Paw Patrol and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

Chapter 9: Trapped In The Well of The Souls

Rocky cursed himself to oblivion for falling for such easy trap.

He knew something was up when Rubble kept insisting that they continue to dig even though they were still relatively close to the camp. It all felt weird to him, but he brushed it off thanks to his undying trust with Rubble. Then again, there was no way Rocky would have ever thought that one of his best friends would stab him in the back—a thought that was inconceivable.

Rocky wondered how they got him to do it. He knows for a fact that Rubble wouldn't just up and betray him especially for Humdinger, no matter how much money or leverage was put in front of him.

They had to put some pressure on him, perhaps by holding his family captive, or even worse, threatening his pup, Skylar. The thought of her being in danger weighed heavily on his mind, compelling him to do just about anything. Rocky hoped that such extreme measures weren't necessary, but it was the only explanation he could fathom for Rubble betraying his brethren.

There was no way to find out now; he was trapped in the Well of the Souls with Zuma and an unconscious Rubble, surrounded by hundreds of agitated snakes beginning to converge around them.

Rocky glanced back at Zuma, who was still trying to revive the unconscious bulldog, while the snakes inched closer to them.

"Zuma! Forget about him for a moment and grab a torch!" Rocky hollers.

"But Rocky! He's not responding at all!" Zuma cries back. "I... I think he's dead!"

"Zuma, all of us will be if you don't start waving at everything that slithers!" Rocky insists, his attention grabbed by the snakes hissing at his feet.

Zuma picks up a torch and waves it around him and Rubble's unconscious body. His heart ignites when he heard the bulldog stir a little.

"Rocky! I know you're off about Rubble right now, but they're something you need to know!" Zuma says while waving his torch around. "His paws were completely tried. They held poor Skylar captive!"

"Yeah! I figured as much. Watch it!" Rocky calls out, pointing at a snake that was very close to Zuma's paws. Zuma quickly burned the snake, making it retract with a hiss.

"I'm serious Rocky! It's the truth!" Zuma reiterates.

Rocky turns to Zuma. "Zuma! Listen to me! I get you! I know that Rubble was in a bind! I get it! But can we please talk about this when we are not trapped in a chamber with hundreds of snakes?!"

Zuma blinks at Rocky for a second before answering. "Ye-Yeah?"

Rocky smiles before turning back around to shoo away the snakes.

"H-How are we going to get out of here?" Zuma asks before turning his attention to the snakes near him and Rubble.

Rocky twitches his head. "I'm still working on that."

"Well can you come up with something, fast! They're right at our paws dude!"

Rocky scanned the room, searching for any sign of escape. His eyes landed on a wall far ahead, where a visible hole allowed more snakes to slither through. An idea sparked in Rocky's mind: perhaps the wall was weak enough for them to break through to the other side. All he needed was something heavy enough to do the job.

"Rocky, I don't mean to pressure you, but we've only got one torch left!" Zuma calls out, picking up the last torch they had and waving it furiously around the hissing snakes.

Zuma panicked when he spotted a snake right beside Rocky. "Look out!" he yelled, thrusting his torch at the mixed breed's rump.

"Yipe!" Rocky yelped, launching away from the torch like a rocket and slamming into the statue behind him, causing it to teeter slightly. "What the hell was that for?!"