"Rise and shine, PAW Patrol!"
Chase's voice echoed through the premises of the lookout, assisted by the megaphone he had gotten used to using every day.
Marshall, for the first day in his life, didn't come out of his pup house at the sound of the Shepherd's voice. He didn't have to. He wasn't on the PAW Patrol's schedule anymore. It was strange to think, but for at least the next month, that was his reality. He got to wake up when he wanted, for whatever reason he wanted.
Hearing the faint groans of the PAW Patrol as they left their pup houses, Marshall rolled onto his back. There was no way he was going out there with them, even if he wanted to still operate on their schedule. He couldn't face them. He knew he wasn't guilty, but he couldn't go out there and see the disappointed faces of his team. He didn't want to see them look at him like that.
As the Dalmatian listened to the commotion outside, many memories of the early morning rises with the PAW Patrol ran through his mind. The thought that he wouldn't be able to wake up alongside the PAW Patrol, to eat with the team, to do their daily exercises and pup yoga with them, nearly brought tears to Marshall's eyes.
Rocky, meanwhile, was walking into the lookout with the others. The first pup to speak to him was Zuma, who walked up beside him.
"Morning, Rocky. How'd you sleep?" The Chocolate Lab greeted, a kind smile on his face.
The mixed breed turned to smile at his best friend, "Sleep? Not much..." He spoke incoherently, "Up for a while gathering data."
"Data?"
"You know, to help Marshall..." He yawned, "He only has a month after all..."
Zuma decided against questioning Rocky's motives. Back when Marshall was initially suspended, it seemed as though his mind was made up. The Chocolate Lab knew that it would only be a month. No matter what happened, it would all be over in a month. Whether Marshall stayed or went was going to be decided in a month.
"Just try to get some sleep tonight, dude!" He decided to just give him a smile, patting his back, "Don't want you falling asleep during any of the missions... Especially since we're down a member."
Rocky nodded at his best friend's comment as they made their way in.
Breakfast was silent that morning. The five ate their food quietly, short glances being thrown at one another. They were all thinking the same thing. The pup who was able to get a conversation off of the ground without even thinking about it. The pup that would turn the quiet morning into a breakfast of jokes and laughs.
That was until Skye's pup tag glowed with her signature pink light, a voice coming from it, "Skye! It's Everest. Do you think Ryder would mind if I came around the lookout again today? Things have been pretty slow at the resort..."
Skye's eyes lit up, along with the eyes of the other pups. There couldn't have been a better pup to call them, "Sure!"
"I'll go ask Ryder!" Chase smiled, finding a sudden enthusiasm to finish his breakfast.
Skye was nearly shoving mouthfuls of food into her mouth, finishing quickly, "I'll set up Pup Pup Boogie!"
As excitement surged around the top floor of the lookout, Rocky took advantage of the chaos and made his way over to a red bowl, which was filled to the brim with food. Ryder was disappointed in Marshall, sure, but that didn't mean he would just let him starve. Picking up the bowl, the mixed breed began to quietly make his way over to the elevator.
Putting the bowl down on the floor of the elevator, Rocky watched his team mates set up for a visit from Everest. He wasn't exactly as excited as the others though. Before he found out about Marshall's crush on her, he never really interacted with her as much as Skye, Chase, Zuma, and Rubble did. Their jobs were in two different fields, so it wasn't as though they'd be able to work with one another as often, and when it came to their interests, Everest had always been really physical, while Rocky, meanwhile, wasn't very good at many physical challenges. He was a thinker.
He and Everest were friends, yes, but he could never really consider her a close friend like he was with the others.
The elevator finally reached the bottom. Rocky picked Marshall's bowl up and continued his walk to Marshall's pup house. Upon reaching the small house-vehicle hybrid, he called out for his friend.
"Marshall!"
A faint voice came from inside of the pup house, "...Rocky?"
"Can I come in?"
With no arguments, the door to his pup house opened as the recycling pup walked in. Once the door closed behind him, he put down Marshall's food bowl, "I brought you your breakfast."
"Really?" Marshall sprang up from his previous lying position, looking down at the bowl, "Thanks, Rocky!"
"I wasn't just going to let you starve, especially on day one."
"Day one?"
The eco pup yawned, "This is the first day we have to collect evidence, I reviewed the footage a few times on my own last night in order to see if there was anything I could pick apart..."
The former fire pup looked at his friend, noticing something he hadn't noticed before. Rocky's usual slightly messy fur was extremely unkempt. He also noticed that the mixed breed had yawned several times since he came into his pup house. On top of all of that, Rocky's eyelids were lowered, and there were faint dark circles developing beneath his fur.
"Rocky, how much sleep did you get last night?"
"Sleep?" The gray pup asked, "Didn't get much last night... Needed to review that tape."
