(A/N: I do not own Paw Patrol, enjoy!)
Starshine
"You can do it Marshall!" Everest cheered.
"You've got this!" Cinder softly yipped.
"I bet you a pup tweat this goes howwibly wwong" Zuma said.
"Define 'horribly wrong'" Rocky replied with a smile.
"Blood everywhere" Rubble moaned.
"Have a little faith, it probably won't be everywhere" Chase quipped with a snicker.
Marshall ignored all of the heckling and concentrated. Grasping the dart firmly in his jaws, he wound up and tossed the dart skyward. Every eye watched with baited breath as the dart followed a hyperbolic arc…
And landed perfectly on the center of the target.
Everest and Cinder howled in excitement as Rubble, Zuma and Texas groaned in defeat.
"Pay up Zuma" Marshall lauged.
"Aww dude," Zuma whined, "what awe the odds?"
"Pretty good actually" Rocky replied as he patted the distraught chocolate lab on the back, "those Pup-Fu skills come in handy."
"Yeah, and I don't think these darts could make anyone bleed" Chase snickered as he gestured at the nerf lawn darts with mushroom tip.
"It could happen" Rubble defended his original assessment, "Marshall is still tender!"
"I'll show you tender" Marshall challenged, "I have a Pup Fu challenge for you!"
"But Marshall, you are still on light duty" Skye reminded him, "you definitely can't spar right now."
"Not me, Cinder" Marshall replied with a nod towards his sister, whose eyes widened in surprise.
"Cinder doesn't know Pup Fu" Chase stated the obvious, apparently as startled as Cinder appeared to be.
"That wouldn't be fair" Rubble said with a shake of his head.
"So no double or nothing?" Marshall dangled the challenge on the air.
"Dude, if you won't, I will" Zuma jumped at the bait.
"Marshall, I don't know Pup Fu" Cinder softly whispered to her twin.
"Trust me" Marshall said with a smile. Cinder felt her brother's confidence and nodded.
The pups quickly set up a sparing square in the yard. Zuma made a show of limbering up his limbs while Cinder did a single languid stretch. The two pups entered the ring.
"Weady Cinder?" Zuma asked, hopping back and forth on his paws.
"I guess we'll find out" Cinder replied softly.
Zuma adopted an offensive posture and began a slow walk to his left. Cinder mirrored him, a curious look on her face. After two laps, the Dalmatian seemed quite bored. "Are we here to fight or walk?" Cinder softly egged Zuma on, "hopefully our walk insides dinner."
Zuma responded with a dart forward, paw outstretched in a chop. He found only air as Cinder nimbly dodged out of the way. The same happened with Zuma's follow on attacks.
A smile spread across Cinder's face as she moved with her typical fluid grace. "Is that the best you've got, water pup?"
Every pup's attention was firmly fixed on the spar which had rapidly changed from an expected easy victory for Zuma into a real match. Almost every pup's attention.
Texas caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning to look, she saw Marshall and Everest sitting facing each other, forepaws held in front of their bodies and over each other's like they were playing a game, but their eyes were closed. Perfectly on cue, she watched as Marshall's and Everest's paws flipped in perfect sync, like an intricate dance. Without taking her eyes off of Marshall and Everest, Texas tapped Skye on the shoulder.
Skye turned her head to look at Texas, her eyes following the pointed paw until she saw the same thing. Skye barely managed to hold on a gasp as she realized what was going on. "I can't believe they are doing that" Skye whispered to the confused Rhodesian Ridgeback.
"Doing what?" Texas whispered back.
"I'll explain when this is over" Skye whispered, "but watch all of them closely."
Texas turned her head to watch Zuma and Cinder along with Marshall and Everest simultaneously.
"Stop dodging and hit me alweady!" Zuma said, clearly frustrated at how none of the sparring match was going his way.
"If you insist" Cinder replied softly. Striking fast as lightning, Cinder swept a paw through Zuma's legs. Before the startled pup even hit the ground, Cinder followed through with a spin kick that sent the lab flying out of the sparing square.
Zuma slid face first through the grass to a stop. "Plegh" he said as he spat grass out of his mouth.
"That was amazing!" Rubble said in awe.
