"Oh no, No No No, this is bad" Zuma couldn't believe what he was hearing, it felt like almost a dream to how surreal it was starting to become. Ryder still laid there on his back, his head lifted up and tended to by Maple. "I'm sorry guys, I'm so sorry, I just couldn't-"
"Its okay Ryder, None of us were there and there's no telling what she might have done if you didn't sign over the Lookout." Marshall comforted me from the other side of the bars. "We cant stay on this forever, we'll figure something out later, but right now we need to get you out of here" Lily stated, fiddling around in her ear for a few short seconds before pulling out tiny bobby pin.
"Give me a minute" She said, walking over to the lock and sticking the pin right inside the key hole as well as one of her sharp talons, it seemed like she had done this before and was well trained in how, Government training must have come in handy.
"What about him Lilly?" Skye asked, motioning over to Maple, there was no clear reason as to why they couldn't take Maple with them, he equally hated the mayor's inner circle more than anything, and Mr. Maple's pictures of the Sheriff's Department gave good clues on where to enter and exit without being seen in the first place. "If he sticks close, shouldn't be too much of a problem" Lilly muttered glancing at Maple for a short time before reverting her focus back to the lock.
"Woah Woah, What about me?" A voice asked from behind them, their hairs all stood up. A shiver of fear however for Marshall, it seemed a bit familiar. They all turned around to see Jello the White Cat and former Judge. His paws were up against the bars with his eyes desperate for freedom.
"Jello!" Marshall went up to the bars, The white cat backed away for a moment, a reflect action to seeing such a big dog coming at him so fast. He eyed the Dalmatian for a few short seconds as he recalled his face and voice. "Its you, You're the dog I asked to watch my son, What are you doing here?" He asked, still not knowing the gravity who exactly he was talking to.
"It's a really long and convoluted story, but we cant talk now, we gotta get you out" Marshall stated.
"Hold on there, We agreed to let Maple out, not who ever that is" Lily exclaimed, not too happy with letting out the white cat.
"B-But hes got a wife and kitten"
"Not worth the risk, we only have a limited amount of time here" Lily said once more, still try to stick to the original plan, Maple wasn't apart of the plan but she'd let that slide since his pictures were such a good help, still trying desperately to get the lock from on Ryder's cell.
"B-But I know more about Lou, I know things and I can probably help you with your Lookout problem too" Jello said, His words went in one ear and out the other for Lily, she didn't care all that much on to what the white cat could help with. However, Skye, Marshall and Zuma thought otherwise.
"What do you mean by that, How can you help?" Skye asked frantically.
"The County has a special way of signing over lands, specifically lands that are outside of the county and have high levels of interest. At the bottom they need the signature of the buyer, the seller, and lastly, a judge." Jello stated.
"What if its already signed?" Marshall asked, it was a good question.
"I don't think so, remember upstairs when that black cat talked about Maxwell signing it later?" Skye asked, It was true. The judge's signature more than likely hasn't been signed yet. "I don't remember s-seeing a third signature when I signed" Ryder exclaimed, seeing his cell door click open. Freedom finally rang in his ears as he tried to get up with Maple's help.
"Griffin probably already signed his name, Ryder just signed his, If we can get the document and stop it from being signed by a judge, We can stop the transaction." Marshall suggested.
"I'll do you one better, If you let me go with you and you could get that document somehow, I could input a false signature on it, making the document voided" Jello suggested, it sounded like a good plan.
"Lily, It can work" Skye turned around, wanting her confirmation.
"Ugghhhh, Fine, But he better not lag behind" Lily walked forward, gently pushing the dogs out of the way so she could get to work on Jello's cell door.
Suddenly, Marshall, Skye and Zuma were brought together forcefully in someone's armed, looking over to see it was Ryder. He'd missed them so much with a smile and dried and smudged blood across parts of his face.
"I missed you guys so much, I'm so proud of all of you for finding me and sticking together" He said.
"We missed you too Ryder" All their tails wagged with excitement and joy as they were finally reunited with their leader. However Ryder could notice there was an absence, not all of them were there. "Where's the others, Chase, Rocky, and Rumble" Ryder asked.
Zuma and Skye looked at each other, not knowing how to break the news that they too were still in danger and not safe. "We'll tell you latew, but wight now, we gotta get out of hewe and fast befowe…." The Labrador tried to urge Ryder but his talk was cut short as an alarm blared through out the entire hall of cell rooms.
