Here we go again!
Welcome to another exciting Chapter of Paw Patrol: The Ballad of Dally!
I know everyone of you are most excited about the highly anticipated meeting between Ryder and Stacy as I'm sure Ryder is too! I don't think Stacy will have the same feeling though. What will go down in the interview?
Will Ryder crack Stacy into fessing up or will Stacy keep her guard up and shoo him away?
Lets see what happens as we go on down to the chapter!
Chapter 43: A Really Close Call
In the late hours of the early morning, Stacy Jackson was completely bored out of her mind in the office of the Adventure Bay newspaper.
Normally, she would be out and about in the town, looking for anything to write about, but for some reason, her boss Seth Carlton told her to stay at the office today while he went out instead. Which was weird considering that Mr. Carlton usually kept to himself in his office making modifications to the next day's paper. Maybe he wanted a taste of the action for once, but somebody had to stay behind and work on the paper and that was Stacy.
She wasn't bothered about it, she was just sooo bored. The paper couldn't be done until they had a unique headline. The ship crash was a few days ago and the next few days were stories about the coast guard coming to dispose of the ship, which was at a standstill due to time and the interview with the flamboyant Captain Starboard, the captain of the ship, testified what happened. They had milked all they could from the incident and at this point, they'd be repeating themselves, which was something that Seth and Stacy wanted to avoid doing. Not even a Paw Patrol rescue, which had been something she's noticed lately. The volume of rescues had been low since even before the ship crashed. In fact, the rate had been dropping for a year, almost to where there would be a week of no rescues.
Maybe she could do a story on that and interview the townsfolk to see what's been going on, but then she remembered that Seth told her to be at the office for a "special interview" while he stepped out.
It had been a few hours since she got in the office, and she hadn't received any calls or visits. She started to doubt that the interview was going to happen at all, and that Seth either stood her up and lied so he could go out instead. Jerk.
Whatever the case may be, she was still sitting in her chair, completely bored out of her mind. She had no idea how Seth was able to pad out a days' time as she figured that this was what he usually does every day until Stacy came in with a story.
Then, she wondered how Dally did this everyday as well, and how he would face this every day. Except…not right now though, as he's made a friend, and that friend was someone Stacy hoped he'd never find.
Chase, The police pup of Paw Patrol.
The crumbling truth was it was all her fault. If she hadn't left her notebook at home, Dally would've had any reason to come to town, and Chase would've never found him, and Stacy wouldn't be on borrowed time. When she saw Chase yesterday, she knew Chase was very ticked, and she didn't blame him but yet, she stood her ground with him on instinct to keep Dally and acted completely oblivious.
To her surprise, Chase played along with her, which worried her even more. He obviously knows who Dally really is and he knows that Stacy knows as well. She also knows for a fact that Chase didn't keep it to himself and more than likely, told Ryder. The only saving grace is that Dally himself still doesn't remember who he really is and she didn't think that Chase was straight up telling him, otherwise Dally would be asking a lot of questions.
With all these thoughts in mind, she felt the need to check on her application to the Adventure City newspaper as it was the only chance, she had to save her hide with Dally. She rushed over to the webpage and brought up her application's status and was let down to see that it was still pending.
She groaned in frustration as she wonders in anybody was even looking at it. She hoped the prompt saying the application process taking at least seven days was only an estimate, because she didn't know if she had that long before she lost Dally finds the truth.
Just then, the door to the office opened and when Stacy looked up, and her heart launched up to her throat.
Ryder had a grimacing smirk as he walked over to Stacy's desk. "Hey Miss Jackson. I'm here for the one on one interview Mr. Carlton set up for me. I guess you're going to do it so why don't we get started?"
All the color drained from Stacy Jackson's face. "In-Interview?"
The morning for Chase started out pleasant. He almost didn't go on his morning patrol, not wanting to leave his angel by herself, but it was his duty to patrol every day and it was very hard to knock a pup like Chase out of his daily routine.
After that was done and breakfast was over, he could move on to what he really looked forward to. Spending time with Dally and hopefully get closer to getting Marshall back and away from Stacy Jackson.
