Today was the day.
Today, Chase's plan went into action.
Today, Chase was going to be the big brother that Marshall deserved.
Today was going to be the most fun that Marshall had ever had.
So why then, was Chase so nervous?
It was a struggle for the police pup to even fall asleep that night, and when he finally did, he ended up waking up twice for no apparent reason. His mind simply refused to settle down, given what was on the horizon for him. The looming spectre of terror never once left him alone, even as the sun rose and he and the rest of the Paw Patrol went down to the restaurant for some breakfast. But given how nervous Chase was, he couldn't bring himself to eat anything more than one egg and a couple of fatty slices of bacon. Thankfully, Chase didn't have to explain himself since Rubble was too preoccupied with the almost-literal mountain of scrambled eggs on his own plate to take any notice. And sitting next to Rubble was Marshall, who himself had eaten some scrambled eggs and nothing else. Strangely, he looked oddly spaced-out. As if something was on his mind. Given how fate had been treating the poor Dalmatian lately, Chase could only imagine what horrible thoughts could be eating away at him. Steeling himself at the reminder of what he'd set out to do, Chase slipped out of his seat and slunk under the table, carefully up to the embattled fire pup.
"Psst-!" Chase whispered.
"Huh?"
Brought back down to reality, Marshall looked all around in a bid to pinpoint the sudden noise. But all he saw was everyone else eating and chatting...
"Down here, Marshall!"
"YIPE-!"
...until he uncontrollably yelped at the sight of a pair of amber eyes shining in the shadows below him. Marshall had absolutely no clue what he was looking at.
"Chase, what the heck are you doing down there?!"
"Never mind that..."
"How can I not mind it?!"
"...I've got something I wanna talk to you about. In private. Can you meet me in Pluto Playground after you've eaten? Just outside the jungle gym?"
Much to Chase's dismay, every word out of his mouth only seemed to confuse Marshall even more.
"D-Did you have to go under the table to ask that?! You could've just walked around it! I mean, you know I trust you, but you've gotta know how shady this looks, right?"
"C'mon, gimme a break! I'm nervous enough, here!"
"'Nervous'? Nervous about what?"
"Never mind! J-Just meet me there! Please? I-I'll be waiting..."
With that, Chase scurried back to his seat from under the table, leaving a very confused Dalmatian in his wake. Slowly and apprehensively, Marshall looked up, suspecting that his surprised reaction may have alerted the whole table. And sure enough, he was met with a sea of perplexed stares from Ryder and the remaining pups. As if he needed any more confirmation that he was going insane.
"Marshall, what the heck was that all about?" Skye asked.
"I DON'T KNOW!"
After finishing the singular sausage left on his plate, Chase swiftly excused himself and hurried off to Pluto Playground - a fairly large playground primarily meant for the park's younger visitors. It was the perfect place for Chase to hide, given that it was right in between the two parks' entrances. Mercifully, the jungle gym was quiet enough that Chase could be left alone. The Shepherd clambered to the top level and took cover behind a wall. Now all he had to do was wait. And yet, even that was a herculean effort as his nerves tore him apart from the inside out. It felt like his heart was going to stop after a single minute.
"Oh, man... I-I'm gonna be sick... this is... urgh, not even that business with Harold was this tense! Wh-What if Marshall doesn't show up? What if this goes wrong? I-I mean I already upset him at breakfast! He probably thinks I'm crazy!"
Chase stopped and just sat there, feeling his mouth go dry as he took some some deep breaths. He was confident enough when it came to planning this day, but now that it was time to execute said plan, all he could think about was all the different ways it could go horribly wrong.
"No... no, that's no way to think... stay calm, Chase... you can do this... just think positive... yeah... think positive..."
Chase sat there for a while longer and shut his eyes, envisioning a perfect day out, with splashing water, shrieks of delight, joyful laughter, lightning striking, everything going up in flames...
"...I AM POSITIVE THIS IS GONNA BLOW UP IN MY FACE!"
Without thinking, Chase slapped himself across the face, stunning himself for a moment before he felt his cheek burning and his eyes watering.
"Owwwwwww..."
Chase rubbed his cheek and wiped his eyes. A good slap was an excellent way of recovering your senses. If only it wasn't so painful.
"...he feeling OK?"
Chase's ears pricked up as a familiar voice came into earshot. Slowly, Chase peered around the wall of the jungle gym, and felt his heart practically leap out of his chest as he saw Marshall coming towards the jungle gym while mumbling to himself, a troubled expression adorning his face.
