AN: Yeah, I think I'm going to make this M rated by the next chapter I'm afraid. We're going to get a little... darker... very darker. And before you read this please know that Marshall is my favorite character and one of the main reasons I got into Paw Patrol. Doing this to him just as much hurts me, but I must progress for the sake of the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Paw Patrol

I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid.

Marshall repeated this as many times as he could in his mind. There wasn't much else to do as the kidnappers had him tied down to a chair. He had already looked for a way to escape, but from what he could tell he was in some abandoned warehouse. He didn't care bark or howl for help. He knew what had happened. He knew nobody would hear him. And he knew who it was that was going to come through that door.

All Marshall could do was pray as hard as he could that Ryder and his friends would come and save him. He didn't know what was going to happen to him, but he would not show fear. He would not give this... monster the satisfaction.

The sound of footsteps echoing in the hall nearby made the dalmatian hold his breath. I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid.

The door soon opened and Marshall saw, for the first time face to face, the killer of Zuma's family. Damian Stone, with a small smile that made Marshall's spine tingle, closed the door behind him as he walked over to the left side of the large room. Marshall's eyes never once left the human as he went to an old table and placed something down.

It was a boombox. Marshall raised an eyebrow before he saw another item set down. This one was a toolbox.

Damian cracked his neck a bit before he pressed play. Being a fan of classic rock music, Marshall recognized the song right away:

"I can't seem to face up to the facts

I'm tense and nervous and I

Can't relax

I can't sleep 'cause my bed's on fire

Don't touch me I'm a real live wire."

Damian tapped his foot to the song as he began to take tools out. Pipes. Wrenches. Crowbars. Nails. Screws. Pilers. Each of them bringing images into Marshall's mind that only made him repeat his mantra more and more. I'm not afraid! I'm not afraid! I'm not afraid! I'm not afraid!

"Psycho Killer

Qu'est-ce que c'est

fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better

Run run run run run run run away"

Rubbing his chin a bit, Damian snapped his fingers and then grabbed a small hammer. He began to walk over to Marshall, twirling it a few times as he whistled to the song.

"Psycho Killer

Qu'est-ce que c'est

fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better

Run run run run run run run away"

Marshall whimpered as every part of his body began to tremble in fear upon seeing Damian Stone raise the hammer right above his head. I'mnotafraidI'mnotafraidI'mnotafraidIamafraidIamafraidIamafraidIamafraid.

The hammer came down as Marshall closed his eyes and waited for the blow. Before it could hit his head, it stopped just a few inches. The music was the only thing playing as all other noise seemed to stop. Marshall slowly opened his eyes and saw that the hammer hadn't him yet.

"Huh?" asked Marshall.

"Psyche," whispered Damian. A split second later he pulled out his knife and stabbed it into Marshall's left leg.

His scream echoed across the empty warehouse.

It was chaos at the Lookout. While firefighters were taking care of the fire, Detective Shaw was shouting orders at everyone to get to work on finding Marshall. Stone had a hostage and every second wasted was the difference between life and death for the pup. Ryder was doing his best not to collapse into a pile of shock and despair at the knowledge that not only had he walked into a trap, but one of his dogs was now in the hands of a mass murderer.

And without Marshall's pup tag on him, he had no way of knowing where he was. Meaning there was nothing he could do.

The pups were just as bad off. The first thing Chase had done was get into his police cruiser and search for Marshall. He had done it all day yesterday, coming back home late only to start looking again the next morning. He didn't even bother to eat. It came to no surprise to any of the pups to see their leader pup do this. Chase and Marshall had been brothers together, adopted together even. They had always been the best of friends and each would die for the other if need be.

Now Chase's brother, their friend, was in the hands of a madman doing who knows what horrors.

Rubble and Skye were doing their best to comfort Ryder who was at a loss of what to do for once. He had always come up with a plan or an invention to solve their problems before. Now? He had nothing.

The only one who was even worse off than both Ryder and Chase was the one who felt responsible for all of this. Zuma didn't even bother going into his puphouse, nor was he crying. All he did was stare at the sea with only an expression of terror in his face. He didn't respond to anything. Not food. Not water. Not even Rocky could get him to respond. All he could do was hug the water pup and cry for him.

It had been two days since Marshall was taken.

