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Chapter 35: The Breaking Point
He couldn't quite explain why he ultimately decided to jump out of the plane, but Gizmo knew there wasn't much hope otherwise. He found he was compelled - driven even - to save this team, even if it meant he might not make it out with them. As he rewired the power source for one of the shield spheres, he realized Ryder would never let him out. Skye had a hard enough time convincing him to let her out, and by the time Gizmo could, it would be too late. So as soon as the door opened for the cockapoo to enter, he activated his hover shoes and blasted out of the train.
His heart thudded in his chest as he fell from the makeshift plane. The water rushed towards him until the last second when his hover shoes overpowered gravity. He found himself zipping across the surface of the water on a collision course with the wall of rock towering above him. He redirected his course slightly, aiming for the weak point that existed in the northeast corner. He knew he'd need more time, so he called Ryder's pup pad.
Immediately the boy's voice blasted through his helmet. "WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?! YOU'RE GONNA GET YOURSELF KILLED!"
"Yell at me about how I'm gonna get myself killed after I'm dead. Right now, you need to put the plane in a holding pattern or you're gonna get yourself killed. Use Skye's supersonic boosters to keep up speed. One circuit should do it. I just need fifteen seconds."
Ryder stayed silent for a moment before replying. "Alright. We'll do it. Just promise you'll try to stay alive," the boy requested.
"I promise," the Lab vowed before terminating the call. A moment later he glanced upward to see the Bullet beginning to curve in a circle, with Skye jumping out to help push. Satisfied, he focused on his target.
There was no way for the Bullet Express to make it over the rock cliff, so Gizmo knew he had only one option: bring down the cliff. If timed right, the water would form a slope as it rushed through the newly broken dam, letting the hover discs under the train lift it up the rest of the way. The problem with the plan was that someone had to be at the base of the cliff to knock it down.
Gizmo didn't have a death wish by any means, but someone had to do it, and he was the best for the job. As he approached the wall, he grabbed his shield sphere out of his satchel with his magnetic shoe and activated his visor's projectile calculator. Holding his paw out in front of him, he aimed for the crevice in the cliffside. When he estimated the time was right, he turned off his electromagnet and activated his repulsor, sending the metal ball flying. It soared perfectly into the gap. The black dog remotely activated the force field, breaking the wall from the inside out.
Immediately Gizmo leaned to the side, rotating his trajectory so he wouldn't smash into the wall. As he turned, he heard a thunderous crack from the wall behind him as the cliffside shattered. The angry, flooding sea gushed over the split mountain. Gizmo knew it would catch up to him in seconds.
"It worked…" the Lab breathed with a sigh of relief as he heard the Rim collapsing behind him. He looked up at the rudimentary plane above him. "Stay safe you guys," he whispered. Then he was overtaken by the water.
Up above, the Paw Patrol watched as it all happened. They were helpless.
"GIZMOOOOOO!" Everest shouted at the top of her lungs before starting to cry.
Tears formed in Zuma's eyes. "It can't- He can't-" the retriever tried to say, but his quavering voice prevented him from continuing.
Rocky merely gawked out the window. Everyone else was sharing Zuma's thoughts. It couldn't end this way… Could it…?
Their grief was cut short when the wave rushed under them. It pushed the train upwards, and everyone shouted as they were thrown from their seats. Ryder slammed his head on the ceiling of the train, and Rocky slid backwards, joining Zuma in the back of the train as it tilted, gaining altitude as it rode its way to the top of the wave. A resounding crash echoed for miles as the wave from the south met the wave from the north. Then the train settled on the surface of the water. It was over.
"Is everyone okay?" Ryder hastily asked. But he didn't get an answer. Everyone was too busy watching the residual foam from where the two parts of the sea met up. One thought cycled through their minds; nobody was okay. They had lost a friend.
Soon the train slowed to a stop. As soon as it did, Zuma scampered to the front of the train, threw open the door and jumped outside, only to be snatched out of midair by Ryder.
