(Disclaimer: Mature Language)

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The rain hit the Shepherd's muzzle as he stared at the strays, not uttering a word to them as he waited for a sign of attack.

"You said not to count on it when we last met, now that we're here, we're gonna tear you apart and take that bag."

Thunder struck as if on cue as Chase focused on the strays approaching him, trying to get him on his sides.

"We'll make it quick, mutt." The leader smiled as they got closer to Chase.

Chase growled as he got into a defensive position, examining his surroundings to see what could help him in this situation.

"I handled myself against you three last time, the odds are still in my favor." Chase assured as the leader laughed.

"Guess again..." Suddenly two more strays approached to help them take out Chase.

Chase breathed in and out as he focused on his targets, hoping that whatever would happen would go in his favor.

It was like a western standoff scene, both sides just waiting for something to happen as the sounds of the rain and passing cars were the only thing occupying the air right now.

Then all of a sudden, Chase sliced at the target closest to him, making him stumble back a bit as two other strays rushed him.

"Fuck him up!" One of the strays ordered as they pinned Chase against one of the dumpsters.

Chase struggled against the two but managed to break free by head butting one of them and then clawing at the other, leaving a bloody mark on one of his eyes.

The Shepherd used this as an advantage, biting down on the stray's throat but not for long as he was pinned to the ground by one of the others.

The pup hit the pavement and let out a gasp of air, he soon got his surroundings back in check and was face with the stray that pinned him baring his teeth and about to sink them into his neck.

Chase countered this by puncturing his claws into the pup's throat as fast as he could, getting the stray off of him as they bled out from the injuries.

Four were left standing.

"Come on! Is that all you got, huh?!" Chase yelled out as he was winded.

"Kill this bastard now!" The leader yelled as the three strays rushed the Shepherd, pinning him against the wall yet again.

Chase got more winded from the impact and felt a sharp pain on his body as one of the strays clawed at him.

The Shepherd saw a glass bottle at the corner of his eye and tried reaching for it but couldn't.

Chase clawed at the lead stray pinning him, getting free for a split second before being brought back to his old position.

"You're going nowhere!" The stray yelled out.

Chase barely reached the bottle and grabbed it, smashing it across one of the stray's head and impaling it in the other's throat. The Shepherd was now free from their grasp as they all stood their ground.

Chase had blood in his mouth, on his fur and paws, the Shepherd was bloodthirsty and he wasn't going to stop for these strays.

"Th-three left!" Chase reminded as he winced at the pain he felt but ultimately brushed it off until he handled the rest.

Chase was on top of this, both strays were injured as the leader sat back and did nothing, hoping his lackeys would handle the Shepherd but they didn't.

Chase was rushed by the last two strays and in an attempt to weaken the impact, he quickly grabbed a trash can lid and used it as a makeshift shield to reduce how winded he would get and it worked. The Shepherd got up and noticed the tiredness of the last two strays, one was still injured from the bite Chase gave him while the other was still winded from the bottle smashing over his head.

Chase knew this, he read them like a book and rushed the injured stray first, taking him out first as the other stray tried clawing at him, hitting close to the Shepherd's eye. The stray was fatigued and starting to become terrified as the pup still had the energy to take him out.

Chase rushed the stray, pinning him down and biting into neck, ending him quickly.

The leader was now on his own as he looked on at his dead crew, all taken out by one pup.

"How the hell did you...?" The leader asked as he glared at the pup. "It doesn't matter, I'll take you out myself!" The last stray rushed Chase, going in to bite the pup's paw but missing as Chase dodged.

The leader was brute force, swinging blindly and tackling Chase with every chance he got.

He tackled Chase into a wall, having the Shepherd grunt in pain due to the force. The stray clawed at Chase's chest, leaving marks across it and bit into one of his paws.

Chase yelled out in pain and had enough, he managed to push the stray back and get behind him, biting part of his ear off and puncturing his claws into his chest like he did with the other stray.

