Chapter 8: Promises
Today the pups were just watching TV. Gabriel and Margareth shared a bean bag as Apollo the Super Pup played. Rubble was entrapped in the show with popcorn in his paws. The other pups were scattered around, watching or playing like Zuma and Rocky were playing together.
But one pup was absent. "So why didn't Marshall want to join us anyway? Marshall loves this show," Gabriel asked the Dalmatian currently lying on him.
"Marshall wanted some alone time; he has been so stressed lately," Margareth complained.
"He is too hard on himself, always going out of his way to help others without thinking about himself," Chase says with a sigh.
"I still can't believe how someone so clumsy can be a rescuer," Marcus said with a laugh.
"He may be clumsy, but he works almost twice as hard as most of us; he always runs into danger with a smile on his face; I don't even know how he does it," Chase tells him.
"Not to mention his puns and clumsiness always bring us smiles," Margareth adds.
"Yeah, I don't know anyone else you can smile with, no matter how sad they are," Rubbles says with a smile.
"Marshall really is something else, huh?" Gabriel says with a smile.
Meanwhile, Marshall was in his puppy house. He was holding the sword Hunter gave him for Christmas. He took it from its scabbard and looked at it with a big grin. Marshall treasured this blade; he had wanted Kukri for as long as he could remember, and Hunter never forgot, even after all this time.
'I still can't believe this is real, my own sword,' Marshall thought with a big smile.
Marshall grabbed the blade and a new pup pack, one Gabriel worked on for him. "Now, time to go train," Marshall said to himself as he ran into the woods, unbeknownst to Ryder.
After Marshall left, a bike pulled up to the Lookout with two pups—this was Coral and Moby. The quickie got off and went into the Lookout.
"Hey Ryder, pups, are you here?" Coral calls out and sees the heads of the others pop up from the couch and bean bags.
"Coral!" Skye yelled with a yip and hugged her.
"What are you doing here, cuz?" Skye asked, and she let go of her.
"I need a favor from Ryder," Coral says with a sigh. Mob just watched as every pup looked at him confused.
"What kind of favor?" Ryder asked, popping out of the elevator.
"I need a phone," Coral says honestly.
"A phone? What do you need that for?" Ryder asked curiously.
Coral then pulled out a card. "At the Christmas party, a man approached me and Moby; he said to give him a call when we had the time," she says, handing Ryder the card.
Ryder looks it over. 'A Purple H,' Ryder thinks to himself and flips the card over to see a number, one he immediately recognized.
"This is Spyro's number; is he the one you are talking about?" Ryder asked, confused.
He knew that Spyro was a wildcard, one he could not predict; maybe that is why he trusted him so much. "Wait, you know who he is," Coral asked with a smile.
"Large, always wearing a purple cloak, never shows his face?" Ryder asked.
"Yeah, that sounds like the person we saw," Coral confirmed with a smile.
Ryder then started to think. "Coral, I need to know why he was talking to you. Can you tell me a little more?" Ryder asked for more information.
"He said he could help me be a lan pup," Moby said with a shy smile.
'Could he do that? Who am I kidding? He is a dragon; anything is possible at this point.' Ryder thought of himself with a sigh.
"Chase, Margareth, go find Marshall; I have a feeling he might want to be here," Ryder tells him, pulling out his pup pad.
"Got it, Ryder, sir," Chase said as he and Margareth left to go find him.
Ryder then sat on the couch. "Get comfortable, you two; this is going to be a long day," Ryder said with a sigh, and called Spyro.
The call started, but there was no camera footage on Spyro's side. "Hey Ryder, what can I do for you today?" Spyro says this through the phone.
"I have two Merpups looking for someone, and I have a feeling it is you they are looking for," Ryder says to him.
"You know me all too well; I had a feeling they would come to you; I will be over them soon," Spyro says.
"Got it; see you soon," Ryder says.
"Oh, and tell Marshall that Hunter will be here too."
"Of course," Ryder said, and he hung up.
"Now what?" Moby asked with a shy smile.
"Now we hope Marshall didn't run off again," Ryder said with a sigh.
Meanwhile, Chase and Margareth look in Marshall's pup house. Chase sighs when he sees it is empty: "No rest for the wary, it seems."
