Disclaimer: And here we are with the last chapter of the vacation psuedo arc. This one will not only reveal more about Flare and Marshall's father, but also advance the season's story line of Marshall worrying about what'll happen if Flare joins the team. I hope this was a good one, and that every chapter did what they set out to do.

Also, I don't own Paw Patrol.

Paw Patrol X

Friend or Foe arc Episode twelve: The Past of Blaze Munroe

It was close to the end of Flare and Marshall's week in Twin Flame Island, and they were currently with Wave and Margareth at the pet shop. As they were getting a good look at all of the pets, Flare had to admit that he always loved the variety there was. Obviously dogs and cats weren't in pet shops anymore, but there were still a lot of animals from birds to frogs, and so on. "So many to pick from!"

"So many to pick from!" Flare was surprised by that and looked to find a parrot right where he was. "So many to pick from!"

Flare giggled a bit and decided to play with the parrot a bit by saying more things for him to repeat. "Burger clown!"

"Burger clown!"

"Chattermax!"

"Chattermax!"

Flare then got an idea and gave two cute little puppy barks. Surely enough, the parrot was able to mimic them perfectly. Flare then went over to where Marshall was as the two of them found a pet they thought he would like. "Marshall! Can we pretty please get that parrot?"

"No Flare, we can't get the parrot. The noise would annoy everyone." Flare instantly had a backup plan and gave his signature please face as soon as Marshall looked back at him.

Wave caught onto what Flare was trying to do and rubbed his head while kneeling down to him. "We'll find something you like honey."

Wave kissed Flare's cheek lovingly as Marshall then turned around and showed him the pet he picked out. "Actually, I think we already have!" Flare got a look at what Marshall picked out, and to his surprise, it was a frog. Flare had to admit that he liked frogs, but he wasn't entirely sure if he would be able to bond with one efficiently. "It may be an odd choice at first, but I think you'll find that this frog is as bouncy as you are."

Flare figured that his family knew what he was doing after a few seconds of thought. He saw that the frog was smiling and already thought of a name for him as Marshall gave him the cage. "Smiley! That'd be the perfect name for you!" The frog croaked in response, making Flare laugh in response to the sound.

Margareth saw what was going on and looked to the owner, a female Beagle, to see what he could provide them for Smiley. "You have pet food for frogs too, right?"

"Coming right up!" The owner then grabbed what Margareth needed and put it up for the family to buy for the frog.

Flare and the others arrived back home at Wave's house with Flare letting Smiley get a good look inside. He knew he'd love it there and was excited to let him get a good look around. "This is where you'll be staying for the night Smiley. Marshall and I will take you back to Adventure Bay tomorrow!"

Flare got an idea and decided to open up the cage, alerting the others as Margareth quickly pointed out how this could backfire once Smiley jumped out. "That might not have been a smart move Flare. We don't need Smiley messing up the house."

"Well he's gotta get a good idea on how Dalmatians are, right?" Flare asked, indicating that he was going somewhere with this. "So once he sees the energy we have, he'll know what he's getting himself in for and know what we'll like doing with him the most."

"I guess that makes sense." Marshall admitted, and then he gave Flare a heads up on what he should focus on. "Just make sure you both know when to stop. We don't need you getting frog tired."

Margareth playfully punched Marshall's arm, leaving Flare to then start playing with Smiley as he chased after him, leading to Wave warning Flare about something. "Make sure he doesn't break anything!"

"Got it!" Flare assured his mother, and as he continued to chase Smiley down, he let him know what had to be kept in mind. "You heard my mom Smiley! Don't, break, anything!" Smiley made absolute sure of that, as did Flare, since he went for grabbing Smiley rather than diving for him whenever he got close. Smiley was surprisingly good at dodging Flare, since he was able to jump on anything at a significantly impressive height. He also made sure Flare didn't get hurt in the process. Smiley then started going down the hallway, leading to Flare giving chase again with a laugh. "This is awesome!"

