave him a small smile. "So let's do this together, okay?"

Zuma whimpered a bit, but nodded. "Okay."

Zuma looked around, avoiding Ryder's leg, trying to see if there was anything in the flames that could help them. "Where's Marshall? And his fire truck?"

"I don't know where Marshall is, as for the truck," Ryder pointed to a heavily damaged red vehicle that was lying on its side. "It's right over there."

Zuma rushed towards it and went on the other side to see how badly the damage was. While he was no repairman himself, he knew a little about fixing from his time spent with Rocky. Checking the controls, he saw that it looked like most of the features of the vehicle were out of order, but it could still be driven.

"Hey, Wocky," said Zuma, running back to this team. "The fire twuck is damaged, but I think I can dwive it. We can put Wyder in the passenger seat and get him out of here."

The three of them yipped when a nearby tree fell down nearby as the flames kept getting closer. Ryder sat up, ignoring the pain he was feeling, and nodded. "Looks like we have no choice. Rocky, use your forklifts to help reposition the fire truck on its wheels. Zuma, you drive."

"What about Marshall?" asked Rocky. "We don't know where he is."

"Hand me my puppad. I can track him by his puptag," said Ryder as he took it from Rocky's mouth. After pressing a few buttons, the screen changed and his eyebrow raised. "That's funny. According to the readings, he's outside of the forest."

The two pups did indeed look at the map and saw Marshall's fire tag located outside of the forest area. "Maybe he got out on his own?" asked Zuma.

"But why would he leave Ryder here? Marshall would never do that," pointed out Rocky.

"We'll figure it out later, let's get out of here for now," said Ryder.

"You got it, Ryder!" said the pups as they went to work.

Rocky got into his truck and went towards the down firetruck with his forklifts. With Zuma guiding him, the recycling pup managed to reposition the firetruck back on its wheels. Zuma barked with approval before getting into the driver's seat. He pressed the on button and sure enough the truck started to hum with power.

"It works! Let's get out of here!" shouted Zuma as he drove it closer to Ryder. With help from a nearby non-burning stick, Ryder was able to push himself into the passenger seat and the two vehicles made their way for the exit.

It didn't take them long to find their way out of the forest. By the time they did, everyone else was there including a crying Alex who was being comforted by Skye. Coming to a halt, Rocky and Zuma helped Ryder off the firetruck which made the others gasp upon seeing his wounded leg.

"Ryder, sir! Are you okay?!" asked Chase, rushing forward and licking his owner's face.

"I'm fine, Chase. My leg's busted, but nothing a good medic can fix up," said Ryder with a smile as he pat his dog.

"Speaking of medics, where is Marshall?" asked Rubble.

"He's somewhere in the fields over there," said Ryder, pointing to the west. "Someone should get him and see if he's hurt."

"Chase is on the case!" shouted Chase, getting into his vehicle and making for the west.

Alex, still sobbing, rushed over and dived into Ryder's chest while sobbing. "It's okay, Alex. You're safe now."

"I… I'm sorry, Ryder… he hurt me… and I … I just… why did he hurt me…" whimpered Alex who curled into a ball.

Ryder and the pups looked at Alex with tears in their eyes, seeing their friend broken like this only made them wonder what horrible pain Damian Stone did to him. Zuma, however, turned away and shook his head. Looking at Alex, all broken and hurt, it reminded him of himself.

How many more of my friends and loved ones will be hurt by Stone? It's me he wants… why doesn't he just come at me and end it already… whimpered Zuma in his thoughts as he felt tears drip down his face. Why can't it just end with me…

Chase couldn't help but feel that something was wrong the moment he started looking for Marshall. Why would Marshall be out here in a field of all places without telling the others and how did he get past them anyway.

These questions continued to haunt his mind until he smelled Marshall's scent in the air. Realizing this was the place, he stop his car and looked around, unable to find anything. Getting off his truck he started sniffing around until he came across something in the dirt that made him froze.

It was Marshall's puptag… covered in blood.

And a little note attached to it.

Dear Ryder and Paw Patrol,

Nice rescue! But you seem to me missing a pup.

Don't worry, Marshall and I are going to have some fun before the real game starts.

Call you soon.

Damian Stone