Vigilante PAW

Chapter Eleven: Moonlight Fight

Ryder sat in his room, looking up at his ceiling. When was there ever a time when there wasn't something on his mind. Marshall was gone. And there was nothing he could do about it. Marshall wasn't a member of the PAW Patrol, and even if he was, he couldn't do anything about it. It wasn't like he could force Marshall to do anything. If he wanted to live as a stray instead of going to the pound, then so be it.

Looking out of his window, the young leader stared at the setting sun. What was he planning? It wasn't like any of Adventure Bay's residents exactly wanted him around. According to several reports, Marshall had gone around the town after the newspaper was released, and the townsfolk didn't take it well.

He shook his head. He deserved it. Marshall stole from a lot of people, and the list seemed ever growing. With the release of the newspaper spreading further than just Adventure Bay, Ryder had to deal with a growing amount of negative publicity directed toward the team. The leader had even gotten a call from Mayor Humdinger, Foggy Bottom's mayor, to ask to speak to Marshall about how proud he was of the Dalmatian.

He soon moved over to sit in a chair, opening his laptop to begin another entry.

"It's been about five days since Marshall had been discharged from the team. Three days since Marshall left. The pups seem to be taking this as rough as I have been, maybe even more rough than I have. Especially Chase. I can hear his howls in the dead of night, mourning the loss of who he thought to be his best friend. According to Skye, Chase has been a lot more combative towards Marshall, Everest, and Rocky. It seems like Everest has taken Marshall's side in this conflict. Thanks to Skye, there haven't been any physical fights, and I'm grateful for it."

The boy's eyebrows soon furrowed a bit.

"I've noticed that in the days following Marshall's discharge Skye has taken the lead when it comes to dealing with the pups off missions. Especially Chase. She has apparently been keeping him under control. Calming him down, and sometimes yelling at him if the need be. I believe that she's trying her best to be a neutral party in this civil conflict, despite not believing Marshall's plea of being not guilty. She argues that if Marshall wants to find evidence and try to prove his plea to be correct, then he has to prove it."

The boy thought about the aviator Cockapoo, who seemed to be broken upon seeing the infamous security footage that started all of this. She had been doing her best to keep both sides placated while the month proceeded on.

"Rubble and Zuma, while I haven't heard much from them, seem to be heartbroken at the loss of Marshall as they knew him. I can remember a night where I was coming to tell the pups that it was time to go to bed, but I accidentally eavesdropped on a conversation. I heard both of them express the desire for everything to go back to normal. I feel the same as them. I found myself wishing, praying, that this was all a nightmare that I would soon wake from, but each time I wake up, I see Marshall's bowl separated from the others, further and further by the day, and I'm reminded of the fractured state of the PAW Patrol."

"How I wish that this all wasn't real."

Finishing up his entry, Ryder quickly drank a cup of water and stood up. The sun had set completely, and he knew it was time for bed. Opening his door, the young leader made his way down the lookout to let his pups know that it was time for bed.

"Night is the mother of thoughts..."

Standing atop a building in the dead of night, Marshall had finally begun to understand the phrase he would hear his parents repeat each night the Dally had trouble sleeping in his earlier childhood. Whenever he would ask where his parents got it from, his mother would say that she got it from a book.