It would be a nightmare for anyone to suddenly become enclosed in a dark, humid corridor that was only two feet tall. With little to no breathing room, crawling in the vents was a claustrophobe's personal hell.

"It's moments like this I wish I was a cat," Marshall whispered, slowly creeping along,

"What, why?" Zuma asked from behind, "the Kitten Catastrophe Crew gives us enough trouble as is,"

"Yeah, but at least I'd be able to see in the dark!" the Dalmation grumbled,

Chase gently barked from the back of the line, "how's it going up there, Rocky?"

"I can't see two feet in front of me," the mix replied, "if there's a sudden drop, I'm dead."

Zuma could be heard grunting in discomfort. He was unable to stand up straight due to the low ceiling, forcing him to either awkward crouch or keep his head low, both options resulting in soreness of the body.

"It's so hot in here," Marshall inquired as he shuffled along. In the beginning, the vents were cozy and warm, as the dogs were finally getting out of the freezing rain. However, that got old fast, as the heat only increased to unbearable conditions.

"Would you prefer being outside with Feroxmalis?" Chase fired back, slightly agitated.

The Lab in the middle raised an eyebrow, looking back slightly, "it has a name?"

"Yeah, didn't I mention that a few hours ago back in the tower?"

"Well, you did kill Skye, so we were probably a little distracted," Zuma bit back,

Rocky's ears perked up as he remembered something, "wait, that's right, you said Skye was the one infected. Then why did it come out of Rubble?"

Chase stuttered as his heart skipped a beat. They were starting to catch on to his lie, and he grew uneasy as his excuses became less and less convincing, "yes, she was," he said quickly, "but... it probably jumped bodies, it can do that."

"Jump bodies?" Zuma asked as he continued trekking through the darkness, "how?"

"I don't know!" the Shepherd snapped, "it's a fuckin' giant biological monster, how am I supposed to know its fine details?!"

"Okay okay, sheesh," the Lab waved off, "I just thought maybe you would know," Zuma quickly defused the situation, but his suspicions were ever-increasing. A chilling voice in the back of his head was telling him Chase wasn't being entirely truthful.

"Ugh, we've been in these vents for a long time," Marshall heaved, "it's really hot, shouldn't we have been in the tower by now?"

Rocky spoke up, "I saw on the blueprints, it's actually a pretty big network of ducts."

"But why? Why do we need such expansive vents if it's just one tower with just one top floor?"

"It isn't," Chase replied from behind, "there's the boiler room down below, and the breaker box had labels for a basement"

"Shouldn't Ryder have told us all this was here?"

"That's what I'm thinking too, actually," Chase flattened his ears, looking to the ground.

Rocky suddenly stopped, causing them all to bump into each other as the movement halted,

"Ow," the Shepherd rubbed his nose as it collided with Zuma's tail, "Rocky, what the hell?"

"I see light!" the mix exclaimed,

Sure enough, the dark interior slowly illuminated as they sped forward, revealing each dog as they approached the source of light. The mix, being in front, walked up to what he assumed was an accessible vent cover that would lead them inside, but tilted his head in confusion when it was something completely different.

"What is it?" Zuma tried to stick his head out to the side for a better view but grunted as he hit it against the metal wall by accident. The narrow corridors of the vents were getting increasingly uncomfortable.

"It's a... ladder?" Rocky sniffed, "it leads down,"

"A ladder?" Chase spoke up, "why is there a ladder in a vent system?"

"Maybe it was for the construction workers," Marshall shrugged, "like when they were building it? I'm sure Rubble would've known."

"Well if there's light coming from the bottom, I say we go," Shepherd nodded,

"Wait a minute," Zuma turned around to face Chase, which was difficult in the enclosed space, "we don't know what's down there. What if we end up trapping ourselves down there with no way out?"

"There is a way out, though," Marshall inquired, "there's a ladder."

Zuma growled in frustration, "okay fine, but what if that's the only way out? If 'Feroxmalis'-" he made air quotes with his paws, "-comes down here, we'll be sitting ducks! I say we keep moving on this path."