He wished that he wasn't the only one who could see him though. He wished he could bring at least one of his friends with him, as he was sure Dally would appreciate more friends, but he knew that wasn't a good idea right now. Once they would see him, they will instantly know who he really is and overwhelm him.
Of course, If Ryder would just tell them what was going on then Chase could stop blowing them off and they would at least know that their friend was still alive. Heck it might even help Marshall with his memories. But Ryder knew what was best and if he says it wasn't time yet then Chase would have to take his word for it, for Marshall's sake.
He just hated being so secretive to his friends. To not only know what they don't know, but being away from them, for seemingly no reason. They knew that he was on some secret mission but him being fully committed to keeping it secret was already affecting his friendships with everyone including his love, Skye, who he blew up at yesterday.
They of course made up, but it shouldn't have happened, and Chase hated himself for doing it. Even though Skye was easily overwhelming him to the point where he couldn't get a word in edgewise, that's no excuse. Skye was just trying to get him excited of what was to come, and Chase cut her down.
If he could just tell her what he'd been doing, then she wouldn't feel that he was avoiding her at every turn. But no, Ryder's still committed to be safe and Chase dose get it, but how long with it be before they can finally pull back the curtain.
Rather than go off immediately, Chase obliged not to rush it and stay behind to get at least some sort of time with Skye, but it didn't really last long thanks to Wings pushing to practice early, so after seeing Skye off, he got into his cruiser to go find Dally.
"Chase! Chase! Wait up dude!"
Just as Chase was about to cut the car on, he heard Zuma call for his attention. He groaned a little as he wanted to get going but again, he didn't want everyone to think that he was avoiding them. "Yeah, buddy?"
"I'm sowwy fow keeping you fwom youw "secwet mission" but I still wanted to talk to you, dude." Zuma said as he sat down next to Chase's cruiser.
'oh for the love of…' Chase twitched a little before he jumped out of his cruiser, and sat in front of Zuma, hiding his annoyance as he did say that he'd talk.
"Alright, what is it?"
Zuma closed his eyes and took a breath. "I know about Dally."
Chase's body froze as stiff as a tree. "Wh-what"
"I know who you've been spending time with Chase. That's youw secwet mission, isn't it?"
Chase felt as if he was being interrogated by a federal agency. Never did he thought Zuma would know about Dally so soon. He could only respond as carefully as he could.
"Wh-what do you mean you know about Dally? Who told you about him?"
"Wydew did Chase." Zuma revealed. "He told be all about him."
"Would've been nice to know that Ryder sir' Chase thought, as he was trying to process the conversation.
"Like I said, I don't want to keep you fwom him. I just want to know one thing."
Chase held his breath. "What?"
Zuma drew another breath. "What is he like? Is he a good fwiend?"
Chase couldn't ask for a biggest sense of relief. He may know about Dally, but he doesn't know everything about him. Mainly who he really is.
"Y-Yeah. Of course he is Zuma." Chase answered with a sudden confidence. "In fact, he's a great friend."
It took Zuma a minute for him to respond, as he fidgeted with his paws. "Wh-When can we meet him?"
Chase knew exactly where to take the conversation. He didn't like doing it, but he felt that he had no choice but to shoo Zuma away.
"Well,….I'm not really sure buddy. He's super shy you see, and I'm trying to get him more comfortable to meet more pups. It may take a bit."
Zuma's head dropped to his paws. "That's exactly what Wydew said."
Chase could pat himself on the back for that. He seemed to be doing something right if he was in sync with Ryder.
"Does he want to join the Paw Patrol Chase?" Zuma asked with curiosity.
"Yeah. He does Zum. But his owner is……making things a plicated to say the least." Chase answered, sort of coming off the cuff a little.
"Wydew said that too." Zuma replied with a whine. "I just want to meet him."
"You will Zuma, we just need to make him comfortable and straiten everything out." Chase assured Zuma with warmth.
Zuma gave Chase a small smile. "I know Chase, I just hope the othews won't weject him fow weplacing Mawshall. I know Wydew says that he's not but…"
"He's not replacing Marshall." Chase growled, although it wasn't genuine as he found his way out of the conversation.
"I-I didn't mean to imply tha.." Zuma stopped when Chase got back into his cruiser. Trying to come off as upset that Zuma would even think of such a think. "Wait…wait dude! I still have.."