Suddenly, Smiley continued to hop Flare to chase him, arriving at some strange curtain at the end of the hallway. It was always there, but Flare never paid much attention to it. This time, he went straight for it and dove down at Smiley, since he didn't notice the curtain. "I've got you this time!"

Smiley dodged however, and Flare ended up falling into some strange hole. The others were watching as they noticed this, and they all expressed immense concern as Marshall called out to Flare form the top. "Flare!?"

Flare was now going down some kind of slide, and despite not catching Smiley, he was having a blast as he cheered in excitement. "This is so cool! How come I've never seen this before!" Flare continued to laugh in joy until he reached the bottom, landing on his back and smiling as he sat up and raised his fists. "Again!" Flare then noticed where he was and couldn't believe his eyes. It was a big cave-like area with a bunch of stuff in it. Some of it was also pretty high tech, despite not really working. He stood up and started to get a look around. "It's like Bat-Dog's lair!"

The first thing that caught Flare's eye was the high tech computer. He wondered why his family had this, and he spoke to himself as he pieced together why. "Hang on a second." And once he saw more of the stuff, starting with a sword, "High tech lab under our house..." then a picture of him and his friends in military gear, "dad used to protect Twin Flame Island..." and then a sash that said 'For my family, and for my home' on it. "and he managed to reach the top rank at the Twin Flame Island Protection Force..."

Flare then managed to figure out what this room was all about and got even more and more hyped as he said it. "This room must be where he kept track of how safe everyone in town was, but mom must have had to shut down his computer after he died because she couldn't afford it, and this is where she keeps all of his stuff!" Flare squeed at how awesome that sounded in his head, as it meant that he could finally learn more about his father and see the stuff he used to have. "I can finally learn about the stuff dad did when he was protecting Twin Flame Island!"

Marshall, Margareth, and Wave came down one by one as Flare started getting a good look around the cave. Wave was already well aware of where they were, and Flare was already picking out the stuff he wanted to look at. "He must have slain actual monsters with this thing! No wonder mom kept it down here!" Flare saw his family walking over to him to make sure he wasn't hurt as Flare then told them about the room. "This was dad's old lair! It has everything you could ever know about him!"

Marshall was ecstatic, knowing that this would be good for Flare. "That's perfect! You definitely need to know more about how awesome dad was!"

Wave was worried about how this would turn out at first, but she quickly realized that this was something Flare needed. She always felt awful for how long she'd kept it from him for. "I'm sorry Flare." Flare, Marshall, and Margareth seemed confused at first, and Wave walked over to the picture of Blaze and his friends as she expressed what this room did to her. "I never could move on from your father." Wave picked up the photo and looked at it with remorse. "But that's no excuse to hide this stuff from you."

Flare could feel the grief and regret in his mother's voice, and walked over to her and offered her a hug. When Wave noticed what he was doing, she smiled and shed a tear of joy before kneeling down and accepting it. "At least I know now." Flare was smiling as he then pulled his mom away, excited to finally get to know more about his dad. "And you still let me know what he did. That's better than nothing." Wave saw so much of her father in all three of her children, all in different ways, and Flare was no exception.

Margareth spoke up about Blaze first, having a memory of her own to share with Flare. "I think I have a story you'll like." Flare looked at Margareth as she explained what this memory was about. "It was soon after Marshall was born. Dad took me with him to get some baby food for him when he saw something happening in town."

A four and a half year old Margareth was shown being held by her father as he left the grocery store with the baby food he needed for Marshall. "Thanks Michael!" Blaze was a normal looking adult Dalmatian, but he had two subtle differences: His ears were all black, and he had a scar on his right eye. It was rather easy to distinguish him from other Dalmatians. As he was taking Margareth home, Blaze was finishing up a story he told her on the way over there. "Anyway, like I was saying earlier, you can imagine how bad I smelled after a twelve hour straight session. Good thing it was my day off."

Margareth nodded her head yes with a smile before giving her own two cents on what happened then. "Mommy must really love you to not run away after that."

"She wasn't pleased about it; I can tell ya that much." Blaze told Margareth, knowing that the situation was rather... smelly. To empathize his point while walking, he pointed his butt out and released...

