A couple hours later...

In the basement of the lookout

Sierra was in her room, still hiding from the storm, waiting for Ace to return. He had been gone in the storm for so long that she was beginning to worry that he may have gotten injured, or worse. She began feeling anxious, and hoped that they'd return soon, hopefully unharmed.

Though she also calculated the odds of him being hurt, especially since it was a reported gunshots call that he had went out to investigate.

Her anxiety would be semi-relieved however, when she heard a heavy truck arriving outside.

Meanwhile, outside the lookout

Ace and Chase finally arrived back at the lookout, both still extremely confused and wondering how to catch this Masked Man. They parked in the nearest spot to the door and took a deep breath, before opening the doors and jumping out of the Fuchs.

They made their way to the lookout doors, all the while being pelted by pouring rain and harsh wind, making visibility nigh impossible. Eventually, despite the conditions, they did make it inside.

As the door shut behind them, Chase went straight to Ryder to report the mission was done, while Ace looked around for someone. Ace couldn't find the person he was looking for, who was Sierra, so he went to the closest pup and asked them where she was. He was then told that she was in the basement, probably hanging out in the garage or in her room. Ace quickly thanked them before rushing over to the elevator.

Meanwhile, with Sierra

Sierra left her room and entered the main hallway, going straight to the elevator. She didn't enter it however, instead just sitting outside it, waiting.

Soon, she saw the elevator began to descend, and when it reached the bottom, she watched Ace walk out. Ace saw her and greeted her but was interrupted by her jumping at him and pulling him into a hug.

"You're alive! You're actually alive!" Sierra exclaimed, happy and relieved that Ace had made it back.

"Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?" Ace asked, still a bit concerned but more confused than anything.

"Y-You've been gone for forever! I t-thought you had..." Sierra replied, stuttering. Ace returned the hug that she had forced him into and tried to comfort her.

"Don't worry, Sier. Everything's alright." Ace told the husky, trying his best to comfort her. All the while Sierra simply stood there, holding Ace, trying her best not to shed tears at the thought of him dying.

Eventually, Ace managed to succeed in calming her down a little. He didn't exactly know why she was so worried about him, but he chalked it up to the storm frightening her and decided to just stay around her, since his presence seemed to soothe her a bit.

Meanwhile, in Adventure Bay

A lone shepherd was driving through the streets of Adventure Bay, feeling guilty and to blame for the lives she couldn't save that day. The darkly lit streets and rain pouring down from the sky didn't make her feel much better, if anything, it just made her feel worse.

Eventually, she arrived at the location she was driving to, her house. The shepherd parked her car in the driveway and leaned back in her seat. She glanced around for an umbrella or something that could protect her from the heavy downpour, but saw nothing.

Damnit, why can't I ever do anything right!? Artemis mentally cussed herself, angry that she was never prepared. She stopped for a moment and took a deep breath, before opening the car door and plunging herself into the rain, quickly locking it behind her before rushing to the front door of her house.

Upon entering her house, she slammed the door behind her and made her way to the kitchen, starving.

A couple minutes later...

While Artemis was sitting in her kitchen, waiting for her microwave to finish heating up some food to eat, she received a message on her phone. Artemis sighed before heading over to the counter, where her phone sat, and looking at who it was from. She was surprised to see it was a message from an unknown number. Yet her surprise would turn to confusion when she read It's contents.

The Architect is watching...

What the fuck? Artemis mentally asked herself, more confused than anything. She hadn't the slightest clue who this "Architect" was, or what this person meant by their watching.

Her microwave then began beeping, signaling that the food was done. Artemis tossed her phone back on the counter before walking over to the microwave to retrieve the food, ready to finally eat something.

Far away, in the Kingdom of Barkingburg

In the Kingdom of Barkingburg, two twin Golden Retrievers, named Tuck and Ella, were getting ready to leave.

Both of them were packing their bags and preparing to move back to a town they hadn't been to in years. They worked for someone known only as The Architect, building equipment and researching new technology for The Architect and his henchmen to use. They had received orders from The Architect to move to Adventure Bay and continue their research there, as Barkingburg was too dangerous to continue business in, thanks to the increased security. (Caused by an assassination attempt that happened at the theatre only a month ago)

So here they were, packing their bags and suitcases, preparing to take a boat across the sea. Neither of them were excited for this opportunity, but they did enjoy their job, so they were going to listen.

"You ready little bro?" Ella asked her brother, already having finished packing her personal belongings.

"Almost, just need to get all the mask prototypes. The last thing we want is to lose them, Mr. J would pitch a fit if those things ended up missing." Tuck replied, laughing a little at the end.

"Y'know he doesn't like being called that, Tuck." Ella reminded him, not wanting him to cause Mr. J to retaliate against them in anyway.

"And? He isn't here currently to complain, now is he?" Tuck responded with a smile, gesturing around the room as he did so.

Ella rolled her eyes and grabbed her bags, just as Tuck finished packing his. The two twins then left their small apartment, making their way to the harbour, where The Architect had arranged for a boat to pick them up.

As they walked through Barkingburg on their way to the harbour, the two Golden Retrievers looked around, admiring the kingdom for the last time before they left.

"I'll definitely miss this place." Tuck said as he stared at the large clocktower that stood over the kingdom.

"Yeah, so many good memories that'll just be left behind." Ella added, spinning around as she walked to admire her surroundings again.

"It wouldn't be the first time we left good memories behind." Tuck muttered, lowering his head a little.

"I wouldn't necessarily consider them good memories though. More like, fun memories." Ella responded, staring at her brother.

The two twins soon arrived at the harbour, soon seeing the boat The Architect had arranged for them. After they had their tickets checked, they boarded the ship and began their journey back to their hometown.

Back in Adventure Bay

Artemis was in her room, standing still as a statue and staring at her wall. She had a bunch of different photos and papers relating to the case nailed to the wall, with strings connecting a bunch of them to one another.

She was currently comparing the voices on the disk they got earlier that day to anyone she could, but she didn't have many recordings of other voices to compare them to. Artemis sat there, trying to think of something. She knew she was on to something, she just didn't have enough voice recordings. Eventually though, she thought of something.

The puptag recordings! Artemis thought to herself, she jumped up and ran to grab her phone. She went through her phone until she found Ryder's number, she stared at her phone for a moment before calling him.

That's the end of Chapter 8.

I'm sorry for this extremely short chapter, I'll be sure to make the next one a bit longer to make up for it.

Once again, don't got much to say here. Mr. J does seem very suspicious however, someone should keep an eye on him...

-König der Könige