"You got your question buddy." Chase cut very coldly to the water pup, starting his car up. "I have to go."
Before he could hear another word from Zuma, Chase sped off, kicking up dust in his tracks. He could slam his head on the steering wheel for playing his irritation up like that, but he hoped it was believable to satisfy the lab's curiosity.
In a big wide open field on the out skirts of Adventure Bay Skye flying low at top speed, heading head on to her brother who was doing the exact same thing.
They were practicing one of their most well known trick called the belly brush. Where they start from either side and fly towards each other then at the right moment, they'd turn sideways and pass each other as close as they could get. Belly to belly of course.
It was their signature trick that usually closed their performance with, but the trick had drastically changed, when they did it with stunt planes, it was way dangerous, probably the most dangerous in the show, but now that they were performing with jet packs, the danger was cut down by half or more as the only repercussions of it failing is bumps, scuffs, and bruises. A lot better than burns, scars, and even death.
By the standard, they couldn't end the show with it this time, but it was still a cool enough trick open with, so it was the first trick they wanted to work on.
Skye eyed her brother as they got closer to each other. Waiting for the opportunity moment to turn her body. Nothing else was in her mind except for her brother and how close they were. She hoped her brother listened to her yesterday. If not, she was going to have one banger of a headache if she doesn't react in time.
Right when they were about ten yards apart, Skye rotated her body sideways to where her belly would be facing his, but shockingly, Wings didn't fall suite, as he was still upright, heading straight for her.
Skye noticeably started to pull right, not wanting to collide with Wings, but just before she could completely bail from the trick, Wings finally rotated, and they passed each other belly to belly swiftly. Unfortunately, due to Skye's minor adjustment, they passed a few feet apart from each other. No where close to where they wanted to.
Skye landed a few yards from where they passed and turned around with a very displeased look on her face. Seeing her brother do the same thing as they glowed at each other from across the field.
"What was that Wings?!" Skye complained through her pup tag. "You rotated too late!"
"Too late?!" She heard her brother retort from a pup tag of his own. "No No No! you rotated to early!"
"Too early?!" Skye dumbfounded. "I turned right when I was supposed to like we always did!"
"Skye that's not going to work this time." Wings argued. "We need to do it a little closer or it won't be impressive at all!"
"We can't do that Wings!" Skye argued. "It's too dangerous!"
"Not with packs. Remember?" Wings pointed out. "With these we closer than we ever did and turn right at the nick of time."
"But….Wings…." Skye wanted to argue for some reason, but she could find anything. "Can we really do that?"
"Why not?" Wings replied. "Were the Mighty Wings remember, or did you forget that?"
Skye smiled suddenly, accepting her brother's side. "Okay, okay. Well do it your way." She then barked her Wings out and lifted to the air. "Lets go again."
"Okay but try not to mess up this time." Skye could imagine Wings rolling his eyes. "The show is in two days, and we have to practice the other tricks."
"Yes, I know Wings, you don't have to remind me every time bro." Skye replied, as she flew to her starting position.
Of course, not hearing the snide little comments that she knew her brother was making.
While she hovered at the end and waited on her cue to start. Her mind suddenly drifted on what happened yesterday with Chase.
It wouldn't be right to her to be angry at him as she assumed that Chase did seem irritated when walked into the lookout. Especially since Skye herself didn't make things better by being all over him, causing him to react like that. What she was most focused on though was why was he so irritated in the first place. It made her more curious to what his mission was and whether he was safe. She didn't think that Ryder would just put him on such a dangerous mission, but from the looks and sound of it, it seemed to be very stressful on him.
Skye felt a sting in her heart at the fact that Chase could be in distress, making it crucial for her to find out so she can assure herself that he was okay.
"Skye, ready?"
Skye shook out of her mind when she heard her brother through her pup tag.
"R-Ready Wings."
"Okay. You better not screw it up this time." Wings jabbed.
"Oh would you quit whining and do it already?!" Skye threw back as she got about thirty feet off the ground.
"Fine then." Wings shoved with annoyance. "Three. Two. One. Go!"
On go, Skye sped off towards her brother at breakneck speed. The wind gliding through her ears as she picked up more speed with the trees blowing past her in a blink of the eye.
