Chapter 2: The Rescuer


Marshall shouted in alarm when his paws gave way through the floor. As he tumbled past ground floor, surrounded by falling debris, the Dalmatian saw his life flash before his eyes. Holding his paws out in front of him, he closed his eyes before he landed, feeling the impact as he hit the basement level. Pain shot through his paws when he crashed, but he knew it would be gone in an instant. Personal experience and years of training taught him that chances of a firefighter surviving a building collapse were virtually nonexistent. He braced for the rest of the structure to inevitably crush him. 'How fitting I should die this way,' Marshall thought to himself. But it never happened. He opened his eyes and found himself inside a glowing translucent purple sphere about six feet across. It was supporting the flaming wood, keeping it from collapsing in on him, apparently some sort of force field. In the center of the sphere next to Marshall was someone he had never seen before.

He was a black Labrador retriever wearing a purple helmet with silver and black highlights across it and a pup pack which matched his helmet. A metal rod was sticking out of an opening in the top of the backpack, and above that hovered a small metal sphere about the size of a golf ball which seemed to be powering the shield around them.

"Wh- Who are you?" Marshall asked before being cut off by the newcomer.

"No time," he replied, "Can you stand on your paw?"

Marshall started to get up but felt a sharp pain in his front right paw as he did so. "Ouch!" he cried.

"That's what I figured," the other dog sighed as he eyed the paw through his helmet's visor. "You did fall two stories after all. It's going to have a hairline fracture. Or- At least that's what I'm guessing."

As Marshall grimaced in pain while trying to stand on his three remaining paws, a board fell, shattering into hot coals on the force field. "We're stuck here! What can we do?" the fire pup whimpered.

"Only one thing to do. Get ready to move." The other dog peered around, searching for something. His gaze landed on a wall not three feet away from them, and he backed up as much as the force field would allow him. As the unknown dog crouched down, Marshall's eyes shot open as he realized what was about to happen. The black dog jumped, ramming against the side of the force field. His shove gave them an incredible amount of momentum, pushing them through the blockade of flaming wood. Breaking through the wall, they went tumbling into what appeared to be some sort of natural cave. Behind them the wreckage shifted, sending hot coals pouring into the cave and blocking the way they had come with embers and flames.

The new dog turned off the shield, sending both himself and Marshall tumbling out of the rolling sphere. They stopped rolling after a couple of feet, and the newcomer stood up. "You good?" he asked, indicating Marshall's paw. Reassured by his nod, he raised his purple tinted visor and looked back at the entrance. "That worked out better than I expected," he admitted. "Apparently that wood was really compromised. No wonder you were destroying it." After turning back, both the rod and metal ball retracted back into the backpack seemingly on their own accord.

Now that they weren't so close to one another inside the force field, Marshall was able to get a better look at his companion. As he had noted earlier, his rescuer was a Labrador retriever. He had shining copper eyes and all his fur was pitch black. Intriguingly, his ears weren't floppy like a normal Lab, but instead were pointed and stuck out through holes in his helmet. Besides the helmet and pup pack, the pup was wearing black boots with silver and purple highlights which matched his vest. The dark black of both the vest and the dog's fur matched well and naturally guided the eye to the punctuations of color. In fact, if it weren't for the stripes on the uniform, Marshall might have thought it was part of the pup's fur! But what transfixed Marshall most was the pup tag around his neck. On it was a shining silver gear in front of a vibrant purple background.

Marshall sat staring at his companion. After seeing the pup pack, the firefighter had wondered whether his rescuer had Paw Patrol gear or whether it was something he had created himself, but now that he saw the pup tag exactly mimicking his own, his mind exploded with questions. "Who are you? What are you doing here? How did you do that? How did you know there was a cave behind that wall? What was it doing there anyway? How did you get here? Why did Ryder never tell us there was another member of the Paw Patrol?"

"Woah, woah, woah, slow down a bit. For starters, my name's Gizmo. I'll answer some of your questions, but we should get moving and let them know you're alright. Can you walk while staying off of your paw?"