"It looks like he ran off to train again," Margareth says with a sigh.
"At least he is using the new pup pack I made," Gabriel said, walking up to them.
"Yeah, but I think I need to take it away; he will never rest as long as he has that sword," Margareth groaned.
"I might know where he is, and if what Spyro said was true, you may be able to get him to rest," Gabriel says, leading them through the forest.
They strayed off the path to find an opening in the forest, where there was a pond. Gabriel then led them to a small spot to the side; a few different things were in front of them. A few sticks looked like they were cut in half, a few water bottles, a cleaning kit for a sword, and a purple pup pack.
"What is all this?" Margareth asked, confused.
"Isn't it obvious? This is where me and Marshall train," Gabriel said, grabbing the pup pack.
He then pulled out a three-joint arm that held his bo-staff. "We do lots of stuff here, like train in Pup-Fu, swordsmanship, or in my case, my Bo-staff," Gabriel tells them with a small grin.
"This place is beautiful," Margareth said in awe.
"Marshall always liked sneaking off; I guess this is where he has been going," Chase guessed.
"He brought me here one time, and now it is our regular hangout spot," Gabriel tells them.
"But now the only question is, where is he?" Chase wondered.
"Look over there." Gabriel points to a small path with a lot of trees. Margareth looked at it closely to see Marshall sitting on one of the trees with his sword on his lap and a cleaning kit in his paw.
"How did he even get up there?" Margareth wondered, amazed at her brother's actions.
"He is a lot more active than you think. I have never seen a pup climb a tree, but Marshall does it with ease; he even swings from one to the other," Gabriel said while looking at Marshall with a smile.
"Are you guys just going to keep staring at me, or are you going to come get me?" Marshall asked with a smile, not looking up at them or tending to his sword.
That left both Margareth and Chase speechless. "How did you know we were here?" Chase asked, amazed.
"Since you enter the clearing, Chase's foot footsteps are hard to miss," Marshall teased, still not looking at them.
"HEY!" I am not heavy!" Chase yelled.
"Shepherds are known to be heavy; nothing wrong with that; it just makes you stronger, while we Dalmatians are lightweight and easier to move with ease," Marshall explained.
"Would you quit staring at that sword and look at us?" Margareth yelled, annoyed that her brother wouldn't even look at her.
Marshall then put the sword back in its scabbard and jumped down. "And here I thought I would have a nice little break from recess," Marshall sighed and finally looked at the others.
"And here I thought you would be resting," Margareth teased, and Gabriel laughed.
"I just came out here to clear my mind; it felt like this day might be a long one," Marshall explained.
"Ryder said the same thing before I left; why do you think that?" Gabriel asked.
Marshall shrugged. "I don't know how to explain it; it is just a weird feeling."
"Well, Ryder told me to come find you, but I don't understand why," Chase said, a little confused.
"And here I thought you were the detective Chase," Margareth teased him.
"Ryder was calling Spyro because of a promise he made to Moby; you don't see where this is going?"
Chase shrugged while Marshall's eyes lit up. "Wait, are you saying Hunter is coming?" Marshall beamed.
"Ryder did tell me to come find you and tell you that Hunter was coming with him," Gabriel said with a nod.
"YES! Come on, let's not keep them waiting!" Marshall shouted and quickly started to run back to the Lookout.
"Well, this just turned into a race," Margareth sighed, and they all ran after him.
They made it back to the Lookout to find all the pups outside. "Good, we aren't late," Marshall sighed.
"I see you ran off again; please stop doing that and at least tell me," Ryder tells him with a sigh.
"I have a pup tag for a reason," Marshall shrugs off Ryder's words.
"Don't worry, Ryder, I am going to start keeping a close eye on this sneaky pup," Margareth said with a malicious grin, sending shivers down Marshall's spine.
"Well, it looks like our company is here," Ryder said as a purple car rolled up.
Spyro turned it off and hopped out, with Hunter trailing behind. Spyro was wearing a purple cloak to hide his face from prying eyes. "Hello Ryder, pups," Spyro said with a wave.
"Hunter!" Marshall yelled, ran up, and hugged him.
Hunter accepted it and smiled. "Hey, kid, how is it going?"
"Nice to see you again, Spyro," Gabriel says with a smile as he walks up to him.
