Different Horizons-A Paw Patrol Story

Chapter Seven

Harold, Mayor Humdinger, and The Copycat watched the machine unveiling through the bots, which focused on the pups. They listened as Ryder explained what the machine is and what it does. They saw how Ryder threw Chase's hat, how it disappeared into the machine, and landed back on Chase's head.

"We need to find a better power source and a way to control it," Rocky finished.

Harold muted the audio and looked at The Copycat. "Well, that's something, isn't it?" He asked rhetorically.

"A teleportation machine," The Copycat thought. "That's perfect."

"Why on earth would we need a teleportation machine?' Mayor Humdinger asked. "We already got the Mayor Mobile. It can grab what we want. It's you that has to get better at taking."

"It's you that has to get better at taking?" The Copycat mocked. "You're not seeing the bigger picture, mayor. Why would we take one thing at a time when we could take everything all together? And we can finally deal with the Paw Patrol?"

Harold looked up from his laptop. "Deal with the Paw Patrol?" he repeated. "What do you mean?"

The Copycat walked over to Harold. "Think about it. We can send the Paw Patrol somewhere far away. Somewhere so distant, they won't be able to return."

"Wouldn't that put them in real danger?" Harold asked.

The Copycat rolled his eyes. "Yeah, maybe. But they have it coming. They have gotten in our way too many times. Aren't you tired of losing?"

"Yeah, but . . ."

"What about being embarrassed?"

"Yeah."

"Aren't you tired of never being respected by anyone?"

"I am," Harold said firmly.

"And who is to blame for that?" The Copycat asked.

"The Paw Patrol is," Harold muttered. His anger grew as he recalled how much he resented Ryder and the pups. He thought himself better than Ryder, yet they stopped at every step. They have embarrassed, disregarded, and disrespected his family name. Harold understood that The Copycat had a point. As long as they were around, the Paw Patrol would continue to do so. Something had to happen.

"I'm in," Harold said. "The Paw Patrol has to pay.

"Good," The Copycat said with a chuckle. "It is time we put an end to the Paw Patrol."

"Now, wait a minute," Mayor Humdinger said, holding his hands up. "You can't possibly think about hurting them. We're the bad guys, but we're not monsters."

"We need to do what is necessary, Mayor," The Copycat replied. "And if I recall correctly, you tried to squash them yourself in Adventure City."

"That was different," the mayor said. "The crystal's power amplified my hatred for them. And that mad scientist manipulated me into doing so. Just like you're doing to Harold."

"But this is my decision, uncle," Harold said.

"Yeah," The Copycat agreed. "I don't understand why you won't join us. You have as much reason to hate them as we do, if not more."

"I do, but hating them is one thing," Mayor Humdinger said. "Planning to destroy them is completely different. I won't stand around and watch you do this."

"Well, then I got news for you," The Copycat said. "If you're not with us, you're against us. Stay out of my, er, our way,  or you will see how dangerous we can be."

Mayor Humdinger scoffed. "Fine, but you will receive no help from me."

"We won't need it," The Copycat replied. He looked at Harold. "How can we make this happen?"

Harold typed into his laptop. "We are going to need an energy source extremely big. But nothing on the planet can harness the power needed to activate the machine to its full capacity."

"How about something not of this earth?" The Copycat asked with a grin.

It took Harold a second to understand what the orange cat was referring to. "You mean the crystals?" he asked. "But we already tried to get them but couldn't."

"Because they were expecting it," The Copycat said. "We need them distracted, but not by us. By something more illusive."

"Like what?"

The Copycat scoffed. "For a genius, you're pretty clueless, you know that?" The Copycat walked over to the calendar. "Tomorrow is Paw Patrol appreciation day. While they're distracted in the celebration, we will be at the Lookout."

"And then we'll take the machine," Harold said.

"No, we're going to play Pup Pup Boogie," The Copycat exclaimed sarcastically. "Of course, we'll take the machine. Once we have it in our possession, we'll install the crystal and get rid of the Paw Patrol once and for all."

"And after that, Adventure Bay will have no choice but to appoint us as their new leaders."

"Exactly. And all those who disagree will meet the same fate as their beloved heroes."

"I suppose they will," Harold said uncertainly. He didn't want to hurt anyone, but he knew the citizens had to learn to respect them.

The Copycat looked at Harold. "Trust me," he said. "This will be great for both of us."

Mayor Humdinger watched from a distance. He noticed Harold's hesitance. The mayor knew his nephew, and the mayor also knew that this wasn't who Harold was. Mayor Humdinger wanted the best for Harold, and he knew that this plan with The Copycat wasn't it. The orange feline has begun crossing lines that shouldn't be crossed.

"I can't believe I'm saying this," Mayor Humdinger whispered to his kitties. "But we have to warn the Paw Patrol."