Nothing on her mind could distract her as the gap between her and Wings shortened by the second. However, in all the sound of the wind blowing by her, a faint sound caught Skye's attention.
Without thinking, Skye looked left and spotted a pup on the edge of the tree line, cheering loudly for her efforts. Her heart stopped when she realized that the pup had a haunting resemblance to her late teammate, Marshall.
Before she could fully process what, she was seeing, she heard her brother screaming for her to shift.
Skye snapped her head forward and yelped in fear as she was now inches from colliding with her brother at top speed. She snapped her body sideways like a twig, barely hitting her brother as he did the same. She got out of it okay, but the same couldn't be said for Wings. As soon as she turned around, She saw her brother tumbling on the ground before skidding to a painful stop.
"Wings!" She cried, as she flew over to him. Her heart stopping for a second time. She landed a few feet from him and practically slid her paws to him. "Are you okay?!"
Wings was notably slow getting up, shaking and grimacing at the pain in his body. "I'm fine, no thanks to you." Wings growled, shaking himself off. "What the heck was that?! When I said we can do it closer than we ever did before, I didn't mean that close!"
"I know. I know…." Skye whined. "Sorry…I just…." She tried to find a way to describe what happened. "I..don't know really."
"Oh no no no. Don't play dumb with me sis." Wings rejected. "You know exactly what it is, and so do I."
"H-How do you know?" Skye gawked.
"Because it's that obvious Skye." Wings claimed. "This is about Chase, isn't it?"
Skye immediately shook her head. "N-No. It has nothing to do with Chase."
Wings popped an eyebrow. "Oh? Then what is it then? Prove me wrong."
"Well…you see…." Skye was having trouble figuring out how to explain how she saw a friend who was dead, right? "It's…..sorta hard to explain…."
"….Or I'm right and you just don't want to admit it." Wings faded in.
Skye shook her head in protest. "No Wings, really! It has nothing to do with Chase!"
"Then what is it Skye?! Tell me!" Wings pushed, getting very frustrated.
"It's…..It's….I….I thought I saw someone." Skye finally partially revealed. "I thought someone was watching us!"
Wings squirmed. "Saw someone? What do you mean? It's just us out here Skye!"
Skye was conflicted. She knew she saw someone, and she knew who it was. She also knows that Wings won't believe who it was, because quite frankly, Skye couldn't believe it herself.
"Just admit it sis and stop wasting time." Wings growled in more frustration.
"Wings, I'm telling the truth. Look, I'll show you." Skye responded as she ran towards where she saw the figure.
"Wait…Skye!" Wings called back to her, giving chase to her.
As soon as Skye got to the general area where she looked around for any clues. Unfortunately, no such clues existed, which admittedly deflated her heart considering who it was she saw.
"Skye, would you stop playing?" Wings called as he approached.
"I'm not playing bro; I did see someone. He was watching us!" Skye responded though not as sure as she was earlier.
Skye kept looking around for any sign of anyone, while Wings deadpanned his sister though he did have a hint of concern. "Skye. There is not one out here."
Skye's face fell gradually as it sunk in. For a moment, not only did she think she saw someone, but she thought she saw Marshall cheering her on. She knew that it wasn't really him and it was some sort of illusion, Marshall had passed on.
But…if Skye knew that for a fact, why did it still hurt her so that it wasn't the real thing?
Single tears fell to the ground as she accepted defeat, turning to face her brother.
"You-You're right Wings. There is no one out her. It's just us." Skye whined. "I don't think I saw anyone at all."
Surprisingly, Skye didn't hear a snide response from her brother. Instead, it was one of sympathy and concern.
"Skye, are you absolutely sure you want to do this?" Wings sighed.
Skye stared a bit in response.
"I know I already asked you this yesterday, but can you honestly tell me, that when we go up in that Skye in two days, your mind won't be on something else."
Skye thought hard about her answer. "I…….ye-yes…."
"In my opinion…I don't think so." Wings cut.
"What?! No Wings! I can do it! I can do these tricks!" Skye argued.
"I'm not saying you can't Skye. I'm saying that your head is not in the right place to perform right now."
