Looks like things are starting to wrap up!
Welcome one and all back to Paw Patrol: The Ballad of Dally, the biggest Paw Patrol story going on today presented by DragonsFire Entertainment!
It seems that fitting in was way harder than Marshall thought! Though everyone's words assured him that they didn't really care about his memories, Marshall still feels very uncomfortable, still believing that everyone was looking to him as who he was. Zuma blowing up at him only made things worse as he constantly debates on who they want him to be and whether or not he could be that pup.
In the midst of this, Ryder has requested Marshall and Chase's presence down in his workshop. He has something big planned for his pups that has him excited to the gills.
What is Ryder's big surprise? Only one way to find out and that's by reading the chapter!
Chapter 57: Tears from Fears
Ryder was smiling to himself at his latest project he had been working on, for about a year, with some help from Rocky.
It was a simulation room designed to help train his pups in a more immersive environment, located right next to his workshop garage.
It was actually separated into two rooms. One was the actual simulation room itself, which was about half the size of a basketball gym. Completely empty at one's glance but in actually, there were various devices like heaters, rising blocks, and walls to help the immersion.
The other room was normal size filled with hardware that implemented the software along with monitors so Ryder could see what was going on in the simulation. There was also a wide window on the wall with a clear view of the simulation room to monitor the pup from that perspective.
All in all, it looked like a recording studio. A studio with a huge sound room at that. Reminiscent of the Danger Room from X-Men which inspired Ryder to develop the room. Ryder never thought he'd be able to do something like this ever. He could not wait to try it out and what better way to try it out than with a pup who may need a refresher on his special talent.
He stood ready for Chase and Marshall to arrive, while Rocky was off to the side, inputting various things into the computer.
"I'm telling your Ryder, you truly out did yourself here." Rocky boasted.
Ryder turns to Rocky with a huge smile. "Don't give all the credit to me bud. You helped a lot."
"Yeah but you had the idea, I just helped program it and build it." Rocky pointed out. "I am curious though, what was this room really used for though?"
"It was the many storage areas Dad had. There's another one on the other side of the garage." Ryder explained. "I just figured it was time to finally use it for something."
"And use it you did." Rocky says with excitement. "I can't wait for the others to see this."
"Me neither Rocky." Ryder added before his pup pad started ringing. He answered it and saw that it was Chase.
"Hey Ryder sir. We're here in the garage, but we don't see you." Chase says. "Where are you at?"
Ryder smiles wilder as he walks up to the door leading into the garage, and opens it, seeing Chase and Marshall in there.
"Pups! In here!" Ryder calls to them, motioning for them to come in.
Chase and Marshall spot him and began walking towards the door. Ryder holds the door to let him in and when they got in, they were looking all around it, sorta confused to what it is.
"I don't remember this room." Marshall says.
"Neither do I to be honest." Chase adds as he looks at Ryder. "What is it Ryder?"
"Pups,…..what you see is….." Ryder's excitement stopped when h took a look at Marshall, notably the wetness around his eyes.
"M-Marshall?" His voice detreating. "H-Have you been crying?"
Marshall bowed his head and got low to the ground. Ryder kneels to him in full concern for his pup. Stroking his neck to comfort.
"Marshall? What's wrong?"
Chase took it upon himself to answer. "It's a long story Ryder sir, but basically, Zuma yelled at him."
"What?" Ryder cocked.
"Zuma? Yelled at him?" Rocky repeated. "Why?"
"I don't know, something about the Pup-Pup Boogie game we were playing." Chase responds. "They were facing each other, and Marshall failed out, then Zuma got upset at him and berated him."
Ryder was now very confused. Zuma? The calm and cool pup to get upset over a video game? To the point of berating Marshall? That didn't make any sense at all considering who Zuma is.
"What did he yell at you for Marshall?" Ryder said softly.
Marshall looks away and whimpers.
"Marshall. Come on now. I want to help you." Ryder said softly.
Marshall then looks at Ryder. "Z-Zuma yelled at me because he wanted me to do my best, but I was just trying to have fun. He wanted me to play like I've apparently done before, but I was still learning."
Ryder now understood what it was about. Zuma is a cool headed pup, but when it came to competition, the lab could get really into it, maybe not for the sake of victory as much for the sake of the thrill.
