Author's Notes (reading very recommended):
This fanfic is divided in three parts, each one having a different perspective and featuring different characters.
Team M: Marshall, Skye and Tracker.
Team R: Rocky, Zuma, and Robo-Dog.
Team C: Chase, Rubble, and Everest.
In all of these three parts, the POV will be the narrator's.
These story 'parts' will occur simultaneously in the story. This means that Chapter 1 of Team C will happen at the same time as Chapter 1 of Team R and Chapter 1 of Team M; the same applies with Chapter 2, and so on. Currently, you are in the Team C part of the story.
This also means that the chapters that feature two or three of the Teams will appear on their respective parts. This very first chapter features all three of them, so it will be on the three parts. However, there will be differences on each part depending on the part you're on. These differences can range from just one word, to entire paragraphs, so it is recommended to read all of the parts despite having repeated chapters.
In this AU fanfic none of the characters know each other, except for Marshall and Skye, who happen to be childhood friends. Rubble and Tracker also are acquaintances, but nothing more than that.
Since this fic was written before Tracker officially debuted on the TV Series, his personality and traits might be a bit off, although I guess it's going to be okay since most of the characters' personalities will be very different.
Disclaimers: Story based on the Zero Escape game series. Cast based from PAW Patrol. Both of which I do not own.
[C] DISPERSION [1]
It was too dark to see anything clearly, but it could be assumed that this was quite a small room, with a large barred door from which a light from a lamp could be seen.
The floor felt very cold and uncomfortable, like if it was made from pure, cold iron. Inside this very small room, three dog puppies were inside, two of them which were asleep.
The only one who was awake just woke up a minute ago. He was a German Shepherd, with honey colored eyes, and fur coloration that makes one remember of a chocolate and cookie sweet. The dog did a quick search to the room. He seemed to be trapped in this metallic room, judging by the grate that separated this room to a circular room, connecting another two rooms that seemed to be like prison cells, and a dark, long hallway.
The two dogs who were asleep were most likely a cookie creamed colored bulldog and a lavender colored Husky. The bulldog's snort was what made the Shepherd wake up. They didn't seem like they would wake up soon.
His pointy ears noticed a grunt noise coming from outside, making him take a look.
Upon close inspection, it seemed that two of the dogs from the left have just waken up. He could easily identify the race of the one with brown fur – a Labrador, but that was another story with the grey dog with orange eyes and a darker fur patch on his left eye. That dog seemed to be a mutt.
"Come ooooon...!" The Labrador was grunting while trying to pry open a hole so he could escape from where they were kept in, panting in exhaustion after stopping for a while. The Shepherd could see his greenish yellow eyes open for some seconds before trying to open it again. Just then the German Shepherd noticed his rather strange accent. "Just a little mowe!"
The dog that was sitting alongside the brown dog, looking down, gave a long sigh. "It won't work." Rolling his sunset colored eyes, he explained. "This is reinforced steel I presume. It won't budge that easily."
The Shepherd tilted his head in confusion when the mutt mentioned that inside that cell, a rather special entity accompanied both dogs. "I don't even think that robot can help us."
The German Shepherd thought that was a bit strange. He thought of that for a few seconds what could that robot be. He presumed it to be a dog due to the circumstances he is currently in.
Whatever the case, he showed his face to the puppies that were to his left. Both seemed quite startled by his presence.
"Just how many pups awe thewe?" Asked the chocolate Labrador.
"From the looks of it, nine pups in total" The German answered his question. "Three in my cell, three in your cell, and I presume there are other three in that one."
Gazing at the right prison cell, a black and white spotty dog, also known as a Dalmatian, suddenly appeared from behind the bars, staring curiously at the Labrador with his icy blue eyes.
"Uh, what's wrong with your voice?" That's what the pup said from his seemingly higher in pitch than normal for a male dog voice "And yes, we are nine in total."
The Labrador bit his lip. "Well… I kinda have a speech impediment, so..." The mutt quickly responded, interrupting him. "Rhoticism, right? It's when you can't pronounce the R sound. Most of the times it sounds like if it were to be an W sound." The chocolate dog did nothing but speechlessly nod to him, with a surprised look.
There was a bit of silence, which gave enough time for the Shepherd to take a look behind and see that his roommates were already awake. The bulldog was grunting, wondering what was going on, and the Husky had a rather sad look, being a little homesick and quite afraid, despite her confident look.
A Cockapoo from the same cell as the Dalmatian appeared and broke the silence with a sentence quite familiar to the Husky's ears. "Maybe we should introduce ourselves, so we can know a bit about each other..." She put one of her paws to her chest, in a way of introducing herself. "My name is Skye. What are your names?"
One by one, the identities of each of the pups were revealed, apart from the ones from the room where Marshall, Skye and Tracker were.
The German Shepherd's name was Chase, and his roommates were the buff yet young bulldog named Rubble and the lavender Husky named Everest. She had quite a cold look in her deep blue eyes.
