Season 4 Episode 23: BATTLE FOR BARKINGBURG PART TWO! RISE OF THE PAW PATROL!
Ben let out an anguished sob as he watched Barkingburg Castle burn, with all of their spare Rescue Knight gear trapped beneath an insurmountable pile of debris. There was no way they'd be able to retrieve any of it. Claw had died, and now they stood no chance. The Rescue Knights gear, vehicles, and Megazord was their best shot at repelling any dragon attack, and it had been utterly obliterated. "Ben… get up." Ryder pleaded.
The co-leader of the team didn't listen and continued crying. They hadn't failed like this in years… and when they had failed, it had been small. It was things that were trivial, like losing something in the ocean, a small mess-up on one of the construction jobs, or the trash on the beach getting blown away. It wasn't something important, something where people could get hurt. "We've lost, Ryder… How are we going to defeat the dragon army? The Rescue Knight armor and weapons are gone." Ben sadly said.
"So what if the Rescue Knights are gone?!" Chase protested.
"We're the PAW Patrol! We never give up!" Skye added.
"Everyone and everything has value, we're not going to waste ours!" Rocky agreed.
"We can't stop now! If we stop here, the Duke wins, and Barkingburg dies!" Rubble pointed out.
"Come on dude! Get up!" Zuma yelled at his surrogate father figure.
"Saving one's life means saving the future!" Marshall reminded Ben.
"But our anti dragon equipment is all destroyed! We can't be Rescue Knights!" Ben questioned.
"Then we don't fight as Rescue Knights!" Arrby announced.
"We fight as the PAW Patrol!" Sweetie shouted.
Ben got back on his feet, feeling motivated and inspired by the moving words of his comrades. "Okay. How're we doing this?" Ben inquired.
"Ben… on your left." Ryder told him.
Ben looked up and gasped as he saw the Jet to the Rescue vehicles soaring through the air. Everest, Tracker, Tuck, Ella, Liberty, and Alex were all flying them. Four streaks of light landed on the ground, fading to reveal the four Cat Pack members driving through in their vehicles. "DID SOMEONE ASK FOR A HELPING CLAW?!" Wild cheered.
A rift in the streets opened up with a portal, and a confident looking Bernese mountain dog stepped out of it. "Did someone ask for some ancient assistance?" Rex grinned, before letting out a powerful howl that cut through the air and echoed.
Ben grinned as he watched the crew assemble around him. "Well, if we're gonna do this, we'll need all the help we can get." Ben observed.
He pulled out of his pocket what looked to be a small, black flash drive. He slid a cover off the side, revealing a red button which he pressed without hesitation. Immediately, a flash of violet light had Gizmo materialize out of thin air to arrive on the scene. "Oh wow! This is like the Battle for the Bay all over again. Looks like you need all the help you can get." Gizmo remarked.
The eight former Rescue Knights transformed into their Mighty Pup forms and prepared themselves for the fight of their lives. Ben pulled his sword from his belt and raised it into the air, his faith and resolve renewed now that everyone was with them. "RESCUE FORCE! ROLL TO THE RESCUE!" Ben cried out, and the team charged forward into battle.
Gizmo appeared beside Ben as they both ran towards the fray. "So I take it I arrived slightly late. I guess I could go back and tell myself to come earlier, but I think that I'd just waste time arguing with myself. What's the plan?" The black Lab asked as he kept pace beside the teenager.
"Stop the dragons." Ben simply replied before charging into the battle.
"That's not a plan! That's the objective!" Gizmo protested, but Ben was already gone. "Great. I'm the only sane pup on this battlefield, and nobody has a plan. Unless…" The futuristic pup trailed off, an idea forming in his mind.
He activated his hover shoes and blasted off in a steak of purple light in search of someone to aid in creating a plan.
Rubble ran to intercept a dragon that was about to attack Big Benji. A jumping kick from the English bulldog sent the dragon sprawling, and the pup planted himself in front of the tower, blocking the dragon's path. The kick had worked, but now the dragon was fuming. It unleashed a barrage of flame at Rubble who yelped and covered his eyes. Thankfully, Marshall jumped in the way just in time, deflecting the stream of fire with his pyrokinesis. "Got it!" The Dalmatian cheered.
"Thanks, Marshall! I thought I was toast!" Rubble sighed in relief.
"Hey! Puns are my gimmick!" Marshall retorted playfully, making them both laugh. The dragon wasn't done yet, though. It unleashed another fireball at the pair of pups. This time, Marshall caught the fireball, swung it around them, then chucked it back at the monster. It recoiled, but remained unharmed. "We need to injure it and get it to bleed! ...I can't believe I just said that." Marshall shouted as he caught another fire blast.
Rubble looked around before his eyes fell on Arrby, who had just succeeded in pinning a dragon down using two bent lamp posts embedded in the ground. "Arrby! Can you cut through the dragon's skin and get it to bleed?" Rubble yelled.
Arrby raced over. "No can do, matey. Their scales are too tough! Regular metal can't cut through their scales, no matter how hard I try! Best I can do is give them a good whacking with these lamp posts!" The pirate pup yelled.
Just then, the dragon swept its tail at the trio. Rubble and Arrby were able to jump out of the way, but Marshall was too busy deflecting the fire to notice. He slammed against the side of Big Benji, stunning him. "MARSHALL!" Both the pups cried in dismay, but they had more pressing things to worry about.
