Marshall's ambulance pulled up to the beach next to the bay, just in time to spot Zuma and Ryder arrive with the Flounder.
Chase smiled at his owner, but seemed to be a bit confused. The Shepherd looked around for a little while as Ryder stepped onto shore to guide the Flounder onto the beach. It appeared as though he was looking for something... Or someone.
"Chase, Marshall!" Zuma grinned, running over after bringing the Flounder to shore, "You're just in time, dudes!"
"Just in time? What do you mean–?" Marshall went to climb out of his seat before landing on the ground face first, "...I'm good."
"Turbot was pretty banged up during the storm..." The Chocolate Lab explained with his usual, carefree stride, "But nothing that a bit of TLC from our EMT dude can't fix."
"I'll try my best and forget the–"
"Skye!" Chase exclaimed, unintentionally cutting his best friend off.
"Maybe next time..." The Dally smiled, slightly irritated.
The German Shepherd howled with excitement as he watched a familiar helicopter gently set Turbot down on the ground. The man was a bit dizzy from all of the flying, stumbling over to Marshall.
"Shucks... That strict storm really sent me for a spin!" Turbot exclaimed, sitting down on the sand in front of Marshall.
"Marshall, check Cap'n Turbot for any injuries, and dress them accordingly!" Ryder shouted over the whirring helicopter blades approaching steadily.
Marshall nodded in the affirmative as Chase rushed past him. Ryder, Rocky, and Zuma watched in confusion, knowing that Chase was never officially dispatched. Skye, meanwhile, didn't notice the quick Shepherd running at her until he was right next to her.
"Skye, are you okay?" Chase asked, abundant worry in his hazel eyes.
"Yeah, I'm fine– Ow!" The Cockapoo yelped the moment she tried to place her left forepaw on the ground.
Skye closed her eyes for a quick moment. Her eyes then shot open. She probed her mind to find a reason as to why her paw hurt like that. Her mind then clicked. The storm! While she was navigating through it, she had to pull on the steering as hard as she could.
"Your paw..." The Shepherd instantly noticed what was wrong, "What happened to it?"
"I must've bent it in a weird way while steering..." Skye gave him a gentle smile to mask the pain, "I'll go get looked at by Marshall."
She attempted to walk on three legs, but immediately fell onto Chase's back, which was lowered close to the ground. The Shepherd soon stood back up, lifting her up, "You're not walking like that. I'll carry you."
The Cockapoo's eyes widened a bit, "No, you don't have to–"
"Skye."
"T-Thanks, Chase..." Skye smiled at him, a faint blush rising beneath her fur.
Skye had always felt pretty partial to Chase. Ever since she joined the PAW Patrol, she couldn't help but notice how much the police pup would put on his shoulders, even if it meant maturing a lot faster than the rest of the pups. For years, she would observe the way he acted on missions compared to the way he acted outside of missions. She, along with Marshall, knew how hard it was for him to let loose.
Chase slowly walked them toward Marshall. He was unaware of how slow he was going. Despite the potential severity of Skye's injury, he couldn't help but to start out with a slower walk. He wanted the moment to last just a bit longer. Realizing how potentially selfish this was, he picked up the pace.
Marshall finished up dressing Turbot's thankfully minor injuries. Wiping his forehead, the Dally turned to look over at Chase, who was cheerfully conversing with a familiar Cockapoo on his back.
The Dally raised an eyebrow at this, humming to himself in intrigue. He was, by a longshot, the most goofy pup on the team, but he was by no means stupid. Apparently, neither was Zuma.
"You see what I'm seeing, dude?" The Chocolate Lab asked, sitting next to Marshall.
Marshall nodded slowly, "Yeah, I think I do."
Zuma then leaned over to whisper in Marshall's ear, "Meet me at Rocky's pup house at six sharp. Don't be late, dude."
Trotting away as though nothing happened, Zuma left Marshall standing there in confusion. The Dally then shook his head and prepared for his next patient.
—
"Just one more hour until Zuma's meetup time..." Marshall thought, watching a new episode of 'Apollo the Super Pup' with Rubble, Rocky, and Skye.
His gaze switched over to Rocky, who was intently watching the show. He knew that the mixed breed was close with Zuma, so if anyone knew what was up, it would be the recycling pup. The Dally stood up, walking away from the television. He needed to investigate. He wasn't the super spy on the team, but he could investigate as best as he could.
Super Spy Marshall is on the case!
First things first, he needed to find Chase. And if nothing worked there, he would have to talk with Rocky. He knew that Zuma wasn't going to be of any help, as he was tight-lipped the second they got back to the lookout a few hours prior. Skye and Rubble weren't really applicable in this situation, as Skye seemed to be the topic, and Rubble... Well, was Rubble. A good friend, but bad at things like this.
