I don't own anything other than OCs

CH16

Gasket zipped down the highway with January shrunken as much as she could in the sidecar. They were long out of the desert and speeding towards Adventure Bay.

"Are we almost there?" January asked worriedly.

"Just a few more minutes!" Gasket yelled excitedly. She narrowed her eyes at an oncoming pickup truck in the other lane and grinned mischievously. Right when the truck was about to pass them, Gasket shot in front of it and off the road, which elicited a low yelp from January and an angry honk from the driver.

"You darn road hogs!" The guy yelled out from the passenger window.

Gasket laughed manically in response before getting back on the road.

"Is something wrong with you?" January asked rhetorically, her heart still pounding from the near–collision.

"I dunno, maybe?" Gasket brushed her off. "I don't go riding without pissing at least one driver off."

January scoffed. "Well you could do that without driving like you have a death wish."

Gasket shook her head. "Just part of the Ruff–Ruff life."

January recalled Skye describing this pack as a little ruff and laughed to herself, more like unruly and crazy. Without a doubt in her mind she would have put a stop to them if they were around during her testing.

"Looks like we're here, and they just polished it too!" Gasket exclaimed all giddily.

January looked to see a large metal bridge coming into view, the sun's rays reflected perfectly off of it. They didn't stop until they were about halfway on it, Gasket parked the bike and propped it on one of the beams.

"And here we are, the Adventure Bay Bridge!" Gasket exclaimed. January looked over it, she thought it to be an impressive piece of architecture since she hasn't seen anything like it.

"Ruff! Red spray can!" Gasket barked before her claw pulled out said can out of her pup pack. She shook it before going over and hastily sprayed an X on one of the beams, snickering to herself afterwards.

Great, desecration of public property. January thought as she watched her.

"Now it's time to get serious!" Gasket beamed. "Ruff! Green spray can!"

Gasket was fierce yet precise as she sprayed over a large area of the sidewalk. She used various colors out of her pack and put all of her focus in her work of art. Even January couldn't help but to be slightly impressed.

"Taa–daa!" Gasket practically squealed before she took a step back and admired her work. It was basically the Ruff Ruff Pack logo bone that was scorched in flames surrounding by a bright goblin green circle. 'The Ruff Ruff Pack' was sprayed in crimson on each side of the bone in the circle.

January patted the back of Gasket. "Nice to see your artistic side little one, but maybe you shouldn't spray up here?"

Gasket scoffed. "Oh come on, it's more fun this way! We leave our mark and people get mad!"

January rolled her eyes underneath her goggles.

"Why don't you try?" Gasket asked suggestively as she held the red can out to her with her claw.

January immediately shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Why not?" Gasket poked.

"Because it's wrong." January answered.

Gasket now had the courage to ask her next question. "Is it because you're scared?" She asked with an amused sneer.

"Why would I be?"

Gasket looked up and thought. "Urm… because…I don't know." She gave up.

"Exactly, it's not that I fear the consequences of doing that, it's that I have more honor than you do." January stated.

Gasket rolled her eyes. "Whatever, honor–smonor." An idea suddenly came to her and she smirked evilly. "Well, I'm not driving you home then if you don't at least try it."

January stared at the pup, hard. If the sun wouldn't blind her, she'd lift them like a pair of shades so their eyes met.

"What?" She growled.

"You heard me." Gasket spoke in a lighter tone, she didn't want to provoke January too much since she knew what she was capable of.

January continued to stare her down. This pup was worth her scruff, she knew that now. She could just walk home but they did drive a long way and with so many people about, she didn't know if she could handle that. She could also make an example out of her like that little bulldog but that wouldn't really be healthy if she intended to stay with them any longer. January looked at the spray bottle, then back at the bridge, there weren't any cars coming.

"Alright, little speed demon." January spat as she took the spray can in her paw. It was easy for her to grip since her digits were more spread out and developed than Gasket's.

"Yes!" Gasket hissed in victory.

The wolf dog at first just scribble–sprayed on one of the beams, followed by the continual giggling from Gasket.

