"Ryder, I can't find him!" Skye said into her pup tag.
It had been 15 minutes since Ryder had called the pups for a search and rescue, and none of them had any sign of Zuma. It was awkward assigning Marshall to Zuma's hovercraft, but somehow the Dalmatian made it work.
"Try the outskirts of Barkingburg," suggested Ryder.
"All right," said Skye reluctantly.
Marshall adjusted his paws, steering the hovercraft through the lake around the castle.
"Okay. I've got this! Haven't messed up once! Grip, left. Grip, steer right."
The Dalmatian gained more and more confidence in himself, getting a little cocky and eventually attempting to do a wheelie. Of course, he forgot he was on water, and not a solid road.
The Dally's slick ride came to an end when the hovercraft skidded to a halt on a mass of lily pads, sending Marshall flying into a castle wall. Little did he know, he'd hit a weak spot in the wall and fell through it.
Rocky, who was nearby and searching the halls of the castle, heard and quickly rushed over. Seeing Marshall had crashed through the wall, he helped his friend up.
"Gosh, what were you thinking?"
"I was trying to be cool."
"You were being reckless. You..."
Rocky trailed off when he saw a suspicious-looking gargoyle on the wall. It simply stood there, serving no purpose other than creeping them out.
"Ugh," said Rocky, pushing away the gargoyle's face although not expecting it to move when he did. He had triggered a trap door beneath their paws, and they fell while screaming and holding onto one another.
Zuma hummed to himself, getting bored and quite disappointed with himself for trying in the first place.
"Maybe I just need to make some noise? Chase has quite the hearing. He'll hear me... I hope."
Zuma picked up a copper pipe in his mouth and began to bang it repeatedly on the metal bars. He did this several times, and no one heard. The chocolate lab sat and whimpered, disappointed with his defeat. He cried in his heart. He'd only wanted to help his friends and be seen as a hero, but he couldn't without something going wrong for him. If you asked our water pup, he'd tell you a bit of himself died right then and there. But there was one thing he learned from his time with the PAW Patrol, and even with his pushy older brothers in the past. You should never give up your goal. In Adventure Bay, did Chase quit when he was afraid? No (Temporarily, but that isn't the point). Did Marshall give up when he doubted himself in the art of Pup Fu? Nope! Did Rubble give up when he struggled to pig out at that all-you-can-eat buffet? No sir! And did Skye give up when she thought poorly of herself because of her small stature? Nada. Because the PAW Patrol doesn't quit. They endure. They grow. They experience. And they emerge; victorious.
Zuma realized this all in his heart and lifted the pipe in his maw once more. He saw that the barred window had rust spots, and he leapt at it. He swung his head hard, denting the bars. He swung again. And again. And again. He struck that window 23 times before the bars gave way. Zuma leapt through the dent he made, making it through the gap and into a hallway that looked to be something from the Backrooms.
"Okay, totally not scary."
Zuma assured himself before going through the creepily lit hallway.
Marshall and Rocky had only fallen for 30 seconds when the hit the floor and the ground above closed behind them.
"Urgh... where are we?" asked Marshall.
"I dunno," said Rocky, "but I don't like it."
They had fallen into what seemed to be a basement. A basement with a lot of old, yellowed papers on rotting tables and weary shelves.
Rocky took a closer look.
"Hey, these are documents! Old laws of Barkingburg. Hey, maybe we could find out something about the Krystal."
"Good idea," nodded Marshall as they both began to search for anything that had information about the Krystal.
"The Law of Bills, The Law of Sanctuary, The Law of Duels," said Marshall, reading off the titles of the documents.
"Found it!" exclaimed Rocky, a document under his paw.
The two pups read through it, and discovered that in it remained a horrible truth... with a boring history lesson.
Barkingburg had been founded in 1677 by Lord Clive H. Barking III, and when the kingdom of Barkingburg was founded, a small crystal was found near where they dug the foundation for the castle. Whenever someone wielded it, a firedrake would appear, and grant only one wish to the wielder. Lord Clive H. Barking cursed the crystal, making the firedrake swear an oath to destroy the race of the person who dare steal it, except for the exact person who steals it. Only through sheer will or sorcery could one use the Krystal to control the firedrake.
"Well, what a fairy tale," said Marshall. "And what's a firedrake?"
"It's like a dragon, or something," said Rocky as he inspected the document for any more clues.
"This writing, it cuts off on the back page. There must be a second documentation."
"Ugh," groaned Marshall. "This is why I skipped puppy school."
Zuma walked through the hall, somewhat disgusted by the occasional drip of water or rat urine down the walls. The pup was sent into a state of shock after entering a room and finding Sweetie talking to someone.
"Oh great," exclaimed Sweetie in a disgusted tone.
The figure she was talking to turned and looked at Zuma. It was Claw.