The dragon immediately took its chance and bombarded the duo with fire. Arrby ripped a car door off of a nearby car, holding it in the way of the flame as an improvised shield. It started glowing a dangerous red as it heated to its melting point. "Sorry, Rubble. I can't stop it much longer. Tell Sweetie-!" Arrby started to say, but before Arrby could finish, the stream of flame stopped, and the dragon let out a shriek. Arrby lowered the makeshift shield, and both he and Rubble saw a T-Rex clamping its jaws down on the dragon's neck, the powerful jaws piercing the scales. "AAH! DINOSAUR!" Arrby yelled in fright.
"Yeah Rex!" Rubble howled in delight.
Marshall ran up beside them, now back on his paws. "Time to make this dragon's blood boil!" The Dalmatian exclaimed as his paws shone red, and a flurry of fireballs shot out at the dragon's cut scales.
Immediately, the blood running down the dragon's neck ignited, chasing its way to the wound like a fuse. Almost immediately the dragon bomb detonated. "Wait, you know this dinosaur?" Arrby asked, confused about how the Tyrannosaurus wasn't trying to eat them.
The dinosaur in question waved a claw at them. "This is Rex, our dino expert pup!" Rubble explained, since Arrby hadn't met the dino pup due to him having been on Earth-Two. Rex shrank back down to his normal form.
"My mighty power is kind of crazy, huh? I'm Rex. Nice to meet you!" Rex giggled as he introduced himself to the pirate pup.
"That's so cool! I'm Arrby! Arr-mazing to meet you, matey!" Arrby replied, wagging his tail.
"Rex, so far you're the only one I've seen that's been able to draw blood. Let's team up!" Marshall offered.
"Sure thing! Let's dino do this!" Rex exclaimed, letting out a howl as he changed shape… but not into a Tyrannosaurus rex.
Instead he adopted the form of a triceratops, shocking everyone present. "You can become OTHER dinosaurs?!" Marshall gasped.
"I sure can! Hop on!" Rex exclaimed.
The fire pup did so, and the two charged at the dragon Arrby had pinned down earlier. "Wanna help me pin down more dragons?" Arrby asked Rubble.
"Sure!" The construction pup replied, and they both raced off together.
"Alright guys, let's make a plan. What are we doing?" Shade inquired to the rest of the Cat Pack as they waited at the edge of the fray.
"Rory and I can use our jumping abilities and super speed to distract them. Leo, you use your vehicle and super strength to fight them, and Shade…" Wild suggested before he trailed off, unable to think of a way that her super stealth could be useful. After a few seconds, he managed to come up with an idea. "Shade, you can stay back and try to look for weaknesses. There's so many dragons, we'll need to find a way to get rid of them efficiently." Wild concluded.
"Sounds good to me!" Shade exclaimed.
"Let's do this!" Leo cheered.
Before they could start, though, a purple streak of light stopped in front of them. "Thank goodness I found you guys. Shade, right?" Gizmo asked.
"Um… yes? And you are…?" Shade intoned, initially not recognizing him.
"I'm Gizmo. Basically I'm your canine counterpart in the Wonderverse, except I've been around far longer than you, so technically it's the other way around." The black dog elucidated.
"Wait, I remember you. You're the time traveler who got in trouble with the time force who we had to bail out!" Rory exclaimed.
"Yes, but now I have a time travel license and my portal gun is fixed, so it's fine. Shade, I need your help to come up with an overall plan." The futuristic pup explained.
Shade glanced at Wild, who nodded in approval. "We'll be fine! Go figure out a way to stop these guys for good!" Wild encouraged.
At that, the circle split into two groups: Wild, Rory, and Leo raced into the battle while the two purple-clad members raced away to figure out a game plan.
Chase, Zuma, Ben, and Ryder approached a giant dragon in the middle of the city. "Chase, try to disorient it with your speed." Ryder commanded.
"Zuma, you block its fire with water while Ryder and I try to injure it!" Ben finished.
"Let's make a splash!" Zuma cried out as he soaked the dragon with water from his paws.
Chase battered the beast with blows, distracting it from the destruction it was causing. It roared and turned around as Ryder and Ben charged at it from either side, flanking it. They both stabbed at its scales, but their swords had little effect against the natural armor. "This isn't working!" Ryder shouted as he and Ben were forced to take cover, dodging tail sweeps as the dragon turned its attention to them.
"We need backup. Our swords aren't doing anything!" Ben pleaded into his com.
The four members looked up as they heard the roar of jets above them. Everest and Tracker arrived in their flying vehicles. "Looks like this dragon needs to cool down! Zuma, give me some water!" The husky requested.
"Totally! Time to make it rain, dragon dude!" The chocolate Labrador agreed as he started soaking the dragon with liquid.
The dragon started to roar, but Everest's jet ice laser rapidly froze the beast into a solid block of ice. Everest used her jet's claw and Tracker used his jet's cables to pick up the beast. "¡Vamos, amiga!" Tracker cried as they carried the dragon away, flinging it into the ocean.
Ben turned to Ryder, Chase, and Zuma. "Come on, if we can't injure them, we can help those who can. Let's go!" He cried before they raced off.
Rocky found himself facing three dragons alone. They were all trying to burn the house behind him to a crisp, but the canine had succeeded so far in stopping them. Producing force fields with his constructs, he was also able to batter them around with energy tools. He used his hammer to smack the dragons with all his might, constantly playing a deadly game of whack-a-mole. He had just managed to knock one unconscious when he heard a voice behind him. "Psst! Rocky!" Shade hissed.
