Disclaimer: I'm just gonna confess right here. I started watching The Owl House for my second time watching through it earlier this year, and at the time of writing this chapter, Young Blood, Old Souls is my favorite episode of that show. So while Flare was always intended to be proactive when it came to her trauma or fixing her mistakes, or being thrust into danger either willfully or unintentionally, her epic moments in this chapter are largely inspired by how pumped I was watching Luz absolutely carry that episode on her back.

And yes; until she kills the demon who infected her and Chase, the only thing that can kill her is her head getting cut off by a strong enough blade, or a gunshot to her head. Just like the demon blood Rocky, Charm, and Richie have in them, except it can be taken out of them entirely under one specific circumstance.

Also, I don't own Paw Patrol.

Paw Patrol X

Demon Defense arc episode nineteen: Dead Once, Born Again Part Two

A hallway in Slash's base was shown with two demons guarding the door to the exit, and the two were resting before they noticed something that alerted them. It was Flare, and she was rushing for them with a look on her face that told them she meant business. They went into battle mode and charged at her, but Flare was ready. She reached for her knife and slid underneath the demons. She also slashed at one of their legs, disabling them and then shooting them in the head. This led to them dying before the next demon charged at her, only to get shot.

Flare then burst through the doors and entered the a corridor that had several demons who all looked at her. She readied herself as they all charged, going for the demon on the right and jumping off of them. She shot the demon in front of her and ran onward, and then remembered she had to get to the second floor to reach the weapons room. She used a holy water grenade and threw it at the ground, covering her eyes as it went off, and then taking out her grappling hook.

Flare took out another demon with her knife as it lunged at her, shooting it before jumping off of it to reach higher ground. Several demons jumped at Flare, and she used her infection to use the demons as stepping places to reach a pipe. Once she grabbed onto it, she shot at the demons she jumped on, only for one more of the to slash at the pipe she was on. She lost her balance, but then took out her grappling hook and went for an opening in the ceiling. She aimed it just right and hooked onto the roof, rising up and reaching the second floor.

Flare was met by some more demons, dodging under the slash of one and stabbing them in the chest. She then threw that demon at another demon after dodging it's slash, throwing it off and shooting it in the face. After slashing the next demon's neck, she saw the weapons room door and went for it. Another demon teleported in front of her, which startled her. She quickly recovered however and jumped over the slash, slashing at the demon's head and cutting it off herself.

Flare did feel bad about killing these demons, since they used to be real wolves. But she knew she couldn't save all of them. Finding the demons who infected them would take too long. She instead kicked the weapons room door open and found a Kishu carrying a sword in there. It wasn't Trickery, but a different Kishu. She charged at the Kishu, who held the blade and slashed at Flare, only for Flare to deflect it with the knife. She then kicked the Kishu back, making her drop the sword and sending her into a wall. She then saw that there were no demons present.

Flare walked up to the Kishu, shooting at the wall when she tried to reach another weapon to fight with. She glared at the Kishu as she made it very clear what she wanted. "Where. Is. Paleclaw?" The Kishu quivered in fear, but Flare didn't have time to care about that. She wasn't going to kill her since she wasn't a demon, but she showed the Kishu a piece of paper she had in her backpack. "Draw me a map! Make it quick!" And with that, the Kishu made a map for where Flare had to go to find Paleclaw. "Thanks."

Flare accepted the map and walked off with the Kishu warning her how dangerous her mission was. "You don't know what you're getting into!"

Flare looked back while pointing at her infection and declaring her refusal to give up. "I have a pretty darn good idea." Flare's made up mind was made clear as she continued with her mission to find Paleclaw and save her friends, and her brother. This gave the Kishu a clear idea as to what Flare was willing to go through in order to save those she cared about. Not even something with next to no hope attached to it would stop her from moving forward the best she could.

Rocky and Charm reached the arena in the elevator, and Rocky burst out once it opened, gasping for air with Charm giving a proud grin. After he caught his breath, he walked onward with Charm while complaining about what he did in there. "Jesus Charm! You don't fart in a confined area during a serious mission!"

"You and your friends did it plenty of times before; now's MY turn." Charm started with a smug grin, making Rocky sigh as Charm then wondered why Slash was leading him and Rocky to the arena. "Why would Slash want us in the arena anyway?"

"Oh Charm. You don't have to ask." Charm pressed a button on the main computer that turned the lights on and revealed himself. Rocky and Charm held their guard up for whatever he had planned. And after the shutters opened and revealed him standing over the arena, he pulled up a microphone that everyone in the building could here. "Canines and demons of all over the globe! Tonight I present to you, my two sons! Rocky and Charm Ralston!"