"I've never seen Chase act that weird... something's gotta be bothering him... since the flight left, no less!"
"Oh, no! He's here! Heshereheshereheshere! Crud, crud, crud! We're actually doing this... we're actually doing this!" Chase babbled.
But then, Chase froze up. In a single moment, he remembered something important. He remembered what Zuma had told him yesterday.
("Dude. Chill. Just think fow a sec. It'll just be you, youw little bwo and all the fun in the wowld. You'we ovewthinking this. When the time comes, just cut loose and have fun. Enjoy the pawk! If you do that, then so'll Mawshall.")
Much to his own surprise, that was all it took for Chase's tension to melt away in an instant. Until now, he was about ready to chew his own paw off with anxiety. But now, he couldn't help but smile. All his worry had been replaced with excitement. Because he knew even back then that Zuma was absolutely right.
"Wait... what am I saying?! Pfft-! There's nothing to worry about! If Marshall's gonna have a ton of fun, then so am I! Yeah! I gotta believe!"
Now Chase was ready. In fact, he was more ready than he'd ever been. He was shaking with excitement as he peered over the edge of the jungle gym again to see Marshall looking around for him, not noticing that the friend he was looking for was watching from above.
"And Operation: Best Day Ever begins in three. Two. One. Zero."
Down below, Marshall was feeling even more confused than he was at breakfast. He wasn't sure what Chase wanted to talk about, but he knew him all too well. Something was eating away at him. Marshall knew he had to help somehow. And yet, Chase wasn't even waiting where he said he would be.
"Where the heck is he?" Marshall pondered aloud.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHH!"
Marshall just barely had time to look up before he found several pounds of German Shepherd Fur Missile slamming straight into him, sending him rolling across the floor for a little while before seeing Chase grinning down at him as he came to a stop.
"Gotcha! I'm bringing you downtown!" Chase taunted, nipping at Marshall's neck.
Marshall, for his part, was too stunned to do anything other than squirm "CHASE-?! YIPE-! Wh-What're-?!"
"Suspect is putting up a fight!" Chase moved in to nip at Marshall's ears.
"HEY-! Qu-Quit it! That tickles! What's- hee, hee, hee! What's happening?!
"What's happening is your arrest!" Chase taunted, pushing his paws down into Marshall's face.
"URMPH-! YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE, COPPER!"
Finally, Marshall realised that Chase just wanted to play. Although it wasn't like him to be quite this overly-energetic, Marshall was a little too preoccupied with Chase's roughhousing to think about it, especially as he found the resolve to pushChase off him and wriggle back to his paws. For several minutes, the two were indistinguishable from any other child or pup on the playground as they bounced around and ran after each other, attempting to tackle one another off their paws as they barked and yelped with glee. Of course, it didn't take long before Marshall tripped over himself and Chase was back to pushing his paws into his face and nipping at him as Marshall wriggled around and laughed on the floor.
"You're done! You can't escape the law, troublemaker!"
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Marshall howled as Chase lunged in and gently laid his teeth on Marshall's chest, causing the Dalmatian to go limp and let his tongue loll out, the smile never once leaving his face.
Chase pulled back with a smirk, satisfied that the "perp" had been successfully "apprehended". A smirk that quickly turned into a goofy grin as he realised something. From the very beginning, he and Marshall had both enjoyed themselves immensely with almost no planning on his part. The only part of this that wasn't a spur of the moment decision was Chase's choice of location. If this is how his day with Marshall began, then he had nothing to fear for the rest of it. With this in mind, he rolled Marshall over to his front.
"Alright, get up, you. You're under arrest."
"What for?! You can't prove anything!" Marshall cried dramatically as he got to his paws.
"Don't have to! You're under arrest for the crime of not having enough fun on this vacation!"
"What?! That's impossible!"
"Impossible my paw! You're as guilty as they come, Marshy-boy! I hope your ready to serve your sentence!"
"My sentence?"
"Your sentence..." Chase paused dramatically. "...is to spend the entire day with MEEEEEE!
"NOOOOOOOOOOoohh- wait, wait, wait, wha?"
Marshall deflated almost immediately as he heard Chase's "sentencing", cocking his head in confusion.
"This is... this is all because you wanted to spend time with me? You should've just asked!"
