Ryder sat in his room, looking up at his ceiling. When was there ever a time when there wasn't something on his mind. Marshall was gone. And there was nothing he could do about it. Marshall wasn't a member of the PAW Patrol, and even if he was, he couldn't do anything about it. It wasn't like he could force Marshall to do anything. If he wanted to live as a stray instead of going to the pound, then so be it.

Looking out of his window, the young leader stared at the setting sun. What was he planning? It wasn't like any of Adventure Bay's residents exactly wanted him around. According to several reports, Marshall had gone around the town after the newspaper was released, and the townsfolk didn't take it well.

He shook his head. He deserved it. Marshall stole from a lot of people, and the list seemed ever growing. With the release of the newspaper spreading further than just Adventure Bay, Ryder had to deal with a growing amount of negative publicity directed toward the team. The leader had even gotten a call from Mayor Humdinger, Foggy Bottom's mayor, to ask to speak to Marshall about how proud he was of the Dalmatian.

He soon moved over to sit in a chair, opening his laptop to begin another entry.

"It's been about five days since Marshall had been discharged from the team. Three days since Marshall left. The pups seem to be taking this as rough as I have been, maybe even more rough than I have. Especially Chase. I can hear his howls in the dead of night, mourning the loss of who he thought to be his best friend. According to Skye, Chase has been a lot more combative towards Marshall, Everest, and Rocky. It seems like Everest has taken Marshall's side in this conflict. Thanks to Skye, there haven't been any physical fights, and I'm grateful for it."

The boy's eyebrows soon furrowed a bit.

"I've noticed that in the days following Marshall's discharge Skye has taken the lead when it comes to dealing with the pups off missions. Especially Chase. She has apparently been keeping him under control. Calming him down, and sometimes yelling at him if the need be. I believe that she's trying her best to be a neutral party in this civil conflict, despite not believing Marshall's plea of being not guilty. She argues that if Marshall wants to find evidence and try to prove his plea to be correct, then he has to prove it."

The boy thought about the aviator Cockapoo, who seemed to be broken upon seeing the infamous security footage that started all of this. She had been doing her best to keep both sides placated while the month proceeded on.

"Rubble and Zuma, while I haven't heard much from them, seem to be heartbroken at the loss of Marshall as they knew him. I can remember a night where I was coming to tell the pups that it was time to go to bed, but I accidentally eavesdropped on a conversation. I heard both of them express the desire for everything to go back to normal. I feel the same as them. I found myself wishing, praying, that this was all a nightmare that I would soon wake from, but each time I wake up, I see Marshall's bowl separated from the others, further and further by the day, and I'm reminded of the fractured state of the PAW Patrol."

"How I wish that this all wasn't real."

Finishing up his entry, Ryder quickly drank a cup of water and stood up. The sun had set completely, and he knew it was time for bed. Opening his door, the young leader made his way down the lookout to let his pups know that it was time for bed.

.

.

.

"Night is the mother of thoughts..."

Standing atop a building in the dead of night, Marshall had finally begun to understand the phrase he would hear his parents repeat each night the Dally had trouble sleeping in his earlier childhood. Whenever he would ask where his parents got it from, his mother would say that she got it from a book.

Whoever wrote that book must've been pretty smart.

Marshall's thoughts were running rampant as he surveyed Adventure Bay from his current height. The dark atmosphere was doing wonders for hiding himself in the darkness, and for hiding the red tint beneath his fur. His breathing was slow, rasped, and heavy. He had trouble catching his breath, as though he was atop the highest mountain in the world.

Was it anxiety? Was it fear? Or was it the growing feeling building up inside of him? The uncomfortable feeling he knew was a developing cold because of what happened a few days prior.

Being out in the rain for so long hadn't done any wonders for the now silent Dalmatian. His fur was still messed up from all of the water that had gotten into it, and the heat on his face was growing by the second. But he needed to do this. If he ever wanted to find the Dalmatian that ruined everything he had built over the past few years, he had to endure it.

