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

Blight

"I think I saw it!"

"Track that thing down!"

Blight tried to hide his heavy breaths as he crouched low behind some barrels. Blue uniforms and caps, these guys definitely aren't part of Blood Rend. They didn't have any uniforms besides the sickeningly white lab coats the scientists wear.

The worst part was, those assholes were flashing guns out in public. While it did draw some curious glances, Blight wondered why no one was doing anything about it.

Who the hell's in charge of this place?! He wondered. I thought humans were more organized than this!

"It's not here," one of the humans shouted. "Check those barrels."

Blight took a sharp breath in. He was pretty sure that random barrels aren't a common thing in cities.

As one of the humans closed in, Blight suddenly remembered his...ability. He had ignored the sensations of electronics up until now since cities were full of them, but he noticed that the helmets the humans wore are either electronic devices or were hiding them.

Instinctually, he connected with the devices and attempted to overload them to buy him some time.

The result was...unexpected, to say the least.

Blight's pursuers screamed in pain as a screeching noise filled their earbuds. Even the wolf heard the noise, and he knew it couldn't have been comfortable to have that in your ears.

Note to self. Overload electronic helmets.

Although Blight felt somewhat sorry for the humans, he knew the disorienting effects will only last as long as it takes for them to realize they could just take off the helmets. So, the wolf stayed true to the advice his father gave him when asked what to do against a superior foe.

Run like hell.

He dashed through the humans and ran around the dark, twisting alleyways. Parkour hadn't been Blight's forte before, but it seemed that Blood Rend's testing had given him more than just the ability to interact with electronics.

Before long, the sirens and shouting died down. Presumably, the humans have given up on their chase.

"It's not safe to be around here alone, especially if you're not even a human." Blight flinched upon hearing those words. He usually wouldn't let anyone sneak up on him like that, but the previous chase had stressed him out.

"It's fine," the human behind him chuckled. "I have no intention to harm you."

Blight turned around to see a pale man standing before him. He had bright amber eyes and short blonde hair. The slim man wore a casual yellow t-shirt and a barely concealed excited expression. "My name's Brad."

Blight stared at the man cautiously, revealing his name right now would not only potentially compromise his location, but might also lead to Brad calling upon the people who tried to capture him. Who's to say he's not an ally of them? Furthermore...

"I know your name as well," the human, Brad said, seeing that the wolf in front of him is staying silent. "Blight, right?"

Damn it.

"Honestly, I mean you no harm," Brad said hurriedly. "I just want to help."

"You can 'help' by answering me this," Blight said cautiously. "Who the fuck are those people?"

"You don't know?" Brad raised an eyebrow. "Those are the police."

Blight stared at the human with a questioning look.

"Umm, they're the local law enforcement," Brad explained. "They catch people who break the rules."

"I didn't break any rules," Blight replied. At least, none that he knew of.

"Didn't break any rules, eh?" Brad chuckled. "You're all over the news, you know? The wolf that caused more than a dozen deaths in a local warehouse own by the Noble Rod. At least, that's what they tell the people."

"I killed guilty men," Blight growled. "I was doing what's right."

"Doing what's right wouldn't always place you at the right side of the law, wolf," Brad said.

"So, what are you gonna do?" Blight asked. "Bring me to this police you speak off?"

"Hell no," Brad grinned. "I'm in just as much trouble with them as you are. Besides, I know what Blood Rend is in their true colors."

"What do you want from me, then?"

"As I said, I want to help," Brad suddenly turned serious. "My friends and I are actually dedicated to helping people like you."

"People on the run for murder?"

"No, of course not," Brad shook his head. "We help people who are on the run because they broke the law to do what's right. Or at least something that's not inherently wrong."

Blight stared at the man for a moment before remembering Beatrix's final words.

"Show me these...friends of yours."

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Blight's caution meter was off the charts.

The dark, narrow, and twisting alleys made amazing ambush spots. Blight did not enjoy a single second of creeping through that area. Brad was still an unknown quantity to him, and an ambush could be easily set up there.

"Are we there yet?" Blight had asked for what seemed to be the hundredth time. Brad had said that his hideout was far, but the wolf never thought that they'd have to travel through the filth of the alleyways for so long.

"Almost," Brad assured him. "Just a few blocks away."

When Brad stopped in front of an old, broken-down mansion, Blight almost walked away in sheer disgust.

"Come on, dude," Brad grinned at the wolf's repugned expression. "When you're on the run, aesthetics would be a bit far down your priority list. Besides, some old mansion isn't going to attract any attention."

"I don't know about that," Blight said. "Isn't that a bit...clichéd?"

"Exactly!" Brad said. "It's so clichéd that the cops won't think we're stupid enough to try hiding here."

Blight wasn't sure that's how things worked, but what did he know, right?

There were two humans in the mansion, a male and a female. The female one was tall and had dark, tanned skin. Her eyes were bright red and she had short, black hair that cut off right past her ears. The girl felt dangerous, like an assassin ready to strike at her target.

The male, on the other hand, felt rather unassuming. He had brown hair and deep blue eyes. He seemed to be of average height among humans, but the girl standing next to him made the man look shorter than he is.

"Did you pick up a stray dog on your way back?" the girl asked upon seeing Blight. "I don't think we've got enough money left to feed him."

"Mallory," Brad motioned to the wolf. "This is Blight. You know, the wolf on the news."

"Really?" the girl, Mallory, raised an eyebrow. "I was actually expected someone a bit...stronger, I guess?"

