The next morning, Ryder and the pups were up, getting some breakfast. Samantha had already gotten dressed and brewed some coffee. "So, Skye, do you remember which way your place is?" she asked.
"I think so," the cockapoo responded. "I live near the arcade."
"Okay, that should be a good clue." Samantha then felt a tug on her pants, making her look down to see Chase.
"You think she can stay?" the German shepherd whispered.
"I wish we could, but we've already tried fitting Marshall in. I don't think we'll be able to fit three pups in this house." Chase sighed knowing that Samantha was probably right.
Marshall quickly finished up the last of the kibble in his bowl before proclaiming, "I'm done!"
"Same here," Skye added.
"Ditto," Ryder proclaimed, putting his empty cereal bowl into the sink. "I'll just change real quick and I'll meet you outside." He walked towards his bedroom as Samantha and the pups started walking to the garage.
A few minutes later, Ryder joined in with them after changing into his everyday wear. He sat down in the front seat with the pups in the backseat. With everyone set, Samantha drove them off to the city.
Along the drive, Chase looked out the window at the tall skyscraper, looking worried. Marshall noticed this and wanted to know what was wrong. "Is something bothering you Chase?" the Dalmatian asked.
"…It's…. Nothing important," the German shepherd responded. He sat down in his seat as they carried on down the street. Along the way, Ryder worked on a couple of sketches in his notepad. He was curious about what other kind of gear he could think of for other pups. He drew some robotic arms from the pups' backpacks along with other things.
For Marshall, Ryder sketched his pack having jets of water shooting out for it. He also had sketched Skye and was starting to draw some wings on her pack. A little while later, they arrived at Adventure University. Ryder, Samantha, and the pups got out of the car and walked through the entrance.
Walking around, they soon found an African American who had her hair in a thin ponytail. She wore a pair of square glasses with a white lab coat over a green apron, and a white shirt under that as well along with purple pants and shoes. She recognized Samantha walking over to her excitedly. "Sam, you made it!" the woman cheered.
Samantha held her arms out as she and the woman shared a hug. Marshall and Skye didn't know who this woman was. "Pups, this is Kendra," Ryder explained. "She's one of the scientists at this university, and one of mom's old friends."
"It's great to see you too Ryder," Kendra said. "I see you and Chase have brought some new friends."
"Oh, yes. This is Marshall and Skye. They're staying with us for a while until we can get Skye back to her home. We stopped by here because Mom thought that you could help with these sketches I've drawn." Ryder showed Kendra the sketches of Chase's backpack.
She was very curious about the sketches Ryder had drawn. "This is very creative," she commented. "You know, I think I've got a free space where you could make this."
"You do?" Kendra nodded and instructed Ryder to follow her. Samantha and the pups followed along with them. They passed by a garage when Chase started smelling off.
"Does anyone smell a wet dog?" the German shepherd asked. Marshall and Skye sniffed a little bit as they could smell it too.
"Where is it coming from?" Marshall questioned.
Chase started sniffing around and followed his nose to a garage where lessons on auto services would be held. The three soon saw the mixed breed asleep, still a little damp from the rain last night. "Hey, that's the pup that tried to get me shelter," Skye explained.
"Wait, really?" Marshall questioned.
"Yeah, he tried to help make me a hut to sleep for the night before I ended up riding over to Ryder's house." Skye walked up to the sleeping pup and tapped on his head.
The pup groaned as he slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the three looking down at him. "You again?" the mixed breed questioned. "Where did you go?"
"She stayed with us," Marshall answered. "Who are you?"
"My name is Rocky," the soaked pup groaned. He grumbled as he was still wet from the rain last night. He quickly shook himself dry, sending droplets of water everywhere, including on the other pups.
"Ugh, watch it!" Chase cried in disgust.
"Hey, I hate water just as much as you guys. You were at least at some kind of shelter last night. I was lucky to get in here."
"We understand you didn't want to be in the rain," Marshall responded, "But you don't have to spray it around."
"Hey, pups, where'd you go?" Ryder called. The young boy walked into the room and was surprised to see Rocky standing with the pups. "Oh, who are you?"
"Name's Rocky," the mixed breed replied. "Could you help get me out of here? I want to get back to my fort."
"You have a fort?" Chase asked.
"It's not as pleasant as it sounds," Skye noted.
"Hey, a home's a home," Rocky noted. "I just need to get out that door and find my way back to my ally."