Marshall's expression grew worried. He was appreciative of Rocky's help, but he didn't want the mixed breed sacrificing all of his sleep in order to help him. Unlike him, the mixed breed was still on the PAW Patrol. He didn't want his lack of sleep to compromise his missions. Staying tight-lipped about his worries, the Dalmatian only leaned down to eat his food.
"So I was thinking, while the others are distracted playing with Everest, we could go out and start looking for clues!"
Marshall's head immediately shot up, nearly choking on his food. With a quick swallow, he was able to clear his windpipe. His eyes went wide as he looked at Rocky, "Everest!?"
"Right, she's coming to the lookout so the other pups can..." He thought for a moment before he finally began to understand, "You don't want her knowing about your current status, do you?"
"Of course I don't!" The Dally exclaimed, "Oh man... If she finds out I'm off the team, she won't want to be my friend anymore, and then... And then..."
Rocky sighed, "All the more reason to get out of here and start looking for clues. If we're lucky, she won't even know until you're proven innocent."
"Really?"
The eco pup nodded, "Really."
"No, not really, there's no way she won't find out!" He wanted to tell his friend. He refrained from doing so. Marshall was already going through a pretty stressful time. He needed a win. Even if it was just a small one.
The Dalmatian quickly devoured the rest of his food, soon looking up at Rocky. His usual smile had returned. The smile the eco pup had gotten used to seeing after the storm incident. The smile of Marshall, from the PAW Patrol.
"Let's go!"
.
.
.
Once Everest arrived at the lookout, she was greeted by a hug from Skye, as per usual. The other pups came out to greet her, and she smiled at the... Three other pups? Where were Marshall and Rocky? Shaking her head to herself, she concluded that they were probably still inside eating their breakfast. After all, she did come to the lookout earlier than usual.
"So, what do you think we should do today?" The Husky asked her best friend.
Skye smirked, "Well, since we played your favorite game last time, it's our turn to pick a game, starting with mine!"
Zuma leaned over to Chase with a deadpan stare, "You know, we could've outnumbered her vote with Rubble's help..."
The German Shepherd sighed, ashamed, "I couldn't say no to her..."
"Weak."
Zuma was well aware that Chase had a soft spot for the team's aviator. Whether it went beyond that, he had no idea, but after seeing him worry for her mission after mission, the Chocolate Lab assumed that Chase wanted to make sure to protect the only girl on the main team. That had to be it. What else could it be?
Skye and Everest led the group inside the lookout, leading them to the elevator.
"So how have things been here while I was up at Jake's?" The mountain pup inquired, wanting to be caught up on everything going on with her team.
The four pups froze at the question, wondering what they should say. They were, by no means, ready to talk about everything that had gone on involving Marshall.
Chase, being the natural leader he was, quickly came up with something, "Things were pretty crazy lately. City Hall almost sank again. Something was wrong with the foundation, but we were able to deal with it before it completely went into the ground."
"I think that was the day after you visited us..." Skye remarked.
"Again?" Everest asked, "What's wrong with the building's foundation?"
Rubble commented, "There's a hole under it. Like a huge hole! Bigger than I can dig on my own..."
Once the elevator reached the top of the lookout, Everest was first to walk out and look around. She had expected to see the intelligent mixed breed and the funny Dally eating their breakfast, but all she saw were five bowls sitting there. Yellow, blue, green, orange, and pink.
But no red.
"Hey... By the way... Where's Marshall?" She asked, her attention focused on the five bowls on the other side of the top floor.
Chase followed her gaze, noticing that Marshall's food bowl was gone. His teeth clenched. Rocky must've brought him his food! Admirably nice of the mixed breed, but not good for wandering eyes. Everest was an observant girl. Not lacking in intelligence in the slightest. On top of that, she was never one to keep quiet about what's on her mind. Because of that, he should've seen it coming when she asked;
"Speaking of, where's Rocky? I haven't seen either of them."
"Marshall's sick, and Rocky's watching him!" Skye quickly interjected, "He's really contagious, so we thought it would be best for someone to keep watch and make sure he didn't try and leave."
"Ohhh..." Everest nodded in understanding, pacified for the time being.
"Yeah..." Skye smiled as the other three pups wiped the sweat off of their foreheads, "...So, who wants the first round of Pup Pup Boogie with me?"
"Let's dive in!" Zuma exclaimed, stepping up, "Prepare to lose, Skye!"
The first round would be a best of three game between Skye and Zuma. The two, being the best two pups at the game, knew their pride was on the line, as well as bragging rights. Skye, being the pup to know almost every song in the game by heart, had the obvious edge against Zuma, who just happened to have extremely good reaction time when playing the game.