Zuma was expecting Marshall to play like he did before the accident. Trying to recapture that thrill that made him thrive and have fun. Unfortunately, he was vastly disappointed and slammed Marshall as a result of it.
Ryder hugged Marshall soothingly. "It's okay Marshall. Zuma's not normally like that."
"He-He said he didn't want to play with me anymore." Marshall sobbed. "and I think he meant it."
"No. No. No." Ryder calmed. "I'm sure he didn't Marshall."
"Yeah. Talk about out of character." Rocky says. "I'm going to talk to him, see what's going on?"
"Hold it right there Rocky. We'll worry about that later." Ryder replies. "I need you down here to help with Marshall's training."
"Tr-Training?" Marshall says back.
"Yeah." Ryder said as he let go of Marshall and gets back on his feet. "Were going to start your training in this very room."
"Huh? What are you talking about Ryder sir? This room is very small. How are we going to train Marshall in here?" Chase asks.
The giddy smile returned to Ryder as he was very enthusiastic for what he has set up. "Well Marshall won't exactly train in this room…." Ryder then goes over to the door leading to the simulation room. Chase and Marshall stepped in and was immediately awestruck at the sure size of the empty room.
"Ryder, what is this?" Chase questioned, very curious.
"It's our new Rescue Training Room. RTR for short if you will." Ryder says. "It's a more exciting way for training you pups, and for me to see how efficient you are."
"But Ryder, this is just an empty room. A big one at that." Marshall points out.
"Now it is, but thanks to the computer system. I have in here…." Ryder nearly squeals in excitement as he looks to Rocky who was standing in the doorway and gave him a signal. Rocky nodded and darted onto the computer, where he pressed some keys on one of the computers, activating a few devices in the sim room.
"I can shape this room into anything I want it to be, like a burning building for an example."
On cure, various blocks in the room rose from the ground, while the room started to get warmer and warmer. Almost to where they were in a burning building.
Marshall starts to pant. "Hoof! It sure is getting hot in here."
"That's because of the heaters I've got in here to make you feel the heat of the simulation." Ryder chattered. "Get you in the zone."
The two pups looked all around at the various devices that were assisting the computer system. However, there was one thing lacking.
"Ryder. I get everything, but this room doesn't really look like a burning building to me." Chase points out.
"Oh yeah! I almost forgot the most important thing." Ryder responds, as he darted back into the computer room. He comes back with a VR helmet and a fire suit with various gadgets and ports on it. "These are what you will have on in here." He sets the suit aside and pushes some buttons on the helmet. He looks back at Rocky and gives him another signal.
He then walks up to Chase with the helmet. "Here, try it on." He says as he puts it on Chase's head.
Chase is confused at first before he is immediately alerted. He frantically looks around.
"What?! Whe-Where am I?!" Chase yelps as he starts to run around in fear. "R-Ryder! Where are you?! Where are you?!"
Ryder gets up to Chase and grabs him. He rips off the helmet and as soon as Chase saw Ryder, he hugs him and licks his face over and over.
"Ryder, what was that?! All of a sudden I was in a burning building, and neither you or Marshall were around!" Chase hollered.
"Easy Chase. Easy." Ryder calms while petting him. "It was just a simulation. It wasn't real. You didn't go anywhere."
Chase eventually calmed, though he still didn't take his eyes off Ryder. "It wasn't?"
"No. Not at all. Like I said. It was just the simulation. You're never going to get real hurt in it." Ryder soothed. "I think I got a little too excited with the demonstration sorry for scaring you like that bud."
Chase then loosens up and smiles at the boy. "I can really see how this can really help up Ryder sir."
"It sure will Chase." Ryder says as he then looks to Marshall. "And we'll start off with Marshall."
Marshall tenses up. "M-Me?"
Ryder nods. "Mhm. You're going to go through a simple scenario of a burning building and try to make it out."
Marshall dips his head in embarrassment. "But Ryder, fires are so scary and dangerous. I don't know the first thing about fire rescuing."
It deterred Ryder from hearing Marshall off all pups to say that. However, his confidence didn't diminish.
"It'll be okay Marshall. This isn't a test to fail per say. This is just to see how much you know and figure out what we need to work on." Ryder assures. "I'm not going to harshly judge you, and I won't get mad at you fail the simulation."