Chase didn't waver. "PFFT-! Where's the fun in that?! You know, I'm hearing talk that you haven't set paw in New Moon Lagoon yet..."
"Well, er... no, I haven't, but I-"
Chase grew an appalled expression. "YOU ADMIT IT?! OK, Buster, I'm bringing you in!"
Marshall felt himself fall to his rump as Chase moved behind him and started pushing him along with his head.
"Umph-! Hey, c'mon!" Marshall protested weakly.
"If you can't do the time, don't do the crime!" Chase lectured from behind him.
Marshall realised that trying to protest at this point was useless. Chase seemed dead set on spending the day with him. At a waterpark, no less! He was still thoroughly confused, but Marshall couldn't help but feel giddy as Chase pushed him towards New Moon Lagoon. His own plans would have to wait.
"Wow, I never thought being arrested would be fun..." Marshall mused.
Marshall simply remained seated as the Chase Express Shuttle pushed him towards the gates of New Moon Lagoon. The greeter they went up to was slightly amused at seeing a Dalmatian pup being pushed on his rump towards him by a strangely-eager German Shepherd pup, but they still scanned their tags and let them both through as normal. Soon, Marshall had gotten back to his paws and found himself sprinting towards the showers alongside Chase. Both pups were so excited that they only allowed themselves a brief soak before charging out into the immense watery playground. And while Chase knew what to expect from New Moon Lagoon, Marshall practically turned into a statue when he finally saw the gigantic pool in front of him. Chase grinned as he turned to him, practically having to squint thanks to Marshall's eyes shining so brightly. New Moon Lagoon was a good pick for a day together just to see Marshall's face alone.
"Wow... THIS is New Moon Lagoon? Wh-Why haven't I come here yet?!" Marshall whispered.
"Told ya you were missing out! I mean, I only got the grand tour from Zuma yesterday, but there's a ton of stuff I haven't seen yet!"
"Are there any good waterslides here?! O-Or maybe the wave pool?! Whoa, what is THAT?! I... I... ohh, someone pinch me!"
Chase chuckled as he approached Marshall and laid a paw on his back, before eventually grinning wickedly. "Well, Marshall, I don't have fingers to pinch you with... but there IS the Torpedo Tube Race. How about I smoke you on that instead?"
Marshall grinned right back with a competitive glare. "Oh, I am SO gonna hand you your tail, slowpoke."
With that, it took no time for the energetic pups to hurry over to the slides and pick out a pair to go on. After climbing the stairs to the station, the two found themselves standing side by side with a silvery-grey slide each in front of them. The grey tubes both had mats lying on an elevated point. All Chase and Marshall had to do was jump on, and they'd go flying down the slopes when the lights above the tubes turned green. The two pups could barely wait as a booming announcer's voice came through the speakers...
"ENEMY IN SIGHT. READY TORPEDOES."
"Hey, Marshall. See you at the bottom!" Chase taunted smugly.
Marshall stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry. "Phhhhrrrrrppp-! We'll see who's laughing when you're eating my dust!"
The two didn't have any more time to exchange taunts as a klaxon went off and the red lights turned green.
"FIRE ALL TORPEDOES."
"BYE, CHASE!" Marshall screamed as he leapt onto the mat and began his descent down the waterslide, whooping all the way.
"OH NO, YOU'RE NOT GETTING RID OF ME THAT EASY!" Chase shouted back as he did the same.
The slide was just about everything the pups had envisioned and more. For a few moments, they both forgot that they were racing each other as they just let the slide toss them to and fro as they swooped through its twists and turns at phenomenal speeds. The two pups shrieked and squealed in delight. They felt like they were flying without any help from Skye at all. The pups completely lost track of time until they found themselves dazzled back to reality as the slide opened out into the blinding sunshine of Solstice Island. They only had a moment to realise what was happening before they shot off the end of the slide and into the waiting pool. Chase and Marshall quickly moved to the surface for air, regathering their wits, looking around for each other, and then meeting each other's gaze within seconds.
"Hah! I win!" both pups shouted simultaneously.
"What're you talking about?! I obviously got to the bottom first!" Marshall declared.
"As if! You're just jealous!" Chase retorted.
"What, jealous that I'm faster than you?!"
"Pfft-! You couldn't catch a cold, spotty!"
"Well, maybe YOU can catch THIS!"