"They're going to be so mad." Gasket could barely contain herself.

January began to take her spray painting more seriously as she began to straighten her lines on the concrete ground, she asked for other colors which Gasket was happy to obey.

Once January was finished, she moved back to show a rough black wolf with golden eyes, surrounded by red lightning.

"Hey… not bad considering this is your first time!" Gasket praised, even though deep down she thought it was kind of ugly. She was still glad January gave it a try.

January laughed. "Don't give me too much credit."

A car pulled up beside them, causing January to recoil. A middle aged woman in a skirt and blazer stepped out, holding a chicken. She didn't look to impressed.

"Oh my! So it was the Ruff Ruff Pack that was desecrating this bridge! And you still did it after we cleaned it up!" The lady exclaimed as she looked at the markings. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at the two.

"Yep! We sure did Mayor Sad–way!" Gasket laughed. "That's payback for tricking me and making me lose a bet!"

"Humf!" Mayor Goodway huffed. "A bet that you cheated in and lost fair and square."

The chicken seem to crow in agreement, January tilted her head at it.

"And who's this, a new troublemaker!?" Mayor Goodway's focus was now on the wolf dog.

January was about to answer but Gasket cut her off.

"None of your business lady!"

"Why how rude! I think you should clean this up all by yourself!" Mayor Goodway spat.

"Oh Yeah! Well what do you think of this?!" Gasket mocked as she ran over to her car and sprayed the door with red paint.

"Oh my! Gasket!" Mayor Goodway yelled in disbelief.

"Ha! Let's go January, we left our mark!" Gasket stated as she got back on her bike.

"Oh you two aren't going anywhere, not after I call Ryder and the PAW Patrol!" Mayor Goodway warned as she pulled out her phone.

Chickaletta Crowed.

January froze, that name echoing in her head.

"January c'mon! Let's go!" Gasket urged impatiently.

Mayor Goodway tapped her foot as she waited for the phone to answer, and was growing impatient. The phone stopped ringing but no one answered, the mayor looked down and her expression turned to horror. "Oh no," she whispered.

Zero–Zero

"January, come on!" Gasket whined in frustration.

January snapped out of it and got in the sidecar and Gasket took off as soon as she did, leaving a troubled Mayor Goodway in the dust. January took one last look at her before she disappeared from view as they rounded a corner.

"Well that was fun, wasn't it?" Gasket asked.

She didn't get a response and looked over to see January now staring over her shoulder aimlessly.

"Hey, what's with you?" Gasket interrogated, now noticing her troubled expression.

January shot over to her. "Oh sorry? What did you say?"

"That was fun wasn't it?" Gasket reiterated.

"It… actually was, thanks for this little one." January admitted.

A smile formed on Gasket's muzzle, and she looked back to the road in front of her. "I don't know about you but I'm hungry, hopefully that police pup dropped our food off already."

His hackles were raised.

He was back in the labs again. He didn't know how he got back in there and doesn't remember even traveling back to this place, but he was here regardless.

The corpse of the guard was now a skeleton, just like the pup's.

"This is a mess, a perversion of the creation."

He looked around frantically but couldn't find the source of the voice. It echoed all around him.

He began to back up and glanced behind him, only to look in horror as the door was gone. When he looked back, glowing symbols now lay scattered on the walls and floor.

"Soon this place will be forgotten, just like the sands of all worlds."

He walked forwards, they were the same symbol that…

Something snatched his leg, causing him to yell out. He looked to see it was a skeletal hand, his heart exploded,

Chase shot up. He breathed frantically as if he was suffocating and his head darted around. A massive sigh of relief escaped his lips as he realized he was in his pup house. He glanced over to see the sun's rays hitting into his pup house, the time on his pup tag showed it was well into the afternoon.

He sat there for a moment and took some time to recover from that horrid dream. He remembered the voice as clear as day, and tried to process what it meant. The symbols also added to the mystery.

knowing what he knew about the mutagen and that he likely had it in him, it could just be a hallucination caused by it. He knew it just wasn't any dream because of how vivid and brief it was, but why just now would it be causing this if he always had it?