"Would you like a lift?" Ryder asked.
"No, I'm good." Rocky decided to go out the long way out of the university, passing by a couple of people who didn't expect to see a mixed breed in the building. "Just minding my own business on my way out."
He soon found himself outside and walked down the street back to where his fort was located, only to be horrified by what he saw. A purple dump truck had picked up the cardboard fort and various other materials that made up the fort. "Hey! My stuff!" Rocky tried running up to the truck, but it drove away, leaving behind supplies that were broken and unsalvagable.
Rocky looked at the junk, growling in frustration. He kicked and threw bits of garbage around the alley until Chase, Marshall, and Skye approached him. "What happened here?" Marshall asked.
"Somebody destroyed my fort!" He lay down in frustration now with a missing home.
"You know… Since you tried to help me get a place to stay for the night," Skye said, "I think you could probably stay with me."
"Eh, thanks. I can't make anything out of this stuff." He kicked the remnants of the pile and had a green and white cap land on his head. He adjusted the cap while he looked in a puddle to see what it looked like on him.
The pups seemed to like it. "That's a good look," Chase commented. This helped Rocky feel a little bit better.
When Ryder and Samantha joined up with the pups again, Skye led them to a fire escape. "So, Skye," Ryder said, "How do you get back to your place?"
"Like this," Skye answered. She hopped up onto one of the ladder rungs, which was just enough weight to bring it down for Rocky to climb up. The mixed breed managed to climb up the fire escape with Ryder deciding to follow them.
They managed to reach the top of the building, where Skye hopped back over to where her shelter looked to be the remnants of a pigeon coop. "Um… Skye is that…" Rocky stuttered, knowing what most birds were like.
"Don't worry," Skye reassured. "It's been cleaned after it was no longer used. The only mess you'll find is my shedding fur. It's not much but it's home." She walked inside and lay down as Ryder took a look at the pigeon coop.
"You really enjoy being here Skye?" the boy asked.
"Well… It's nothing compared to your house, but still, it's better than nothing." Rocky lay down in the coop next to Skye, trying to make himself comfy.
"Yeah, beats being in the rain," he commented.
Ryder wasn't too sure about it, but the pups seemed to be satisfied with their shelter. "If you guys are good with it, I'll leave you to it," he said.
"Thanks for helping me back here, Ryder," Skye said.
"You're welcome." Ryder left the pups in their coop and climbed down the fire escape back to his mother and the pups.
"How are they doing?" Samantha asked.
"Yeah, they're good. Their shelter isn't much but they're satisfied."
"Can we go home now?" Chase asked. He jumped as he heard a speeding car pass by.
"Of course, Chase." The four of them got back to the car and drove home. Marshall was a little perplexed with how Chase was acting.
Once they were back home, Ryder took a look at the ATV his dad brought home to see how much work it would require. It was in a pretty bad condition, which might've explained how his father managed to get it so cheap.
Chase walked into the garage pushing a soccer ball along the way. "Hey, Ryder," the pup spoke, "Sam suggested you go out and play on the weekend. It's a great day."
"Yeah, you're right, Chase," Ryder commented. "I'm just excited to work on this ATV." He picked up the ball his dog had brought and walked outside.
Marshall was out in the yard, waiting for them. His tail started wagging once he saw them approach. "Alright, let's play!" the Dalmatian cheered. Ryder tossed the ball into the air before kicking it into the air over to Chase.
The German Shephard bopped the ball with his head, making it fly over to Marshall. The Dalmatian managed to knock the ball back to Ryder, which repeated the cycle of the ball being passed around. Eventually, the ball flew back to the Marshall, who missed his timing and smacked the ball away from them.
"Oops!" He quickly ran after the ball, with Chase and Marshall running after him. The ball bounced along for a while until it came to a stop underneath a tree. Marshall sighed as he was about to roll the ball back until he heard something.
"Hello down there," came a voice. Marshall was confused until he looked up and saw a bulldog sitting in the tree.
"Um… Hi. How did you get up there?"
"Oh, well… It was raining hard last night and so… I tried using this tree for some kind of shelter and… I saw a spider."
Marshall just simply stared up at the bulldog until Ryder and Chase showed up. "Marshall, what are you looking at?" Ryder asked.
"Him," the Dalmatian answered, pointing up in the tree, making them see the bulldog.