"How did you do that?" Rocky asked, similarly awestruck.
"It was almost like watching Marshall" Chase added, his voice full or admiration.
"I bet I know how you did that" Skye said with a smirk, but her gaze was not directed at Cinder. Everyone turned to follow Skye's gazed, which was resting on Marshall and Everest, who were still sitting facing each other with their paws over each other's.
"Uh, Marshall, did you see any of that?" Rocky asked hesitantly.
"Oh yes" Marshall softly replied as he and Everest opened their eyes in unison.
"But your eyes were closed" Rubble pointed out.
"Also true" Marshall replied as he walked over and sat down beside Cinder, who rested her head on his shoulder.
"Wait, that means that…" Chase left the thought hanging in the air.
"You twicked me!" Zuma cried out unhappily.
"Did we?" Cinder softly asked, "I'm pretty sure I just kicked your tail, not Marshall."
"But you didn't do it alone, it wasn't fair!" Zuma whined plaintively.
"Uh, I think I'm missing something here" Texas said, utterly confused.
Every pup looked at Marshall and Cinder. "It's kind of hard to explain" Cinder softly said.
"Cinder and I share a very special bond" Marshall softly continued.
"Right, you are twins" Texas remembered, "but why do I get the feeling that there is more to it than that?"
"Because there is" Cinder softly giggled, "Marshall and I are linked together in a way that no one else is."
"So, super close?" Texas tried to understand.
"Closer than close" Marshall softly added.
"Oh my goodness, your riddles are making my head hurt" Everest said in exasperation, "Texas, promise you can keep this a secret?"
"Of course" Texas replied, now more confused.
"Marshall and Cinder are linked telepathically" Everest said plainly, "they can share thoughts, images, have a conversation, or even influence the motions of the other, as they just reminded Zuma."
"There is no way that is possible" Texas replied unbelievingly.
"Whisper something in my ear" Cinder softly invited.
Texas looked at the two Dalmatians skeptically before walking over to Cinder. "What is two plus two?" Texas softly whispered.
"Four" Marshall replied almost instantly.
"What were my exact injuries when I was found in the crevasse?" Texas whispered.
"Dislocated right hip joint and a puncture from an ice shard" Cinder softly replied. "And you were almost frozen, Marshall didn't actually take your temperature because you were so cold."
Texas recoiled in shock, "this shouldn't be possible" she stammered.
"But it is" Marshall and Cinder replied in unison.
"You'll get used to the weirdness if you hang around them long enough" Everest added as she rubbed up against Marshall's other side.
"Your fur is extra soft today" Cinder softly noted, "though you probably shouldn't be wearing Marshall's favorite scent, he is having a hard enough time keeping his heart rate down."
"You can stop now" Everest said as she rubbed up again Marshall again.
"Are you sure?" Cinder softly replied coyly, "I can tell you every thought running through Marshall's head right now if you would like." Marshall instantly turned into a red and black Dalmatian.
"Please no" Rocky begged, seeing Marshall's reaction and guessing at what it meant.
"I'm not sure Rubble should hear those either" Zuma said as he covered the young Bulldog's ears.
"Get your minds out of the gutter" Cinder softly chastised them, "they are mostly sweet thoughts."
"Mostly?" Chase asked out of curiosity.
*Bleep bleep* "Paw Patrol, to the Lookout!" Suddenly echoed from their tags.
"Ryder needs us!" All the pups except Texas exclaimed before running to the elevator. Note sure what else to do, Texas ran with them.
All the pups skidded to a stop in the elevator, and nothing happened. "Umm, what's going on?" Zuma asked.
"We are all here, but there was no crash" Chase said slowly. All the pups turned to look at the Dalmatian with them.
"Sorry?" Cinder said softly, "I forgot the elevator was crash activated." With that Cinder flopped over to the side, starting a chain reaction of domino pups falling over. "They call that the Dalmatiano effect" Cinder softly quipped.
The pups burst out laughing as the elevator doors closed and carried them upwards. One gear up later, they were jumping out to their spots.
"Paw Patrol ready for action Ryder sir!" Chase sounded off.
"Thanks Chase" Ryder said with a smile, "but are you sure about that?"
