Behind The Mask

Final Decision

     Chase walked back to the boat, not even bothering to look back at Kushina and Edan. When he arrived at the docs, he saw Humdinger and Captain Turbot waiting for him. Immediately noticing his depressed expression, Humdinger got worried.

"Is everything okay?" He asked and Chase looked up at him and sighed.

"Yeah, I don't really wanna talk about it."

He said and jumped onto the boat without bothering to change his sad look. Humdinger knew that something was wrong, but decided not to press him on it. And with that, the boat left for Foggy Bottom.

Meanwhile, Humdinger and Captain Turbot looked back at Chase who was gazing behind.

"He seems a bit down, is everything okay with him?" Captain Turbot asked with a little worried tone and expression while Mayor Humdinger sighed.

"He's just going through some things right now, it's probably best to leave him alone for a bit." Humdinger suggested as he turned his attention back to the ocean in front of him.

"Oh, and thanks again for taking us back." Humdinger thanked and Captain Turbot thankfully hummed.

"It's no biggie. Glad I can help. I'm just surprised you're not up to your usual tricks again." The captain commented which made the blond mayor chuckle.

"Yeah, but most of the credit goes to him." Arnold responded while glancing back at Chase. And he's the reason why I'm happy again. Humdinger finished with a final thought.

A few minutes had gone by and Captain Turbot's boat was about halfway through the ocean to the island. While Humdinger and Captain Turbot were up at the wheel, Chase was at the back of the boat. Looking over at the night sky with black clouds. Adventure Bay wasn't even at sight anymore. The interaction between him, Kushina and Edan still bothered him. For some reason, he couldn't get them out of his mind. And all of this tied with him thinking about quitting the Paw Patrol made things much worse.

He's living in a much better place, but what about the other place? What should he do? He couldn't care less about what the other pups would do, aside from Tundra probably and Ryder. But the events that took place these past couple months, things haven't been working out at the Lookout.

Flash Back

"You know what!? I don't even care anymore! You've been nothing but a pain! You get abandoned in a city and you act like we were the reason why!" Skye shouted and Chase just stood silent as he already knew Skye was gonna say more.

"I can't believe I actually felt sorry for you at that time. You're weaker than I thought! Aside from living alone in a city, what else have you gone through that made you act like this? Absolutely nothing!" Skye kept on yelling, not even realizing what she was saying to the shepherd.

"Y'know, Jamison had the right idea. I don't know what his dealer was thinking! He should've accepted you and Jamison should've sold you off a long time ago."

"Don't know dude. Sometimes, I wish that we didn't have him as the leader or police pup on the team. I know that's a bit hawsh, but c'mon, his authowity is really annoying. I wish we didn't have someone like that on our team." Zuma said.

Silence

"Agreed" The rest of the pups said.

"Look, I get it. Being abandoned in a large city was hard on him. But that shouldn't be the reason why he changed this much. Especially how he's been ignoring us most of the time." Skye said.

"I...I kind of have to agree," Marshall spoke up, now having everyone look at him, "It's not like we had anything to do with what happened in Adventure City. But we didn't even do anything to make him this upset." Marshall explained a little bit.

"Although, we probably are a bit more tired than you." Everest said as he turned to Chase with a slight chuckle.

"What do you mean?" Chase asked.

"She means that, you've basicawy hung out in the Lookout all the time. You've got it easy, I mean, we did too, but I guess you know what we mean." Zuma said

"Yeah. Adventure Bay doesn't expect one pup to do all of the missions they ask us to do." Marshall said as he patted his best friend.

"Y-Yeah, right." Chase laughed

"Man, they really are fun, huh? I still can't believe they all met up without me, you've gotta be kidding me." Chase chuckled, his tears dripped on his blanket.

"They all have parents that give them their full attention and love...and I'm left in the dust. They're probably gonna talk more about it tomorrow." Chase said with a smile, more tears falling down his face, but then, he slightly gasped.

"W-What's wrong with me," Chase lightly asked in a shaky voice as he wiped his tears, but more came. "I'm such a...a-a jerk. I should be happy...everything good is happening to them. Only them."

Flash Back Ends

No...no they haven't. Things have gotten much worse. He never felt happy. These kinds of memories kept on piling and piling. Each moment he had with the pups now felt fake. The little cuddle with Skye in Friendship day, his rivalry with Zuma at pup-pup boogie, the moments when he and Rocky worked really well together on an Ultimate Rescue, all of it felt fake now. But most importantly, his relationship with Marshall.

He always saw him as a brother. They connected even more when they became Mighty Pups, or every other mission they worked on together.

Flash Back

"Well...," Marshall thought, of course being his brother, he didn't want to be too hard. "I mean, he's not here right now, but yeah, I've gotta admit, it's pretty annoying almost all the time. Especially during the mornings." Marshall said.

"Why do you even hang out with him that much?" Rocky asked and Chase listened closely as he now wanted to hear Marshall's answer.

"I guess I just pity him. I mean, he has an awesome life and all, and of course being the leader, but the way that he acts and being so bossy is so unnecessary."

Flash Back Ends

He felt betrayed. Everything he and the Dalmatian have gone through...Marshall, without having a single problem, threw all of it away. Re-thinking about everything. His love for Skye, his love for the Paw Patrol...it was all fake. He thought it was real...and it was...but now, he realized that the love he thought they returned, was always fake. With those final thoughts, Chase realized he had to move on. He finally made his decision and told himself that in his mind.

Once I come back, I'll leave the Paw Patrol for good.