In the blink of an eye, Marshall thrust his paws forward and sent a wave of water in Chase's direction, causing the Shepherd to yelp and shield his face with his paws.
"AGH-! Why you little-! NOW you're gonna get it!"
Throughout their boasting and taunting, the two pups never lost their smiles, even as they furiously splashed each other. In fact, throughout the whole fight, the pups were shouting and laughing without a care in the world. Still, their splash fight was so ferocious that a couple of guests passing by couldn't help but feel nervous. But eventually, Chase let up on throwing a miniature tsunami enough to see that Marshall had somehow vanished. Chase looked around in confusion for a few moments...
"RAAAAAGH!"
...until his thoughts were cut short by a wannabe sea monster leaping onto him from behind.
"WHAUAGH-!" Chase hollered as he felt himself getting dunked into the pool.
For a moment, there was silence, until Chase quickly came back up for air with an overexcited Dalmatian wrapped around him.
"THAT'S for arresting me earlier!" Marshall taunted, shoving his paws into the Shepherd's face.
"BLRMPH-! Hey! That's not fair-! Hee, hee, hee! Qu-Quit it, that tickles!" Chase protested, wriggling around in Marshall's grasp.
"Say 'uncle' and I'll let you go! Or you'll get eaten by the spotty sea monster!"
"Not- urgh-! Not a chance!"
Chase struggled hard, but Marshall was deceptively strong. He kept up the play fight for an impressively long time, but eventually, Marshall ran out of energy and relented, allowing the winded Chase to pull himself free and leaving both pups staring at each other with tired smiles.
"OK, let's call it a draw..." Marshall conceded, panting.
"Yeah... we're pretty even, huh? So, uh... where do you wanna go next?"
A nearby splash startled the two pups into looking around, before they realised that people were still using the nearby slides.
"Err... maybe out of this pool?" Marshall suggested.
"Er, yeah, fair point..."
Of course, once their paws finally touched relatively-dry land, the two needed a little time to recover as they sat down at the side of the pool, looking around the park for their next attraction.
"Whooo... that was... that was pretty crazy..." Chase observed.
"Yeah, it... it really was... but, jeez... what else have we got?"
"Oh, tons! We've got a surf pool, there's the main pool with all the pirate ships, there's a ton more slides, and heck, we've even got the Big Blue Booster!"
"'Big Blue Booster'? That big rollercoaster-y thing? I dunno, it looks kinda tall..."
Chase deflated somewhat. "Huh? But you took the Torpedo Tube Race like a champ!"
"Yeah, because I couldn't see the heights we reached! But I saw a lot of open sections on that ride, and they were really high up! It looks kinda scary!"
"Ohhh, I get it..."
Now Chase realised what Marshall was driving at. Undeterred, Chase shifted closer to Marshall, comfortingly laid a paw across his back and pulled him in close.
"You'll be fine up there, man. Trust me, there's nothing to it! Besides, I'll be with you the whole time! You've got nothing to be scared of. Not while I'm with you."
Marshall gave Chase a bewildered stare for a moment. But one look into his sincere gaze was enough to change his mind on the spot, leaving Marshall with a small yet nervous grin.
"Y-You're right, Chase... L-Let's go for it!"
Chase snickered. "There's nothing to worry about! C'mon! I'll show you!"
As he followed behind Chase, Marshall couldn't deny being nervous, especially when the towering tubes of the Big Blue Booster came into view. Beyond the immense sign for it, the line was surprisingly short, so at least the suspense wouldn't last too long. But that didn't change the fact that the tubes of the ride were high enough to blot out the sun.
"Whoa... i-it really is tall..." Marshall stammered.
Chase gulped quietly. "Yeah, more than I thought... But we've got this, you and me. We've fought off giant robots, we're not gonna let a waterslide beat us, are we?!"
Again, Marshall stopped to think. He'd already been on that awful drop tower, and aside from the heart attacks he had on the way down, everything turned out fine! If he could beat that, he could beat anything. The spotted pup beamed.
"No, sir!"
The Shepherd patted Marshall on the back. "NOW you're talking! Let's go!"
The pups got through both the gate and the line in a couple of minutes. An attendant quickly waved them through and got them seated in one of the rafts, each one large enough to hold two people, with Marshall sitting up front and Chase sitting in the back. But upon looking at the run up to the huge hill in the dark tunnel, Marshall couldn't help but shake slightly. At least, until he felt a familiar paw on his back and heard Chase's encouraging words.