Chase looked at all the pups assembled. To his left were Rocky and Skye with their gear on, ready to go, with Texas on the end with no gear; nothing strange there. To his right were Rubble, Zuma, Marshall and Everest, also geared up for the mission.
"Everyone looks ready Ryder" Chase said.
Ryder just smiled and pressed a button on his pup pad. A Dalmatian appeared on the screen.
"Go on guys, Cinder's got it" Marshall said cheerily as he continued to slowly walk across the lawn.
"See, good to go" Chase said.
Ryder smirked at him, "thanks for the hustle pups, but you are going to need a lot of energy for this mission." Marshall's imagine on screen was replaced by a graphic of a little farm outside of town in the desert. "Mr. Wingnut just called and someone let all of his animals out!"
"Oh no, not Olivia and Oscar and the chicks!" Skye yipped.
"And Sweetfoot and Speedy Steve" Rubble whined.
"All of them" Ryder confirmed, "we need to round up all the animals, figure out how they got out, and fix the corral if needed. For this mission I'll need Rocky" Ryder swiped to the recycling pup's icon. "I need you to figure out how they got out of their corrals and fix it."
"Green means Go!" Rocky sounded off as he jumped forward excitedly.
"Chase, as our best rounder-upper, I need you to lead the rest of the pups in rounding up everyone" Ryder said as he swiped to the police pup's icon.
"Chase is on the case!" Chase sounded off.
"We're on it!" The rest of the pups sounded off together.
"Alright, Paw Patrol is in a roll!" Ryder declared. He ran to his pole to a chorus of barks and slid down.
Rocky went to the slide first, jumping in and sliding down, scratching the itch he always got at the start of a mission on the way.
"You can ride with me Texas" Chase called as he ran to the slide, sitting just so as he slid down.
Texas ran after him and jumped up, sitting just like Chase and sliding down. The Rhodesian Ridgeback landed in Chase's back seat and howled happily as he burned rubber down the driveway to catch up to Ryder and his ATV. Marshall, having grabbed his EMT pack, waited for Cinder to come down the slide and jumped into his ambulance cockpit from ground. The rest of the pups followed in their vehicles and headed for the desert.
"We are finally causing wheel trouble!" Dwayne barked happily.
"All thanks to my great idea" Hubcap laughed evilly.
"But Hubcap, this was…" Dwayne started to say.
"Shut your muzzle!" Hubcap snapped, "and don't you say anything about the inventions either!"
"Right, whatever you say Hubcap" Dwayne replied nervously, "just us two causing wheel trouble!"
"Much better" Hubcap snickered manically, "now let's see if we can turn any of these birds into nuggets!"
"Heh, right…" Dwayne said nervously, looking at the ostrich chicks Hubcap was keeping contained in the side car. Two very angry adult ostriches and two horses were showing no sign of giving up their chase.
The Paw Patrol skidded to a stop at the Wingnuts' ranch.
"Thank goodness you're here Ryder" Mr. Wingnut said as he walked up to the boy and the pups, "I don't know how they got out."
"We'll figure it out Mr. Wingnut" Ryder replied, "Chase, sniff them out. Rocky, investigate the corrals."
"On it Ryder" Chase said as he jumped down. Curious, Texas jumped down with him. Chase put his sniffer into overdrive as he slowly walked around the corral. "I smell all of them Ryder" Chase as he walked, "but the only pace outside the corral is by the gate."
Rocky, meanwhile, was making a loop checking out the corral itself. "No signs of anything broken here either Ryder, someone must have let them out the gate." He did not mention a small tuft of grey fur stuck on the corral that caught his eye.
"I guess we'll just have to find them the old fashioned way" Ryder said, "mount up pups, let's go wrangle some ostriches and horses."
"Do you mind if I stay here, Ryder?" Rocky asked, "I'd like to see if I can figure out how they opened the gate so I can make something to keep it from happening again."
"Ok Rocky, good thinking" Ryder said. And with that, he led the rest of the pups into the desert, following the tracks.
"Call me if you need any help, Rocky, I need to go help the Mrs. in the burger stand" Mr. Wingnut said.
"I will Mr. Wingnut!" Rocky said with a wave. Alone, Rocky turned to walk over to inspect the gate.