Chase narrowed his eyes, meeting Zuma's attitude with the same intensity, "Zuma, clearly there's power down there, where else would the light be coming from? There could even be supplies down there to help us!"

"I agree," Rocky turned back, "I'm with Chase on this."

The Lab turned to face Rocky, flashing him a look, then quickly looked to Marshall, "well Marshall, what do you vote on?"

"Vote?" the Dalmation said in an anxious tone, "why does it have to come down to me?"

"Zuma, you can't just put Marshall in the middle like that," Chase defended his friend,

"No it's fine," the firefighter gave a shaky breath, "let's take the ladder."

Rocky nodded in confirmation as Chase slightly glowed in victory. Zuma had to put his head down low so no one would see him quietly snarling in agitation. The mix carefully aligned his paws into the ladder and climbed down to the best of his ability. He was expecting a difficult climb, as dogs weren't built to use ladders in the way humans did, but then he came to an interesting discovery:

"Hey, it's slanted!" Rocky piped up as he climbed down, "that makes this easier,"

"Wait, really?" Zuma asked in confusion,

"Yeah, I'm guessing the tower was built by construction dogs," the mix chuckled, "like Rubble,"

"but wouldn't they have taken the ladder out after the tower was done?" Zuma asked aloud, "that thing is bolted into the wall, it's almost like they expected dogs in the vents to be a normal occurrence."

"This tower is confusing," Marshall muttered as he watched Rocky make it down and walk away, and he took his turn to climb onto the ladder, "maybe they're like maintenance vents? We're supposed to climb in them to fix things?"

"No, if they were, we certainly would've been using them in the several years we've lived here," the Lab shook his head, "why are there entire secret passageways under our tower?"

"... and why did Ryder never tell us?" Chase added in,

Zuma turned around again, this time holding gaze on the Shepherd. Chase held his ground, sitting back and returning Zuma's look with a stern face.

"I've always wanted to do this," Marshall suddenly smiled and gripped his paws on the edges of the ladder. Gently loosening his grip, he quickly dropped, sliding down the ladder in style. Zuma flicked his eyes back, making sure Rocky and Marshall were out of earshot, then he turned back to Chase.

"You know, it's really upsetting me how much you're pinning Ryder as dishonest," he began.

Chase merely shrugged off Zuma's protest, "do you have any other explanations?" his fur bristled a little, "I'm just trying to see all possible angles, and it's certainly upsetting me how much attitude you keep putting in!"

Zuma bit back a snarl, fighting to keep his claws sheathed, "Chase," he said calmly, "what's your problem?"

"What's yours?" the Shepherd dodged the question, "I'm trying to lead here,"

"Didn't you almost die?" the Lab raised an eyebrow, "I'm not so sure your sanity is intact, given everything that's happened."

"Excuse me?" Chase flattened his ears, offended,

"I'm just being honest," Zuma held his ground, "maybe someone else should lead for a change-"

The police dog stood up slightly, his head pressing into the low ceiling, "you don't get to make that decision,"

"Says who?" Zuma challenged, fur beginning to bristle as well,

The Shepherd fully bared his teeth, "Says me!"

"Guys?" Marshall's voice echoed from below, "you coming down?"

Zuma stood, neck leaned back as he absorbed Chase's hostile response. For a moment, he felt himself unhinging, as his own feral instinct screamed to defend himself. It was only at the sound of Marshall's voice that he shook his head, calming himself down. He sighed, and turned toward the ladder, climbing onto it as Chase watched him with narrowed eyes. Before he descended, however, he turned to Chase a final time:

"We are not done," he growled, then slid down in the same fashion as Marshall,

The Shepherd bristled quietly. Zuma was becoming defiant, something he understood but couldn't let slide. It wasn't the Lab's fault he didn't understand why Skye was killed, or why they were put on lockdown, or now being shoved through a cramped vent. Chase sighed, all the hostility was making him exhausted. In time, Zuma would come to understand, he had to. As much as they were butting heads now, Chase still loved the Lab as a brother just as much as he did the others.

