Disclaimer: Before you ask, no; this isn't the end of Claw's arc. It's a significant part of his arc, yes, but it's not going to be the climax. That'll be in the season two finale. You would be right in thinking this is about his parents though, so I think that'll suffice.

Also, I don't own Paw Patrol.

Paw Patrol X

Friend or Foe arc Episode fifteen: What Family Means To Claw

Flare and Marshall were video chatting with their mom and Margareth while watching a video of Blaze, and the Dalmatian was heard shouting in the same way Marshall does during wipe outs. Flare and Marshall couldn't help snickering as Blaze was then heard to have crashed into something. The video then showed that he had a bunch of cupcakes on his head and was sitting while leaning on a beam, and he smiled cheerfully after shaking his head to recover. "I'm okay!"

Flare and Marshal started laughing at how identical this was to Marshall's wipe outs. Wave was one to point out how poorly coordinated Blaze was outside of missions. "That's your dad off duty for ya." Blaze was then shown holding a toddler Margareth, who was licking one of the cupcakes on Blaze's arm.

Margareth pointed out something regarding dad as the watched Blaze laugh when watching her lick the cupcake in the video. "He's so lucky I was his girl."

Flare and Marshall laughed a bit more as Claw knocked on their bedroom door and entered on his own. "Hey guys. You wanna-" Claw then noticed what was going on. "Oh, sorry. I forgot it was video call day."

"Not a problem." Flare assured Claw, and then he realized something and got an idea as he sat up with an idea he hatched then and there. "Actually, I just realized you haven't met our mom and sister yet! You wanna say hi to them?"

Claw looked a little reluctant, but he had to admit that Flare had a point. He knew he'd have to meet his friends' families at some point, like he did with Skye's last month. "Sure. Why not? What's the worst that could happen?"

Claw walked over to Marshall's bunk and hopped up with Marshall introducing Claw to Wave and Margareth. "Mom, Margareth, this is Claw."

"So this is the canine who got dissed by his owner's mom." Margareth chimed in, and then she grabbed the tablet to warn Claw about something she was completely serious about. "Bare this in mind Claw. If you ever, and I mean ever, hurt my brothers, or try to, I won't go easy on you."

Flare and Marshall were a little surprised by that, and Claw was especially, chuckling nervously as Wave took the tablet back. "Margareth; there's no need for threats." Wave sighed and assured Claw that Margareth was only being protective there. "I'm sorry Claw. Margareth has been a little... protective, of Flare and Marshall after their father passed on."

"I get it." Claw admitted, and Flare and Marshall noticed he was seemingly somber about something other than that, even if it wasn't that easy to notice. "I'm sorry for your loss by the way. I'm glad Flare and Marshall still had you to look after them. And Margareth."

Wave appreciated that sentiment, and she was starting to like Claw. "And I'm glad you have each other." She then gave a sly grin in response to what Claw did in Barkingburg. "Just try not to pull another Barkingburg and we'll be okay."

Claw laughed nervously a bit before assuring Wave that he'd do no such thing. "Don't worry Mrs. Munroe. My genocide days are over."

Claw laughed a bit more as Wave then heard the alarm go off. She sighed somberly, as it meant she had to end the call. "Sorry boys. I gotta get back to work now."

Flare and Marshall were always bummed out when they had to stop talking to their mom and sister, but they still smiled as Flare spoke up. "That's okay. Until next week!"

Marshall then had another bad pun that he told the others on the spot. "Hopefully none of us are too week to chime in then."

Marshall laughed a bit at his pun with Margareth taking the tablet and saying something right before ending the call. "We love you too."

The call ended, and Claw hopped off the bed with Flare asking about his current mood. "Are you okay Claw?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Claw lied, not wanting Flare and Marshall to worry about him at the moment. "Just have some things on my mind right now." Claw walked out of the room and left Flare and Marshall worrying about him. The two brothers looked at each other, hoping they didn't make Claw feel bad somehow without noticing.

Meanwhile, Rocky and Zuma were at the beach with Gabe and Celeste, and Rocky's feet were shown as all four of them started to enter the water. He was shown to be calming himself down as he did this, confirming that this was a method he was using to overcome his Aquaphobia. The voice of his boyfriend calling to him certainly helped him. "You can do it Wocky! One step at a time!" Rocky looked out to where Zuma, Gabe, and Celeste were, and he was a decent way out into the water.