The mixed-breed nearly jumped out of his skin. "Shade?! What are you doing…?!" Rocky started to ask as he turned around, but Shade cut him off.
"LOOK OUT!" The black cat blurted, pointing at a lethal fireball mere feet away from them.
Rocky turned in panic, realizing his mistake. Then a purple force field blocked the blazing projectile, surrounding Rocky, Shade, and Gizmo, who had just appeared on the scene. "That was close." Shade breathed.
Rocky watched as the building behind them caught fire. "Aw man… I was doing so well…" The recycling pup sighed.
"No kidding; everyone else has needed to pair up, but you kept three of them at bay on your own." Gizmo told him, acknowledging his accomplishment.
"So why are you here?" Rocky asked the two.
"We both realized we don't know enough about what's going on. We need your help to make a plan." Gizmo explained.
After taking one last look at the building behind him, Rocky nodded his head. "I'm in." The mixed breed determinedly said.
Meanwhile Skye and Sweetie had joined forces in the air, creating a pink and magenta whirlwind of destruction. "There's a dragon coming in at 9 o'clock." Skye warned the terrier pressed up against her back.
"Whose nine? Yours or mine?" Sweetie asked as she used her telekinesis to yank a dragon out of the air and hurl it into another she saw approaching on her right. "Never mind. I figured it out." Sweetie reassured as she threw Excalibark, stabbing another dragon in front of her before pulling the blade back to her paw like a deadly boomerang.
"Yours!" Skye shouted.
Sweetie turned to her left just in time to see a ball of fire be extinguished inches away from her face, blown out by a whirlwind of Skye's. The cockapoo trapped the approaching dragon in her whirlwind, and Sweetie slammed it into the ground beneath them. "Oh my… Thanks, Skye. That was terrifying." Sweetie admitted.
"No problem!" Skye replied as they got back to ridding the sky from the airborne monsters.
The other pups in the air weren't having as much luck. While they were able to keep many of the dragons occupied, they weren't doing any actual damage; the dragons' scales were just too tough, and many of the pups weren't used to piloting jets. Only Everest and Tracker had had any success. Liberty had already been brought down by a dragon, but had managed to eject safely. The others seemed to be hard-pressed to stay in the air as well. "Sis! Watch out!" Tuck cried out as a dragon tail-swiped at Ella. The golden retriever tried to dodge, but the dragon clipped her wing, sending her spiraling out of control. Ella yelped as she flew from the aircraft, plummeting to the ground. "ELLA!" Tuck screamed, diving for his sister.
Her voice came over his com. "I'll be fine! Go help the others! It's time to think BIG!" Ella confidently shouted.
Ella's paws glowed gold and by the time she landed on her four paws, she was the size of a dragon. Tuck hovered in front of her briefly. "Oh yeah… That's right… heh heh." He chuckled nervously, having forgotten in his panic that his twin could grow.
In his worry, he didn't notice that a dragon was aiming a fire blast at him. It struck, causing his jet to careen out of control. Quickly reacting, Ella clamped her jaw down on one of the wings as it flew past her head, preventing it from crashing. "TUCK, EJECT!" The golden retriever yelled through gritted teeth.
Her brother complied, leaping out of his jet's cockpit and landing on his sister's back before she hurled the flaming aircraft into a dragon that Sweetie had managed to partially wound, creating an explosion from the mixture of dragon blood and fire. Looking around, Tuck spotted Gizmo, Rocky, and Shade conspiring outside the battlegrounds. "Wait, so dragon blood is explosive?" Shade was saying in disbelief.
"That's the stupidest thing I've heard all week. No wonder they go extinct in most realities." Gizmo scoffed.
"Well, they have to store their combustibles somewhere." Rocky pointed out.
Tuck ran up to them. "Gizmo, I got an idea! Do you have any explosives?" Tuck shouted.
The futuristic pup shook his head no. "No, but I can get one. Give me a few seconds." The Lab told him before he vanished. Fifteen or so seconds later, he reappeared with a spherical metal ball in his pup pack claw. "I think I know what you're going to use it for, but you do realize how dangerous this is, right?" Gizmo asked with a feeling of trepidation.
"Don't worry, brainiac. I'm not the Adventure City Recycle Green member because of my good looks! Mighty or small, I give it my ALL!" Tuck grinned before he shrank down, paws glowing silver as he did so. "Ultra lifter arms!" Tuck barked as his pup pack produced two sets of arms similar to Rocky's regular pup pack. Picking up the bomb, he sprinted as fast as his miniature legs could take him. Running over to Liberty, he could see she was wrapped around a dragon's neck. A cracking noise was heard as she shifted, and the dragon collapsed to the ground. "Liberty, great takedown! Can you lend a paw? I got an idea!" Tuck radioed her, growing to full size as she walked up to him.
Liberty eyed the bomb and let out a whoop. "Wow, Tuck, that's one heck of an idea! I'm in! Time to give these dastardly dragons a little trouble!" The Dachshund cheered.
"Little is what I do!" Tuck grinned and shrank as he hopped on and whispered the plan to Liberty.
The wiener dog extended her body to cover more distance as she ran towards a dragon, before Tuck walked onto her head and she stood up on her hind legs. Her front paws shooting forward, Liberty wrapped them around the dragon's upper neck, and Tuck ran across them before tossing the bomb into the dragon's ear cavity. Letting go of the dragon, Liberty retracted back down to regular size as a white wolf skidded in a crash landing next to them, having been bested by one of the monsters in the sky. "Oh, sweet pea, perfect timing! Can you give mister meanie's head a huge jolt?" Liberty asked as Alex lept from the cockpit.