"Y-You won't?" Marshall asks as he looks back up at Ryder.
Ryder shakes his head. "No Marshall. I won't lash out at you. Neither will Rocky or Chase."
Marshall looks at Chase and Rocky who give Marshall an assuring nod with small smiles.
"Well…it wouldn't hurt to try." Marshall slowly smiling. "Who knows, maybe I'll do well or something."
Ryder widens his smile and claps his hands in excitement. "Alright! Let's get you set up little buddy!"
At first, Marshall was very unsure about this whole thing. He didn't like fire at all and would never want to find himself anywhere near it. But after hearing Ryder give him a brief explanation on what fire was and what it hates, he started getting a little more confident about it. Though what really surprised him was when Ryder asked him questions on various things about fire, Marshall answered them without even thinking about it, and he was right with every question.
He didn't know where it came from. Marshall had never done anything like this before to his memory. Of course that what he was doing when he was in Paw Patrol, so he heard. Maybe this was what he was meant to do, and he has to get through his fear and now that he knows how it works, he can finally attack it…..hopefully.
"Alright Marshall, it's almost time to put you in, but first, you need to know about the tools your going to use." Ryder explained.
"Tools?" Marshall asks.
"Yeah. Surly you don't expect to put the fire out with your tongue or something right?" Rocky comments, getting a quick laugh from the room.
"Anyway, in the simulation, you will have something on your back called a pup pack." Ryder informed. "A pack that has everything you need to put out fires, including a water cannon and a fire axe."
Marshall made an immediate connection to what Ryder was talking about. He remembered the vest thing he had on when he woke up in the building. Was that what Ryder was talking about?
"It's really simple to activate; all you need to do is bark twice and say what tool you want to use. It will immediately come out for you to use." Ryder explained further. "You will also have a fire helmet on to protect you from falling debris. There won't be any danger like that in the simulation, but your helmet has a flashlight to use. Bark once and say light to turn it on. Got it?"
Marshall gave a sure smile and a nod. "Got it Ryder."
"Good, now let's make sure you got that suit on right." Ryder says, as he checks all around Marshall's body to make sure he did have it on correctly. "It looks like you do. Now this suit is designed to simulate whatever you would use in a rescue simulation. Along with the headset but we'll wait until you're in there to put it on."
After saying that, Ryder got out a red-looking cartridge of sorts and stuck it in a port on the dalmatian's pack.
"What's that Ryder?" Chase asked.
"It's the fire pup cartridge. It tells the suit what pup pack he'll have on." Ryder answered. "I have one for just about all of you, though I'm still working on Skye's."
"Soooo, It makes Marshall have a fire pup pack?" Chase asked.
"Essentially yes, but only in the simulation." Ryder answered. "You'll see when we start." He then looks at Marshall. "Okay Marshall, you're ready?"
Marshall looks all around the suit he had on and noticed how cool it looked on him. Making him look like he was in the future. He was still super nervous about it but at the same time, he wanted to see what he can do himself. "I….guess."
Ryder kneeled to his pup and placed his hands on his shoulders. "It'll be okay Marshall. You may even find it fun." He then gives a confident smile. "I want you to remember though. It's just a simulation. None of it will be actually real. You won't get hurt at all; and if you are having trouble, I'll be right in your ear the whole time. I promise you that."
Ryder's assurance fills Marshall with confidence. He gives a smile himself. "Okay Ryder, I'm ready."
Ryder pats Marshall on his head before leading him into the simulation room. They go to about the center of the room as Ryder directs Marshall to a particular spot. He then kneels back down, holding the VR helmet, pushing buttons on it and looking back at the window where Rocky was.
"All right Rocky! Start it up!" Ryder calls as he then looks back at Marshall. "Marshall, when I put this on you, you will be in the room of a house. When it starts, fire will be around you and It'll get really hot in here. Your goal is simply to make it out before the house collapses. You'll need to use your pup pack to subdue the flames enough for you to escape. Understood?"
Marshall swallowed and nodded. Being a little overwhelmed at the hefty information.
"Good, now hold still while I put this on you."
