18 months ago...

The brown shepherd ran ahead of the pack, panting hard. He dodged branches and rocks, expertly leading the way through the obstacle course for the other dogs.

"C'mon, boys! Finish line is up ahead!" a female cockapoo called out from above. She pushed forward, wanting to see who would be the winner.

The dogs howled and barked as they ran around each other, itching to catch up to the leader. But he never gave them a chance to.

Motivated by her call out, the shepherd continued on until he reached the final obstacle. "Arf, grappler!" he barked out, steadying his paws and aiming for the top of the climbing wall. Once secure, he barked out another command and began climbing up.

A lanky Dalmatian collided with the padded wall, yelping out in pain and causing the shepherd to look back. "Marshall?" He could see him limping on his rear paw. "You alright?"

"Chase, go! You're still in first!" Marshall yelled at him, looking back and seeing the other dogs racing towards them. "GO!"

Chase hesitated before continuing his climb. Once he reached the top, it was a simple slide to the finish. But he looked back down at his friend. 'No pup gets left behind.'

With a sigh, Marshall had moved to the side to be out of the way when he felt something latch onto him. He looked up and gasped. "Chase? What're you-"

"Hold on!" Chase retracted the grappler at full speed, sending the Dalmatian flying into the Shepherd and falling down the slide together, across the finish line.

Everyone watching cheered them on as Chase carried Marshall on his back over to the EMT tent. There, Ryder and Katie awaited to treat and congratulate them.

"Why'd you help me?" Marshall asked him. "We were competing for top dog."

"I know, but we're first and foremost best friends. Nothing's ever going to change that." Chase smiles and nuzzles him. Marshall returned the nuzzle with a wag.

A photographer came and took their photo, solidifying their positions as Adventure Bay's Top Dogs.

Present Day

Ryder looked at that photo, reminiscing of the good old days before Chase left. He sighed, glancing at his old Pup Pad. 'Do I even bother trying to call?' He knew he must have been busy. That had to be the reason why his calls and emails went unanswered, right?

He put the Pup Pad back on his desk and turned the big screen on, monitoring the PAW Patrol's whereabouts. Everyone was where they would normally be when not on a mission. Marshall at the fire department, Zuma down by the beach. Rocky and Rubble were at the scrapyard. Skye was still here at the Lookout working on her rig. Everest was back at Jake's. That left a blue blip sitting in the corner, representing Chase. The location had been disabled since that was sensitive information that unfortunately Ryder wasn't entitled to.

Just as Ryder was about to work on other projects, a sound came over the loudspeaker. "Uh, Ryder?" a high pitched voice said. "We're tracking an incoming aircraft, no registered call sign. Attempts to make contact have been ignored."

Puzzled, Ryder pressed his earpiece. "Go get a look, Skye."

"That's the thing. There's nothing to look at. It could be birds or some interference, but it's headed towards ABI at a high rate of speed." Skye came on screen. "We only know it's something because it's showing up on thermals."

"I'm on my way, Skye. Contact the others to meet us there." Ryder signed off and gathered what he could. He glanced at the Pup Pad once more before he turned off the light and got in the elevator.

As the elevator doors closed and Ryder left the Lookout, that small blue blip inched closer to the island.

————————

Chase awoke from his slumber to a loud alarm. He sat up instinctively, looking at the control panel. "Bogey aircraft following my tail?" Looking around, sure enough, there was a small plane following close behind him. "Computer, cloaking status?"

"Active," came a robotic response.

Sighing with relief, Chase sat back in his chair. "Nothing to worry about then."

"Unidentified flying object, identify yourself," came a static voice over his radio. Chase hesitated. "Identify yourself or you will be shot down."

How good could their radar be if they can detect my planes cloaked? Chase picked up his headset. "Identify yourself first," he responded. He was close enough to the island that it could be from Adventure Bay, but he couldn't be sure.

"This is Island Alpha-Bravo-Zero-Zero-One, Captain-"

"Skye, is that you?" Chase barked in surprise, covering his muzzle immediately after. Crap...

The radio static filled the silence. "Identify yourself, pilot."

Chase took a deep breath. "...this is Kilo-Niner-Zero-Zero-Three, Agent Chase..." He uncloaked his transport plane as the other aircraft approached from the side. "Permission to land at Alpha-Bravo-India?" He looked over.

A female cockapoo looked to be in shock and cleared her throat. "Permission granted. Welcome home, Agent."

Chase sighed with relief and smiled. "Thank you, Captain."

————————

Upon arrival to the airstrip, Ryder was met by the other dogs. "Skye said to stand down, that it's a guest," Rubble said.

"But there's no one listed on the flight schedule to arrive today," Ryder said with a puzzled look. "Who could it be?"

"Guess we'll find out soon enough," Rocky replied, pointing to the helipad. Skye had just landed and made her way over to the guys. "So who is it, Skye?"

Skye seemed to have a bit of pep in her step as she trotted over. "Just an old friend." She wagged a bit as a navy blue plane landed shortly after.

Ryder took a few steps forward. The windows had tinted after landing and the door slowly lifted. "Do we know them?" Skye simply chuckled.

From the plane, brown paws emerged first. They saw a familiar looking blue uniform and collar. Gasps could be heard from the group as the whole figure walked down the steps.

Chase stood proudly next to his plane, looking toward his friends with pride and tears in his eyes. He loudly barked his signature catchphrase, "Chase is on the case!"