AN: For anyone of you wondering, yes, I know the pup's tails are very short. But I need them to be longer, in multiple chapters of this story, so they will be. Ok, now ENJOY!
Rocky yawned and stretched groggily. He smacked his lips twice and licked his paws leisurely. He glanced over at Zuma, who was still out. Then the memories rushed back. Did I really just...last night was...real...? Or was it just a dream? Rocky though sadly curling his tail around his paws. This though really deeply hurt him. No, it couldn't have been a dream... it couldn't have... he thought slightly depressed. Great things like that don't happen to me at all! I've never felt so good before, If I just had a dream I'll...I'll...I'll... Rocky didn't know what he'd do. He looked at Zuma in anguish. Then he gently shook him awake.
"Wha...five more minutes..." he mumbled, rolling over. Rocky shook him a little harder.
"Zuma, wake up!" he said, in desperation. Zuma huffed and opened his eyes.
"What's wong? I'm trying to sleep hewe." He growled, a little upset.
"Sorry, but I have to ask...what do you remember of last night?" he said, searching Zuma's eyes for any sign of affection. He didn't see anything.
"Ugh, why awe you asking me this?" he asked groggily.
"Please, just answer me," said Rocky, hoping against hope that last night wasn't just a figment of his imagination, created by his subconscious mind.
"Marshall told us we had mastered Pup-fu, and he began teaching us Pupjitsu," he said, yawning.
"What happened that night?" said Rocky hope beginning to die down in his heart.
"You built me a new hovercraft, I decided to sleep with you, end of story. Now, why are you asking me this?" asked Zuma, sounding peeved. But Rocky wasn't listening.
"I thought, it was all so perfect, I had something and now it's gone..." he said, laying down with tears in his eyes. Stupid dream. You got my hopes up. He cursed himself, then he began to whimper. His eyes pressed against his head, and he curled himself into a ball.
"Are you sure that's everything?" he asked desperately.
"Well, I do remember one other thing," said Zuma, scratching his head.
"Yes?" asked Rocky, head shooting straight up. Zuma got very close to him, sending chills up Rocky's spine.
"I remember you feeling very sore after the training session, so of course I helped you out.
"And?" asked Rocky.
"That's everything, I think," said Zuma, whose voice had gone down to a husky whisper. Rocky closed his eyes in dismay. "Except this," said Zuma, wrapping his paws around him and kissed him softly. Rocky felt like he just took a deep breath after being trapped in a suffocating room. Rocky grabbed Zuma and kissed him back. The kiss was short, but it was very sweet. As soon as they broke apart, Rocky hit Zuma in the face very hard with his paw.
"OWW!" cried Zuma, holding one paw to his slapped cheek. "What was that for!"
"You know what you did!" said Rocky upset, a few tears in the corners of his eyes. "Don't play with me like that!" he said, huffing. A few tears rolled down his cheek. "I thought it wasn't real, that it was just a dream, and that I hadn't been made the luckiest mix in the world!" he said, turning away from him angrily. He was both sad, happy, and angry. He felt two paws slip around his back and hug him close.
"I'm sowwy." came Zuma's adorable apology. Rocky looked at him, tears still littering his eyes. Zuma could see conflicting emotions in them. Rocky wanted to both hug him fiercely and slap him again, then push him away.
"Oh, come now, don't cry... I didn't mean it," said Zuma, licking the tears from Rocky's face. The tears tasted very salty. Rocky nuzzled Zuma up under the neck.
"I know you didn't," he murmured. "But I'm not sorry for slapping you." he finished firmly.
"I know, I deserved it," he said squeezing him tightly. Rocky calmed down quickly.
"Come on, let's go get something to eat," Rocky said, worming his way away from Zuma. Zuma quickly followed him through the open door, closing it behind him. Rocky and Zuma met the other pups on the first floor.
"Hi, pups!" they called
"Hi, Rocky, hi Zuma!" they called out to him.
"Hello as well." came a voice further down the hall. They found Ryder in the kitchen, flipping some pancakes.
"Hi Ryder!" the pups said.
"I hope you're hungry because there are plenty of pancakes to go around," said Ryder tossing a pancake to each of the pups.
"I love pancake day!" said Chase.
"Me too!" said Skye, tearing into her first one. Ryder threw another one to Chase, but Skye jumped up and caught it in between her teeth, and began eating it.
"Hey, that was my pancake!" said Chase.
"Sorry, Chase, but what about ladies first?" asked Skye innocently.
"Whatever happened to gender equality?" said Chase.
"Touchè," she said playfully. "Here," she said, pulling the pancake in half, giving one piece to Chase with a friendly lick. Chase began to blush. Everyone in the room except for Ryder and Skye herself knew of Chase's crush on Skye. They told Chase to tell her, but Chase said 'now isn't the right time." That was Chase's default answer to any question about it, but the truth that everyone knew, was that Chase was just afraid of being rejected.