Rocky thought to himself about the progress he was making so far and got ready to go in further. 'Okay. You can do this Rocky.' The mix then stepped further into the water, and now he was getting closer to his legs getting all the way in. He was just about ready for a new record at this point. After making sure he was calm enough, he closed his eyes, stepped forward again, an now he was starting to float in the water. After opening his eyes, he saw what he was doing. Despite it being in shallow water, he cheered as Zuma swam over to him. "I'm doing it Zuma! I'm floating!"

"And you look totally awesome doing it." Zuma replied supportively, and then he hugged him as his parents swam over to the two. "This is the fawthest you've gotten yet Wocky! I'm so pwoud of you!" Zuma then let go of Rocky and asked if he wanted to go farther. "You think you can get even fuwther?"

Rocky looked out into the ocean and figured that the distance he went was enough for now. He didn't think this had to be the only time he practiced however. "Maybe later. I'm kind of in the mood for hot dogs."

The four canines then swam to shore as Celeste spoke up about their lunch limit. "Okay, Gabe and I agreed that two hot dogs each was enough, but you can still order any hot dogs you want. So go wild!"

Zuma cheered in response to that, and Rocky then made sure he was a far enough distance away before he started shaking off. Gabe then commented again on the hot dog thing so they didn't spend too much by accident. "You'll have to share your two hot dogs if you pick the most expensive ones, of course. We only make so much with data entry."

"Fine with me!" Zuma exclaimed as he ran over to Rocky, who looked even fluffier than normal from the shaking, since his fur is long. Zuma happily hugged him, leaving Rocky to smile as Zuma praised him for his progress in getting into the water. "Who's my bwave fluffy fuwwed lover? Is it you? I think so!" Rocky and Zuma were clearly proud of the progress Rocky had been making with his Aquaphobia.

Back at the Lookout, Claw was walking into the living room as he overheard Skye and Snow talking about something. "Alright Snow. You hang out with him the most besides Marshall. What do you think he'd like for his cake frosting?"

Claw walked over to where Skye and Snow were as Snow then made her suggested Flare's go to frosting flavor. "Well since the cake is gonna be chocolate, I think it'd make the most sense to make the frosting red velvet. I mean, that's MY favorite cake flavor, but I think it'll provide a good balance for the chocolate."

"That makes sense." Skye then noticed Claw getting up onto the couch and covered the party plans in case Flare was nearby. "Claw! Would you mind not telling Flare about this? It's a surprise for his eighth birthday in two weeks."

"I was only half paying attention anyway." Claw informed Skye, grabbing the remote and getting ready to turn the TV on. "I have a lot on my mind right now."

Skye and Snow looked at each other with Skye then coming in to see if Claw was willing to talk about it. "You wanna talk about it?"

Claw nodded his head no, and Snow then sat up on the couch next to Claw in an attempt to get him to speak. "Come on dude. Bottling up your emotions isn't healthy. At least let us know what's bothering you."

Claw sighed, figuring that mentioning at least that much would get Skye and Snow to back off. And Flare saw what was going on, since he was listening by the corner. "I miss my parents. End of explanation."

This was a surprise to Skye, since Claw never mentioned his parents in front of her before. She hoped he wouldn't mind her wanting to sympathize with his pain. "I get that. It's how I felt with my own family after I moved to Adventure Bay."

"Peachy." Claw ended up crushing the remote after he was shown to be channel surfing. This shocked Snow and Skye, and Claw then walked off in an attempt to get away from any kind of mention towards his emotions. "Don't you have something to plan?"

"Excuse us for giving a crap." Snow snarked, and then she hopped down to Skye and continued planning the party with her. She then brought up what she felt was going on after Claw left the Lookout. "He told me and Everest once that his parents died. Must be why he lived with Sweetie and Caiohme." Skye felt bad for Claw after hearing that from Snow. She decided to focus on the party for now, but she still hoped he would be okay. Flare also felt awful for Claw when he heard about this. He wished he knew how to help him with something like that. He went to talk to Marshall to see if he knew what to do.