"Relax, pal. This is gonna be great! You know it will!"
Marshall didn't have any more time to think as a loud clunk sounded from below him, and the pair's raft started to smoothly glide forward. And once the raft hit the first of the ride's booster jets, Marshall swiftly forgot all about his fears. It felt like he was riding a rocket to the heavens! He thought the Torpedo Tube Race made him feel like he was flying, but this was on another level. He couldn't help but scream in delight as the raft picked up speed and sent him and Chase shooting through the tubes. Of course, Chase joined in on the whooping and laughing in mere minutes. It was a struggle for him to avoid going on something so exciting yesterday, but as the raft swooped and dove through the bends and hills, Chase knew that the wait was worth it. But soon enough, there was light. The tube had finally opened up to a dizzying view of New Moon Lagoon and the surrounding oceans. A view that made both pups gasp as they slowly went around the high-up turn. The seas stretched out to the horizon, the skies lacked a single cloud, the sun shone brilliantly above, and down below, the park was as busy as ever, with various guests flitting back and forth between pools and attractions. Chase and Marshall completely forgot where they were as they marvelled at the view, sitting in silence as their eyes sparkled and narrowly avoiding drooling at the incredible sight. To the extent that both pups screamed in surprise as they suddenly found themselves going down another ramp and into yet more swooping turns and hills as booster jets shot them through the slide at high speed. They didn't know how long the ride lasted after that, but it still felt like it was disappointingly soon as they slowly and silently disembarked from the slide, shaking with adrenaline until Marshall spoke up as they stepped out into the park again.
"THAT! WAS! WICKED!"
"I KNOW, RIGHT?! That was SO worth waiting for!" Chase yelled back.
"I-I dunno what I was talking about! Heights?! Pff!"
"Told you it'd be great! We've gotta do that again later!"
"There's still all kinds of stuff left to do here! Can I pick next? Pretty please?"
Chase smiled widely. "Lead the way!"
And sure enough, Marshall quickly lead them to the surf pool, much to Chase's delight. Naturally, there were wipeouts galore from both pups, but the half-hour they spent there was far from the end. From the high dive to the Temple Trip slides, a water cannon duel between pirate ships in the main pool, and even about two more trips on the Big Blue Booster, the hours quickly melted away, turning morning to noon as the pups simply forgot all of their cares to enjoy each other's company. At least until the soaking-wet pair of pups realised they were both starving after expending what had to be a city's worth of energy. They were quick to return to the entrance and find a restaurant, and were still dripping wet and catching their breath from the insane morning they'd had between bites of the immense burgers and piles of fries they'd both ordered.
Marshall swallowed his most recent mouthful. "You know, if I'd known things would've been so crazy today, I would've eaten a WAY bigger breakfast... and from the looks of it, you haven't eaten enough for a day like today either!"
Marshall looked directly at Chase, but he was simply too busy ravenously stuffing his face to take any notice.
"Chase?"
Chase jumped as he looked up at Marshall with his muzzle bedecked in ketchup and mustard, his cheeks bulging with chewed-up burger. "Bwuph-? Bwuphh bhaph, Bwaphll?"
Marshall burst out laughing at the sight. "Nothing, nothing..."
Chase swallowed as Marshall leaned back down to continue scarfing his food. "Hey! What's so funny?!"
Marshall took a second before smirking, taking a few more mouthfuls and looking up with crossed eyes and bulging cheeks.
"BHIPH!"
The ridiculous sight made Chase immediately double over in hysterics. "PFFFFT-! HA, HA, HA! Marshall! Wha-?! What are you doing?!"
Marshall swallowed and grinned. "Well that's how YOU looked!"
"What?! I'm hungry!"
Marshall shrugged. "Eh, well, so am I. I think we're gonna need all the energy we can get, because we've still got the afternoon to go. Aaannd..."
Marshall sounded strangely self-assured as he leaned over the table with a cocky grin.
"...there's still a ton of the Solar Citadel that I haven't seen..."
Chase's eyes shot open. "You serious?! You haven't seen the Solar Citadel?!"
"Well, I've done a couple of rides, but that park's huge! I don't know if I could get through it all in one day!"
Chase leaned over the table. "Is that a challenge, Mister?"
Marshall snickered. "What's the matter, Chasey? CHICKEN?"
Amazingly, just that one word seemed to ignite a fire in Chase's eyes as he leaned so far across the table that the two pups' noses were practically touching.
