AN: Hey everyone, last update of the year for fanfiction. The rest of 2020 is going to be focused on spending the holidays with my family. In 2021, January, you'll see Zuma's Courage update. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year for you guys
Disclaimer: I do not own Paw Patrol
They say it takes one moment for you to see your whole world come crashing down and for Marshall it had just happened. Ryder, his owner, the one who had raised him for so long and had become a father figure not just to him, but all the dogs around him, was dead. One of the hardest lessons you had to learn as a Rescue Dog was the reality that there was a chance you or your team could die during a rescue. It had never happened before, but there had been close chances. Marshall always figured that if one of them was going to die it would be doing something heroic or noble. But Ryder hadn't died in a noble sacrifice, or peacefully in his sleep, or even with a smile on his face like he accepted this.
No, he died in fear and in terror. His remains scattered in a bloody mess across the grass with his organs in pieces. Bile began to form its way out of Marshall's mouth before he let it out in a barf. He wasn't the only one to do so as Rocky and Rubble did the same thing. Skye was still screaming with tears in her eyes while Zuma looked ready to faint. And Chase...Chase was pale and just staring at the remains of his owner with wide eyes that seemed too shocked to cry.
Spitting out the last of his barf, while wiping the tears from his eyes, Marshall stared at the smirking...monster that was looking at their suffering as if it was amusement for him. For the first time, Marshall now knew what true evil was like and realized they were doomed from the start.
"Well, now that that's out of the way," the snow haired demon in human skin said as he gently pushed off some of Ryder's brain matter off his shirt. "We can now-"
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Rubble shouted in rage as he rushed forward towards the murderer. "I'll FUCKING KILL YOU!"
"Rubble! No!" Skye and Marshall both screamed, but it was too late. The youngest of them was already foaming with rage as tears dripped down his eyes. He was rushing towards the powerful being with no other care except to rip him apart. Never before had any of them seen the sweet and gentle bulldog suddenly explode with hate like this.
He attempted to dive at the monster with his jaw wide open, but suddenly Rubble found himself stopped in mid air. He blurted out blood from his mouth before slowly looking down to see four sharp nails of ice, extending from the now ice crystals hand of the human, going right through his chest.
"Rubble!" Everyone shouted in horror before they saw the pup slowly dragged closer to the snow haired human.
Despite all the pain he was going through, Rubble was still alive, if barely, and struggling to keep his eyes open while staring at the smirking human. "Brave. But foolish. Allow me to show you why."
Slowly, the human-like being began to transform before their very eyes. His skin started to slowly become less like flesh and more like actual ice with a spike emanating from his body. His size began to increase as did his muscles and weight. A demonic tail of ice emerged along with frozested bone-like wings from his back that chilled the air with each flap. His face morphed into a more devilish like form, similar to what Marshall believed all devils looked in, with horns coming out and impish eyes with soulless black voids appearing that looked more cold then any ice could be.
Marshall was too frightened to piss himself, but he could already smell Zuma and Rubble doing so in an instant. The dogs, save for a scared and screaming Rubble, all began to slowly back away as their instincts were finally kicking in and telling them to run.
Chase, finally snapping out of it, shouted, "Everyone run!"
Marshall barely turned his head just before the demonic ice demon bit off Rubble's head and he took off with the others. At first, they tried to make for the vehicles nearby, but that plan was ruined when large spikes of ice emerged and went right through them. Cursing, he found himself running besides Skye and Chase while Rocky and Zuma went off in another direction. He knew that there was nothing to be done for the now deceased bulldog, but that didn't stop Marshall from mourning him within his heart. First Everest, then Ryder, and now Rubble.
Who was going to be next?
"Get to the cars! Move move move!" Chase shouted as he led them to their respective vehicles.
Skye was the first to get to her chopper and quickly took off while Marshall and Chase got into the police car and took off. Marshall didn't even dare look behind him, he just held onto his seat as Chase pushed his paw to the pedal full on. Marshall nearly felt himself getting sick again as they drove faster than ever.
"C-Chase...R-Rubble...R-Ryder..."
"Not now, Marshall!" Chase shouted, but his tone indicated he was just as heartbroken as the Dally. "We need to focus on getting out of here alive!" He then activated his pup tag. "Skye! Get out of here! You can make a faster distance than us!"
"No! I'm not leaving you two! I don't want to lose-SHIT!" Marshall looked up and saw Skye's chopper had suddenly turned to ice from a blast that came out of nowhere. The propellers soon froze in place as the chopper began to free fall. "I'm going down! Mayday! Mayday!"