Rocky and Zuma were eating hot dogs with Gabe and Celeste, and the two of them were sharing a super spicy extra large hot dog. Despite the burning sensation on their mouths, they were able to take it without struggle and ended their eating with a passionate kiss. It lasted for a total of five seconds and ended after Zuma accidentally burped into Rocky's mouth. Rocky gagged from the burp with Zuma giggling a bit as he apologize for the expulsion. "Sowwy baby."

Rocky ended up burping himself after that, laughing a bit as he admitted to not being bothered by it. "I honestly thought that could've been a lot worse."

Rocky and Zuma giggled a bit with Celeste then letting out a burp right there that was just as loud and nasty as Zuma's; one that Zuma himself quickly called out. "Whoa-ho-ho! Go mom!" Gabe then prepared himself and let out a similarly sized burp, which led to the four dogs laughing at the expense of their mouth gas.

Rocky then recalled a memory of a certain German Shepherd managing to outrank them with his own gas. "You two should've been here for this. One time, Chase saw Zuma let out a massive burp after drinking a whole twelve pack of pineapple soda, and he hit him with an even bigger and nastier one that almost knocked him out!"

Zuma couldn't help but snicker upon remembering that day, as it proved to him that Chase's gas could be deadly from both ends. "Ya gotta wonder how that dog can do what he does, even if he hasn't eaten anything befowehand." Zuma laughed a little more before noticing that Celeste was eating something rather mild compared to her usual tastes. "Hey mom, how come you awen't eating anything spicy? I thought you loved hot foods."

"Just branching out is all." Celeste informed Zuma, only to then moan with hunger as her stomach grumbled. She rubbed her belly as she clarified what she meant. "In variety of course."

Rocky caught onto something else that was going on, but decided not to bring it up. Instead, he picked up his and Zuma's second spicy hot dog with a flirtatious grin. "Speaking of spicy, we've still got one dog left."

Zuma saw what Rocky was getting at and grinned devilishly as he got ready to chow down on it with him. "You're wight. Let's make it last." Rocky and Zuma then took their first bite of the spicy dog, ready to get down to the other end once again.

Claw was sitting by one of the trees in the front yard of the Lookout as he contemplated what happened to him before the orphanage. As he was doing this, he got hit on the head with a wooden ball that took him out of his trance. "Ow!" He then started rubbing his head as he looked to the side and saw what hit him."

Chase was then seen running over and picking up the ball, confirming that he was the one who threw it. "Sorry Claw. I was testing my throwing strength and I must've missed you in my line of sight before throwing."

"It's cool. I've been hit on the head with worse." Claw admitted, and as Claw rubbed his head again, being a little too burnt out to get angry right now as is. "That might've actually helped me a little. I'm trying to get some crazy thoughts off of my mind that I can't seem to get rid of."

"I've been there before." Chase responded, sitting next to Claw while hoping he wouldn't mind talking about it a little. He felt that talking about his own struggles would help with that. "It's definitely not easy being the canine leader of a rescue team. Being a member alone is hard enough, but leading the other members puts an extra layer of pressure on you. And it can be way too much for me to handle sometimes."

Claw did become curious about that as he looked at Chase with sincerity. "Then why do you bare with it? I doubt Ryder would disown you for not wanting this role."

"Whoa, slow down there Claw!" Chase chimed in with a laugh, hoping he could help Claw see what he really thought about this situation. "As stressful as it can be sometimes, I still love leading the pups. Seeing missions go well is one of the most rewarding things I could ask for."

"Okay, so you like getting praised for stuff, and you feel stress sometimes." Claw was starting to get annoyed before he said that and asked what Chase was trying to do. "What's your point, that you have a better leader than I did?" Chase raised an eyebrow to Claw, which clearly asked if he would be the type to do that. Claw then got the idea of what he was talking about and flinched before crossing his arms. "Okay, now I get it. I doubt you'd get it though."

"Suit yourself." Chase picked up his wooden ball and let Claw get some more space. "Let me know if you change your mind." Chase headed back to where he was practicing his ball throwing in the hopes that Claw would be okay later.