As Zuma vanished, Chase took his turn and climbed down the ladder. Reaching the bottom, Chase dropped into a small room.

"Where are we?" Rocky asked, looking around,

The room was tiled with dirty white flooring, the walls lined with cracked drywall that reeked of mold and water damage. There was only one door installed in the wall opposite the ladder, meaning they weren't trapped, and Chase could feel victorious over Zuma yet again. Rocky nudged the door with his paw, but it only opened a few inches before it hit a mystery object that had been placed in front of it, blocking them in. It seemed hopeless at first, but Rocky noted that a strong enough push could likely knock the object away and get them through.

"This door leads out, we just need a good push," he announced to the team, then spotted a large object covered by a sheet,

Metal gas canisters sat in one corner by the door, presumably carrying either propane or straight gasoline. Zuma walked over and examined them, seemingly turning the gears in his head. A knocked-over chair was lying on the floor by a wall, possibly meant for a more formal location before it was bumped to the ground. The walls themselves were covered in draping wires and metal pipes, all slithering along the wall and turning into the ceiling.

Chase wandered over to an overturned box in another corner of the room. Spilled out on the floor were various pieces of old tech, mainly consisting of broken wires and what he assumed were pieces of pup-packs. After rifling through the pieces, he came across two small radio tags, complete with clips to attach them to a collar. Chase recognized them as unused pup tags, missing the emblems that would be pasted on their front.

"These should come in handy," he nodded to himself,

"What is this, some kind of supply room?" Marshall wondered,

"Guys!" Rocky called, "there's a computer in here!"

All three heads turned at the mix, who was gleefully gripping a sheet in his teeth and pulling it off, revealing a large table and computer set against the wall. It wasn't flashy, recent technology, but certainly not entirely old. It consisted of a flat monitor, with long cords running both into the wall and into a control pad before it, in the place of what would be a keyboard. Chase quickly walked to the other side of the room where the chair stood, and grabbed it by its leg, and dragged it over. With Marshall's help, they stood it up and pushed it to the table, where Rocky jumped up on it for a better view of the screen.

"This is awesome," Rocky wiggled in the seat, "I've never been allowed on furniture before,"

"The screen, Rocky," Chase reminded him with an exasperated tone, "the screen."

"Oh, sorry."

The mix looked forward at the computer screen, placing his paws on the table, and he was hit with a wave of confusion. "What... kind of computer is this?" he tilted his head, "and where's the mouse?" The screen was pitch black, likely not on, but if the lights were on down there, then surely the computer had power also. The control pad resembled a keyboard but was completely different from anything he had ever seen. The pad itself consisted of several buttons, none of which were labeled with letters, but symbols. The only recognizable set of keys were the arrow keys off to the right. Looking down at the buttons, they were labeled with small, red squares on the surfaces, each one with a different number on it from one to twenty.

"What is it?" Marshall asked from below,

"I'm... not sure yet,"

"Let me see," Chase stood up on his back legs, trying to climb on the chair,

"There's a red button on the far left," Rocky noted it, scanning the odd keyboard, "I'm not really sure what any of this does," As his curiosity took over, Rocky reached forward and pressed a random button. The screen flickered to life, revealing a large, linear map consisting of lines and narrow passageways. Several squares were dotted around it, likely key points of interest Rocky struggled to understand.

"Wait a second," he started, going wide-eyed, "this is a map of the vents!"

"Really?" Chase exclaimed, then jumped up on the chair, shoving forward to get his own look and nearly knocking off Rocky in the process.

"Does it say how we can get out of here?" Zuma asked from below,

"Um," Rocky stumbled as Chase pushed into the chair, "I'm not sure, none of this is really labeled,"

"Except that," Chase pointed at the bottom of the screen, revealing a path that deviated from the main route, and ended in a star symbol, "I'm guessing that's where we are."

