Five knight pups were waiting in a forest area, overlooking a bit of road.

"Alright men..." Sir Pupcival spoke, his eyes glaring daggers through his helmet, "...We must stop the brown one and the spotted one before they manage to get to her majesty in Adventure City."

"Sir!" The other four knights nodded in acknowledgement.

"When their metallic transportation passes this road, we shall hijack them and finally give them eternal rest." Pupcival continued, "But, if they are to beg for mercy, you shall not kill them, as that would be unchivalrous of you."

"Sir!"

"Now prepare yourselves, they could arrive at any moment."

Crouching down, the knights laid in wait.

"Okay, thanks Liberty." Chase smiled.

The Dachshund smiled, "Anything for my fellow members, my guy."

The Shepherd hung up the call, letting out a faint sigh. He had just finished speaking to Liberty in discussion for what they would do when they would arrive in Adventure City. It took Liberty a while to be caught up on the events of the past week or so, and she had to take a day to process, but now she was all in as a part of the Skye retrieval team.

Liberty rubbed her forehead with a paw, "So let me get this straight, Skye was pupnapped by that dog she was with here?"

Chase nodded.

"So you and Marshall had to go and find her while the others stayed in Adventure Bay?"

He nodded again.

"And along the way, you guys broke your gear, you got cut up really badly, and you picked up sword fighting!?"

The police pup groaned, rolling his eyes, "I didn't pick up sword fighting."

"But Marshall said—"

"I know, he really wants me to do it since he's already really good at pup-fu."

"And again, you didn't tell Ryder about the knights or your injury?" The Dachshund questioned, "Why didn't you tell him about this? He's your owner!"

Chase sighed, "If Ryder knew, I'd be taken off the mission for sure. I don't want to have to watch while others look for Skye. I would like to help find her."

Liberty couldn't help but to take a step back. Her team, her very own team, had been going through something so rough while she was just relaxing in Adventure City. Sure, she couldn't have known, but maybe if she had checked in with them instead of patrolling the streets, she could have helped a lot more than she was right now. Heck, they probably would've been able to find and rescue Skye before they hit the one week mark.

"Chase, I won't tell Ryder anything, but can I just... Have a minute?" Liberty asked.

The Shepherd pup understood what she was feeling, "Take all the time you need."

"Thanks..."

Just like that, the call had disconnected.

Chase walked into the main area of the PAW Patroller, looking through the various papers and items he had arranged to work though. He had been trying for the past day while on the road to formulate the best possible plan for finding Skye.

They knew that she and Sweetie were taken by humans, thanks to Liberty, but neither he nor Liberty knew who the humans were and where they were going. He planned to have Marshall, Liberty, and himself split up in Adventure City to search every corner of the large area.

But why search the whole city when you can focus on just a few areas?

Chase had narrowed down the search to not include people's homes, malls, and grocery stores. He would have to be quick, because if Skye were to be moved again, he didn't think he'd be able to keep himself sane.

The police pup yawned, but quickly slapped himself in his face to keep himself awake.

He hadn't slept since leaving Rufftopolis, but so what? They were getting so close!

All they had to do was search through Adventure City and Skye would finally be safe again! She'd finally be back with the PAW Patrol, with him. And once she was back, he'd make sure to protect her from anything that would make this happen again. Maybe he'd have a meeting with the other pups to go over plans for emergencies like this. Maybe a place to go when nobody can track you.

Meanwhile, Marshall was watching Chase work with worry.

The Dalmatian wasn't aware that Chase had been staying up every night after escaping Rufftopolis, but was well aware that something seemed off with his best friend. Maybe it was the fact that Chase had been muttering to himself for the past hour, or maybe it was that the Shepherd looked like absolute crap, but perhaps he should ask.

"Hey Chase...?"

"What's up, Marshall?"

"Are you... Okay?" The Dally hesitantly asked.

The Shepherd pup lightly scratched his neck, "Never better, why?"

"I'm going to be honest with you, because I'm your best friend, okay?" Marshall began, catching Chase's attention, "You look like crap."

"I do?" The police pup looked a bit confused as he looked down at himself, "Huh... Guess I do. Well, I'll take a bath when we get back to Adventure Bay."

"And you've been muttering to yourself..." Marshall looked away, "When's the last time you took a nap? Or went to sleep?"