PFFFFFFFFFFT

...a loud and bassy five second fart that made his butt vibrate as he unleashed a yellow cloud of rotten eggs. It ended up killing a butterfly as well, and despite Margareth being grossed out by it and covering her nose, Blaze let her in on a little something about romance. "Your mother knew about my gas issues well before we started dating. It was... actually how we met." Blaze chuckled nervously as he remembered that day. "But she still gave me a chance to impress her. And as you get older, you'll see that it says a lot more about her than you realize now."

Margareth liked the sound of that, and she hugged her father, who patted her back after she did while smiling. "Do you think I'll find someone like that daddy?"

"I dream of it every night Princess." Blaze told his daughter, wishing only the best for her as time went on.

The flashback ended with Margareth expressing what she got from that moment; outside of her dad's farts being nasty enough to kill a butterfly of course. "There were certainly other methods he could've used to make his point, but as time went on, I started to get why the moment mom and dad met meant so much to him."

Wave couldn't help laughing in response to the moment she and Blaze first met. It was as far from a glamorous first impression as he could've made. "It was far from his finest hour." Wave still looked back on that moment fondly however, thanks to what it led to. "Still. Even back then, I knew everyone had those moments."

"Like how Skye met us!" Flare exclaimed, remembering the day he and Marshall first arrived in Adventure Bay.

Marshall giggled a bit upon remembering how Skye introduced herself that day. "And here I was thinking the first crash landing would've been mine to make." Wave was more than happy to see that this was going well so far. It was about to get even better as Marshall remembered another moment with Blaze. "I'll admit Flare, my memories of dad are limited. But I can still remember a memory that happened around the same time mom was pregnant with you."

Flare got excited and hoped that Marshall would share it right there and then. "You remember something about him from when you were that young!? It must've been super awesome if that were the case!"

"Oh it was." Marshall assured Flare, and this was revealed to be a more heroic moment for Blaze. "It was soon after my second birthday; and a group of creatures had somehow managed to get into Twin Flame Island past the barrier, despite being magic based. And they weren't friendly."

Marshall's flashback began with magical gray creatures attacking town as Blaze rushed to get the young Dalmatian pup to safety. He also had a knife out while carrying Marshall, which he used to slash any creatures that got in their way. Marshall was hugging his father tightly, hoping they would both survive the attack. Blaze arrived at his house and opened it up, handing Marshall to Wave before explaining what was going on. "The attack started while we were at the park! Are you and Margareth okay!?"

"Yes, thank God! Margareth is in her room hiding from the danger!" Wave then rubbed her belly, indicating that this was soon after she became pregnant with Flare. "I won't break our promise to this little one either."

Blaze couldn't help smiling at the thought of his third child coming to be. As he looked to Marshall while Wave was holding him, he gave him some words of comfort. "It's gonna be okay Marshall. I've dealt with these creatures many times before, and they haven't stopped me yet." Marshall reached out for his father's paw, which he gave to him in a comforting manner. "You don't have to worry. I'll be back alive and well soon." Blaze then looked at Wave, letting go of Marshall's paw and looking to her with loving eyes. "That's a promise I know I can keep."

Blaze and Wave shared a tender kiss before Blaze headed out, slashing at a creature who lunged at his door after he opened it. Blaze then closed the door, and Wave hurried with Marshall to where Margareth was. "We'll survive this Marshall! I'll make sure you and your sister are safe no matter what!" Marshall hugged his mother, who hugged him as well before going into the room Margareth was in.

The flashback ended with Marshall still being amazed by what he saw from his father on that day. "That was the first time I ever saw him in action. It was really scary, but he didn't stop protecting me for a second before he got home to mom."

Flare noticed a guitar next to Margareth, and when he did, Margareth looked herself and picked it up in awe. "No way! Dad's old guitar! I almost forgot he played."

"I wouldn't be surprised if mom put it down here to stop me from breaking it." Marshall joked, laughing a bit as Wave rubbed his head affectionately before remembering something else regarding Blaze. "Actually, dad used to sing for us at least once a month. I think he even sang something for you Flare."