In his head, Marshall named the doppelganger Dalmatian 'Hood'. Not the most creative name he could come up with, but he wasn't willing to waste brain space on the pup to throw his credibility into question.

He had noticed that most of the thefts were happening at night. While they had progressed to one small thing a night, if he wanted to catch this mysterious Dally, he needed to be quick. And some common cold couldn't keep him from doing that.

He got down low and coughed, trying to make sure the black and white of his fur wasn't standing out. The lights from a few of the buildings would very easily bounce off of his white fur and reveal his location if he wasn't careful.

As he sat there, waiting for something to happen, for the figure to show up, anything, he thought back to the letter he wrote to Rocky and Everest. He hoped that they weren't handling it too bad. For just a moment, he had hesitated to leave the letter for them to find in the lookout, but thought they of all pups deserved to know why he was gone. Not where he was, what he was planning, or who he was with, but the why.

Rocky deserved to get some sleep. He deserved to keep doing what he loved as the recycling pup of the PAW Patrol. He was glad that in the days since he left the lookout, Rocky seemed to be doing his job well. While he was stalking around Adventure Bay in the afternoon, he caught a glimpse of the PAW Patrol doing their jobs, and that included Rocky.

And Everest...

Earlier that day, he spotted the PAW Patrol again, but someone else was operating his former vehicle. A familiar Husky was driving around in the fire truck, doing her best to operate it. He decided to watch for a bit, sitting on the building just above them. She looked amazing. The same cheerful pup that he had grown fond of during his time on the PAW Patrol, was doing the job he loved most. He couldn't think of a better replacement.

His crush hadn't faded in the days he spent after leaving the lookout. Not one bit. If anything, his feelings for her were one of the main motivators for him to leave in the first place. He didn't want the pup he liked so much to stress over him for a second longer, even if that meant not seeing her until he collected the evidence he needed, or the month was up. He wasn't going to spend the rest of his life hiding from Ryder if the month passed. He would go back and accept his fate.

Marshall then coughed once more, forgetting that he needed to stay quiet. As he was coughing out what he felt to be his own lung, the Dalmatian heard something else not too far away. He put a paw over his muzzle, muffling his coughs.

.

.

.

Hood, as mentally named by Marshall, was once again in Adventure Bay, searching around for something, anything, to take back with him. In the days visiting the town, he had learned a few things. This was the home of a rescue team of puppies titled the PAW Patrol. Apparently, one of the pups on that team, Marshall, was accused of the 'crimes' that he committed, and was kicked off of the team.

He didn't know him. It wasn't like it affected him in any way. All that he cared about was getting back home, and completing another mission. That Marshall guy could sort out his own problems. It wasn't his problem that they mistook him for that Dalmatian.

He slowly snuck into a building, looking around. He immediately went downstairs to investigate that cold closet filled with food. For some reason, there was one of those in every building.

Hood grabbed his large pouch, beginning to stuff it with food. He wouldn't need that much for the night. Just a small stash and he would be out of the town. He continued putting food in his pouch before the light in the room suddenly flicked on.

"Hello?" Came the voice of a little girl, who looked at the cloaked pup, "Who are you?"

The Dalmatian stood there for a moment before answering sarcastically, "The tooth puppy."

"The tooth puppy!?" The little girl's eyes lit up, "I have a tooth under my pillow!"

"It's just conveniently there?" Hood raised an eyebrow as the girl scurried upstairs.

"Mommy! Daddy! The tooth puppy is in the kitchen!"

The cloaked Dally's eyes widened. That little girl would buy his tooth puppy story, but there wasn't any way she was older than four. Two fully grown humans, though? Something told him that they wouldn't believe his excuse.

He hurriedly made his way over to the window he had entered from, but the sound of someone's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Stop, now!" He heard from behind. He turned around, making sure to keep his face concealed. Standing in the hall leading upstairs was a human.

And the human was holding a baseball bat.

"Humans have bats in this town that aren't used for a friendly little game?" He raised an eyebrow before making a break for the window. He grabbed an apple out of his bag before throwing it at the human, diving out of the building and making his way up the stairs on the outside of the window.