Rocky and Zuma were now playing on the beach, since they couldn't practice Rocky's Aquaphobia training until a half hour passed. Zuma was burying Rocky in the sand and was forming the shape of a Mer-Pup around his body. Rocky liked the design and started to wonder if he and Zuma, along with the others, would ever meet more Mer-Pup's one day. "Hey Zuma. Do you think Captain Turbot will ever find more Mer-Pups like Ocean?"

"I hope so. It'd be totally wild to see a whole school of Mew-Pups." Zuma answered hopefully, knowing that learning about the Mer-Pups would be fun for both him and Zuma. "I wonder why that Mew-Pup twacker you and Wyder made him isn't finding anything. You think we'll need a more advanced model of it?"

Rocky thought for a moment and figured that would be the case. Thankfully, he was more than willing to improve the Mer-Pup tracker's craft. "It wouldn't be anything I'm against. It's like I always say; don't lose it, reuse it!" Zuma smiled as Rocky said that as Rocky then admitted that this situation probably didn't completely relate to that. "I mean, I guess an upgrade is more of an improvement than reusing something, but I could use some scraps for the upgrade."

Zuma lied down next to Rocky after he was done burying him in the sand as he replied to that. "Either way, I know whatever you make will be something totally wicked."

Rocky appreciated that, and despite being buried in the sand at the moment, talking to Zuma made him feel even warmer. "It's always nice to impress others with my inventions." Rocky then looked to Zuma with a question he had in mind. "Do you... do you think that maybe, if Charm can be saved, that we can have moments like this with him too?"

"Well that'd depend on whether or not we have a method to save him with." Zuma then turned to Rocky and smiled lovingly as he assured him of his intelligence. "And if there IS a way to bwing him back to... whatever he was like before he 'tuwned psychotic', you'll be the one to figuwe it out."

Rocky and Zuma then nuzzled each other lovingly, knowing that whatever happened, their love would always be strong. "Well, even if we fail, I'll never stop loving you."

"Ditto." Zuma kissed Rocky's cheek with a quick peck, making Rocky laugh a bit at how it felt as Zuma then licked the same cheek.

Flare and Marshall were walking down and saw Everest getting herself some liver flavored pup treats in the kitchen. As she was opening the box, Flare felt that maybe she could help with Claw. "Should we ask Everest about this? Claw's become good friends with her too."

Marshall looked at Everest from the hallway and figured that it would be a good bet. After all, Claw was fond of Everest, just like him. "If she's up for it, then yes." Flare and Marshall walked over to Everest, who started pouring the treats into her mouth before Marshall spoke up. "Hi Everest."

Everest stopped pouring the treats into her mouth and swallowed to address Flare and Marshall. "Hey Marshall. Hey Flare. What's going on?"

"Well..." Marshall began, hoping this wouldn't be too much of him to ask Everest. "We were hoping you wouldn't mind helping us with whatever it is that's bothering Claw right now."

Everest became intrigued with Flare explaining more about what Marshall meant. "He seemed really sad after Marshall and I finished our video call with mom and Margareth. I went to talk to him, and then I overheard Snow mention something about his parents. We were hoping you knew something about that."

Everest felt bad for Claw upon remembering that, since she heard him mention it to Snow on the way to Jake's Mountain last month. "I heard him mention it to Snow during our Jake's Mountain trip. He didn't explain anything beyond that, but it's pretty clear that led to him meeting Zuma at the orphanage."

Marshall felt he'd be the best to finish this request, both to show that he cares about Claw, and because he was closer to Everest than Flare was. "You wouldn't mind talking to him about it, would you? Zuma's the only other pup we know he'd open up to about something like this, and he and Rocky are hanging out with his parents at the beach today."

"Of course!" Everest exclaimed, being happy to help as she closed up her bag of pup treats. "And don't worry about me being your second choice either. If we fought to be first at everything, we'd probably all have black eyes by now."

"That, doesn't really have anything to do with this," Flare pointed out, and then he got happy to see Claw being closer to feeling better. "but thanks Everest!" Flare, Marshall, and Everest then noticed Claw entering the Lookout and let Everest know to act then and there. "Perfect timing. (Whispers to Everest with a grin) I'll get started on lunch so I can eavesdrop." Flare rushed off to the kitchen before Marshall could call him out, leaving Everest to giggle as she went over to Claw.