"Really!?" Flare asked ecstatically, being overjoyed that his father had gotten to spend at least a little time with him before he passed on. "But he died the day after I was born! He really found the time to sing for me before then!?"

"He was a family dog above all else." Marshall spoke proudly, and he could tell with how giddy Flare was about this that he wanted to hear the song. Marshall knew he would be the best pick for the song, but he didn't have a perfect memory of how it went. "I could try singing what he sang for you on that day." Flare squeed in response with Marshall then admitting to his lack of perfect memory there. "Though, I may not get the lyrics or tone absolutely right."

Wave was quick to inform Marshall that they would love whatever interpretation he made for the song. "Anything you come up with will be perfect to us Marshall. And if you think you can do a perfect interpretation, then go right ahead."

Marshall appreciated those kind words, and he then signaled Flare to take the guitar himself. "Zuma's been teaching Flare a thing or two Margareth. I think he can get the tone right." Margareth handed Flare the guitar, and he started playing a happy go lucky melody on the guitar after he did. Marshall didn't think that was exactly right, but he could still work with what he was given, giggling a bit before he confirmed that. "Okay, yeah. I can work with that."

Marshall then began singing the song that Blaze sang for him and his siblings on his last day alive: Just A Little Longer. "Even with not much time left, I still love you; no matter what. Even after I pass on, I'll always love you; no matter what. Even though I won't be here for you, I'll still watch over you from above. Because my family, including you, I belove."

Flare felt more at home with hearing about his father's empathetic side with how Marshall was singing this. Marshall couldn't help but feel that the tone of the song felt off though. "Some choices, in my life, led to outcomes I regret. But this family, and how it grew, since your mother and I met. Don't ever think you mean any less than everything to me. I only wish the time in which you grew, was something that I could see."

Wave saw Margareth swaying her head to the beat of the song, Marshall singing, and Flare playing the guitar. As Marshall continued to sing, Wave wished Blaze could be here to see all of this. "I sadly won't be here, I wish I could be, just a little longer. There's so much in your life, that I won't be here to see. I wish I could be here for you longer, just a little longer. But at least I can tell you, the chance to say goodbye, even if it's because I might die, that no matter what, you mean the world to me."

As Marshall finished singing, Flare finished the beat of the song with Wave holding back her tears as she started thinking about Blaze again. "Your father would be so proud to see you all like this."

Flare instantly took notice just like Marshall and Margareth did, and he went over to his mother after handing Margareth the guitar. "Are you okay mom?"

"Yes, I'm okay Flare." Wave assured her son, quickly figuring that bringing up another comedic moment could help her. "Just thinking about how your father would've loved this." Wave picked up the picture of Flare with his army buddies as she spoke up about how he loved interacting with others. "Your father loved seeing those he cared about having a good time." Flare, Marshall, and Margareth got a good look at the picture as well with Wave explaining what it was about. "This is a picture I took of him and his friends after they formed the Twin Flame Island Protection Force."

Another flashback started with Blaze having posed for a picture with a stoic Boxer, who he did demon horns for in the picture, a fierce looking Rottweiler, and feisty looking Irish Terrier. They were all wearing blue army vests with camouflage cargo pants, just like in the photo Flare and the others were looking at. After the photo was taken, Wave got up and rubbed her butt, which felt a little cramped on the chair she was sitting on, since she had a bigger butt than normal Dalmatians. "Finally, I can get off that chair."

Blaze and the others got a look at the picture with Blaze assuring her that the picture was more than fitting. "Perfect shot baby. You couldn't have made it better!" Wave smiled cheerfully upon hearing that, and Blaze saw that the Boxer still wasn't changing his expression, and he decided to play a joke on him. "Hey Bruno." Bruno looked to Blaze, who didn't hesitate to bend over, putting his paws on his legs, and aiming his butt at Bruno. "Do these cargo jeans make my butt look big?"