"Woops!" Lily shouted over the alarm as her twisting and turns of the lock became more frantic, hard to focus when a loud sound was blaring over and over again. "What happened?!" Marshall shouted.
"That might have been me, Must be some kind of system inside the locks. Whatever, just hold them off while I finish this!" Lily urged as multiple cat deputies came into the hallway, running at the dogs with weapons in hand.
All the dogs including Ryder and Maple all bulked up in a line, forming a wall of themselves to block them from Lily. The cars didn't stop at the sight of the dogs, infact they seemed to be more engaged and emboldened by them. Running straight into the dogs, knocking a few over and clawing some. Skye was knocked onto her back with claws digging into her side.
"Get off of her!" Zuma yelled throwing his weight onto the back of the cat and thrusting himself to the nearest cell that Ryder was in. Launching the cat inside, his head smacking hard against the wall before falling over onto the floor.
Marshall wrestled his paws with a cat, the two death rolled along the floor. Knocking themselves along the wall, Marshall repeatedly tried to bite and tear, however he just couldn't get a good enough grip.
The feline was nimble, small, and above all flexible. Each free strike the cat got he took, the pain was all too real for Marshall as the wounds he was already recovering from felt like they were opening back.
Marshall didn't give in, he continued to bite harder and harder before looking a long the feline's body. There was a twist of black wire as they were fighting rubbing against each of them. It was the deputy's radio.
The Dalmatian grabbed its end and wrapped it around the cat's head tightly. The cat made choking and gagging noises desperate for air until the blood finally cut off to his brain and he fell unconscious. Marshall froze for a second, he didn't want to kill him obviously. Feeling a wave of relief seeing the deputy's chest still heaving up and down slowly.
Marshall threw the limp cat inside the empty cell along with the other deputy that laid motionless apart from his stable breathing. Maple was able to do the same, dragging the last deputy along the floor to stuff him inside the cell. A few minutes of fighting now put to rest, Maple was the last to put in the cat and the one to close the cell door. "They wont be bothering us for a while" He muttered.
"Ryder, Did they hurt you?" Skye asked
"One of them scratched me but Im okay" Ryder said, leaning against the wall as he tried to step lightly, Skye had seen light traces of blood where Ryder's foot steps were, There were quite deep and very much painful with every step. It must have been the work of Susanna to get Ryder to sign.
"We've stay long enough in this place, time to go!" Lily shouted, motioning her paw to the others as she ran back down the hall where they came. All of them ran behind her, It wasn't the exact plan to free Maple but it was the least Lily could do, and freeing Jello might prove useful after all, since he had the law knowledge on how to overturn the signature of Ryder from something to nothing.
"Over here, Down the stairs!" Lily shouted, the alarms still blaring and hearing the padding of deputies nearby gearing up, thinking it was some kind of emergency outside. They all shuffled down the steps down to the bottom floor. "A Parking garage?" Zuma asked, Ryder trying to keep up as he held his arm to stop the bleeding and he paced ahead in various steps to reduce the pain on the bottom of his feet.
"Just trust me!" She shouted, she maneuvered her was in and out from parking police cars, following along the walls to check for something. She looked up and down trying to spot out something, in a hurry too as they could hear more deputies running down the stairs. "There!" She pointed out, a large manhole.
Zuma and Marshall went in front, trying their hardest to lift up the manhole cover from its fitting place, finally getting it up and sliding it across. They all looked down and saw it was dark, obvious it was, but also metal bars that looped into the wall, acting a way to climb down. "This should lead us to a lake at the end of the river, we just follow it up and we'll be back in the village" Lily said. They all stopped suddenly as they heard deputies behind them, but quite a distance away.
They were hidden behind the police cars parked along the walls, so it was difficult to see Lily and the others. However, the peaked from the small gaps in between the cars to see the cat deputies starting up large police vans. There was a whole line of them that was ready to go. "Park units be advised, Transport is on the way to pick up the arrested dogs, Do you have the BOLO Suspect yet?" One deputy asked in his radio as he was ready to hop into the driver side of a police van.
"10-4, We have the suspect in custody, we have other dogs arrested at this time, waiting for transport near the front and side of the park" The deputy replied. Marshall felt his heart sink, they had heard earlier their suspect to be on the lookout for was Ell, and she must have been caught.
"That's Ell, They got her" Marshall tried to be quiet, but the clear urgency was in his voice.
"I'm sure Klaus know and are figuring out something, But we cant-"
"No" Marshall said sternly with determination in his voice.
