(Disclaimer: Mature Language)

Silence filled the air of the investigation room as the sun shined across the cork board, ricocheting off some parts of it.

Soon after, footsteps were heard approaching the board with a sigh of disappointment soon overtaking the silence that just filled the air around.

The agent sipped his coffee and set it down on the table along with the same newspaper he kept reading for hours last night.

Agent Rich had been contemplating his decision almost all night, ignoring his sleep for the well being of Chase and the pups, at least in some way it was like that.

As Rich was still contemplating his choice, someone entered the room, not catching his attention. Rich's train of thought was cut off all of a sudden by a loud banging noise. He immediately looked at the assailant who caused the loud ruckus, who was snickering at the reaction.

"Gets you every time, mate." Decker laughed as he went to his food/water bowl. "How'd you not hear me walk in? Your mind on something else?" The Aussie asked between chews.

"Yeah..." Rich had the headline swirling around his mind, he still couldn't believe it. The agent grabbed the newspaper article and showed it to the Australian Mix. "Look at that and tell me what you think." Agent Rich ordered.

Decker looked at the newspaper headline and couldn't believe it either.

"Mate, are you even sure that's Chase we're talking about? For all we know it could be someone else." Decker tried assuring.

"This was in his file, Decker! Almost everything we know about him is in his file, that's what the point of a fucking file is!" Agent Rich soon calmed down after that slight outburst. "It's not like this was misplaced." The agent sat down, covering his face in disappointment.

Decker pushed his bowl aside and hopped up on the couch, nearly becoming face to face with Rich "What are you trying to believe? That Chase is a Good Samaritan? Mate, this was in his file for a reason." There was a brief silence between the two. "I understand you're trying to help them, but believing in the wrong cause is gonna royally fuck this whole thing up."

Agent Rich let out a huge sigh and stood up from the couch, signaling for Decker to follow him.

"I need to speak with Ryder and the pups, it's better if Ramirez doesn't know about this." Agent Rich said as he led Decker to the room where Ryder and the pups were, stopping in front of the door.

"It's not gonna be easy to keep it away from him." Decker assured.

"I know, but it's better this way, come on." Rich opened the door, revealing Ryder and the others still asleep. The agent glanced upon the group, huddled together rather than on the beds Decker offered to them last night.

"I guess this is really affecting them, right?" Decker asked with some sorrow in his eyes.

"They care about him somuch that they don't want to see each other separate. Who wouldn't?" Rich asked in a quiet tone.

"I think I got an answer." Decker pointed out to the lone pup who was sleeping alone, quietly whimpering to himself.

It was Marshall.

Decker nodded at the agent, signifying at him to do something, anything to get this depressing feeling out of the way.

"Hey, get up, all of you!" Agent Rich shouted.

Decker winced at the sudden raise of his voice, clearly being annoyed. "Ever heard of subtlety, mate?"

The agent shrugged his shoulders as Ryder and the pups groaned and stretched the fatigue out of their bodies.

"Morning, everyone. You lot sleep well?" Decker asked as he eyed Rich with concern.

"Yeah, about as well as we could've, these aren't exactly very comfortable." Ryder replied as he went to get water from the nearby water cooler. "So, what's the plan?" Ryder asked as he placed his cup down and started filling the pup's bowls with water.

"There's something we need to discuss before we...move on with the plan." Rich now had gotten everyone's attention. "Finish up what you're doing here and meet me in the investigation room." With that, Rich left Ryder and the pups to their lonesome, with Decker showing a sorrowful glare to Ryder before following the agent back.

"What do you think it is, dudes?" Zuma asked around as Ryder handed him one of the water bowls.

"I don't know, I hope something didn't happen to Chase overnight." Ryder couldn't imagine what Rich had to say to him and the pups, he just wished it wasn't something where Chase kicked the bucket.

As the pups drank their water and Ryder soon getting the big bag full of kibble, Rocky nudged Skye, catching her attention.

"Are you doing okay?" The mix asked with some worry.

"I'm okay, Rocky. I'm...just worried as much as everyone about what Agent Rich has to tell us." Skye replied as she drank the water.