Marshall watched as Ryder slowly puts the helmet on him. When it came on, his view of Ryder was shoved down by the image of a typical room with various pieces of furniture scattered throughout. Pictures hang on the walls that were both too small for Marshall to see what was on them, and large ones he could see that had pictures of his teammates. Ahead of him was a normal-sized door surrounded by various ornaments and decorations.
Upon looking around he could see more pictures and bookcases filled with books and DVDs. He was truly awestruck at how real and genuine it looked. It was just as Ryder said, he was suddenly in a completely different room.
He eyed the picture on the walls that were a selection of different photographs of him, the rest of his friends, Ryder, and people that Had now clue who they were. One picture though, stood out to him.
It was practically one of the biggest pictures in the collection. It was him and Chase, standing side by side looking at the camera with strong yet tired smiles, overlooking what looked to be a sunset diving below the cliff they were on.
Marshall recognized it as the place where the statue of….him…was. However, upon looking at it, he was very drawn to the sunset and the two pups. He felt warmness, comfort, and the full beauty of the sunset before him. It was a familiar feeling that filled his heart, almost when he can pinpoint it to a memory he had…
"Marshall? Marshall? Can you hear me?"
Marshall was thrusted out of the pictures focus with a yelp. He looked around to see Ryder but the boy was nowhere to be found.
"R-Ryder?!" Marshall called. "Whe-Where are you?!"
His fire visor he suddenly noticed he had on, displayed an image of Ryder square in front of him.
"I'm right here Marshall. Coming to you from the control room."
"Oh….sorry Ryder." Marshall chuckles.
"Don't sweat it Marshall. Can you tell me where you are?" Ryder asked.
"I'm in some sort of room, with pictures and couches."
"Good. You're in a typical house Marshall. it means it working." Ryder says. "Can you tell me if you got your pup pack and helmet on?"
Marshall looks down, expecting to see the jump suit, but instead, he was met with his legs and paws. He did however, see that he had on a red vest and when he looked at his back, he could faintly see in the corner of his eye, some sort of pack on him. Similar to the one he had on when he was trapped in the building, though this one didn't seem broken.
As for the helmet, he shift his eyeballs up and see a hard red brim across his forehead. He didn't know what kind of helmet it was, but he imagined it to be a fire helmet.
"Yes sir. I think I do have them on." Marshall answered.
"Awesome. Now listen to me Marshall. I'm about to initiate the program. When that happens, there will be a fire going on around you like I said, and most of the shelfs, pictures, and furniture will either be broken, pushed over, or on fire themselves. Glass will be on the floor, portions of the walls will be on fire or destroyed. Basically, it's going to look very dangerous." Ryder describes firmly. "Once again, you won't ever get hurt in here, but you will have hit points. If they drop to zero, the simulation is over and you've failed the test. What I need you to do now is bark out you oxygen mask."
After taking in all of that, Marshall gulped again before he did what he was told. "Arff Arff! Oxygen Mask!"
On cue, his pack sounded off, and an arm shoved a half mask on his snout. Marshall yelped in surprise at the speed and sudden thrust of the mask being placed on. He then took a breath and noticed that he was breathing pure fresh air.
Ryder appears again. "Alright, you seem to have it on. This oxygen mask is supposed to protect you form breathing in the toxic smoke through. Though there will be smoke, I don't have any way to simulate actual smoke being breathable, so this oxygen mask is kinda pointless. However, it will be a handy tool to measure your time in here. The tank you have has exactly thirty minutes of oxygen. When it runs out, you would be breathing in the toxic fumes and smoke straight into your lungs, which will possibly give you a little over a minute before you pass out."
Marshall crunches his lips in. Very nervous now. "Oh g-good."
"Don't worry Marshall. Like I said before, you won't be hurt in anyway." Ryder assured. "Though if your oxygen mask does run out, your hit points will deplete in the matter of a minute. When they're gone, the simulation is over, and you fail. You understand."
Hearing the many times he could fail put him more on edge. Still, something inside him wanted to take the challenge and even excel.
"U-Understand Ryder."
Ryder smiles at the pup. "Alright I'm about to start the program. Good luck Marshall, and hey…."
Marshall focused his shaky eyes on Ryder.
"I believe in you." Ryder warms before he goes away and all he could see was the room again. He could still hear Ryder in his ear though.