As he approached the gate, he walked past a tumbleweed. A white and grey paw shot out of the tumbleweed and covered his muzzle. Before Rocky could do anything, he was yanked off his paws and into the tumbleweed.
Chase slammed on the brakes on his cruiser, almost catapulting Texas out of the back. All the other pups swerved to miss the stopped police pup.
"What's wrong Chase?" Ryder asked.
"Whoever took the animals led them in in a bunch of circles and all over the place here" Chase replied, pointing to the trail. Tracks went in every direction and crisscrossed like mad.
"So we spread out and find tracks leading away from here" Texas chimed in, surprising everyone.
"But that may take awhile" Skye protested, and we may not have much time."
"That is what the rustlers want" Texas replied, "for us to waste our time trying to untangle these tracks. But there will only be one set leading away from this mess. And there are a lot of us so we can find it quicker."
"Good thinking Texas" Ryder complimented her, making the Rhodesian Ridgeback blush slightly, "you heard her pups, spread out and find the trail."
No sooner had they started than Ryder's pup pad rang. "Ryder!" Rocky chimed in from the other end of the call.
"Go ahead Rocky" Ryder replied, forwarding the video call to the other pups.
"I think it was the Ruff Ruff Pack that let them out. I found motorcycle tracks hidden behind some rocks near the corral and someone unscrewed part of the latch for the corral" Rocky reported.
"Got it, thanks Rocky" Ryder replied, making the mixed breed smile and wag his tail. "Skye," Ryder shifted his focus, "fly to that old abandoned shop the Ruff Ruff Pack uses as a base and see if you see anything. Chase, Texas and I will catch up to you. Marshall, you and the rest of the pups see if you can still find the way out of this tangle of tracks just in case Rocky's guess is wrong."
A chorus of barks answered him. Skye flew off fast, with Ryder and Chase pushing their vehicles to the limit to try and keep up.
"You didn't tell them about the missing eco pup" a voice quietly said after Rocky had disconnected the call.
"No need to report that until I have something to report" Rocky replied judiciously.
"Good answer" the voice purred warmly.
"Ryder!" Skye yipped, "Rocky was right, I see Oscar, Olivia, Sweetfoot, and Speedy Steve outside of the Ruff Ruff Pack's Diner! No sign of the chicks though…"
"Got it" Ryder replied, "step on it Chase!"
"Chase is ready to race!" Chase barked in reply, "Ruff, turbo boosters!" Two booster engines popped out of the side on Chase's cruiser and locked in place. Chase mashed his paw down on the accelerator…
The boosters started to spin up, and then spluttered to a stop. "Huh?" Chase yipped in surprise.
"Would it help if I got out and pushed?" Texas inquired with an amused smirk.
"It might" Chase replied grumpily as he barked the boosters back into storage and continued to push his cruiser as fast as it would go across the desert.
"Uh, Hubcap" Dwayne said nervously.
"What is it?" Hubcap replied irritability.
"We've got company" Dwayne said, pointing a paw put the window. "That flying pup is circling our lair in her helicopter."
"Blast it" Hubcap swore, "that means the rest of the Paw Patrol will be here soon. Why won't this stupid thing start?" Hubcap glared at their oven. Inside the oven was a tray with two ostrich chicks on it, their legs tied together so that they couldn't move, looking quite scared.
"Maybe we should…" Dwayne started to say.
"Don't you say it" Hubcap spat back, "don't even think it!"
"Right boss" Dwayne replied, hanging his head. We need Gasket's help Dwayne defiantly thought to himself.
When they reached the abandoned dinner, neither Ryder or Chase could get anywhere near the building. Oscar, Olivia, Sweetfoot and Speedy Steve were running around the building like crazy and forced them back.
"Let me take a look" Ryder said, pulling out how binoculars. "Chase, you have to hurry and get in there, it looks like Hubcap and Dwayne are going to try and cook the chicks!"
"But I can't get past Oscar and Olivia!" Chase barked back in reply.
"Leave them to me" Texas said, jumping out of the police cruiser. The Rhodesian Ridgeback ran up to Oscar, who happened to be closer, and gave his heel a nip to get his attention.
