For all his life, he enjoyed the plains at the outskirts of the bay. The fresh air, the pleasant sight and the quietness of nature (very different from the busy city). Usually, he and his friends would go there when there was no job to do. Oh, how he longed those joyful play dates to return. Because right now…things were very far from being that merry.

The bright sun was starting to disappear in the horizon, as it was being replaced by the cold night covering the now wilderness of the countryside. While he was pleased for the good source of light and heat protecting them from the dark, he despised, to the very bottom of his fractured heart, the fact that it was coming from Marshall's burning firetruck.

It also didn't help to their current situation that the other usable vehicle, Chase's police cruiser, wasn't in a better state either, pretty much useless at this point. Without any means of contacting the others for help, the badly battered police pup could only remain motionless on top of the injured dalmatian, whilst praying that someone, anybody, would see the fire and come to their rescue.

Chase POV

The day had started like any other…

-"Thanks for hurrying, pups"-

Just another mission to complete in Adventure Bay…

-"Alright! Paw Patrol is on a roll!"-

-"Yeah!"-

-"Bark, bark, howl!"-

If only I had realized sooner that the whole thing was a setup from the start, that he would go this far after so long just to get the best of me…to hurt me and the team…to tarnish my image as a police pup…and worse, he has Ryder on his paws now! And I couldn't do anything to stop him! Some great guardian I turned out to be…

-"Mmm…mmghh…" groaned Marshall's voice groggily under Chase's chest. The fuzzy movement under him instantly reawakened the young German Shepherd's senses as he, despite being that much weary, gazed his stirring best friend below him with relieve.

-"Hey, Marsh. You ok there?" he asked as calm and collected as possible.

-"Nngh? …Chase?" muttered Marshall, still half-asleep from his own tiredness, which he believed was playing tricks on him. But as he adjusted his blurry vision to get a better look on his best friend, he shuddered with shock and widened his eyes in terror.

-"Ch-Chase! …your…face…"

It was the first time Marshall had seen someone so badly beaten up to a pulp. Whoever did this to Chase wasn't alone, so it was most likely a group attack on him. Light scratches and bite marks were all over his face, not to mention that nasty black eye clearly visible to the young dalmatian's eyes.

-"It's fine, Marsh. I'll live this through" chuckled Chase in an attempt to ease his best friend's worries. Even so, his concerns for him were more than welcomed.

-"Is that…my firetruck…?" he asked the moment he shifted his sight towards the undying scorching flames consuming what was left of his vehicle.

-"I'm sorry Marsh…" expressed the police pup disheartened with his head down. It wasn't long when the fire pup began to wail inconsolably before bursting into tears.

-"What happened, Chase?! Sob, sob, sob…All I…sob, sob…All I remember is looking for Mr. Nibbles in the forest…Th-then that huge dragon came out of nowhere and-and tried to breath fire on me! Almost turning me into crisp! Cries, cries, cries…"

Just like Marshall, Chase wanted nothing more than to cry to the top of his lungs with him, and let some of that rage and sorrow leave his body for good. But at the same time, he knew that breaking down into tears in front of his friend would just make things even more heartbreaking than what they already were. Not only Ryder wasn't with them, but even he couldn't make sure the others were alright like them…

-"Sniff, sniff…it-it's fine, Marsh" said Chase, whose voice was beginning to crack. Then, using his small front paws, he tightly embraced Marshall's neck as he tried to soothe him.

-"As long as I'm here, sniff, I won't let anyone hurt you more than this. So-so, please, try to save your energy for when they come to rescue us. Sniff…Can you do that for me?" he insisted as the sad fire pup continued to wail, but promised him he would stop crying soon.

Chase POV

It couldn't have been that many hours after we both passed out from exhaustion, when something started nudging me and poking my head repeatedly. At first, I tried to swat it away with my paw as it was starting to get really annoying. But then my nose started to get all funny and itchy for some reason. As all my senses began to kick in, I heard the worried cries of someone calling mine and Marshall's name. That voice…I know that voice from somewhere…

-"Chase! Open your eyes already, Chase!"-

-"Wild...achoo! Wildcat!" spoke the young German Shepherd, genuinely relieved of seeing a familiar face for once.

-"Thank heavens. You had me worried there for a second" replied the stunt biker kitty before focusing his attention on the still asleep Marshall.

-"Sniff, what…are you doing here?" asked Chase, still confused as to why he was in the city.

-"Did you forget? I made special arrangements for a stunt show tomorrow here in Adventure Bay. The only reason I arrived earlier was because I wanted to surprise all of you, but I wasn't expecting seeing you here all alone! If it wasn't for the smoke, I would have probably passed by without noticing this mess" he explained to him before he resumed nuzzling the fire pup's face.

That's right…Wildcat was coming to the Bay. We were so eager to see him again…

-"Come on, Marshall. Wake up, you can't continue sleeping here in the open" said Wildcat, hoping to receive a response from his other pup friend.

-"Mmngh…Wildcat…? You're…here! Chase, we're saved!" commented the excited young dalmatian while waving his tail happily. Chase's response to this came in the form of a pleased nod for his relieved friend.