Chase thought for a moment, "When did we leave Rufftopolis?"

"Two days ago."

"It's been about two days since I slept."

"WHAT?"

Chase winced at the volume, "What? I've been keeping a lookout during the night and working on Adventure City stuff in the day. It's not a big deal."

Marshall's expression hardened, "Chase, you need to go to sleep."

"No way!" The Shepherd shook his head, "Not when we're so close!"

Rufftopolis was far from Adventure City. From Adventure Bay to Rufftopolis is in the opposite direction of Adventure City, turning a drive that had a span of a few hours into a couple of days. Chase decided to use the abundant time in order to plan.

"We're not getting to Adventure City anytime soon, so just go to sleep."

"But what if the knights show up?" The Shepherd asked.

"The knights aren't gonna show up!" Marshall retorted, "Why are you being so paranoid?"

"Why are you not?" The police pup stood up to face his best friend, "We were almost killed by the knights twice!"

"But we got away! They're miles away from here and we haven't seen them in two days!"

"Barely!" Chase shouted, "We barely got away! Not to mention that they gave me this!"

The Shepherd pointed to his right cheek, where the bandage Marshall put there was.

"Chase, we're bound to be injured on missions!" The Dally retorted, "That's no reason for you to be paranoid!"

"Why are you not paranoid?" Chase asked, "We could've died! More than once!"

Marshall glared at his best friend, "Chase, chill out!"

"Chill out? Chill out!?" The Shepherd began to growl under his breath, "The last time I was chilled out, Skye was taken!"

The Paw Patroller went silent. This had grown from a conversation to an argument.

Disagreements within the PAW Patrol were rare. The team, especially Chase and Marshall, always got along well with each other, and any disagreements would be able to be solved within that same day, since they were good at resolving issues thanks to being a rescue team.

And disagreements very rarely grew into fights.

Fights would take place over the span of a day or two, with one or both sides being too stubborn to back down on their positions. There was once, where Marshall and Rocky got into a fight because Rocky grew tired of always being sprayed by Marshall's water cannons, and went after one of Marshall's greatest insecurities, his clumsiness. It nearly got physical, with both sides crying by the end of it. Physical fights were extremely rare, only happening once in the years that the PAW Patrol existed.

It wasn't good that the two pups responsible for that single fight in the past were standing in front of each other with harsh glares.

"I know you don't blame yourself for what happened to her!" Marshall shouted, "You weren't there! There was nothing you could've done about it!"

"Maybe Skye was taken because you were too busy chilling out!"

"Oh so now you blame me for it?" The Dalmatian's eye twitched.

"I don't know, Everest was injured and Skye was taken from right under whose nose? Yours!"

"What happened to it not being my fault?" Marshall growled.

Chase only growled in response, "What were you up to while Skye and Everest were out there?"

"I was taking care of the little girl we rescued!" Marshall retorted, "You would've remembered that had you not only been thinking about Skye, give your head a shake!"

"I'm not only focused on Skye!"

"Yes you are! Even before she got kidnapped, it was always; 'is Skye okay?' or 'poor Skye'! I should've realized that you liked her long ago!"

By this point, the two best friends devolved into a shouting match, not caring of the verbal blows they were giving each other. Being best friends, it was very much apparent that they knew a lot about each other. Thus, they had a lot of verbal punches they could give out.

"So what if you were too dense to realize that I liked her!?" Chase began pointing at his own head, "It has nothing to do with you!"

"Yes it does!" The Dally shouted, "After all, you're the one who's too much of a coward to tell her how you feel!"

"I'm a coward for not telling Skye how I feel? What about you?" Chase stepped closer, "What about Everest? You and your constant insecurities about everything must be doing you wonders!"

"I'm insecure?" Marshall's face began to grow hot with rage, "You won't tell Skye because you're scared of how Ryder would react!"

"No I'm not!"

"Admit it!" The Dally screamed, his higher voice piercing through the interior of the PAW Patroller, "You don't want to disappoint 'Ryder Sir' so bad that you neglect to even reveal your feelings!"

"What's your excuse!?" Chase's tone topped Marshall's, "You're not worried about what Ryder would say, so what's your excuse for being too much of a coward to tell Everest how you felt before she got rocked by Sweetie's vehicle!"