"Okay, just making sure you're doing well." Rocky smiled as he patted Skye's shoulder.

"Thanks, Rocky, I just hope we can find Chase and just go home." Skye let out a depressing sigh, lowering her head in the process.

"Hey, lighten up, I'm sure he's okay." Rocky placed his paw, raising her head back up.

"I hope so, I really do..."

<><><><>

As Ryder and the pups were waking up to some bad news, Mavis's crew on the other hand, were about to be compensated for their job last night.

As they approached Avery's office, they noticed the Italian Greyhound step out quietly.

"Hey, boss, what's with the subtlety?" Levi asked as he tilted his head.

"And where's Isaac?" Mavis asked with some worry, hoping that her new friend didn't get into trouble.

Avery chuckled at the worrier. "He's fine, I let him sleep in tonight, I got your payment right here." Avery handed Mavis the ration cards from the job, noticing Mavis's worried expression, the dog chimed in. "Well, if you want him to join you, you can go wake his ass up." The Greyhound smiled.

Mavis nodded and proceeded inside Avery's office, immediately eyeing the sleeping Shepherd clutching onto his bag.

As she approached him, she heard him whimpering in his sleep. The Retriever lowered her ears after hearing it.

Poor pup. I hope he'll be okay.

"I swear...I won't leave you..." Chase trailed off, letting out some whimpers in the process.

Huh? Who's he talking about?

"Skye...I'm sorry..."

Skye? Who's Skye?

The Retriever had an odd feeling about the Shepherd and the pup he mentioned, was Skye his sister? Was Skye a close friend? Who was she and why was it concerning the Retriever so much?

Mavis sighed and decided to wake the pup up, stopping him from spouting out more unwanted pieces of dialogue from his muzzle.

"Hey, Isaac, wake up." Mavis nudged the pup, making him rock a little.

No response.

"Isaac, come on." Mavis's patience started to become thin. She didn't want to raise her voice but she would've if she had to.

As the Retriever placed her paws on him, trying to wake him up, she glanced at the blue duffel bag that he was clutching onto.

Her curiosity was trying to consume her mind but in the end, she beat the corruption, she didn't take pride into things like that, sure they were criminals and liars, lowest of the low, but she still had morals and respected boundaries.

One more time.

She thought as she began calling out the pup's name and started slowly shaking him again.

"Isaac!" She slightly raised her voice and she started shaking him a tad bit more aggressively. "Wake up!"

As if on cue, the Shepherd woke up from his nightmare, stumbling off his bed and getting into a defensive position, claws out and all.

"Woah, Isaac, cool it! It's just me, Mavis!" The Retriever tried calming the Shepherd down as she approached him. "Just calm down..."

Chase had his teeth bared at the female, thinking she was hostile, but as she calmed down and defused the situation, he realized what was happening.

"Sorry...sorry about that." Chase picked up his bag and placed it on his bed. "Sometimes I just...go crazy whenever I get nightmares." The Shepherd lowered his ears in shame.

"Hey, it's okay, we all—." Chase cut her off, finishing her sentence for her.

"Get nightmares? Yeah, I've heard it before." Chase stated as he stretched, still ashamed about what just happened.

Mavis approached the pup and placed her paw on his shoulder.

"Hey, let's just forget about this and meet up with Avery and the others. They're waiting for you anyway." Mavis smiled at the pup who smiled back, noticing that she still had her paw on his shoulder. Upon noticing this, she jerked her paw back, sheepishly giggling at the Shepherd and face-pawing herself as they made their way out of Avery's office.

"There you are! Didn't come out any sooner, and I would've assumed the worst!" Avery waved at the Shepherd, who waved back with slight effort.

"Alright, we're all here, what's the job?" Delta asked as he started scratching his ear.

"Nothing too serious but nothing simple, some dog who I did business with thinks he can outshine my work, I want you to go down there and make sure that doesn't happen. His name's Deacon, don't kill him, don't cripple the bastard, Nashi. Just send a simple message." Avery explained to the group.

"Where does he normally reside in?" Delta asked as he turned on his pup tag, as did the others.

"Down the street, near Hunan and 5th, he's usually hanging around at the hotel." Avery replied. "It's close but if you run into something you can't handle, come back."