After a few more minutes of thinking, Chase got up and left his pup house to go to his food bowl, knowing he wasn't getting anywhere with the thoughts. He hadn't eaten in a day now.

He stepped out of his pup house and made for the Lookout, glancing around to see if any of the other pups were playing. The yard was empty which did surprise him a bit.

Once in the lobby, he went to his food bowl and had it overfilled with kibble. He immediately chowed down with delight, eating more than he usually did.

Chase sat back once he was done, satisfied. He looked around and to his surprise, no one was in the lobby. This struck him as odd since they were usually done with a rescue by this hour. He thought It must have been an 'all paws on deck' situation since all of the members were gone, which did bum him out that he couldn't be there for his team.

He was about to call Ryder through his pup tag when he suddenly remembered something, the food he promised the Ruff Ruff Pack. It was a perfect opportunity too since no one was present. He wasted no time in packing all the promised kibble and biscuits into bags and hauling them to his pup house which he turned into his police cruiser. He went back for another load and even threw in stuff for pup s'mores, before packing the last load and riding out, making sure to leave his pup tag behind.

It didn't take long for him to reach the desert since he broke a speeding law in hopes that he would get back before they arrived. He eventually pulled up to the diner and parked his cruiser, with Dwayne and Hubcap sitting out front, the later staring daggers at him.

"YOU!" Hubcap seethed and pointed at Chase as he walked up to them.

Chase put his paws up. "Did I break the deal or something?" He asked, genuinely confused.

"When that creepy mutt of yours comes back I want you to take her with you! You can throw her back in that hole you got her from for all I care, I want her gone!" Hubcap barked in exasperation.

"What happened, what'd she do?"

"This!" Hubcap moved his vest back with his paw and showed a small scabbed wound near his neck.

Chase had to look closely. "She pricked you?"

"NO! She bit me!" Hubcap hollered.

"And she even made Gasket the leader, can you believe that, Gasket?" Dwayne piped up in amusement.

"Shut it Dwayne, she's not!" Hubcap shut him down.

Chase could now understand Hubcap's attitude, even though it was amusing. "Ok look, I'll have a talk with January…"

"No! We want her gone! Screw this deal!" Hubcap yelled in frustration.

"Such a shame," Chase said as he pretended to be disappointed. He strolled over to his cruiser.

"I guess you don't want any of these." He said as opened the rear door of his cruiser door with bags of food falling out of it.

Hubcap didn't looked convince but Dwayne's eyes widened.

"Look Hubcap! He has the stuff for pup s'mores!" Dwayne exclaimed in excitement.

"I don't care Dwayne," Hubcap spat.

Chase dug through the bags to show the different flavors of kibble and biscuits, even showing juice cartons. Even Hubcap seem slightly impressed, and his stomach growling gave him away. Hubcap narrowed his eyes and gave a long growl.

"FINE!" Hubcap gave in and marched over to the cruiser, taking some of the kibble bags and chewing them open. He tossed a few to Dwayne.

Chase smiled victoriously but Hubcap cut it short.

"Three more days police dog! And I want her out of my sight!" Hubcap warned.

Chase gulped, he had to find somewhere for her to go and fast.

Chase was unloading the rest of the food while the two ruff pups ate on the kibble, when the sound of an approaching motorcycle came from the road. He looked over to see Gasket's bike pulling up beside him with January in a sidecar.

Gasket immediately became ecstatic at the sight of the food. "Yes! Right on time police pup!"

She parked her bike and eagerly ran over to the bags, searching for her favorite.

"Here it is!" She beamed as she held the bacon flavored kibble.

Chase couldn't help but smile at the husky's excitement, seeming as if that kibble meant the world to her. He turned his attention to January who was walking up to him.

"Good to see you again, Chase." She greeted.

"Same to you, and you're even walking around in the light." He noted with a smile.

"Gasket was very generous with these." She said as she motioned to her goggles.

"Yeah, the look fits you… do you mind if we talk a bit." Chase said as he nodded away from the cruiser.