Marshall growled louder. That was low. Granted, he had thrown a few low blows himself, but Everest's concussion had nothing to do with this argument.

"At least my crush is still here!" The Dally bellowed, "My crush is still here and not dead in Adventure City! How's that make you feel, Chase? That your crush is dead!?"

Both Chase and Marshall's eyes bulged as the Dally said that. Marshall had been unaware of how far their argument had really been getting until that slipped from between his lips.

"Chase... You know I didn't—"

The Shepherd on the other hand, was filled with rage.

"Marshall!" Chase suddenly tackled his teammate, the two tumbling on the floor.

As they rolled to a stop, Chase raised his paw and balled it into the best fist a pup could attempt to make. He was ready to strike. Marshall on the other paw, shut his eyes tight in anticipation for a brutal blow.

That was until the PAW Patroller began swerving, sending the two pups flying into the window before they slid down it.

"Owww..." Marshall groaned, standing up.

"What's Robo-Dog doing up there...?" Chase rubbed his injured cheek.

Before they could go and see for themselves, a familiar metallic head was thrown in front of them. It was a decapitated Robo-Dog head.

"R.D, NO!" Marshall ran over and cradled the powered off electronic in his paws, "Who could've done this to you? Who...?"

Chase ran toward the driver's seat, "Who's driving this thing?"

"Does it really matter?" Sir Growlahad stood in front of the area, "This strange transportation is automatic, correct?"

Before Chase could answer, he heard a yelp from behind him.

Marshall was being cornered by the four other knights, one of which lacked a sword. Completely forgetting about the fact that nobody was driving the PAW Patroller, Chase sprung into action, dashing toward the sword left on one of the seats that Marshall had offered to him.

Still not as proficient with the sword, Chase shook his head around wildly in an attempt to get the knights away from his best friend, which surprisingly worked. He then looked out of the window. They were still moving just as fast as they had been when Robo-Dog was still driving.

Chase knew that this wasn't good.

The Shepherd dashed past the knights, grabbing Marshall with one of his paws and using his sword to break one of the windows.

"Tuck and roll, Marshall! We're jumping!"

"Right!" The Dally nodded absentmindedly, "...Wait what!?"

"Go!" Chase grabbed Marshall by his collar and threw him out of the broken window.

The Shepherd jumped out after him, wrapping his arms around the Dally protectively. The two tumbled on the road, Chase taking all of the impact. They soon came to a stop, the police pup letting go as soon as they were safe.

The duo watched, completely helpless, as the PAW Patroller descended down the steep cliff, crashing into a tree near the base.

"Robo-Dog..." Marshall whimpered.

"Come on, we need to keep going." Chase began to stand up, but yelped with pain as his right forepaw hit the ground, "T-The knights could come back for us and we still have some ground to cover before we reach Adventure City."

"Your paw..." The Dally was shocked.

"It's nothing. Let's move."

As Marshall watched Chase stumble off, he couldn't help but feel terrible, "Chase, he... Protected me..."

The two walked silently on the road.

After crashing the PAW Patroller, the duo continued on paw toward Adventure City. They had no other choice. Their pup tags had been busted when they jumped out of the vehicle, so they couldn't call Ryder for help. All they had left was Marshall's EMT pup pack, the sword Marshall had stolen from one of the knights, and Chase's sharp instincts. On vehicle, they were a few hours from Adventure City, but now they were walking, they could be looking at another night spent traveling, and Marshall wasn't sure if the already sleep-deprived Chase could handle it.

Not to mention that paw of his.

The Shepherd was limping as he walked. Being an EMT pup, Marshall was sure that Chase had sprained his paw when they jumped from the PAW Patroller. And he was entirely sure that it was his fault. When he was thrown from the vehicle, he felt Chase's paws wrap around him and didn't feel any pain when they hit the ground.

His best friend was hurt, and it was all his fault.

To make matters worse, Marshall then felt a small drip on his nose. There was no way that it could possibly rain, right? That would be too much of a cliche! It hadn't rained any of the other days since they left Adventure Bay for the first time in the Air Patroller! It would just be too much of a inconvenience for it to—

Marshall's thoughts were soon interrupted as his fur was suddenly dampened by harsh rainfall.

Dog dang it!

The Dally stopped walking, "Chase!"

The Shepherd didn't reply, continuing to walk. Marshall shook his head and ran in front of the Shepherd, "Chase, we need to find shelter!"