"What do you think you're doing?!" the teenager reprimanded him, setting him down inside.
"Ryder," the water pup pleaded, "please let me go-"
"No," the leader cut in. "Nobody's leaving this train."
"But Ryder-!"
"I said no! And that's final," the boy shot back with more intensity than he intended.
Zuma stared at the floor, willing himself to ignore his instinct. He had never been so tempted to disregard a direct order before. He had scuba gear. If Gizmo was still alive… If somehow he was still alive down there, holding his breath, Zuma could save him. Then he made his choice. With or without permission, he was going to do what he was born to do. 'It's time to dive in.'
Before the chocolate Lab could do anything, though, Skye gave a shout from above the train. "There he is!"
Everyone's hearts leapt in their chests, and they crowded the windows and open door. There, a few hundred yards away from them, floated a dome half-submerged in the water. No sooner had they seen it than it vanished.
Immediately Zuma dove into the water, swimming for all his worth. The sensation of water between his paws drove him to greater efforts. The sound of Ryder's warbled shouts reached him from above the surface, but he stayed focused on his destination: the black form suspended in the water in front of him. With the aid of his pup pack, he soon made it to the figure as he struggled back to the surface. Wrapping his forepaws around the other Lab's waist, Zuma propelled them both upwards.
With a gasp, the two Labrador retrievers broke the surface of the ocean. Gizmo coughed out water as Zuma deactivated his rebreather. "Ruff! Buoy!" the water dog cried, firing the flotation device around the black pup. With the buoy around his waist, Gizmo could finally rest. "Are you okay?" Zuma asked his friend.
"I am now… thanks," Gizmo replied, clearly shaken.
Zuma let out a breath he had been holding. The sun shone on the pair of pups in the water as they floated in the vast blue sea, and for the first time that day, Zuma felt at peace. Relief flooded into him, and he let out a laugh. With a smile, he grabbed onto the side of the lifesaver, saying, "Let's get you back to the train."
Back on the train, Ryder scooped Gizmo out of the waves before wrapping the soaking canine in a hug. The pup was too exhausted to resist, so he accepted the embrace.
"What on earth were you thinking?!" Ryder demanded as he set Gizmo down, and Marshall draped a blanket over the drenched dog.
"You could have drowned!" Rubble exclaimed.
"It's a wonder you're alive at all," Rocky marveled.
"Well," Gizmo began, "I knew there was no other way to make it. Someone had to collapse the wall. I was given a gif: the ability to help you. Nobody else could use the shield spheres, and I couldn't let you just crash into the cliff. Even if it meant I might not make it out, you needed to. From everything I've heard, Adventure Bay needs you more than ever."
"How did you make it out?" Chase asked.
"I used the supercapacitors we brought with us. Putting them in parallel and using that as a power source for one of the extra shield spheres gave it enough time to do what Marshall suggested earlier: Trap a bubble of air and float to the top. It ran out of charge right after reaching the surface. Now it's on its way to the bottom of the ocean… Right where the rest of the city of Fulgerion is right now..."
When he finished speaking, Gizmo walked to the door. He clung to the blanket Marshall had handed him as he stared at the frothing, watery void of what had previously been his home. It was all he had ever known… and it was gone.
"Are you going to be okay, Gizmo?" Ryder gently asked.
The black pup kept watching the steam rise, signaling where the volcano was heating the water to a boil. As if to himself, he remarked, "The end is never the end."
The pups looked at Ryder in confusion, and some with worry. Ryder merely shrugged his shoulders and waited for Gizmo to continue. Eventually the pup turned around. There were tears in his eyes, but there was something else too. Hope.
"This chapter of my life may be over, but it's time to start another. I'll be fine."
Ryder couldn't help but smile. Somehow this pup was well beyond his years in wisdom. "Do you want to stay here any longer?" Ryder asked the Labrador.
Turning around, Gizmo took in the place where Franklin Island had once been for one last time. "No," he replied, returning his gaze to his new owner. "If I ever have to be stuck alone on an island again, it'll be too soon."