Oscar immediately stopped paying attention to blocking Chase and spun around to look at who dared to nip at him.
Texas stared down the ostrich. Neither moved for several heartbeats. Then Oscar lashed out with a vicious kick, talons aimed at Texas's throat.
Texas dodged perfectly and immediately dove in for another nip. Oscar squawked in displeasure and spun to try and get at Texas. But the Rhodesian Ridgeback was too quick, expertly dodging in and out of range.
When she had Oscar pointed where she wanted him, Texas jumped up and cannon balled into Oscar's underside, knocking the ostrich forward. Oscar squawked again in protest as Texas started herding him toward Olivia.
Olivia was closer to the diner and clawing at the door to get inside. Texas guided Oscar next to Olivia and then started moving them away from the door. Both ostriches were very vocal in their protestation.
"Go, now!" Texas barked to Ryder and Chase, never taking her eyes off the two angry flightless birds. She had not had to nip either of them once she got Oscar moving but she could not afford to give them any openings.
Ryder and Chase ran to the door. "It's locked!" Ryder grunted in frustration, "go through the window opening Chase!"
Chase hunkered down, geared up for a pounce, then leaped through the window.
"I think the mommy ostrich stopped trying to tear the door down" Dwayne was saying.
"Good, then we can figure out how to fry these chicks in peace" Hubcap sneered.
"No so fast!" Chase barked as he landed inside the diner.
"Scatter!" Hubcap barked. He bolted for the door but bounced off the locked door.
"I've got you boss!" Dwayne said, grabbing Hubcap by the scruff of his neck, unlocking the door and dashing out.
"You won't get away this time!" Chase barked as he turned to chase after them.
"Negative Chase," Ryder ordered, "save the chicks!" Ryder watched as Dwayne tossed Hubcap into the sidecar on their motorcycle before jumping up himself and speeding away. "Follow them Skye!"
"Roger that Ryder!" Skye confirmed, swooping down to buzz the motorcycle with her copter.
Chase growled in frustration, but obeyed. He ran to the oven, pulled it open with his jaws, carefully removed the tray with the chicks, and set it on the counter.
Chase sniffed at the chicks, they looked like an absolute mess. "Ryder, there is something covering all their feathers!" Chase reported.
"Probably something to cook them with" Ryder surmised. "Marshall, how soon can you get to the dinner?"
"Already on the way Ryder" Marshall replied, "the tracks eventually led in your direction."
"Great, see you soon buddy" Ryder replied.
"Since Marshall will be here soon, can I go catch Hubcap and Dwayne?" Chase cajoled.
"What about herding Oscar, Olivia, Sweetfoot and Speedy Steve?" Ryder asked
"Texas has that totally under control" Chase said with a nod. Ryder looked and realized while he had been busy breaking into the diner, Texas had rounded up all four adult animals and had them pretty tightly contained.
"Ok, go after em" Ryder authorized. Chase ran to his vehicle and sped off, sirens blaring.
No sooner had Chase's siren fadded than Marshall's siren could be heard rapidly approaching. The red and white ambulance skidded to a stop and the black and white pups jumped out.
Marshall immediately went over to the tray with the chicks and took a deep sniff. "Oil and Bisquick, they were trying to fry the chicks!" Marshall cried out, "we have to get them cleaned up. Everyone, see if you can find two buckets big enough for the chicks!"
Everyone spread out and began looking for buckets while Marshall went into the back of his ambulance and began rummaging around for something.
"We found two buckets, Marshall" Everest barked as Rubble came back with them.
"Great, put them in the back of the ambulance, on the patient stretcher" Marshall directed, "Cinder, fill them with warm water."
"Arf, warm water low pressure!" Cinder softly barked. Her water cannons extended and then began slowly filling the buckets. "Arf, water off" Cinder softly barked when the buckets were almost full.
"Ryder, untie the chicks and place one in each bucket" Marshall said, "Everest and Cinder, glove up, you'll each support a chick so that they don't drown. As soon as Ryder hands them to you, submerged them fully except for the head."
Everest and Cinder used the glove dispenser in the back of the ambulance to get gloves on their paws. The pups got into position and Ryder handed each of them a ostrich chick. Then, they slowly submerged the chicks until only their heads were outside the buckets.
