PAW Patrol: Marshall Gone Missing.

Chapter 13

Failure was something Rocky couldn't stand. Whenever one of his inventions didn't work or he got something wrong during a mission, he took it hard. It wasn't that he was a perfectionist; he was okay with messing up on things that didn't seem important like a game or competition. But failing somebody close to him, that was the worst of it all. His dislike of failure all stemmed back to his days at the orphanage for pets. Every day he would try his hardest to get adopted by a family looking to take a pet home with them. And every day he failed.

For a long time, Rocky didn't think he would ever get adopted until one day, when he was cleaning up the orphanage like he always did, he met Ryder. The mixed breed had been collecting trash outside the orphanage to use for his inventions when he saw Ryder checking said inventions in Rocky's room. He explained what each of them did and had fun playing with Ryder. Ryder quickly offered Rocky a place in the Paw Patrol as their recycling pup, as well as a home to live in. That was the happiest day in Rocky's life.

Paw Patrol was his new home, and the pups were his new family. And Rocky promised on the day he arrived at the Lookout that he would never fail his new family.

And yet here I am, looking for a friend who I failed horribly, thought Rocky as he watched Ryder ask Alex and his friends at the playground if they had seen Marshall. The pups had fought before, even argued at times, but they never had something like this happen. Looking back, Rocky couldn't help but realize that their words were way too harsh. Yeah, Marshall's clumsy behavior did mess things up a lot, but he was still a good friend. Besides, everybody on the team had their quirks. Rubble was always trying to act more mature to compensate for being the youngest. Zuma had his speech impairment. Skye and Chase obviously had crushes on each other, but neither could admit it. And Rocky himself was afraid of water.

The more he thought about how foolish he and the other pups had been, the more it drove Rocky to find Marshall and apologize. If only it were that easy.

They had been driving through town all day, yet there wasn't a single sign of Marshall. They had asked other residents from Katie to Mayor Goodway, but they hadn't seen him. The Mayor promised to get all the townsfolk to look for him, but Rocky was pretty sure Marshall was long gone from Adventure Bay. He wanted to tell Ryder, but he was too nervous to.

Throughout their search, Ryder barley said anything to Rocky, and his angry face from earlier was still fresh in the pup's mind. Ryder had been disappointed, scolding even if things got too rough, but never as angry as he was when he learned what they had done. It made Rocky feel even guiltier by the fact that he had failed his owner, the one who gave him his new life.

Still, despite his fear of angering Ryder further, finding Marshall was a top priority. When Ryder came back to his ATV, Rocky sat in his recycling truck while rubbing his paws. "One of Alex's friends said they saw Marshall's fire truck heading down Church Street. Let's see if any of the shops have seen him."

"Ryder?" asked Rocky just as his owner put on his helmet. "I don't think we'll find him in Adventure Bay. He's had hours ahead of us, and considering some of the people we talked to said they saw him heading in the direction of the exit to town, I think it's safe to assume he's long gone from this location."

Ryder rubbed his chin before nodding. "You make a good point. Chase and Skye are in that area, so we'll join up with them."

"Do you think he's heading back to his parents? Where do they live anyway?" asked Rocky.

"Somewhere down south of the state. If we don't find him in the evening, I'll alert them," said Ryder, getting on his ATV.

Lowering his head, Rocky asked, "Ryder? Do you hate us for what we did?"

Ryder looked at Rocky with shock before he shook his head and gave a sad smile. "Rocky, I could never hate you pups. You're my best friends. I'm just upset that you would say that to Marshall after everything he's done. Why did you say those things anyway?"

"I don't know. I guess we were just angry that his mistakes kept breaking stuff," whispered Rocky. "It's not a good excuse, I know. I bet he hates us."

"Marshall would never hate you pups. Don't you remember when he took care of you when you got bullied?"

Rocky's eyes widen at the memory.