Equus' Unexpected Future

by Robert Emerald Fountain

Charged

Once Ryder had written down all of the charges that would be pressed, he gave the notepad to Chase who approached Humdinger with a snarl on his face.

“Mayor Humdinger, you are under arrest for attempted murder, arson, invasion, kidnapping, and fleeing.”, he growled.

“What do you have to say for yourself?”, screamed Lizzie.

“I’m sorry and I never should have done this.”, Humdinger replied as he looked everyone in the eye.

“Tell it to the judge!”, yelled Ryder in a sour voice.

“Ryder, I do have one question for you.”, said Humdinger.

“What would that be?”, Ryder asked through gritted teeth.

“Harold and I put out a scanning wave to check for your vital signs after you had crash-landed on Equus, but your signals were not picked up. Why is that?”, Humdinger asked.

“We didn’t get properly strapped into our escape pods, which resulted in us getting banged around. This damaged our bio-monitors to the point that they shorted out. That’s why nothing showed up on your radar.”, said Rocky.

After Humdinger was sprayed with water from Marshall’s fire truck to get the ink out of his clothes, Callie and Marie seized his arms, led him to a cell beside Harold’s, and locked him up for the course of the night. Humdinger and Harold were taken to court the next morning for a hearing. All of Ryder’s new allies served as the jury, while Ryder himself, the pups, and Mayor Goodway were the plaintiffs. The judge’s name was Katherine.

“This hearing will now come to order.”, said Judge Katherine as she tapped the gavel.

After everyone had stated their names, Katherine read off the charges.

“Mayor Humdinger, you and your nephew are charged with attempted murder for trying to eliminate the PAW Patrol, arson for destroying the Lookout, invasion for bringing citizens of Foggy Bottom to Adventure Bay in order to inflict harsh security, kidnapping for capturing Mayor Goodway, and you are also charged with fleeing for trying to run and avoid being arrested. How do you plead?”, asked Katherine.

“Your Honor, we confess to doing everything you have listed off. So we are authorized to plead guilty.”, said Humdinger.

“Very good.”, replied Katherine.

“My uncle and I have done some thinking and we feel that it is proper to perform public service as an apology to the PAW Patrol. We will do so by helping with reconstruction of the Lookout.”, said Harold.

“Permission granted. However, you are still sentenced to life in jail as a consequence for your crimes.”, replied Katherine.

“Understood, Your Honor.”, said Humdinger as he and Harold signed the documents to accept their consequences.

“This hearing is adjourned.”, said Katherine as she tapped the gavel again.