Skye felt a sting in her heart. "W-Wings don't be ridiculous"
"I'm not being ridiculous sis. I'm being honest. I know how much this means to you and how much this means to me. But I just can't let you go up there with you're mind jumbled. You could really hurt someone, including yourself."
It nearly brought her to tears. The past few months had been nothing bliss about performing with her brother again. She had spent all the months conditioning herself, getting her body ready to take the skies again. But all that was now in danger of going away, but she wasn't going to let it get away.
She dipped her head and drew in a breath. "Wings….listen to me. I know there's a lot riding on this, and a lot has happened since you last saw me. I lost a friend and almost lost another one. I even tried to runaway because it was too much for me."
"Run away?" Wings repeated.
"Yes Wings. Run away. Back to you. But I didn't, and I'm glad I didn't. Even with all the things that has happened this past year, I still think this is the right place for me to be, and I know it can only get better from here on out." Skye raised her head to meet her brother's eyes with subtle tears. "I was really riding on this bro. I thought that this would be the thing I need to leave everything behind and do what I've always had fun doing. I know my head is all over the place, but I need this Wings. More than you do. I must perform in the show."
For a few minutes, neither pup said anything or moved as they gazed at each other. Then, Wings activated his pack and flew away.
"Wings! Where you going?! We still need to practice!" Skye called to him.
"Practice is over Skye. I'm going back to the lookout." Wings replied sternly.
"But what about these tricks! The show is in two days?!"
Wings took a bit before he responded to his sister. "I have a lot to thing about sis."
Stacy hoped that she wouldn't see Seth Carlton at all today, cause she may lose her job due to the words she had for him for putting her in the situation.
He clearly set her up with Ryder. At a time where she wanted to be nowhere near the ten-year-old. But now she's going to have to get through this the best she could.
Fortunately for her, the interview started off well for the most part. They went over the Paw Patrol's origins and Ryder's life before the team. Although, Stacy knew the real reason he was here; no matter how oblivious he was acting. But, for her own sanity's sake, she played along.
"….so your father fully funds the team through Normality?"
After taking a sip from a water bottle, Ryder answered the question firmly. "Essentially. Though most of it comes from his own part than his company. I would imagine the board being all up in arms about that."
"I would imagine so." Stacy responded "Especially since they don't get any prophet from it. Right?"
"Yes." Ryder stated. "The Paw Patrol never accepts any money for its services."
"But you've accepted donations before, right?" Stacy pressed.
Ryder was seemingly caught off guard by that, but id didn't deter him. "Y-Yes we have, but that was after I declined multiple times."
Stacy ramped up her attack a little. "You did accept it though. Tell me. What did you do with the money?"
"It didn't go to the team. If that's what you're implying." Ryder replied with a grimace.
"Oh? Then where did it go then?" Stacy never faltered her mood and neither did Ryder.
"It went to Adventure Bay actually." Ryder answered. "I give it straight to the mayor to help with the town."
"That's surprising. I've never seen you give the mayor any money." Stacy pressed harder. She didn't think she'd get far, but she wanted to turn the heat up a little.
"That's the thing Miss Jackson, you've never seen me give money to the mayor." Ryder strongly deflected. "You seem to think that I'm actively out there, asking money for the rescues we do, but you've seen just about everyone of our rescues here in town, as you stated on multiple occasions. Have you seen me ever aske or even demand for payment from our clients?"
As expected, Stacy knew she wasn't going to go any further as she knew for a fact that Ryder was not laundering money from rescues, she just wanted to see how far she could push him before he started to squirm.
"No, I have not, and I have no doubt that you are fair." Stacy backed off. "I just found if very interesting that you get all your funding straight from Normality."
"That's one way to put it I guess." Ryder said, a hint of discomfort there. "But I don't see it at that. My father believes in me, and he supports my efforts however he can."
"Must be nice to have a father who supports you." Stacy commented with a smirk.
"Best father in the world." Ryder reflected with a smirk. "Go ahead. Change my mind."
"I don't plan to. Don't want to have a fatherly duel in this office." It was time to change the subject. As much as she wanted to dig more into Ryder's relationship with his father and the financials of the Paw Patrol, there's a glaring topic that had been on the girl's mind for a full year. "Okay, let's move on to this hear. There isn't any way to cut it any cleaner in saying that the Paw Patrol is pretty much Adventure Bay's public service. Am I right?"