"If that's us," Rocky narrowed his eyes, moving his paw along the map, "then this must be the route we just took. See? It starts from a dead end, that must be the outside."

"Well, then what's all this?" the Shepherd leaned back, taking in the full of map of winding corridors and pathways that seemed to stretch for dozens of yards around them, "why does the tower need all this?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," shrugged the Eco dog, "I'm still trying to figure out what all these squares mean."

Chase took a closer look, squinting his eyes as he stared into the screen, and spied numbers on each of the squares, "they're labeled, just like the buttons."

The mix put his paw to his chin, thinking it over. Looking down at the numbered buttons again, he spotted the button labeled "15." Finding it on the map, the square associated with it was right out by the ladder.

"Wait, I think I know what this is," Rocky came to a slow realization and hit the button, causing the square to light up on the map,

"Is it something that can help us?" Zuma was heard again,

"This is a vent locking system," the mix concluded, "all the squares are meant to be the areas you can seal off."

To drive home at the point, he hit the red button with the outside gate selected, and after a few seconds, all four dogs heard a small whirring noise as a hatch fell over the ladder, sealing them in the room. "We're safe!" the mix barked in elation.

"Okay, that's cool and all, but why is this thing even here?" Marshall looked up the ladder, seeing that the way out was indeed blocked.

"We can add this to our list of weird things we're finding in the tower," Chase rolled his eyes,

Rocky spun around, "no, this is a thing I've actually seen before. Vent sealing systems are genuinely common, people use these to prevent mold and mildew buildup,"

Zuma looked around and noted the green sludge that was crawling down the walls, "wow, I can see how effective it is," his voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"It hasn't been used in years, what do you expect?" the mix said in an unamused tone.

"Hey, at least with the entrance closed, we're safe down here," Marshall nodded, "right...?"

Chase took his own look back at the map, trailing his eyes along the routes when he spotted something he'd wish he hadn't, "nope," he said simply, and pointed his paw, "that ladder isn't the only way in, there are other branching paths that lead around us, likely into the other rooms that we're connected to."

"Connected?" the mix glanced at the computer again, "are we in the basement right now?"

"I guess so," Chase nodded, "I never knew we even had other floors,"

The Shepherd looked down at Marshall's blue eyes looking up at him, "can't you seal them off as Rocky said?" asked the Dalmation hopefully.

"Not these," the Shepherd shook his head, "these paths either don't have available seals, or they do but can be worked around,"

"So... we're not safe down here," Zuma rolled his eyes, "told you."

Chase was getting tired of Lab's quips and whipped his head around to snap at him when a sound rang out that silenced the whole room. All four dogs froze when they heard it, even in their brief moment of solace were they shaking in their fur. Footsteps. Heavy footsteps trudging through the ducts above them, they heard it pass over the ladder.

"It followed us in," Rocky quivered, stepping down from the chair,

Chase followed the sound with his ears, tracking it as Feroxmalis moved above them, traveling deeper into the vents. Fear writhed within him, knowing all the creature had to do was wander into one of those particular paths, and it'd drop right into the basement with them. Not to mention the only possible weapon they had against Feroxmalis outside was being able to see it and know where it was. Now in the dark, tight caverns that were the vents, the entire area was shrouded in darkness. It could only be heard from its footsteps, it was completely invisible within the ducts.

"It's going to get in," Marshall backed up, "one way or another,"

Rocky remained on the floor when he suddenly stood up, "unless," he swiftly brightened up, "we trap it."

The Shepherd in the chair quickly caught on to his friend's plan, evident by his widened smile, "... with the gates!"

"Do what?" Zuma walked over,

Chase gleefully looked back to the computer screen, "Feroxmalis just went past us, meaning it's going along here," he trailed a paw down a lower path, "if we can somehow lure in between gates and seal them, we can trap it in the vents!"