After breakfast, the pups ran outside enjoying the still crisp spring air. Marshall went to a quiet, secluded place, and began practicing his martial arts. Rubble began reading the latest AtSP comic. Skye and Chase were bouncing on the trampoline.
"I'm going to go down to the beach and collect shells. Wanna come, dude?" asked Zuma.
"I'll come by later. I'm going to join Marshall and do a few katas before our next training session.
"Ok, later," said Zuma, going down the hill, leaving his best friend behind. Rocky padded over to Marshall, who was repeatedly striking a wooden wall he had stood up. It was very hard oak wood, and there were small splatters of blood on it. Yet Marshall doggedly punched it, and it splintered and chipped off.
"Whoa, there buddy. You're punching that a bit hard, don't ya think?" asked Rocky.
"Oh, hi Rocky. I've been punching this every day for a month now. I want to punch all the way through it today."
"Doesn't that hurt?" asked Rocky, looking at Marshall's slightly bleeding paws.
"A little bit, but fighting always hurts. It's a great way to build up pain-tolerance," said Marshall, punching it a little harder. It shuddered, then broke completely in half. Marshall smiled. "That's a new record. It took me two months last time it broke. I'm getting better at it." he said, licking the blood from his paws.
"Hey, Marshall, where'd you learn that kata we were doing yesterday?" said Rocky, who began doing that very one.
"I made it up myself!" said Marshall, mimicking Rocky's movements. "I learned it one day when I was practicing punching a wooden wall. I was hitting it very hard, and it was really starting to hurt. So of course I just hit it harder. Then my paws began to glow, and lit on fire. When I moved my paws, the fire burned an image into the air. I didn't know what it meant, so I began reading my most advanced Pup-Fu scrolls. There was nothing about it in them, so I began to experiment. I drew lots of random signs in the air, but none of them did anything. Then I remembered that my element was fire and thought, "Heck, why don't I just draw the symbol for fire," when I drew it, a whirlwind formed around me, and picked me up. And, well, the rest is history." he finished. He and Rocky were like mirrors, each stretch and pull exactly the same as the other. It was a very calming art.
"Why have you taken such an interest in it?" asked Marshall, whose paws began to glow.
"I just want to know how to do it quickly, so I'm not trying to figure out how the moves go when I really need my power," he said, paws glowing also.
"Remember, you're very vulnerable, so it should be used as a last resort only," warned Marshall again.
"I know," said Rocky. He drew the symbol for creation in the air, and Marshal drew the symbol for fire. They were both picked up by their respective whirlwinds. Rocky closed his eyes and went on autopilot he stayed in the air for hours before he even realized he'd gone somewhere else in his mind. Marshall was right beside him still, but it was evident he was trying to keep up.
"How can you do this for so long?" asked Marshall.
"I don't know." lied Rocky smoothly. "I just picked it up fast," he said. Rocky pretended to run out of energy and fell to the ground. Marshall came down soon after.
"You're a natural at this!" he said.
"Thanks, I had a great teacher." Rocky smiled at him. Then their pup tags beeped.
"Paw Patrol, to the lookout!"
"Ryder needs us!" chorused the pups all running into the elevator. Rocky and Marshall were the first ones in, so no one was knocked over that day. As they went up, the machines automatically put on their clothes. The pups gazed in amazement at their clothes. They were new. They looked like their signature colors but had a stripe of black running diagonally across them. They had hoods on them, and a bandana, which was also colored and striped black, was tied around their heads. The outfits were made of strong material but were loose-fitting. There was a small sash on each one. When they were put on, their pup tags changed colors and became a darker version of the original. They all had a cloth belt around their waists.
"Woah! This gear looks awesome!" said Zuma, looking at his orange and striped black outfit.
"No kidding..." said Skye, looking at hers.
"Yeah, this gear is great and all, but every time we get new clothes, we go on a more dangerous mission than we normally do," said Chase, ever-serious. This sobered all the pups, as they finished their access to the top floor.
"Paw Patrol, ready for action, Ryder, sir!" shouted Chase.
"Hi, pups. How do you like your new gear?" asked Ryder. He looked like a ninja too, with a pure black outfit on.
"It's awesome!" said Rocky.
"Yeah!" said Marshall.
