"I don't have much time!" Liberty frantically said into her collar as she ran, pushing through sharp bushes and tripping over logs. "I need an extraction, get me out of here!"
"Do you have the assets?" The voice came through on the collar.
"N- no," she said apologetically, "the ACG intervened, they have all three of the dogs!" A grimace was forced from her breath as a low branch smacked against her, pelting her fur with leaves.
"So... you lost all of them."
"Yes, I know," Liberty heaved, jumping behind a tree and looking back, "I know, I lost them, I'm sorry! But I'm an asset too, right? Come get me, send a helicopter, please!" Panic filled her voice as a long duration of silence came from the other end, "Please! They're after me!"
"Liberty..." the voice began, "I don't think we can do that."
"Wha- no!" Alarm flared through the Dachshund, and she crouched low under a bush in a desperate attempt to hide, "you... you can't do that to me!
"We have other dogs here, one's that can actually do their job properly." The voice said coldly, "what about the infection in the basement? Did you get a sample?"
Liberty winced, already knowing the answer, "I... had some set up."
"And?"
"... then Zuma set off an explosion, incinerating the entire basement and all the things I had..."
"Goodbye, Liberty."
The Dachshund nearly cried out, "What?! Ryder, no! Wait, you can't just leave me here!" When cold, rejecting silence only met her, Liberty knew with a sinking heart that she had been abandoned. With a shaky breath, she prayed over and over for it to all be just a terrible dream, but every time she shut and opened her eyes the world around her just become even clearer. Panic filled her heart, and she cursed herself for ever trusting the Archline Foundation.
She took a step back when she suddenly heard Chase's voice. "Liberty!" Whipping around in fear, she locked eyes with a German shepherd racing over the forest floor.
"Liberty!" Chase panted, coming to a stop in a small pile of leaves, "enough with the games! You need to come with me, with them!" He said, referring to the ACG. "Just stop running!"
Frozen in her step, Liberty frantically thought over her options. If she went with the ACG, her involvement with the research company would be exposed, leaving her vulnerable to being pinned for every death committed by the claws of the creature. Even if she didn't release Feroxmalis directly, she'd be thoroughly interrogated for any information possible. Terror rose within her as she imagined herself breaking, completely giving up all of Archline's secrets to the military faction. Perhaps she would walk free the next day, only for her body to turn up mysteriously dead mere hours later. Archline had a way of silencing those who talked too much. Gears turning in her head, she remembered several contacts she had in Adventure City, all she needed to do was escape.
"Never!" She snapped, baring her teeth, "I'm getting out of here, now leave me alone!" Swiftly turning around, Liberty kicked her legs and charged through the forest, kicking up leaves and twigs as she ran.
"Wha- hey!" Chase blinked, growling as he sprang into action. On any other day, he would've instantly run her down and caught her, Chase was by far the fastest dog in the Paw Patrol. Unfortunately, his speed was severely hindered by the burns and damage all over his body from the explosion. He could still run, but only at a reduced pace that was barely enough to keep up with the Dachshund. Burned ears flattened, and he grimaced fighting through the pain.
"Leave me alone!" Liberty shouted again, jumping over a log and running into a clearing. Breathing heavily from the exertion, she turned and sprinted to a denser collection of trees and foliage.
There was a cave up ahead, a dark archway of stone under a canopy of moss and grass provided entrance to the forest cavern. It was big enough for a person to fit inside, and the pathway within dipped into a corridor that led to another part of the forest. The location itself was a favorite of Rocky's, as he always commented how it felt like "traveling under a mountain" to the other side of the land. The cave alone had nothing particularly notable inside it, save for some oddly shaped rocks and dripping puddles, but its darkness tended to be quite calming to one's mind.
Without even thinking, Liberty sprinted headfirst into the cave, disappearing into the darkness. Relentless in his pursuit, Chase followed without hesitation, feeling cool air wash over him as he crossed inside. Paws scratching over the hard floor as he ran, the shepherd was almost blindsided by how amazing the air felt on his blistered, patchy skin. Almost completely negating the lingering pain, the interior of the cave was a perfect balance between warm and cold, soothing his agony into comfort. He almost broke the chase with Liberty to enjoy it, but he quickly snapped himself back to his senses. He could not allow the dachshund to escape.