Ryder took another sip of water, eying Stacy carefully. "I think so."
"And there's no doubt that your pups do an amazing job out there."
Ryder nodded stiffly. "Yes. In fact, I'll go as far as to say that they're better than most public services out there."
Stacy resisted the urge to snicker at that. "A-Any way. There's been something I've noticed in this past year though. Your volume of rescues has had a drastic drop throughout the year. You have any idea why that may be?"
Ryder remained fixed in giving the answer. "No, to be honest, I haven't really been paying attention to it. Been too busy helping my pups move on and take care of them. Not worrying about whether we have a rescue or not."
"But you have noticed it right? Before I said anything about it?" Stacy inquired.
Ryder closed his eyes slightly. "Yes, I have, but I can't do anything to control it. It's up to the town if they want our help or not."
"With all due respect Ryder, I wasn't asking about whether there is a drop in calls. I'm asking why you think there is a drop?"
Ryder slightly craned his head. "I already told you. I'm not sure." Ryder then clasped his hands and pointed them toward Stacy. "What do you think it is?"
"What do I think?" Stacy asked, slightly surprised.
"Yeah. Since you're all about our operations and statistics why don't you tell me what the problem is."
Stacy shuddered a bit at Ryder's interest in her hot take. "Ryder, this is me interviewing you, not the other way around."
Ryder wasn't going to step down wone bit. "Yes, but I need a little help here. Just tell me what you think, and I'll go off that."
Stacy fidgeted a little. Ryder was encouraging Stacy to lead him which was something journalist try to avoid. Supposably. She also thought that giving her real thoughts would sink the interview, but if he's asking for it….
"Fine, if you want my opinion so badly, here it is." Stacy started while keeping her eyes on Ryder. "I think the reason why you haven't been getting many rescues lately, is that the town is noticing a drop in your quality. Accidents have been happening more often and your pups are getting hurt left and right. It's a wonder how one of your clients don't get hurt themselves."
Stacy was not going to pull any punches here. She didn't care what the interview was about. She was finally going to give her two cents straight to the source. "But if you ask me, I think they're starting to realize that you truly do not know what you're doing. Sure, you and your pups have been pretty good at helping the town with its chores and pushing back on that dung head mayor the next town over, but when it comes to real world debacles, you're in way over your head."
Stacy expected a reaction to come out of the boy, but Ryder remained focused. She tried her best to keep her anger at bay while he just sat there, taking it all in.
"But what really gets me, is that your pups are the ones who get the worst of it. Being close to death when they shouldn't be and getting hurt when it should be you. But all you do is bark orders at them and expect them to push themselves way past their limit."
Ryder craned his head some more, but Stacy wasn't finished. "Don't sit there and tell me I'm wrong, because I'm not and you know it. You throw these pups at any sign of danger, and you act all shocked when one of them doesn't come back. Either that or you really are, which speaks volumes about you."
For the first time, Ryder squirmed in his seat. Stacy felt pure adrenaline, laying it all out. "It doesn't matter whether they are accidents or not. There are no reasons why your pups get most of the beating while your fine and dandy. Sure, you had a little scare on yourself, but that's it. There are no other times where you were on that thin line instead of them. That's exactly what happened on the boat where Rocky was critically injured. Yeah, you were there, but it was Rocky who held on the break, not you."
Stacy audibly paused and closed her eyes as she knew she had to calm down, but there was one thing she had to get off her chest. "But perhaps the most egregious thing, is your incompetence and how much it makes the situations worse, like what happened with Marshall."
Stacy heard a sharp gasp from Ryder. She opened her eyes to see a slight distaste manner from him. But to her complete shock, he was as quiet as a mouse.
"I don't mean to open an old wound here, but whenever I think of your inability to lead a team, I think about that day. Everyone loved Marshall. Some could say that he was the most talented and charismatic on the team, but thanks to your laughable way of making decisions, his life was cut short, and the town cried for him. So much that they don't realize that his life didn't need to be sacrificed like that. He should've never been sent in there by himself."
