Paw Patrol: The Ballad of Dally Chapter 8: And Starts Taking Away, a paw patrol fanfic

(A/N) Hey guys! Surprise bonus Chapter for you, and it is a very sad one.

I will let the words do the talking.

Welcome back to Paw Patrol: The Ballad of Dally.

Chapter 8:...And Starts Taking Away

Chase opened his eyes to something very strange. He wasn't in his pup house. He was lying on the floor in what seemed to me a hallway. He couldn't remember what happened but he felt as if he was in a very hot oven. He fluttered his eyes and looked around his surroundings and immediately was spooked. He saw that fire was everywhere around him, burning the walls, the floor, and various things. He then came to a horrific conclusion that he was back in City Hall, in the dangerous burning hallway he thought he escaped.

The events of yesterday came flooding in but he was starting to doubt whether it was real or not. The last thing he remembered was losing Marshall, and fighting with Rocky. He shook his head of the memory, was that all just a very bad dream? Is he waking up after falling through the floor?...Is Marshall okay after all?

These questions flooded his mind until suddenly, he heard a very faint voice so familiar to him, that it haunted him.

"...Chase…"

The voice caused him to spin around and eye a pile of rubble that looked just like the one Marshall was crushed under. Only this time, there was one big difference and it shattered Chase's heart on sight.

In plain sight, was Marshall. Laying on his tummy, with his front half sticking out from under the pile of rubble, looking at him with tears in his eyes. His helmet laying beside him, cracked like before.

Immediately after spotting him, Chase shot over to the pile. "MARSHALL!" He cried, as he looked the dally over. He was now unconscious and his eyes were drenched in tears. Chase didn't know how long Marshall had been laying there, but he knew that it was definitely too long.

He shook the dalmatian to wake him, but nothing happened. He doubted whether he was even alive as he just lay there with his eyes closed, with all the debris in the world on his hind legs and rump.

"Marshall! Marshall! Come on! Wake up!" Chase screamed, as he shook him more furiously. Nothing came from the dally as Chase was starting to cry.

He tried again. "Marshall! Come on buddy! I heard you! You were just talking to me! Please! Wake up!"

Marshall was still as dead. Chase sat and sobbed as his little heart hurt him. He wanted to save him. He wanted to see him smile again. He wanted to see him laughing again. He wanted to see him at his best. But at this point, that was long gone. The least he could do, was get all the crap that had taken his life off of him.

Chase got up close to Marshall, and tried with all his might to push and lift all of the debris that had fallen on the dally. But as soon as he lifted up on the pile, pain shot up from his Right paw, to his body. Chase yelped and winced away from the pile. He shook his paw and looked at it, but then noticed that the paw wasn't even bandaged. The long slash in between his toes was exposed and blood was gushing out from it so much, the paw's light tan color turned deep crimson. It hurt Chase to even put weight on it as suddenly, he could barely stand.

Despite this, Chase's injured paw barley mattered to him. The only thing that mattered, was his best friend, still trapped under the rubble.

After taking a deep breath as if he was to dive underwater, Chase ran back to the pile and tried again. The pain was at least ten times worse, but Chase could care less if his paw would fall off right then and there.

He screamed and hollered through the pain, pushing up on the debris as hard as he could, trying to get it off of Marshall. He yelped, howled, moaned, and cried his heart out, as it was the most painful thing in the world. So much that it almost caused him to pass out and maybe die on the spot.

Then, a voice entered his ears again. "...Chase…...don't waste your strength….your not going to get it off…."

Immediately, Chase let go at the sound of the voice. He gasped for air as he looked at Marshall, who had his eyes still closed but he was not visibly breathing.

"Marshall?! Chase cried, as he stepped in front of the downed fire pup.

Marshall's head moved slightly. "...Chase, it's too late for me….Save yourself….."

"What?! No! Are you crazy?! I'm not leaving you!" Chase shrieked.

Marshall moaned a bit. "...don't kid yourself….you know there's no time for me left. You have to go….."

Chase was in pure shock and disbelief. "Marshall! Stop talking like that! There is no way that I'm leaving you here to die!"

Marshall didn't move an inch, as Chase kept his eyes glued on him. "...Chase...stop denying it and go…..Go! Don't let my sacrifice go to waste…."