Bruno was stunned by the concern, as was everyone else; except for Wave, who knew what was about to happen. Bruno decided to get a good look, kneeling down and seeing that while it did give a tight grip on his butt, that wasn't any different from what it did for the others. "Well it shows it off more, but that could be-" Just then, a snickering Blaze grunted and ripped...

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU...

...a loud and bassy fart in Bruno's face that not only unleashed a nasty yellow cloud of rotten eggs that made Blaze's butt vibrate violently, which was shown more clearly with how tight the jeans made it look, but it also knocked Bruno into a lamppost, which knocked it over, along with knocking over two other ones along the path with the fart also making the ground shake, and knocking out most of the residents who were outside at the time with Blaze even burp talking a bit before looking back at a nearly unconscious Bruno...

RRRRRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUU...

"Ha! Psyche! I don't actually care!" Blaze and the others laughed at this with Wave covering her nose while doing the same. As the flashback ended however...

PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT

...Wave accidentally released a loud and bassy ten second fart that unleashed a green cloud of mixed vegetables and signaled Flare, Marshall, and Margareth to move instantly. Wave sheepishly apologized for her gassy outburst while laughing nervously and rubbing the back of her forehead. "Sorry about that. I got carried away with reminiscing on that one."

Flare, Marshall, and Margareth were used to farts by that point, so they didn't mind. However, Flare did find some kind of envelope on the ground that interested him. It was hidden underneath a dresser he got the picture from, and it was only noticeable by a corner. He picked it up and looked at it to see what it was all about while the rest of his family were helping to clear out the fart. When he got a good look at it, it read the following.

'My Past with Slash Ralston. Keep the kids safe from him.'

Flare took the envelope and decided to save it for later, knowing that mom wouldn't want to talk about it now.

Back in the living room of the house, Flare and Marshall were putting Smiley back in his cage while giving him some food. Flare was also holding onto the sash he found, since he wanted to keep it once they were done in Blaze's lair. Marshall then pointed out a benefit to Smiley staying upstairs. "It's probably a good thing Smiley didn't come with us. Not just because he didn't have to see mom fart around all of us, but because he wouldn't have gotten what we were talking about."

"Well to be fair to the fart thing, ours would've been worse." Flare joked, and as he and Marshall went over to Wave and Margareth, who were getting ready to start serving dinner, Flare had a question in mind for Wave. "Hey mom? I know the reminiscing about dad has passed, but I found something I hope you won't mind talking about."

Flare showed wave the envelope when she looked to him with a loving smile, and she became horrified when she saw it. She was hoping to keep this a secret from her kids for as long as possible, and now she was in a position where she'd have to tell them everything. Marshall recognized the last name and hoped it wouldn't hurt to bring it up. "Slash Ralston? Hang on. Wasn't Rocky's last name Ralston before he got adopted by Richie?"

"That's what caught my attention." Flare informed Marshall, since Charm still went by the last name Ralston himself, and when he noticed his mother's horrified expression, he got worried about what this could mean. As did Marshall and Margareth when they saw as well. "Did dad... have history with Charm's father?"

Wave knew she couldn't get out of this one, and to be honest, she didn't want to after talking with her kids. Today became about learning more about Blaze, and this just so happened to become a part of that. She took the lasagna she was making out of the oven and covered it up as she gave her answer. "Yes. He did." Flare, Marshall, and Margareth didn't know what to say. Wave looked to the remorsefully to let them know they didn't have to say anything. "And it's time you learned that history."

At the living room couch, Wave started by opening the envelope to show her kids what was inside. Flare also had Princess Chocolate with him for good measure. There were three things in the envelope: A photo of Blaze in Crimson Red military gear, a list, and a letter. Wave felt that it was most important to address the photo first, so she handed it to her children. They were shocked to find their father wearing a different kind of outfit from the one with his friends. He also looked more reluctant and scared in this one. Marshall was quick to figure out what this was implying. "Is... is that the military gear Charm's dad had his soldiers wear!?"

