This is the first one I'm writing that comes from my own head. I might stop doing that for a while. It felt weirder writing this one.
In other news, I got my first hater review. I've never had one before. It makes me much happier than it should. From silverwisp1: "Bad story. AU is overrated." Eye opener, that one is. It leaves it so broad and destructive, everyone wants to listen to it immediately.
"ARW," Zuma announced, "what would happen if I was born a giwl?" Ryder pulled the lever, knowing this was the question Marshall made Zuma ask. The pups were unsure what they were about to witness. Given the nature of the question, it could either be hilarious, or disturbing.
"What gave you this idea, Marshall?" Chase asked, finding it strange for his friend to have thought about this ahead of time.
"It was when he said, 'It's the little things like that that girls like,' before." Marshall answered. "It triggered the idea 'What if Zuma was a girl?' in my head,"
"This probably won't be that bad," Skye said, believing that the reality they were going to witness couldn't be too different. The ARW finished calibrating and showed an image of six little pups eating out of three food bowls. Confused as to what they saw, the team looked closer. Upon closer inspection, it was easy to see that the little pups were in front of the lookout and some of the pups looked to be Labradors. Some of the pups were a dark grey and some of them had pointed ears.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Zuma said.
"It's probably not all that bad," Rocky said, trying to reassure his friend.
The pups were sharing their food bowls which were still too large to finish on their own. One of them, a female Labrador with a brown coat and grey paws, looked up from her food toward a brown tail wagging in Zuma's pup house.
"Mommy, aren't you going to eat?" she called out.
"In a minute, Aiyana," a grown female pup said from inside. "I'm trying to pack up some of your father's junk. He's such a slob, sometimes," Aiyana giggled in response, thinking about all the stuff that was laying around the house. She went back to the bowl that she shared with her sister, who was starting to get full.
"Oh, come on!" Zuma exclaimed. "How does being a giwl fix my speech impediment?"
"It might be your Adam's apple," Chase said. "We could get it surgically removed."
"No way," Zuma answered quickly, before asking Rocky. "Whewe's the Adam's apple?"
"It's that bulge on your throat below your jaw," he answered. Zuma felt around under his beck and felt it. Marshall added on.
"It's also unlikely to cause any speech problems," he said matter-of-factly. "Although if you want to be sure, I'll do the surgery myself."
"I'll pass," Zuma said.
"Moving on," Ryder interrupted. "Rocky, do you notice something familiar about the little pups?" Rocky had thought they looked familiar. He just couldn't remember where from.
"You know he'd get mad if you called it junk," another pup, male with all grey fur had said.
"That's because he loves hoarding, Gear," Zuma countered.
"I think he'd prefer the term stockpiling," a familiar voice said from the other side of the house. Zuma peaked her head out from her house and looked to where the voice came from and saw…
"Rocky?!" came the shouts of nearly every pup present. Zuma, however, did not. He was vomiting into a trash can. Once he was done, Rocky pushed him to the side and puked into the trash can as well. Marshall started laughing in the meantime. Once they were both done and sitting down again, Marshall spoke.
"It's not that bad," Marshall said, slightly provoking the two pups.
"Imagine the idea of having pups with your best friend," Rocky said, holding his mouth shut.
"Namely, Chase," Zuma added. Marshall and Chase glanced at each other, and looked back at Rocky.
"Which one of us is the female?" Marshall asked.
"Does it matter?!" Rocky asked incredulously.
"Well you told me to imagine it, so I need to know which one of us I'm imagining." Marshall said.
"It could go different ways depending on who's which," Chase agreed. Rubble, Skye, and Everest smiled. It was clear that they were trolling the pair, who just decided to watch the ARW in silence after that.
Multiple shouts of "Dad!" were heard. Suddenly, six pups rushed and tackled the grey mixed-breed in front of them.
"Children!" he shouted as soon as he hit the ground. All six pups were holding Rocky down, effectively keeping him from moving. Their father laughed, having fun with his offspring. Having been on the ground for long enough, he waved his pups off of him. "Good ambush." he complimented. Lowering his head, he spoke in a whisper. "Have you showed it to Uncle Marshall yet?" The pups shook their heads, giggling at the thought of surprising their uncle with their stealth skills. "You should show him. He always brags about moving quieter than a mouse. Show him what real stealth is," The half-Labradors giggled, knowing it would be fun, before sneaking off to find a Dalmatian. Rocky shook his head, knowing full well that they couldn't catch him off guard, but he'd probably let them.
