It all started like any other day...
Tomorrow was the 30th annual city-wide cookout that celebrated the creation of Adventure Bay. The majority of the citizens had an equal opportunity to present their dish and share it amongst the community. These dishes ranged from potato skins and sloppy joes to air-fried chicken wings and homemade iced tea, all of which were a separate staple of particular potlucks. In any case, there were no winners or losers as there was no competition to be held; the main idea was to let the citizens come together in commemoration.
Of course, the conurbation cookout would not yet be complete with the city's primary heroes, the PAW Patrol, who were also the primary guests of honor. This fact brings us to the Lookout, the primary headquarters/base of operations where our heroes reside. Specifically, we find ourselves in the kitchen, located beside the observatory, as our heroes were preparing their own dishes.
Ryder and Rocky were preparing chicken, bacon, and ranch tortilla roll-ups while Chase and Skye were cooking the spaghetti with garlic bread together; Rubble and Zuma were prepping the cheesy broccoli rigatoni.
Marshall was...well, sorta helping out nearby, handing out certain cooking instruments to the rest of his team.
"Okay, enlighten me: why am I here in the living room area of the observatory and not there in the kitchen area helping you guys?"
"Well, Marshall," Ryder explained calmly, "There's a growing concern amongst our teammates that you...aren't exactly the best at keeping your clumsiness in check."
"That's just a nice way of saying you're clumsy to the core, Marshall," Chase chuckled.
"What? Me? Clumsy?" Marshall himself chuckled as he leaned against a book shelf, "That is so not true."
Just as Marshall stated that statement, the book shelf suddenly collapsed under his weight, knocking over a vase and shattering it in the process to prove it otherwise. Turning back to face his team, most of whom (with the exception of Ryder, who shot him an amused look) wore looks of exasperation, he bashfully grinned.
"Hehe. Sorry..."
"It's okay, Marshall," Ryder understood, "I don't even know why we bought that vase. Just stay there and we'll call you when we need you, okay?"
"Okay, got it."
After a little while, the sun was starting to set, signifying the PAW Patrol that the day of the cookout was almost upon them.
"Alright, pups! We have a few hours until the cookout tomorrow! Let's wrap this up!"
Chase, Skye, Rubble, Zuma, Rocky, and Marshall all voiced their approval and added the finishing touches, the latter handing implements and ingredients left and right, doing to his best to be careful. Unfortunately, in their rush to finish their dishes, several things went wrong. First, the decision to place the temperatures for certain meals on high, not allowing them to properly cook at the proper pace. Second, adding certain ingredients to certain meals in an effort to improve their taste (i.e., make it sugary sweet or salty sour) just ended up making those meals resemble itself even less. Thirdly, throwing in random utensils (literally and figuratively) into the mix without direction was a surefire way to disorient your fellow cookers.
Case in point, when Marshall haphazardly hurled a spatula into the air, said spatula ended up hitting one of the burner dials, causing the flames to nearly skyrocket and hit Chase and Skye in the face.
"Marshall!" The both of them cried out.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Marshall frantically apologized just as the fire started to spread to the other parts of the kitchen.
Noticing this, his eyes widened in terror.
"There's a fire! I'll put it out!"
"Wait, Marshall!" Ryder protested but the fire pup activated his water cannon and opened fire to put out the fire. Not only did it not do just that, it fanned the flames of the fire much faster and further until it reached the other dishes, much to the horror and dismay of the rest of the team. Fortunately, Ryder activated a secondary mechanism that allowed five fire extinguishers to lower down from the ceiling and extinguish the flames, preventing the fire from spreading some more.
Unfortunately, the fire was not prevented in time for the dishes to meet their inevitable fate. When the smoke had cleared, many of the dishes the team had cooked had been burnt to a crisp or smashed onto the floor. The team could only look on at the destruction in complete horror, only for that horror to revert to anger when they remembered the source of said destruction. As the pups turned and glared at Marshall, the dalmatian looked at the floor with shame.
"I'm...sorry..."
"Sorry?! Sorry?!" Chase growled at Marshall. "All you ever do is say sorry! You could have hurt us with your clumsy attitude! Can't you do anything right, Marshall?!"
"Chase, calm down!" Ryder stepped between an furious Chase and a scared Marshall, "He said he was sorry!"
"It doesn't matter!" Skye shouted next, "Every day! Every time! You always screw things up!"
"You know something?" Rocky stepped forward, "I don't even know why you're in Paw Patrol if all you do is make disasters all the time!"