"Skye!" Both Chase and Marshall shouted as the chopper suddenly fell down to a different part of the woods. Chase immediately
made a turn for it and Marshall hoped that she would be okay.
They were all going to die.
That was all Rocky could think about in his head as he continued to run with Zuma right behind him. He knew this plan wasn't going to work, deep down in his heart, he knew this was a bad idea. He hated it when he was right. Now Ryder, Rubble, and Robodog were dead. He didn't know if the others were alive, and if he and Zuma didn't find a way out of the forest they were going to be getting halos as well.
Rocky had never been a praying dog before but right now he was praying that someone up there was going to save them. He turned to Zuma who had practically peed himself in fear and looked one step away from having a heart attack. A feeling the mixed-breed didn't blame him for.
"Keep running, Zuma!" Rocky shouted, trying to encourage his best friend. "We have to keep running!"
"W-What about the others?! ARe they dead too?! Are we going to die?!" Zuma screamed in terror as he began to cry. "I don't want to die, Rocky! I don't want to die!"
"We're not going to die! We just need to-" Rocky was interrupted when he felt his instincts telling him to jump away. He did so and in his place was an ice cicles the side of his entire body that nearly speared him in the head. "Run!"
The two continued to run faster as more ice attacks from behind followed them. They dogs yelped as not only the spikes fell from the sky, but some were summoned from the ground as the entire forest became a frosty nightmare. Some were so close to getting them that the two dogs got scraps and cuts on their bodies that started drawing blood. If Rocky made out of this he was never going to look at snow the same way ever again.
Their efforts to keep running eventually had them heading towards a cliff where below them was a large body of water. For once, Rocky didn't care if he had to get wet. It was better than ending up dead. "We're going to have to jump!"
"Right!" Zuma shouted as the two got closer to the ledge. Just as they jumped two ice like arrows made for the two. In mid-air, they found their targets.
Rocky screamed as he felt his right foreleg get nearly blown off from the blow alone as he felt a chill that went down to the deepest part of his body. His bones felt like they had frostbite and his blood was turned ice cold. Despite this, he focused on making his way to the water and crashed hard into it with a splash.
Despite his ribs bruised from the impact, and his one arm bleeding profoundly, Rocky still found the strength to swim up back to the surface. Gasping for air, he shook his head and spat out water while trying to ignore the fact he was wet. "Zuma!" He gasped as he looked around, but couldn't find his best friend. "Zuma?! Where are you?!"
Then he saw something floating in the water. A brown figure laying on its stomach...with an ice arrow in its back.
"No...nonononononono!" Rocky shouted as he swam faster than he ever did in his life towards Zuma's limp body. He grabbed him by the teeth and began kicking for shore despite the burning pain in his legs.
Upon reaching the shore, he flipped Zuma onto his back and grabbed the arrow with his teeth. Despite the freezing pain, Rocky was able to pull it out and toss it aside where it soon turned into water seconds afterwards. "Zuma! Speak to me! Anything!" Rocky begged as he turned the lab onto his back. He gasped upon seeing the arrow had managed to even go through the chest. While he wasn't an expert in anatomy, he knew that several vital areas of Zuma had been hit, including the heart.
"R-Rocky..." Zuma whispered, blood coming out of his nose and mouth. "It..It h-h-hurts..."
"Don't talk...just...I...I don't know..." Rocky bit his lip as tears began to leak out of his eyes. He didn't know what to do and he didn't have anything to stop the bleeding.
"Rocky...I...I..." Zuma slowly began to close his eyes before his chest started dying down.
"N-No! Zuma! Don't close your eyes! Don't you dare close your eyes!"
Rocky sobbed as he felt Zuma look at him one last time before going limp on the ground, his final breath leaving his lungs. With a wail as loud as he could give, Rocky screamed and hugged his best friend as he begged him to come back, but his words went unanswered.
Marshall had a bad feeling. He didn't know why but something in his heart hurt and he had a feeling it had to do with either Rocky or Zuma or maybe even both. His thoughts were distracted when he and Chase spotted the crash remains of Skye's chopper near a clearing. Parking with a tight skid, Chase rushed out and started crying out his girlfriend's name over and over as Marshall got out right behind him.
They spotted Skye, her back against a large rock as she winced in pain from her broken and bleeding rear legs. A trail of blood from the ruined chopper to the rock could be seen from where she crawled. Chase was right by her side, quickly licking her legs as a means to help while Marshall rushed over and analyzed the damage.
