AN: I'm surprised how fast I'm getting this done. Guess, I'm pretty good. Anyway, this segment is mostly focused on Rocky. I did think of maybe teasing a Rocky x Marshall, but since I'm basing this more on the show if it went in a more serious direction rather then a romance, I skipped it. Might make a Rocky x Marshall later on though as a separate story.
Disclaimer: I don't know Paw Patrol.
Failure was something Rocky couldn't stand. Whenever one of his inventions didn't work or he got something wrong during a mission, he took it hard. It wasn't that he was a perfectionist; he was okay with messing up on things that didn't seem important like a game or competition. But failing somebody close to him, that was the worst of it all. His dislike of failure all stemmed back to his days at the orphanage for pets. Every day he would try his hardest to get adopted by a family looking to take a pet home with them. And every day he failed.
For a long time, Rocky didn't think he would ever get adopted until one day, when he was cleaning up the orphanage like he always did, he met Ryder. The mixed breed had been collecting trash outside the orphanage to use for his inventions when he saw Ryder checking said inventions in Rocky's room. He explained what each of them did and had fun playing with Ryder. Ryder quickly offered Rocky a place in the Paw Patrol as their recycling pup, as well as a home to live in. That was the happiest day in Rocky's life.
Paw Patrol was his new home, and the pups were his new family. And Rocky promised on the day he arrived at the Lookout that he would never fail his new family.
And yet here I am, looking for a friend who I failed horribly, thought Rocky as he watched Ryder ask Alex and his friends at the playground if they had seen Marshall. The pups had fought before, even argued at times, but they never had something like this happen. Looking back, Rocky couldn't help but realize that their words were way too harsh. Yeah, Marshall's clumsy behavior did mess things up a lot, but he was still a good friend. Besides, everybody on the team had their quirks. Rubble was always trying to act more mature to compensate for being the youngest. Zuma had his speech impairment. Skye and Chase's obviously had crushes on each other, but neither could admit it. And Rocky himself was afraid of water.
The more he thought about how foolish he and the other pups had been, the more it drove Rocky to find Marshall and apologize. If only it were that easy.
They had been driving through town all day, yet there wasn't a single sign of Marshall. They had asked other residents from Katie to Mayor Goodwill, but they hadn't seen him. The Mayor promised to get all the townsfolk to look for him, but Rocky was pretty sure Marshall was long gone from Adventure Bay. He wanted to tell Ryder, but he was too nervous to.
Throughout their search, Ryder barley say anything to Rocky, and his angry face from earlier was still fresh in the pup's mind. Ryder had been disappointed, scolding even if things got too rough, but never as angry as he was when he learned what they had done. It made Rocky feel even guiltier by the fact that he had failed his owner, the one who gave him his new life.
Still, despite his fear of angering Ryder further, finding Marshall was a top priority. When Ryder came back to his ATV, Rocky sat in his recycling truck while rubbing his paws. "One of Alex's friends said they saw Marshall's fire truck heading down Church Street. Let's see if any of the shops have seen him."
"Ryder?" asked Rocky just as his owner put on his helmet. "I don't think we'll find him in Adventure Bay. He's had hours ahead of us, and considering some of the people we talked to said they saw him heading in the direction of the exit to town, I think it's safe to assume he's long gone from this location."
Ryder rubbed his chin before nodding. "You make a good point. Chase and Sky are in that area, so we'll join up with them."
"Do you think he's heading back to his parents? Where do they live anyway?" asked Rocky.
"Somewhere down south of the state. If we don't find him in the evening, I'll alert them," said Ryder, getting on his ATV.
Lowering his head, Rocky asked, "Ryder? Do you hate us for what we did?"
Ryder looked at Rocky with shock before he shook his head and gave a sad smile. "Rocky, I could never hate you pups. You're my best friends. I'm just upset that you would say that to Marshall after everything he's done. Why did you say those things anyway?"
"I don't know. I guess we were just angry that his mistakes kept breaking stuff," whispered Rocky. "It's not a good excuse, I know. I bet he hates us."
"Marshall would never hate you pups. Don't you remember when he took care of you when you got bullied?"
Rocky's eyes widen at the memory.
Heading back home on three good legs was a pain, but it was better than depending on a badly injured one. Rocky winced as he felt the bite mark on his right front leg hurt worse as he walked up the hill towards the Lookout. Each time he or something else touched it, it would sting like crazy to the point where Rocky was nearly in tears. It wasn't as bad as the shiner on his left eye though.
As he reached the front of the Lookout, all he had to do was get to his dog house and avoid being seen by the other pups. Thankfully, they were all focused on Chase testing out his new Super Spy outfit and gadgets.
Rocky was about to sneak away when Marshall noticed him and rushed over. "Hey, Rocky. Wanna see Chase use his suction cup boots?"
"Uh, maybe later. I'm just gonna go to bed," said Rocky, doing his best to have his face being seen.
"You okay? You seem kind of off. Hey, where's your hat? You were wearing it when you went out earlier," pointed out Marshall.