Liberty found herself stumbling several times over jagged rocks, cutting her paws as she scrambled to keep away from the shepherd. Frantically relying on her sense of smell and hearing to weave around the darkness, she splashed through a puddle, soaking her underside. As she crossed farther in, she emerged into the darkest depths of the corridors, a cold tunnel completely absent of light. Fearful of tripping in the dark, she came to a complete stop. With shaky breaths, she wanted to turn around and run, but doing so would put her right into Chase's clutches. She had to make it out, to brave her way through the depths of the cave to the other side.
Running for what felt like hours, Chase slowly lost his vision as the light drained from the cave. He began to slow his pace upon realizing he was completely and utterly blind. Instantly skidding to a halt, canceling all of his speed in an instant, Chase stood firmly in the darkness. Growling in agitation, he could still feel the rocky ground under his paws, along with the gentle splash of cold dew on his back. Carefully placing one paw in front of the other, he blindly stepped over rocks, jagged debris, and drops he couldn't see the bottom of.
Turning his ears in all directions, he listened to the sounds of his paws bouncing off the walls. With each step, each crinkle of the leaves, each splash of water, the sounds were crisp and subtle, confirming that he was still surrounded by walls. If his vision was gone for the time being, Chase would have to rely on all the skills a dog could have and use them to their fullest extent. He didn't have his flashlight, he didn't have his pup pack, and he certainly didn't have any of his spy gear, he only had himself. It was a game, a dance, Liberty and Chase lost in the darkness playing cat and mouse, nothing but their ears, noses, and instincts to guide them.
Sniffing his nose, Chase absorbed the smells of the cave around him. A metallic sting hit his nostrils, almost making him sneeze in disgust, only to be followed by the cool air. A pungent stench of something foul came after, likely some animal that died in the cave, a smell he was tragically all too familiar with at this point. His paws passed over a grainy cool surface, then another step forward, and his right foot was suddenly dipped in cold water. Legs carrying him, he focused his nose again and sniffed the air. Instantly, a certain stench hit him like a train.
Fear.
It was always notable that animals had the unusual abilities to sense emotions, to seemingly detect when their owners were sad or afraid without ever having to tell them. It wasn't something Chase practiced often, sure he had heard of the feat, but he simply shrugged off the ability and focused on other things. He wasn't an expert, but the smell of fear was pungent enough that any dog could detect it right away. Liberty was terrified, stumbling through the dark and out of her element from the city, Chase keenly picked up on her scent in a way that almost outlined her in front of him.
Entering his hunter instincts, Chase lowered his head and moved forward, heading straight for her. Strangely, the cave was growing slightly warmer, and increasing steadily. He could smell smoke leeching in from the outside, a foreign smell he didn't understand. Shaking his head, he ignored the unwelcome stench and considered after her. It wasn't until he was mere meters away that Liberty finally picked up that danger was nearby.
She snapped into alert, "just come with me! Why can't you see the answer to all this?!" Breaking into a run, the smaller dog trudged through the darkness, "you stay with them, Feroxmalis will kill you all!"
"You knew it was here!" Chase barked, rage seeping into his voice, "you knew it was here and you let it all happen! Hundreds could be dead, half the patrol is gone!"
"I'm not the one who killed Skye!"
Those words severed any last bit of mercy he could've had. Enraged, Chase snarled and completely ran her down, honing in on the sounds of footsteps in the darkness. Light began to gently illuminate the walls around them as they ran to the exit of the cave, the jagged, rocky interior finally becoming visible again. Liberty saw it too, and she quickened her pace, only for confusion to cloud her as she spotted the flickering orange flames that dotted the end of the tunnel.
"What the-" she tried to say before she was violently tackled from behind. Teeth latched into the back of her neck as leaves and twigs went flying, and both dogs careened out of the cave and landed in the grass. Abrasively pinned onto her back, Liberty flailed helplessly as she tried to escape, panicking as Chase held her firmly.
The shepherd didn't even notice that the forest was actively burning around him, "you! You... you," he tried to form the words, "after everything! After the city, after..." he thought back to his short time spent in the Adventure City pound. It was with Liberty's help he was able to escape, and it was then he fully believed the Dachshund was the perfect gift to the patrol. "You... you fucking traitor," he spat, "I should've thrown you to Feroxmalis!"
"Let me go!" She tried to fight him off, "we're going to burn alive!"
"Burn..?" Chase faltered slightly, then finally flicked his gaze up and realized his surroundings. Both of them were completely cornered by a raging inferno that was slowly consuming the forest. The wave of heat finally hit him, and his eyes widened as his gaze rested on a single tree that had exploded into a star of fire, bleeding down flaming leaves.
Adventure Bay was burning.