Tuck put a paw up to signal them to stop. "Wait, not yet. We need the dragon to get close to others first." Tuck interrupted.
"Preferably ones with open wounds?" Sweetie spoke up, as she and Skye swooped down on the group, having been listening in on their conversation. Plunging the legendary blade Excalibark into the chest of one dragon, she pulled it out before scraping it across the neck of the beast, and flew over to another one, plunging her golden sword into its side. Their green viscous life liquid dribbled and flowed down their scales. "Skye, take Alex and fly him to the dragon's head, staying a safe distance away. I'll steer the one with the bomb to the other cut dragons, then you can have him fire a lightning bolt that'll detonate the device." Sweetie suggested.
"Great plan!" Skye exclaimed.
"Wait, hold on, since when have we had a dinosaur on the team?" Sweetie asked, noticing Rex in triceratops form as he speared a dragon with his horns, allowing Marshall to light it up.
"Since about the end of season two, if I recall correctly. Seems so long ago…" Ella sighed happily at the memory.
"Ella! We aren't supposed to break the fourth wall!" Tuck cried in terror.
"Have you seen me? At this size it's kind of hard to not break down a wall or two once in a while." Ella grumbled.
"But you just broke the most dangerous one!" Liberty yelled.
Unfortunately though, it was too late. The fourth wall was completely destroyed. The shattering of realms would soon completely wipe Barkingburg from existence, and there was no hope of survival. All that Tuck, Ella, Alex, Liberty, Skye, and Sweetie could do was stare in horror. "AUGH! The narrator just said we're DOOMED! WHAT DO WE DO?" Tuck panicked.
Suddenly Gizmo appeared next to the group. "Uh oh. Someone broke the fourth wall… again. You did it really badly this time." Gizmo groaned.
"I didn't mean to!" Ella whimpered.
"You have to wink at the fourth wall, not shatter it. Stick to small fourth wall breaks! Like when I told Shade I'd been around far longer than her! That had a triple meaning. Not only have I been around longer both in terms of age and in terms of lore secrets which I can't reveal here, but my creator made me about eight years before Shade debuted. But that didn't shatter the fourth wall because of the multiple meanings." The dog from the alternate universe explained.
"I'm sorry everyone. This is all my fault!" Ella apologized.
"It's okay! We just need the main author to get us back on track! Then we'll be fine!" Gizmo explained.
It appeared this thing had happened to him before. "How do we get his attention?" Sweetie asked, finally finding her voice.
"We have to find whatever scene he's writing in, then time travel to that point and cause a disturbance!" Gizmo revealed.
"But what if he isn't editing anywhere?! What then?!" Skye pointed out.
A silence encompassed the group, emphasizing the horrible reality. "Oh. Then we're doomed." Gizmo simply stated.
Everyone waited to see if the primary author would return, but they saw no sign of him. "I think Alex left us." Alex whined.
"Wait, I thought you were Alex." Gizmo replied in confusion.
"He is, but so is the author." Skye answered.
"I thought the author's name was Ben!" Liberty spoke up.
"No, that's Ryder's friend." Tuck corrected.
"No, but I thought Ben was his self-insert, and he named the character after himself." Liberty continued.
"Isn't Alex his self-insert?" Ella objected.
"I was his self-insert in his other stories." Alex argued.
"But then why does he go by Alex?" Tuck questioned.
"Haven't you ever heard of a pseudonym?" Gizmo inquired sarcastically.
As the group bickered, a new voice shouted above the noise. "WELL, THIS IS HILARIOUS AND ALL, BUT WOULD ALL OF YOU PLEASE STOP BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL, THAT'S SUPPOSED TO BE MY AUTHOR'S THING!" A Goberian's voice exclaimed, that being Cricket.
"Wait a minute… Cricket, what are you doing here?" Liberty wondered, but got no response.
Apparently his cameo appearance from Paw Patrol Periwinkle was over… and he hadn't even officially joined the team in this story yet. "SHOUTOUT TO AVIWASLOST ON WATTPAD AND AO3! GO READ THE CRAZY CHRONICLES OF PAW PATROL PERIWINKLE, WHICH IS A SIDE PERSPECTIVE TO THE MOVIE AND ALSO COVERS EPISODES THAT THE SERIES DIDN'T ADAPT BECAUSE I GOT TIRED OF WRITING REGULAR RESCUES!" Ben yelled all of a sudden, appearing out of thin air.
"One thing's for sure, these have stopped being regular rescues. Why can't we just go back to saving Chickaletta for the millionth time?" Skye complained.
"We do in my story." Cricket's voice piped up again, making a second cameo appearance before fading back into the realm of not existing as a main team member yet.
"Oh great. Alex joined in on wrecking the fourth wall. Now we really ARE doomed." Gizmo sighed, rolling his eyes.
Sure enough, the timeline collapsed on itself, blipping out of existence. With a few keystrokes from the author, everything reverted back to its original state, and the battle resumed from the point immediately before the fourth wall breaking had begun.
"Great plan!" Skye exclaimed. "Wait hold on, since when have we had a dinosaur on the team?" Sweetie asked, noticing Rex in triceratops form as he speared a dragon with his horns, allowing Marshall to light it up.