Ryder smiled. Despite seeing everything he had known be washed away, Gizmo held strong.
With that, the teenager turned to his team. "Come on, pups. Let's go home."
Birdsong.
That was the first thing that pierced Richard's consciousness. The middle-aged man opened his ebony eyes, groaning as he attempted to recall what had happened.
Death. That was what they had promised him. But somehow… he was alive. That only meant one thing.
The portal worked.
Inwardly he rejoiced before reality hit him. He had no idea where he was. He didn't care, though. All that concerned him at the moment was that he was free. Sure, he might be in an entirely separate universe, but for a prisoner sentenced to death, his punishment had been sadly lacking.
Richard pressed his hands against the earth, raising himself to his knees. After wiping his calloused hands off on his black pants, he ran one through his short, blond hair. He found himself in a park under a grove of maple trees. In the distance he could discern the whine of swings as children played on them. Under the trees was an old stone bench on which was inscribed something in a language he had learned in basic schooling and which he had polished during his travels. It was the closest to a universal tongue his world had. "In Memory of Francis and Emelia Willows," read the carving.
"English…" he muttered to himself. He would have preferred his native tongue, but it was better than a language he didn't know at all. He was about to rise to his feet when he heard the crunch of leaves behind him, and he noticed a stray, rust-colored dog starting to sniff his shoes.
"дa Hy! Back off, you mutt!" Rick shouted, flipping himself over and pushing backwards before getting to his feet. He had never liked dogs, and this one was overstepping its boundaries. The canine's expression darkened, and to Richard's utter shock, it spoke.
"How dare you call me that?!" the shaggy dog growled.
The voice petrified Richard. It was deep and powerful and threatening, and it made him panic. All that he could process was that the dog… had talked.
Again, the dog spoke. "Well?" he demanded.
Without so much as a thought, Richard kicked the side of the dog's head, slamming it into the tree the canine was standing next to. The dog didn't even see it coming. In an instant, he was out like a light, crumpled against the ground. A small trickle of blood started staining his rusty brown fur from where his head had impacted the tree.
Rick took a deep breath to calm himself. 'What type of sick cartoon universe did they throw me into?!' he wondered. He entertained the idea that he may have imagined the voice for a moment, but when he thought about the emotion in the face of the dog, he disregarded the thought. The reaction had been more than animal fear and anger. It was decidedly sapient.
As he stared at the dog, Richard noticed the canine was wearing a blue collar with a plain silver tag hanging from it. Curious, he knelt down and examined it. Engraved in it were an address, a phone number, and… an owner. Even though dogs could talk, they were still kept as pets. Rick couldn't help but chuckle at the irony.
Standing back up, the man made his way through the park, noting his surroundings. Thanks to his history lessons, he recognized some of the old car brand names in the parking lot. He identified a Ford, a Chevrolet from before they changed their logo, and a Toyota. He bent down to examine one he couldn't recognize. Then he noticed the expiration date on the license plate. October 2018. He took a step back in shock. It seemed this universe was almost a millennium behind his own. Richard shook his head to clear it. He was going to be in for quite a culture shock, but he knew he would be alright. After all, being from a place that had progressed a thousand years into the future gave him an advantage.
He was smart. By fair game or force, he'd find a way to make a living in this new home of his.
Well, this is it. The end to the Franklin Island arc. I hope you liked it! I've recently been devoting my time to finishing up other projects that have either been on hold or that I've been procrastinating on for a while. I've also been working on writing a collab called Pups in the Real World, which has been being published on AO3. I'm going to devote some more time on these other exploits before returning to start the next story arc of Twist in Time. More than likely, though, my sister will keep bugging me to get back to this, so it won't stay unwritten for long! Next I'll be publishing the bloopers. I'm still not sure where I'll be publishing it, but I'm gonna leave that decision for later. As for now, I bid you adieu. Thanks for reading my story so far, and come back soon for more!