Marshall, meanwhile, was able to hear the commotion, turning to try and see what was going on. Before he knew it, he saw Hood jumping from rooftop to rooftop in his direction. The other Dalmatian didn't seem to see Marshall, who was hidden in the darkness.

Hood jumped onto Marshall's roof, running past him.

The former firefighter, unwilling to let him get away, chased behind as quickly as he could. As Hood tried to jump off of the roof and slide down the wall of a taller building, Marshall, who was closing in fast, tripped over a small crevice on the roof, tumbling off of the building and crashing into the other Dalmatian, sending the duo hurtling toward the ground.

Marshall and Hood landed on the ground, the former hitting the ground like a sack of bricks, and the latter landing on his paws. Hood soon looked around confusedly. He had a bag of food with him, didn't he?

As if on cue, a crash elicited the doppelganger Dally to look behind him. Walking over, he saw the food he had stolen, crushed and dirty in one of the puddles left by the rainfall a few days prior. His eyes grew wide at the sight. The food was ruined.

Marshall slowly stood to his feet, rubbing a small bruise that had developed on his side.

"What have you done...?" He asked quietly.

The former fire pup looked a bit confused at the question. Hood's breathing grew heavier, a low growl coming from his mouth. Marshall raised his guard, standing still.

Hood turned around to look at Marshall, anger in his eyes, "What have you done!?"

The angry Dalmatian came charging at Marshall, who prepared himself for conflict. But a single coughing fit from the sick pup threw himself off of his guard, trying to catch his breath. When he opened his eyes, the other Dalmatian was inches from him. The Dalmatian tackled Marshall to the ground.

"I needed that!" He shouted, drawing his claws and trying to swipe at Marshall. The former firefighter used his forelegs to block the scratching, but that didn't come with any benefits, as they began to sting with pain.

Once Hood grew tired of scratching up Marshall's arms, he suddenly grabbed his tail with his teeth, swinging him around and throwing him into a wall.

Marshall cried out in pain as his back slammed into the wall of the building behind him. It was clear that he was at a disadvantage. He found it difficult to catch his breath because of his cold, and he was growing weaker by the minute.

Hood then pounced on Marshall, using a paw to slam the Dally's head into the wall behind him, "You know... I didn't care one bit about you at first... You were just a stranger to me..."

Marshall shouted in pain as he felt a warm liquid begin to seep from the back of his head. He needed to get out of there fast. Otherwise, he might not have another time before the month's end to try again.

"But now that you've done this..." The Dally doppelganger gestured to the food lost in their fall to the bottom of the alley, "You make me want to kill you, Marshall the fire pup."

The eye that wasn't swollen from Hood's earlier assault on him widened at the mention of his previous title. He knew who he was? He quickly got rid of that thought from his mind. What point did that serve at the moment? He needed to make sure he got out of there with his life first.

"Say something!" Marshall's head was slammed into the wall once again, sending him straight into la-la land.

.

.

.

Months Prior...

"Say something!" A familiar German Shepherd chuckled, lightly nudging Marshall as they stood feet away from Everest.

It had been quite a day. Everest got sprayed by a skunk, and throughout the day, Marshall, and the other pups, had to deal with Everest's stink. Eventually, Rocky was able to lead her to Katie's pet parlor, but, admittedly, she still smelled pretty bad.

The Husky was busy eating a supply of Bay Berries with Jake, Ryder, and the rest of the pups.

Marshall had expressed a lot of gratitude towards Everest after the whole... Skunk incident. He was sure that Ryder would've picked him for a mission involving the skunk, had it not been for Everest's intervention. On top of that, when he had to go in with his EMT gear, fearing getting blasted by the skunk while treating for thorns, Everest was quick to intervene and take the risk for him.

"See I would, Chase, but... but..." Marshall stopped, "Achoo!" The Dalmatian was sure that he had some kind of skunk spray allergy.

The German Shepherd laughed a little, "Right... want me to deliver a message?"

"You'd do that?" The EMT pup asked.

"Of course."