He didn't reply.

"I know you're still mad about earlier, but we need to find some shelter before we both get sick!" Marshall exclaimed desperately, "If we get sick out here, it's game over!"

"...Fine."

Changing their direction, the duo left the road and into a forest area nearby. Marshall led the way, soon coming across a cave.

"Come on! It's just a little bit further!" Marshall helped Chase walk into the cave, where they both shook off their fur and flopped on the ground.

The Shepherd faced away from his best friend, "As soon as this rain clears, we leave."

The Dally let out a silent whimper as he saw his best friend look away from him. Their fight earlier had really become a recurring memory in the two's minds, especially Chase's. How could it not? Marshall brought up the very reason they were out there in the first place, Skye's disappearance. He was well aware that Chase was still a bit raw concerning that, but in the heat of the moment, he didn't care.

And that proved to be a fatal mistake.

Because of their argument, they were now stranded in a cave until the rain subsided, and even after that, there was no telling if they were going to actually make it to Adventure City.

Marshall gulped softly, "...Chase, let me wrap your paw."

The Shepherd's ears perked up at the sudden talking, but he didn't turn back around.

"Chase, please..." The Dally began walking over, "I'm sorry for what I said about Skye, and you don't have to forgive me for it, but as the EMT pup, I'm obligated to check it out. Remember what you, me, and Ryder agreed on?"

"Wait, Chase!"

"You did not just interrupt my callout."

"About time I got you back!" Marshall joked before looking back at Ryder, "I want to go with him."

"You want to go too, Marshall?" The boy was a bit surprised.

"Chase is the second in command, sure, but there are things he just can't handle by himself. This is one of them."

"What's that supposed to mean–?"

"Let me finish... Please."

Chase nodded obediently, letting his best friend speak, "Out of everyone, Chase has it the hardest. He already feels bad that he couldn't find Skye or her pup tag, and I don't want him to feel any worse or stressed out."

The Shepherd was surprised at his usually goofy friend's maturity.

Marshall exhaled softly, "That's why I'm going with him."

Ryder smiled, glad that somebody was looking out for Chase, "Marshall, front and center."

The Dalmatian trotted over, sitting next to his best friend.

"Lieutenant Marshall, you are tasked with the assignment of making sure that Chase is able, physically and mentally, to carry out his duty as lead on this mission."

"I'm ready for a ruff-ruff rescue!"

Marshall looked at Chase with a serious stare, "I need to check out your paw, Ryder's orders."

The Shepherd reluctantly slid his paw over to Marshall for him to check out. The Dally observed his best friend's paw, noting that his paw was sprained and wrapping it up with a few layers of bandages.

"There we go." He smiled.

He was glad to have finally checked Chase out. Had he kept going without being checked, it could have gotten serious very quickly. Laying down on his back, Marshall let out an exhausted exhale. He wondered how he was going to fall asleep with all of the rain slamming into the ground outside, not to mention the suspicious growling coming from a deeper part of the cave.

Wait... Growling?

Marshall got up, looking at the deeper area of the cave. He could faintly see two eyes looking back at him, "Uhh... Chase? We have company..."

"What?" Chase asked confusedly, standing up as well. He followed Marshall's gaze to the same area before his ears fell, "Marshall... Don't move."

The two pups watched as a bear stepped from the deeper area of the cave. Marshall let out a loud whimper, causing the bear to turn and focus on the Dalmatian.

The Shepherd gulped, "If you try to run, its predator response will be triggered."

"What's that mean?" Marshall looked back at him, unconsciously stepping back from the bear.

The bear noticed this, and began running towards Marshall.

"It'll charge!"

Dashing to Marshall, Chase grabbed him and tackled him out of the way as the bear swiped at them. The pups quickly got up and ran towards the exit of the cave, but the bear cut them off.

Chase's eyes darted around for something, anything they could use, before seeing the sword that was fit between Marshall's pup pack and his back, "Just this once!"

The Shepherd was too focused on reaching for the sword, that he didn't notice the bear lunging at them.

"Look out!" Marshall pushed Chase out of the way as the bear swiped at them, taking the full brunt of the swipe from the bear.

His left cheek had it the worst, as three deep cuts were embedded below his eye. Marshall yelped in agony as he went sprawling into the ground.