"The pup has to be dead," whispered a police dog who was talking to one of his comrades. "Damian Stone has never left a single victim of his live longer than a day."

"Don't say that. Especially when one of his friends are nearby," whispered another, pointing out to Zuma in the distance.

"I'll I'm saying is that given the history of Stone, we're wasting our time trying to find him," whispered the first police dog.

"You're just a pessimist you know that?"

Zuma pretended that he didn't hear them as he continued to watch the endless sea from his spot. Deep down, however, he was wondering one question. Why?

Why not me? Why can't it just be me and be over with? whispered Zuma, who felt nothing but despair deep in his heart. First my family... now my friends... all because of me? Why didn't I just die in that shack like the rest of them. None of this would be happening if I was just dead...

It was bad enough Alex had been hurt and forever traumatized from the incident. Now Marshall, one of the kindest and good hearted pups he knew, was either dead or wishing he was. Zuma peered over the edge of the cliff, where the rocks and water lay. For a single moment, he slowly raised his shaking paw off the edge.

"Zuma?"

Gasping, he retreated his paw and turned around to see Rocky looking at him. "Hey, Wocky. Um, what is it?"

"I just wanted you know that Chase is back and Ryder's asking us to all meet. He says it's important," said the mixed breed.

"O-okay..." Zuma muttered as he slowly made his way to the Lookout. He was stopped by a paw on his shoulders as he looked up and saw Rocky looking at him with sympathy.

"This isn't your fault, Zuma."

"... Wocky... you can say that as many times as you want... but it's never gonna convince my heart..." whispered Zuma as he shoved the paw aside and continued.

Rocky just stared at his little brother and whimpered.

The pups all stood in front of Ryder, along with Detective Stone, on top of the lookout. Nobody was shouting any catch phrases. Nobody was looking even the least bit happy. In fact, it was like something was missing in the Lookout and everyone but Shaw couldn't help but stare at the empty spot where their fire pup was suppose to be.

"Is there a reason you called us, Ryder, sir?" asked Chase, his voice void of any emotion. The bags under his eyes showed just how sleep deprived he had been in his hunt for his best friend. "I need to get back out there soon..."

Ryder sighed and shook his head. "Chase, you're not going back out there... in fact... none of you are..." The pups raised their heads in confusion. "I'm sending you all to temporary families for your own safety."

"WHAT?!" shouted the pups in shock as they began to shout in protest.

"Ryder! You can't do this! We're a team! We're a family!" shouted Rubble.

"Are... are you getting rid of us?" whimpered a scared Rocky.

Shaking his head, Ryder replied, "I'm not getting rid of you... I'm keeping you all safe until Damian Stone is captured."

"But what about Marshall?! We need to find him!" shouted Chase.

"We'll keep looking, but we can't risk any of you pups getting kidnapped like Marshall," said Shaw who lit up a cigarette. "Look, it was my idea. Blame me. Damian Stone is clearly targeting all of those who associate with Zuma and you pups are the biggest target. We're planning to move all of you to safe locations with complete silence. Once all this is over, you can come back to Adventure Bay."

The pups looked at each other and then at Ryder with both hurt and betrayal written on their faces. They were Paw Patrol. They were suppose to be together forever. And now they were being sent away.

"Ryder... please..." whimpered Chase, who had tears in his eyes. "You're our owner... we love you."

"... I love you all too..." whispered Ryder as he began to tear up too. "But I'd rather have you all safe and seperated then together and in danger..."

None of the pups knew what to say. Silence decorated the Lookout... until a beeping noise came from Ryder's puppad.

Answering it, he saw that it was a unknown number and his eyes widened. "Guys..."

Shaw looked at it and cursed, radioing down he started to order the team to trace the call on the puppad. Ryder looked at his pups who were looking at the puppad with fear in their eyes. They all knew, deep down, who it was that was contacting them.

"... do it... just get it over with..." whispered Zuma, biting his lip.

Ryder took a deep breath and pressed the button. Instead of a call, it was a text: Go To Channel 4.

Ryder raised an eyebrow, but activated the TV and changed the channel to Channel 4 which was usually reserved for "Good Day Adventure Bay". Their was only static on the TV until it started to form a picture which made the group gasp upon whom they saw.