"Seeing you is always a pleasure, Gabriel," Spyro says to him.
"Ryder, sir, I think we could use some explaining." Chase asked, Warry.
"Yeah, do you know him, Gabriel?" Marcus asked, surprised.
"Know is a little bit of an understatement; we are kind of related," Gabriel explained much of the other surprise.
"I think I will take it from here; this is Spyro and Hunter; they are, well," Ryder tried to find a way to explain them to his pups.
"I have been helping Ryder with a few of his new problems. We are a special team like yours, but we deal with more dangerous missions," Spyro explained.
"Like, how dangerous?" Chase asks with curiosity.
"Dangerous enough to receive hazardous pay," Spyro shrugs.
"That is crazy," Chase notes.
"Okay, enough about that. Now the real problem: what do you want with Moby?" Ryder asks with his eyebrow raised.
This confused Spyro: "I don't want anything from Moby; I just want to help him. Is there something wrong with that?"
"As of right now, no, but things can change quickly, and knowing you, who knows where this is going?" Ryder says, and Hunter laughs.
"You got one thing right; there is no predicting Spyro," Hunter giggled.
"Anyway, let's get this thing going; we need to head to our headquarters to get the transformation started," Spyro explained.
"Can you really help me become a land pup?" Moby asked with beaming eyes.
Spyro looks at him through his cloak. "I can do one better; I can make you a land pup and Merpup," Spyro tells him with a smile, not that anyone could see it.
"I will assume you guys will want to tag along." Spyro asked Ryder and the pups.
"I don't think I have a choice; I am not going to let you take this pup alone." Ryder smiled at Spyro.
"Wait, does that mean we can go?" Marshall and Gabriel both said it with big smiles.
Hunter, Spyro, and Ryder smiled at the two's excitement. "I don't see why not; why don't we all go, like a little field trip?" Ryder said it with a smile.
All the pups howled with excitement, but Chase was wary. "Are you sure, Ryder? Something seems off," Chase asked.
"I trust him, Chase; don't worry," Ryder tells him with a smile.
"Well, let's get this show on the road!" Spyro shouts excitedly.
All the pups howl with big smiles, "Now, how do I get there?" Spyro wonders aloud.
"I think I know how, PAW Patrol, to the PAW Patroller!" Ryder shouts with a smile.
The pups howl as the PAW Patrol pulls up and they run in. As usual, Marshall trips on a chew toy and rolls in the PAW Patroller, crashing into the other pups.
"I guess someone's on a roll," Hunter chuckles as he walks up to the pup pile.
"Stole the words right out of my mouth." Marshall giggled as the other pups laughed, got up, and ran to their spots.
"Nice ride," Spyro committed as a chair rose to him and Hunter. "I bet this thing costs a fortune."
"I can't put a price on saving lives; the better equipment, the more lives we can save," Ryder says with a smile as he takes a seat in his spot.
"I respect that," Spyro said and walked over to Ryder. "Here are the coordinates," Spyro handed him a phone.
Ryder takes it, "Okay, got it, everypup ready?" Ryder asked with a smile.
They howled with excitement once again as the PAW Patroller started up. Hunter sat in the open chair, but as soon as he did that, Marshall jumped on his lap and laid down on him. Hunter grunted from the sudden impact but smiled at the pup. "What was that for, kid?" Hunter asked with a smile.
"This is my second time seeing you in three years; I am not spending another inch away from you," Marshall joked, and the other pups smiled.
Moby took Marshall's seat, and Spyro sat down. "This is going to be a fun day," Spyro said.
"An amazing day,' Gabriel says with a happy sigh.
"So Gabriel, you seem to know Spyro; how long have you known him for?" Margareth asked with a smile.
"A few months ago, we met on my birthday; he is kind of related to me, but that is a bit more complicated," Gabriel explained.
"Dude, I thought you were bad tewm with your pawents?" Zuma asked
"I am his cousin, the adopted son of Antonio Locksmith, his father's brother, but the parent's part is even more complicated," Spyro explained.
"So a dog adopted a human?" Rubbled asked.
"That is even more complicated, but I guess it is best to get it out of the way now; I am not human," Spyro tells them and pulls down his hood, revealing his dragon face. All the pups looked confused.