Marshall watched Chase make his way over to Everest, talking to her for a while. The police pup kept talking to the Husky, who, within seconds, turned her head to the Dally. The Dalmatian froze in place, gently waving with a nervous smile on his face.

Instead of thanking him from a distance, like he had expected, the mountain pup quickly stood up, collected some Bayberries in one of her paws, and walked over on three legs to talk to him.

"Chase said you wanted to talk to me?" The Husky asked, putting the berries down between them, "So I thought we could talk over some bayberries!"

"Oh, thanks... Everest..." He smiled, resisting the very real urge to sneeze.

Looking over her shoulder, Marshall noticed Chase nodding and giving him a wink. As the Husky bent down to eat a few berries, the Dalmatian looked at the pup with a light glare. The little officer only chuckled faintly as he went to grab his own bayberries.

"So, what did you wanna talk about?" Everest looked up at him.

Marshall hesitated, "Well... I... I wanted to say thank you for tagging in when it came to helping Bayberry and getting her splinters out..." He smiled, "I don't think I could've gotten any closer to the... Danger zone." The Dalmatian gave Everest a toothy grin.

He then leaned down to eat some bayberries.

"It was no biggie!" Everest giggled, "Actually, I think I like skunks a lot more than I did before because of Bayberry. So all in all, it's been a fun day! Who could've thought getting skunked would be the start to a friendship?"

Marshall nodded as he watched Everest bend down to eat some more bayberries, "Yeah, she seemed to really appreciate you helping her with..." The Dalmatian's sentence trailed off as he watched her look back up to him.

Once Everest looked at her friend, Marshall froze. The Husky had a bit of bayberry smeared on her muzzle as she looked at him, unaware of what was on there.

He wasn't sure what was in those bayberries, but his heart began to beat faster. He could feel his cheeks begin to sting. His paws grew sweaty as he stared at the Husky in front of him. Was he allergic to bayberries? He had to have been. Why else was he feeling so strange?

"Are you okay, Marshall?" Everest asked.

The Dalmatian gulped, looking away, "Y-Yeah, I'm oka... Oka... Achoo!" Marshall fell backwards, tumbling. The smell of the skunk still lingered. The Dally eventually tumbled into a tree.

.

.

.

Present Day

As his head hit the tree behind him, he found himself in the alley once again, his sight blurred by something red getting in his eyes. Had he just been slammed back into reality by the furious Dalmatian? Like he had just woken up from a dream, all of the pain rising from his body came back. His cold came back. He shut his eyes tight, suddenly slamming his hind right leg into his opponent's tail.

Hood howled in pain as Marshall broke away, making a run for it back into the streets of Adventure Bay. The doppelganger Dalmatian gave chase, pouncing on him.

"You're gonna pay, Mar—!"

The sudden honking of a car horn cut the vicious Dally off, headlights shining on the two. Marshall noticed that Hood was distracted by this, looking at the car lights like he had never seen them before. The Dalmatian took this opportunity to buck the wild Dalmatian away and back into the alley he had fallen into.

Marshall scrambled to his feet, making a mad dash to the other side of the street.

Hood dry-heaved, having been kicked in his gut by Marshall. He moved himself back further into the alley, struggling to catch his breath after being winded.

Meanwhile, Marshall's strength slowly ebbed from his body while he made his way down the sidewalk of Adventure Bay. He certainly hadn't been ready to fight Hood, and it was a miracle that he survived the interaction to begin with. He'd gotten lucky.

Turning the corner into a residential street, the Dalmatian struggled to go any further. His eyelids grew heavy, a faint whimper slipping from the former fire pup's mouth. Marshall struggled to stay conscious, slowly trudging along the sidewalk.

As his sight began to blur further, The Dalmatian thought about his friends, his family, and the life he left behind when he left the lookout. Whenever he would get injured, he would remember Ryder taking good care of him and giving him loving pets as he dealt with his pain. Marshall would be allowed to snuggle up in his warm bed as he healed.