Once the game commenced, the two competitive pups began stepping on the pads in synchronized movements, not willing to give the other the lead in the game. Both knew that one misstep from either of them could skew the game one way or another. Once an inch was gained, they were sure that they would go a mile with the single edge gained. Skye was not willing to let that happen, especially since she was trying to show off a little.
"You got this, Skye!" Everest cheered.
"Whoop her tail, Zuma!" Rubble grinned, "Dethrone the Boogie Queen!"
"Boogie Queen?" Skye repeated, her mind beginning to wander, "That doesn't sound too—"
The Cockapoo's side of the screen suddenly displayed a misstep message. As her mind wandered, she had mistaken one of the arrows to go in the other direction. Taking that step instead of the correct one. She let out a surprised yip, her mind focusing back onto the game. Now, though, her initial confidence had faded. Now that she was just barely behind Zuma in points, she would have to work twice as hard.
Twice as hard wasn't enough, though, as the game ended with Zuma coming out victorious.
1-0, Zuma.
Catching her breath, Skye's head hung low. How could she let herself get distracted like that? It wasn't like her to get distracted mid game. Now she would have to win twice in a row if she wanted to win this best of three game. With Zuma, that seemed nearly impossible.
"It's okay, Skye! Just focus up and take the next round!" Everest clenched her paws in support of her friend, "I know you're not gonna give up here!"
Skye sharply inhaled, looked back at Everest, and gave her a nod.
Just like that, the second game was underway. Zuma, seeing as he won the first match, was a bit more confident than he was when they had started their first game. As such, he couldn't contain himself and began to talk to the Cockapoo as they played.
The Chocolate Lab smirked, "Getting tired, Skye?"
"Yeah... Getting tired of hearing you..." She giggled.
The two loved trash talk, especially while playing their games. Sure, it could get intense at times, but they both knew it was all in good fun. They especially appreciated this, now that they needed to get their minds off of what had been going on at the lookout for the past few days. They all did. That's why when Everest offered to come to the lookout, the group decided that they wouldn't let Everest know until a little later down the line.
Call it selfish, call it lying, but the pups didn't need any more drama going on in their lives for just a little bit. For just a day or two, they didn't want to think about Marshall's potential fate.
As the second game came to a close, Skye barely edged out over Zuma.
One all.
The two pups caught their breath, deciding to take a few minutes before the next game was set to begin. Zuma had flopped himself on the floor, panting, while Skye went over to talk to Everest, Chase, and Rubble.
"Nicely done, Skye!" Everest smiled, "All you have to do is win just one more round and you'll win it all!"
Rubble chuckled, looking over at the exhausted aquatic pup before looking back at the Cockapoo "Zuma's really giving you a run for your pup treats..."
"No kidding!" Skye lightly rubbed her right arm with her left paw, "But I'm ready to win it all!" She yipped, performing one of her many signature backflips.
Chase couldn't help but to smile at the Cockapoo's enthusiasm, but walked over to check up on Zuma, "You doing okay?"
"That girl can play..." The aquatic pup huffed, standing up, "It's a little scary , but I think I can take this final round."
"I'm rooting for Skye on that one."
"I know you are."
Skye and Zuma walked back up to their pads, getting ready to begin the final round. With a quick countdown, the two began moving in accordance to the directions on the screen. Skye was focused, wanting to keep her title as the reigning champ in the lookout. Zuma was just as focused, wanting to finally dethrone Skye and take the title for his own.
When the song was nearing to a close, both pups noticed the direction of a tailspin was nearing. Both of them exchanged a quick glare before performing a tailspin, Skye quickly finishing hers before Zuma. The Chocolate Lab finished after her, but it wasn't good enough to get a perfect score, like Skye had.
2-1, Skye.
The spectating pups howled for the victor of the contest.
Rubble grinned, "That was pawsome! Too bad Marshall's off the team, he would've loved that!"
The room suddenly went silent after the Bulldog's exclamation. Chase, Zuma, Skye, and Everest all looked at Rubble, who was confused as to why he was being looked at like that.
"What? Marshall would love this!" He smiled before the realization set in, "...Whoops..."
Everest looked between the four pups, "I thought you said Marshall was sick..."
Chase sighed, "No use hiding it anymore. Everest, I think you know we haven't been entirely honest with you."
.
.
.
Meanwhile, Rocky was walking along the sidewalks of Adventure Bay. He and Marshall had split up in order to ask around for clues. He hadn't come up with much, aside from a few minor sightings of a hooded pup in the middle of the night. But because of the darkness laid over Adventure Bay when the sun went down, those sightings weren't as credible as he would've wanted. Wondering who to ask next, he made his way over to the front of Mr. Porter's Cafe, the rendezvous point. He sat down in front of the building, hoping that Marshall would have more luck than him.
That was, until his pup tag glowed, "Rocky, where are you?"
