(A/N: I do not own Paw Patrol, enjoy!)
Reckoning Part 2
A/N: Warning, this chapter contains violence, swearing, and generally bad things.
"Air Patrol ready for action Ryder sir!" Chase sounded off as the air patroller lifted off and transitioned to horizontal flight mode.
"Ok Marshall, tell us what you know" Ryder motioned to the Dalmation.
"Not much Ryder" Marshall admitted, "I just know for sure Cinder is in trouble. At one point it felt like she was falling but also jumping from rock to rock."
"That sounds a little cwazy dude" Zuma said skeptically.
"Maybe she was out on a call and something went wrong" Skye whimpered.
"We are about to find out" Ryder said as he dialed Skipper. It took a few moments but he finally answered, audio only
"Ryder?" Skipper asked in confusion, the siren on his SUV audible in the background, "why are you calling?"
"Skipper, Is everything ok with Cinder?" Marshall yipped, jumping up onto Ryder's lap before he could say anything.
"Marshall?" Skipper said in surprise, "where are you guys?"
"Flying to Heartland right now" Ryder said as he moved the squirming Dalmation to sit next to him.
"Well, I don't know what is going on" Skipper admitted, "but head to the fire training center. Cinder left me a note saying she was running an entrapment exercise with Light Force 25 this morning. Next thing I hear over the radio is that a bunch of fire and police units are being ordered to respond to the training center. And not just the normal reserve support units that are manned up for exercises but also active fire companies, K9 units and SWAT."
"SWAT?" Ryder asked incredulously.
"Oh no" Marshall yelped as he put everything together, "she's trapped the arsonist at the training complex!"
"RoboDog, put your metal to the pedal!" Ryder ordered.
"Arf arf!" RoboDog replied.
The smoke was the bane of his existence. It burned his eyes and made it difficult to see. It burned his lungs and made it hard to breath. Every breath and every step was a struggle in and of itself. Add to that the intense heat of the fire which had singed his fur in several spots and made him want to pant to try and cool down, but if he did he would just breathe in the smoke faster. All of this complicated Augie's mission.
Augie had thought that he had a reasonably adequate working knowledge of the warehouse from when he and Cinder had reviewed each of the fire training buildings to find an appropriate place to set their trap. But he was not prepared for trying to put that same knowledge to use when surrounded by fire and smoke while simultaneously hunting the arsonist. He had found a gear bag will all sorts of stuff in it that the arsonist had presumably used and planned to collect later, but no other signs. Augie coughed again and carried on, dutifully and methodically checking every room he came across for signs of his suspect.
At the other end of the warehouse, the arsonist waited. He had left his gear bag behind; it would only weigh him down in this game of cat and mouse he now played. There would be time to collect it and make good his escape later – after he had dealt with the other pesky arson investigation pup. He assumed that backup was on the way and this his time was limited. The fire was surprisingly effective in cutting off almost all of his escape plans, in fact there was only one path still available to him. He could have left, but he had decided that delaying his escape and dealing with the arson pup was worth the increased risk. And so he laid in ambush as his target slowly and methodically moved closer.
Cinder did know the warehouse like the back of her paw, every nook and cranny and back route. As soon as she entered, she was grateful that she had her SCBA pack and gear on. The heat was merely a familiar discomfort though her turnout gear. The smoke made it hard to see but the light on her helmet showed her the way and her mask protected her eyes. Every breath she took through her SCBA was measured, calm, and untainted by the fire.
Cinder swiftly evaluated the fire, nothing was out of control or amiss; it appeared that the arsonist was not able to manipulate this fire the way he or she had with the one in The Box. Poking her head into a room, Cinder found the gear that the arsonist had abandoned. "L-T" Cinder softly called over the radio, "get a hold of the tower and get them to shutoff the fire in room 311, there is evidence we need to preserve."
"Got it" LT Ken replied, "how does it look inside?"
"All conditions normal" Cinder softly replied, "no signs of tampering. No sign of Augie either, continuing to search."
"Understood, be careful" LT Ken reminded her.
Cinder did not bother to respond and instead continued her search. She knew she had to find Augie fast before the fire or the arsonist got to him. But finding a jet black pup in a very smokey fire was not an easy task.
"Can't you go any faster RoboDog?" Marshall whined as he paced inside the air patroller.