"For about four months now! Seems so long ago…" Ella sighed happily at the memory.
"Snap out of it, sis! We have work to do! We've got a dragon to explode!" Tuck reminded her.
"Oh, right!" Ella chuckled, breaking out of her reverie.
Sweetie relayed the plan to Alex, who was a little miffed about being ordered around by some prissy princess. "Well, excuuuuuuse me, princess, but I only take orders from mama Libby!" Alex growled.
"Alex, my little snow monster, please? Do it for me." Liberty smoothly spoke over the comms.
"You got it! Come on, sis, give your little bro Alex a wingback ride!" The white wolf giggled.
"Hang on tight, Alex, cuz this mighty puppy's going for a spin!" Skye smirked as she flew down for Alex to hop on.
The wolf pup grabbed onto her wings as she flew by, and lifted him into the air. Sweetie lifted the dragon into the air with her telekinetic abilities as she flew it towards the other two bleeding dragons, and Alex hurled a stream of electricity from his paws directly at the head of the one that had the bomb in it. It was a direct hit. The bomb detonated, causing a chain reaction that engulfed all three dragons in an explosion. Then the explosion stopped growing and collapsed in on itself, absorbing everything into a singular point. Suddenly it exploded again, sending out a blast ring horizontally across the sky. It acted like a knife, slicing through everything in its path. Unfortunately that included Everest's jet. "Mayday, mayday! I've been hit by something and my cockpit hatch is jammed! I'm going down!" The husky shouted into her pup tag.
"¡Aguanta! Hold on Everest!" Tracker called out as his heart skipped a beat.
He dove after the husky, but it was clear he wouldn't make it in time. Thankfully, Gizmo and Rocky did, though they might not have if it weren't for their respective hover shoes and werepup-enhanced speed. Rocky pried the cockpit off with his energy tools, opening the stuck hatch. Right before the jet crashed into the turf, the black pup activated his hover boots and jumped up to Everest. He turned on his force field less than a second before the ship exploded on the rocky terrain. "Are you okay?" Gizmo asked the Siberian husky as the dust cleared.
"Yeah… thanks. I thought I was a goner for sure." Everest replied, her voice shaking.
They both rolled the force field out of the wreckage before deactivating it next to Rocky and Shade. "I thought you said you understood how dangerous that was!" The black pup scolded Tuck, who had just arrived with the others that had seen Everest fall from the sky.
"I thought it was a normal bomb…" The male golden retriever whimpered.
"Tuck, I'm a time traveler that traverses the multiverse. Don't ask me for something that's normal, because I'm kind of losing my touch on what's normal and what isn't. That being said, I understand the confusion. Sorry I didn't make it clear enough what I was handing you." Gizmo sighed.
"It's okay." Tuck replied.
Just then, Ben ran up to the group, followed by the rest of the crew that had been fighting in the city. "The dragons are leaving for now, probably just to regroup. That explosion sure worked. Speaking of, I saw Everest crash. Is she alright?" He asked worriedly.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Everest confirmed.
"Ben, perfect timing. We need to ask you something." Rocky stated as Shade and Gizmo nodded in agreement.
The teenager looked at the trio in confusion. "What do you need?" Ben asked.
Shade spoke up. "We've analyzed the sudden outburst of these normally peaceful dragons against Barkingburg. The improbability that this would randomly happen at this timing is high, so we've reached a conclusion." She explained.
"It's the Duke of Flappington." Shade, Gizmo, and Rocky revealed simultaneously.
"Somehow he's coercing the dragons. It probably has something to do with him taking a sample of Claw's blood. We need someone to go after him and stop him." Rocky finished.
"WELL NO DUH, CLAW TOLD US THAT THE DUKE WAS BEHIND THIS." Ryder snapped angrily.
"He did?" Shade and Gizmo both chorused.
They glanced at Rocky. "I must have missed it. Sorry." The mixed-breed apologized.
"That's great and all, but who do we send after him? If you go after him, he'll just teleport away." Ben explained.
"That's where the question comes in. Does anyone here have teleportation powers?" Gizmo inquired.
"No. I wish." Ben sighed.
"Alright, that cinches it. Shade, your shard please." Gizmo requested.
"Sure thing." The feline replied, removing the piece of the meteor contained in her collar.
"Wait! What are you doing?" Ben yelped. He remembered when the pups had first gotten their powers, and how many of them had struggled to control their powers. Many of them had almost met their premature demise. He didn't want a disaster happening now. "You don't know what your mighty power is! It could be really dangerous!" Ben cautioned.
"Well, you're wrong about one thing… but you're right about another." Gizmo conceded as he grabbed the meteor shard, putting it in his pup tag. "My power is really dangerous." The Lab admitted with a smirk.
Immediately after finishing his sentence, his forepaws glowed purple and a portal opened underneath him. Then he was gone. "Woah! That was totally cool!" Shade exclaimed.
"Imagine being able to make an Einstein-Rosen bridge with your mind!" Rocky laughed.
"...Says the pup that can make literally almost anything he can imagine with his mind." Ben teased.
"Uh, cap'n boss Mr. Ben sir? The dragons are coming back!" Arrby cautioned.
Everyone looked at the approaching army. "Let's hope Gizmo takes care of the Duke soon. But until then… Rescue Force... ASSEMBLE!" Ben grinned.