Chase couldn't believe what he was hearing. Here was he, standing in front of a dying Marshall, telling him to leave him buried in the rubble and let him die to save himself. Marshall was his best friend in the entire world. Chase would do anything for the dalmatian, and if it was up to him, he would want to be trapped under that rubble, not Marshall. But no matter how hard Chase campaigned to save him, Marshall was shooing him off, as if the dally thought that his life didn't matter anymore. But Chase thought that it was his life that should be snuffed out, his life that should be taken away. Not someone who truly doesn't deserve it, like Marshall.

Chase didn't want to admit it, but he couldn't deny it either. Chase had acted so much like a jerk the past few months. So much that it almost ended his most cherished friendship with Marshall. Putting his nightmares and safety concerns aside, The way Chase had been testing his friends since Rocky's close call, was inexcusable. Especially how he treated Marshall. Chase hounded everyone about being safe and the importance of following orders and being careful on the job. He thought it was helping. He thought he was doing it for their own good, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and that obviously was the road Chase was going down. He yelled, screamed, berated, scoffed, and even harmed them, just to show them how dangerous they were acting. All it did was drive a wedge in between everyone he cared about, but the one pup that got the worst end of it, was of course Marshall.

For months, Chase had made Marshall feel like trash, due to his yelling and hurting words he would say to him. He didn't want to, he never did. He never wanted to treat his best friend like that. But he felt that it was the only effective way, to make Marshall understand how reckless he was on the job. But all it did was shake the foundation of their friendship till it almost fell apart. From that moment oh, Chase thought he didn't deserve Marshall, and would never take his friendship for granted.

But now, he felt like he didn't deserve to live anymore. That he should be in Marshall's place. That he deserved to die.

Tears filled his eyes as he looked at the dalmatian. Showing full regret for everything he's ever done wrong to Marshall.

"I….I…...I can't…...go." Chase sobbed as he struggled to finish. "I….I…..I'll lose you buddy."

Chase couldn't hold back the tears. He was seconds away from breaking down and crying his eyes out.

Then, in complete surprise of Chase, Marshall opened his eyes for the first time, and lifted his head up. He locked eyes with Chase and stared directly through his amber eyes.

Then….in true Marshall fashion, he cracked a smile. "...you won't lose me Chase….You'll find me….." tears go down his face. "...I know you will."

With that, Marshall dropped his head in between his paws and closed his eyes for the final time. His body relaxed, as he drew his final breath before exhaling it all out. Then, he was still.

Chase went bug eyed as he shrieked out. "Marshall?! Buddy?! Marshall?! MARSHALL!"

Chase burst opened his eyes with a quick and loud scream. His head frantically shook around when he realized that he was back in his pup house laying on his soft bed.

It was a nightmare, a very bad one. Chase had never been so scared and miserable in his life. Seeing Marshall die right in front of him brought back the painful memory of seeing his dad die. A recurring nightmare he would have every other week.

He thought of the last thing Marshall said to him before he passed. That he knew that Chase would find him eventually. He knew what he had to do. He needed to go straight to the ruins of City Hall, and find his best friend before it was too late.

At that time, a knock sounded at his door.

"Chase? Are you okay? I heard screaming!"

Chase recognized the voice to be Skye, sounding very bothered like she was scared.

In response, Chase ran up to the door, and opened to a very surprised Skye. She took a look at the shepherd and was horrified. He looked like he hadn't slept in two weeks.

"Oh Chase! You look horrible! Did you even get any sleep last night?!"

Chase didn't say a word, as he swiftly went by and unsuspecting Skye and turned his pup's house into his police car. Skye was immediately confused as she watched him.

"Chase? What's going on? Where are you going?"

Chase climbed into his car and started it. "Get out the way Skye, I don't want to hit you."

"Not until you tell me where you are going!" Skye demanded, not moving from her spot.

"What's it look like Skye?! I'm going to find Marshall!" Chase replied annoyed.

Skye did a double take. "What?! You mean right now?!"

"Yes right now! Now please Skye! Move!" Chase replied, a little frustrated.

"Don't you think that you need to wait on Ryder first?!" Skye suggested. Still not moving from in front of Chase's car.