"Arf" RoboDog replied in the negative.
"Calm down Marshall, you'll work yourself into a meltdown before we even get there" cautioned Chase.
Marshall opened his mouth to say something but Skye beat him to it. "Let him go Chase" the Cockapoo said gently, "let him deal with it in his own way. Put yourself in his paws for a moment and imagine it was me that you were racing to help, would you be any less stressed or antsy?"
"No" Chase admitted, dipping his head. Skye gave him a quick peck on the top of his head as a way of accepting his apology on Marshall's behalf.
Marshall went to resume pacing but Everest snagged his collar and pulled his head to her own. "Chase does have a point though" the husky whispered, "you are making everyone extra edgy by pacing, why don't you just lay here and try to be patient?"
Marshall nodded and laid down. It was not restful at all and Marshall kept all of his paws under him, alert and ready to jump up at the slightest reason. His black and white tail swished back and forth, giving away how tense he was.
Everest laid down next to Marshall and paw a on his shoulder. The husky felt the tension in Marshall's body and that it wasn't going away. But the tail swish did slow every so slightly. Skye and Everest shared a quick look with each other.
Only Ryder caught the look. Chase and Marshall might be the number two and three leaders of the Paw Patrol, but Skye and Everest were possibly even more important in how they kept those two pups grounded. How did I get so lucky to have such good pups Ryder thought to himself before turning himself back to the controls.
Augie's body half buckled as a coughing fit overtook him. The police canine did not know how long he had been inside the burning warehouse or how long he could stay. But he hadn't found the arsonist yet so he steeled himself to press on. He did not know what his chances were of finding and catching the arsonist were and he didn't care. He owed it to his fallen partner to finish what she started. Do you best and forget the rest he told himself. It may have been a quote Marshall was more well known for but it was Cinder's voice who said it in Augie's head. Her quiet but commanding determination was something Augie hoped to one day be able to emulate and pass on to others in her memory. And so, as he wound his way through another corridor, Augie refused to give up. He stepped into a open section of the warehouse floor and looked around for any sign of the arsonist.
A predatory smile spread across the arsonist's face as he watched the arson pup look around, blindly searching for him. The smoke was thick, filling the room with darkness. From the darkest shadow would the arsonist strike and into those shadows would he disappear. The arsonist took careful aim, unhurried and intent on finishing this with a single shot.
Cinder rounded a corner and saw Augie standing out in the middle of a wide open area. She caught a slight movement out of the corner of her eye.
Augie strained his eyes, looking for anything. A flicker of fire light played across something shiny. Too late, Augie realized what the shiny thing was; black gunmetal.
*BANG!*
Augie hit the ground with a heavy thud. His side hurt and his eyes were spinning from the impact and he couldn't feel his left ear. He felt himself being dragged across his floor by his vest. Wait, who is dragging me? Augie thought to himself. The pup turned his head to look. All he could see was a pup in full turnout gear and SCBA.
*BANG…BANG!*
Augie felt the rounds whizz past him as he was finally dragged out of the open and back behind cover. Augie went to thank the pup who saved him but it came out as a fit of coughs.
"You stupid furball!" he heard a soft voice hiss, a voice he never expected to hear again…
"CINDER!" Augie gasped.
"Who else would you expect to save your tail?" Cinder softly asked. Any reply was forestalled as Cinder removed her mask and placed it over Augie's muzzle.
Augie took a deep breath of the clean air. His nose twitched as he caught her familiar scent in the mask. It was so comforting that for a split second he forgot where they were. "How?" he managed to ask.
"It takes more than a little fire, a small explosion, and a collapsing building to kill me" Cinder softly replied with a smirk on her face. "But now we need to get out of here." Cinder lifted her head. Without the mask, it was much hard to see her way, but she knew where she was and how to get out. Unfortunately, the arsonist was between them and the quickest ways out. And it didn't appear that he was in an accommodating mood.
The Shadow growled in angry frustration. His shot had been perfectly aimed but his target had moved at the last instant. As he had squeezed the trigger, he saw a firefighter pup burst from the shadows and knock the arson investigation pup to the ground. Stunned, it had taken the shadow a moment to aim and squeeze off two more shots at the retreating forms before they disappeared behind a concrete wall.