Her captor distracted, Liberty quickly turned to her right, noticing a flaming stick that had fallen from the sky. Instantly seizing her moment, she grabbed the stick and swung it like a blunt weapon, connecting with Chase's face. The police dog yelped in surprise, staggering backward as he shook the firey splinters from his head. Making a break for it, Liberty jumped up and ran as fast as she could into the burning foilage, and this time, Chase wasn't behind her.
She ran for as long as she could, dodging falling trees to the best of her abilities. After a few minutes, her legs ached and were stained with ash, exhaustion befalling the small dog. Gasping, she huddled under a log and tried to protect herself from the heat and fire.
"Okay, okay," she breathed, "just need to... get back to the city." Paws quivering, she drew further under the log. The sounds of splitting wood and crackling fire clouding her ears, she concealed herself as much as possible, believing she had finally found somewhere safe. Letting her guard down, she let out a slow breath.
The sigh was cut off in an instant, a bloodied, degloved, five-fingered claw appeared from above and snatched her by the neck.
She screamed in terror as her body was forcefully torn out from under the log, the bones in her arms painfully snapping into pieces. All she could do was scream helplessly as her body was pulled from the ground. Feroxmalis emerged from the darkness like a looming predator, snarling its rows of teeth and flashing its dozens of eyes, a face no longer concealed by the lost skin mask.
"No! No no no!" Liberty pleaded for her life as she stared into the face of death, awkwardly flailing her broken arms.
Standing on two legs, although squatting under the flaming trees to not burn itself, the creature only hissed in delight as it enjoyed her fearful screams. Even within her own cries, Liberty could faintly hear noises inside the creature's jagged ribcage. There was something inside it, something alive.
"Wait! Wait you can't-" the Dachshund continued to beg, "you're... you're not-"
The creature's maw opened, flashing its lines of fangs as the tentacles within moved to impale its prey.
"A-Audrey!" Liberty cried as a last-ditch attempt, "Audrey, that's your name, right?! That's what you... who you were, right!? That was your name!"
The claw only tightened around her body.
"I remember the dog you used to be!" The Dachshund pleaded, "your name was Audrey, you..." she cried in pain as more bones snapped within, "you were a Golden retriever! Don't you..." she made eye contact with the creature, as best as she could manage with its several eyes, "don't you... remember me?"
There was a pause, if Feroxmalis was truly as intelligent as Archline promised, then surely it could understand her? Even as its grip tightened, Liberty prayed with everything she had left that there was still an old glimmer of Audrey left in the monster.
Screeching in seething fury, Feroxmalis gripped Liberty and punched her body into a tree that stood nearby, crushing the dog into its wood. The air was filled with agonized screaming as the prey was pulled from the tree and flung in the other direction. Her body collided with a set of rocks, violently crushing her ribs as she bounced off into the grass, bloodstains leaving a sharp trace of the impact. With any remaining strength left in her, Liberty tried to reach a paw out to crawl away. Springing into the air, Feroxmalis soared down and smashed its legs into her back, destroying her spine and crushing her inner organs. With its prey trapped, the creature roared as it clamped its teeth into Liberty's upper half, violently yanking and tearing her pinned body like a piece of meat in all directions. Blood splattered in the grass while clumps of fur and flesh were flung in the air. Finally, her body gave way, and Feroxmalis gruesomely ripped off the upper body, completely tearing the Dachshund in half. Bits of bone and organs spilled out into the grass as the creature snapped its jaws, devouring it headfirst.
Liberty's crushed lower half was kicked away into the flames, left to burn away into ash. With another body soon to join its inner hivemind, Feroxmalis reared its head back and roared its warcry into the smoke-shrouded air, announcing its bloodshed to all that was around to hear it.
-.-.-.-.-
"Stay away from the trees!" Cyrus called to whatever soldiers still remained behind him.
His life flashed before his eyes as he sprinted into the flaming forest, a barrage of heat singing him under his armor as he entered. All around him, plants and foilage burned brightly, the trees having transformed into surging lights of raging flames. One by one, trees began falling, crashing to the ground and blasting flaming leaves and twigs in all directions. The malinois grimaced in an attempt to turn his face away as flickering embers sprayed across him.
Some of the soldiers behind quickly skidded to a halt, turning tail and fleeing out of the burning typhoon for their lives. Cyrus didn't blame them, a large part of himself also wanted to escape the forest fire and let it burn away. But Feroxmalis had fled, and under no circumstances could the monster be able to inflict any more damage than it already had. If it escaped the forest, it would attack the town and leave hundreds of bodies in its wake. It had to be stopped here and now.