"We need to take her to the hospital, fast!" Marshall shouted.
"Leave me...Find the others...get out of here..." Skye gasped, wincing in pain as both of her friends tried helping her up.
"I'm not leaving you, Skye!" Chase shouted as he helped her towards his car. "We're going to get married. Have kids. I'll take you anywhere you want in the world, even away from here!"
"Just hang on, Skye," Marshall said. "We just need to-"
The vehicle exploding interrupted Marshall as the three were blown away by the explosion. Grunting, Marshall shook his head before gasping in horror. Walking through the flames was the icy demon himself with a sinister smile on his face. ...This is it. We're doomed.
"Quite a boring chase you've given me, but don't worry. You will soon join your friends soon enough," the ice demon muttered.
Gulping, Marshall soon got up and stepped forward, putting himself before the demon and his best friends. "Stop! I'm Marshall! I'm the one you want! Kill me if you want, but let the others go!"
"Oh brother," the ice demon said, rolling his eyes. "Do you really honestly think that's going to work on me? Begging to be killed instead? Please, I see no reason not to. Other than that it might be fun. Like this."
With a snap of his fingers, Marshall felt his heart stop upon hearing a scream of pain followed by Chase shouting in both rage and despair. Slowly turning around, he saw another ice cicle, large enough to skewer a boar, and been summoned...right under Skye. Her paws were limp as her lifeless eyes stared into the sky as her entire chest was busted open by the spike of ice coming right through her chest, slowly decorating it blood red.
Chase, screaming and howling with his paws against the ice, cried out Skye's name over and over again as her blood dripped down upon his face. His best friend, his brother, soon fell to the ground, sobbing like a child as he covered his face with his paws.
Another friend lost. Another one killed for no reason. His parents. Everest. Jake. Ryder. Rubble. Rocky. Zuma. Skye. How many more was he going to lose to these...these...
"...fuck you..." Marshall muttered as she began to shake with rage, his eyes closed to hold back the tears.
"Hmm? What?" the ice demon asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Fuck you..."
"Sorry, one more time?"
And then something inside him snapped.
"FUCK YOU!" Marshall screamed as his pendant began to shine bright green. Both Chase and the icy demon's eyes widened as green fire began to engulf Marshall. He continued to scream so loud that it echoed across the forest as the burning energy continued to swirl around him.
The ice demon, sensing danger, threw another ice attack him but to his shock it melted upon touching the flames. "The fuck?!"
"RRRAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Marshall screamed as the flames rushed forward, forming the head of a giant wolf like being and opened its jaws.
Before he could do anything, the ice demon felt the burning rage from the flames as they slammed into him, causing him to scream in pain. He was dragged across the clearing and into a bunch of three that caught on fire thanks to the green flames. Marshall, in his fury, continued to shout, "I'll fucking kill you all! I will hunt every fucking demon and send you all straight back to Hell! I swear on my parents graves! I swear on Ryder's soul! I swear on everyone of my friends that have been killed! I WILL HAVE JUSTICE IN THEIR NAME!"
"You...little...bastard!" The ice demon screamed as he got up as parts of his skin started melting. His eyes were enraged with blue fire as he shouted. "The only one who will die is you! You little-"
Sensing danger, the blue demon summoned a shield of ice just as a set of missiles rained down on him. To both dogs surprise, these actually caused a fiery explosion that melted the ice and pushed the demon back. Growling, he tried to look for the one who attacked him only to find him landing from the ground with such an impact it caused ripples throughout the earth.
Shocked by the surprise entrance, Marshall's fury began to subside as the green flames around him died down. "T-Travis?!"
Travis, wielding his Navan Armor Suit, stood between Marshall and the demon with his axe ready for action. "You're fight is with me, Demon."
The ice demon, growling, stared at Marshall and Travis before lifting himself up. "I don't like surprises nor do I take risks I can't fully analyze. I'll take my leave for now, but I will return to finish my contract. So sleep with one eye open, Marshall."
"Wait!" Marshall screamed but the demon had disappeared in a flurry of snow and left nothing around.
Travis, slowly relaxed his guard, and turned to Marshall who just stood there in stunned silence. He stared at Chase who was just looking at the corpse of Skye in depressing silence while Marshall slowly sat down and began to take deep breaths. "I...Ryder...everyone..."
Closing his eyes, the full weight of everything finally hit Marshall as he reared his head back and screamed.
For the death of his best friends.
For the death of his owner.
For the death of Paw Patrol.