Chase sighed as he was starting to get very annoyed. "I don't have time for that Skye! Marshall needs to be saved right now before it's too late!"

"Are you kidding me Chase?! You don't even have your pup pack on!" Skye pointed out.

"I don't need my pup pack to look for my best friend Skye! Now please! Move out the way!" Chase pleaded.

"No Chase, I'm not going to. I understand that you need to find him and I know you want to find him as soon as possible, but that doesn't mean you get to go whenever you please! You have to wait on Ryder first!" Skye insisted.

"No! You don't understand Skye! I have to find him now! He's in pain and he could be dying, right, now!" Chase countered.

"Plead all you want Chase, but I am not moving!" Skye planted her paws and sat down. Showing how serious she was.

"Skye! Please! I'm not going to hit you! Please move out the way!" Chase begged.

"Then I guess we're going to stay like this for a long time, because I'm not moving!"

Chase growled in frustration. Why won't she let him by? Doesn't she want Marshall to be found and alive? Ryder could still be asleep right now and if they waited too long, Chase had a feeling they would be too late.

The two stood their ground for what seemed like forever. Eying each other waiting for the other one to give in. Then, all of a sudden, their pup tags went off.

"Paw Patrol….t-to the l-lookout…...I-I need you pups."

Their tense stare down was interrupted with Ryder's calling. Chase was going to ignore it, but there was something very off about the call. Ryder was in a hushed tone and didn't sound like he would usually sound when he would call them. His tone was sad, like it was more of a cry for help than an order.

A bad feeling formed in hi stomach as he thought more about it. The hushed, the cry for help, and the stuttering all came together for him. It could only mean one thing and it was definitely not good news. It scared Chase to know what it was about, but he will never know unless he shows up.

Chase looked at Skye and he could immediately see that She had the same feeling. Nevertheless, she says to him, "Well…...you heard him. Ryder needs us."

The entire elevator ride up to the top was dead quiet. Not a word was said as the pup packs went on. The events of yesterday were still fresh in everyone's mind, as most of them had very concerned faces on them. Chase looked to his right and half hoped to see the one pup who was missing. Instead of course, was Zuma, who had a very worried look on his face and was looking at Rocky. Chase eyed Rocky and saw a mostly emotionless mixed pup, although Chase could tell that he was very antsy.

The elevator got to the top where the pups were expecting Ryder there ready to brief them, but this time, the doors opened, but there was no Ryder.

The pups were immediately thrown off by this. Usually by the time the pups would arrive at the top, Ryder would always be there, ready to give their mission. The pups skittishly got out of the elevator and looked around to find their owner, but he was nowhere to be seen. Some of them started to get very worried.

"W-Where's Wyder?" Zuma finally asked. "He did call us didn't he?"

"I'm pretty sure he did." Rubble answered, whimpering.

"But-But where is he? He said he needed us?" Rocky asked, as he started to whimper in worry. "But he's not here!"

Suddenly, the sound of a door opening entered their ears. When they heard it, the pups quickly got into their respective spots, ready for Ryder. However, none of them were prepared for what walked in the door.

It was Ryder, but he was dramatically different than what he usually was. He entered the room with his head down and was dragging his bare feet across the floor to the computer. He wasn't wearing his usual attire as he was still in his pjs. He wasn't even wearing the slippers that went with it. He finally made it to the console, putting a hand on it like he was holding himself up.

The pups were speechless. The pups had never seen Ryder like this in any of their lives. Their usually calm and strong minded leader was looking more like a kid who was just sent to his room for misbehaving. But what really scared the pups, was when he finally raised his head to look at his pups.

He was an absolute mess. His eyes were bloodshot along with the bags under them, his cheeks and forehead were blazing red and his jet black hair looked like someone tried to cut it with a weed eater.

It didn't take much for Chase to figure out that he had been crying all night, which caused the feeling he had earlier to grow stronger. He knew what was coming. There was no question about it now, it was just a matter of him finally letting it out and then, all of their lives will change.

Even though he really didn't want to, Chase reported to Ryder with the best professional face he could muster. "R-Ryder sir? W-Were here." His voice almost cracking, as he prepared for the worst.

Ryder stood there for a good minute, bout looking like his knees would buckle, and cry his eyes out but he already did all of his crying last night. He shook as he finally addressed his pups. His voice was very horse. "H-Hey pups. Thank you for coming so….quickly."