"It's a good thing you're back," Zuma said, wrapping her paws around his neck, nuzzling him in the process. "Now you can help me pack," Rocky smiled, happy to be together with his girlfriend after a long mission. He walked into the pup house after his mate, knowing there was a lot of stuff in there.
"I still can't believe we're moving out." Rocky said, taping some old broom handles together to more easily keep track of them. "We've been living in these pup houses for so long, it's hard to consider what life will be like without being in them all the time,"
"Wait, we'we moving out?" Zuma asked, disbelieving.
"Are we leaving the PAW Patrol?" Rocky asked, uncertain of what he was watching. All the pups were starting to wonder if they'd be doing the same if they had pups. Would the team be put before their pups? Would the pups come before the team? It's hard to imagine what happens next at that stage.
"Well it's kind of weird for two grown pups and their six pups to live in two small houses anyway," Zuma said, recounting the situation.
"I know," Rocky said, not trying to sound doubtful. "and I am looking forward to finally living under one roof with you and our kids, but it's hard to let go of it still,"
"It's not like you're getting rid of it." Zuma said. "It'll still be parked in front of the lookout, right next to us," Rocky nodded, still packing up his recycled and reusable items.
"It is nice of Ryder and Rubble to help us build a house right here next to the lookout," Rocky added. "I don't think we could handle six pups on our own and keep up our responsibilities to the PAW Patrol anywhere else."
"Okay, we're not leaving," Rocky said. "We're just getting out of the pup houses."
"Ouw pups awe kind of big," Zuma said. He was trying his best to act casual about the pups on the TV, but it still felt weird. "How old do you think they awe? Why did we take so long to move?"
"Building a house can't be done overnight," Rubble said. "It takes a few days just to draw up plans if you want it done completely right," Rubble thought about what he just said. "That rhymes. It can't be done overnight, if you want it done right,"
"That's why he's our construction pup," Chase claimed, knowing Rubble was right.
"And I'd say they're probably a year to a year-and-a-half," Everest answered.
"With so many uncles and aunts here, we could probably have one more," Zuma said, taping a box shut. Rocky stopped and looked at her, raising an eyebrow.
"We both know we wouldn't stop at one," he stated. "And by we, I do mean you," Zuma laughed, knowing it's true.
"Speaking of pups, do you think Chase and-," Zuma's question was interrupted by a lot of high pitched shouts from outside.
"Uncle Riggs!" they had heard, making their ears perk up. Suddenly, a pup with light brown fur and pointed ears had ran into the door. "Mommy, daddy, Uncle Riggs is here!"
"It still amazes me how much space is in these houses," Zuma commented.
"Yeah, they are bigger on the inside," Rocky said, following their daughter, Ginger, to meet with her uncle. Once outside, they saw a big, grey pup, a couple years older than Rocky, playing with their six pups, keeping them from catching by either barely outrunning them, or smoothly jumping over their heads. Once he saw the couple in the corner of his eye, he turned his attention toward them.
"Little Cousin!" he shouted, excited to see his family. Once he did, however, he was distracted for a moment, and five grey and brown blurs tackled him, knocking him off balance. Balancing on two paws, he tried to put himself back on all fours, but the sixth pup, Aqua, who was slightly shorter than the rest with her father's ears and mother's coloring, had joined them and provided that final push to knock their uncle on the ground. "Ah, taken down by pint-sizers again."
"Your cousin is huge!" Rubble said, surprised. "He has to be twice my height, at least,"
"Yeah, he has some giant dog breeds on his father's side," Rocky said. "I've never been sure which ones."
"I'd bet he could bench press all seven of us," Everest said, looking at the pup on the TV.
"More likely, only four," Rocky corrected.
"Right, because bench pressing any four of us is a really small achievement." Chase snarked. Rocky rolled his eyes and back to the screen,"
"And they'll do it each time, Big Cousin." Rocky stated, helping the big pup up. "They get bigger and bigger each time you're here."
