Chapter 2: Tornado

Another gorgeous sunrise began over Adventure Bay, this one redder than most others. For whatever reason, though, Chase decided to sleep in this morning. Not that he had a hard time falling asleep last night, but the extra sleep certainly couldn't hurt.

Chase still managed to wake up before the other pups. Barking out his megaphone, he spoke into it.

"Pups! Time to wake up!" his voice was loud over the megaphone. However, this didn't stir any of the pups. Well, all but one. His next-door neighbor Skye woke up and shook her head from side to side.

"Chase, you should know by now that the megaphone doesn't work with this group. You have to be a bit more sophisticated in your waking up techniques," she said giggling. She got up from her pup house, gave a big stretch, and ambled over to the German shepherd.

"Remember that the spoon on the bowl trick always works for these pups," she said. She picked up a spoon in her mouth and gently tapped it on the bowl in front of her. Almost immediately, the other four pups woke up.

"Breakfast time already?" asked Rubble, taking his visor off.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" asked Marshall, earning a laugh from the others.

For the time being, the pups were not needed for any missions, so Ryder gave them the freedom to do whatever once again. To no one's surprise, Zuma grabbed his surfboard and went down to the beach. This time, Rubble accompanied him, as he was the most into extreme sports out of all the pups.

"You guys wanna go to the park and play volleyball?" asked Rocky.

"Yeah, totally!" said Skye with a backflip. "We haven't played volleyball in forever!"

"I'm in!" said Chase. "What about you, Marshall?"

"Sure!" said the dalmatian. "Just as long as you and Skye aren't on the same team because that would be unfair."

"I'll be on Rocky's team," said Skye. "I think that would make the teams the fairest."

"What are we waiting for?" said Rocky. "Green means go, go, go!"

The four pups took off for the park, excited to spend time together doing something they all enjoyed. Ryder stayed back at the Lookout, deciding to do some yardwork before it got too hot out. But not before he made himself some coffee and plopped down in front of the TV for a little bit. He started skimming through the channels, trying to find something interesting enough to occupy his coffee time.

Before long, his sights were set on the weather channel. He noticed a red banner on the bottom of the screen. Ryder carefully read through the banner. Apparently the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for Greater Adventure Bay.

"Better keep an eye on the radar today," he said to himself. He finished his cup of coffee, turned off the TV, changed into some not-as-nice clothes as his usual outfit, and commenced his yardwork. He of course utilized the services of Robo-Dog to make the job go quicker. Ryder hopped on the lawn mower and powered it on while Robo-Dog went around spraying weeds.

Down at the beach, Rubble and Zuma had just arrived with their surfboards. They stared in excitement at the waves, which despite not being as cool as yesterdays, were still more than a surfer could ask for.

"Dude we should totally have a surfing competition," Zuma suggested.

"I think that's a great idea!" the bulldog agreed. "But I need to warm up first. I haven't been surfing in a while haha."

"Neither have I," the chocolate lab responded.

"But weren't you just here yesterday? For seven straight hours?"

"My point exactly." The two pups just laughed at Zuma's silliness. Before long they took their boards into the water and climbed on.

"Wow, these waves are awesome!" said Rubble.

"You should've seen them yesterday dude," Zuma called over. "They were even better than they are today!"

After surfing for a while, the two finally started their competition. They would go back and forth performing amazing stunts on their surfboards, each one crazier than the last. Zuma was impressed with how well the bulldog was hanging in there with him. But he was also just as happy that he had someone who liked surfing almost as much as he did.

The argument could be made that out of the five other pups in the group, Zuma considered Rocky to be his closest friend. Which was strange, of course, due to the mixed breed's intense aquaphobia. Somehow they made it work, their more relaxed demeanors making them perfect friends. They didn't have the bond that Chase had with Marshall, as the German shepherd and dalmatian were virtually inseparable, but that didn't matter to them. Zuma just wished he could get Rocky on a surfboard just once in his life. But it was times like these when he appreciated Rubble even more for what he had to offer. The young bulldog was always eager to try a new sport no matter where it's played.

Zuma came out "victorious" during the surfing competition. Hanging off the front of his surfboard by his front paws was enough for Rubble to concede victory to him.

"That was a blast!" said Rubble. "How long have you been working on that last move?"

"A few months now," said Zuma. "You're the first person or pup I've ever tried it in front of too!"

"It was the coolest thing I've ever seen!" the bulldog said, making the chocolate lab blush slightly.

"You wanna see what the others are up to?" asked Zuma.