Rubble responded very uneasy. "R-Ryder? Are you okay sir?"

Ryder looked at his construction pup and shook his head slowly. "No, no Rubble. I'm not. And I'll tell you why."

Rubble's voice cracked himself, as he was very disturbed at seeing his owner like this. "Wh-What wrong?"

Ryder gave a very painful sight as he finally started to briefly. "Th-There is no emergency today pups, and we're not going to look for Marshall."

The Pups all gasped in shock as Ryder nearly broke down at the mention of Marshall. Chase tensed up, trying to prepare for the inevitable.

"What? W-Wh-Why?" Rocky asked, as he held no clue.

Ryder closed his eyes and fought tears as he continued on. "The-They worked all night long cleaning up the mess. Thanks to the progress we made last night, it didn't take long for them to finish."

Neither pup spoke as they listened on with the nerves at eleven while Ryder gravely went on. "Th-They searched and searched everywhere for Marshall….and….." Again, Ryder nearly broke down, as the pups now had horrified looks on their faces. Chase closed his eyes and braced for it.

"...they-they couldn't find him."

The pup's horror then turned to immediate confusion. Chase opened his eyes and looked at Ryder, very confused. "Wh-What? What do you mean they couldn't find him? You're not making any sense Ryder sir. If they couldn't find him, what happened to him?"

Ryder shook as he answered. "I-I'm telling you the truth pups. They couldn't find him. The only thing they could find was…."

Ryder dug his hand in his pocket. Causing all of the pups to eye his hand, as he moved it around and fished what he was lookin for out. "...was this."

Ryder pulled out his hand and the pups gasped as they saw what it was. It was Marshall's pup tag still attached to what used to be Marshall's collar, which was now apart and was chard beyond recognition.

"M-Marshall's pup tag." Skye pointed out, as the pups watch Ryder hold it up for them to see. Chase stared at it, locking his eyes on the burnt collar.

Ryder nearly lost control of himself as he finally said the regretful announcement. "I-I'm sorry pups….." Ryder tears up. "M-M-Marshall's gone….."

You could hear a pin drop in the room due to how quiet it was. After Ryder had said the line, no pup said anything.

A few minutes went by as Skye was first to go down. She plopped right on her belly and started to bawl on the floor.

Rubble dipped his head, took off his helmet, and held it over his heart. Although He didn't know Marshall for as long as the others have, he still shed tears for his good friend.

Zuma tried the best he could to hold it in, but his already weakened heart had too much. Marshall was one of his best friends in the entire world, and now he was gone, just like that. HIs legs were wobbly as he started to cry. "No. NO! Marshall No! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Just like Skye, Zuma bawled on the floor more furiously than her.

Rocky was visibly shaking in his paws. He started breathing very frantically and his eyes shifted side to side. He then closed them as tears filled his eyes. He then opens them and lets them fall. "R-R-Ryder….please….. There has to be something, anything. He can't just disappear."

Ryder shook his head as tears fell from him as well. "I'm sorry Rocky, b-b-but I'm telling the truth. There's nothing else."

"BOGUS! THERE HAD TO BE! THERE JUST HAS TO BE!" Rocky screamed as he wasn't even trying to hold back his tears. "YOU SAID WE WOULD FIND HIM RYDER! YOU PROMISED ME!"

Ryder could only hang his head in shame.

"PLEASE! THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING! HE CAN'T JUST BE GONE! HE CAN'T JUST DIE! NOT NOW! OH GOD NOT NOW! I CAN'T GO THROUGH THAT AGAIN RYDER! I CAN'T! I CAN'T LOSE MY BEST FRIEND AGAIN! I CAN'T LOSE MARSHALL AGAIN! I JUST-I JUST-IJUST! I..I..I TWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Rocky finally gave in and was now wailing louder than Skye and Zuma combined.

Then suddenly, Rocky shot over to Ryder and hugged the tightest he has ever hugged in his life. Ryder silently cried and held Rocky, as the pup bawled on his shoulder.

All at once, the rest of the pups join in. They cry together for their fallen friend, making the lookout sound like a monster was roaring from the top.

Everyone….except for one.