"Certainly." She acknowledged before she followed him.

"So I assume things are going well, and they're not giving you any trouble." Chase finally spoke as they were a comfortable distance.

January chuckled. "Oh no, they're a wild bunch, I'll give them that much."

"Yeah, they've always been a pain to Adventure Bay." Chase agreed. "And about Hubcap, did you bite him?"

"I actually grabbed him up with my jaws, and no, I didn't bite down too hard." She explained.

Chase cocked his head. "Why?"

"He was being unruly and assertive to me, which I wasn't going to deal with during my time here." January explained. "He shut down though, I think he's been avoiding me." She said with clear amusement.

"Well… if you can help it, try not to upset him anymore. He's gave me kind of a deadline for when they could keep you." Chase pleaded.

"…I see, I'd like to see him try to kick me out of this place, but out of respect for you young one, I will not bother him any further." January assured.

"Thank you, January." Chase said gratefully. "And what's this about Gasket being the leader?"

"Oh that was my handiwork last night. I see a lot of potential in that pup, and if I can get her to change then maybe the pack will." She explained before taking a quick look at Gasket ravaging her kibble.

Chase looked doubtful. "Well good on you if it works."

The two stood there for a moment as Chase thought of where to start with the flash drive he read this morning.

"So, you'll take your leave then?" January eventually asked.

Chase shook his head. "I wanted to talk to you about your time during testing."

January froze.

"So you're Subject 01, I'm Subject 02, and Ryder's Subject 00."

"…How do you figure that?" January asked, confused as to how he got that information.

"I found a flash drive in the lab, on it was a document with the profiles of the entire PAW Patrol." Chase explained.

"Ryder's still around?" January asked.

"Why yeah, he's the leader of the PAW Patrol."

"And where is he now?"

"He's on a rescue right now, they still haven't returned, I hope everything's okay." Chase said with a hint of worry.

January sat lost in her thoughts for a moment, her suspicion from earlier was just confirmed, Ryder was still around. "Well you got the IDs right, and as for my time in testing, there's not much to tell… and thinking back to that time usually brings me pain."

"Oh… can you at least tell me what you know of me and my earlier days? The only memory I have is that I was abandoned on the streets in Adventure City."

January thought. "I… saw you, one time in a kennel. You barely could open your eyes."

Chase tried to remember such scenario, but failed to. This must have been a long time ago.

"I asked about you, Dr. Harvey said you were the next Subject after me being tested for a different experiment, Project PAW, which I assume is this 'PAW Patrol' you talk about." January finished.

"And who were these doctors, Dr. Harvey and Dr. Levy?" Chase questioned.

January hesitated, the question seem to trouble her but she eventually answered. "They weren't doctors per say, more like researchers. Dr. Harvey was more of a friend to me and made sure to remind me of my wolf heritage, Dr. Levy… was more of a father figure, until he ordered those experiments on me." She spat.

"Is Dr. Levy still around?" Chase asked anxiously.

January huffed. "Most likely, though I doubt he'll show himself."

"Well maybe if Dr. Levy thought highly of you, those experiments weren't his call?" Chase suggested.

"Doesn't matter, he still gave the order." January growled.

Chase decided to leave the questions there, noticing January's increased agitation and how late it was getting.

"I'm sorry January, I didn't mean to upset you." Chase apologized.

The wolf dog shook her head. "You were just curious little one, maybe sometime I'll be more ready to talk about my past."

"Oh okay… well I look forward to that."

January nodded. "If this is it, then I must say take care of yourself young one."

"Yeah, see you later… and thanks." Chase said lastly.

January nodded again before turning to join the Ruff Ruff Pack in eating. They already had a fire going near the diner.

Chase watched them as he leaned against his cruiser, he couldn't help but to be amazed at how she seem to integrate into the group, though he hoped she really could change them for the better. He felt anxiety creeping up about what to do with her, he knew they couldn't keep her forever as people and no doubt Dr. Levy would eventually notice. Time was running out.

He eventually got in his cruiser and drove away. He disappeared down the desert road, the sky above shining with a bright orangish hue.