The Dalmatian was named Marshall, and the third dog that was held captive on the same cell as him and Skye was named Tracker. He was a Chihuahua which seemed to be Mexican, apparently he could speak both English and Spanish.
Finally, the grey mutt introduced himself as Rocky, and the chocolate Labrador as Zuma. However, it seemed like the robot dog -which confirmed Chase's previous suspicions- wouldn't answer.
"What about you, wobot dog?" Zuma decided to ask the robot himself. "What's youw name?"
The robot made a beeping sound that could be heard from Marshall's room, which sounded to be like if it were to be 'processing' what he heard. In a matter of two seconds, some sounds could be heard from his bark. "Robo-Dog", he said. "Call me Robo, please."
There was a bit of an unsettling silence for a while, which made it easier for every pup to hear the footsteps coming from a hallway that connected to the prison vault. They seemed like footsteps from a human. "Oh, oh! Are we going to get rescued?" said Skye with a joyful smile.
However, the human's voice destroyed that positive thought. "Unfortunately, that's the wrong answer. Actually, I'm your enemy."
The bulldog, who had been silent all this time, spoke with a loud and low bark. "Who the hell are you?!"
It was hard to tell the gender of the human because they were wearing a dark robe with a theater 'laughter' mask. After hearing their voice, Chase got the suspicion that his voice had been distorted in order to keep the gender hidden.
"You may call me Y. And I'll be your host of The Game." All of the pups were very confused. What did they mean?
Only Chase was brave enough to speak. "What game?", he replied in a very serious tone. The masked human took a few seconds governed by silence to answer. He then showed a coin that was hidden under his sleeve.
"Twenty-three days ago, a man was killed. As a result, a dog was falsely convicted to the murder and consequently sacrificed, his lawyer would later kill herself after realizing her mistake. A taxi driver had an accident along with his passenger, a vet surgeon. The puppy who awaited a critical operation also perished. The vet, due to his negligence, started a fire at his apartment, killing five people, including himself. Why did these nine people die? Because of a puppy. A single solitary puppy caused the deaths of nine people. Life is simply unfair; don't you think?"
Everyone was speechless. Nothing that the masked person just pouted out made any sense. Almost everyone who were close to the door tilt their heads in deep confusion. Chase tried to quickly analyze what he just told, but he couldn't grasp it completely before Y spoke up again.
"Today, the truth of these unfortunate events will be revealed, justice will finally be made, and the future will be decided. All of this will happen in The Game."
Despite Y's declaration, the pups still didn't understand what was going on, or what they've just heard, not even Chase. However, one thing was clear to them: They were going to play a game with the person who kidnapped them, and it would start very soon. Plus, the Shepherd wondered about the relationships between the events he could memorize and The Game.
"I'll explain the rules of The Game now." The masked man announced as he showcased the white coin to everyone who was looking. The only ones who didn't see the coin were Robo and Everest; they weren't looking at the perpetrator, who after a few seconds proceeded to throw the coin.
The metal coin spun fast in the air, causing it to reveal its two sides. One was the white side that every pup could see. The other, which remained unknown to them, was black. With such spinning, it seemed like both colors were overlaying each other, forming a dark shade of gray. Black and white, imposing each other on each side, like light and darkness, but like a yin-yang, their destiny depended on each other.
Nevertheless, after the edge of the coin hit the floor, bouncing just one time, the man in black stepped on top of the spinning coin to stop it, hiding it under his foot.
"It is not possible to know which side was up and which one was down. But you can take a guess – in fact, you must take a guess." Said the evil human. "If you guess right, you will win the game and I will set you free."
That was very confusing, but very comforting. Marshall and Skye sighed of relief.
However, Chase thought he could be lying. "Are you serious you'll make me believe that?" He lowly growled.
Y looked at Chase, the latter startled a bit. It was impossible to figure out the emotion behind Y's look, as it was completely hidden by the mask. The mask made them seem to be lifeless, emotionless, hopeless.
"You would sleep for twenty-three minutes and twenty-four seconds. After that, you would wake up back at the lookout in Adventure Bay as if nothing happened."
That was a very specific statement. Chase still had his doubts, but he was interrupted by Rocky when he was about to ask. "So what if we guess wrong? What if we lose?"
There was a short silence, but Y gave an emotionless response. "The game will not end until at least six of you die."
Everyone except Robo and Chase gasped. Marshall bit his lower lip very hard, while Rocky and Skye had a very shocked expression on their eyes. Chase, being brave, maintained his serious look, whilst Robo's look was still lifeless. The masked man called Y opened his arms wide open. Chase thought he saw something inside the sleeve where the kidnapper didn't hide the coin, but he stopped thinking about it when the dark figure asked:
"So, what it will be? Will it be white? Or black?"
The pups started arguing. Zuma, Marshall and Rubble took a wild guess right away and said their preferred option: "It's black!", "No, it's going to be white!", "It'll be white!"
Rocky, Skye and Tracker said that it was very risky, that there was a 50% chance of guessing right. Chase, Everest and Robo merely didn't say anything.