"Yeah," Riggs admitted, looking at Rocky. He suddenly put a paw just hovering over Rocky's head. "yet you seem to never get any taller,"
"Well getting taller than you would be mean." Rocky countered, swatting the paw away, "I can't take away the only point you have over me."
"And brains are the only thing you have over me, Little Cousin," Zuma was only giggling at the banter. It usually ended up being the same five or six jokes told in different ways, yet it always entertained her.
"Uncle Riggs," one of the male pups called. He had dark grey fur with brown paws, his ears like his fathers. He even had a spot on his eye, albeit the right eye instead of the left. "Are you going to take us on an adventure again like last time?"
"I wish I had time for another adventure like last time, Ratchet," he said sadly, "but I'm actually only passing through on my way to my new job." Rocky's ears perked up, having not heard of this before.
"You got a new job?" Zuma asked, voicing Rocky's thoughts. Riggs nodded. "Where at?"
"I'm starting at a new wildlife conservation center in Brightside City." he informed the pair. "I was going to let you know, but then it would've ruined the surprise for when I stopped here,"
"What happened to the recycling center?" Rocky asked, knowing his cousin loved that job. By this point, the pups left to play on their own, knowing that the grown pups were talking.
"It was a great job," Riggs admitted, rubbing his head, "but there were already dozens of volunteers all the time. The wildlife conservation center needs more help, so I applied for a position there," Rocky shook his head. As long as he's known him, his cousin could never stay rooted to one place for a long time.
"I hope this place works out for you," Zuma said, cheering on her extended family. Rocky nodded his head in agreement. "So how long are you in town for?"
"I've gotta be at the new job by tomorrow afternoon," he answered. "so, if I leave early tomorrow, I could stay overnight," Rocky looked at a clock in the pup house.
"That gives us about three hours today." he claimed, doing some quick math in his head. "Five if you stay up late."
"It's almost dinner time," Zuma stated. "Let's head to Mr. Porter's and get something to eat."
"Should we invite the team?" Rocky asked.
"Why not?" Riggs said. Before any of them could move, however, the pup tags beeped.
"PAW Patrol to the lookout!"
"Ryder needs us!" the two shouted.
"Riggs, we might be deployed on a mission," Rocky stated. "while we're gone, would you take the kids to dinner?"
"No problem, Little Cousin," he said, saluting the shorter pups. Nodding, the couple ran into the lookout with the rest of the patrol.
(At the lookout)
Skye, Marshall, and Chase were called to city hall to help Chickoletta down from the roof again. The others were asked to wait in reserve and to be ready. Rocky, Zuma, and Rubble were waiting in the lookout, Rubble napping on the ground floor, while the couple were in the lookout, laying on a couple beanbags.
"Do you ever wonder how Chickoletta gets on the roof in the first place?" Zuma asked.
"A couple of times." Rocky answered. "I sometimes picture she jumps on some shape of tree that has a branch just outside of a window and another one that acts as a ramp to the roof."
"But there aren't any trees like that around city hall," Zuma remarked.
"Would a magic tree be that far outside of our realm of possibility?" Rocky countered. "We've seen a magic monkey mask once." Zuma giggled.
"I thought you were a pup of science,"
"Magic is science that we do not yet understand. So, if I don't understand the science behind it, it's magic until proven otherwise. Besides, I still can't figure out how the moon can help merpups turn either of us into merpups as well."
"I still say that was a shared hallucination!" Rocky stated. "Otherwise, they transmuted us using energy from the moon."
"Wocky, will you get over it?" Zuma complained. "It happened. To you. Why awe you so doubtful?"
"I'm a pup of science. I don't believe in magic."
"Right, only ghosts," Skye pointed out.
"One time and you're marked for life," Rocky complained.
"Wait, you believe that happened now?" Rocky nodded.
"Being with you has made me believe in magic," he said, making her blush. Not knowing what to say, she leaned in and kissed her mate. It was a short kiss, but the emotion wasn't dampened at all.
"You still have the corniest lines," she snarked, pulling away.
"Corny, maybe, but they still work on you,"
"Only for you," Zuma said, making Rocky smile.
"Oh, really?" he said, slightly mischievous. "Marshall didn't need to use any on you?" Zuma rolled her eyes.
"No, he has a couple of other assets that worked for him." Zuma countered. "Will you stop bringing it up? One Christmas party before we were even dating, and you bring it up every chance you get."