"Are you a lizard?" asked Skye, confused.
"Kind of, I have scales like a lizard, but I am a little stronger than that; I am a dragon," Spyro said with a shrug, much to their surprise.
"WHAT!" the pups yelled.
"I was a was a bit surprised, huh?" Hunter chuckled.
"You knew!" Rocky yelled.
"He is my boss. Knowing who or what he is is kind of important," Hunter shrugged.
"You were there on Gabriel's birthday!" Rocky yelled, recognizing him.
Spyro giggled. "Yeah, I was there, watching over him, but that wasn't the first day I was there; I have been keeping tabs on you guys for a few months," Spyro explained.
"The note! That was from you, wasn't it?" Marshall said as he stared at Hunter with a smile.
"Yeah, I wrote that small note; Spyro just delivered it," Hunter said with a small smile.
"All the cards are in play; now the question is what to do with them," Spyro said cryptically.
"So, you are really a dragon?" Moby asked with a shy grin.
"Yup, 100% dragon kid, no lizard or snake, all dragon," Spyro boosted a little.
"That is so cool!" Moby said it with a joyous smile.
"How is that even possible?" Chase asked, confused.
"That is complicated; my father found me as an egg. I don't know anything else, though," Spyro explained.
"There is probably a whole world of dragons somewhere, and I will never know; being a dragon is not all it is cracked up to be," Spyro said with a sigh.
"What do you mean, Spyro? Isn't it nice to be the strongest?" Gabriel asked with a smile.
Spyro smiled back at him. "Being the strongest is a burden; people count on you and use you. I have watched friends and colleagues die right in front of me, and there was nothing I could do."
"Being strong is a curse; that is why I formed Team Hope," Spyro said with a smile.
"Hope is the only thing that keeps us moving," Spyro said with a grin.
"We strive to save lives, like you guys, but in a different way," Spyro says with a shy smile. "We save people from live threats, mostly from people."
"But that is, like, really dangerous," Rubble says.
"To make a difference in this world, you need to accept the risks. If I die saving lives, then I can rest happy because that is what I was meant to do," Spyro tells them.
"The price of war is high, but if it means protecting the ones I love, then I will fight, not for any government but for the incent people war takes," Spyro says.
"And here I thought you were just another strong soldier type; you are wiser than you look." Ryder smiled at Spyro.
Spyro laid back in the chair and said, "I try my best."
"So what about you, Hunter? Why did you join?" Marshall asked Hunter with a wag of his tail.
Hunter looked at Marshall with a smile. "Spyro came looking for me and asked me to join, and I joined; it was as simple as that."
"Hunter has some of the best sword skills I have ever seen before, not to mention his shooting skills, speed, and EMT background," Spyro tells Marshall with a smile.
"That is so cool," Marshall says with a smile.
Hunter looked at Marshall and saw he was wearing a red pup pack. "Marshall, what is this?" Hunter said this while tapping his pack.
"Oh this," Marshall said as his pup pack opened, revealing the sword in it. "Gabriel made it for me; isn't it cool?" Marshall asked, wanting Hunter's opinion.
"Yeah, you use this?" Hunter asked, confused.
"Yeah, I have been training with it since you got it," Marshall said with a smile.
"If you ask me, he has been running off and sword-fighting too much," Margareth groaned in irritation.
Hunter laughed at Marareth's irritation. "You two are too alike," Spyro laughed.
"So, what's going to happen when we get there?" Coral asked, curious.
Spyro put his claw up to his chin and said, "Well, first, the pups will have a look around and meet some of the other members while me and Ryder prepare for Moby's transformation."
"What will that do?" Coral asked with worry showing.
Spyro couldn't help but smile. "Moby will be fine; everything will go great. We are going to add some dog DNA along with his Merpup DNA to make it so he could be both; the best way to explain would be through Gabriel," Spyro tells them.
"As most of you know, he is half Chow Chow and half Werepup, which means he takes traits from both Chow Chow and Werepup," Spyro says with a smile.
"As you can see, he looks like a normal pup, but there are a few differences. First are his eyes," Spyro says, pointing at his eyes.
"What is wrong with his eyes?" Marcus asked.
"Is there a way to dim the lights?" Spyro asked Ryder.