"Get ready Marshall. In 3….2….1"
Marshall closed his eyes and cleared his mind. It starts to get really hot in the room, causing him to pant immideiatly. When he opens his eyes, he was blasted with the immediate change in the room.
Everywhere around him was fire and smoke. The path to the doorway was now blocked by a flaming bookcase right in front of him. The various pictures were either on fire or missing from the walls. He looks over at the peculiar one of him and Chase and his heart crumbles. It was now on the ground, engulfed in flame. In the midst of fire and smoke, he felt a tear well up inside. He's really not sure why as he didn't have a sentimental value in it…..that he knows of.
Taking his eye off it, Marshall scans the room and all he could see was fire everywhere. The door was not even visible at all, further cementing the truth that he was trapped with no one else in there with him.
His breathing rapidly grew, he started to shake rapidly. He starts to whine as his terrible fear becomes a reality. He closes his eyes hoping it would all just go away.
"Marshall? Marshall?!"
Marshall shot his eyes open at the sound of Ryder's voice.
"Marshall are you okay?!" A worried Ryder says.
Hearing Ryder in his ear calmed him. His anxiety almost disappears in a matter of seconds as he felt that he wasn't alone anymore. "Y-Yeah Ryder! I'm okay!"
"Phew. You had me worried there little buddy." Ryder said in relief. "Now, do you remember what I told you? What should you do with fire?"
A tick went off in Marshall's head. "Oh R-Right! Arf Arf! Water canon!"
Marshall hears and feels something on his back, as a mechanical arm comes out of his pack in the form of a water cannon.
"Um…ruff?!" Marshall barked again and water started pouring out on the shelf in front of him. Marshall heard the sizzling of the fire being met with water, as it dies slowly.
Marshall felt the feel of accomplishment as the flames in front of him were subdued. "I-I did it! I did it Ryder!"
"That's great Marshall! But don't get wrapped up. You still got to make it out!" Ryder reminded.
"Oh….r-right. Sorry Ryder." Marshall says as he climbs on the shelf to progress froward. He doused the flames in front of him some could safely stand on the floor which was hot to the touch but not too much to where he was "dancing"
He cleared his path to the door and was going to open it, but then a thought came across his mind. Knowing that the house was up in flames, the other side of the door may lead to a tunnel of flames. It may be too dangerous to open it even with his pup pack.
To check to see if that was the case, Marshall raised a paw to the door and touched it. He yelps sharply at the sudden pain from the hot door. Telling him that it indeed was too dangerous, dangerous and that he couldn't get out that way.
Crash!
The sound of a bookcase crashing to the ground, made Marshall yelp as he thought of another way to get out. He could get out through the door, so he had to find another way out. Marshall thought that the only option was to find a weak spot in the wall and burst though with his axe. Only, he didn't have a fire axe.
Wait! He did! In his pup pack!
"Arf! Arf! Fire axe!" Marshall barked baking his water cannon retract and out came a sizable fire axe at the end of the mechanical arm.
Going along the wall with his paw, he found a part that was weak and not so hot; beginning to axe away at the wall.
Ryder, Chase, and Rocky watch Marshall's actions with their mouths agape.
"Ryder, Did you tell him about the door trick?" Chase asked.
Ryder slowly shakes his head. "N-No. I-I honestly forgot to tell him about it."
"Your kidding." Chase says.
"I'm not." Ryder replies, pleasantly surprised. "Yet there he is. Axing the wall to get out."
"See Ryder? I told ya he'd do fine. This stuff is like hardwired into him." Rocky boasted. "There is now way he would just forget everything about being a fire pup."
Rocky's statement filled Ryder with pride for Marshall. Despite how he talked to Marshall, Ryder was extremely skittish about putting his pup, who had no memory of himself, through the simulation. In fact, it was Rocky's idea to do it, and he had to greatly convince Ryder to do it.
Ryder grew a smile being proud at how Marshall was doing, and the simulation doing so well, but, he was still a little skittish.
"Let's just hope he does he'll in the other rooms."
"Other rooms? You mean he doesn't make it out after tearing the wall down?" Chase asks.
"Nope. He's in a house Chase, not just a room." Ryder responds as he pulled back on the monitor, revealing that Marshall was actually bursting through a hallway and was actually on the second floor. Of the virtual house. "He still has to get down the stairs and find his way out from there."