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?! That's it! When we're done eating, I am dragging your butt ALL around the Solar Citadel!"
Marshall leaned in further, pressing his nose against Chase's. "Ha! Bring it on! Wh-wh-whoooaaaaaa!"
But the moment of drama was swiftly ended when Marshall lost his balance and fell to the table, landing face-first in his burger. The second his eyes opened and glanced upwards at Chase, the police pup completely lost his composure and started laughing hard enough for tears to come streaming down his face, with Marshall following not long after. Deep down, Chase knew that a spectacular wipeout was on its way, but that didn't diminish the impact of the moment when it finally happened. Eventually, the pair calmed down enough for Chase to lick Marshall's face clean after his condiment facial, and they then set about finishing their food. They wasted no time in hitting the showers, and once they'd dried off, they immediately made a beelin for the Solar Citadel. Chase and Marshall were both abuzz with excitement... until they hit the main plaza of the theme park and swiftly deflated, as a bout of decision paralysis let the air out of their collective balloon.
"Errr... what... what are we gonna do now?" Marshall asked.
Chase raised a paw to his chin for a few moments. "Y'know? I... really don't know. For once."
Chase couldn't know it, but that was actually what Marshall was hoping to hear. Now it was time for the prisoner to take charge of the jailer. Finally, Marshall's plan could take effect. A smirk spread across his muzzle as he ran through some of the park's rides in his head. And eventually, he settled on one in particular.
"Well, I'm kind of in a pirate mood after all that time at New Moon Lagoon... how about the Grand Galleon?"
Chase gasped. "THE GRAND GALLEON?!" he yelled excitedly, before catching himself, clearing his throat and beaming. "That sounds like a great idea, Marshall."
Marshall felt like doing backflips to rival Skye. His already-tired tail started wagging even faster as it looked like this already-great day was about to get even better.
"YES! Woo-hoo! Last one there's a barnacle-head!" Marshall shouted, as he took off running towards the ride.
Chase went rigid before taking off after his friend. "HEY! No fair!"
And once again, the pups completely lost track of time as Marshall took control. Chase didn't exactly envision the day going this way, but he could hardly complain given the huge amount of incredible rides they were going on. The Grand Galleon was only the start, even though it was only a swinging ship ride. Simple, but effective. Next, they went on the Teacups. A classic ride, albeit one that left both pups throwing up a good portion of their lunches. But they were undaunted as they flitted between the park's other attractions, from the Regal Racer to the PhantoMountains and even the Ancient Claw. No matter what ride they went on, both pups were screaming and whooping at the tops of their lungs like the excited children they really were, not forgetting to stop for a few souvenir photos, of course. They'd been at it for hours, but even then, the day felt like it had ended too soon. After hours of running around the park, enjoying the rides, eating all manner of delicious junk food and even meeting the odd mascot or two, day turned to night and the pups made one final stop at another restaurant for two giant steaks and bowls of ice cream. And only then did they finally realise just how tired they really were. After enjoying their meal, Chase and Marshall dragged themselves back to their room, too tired to notice not only the giant crate sitting in the corner, but the fact that they'd jumped up to the wrong bed and flopped exhaustedly onto the pillow.
"What a day..." Chase groaned, panting heavily.
"Yeah, no kidding... don't think any rescue's given me THAT much of a workout..." Marshall mumbled.
Chase snorted. "You mean, a workout with steak, burgers and ice cream?"
"Pfft-! It sounds like Rubble's idea of a workout, actually!"
Both pups burst out laughing before falling silent, continuing to catch their breath for a while until Chase spoke up again.
"So, Marshall... did you have fun today?"
Marshall paused for a moment. "Well... I mean... umm... how can I put this gently?"
And just like that, Chase's face fell and his heart sank. Had this all been for nothing? Did Marshall not enjoy the day they'd spent together? But he looked like he was having so much fun!
"THIS WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY ENTIRE STINKIN' LIFE! Omigosh, I don't think I've ever had so much fun in one day! All that food we ate, all the rides we went on, all that time at the water park, AND I got to do it all with you?! Lemme tell you, if I hadn't puked earlier, I would've thought I was dreaming!""
Chase practically jumped out of his fur before bursting out laughing. Marshall had messed with him in the past, but somehow, he still fell for it hook, line and sinker.
"You really enjoyed it that much?!"