"I lost it. Now, if you excuse me," lied Rocky as he tried to move away from Marshall.
Marshall gasped. "Lost it?! Don't worry! We'll use Chase's nose to find it!" Before Rocky could do anything, Marshall reached out for his injured leg and jerked. Rocky yelped in pain before falling to his side whimpering.
"Rocky?! Are you okay?!" screamed Marshall before he noticed the shiner on Rocky's eye. "Woah! What happened?!"
"H-help…" whimpered Rocky, unable to take the pain anymore.
"R-right! Guys! Rocky's injured!" shouted Marshall, getting the attention of the others. They all rushed over and gasped at the sight him.
"What happened?!" asked Rubble.
"I swear I just touched him and he was suddenly in pain!" answered Marshall.
"It looks like he got beat up!" shouted Skye.
Chase tagged his dog tag and shouted into it. "Ryder, sir, we got an injured Paw Patroler who needs help! It's Rocky!"
"I'm on my way, Chase! Keep him still 'till I get there!"
Chase walked over and put a paw on Rocky's shoulder. "It's okay. Ryder's coming."
Rocky nodded as he hoped his owner could fix this.
"Feeling better, Wocky?" asked Zuma as the gang watched Ryder finish wrapping up his leg in the medical room. Beside the leg brace, Rocky had an ice pack over his hurt eye that he held with his good paw.
"Yeah, much better," replied the injured pup.
Ryder rubbed Rocky on his back and asked, "Rocky, how did you get injured? I took a closer look at that wound and it was definitely from a bite. A dog bite specifically."
"You mean someone attacked Rocky?" asked Skye before growling. "What kind of jerk would do that?"
Rocky whimpered, but Ryder held him in his arms and began to pet him. "It's okay, Rocky. You can tell us."
Rocky hesitated, but sighed. Knowing that they weren't going to drop this he decided to come out and say it. "It was Butch, Crash, and Sharper. They ambushed me, called me a nerd, beat me up, and took my hat."
"Those three? I should have known," growled Chase, who looked ready to tear something apart with his teeth.
"Who are they?" asked Ryder.
"They're three dogs that live at the junkyard near town. They're always causing trouble. Like stealing food, knocking over trash cans, or bullying dogs smaller than them," answered Rubble.
"Yeah, they've made wun of my speech all the time," said Zuma, lowering his head. "They… they say I talk like this because I'm… wetarded…"
"They what?!" shouted Chase and Ryder.
"Okay, I've had enough of these three. We have to do something to them, Ryder, sir!" shouted Chase.
Ryder gentle put Rocky on the medical bed and nodded. "Right, these three want to keep hurting our friends. I say we teach them a lesson, and get Rocky's hat back. Am I right?"
The pups all howled with anticipation as Rubble jumped up and said, "I know where those creeps hang out!"
"And I can use my sniffer to sniff them out!" said Chase as he followed Rubble out of the room.
"Wait for us! I got to see this!" shouted Skye, followed by Zuma.
Ryder was about to follow when he noticed that Marshall wasn't moving. "Marshall? You coming along?"
The dalmatian glanced at Rocky who was nursing his eye before turning to Ryder with a smile. "You go on ahead, Ryder. I'm going to watch over Rocky."
"Okay. Be back as soon as we can," said Ryder before exiting.
Marshall barked goodbye before jumping onto the bed and taking a seat next to Rocky. "Are you feeling better?"
"Not as bad as I did before, but better, thanks," muttered Rocky.
There was a long silence between the two as neither said anything to the other. Rocky wished he was just alone so he could do something, but without his good leg or his eye, he was limited. Worst of all, I can't read or invent. This stinks.
"Why did you try to hide your injuries? And the fact you were being bullied by those jerk dogs?" asked Marshall.
"I…" Rocky closed his eyes and shook his head. "It's not the first time I've been bullied. Back at the… orphanage, I read a lot and was very smart. But the other pups made fun of me for being smarter than them. So they used to make fun of me or hit me. Not as bad as this though." Rocky sighed as he thought back to the place he had known more than half his life. It was full of bad memories and he didn't like thinking about them.
"That wasn't nice of them," said Marshall, putting a paw on Rocky's shoulder. "But you're not at the orphanage anymore. You're here in Paw Patrol with the rest of us. And we always look after each other, right?"
"R-right," muttered Rocky, blushing. "H-hey, Marshall? Not that I don't appreciate it, but why did you ask to stay behind?"
"I felt you could use some company. Besides, I did hurt you after all," said Marshall, as he hopped off and wagged his tail. "Do you want to do anything? Eat? Play a game?"
Rocky chuckled. "I think I'm limited in what I can do, Marshall." He gentle waved his hurt leg and raised his ice pack of his eye a bit to show. "I doubt I can even read."
"Hmmm," thought Marshall, as he scratched his ears. He then gasped. "What if I read to you? That way you can still enjoy the story!"