"I should be able to," Marshall replied while getting up, taking care to keep his injured paw elevated. "Where are we going?"

"This cavern leads to an exit farther west of here. It used to be- or, well, I guess it currently is an abandoned tunnel. Come on. We have a ways to go. Unfortunately your pup tag won't have enough reception to work down here." The Lab started walking farther into the cave, slowing down a bit for Marshall.

"What about your pup tag?" Marshall inquired.

"Mine won't work either; it's not connected to the same system as yours. But either way we'd have to walk. Sorry, Marshall."

The Dalmatian's eyes widened. "How do you know my name?"

Gizmo hesitated, but only for a second. "You're the Paw Patrol. Everyone knows your names."

"Oh… Yeah… Well, what about you? You have Paw Patrol gear too."

Once again, Gizmo thought before answering the question, speaking each word deliberately, "I'm not part of the Paw Patrol at this time. Currently Ryder doesn't even know I exist, so rest assured that he has not been hiding me from you. And I'm not the only one that has gear similar to your guys' equipment. After all, Sweetie copied her design off of you guys."

"True… But what about your pup tag?"

"Is… there a problem with copying your style of collar?"

Marshall sighed, his face drooping. "No, there isn't…"

The Lab stopped and turned around to look at him. "Is everything okay…?"

"Yeah… I guess-" Marshall began as he debated whether or not to share his thoughts. "I guess I was just excited that there might be a new member of the Paw Patrol."

Gizmo put a paw on his limping friend, smiling slightly. "Hey, it's okay. Besides, who knows? Maybe you'll get a new member soon."

Marshall smiled back, appreciative of the attempt to cheer him up. "Thanks. Your pup pack does look cool. And your equipment is amazing! Where did you get a force field anyway?"

"I built it myself! Well, I had lots of help, though. But yeah… Come on, we need to pick up the pace." The pair kept walking through the tunnel as fast as they could, Gizmo pausing briefly every now and then at intersections before continuing down a path. Occasionally he would offer a casual warning such as, "Watch out for that stalactite," or, "Don't touch that unless you want to explode," but other than that they walked in relative silence the rest of the trip. After about a half-hour, they emerged from the cave system into the chill of the snow and wind in a location Marshall didn't recognize.

"Here you go. You should be able to have satellite reception from here, so you can call them and they can come find you. Stay here and keep your paw in the snow until they come with your medical gear. And whatever you do, don't tell anyone else about me." Gizmo turned around to leave.

"What? You're not going to stay and meet them?"

"No. Preferably I-" It seemed as though he was about to continue, but he stopped himself. "I should go; you need to call them. They're worried sick about you I'm sure. Goodbye."

"Wait! Where can I find you? Will I ever see you-" Marshall started to cry out, but then his pup tag chirped.

"Marshall?" Ryder's concerned but hopeful voice came over the com, "I just got a notification that your pup tag came back online. Are you there?"

"Ryder! I'm okay! There was uh-" Marshall paused, wondering how much he should tell them, if anything. After all, Gizmo had told him to not tell them about him, and even though Marshall didn't know him that well, he felt that he should trust him. He decided to comply. "There was a cave system I got out through. Can you come pick me up?"

"Oh thank God you're alright! Yes, we're coming right away."

Marshall looked back to Gizmo, but he was already gone. As soon as the Dalmatian turned away, he knew he would have disappeared. All that remained were his boot prints leading off a few feet before fading and then disappearing entirely; already being covered up by the waves of cascading snow.


Gizmo's introduction. These first two chapters are the only aspect of this story that's gone unchanged throughout every single iteration of changes. I still remember when I told this to my brother the first time. Now, of course, unchanged is a bit of a loose term here. For example, I've long since removed the underground river of lava, but the main story of Gizmo saving Marshall from a collapsing building they were burning down is the same. This chapter is where the lore hints start appearing, letting people figure our more than what's specifically told in the words. If you ever see anything that's 'off' please point it out, whether it be in a review or a DM. That way I can know what hints work best, and also can fix any mistakes I might have made.