"Jeez Ryder, you think that's a little much for him?" Chase jeered.
Ryder brings the monitor back on Marshall. "At first, I did, but now…." He looks at Marshall still axing the wall.
"I now fully believe in him."
After a few good whacks with his axe, Marshall burst through the wall in into a hallway.
To the left of him was a fiery blaze which was where the door was. Telling him that he made the right decision. How he made that decision? He had no clue.
Marshall put away his axe and barked back out his watercannon. With that, he took off in the other direction, dosing separated flames with his cannon. He thought it a little strange how the fire was isolated a little to that small section and the whole hallway wasn't torched.
He quickly shoved that thought away when he came up on some stairs going down. The stairs were set a blaze and were no way usable at all. However, it was the only way he could get down so he sprayed them to get the fire down as best as he could. He then started going down, hopefully that he doesn't fall through them.
Unfortunately, He got halfway down before he felt his paw break through a step and tripped on it. He tumbled down yelping along the way. He crashed into a wall with a thud, moaning in pain as he slowly gets up.
"Marshall?! Are you okay?!" Ryder sounds in his ear.
"Y-Yeah." Marshall groaned. "I thought you said I wouldn't get hurt in here."
"I'm sorry Marshall, I actually meant from the fire itself and falling objects. I forgot about your clumsiness." Ryder apologized.
Shaking off the pain, he looked around and saw that it was worse here then it was upstairs. He could hardly see six feet in front of him as it was all covered in flames and smoke.
Marshall started to get antsy. Everywhere around him was fire, with seemingly no way to escape. "R-Ryder? Can I get a little help here?!" Marshall hollard. "What can I do?!"
No response came from Ryder.
"Ryder?! Ryder?! Ryder?! What do I do?!" Marshall starts to panic. Ryder seemed to be ignoring him, or not hearing him at all. "Ryder?! I need your help! HELP!"
Nothing. All he could hear was the crackling fire, and something pounded in the distance, engulfing the fire more and more, getting closer to him.
The dalmatian was now out of his mind freaked. He whips his head around, trying to find anyway out of this sealed fate. He couldn't find anything and the fire was getting closer and closer to burning his fur.
He crunches down on his belly, shaking profusely as he was brought back to that terrible memory of being left alone in the blaze of fire.
Ryder and Rocky were frantically going through various things on the computer, trying to find out what was going on and why they could hear Marshall but he couldn't hear them.
Chase however, was watching Marshall in complete horror through the window. Crunched down, shaking, and physically freaking out. Yelping Ryder's name over and over.
Chase has seen this before. In the cabin a few days ago, where Chase saw Marshall freakout in the middle of a blazing fire. He had to physically snap him out of it to get him out.
He then remembers a dire thing about Marshall that launches his hear to his throat. "Ryder! Ryder! You need to stop it! You need to end it now!"
Ryder glances at Chase, then at Marshall through the window. Seeing the now scared and freaking pup, he turns to Rocky. "Rocky, kill it! Shut it down!"
As he was told, Rocky stopped the program, making everything in the simulation stop and the devices retracted into the walls and floor. Ryder burst through the door and runs to Marshall. Chase follows as Ryder takes the helmet from the shaking dalmatian, then wraps him in a tight hug and strokes his fur slowly.
"Shhhhh. Shh. Sh sh. It's okay. It's okay."
Marshall sobs into Ryder's shoulder as Rocky and Chase look on with their hearts on the floor.
"I can't do it Ryder! I can't do it!" Marshall yelps out.
"You can Marshall. You can." Ryder says still stroking his pup. "You actually did a lot better than I thought."
"No! you don't get it!" Marshall pushes Ryder away from him. "I can't do it at all!"
"Marshall, that last part was my fault. I still need to work on it." Ryder insisted. "You weren't supposed to be in a situation that bad."
"That doesn't matter! I cant do it because I'm afraid of fire!" Marshall howled.
"A-Afraid?" Ryder repeated in shock.
"Yes! I'm scared of fire and always have been!" Marshall continued to sob as he clenched his eyes. "I'll never be the pup you want me to be! Never ever!"
Before anyone knew it, Marshall took off and ran out of the room.