Claw saw Everest walking up to him and did his best to compose himself for her as he addressed her. "Oh, hey Everest. Did you need something?"

"Well... yes and no." Everest admitted, deciding to jump right into this with her own steps in mind. "Flare and Marshall told me you were upset about something. Do you wanna talk about it during lunch?" Claw wasn't sure if he could do it, but he had to admit that it sounded like it could work. Everest was a pup who always made him feel warm and safe inside, so she would always be a good pick for someone to talk to.

Rocky and Zuma were now having another session of helping Rocky overcome his Aquaphobia. He was now floating in the shallow water just an inch away from the sand like he was before, and he saw Zuma out there waiting for him with a supportive smile. He couldn't help but feel warm inside as he saw Zuma out there waiting for him. He knew he'd be safe so long as he was there with him. He began to swim farther, but he soon realized that due to lack of practice, it was a little hard for him to keep afloat. 'Doggy paddle Rocky. It's all you gotta do.'

Rocky swam over to Zuma slowly, and the Chocolate Labrador was out into the ocean by at least ten feet. Rocky wasn't entirely sure if he could pull it off, but by using Zuma as his motivation, it made him more confident he could do so. He continued to doggy paddle over to Zuma, and Zuma couldn't help but be proud of him. He was making so much progress in one day, and he just knew that he could make even more progress as time went on because of it.

Rocky arrived to where Zuma was with the Chocolate Labrador unable to resist hugging him as they both kicked in the water to stay afloat. "You made it Wocky! You can finally swim in the ocean again!"

Rocky felt so rewarded as Zuma embraced him, and he then pulled his boyfriend away to express that. "Yeah, I did! Just wait until the others hear about this! We'll have to plan another beach trip this week just to prove it!"

"I'll be all the pwoof they need." Zuma assured Rocky lovingly, and the two of them embraced again as they started getting carried back to shore on a small wave. The two of them were still hugging when they arrived at the sand. As they lied there in the sand, the waves crashed on their hind legs. And now both of them could love the feel of it.

Flare had just finished making lunch for everyone, and it was a gluten free macaroni and cheese with bacon bits. Before he started serving however, he went over to the table to talk to the others, particularly Claw. After he sat down next to Marshall, Claw made it clear why he was doing this. "Just so we're clear, I'm doing this to get it off of everyone's minds." Of course, he was actually doing that because he hated doing anything to disappoint Everest.

"We just wanna help you Claw." Flare assured Claw, not wanting them to think he and the others were prying into his business. "We care about you."

Claw saw the sincerity in Flare's eyes and felt more comfortable with doing this. He placed his paws on the table as he got started with addressing Snow and Everest first. "Everest, Snow, surely you two remember how I mentioned my parents died?" Snow and Everest nodded their heads yes in response, leaving Claw to begin his story. "Good. I told Zuma this once before, and Rocky overheard us talking about it when Zuma was packing for their trip to Coastal Current. Just in case you felt they should know too."

Claw then got started with the story, doing his best to contain himself as he did. "I was about five years old when it happened. I wanna say a year older than Zuma. It was around the same time he came to the orphanage." A flashback began to Claw playing in the living room with another Doberman, and the two were shown to be playing with toy airplanes. "I was playing with my cousin in the living room while I had a babysitter." A knock on the door was heard, catching Claw and Nicky's attention as a grown up Shit Tzu went to the door. "I couldn't believe what came next."

The Shit Tzu opened the door and a German Shepherd cop was there holding his hat. "Is Claw Rakusen here?" Claw raised his paw with the German Shepherd signaling to come over to him. "There's something I gotta tell you." Claw walked over to the cop, who knelt down to him as he tried to find the right words to say. "This is gonna be hard to hear kid. I'm... actually getting pretty tense just by thinking about it."

"Is it something really bad?" Claw then realized his parents weren't back yet and got scared when he did. "Are mum and dad hurt!?"

The cop flinched before giving a sorrow look in response to Claw's question. "...Something like that." The cop took out a picture and handed it to the Shit Tzu, revealing that it was worse than Claw expected. "Their breaks were cut, and they fell into a ditch." The cop choked as he gave the worst part of the news to Claw. "They didn't make it."

