Rocky was placed into Marshall's EMT care for his wounds. There were no severe injuries, but he was riddled with bruises and minor cuts that stung like saltwater on a paper cut. Medically, he was fine, but the scars would haunt him forever. Ryder decided on the spot that Rocky could maybe sit out the next few missions, maybe even take a vacation for a month or two. Skye had given the best report she possibly could and soon retired to her kennel.
As night fell, the rest of the pups made their way to their own havens, wanting to rid of the frightful day. Now it was about two in the morning, and the cool night had blanketed Adventure Bay. There was one dog, however, who couldn't sleep and laid awake with questions and confusion. Chase repeatedly paced around his room, head low to the ground as he struggled to make sense of recent events. He felt responsible for Rocky's trauma, as leader of the team he should've had some sort of say in the ACG's actions. But none of those tactical dogs even took him seriously, let alone Rocky. Who were they? How long would they be here? Chase stopped walking and picked his head up, staring ahead at his wall. Captain Cyrus had mentioned they were not from Adventure Bay, but foreigners from elsewhere coming in. At that moment, he had an idea.
He turned around and went to one of his storage compartments. Pushing aside pup treat wrappers and an empty bowl, he opened the compartment up to reveal piles of old tech. Most of it consisted of dusty wires and outdated electric equipment that didn't do the job anymore, but there was something underneath it all that may just see one more purpose. After gripping the forgotten wires in his teeth and tossing them out, an old Pup Pad was finally revealed.
The Pup Pad currently held by Ryder had many before it. As technology advanced, the handheld would receive updates, or a whole new model itself would be mailed in. Regardless, each replaced Pup Pad was tossed away into the garbage, although this particular one Chase preferred to keep in storage. He flicked the switch, and the screen flicked to life, bathing Chase and his kennel soft light. Many of the apps on the pad were gone, lost after the system transfer, but there was one thing that always remained intact: Calling.
All of the contacts were wiped, but you could still contact other locations across the land by entering an exact code, usually a twelve-digit number. Chase took a deep breath and selected the feature, and was met with a blank white screen where contacts would usually list off. Ignoring the vast emptiness of a disconnected Pup-pad, Chase moved his paw and selected "LIN Call." The abbreviation "LIN" stood for "Lookout Identification Number." The puppy took his time inputting each number, as using the touch screen with paws was rather difficult. Every now and then, crickets would sound out in the night, making his ears flick up. When the full ID was typed, Chase activated the call. The Pup-pad instantly began buzzing away, reawakening its old workings to carry out its new command. His heart began to dip slightly, as Chase took a quick peek out of his kennel. As usual, all the other pups were sound asleep.
Suddenly, a green light flicked on the pad, and the screen buzzed to life with a confused Husky staring through it.
"Who is this?" the dog spoke, "your number is decommissioned, why are you calling me?"
"Everest, it's me," Chase reassured, then waved his paw in front of the screen.
"Chase? I can't see you," Everest tilted her head, "your screen is just black."
The Shepherd raised an eyebrow in confusion, then realized the pad's screen was probably in severe disrepair, "I think my camera is broken,"
"Why are you calling me on a discontinued Pup Pad?"
"Because I need your help," Chase explained, "I need information, and I don't need anyone tracing this call."
"Why would someone trace our call?" Everest's ears went back,
"Have you ever heard of the ACG?" Chase asked, dodging the question,
"The who?"
"The Assault and..." Chase struggled to recall the full name, "control... something, I don't remember. But these military dogs are showing up all over Adventure Bay and we don't know why. They hurt Rocky and shut down one of our missions."
"What?" The Husky went wide-eyed, "Is he okay?"
"He's fine," Chase waved off, "but I know about the communication sites for rent on your mountain outpost. I know that tons of teams pass through your mountain to set up their radio towers."
Everest blinked, "how can you possibly know about that? That's classified information."
The Shepherd looked to the side in response, "I may have... bypassed a few of Ryder's locked files..."
"What?" The Husky Jolted in alarm, "Chase, you went behind his back??"
"Hey! I'm the leader of this team!" He retaliated, "it's my job to be in the know,"
"You should not have done that," Everest worried, "if Ryder finds out-"
"He won't. Now, are you going to help me or not?"
Everest flattened her ears for a moment, then sighed, "fine, what do you want?"
"Surely the ACG secured a tower up there?" Chase pressed, "if they're not from the city, they must've come long-distance. A comm site, a radio tower, satellite, was anything passed through there belonging to them?"
"Chase I can't just dip my paw into classified files," she countered, "unlike you, I keep in line."
"Damn it, Everest!" Chase snapped, "those dogs hurt Rocky, he's probably traumatized! As law enforcement, I need to know what I can to stop more pups from getting hurt!"
"Gaah! Fine!" Everest barked at the screen, "just calm down, sheesh!"
Chase watched Everest suddenly walk off-camera, and the tapping of keys and buttons could be heard. The Shepherd tapped his paw impatiently, counting the seconds being wasted. Why was she being so difficult? As law enforcement, he felt entirely responsible for the well-being of not just his own team, but the entirety of Adventure Bay.
"Okay here," Everest hopped back in front of the camera, holding a printed piece of paper in her mouth.