"Marshall wait!" Rocky calls to him as the dally blew past him and ran out of sight. Leaving a trio of stunned pups and humans.
"Afraid of fire? How could he be afraid of fire?" Rocky questions. "He's never had that fear as long as I knew him."
"He does now." Chase cut. Making Ryder and Rocky look at him. "I found that out in the cabin fire. When I had to rescue him for it after he was doing the same thing he was doing in here. Frantically yelping for help. It's real alright. He's afraid of fire now."
A few moments of silence passed before Rocky broke it.
"Well that would've have been nice to know before we did this, Chase. Why didn't you say something before?"
"Because I forgot about it." Chase reveals.
"Forgot about it? Really? How could you forget about something like that?" Rocky says in disbelief.
"I don't know how, I just did! Chase reiterated.
"Pups! Settle down. There's no use in arguing about it now." Ryder breaks up. "Besides, I don't think it's true, or at least not the full truth."
Chase and Rocky cock their heads in confusion. "Huh? What are you saying Ryder?"
Ryder stands up to his pups. "I'm saying that I think his fear isn't just with fire."
"Did you not just hear what Marshall clearly said? He said he was afraid of fire." Rocky said. "I think that spells it out."
"Yeah, and in all the freakouts I've seen, it's when he was around fire." Chase points out. "I don't know what else it could be."
"Blatantly, yes. But I don't even think Marshall understands his fear. It shows in the simulation."
"How?" Rocky pressed curiously.
Chase was very curious himself. He thinks about it as Ryder explains further.
"If he truly was afraid of fire, he wouldn't have gotten anywhere by himself. He would've freaked when he was in the first room. But he didn't. He found his own way out without me telling him what to do. It wasn't until he lost communication and the simulation ramped up, that he started caving."
Chase's mind lit up at that. He then sees what Ryder was describing and it was something way worse than fire. "You-You mean that he's more afraid of being left alone?"
"It's deeper than that Chase. He's afraid of being abandoned and helpless. The fire just amplifies it even more."
Upon deeper though, Chase fully realized the point, and he knew there was only one way Marshall gained this fear. The fire at City Hall a year ago, where this all started. Where Marshall got trapped when he tried to save Chase.
His jaw drops. "It's…..It's my fault."
Ryder looks at Chase. "What?"
Tears welled up inside the shepherd's eyes. There was no question in his mind. His little like about his paw that day, caused all of this, and now he was as guilty as a criminal.
"It's all my fault! Marshall would've never gotten this fear if it weren't for me! Oh what have I done?! I'm so sorry! It's all my fault!"
Chase collapsed down in a pile of tears as he fully accepted fault to essentially ruining Marshall's life.
He felt Ryder's hand on his back. "Chase, don't beat yourself up! You don't deserve it."
"No, I do! I do!" Chase screams. "Marshall would've never even been in that situation if I hadn't lied about my stupid paw. He would've never had been trapped, lost his memories, or even been gone for a whole year! He went in to save me and lost everything! Because of ME!"
Chase balled on the floor in misery as Ryder continued to comfort him. By the way Ryder wasn't saying anything, it had to be true and Ryder believes it so.
During his crying, he didn't hear Ryder's pup pad ringing, as Ryder answered it.
"Mayor? This better be an emergency." Ryder says. "Now's not a good time."
"Oh Ryder! This isn't an emergency, it's a catastrophe!" The mayor says hysterically. "The Adventure Bay School is on fire, and there's children trapped inside!"
(A/N): Oh no! What a time for an emergency!
A fire at the schoolhouse! It looks like the Paw Patrol are going to need Marshall for this!
But...it seems that Marshall is in no way ready to go back out to the field. How will Ryder and the pups stop the fire without their dedicated firepup?!
Find out next week when Chapter 58: Fire at the Schoolhouse is released!
Question of the Chapter: WOW! What an awesome idea Ryder had with the what he call it? The Rescue Training Room? What an effective way to train his pups! How much do you think it will help the Paw Patrol with training for rescues?
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.
Also, if you do ask me anything about whats going to happen next in the story, your wasting your time. I believe that the best way to find out is to experience the story itself without me telling you whats gonna happen. I apologize for any inconveniences.
This is Sean Thames of DragonsFire Entertainment signing off!