A/N: I took inspiration from the Secret of NIMH film while thinking up this story so some of you might find it edgy and a bit cringe but please don't be too hard, just letting my imagination loose with this story lol. I saw some PAW Patrol fan theory videos on YouTube about their purpose and why they talk so I decided to write this as kind of my own theory. It's rated T for blood and language though nothing too vulgar hopefully, though there might be some dark themes like animal experimentation.
Disclaimer: I don't own PAW Patrol.
"Hey! What's with you?"
A Great Dane pup barely looked up at the source of the voice, his muzzle frowned as he made eye contact with a french bulldog from across the round table.
"I'm just not hungry right now." He muttered.
The small dog gave him an astonished glare. "Seriously? You don't find cereal like this in dumpsters everyday," he growled. "It even has marshmallows!"
"Sorry… Im just, just not feeling it." The Great Dane responded weakly.
"Is it because there's no milk?" The smaller pup asked in a sarcastic manner.
"No Hubcap, I'm just not hungry this morning." He answered, resisting a growl.
Looking down at the colorful cereal that filled his tarnished food bowl, it did look enticing. White marshmallows dotted between the flakes of cereal made the great dane wonder why people would throw a whole unopened box of these away, those weird humans. But he couldn't force himself to eat, not with his troubled thoughts ruining his appetite.
"You're not worried about her are you?" The pup known as Hubcap asked as he nodded to the back room of the diner.
"Who, Gasket?"
"Who else, dimwit?" Hubcap barked.
"Ye– I mean no! Of course not!" The Great Dane stammered as he answered.
"Yeah right." Hubcap jabbed before taking a bite out of his own portion of cereal, giving a sideways glare past the other pup. "If she keeps this crap up I'm throwing her out."
The other pup at the table hid a nervous gulp.
"I can't even remember the last time we had a good day of mayhem without her trying to get herself killed." Hubcap complained as he ate, crumbs spraying out of his mouth. "And what is up with her waking up screaming in the mor–"
"AAAHHH!!!"
As if on que, a high pitched scream sliced through the diner from the back room, causing a growl from Hubcap. The other pup instinctively hopped off his stool and ran to the source of the scream. He pushed open the door and locked eyes with a petrified husky.
"Uh Gasket?"
The husky flinched at the sound of her name, her eyes twitching as they locked with the other pup's, mouth agape. She laid with her back against the corner of the room in a shaking mess, a raggedy blanket covering up her lower half.
The twitching in her eyes subsided before they drooped in exhaustion, the last figments of whatever dream she had appeared to have left her mind.
"Are you… okay?" The concerned pup asked hesitatingly.
Gasket sighed. "Im fine, Dwayne."
She averted her gaze, and started to gradually move around. She pulled the blanket off and got up on all fours, revealing the slabs of cardboard that was her bed. Dwayne watched pitifully as she stumbled to her outfit which was haphazardly thrown against one of the walls. This had been going on for roughly two weeks now, her restless nights, screaming, and drowsiness during their rides. She wouldn't tell them about her nightmares of course, either out of shame or the fact there was nothing the two could do to help her, so why bother?
"You can have my bowl of cereal if you want it, it even has marshmallows." Dwayne offered, trying to be cheerful.
Gasket gave an ever so small blush before it vanished, she appreciated the offer. If only he had the smarts to admit his feelings, too young for that anyway.
"Thanks, but maybe later." She declined as sweetly as she could manage.
"Okay." Dwayne acknowledged simply as he watched her attempt to slip into her leather outfit.
Gasket gave him a knowing stare before making a whirling motion with her paw. "Turn around."
Dwayne did as she said.
Poor guy should know by now I don't like to be watched putting on my clothes, she thought with a weak shake of her head.
Gasket crouched down and wormed herself into her leather vest, her pup pack coming to life as used it to pull her zipper up.
"Can I turn around now?" Dwayne asked.
Gasket gave a wry grin before turning to a tarp covering something against the back wall of the room. "In a minute."
She creeped over to the tarp and yanked at the rough fabric with her jaws. The tarp slumped to the floor, revealing a dastardly looking mechanism. She wickedly grinned to herself, the only thing that gave her true happiness now, inventing things for wheel trouble!
"You can look now."
Dwayne turned around and followed the direction of Gasket's voice, and his eyes widened awe and a little bit of fear.