"You bring up the time I asked Skye out," Rocky remarked.
"That happened only a week before we started dating. I'm still not a hundred percent sure I'm not the rebound girl." She looked away, smirking.
"If you ever need reassurance, you could look at your paw from now on," Rocky stated. Zuma was confused until she turned around. Rocky had a little black box in his jaw, opened with a diamond anklet. "Zuma, will you marry me?" Zuma's eyes widened, unsure of what to say.
"Why would you bring up her hooking up with Marshall before proposing?" Chase asked.
"It doesn't seem like something I'd do," Rocky said, curious. Suddenly, the video was replaced with an image of Zuma.
"You'we wight, it wasn't." the ARW said. "However, it did happen, and I found it funny, so I edited this weality video, so it would be bwought up." All the pups looked at the image of Zuma in front of them.
"Assuming you're the ARW," Ryder said. "Are you going to stop videos to say something to us a lot?"
"Only when thewe's something to say," the image of Zuma left, cutting back to the scene.
"That's gonna be annoying," Everest said, with all the pups agreeing. Rocky thought about something else in his head for a moment.
"Assuming the time period in this is the same as here," he recalled, "That would mean me and Zuma had dated for two years."
"How do you know that?" Chase asked.
"It's been that long since I turned him down," Skye said. Chase perked his head up. However, this time he kept his jealousy in check.
"You're pretty picky when it comes to guys, huh?" he quipped. She smirked.
"Just waiting for the right pup," she said.
"Now quiet," Rocky said. "I wanna see what she says," While he wasn't comfortable with the idea of Zuma as a mate, he was able to separate himself and his best friend from the pair of the TV.
"Of course, I will!" Zuma said calmly, although only barely containing her excitement. Smiling, Rocky slipped the anklet around her paw, carefully sized so it wouldn't fall off. Once it was on, that was all Zuma could take. She lunged at Rocky and planted a kiss directly on his lips, wrapping her front paws around him. Once she pulled back, she looked him in the eyes, feeling all the love for her boy… fiancé. Suddenly, the realization hit. "I'm engaged." She breathed, disbelievingly. Slipping out of her grasp, Rocky stood to his paws and guided her to the elevator, the shock not fully worn off yet. Once it did, however, excitement took over. "I'm engaged. We have to tell everybody!" Rocky continued to grin.
"I'm on it," he affirmed. Once they reached the bottom of the lookout, the lights were off and the room was dark. "She said yes, everyone," The lights turned on and the entirety of the PAW Patrol was in the living room. Riggs and the kids were there as well.
"Congratulations!" they all shouted at once. Clearly, they had been rehearsing. The room was decorated as a generic party. Still, it was nice to see that they cared enough to be there.
"The rescue was a cover up," Rocky said. "They get called while I propose. In secret, they prepare down here,"
"There's also a rented pool set up outside," Ryder claimed. Hearing this, Zuma gasped and ran outside. Sure enough, there was a pool about four feet high and fifteen feet across in a circle. Without hesitation, she ran up a set of stairs that was prepared and jumped in. She loved swimming, no matter how shallow the water was. Before she rose back to the surface, there was another splash hitting the water. When she looked toward it, a grey head popped out of the water.
"It's always great to see you swim," Zuma said, hugging Rocky. Two more blurs, one of brown and one of grey, jumped in. "Serena and Finn seem to agree." Serena, the light grey pup, having features that matched her mother rose above the water, nodding her head. Finn rose out, climbing on his dad's back. While his legs were a dark grey, the rest of his body was brown.
"I'll nevew undewstand how you don't like watew, daddy," he said, jumping off his father, back into the water. Aiyana, Ratchet, and Ginger soon joined in, but Gear opted to stay out of the pool. Rocky noticed, and dismissed himself from the pool. Skye took his place, doing a backflip from the stairs into the pool.
"Hey, Gear," Rocky said, walking up to his child while drying himself off as much as he could with a towel. "Feel like watching cartoons with the guys and me?" Gear's ears perked up and nodded rapidly. Riggs and the other guys followed him inside, turning on the TV to pre-recorded episodes of Apollo the Super Pup.
Skye and Zuma were sitting at the edge of the pool, talking about the events of today.