"I still owe you so much more..." Marshall thought, beginning to black out, "But at least I got to save you this time..." He hit the ground, completely limp.

"MARSHALL!"

A young Chase was currently laying in his cage, his ears lowered and his head down. He had just finished covering for Marshall after he broke a lamp trying to do bouncing tricks on the couch. He had received quite the tongue lashing from Ryder's father, and now he was grounded.

He was only allowed to leave his cage whenever he ate, or when he needed to use the bathroom. It was truly a prison sentence he would have to live out for that week. How ironic, the future police pup, behind bars...

Hearing the door creek open, the police pup-to-be instantly turned his head. He saw a familiar Dalmatian pup walk in with an empathetic smile. He soon closed the door behind him, carrying a cloth with a few items in his mouth inside the room.

"Hey Chase..." Marshall greeted, a gentle smile plastered on his face.

The German Shepherd pup let out a faint sigh, "Hey Marshall... What are you doing here?"

"Well, Ryder and Norman went out to the movies." Marshall explained, "So that gave me the perfect chance to come in and keep you entertained!"

"What movie did they go to see?" Chase raised an eyebrow.

"I think the Lady and the Tramp..."

"WHAT?" The German Shepherd shot up, "You've wanted to see that movie since forever ago!"

Marshall grinned nervously, walking in front of Chase's cage, "I don't really think I deserve it..."

"What do you mean?"

The Dally's nervous grin evolved into a solemn smile, "I'm the reason you're locked up in the first place."

"This was my choice, Marshall."

"But it was all my fault..."

"Marshall..." He shook his head, "You do a lot of dumb things, and you may do more harm than good sometimes, but you're my best friend in the whole wide world! Seeing you sad or hurt is worse than being locked up in here for a whole year!"

"Aww Chase!" Marshall cartoonishly hugged the cage Chase was in, "I swear, one day, I'm gonna repay you a thousandfold for always looking out for me!"

"You don't have to, you know?" The Shepherd giggled, "That's what friends are for."

Marshall woke up to the sound of screaming. The Dalmatian saw Chase in front of him, tears falling from the Shepherd's eyes.

"A-Are you okay... Marshall?" Chase managed to say, his breathing rasped and heavy.

The Dally blinked a few times to clear his vision, "I think so... Why are you—"

Marshall stopped as he looked up above Chase's head. There was the bear, standing there above both of them. Its arm was outstretched...

...And its claws were digging right into Chase's back.

It took Marshall a few seconds to realize what had happened. Chase saved him. Again!

"W-Why...? I thought you hated me, Chase..." Marshall's eyes filled with tears, "What I said about Skye being missing was—"

Chase cut him off, "Marshall."

"Huh...?"

"You do a lot of dumb things, and you may do more harm than good sometimes, but you're my best friend... Seeing you sad or hurt is worse than any pain I could possibly ever endure."

"B-But that doesn't mean you have to do this!" Marshall shouted, tears streaming from his eyes, "You could've just left me behind and—"

"Listen to me... If the EMT goes down, it's game over." Chase huffed, wincing in pain, "And besides, I'd never let anything happen to my brother..."

Brother.

Brother was a word both Chase and Marshall had always considered using for one another. It was never overtly spoken, but the thought had always lingered in their minds. Especially now. They had spent over a week together looking for Skye. They laughed together, fought together, ate together, and protected one another over the course of a week.

Yeah... It was safe to say that Chase started to see his best friend more like a brother. And Marshall felt exactly the same.

The Shepherd exhaled, "Sword me."

The Dally reached for the sword under his pup pack, putting the handle in Chase's mouth.

"Now... If I... Uh... If I go..." Chase stuttered, "...Take care of Skye."

"Don't talk like that, Chase!"

"I know, I know!" The Shepherd gulped, "But just... Promise me!"

Marshall wanted to argue, but sighed, "I pup promise."

"Thank you—"

"But that doesn't mean I'm not gonna sit here and let my brother fight a BEAR by himself!"

"What?"

"With your sword fighting and my pup-fu we can get out of here!"

"But– Ugh fine!" Chase groaned and looked at the bear, "You can be so irritating, Marsh!"

"It's just my job as the little brother." Marshall dismissively replies, punching his paws together, "Now let's handle this and save Skye, together!"

"As brothers!"