Four rounds, that was all he had left to finish this. The Shadow cursed himself for leaving the spare magazines with his bag. He had known that the seven rounds he started with would be enough to take care of the arson investigation pup. But the intervention of a firefighter pup was both unexpected and revealing. The Shadow knew that none of the other firefighters on scene would have come into the warehouse until the other fire had been extinguished, which he had ensured could not happen without cutting gas to the whole complex. And any additional fire units that arrived on scene to help would not have entered the warehouse until it was cleared. And if any police units had arrived they would have killed the fires in the warehouse, but it was too soon for police reinforcements to have arrived. Logically, that left only one possible answer: that the Dalmation had once again evaded the attempt on her life.
Four rounds, and he had to make them count. The Shadow slowly moved from his hiding spot to finish this once and for all. "This ends today" he whispered to himself as he stalked his prey like a hungry hunter.
"So, how do you like your new ventilation?" Cinder softly asked.
"My what?" Augie panted back. He was quickly feeling better thanks to the SCBA.
"You have a new piercing in your ear" Cinder softly noted as she inspected the bullet hole. "It isn't bleeding but I would never wear a hoop that big."
Augie winced, his sisters would not be pleased with him. "We need to get out of here" he softly said.
"Finally your brain kicks in" Cinder softly teased as she removed the mask from Augie and placed it back over he own muzzle. "Let's go."
"I'll take point" Augie said as he stood back up.
"You know the way?" Cinder softly inquired.
"Umm" Augie stammered.
"That's what I thought" Cinder said with a soft smile. "Keep a paw on me so you don't get lost."
Augie put a paw on Cinder's back as the duo started to make their way back through the warehouse.
The Shadow continued his stalking. He knew the warehouse very well, but the fire was starting to disorient him. There were plenty of ways out and the shadow knew that the Dalmation would be heading for the nearest one that was away from him, which meant he had to get there first to block it and entrap them.
Cinder knew they were on a time crunch. Getting Augie back up had taken longer than she wanted. Cinder assumed that the arsonist knew the warehouse as well as she did and would try and cut them off. Which really meant she needed to avoid the closest exit and go even farther. But the farther they went, the greater the chance that the arsonist would catch up to them. Cinder was not interested in finding out how that encounter would go. There was an alternative, to wait longer and let the shadow get in front of them before heading back the other way. Cinder didn't like the idea of waiting, and there was also risk that the shadow would find them while they waited. Cinder quickly, but methodically, checked off the exits in her mind before settling on one.
Augie was trying to work through the same problem in his head, but with less knowledge of the building. He finally gave up when he realized he didn't even know where they were in the building anymore. His only link to getting out was the Dalmation on whom his paw rested.
The Shadow was pleased, he had made it to the exit first and with sheer brute force snapped off the handle and jammed it into the hinge. It would open with some effort, but it would be enough to stop the pups who lacked both his height and finger dexterity. And his ambush spot offered him visibility to see them coming and spring his trap at the right moment.
Cinder poked her head round a corner and froze. Barely perceptible in the firey building was a shadow pressed against the wall. Cinder darted forward with Augie hot on her paws.
*BANG!*
The shadow saw the movement and realized he had been spotted. He fired off one shot at the retreating pups before taking off after them.
"Too close" Augie said as he dashed after Cinder.
"Ya think?" Cinder softly replied as she darted around a corner.
The game was up the Shadow realized. Speed of finishing this was now most important. Police reinforcements would be arriving very soon and he still had to make good his own escape. Two minutes, that was all the time he had left. And three bullets for two pesky pups.
"Come on Augie, we are almost there" Cinder softly panted before she skidded to a stop.
Augie was about to ask why they stopped when Cinder turned and put the SCBA mask over his muzzle. He was about to protest when the clean air hit his lungs again and he felt more of his strength returning. She needs me able to keep up, but I can't do that if I can't breathe Augie realized what the fire pup was doing.
Now, with Augie tethered to her, Cinder started moving again. They wouldn't be able to go as quick while attached, but this would keep them going longer. Changing her plan, Cinder made for a different exit. Cinder broke into a run as they dashed across a gap in cover.
The Shadow saw the movement, spun and fired.
*BANG! BOOM!*
The shockwave of an explosion threw everyone in the warehouse backwards.
Cinder coughed as dust started to settle. Based on the gout of flame now shooting out of the wall, the bullet had missed them but had hit one of the gas lines in the walls of the warehouse. She grabbed Augie, pulled him up and took off.
