Disclaimer: I do not own PAW Patrol or any of its characters. I only own Blight
Blight could barely believe what he's seeing, but standing before him was Rex. Though deformed and hardly recognizable, the former Bullmastiff's scar made sure Blight knew who stood in front of him.
He's the one who inflicted it, after all.
"How could you?" Blight whispered with a trembling voice. "He trusted you."
"He can't understand you," Hugo said without any emotion in his voice. "Not anymore."
"I was talking to you!" Blight shouted. "Rex trusted you as an owner and Blood Rend as a family! How could you do...this to him?!"
"I was just following orders," Hugo said evenly.
Blight was so angry that he struggled to find words. Just following orders?! That should not be an excuse for anything at all! One shouldn't be loose of responsibility just because they were following others' commands. This man isn't a robot, he's a human being, he made his own choice.
Blight stared at the man in front of him. "You are a fucking disgrace to sentient creatures everywhere."
The man grunted before turning to Rex. "Bite the wolf in the neck."
Instantly, the Bullmastiff pounced onto Blight, grazing the wolf's fur as he tried to dodge the attack. The fury and bloodlust behind the tackle was so strong Blight could almost feel it, making him wonder if he was that way when he found out about Beatrix's death.
"Bite the wolf again!" Hugo yelled, prompting Rex to attack Blight repeatedly. The wolf focused on dodging, Rex could easily squish him even before his mutation, Blight wasn't gonna take any chances.
As the fight prolonged, Blight could feel his breaths getting heavier and heavier. Rex, however, showed no signs of slowing down. Following each of Hugo's orders relentlessly and without hesitation.
Suddenly, Rex made a mistake, or more accurately, Hugo did.
"Bite it, Rex!" Hugo shouted as Blight dodged the attack once again. But then, something curious happened. Rex, who was facing Zane's desk at the time, proceeded to chomp on the table, crushing the wood between his teeth.
Blight stared at the desk, his mind whirring at the implications of what just happened.
"Damn it Rex, bite the wolf, not the table!" Hugo shouted. Rex instantly locked his sights onto Blight, running straight towards him with unrivaled ferocity.
Blight realized why Rex wasn't using any maneuvers or tactics, opting only to rush straight towards him, making his attacks extremely easy to dodge. Whatever happened to Rex completely robbed him of his ability to think or use tactics, the bullmastiff can only obey Hugo's commands.
When there's a problem, Blight remembered his father saying to him when destroying a termites' nest that had been wrecking trees around their cave. Go for the source.
This time, when Rex attacked, Blight made sure to dodge towards Hugo's direction before lunging at the man, biting deep into his neck.
Hugo crumbles onto the ground, a surprised look etched onto his face. The man could only let loose a strangled scream before falling limp, dead.
Blight turned around to see Rex suddenly writhing in pain, clutching his head painfully before collapsing onto the ground.
This is his chance, Blight realized. Zane had arrogantly left Hugo, Rex, and him alone without any other guards stationed nearby just in case, possibly because he didn't want them to see what horrific experiments they conducted. With Hugo dead and Rex distracted, Blight could escape.
But seeing Rex in pain like that, Blight knew that wasn't an option. The wolf may have shown resentment towards him all the time, but Blight knew that Rex meant well.
Slowly, carefully, he walked towards the former bullmastiff, careful not to make any sudden movements, but alert enough to escape in case Rex decided to attack.
As he got closer, Blight could see the finer details of Rex's transformation. His teeth were definitely a lot sharper, and veins bulged out of the beast's skin, threatening to explode. His eyes were blood-shot and conveyed only anger and pain.
It hurt to see Rex like this. It was like looking at a mirror to see another tortured soul that suffered under Blood Rend.
"...Rex?" Blight whispered carefully.
The beast raised his head abruptly, baring his fangs for a moment before backing down, his eyes flashing with recognition and...
Fear?
"B-Blight?" Rex spoke with a strangled tone between a snarl and a sob. "I- y-you killed..."
He fears me, Blight realized. Of course he would, I killed more than a dozen people in front of him before leaving with a barely concealed threat. Why wouldn't he fear me?
"You're okay now," Blight tried to sound reassuring, but he was pretty sure Rex will fear him all the same. He's a murderer, after all.
"N-no," Rex choked out. "O-obed-dience serum. Ch-change. Pain."
Pain. That was the only word Rex said clearly. And Blight had no doubt that it wasn't a lie.
"You'll be fine," Blight said, not believing his own words. "Humans have really good healthcare. They can take care of you."
Rex shook his head. "H-hospitals. All u-under Blood R-rend."
Blight cursed under his breath, of course.
"K-kill me," Rex said, his voice trembling.
"What?!" Blight shook his head furiously. "I'm not gonna kill you! Look, there has to be another way to revert you back to normal. If only-"
"Please," Rex interrupted, looking straight at Blight's eyes. "Pain."
Blight suddenly understood what Rex was talking about. His eyes reflected anger, fear, and most of all, pain. The transformation is painful to him, not only physically, but also a mentally scarring experience.
Rex knew Blood Rend didn't bother to make something to reverse...whatever they did to him. He doesn't want to be like this anymore.
He's asking Blight to end his suffering.
The wolf hesitated. Funny how things can get in the heat of the moment. One second he's the murderer of 17, 18 now if you count Hugo, people, the next, he's hesitating to kill an enemy.
But Rex isn't an enemy. In fact, Rex is the closet thing Blight can call a friend before meeting Mute. Sure, he was misguided, but Rex had always been nice to him, even though the wolf never reciprocated the gesture.
But now, looking into Rex's eyes, Blight knew he had no other option. Sooner or later, someone's gonna check on them, and Blight knew he couldn't fight Rex once more in his state.
Step by step, the wolf walked closer towards Rex. He extended his claws, though not as sharp as Rex's, still a great deal more deadly than an average wolf's, and pierced Rex's throat before his emotions could get the best of him.
It wasn't quite as quick of a death as Blight had hoped, but he could see Rex almost smiled as he muttered the words "th-thank you".
A feeling of grief welled up inside the wolf as Rex drew his last breath, but Blight shook himself clear of thoughts of guilt. There are more important things to do right now.
First, the wolf picked up his pack, which he dropped during the fight with Rex, and armed the last few explosives he kept inside it in Zane's office.
There was no obvious way out besides the painfully long maze of corridors in the building. Blight knew that the guards will be on maximum alert if someone walks into Zane's office and see 2 dead bodies, so there's no way he's escaping through that.
The wolf looked around the office before his eyes settled on the lone window in the room.
A reckless idea? Most certainly. After all, no sane person will even consider jumping off the third floor of a building. But Blight scaled walls in his tests before, only this time, the stakes are a little higher.
The wolf stalked through the window carefully and plotted a route in his mind. After taking a moment to calm himself, Blight leaped through the window and scaled the wall, using his sharp claws to balance himself, within seconds, the wolf had reached the ground below.
Blight let out a sigh of relief after confirming that he didn't break any bones. It would be pretty embarrassing to get seriously wounded from a fall after battling a mutant creature and leaving unscathed.
The wolf looked back at the building, regretful that he isn't able to give Rex a proper burial.
Oh well, he thought. Rex struck me as the kind that would want to be cremated anyway.
Shaking off his doubts, Blight calmly walked back to the town, ignoring the earth-shattering explosion and the subsequent flames behind him.
Something, something mercy killing and uncreative title.
This is a super late chapter that I have no excuse for. After all, like most people, I'm stuck at home with nothing better to do. And yet somehow, I still manage to be late for both the chapter and the previously promised title.
Hopefully the next one won't take as long, but you know me. No promises.