"Bella!" He called out, having to yell over the sound of weakened wood splitting apart, "are you still with me?!"
The retriever's call sounded a few feet back, "right behind you, captain!" She was struggling to keep up with him, but a courageous spirit kept her going.
The forest was unrecognizable, it truly seemed like every leaf and twig was ignited in burning agony. "We can't lose any more of the Paw Patrol!" Bella called, wincing as fiery debris signed across her face, "we need to get them out of there!" They both stopped as they heard Feroxmails' vicious warcry echo through the forest, a signal that it had taken another victim. Cyrus hesitated for a moment, a brief flicker of fear rising within him that he quickly had to push away.
"I'm pretty sure most of them are gone," the captain winced, flattening his ears as distress fought to overcome him.
"What about Everest? We didn't find her body in the ski lounge."
He looked back, "Yeah, but her owner was completely ripped apart! There were pieces of him everywhere!" Grimacing at the memory, Cyrus remembered his team moving through the mountains and coming across the wrecked ski lounge. It was painfully clear that Feroxmalis had attacked the place before traveling to Adventure Bay. It was how the ACG figured out the exact place to search for the creature to begin with, as the mountain was rather close in proximity to the town. The owner of the ski lounge, a man named Jake, was found completely slaughtered. A small investigation of the area revealed that he owned a Siberian husky, and the search began. Although blood belonging to a dog had been found at the site, her body was not uncovered, "when have you ever heard of a dog abandoning its owner?" He pointed out, "if Everest wasn't there, but her blood was, the only answer is that she was consumed."
"Or she escaped!"
"I don't think-" he was cut off as a flaming tree dropped mere inches from his body, forcing him to a stop. A barrage of embers and splintered wood sprayed into the air as the wildfire around them only intensified more and more. The heat was becoming unbearable, and soon it would take them down in their burning branches.
Jumping back, Bella howled as her tail hovered too close to an open flame, burning her and almost catching it alight, "we're going to die in here!"
Hearing the pain of his sister-in-arms, Cyrus flattened his ears as he worryingly looked around in a panic. Perhaps Feroxmalis was already dead, lying in a pile of burned flesh and dead tissue long ago. He didn't want to abandon Chase, but the fearful cries of the distant soldiers who followed him were becoming louder. The forest was soon to become a deathtrap, and as he flicked his gaze to the rifle attached to his side, he remembered his duty as a soldier. They died all the time for what they believed in, yet it was something else to be cast away into a ring of fire where survival was not in the cards.
"I won't leave them," the malinois growled, itching to close the book on the massacre, "I'm going ahead, come on!" He stopped for a moment, briefly turning back to Bella, "but... if you want to turn back... you can. I won't hold it against you!" He held her gaze, a moment of connection between them both, "go back, Bella. I'm... I'm going to die in here. You don't have to."
Panting from the heat, his companion looked uncertain, shaking her head slightly at her leader's words. Flicking her eyes around as she processed her situation, her expression changed to cold determination as she looked at him, "not a chance, Cyrus! We either escape together or die together!"
Sorrow hit Cyrus like a knife in the heart, only to quickly be replaced by anger, yet was then immediately smoldered by a spark of gratitude. The malinois couldn't exactly say what he was feeling, so he only nodded in response, turning back to continue their trek through the fires.
Wincing as they shoved through a wall of spiky brambles and dead flowers, they emerged into an open clearing that provided a small safe haven from the fires, although the edges of the area were lined with flaming trees on the verge of collapsing. A cave was nearby, barely visible through the smoke. Cyrus skidded to a halt as he spotted a puppy wandering aimlessly among the fire. "Chase!" He shouted.
The police pup turned his head at the sound of his name, squinting his eyes as the pain hadn't fully left them from Liberty's attack. "Cyrus?!" He shouted over the falling branches, "she attacked me!"
"Who?"
"Liberty!" He snarled, putting an arm over his eyes, "she hit me with a fucking branch then ran away! We need to catch-"
Swiftly jumping to him, Bella cut him off, "forget her! We need to get you to safety before this whole forest comes down on us!"
"Forest?!" Chase shook his head in wild confusion, his vision finally returning to normal, "how did this even happen!?"
"We hit Feroxmalis with fire," Cyrus winced, realizing his mistake, "only for it to turn around and run into here with a flaming tail! Now everything has gone to hell!" He made a motion with his paw at Bella, "grab him! We'll carry him out of the-"
"Look out!" Bella suddenly jumped in surprise, locking her eyes on the upper treeline.