Claw's look of concern changed to heartbreak, since he knew exactly what that wording meant. He tried his best to avoid crying as he asked if it were true. "Mummy and daddy are... d-d-dead!?"

The cop nodded his head yes, feeling awful as he saw how heartbroken Claw was. "I'm sorry kid. More sorry than you could ever imagine."

Claw started crying and buried his face into his paws with present Claw explaining more about it a his cousin and babysitter comforted him. "That's the craziest part about this world." The flashback ended as he finished what he had to say. "Tragedies can strike anyone at anytime, without any warning." The others were clearly shown to feel awful for Claw with Flare holding Marshall's paw, knowing that he knew the pain of losing a parent more than any of them. "Turns out, Zuma's case happened the day before. That's how I met him."

Marshall spoke up for Claw, knowing that this was something he needed to hear. "Listen to me Claw." Claw looked at Marshall, who quickly told him what he had to say. "That was not your fault."

"Well I already figured that out." Claw admitted, despite knowing why Marshall was telling him that. "That's why I said it happened without warning."

"Well I still don't want that thought to ever come up." Marshall told Claw, wanting to prevent any self blaming like that at all costs. "I know what it's like to lose a parent. Flare and I must've told you before about how our dad died the day after Flare was born." Claw did remember that, and Marshall then continued his sentiment. "You have every right to be sad about this. And you have every right to talk about it. Your feelings matter, and you deserve to express them. And I don't want you to hate yourself for that day. Because what happened wasn't your fault."

"And it will never be, your, fault."

Marshall's heartfelt words really opened Claw's eyes, as he could tell just how genuine they were. The sincerity in Marshall's voice, and the empathy he was showing for him. It was clear that he'd been in this situation before. Flare was also shown to have been thinking about what Marshall said, and then Flare smiled and showed how proud he was of Claw for speaking up. "Thanks for doing this Claw."

"Tch. Well I had to talk about it at some point it seems." Claw responded, hiding how much it helped him before seeing Everest smile at him. This made him smile and admit that he actually... liked it. "Okay, fine. It felt good."

Snow put a paw on Claw's shoulder as she told him something that he felt he needed as well. "The best thing anyone can do to gain my trust, is show me the real them. And I don't mean revealing their darkest secrets; I mean showing me who they really are by being honest about what they're all about." Snow smiled as she informed Claw that she was proud of his actions. "You did that just now Claw. I felt it."

Claw was hit with a truckload of guilt upon hearing that. Was Snow letting him know that she finally trusted him? Flare spoke up before he could thank her however, being excited to give the others their lunch. "I'm always happy to show you MY true self Snow! Whatya guys say I do that by giving you love with my home cooked macaroni and cheese!?" Everyone else was on board with that with Claw seeing just how good he felt being around them. It made him feel warm, and loved, and he felt that he could trust them as time went on.

If only he felt that he deserved a home this happy.

Snow was washing her bowl in the kitchen, and after putting it in the dishwasher, she went into the living room to find Flare, who already cleaned up his station, playing video games. She sat down next to him while expressing how impressed she was by how well things were going with Claw. "I didn't expect to see that side of Claw today Flare. Maybe you DID make the right call in convincing us to trust him."

"I didn't doubt it for a second." Flare admitted, and after taking down the boss he was fighting, he paused the game during a cutscene and set his controller down. "Does that mean you trust him enough to call him a friend?"

Snow had to admit that even if that wasn't the case, it was at least a lot closer to happening. "It just might happen soon. He definitely showed me his empathetic side beyond what happened to him in Barkingburg. And it's like I said. The best way to gain my trust is to show me the real them. And that was what Claw did earlier."

Flare smiled when he saw that Snow was starting to consider Claw a friend at last. He knew from the start that it was possible, and it seemed to finally be happening. "No doubt about that. And I'm glad we could help him with what happened to his parents." Flare then got an idea and figured it wouldn't hurt to share it with Snow. "Hey, I know! Maybe we can ask Ryder about letting Claw join the Paw Patrol! He was a knight in Barkingburg after all, and he's lived here long enough to know the layout of the town and make good rescue progress with whatever job he's given."