"Alright, Zuma, you and Cinder clean one chick while Everest and I clean the other chick" Marshall said as he too put on gloves.
"How? I don't have anything for that in my pack" Zuma replied as he gloved his paws as well.
"With this" Marshall replied, holding a bottle of Dawn dish soap in his mouth.
"Dish soap?" Everest asked incredulously.
"Dawn is the best" Marshall replied with a smile, "it removes oil and grease but doesn't harm their skin. Use tons of it, and really get into the feathers. Also, don't be afraid to be a little Ruff Ruff with the feathers, they will look terrible until we are all done. Just be careful with their eyes and beaks."
Marshall jumped up on the opposite side of the stretcher and bucket as Everest while Zuma did the same across from Cinder. Marshall carefully extended one of the chick's wings and poured a liberal amount of the Dawn over the feathers. Then he started really agitating feathers with his gloved paws. Zuma watched and copied Marshall's movements.
"This is going to take a while" Marshall said to no one in particular, "Ryder, can you and Rubble help Texas with our concerned parents?"
"I don't think she needs any help" Ryder said with a smile, looking towards Texas. She had all four animals herded into a straight line, side by side, maybe fifteen feet from the ambulance. They were all surprisingly calm all things considered. Occasionally, Oscar or Olivia would try and crane their neck to look at what was going on. But the second one of their feet left the ground, Texas was staring them down until they got back in position. "But we'll let her know anyway."
"I think she might be better than Chase" Rubble confirmed.
"Don't let Chase hear you say that" Marshall snickered.
"I've lost visual Chase" Skye reported to the police pup.
Chase slammed a paw down on his horn in frustration. "Where at, Skye?" he asked tersely.
"They just entered the canyon" Skye replied, "and I'm not sure what happened but a bunch of dust got kicked up right as they entered and it appears to be spreading all throughout the canyon."
"Understood, I'm almost to you" Chase replied. A minute or two later, he brought his cruiser to an abrupt halt.
Just as Skye said, the entire canyon was engulfed in dust, making visibility a flat zero. Chase watched the dust, trying to figure out what was going on.
"I tried using my rotor blades to move the dust away" Skye informed him, "but more dust just seems to replace it."
"Very strange" Chase replied, "they must have rigged this up as a way to evade pursuit."
"Well, it worked," Skye admitted forlornly.
"No!" Chase spat, "I refuse to let them beat us with a little dust cloud!"
"They didn't beat us, Chase" Skye reminded him, "sure, they got away, but the chicks are safe and that is the most important thing."
"But they got away" Chase replied, "we could actually arrest them for this!"
"Chase…" Skye said as she landed next to him and jumped out of her copter to lean into his cruiser and put a dainty white paw on his shoulder, "I know you want to get Hubcap and Dwayne, but we can't safely get them right now. We'll get them later."
Chase shrugged Skye's paw off of his shoulder, "I'm going after them" Chase said determinedly, "I cannot let them escape."
Skye sighed and climbed off of Chase's cruiser. Then, she circled around and sat down between Chase and the dust filled canyon.
"What are you doing Skye?" Chase asked.
"Stopping you" Skye replied, "it isn't worth the risk, it is time to go back."
"Get out of the way, Skye" Chase said aggressively, revving his cruiser for emphasis.
"No" Skye replied softly, "I'm not going to let's you risk your life just to catch Hubcap and Dwayne."
Chase's revved the engine on his cruiser in reply, but Skye remained sitting in his way. The two pups stared unflinchingly at each other, patiently waiting for the other to give up.
Chase tried to dart to left around Skye but she jumped into his way. Then he tried to the right with the same result. Chase growled in frustration and backed up. Skye sat down, still blocking his way.
Chase revved his engine again. "Move Skye" he growled.
The Cockapoo said nothing, just stared down the frustrated German Shepherd.
Chase mashed his paw down, his tires kicked up dirt as he sped forward, lights and sirens blaring.
Skye still refused to move.
The pups stared unflinchingly at each other as Chase sped closer.
Skye closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable…
A/N: Special thanks to PawPatrolAllStars for the time and talent of his character Texas.