Chase could already see it by the time Cyrus turned around, and the three of them all drew back in terror. They had gone into the lion's den, and now it was time to face the monster. Feroxmalis jumped along the branches of the trees and lept into the clearing, landing on all fours on the ground. Its tail already danced in the smoky air, moving in tandem with its tentacles.
"Get back!" Cyrus called to the other two as he gripped his rifle and blasted the creature. Empty shells littered the grass and the snapping of the rifle mixed with the splitting wood. Chase panicked at the sound of the firearm and dove to the ground, Bella found herself frozen as she fought whether or not to help Cyrus or shield Chase.
They were overexposed, all Feroxmalis had to do was charge into the open area and they were doomed. "Into the trees!" Bella called, seeing it all too clearly.
"The trees?!" Chase looked up at her, repeatedly darting his gaze around frantically, "we'll burn alive!"
"We're sitting ducks out here, where else can we go?!"
"Go! Run!" Cyrus barked, flicking his tail to send them off. Sweat pooling under his paws, he fought to keep Feroxmalis at bay while the other two ran for the burning trees. The creature was growing more pissed off by the minute, scampering around to avoid the incoming fire. Even though bullets did little to actually kill it, they caused enough pain to render evasive action. The fire alone brought great fear into the creature, but it was determined to finish what it had started, no matter what pieces of itself it lost in the process.
Backing up steadily, Cyrus's heart sank when the pop of his rifle went dry, leaving nothing but empty clicks. The flying bullet shells stopped, leaving him empty and powerless. A fearful noise slipped from the malinois as his ears flattened, his eyes widening in terror at realizing he was vulnerable.
Scraping its claws along the ground, Feroxmalis circled him as growls escaped from every orifice on its squirming body. The dead labrador in its shoulder suddenly reared to life, like Zuma's own soul was dragged up and shoved back into him. The puppy opened its mouth, and a screeching warcry emitted from it, while Feroxmalis hissed a small heave, almost a laugh. Down its lower back, the mangled body of Liberty emerged as if it was hatching from an egg. Firmly attached to Feroxmalis's hip, the Dachshund growled loudly as a tentacle slithered out of her mouth. The dogs they used to be were gone long ago, now infested and strung up inside the monster's bodily hivemind to be used like puppets.
Glancing back to see his companions had successfully fled, Cyrus turned back to the monstrosity, "you... freak of nature!"
Feroxmalis swiped its claw across the ground and roared, preparing to leap.
Thinking quickly, he snapped his paw to his vest and pulled a grenade. It was one of the few pieces of firepower he had left, with his rifle completely drained, and the only spare ammunition was back with the helicopters. This was his last grenade, and the only other thing he had was a silver revolver clipped to his waist, but it was nowhere near as strong as an assault rifle.
He grabbed the pin in his teeth and pulled it out, "eat this!" Flinging it was such force it made him dizzy, the small egg-shaped explosive sailed through the air and landed in the middle of the clearing. Having seen enough action to know the blast radius, Cyrus quickly turned tail and fled for the raging wildfires. Feroxmalis screeched and lunged at him, flying right over the active grenade. The explosive blast was deafening, a screeching crack through the air that made him flinch in his step.
He flew through the flaming brambles, burning his fur down to the skin. Instantly he coughed out smoke as he entered the dense fires, eager to find his companions.
With all the time he spent in fires and within explosions, Chase figured his body would grow more used to the scorching heat by now. He almost feared what it felt like to enter the cold this coming winter, assuming he survived the ordeal. Breathing heavily he darted under the flaming trees coughing out thick smoke.
"How did it even get this bad?!" Bella came to a stop beside him, her fur matted and scraped, "it didn't look anything like this in the photos Archline sent!"
"It fucking mutated!" Snarled the shepherd, "that's the problem with these stupid genetic labs, they think they have control but they really don't! That's how disease outbreaks are made!"
Even with her professionalism, the soldier couldn't help but agree, "you're... you're right." She breathed, "if it helps, the captain has given the word, we've pulled out of the job."
She was interrupted as Cyrus broke through the trees, his explosive movement startling Chase and causing him to jump under a bush, "I think I got it!" He said frantically, "I think- I think I-"
"Gaahk!" Bella choked, as a monstrous arm reached down from the tree branches, snatching her by the neck and pulling her off the ground. She lost the grip on her weapons, dropping them down below into a bed of flaming shrubbery.