Wave nodded her head yes despondently, fearing what this revelation could bring; especially after Flare asked about it. "That doesn't make any sense! Why would dad be working for our most dangerous enemy's father!?"

"Surely you know how he used to live with your Uncle Pongo in London, right?" Wave asked, and she continued with the explanation when she was sure they knew about that. "They were struggling immensely at the time. Try as they might, they just couldn't seem to get by. Blaze thought that by joining Slash, he could get what they needed for a comfortable life." Flare, Marshall, and Margareth weren't as ready as they thought they'd be for what came next. "His first assignment... was to guarantee an attack on Twin Flame Island. That's what led to us meeting."

Flare then remembered something Rocky told him prior to this day that could tie into what Slash was all about. "That actually adds up. Not the dad doing bad stuff thing, but what Slash told him to do for sure. Rocky told me that he thinks his dad did something to Charm that made him the way he is when I was helping him with asking Zuma out. So him telling Charm not to kill me must've been an act."

"Based on this context, it's pretty easy to believe that." Marshall admitted, and then he came up with a theory on why Slash told Blaze to help with the attack. "Maybe Slash was seeing if dad could do what they were doing."

"He couldn't." Wave assured her children, making Flare relieved that his dad wasn't anywhere near as bad of a canine as Slash or Charm. "He tried to go through with it, using Pongo as a source of motivation. But try as he might, he couldn't keep himself from warning us about the attack. By some miracle, ninety percent of Twin Flame Island's residents were able to survive... despite most of us being injured." Wave then handed her children the list in an attempt to show them the next part of the envelope's story. "This should show you what he tried to do after that."

Margareth took the list and opened it up for her and her brothers to read, hoping it would help them understand this more. The list had more to say about Blaze's life in Twin Flame Island, and it read as a list of all the people he'd helped in Twin Flame Island, or tried to. The list consisted of helping Bruno find something in his life other than fighting for his town, to even helping someone named Vanessa with finding a suitable job. One entry stood out to Flare, and it was the same name of the only resident he knew who wasn't in town. It was also the only one not crossed out.

Help Miranda.

This had to have tied into the residents who didn't survive the Twin Flame Island attack. Flare had to make absolute sure that this name was accurate. "Is this the Miranda I think dad was talking about?"

"Yes. That's her." Wave confirmed, and then she explained why Miranda didn't live in town anymore. "Her husband was one of the residents Slash's army managed to kill during the attack. Blaze tried to help her in any way he could, even letting her speak at her husband's funeral." Wave felt awful for Miranda, despite a sense of bitterness aimed at her in her next sentence. "Sadly... Miranda couldn't move on." Marshall was clearly taking this the hardest out of all three of them, and Wave put a paw on his shoulder to comfort him. "Marshall... are you okay?"

Marshall knew he couldn't lie his way out of this one, for obvious reasons. "Not really. I mean, I still love dad, and I'm glad he chose Twin Flame Island over Slash, but I still can't believe he used to work for Charm's father." Wave noticed that Marshall was focusing on Flare a lot as he said that, proving that he was mostly worried about him. "And who's to say we couldn't end up in another attack like that?"

"Hey, come on Marshall." Margareth spoke up with support, confident that the Munroe family would be capable of surviving another event like that. "You've been protecting the people of Adventure Bay for about seven months now. I'd say that's enough proof to me that we'd be able to survive whatever got thrown at us."

Marshall appreciated the kind words from his sister, but before he could think too hard about them, Wave handed the letter to her children. "He wrote one final message to us before he passed on." Wave handed the letter to Flare, knowing that he was the only one who hadn't read it yet. "Margareth, Marshall, you two have already read this."

Marshall and Margareth took the hint that this was for Flare and Flare alone. They went over to their mother and let Flare read the letter on his own. He opened it up, unsure of what it could have in store for him, and began reading. He focused closely on the letter to make absolute sure he got every detail right. He didn't want to oversimplify something by accident and think of his father in the wrong light. He also held onto Princess Chocolate while reading it in case things got too hard. The words on the letter weren't shown, but the reaction Flare got by the end was obvious.

