Disclaimer: I do not own PAW Patrol or any of its characters. I only own Blight.

Chase

The factory district of Adventure Bay. Due to the town's nature, very few know about this place, and even fewer work there. The district looked like it came straight out of a dystopian film-gray, boring, empty, and lifeless. Half of the buildings were crumbled and probably went years without maintenance, while some others were just hollow shells only there to keep up the rent. Dark alleys riddled the area where robberies often happened to unsuspecting victims that wander here during the night.

That's the only reason I even knew about this place. It had the highest crime rate in all of Adventure Bay, not because of its high density of crime, but because the police never bothered to patrol here due to the lack of...anything at all. I caught my fair share of robbers here before and didn't care to return.

Blight had learned that the main base of operations of Blood Rend will be established in this district through the computer he hacked, though the exact location wasn't precise.

"Which one is he hiding out at?" I asked Blight, who led us here after we departed from the underground laboratory. "There are a ton of factories here, any one of them would be a good spot to build a base, especially the deserted ones."

"That's why you cops aren't nearly as effective at catching criminal masterminds as you think you are," Blight smirked. "You think too lawfully. Think about it, if you have a crap ton of resources, money, and manpower in your arsenal and you're trying to escape the law, would you establish a base in the deserted parts of an otherwise habited district?"

I blinked, "So you're saying that they're not here?"

Blight smacked his face with his front paw. "No! You would rent a factory legally so the police won't think to look there. I know how Zane thinks, he always tries to go around doing things semi-legally to throw cops off his scent."

"So which factory do you think he's at, Detective Blight?" I rolled my eyes.

Blight turned around to look at us. "Which ones can we trust?"

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After some time spent guessing and arguing amongst each other, we split up to investigate the factories that we did not know the owner of.

"Officer Chase from the PAW Patrol," I flashed my badge. "I would like to ask some questions regarding the production of your factory."

"Of course," the person who greeted me replied. "What would you like to know?"

"What exactly do you produce here?"

"Knives. You might have heard of our brand name: Spiderco," the person smiled proudly.

"Oh, yeah," I said. "I use your swiss army knives."

"And I hope that our product is satisfactory for you, officer," he smiled. "Any other questions?"

"No, that'll be all," I shook my head, no sense in suspecting a factory specializing in a famous brand. "Thank you for your cooperation."

A few of the same conversations later, I met with Ryder, Blight and the rest of the pups.

"Find anything useful?" Blight asked.

"No," I shook my head. "Most of the factories I questioned were branded, I don't presume that your captors own Hush Kitties?"

"I found one factory that might be it," Marshall suggested. "They said that they manufacture medical goods, but I haven't heard of them before."

"Name?" Blight asked.

"Noble Rod."

"Sounds suspicious enough," Blight grinned jokingly. "We've got no other leads anyways."

And that's how we found ourselves in front of a large building not unlike the others. However, my intuition tells me that something is...different about this factory.

I sniffed the air, hoping to catch a whiff of the drugs that may have been transported here once, but the smell of industrialization (see: smoke) filled the air, making it hard to identify smells.

As we entered the building, my stomach twisted. Something did not feel right.

"Blight," I whispered. "I have a bad feeling about this place."

"Same here," he whispered back. "Get your gun ready and be ready to shoot as soon as something suspicious happens."

"Yeah...about that..." I scratched the back of my head nervously.

"Why am I surprised," Blight rolled his eyes. "Did you charge your stun gun at least?"

"Yeah, what kind of cop will I be if I forgot to do that?"

"A gunless one, apparently," Blight grumbled.

Before I could formulate a response, however, a large CLANG was heard from behind. When I turned around, I saw that two people I didn't notice when coming in had closed the gates.

Blight must've came to the same conclusion as I had. "IT'S A TRAP!"

Before I could do anything to defend myself, a sudden stab of pain from my foreleg told me that I've been hit by something. It was when my eyelids start to drop down when I realized that I was a tranquilizer dart, and darkness soon fell upon me.