"Will do." Mavis assured as she and the others soon left to do their job, leaving Avery alone to himself.

The Greyhound walked back into his office and fixed some things around, soon hearing Chase's duffel bag flop over his bed.

The noise caught the dog's attention and he went to place it back into a spot where no one would find it.

As he was about to hide it, his curiosity soon clouded his mind, unzipping the bag and getting a better glance at the picture.

It was Chase and everyone else from the Paw Patrol in a group photo, with the Lookout in the background.

Avery looked at the photo for some time before placing it back in the bag and hiding it, releasing a sigh soon after.

"I'm sorry kid, I'm sorry you got twisted up in this mess."

<><><><>

Mavis led the group through the crowded sidewalks of the bustling city, eventually taking the alleyways to avoid getting stomped by the crowds.

"You think this dogs gonna pitch in to Avery's demands?" Nashi asked the group.

"That's his problem if he doesn't." Delta replied.

"We're almost there, you know, they're gonna notice us if they see us come in as a group." Mavis stopped the group, soon trying to devise a plan.

"All-out attacks won't work in this scenario." Delta stated as he glared at Nashi.

"What if you and Isaac approach him, no reason to see any hostility." Levi suggested as he shrugged his shoulders.

"What if he just goes in it alone, we scout from afar, and when things go south, we follow behind?" Nashi asked, still wanting to see what Chase was made of.

"Still hesitant on trusting him? I told you that he can handle himself." Mavis defended the Shepherd.

"That has yet to be seen, Mavis." Nashi proclaimed.

Delta and Levi sighed at the annoyance that the Black Husky was emitting to the group.

"If he can handle himself, he can handle himself. No need to prove it when Avery needs our help like this." Levi stated.

"I'll go, if it'll prove something then I'll do it." Chase shook his head in annoyance.

"We'll be right behind you if things go south." Mavis assured.

Chase nodded at the Retriever and headed out the alleyway with Mavis and the others lagging behind to not be seen.

As Chase approached the hotel, he saw a small group of dogs, upwards to three, near the entrance.

The group stopped and looked at the Shepherd.

"Hey, you look familiar? I know you from somewhere?" One of the dogs asked.

"No, how could you? I don't even know you." Chase answered.

The dogs kept eyeing Chase, trying to remember where they knew him from.

The pup was getting annoyed and cautious about this, they could just second-guess it and say that he was from the Paw Patrol, which would raise suspicion towards Mavis and the others.

"Alright, look, enough with that, I need something. Something that I heard you have in stock, can you help me?" Chase asked as a lie.

"Heh, of course I can help you, I got the best stuff in town!" Deacon assured the Shepherd.

"So much that you were gonna try to outshine Avery? Is that right, Deacon?" Chase asked as he glared at the dog.

There was a sudden silence, then out of nowhere, the dog made a sprint to the hotel. With Chase and the others soon following.

The group followed the dealer through the hotel, trying their best to avoid the bystanders as they were catching up to the dog.

As they cut through one of the kitchens, the dog managed to pull one of the carts to slow them down, allowing Levi to slam right into it.

The dog started throwing kitchen appliances at the group as they took cover close by.

"We just wanna talk, Deacon!" Mavis tried defusing the situation.

"We ain't got nothing to talk about!" Deacon yelled out as he threw a knife, almost hitting Chase.

"Just calm down and let's hash this out!" Mavis still tried to calm the dog down.

"Go fuck yourselves!" Deacon finished throwing miscellaneous items at the two and kept running.

As the two were chasing after him, Delta stopped to check on Levi.

"Levi!" Delta called out with worry.

"I'm fine! Just catch him!" Levi replied as the group kept pursuing.

Chase, Mavis and Nashi were right behind the dog, just barely catching up to him, the dog managed to lead them outside. Eventually hopping onto a dumpster and up to a fire escape that was close by, jumping to the rooftop that was opposite of the fire escape.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me!" Nashi exclaimed as Chase and Mavis managed to climb with ease and follow the dog.

"He...better be worth...the hassle!" Chase yelled out to Mavis between breaths.

The dog stopped running after he realized he was at the edge.