"Bella!"
Chase shook under his breath as he witnessed his savior get dragged up into the trees. Struggling as hard as she could, she fought for her life as Feroxmalis lifted her into view, staring her down as it wrapped itself under the burning tree.
"No!" Cyrus pulled his revolver and shot it into the air. The bullet whizzed past Feroxmalis's neck, completely missing it. Although the shot tore into the tree, dislodging a massive cloud of embers and flaming leaves onto the creature. Screeching as painful burns shot all over its back, Bella was dropped to the ground as Feroxmalis jumped from the tree and landed on the forest floor.
Thinking of no other solution, the malinois panicked, "run!" But he was short-lived, as Feroxmalis swept its arm in a flash, catching Cyrus in the range and knocking him away. The dog's body harshly hit the trunk of a tree, the impact dislodging another rainshower of embers and flames. Cyrus was out, his weakened frame now laying a few feet away, his gun tossed out of his grip and fallen in the grass. He laid there sprawled out in the grass, his attack sparking an outbreak of terror among the remaining two dogs.
Frantic, Bella tried to dive for Cryus's dropped revolver. The creature heard her movements without even looking, prompting it to regurgitate a tentacle from its mouth and swing it like a whip. It caught the dog's leg and ensnared her, and the creature yanked its head backward to fling its prey off-balance. Bella shrieked as she left the ground and sailed through the air, slamming her against a tree.
The impact of Bella hitting the tree caused a chain reaction, the sudden force dislodging an avalanche of flaming branches and foilage, all collapsing into a massive bed of fire.
Chase watched the whole thing, anger slowly overcoming him at the realization that he would once again watch one of his friends be brutally killed. No longer thinking straight, the shepherd charged out from his concealment and went for the monster. Jumping teeth bared, he lunged for the creature, not exactly aiming for anywhere significant, just completely throwing himself at it. Snagging his teeth into the creature's leg, Feroxmalis whipped its head around in hostility. Lashing its claws, it grabbed Chase by the torso and yanked him off.
"Don't do that," Liberty's voice hissed from beneath its flesh. Its ribcage began to split down the middle, cracking and wheezing as it slowly opened.
Cracking open each of its ribs, its chest opened revealing a pulsating chunk of body mass. It resembled a tumor, yet it beat like a heart, with teeth lining each inner surface of the ribs. Dripping with crimson red blood and gore, an eye opened a few inches from the heart, then a second, then a third. Chase's anger died away as he stared into the bed of torment that was Feroxmalis's insides. The creature was heartless, yet it mutated far enough that it grew somewhat of an artificial "heart." It needed the organ to power its new body, and the termination of such a bodily function could be a setback. It wouldn't die if the heart stopped functioning, however, Feroxmalis was far above organic limitations.
"Tearing you apart is too good for you," Zuma's voice muttered from its shoulder, only to be replaced with Rubble, "you're going to stay with me forever. We will be one, and you will watch," it spat the last word, "as I rip apart and devour every last one of your city's inhabitants. Die well, dog."
The inner eyes all fixed onto Chase at the same time, as the pulsating heart began to shriek and writhe in agony. Dozens of small tendrils started to grow from it, reaching toward Chase with barbed tips. Now frantic, the shepherd struggled as hard as he could escape, but Feroxmalis refused to let him go.
A vicious bark broke through the air as Cyrus sprang up, holding a flaming branch in his teeth. Feroxmalis flicked its many eyes over to him, disinterested, and more solely focused on the puppy in its claws. It's ignorance would soon be replaced with agony, as Cyrus jumped into the air and rammed the branch directly into its festering chest, splicing its heart with the blistering burn of fire.
Screeching in pain from the attack, Feroxmalis recoiled and jumped backward, coming just a hair close to falling onto the recently created bed of fire. Gripping its chest in agony, the creature hunched over and started heaving. Even if it was highly resistant, it still felt pain just like any other living being.
"Chase!" Cyrus caught the puppy as he fell, "can you breathe?!"
The police dog staggered over his own words, slightly disoriented, "I- I think," his head fell back at little, and that was when Chase spotted the dropped revolver still sitting in the grass. "Cyrus, your gun!"
Now furious, Feroxmalis screeched and turned its gaze back to them. The pain in its chest mixing with its own rage, the monster bared its claws and sprang for the two dogs in an instant.
"Look out!" The captain cried, pushing Chase away at the last second.