His eyes widened, "Everest?" He shook his head before replying, "Hey Everest, is there a problem or—"
"Where is Marshall?"
The gray pup gulped. That was fast, "He's not with me, why do you ask?" He smiled, trying to play dumb.
"The pups told me everything. I know what happened... So stop acting like you don't know what I'm talking about!"
Knowing that he wasn't going to be able to sweet talk his way out of this, Rocky's eyes narrowed, "You don't need to know where Marshall is. That's none of your concern."
"Rocky... Please. I just want to talk to him."
Marshall, just in time to unknowingly join the conversation, walked up to Rocky with a sigh, "I got nothing... How about you? Get any clues?"
"Is that him?"
"Everest!?" The Dalmatian stepped back a bit, looking at his friend's tag.
"Marshall, where are you? I know everything, I just want to talk."
"Umm—"
Marshall began to speak, but his mouth was covered by Rocky, who whispered to him, "How do we know if we can trust her?"
"How do we know if we can't?" The former fire pup whispered back, "We don't have a reason not to..."
Rocky, a pup of logic, sighed. He did have a good point. Everest never seemed to be hostile over the call. More so desperate. He looked at Marshall, who looked back at him with pleading eyes. The eco pup knew he wanted to talk with her.
He sighed, looking down at his tag, "We're in front of Porter's."
Within a few minutes, Everest's vehicle came from around the corner, pulling up in front of the two pups. Once it had come to a complete stop, the Husky jumped out of the teal colored vehicle and looked between the two.
She slowly walked up to sit in front of them, "Did you do it, Marshall?"
"No, of course not!" The Dalmatian exclaimed, "I couldn't steal from Mayor Goodway."
The Husky pup looked confused, "So, who was that on the footage?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out..." Rocky interjected, looking away, "No leads so far."
"Do you believe me?" Marshall looked at her, his eyes pleading.
Everest slowly shook her head, "...I don't know what to believe..." She sighed, "Why do you believe him, Rocky?"
"Because I was with him. There's no proof of that, so don't ask. But I know what I was doing that night, and I was with Marshall."
"What were you two doing?"
The mixed breed blushed a little under his fur, thinking about the conversation they had that night, "That's none of your business."
"So there's no evidence that you were with Marshall, and you don't want to tell me what you were doing?"
"It sounds bad, I know, but I'd prefer my private conversations to stay private."
"...Um... Guys...?" Marshall looked up at a building nearby.
Everest shook her head, ignoring the Dally, "Then how could I ever believe you?"
"I'm not asking if you believe me. I was explaining why I believed him!" Rocky argued, "If you don't, then I don't really care! Nobody else believes us!"
"But I want to believe him!" The Husky argued back, "I can't do that if you keep being so secretive!"
"Guys...?"
The eco pup's eyes narrowed, "Again, our conversation was private! I don't want to talk about it!"
"Guys!"
"What!?" Both pups turned to Marshall, who was looking up at that same building. The two soon followed their friend's gaze, seeing something strange.
Another Dalmatian.
The Dalmatian doppelganger was peering over the ledge of a building, staring right at Marshall. The former PAW Patrol member stared back, noticing that their spots were nearly the same, except for one little detail. Like Rocky's fur, there was a patch of fur around one of the Dalmatian's eyes that was colored differently.
There was a spot of black fur around the Dalmatian's right eye.
Rocky quietly barked, "...Camera."
But nothing came. His eyes widened as he realized he hadn't brought his pup pack with him when he went to ask for clues. How could he have such an oversight!?
"Hey!" Marshall shouted, prompting both Rocky and Everest to look at him, "Mind if you stay there a sec so we can snap a little pic!?"
Hearing this, the mystery Dalmatian retreated from the ledge, disappearing out of sight.
"I can't believe I left my pack at home!" The mixed breed put a paw to his face, "Marshall, I'm so sorry..."
"What do you mean?" Marshall asked faintly, turning around to reveal a wide grin on his face, "We have a suspect! That means we know who to follow now!"
"Count me in."
Marshall and Rocky looked over at Everest, who had a faint smile on her face.
"In?" Rocky raised an eyebrow.
"Of course! If that was the same Dalmatian that was on the security footage, that means Marshall was innocent!"
"What?" Rocky asked sarcastically with a faked enthusiastic smile on his face, "No way! I couldn't have guessed! What a twist!"
Everest glared at the mutt, "Don't push it..." She remarked before holding a paw out in the middle of them, "So, will you let me help you? I want Marshall to stay too."
"Now, that..." Rocky put a paw on top of hers, smiling at the Husky, "...That I can get behind."
Everest and Rocky turned to Marshall, who had tears in his eyes.
"Don't cry yet," The mixed breed rolled his eyes, "Wait 'till after we save your job."
Marshall put his paw on top of the two others.
"I'm fired up!"