With a collective shout, everyone charged at the oncoming horde. The rumble of Ella's and Rex's massive footfalls and the piercing whistle of Skye's whirlwind merged with the battlecry, echoing through the air. Ella leapt into the air, tackling dragons to the ground for those on land to assist with. Sweetie lifted up Everest, and the powerhouse duo had dragons dropping from the sky as their wings froze, unable to flap. Anywhere Marshall and Alex went, explosions soon followed, and it was soon clear they had the upper-hand.
As the fight raged, Ben found himself single handedly facing one of the beasts. He blocked a fireball with his shield before slashing at its nose. It didn't make a dent. "Uh, I could use a little help here!" The teenager cried as the dragon's teeth ripped Ben's shield out of his grasp, sending it skittering through the dust. Ben dodged a fireball and started running for cover. As he ran, a portal opened directly in front of Ben, forcing him to skid to a stop and dodge out of the way. It was lucky he did; seconds later a massive boulder flung through the portal at an incredible speed, colliding directly into the dragon behind him. Gizmo hopped out of the portal a few seconds after it. "WHAT WAS THAT?!" Ben shouted.
"A boulder I put in a portal loop so it would fall until it reached terminal velocity. Did pretty well if you ask me." Gizmo explained, eyeing the stunned dragon.
"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT! WHAT WAS THE BIG IDEA IN CHUCKING A BOULDER AT MY FACE?" Ben shrieked.
Gizmo stared at Ben in horror. "I'll be honest, I thought I opened it behind you. I'm so sorry." Gizmo apologized.
At that point, Marshall ran up to them, looking like he was about to say something. Before he could, however, the dragon behind them shook its head and let out a roar. "Wow, these guys are tough. They just don't give up!" The black lab exclaimed.
"Yeah, no kidding, Sherlock! Why do you think we've been fighting them for so long?" Ben shouted back.
The dragon spewed a fireball at the trio. Gizmo held up a glowing paw and a portal absorbed the fireball. "Let's send this guy back where he belongs." He stated.
With a swipe of his paw, a giant portal opened beside the dragon and moved to swallow it, sending the dragon flailing through the magical gateway before it closed again. "Wow! You should do that to all the dragons!" Marshal gasped in awe.
"They'd just return." Gizmo explained with a sigh.
Ben looked at Marshall. "Was there something you wanted to tell us?" He asked his dalmatian son.
"Yeah, we were able to push the dragons back again, but they aren't letting up! Ella's fur caught on fire and she had to shrink down so Zuma could extinguish the flames. Leo decided it would be a good idea to headbutt a dragon, so now he's injured. Rubble followed his example and I think he's got a concussion. Sweetie also got hit on the head, she's not sure if she can take much more either. We're all getting exhausted… I'm not sure if we can take another round of fighting like this." Marshall reported.
Ben worriedly glanced at the purple-clad pup beside him. "Gizmo. Were you able to stop the Duke from controlling the dragons?" He inquired.
"After chasing the coward around through portals for a while, I was able to get a hold of the amulet he was using to control the dragons. Unfortunately, he had a contingency plan for that: it self-destructed. I bet it softlocked the dragons' mindsets on their last ordinance; destroy Barkingburg!" Gizmo answered.
Ben groaned as he watched the dragons coming back again. "Even though we keep fighting them back, they keep returning, and we're starting to tire out." Ben observed.
"Should I summon the Helpers?" Gizmo asked.
"NO. I forbid you from speaking to them, Gizmo!" Ben hissed.
"O-okay, sorry I asked." Gizmo meekly said as his idea was shot down.
"Who are the Helpers?" Alex asked.
"It doesn't matter. They wouldn't come, even if we did call on them. I wish we still had our Megazord. That would help." Ben sighed regretfully.
Then the black Labrador's ears perked up as he had another idea. "Wait a second. Last time I was here, you mentioned something about an island off the coast of Maine called Griffin Rock, right?" The black dog asked.
"Um… yes? But how does that help us drive off the rest of the dragons?" Ben confirmed.
Gizmo grinned. "It means I know where I can find a few allies." He answered before vanishing in a flash of light.
Moments later, a giant portal opened in front of the group and a massive truck being driven by a basset hound rolled out. To their shock, the truck began to transform into a massive robot, Megazord style. Ben and Ryder had been told about Cybertronians by Jack Darby and his two friends in SPD, but they didn't ever think they would actually meet one. "You were wise to ask us for assistance, Gizmo. This situation seems truly dire." The robot spoke.
"Optimus, buddy, let's go!" The basset hound yelled from inside the robot as he adjusted his cap.
"Since when have you known a Cybertronian?!" Ben asked in shock.
"Since I started exploring the multiverse, though, I don't really know any of the Autobots. Not really. I actually knew Al better, though I wasn't expecting to see him at Optimus Prime's base. Speaking of, it'd be a good idea to give Al a call after this is all over." Gizmo remarked.
With the addition of the leader of the Autobots, the war took on an entirely new form. Suddenly the Rescue Force had a battle hardened warrior, not only impervious to flame, but also able to injure the dragons. Alex followed the giant robot around, detonating the injured dragons left in his wake. Meanwhile Rex continued charging around, attacking the beasts. Rocky had figured out how to make circular saw blades with his energy fields and was sending the deadly frisbees spinning through the air. Sweetie had loaned Skye Excalibark while the terrier took a break to clear her head, and Tuck and Everest were taking care of Ella's burns.
"Marshall, Arrby, Gizmo, Chase, Wild! Come here and help me with something!" Ryder cried.
The five ran up to their fearless leader. "What's the plan?" Marshall inquired.