"What do you mean 'No'?" Lily asked.
"I'm not going back, I'm going to the Park to save Ell" Marshall said, getting small gasps and looks of concern from Ryder and the others.
"Marshall its too dangerous, you'll be caught too and be sent to that horrible place…" Jello stated, he knew all too well of that place he would sentence dogs to. He had no idea it was so cruel until he figured out the truth.
"I don't care, Ell helped me when I was weak and hurting, I have to help her in return"
"If you'we going, I'm going" Zuma stated, placing a paw on Marshall's side.
"Same here" Skye said.
"I'll go too I suppose" Maple added himself in, and frankly that was the last of it. All the others were bent on leaving. Some looked at Ryder, he would be more than happy to help a dog that helped Marshall, however he was in no shape to help anyone at the moment. "Fine, I'll bring Ryder and Jello back to the Village, Dont do anything stupid and don't put your lives in danger already more than it is, some deputies are all too happy to spill dog blood" Lily stated, helping Ryder down first into the whole.
"Good luck though" She concluded as she stepped down inside, along with Jello going after her. "Ughhh, It smells down here" Jello commented before Zuma and Marshall shifted over the Manhole back over, closing it for now.
"How exactly are we going to get there in time, I heard dogs are fast, but not faster than cars" Maple asked as they peered around for any opening, the parking garage for the Sheriff's Department was completely closed off, except for the large car door that opened for the police vans. It was still open, but there was no way to run out without being caught and chased.
"I got a plan" Zuma said, motioning his paw for his friends to follow as they ran up behind one of the police transport vans, Zuma opened it and hoped inside, getting vicious looks of fear from the others. "Don't worry, I'll explain" The labrador said, each of them looking at each other before hoping in and Zuma closing the door.
"We'll just hide in here and wait until we get driven to the Park, then we burst out" Zuma whispered.
"Not a bad plan, Good thinking Zuma" Skye smiled as she was grateful for Zuma's quick thinking, piling onto her positive thoughts of how she perceived Zuma. "We good to go?" One cat shouted from outside, His voice was muffled and by the sound of it, they were just about ready to go.
"Seems like it, Sheriff will also be on scene, so watch yourselves and be professional, We don't need another Tuska situation" Another cat said, hoping into the drivers seat and turning the ignition. The van rumbled momentarily before it started to move and pick up speed, the lights and sirens on top of the van also blared as it sped down out of the parking garage and out onto the open dark road. Some looked worried, hearing the Sheriff was going to be down there too, thinking they would have to avoided him at all costs and just try to blend in with the crowd.
In the heart of the town, the dogs all stood by one another inside the large patch of field that was the designated land for the park. Lush trees and bright green bushes were the lay down spot for multiple dogs and cats all joining in protest. Some were worried as the Sheriff's department was also there, deputies stacked themselves at the multiple exits of the park area, their was a brick fence that separated the park from the sidewalk, but either way it was quite the show of force by Law Enforcement.
The dogs and cat that joined in their protest were on edge the whole venture, Inside the park was a totally different vibe of atmosphere. Some dogs tried to ignore the cat deputies and mind their business, playing and frolicking in the grass, singing songs, and holding paws.
However, some knew that it was only a matter of time before the Sheriff's Department had enough and rushed them all, easily grabbing a good majority of the dogs and putting them under arrest. No violence had occurred, and it didn't matter it was a public place to them, all that matter was that they were dogs and it wasn't going to be tolerated.
"The Sheriff's Department has declared this to an unlawful assembly, You will all be subject to arrest if you don't leave willingly through the many exits around the park. This is your first warning!" One deputy shouted from a megaphone, someone dog's had their ears perk up. Someone looked at their friends, not knowing what to do. However Klaus was still in the crowd, and he knew what to do, he had to just hold out for a little longer. He didn't know if Lily and the others had freed Ryder yet, he wanted to hold out for as long as he could.
"Klaus….I-I cant do this, I don't want them to run in and start holding us down,l-like last time." One dog came up to the feline leader, Klaus understood the pain and trauma everyone must have felt when the Sheriff's department gave out their warning. He nodded as he nudged his dog comrade. "Its okay, I appreciate you still being here. It takes a strong dog like you to still be here. Don't take the Sheriff Department's advice and walk through an exit, they'll just grab you as soon as they see you. Try sneak out from the back over the fence" Klaus advised.
