Different Horizons-A Paw Patrol Story

Chapter Fifty-Two

Later that night, Ryder lay in bed staring at the ceiling. The room was dark, leaving him only with his thoughts. Ryder tried going to sleep, but his mind was still running at full speed, preventing him from closing his eyes.

Ryder remembered the team's stories on their battles with the different crews. He couldn't help but feel slightly inadequate. The pups have little to no experience with real-world criminals. Yet, they fought them off with and without special powers. Ryder never felt so proud of them. But at the same time, he knew that they did it alone. Apart from helping Rocky and Zuma out, the pups finished their missions independently.

Ryder turned to his right to look at the clock on the nightstand. He sighed as he realized that it was still twenty minutes past midnight. Ryder got up, walked to the desk, and sat in his chair. He sat silently for a minute before opening the laptop Gabriel gave him a few days ago. He looked at the screensaver, an image of him and the pups. Ryder crouched down in the middle, with the others to either side. Chase was on his right, followed by Skye and Zuma. To his left stood Marshall, followed by Everest and Rocky.

Rubble sat in front of Ryder. Ryder had his hands on Chase's and Marshall's backs while they all smiled at the camera.

Ryder found the photo on his phone, which was transferred from his pup pad. He put it as the screensaver right after he got the laptop. Ryder smiled at the image before logging in and entering his design app.

There were five days before Harold and The Copycat marched on Crystal Coast. The team needed to use that time accordingly. Ryder thought about the pups' unique powers. Chase had superspeed, Marshall had fire powers, Skye could fly and had super strength, Rocky had magnetism, Rubble could roll like a wrecking ball and had super strength like Skye, Zuma could manipulate water and morph with it, and Everest had ice powers. Ryder also recalled that they could switch from humans to pups on command.

For the rest of the night, Ryder worked on creating a training course where they could all train. It had places to train as humans and areas to train as canines. Ryder set it up in a way that forced them to think about every action before leaping into it. He also wanted to test their power capabilities, but he needed the pups for that, and they were still asleep. Ryder also added sections where they could practice teamwork, communicating, and using their powers simultaneously.

Ryder worked on perfecting his design for the rest of the night. He didn't realize when the sun rose until someone knocked on the door. "Come in," he called out.

The door opened slightly, revealing Chase on the other side. "Good morning, Ryder, sir," Chase said.

"Good morning, Chase," Ryder replied while turning in his chair to face him. Chase was in his human form. He wore dark denim jeans, a white tee, and a blue unzipped hoodie. He had his gold chain around his neck. "What's up?"

"Just waking everyone up for breakfast," Chase said. Chase stayed silent for a second. "Now that I think about it, we have alarm clocks. I guess I don't have to wake anyone up."

Ryder laughed softly. "It's good to see that you still hold your responsibilities close. Wait, did you say 'breakfast'?"

Chase tilted his head slightly in confusion. "Yeah, it's time for breakfast. Have you been up all night?"

"It would appear so," Ryder replied. He stood up and felt like a jolt of electricity from his waist to his feet. He stumbled and caught himself on his desk.

Chase rushed forward to help him. "Ryder," he said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Chase," he replied. "My legs just fell asleep. I need a second to wake them up."

Chase nodded and took a step back. He looked around the room. "So, since I don't have to wake anyone up, what should I do?"

Ryder thought about it. "You enjoyed making coffee, right? If you'd like, you can make some for the team."

Chase's eyes shimmered as he smiled widely. "That's a great idea. See you in the dining room." Chase hurried off down the hall.

Ryder laughed as he tried getting up again. There was still a bit of a numbing pain at his heels, but it was tolerable. The alarm clock on Ryder's nightstand went, so he walked over and turned it off. Ryder got dressed and headed out the door.

Ryder noticed the others making their way down the hall. They all greeted Ryder as they passed by, Rocky being the last to leave his room. "Good morning, Ryder," Rocky greeted.

"Good morning, Rocky," Ryder replied. "Hey, do you mind helping me with something?"

"Yeah, of course," Rocky said. He followed Ryder into an open floor. There were scraps of metals and other objects lying around.

Ryder showed Rocky the plans he designed. "These are courses I created to help us practice for the battle. Gabriel is allowing us to use this open space and all the stuff we need to make it work. Do you think you can build this course using your power?"

Rocky looked over the plans. "They seemed a little tricky, but I'll try my best. What's great is that we could use all this scrap instead of tossing it."

"Don't lose it," Ryder started, raising his fist.

"Reuse it," Rocky continued, giving Ryder a fistbump. Together, the two men worked to get the course exactly how Ryder pictured it. After an hour, they had the course ready.

"We did it," Rocky said, sitting on the ground. "The course is ready." He took a sigh of relief. Forcing his powers to bend and warp the metals drained Rocky a bit.

"Sorry for making you use so much energy at the beginning of the day."

"Don't be, Ryder," Rocky said. "I enjoyed it."

"This looks amazing," someone called out from the entrance. Ryder and Rocky turned to see the rest of the team walking into the room. They walked around, looking at the separate training courses with admiration and awe.

"This is amazing," Rubble stated.

"It was all thanks to Rocky. I couldn't have done this without him."

"Way to go, Rocky," Chase said. The others nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, this is totally awesome dude," Zuma said.

"This is going to make training so much fun," Skye added.

Rocky couldn't help but smile. He was happy to hear that. "Thank you," he replied.

"Alright, everyone," Ryder said. He signaled them to come closer. "In this course, I made it so that it tests you both physically and mentally. Some parts will be done with powers and other parts without. Some sections will be done alone while others will be done in teams. Some areas will be completed as humans, others as pups, and others as both."

"Both?" Marshall asked.

"I'll explain it when we get to it," Ryder replied. "I won't lie to you. This course may not be the easiest, but my hope is that it helps you prepare to face the villains in a couple of days."

"Let's do this," Rubble exclaimed. The others cheered in agreement.

"Alright, everyone," Ryder said. He watched as Dave, Bruce, Gabriel, and Ainsley entered the area. "Let's get to work."