"...Hey, there," Ryder said, "Do you need some help getting down?"
"Maybe," the bulldog responded. He looked like he was losing his balance. He started to dangle with his hind legs wiggling about in the air. He eventually fell and Ryder barely had enough time to catch him.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm good." The bulldog was carefully placed onto the ground and lay down, thankful that he wasn't in danger anymore. "Thanks for helping me."
"You're welcome… Um, what's your name?"
"My name's Rubble," the bulldog answered.
"Got it. Stay safe Rubble." Ryder was about to pick up the ball again but was interrupted by the sound of a grumbling stomach.
"Sorry about that," the bulldog said. "I haven't eaten in a while."
"We have some kibble at our place," Chase said. "Plus, it's almost lunchtime. Hopefully, Sam won't mind giving out some food to stray."
"Not to mention one that just got saved." Ryder picked up their ball and carried it back to the house with the bulldog following them.
When they got back home, Sam could see they brought a new friend home. "Oh, boy," Samantha sighed. "Another one, Ryder?"
"He's just staying for lunch," Ryder proclaimed.
"Yeah, I'll be out of here before you know it," the bulldog said.
"If you say so," Samantha said. "I'll give you a call when lunch is ready." Ryder and the pups nodded as they went back to playing, though the bulldog was a little sluggish throughout the game.
"Are you feeling okay, Rubble?" Marshall asked.
"Yeah, I'm just hungry."
Chase and Ryder both looked at each other before the German shepherd asked a question; "Rubble, when was the last time you ate?"
The bulldog opened his mouth to respond only to think about this question longer than he had to. "Has it been days since you ate?" Ryder asked.
"Yeah. I'm pretty sure," Rubble confirmed. "Usually I have some leftovers from the workers' lunches at the construction sites."
"That can't be a reliable way to get food," Marshall commented. They heard Rubble's stomach again, making the bulldog whimper. "Let's ask Samantha if we can eat now."
The pups and Ryder walked inside and could find Sam frying up some food when she saw the boys. "Oh, are you already done playing?" Samantha asked.
"Rubble's stomach couldn't wait," Marshall noted. Another rumble of the stomach could be heard with very good timing.
"I see." Samantha got one of the spare bowls out and filled it up. Almost instantly Rubble started swallowing the kibble up like a vacuum cleaner, much to Marshall's shock.
"…You were really hungry, weren't you?" the Dalmatian commented. Rubble didn't respond and just kept eating until his bowl was empty. He lay down and let out a satisfied burp.
"My goodness, you weren't kidding," Samantha commented.
"I should be okay until the main course," Rubble said. He headed back outside to play ball as Marshall would soon join him. Sam went back to cooking as she listened to the news on her phone.
"I'm here at the bay, getting interviews for the upcoming election," noted Marty Muckraker. "Mr. Turbot, can you tell us your thoughts about this new election and its participants?"
"I must say a large location such as our lovely city needs a loyal leader as Deann Goodway," Captain Turbot responded.
"And what do you have to say about Humdinger?"
"I can't give that much to him since I don't exactly. I think maybe…"
A weird grinding sound was heard and interpreted the conversation. Sam picked up her phone and could see some sort of purple garbage truck driving down the wrong side of the road. It drove straight past the men and crashed right into the sea.
While it wasn't seen on camera, the wave was heading to a chocolate lab on his kiteboard. "Uh oh!" he gasped. Before he could react, the wave hit his board and nearly made him lose control.
The lab would find himself passing under the big bridge and closer to the other side of the bay. "Man, I don't think I've gone this fast before!" the pup noted. It was probably too fast. His balance on the kiteboard was getting wobbly. He was too focused on keeping his balance, that he wasn't focusing on how close he was to shore.
He eventually crashed onto land, damaging his board and its sail. The chocolate lab managed to recover and looked at the remnants of his kiteboard. "Aw man," he said. "There goes my kite surfing days." The pup looked around, he hadn't been to this part of the bay before, and he had a feeling he was lost.
With no idea how to get back to his regular spot, the pup started walking away from the sea and started heading towards land to try and find some way to get back to his normal spot. He just walked alongside the street. He was already feeling nervous since he was on his own. Eventually, he would start scratching on some doors, though nobody would answer.
Soon, he reached a house that had a doggie door. Desperate to find out where he was, the pup made his way inside and soon found three other pups inside.