"T-Thank you Klaus, Stay safe" The dog bowed his head in gratitude before running off to the back of the park area, supposedly to leave and go back to the village. Klaus knew this wasn't for everyone, however his talk about 'last time' did bring back memories.
"Klaus, Klaus, I saw deputies just take 2 more dogs. They just walked in and snatched them." One dog ran up to Klaus to give him the bad news, Klaus was trouble but he wasn't all too surprised at their tactics.
"They're trying to pick us off slowly, Tell all the dogs to stay in bigger groups, and to have at least 2 big dogs in each group so it makes them look more intimidating, I know we're not fighters, but if we give them the perception we can, they'll be more hesitant"
"Good Idea Klaus!" The dog wagged his tail and ran off to spread the word. Klaus looked over in a secluded part of the park where majority of the gazebos were. There were a few closely bundled into one spot, Klaus could see there were many dogs in there, restrained and laid on the ground by the deputies. The Sheriff's Department seemed to temporarily occupy that part of the park to keep the arrested dogs.
Klaus indeed saw 2 more dogs being brought to the gazebos by cats in uniform, among them was Ell. Klaus signed and groaned as he knocked his head in, trying desperately to think of a plan to slip in a get back Ell, It was either that or to pray for miracle. Little did he know a miracle was indeed coming, not from the heaven but in the back of a police van.
The police vans were heard before they were even seen, Their sirens gave it away as they turned onto a wide path that cut through the park. Driving on the park area and backing themselves up so they could be loaded up.
"Alright mutt, Say goodbye to the warm air and say hello to the Concrete Kennel" One deputy said mockingly as he grabbed a medium sized dog by his scruff, the dog was all too familiar with that place. He hadnt been there, but he didn't need to be in a sewer to know it stinks either way.
The dog knew his life had just ended and he was going to introduced to a new life of pain, misery, and suffering. "Hey Cook, Can you get the door for me?" The deputy asked to his colleague near him.
walking over unknowingly to the backdoor of one of the police vans. Opening it to their surprise. Seeing a flash of dogs spring out with fury. Pouncing at who ever they could get their paws on. "DOGS, DOGS!" The one deputy shouted, dropping the restrained dog to the ground as he fled. The canine's chest thumped down onto the concrete path before feeling a pair of small padded paws wrapped around his, trying to get a good grip on the dog's cuffs.
"Hold still, I'll get you out" It was Maple, The canine could see it was a cat, giving him a shock but realizing not long after just as his cuffs became loose and fell right off from his paws. "Go, Now!" Maple shouted, letting the dog run back into the crowd of other dogs. Maple got to work on the other dogs that laid there, the other dogs in capture were all to eager to have them be next and released.
"Maple, Is that you, I thought you were caught" Ell shouted, clearing she had known Maple from before as the feline got to work on her cuffs right after.
"I was, but Paw Patrol made good work of that, you're lucky Marshall made the decision to come for you" Maple said with no expression, however there was a slight tiny bit of gratitude for his freedom as Maple continued to twist his talon in the keyhole of the cuffs, trying to find the right spot.
"M-Marshall came for…me?" She was shocked as he peered over to the Dalmatian, too busy fighting off cats like he was the hero of a story book. Many cats rushed, and clawed, and trying to hit Marshall with their batons, but the will power and fighting spirit he had just made him power through. He never once yelped in pain or surprised, when he was done with one cat, he would turn to the next.
Soon after, Ell felt her cuffs slip right off, boosting herself back up onto her paws right after. "Thank you Maple, I really owe you one" She insisted as she ran away. Maple nodded to the Irish Setter as he got to work freeing the other dogs. Marshall caught a glimpse of Ell running away, knowing she was safe.
The Dalmatian became distracted, turning his head his to where Ell was running, suddenly a cat running to Marshall. Slashing his claws against Marshall's side. The adrenaline subsided and Marshall felt the sting of pain from his side, he yelped for a brief second as he fell over. He glimpsed up from the ground to see the cat standing over him, baton in his paw ready to strike Marshall again. Suddenly before being rammed from his hide by a cockapoo. "Don't give up just yet Marshall!" Skye smirked, grabbing Marshall by his chest and thrusting him back up onto his paws. "Ell got to safety, We're done here. Lets find Klaus and get out of here!" Marshall said, getting a bark of agreement from Skye as Zuma was nearby to hear their plan. "Every dog is freed, Lets go" Maple said, ready to leave, all the dogs that had been detained or arrested were now free to join their friends again.