The puppy tumbled in the ash-covered grass just as the malinois was tackled by the monster. Quickly he rolled on his side, scrambling for the gun and jumping for it. His paws landed on the metal firearm, it was slippy and humid from the heat. Feeling the weapon, immediately a wave of static entered Chase's head, but he ignored it. Gripping the firearm, he held it up in his paws and turned back to his captain, "Cyrus, I have your-" he stopped cold.
The malinois was helpless to physically fight off the might of the creature. In seconds he was retrained in the tendrils, and he was dragged up as the heart pulled him in.
"Cyrus!"
The soldier heard his call, trying to fight through the pain, "Chase, you need to- aaahh!" He screamed as the ribs closed into him, slowly impaling through his skin like they were eating him alive. Instantly, the heart inside got to work, beginning to slowly pull and rip away Cyrus's skin while the ribs held him in place. Feroxmalis merely purred through the ordeal, Zuma's body began laughing uproariously, like a twisted flicker of life still remained in it. Rubble and Liberty's voices could be heard laughing in tandem, all celebrating the brutal execution.
"Aaaahhhhh!" The soldier writhed in agony as his body was slowly eaten into, the heart mere moments from finally breaking through the muscle layer, "Chase! You need- ... you need to-"
"I-" the puppy was frozen in terror, "what am I supposed to do?!"
"You need-" even in his pain, Cyrus knew what had to be done. The heart was a weak point, not vital, but weak enough. Although now his body was acting as a meatshield for it, the ribs firmly holding him in place. Knowing what needed to happen, Cyrus had to make a difficult decision.
"You need..." he gritted his teeth, "you need to shoot through me!"
"What?!" Chase recoiled at the words.
"Shoot through me! You have to!"
Chase's heartbeat went frantic, his eyes widening while his ears drew back. Instantly all the sound in the world went silent, leaving him in a cold stasis of his thoughts.
All he could hear and think of was Skye.
He killed her, pulled the trigger on the cockapoo without a word. The regret and anguish that followed nearly ate him alive, forcing him to slowly overcome his own mistakes just to account for his past. Just when he thought it was all over, here he was again.
Taking another innocent life.
"I- I can't!" The puppy cried, "I can't kill you!"
"Do it!" Cyrus snarled angrily, desperately trying to hold out. The fires that burned around them only intensified, like a twisted audience eagerly awaiting the bloodshed.
"I-" Chase looked around frantically, briefly laying eyes upon Bella lying motionless a couple of feet away. She couldn't do it, it had to be him. Taking a deep, shaky breath, he held the gun up, aiming for Cyrus's chest. Paws shaking in fear, he found himself unable to pull the trigger. "Please, I don't want to do this!"
"You have to!" Cyrus was pleading now, "you ne- aaaagghhhh! Fin- finish it!"
"But I-" the puppy struggled to form words, Feroxmalis's own laughter beginning to feel the air. Malicious at heart, it slowly held Cyrus suspended, not outright killing him knowing the terror it would instill into the shepherd. It wanted to watch it all, feel it all, drink the fear like a powerful drug, and it wanted every last drop.
Fearfully holding the gun like a slippery animal trying to escape, the static in Chase's head blooming into a thunderstorm of chaos, fighting to keep him down. His mind flickered with memories and voices, images flashing while his claw was centimeters from the trigger. He saw nothing but Skye, the memory of her murder playing on repeat over and over, constantly forcing him to watch it again. In a twisted game of cruelty, his own mind replaced Skye with Marshall, then Rocky, making him witness himself murdering his own loved ones to tear his heart even more. Was he really a killer?
"Chase..." Skye's voice echoed in his ears, as he remembered her moving toward him.
"No!" Chase broke through it at the last minute, pulling the trigger.
The gunshot pierced through the air, tearing through Cyrus's body. "Ghh-" the soldier flinched as a coldness shot into him, exiting out his back. Feroxmalis screeched the loudest it ever had, its chest exploded outward in a cloud of blood and organic biomass. Its ribs shattered out, falling like broken pieces into the ashy ground, along with Cyrus as he was dropped.
Staggering backward, the creature gripped its bleeding chest with both hands, trying to fight through the pain that now surged through every bone and tentacle it had. It wouldn't die from it, but the shock had nearly paralyzed it, clouding its vision and buckling its limbs. Forced back to all fours, as it no longer had the strength to stand up, it made a feeble effort to cover the wound with its tentacles. It tried to roar out something in a stolen voice, but none of the bodies were responding, the mental connections frozen from the physical shock. All that left its mouth was a defiant screech, screaming as loud as it could as a final desperate attempt to ward off its attacks.