"Alex is following our new friend, but there are others injuring the dragons as well. We need a way to catch the rest of the injured dragons on fire. Since Marshall can't be everywhere at once… Chase and Wild, I need you to collect as much wood as possible. I'll help organize it, and Ben will select targets. Gizmo can open portals to the targets, Marshall can set the wood on fire, and Arrby can fling the wood through with some metal." Ryder explained, detailing his plan.
"Sounds good!" Chase agreed, speaking for the group before dashing away in a blue blaze, followed closely behind by Wild.
Seconds later, a pile of wood started forming at their feet. Ryder grabbed the pile of sticks and started separating them, putting them in a line for Marshall to use. Ben took a look at the battlefield. "Alright Gizmo. I see three targets. That green dragon there, that orange and red one by Rocky, and the pink one up in the sky." Ben stated, pointing out the targets.
Gizmo nodded, opening three portals near the three locations. Marshall's paws glowed and three of the sticks spontaneously combusted, and Arrby grabbed them with small shards of metal lying on the ground, sending them through the portals directly to their targets. Immediately, flames from the explosions leapt out of the three portals, almost catching Gizmo and Arrby aflame. "AAAAAAHHHH!" The pirate pup yelped. "Uh… Next time I'm gonna close the portals a bit sooner." Gizmo chuckled.
Zuma ran up to the group, an idea on his mind. "Ryder! Dude! I've got an idea!" The chocolate labrador cried out.
"What is it, Zuma?" Ryder asked as he laid out some more sticks. "Well, I was helping Tracker bandage a scrape he got, when I realized I was accidentally holding his blood to keep him from bleeding!" The aqua pup exclaimed.
"Hold on, are you telling me you're able to bloodbend?" Ben asked, forgetting the task he was supposed to be doing.
"Ben, targets." Gizmo pointed out, redirecting the teenager.
"Oh, sorry… That one up there." Ben replied, getting back to work.
Gizmo kept talking while he worked. "I'm surprised you haven't realized you could do that yet. Zuma, you're able to do FAR more than just bloodbending. You can control water at an atomic level, and there's a chance you could even..." He commented before trailing off.
"A chance I could do what, dude?" Zuma pressed.
"It's too dangerous right now. I'll tell you later." Gizmo sighed.
"And what, you know so much about them?" Wild snarked.
"Well, he is the smartest pup in his universe." Chase pointed out.
"I've been around the multiverse enough to learn plenty of tricks your alternate selves have discovered, or that I've taught them myself. I'm more than willing to teach you guys after this is all over. But anyway, you were saying, Zuma?" Gizmo offered.
"So I was thinking, maybe I'll be able to move the dragons' blood as well, and get them all to explode at once!" The chocolate Labrador explained.
"It's worth a try! Wild, Rory, get him to the battlefield!" Ryder agreed.
"On it!" The two Cat Pack members meowed.
Wild vanished in a bronze blitz, reappearing seconds later with his motorcycle. "Hop on!" Wild prompted.
Zuma and Rory jumped behind the stunt cyclist onto his bike, and then they were gone.
Rocky formed a massive circular saw blade above his head before hurling it through the sky. Liberty raced up next to him. "Hey Rocky! How's it going?" The Dachshund greeted.
"Fine. This tactic is really effective, and I have more stamina than the others, thanks to being a werepup." The mixed-breed explained.
A blur stopped next to the two, revealing Wild, Rory, and Zuma. "Thanks Wild!" The brown Lab acknowledged as he and Rory leapt from the vehicle before it vanished again.
Zuma glanced up at the dragons high above them. "Think you can get me up there, Rory?" He asked.
"Jumping may be my thing, but even I'd need a boost to get you up that high." The white cat mused.
"I can give you one! Hop on!" Liberty offered, scrunching herself down like a spring.
After a glance at each other, Zuma and Rory leapt into her back, and with a jump and a spring, Zuma shot through the air, landing on a dragon's back. Rocky caught Rory with an energy construct, lowering her to the ground. "Thanks Rocky. Now let's hope Zuma's plan works and he can finish this." Rory told the others.
The chocolate Labrador retriever held onto the dragon for dear life. "Come on Zuma, you can do this." He encouraged himself. Looking around, he noticed a cut on the dragon's side caused by Excalibark. Extending a paw out, he found he was able to move the blood. It would work! Excited, Zuma almost lost his grip on the dragon, but he was able to hang on. He called the crew on his pup tag. "Hey guys, this'll work! Try to gather all the dragons together in one place!" The water pup shouted.
"Sure thing!" Skye agreed.
"On it!" Rocky replied.
"I'll tell Al the plan as well, since he doesn't have a com yet." Gizmo told him.
"Wait, yet? What do you mean?!" Ben inquired, but he didn't receive an answer.
Zuma looked toward where Skye, Rocky, and Optimus Prime were starting to herd the dragons towards. "Alright, big fella! Let's dive in!" Zuma cheered. Closing his eyes, the pup attempted to turn around the dragon he was riding by moving the water in the animal. To his surprise, it worked. With a chuckle, the retriever directed the dragon towards the whirlwind of wings caught in Skye's tornado where all the dragons were being corralled. Optimus Prime and Rocky helped to combat any of the beasts that strayed from the pink twister. The dragon Zuma rode roared in displeasure; it didn't appreciate being unable to control its movements. "Sorry, big guy. It's time to end this!" Zuma yelled as he closed his eyes, focusing on the loose dragon blood in the vicinity around him.