The trio were now on the rooftops, approaching the panting dog as he turned around.

"Looks like you're all outta roof." Nashi stated coldly.

"Mavis, Nashi, random pup? Nothin' perso—?" Deacon got hit to the ground by Chase as Mavis pressed her pup tag. "Lo-look, you dogs are reasonable, right? Maybe w-we can work something out?"

Chase wasn't having it and held the pup against one of the air units that accompanied the rooftop.

"You know, we might've done that if you hadn't tried to fucking kill us!" Chase kept the dog pinned as Mavis approached him.

"Come on! Avery's old news! You can't keep working for him!" Deacon stated.

"Is that so? Deacon, old friend, you're breaking my heart!" Chase heard Avery through Mavis's pup tag.

"Avery! Look, whatever you heard, it ain't true." Deacon lied, trying to save his own skin.

The trio looked at each other as Delta and Levi soon found their way up to the roof, keeping an eye out.

"Oh, it's not true? I've heard that before, Isaac? Nashi? Bring him to the edge of the roof." Avery ordered.

Chase and Nashi looked at each other and nodded, grabbing Deacon and pinning him close to the edge, letting him see the ground below.

"Woah! Wa-wait! Please! Just le-let me explain!" Deacon begged.

"You better explain real fucking fast!" Nashi suggested as he and Chase kept the dog in place.

"Come on, Deacon, why'd they want to take over?" Avery asked through the pup tag.

Deacon looked at Chase while still being hesitant on explaining. The Shiba Inu felt Nashi letting go of him.

"Oops, my paws are slipping!" Nashi toyed with the dog. "I can't hold on, Isaac!" The Husky laughed.

Chase ignored the Husky's sick sense of humor and held on to the Shiba Inu.

"You got five seconds to tell me why, or my two associates are going to drop you off this roof!" Avery ordered.

"I can't. Look, it's a bit more compl-!" Deacon soon felt Nashi and Chase hold him closer to the edge. "Fuck! Ok! The McAllister Brothers! The fucking McAllister Brothers!"

"The McAllister Brothers?!" Avery yelled out. "You better not be fucking with me, Deacon! Why'd they want to take over all of a sudden?"

"Th-they said you were old news. That you should've kept your business in the Den." Deacon explained as Nashi and Chase eased up on him.

"So those mick bastards think they can just come to Boroughton and take everything I worked hard for? I know where they are, come back and you'll get your payment." Avery ordered as Mavis was about to end the call.

"What about this snake right here?" Nashi asked as he was struggling a tad bit against the Shiba Inu.

"Please! I told you everything I know! You're gonna let me go now, right?" Deacon asked.

There was some silence but after some time, Avery gave an answer.

"Yeah, sure."

"Thank you!" Deacon rejoiced as Nashi and Chase relieved some of the pressure they had on him.

"On second thought, I change my mind, throw that traitorous fuck off the damn roof." Avery ordered as Nashi and Chase nodded, soon grabbing the Shiba Inu and getting ready to throw him over the edge.

"Please! I told you everything! No! No!!" Chase and Nashi lifted the dog over the edge, letting him fall to his death.

As Chase looked over to make sure he was dead, he saw the crowd of civilians surrounding the lifeless husk of the dog, thinking that one time, he used to help and protect people and now he's back to what he used to do.

"You dogs might wanna hurry up and get on back to the Den, cops and animal control are gonna swarm the place soon, looking for you." Avery suggested.

"Got it, we'll see you back at the Den!" Mavis soon ended the call and led Chase and the others out of the area.

Chase had the scene replaying in his head nonstop as they made their way back to the Den, sure, he wanted vengeance but the question remained.

How far was he going to allow it to go?

<><><><>

As Ryder and the pups finally met up with Agent Rich and Decker, Ryder took it upon himself to ask Rich what they had to talk about.

"So...what is that you wanted to tell us?" Ryder asked as some of the pups sat down on the couch with him.

Rich sighed as he had to tell the group the truth, the best thing he could've done was to recap everything so Ryder and the pups could understand a bit more.

"We all know why we're here, to find the main target of this group, Chase is a vital asset to this. We find him, he'll tell us everything he knows and we're done." Agent Rich explained. "That was the plan until now."