As Rubble and Zuma gasped in disgust, Ryder stomped hard on the ground, and the rage the Patrol immediately diminished in place of sadness and regret.
"That's enough," Ryder stressed strictly before turning back to a saddened Marshall and kneeling down to his level, "Hey, Marshall? It's okay. It's not your fault."
. . .
"Yes, it is," Marshall finally said, "and Rocky's right. They're all right."
Turning away and running off to the slide, Marshall opted to seek refuge in his doghouse as Ryder and the rest of the Patrol looked on. The former turned toward the latter group with agitation and disappointment glinting in his eyes. The team merely looked at the ground in shame in the same way their friend did when making a mistake. This time, this particular mistake could very well cost a friendship.
Eventually, Ryder pulled a phone and began to dial a number.
"Who are you calling, Ryder?" Skye asked.
"Katie and her grandmother," Ryder sighed in response, "I'm going to ask them for help with recooking the food."
"Do you want us to help out?"
"No," Ryder shook his head, much to the shock of the team, "I want you to help Marshall. I want you to apologize to him and reassure him that it wasn't his fault."
"But he's not going to listen to us," Rocky protested, "Especially not me. Not after what I said to him."
"He will," Ryder himself reassured the team, "You're all his friends. No matter much he doesn't want to, he'll listen."
The team exchanged nods and walked away from the kitchen, Chase remaining behind momentarily.
"Sir?"
"Yes, Chase?"
"Are you...mad at us for what happened?"
Ryder hesitated for a moment before responded, "No. I would never get mad at you pups. I'm just disappointed at you. I mean...this is the second time something like this happened, you know that, right?"
Chase was going to ask what was the first happening Ryder was referring to before reaching the realization and deciding against it, "Right. Don't worry, Ryder. We won't let you down."
"I know you won't, Chase. Now go join the others."
Chase nodded and joined his team as Ryder stayed behind, awaiting a call from Katie and her grandmother.
Inside his doghouse was where Marshall finally let the waterworks flow, hugging his pillow and sobbing into it as the situation settled in. PAW Patrol, the pups he worked with, played with, and socialized with years...his own friends...hated him. It was not playful teasing or mutual annoyance, just utter spite and contempt. The worst part was that it was all his fault and he knew it all too well. The things said about him still ran circles in his head. The presences of Rocky, Skye, and even Chase, the team member who he saw as the closest person to a brother figure, formed a tornado of negative emotions.
On that topic, Marshall began to reminisce about his time on the PAW Patrol. Specifically, the times where he had messed up on something important and the team would more often than not forgive him regardless. He began to wonder they simply forgave him to make him feel better and if their patience was wearing thin with every mistake he made. How many times had he acted like an idiot? How many times had he ruined their fun and games? How many times had he screwed up on a mission? He was a walking disaster...a natural disaster...and it only exacerbated the belief that everyone and everything would be better off without him.
KNOCK-KNOCK!
"Marshall? Marshall, are you there?"
His ears perking up at the sound of Skye's voice, Marshall shook his head and hugged his pillow tighter, blocking any and all sounds from his eardrums.
"Marshall, please! We're sorry for yelling at you!"
Any sounds...
"Marshall! Please!"
All sounds...
"Guys..."
One sound...
Lightly lifting his head at the sound of Chase's voice, Marshall looked up and listened up.
"Guys, come on. He's not going to listen to us now."
"But..."
"I know. But we need to give him some space first. He'll come out when he's ready to talk to us."
As he heard the team leaving, Marshall sat up and stared at the door for a moment before turning to look at a photo. This particular photo was one of his parents dressed in firefighter clothing and gear, smiling as they cuddled with a younger him, who was wrapped in a blanket. The memory of his first birth only brought him small comfort, though, and made his worry about being a burden to the team intensify.
Mom and Dad were the greatest firefighters I've ever known...and I'm just their son. Their shadow. How am I supposed to live up to their expectations?
. . .
I can't. I'm nothing like them. They never made mistakes...unlike me.
My mistakes would only drag the team down and make them see me as nothing but trouble.
. . .
Should I just...run away?
. . .
No. Mom and Dad would never run away from a problem. They would confront head-on...
...but I'm not my mom and dad.
Deciding to give the dilemma some thought later, Marshall drifted off to sleep, the voices of his angry teammates lingering as they slowly faded away.
The next day around noon time, everybody gathered in City Hall as tables were set up for the cooks to display their dishes. For those who did not have enough time to cook their dishes, grills and portable stoves were also set up just a few feet nearby. This was noticed by the rest of the team, who realized that not only that they could had a chance to remake their food in time, but their anger and ensuing outburst were also for naught.