"You… you actually…" He didn't have the words.
"Yep!" She proudly yipped, tail wagging. "Meet the Ruff Ruff Pack's new Magnet Coil Cannon!"
The Ramshackle weapon sat attached on an old sidecar, the barrel was made of lead pipe with three sections on the outside where copper wire wrapped around it. The wires were attached to a few car batteries which served as its power supply, a stray cable ran from the last battery to a connector with three switches.
"You did it." Dwayne uttered, eyes still wide. "You actually made a gas rifle."
Gasket narrowed her eyes. "First off it's GAUSS, second this is a Coil Gun. Gauss gun is just a little too complex, even for me."
Dwayne walked up to it and marveled at every single detail, The barrel, the electrical components. Gasket watched on in amusement.
They raided the Adventure Bay Plaza not long ago where Dwayne saw a Gauss Rifle on one of the display screens in an arcade. The little boy playing the game sneered as he shot through hordes of aliens, he was probably a little young for that game. Dwayne had a fixation on it ever since, just nonstop droning about how cool it would be to have one of those in real until Hubcap snapped on him. The idea lit a spark in her creative mind before she researched where she could on magnetic weapons. The Coil Gun was right up her alley and perfect for causing some serious vandalism, plus she got to impress Dwayne.
"Does it shoot lightning bolts like in the game?" Dwayne asked excitedly.
"That's not how they actually work." Gasket corrected as she walked over to a sack next to the sidecar, revealing some black marble–like objects. "It shoots these magnets."
"Magnets?" Dwayne cocked his head. "Where did you even get those?"
"You'd be surprised by what the supermarket in Adventure Bay throws away." Gasket explained. "A nice break from raiding hardware stores at night to build this thing."
Dwayne continued to marvel at the contraption as Gasket put her helmet on.
"I think it's time to test this baby out!"
"Alright," Hubcap cleared his throat. "I'm the leader of this pack so I get to shoot it first!"
"Awwhh," Dwayne sulked.
The Ruff Ruff Pack were behind the diner now. Some rusted cans and glass bottles were stacked along the back wall, The sidecar with the cannon was mounted to Dwayne's bike since Gasket made it for him. Hubcap's sidecar was removed and attached to Gasket's bike, a decision she wasn't a fan of for multiple reasons but as long as Dwayne got to have his dream weapon.
"You remember how I told you to load it, do you?" Gasket asked.
"Do I look stupid, Gasket?" Hubcap shot.
Gasket rolled her eyes.
"Now let's see," Hubcap began as he grabbed a paw full of magnets and loaded them into the back of the pipe before closing the end cap. "Now old cans," Hubcap aimed. "Prepare for your destruction AHAHA!" He laughed maniacally as he flipped the switch on one of the connectors, the gun buzzed in response but that was it.
"You have to flip all three of them in rapid succession." Gasket reminded.
"I know, I know!" Hubcap groaned before he flipped the switches in a quick fashion.
The gun buzzed as he did this before a loud crash. The Rouge pups looked past the weapon to see some cans laying in a smoking, distorted bundle, fused together by the magnets.
"Holy cow!" Hubcap exclaimed. "I guess some of your inventions are alright, Gasket."
"Awweessoommee!" Dwayne drooled as he stared at the Coil Cannons handiwork.
Gasket took it all in with a satisfied smirk. It did surprise her the cannon was actually that powerful considering it was probably the most tedious contraption she ever built.
Hubcap eagerly loaded some more magnets and took another shot at the bottles. All of them shattered on impact, flinging shards everywhere. He loaded it again and turned the gun to the right, sighting down a cactus. There was a Shroom as the magnet cluster shot out of the pipe and blew the cactus into yellow bits.
"Alright it works!" Gasket said in exasperation. "Need to save our ammo for actual targets." She warned as she patted the plastic bag full of toy magnets.
"Okay then, Dawyne, looks like you get to have all the fun today." Hubcap stated as he hopped off the Great Dane's bike and climbed in his sidecar mounted to Gasket's.
The Husky felt a new wave of excitement knowing the effectiveness of her craft, easily overpowering the dread of riding with Hubcap.
"Where to?" Gasket asked with a smirk.
Hubcap's eyes narrowed down the road.
"Adventure Bay!"