Marshall smiled to himself as he thought these details over. He was really thinking like a super spy now!
"Now where's Chase...?" The Dally spoke to himself.
"I can go again, Ryder, sir!"
Marshall's ears twitched, "What?"
"Ready Chase?" There was a brief silence, "Timer is set, go!"
Walking out of the sliding doors, Marshall peeked out into the field area. He could see Chase running as fast he could on a makeshift course. He saw Ryder holding a timer in his right hand while his left was resting in his pocket.
The Dally was instantly able to recognize that Chase was in "Mission Mode". The Shepherd's ears were flattened against his head as he speedily dashed through the course. For a moment, Marshall could've sworn that Chase had somehow accessed his superpowers for a moment, as he became a blur as he ran around the course.
Dashing right past Ryder, the boy stopped the timer and smiled brightly, "You just beat your record by five seconds!"
Chase, out of "Mission Mode" once again, smiled brightly as he took a moment to catch his breath.
"I think that's enough post-mission training for you today, Chase..." Ryder laughed, "Go and have some fun with the other pups."
He panted, letting himself rest on the grass, "Okay Ryder, sir."
Ryder returned to the lookout, passing by Marshall. The Dally decided to tag in, running over to his best friend.
"Hey Chase, I– woah!" Marshall tripped over one of his feet, tumbling towards the Shepherd. Landing on his face in front of Chase, he looked up to see him, "I'm good."
"Hey Marshall, what's up?"
"I wanted to ask you something."
"Shoot."
"What's the deal with you and Skye?" He cut to the chase, "You always act weird when she's involved, but ever since bumping into each other this morning, it's been... More, if you know what I mean."
Caught. That was the first thing running through Chase's mind. Despite trying to act cool about it in front of the other pups, he knew that when it came to Skye, composure was completely out of the question. Marshall was his closest friend out of all of the pups, he knew that any falter in composure or attitude would instantly alert him, so he needed to be tactful about this.
Yes, cool, calm, and collected. He needed his "Mission Mode". He knew how to be serious at a flick of a switch, there was no way that he couldn't do it now. All he had to do was act like he was on a mission.
"W-What? W-Who's Skye?"
Smooth move, dingus.
"So there is something going on!" The Dally pointed an accusatory paw at the Shepherd
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Marshall."
"What?" Marshall grinned, "You were so worried for her during the mission."
"As the second in command, it is my responsibility to care for the wellbeing of my teammates and–"
"Cut the crap, Chase!" The Dally pushed him playfully, "I know you. Maybe even better than you do. You never act like this when asked about normal stuff."
"I know that..." The police pup broke out into a bit of a sweat.
"So... What's going on?"
"Skye and I are strictly friends. Nothing more."
With that, Chase walked away from Marshall. But Marshall had all that he needed. He didn't have an outright confession, but he could worry about that later. For now, he could just worry about the meeting with Zuma.
Speaking of, how long was he out here talking to Chase anyways–?
Suddenly, a paw went over Marshall's mouth. He tried to yelp for help, but before he knew it, a duffel bag was going over his head and his whole body. It happened so quickly, he barely had time to react.
Was he being kidnapped? Er... Pupnapped?
He could feel multiple paws pick him up and carry him in an unknown direction. Marshall continued to struggle and shout, but his mouth was covered once again, followed by a shushing noise. As they moved, the footsteps on the grass turned into a more metallic noise as his pup-nappers sat him down on a soft cushion.
The duffel bag was taken off of Marshall's face, letting his screams finally be heard.
"Help! Help! I'm yelping for help! Why isn't anyone coming?"
Looking around, he noticed that he was in a dark place. The only thing he could see were a few dark figures in front of him.
"Because they're all inside, Marshall..." A deep, distorted voice spoke.
"How do you know my name? Where am I? Who are you?"
"Robo-Dog, lights."
He was finally allowed to see, revealing three familiar faces. Zuma, Rocky, and Rubble, the latter of the three holding an electronic microphone to his mouth.
"Huh... You guys?"
"Glad you could make it, dude!" Zuma gave the Dally a friendly smile.
"Glad I could make it?" Marshall asked loudly, "I had no choice, you put me in a bag! I thought you said to meet at Rocky's pup house."
"That was the first place that came to mind."
"Rocky's pup house is the first place that came to mind...?" The Dally paused, "Rubble?"
"I didn't know about that. Zuma just said he gave you an excuse."
Zuma looked between Marshall and Rubble, "What about it?"