Ryder finally spoke but surprisingly, it wasn't an outburst although Stacy could hear the anger in his low growling voice. "He didn't go in there by himself. Chase and Skye went in with him."
"Yeah. They went in. Three pups. One of them should've been you. Not three pups by themselves. I'm not saying that they're incapable of doing their job, but they're young Ryder. They would've needed help form their leader; but did you go in there? No. You sent those three in the burning condemned building, one of them with a hurt paw no less, and surprise, surprise, he gets trapped in there and Marshall had to go back in and save him. I understand that accidents happen Ryder, but that accident could've been easily avoided had you stepped up, but you stayed outside and doused the building from a distance, while your pups were in a ticking time bomb."
Stacy again had to lay off as her statement gradually turned into a full-on rant. Surprising though, she still wasn't finished. "I know your smarter than most kids Ryder. I know what you've done for the community is more than any person has done before. Especially for the canine community. But as far as you are running a rescue team at such as young age and with pups no less, in my opinion, doesn't work and it seems that with all the accidents and failures you've been having lately, people have now begun to see what I've been alluding to in my articles. I think you and your pups need to find some other way to contribute because your actions are not just hurting you and your pups but are dragging Adventure Bay with you."
A huge moment of silence echoed the room, as Stacy reeled back a little in slight surprise of herself of how into it, she was. She'd never told anyone her full opinion of the Paw Patrol. Much less say them their own leader.
The deafening silence continued until Ryder broke it with a single word.
"Finished?"
Stacy was fully expecting Ryder to angrily storm out of the office and end the interview right there, but again, he was as calm as a delicate flower.
"Yeah, I think so." Stacy said, regaining her composure.
"Then I guess it's my turn then." Ryder replied, drinking the rest of his water.
Stacy said nothing as she waited for Ryder's rebuttal like an engaging some from a movie.
Ryder closed his eyes and drew in a breath. "Look. I'm not going to sit here and blow some smoke on you. Because most of what you said are true. I know I'm just a ten-year-old boy, with a very ambitious dream to change the world, and I know that my decisions don't always work out in the end. I deal with that pressure almost every time I go out on a mission. I understand that I have a big responsibility to look after five pups who see me as their father. So when accidents occur, I treat it as a major screw up from me and I think exactly what your said."
Ryder was very fixed on his gaze to Stacy, almost like Stacy was staring down the barrel of a gun.
"That being said, I think it's very unfair for you to in that I don't care for my pups. That can be no farther from the truth. Part of the reason why they're so willing to listen to what I say is because they have their full trust in me. The same can be said vice versa with me. Most of the reason why I don't step in that much is that I trust them to know that they can do it themselves. You may not like that, but it's how we work and save lives."
Stacy resisted the urge to comment as she gave the same space Ryder gave her.
Ryder softened his look a little as he went on. "This past year has been hectic for us, to say the least. I lost a dear pup in a fire and the team nearly fell apart because of it. I was critically injured thanks to my ATV failing and nearly died, and I almost lost another pup a few days ago. That's not counting the plethora of bumps we've had since Marshall passed away. It hasn't been as smooth time for us and I feel that all of this was a hard reality check for me."
Ryder then sat back in his chair and relaxed a little. "When I started Paw Patrol, it was initially a way to help Chase become as good as his father, if not better. When Marshall came in, if really grew into something bigger and I was inspired by them to help anyone in need who couldn't help themselves. I must admit though, as the team grew, and we started getting more intense missions, I was so wrapped up in glee, that I didn't think too much about the mistakes and near accidents we had. Just shoving them off as "Oh we just have to be more careful next time." But everything changed with the city hall fire."
Ryder lowered his head a little with Stacy hanging on to every word.
"Out of everyone on the team, I took that accident that hardest. I was so confident in sending Marshall, Chase, and Skye would be the best decision for that fire. I waved off his injury because I thought Chase was strong enough to pull through, and Chase and Marshall were such a great team, that I didn't think Chase's paw would hinder him. But I was wrong, and Marshall ended up going right back in to save him when the building was never to collapsing. I wanted to stop him though, but I know that if Chase had any chance of making it out alive, I needed to trust Marshall and I did."