Chase, Marshall, and Rubble hadn't noticed the pup enter and we were just enjoying their lunch. "You know, we can help you find a home if you want," Marshall offered.
"That would be great," Rubble said. "I've been curious about construction so maybe somewhere near one of those sites."
"Um…. I think most of those sites are in the city," Chase noted, not sounding too fond of it.
"Well, all you need is to drop me off downtown and I can manage just fine. I'm a tough pup!"
"We were already downtown," Marshall noted. "Ryder did say he had a bike so maybe we could run with him so he can help us look for a place." Marshall was starting to walk to the garage while he still looked at the pups. "Maybe you'll get to meet Skye and RACK!"
Since he wasn't watching where he was going, Marshall bumped straight into the chocolate lab that had entered. Chase and Rubble were confused with what just happened, and so were the humans.
"Where did you come from?" Ryder asked.
Marshall stood up to allow the lab to stand up and explain himself. "Sorry dudes," the pup apologized. "I got caught in this wave and I'm twying to find my way back."
"Oh, how bad was the wave?"
"It was more stwange than anything. Some garbage twuck cwashed into the bad and made a wave that forced me to walk my way back to the beach on foot."
"Hmm, that's odd," Chase commented. "We saw another pup have some back luck with a garbage truck that wrecked his home."
"Weally? Same day?"
"Yeah, it was weird."
"Wight. Sowwy for barging in. I just want some help getting home."
"We were thinking about heading back into town and finding Rubble here a place to stay," Ryder said. "We can drop you off where you live along the way."
"That be gweat!" remarked the chocolate lab.
"Alright. I'll just grab my bike and we'll be good to go." Ryder walked away to the garage to fetch his bike and Marshall saw that Chase was looking upset about something.
"Are you okay, Chase?" the Dalmatian asked.
"Um…. I'm alright," the German shepherd replied. "I think…. I'll just stay here while you head out."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm still a little tired from that game so I think it'll be best for me to just have a rest."
"If you say so," Rubble commented. He would follow where Ryder was with the chocolate lab following him.
"Well… So you later Chase," Marshall said. He walked away to catch up with the others leaving Samantha with the upset pup.
Later, Ryder was riding his bike down the city with the pups running alongside him. "So, you said your name is Zuma?" Ryder asked the chocolate lab.
"That's wight," the pup named Zuma replied. "If we just follow the shore we should be back to where I belong." They carried along the beach could be seen. They saw the purple dump truck getting pulled out of the sea, Marshall turned his head as he thought he remembered something about it.
"Ryder, didn't Rocky say that his home was destroyed by a garbage truck?" Marshall asked.
"Pretty he did," Ryder commented. He stopped his bike as he and the pups got a good look at the truck. Zuma, meanwhile, was looking around for someone. He looked towards a man who wore glasses, overalls, and an orange beanie.
"Hey, Capt'n Turbot!" Zuma called. He walked over to the said man.
"Ah, Zuma," the man replied. "I was worried about what happened to you." He bent down and patted the lab's head. "Did you see that truck crash?"
"Yeah, I went sailing to the other side of the bay. I managed to find these guys and they helped me back." Zuma pointed to Ryder and the pups, who waved to the captain.
"Well, I don't think we've met. I'm Captain Ronald Turbot."
"My name's Ryder," Ryder proclaimed. "These two pups are Marshall and Rubble." The Dalmatian and bulldog both waved.
"Can you tell us anything about that truck that crashed?" Marshall asked.
"Sorry, I don't know any details about it other than it highlights why self-driving vehicles are a bad idea," Capt'n Turbot answered.
"You mean there wasn't a driver?" Ryder questioned.
"No. It was all programmed, badly actually. I have a feeling whoever built it will have a huge fine to pay."
"Do you think there are other trucks like that?" Marshall asked.
"Sure hope not. Thanks for helping to bring Zuma back."
"You're welcome," Ryder said. He, Marshall, and Rubble left the beach to find Rubble a place for him to stay.
Along the way, Rubble noticed a rundown building that looked like a skinny skyscraper. It was on a small hill and would have a great view of Adventure City. "Hey, Ryder, what's that?" the bulldog asked.
Ryder stopped and looked at the building Rubble was focusing on. "I've heard about that building," he commented. "My dad said it was the old lookout of the city before it expanded into what it is today. I don't know who used to be the team positioned there, but I've heard they've done a good job.
"Why don't they use it anymore?" Rubble asked.