"Glad to hear it," said Ryder, tapping twice on his pup pad, making it expand to its full size. He tapped on a button and the screen fell down in front of them. "Normally we are the Paw Patrol, but now, we're Undercover Paw," said Ryder. All the pups grew a little apprehensive. The police managed to figure out who started the bombing. Copy-Cat is still in prison for being a possible ally to the crime, but they found the man who started the actual fire. They found out that it was started electronically, and traced the signal back to his computer a few miles from Adventure Bay. He's been jailed, and the police have roped off his house and locked all his accounts. I asked them for permission to view them, but I was denied that privilege." Ryder's eyes grew hard, and glinted dangerously. "This man is our only lead to finding Jason. Normally, I'd just let the law take care of this, but no. This is personal! No one lays a finger on one of my pups and gets away with it. So sometimes, you have to go outside the law." Chase interrupted him.
"But, these paws uphold the laws, remember?" he whined. Chase was a very good pup, and never did anything illegal, not even speeding. He took his job and reputation very seriously. Ryder sighed.
"I know, Chase. But we need information, and the laws aren't cooperating." Ryder kneeled down on one knee and looked at all of the pups.
"This isn't something you have to do if you don't what to. I'll never force you to do anything," he said.
"I'll do it!" said Rocky without hesitation. "I'll do whatever I can to find Jason. We have unfinished...business."
"I'm game. I'm not going to chicken out, this man has to be stopped!" said Zuma, an evil look filling his eyes. Marshall also stepped forward.
"I'm at your service, Ryder, sir!" Skye followed suit.
"I'll go. I'm going to stick with you," she said. Rubble stepped forward next.
"I'm not going to leave my best friends! Let's do this," he said. Chase said nothing.
"And you, Chase?" asked Ryder gently, ready to let him go. Chase turned his head,
"No, Ryder, Officer Chase isn't coming with you," he said, hanging his head. The pups gasped.
"Chase..." began Marshall.
"No, you can't convince me. Going outside the law is wrong, and as a police officer, I can't do it!" he said, looking down at his star.
"So you won't come with us then?" asked Ryder.
"No. I won't!" said Chase. He unpinned his star and threw it down the slide. "But Undercover Chase will." finished Chase, stepping forward boldly. "You have my full support." Ryder smiled. Chase was such a loyal pup, but nothing could make him break the law while representing it. Skye jumped on him and started licking his face.
"I knew you'd come with us!" she said. Chase blushed red as a tomato.
"Yeah...of course!" he said. Skye licked his nose a bounced back over to her spot. Chase looked like he was in a daze, smiling idiotically.
"Ok! Chase, Rubble, and Skye! I need you to break into the house, see what you can find that will show us how he got mixed up with Jason.
"Oh, yeah, we got this!" said Chase, hi-pawing Skye.
"Rocky, Marshall, and Zuma! I need you to break into the city records system. "Rocky once you three have gotten into the building, you and Zuma need to hack into the files and find out what you can about him.
"We're ready!" shouted Rocky.
"Yeah! You can count on us!" said Zuma.
"We can do this!" said Marshall.
"Robodog and I will stay aboard the Paw Patrol and will be ready to support you in any way possible. Paw Patrol is on a roll!" then Ryder stopped. "Hmm... We're Undercover Paw now... I'll figure something out..." he muttered as he ran down to the pole.
"Team A, how are things looking down there?" said Ryder, as he and Robodog circled the skies. It was midnight (of course) when Ryder decided to start the covert mission.
"We're doing fine," said Chase, who was hiding in the bushes beside the house.
"Okay, if you need me, remember to radio. Ryder, out." Chase pulled down his hood, signaling to the rest of the team. There was a team of armed policemen at the front of the house, so they couldn't get in that way. And the windows were boarded up. There was no way in, except...the chimney.
"Arf, arf! Grappling hook!" shouted Chase. He aimed for the top of the building and hooked it around the chimney. Skye and Rubble added theirs to the chimney. Soon, they were traversing it stealthily, like true ninjas. They made it to the top of the two-story home and retracted their grappling hooks.
"The chimney goes all the way down to the first floor. How are we going to get to it without getting hurt?" asked Chase.
"I got this one," said Skye, jumping down, right before she hit the bottom, she caused a strong blast of air to shoot up, slowing her fall. She hit the bottom gently. She continued to funnel air up the chimney.
"Let's go," said Chase, jumping down, Rubble not far behind him.
They all landed in the fireplace, which was very big.
"Okay, let's go!" said Rubble taking a step forward. Chase saw it before Rubble did.
"Rubble, no!" Rubble went right over a taut line, and it broke.
"Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" went the overhead P.A system.
"What the literal hell, Rubble?!" shouted Chase.
"Umm...oops?" said Rubble, weakly. 5 FBI agents swarmed the room.
"There's an intruder, we need back up!" shouted one of them. They pulled their guns at the three.
"One wrong move and it will be your last!" they shouted. Skye looked at Rubble in complete disgust.
"Skye, you and Rubble find anything useful, I'll take care of them," said Chase.
Chase rushed at the agents, and all hell broke loose.
AN: New gear, new powers, and a new mission. What will happen now? Lots of action coming up.