Back inside, Debris puts the cages into a very dark and brooding room.
Debris: Have a nice lifetime, my jailbirds. You'll spend the rest of it here. Hahaha!
Debris leaves the dungeon, which turns out to be the same room as Mechaniac's lab! Ryder and the pups didn't like the place one bit. It's like seeing the Boris Carloff 'Frankenstein' movie in virtual reality. And color. Then, Rocky thought he was looking at a pretty weird mirror across the room. Turns out, it was only Mechaniac as he's working on or fixing a Questbot Clone mentioned. Rocky then realized that it was him because he never had a robotic eye. Or titanium plating, or even an extra robotic arm stretching out of his neck. Basically, he's a mad scientist horror movie put into a dog. Then, as Marshall was getting up from his cage, he accidentally bumped into a metal bar. It hurt and it got Mechaniac's attention.
Mechaniac: Ah. You've awaken.
Ryder: What's that to you? You are a servant to Clone!
Mechaniac: I wanted you to know something. Not only do the only things that can leave this room are me, whatever I build, whatever I fix, and anyone on the Annihilation Army.
Marshall: The what?
Mechaniac: The Annihilation Army. That would be me, Debris who just left, Fin and Slaveria who just came back inside for some reason, I don't know. And Flame who is at the monitors from the room you came from. Then there's our second-in-command and air commander Aviatress. All following the leadership of Clone, the first cyborg in Quest Harbor, designed for ensuring Earth's survival. Now you know the full team.
Liberty: Wait, wait. Hold up, Maniac. (She did that on purpose) We now know there's cyborg versions of us pups. But what about Ryder?
Clone: (walks in) His counterpart was human. I looked. There are a few evil versions of the boy, but I saw nothing of the cyborg or robot kind. It is an impossibility for the Pawtiverse to have Ryder or his multiversal counterparts become one of the Annihilation Army. Besides, he's the one who designed us. Upgraded us. Built us.
???: (weak voice) You we're never built. (Everyone turns their attention to a man with his leg chained to the dark corner of the room) You were regular dogs from the start. All I did was upgrade you.
Clone: Ha! We have no memory of such. We only remember our first day of activation, Professor Haircut. Come on, Mechaniac. Fin and Slaveria need repairs. Uhh, one of the turrets outside the fortress blasted their seats on the cannons.
Mechaniac: Oh dear. Lead the way, sir.
The two cyborgs leave the PAW Patrol with their new dungeonmate. They were confused on what he looks like since the corner he was chained to was pitch black. In case Chase wasn't in the same room as them, Ryder had an extra flashlight and shined it there. They were surprised to see that Quest Harbor's Ryder is a professor with the same haircut (hence the name) and some facial hair.
Professor Haircut: Thank you, kid. I needed light in the darkness. We all do sometimes, am I right? (Looks closely at Ryder's face as he lowers the flashlight) You seem to feel a little low.
Ryder: Huh? Oh, it's nothing. I'm Ryder.
Professor Haircut: Ryan, and it seems you have lost a friend.
Skye: How did you - -
Professor Haircut: I saw it in all of your eyes. Besides, Clone told me what had happened.
Skye: Yes, sir. (Sniffles) And I never got to tell him how I felt.
The others were smiling with open mouths since they know Chase had a crush on her too! She looks at her friends and they instantly change their expressions to normal.
Professor Haircut: Was he a German Shepherd?
Zuma: (sadly) He was.
Professor Haircut: Then he's not dead.
Ryder: What do you mean, "he's not dead"?! I saw him get blasted in the chest by that creep Clone right in front of me!!!
Professor Haircut: Nuh-uh-uh! He is NOT dead. You see, if this "Chase" got killed by Clone, then Clone wouldn't be here.
Marshall: How?
Rocky: It's simple Back to the Future type time travel, Marshall. You get rid of an early member of your family who did not have kids yet, then you would cease to exist. Multiversally, it would be worse.
Professor Haircut: Yes. Thank you, smart pup. You see, multiversally, if you get rid of one person in the prime universe, your universe, and it wasn't supposed to happen then, then you would get rid of yourself in the process. To make it simpler, if Chase actually did die at the hands of Clone, he and other variants or versions would be erased from history. You would not remember him.