"What're you talking about? What changed?" Ryder asked.

"Chase did." Rich pulled out the newspaper article and began reading it out loud. "Double Homicide At Pet Shelter! Two bodies found dead, witnesses report a German Shepherd leaving with a suspicious looking man in the building just moments after the homicides occurred." Rich put the article down as he ended his reading.

"No, there's no way that's Chase." Ryder immediately defended as did the pups. "Chase would never..." Ryder trailed off as he looked at the two federal agents.

"There's no doubt about it, if Chase murdered those people at that age, imagine what he'll do now?" Agent Rich thought as he soon looked at Marshall. "You said it yourself, Chase is a defiant pup who'll do anything to achieve his goal." The agent sighed as he spoke up to the group. "You really don't know what he's capable of, do you? He's going to try to bury this whole thing...and trust me, when people really wanna bury secrets, they tend to bury bodies right along with them."

"So what are we going to do?" Ryder asked.

Rich gave a look at Ryder, something that he didn't want to say but had to. "If Chase isn't willing to cooperate once we find him, then he's a hostile, one way or another." Rich laid out the map of Boroughton, pointing at the highlighted parts he marked last night. "Boroughton is a big place, so if we want to find Chase as soon as possible, we have to cover more ground." Ryder stood up from the couch, shooting a question at the agent.

"How do we plan on doing that?" Ryder asked.

"Yeah, how do we plan on it?" Ramirez walked in, putting his cigarette out and approaching the group.

"We have a pair of two check each area in the district, ask around and find anything we can on Chase before he does anything drastic." Agent Rich briefly explained to Ramirez and the others.

"Uh, mate, I think it's a little too late for that..." Decker pointed at the TV that was playing the news.

Ryder and the others looked at the tv, hearing the news anchor mention about a group of dogs running through a hotel, soon cutting to someone who was live on the scene.

"I'm standing here at the Stagg Hotel where a bloody murder has occurred, let's see if we can get a statement from some of the witnesses here. Ma'am? Would you like to explain what happened not even twenty minutes ago?" The news reporter asked as she put the microphone to the civilian.

"I was just checking out of the hotel, about to leave when all of a sudden, I see a group of dogs chasing this little Shiba Inu. I see them running past to the kitchen and I immediately get out of there. Soon after, as I'm leaving the area, I see the Shiba Inu fall from the roof!" The lady explained.

"What can you tell us about the group of dogs that attacked that poor Shiba Inu?" The news reporter asked.

"Well, from what I can remember, there was one of those Retriever dogs and those big dogs. The ones that love the snow? There was also one of those dogs that the police force use? A German Shepherd or something like that." The lady answered.

"Thank you for the answers ma'am. There you have it, citizens of Boroughton, beware of a group of dogs that consist of a Retriever, a Husky, and a German Shepherd, hopefully your dogs won't suffer the same fate. That's all I have to cover, back to y-." Ramirez turned off the TV, not wanting to hear anymore of it.

"You think Chase did that?" Ryder asked Agent Rich.

"Could be, could not. Boroughton is full of dogs trying to kill each other, the group they mentioned COULD be Chase but it's a gamble." Rich stated as he crossed his arms.

"There's no time then, we have to move on with this." Ramirez suggested.

"Right, come on then, back to it." Rich ordered as he and the others put their focus back on the map of Boroughton. "Alright, if we're going to do this, our way, we need a pair of pups checking each area in the district. There's three in total, one group checks the Boroughton docks, which is here." Rich highlighted in red. "The second group checks the downtown area, which is right here, near the Stagg hotel." Agent Rich highlighted in blue. "The third and last group checks the high-end area, look for a place called 'Eden Plaza'." The agent highlighted in green. "So who's going where?" Agent Rich asked the pups.

The pups were hesitant on separating and so was Ryder, but this could help them find Chase faster, so a pair called out their locations.

"We'll take the docks." Rubble decided with Zuma.

"I guess we'll take the high-end part of Boroughton." Rocky and Skye paired up.

"Looks like it's me and you checking downtown." Decker paired up with Marshall.