"Sure! I'll call Chase!" Rubble then tapped his pup tag to call their German shepherd friend.

"Chase here!"

"Hey Chase! It's Rubble and Zuma. What are you and the others up to right now?"

"We're playing volleyball over at the park right now. Did you guys want to join us?"

"Totally dude!" Zuma said. "We'll be there soon!"

"Awesome! See you in a bit!" Chase then hung up.

"Let's take our boards back to the Lookout first," Rubble suggested. "I don't know about you, but I would rather not haul this thing all the way to the park then all the way home."

"Good idea dude!" said Zuma.

With that, the two started heading back to the Lookout with their surfboards. Once there, they ran into Ryder, who had just finished mowing the lawn.

"Hey pups!" he called over to them.

"Hey Ryder!" Rubble said. He sniffed the air and sighed in contentment. "I love the smell of freshly mown grass."

"Me too!" Zuma agreed with the bulldog. "We're off to the park to play some volleyball with the others. Did you want to join us?"

"I would love to join you guys, but I have to finish some yardwork before it supposedly starts raining," the ten-year-old said. "You pups go on and have fun."

"Okedoke!" said Rubble as they took off for the park.

"Catch you later, Ryder!" Zuma called back as he and the bulldog ran down the driveway.

A few minutes later, Rubble and Zuma reached the park to join the others. Zuma went with Chase and Marshall while Rubble went with Rocky and Skye. Their game proved to be quite the nailbiter; the teams were about as equal in skill as possible, the rallies were long, and not one team ever pulled away from the other.

Chase, Zuma and Marshall were up 24-23, it was game point. Once again, another long rally began. Bump, set, spike on one side, then bump, set, spike on the other side. Marshall managed to receive a nasty spike from Rubble and bumped it up to Zuma, who set Chase, who jumped up to deliver a powerful spike. It sure was powerful, maybe even too powerful. The other team was unable to return it, granting Chase, Zuma and Marshall the victory 25-23. But Chase's heart immediately sank when he saw what his spike did.

Being the strongest of the pups, Chase was able to hit the ball at speeds the others would consider incredible. However, a certain bulldog was in the line of fire and wore Chase's spike in the face, as the ball moved too quickly for him to react.

Oh no, the German shepherd thought. What have I done?

"Rubble!" he shouted in concern, dashing under the net and over to where the bulldog was sprawled out in the grass. His front paws were up to his face, which stung from the blow of Chase's spike. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" He started to whimper.

"Let me give him a quick once-over," said Marshall, who brought over his EMT kit. He always brought it with him whenever the pups did any kind of competitive sport for instances just like this. The other pups gathered around, each one concerned for their friend, thought not as worried as Chase.

After a quick examination, Marshall determined that Rubble would be okay. No broken nose, no black eye, just a little sore and disoriented. Chase breathed a tremendous sigh of relief knowing that he didn't do any damage to the poor bulldog. He helped the bulldog up and gave him a hug.

"I'm okay, Chase," the bulldog said. "And I know you didn't mean it. It's all part of the game. Congrats on the win though, that was such a fun game!"

"Yeah!" said Rocky. "I'm beat though, I'm gonna take a breather before we do anything else." The mixed breed plopped down in the grass. Zuma joined him, as did the others. Meanwhile, a certain aviation pup was lost in her thoughts.

Did you see the way he was worried about Rubble? It was so cute! He cares so much for us. As Skye's thoughts continued racing through her mind, a faint blush began to appear on her cheeks. Thankfully, Chase was over next to Rubble and Marshall, so he wouldn't have been able to notice. If only I could find a way to tell him how I feel, she thought.

What the pups failed to notice were the clouds that were rolling into the area. It wasn't until their water pup said something that they finally noticed how bad the approaching storm was.

"Whoa, dudes," said Zuma. "That does not look good."

The others perked up and looked at the sky. A huge storm was rolling in, and the clouds were dark green in color. Even back at the Lookout, Ryder didn't notice the storm until it was already upon the city.

"Whoa," he said. He quickly put the lawn mower back and ran inside the Lookout. He pulled out his pup pad and called for his pups.

"Pups, please come back to the Lookout if you're able to. Otherwise, find shelter somewhere now!"

"Yes sir, Ryder sir," said Chase. Just then, Ryder could hear something over the other end. It sounded like an alarm of some kind.