Rocky and Charm instantly got triggered by that with Rocky quickly correcting the use of his old last name. "I go by Rocky Goodway now!"

"Fascinating." Slash deadpanned, and then he continued with his announcement, having an absolute delight as he embraced just how evil he was. "This past month has had quite the stretch of build up! Not only have three members of the Paw Patrol been infected, but my own sons have teamed up against me to 'save their friends', and the citizens of Wolfland!" Flare and Richie were also shown listening closely on their own ends as Slash continued. "However, I don't regret to inform anyone in this building that things are about to take a turn for the worse."

Slash chuckled devilishly as he then announced exactly what he was going to have Charm and Rocky do. "That's right! I, Slash Ralston, am going to bring you all the show of a lifetime! A battle for the ages! The tragedy to make all tragedies redundant! This! Is!" Slash pressed a button on the device he was holding, leading to the spotlight being placed on Rocky and Charm. "Battle of the Ralston brothers! Courtesy of Slash Ralston and his demon army."

Rocky and Charm clenched their fists and glared at their father, and Charm smirked as he taunted him. "Ha! You're even dumber than the first page of your journal made you look! If you truly think we're going to fight during a mission to stop you, then you clearly got hit on your head too many times as an infant!"

Charm laughed a bit before Slash pressed another button that lowered three demons who were trapped in cages. Upon close inspection, Rocky and Charm discovered that these demons were Chase, Marshall, and Zuma! Charm quickly noticed how completely devoid of themselves they were. They didn't even have personalities like him. They were just... pawns of Slash. This changed Charm's mood drastically, and he was quick to insult Slash in place of the speechless Rocky. "YOU DIE TODAY YOU DEMON OBSESSED FREAK!"

Slash's sadistic grin made it clear that the horrified look on Rocky's face, and the enraged look on Charm's, were exactly what he wanted to see. "Who said I was giving you a choice? Come on now! Duke it out for your father!" Rocky and Charm looked at each other with concern, knowing that Slash had to be planning something bigger alongside this.

Richie was rushing down the hallway to reach Rocky and Charm as he threw another demon to the side before spotting Flare kicking another demon into the wall. He quickly noticed her infection, since the side of the slash that caused it was in his view. He ran up to her, and she noticed him as well and did the same. He instantly showed concern regarding her infection. "Flare! Thank God you're still kicking. Do you remember the name of the demon who infected you?"

"Yes. It was Dora." Flare revealed, and Richie kept track of that. Now he had two friends to save by taking out Dora: Chase, and Flare. Flare made her mission clear regarding her infection. "We can't go after her yet though. I have to find Paleclaw. This infection will give me at least a chance at defeating them."

Richie couldn't help but become concerned at that, knowing that Paleclaw was the strongest of all the demons Slash had. "You're really gonna go through with killing him?" Flare's determined nod showed that she was serious. She also showed Richie the map, which gave him a good idea on where to go from here. "Okay. If you're sure. But I'm going after the demons who infected our friends as soon as I save Rocky and Charm."

"Good to know." Flare responded, and then she put the map away with a request for Richie. "And after you save them, tell them I'm sorry I didn't come with you."

"I'm sure they'll understand." Richie assured Flare, rubbing her head to let her know that he cared about her. "Be careful Flare. Paleclaw's not like the rest of the demons." Flare gave Richie a thumbs up, showing that she was on it. She and Richie then rushed off to fulfill their goals with Richie hoping he could reach Rocky and Charm in time. Flare also hoped he could reach Paleclaw and take them down. She couldn't bare the thought of Marshall, or her friends, being trapped as a demon forever.

Flare continued looking for Paleclaw, and went at a slower pace now that she was in a calmer room to think her route out clearly. She looked at the map the Kishu drew for her and got a good layout of the third floor thanks to it. 'So they're really close to the main office then. I might be able to help take out Slash after I take care of Paleclaw.' Flare put the map away and took out her knife once she heard more demons in the stairway. She wasn't about to let them stop her, and she burst through the door and stabbed the first one she saw to show she meant business.

The demons all noticed Flare and charged at her, only for her to activate another holy water grenade and blind them with it. Two of the demons fell on her, and she kicked them off and jumped off another to reach the third floor. Another demon was waiting for her with it's arms crossed and slashed at her, which she deflected with the knife and climbed up to fight it. She back flipped to evade it's next slash and took out her gun, shooting it with the demon teleporting just in time.