Skye: So Chase is alive?! (Starting to smile since she hasn't done that since they came)
Professor Haircut: If he wasn't, you wouldn't even think about him.
The PAW Patrol smile and cheer that their friend is still alive and hope comes back to smile at them back. But then Rubble starts getting a curious question.
Rubble: Okay, Old Ryder. (Ryan frowns) This a question out of curiosity. So what are those guys, exactly?
Professor Haircut: They used to be an elite group of military dogs in our world. Never defeated. Never matched. I used to be a soldier myself. I even remember their real names. Harold. Victoria. Sidney. Butch. Ruben. Dwayne. But Slaveria was herself from the start.
Rocky: Is it just me, or did all those names belong to the bad guys in our world?
Marshall: (Thinking) Harold Humdinger. Victoria Vance. Sid Swashbuckle. Butch and Ruben. Dwayne from the Ruff-Ruff Pack. He's right! (Out loud) Rocky's right! Your world is twisted!
Professor Haircut: Yes, young pup. Either most of the population is the opposite of your world, or older, younger, or even more advanced. So twisted that the one you call Humdinger is the President of the United States, helping orphans and building homes for the homeless.
Liberty: (focusing away from Ryan) I've had enough of this place.
Professor Haircut: But one day, the enemy had another elite unit. They were raising cougars for their mercenaries. We met up with them. They were slightly alive when they won. And being the scientist I had only one solution that would prevent them from getting defeated again and keep them alive. I had no other choice but to turn them into cyborgs. Harold became Clone. Victoria became Clone's second-in-command, Aviatress. Dwayne became Flame. Ruben became Mechaniac. Sydney became Fin. And Butch became Debris. Once they awoke as their new forms, they had no memory of what has happened from the beginning of their lives. I didn't have enough memory data (data about their memories) to give them a reason to care about other things. I only had enough data that had them doing their jobs,, their names, and how long they knew each other. But not meaningful memories like having fun or hanging out. They don't even remember their own families.
Skye: So sad.
Rocky: I know I hate water, (sniffles) but now that I'm about to cry, I'm going to let it slide.
Ryder: What made Clone into a threat to the Pawtiverse?
Professor Haircut: A week before Quest Harbor looks like it does now, we noticed that there was an alien invasion, aiming their weapons on our town and planning to use it as a headquarters. A foothold. The Annihilation Army were our only hope. They battled the invaders gloriously and leaving without a scratch. But when Clone came face to face with the leader, that alien said to him, "You don't get it, dog. You think you've won? No. We were only a taste of what our universe is like." Clone was confused on what he meant, then the enemy talked about the multiverse. After Clone finished him off, he began to think about what the invader meant. He thought that all the universes will go to war with ours. So he went up to the leaders of the world, andI was present, and told them of his idea on saving Earth. But everyone, including me, wholeheartedly disagreed with the idea of destroying other worlds. Then, Clone blasted the ceiling and said, "Let's see what you can do without me!" As he flew out, his entire team, and their newest member who is now Slaveria started blasting and shooting and destroying everything in the building. I . . . was the only one to escape. And that's when I created the Doorway, the device that is now in Clone's possession. I designed it for transportation uses. To warn your world and other worlds about Clone attacking you. But Clone got to me before I could start my mission after completing the device. And he took me prisoner, looking for you for five years, for me anyway, ever since.
Rubble: But why did he take us?
Professor Haircut: To make you watch other worlds go as you sit and do nothing about it would be more like him.
Liberty: So, what now?
Zuma: Yeah. What do we do?
Professor Haircut: If I'm guessing correctly, and based on Clone's journey to find you, Chase has met other versions of himself, assembled a team with them, and used the device THEY built to get to us, defeat Clone, save us and then the Pawtiverse. My only doubt, will they put aside their differences to succeed? If not, heaven help us.
Whoa! We got one heck of a backstory for Clone and more about his team of evil cyborg canines! And now hope and faith are returning in the PAW Patrol's favor after hearing that Chase is alive. But what the professor said at the end was true. Will our heroes get along in order to win? Will the PAW Patrol get rescued? And when will I stop asking questions? Find out in the next chapter!