Y stopped the argument, taking the attention again, by yelling the name of a certain dog.
"Chase. What's it going to be?" Y asked. "You will choose for the entire team. You have to."
Chase sat down, startled. He wondered why did he have to decide, instead of choosing by majority. He could hear Marshall yelling at him "Choose white!", as well as Zuma's voice yelling "Choose black!". All of the pups started quarreling again, which didn't make the situation better.
The Shepherd started looking frenetically at all dogs, his fur becoming wet from the crazy amounts of sweat, and his heart racing so strong that he thought for a second that it was going to overload and stop. He looked rapidly at both trios from the other sides.
What he should do? Black, or white? Whatever he chose, it was a fifty-fifty situation, each color would have the same chances of being the one on top. White, or black? Light, or dark side?
After thinking for a while, he thought of both colors. So opposite, yet they seem to tag along perfectly. But one color seemed to be purer, more hopeful, more... Likely to bring happiness to all pups.
Chase finally had found an answer.
"...White."
The pups stopped quarreling, now deeply looking at him. He felt like thousands of eyes were directly gazing at him. Marshall didn't quite hear his answer: "Sorry, what?" He asked.
"...It's going to be white!" Chase yelled with determination and authority. He started clenching his teeth. It was his final answer.
All of the pups now gazed at Y's foot. What they felt in a matter of seconds, which felt like minutes, were huge waves of pure fear and tension, despairingly hoping for the white side of the coin to be up. Their hearts were racing like they had never experienced. They were sweating heavily. Except for Robo, who was just emitting some smoke, apparently his body temperature was rising heavily.
There was just a fifty percent chance that the shiny, light white side of the coin would be up. At first it seemed like a very high chance of that they would guess it right. However, now that Chase gave an answer, that number seemed to be very small. It seemed like it would be more likely that the cold and dark black side of the coin would be up. Despite that, Chase still believed the odds were 1:1. It was very likely they would win.
Every pup in the metallic cell rooms felt like their heart skipped a beat when the foot of the dark man started revealing the coin…
The side that was up... was, indeed, black.
It seemed like time returned back to normal. Rocky, Zuma and Tracker gave out a huge gasp, with shocked eyes. Marshall had a somewhat grossed-out kind of look, like he couldn't accept what happened. Rubble and Skye deeply stared at Chase, with a very angered expression. The German Shepherd looked down, with a very guilty expression. Everest looked sad after hearing the dogs' reaction. Robo started beeping, like he was yelping in shock.
"Damn you, Chase!" The bulldog Rubble cursed the Shepherd, hitting his back paws on the floor.
"Don't blame him!" Rocky objected to Rubble. "There was a 50% of chance of getting it right. We were just… Unlucky."
Silence, again, apart from the constant beeps of Robo. Rubble, annoyed, let out a huge roar. "Tell that iron dog to shut the fuck up!"
The beeps were gone. One second after that, Y finally spoke again.
"You have lost the coin toss. Therefore, The Game will continue until at least six of you are dead." The masked man revealed from the sleeve where the coin was not hidden in, a remote with a yellow button. Chase did expect he had something hiding there. "Now, it is time for you to sleep. When next you wake, I will keep explaining the rules of The Game."
Marshall extended one paw, passing through the metallic gate, but it was way too short to reach the masked man's legs. Despite that, he yelled. "W-wait! This can't be over ye-"
A click could be heard. That evil masked man pushed the yellow button. Half a second after that, he mentioned his last words before turning back, heading straight to the dark hallway.
"Sleep well, pups."
Hissing sounds came from above the center of the room. It looked like it was coming from a circular hole that no puppy had noticed before, at the ceiling of the circular center room.
Suddenly, Chase, Rubble and Everest started feeling tired. Their legs shook, feeling weak. "Sleeping... Gas...?" mentioned Chase.
"Is there... Such a thing...?" Exhausted, Everest seemed like she wouldn't last long. "We have to... Resist..." But she couldn't, and fell asleep.
Chase's eyelids started to close, but he had enough strength to hold them open for quite a bunch of time. He was still looking down.
Rubble was right: By choosing incorrectly, by just bad luck, he had sentenced at least six of the prisoner dogs to death. There was a probability of two in three that he could be among the casualties, at best. There could be more. At worst, everyone would die.
"Fuck... Must... Not... Sleep...!" The bulldog eventually stopped grunting, apparently he had succumbed to slumber.
Subsequently, the Labrador followed, stretching one of his paws, trying to reach Y even though he was already gone. "D-damn you, Y..." Those were his last words before falling asleep.
When Chase eventually looked back to the other rooms, it seemed like everyone had already fallen asleep. He was the only one awake.
He collapsed to the floor, with his paws no longer being strong enough to handle the body weight. Then the Shephard had an idea.
"R... Ro... bo...!" He yelled with all of his remaining strength, hoping that the robot would have not been affected by the sleeping gas.
But there was no answer from the robot. When he was about to enter to the world of dreams, a though came to his mind.
Why did he thought... That the coin would... Indeed... Display black?