"You know it! Ha, ha, ha! I-I never thought I'd be so happy that you arrested me earlier today!"
Chase found himself laughing even harder. But not just at Marshall's joke. He was simply too overjoyed at his plan going off without a hitch and seeing Marshall so happy to do anything else but laugh uproariously.
"What about you, Chase? I hope you enjoyed today like I did!"
Chase paused. "Um. YES?! My head's still spinning after all the fun we had. Ha, ha! Ohh, today was everything I imagined it being!"
Both pups laughed again for a moment, until Marshall suddenly fell silent. Chase soon followed suit, noticing Marshall sitting up with an inquisitive expression.
"Hold on. 'Everything you imagined it being'? What do you mean by that? Wait... Chase, did... did you plan this day?"
Chase froze, realising that Marshall had finally caught on. He stared into space for a moment or two before smiling and sitting up. Everything had gone almost 100% to plan. Marshall couldn't have picked a better time to see what Chase was doing. There was no better time to lift the curtain.
"Looks like you got me, Marshall... lemme guess, you wanna know why. Well... it's all because you've been through so much these past couple of months. I mean, you're one of the nicest pups I've ever known! And these last two months you've nearly died, seen your friends at each other's throats, been to your own funeral and lost your dad! What did you do to deserve all that?! Nothing! It's all just-!"
Chase realised he was going on another angry rant and paused to compose himself, taking a few breaths to steady himself before continuing.
"You get the idea. You're my best friend... no, strike that, you're my brother... and seeing you going through all that... it was heartbreaking... I felt like I had to do something, I had to step up! I'm supposed to be the big brother, so I'm supposed to make everything better. But I didn't know what to do... I felt so powerless... well, in Adventure Bay, anyway."
Marshall looked utterly blown away, staring at a sadly-smiling Chase with wide eyes and a dropped jaw.
"Chase... you... you're telling me... you did all of this... f-for me?"
Chase beamed. "I sure did. When we were on the plane to Solstice Island, I figured it out. After everything you went through, I had the chance to give you the best day of your whole life. And I did it... nothing makes me happier than knowing that."
The silence was thick enough to cut with a knife. Marshall kept staring in total disbelief of what he just heard. Until he raised his paws to his mouth, with his eyes welling up with tears and a huge smile beginning to spread across his face.
"Ch... Chase..." Marshall whimpered, sniffling.
The Shepherd barely attempted to push back his own joyful tears.
"Aww, c'mon, Marshall, d-don't cry... y-you're gonna set me off..."
"I-I... I'm too happy to stop!" Marshall sobbed loudly, quickly getting to his paws and leaping at Chase, catching him in a hug that, at any other time, would have Chase crying uncle.
Marshall got straight to his paws and leapt at Chase, grabbing him in a hug almost tight enough to crack his bones. But Chase was simply too happy to notice as he hugged Marshall back as tightly as he could. Both pups found themselves laughing and crying so hard they couldn't even speak. They never thought that crying would feel so good, but here they were, hugging the living daylights out of each other feeling utterly delirious with joy. The next few minutes were spent simply laughing and crying in each other's embrace on the bed until they wore themselves out, taking a few moments to recover their speech.
"Chase... I... I don't even know what to say... I mean...'thank you' just doesn't feel like enough?" Marshall croaked.
Chase sniffled. "Hey... what just happened right now? That was more than enough..."
"But you didn't have to... I-I mean... all this trouble just for me?"
Chase reluctantly broke the hug and stumbled over to the pillow, wriggling underneath the covers, laying his head on the pillow and patting the empty space next to him. Marshall sniffled, wiped his eyes and hurried over, clambering into the bed and snuggling up next to Chase.
"If we're like brothers, then it's only right I look out for you. And pick you up whenever you're feeling sad. That's just what a brother does, right?"
The Dalmatian went silent for a second, before quietly giggling. "It's weird that you say that... because that's... well, it's exactly what I was trying to do for you."
Chase went rigid. "Huh? What do you mean by that?"
Marshall snorted. "Chase... you wanted to give me the best day ever... I was... well I was trying to give you the same thing!"
And immediately, Chase sat straight back up, his mouth opening wide enough to catch flies. It was a good thing he was already lying down, or he would've been struck dumb hard enough to be knocked off his paws.
"Wha-?! What did you?! HUH?!"