-"Can you guys tell me exactly what happened?! Where's the rest of the Paw Patrol? And most important, where's Ryder?!" stated Wildcat, sounding a bit desperate as he tried to get some answers from both Marshall and Chase. The first was quick to look at the latter for the same explanations, but the police pup just looked away from the two with his head down, making himself look like he was embarrassed to even talk about it.

-"Chase?" spoke the confused fire pup, expecting somekind of reply from his best friend.

He could have just given to them if he so desired, but Chase wasn't ready to face the awful truth just yet. On top of that, thunders started to roar furiously above their heads, which meant a hideous storm was coming their way, and with no roof or comfy place to pass the weather, they would have to skip conversations for now.

-"Alright, you can tell me later. Right now, we have to get to Adventure Bay before it starts pouring down hard. Can you two move?" asked the concerned feline as Chase finally stood up from above Marshall, letting his friend joined him too. Sadly, things didn't go so well as the fire pup winced in pain the moment one of his paws touched the ground firmly.

-"Marsh! You're hurt too?" panicked Chase after taking note of the dalmatian's contorted face.

Being a professional EMT dog like he was bear its fruits. With just a mere glance and some light round movements in the air, Marshall determined that his left front paw was just a little sprained, nothing to worry about. Still, if only he had his medical equipment at his disposal, he could have easily patch himself up to alleviate the stinging sensation he was feeling.

-"It-it's just a sprain, Chase, really" he reassured him with a happy smile, hoping that that would be enough to ease the young German Shepherd's worries.

-"Guys, I don't wanna be the cat of the pack, but do you think you can hurry? I'd really hate getting all wet" mentioned Wildcat, who was already on his trusty motorcycle, courtesy of Ryder and the Paw Patrol.

-"Come, Marsh. I'll carry you" said Chase, offering himself to take the young dalmatian on his back.

-"Ch-Chase, it's fine! You don't have to-!"

-"Please, Marsh!" he practically shouted it, sounding somewhat mournful.

-"Just…let me be of use for you this once".

To his eyes, this was really an unusual sight. It wasn't that Chase couldn't feel sad or insecure at times, there were a lot of times where his fears got the best of him, specially that time in Adventure City. But normally, he would look forward and bravely face whatever came his way. Now, he could barely keep his gaze up without looking away or flinching at the mere mention of this terrifying event. It was like someone had robbed Chase's fighting spirit of him.

-"O-ok…" replied Marshall, giving in to his best friend's wishes. No sooner had he said that, he felt himself being carefully lifted off the ground on someone's back. It felt no different from a piggyback ride from the young dalmatian's perspective.

-"See? Now we won't have to worry about that paw" mentioned Chase, feeling pleased for both him and the fire pup resting on top.

-"I guess…" he answered sheepishly, tightening his good paw around the German Shepherd's neck.

-"Just promise you'll put me down when you feel tired of carrying me around".

-"You're kidding? Compared to Rubble, I rather give you or the other pups a piggyback ride any day".

-"Heheh…you're lucky he's not around to hear you" chuckled Marshall lightly at Chase's attempt to be comedic.

Wildcat POV

I was glad those two were alright. For a minute, I thought I would have to carry them both onto my bike hadn't they woken up. Still, I can't even imagine what sort of nightmare they must have been through, and the worst part about it was that it looked it wasn't over. Ryder just wouldn't have abandon Chase and Marshall without trying to contact them, he wasn't that type of person. Something wasn't right in all this…and I can't shake this feeling of uneasiness from my fur and whiskers

Every once, I slightly turned my head backwards from the road to check on them. Marshall looked like he was struggling in his mind really hard to regain composure (it pained me to see him like that), while Chase just smiled at me whenever he could with that sad expression drawn on his face

Drip, drip, drop…

Oh, come on! You have to be kidding with me now!

The sudden change in the atmosphere made Wildcat shuddered with discomfort. Being a cat like he was meant trouble when it came to rain, especially when it was pouring down hard as it was now. On the good side of this situation this could play in favor of putting down the flames on Marshall's firetruck, but the bad news was that the stunt kitty needed to turn down the super speed boosters of his motorcycle to avoid an accident on the slippery road.

-"The rain caught us! You're ok there?!" cried Chase from the backseat.

-"Y-yeah! As long as I ride like this, we'll get to Adventure Bay safely!" stated the young feline while focusing on the road ahead and the speed level. Nevertheless, that did not stop the storm from ravaging whatever was in its way, including a large tree that got ripped from the ground due to the strong wind currents, which eventually got knocked down on the road.

-"Meeeooww!" cried Wildcat the moment he was forced to steer out of its way. From then on, he knew all three were in trouble. The bike's tires were now skidding on the watery road and he could no longer keep it steady.

-"This is bad! Really bad!" exclaimed Marshall, who was holding to his life along with Chase.

-"Guggh…gaaah! It's useless! I can't regain control! We're gonna have to jump!" he informed to the two pups on the backseat.