Marshall and Rubble looked at both Rocky and Zuma, suspicion rising on their faces.
The Chocolate Lab nearly choked on his own spit, realizing what they were potentially getting at, "Not like that!"
"We don't play on that side of the fence..." Rocky muttered.
"Sure..." Marshall and Rubble rolled their eyes, exchanging a glance.
"Forget that!" Zuma shouted at the two, "We have to get this over with before Wyder, or worse, Chase and Skye, wealize that we're gone!"
"Careful, Zuma..." Marshall stifled a chuckle, "You know your speech impediment comes back when you get nervous."
"Leave him alone. We need to get down to business!" Rocky defended his best friend, "We were supposed to get Marshall inducted into team Skase!"
"Where are we, even...?" Marshall looked around.
Rubble took a moment to look out the window to see if they were being watched, "The PAW Patroller. Now cut the lights, Robo-dog!"
The lights slowly dimmed before turning off.
"Brother Rocky, Brother Rubble..." Zuma looked between them, "And you, Marshall."
"We dudes have assembled here in our secret hideout, the PAW Patroller, for one thing and one thing only."
"Drama!" Rocky and Rubble exclaimed cheerfully, startling the Dally.
"But more specifically, for love!" Zuma clenched his paw, "We are team Skase, and we wanted you to join us."
"Um... The way you guys are calling each other brothers..." Marshall looked for an exit, "I know we're the PAW Patrol and consider each other family, but is this a cult thing? Tell me this isn't a cult thing..."
"Relax, dude..." Zuma chuckled, "It's more of a joke thing."
"You kidnapped me."
"We couldn't trust you to not spill everything before we even talked to you..." Rocky chimed in, "You kinda... Have a big mouth."
"And Rubble doesn't?" Marshall pointed at the youngest pup in the vehicle.
Zuma put a paw on Rubble's head, "He's the best double agent we could ever ask for. People often underestimate this slick dude because he's super young and childish."
"We kind of did too until Rubble found out about team Skase."
The Chocolate Lab chuckled faintly, "They would expect me to do something like that because I'm the best Casanova pup out there. They would expect the ladies' pup to be involved with this."
"And guys' pup too..." Marshall whispered to Rubble, who stifled a laugh.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, continue."
Zuma shot the two a glare, "...And they would have expected me to pull Rocky into it too because he's my best friend. But Rubble? Nah. They think too highly of him for that."
"And that was their blunder!" Rubble chimed in.
Zuma and Rubble gave the other a quick high five.
"So lemme get this straight, make sure I'm caught up..." Marshall looked at the three pups, "You three started a team dedicated to getting Skye and Chase together..."
"Yeah, that's pretty much the gist of–"
"WITHOUT ME?"
"Huh?"
"I thought I was in this alone!" Marshall cried, hugging the three pups, "I have so many thoughts and theories and questions!"
"It's okay, dude..." Zuma laughed, putting his head, "You're with us now, Brother Marshall. It's going to be okay."
"So when did you three start suspecting–?"
Rocky broke the group hug, "I thought you'd never ask!" Rocky brought out a small laptop before setting it down in front of the three.
He scrolled through some files before getting to a file named "Skase". He typed something down before pulling up a video.
"Exhibit A... One of the thousand Chickaletta rescues!"
"Skye's okay! She's okay!"
"Aw... You were worried!"
"What? N-No, I'm just... Glad that Chickaletta is okay."
"Thanks Chase, that's very sweet."
Zuma chimed in, "That's when I started suspecting something."
"Now for exhibit B!" Rocky went onto another video, "...Friendship Day."
Zuma and Rubble gasped loudly.
"Friendship Day?" Marshall was a bit confused, "The day dedicated to platonic relationships?"
Rocky glared at the screen, "Precisely."
The quartet of pups watched the video play. Marshall soon gasped loudly as he saw the now iconic footage of Skye nuzzling against Chase's chest. After the footage switched, Rocky paused the video.
"I think we've witnessed enough."
"I'm ninety percent sure that his eyes weren't the only things bulging..."
"Zuma, gross!" Marshall gagged.
"Seriously, Zuma?" Rocky asked between roars of laughter.
Meanwhile, Rubble was confused by the joke. Despite knowing things about romance that most wouldn't expect him to know, he still didn't know all the nitty gritty details. None of the pups did, but at least Marshall, Zuma, and Rocky, along with Chase and Skye, had to be given a light version of "the talk" after the five saw two wild wolves in the forest... "Wrestling".
The Bulldog watched as the three remained in hysterics, their childish natures shining through in their fullest.
Rubble blinked twice. "I don't get it."