Stacy sat appalled as she initially the thought that Ryder was going to almost blame Marshall himself for his death, but he didn't go that route.
"Marshall went back in there by his choice, and I don't blame him. That pups had a hard drive to be the best he can be for the benefit of everyone else. That's the essence for our team but to him, it was his lifestyle. Up to that point, Marshall did many risky things to do his job. Things that not even the most daring pup wouldn't think of doing. That was just how Marshall was, and I was so proud of him for that. Still proud of him to this day."
Ryder shuttered his eyes as tear started to farm. "Despite that though, I still took full responsibility for his death. Had I not sent Chase, Marshall would've never had to go back in there, and he'd still be alive today. I used to think that it was all my fault, like I essentially killed one of my beloved pups. I still feel that way and it's making me doubt my own self confidence as a good leader."
He opened his eyes and looked back at Stacy. "I know I still have some growing to do, but if you take anything from this Miss Jackson, I want you to know that I do not take any of my pups for granted. I have no earthly idea why any of them still trust me, after all my screw ups. The only way I can think of, is that they love me like a father to them. They will follow me to the ends of the earth with me because they feel that I'll never steer them wrong. They drive me to be that leader they want me to be, no matter how many times my blunders get them hurt." Tears formed again as Ryder's voice got more tense with every word. "I love those pups, Stacy. I love them because they don't ever give up on me and make me feel like I'm the best dog owner in the world. That's why I didn't shut the Paw Patrol down when Marshall passed. Because this team is the only way I can give back to them what they give to me, and that's a purpose. I hope you understand how much that love can drive me. To do anything for them. In fact, I think you do. You have a pup too, am I right?"
Stacy gasped loudly. It was the first time in the interview where Ryder had subtly acknowledged the elephant in the room, and she knew he wasn't playing dumb.
Ryder gave a slight smirk. "So. You definitely understand how much you'd do for your pup when they're lost, hurt……" Ryder leaned in closer to Stacy as his eyes turned to pure fury. "……or stolen."
Stacy dropped her pen on the desk as Ryder's glare paralyzed her. There was nowhere to run now. The spotlight was now on her. She wanted so desperately to move on to something else, but Ryder's stare made her realize how much anger was behind it.
Ryder stayed perfectly still; his eyes locked on her like a missile. Making Stacy start to shiver suddenly in fear. Then, in the moment where Ryder seemed to get angrier, her unexpected savior burst in the office with an oblivious hello.
"Hey Stacy! I'm back with today's material for…." Seth Carlton stopped when he realized that Ryder was there. "Oh…I'm sorry. I see the interview still going on."
Stacy took this opportunity to escape. "No, Your fine Mr. Carlton. In fact, we were just wrapping up."
Stacy eyed Ryder who was still glaring at her. Then, at the flick of the switch, Ryder turned to Seth with an inviting smile. "Yeah. Don't feel bad Mr. Carlton. I was just on my way out."
"Aw, do you have to leave so soon Ryder? I'd be more than happy to show you around." Seth asked, making Stacy tense a little.
"As tempting as that is Mr. Carlton, I need to go check on Rocky." Ryder respectfully declined, easing Stacy's tension.
"Well, alright, you are a busy fellow Ryder, I can't blame you for that." Seth commented. "Stacy didn't poke you too hard, did she?"
Ryder gave a slight chuckle. "No, not at all Mr. Carlton. The interview was quite fun. I'm glad I did it."
Seth sat at his desk as he responded. "That's great to hear Ryder. You best get to that pup. I've been so worried for him."
"Yeah, I should. Thank you for the interview." Ryder replied, before he looked back at Stacy. "Especially you, Miss Jackson."
Stacy swallowed. "A-Anytime Ryder."
Ohhhh boy! What a spicy interview.
Stacy better hope she gets that job in Adventure City, because it looks like everything around her is about to crash down!
On the other hand, Skye seems to be in a conundrum of her own with her brother, but more importantly, she seems to have seen Marshall. Was it really him or a hallucination playing a cruel joke on her?
Find out what happens next time, when Chapter 44: Burned Memories is released on the 15th!
Question of the Chapter: Between Ryder and Stacy, who do you think has the stronger side of the argument?
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!