"I can't believe you're engaged!" Skye exclaimed.
"How do you think I feel?" Zuma responded, looking at the anklet on her front paw. She looked at the group of boys watching the TV. Ryder had joined them as well. "Speaking of which, do you think you'll ever tie the knot with you-know-who?" Skye blushed, looking at the group of boys. They were all watching the TV, with the exception of Riggs, who was giving Rocky a playful noogie.
"I don't know," she answered. "We just started dating-"
"A few months ago," Zuma interjected.
"Yeah, but I never pictured marrying him." Skye said.
"You're lying," Zuma accused. "You've pictured it for a lot longer than that,"
"Yeah," a voice came from behind the pool. They looked over the edge, and Everest was standing there. "you even told me that you hope to get married in the lookout."
"Hey, Everest," Zuma greeted, "jump in," Everest nodded and got into the water from the stairs.
"What about you and-" Skye said to Everest, before she was cut off.
"I'm thinking either the beach at sunset," she said, cutting off Skye's question. "Or make everyone dress in extra warm clothing so we can get married where we first met." Skye was surprised. Clearly her friend had thought this through.
"Everest, you know I love you," Skye stated, "but if you get married in the arctic, there's no way I can be your bridesmaid,"
"That stinks, because if I know that pup well, then he'd love that idea much more," Zuma said.
"You really wouldn't come to my wedding if it was in the arctic?" Everest asked, hurt. Skye looked at her.
"No, I was probably kidding." she answered. "You've seen me play in the snow before."
"What I want to know is why I haven't heard any names at all," Chase said, frustrated. "They brought up my name and Everest's and Skye's but they have not mentioned who their with."
"Maybe the ARW is trolling us," Marshall guessed. That sounded ridiculous for a moment, but they wouldn't put it past the ARW.
Once the party was over, all the pups went to their houses. Riggs was headed toward the lookout to sleep, but Rocky stopped him.
"I need you to take my kids and watch a movie with them," he said.
"I don't know, Rocky," Riggs said uncertainly. "I still have a bit of a trip to make tomorrow and it's a little late.
"It's code blue, crossed with a code yellow, Big Cousin," Rocky said, knowing that would work. Riggs' eyes widened, and he sighed.
"What does that mean?" Marshall asked, looking at Rocky. When he did, though, he saw Rocky standing by the trash can, looking green.
"Code blue means I need some privacy." Rocky answered. "Code yellow means there's a girl involved." It took the others a second before they put the two dots together.
"Say no more, Little Cousin," he answered, "please, say no more." He came over to the pups, who were playing in the front. "Hey, before we go to sleep, your dad says it's alright for you to stay up late and watch a movie with me." The pups stopped and cheered, running in the lookout. Rocky turned to Zuma, who had a gleam in her eyes.
"It's our engagement night," she said.
"Our kids are distracted with their uncle," Rocky added, heading toward Zuma's pup house.
"Whatever shall we do with the free time?" She followed him in and shut the door behind her.
The ARW turned off, signaling the end of the video.
"I am so glad it didn't show that," Zuma said, relieved.
"It could've been worse," Marshall said.
"Yeah, but it was weird, thinking that Zuma looks pretty as a girl," Rocky said before he could stop himself.
"What?" Zuma said, looking at his best friend. "You actually thought I was pwetty?"
"He wasn't the only one," Rubble said, defending Rocky.
"Objectively speaking, you were really cute on the screen," Chase admitted. Zuma looked between his friends, before burying his head in his paws.
"I'm not suwe how I feel about this," he said, keeping his head down.
"Anyway, it's my turn," Rubble said, walking up to the machine. "ARW, what would happen if…"
This idea was better in my head. However, I committed to it, so I wrote it. It's inspired by the fact that the Brazilian dub has Marshall and Zuma as females. I considered having both of them, but I scrapped that idea. This story had a couple major plot changes. I almost had Riggs and four of the kids get lost in a cave. And almost made Marshall trick Zuma into puking on his own pup house. I never really know where these stories are headed until I'm writing the twist. As in, the proposal popped into my head while I was writing it. Not more than thirty words before.
Anyway, I would like to thank SharpDragonKlaw for the use of his OC, Riggs. Please tell me if I had him out of character or misrepresented him at all.