"Alright, it's settled then, follow us and we'll get you geared up for this." Agent Rich led the group to where their new gear was going to be located at.

As they were making their way to the small armory, Ramirez decided to remind the group of something.

"Keep in mind, this gear is fully attachable and should only be used when you all are in tense situations, like a shootout." Ramirez recalled.

"The chances of that happening are pretty low in Boroughton but you can never be too sure." Rich added. "Alright, here we are. Special pup packs designed for tense situations." Agent Rich showed off.

"It's like your kiddie pup packs but for service use." Ramirez added. "Each of them has two to three gadgets."

The pups walked up and examined each of the packs and surprisingly, they were almost, if not, the exact same as their regular packs.

Rocky's new pack consisted of a blowtorch, multi tool for lockpicking and other uses, and the iconic pincer arm.

Rubble's pack consisted of a jackhammer, and a heavy version of Rocky's pincer.

Zuma's pup pack had a sonar scanner with a rebreather attached to it.

Marshall's pack had a retractable axe as well as an ejecting first aid pack, almost exactly like his E.M.T gear.

Skye's pack had a small quad drone as well as goggles that could track steps.

Decker's gear was more police-oriented, containing a taser, handcuffs, and a megaphone.

Agent Rich smiled as he gazed upon the pup's new gear. "We thought you might like the new gear we're hooking you up, so we modeled these packs after yours, some of our guys implemented the things your packs have, so that they don't feel too unfamiliar. The packs also have voice modulators to use your gear and a detachable option in case of situations where it's holding you back." Agent Rich kneeled down to Decker and examined what he meant. "If the voice modulator gets damaged, just double tap the middle of the pack to detach it."

Ryder gave it a thought, their packs were exactly like the pup's packs back at the Lookout.

"I take it that you've been spying on us for a long time, even before Chase's whole incident." Ryder crossed his arms.

"We kept tabs on you, yes, but never had a reason to confront you about it. Until Chase that is." Agent Rich answered.

"It's funny really, how Ramirez said that we were ridiculous when in reality, we're more of an influence to the FBI." Ryder smiled. "Doesn't seem that ridiculous to me."

"What's ridiculous is how you have this technology yet you waste it for minuscule rescues." Ramirez retaliated.

"Really? Well, how abo—?" Rich cut Ryder off, annoyed at the constant bickering between the two.

"Quit it, you two! Come on, we're almost ready." Agent Rich led the group on.

Agent Rich and the rest of the group soon went back to the investigation room as the agent stated some final things.

"Some things I have to mention before we move on with this. First of all, each area has a small safehouse where you pups can rest, all good so no ones going to give you a second look. Second of all, keep your guards up at all times, it's not just Chase out there, it's multiple dogs out there fighting for scraps. Third and final thing, don't leave each other's sight, we're all in this together so if we stick close and stick to the plan, we can find Chase soon." Agent Rich soon gestured for Ryder to follow him. "So, this is where we'll be, scoping the situations out and helping throughout their investigation to find Chase." Ryder looked upon the multiple cameras that showed the pup's views, with a heartbeat monitor along with it. "Decker, gather up an escort for all of them and drop them off at the safe houses at each area. Once they get acquainted, we'll move on to find Chase." Rich finished up as the Decker and the others left the room, stopping them one more time. "One last thing, let's try to keep the noise down to a level until we find Chase."

"You got it, mate." Decker pressed his pup tag. "Arthur, bring the vehicles around and gather an escort to Boroughton, brief you on the details when we're outside." Decker advised.

The pups followed Decker outside as they waved to Ryder.

"Don't worry pups, we'll be in touch when you're out there." Ryder assured as he waved back.

"They're going to be fine, with you guiding them, I'm confident we'll get this done and find Chase." Agent Rich assured the boy as they put their focus back on the cameras.

"One thing that is going to worry me, what's going to happen once they find Chase?" Ryder asked as he crossed his arms again.

"We'll just have to wait and see." Agent Rich advised.

"I know he's not going to do anything drastic, right? He wouldn't." Ryder assured to himself. "He knows that we're trying to help him so maybe he'll see that."

"Maybe..."

<><><><>