Damian Stone was flipping his knife around as he leaned on a wooden table, a smirk on his face as he stared into the camera and directly at the viewers. Not just in the Lookout, but all throughout Adventure Bay. "Greetings, viewers of Adventure Bay. Your regularly scheduled program has been temporarily terminated so that we can bring you a special show. A show that I happen to be hosting."

He pushed of the table and started to walk around it, still flipping his knife around. "Who am I you may ask? My name is Damian Stone. Some of you have heard of me as the insane murderer who is running around Adventure Bay killing people. Well, to be fair I've only killed about three or four so people in your town, but there is always time to add to that count. Isn't there?"

The elevator opened up and two cops came in. "Sir, we just got a report from the Mayor that every TV in the town is watching this."

"Well that the hell are we waiting for! Turn the damn thing off!" shouted Shaw.

"We can't," said the other officer with a gulp. "He's holding a cameraman hostage, the news station confirmed it. They must have kidnapped him as well. Stone says that if anything disrupts his show he'll kill the hostage. "

"That son of a-"

"Anyway, we have a special guest with us tonight for the show," said Stone as he continued. He presented his arm to the right as the camera slowly began to turn. "You folks of Adventure Bay know him as the fire pup of Paw Patrol. A dalmatian that is always fired up to deal with any rescuing. But sadly can't seem to rescue himself. Nor can his friends save him..."

The pups and Ryder gasped when they realized it was Marshall he was talking about. Relief entered their minds when they realized he was safe, but then terror upon thinking what horrible things the poor pup had gone through. The camera soon reached a single spotlight.

"Here he is! Marshall!" cried out Stone with applause as the camera revealed his appearance.

Skye and Rubble screamed. Rocky threw up. Chase had turned pale and looked ready to faint. Ryder had dropped his puppad and began to cry tears. Zuma just sat their in horror as he saw blood. So much blood. Images of his family, all dead and covered in their wounds began to flash in his mind and now a new member had joined them.

Marshall was, for the better lack of the word, a mess. His entire body was covered with cuts from simple papercut sizes to full on gashes. His eyes were both decorated with shiners and bruises on his cheeks were easy to see. His jaw looked to be half broken as one of his ears was ripped off with something sharp. A small pool of blood, dripped down from his hindquarters where patches of fur had been skinned off and burn marks near his lower legs could be seen.

With tears flowing down his cheeks, Marshall only whispered one thing. "Ryder... help me..."

Stone, without any care of the half-dead pup in his possession, walked over to Marshall and patted him on the head. "Now, Marshall, who is your best friend in the whole world?"

"... you..." muttered Marshall.

"Oh my god..." whispered Skye as she turned away. "I don't want to see this."

"Marshall..." whispered Zuma as he fell to his stomach, crying in tears. Rocky went to his side and nuzzled him, but Zuma pushed him away.

"I'll kill him..." growled Chase, huffing and puffing. "I will, swear to god, kill him."

Stone continue to pet the dalmatian. "And who has been a bad puppy?"

"... me..." whispered Marshall as he began to choke up while coughing blood.

"Good," said Stone as he raised himself up and smirked at the camera. "And whose fault is it that you are like this?"

"... n-no..." whimpered Marshall.

Stone sighed as he took Marshall's head and lifted it back, making him scream. He shoved his knife next to his throat. "Tell me. Whose fault. This is all."

"... Zuma..." whimpered Marshall which got him released.

Stone smiled and turned back towards the camera. "That's right, Zuma. This is all your fault. Your fault for not dying all those years ago. Your fault that a poor little kid is going to be forever traumatized. That a girl lost her family. That your good friend Marshall is suffering right now."

Everyone looked at Zuma who closed his eyes in an effort to fight back the tears, but it was pointless. The chocolate lab just whimpered and muttered to himself as he stared at Marshall, the blood, and all of the suffering he had caused. My fault... all my fault...

"But there is a way to save him," said Stone, catching their attention. "We're going to play a few games to see if Marshall comes out in one piece or in pieces." Stone pulled out a cellphone. "Ryder, if you are watching this. Please call the number that texted you in the next fifteen minutes... or else I'll assume you don't care about your dog and just put him out of his misery.

The team all looked at Ryder who had picked up his puppad and looked at it with worry yet determination in his eyes. After looking at the other pups who nodded in agreement he recalled the phone.

And now the games would begin.