The leader was now wounded, leaning against a wall for support as Chase let out a breath of relief, finally taking care of the nuisances once and for all.

He wasn't done yet, he realized that he could probably get answers from the leader.

Chase made the stray face him.

"You got...lu-lucky, stupid mutt." The stray winced at the pain he was receiving.

Chase didn't say anything to that, he was just concerned with what the stray knew.

"Why were you here guarding this drop? Just waiting to ambush some unlucky pup, huh?" Chase put one of his claws into the pup's wound, twisting it and causing more pain to the stray. "Or is there something I don't know about?"

The stray yelled out in pain as Chase was torturing him. "Fu-fuck you!"

Chase was hit with a bloody spit to the face. Not having any more of it, the Shepherd placed his claws on the stray's neck. "I'll take you out quick if you tell me what you know. If not? Then you're just going to bleed out and die alongside your friends."

The stray chuckled at the statement. "I guess I mis-misjudged you, the McAllister brothers...co-could use someone like you."

There it was, Chase just had a feeling in the back of his mind that the McAllister brothers had something to do with it.

"He led us to...their hid-hideout, this grey Husky. Had a mean look on his face when he co-confronted us, then they told us about the drop...when we got there." The stray winced yet again.

"Who was this Husky? Did he have a name?" Chase asked as the stray thrived in pain. "Answer me!"

"Ah! Fuck! He didn't have a name! He never told us anything, he only told us about the job, I swear!" The stray yelled out in pain.

Chase winced in pain as he put his claws up to the stray's throat and sliced them across, killing him almost instantly.

The lifeless body slumped over as Chase grabbed the bag behind the stray, struggling to grab it due to his injuries.

As the pup placed the bag on his back, he heard paws clacking on the pavement, approaching him and asking the pup a question.

"What're you doing, kid? You're really going to go through with this?" The figure asked.

Chase looked at his bloody paws, shaking from the encounter and letting out a calm breath, he knew who the voice belonged to.

The pup had a stern face as he didn't face the figure. "You know he has to pay for what he did, it's only a matter of time before I finish this and no one is going to stand in my way."

Chase turned around to face the figure as he dropped the bag, thinking he was going to get into another bloody confrontation.

"Not even yo-" Chase realized that the figure wasn't Diaz or Isaac, it was Marshall, who gave a sorrowful look towards the Shepherd.

"Chase..." Marshall stepped closer. "What happened to you?" The Dalmatian went to hug the Shepherd but was met with a growl.

"Chase, come on, this isn't you. Come back with me, with us." Marshall begged. "We can help you, the FBI are investigating this whole thing, we can go back home once this is all over." Marshall smiled as he placed his paw on Chase's shoulder, tears strolling down his face as he tried persuading the Shepherd.

"The FBI? Yeah, because they can help." Chase sarcastically said as he pushed Marshall's paw off him, the pup sighed. "It doesn't matter Marshall. They'll either put me down or send me off somewhere, I'm not going to wait to find out."

"Chase please, we'll stand by you, right by your side." Marshall begged yet again.

The Shepherd let out a chuckle. "What's a boy and his little band of wannabe rescue pups going to matter to them?" Chase asked as he grabbed the bag. "They aren't going to listen to you and they definitely aren't going to listen to me." Chase began to walk off as Marshall wiped the tears from his eyes.

As Chase started to leave, the Dalmatian realized he didn't want to let the Shepherd go that easily again, so he ran up and got in front of him.

"I'm not letting you go..." Marshall assured as he stood his ground.

"Step. Aside. Marshall." Chase warned.

"No! I'm not letting you leave! I'm not losing you again!" Marshall yelled out as tears were let out of the Dalmatians eyes.

"I'm not going to ask again." Chase sternly advised.

"You're going to have to go through me if you want to leave!" Marshall got into a defensive position.