Ryder pulled out his pup pad and hit a button as the lights started to dim. Under the lower level of light, Gabriel's eyes started to glow and dilate.
"Werepups are predators, so they reflect sunlight and dilate; dogs do the same, but Gabriel's eyes are more noticeable," Spyro explains as the pups are in awe.
"What else can you do?" Marshall said it with a grin.
"Well, werepups are a lot stronger than pups, have more agility too, a strong jaw, can leap pretty far, and because of my DNA, I find anything that is not meat terrible," Gabriel listed.
"No wonder you refused pup food," Chase said.
"What can I say? I love my meat." Gabriel laughed as the others laughed too.
"Okay, we got a little off-topic; my point is that Gabriel takes traits from both dogs and Werepup," Spyro says.
"So, what does that mean for Moby?" Coral asked him.
"It will hopefully give him back legs, and if there is a way I would like to keep the fins somehow, but I am not the geneticist, that would go to Paul."
"So I would still be able to be a Merpup so I could go to Puplantis?" Moby asked.
"That's the plan, but science isn't my thing; you would have to ask Paul for a better explanation," Spyro sighed.
"Fritz and Paul are our brains, although Bolt is pretty smart too," Hunter says with a smile.
"Luke is pretty smart too; we do call him the surgeon of death after all," Spyro tells Hunter.
"How many members have I not met yet?" Hunter asked Spyro
"Let's see. There is my girlfriend Lizzie, my brother Flarezion, Luke, as I said, Lance, and finally there is Isaac and Sliver; actually, they should be in here today," Spyro tells him.
"Really? Couldn't I meet more of the team?" Hunter says with a smile.
"He wanted to teach you how to use some of your gear that we haven't used," Spyro tells him.
Hunter sighed. "How much more training do I need?" he complained.
Spyro giggled. "You have to master this training before I can get you on the field. The training is hard, but it has to be if you want to stay alive out there."
"Am I going to get to see you train?" Marshall said with a wag of his tail.
"You should be able to; you can even see some of his gear and his suit," Spyro tells the excited Dalmatian with a smile.
"Awesome," Marshall says with a smile as Hunter scratches his ear.
"So, how far is this place?" Moby asked Spyro shyly.
"It is closer than you think; there is a mountain near here; we are near that," Spyro tells him.
"Jake's Moutain?" Chase asked.
"No, further, our base is secret, so before we enter, I have to ask all of you to swear to secrecy," Spyro tells them.
"Why do you need this base to be a secret?" Chase asked, still being cautious around the dragon.
"Well, being a dragon makes people think of you as either a weapon or a menace to society," Spyro tells him.
"And the first one is a problem; human nature is greed and power; there are few people in power who don't want more," Spyro says with a sigh.
"I made this team to bring hope into this world; you might mistrust me, and I don't blame you either. It is a lot to take in, but if there is one, I want you to understand that my team will bring home this world, even if I am not there," Spryo tells Chase and others with a smile. Chase only nodded in approval.
"Okay, pups, we are almost here," Ryder tells the pups as they look out the window.
They saw a big mountain. "Wow, I didn't even know we had another mountain near here," Skye said with a smile.
"No kidding, dude, it is huge; how have we never seen this?" Zuma said.
"This mountain doesn't have a clear path; it is hard to get to a place like this," Spyro tells the pups.
"Plus, it is very dangerous to climb, so there is much to do here," Spyro tells them.
"I need a place that is hidden, someplace no one in their right mind would go, but not where you think it would be," Spyro says.
"I don't see it anywhere; there is nowhere left to go," Ryder asked Spyro.
"That's what you think," Spyro said with a smile. He got up from his chair and walked up to Ryder.
"Get ready," Spyro says with a smile.
Spyro held up one of his claws as it started to glow brown. The pup was amazed at what they saw next. Spyro lowered some of the rock into the ground as he formed a path into the mountain.
"I am full of secrets," Spyro said with a giggle.
"How did you do that?!" Rubbled asked, amazed.
As most of the pups smiled, two pups had worried faces; both Marcus and Sebastian showed fear, but most of the other pups didn't notice.
"Well, let's get this show on the road," Spyro said with a pump of his claw as Ryder smiled and drove into the mountain.