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I've put countless criminals behind bars before, so it's refreshing to be on the other side of said bars.

When I regained consciousness, I found myself in a holding cell of some sort. My front paws still felt sore from the tranquilizer dart, but I was otherwise unharmed.

Rocky was in the same cell as I was, though he's still out cold. I didn't see any of my other friends, they're most likely being held in different cells.

"I see that you're awake, pup," a male voice said behind me.

A middle-aged man stood on the other side of the bars, looking at me calculatingly. His appearance was rugged, though he looked quite slim. His eyes were light gray and his short, messy hair was goldish-brown. He had the look of an experienced leader and diplomat that worked exclusively for underground businesses, with a confident smile and a wicked expression. It didn't take me long to guess who's talking.

"Zane," I bared my teeth.

"We have a detective here," the man, Zane, smirked. "I presume that our friend Blight told you all about me."

"Only that you're a sick psycho that runs this organization," I replied. "He didn't think you're important enough to tell us anything else."

Zane narrowed his eyes. "Let's get straight to the point, pup. While I would much rather extract information from your human leader or Blight, your owner does not seem to be in talking mood, and the wolf managed to escape, along with that Cockapoo."

I instantly perked up at the thought of Skye managing to escape, but I kept my cool. "Sounds like you have a conundrum, because I'm not feeling like talking either."

"Hear me out first," Zane said calmly. "I want you to understand that we do not need to be enemies. Sure, I run an underground business, but we don't kill humans unless they explicitly stand in our way."

"I don't like how you put an emphasis on 'humans'," I growled, remembering Robert's laboratory.

"Guilty," Zane raised his hands. "But those experiments were mostly there to keep Robert happy. He is a valuable asset, after all, and sometimes he comes up with something particularly useful for us. Though, I suppose that keeping him happy wouldn't be necessary now, huh?"

The man laughed as if he's telling a casual joke to a friend.

"Anyways, I just want to know where the wolf is," Zane said. "Give me the information, and I'll release you and your friends."

"What makes you think that I'll know where he is?"

"I don't know," Zane shrugged. "You might've learned something of value from him."

"Not your lucky day, I guess," I shrugged. "He barely told us anything about himself."

"Then what about another proposal?" he suggested. "Why don't you help me find him? I'll even let you bring him to the authorities."

"Why should I help you?"

"Simple, he's a criminal," Zane smirked. "Listen, even if you bring me to court right now, you won't have anything against me. I know how to cover my tracks, pup, and I have countless allies ready to testify for me. The wolf, on the other hand, has quite a record for crimes."

"Theft, illegal computer access, unlicensed driving...if that even counts as driving, and most important of all, murder."

I stared at him silently.

"You see? This wolf is a criminal as well, noble as his intentions may be, so it's in your interest to bring him to the authorities," Zane said. "In fact, I'm letting you bring him to a proper judge, can the wolf say the same? Remember Daniel?"

To be completely honest, it was an easy choice. On one hand, I can reject him and potentially put my friends in danger. We are, after all, at the mercy of this man. On the other man, I could accept his offer and bring someone who broke laws into justice and ensure the safety of my friends. Even a kindergartener knows what the right choice is in this situation.

"Go to hell, Zane." I snarled.

Zane looked taken aback by my response for a moment before recollecting himself. "Suit yourself. I'll deal with you after I find that pesky wolf, you picked the wrong side, pup."

On that note, the man left me and the still unconscious Rocky alone, leaving through a metal door.

So what if Blight broke the rules sometimes? As Zane said, his intentions were noble. Firstly only for vengeance for his sister, now for the sake of the innocents that may suffer under Blood Rend if he didn't act. I might not completely agree on his actions, but I will not let the law cloud my judgment on what's right.

Hopefully, Skye is okay with him.

I do not own Spiderco. I don't own Hush Kitties either.