Rocky was a bit taken back by this but smiled with joy. "You really do that for me? Thanks!"
"What are friends for? Now what book do you want?" asked Marshall.
"… and thus the four musketeers held their swords over their heads and shouted, 'All for one and one for all'. The end!" read Marshall as he closed the book.
Rocky barked his approval at Marshall's reading. The firepup had played each role as best as he could, even doing a few imitation of the sword fights. If anything, it made the story even more interesting and hearing it read to him was an experience he hadn't felt since the caretaker at the orphanage first read to him as a pup. It was one of the few good things he was fond of at that time and it was that caretaker who inspired his love of reading.
"That was such a cool story. I really like D'Artagnan! He was so brave!" said Marshall, who jumped around. "Hey! Maybe we should dress up like Musketeers! You, me, Chase, and Rubble can be the four heroes!"
"What about Zuma and Skye?" asked Rocky, amused by the idea.
"Well, I'm sure Zuma won't mind being Rochefort or Cardinal Richelieu, and we can have Skye be Milady De Winter!" suggested Marshall.
"You do realize Skye will bite your ears off when she learns you want to make here a villain," chuckled Rocky.
"Well, that will only prove my point," laughed Marshall.
The two pups continued to laugh until they heard the others arrive home and were greeted by them when they entered the medical room. "We're back, and mission accomplished," said Chase with a satisfied smirk.
Rocky gasped upon seeing Ryder carrying his hat and cheered when it was placed back on his head. "Thanks, guys. What happened to the bullies?"
"Oh, they'll be tied up in my next for a while. Good thing I have plenty of extras," said Chase with a snicker.
"Yeah, those three were begging and crying for us to let them down when we left them," laughed Skye.
"I already called Mayor Goodwill about them and she said they'll be sent to the pound for their actions," explained Ryder. "Maybe a few months there will straighten them out."
"Good widdance is what I say," said Zuma, laughing until his stomach started growling. "Um, can we have lunch Wyder?"
"Sure! Come on, pup!" said Ryder as he turned to Rocky. "I still need you to rest here for a few days, Rocky. I'll bring your dinner to you."
"Okay," said Rocky as he watched the other pups head out. He then cried out, "Hey, Marshall!" When the pup turned around, Rocky smiled and said, "Thanks for being a good friend.
"No problem!" said Marshall, before he turned around and accidentally bumped into the wall. "Ow. I'm okay."
Immediately, after the memory ended, Rocky burst into tears and jumped into Ryder's arms where his owner hugged him. "I… I totally forgot… how could I… how could I…" Rocky buried his head into Ryder's chest, whimpering. "I'm horrible…"
"Rocky, it's okay. You made a mistake. I promise we'll find Marshall and we'll be back together as a family," assured Ryder.
Rocky sniffed and nodded. "Okay…"
"You know, you're the reason he asked to be trained as our medical pup," said Ryder, smiling as Rocky looked up at him with surprise written on his face. "He said he didn't want to see you or his other friends get hurt so he worked extra hard to help you guys if you go injured."
"I… I never knew…" whispered Rocky, shaking his head "But that's Marshall for you. Always wanting to help someone.
I was wrong. We were all wrong. Marshall is our heart as a family. He's not a dope or annoyance or a klutz. He's our friend and so many of us depend on him, thought Rocky, wishing he could just see Marshall tripping and crashing into something. Anything to just get this guilt off his chest.
"Guys? Zuma here! There's a big storm heading towards Adventwure Bay! It looks weally bad!" said Zuma from the puppad.
Ryder answered the call and forwards it to all Paw Patrol members. "Thanks, Zuma. Everyone! We have to be careful. If this storm gets too big, we'll be in just as much danger as Marshall might be. Zuma, head back to shore and meet up with Rubble to check the rest of the nearby outskirts. Rocky and I will try to meet up with Chase and Skye."
"Ryder, sir, we should also call Everest and Jake. Just in case he's heading up the mountain!" suggested Chase.
"Great idea, Chase. Over and out," said Ryder as he turned his puppad to Everest's tag and pressed it, Everest appear on the screen with Jake right beside her.
"Hey, Ryder! What do you need?" asked Everest with a cheerful smile.
"Everest, we have a big problem. Marshall's run away and we can't find him!" said Ryder.
Both Everest and Jake gasped. "Dude, that's terrible. Why did he run away?"
"It's a long story, but we need your help in finding him. Can you check your mountain if he's there or on his way?" asked Ryder.
"We'll do our best, but Ryder," Everest started looking nervous, "there is a big snow storm coming and combined that with the thunderstorm coming from your end, it's gonna make it very hard to find Marshall."
Rocky and Ryder both looked at each other with grim expressions on their faces. Rocky decided to answer this time and said, "Please help us, Everest. It's me and the other pups fault that this happed. We want our friend back."
"We'll do our best. Over and out!" cried Everest before they called out.
"Think we'll find Marshall before the storm starts?" asked Rocky.
"I hope so, Rocky," said Ryder as he looked towards the coming storm.