"That's..." the Lab looked for something to say, but even he could admit that was a good plan, "huh... that's actually genius, but didn't it smash through Rubble's kennel? Couldn't it just break out the same way?"

"We have to try," Chase said with slight desperation, "hopefully we can keep it in long enough before it even realizes it's trapped. It didn't smash through the kennel until it actually figured out it was closed in."

"Are there any gates close to each other?" Marshall asked, a determined expression on his face as he too was getting into it.

"Well, no," Chase admitted with a grimace, "but looking at the map as a whole, if we close off here, here, and..." he eyed around the map, holding a paw up, "here, and... here, it'll lock up a whole fourth of the area. It won't be a small trap, but a trap regardless."

"And since they're far apart," Rocky added, "it won't realize it's trapped until it's gone down every possible route!"

"Great!" Zuma nodded, "but... how are we going to lure it in?"

The room was met with silence. Marshall slunk back as Rocky jolted in surprise, Zuma still with his head high. Chase looked down, thinking for a moment as he observed his mud-dried paws. Zuma didn't want any of his friends to risk death again, certainly not after the fiasco in the courtyard. Rocky was destined to prove himself to the others, and as much as his anxiety was holding him back, a part of him was pushing to be the one to enter the darkness.

Rocky sighed, "alright, I'll-"

"I'll go," Chase cut him off, jumping off the chair,

"Wait what?" the mix looked down at him, "Chase, you've been through enough," Marshall recoiled in shock at Chase's volunteering, visibility showing signs of distress. Zuma merely narrowed his eyes, studying Chase's movements.

"All the more reason for me," the Shepherd shrugged, picking up the blank radios from the box, "I've tangled against it already, may as well go again,"

"Wha- no," Rocky shook his head, jumping down to him, "Chase, I'm not letting you go,"

"Please, don't!" Marshall chimed in, hurrying over to the Shepherd's side, "you don't have to do this,"

The police dog grimaced, facing Rocky, "oh, you'd rather Marshall went? Or you?"

"I-" the mix had to think for a moment, glancing to the side before holding Chase's gaze, "I am willing to face Feroxmalis."

"Rocky, no," Chase shook his head, "I'm going, and you'll need this," he slid over the pup tag, "these radios are new, just activated them so they should be on a closed channel."

"I thought all communication was dead?" Zuma raised an eyebrow,

"Hence the closed channel," the police dog pointed out, "these radios will work as long as I don't stray too far away from you,"

"How far is too far?" Rocky asked as he picked up his radio.

"I..." the Shepherd hesitated, realizing he didn't know the answer, "I guess we'll find out."

Sighing in resignation, although accepting a possible fate within the dark corridors of the vents, Chase equipped the radio on his collar and walked over to the ladder. Marshall tried yet again to plead him away, tears in his eyes, powerful enough that Chase had to turn away from the Dalmation to keep his own emotions in check. One look at his closest friend's face and he'd never leave, but it had to be done. With a sick feeling in his stomach, he walked over to the ladder and reached up the steps.

"Rocky," he began, "open the way,"

The mix sighed, lowering his ears as he made his way back over to the computer, reopening the gate he previously activated over the ladder. With the way open, Chase climbed up, feeling the cool air of the basement die away into heat as he emerged from the ladder and climbed into darkness.

"You can close the ladder now," he said into his radio,

"Chase, there's still time," Rocky's voice came through, "you don't have to do this,"

"Close it."

After a moment of brief silence, a horizontal panel activated, sliding over the ladder and sealing the path. All light in the vents was cut off, but Chase knew he'd be able to navigate with Rocky's help. Now completely separated from his friends, Chase took a deep breath, braced himself, and punched his paw into the wall as hard as he could. The impact sounded like a deafening sound of echoing sheet metal, radiating all throughout the vent system. Sure enough, after a few seconds he could hear the distant sound of movement approaching him. He was locked away in a maze of pitch-black corridors, now actively being hunted by a vicious, unrelenting predator. There was officially no turning back now.

"Alright," he said to himself, "let's do this,"