Flare made a break for the door, breaking through it and slamming it shut on the demon's face as it tried to lunge at her and pin her down. She then took out some string and rigged the door with two holy water grenades to blind the demons with. She knew they could break the door down easily, and ran just as the one she fought started ramming it. She resisted the urge to look back and ran onward, allowing her to resist the holy water grenades blinding the other demons. That would at least keep them off her back long enough to let her get to Paleclaw.

Rocky and Charm were refusing to fight with Slash getting annoyed at their defiance as Rocky spoke against him again. "It's not happening dad! Charm may have done a lot of terrible things to me and my friends, but I'm still not gonna fight him for your amusement!"

Charm stood next to Rocky, showing that he was more determined to take Slash down than he ever would be fighting Rocky. "And this is what I was talking about. Did you really think he'd want to do this while we were working together?"

Slash pressed another button on his device, and when Rocky and Charm saw the cages spawning guns next to them, they were terrified as Slash spoke up again. "Perhaps a little unfriendly wager will change your minds. If you two don't start brawling, then I'll make sure your little friends here have no chance of ever being turned back. Not that I'd ever give it to them anyway! So come on! Have your first instance of that brotherly fighting you never got to do!"

Slash laughed a bit with Rocky and Charm looking at each other with concern. They both knew what they had to do, and Rocky made that clear. "As soon as we see a solid opportunity to get our friends out of there, we take it." If only they could've predicted what they were both going to feel next.

Charm glared at his father again, clenching his fists as he nodded to Rocky for a warning. "Great minds think alike." Charm punched Rocky in the gut before roundhouse kicking him and sending him back. Rocky regained his balance with Charm charging at him, and suddenly, something sparked in the two brothers. It was as if all of their emotions spiraled out of control and led them into an irrational rage. This was further evident when Charm pinned Rocky to the ground and started punching him while calling out. "That's for letting Slash keep our mother from me!"

Rocky stopped the fourth punch and put his feet under Charm's stomach. He then kicked him off as he called over to him next. "That's for her NOT being your mother when you killed her!" It was very clear these two had a lot of emotions they needed to let out, whether they were rational or not. The two brothers charged at each other with Rocky ducking under Charm's punch before tackling him. He then kicked him back as he called out again. "And that's for getting Bloodfreak to pupnap Zuma!"

Rocky charged at Charm again, and Charm moved his head to dodge his punch before kneeing him in the stomach. He then threw him to the ground after grabbing his paw and made him slide for a bit as he did. "That's for hesitating to shoot me when I attacked Dragon's Hamlet!" Rocky flinched in response to that. Why would Charm be angry about not killing him? He didn't have time to think about it however, and blocked Charm's kick and ducked under his punch before colliding another one with him.

Slash grinned devilishly at the sight of the two canines fighting. This was well worth the wait in his eyes, and his chuckle made it clear that he was enjoying himself. "That's sibling rivalry for ya. Full of stupidity and violence."

Richie was sneaking past the demons on the third floor of Slash's base, knowing that fighting them off would alert Slash of his presence growing near. He managed to avoid touching any of the demons, but he still had to be as stealthy as could be when entering the door. So he took another demon, this one being the other demon he had to take out; Christian. He walked with the demon over to the door that was straight at the end of the hall. Thanks to Charm showing him, Flare, and Rocky the base blueprints, he knew what this door led to. "I'll find Dora later."

Richie entered the room quietly with the demon and closed the door just as silently as he entered. He then spread some holy fire on the ground just like he did for Rex. After he knew the demon was trapped, he spotted Slash and took his gun out to finish him off once and for all. As soon as he fired however, Slash caught the bullet in his mouth by backing up his head, shocking Richie and ending his demonic invisibility powers. Slash then took the bullet out and chuckled devilishly in response to it.

Slash then spoke bombastically again as he gazed at Richie, who fired again, only for Slash to teleport away from the bullet. "Young, naive Richie. Surely you know by now that your father bringing me back gave me the demonic powers you still lack."

Richie growled in response with his hair turning from white to black, showing that he was going at Slash with full force. "Then let's see if the powers I DO have can make up for that!" Richie dashed at Slash, who blocked his dash kick and grinned sadistically as he took out his knife and got ready to fight for real.

Slash dashed at Richie, who took out his sword and deflected his knife. He back flipped away from Slash before colliding multiple slashes with him, ducking under his last slash and aiming a jumping spin kick on him. Slash grabbed his foot after that, leading to Richie stabbing the ground with his sword and aiming a kick at him with his other foot. Slash blocked this punch and kicked Richie back. Richie held on tightly to his sword and sliced part of the ground with it.