Marshall giggled. "Yeah, probably should've guessed you'd react like that. But it's true! I know more about you than you think! Actually, I've known for a couple of weeks, now. About how you've been feeling. You've been more stressed and sad than I've ever seen you... and after you've gone to all this trouble just for me? Now I know why. I mean... we've ALL had it rough lately. We've all been so sad and scared that we couldn't do anything but watch TV all day! And you... What was going through your head all that time? My guess? Stuff like 'Will we ever go back to normal?' and 'Why is this still happening to us?' Am I right?"
"Uhh-"
Chase didn't get to finish before Marshall calmly raised his paw. "You don't need to answer that, Chase. Because I think we've all thought that at least once. But you've always worried about us. And all I needed was one look to see how bad this whole thing hit you. And even before that, everything that happened probably hit you just as hard if not worse... the river... Redcreek... I can tell you didn't have any more fun than I did. So I wanted to make you feel better. I wanted to give YOU the best day ever too. So you could finally cut loose and enjoy yourself. And a vacation like this? Well, I'd say that's the perfect chance to make you happier than you've ever been. Don't you think?"
Chase continued staring at Marshall for a few quiet moments as he slowly closed his mouth. He'd been hit just as hard by Marshall's plan as Marshall had been hit by Chase's. The silence went on and on until Marshall saw the corners of Chase's mouth slowly turning upwards. The Shepherd hurriedly looked away, but his growing smile was impossible to hide, as was his soft laughter That was steadily growing louder and louder.
"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh... hee, hee, hee, hee! Ha, ha, ha ha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! M-Mar- HAHAHAHAHAHA! Ma-Marshall-! HAHAHAHA-! Th-That's my job! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
It didn't take long for Chase's laughter to hit hysterical levels. He flopped back into bed and knocked the wind out of Marshall as he landed on top of him and started squeezing him tightly. The joy in the air quickly proved contagious, and before long Marshall found himself squeezing Chase back and laughing along with him. The two pups had somehow gotten a second wind, allowing them to laugh until they both gave out from exhaustion. Which didn't take as long this time, and soon they found themselves silently embracing each other again, still giggling on occasion.
"Marshall... I... I was supposed to be making YOU happy today... you- heh-! You- you didn't have to..."
Marshall sighed theatrically. "You're right. I didn't. But it's only right that I look out for you. And pick you up whenever you're feeling sad. You said it yourself: that's just what a brother does. I saw how bad you were feeling, and I wanted to make everything better. It only makes sense."
Chase only sniffled, and squeezed Marshall even harder, even whimpering slightly. "Oh, for- Don't make me cry again!"
After a brief period of giggles from the pair of them, they found themselves snuggling up to each other, feeling more warm, comfortable and safe than they ever had before. Sleep quickly beckoned.
"Chase? Did it... did it work? Did I make everything better?" Marshall asked drowsily.
Chase responded by nuzzling Marshall tightly. "And then some, Marshall... I think both our plans went perfectly... the only bad thing about today is that it's over... but I wanna have more days like this, I dunno about you."
Marshall tightened his hug. "Like you had to ask... we don't have to be at Solstice Island to have fun days like this..."
Chase simply lay there as he hugged Marshall back. "Thank you, Marshall... thank you so much... I don't deserve family like you..."
"Chase... I should be thanking you... maybe I never got to have any brothers or sisters... but I always had you..."
With one more mutual nuzzling, Chase and Marshall's energy had finally run out. And both pups used the last of it to say the same thing to one another.
"I love you..."
And with that, the Sandman finished his work. Holding each other in a tight, loving hug, both pups fell into a deep, blissful slumber. And after an incredible day like the one they'd just had, nothing was going to wake them anytime soon. It may have finally ended, but today had left a special, lifelong memory for both of them.
A memory that nothing could ever take away.
A few minutes late, but I made it. Here it is, the final pup-only chapter in this story. And the longest by far.
I don't have too much to say about it. Honestly, I'd rather it spoke for itself. But then again, part of that is probably because I've been pulling an all-nighter to try and get the cleanup done. And now that it is? I can finally relax a little.
Now, this isn't the end. But it is the beginning of the end. Next up are Ryder's chapters with each pup. And then an epilogue. At which point, this story will finally be over. Not much to say, other than I hope you like them. And as always, if you enjoyed this chapter, please don't hesitate to favourite, follow and/or leave a review. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, and I hope to see you next time. Take care.
Next story: RyMa - A Lazy Morning