"What was that?" he asked, not bothering to hide the worry in his tone, but the connection was cut off. "Chase?!" he yelled, pressing the button on his pup pad again, but he got nothing. He ran over to the periscope and looked through it, hoping to see what he was dealing with. What he saw was enough to make his skin crawl. The clouds off in the distance were rotating. Ryder knew enough about meteorology to understand what that meant. "Tornado," he whispered under his breath. He immediately jumped into the elevator and took it all the way down to the Lookout's basement.

Once in the basement, Ryder tried contacting his pups again. And once again, he was not able to reach any of them. Worry began to overtake him as he contemplated what to do. He knew that the safe thing to do was to stay put and wait out the storm. But his concern for his pups outweighed his concern for his own safety. He put on his raincoat, hopped on his ATV and sped out the garage door towards the park.

Meanwhile, the pups were looking around for somewhere to take shelter. The sound of the tornado siren was deafening. Chase, being the "second in command," of the team, was locked in, scanning the park for somewhere to hide. That's when his eye caught the playground, more specifically, the jungle gym.

There, he thought. Rubble and Rocky stabilized it a few months ago to withstand hurricane-force winds. He turned to his teammates, all of whom looked frightened beyond reason.

"PUPS!" he yelled. "To the jungle gym! Hide in the tunnel!" Immediately, Skye, Zuma, Rubble and Rocky took off. Chase was about to follow them, but he noticed someone wasn't with them. He turned around and saw Marshall, still frozen with fear.

"Marshall!" he yelled to his best friend. He ran over to the dalmatian, who directed Chase's attention to what he was staring fearfully at. Chase looked and saw it. A tornado, on the ground, heading for them. "You have to come with me," Chase yelled over the deafening roar of the tornado. "We're as good as dead out here, come on!" Marshall finally snapped out of it and took off towards the jungle gym tunnel.

The others had reached the tunnel and climbed inside. At this point it was starting to pour, the wind blowing the rain sideways. Skye peeked out an entrance and saw Marshall and Chase running towards them.

"Hurry guys!" she pleaded. The two pups picked up steam, finally making their way to the tunnel and jumping inside. It wasn't until then that Marshall realized he forgot something.

"My EMT kit!" he yelled. He turned to go back for it, but he was immediately stopped by Chase.

"You're not going back out there," he said. "It's way too dangerous."

"But Chase!" the dalmatian said. "I need that in case one of us gets hurt!"

"Forget it Marshall," the German shepherd said, holding back his friend. "It's better for some of us to be a little banged up in here than for you to be dead out there." After a few more seconds, the dalmatian gave up and sat down.

"Okay, fine," he said, defeated. Chase turned his attention to the rest of the group.

"Is everyone here, is everyone okay?" he shouted. He barked out his light and examined the scene in front of him. Rocky was comforting Rubble, who was crying in fear. Zuma went over to comfort Marshall and tell him Ryder will get him a new one once the storm passed. Skye sat a few feet from the rest of the group, shivering from the rain and from fear.

Outside, the storm continued to roar and rage on; before long, hail began pelting at the plastic tunnel the pups were hiding in, scaring the pups even more. Rubble gasped and covered his eyes as Rocky continued to comfort him. Zuma and Marshall sprinted further into the tunnel. Skye immediately yipped and ran over to Chase.

"C-c-chase," she said. "I-I-I'm so scared, Chase." She looked up at the German shepherd with sad eyes. They met his gaze, pleading for him to make the storm stop.

"It's okay Skye," the police pup said, gently putting an arm on the shivering cockapoo's shoulder. "We're safe here."

Before she knew what she was doing, she nestled up next to him for protection. However she was unaware of the blush on Chase's face. Rubble took notice of this. He ran over and nestled into Chase's other side. Before the German shepherd could comprehend what was happening, the five other pups were gathered around him, seeking comfort from him.

Meanwhile, Ryder tore down the road towards the park. He saw the tornado slowly start to move away from the park and prayed that his pups were uninjured. He reached the park and ran around, looking for any sign of his pups. Debris was scattered indiscriminately throughout, but something caught Ryder's eye. A bright red rectangular looking object. He ran over to it and picked it up. It was Marshall's EMT kit, or whatever was left of it. The tornado had ripped it apart. He then noticed, there on the ground next to him, trails of paw tracks of varying sizes. He followed them with his eyes and saw that they were heading towards the playground.

Ryder dropped the busted EMT kit and ran after the tracks towards the playground. It was still plenty dark from the storm, in spite of the occasional flash of lightning, so he whipped out a flashlight from his pocket.