"Thanks a lot..." Blight mumbled.

"I'm serious," Mallory said. "You don't look like someone who can take down Blood Rend's guards single-handedly. Did you have any help?"

"Nope," Blight shook his head. "All me."

"Blight, this is Mallory," Brad introduced the girl. "She's incredibly skilled in martial arts and jousting."

"What rules did she broke?" Blight asked. "You said that you help people who broke the law, but I don't buy that someone with no experience in that matter would participate in this."

"Wow," Brad scratched the back of his head. "You're pretty straightforward, huh?"

"I killed 2 of Blood Rend's men in self-defense," Mallory simply said. "The cops here are corrupted by Blood Rend's influence, they want me dead."

"Those two dudes tried to rape the wrong girl that night," Brad laughed. "Mallory killed them with a practice blade."

"Brad scammed more wealthy members of Blood Rend," Mallory continued. "Who are naturally the ones higher in power. So they want him dead more."

"Guess that's a commonplace here," Blight said dryly. The wolf pointed at the man who hasn't spoken yet. "What about that guy?"

"He's Mute," Brad said. "Both his name and the literal sense that he's mute."

"His name's Mute?"

"That's what he tells us to call him," Brad shrugged. "So for all intents and purposes, his name's Mute."

"Out of all of us here, they want him dead the most," Mallory said. "Including you, Blight. And that's saying something."

Blight doubted that they knew of his abilities, so he kept quiet.

"Mute is a hacker," Brad said.

"A what?"

""A hacker," Mallory explained. "He can control electronic objects from afar, as long as it has a Wi-Fi connection."

Blight stayed silent.

"Mute managed to hack into Blood Rend's, better known as Noble Rod to the public, database and found out about their drugs and arms dealing businesses," Mallory said. "You might not know about this, but Blood Rend, under the guise of Noble Rod, sold medical supplies to the public. When Mute released this information, it took months before the mayor, who, might I add, is also influenced by Blood Rend, managed to convince the people that it's all just a lie meant to cause chaos in the town."

Mute raised his right hand and slit it across his mouth while shaking his head. Blight recognized it as sign language, though he didn't understand it.

"We know it's not a lie, Mute," Mallory assured.

Blight looked between the three people. He was still distrusting of them, old habits die hard, after all. But ultimately, he decided to give them a chance.

What's the worst that could happen?

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Rex

Groans of pain echoed through the chamber as I made my way towards my owner. Medical personnel scurried through the room, trying their best to assist as many injured people as they could. Many were seriously wounded, though their injuries weren't nearly as severe as the ones Zane sent to the hospital...in time.

The mourning and the cries of grief were nearly as deafening. Many have lost co-workers and friends the last night. A total of 17 lives lost in a single attack by a singular entity.

I never thought that Blight could cause so much damage on his own. I didn't even think that he would do so. I've always known the wolf as the quiet, gloomy big brother of Beatrix that didn't like Blood Rend, but I never thought that he'd be so...hostile.

"Believe the best in everyone," my dad told me before. "If nothing else, it makes the world just a little better."

I've always tried to put my dad's teachings into use, I look up to him a lot. No matter how bitterly or aggressively the test subjects treat me, I try my best to be friendly to them.

"Hey, Rex!" Daniel shouted. "C'mere, boy."

I walked enthusiastically towards him, and he petted my head. I wonder why Blight would think Blood Rend is bad, they're always so nice to me!

"Looking for Hugo, boy?" Daniel smiled. "I think I saw him upstairs, talking to Robert."

"Thanks!" I grinned.

Blight seemed to think that Blood Rend will keep Beatrix and him in the cell forever. But that's not true, of course. Blood Rend releases their test subjects after they finished testing. It wouldn't make much sense to keep them around otherwise, right?

I never actually got to see them getting released since they get released during my off-hours, but Hugo assured me that when a subject isn't in their cell anymore, it's usually because they're released.

Unless, of course, someone sounded the alarms. I wasn't actually there when Blight and Beatrix first escaped, but I heard that they made quite a ruckus.

Not as big as a ruckus as this time, though.

I believe that Blight wouldn't do something like this without a good reason, there must've been some big misunderstanding going on.

I chuckled to myself, why on earth will I believe that? I've only met Blight for barely a month, on what grounds am I to say that I believe in him?

I guess it's sort of an intuition thing. Believing in the best of a stranger will leave very little room for distrust.

I walked up to the storage area, careful to avoid the electric floor traps. Honestly, I'm still not convinced that electricity works like this.

Hugo was chatting with Robert when I finally saw him. Robert was acting extremely excitedly, a maniacal glint in his eyes.

Honestly, the scientist unnerved me at times.

"Ahh, so your little puppy decides to join us in this conversation," Robert smirked, ignoring the fact that I was almost taller than he was and definitely a big deal larger. "Perfect, we can start the test now!"

"Are you sure it's safe, Robert?" Hugo asked.

"Of course," Robert smiled. "I wouldn't do anything to harm your little pet, Hugo."

"What are we doing?" I asked, suddenly feeling a bit uneasy.

"Don't worry about it," Robert grinned. "Come, let me show you my newest experiment."

Some things in Rex's POV.

Blood Rend's guise, Noble Rod, was actually a legit medicine manufacturing company, but it slowly transitioned into drug dealing after Zane realized the profit that could be made.

Speaking of medicine, stay safe during the quarantine everyone!