PAW Patrol: Enlightenment (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 3- Impossibilities

"It is only in the deepest maws of madness that one is gifted the truth, that impossibilities become possible, that the fabrics of what is unknown gain their shining form. To seek the path of enlightenment is not to reject madness, but to embrace it like a dear, old friend; for it is only through this veil that the path is visible to you. Embrace everything you are, and nothing will ever hurt you again."

"Trivial" was a word Zuma loved repeating in his mind. The trivial little patrol with their trivial little meetings, dressing up in trivial outfits with trivial little logos. It was a fun word to him, a great sticker for all situations; handy and useful, just like he was supposed to be. It rolled off his tongue, felt silly to mutter under his breath, a go-to catchphrase that never ran dry of its use. A trivial meeting, Chase announcing that Rubble had vanished with such intensity in his voice one would think the world was ending. Zuma slouched behind disinterested, last to enter the elevator and sparing himself from Marshall's clumsy entrance. The nightmares had been violent, he shuddered to think back at them for even a moment, worse than anything he had ever faced in his slumber before. Among the torrent of screams and traumas, one pattern had become clear to him, a whisper he knew not the true meaning of, but full well the image it painted in his head.

That book he and Rubble uncovered, it had to be the answer. The answer to what exactly, Zuma questioned it himself the more he thought about it. His obsession with recovering the item had been abrupt, but it hit him with the force of a speeding truck and gripped its talons into his skin. Although he had no idea why, it was imperative he got it back.

The following events were like clockwork, a soulless repeat of every last mission in the PAW Patrol's mission. Step out of the elevator, stand in a trivial, pointless line while Chase said his idiotic catchphrase. What did it mean, what did any of it mean, nothing could possess his mind more than his endless slurry of questions. He couldn't listen to a single word Ryder was saying, the entire briefing flying straight over his head. If he could make an educated guess, Chase and Skye were probably taking center stage while Marshall was given some secondary tasks to screw up later. No one paid any attention to him, as usual, but for once his outcast nature could be to his advantage. If no one paid any heed to the unloved Labrador, no one would read the confusion and struggle to understand in his expression.

"There has to be a way," Zuma said to himself, gazing into the floor as reality passed him by. "It would have said so if there wasn't." Where would he even start, a library? Not a bad guess, Zuma considered it while the other pups sprang into action; a library could have an answer, but could such limited archives be trusted with knowledge such as this?

A grey paw tapped his shoulder, "uh, Zuma? We're going now," Rocky said, snapping the Lab out of his thoughts.

"Wha- oh," came Zuma's stutter, his vision quickly focusing back to the present. "Good luck finding Rubble out there."

"Did you listen to a word Ryder said?"

"Of course I did, that's why I said good luck." Every single word from the boy bounced off Zuma's deaf ears, but it was a more than educated guess to assume he wasn't going. He never went anywhere with them, for years the Labrador wasn't even considered for a mission, leaving him alone and cold within the depths of the Lookout. But just this once, his free time could be used proactively. Once every vehicle of the PAW Patrol had zoomed away in thick clouds of dust, vanishing away to be loved and adored in their pointless endeavors, Zuma slipped over to Rubble's den. No need to be discreet, every other dog had left, and it wasn't the first time he snooped around the other kennels when left behind.

Sneaking quick peeks around his surroundings, Zuma flipped up the door to the yellow kennel and slipped in. Entering the modernized dog cave, he was quickly met with a scene that halted the Lab in his tracks. The air of the den grew sinister, revealing through its crooked hands a vicious display of mangled artistry. On the entire far wall contained mindless carvings, a vomit of letters messily carved out in such scratching insanity the writer had ruined his own wall. It was like witnessing a supernatural sighting, a glowing scene of brutality that froze the Labrador where he stood. Bloody paw prints slapped and smeared in various places around the writing, tiny fragments of flesh and dog claws dropped to the floor below. It was a gruesome sight, yet Zuma stood before it not in petrified fear, but astonishment. This was by no means a small display, it nearly took up a whole far wall of the kennel, why hadn't Chase mentioned this?