-"Ju-jump?!" stuttered Chase worried with his eyes widened. Even Marshall could not believe what he was hearing.

-"On my mark!"

Knowing they didn't have other choice to go on, both pups prepared themselves; more specifically, Chase did, taking full control of the situation in order to ensure his best friend's safety. Without even asking or letting him decide (as he protested against the German Shepherd's rash decision), the young police pup got a hold of him. He grabbed Marshall by the back of his collar and held him dangling close to him. Not only he was going to jump off from the motorcycle, but he was also willing to take all the impact on the dalmatian's behalf.

-"Three…two…one… NOW!"

As expected, or even as he himself had stated in previous times, Wildcat perfectly landed on his paws at the side of the road, in contrast to Chase, who was sent tumbling and rolling until they came to a stop. In doing so, he made sure all hits came his way and not on Marshall since he always held him tightly wrapped in his four paws.

-"You guys are ok?!" asked Wildcat worried, approaching the two under the heavy rain.

-"Y-yes, we're fine" replied Chase reassuringly, but feeling achy from the bumpy ride. It wasn't long when they heard low whimpers coming from Marshall.

-"Sob, sob…it's all because of me…sob…because of my stupid sprained paw I'm this useless…sob…I'm sorry Chase…" said the crying fire pup as he did his best to wrap the young German Shepherd in a hug. In response, the police pup used one of his paws to lightly tousle him by the head; which showed that he had no ill feelings towards the young dalmatian and his current condition.

After making sure they weren't injured that badly, Wildcat went to check the damages on his bike. He was relieved that the drain channel played a small part in stopping it, but it didn't prevent the collision with the fences and the tree, making it unusable for the last stretch of the road to the city.

-"Bad news, guys. We're stuck here" he disheartened told to both pups.

-"If only we could contact someone in Adventure Bay to come and pick us. We're just a few minutes from arriving" mentioned Chase disappointed as well.

While pondering on this issue in the middle of the road, they failed to notice a large vehicle coming their way until it started honking very hard at them. Marshall was the first to notice it approaching them as the bright headlights blinded his sight at bit, then Chase and Wildcat became aware of its presence.

-"Oh, good! Maybe they can help us!" said the stunt kitty, relieved, as he ran towards the big white moving truck, praying desperately to the bottom of his heart that its driver would honor the 'Code of the road' and pull over to help them; which they surprisingly did.

-"Thanks for pulling over under this rain! We're really in a pinch here!" he explained to the truck driver, who turned out to be another pup like his friends; a young Basset Hound to be more precise.

-"No problem, fellow motorist. I saw the fallen tree on the road and I feared someone could have gotten hurt or worse" answered the young trucker pup, pleased that that wasn't the case.

-"Well, not us alright".

-"Al?" mentioned Chase, sounding genuinely surprised of seeing the Basset Hound in Adventure Bay as well.

-"Chase…? Marshall?!" cried the pup trucker very concerned before jumping off from the truck to check on them closely.

-"Hey there, Al" said Marshall greeting him with the best happy face he could muster.

-"Wha-what happened to you two?!" continued Al worried while inspecting the bruises and injuries up close.

Again, neither member of the Paw Patrol provided an answer to him. Marshall still looked too afflicted and short of answers, while Chase seemed to know something, but pretended to be lost at everything. Taking this into consideration, made Wildcat take the lead of the conversation.

-"Look, guys, I hate to ruin this reunion, but this rain isn't doing any favor to us. Can we talk this over in a place that is dry please?" he insisted, feeling already sick of getting all soaked for nothing.

-"You're right, hop in and I'll take you to the city" nodded Al, very determined to help his friends in need.

-"Thanks Al" answered Chase pleased as he led Marshall to the front passenger seat.

-"Before we leave, can you do me a favor?" spoke again Wildcat, addressing to Al.

-"My bike is very important to me and I'd really hate leaving it alone. Do you think you can use that big claw of yours and put it on the backside of your truck?" he asked him.

-"For sure, pal! Leave it up to me" stated Al gladly before rushing to the back of his truck. Somehow this made the young feline quite contented as he was starting to like this little amicable pup.

Once he was on Al's truck, he took off his wet leather jacket and pants. Then, he proceeded to remove both Chase's, and Marshall's, soaked clothes, and tucked them with a dry towel Al had in the glove compartment. He also helped the tired pups to quench their thirst with some spare water.

-"Tha-achoo! Thanks, Wildcat" expressed Chase, satisfied with all the cares he and Marshall received from the young feline.

-"No problem. Let's just hope those sneezes are from your allergies and that you're not getting a cold" he lightly joked at this, which earned him some chuckles from the German Shepherd.

-"That would be very bad for sure" he added just before Al hopped on the driver seat after finishing setting Wildcat's motorcycle on the truck.

-"Alright, we're ready to go! Buckle your seatbelts and sit tight" said the Basset Hound with both front paws on the steering console.

-"Next stop, the Paw Patrol lookout" he informed them before restarting the engine and setting off to Adventure Bay.

Chapter 2 will be updated soon. Don't forget to review and fav this story in order to continue it ;) Have a nice day!