On and on the tracks went, further into the playground area. Ryder skit to a halt, however, when he saw that the tracks led him right for the jungle gym tunnel. Not wasting any time, he sprinted over. He got down on his knees, shone his flashlight inside, and peered into the entryway.

Ryder let out an audible gasp upon seeing what was inside the tunnel. His six pups were huddled together, soaking wet, shivering, some of them just downright dirty. Upon seeing their owner, they immediately ran over to him and barreled him over into the mud.

"Pups, I'm so glad you're all okay," he said, a few tears leaking from his closed eyes.

"It was so scary Ryder," said Rubble. "I didn't know if we were going to make it out alive."

"How did you guys know to hide in the tunnel?" Ryder inquired. He was now sitting in the mud, his pups lined up in front of him. None of them spoke, but five of them turned their eyes towards the German shepherd in the middle of the line.

"Chase, you led them to safety?" Ryder asked his first pup.

"Yes sir, Ryder sir," Chase said. "I remembered how Rocky and Rubble fixed the foundation for the jungle gym so that it could withstand hurricane-force winds, and I thought that our best chances of survival were inside the tunnel."

"I'm so proud of you, of all of you," Ryder said. "Come on pups, let get back to the Lookout."

Ryder activated a feature on his ATV that opened up two side seats for the pups. Chase rode with Ryder while the pups rode alongside the ATV. Before long they were all back at the Lookout. They walked inside and rode the elevator to the top to analyze the damage the storm had caused. When they went out to the balcony, they all gasped at the path of destruction left by the storm, which still wasn't through its tirade on Adventure Bay.

"Pups, our top priority once this storm passes will be helping with rescue and recovery. We don't know who all will need our help, but it will be all paws on deck for this one."

"Yes sir, Ryder sir," Chase said.

"You guys are dismissed for now. Stay in the Lookout until the storm passes at least." The pups turned around and walked towards the elevator. "Chase, can I have a word?"

"Sure," the police pup responded, heading back to where his owner was standing. The two stood and watched as the elevator carried the five other pups down to the ground floor. "Am I in trouble?" Chase asked.

"No, in fact, far from it. You handled yourself so well today. You remained calm under intense pressure, and you were able to keep everyone safe. It's one of the reasons why I made you second in command."

"Thank you Ryder," the police pup said, wagging his tail. "Just doing my PAW Patrol duty."

"It also seems like this storm did some extensive damage to the city. Once we commence cleanup, search and rescue, I'm going to need your help to run things. This job is going to take two to lead. Are you up for it?"

"You can count on me Ryder," Chase said.

"That's my boy!" Ryder said. "You're free to go hang with the others."

Chase was about to walk into the elevator, but the ten-year-old stopped him again.

"One more thing, Chase."

"What is it, Ryder?"

Ryder started to giggle as he decided to yank his pup's paw a little bit. "I bet Skye enjoyed seeing your caring side come out."

"Ryderrrr," Chase said, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it," the boy laughed. "I saw how she was holding onto you when I showed up and thought you should know."

Chase smiled before walking into the elevator and riding it down to the ground floor with the other pups. Ryder proceeded to take a shower and do laundry, considering he was covered in dried up mud.

"We have unconfirmed reports that an EF-3 tornado touched down in Adventure Bay and left a path of destruction a few miles long this afternoon. I repeat, we have unconfirmed reports of an EF-3 tornado touching down in Adventure Bay this afternoon. I will be standing by as more updates come in."

"Uh-oh, that's not good," said Jake. He was up at his lodge, which surprisingly didn't get hit head on by the storm. Everest, his adopted husky, walked in and noticed the headline too.

"Jake, that's where Ryder and the pups live!" she said worriedly. "You should call them!"

Jake picked up his phone and called Ryder.

"Hello, Ryder here!"

"Ryder, dude, it's Jake."

"Hey Jake, what's up?"

"Just checking in, Everest and I are watching TV right now and there was a news report about the storm. Are you and the pups okay?"

"Thanks for checking in, Jake! The pups and I are all okay. But we're going to need help with the recovery efforts if you and Everest would be able to come down once the storm has passed."

"Sure thing Ryder. Just say the word and we'll be there."

"Thanks Jake. Catch you later!" Ryder then hung up.

"What did he say?" Everest asked.

"He and the pups are okay, but they'll need our help once the storm's over, and I said we'd be more than happy to help."

"Yay! I'm glad they're okay. I can't wait to see them soon!"

"Same here girl," Jake said. "Come on, let's get ready to head down."