Sup. I had to take some vacation days to clear my head of anxieties. But enough about me. Sorry a new chapter has taken so long. The show must go on!

"We really need to get out of here," noted Marshall as he looked up at the ceiling.

"I'll call Ryder," said Rocky. "Let's hope the Wi-Fi is good down here."

"Our pup tags require Wi-Fi?"

"Everything requires Wi-Fi!"

The mixed breed attempted to call Ryder on his pup tag, but to no avail.

Marshall sighed.

"There's gotta be another way outta here! We gotta find Zuma and warn everyone!"

"Yeah," scoffed Rocky. "While we're at it," he continued in a sarcastic tone, "why don't we just push bricks on the wall until a magic staircase opens up and we..."

Rocky was cut off by Marshall leaning on a large brick, opening a large gap in between two book cases to reveal a hidden staircase.

"Wow. Didn't expect that!" chuckled Marshall.

Zuma stood almost defiantly, showing his teeth in an attempt to scare the pup knight.

Claw merely stood there, Sweetie next to him, amused by the PAW Patrol's water pup. A small, purple light emanated from Claw's helmet. This was the Krystal.

"Give me the Krystal," growled Zuma.

Claw snickered.

"Oh, I'm so afraid! Little Zoomer here is gonna kick my butt!"

"It's Zuma."

"Whatever."

Sweetie, clearly not wanting to be caught up in this, slid down into an open pipe by means of escape.

"You're gonna regret taking it!" exclaimed Zuma.

"No," grinned Claw. "No, I don't think I will."

Claw ran at Zuma, and Zuma to Claw. The water pup suddenly turned still, as the last time a large pup ran at him with such a similar, fierce look in their eye, he was nearly killed.

Little Zuma had gone too far this time. Too far.

Earlier this morning, Zuma had given his mother a necklace of recycled beads for her birthday.

The little nerd has it coming, thought Sparrow as he and Orlando chased Zuma down the street. Zuma had obviously always been their mother's favorite, as he was the friendliest of her four pups, and he looked more like his father than the others. Zuma truly never wanted any harm or animosity towards his brothers, but they hated him. They wanted him to suffer.

"Guys! pwease... stop," panted Zuma as he climbed up the fire escape and onto the top of a building. Of course, Sparrow had Orlando had much more leg strength than Zuma, and climbed after him with ease.

They had that crazed look in their eyes. Zuma would never forget the way they looked at him. Not even if he were to live a thousand years.

"Look at him cower!" laughed Orlando.

"Hey Lando, wanna play catch?" asked Sparrow.

Zuma couldn't take this. He knew he stood no chance against the two. But he couldn't let this happen any longer.

Zuma stopped cowering. He tried to give them the crazed look they gave him, to their confusion. Then, he did something least expected. He growled.

"Huh. Look at that, Sparrow. Someone grew a pair!"

Orlando noticed Zuma was near the ledge. Now, the brothers had always hated Zuma. He was, in their opinion, annoying, weak, and took all their mother's love. But until now, he'd never thought of actually killing him.

I couldn't stop him, Orlando imagined saying to their mother after retrieving Zuma's corpse and crying fake tears. He was too cocky, he couldn't make the jump like he said he could!

Orlando smirked at his genius plan. He ran at Zuma, but something happened that no one would expect. Zuma, in a sudden burst of strength, bit Orlando on the neck, and used his own momentum to flip him the other way. But Zuma did not know he was near the ledge. He couldn't stop Orlando from falling into the alleyway. Down. Down. Down. CRASH !!

Zuma and Sparrow looked down to see what had become of Orlando.

He had crashed into a garbage can, and his legs were sticking out.

"Oh, God!" exclaimed Sparrow. "You... you're a frickin murderer!"

"No!" whimpered Zuma. "I... I didn't know, I... I didn't mean to, I-"

The memory flashed in front of Zuma with the speed of light. He was froze in place just a few seconds for Claw to headbutt him.

The water pup fell onto his side, groaning as he felt his head.

"Had enough already?" asked Claw. "But our party's only getting started!"

Claw snatched Zuma up by the neck and threw him into the wall, exactly as his brothers would have.

Flashback after flashback hit Zuma faster than Claw's strikes and bites and slashes. Already it was obvious that Claw had the upper paw here. Zuma was no match for the pup knight's skill and experience in combat. Claw picked Zuma up onto his back and threw him onto the ground. Every attack made him see one of his friends. Those he was letting down.

Ryder.

Chase.

Marshall.

Rubble.

Skye.

Rocky.

His own mother.

Claw, enjoying the beatdown he was giving Zuma, would have taken absolutely no pleasure in killing him there. Unlike Sweetie, he absolutely loved seeing others in pain or torture. It was a complete thrill ride for him.

"It's as they say, little Zimbabwe. Life is good."

"My name... is Zuma..."

"Whatever."

Claw, seeing that the nearby well was being drained for fresh lake water, smirked and lifted Zuma onto his back.

"Let's see how your friends enjoy finding your corpse."

The pup knight threw Zuma into the well, and he was sucked down through a pipe. Water, his favorite element, splashed and covered him. With a loud sound similar to that of a suction cup, Zuma was shot into the lake. His vision seemed to blur.

In what felt like an hour, Zuma had felt tortured, scared, and irrelevant. Irrelevant. That's how he always felt. He didn't feel relevant around his brothers. He didn't feel relevant to his friends. He wasn't even relevant enough to stop Claw.

He thought no one would come to his rescue. That is, until someone did. Flashing lights. Spinning helicopter blades. A harness being lowered. Skye had found him.