Snow had to laugh a bit while Flare was suggesting that, for obvious reasons. "Slow down dude." Flare picked up his controller and continued playing with Snow feeling it'd be fun to watch him. "Can I watch you play?"

"Sure. Maybe I can make you a file after I'm done." Flare offered, and Snow thought the game looked interesting, despite only seeing the cutscene Flare was watching so far. She gave him a thumbs up in response, showing him that she'd be on board with that.

Rocky and Zuma were having a bit of a lover's quarrel, although a minor one, about something Zuma wanted to add to his hovercraft, which Rocky expressed a distaste in doing. "It would be awful for the environment Zuma. Do you have any idea how much it'd take to make turbo boosters?"

"The convenience would be worth it Wocky." Zuma argued, loving this idea too much to give it up without at least a little fight. "Just think about how easy it'd be to chase down Chawm's soldiers the second I go into tuwbo mode."

Celeste and Gabe couldn't help chuckling as they watched, seeing that Rocky and Zuma really were a real couple as Rocky spoke up again. "Trust me Zuma. You'd be able to catch anyone without them on water. That's part of why I'm not making them."

Zuma snorted as he brought up a possible outcome regarding what Rocky just said there. "Let's see how long it takes to wetcon THAT one." He then tried to compromise in regards to the idea. "At least upgwade my cuwwent speed boosters."

Claw was sitting on the edge of the cliff by the Lookout as he gave a call to Sweetie in the hopes that he could talk to her. He didn't have much luck though, as his call was left to Sweetie's voicemail. "Hello whoever's calling! It's Sweetie here, present royal canine and future stunning actress. If it's Claw then I hope you're doing okay. And if it's anyone else, all I can say is, feel free to levae a message. Bye!"

The voicemail ended with Claw leaving his message and trying to word it in the best way he could while trying not to choke. "Sweetie, there's... something I should tell you and Caiohme. And it's not good. I didn't stop working with Charm after the Barkingburg attack. He used me to make a base in Adventure Bay. I-I wanted to stop, but he threatened me with your lives. The last thing I'd ever want is to lose you or Caiohme. I know this could backfire on me, just like that stupid dragon rule. I'm only telling you now to say... I'm sorry. I wish I could've been better."

Claw's voice cracked upon the last three words. "I love you."

Claw ended the voicemail and put his phone away, looking over the cliff crying over his dilemma. He had no idea what he was going to do now, and the shot of him looking at the big ocean showed just how small he felt in that moment.

Claw's voicemail was being played on Sweetie's phone, but it was in a different room, as shown when the last part of it played. "I'm only telling you now to say... I'm sorry. I wish I could've been better. I love you.""

Once the voicemail ended, a Golden Retriever's paw picked it up, and Charm then looked at it with a smirk. "Don't you worry Claw." Charm looked back after crushing Sweetie's phone and walked over to none other than Sweetie and Caiohme! They were tied up, and both were horrified being in the clutches of Charm. "It's the only happy memory they'll have after this month."

Charm removed Sweetie's mouth tape with the West Highland Terrier getting ready to rip him a new one. "You callous, manipulative brat! If I weren't tied up, then I'd-"

"Bored." Charm interrupted as he slapped Sweetie across the face as hard as he could. He then put the tape back on and pushed Sweetie and Caiohme over to their own separate cells. As he did, he grinned devilishly as he spoke about their purpose. "One week. That's all I need to continue my plan." Charm laughed evilly with Sweetie and Caiohme looking at each other in fear over what was going to happen to them, along with the Paw Patrol, Flare, and Claw.

Rock music played as Everest started speaking in regards to what was going to happen in the next chapter with specific moments being shown. "Wait; Charm's been building a base in Jake's Mountain for a month now!? How have the rest of us not noticed this before!? Oh well, that's not important right now. We have to stop that base. Don't worry Ryder. Richie, Claw and I are on it! Huh? Claw, are you okay? You look a little troubled about something."

Everest finished the announcement with the words Paw Patrol in all blue with red outlines and the title all white with Flare on one and and Marshall on the other. "Next time, A New Base To Claw Through! (Everest was shown trying to comfort Claw about what was bothering him) You know you can talk to me if something's bothering you. Right Claw?"