Flare smiled after finishing the letter, showing that despite what his father almost allowed to happen before settling down with Wave. "I don't even know what I was worried about." Flare handed the letter back to Wave, who was relieved to see that he didn't resent his father. He was obviously holding something back, but he still felt genuine love for his father, even after reading the letter. "Nothing in here says that he doesn't love us."

Flare then brought his relatives in for a group hug, which all of them enjoyed quite a bit. Marshall was also quick to comment on the point Flare made there. "And I don't think anything he has ever will." Despite that, Marshall was still even more scared about Flare joining the team after learning about his dad's life before he went to Twin Flame Island.

The next day, Flare and Marshall had arrived back at the Lookout with their Twin Flame Island vacation having come to an end. Flare was excited to tell the others about it, and as he was about to rush over to them, Marshall stopped him to let him know about something. "I have something I need to tell Ryder about Flare. You can get started on talking to the others."

"Okay!" Flare responded with a smile, hugging Marshall before rushing over to the living room with the older brother going into the elevator. "Hi guys! Marshall and I are back!"

Marshall started going up the elevator, and he held a look of remorse as he did. What he was about to do wasn't something that Flare would like. When he got to the top, Ryder was playing video games on his Pup-Pad, and he paused the game when he saw Marshall come in. "Hey Marshall. How was your time in Twin Flame Island?"

"It was great! Thanks." Marshall answered, always loving whenever he got to see his family. Of course, he soon showed a worried look as he went over to Ryder with a request. "That said... Flare and I learned some stuff that really surprised us. And it made me think about how dangerous things could get on the team." Ryder had a feeling he knew what Marshall was getting at. When Marshall made the request, he looked at Ryder with remorse and concern. "Can you not let Flare join the team?"

Ryder didn't want to let Marshall down, or tell him how to look after Flare, but he couldn't just accept it without context. "Flare's been doing great in his training Marshall. I think he'll be fine out there on missions, even the really intense ones."

Marshall couldn't deny that Flare was improving day by day. He just wished that was enough to convince him it was okay to let him join. "That's just it. One of the things we learned was that Charm's father sent our dad to help execute an attack on Twin Flame Island." Ryder was shocked when he heard that, since Flare and Marshall always spoke highly of their father. As one could tell however, Marshall wasn't done yet. "He helped to stop the attack after getting to know our mom, but the fact that something that serious happened scared me to no end."

Marshall continued with Ryder getting a better understanding of where he was coming from. "I know I told Flare I'd do everything I could to help him join, but I can't let him get involved in another genocidal attack like that. I can only imagine what Charm would do now that he's in charge of his dad's army." Marshall gave Ryder a pleading look, hoping he would understand. "Please Ryder. I know I can't tell you how to run the Paw Patrol, but please, from the bottom of my heart... help me protect my little brother."

Ryder couldn't just toss Flare's talents aside, but he also knew how important this was to Marshall. He decided to make a compromise that he hoped he would be okay with. "I can't make any promises, since the final decision is Flare's when he's ready. But I'll let him know he has a choice."

"Okay. Thanks Ryder." Marshall responded, and as Ryder rubbed his head, Marshall couldn't help but feel awful about what he was doing. He hoped it was the right move, but he was still doing something that he knew would hurt Flare to no end if things went wrong.

He broke his promise to him.

Rock music played as Flare started speaking in regards to what was going to happen in the next part of the next chapter with specific moments being shown. "I can't believe I'm about to do my very first LARP! Skye and Sweetie are really going all out with it too! Huh? What's wrong Chase? Oh no, that's not good. I guess we'll have to have someone else be the second knight then. Hang on. Maybe there's a way Chase can still be in the LARP. And I also know who could take over his old role."

Claw finished the announcement with the words Paw Patrol in all blue with red outlines and the title all white with Flare on one and and Marshall on the other. "Next time, Two Knights, One Stage! (Claw was shown looking anxious as he saw Marshall and Everest talking again) Come on Claw! Marshall's being mature about this! Why can't you!?"