"What's that?" Chase asked, eyeing the paper,
"An agreement of construction," she explained, dropping the sheet in front of her, "everyone who builds on our site has to pay and sign one."
Chase leaned back and narrowed his eyes, seeking more information.
"The Assault and Containment Guild," Everest read, "they passed through a few days ago and set up a radio tower and some communication lines. Paid a couple hundred thousand, and the agreement was signed by a dog named Bella."
"Bella?" Chase repeated,
Everest shrugs, "I don't know if she was an officer, a supervisor, or a regular dog, but she left a contact number."
"What is it?" the Shepherd leaned forward,
"Chase, I don't know..."
"Everest, tell me," he growled,
After a short pause, the Husky sighed, "alright, get a pen and paper, I'll read it off."
--
The sun was shining brightly, as the moon was banished away to the other side of the planet to make way for its lovely day. After Chase's tense conversation with Everest, he collected a contact number that would prove to be very useful. He didn't know if Everest was going to get in trouble or not for disclosing such information, but there were more important things in play right now. Chase was casually walking down the sidewalk of Adventure Bay, passing through town. Any dog loved a good walk, and he was always happy for a good lap or two around the perimeter of the city, but today, Chase had a mission. Completely without uniform, donning only his collar and tag, he strolled his way to a pup cafe only a block away.
Chase had taken the number and created a new contact on the Pup Pad using only the contact number, no name, and no photo. He sent a message to the number asking to meet up. He made haste to introduce himself as the "law enforcement command" of Adventure Bay and wrote that denying the meetup could have legal consequences, trying to pull every card possible to land himself a talk with this "Bella." Brimming with confidence, Chase rounded the corner to the cafe, now walking toward many outside tables. He wasn't going directly into the building as he wanted to seem friendly yet stern and wanted not to scare whoever was coming his way.
Chase climbed into the pup seat, sitting down as he looked down at his table. His eyes briefly studied the napkin dispenser before quickly looking up and around.
No one in sight.
A grey pitbull in a blue bowtie pushed through the doggy door, walking over to Chase's table.
"Hi Chase," he said warmly, with a notepad in his mouth, "can I start you with a drink?"
"No thanks, I'm waiting for my second," Chase gave his puppy smile,
"Alright, flag me down if you need anything,"
The dog turned and left, leaving Chase alone yet again. Unease was rising in his stomach, a feeling he was unable to ward off. He didn't want his nervousness to show, as in his mind, a good police officer never breaks. Trying to slow his discomfort, he lowered his head and licked his paw to clean it of any dirt. His heartbeat seemed to calm down, although a voice deep within told him he was going too far. After a few minutes passed, and Chase had successfully cleaned his leg, he wondered if there was enough time to back off.
A cream-white paw was suddenly placed on the table, catching Chase by surprise. Looking forward with sharpened ears, Chase saw before him a bright Labrador Retriever with brown eyes, somewhat reminding him of Zuma. She instantly looked Chase up and down, she was no puppy by any means and significantly larger in size.
"Bella?" Chase asked,
"Who's that?" the Lab tilted her head,
Chase shook his head, "I'm meeting a Bella here, sorry," he waved off the dog was his paw, expecting her to leave.
"You know it's dangerous to meet dogs you don't know," she said flatly,
"I'm a police officer, I know what I'm doing."
The Lab leaned forward a little, "but do you really? Do you really know what you're doing?"
He tilted his head, "Well I-"
"No, you don't," she pressed, coldness rising in her voice, "I can see that you really don't understand anything that's going on, and for your sake, it should be kept that way."
She leaned further over the table, staring down at Chase with a hardened gaze, "and for the record, the ACG isn't stupid, we tend to get notified when a puppy sticks his nose where he doesn't belong."
Chase suddenly felt a lot smaller than usual, "wha-"
"We have orders, puppy," she growled, "we have a routine, a protocol, and our presence is necessary here in Adventure Bay. We have things we need to take care of here, and you'll find it's a lot healthier for you to stay out of our way."
"But we're the Paw Patrol..." he protested, "what you're doing is our job!"
"Tell me, Chase, do you know what a biohazard is?"
"Um-"
"What about terrorism? Riot control? A strike team? Have you ever held a gun?"
Chase found himself unable to speak.
"No, you don't," she finished, "your 'job' is solving petty conflicts from incompetent people who can't do things themselves. Our purpose is much more complex, more professional, and more adult. And you will stay out of our way or we'll come at you with a lot more than a stern conversation..."
The Retriever gave Chase a warm smile and got up from the table, "and for the record, your little patrol is a joke."
Chase watched her walk off, his ears flattened against his head. His tail had retreated underneath him, and in that moment he wondered if Everest was okay. No doubt those dogs would go hunting for who leaked the number, and Chase felt immediate concern for a Husky he may have thrown under the bus.
He quickly got up when his tag started ringing, and Marshall's voice came through.
"Chase?" The Dalmation spoke through it, panic in his voice "are you there?"
"What is it?" Chase asked, narrowing his eyes,
"Come to the city park as fast as you can!" Marshall cried, "seriously, you need to hurry! It's those dogs again!"