"Fine, you want to play like that?" Chase dropped the bag and rushed Marshall, pinning the Dalmatian down. "You should've just gone back to Adventure Bay! It all would've been so much simpler!"

Marshall got the Shepherd off him as he recovered.

"I'm not giving up that easily!" Marshall yelled out as Chase ran back, putting pressure on the dally. He sliced at the pup's muzzle, causing him to stagger. The Shepherd bit his paw and rammed the Dalmatian into a nearby dumpster.

The fight was over pretty quick as Chase went and grabbed the bag.

He looked at the sight of his own friend, bloody and injured due to his own actions. He couldn't bear the sight so he walked away.

"I was right about you..." Marshall said as he winced in pain. "Nothing but a coward who doesn't even care about the pups who were there for him."

Chase stopped in his tracks as the Dalmatian said this.

"Bold of you to assume I never cared." Chase said as he looked back at the injured Dalmatian. "I did this for you and everyone else, I had a choice and the right one was obvious!" Chase yelled out.

Marshall stayed quiet and let the Shepherd vent out his frustrations.

"I thought that if I left without saying anything then I could finish this and come back, but it's bigger than me and it's certainly bigger than you!" Chase stated as he eyed the Dalmatian. "Why'd you even come here?"

The Dalmatian got up and answered the question. "I wanted to help you, I wanted to try to get you out of your stupid, vengeful bullshit!" The Dalmatian never cursed like that before.

Chase turned away from the Dalmatian. "Well guess what, amigo? It didn't work one bit."

With that, Chase left the alleyway, leaving Marshall to the lifeless bodies of the strays he killed moments before.

Marshall teared up and slammed his paw on the ground, frustrated by the fact that he failed to persuade Chase, failed to help him.

"I gotta get out of here..." Marshall said to himself as he limped out of the alleyway and back into the streets of Boroughton.

Some time passed as Marshall limped through the streets of Boroughton, occasionally stopping to catch his breath and let the pain air out. The Dalmatian was worried about how he was going to patch himself up, there was no way that Decker wouldn't think something was up.

The pup was shivering because of the cold rain, shaking it every once in a while and continuing his trek back to the safe house. As the Dalmatian kept moving forward, he bumped into a person.

"So-sorry about that..." Marshall apologized as he winced in pain.

"Oh my! You poor pup! What happened to you?" The person asked as Marshall looked at the assailant.

It was a lady, probably around mid-30's at best, she slowly petted the Dalmatian and checked his wounds.

"My, you're hurt badly. Come on, you can stay with me while you recover." The lady offered as Marshall gave it some thought.

"Ma'am, I need to head back, I c-can't take any de-detours." Marshall winced at the pain yet again.

"Nonsense, you'll recover at my place until then, I insist." The lady smiled as she picked up Marshall.

The Dalmatian realized that it would be better off if he got some help, so he ultimately decided to agree on the lady's terms.

"Okay, I hope it's not too far." Marshall hoped.

The lady chuckled. "Oh, don't worry, sweetie. It's pretty close by. You'll be as right as rain, my niece specializes in this kind of thing, so you're in safe hands." The lady smiled as she petted the Dalmatian.

"Th-thank you, ma'am." Marshall showed a weak but grateful smile at the hospitality, he was glad it wasn't some weirdo that would probably kidnap him.

As the two finally arrived at the apartment, Marshall was put down on a table, with the lady putting her things away and calling out to her niece.

"Honey! Get the first aid kit! I need your help with this little pup I found!" The lady yelled out.

A voice responded from across the apartment. "Alright! I'll be right there!" The girl assured as she hurried to the kitchen.

Moments later, she came into the dining room table and saw the Dalmatian sitting there, struggling to stay off his injured paw and wiping the blood off his wound.

"Oh my goodness..." The girl went towards the pup. "Marshall?"

The Dally looked up and noticed that it was one of his closest friends.

It was Katie.

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