The Shadow cursed his aim. Two shots and just over a minute remaining. The Shadow took off after the fleeing pups.
Cinder skidded to a stop as she realized that they would be trapped if they kept going. The explosion had caused a crack in the warehouse ceiling to expand and drop a section of the roof. Heavy bootfalls behind her told her that they had run out of time.
The shadow skidded to a stop as he took in the collapsed roof. They couldn't have gone that way he realized. So either they already doubled back and somehow evaded him or they were right here, in one of three accessible side rooms; a fourth room was blocked by large chunks of the fallen ceiling. A quick search would be enough to figure out which.
Cinder and Augie crouched in a shadow, breathing as slowly and quietly as they could. Cinder had shut off her SCBA tank and neither pup wore the mask so the telltale sounds wouldn't give them away. Each step the arsonist took brought him closer to the hidden pups.
The Shadow growled as he finished searching the last room. Nothing. And his time was up. The Shadow needed to make his escape now. He turned to leave.
A piece of rubble fell from the ceiling into a gap in the rubble that was the fourth room. The rubble made no sound as it landed.
Augie and Cinder collectively winced, the rubble had landed on the edge of Cinder's turnout gear and not hit the floor. Both pups knew they were caught.
The Shadow turned back. By a miracle, the location of the pups had been revealed to him and now it was time for revenge. He approached the rubble that crowded the doorway of the fourth room. He peered inside, gun at the ready.
Cinder and Augie exploded out of the rubble, knocking the arsonist back and preventing him from getting a shot off at them.
"RUN!" Cinder barked as she took the lead, her body banking through the corners like a racecar. Augie was hot on her paws, not as graceful but just as fast.
The Shadow cursed as he ran after the pups. Escape forgotten, he focused everything on catching the pups. He rounded a corner and saw the two silhouettes about to disappear again.
*BANG!*
Marshall was looking out the window of the air patroller at the clouds when he felt like he was being struck by a lightening bolt. He let out a screech in pain before crumpling to the floor.
"Marshall!" Everyone in the air patroller barked or yelled in unison as the ran to his side.
"His breathing is ok" Everest said as she laid her head against Marshall's chest.
"Pulse is fast but regular" Zuma said as he checked the Dalmation. "And no injuries that I can see. But he is unconscious."
"Why?" Ryder asked.
"Something must have happened to Cinder" Everest surmised.
Everyone turned to look out the window at the bright blue sky, unsure of what they were about to drop into.
"Fifteen minutes pups" Ryder said quietly.
Cinder howled in pain as the bullet passed through her body and the force sent her tumbling across the concrete floor.
Cinder reached a forepaw back and checked her thigh. Her paw felt a bloody hole but nothing else. Through and through she thought with a sigh of relief. Definitely would leave a mark. But also not immediately life threatening. Cinder turned to look at Augie.
The jet black Belgian Shepherd was laying next to her with an expanding pool of blood flowing out of a hole in his vest. Cinder slammed a paw down on the hole in her partner as she grabbed him by the scruff and started dragging him sideways to the exit.
A cruel smile spread across the Shadow's face as he saw both pups hit the ground. Finally, a decent shot he thought to himself as he watched one of the pups scramble to try and drag them both to the exit. Now to finish the job the Shadow though as he moved forward.
Cinder could see the exit, they were only a few feet away.
"Going somewhere?"
Cinder heard the dark, deep voice echo off of the walls. She turned her head to look behind her. She saw a human, likely male, probably just over six feet tall, standing over her and Augie.
"You really made me work for this" the Shadow continued in his deep and dark voice. "If we had more time, I would take it out of your hide."
Cinder growled as threateningly as she could.
"Pft, you couldn't hurt me now if you tried" the Shadow laughed evily. "However, we are a little pressed for time so you'll get a much quicker death than you deserve. Unlike your friend who by the looks of things is going to bleed out quite nicely." The Shadow smiles cruely as he leveled his gun at Cinder's head. For a second he admired the Dalmation's courage as she stared him down unflinchingly as he squeezed the trigger.
*BANG!*
A/N: Cliffhanger anyone? Thank you for your patience as we find out what happens together!
A/N: Special thanks to rompythemixedbreed for the back and forth perspective ideas!