The night was cold. Ryder wasn't there to give him pets and treat his injuries. Not that the leader of the PAW Patrol could if he wanted to. As an EMT, he knew he was in a less desirable condition. Nowhere near death, but nowhere near completely healthy.

Marshall grunted as he struggled to open his right eye, which was bruised over. He wasn't sure when it happened. Maybe it was when the fight began. Maybe it was when he blacked out against that wall. No matter how much he tried, his right eye wouldn't open. It was very much bruised over, barely allowing him to see through the eye.

His arms stung with pain, even the slightest breeze irritating the cuts caused by Hood in the alley. His cold wasn't getting any better either. Coughing once more, he tried to force himself onwards. He didn't have much further to go.

The Dalmatian's balance faltered slightly, causing great struggle to remain on his feet. Just a few more steps...

Suddenly, his body went numb. The Dally began to fall forward. He would've fallen on his face if it were for two hands grabbing the pup before he fell completely.

"Marshall!" A woman exclaimed, picking him up to hold him in her arms, "What happened to you? Where were you!?"

Marshall only groaned, the skin from the woman's arms rubbing against the scratches on his arms.

Bringing Marshall back to her house, the woman placed Marshall on a pile of blankets that had two pup bowls beside it. While she went to grab some things from her bathroom, The Dalmatian laid on his side. He could finally allow himself to be in pain without worrying about being ambushed.

The kind woman soon returned, beginning to treat Marshall's injuries. The woman, who was a curly redhead, looked down at Marshall with her sky blue eyes. There were freckles spread across her face under her eyes and above her nose, appearing similar to a permanent blush on her face. At first, the woman seemed to be relieved that Marshall was back, and... Somewhat okay.

That didn't last for long, though.

"I swear, Marshall!" She ranted, "What would you have done had I not found you? You as a former EMT in that PAW Patrol team should know what would happen! Your wounds could've gotten infected! You're already sick, we don't need to deal with an infection, too!"

Marshall, as per usual, remained silent as the woman ranted at him. If he was being honest, he deserved it.

"You need to stop sneaking out!" She scolded him, "At least until your cold subsides, try and sit still. Why can't you just rest for a few hours?"

The Dalmatian listened to the woman rant on and on. He looked away as Marshall allowed his head to be treated. From what he could feel, there were a few small wounds around his head. First was his least favorite part, his head being dabbed at with antiseptic. He hissed with pain as she dabbed a cotton ball covered in antiseptic on his wounds.

Eventually, she wrapped the bandage around his head. She proceeded to repeat the same process on his arms, which made him shoot them away.

"I wouldn't be doing this had you not gone out and gotten yourself hurt!" The woman quickly pulled Marshall's arms back toward herself, "...Seriously, how did this happen?"

The woman knew good and well, after spending three days watching after the seemingly restless Dalmatian, that he wasn't going to answer. He didn't speak. He hadn't spoken since when they formally met. She wasn't even entirely sure what his voice sounded like.

She soon wrapped bandages around both of his arms.

"Now, how about we deal with that eye?" She looked closely at Marshall's swollen eye. She stood up, leaving to go to where Marshall assumed the kitchen was. The woman soon came back with an ice pack in her hands, "Lie on your back for me?"

He did as asked. The woman then gently put the pack on his eye.

"There... That should alleviate the swelling so you can see properly out of that eye."

He closed his eyes, allowing himself to begin to drift off. The ice pack on his injured eye felt nice, and also soothed the heat from his growing cold.

"And also..." The woman suddenly shoved a spoon with a bitter liquid into his mouth, "Don't spit it out, swallow..." She put her hand on his muzzle so he can't spit it out.

Marshall obliged, swallowing the medicine with a gag.

The two sat in silence for a bit before the woman spoke up once more, "I'd love to hear that voice, Marshall..."

Silence.

"One day, I hope you're comfortable enough to tell me your side of the story..."

Marshall turned himself over on his left side, making sure the pack remained on his eye. His side of the story? No. He didn't want to see more people taking sides. He had enough of that back when he was living at the lookout with the PAW Patrol.

For now, he could just try and figure out a way to get through tomorrow.