Raising his paw, the Lab sent it all into the swirling storm. A portal opened next to Zuma. "Jump through!" Ben shouted as Gizmo motioned Zuma to hop to solid ground. The chocolate Lab hopped next to his black friend as he flung the dragon he stood on into the whirlwind. "That's all of them." Ben stated.
"Marshall, would you like to do the honors?" Ryder asked the fire pup.
Marshall solemnly nodded. Looking down at a thin log, he touched it with a glowing paw and flames sprang to life on it. The Dalmatian picked up the burning torch and stepped over to Gizmo, who had opened a portal connecting to the air above Skye's whirlwind. After a moment's hesitation, Marshall dropped the flame into the hole before it closed. Everyone watched the whirlwind in the distance. They could just barely make out the orange glow of the torch as it fell into the mixture of dragons and dragon blood. Then it exploded. Everyone covered their eyes. The flash was blinding. When it faded, there was nothing left. They had won.
Optimus Prime and soon Al drove up carrying the rest of those who had been on the battlefield as passengers. Everyone else either stared at the empty battleground or tended to each others' wounds. Optimus transformed and knelt down by Ben, Ryder, and Gizmo. "Well done, Rescue Force. You protected the residents of this town from the grave danger posed upon them. You remind me of the Primes who came before me. Earth needs more heroes like you. Should you ever need help, we'll be at hand." The Autobot praised.
"Since the battle's over, I can take you back home now. I can even make it as if you never left." Gizmo offered.
The massive robot looked at the black canine. "That would be most appreciated, and is no small feat. Acquiring time travel at all, especially at such a young age, is impressive. If Al is ready, then let us depart." Optimus Prime replied.
"Ten-four, Optimus!" The basset hound confirmed.
Gizmo hopped into the Cybertronian's outstretched palm, then they all vanished in a flash of light. A moment later, Gizmo returned. "It's over… We won." Ryder stated in disbelief.
"Rescue Force… go home. The battle is over." Ben mumbled.
The others hesitated. "Amigo, are you sure?" Tracker asked.
"Yeah, that was a really tough fight!" Rory added.
"Yes. I'm sure." Ben said, stronger conviction in his voice.
"Maybe we can stay and help…" Ella started to offer.
"You're all hurt and tired. You've all done more than enough. We're no longer in danger. But if we need your help again, we will call upon you. Thank you." Ryder cut in, interrupting the team's proposition of assistance.
Portals with swirling purple rims opened up behind each auxiliary group, showing their respective homes through them. Curious, Ben glanced at Gizmo, who was standing next to the Cat pack, and noticed his paws glowing. The leader smiled at the retriever, thanking him for the slight push he knew the other members would need. One by one, after hesitant glances back at Ben and Ryder they started filing through. When everyone had gone, Gizmo shouted through one of the portals. "Hey, Shade! Catch!" The black lab from an alternate universe said. With that, he tossed the black cat's meteor shard back at her. As soon as she caught it, all the portals closed, leaving the Paw Patrol alone with Gizmo.
Ben looked at Gizmo, the only backup helper still there. "Well, what happened to the Duke of Flappington?" The Rescue Force's co-leader asked with a sigh.
"I let him go." Gizmo replied.
Everyone stared at him in silent horror. Time seemed to stand still as the team absorbed the information. "You let… A crazed. Murderous. Psychopath. Go free?! After trying to murder an entire kingdom?!" Ben shouted in disbelief.
"Well when you put it that way, it really does sound bad, but I had good reasons for doing it." Gizmo reassured.
"If you say 'plot armor' I swear I'll kill you." Ben threatened.
"No! Of course not! Saying it's plot armor would be like breaking the fourth wall or something, as if that would ever happen. I did it because of Rubble. He still needs resolution for what happened with his parents, and right now he's not ready for it. But he will be. When the time comes, he'll make the right choice." Gizmo explained.
"You basically just said plot armor." Ben glowered.
Gizmo sighed. "Yeah, unfortunately it does seem that way at times. But that's just the life of a time traveler, I suppose." He replied.
After waiting a moment while looking at the battlefield, the black Lab turned back to Ben and Ryder. "Are you guys sure you're gonna be alright?" Gizmo asked. Ryder nodded his head. "We just need time." Ryder answered.
Smiling gently, the pup from a parallel universe bobbed his head up and down slightly. "I know you do. Glad you realize that too. I'll see you soon. Don't forget to give Al his spot on the team. Something tells me you're gonna need his help not too long from now." He replied cryptically before opening a gate back to his own world and departing.
When everyone but the two humans and eight Rescue Knight pups were gone, Ben started to cry. Sure, they had won… but he felt like they had lost a bit of themselves by doing so. They had to kill the dragons. All of the pups ran to Ben and Ryder, giving them a hug. As his family embraced him, Ben felt a spark of hope ignite within him, feeling that Gizmo was right. Eventually… everything would be okay.
Written in part by RodentRacer! Thank you SO MUCH to him for his assistance, I'm not sure how I would have done this without him!
Gizmo is RodentRacer's character, and go and read his story, Paw Patrol and the Twist in Time!
Cricket is AviWasLost's character, and make sure you go and read Paw Patrol Periwinkle! It's super duper important that you read that story because it's going to have lots of information on side events and important reveals about our character cast soon!
The Helpers are Mario Hernandez's characters...
And stay tuned! There's one last chapter of season four left that serves as an epilogue!