Chase dropped the gun and ran for Cyrus, tears already in his eyes.
Feroxmalis panicked and turned to run in a random direction, only for its leg to clip a fallen tree, tripping the entire creature. Seemingly in slow motion, the monster fell forward over the raging bed of fires, helpless to save itself. With a massive sound of splitting wood and raging fire, Feroxmalis crashed directly into the flames. In an instant, it lit up like a burning star, its flimsy body almost as flammable as paper. It could avoid fire before in small amounts, knowing the death it would bring, but Feroxmalis had nowhere to run to. In the time it took to get back on its feet, its body was already completely aflame.
Zuma's corpse caught fire, prompting it to flail its arms and hiss in rage. In mere seconds, it went limb, the labrador's carcass burning away to the skeleton underneath. Screaming in agony, using a mix of Rubble and Liberty's voices, it struggled to recalibrate its vision. It tried to use its tentacles to jump up the burned trees, but they had already burned black and fallen off, its tail included. It could already feel the fire burning into its organs, disintegrating its tendons and nerves leaving them as nothing but ash. As horrible pain flared through the monster, the fires eating away at its body, it meekly reached an arm into the air, trying to grab a tree. The rest of its limbs seemingly gave up, sprawled on the burning ground as the flames charred them to the bone. Reaching for any last escape, almost looking like it was reaching for the heavens, the arm finally gave up, falling lifelessly into the fire. The rest of the body collapsed, Feroxmalis's strength leaving it as the flames swallowed it whole.
The flames soon died down, revealing a blackened skeleton of a monstrous animal. All biomass was burned away, with not an ounce of blood or hair remaining. Every tentacle and tendril was gone, the dozens of eyes that stared into your soul vanished, its claws lifeless and unmoving. Even with the living flesh gone, the bones remained in the flames, the heat making short work of any possible molecule left of the parasite.
Feroxmalis was dead.
For all the damage it could escape, for all the attacks it could withstand, Feroxmalis could not survive fire. The terror, the bloodshed, the massacres, it was all finally over.
"Cyrus!" Chase cradled the soldier's head, as he was significantly larger in size. "Speak to me, please!"
The soldier gasped slightly, his eyes fading dull as his limbs and tail went limp.
"Cyrus!" He cried again, "I'm-" the puppy's voice cracked, "I'm so... so sorry!" Tears flooded from his eyes, "I'm so sorry..."
The trees began to collapse around them, the forest finally losing its stability from the fire.
"I'm sorry..." he whimpered, holding the larger dog. Fearfully looking around, he saw only the fires crashing down. For a moment, he considered running away. It would probably save his life, but he had no idea where to go. The last time he was here, he used Feroxmalis's roars to find his way back, and last time there definitely wasn't a forest fire. He thought of Marshall and Rocky, his last remaining family. They were in the care of the ACG, no further harm would come to them. Sadly looking back down at the fallen soldier, he knew what he had to do. He didn't want to leave them like this, but perhaps his family could remember him by his loyalty, to end on a good note. Something to overwrite the horrible memory of Skye's death.
Dogs were loyal to their masters, from the moment they were first held, to the final minutes of their lives. It was a doctrine they stuck to, proudly upholding the title of "man's best friend." But who was Chase's master? It wasn't Ryder, not after all this, and what was a dog without an owner? It wasn't Rocky or Marshall, and Chase refused to call himself an owner. It was practically taboo for a dog to do so.
That left Cyrus.
The captain had been there from the beginning, he tried time and time again to protect Chase from the horror that Feroxmalis would bring. The puppy didn't listen, and by knowing too much, innocents died. Cyrus protected him as much as he could and saved his life from the creature's grip. He wasn't an owner, nor a master, but Chase couldn't deny he saw the captain as his leader more than Ryder ever was.
Sighing softly, the sorrow bleeding from his breath, Chase gently folded his limbs and settled down in the grass, resting his chin on the soldier's arm. The sounds of splitting wood signaled the trees were falling, as the sky blotted out from the smoke. Closing his eyes, Chase accepted the end, knowing that the deed was done. The horror, the static, the screams, it was all over for good.
While the flames fell, a helicopter zoomed overhead, coming to a stop as it hovered. Multiple dogs could be heard barking orders, but Chase didn't care to listen. Resting beside his leader, he gently smiled in contentment as the forest crashed on top of them.