"From what I've heard, other emergency services getting better with more advanced technology, the services from the tower just became outdated."
"So they just left the tower there?"
"Seems like it. I don't know know what they're going to do with it."
"Maybe they could turn it into some kind of park ride," Marshall suggested. Rubble and Ryder chuckled at this as they soon carried on their way.
They would eventually find a nice construction site with some workers about to get back to work when Ryder and the pups showed up. "Hey, kid, you probably shouldn't be here," one of the workers said.
"Sorry, sir," Ryder apologized, "We're just looking for a place for our friend Rubble to stay." The young boy gestured to the bulldog.
"Oh, hey there little guy. I think we can try and find a place for you around here. We've got a small hut you can sleep in until we get you a permanent dog house."
"Sounds like a plan," Rubble said.
"So, are we good?" Marshall asked.
"I think we should be. I'll find my way back to your place sometime tomorrow."
"Alright, great," Ryder said. "See you later, Rubble." Ryder got back on his bike so he and Marshall could head home.
Along the way, Ryder noticed they were close to the university so he decided to check on Kendra. He left his bike outside on the bike lock so he and Marshall could go back inside.
Kendra was working with a couple of robotic parts and a small launch. He plugged some wires into a battery back, which activated the launcher that shot out a tennis ball. It flew towards Ryder and Marshall walked in, with the tennis ball landing in front of the Dalmatian's feet.
"Whoa!" Marshall cried. He stepped onto the ball, making him lose his balance, and ended up crashing into the table that had the parts on it, knocking them onto the floor. "Oh, sorry."
"It's okay," Kendra noted. "What are you two doing back so soon?"
"We were helping some other pups back to their homes," Ryder explained. He began helping to pick up the parts as he looked at the canon she had built. "Is this based on my sketches?"
"Yes, an air-pressurized launcher. Since it was for Chase, I thought I'd use tennis balls."
"I think it's a fun idea," Marshall commented. "Can I help test it?"
"I haven't gotten full control of it yet," Kendra admitted. "I'm not too sure how we could get Chase to control it."
"That's a good point," Ryder noted. He began to think about how the pups could operate the packs. "Maybe they could be voice-activated."
"That could be one option," Kendra commented, "But I was thinking about one other theory."
"What would that be?" Kendra looked around the room for a little bit until she found a notepad. She opened it up to show some sketches of some kind of technology along with a brain. "Neural-Link Technology."
"What's that?" Marshall asked.
"It's sort of like a remote control that can be installed in your brain."
"That sounds…. Kind of dangerous," Ryder admitted. "If it's still a theory, I'm guessing that it's never worked."
"Not a lot of people were willing to test it," Kendra said, "For obvious reasons. The risks this would have could cause permanent damage to who knows how many parts of the brain since the battery is another can of worms that would have to be worked out."
"How about we leave that as a plan Z?" Ryder suggested. "Let's see if we can get this to work with a regular remote." Kendra agreed and placed the notepad to the side.
She and Ryder spent about an hour reworking the circuits on the pack. Some pieces came on or off depending on trial and error, but eventually, it looked like it was ready for testing. Kendra quickly got a velcro strap and attached it to the prototype to Marshall's back.
"What do I do with this?" the Dalmatian asked.
"Take it outside so we can test it," Kendra suggested. So that's what the three did. They walked outside of the university and took the prototype to the nearby park. It was fairly empty at the moment, meaning that no one would be injured. "Okay, so we've got the remote ready for testing. Ryder, would you like to do the honors?"
"Sure thing," Ryder responded. He held out the remote and pointed it at the proto-pack. Marshall braced himself as Ryder pushed the button and a tennis ball fired out of the launcher, flying several feet before coming to a stop.
"Awesome!" Marshall gasped. He quickly ran over to grab the ball and returned it to Ryder.
"Good job, Marshall," Ryder said. "Let's see if we…". He paused before he checked his phone to see what time it was. "Shoot! Marshall, we've got to go!"
"What's wrong?"
"We've got to get home now!" Ryder ran back to get his bike with Marshall following him. The two raced back home with the pup still carrying the prototype on his back.
"Wait, boys!" Kendra cried, "You've still got…" It was too late as they had already gotten out of sight. "Oh, dear. Well, I'll just message them about it later. I have some other tasks to do anyhow." Kendra walked back inside the university as Ryder and Marshall raced home.