Fortunately they did not have to look long or hard to find Klaus, as he came running toward them almost immediately. "Marshall, Skye, Zuma, and Is that Maple I see?" Klaus was all too happy to see them all together, even at a time like this.
"Its good to see you Klaus, Where did Ell go?" Marshall asked.
"She ran back to the village, She said she was grateful you came back for her. You're a really good dog Marshall" Klaus applauded with his words, Marshall gave a wide smile as Klaus shifted his gaze to Maple. "and Maple, Its good to see you again, and in one piece too" He said.
"Like wise, but now's not the time for reunions, Its only a matter of time before the deputies outside the park decide to-" Maple was cut off by the rapid sounds of armour, gear, and equipment clanking together. They all looked to their side to see in the distance to see the great wall of deputies lined together. Some deputies stood in front, holding what looked like rifles with stubby barrels that size of cans.
They aimed them at an angle in the air and fired, canisters of a white gas poured out as they flew through the air at a rapid speed. "TEAR GAS,RUN!" Klaus shouted, running in the opposite direction. The others followed him as he ran toward the opposite side of the park. "THEY'RE MOVING IN, HOP OVER THE FENCE NOW!" Klaus exclaimed at the top of his feline lungs. All the dogs barked in fear, some carrying other dogs that were too small to run fast enough.
They all run as fast as they could, the tear gas finally settled onto the grass and it started to cover the area slowly. It became hard and painful to see, dogs and cats coughed as some stumbled into each other, trying to run in a straight line. Behind them in came the deputies, running full speed as fast as their armour could let them to catch the protesters before they jumped over the wall to freedom.
"ITS HERE, JUMP, QUICKLY!" Klaus shouted, Marshall was one of the first, along with Skye and Maple going without hesitation. "We'll see you back at the village dude!" Zuma proclaimed before jumping over, Klaus stayed a little longs, the tear gas was getting too much to bear but he knew some dogs and cats needed help. "Here, let me help you!" The feline leader insisted, spotting a dog that was having troubles climbing over. Klaus pushed the small dog up enough to reach the top, letting the dog grapple on with his front paws to climb over successfully.
"Cmon, Lets go!" He kept shouting, more and more dogs were escaping, and it was great. Dogs helped cats, and cats helped dogs, as how it should be. Klaus was satisfied with their own competency to help themselves as he finally turn to the wall to hop over himself. Suddenly, he felt the fur of his neck being pulled back violently in one strong tug. He felt his body being thrown back onto the grass as he felt two cats pounce onto his back to keep him there. "Got you, You're under arrest!" One deputy said.
Klaus could already hear the metallic zip of the cuffs as he closed his eyes, wishing he couldn't have helped more dogs and cats escape far sooner. "Get off him, Now!" Klaus suddenly heard; it was hard to see with his face in the dirt. However, the voice was certainly familiar, suddenly the weight on his back started to lighten. The cat deputies had gotten off him, Klaus looked up to see it was the Sheriff, Reno himself, his brother.
"Go arrest someone else!" Reno ordered; the two cats glanced at each other before running over to find some other dog to arrest. "Get up…" Reno said almost calmly, but with slight bit of irritation in his voice.
Klaus obeyed his brother, getting back onto his paws. The two stared at each other for a few seconds, not saying a word. Reno sighed before pointing back at the wall. "You just don't know when to quit, huh?" Reno said, Klaus didn't answer, clearly a rhetorical question.
"Get outta here, Before I change my mind" Reno was letting his brother go, such as shock not even Klaus was expected it. "T-Thank you Reno" Klaus thanked his brother before he hesitated to turn around, placing his front paws on the wall before leaping himself up to the top.
"Klaus…" Reno said just enough to be heard.
Klaus gave one last glance at his brother as he stood on the fence.
"Tomorrow morning, Susanna's Diner, 10 o'clock" Reno said, he spoke in chopped up orders, but an order none the less.
Klaus knew his brother wanted to meet and discuss something, more than likely what was unfolding around them. Klaus shook his head and leaped down to the other side of the fence and making his runaway.
Reno breathed heavily with frustration, feeling conflicted over what he had just done. If Griffin ever found out he had let Klaus just go, His head would be a spike right next to his brother's. The feline sheriff looked around, his deputies were dazed and out of breath from the running to catch them, no feline of his had caught a single protester. By all means, it was a failure on his part, a failure he wouldn't see the end of. However, knowing his brother was out of harms way, was all the success he needed for the night.