Chase sat still, eying the pups tag Ryder dropped when he caught Rocky. He stood absolutely still as he didn't cry, not even whimpering as he stared at the collar, as if Marshall had just disappeared right at that spot.

Ryder looked up from the massive group hug that was crushing him, and eyed his first pup.

"Chase?...Are you okay?..." Ryder asked, deeply concerned for the shepherd who had not said a word.

Chase didn't hear him. For all he knew, Ryder's words were absolute gibberish.

Chase tried to prepare for it. He knew it was coming. He had somewhat accepted it back at the fire, where he had to leave his friend behind to save himself and Skye. But there was that one little part in his brain, that still believed that his buddy was still alive. One little sliver that kept denying it.

For that reason, he hadn't fully accepted it. He wanted to believe he got away. He really wanted to, but each passing second the chance grew thinner and thinner.

There was only one way to know for sure, One way to finally accept it, and try to move on, and one way or another, Chase was going to finally confirm it for himself.

Ryder called out to him again but again, he ignored it. He then swiftly turned around and gunned for the slide. Ryder sees this and tries to stop him. "Wait Chase! Come back Chase!"

By the time he was halfway down the slide, he could no longer hear his owner call for him. He didn't care, all he cared about was his destination.

Chase landed in the truck, started it back up, and jammed on the gas. Driving away from the lookout as he went down the hill and on to the bridge.

Chase sped through the streets of Adventure Bay. Repeating the same dream he had earlier in his mind, where Marshall said that he knew Chase would find him.

Marshall can't be gone. He can't be. His best friend was stronger than that. But as much as Chase kept that in his mind, the image of Marshall's burnt collar reminded him of a gritty detail. It didn't matter how strong the dalmatian was, he was still trapped in a burning hallway. Chase tried his best to push the image of what happened out of his mind. He didn't want to go further than that, as it would have been torture for him.

The citizens looked on with curiosity, as he drove by them. Some even ran after him. He didn't care though as his eyes were focused on the road to devastation.

When he finally pulled up to the sacred sight, his eyes went wide in shock. It was just as Ryder said, all the debris and trash was gone. All that remained, was ashes and dust and no sign of Marshall.

Chase jumped out of his car and ran over to the spot where he found Marshall's helmet. He sniffed the ground, hoping to catch any scent of his best friend. Chase sniffed and sniffed and sniffed and sniffed as his life depended on it, but couldn't get anything, just the smell of ashes.

Any trace of Marshall was gone. There was no evidence of the dally ever being there. Except, there was, and he was standing right on him, in the pile of ashes.

Chase heard Ryder and the others pull up at the sight, but if they were calling him, he couldn't hear them. All the memories of Marshall flooded his mind as he was being interrogated and the memories were a method of torture.

The image of the dalmatian burned in his mind. Staring at him like a hawk. Chase then felt immediate remorse as he remembered the last few months of Marshall's life. How bad Chase had treated him. All the fights, all the crying, all the anger over powered any good memory he had.

He wished it never happened, he wished he never yelled at the dalmatian. He wished he treated his BEST friend better than he did before it was too late.

Marshall was his best friend. His brother. His mirror reflection. Now, he was gone. No last words, no last laugh, no happiness, no anything to leave a good impression. Just gone. Just like that.

Chase couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't accept it. Not like this. Not so soon. But he had to.

It finally sunk in. Marshall was dead.

He will never, ever, ever, see him again.

The only thing Chase could do was scream to the heavens.

"NO NO NO!

MARSHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!"

Chase barely remembered what happened next, as he started to wail and scream in the middle of ashes. Looking up at the sky.

He felt Ryder wrap him up in a very tight but comforting hug. With all of the pups joining the crying session.

The citizens who were watching all sharing their agony.

(A/N)...Well...There it is...Marshall is dead.

Don't really think I have much to say here.

Im currently preparing the next wave of Chapters for you guys so it's going to be a bit before I post again.

Question of The Chapter: Do you think that Chase deserve losing his best friend for how bad he treated him?

Let me know in your review!

Please review and tell me your favorite parts and if you have any questions about the story or anything else, just put it in your review or pm me and l'll get back with you as soon as I can.

This Is Sean Thames of Dragonsfire Entertainment signing off!