"Has anyone seen Marshall?" Skye glanced around in worry.
"Ryder said he woke up early to get a head start," Chase sighed, "And honestly, after what happened last night...I can't really blame him."
Marshall had indeed woke up early to get a head start, patrolling City Hall as it slowly entered the early stages of its annual city-wide cookout. As he did, the memories of the events occurring last night came rushing back, much to his discomfort. Because with those memories came rushing back his self-doubts as well, his primary issue being his capability as a member of the PAW Patrol.
"Marshall?"
Stiffening up at the voice of his team leader, Marshall hesitated at first but eventually turned to face Ryder, whose facial expression was a blend of sadness and concern.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm okay," Marshall put up a fake facade (complete with a fake grin) for his own sake, much to Ryder's chagrin, "No worries."
"Well, I'm worried about you," Ryder kneeled down to his level, "The team shouldn't have said those things about you, regardless of the mistakes you made."
Marshall's fake grin fell and he sighed in defeat, "But they were right, though. I've been a member of the team for some time now and every little thing I do just ends up working against the team. So why should I be part of a team that just needs to rescue me every time?"
"That is not true, and you know it, Marshall," Ryder crossed his arms as he addressed his friend directly, "The missions we've been through proved something about us: We're not helpless, we're not useless, and we're not worthless. Through thick and thin, we find a solution to a problem we handled. Why do you think I took you on as a member?"
Marshall opened his mouth to retort, but he could not find a valid response. The words Ryder had said, on the other hand, were.
"You're right, Ryder. But...do you think the team will listen to me?"
"Of course they will," Ryder offered a warm smile, "They're your friends. We're your friends."
BOOM!
Suddenly, an explosion rocked the city of Adventure Bay and sent more than a few people, including Marshall and Ryder, flying backwards. When the smoke cleared and the dust settled, the both of them regained consciousness and shakily stood up to observe the destruction around them.
No more than three buildings had been blown up and reduced to rubble, eventually catching on fire and threatening to hasten their downfall. Many of the citizens caught in the explosions were horribly injured, ranging from bloody scars to visible burns. The sight nearly made Ryder and Marshall either faint or vomit, mainly because they never seen anything like this in Adventure Bay before.
"Marshall..." Ryder barely managed to breathe out, "Tend to many people as you can and try to put out the fire. Now."
The fire pup did not needed to be asked twice for him to quickly jump into action. He first turned his attention to the injured citizens, helping them heal their wounds and regain their footing. Afterwards, his ears perked up as he turned towards the third building, from where he heard calls and pleas for help.
There's people still inside...
Realizing this in horror, Marshall immediately charged inside without thinking. Swifting scanning his surroundings, he took a deep breath before continuing onward.
Outside, the team arrived and helped pick up where Marshall left off while looking for the fire pup in question.
"Where's Marshall?" Rocky glanced around.
"Did anybody see him?" Zuma shouted.
"He must be in the burning building!" Skye cried out, "We have to help him!"
Chase was immediately the first to respond as he followed after Skye, the both of them searching for Marshall and any potential survivors.
Marshall himself was on the third floor, where the potential survivors in question were trapped. Managing to break the doors down, the fire pup commanded the citizens to keep moving.
"Go! Hurry! This building is about to collapse!"
As they all hurried down the stairs, Chase and Skye spotted them and guided them down to surface level.
"Over here!"
"The exit is this way!"
The ceiling began to crumble and rain down upon them all. Chase, Skye, and the citizens danced around to avoid being crushed by the debris. Skye was even tackled out of the line of fire by Chase, who in turn tackled by Skye.
Marshall was the last one heading down the stairs and spotted his friends ushering the people out of the burning building. His ears perking up at a creaking sound, he looked up and gasped at one particularly large fragment of debris threatening to crush the group completely. He eventually made it down as the last of the group made it out. By that time, the ceiling completely collapsed, prompting him to rush forward without thinking again.
"Chase! Skye!"
"Marshall!"
"Look out!"
The both of them glanced up too late and gasped to find that particularly large fragment of debris falling down towards them. They were eventually saved by their inevitable fate by their friend, who pushed them out of the way in the nick of time. Except...Marshall was now the one about to be crushed, something he, Chase, and Skye realized in a brief moment.
The fire pup shouted out in terror as the rooftop fell upon him as his two friends looked on in horror. As darkness fell, his name was the last thing he heard before falling into unconsciousness.
"MARSHALL!!!"