Slash then teleported to Richie's side, leading to Richie blocking another one of his kicks, only to slide near the window as a result. He couldn't help but notice Rocky and Charm fighting in the arena. At first, he was worried Charm had relapsed somehow. But then he sensed anger in Rocky's eyes as well. The anger felt the same, like both brothers were using Slash's malicious actions as a means to vent now. Despite wanting to stop this, he had to focus on Slash's assault, charging and slashing at him, only for Slash to grab his sword and smirk as he looked at Richie

Flare continued making her way to Paleclaw's main room, and she was getting rather close thanks to the distraction she left on the staircase door. She got one last look at her map, and she was able to confirm that this was the right door. She didn't have any time to waste, kicking the door down and catching Paleclaw's attention. They were sharpening one of their claws on something, which Flare noticed and took her knife out to respond. "I hate to do this Paleclaw, but you and I both know what has to be done!"

Paleclaw nodded in response, showing that they still had a small sense of humanity inside of them. This made Flare flinch, only for Paleclaw to snap her out of it by charging at her. Flare ducked and kicked Paleclaw back, attempting to slash at them before they teleported away. Flare then rolled forward, knowing that Paleclaw was gonna teleport behind her. She then jumped up onto a table in the room as Paleclaw tried to aim a charging slash at her. She then slashed at them, only for Paleclaw to turn around and grab Flare's arm and throw her across the room.

Flare's back landed on another table and led to her sliding over it, hitting her head on the next table over as she did. Thanks to her demon infection, it didn't kill her, but it still hurt like crazy. She rebounded the best she could and rolled out of the way of Paleclaw's next stab. With Paleclaw's claws now stuck in the ground, Flare charged at them and stabbed them in the shoulder. Despite it being a clean hit, Paleclaw kicking her away and healing made it clear that the wound wasn't fatal.

Flare saw now that she had to strike Paleclaw in a spot where she knew it would kill them. She got right back up and the two charged at each other with Flare dodging another slash. She attempted to slash at Paleclaw, only for them to teleport again and attempt to slash at her. Flare deflected a slash from the right, leading to Paleclaw teleporting again. Flare managed to deflect the next three slashes no problem; the first from the back, then from above, then from the left. The next one was an upward slash, and Flare deflected it while jumping and using it's force.

Flare grabbed onto a ceiling lamp and jumped onto it, jumping off as soon as Paleclaw slashed at it. She landed on another lamp, and when she saw the first one break in half, she darted down at Paleclaw, and then at a circle lamp across the room. She knew exactly what to do and jumped to the next lamp just in time. She jumped to the next lamp right after that, and made her way right to the circle one. Flare then slashed at the lamp and back flipped off of it as she saw Paleclaw jump at her.

The lamp barely evaded Paleclaw's slash and landed right on their head, causing them to get stunned from the sudden impact of the lamp. As soon as this happened, Flare's feet touched the wall, and she jumped at Paleclaw while clenching the knife tightly in her paw. She aimed her stab and hit Paleclaw directly in the heart, causing them to fall to the ground with her as she pinned them down. Flare started to catch her breath, showing remorse for what she did. Despite knowing she had to do it, she knew Paleclaw was a good canine. "I wish I could've saved you Paleclaw."

Soon after she started catching her breath, she saw Paleclaw turning back to normal. Despite the tears in their eyes, they gave Flare a thumbs up, showing that they knew she did what she had to do. That was their last action before dying right then and there, leading to Flare putting the knife away and holding back her tears as she spoke again. "I'm sorry Zuma." Flare closed Paleclaw's eyes and gave them the best rest she could. Then, she dashed off, knowing she had to hurry to the main office.

Rocky and Charm were still fighting in the arena, and both were shown to be bleeding a little on their faces. At the same time, Marshall and Zuma were changing back thanks to Flare killing Paleclaw. The two ended up falling to their knees, and they recaptured their surroundings as they realized what happened. After realizing that they weren't demons anymore, they noticed each other with Marshall calling over to Zuma. "Zuma, you're back! And so am I! Are you okay!?"

Zuma got a good look around the place, having a good feeling where they were as he did. "I think so." Zuma then saw Chase's demon right next to his. He started to get worried as he saw him glaring in his direction. "So you and Chase got infected too, huh?" Marshall nodded his head yes, and then the two friends noticed Rocky and Charm fighting below them. They both became horrified for Rocky's safety, and Rocky called down to him to get his attention. Zuma's cry of fear was enough to get Rocky to snap out of his trance for a bit. "Wocky!"

Rocky looked up at Zuma and showed immense relief over him being turned back. He was also ecstatic to see that Marshall was saved as well. Charm's next kick in the stomach however, reminded him that he was still in battle. Zuma called down to him again, knowing that he couldn't defeat Charm on his own. He still wasn't aware that this was for a totally different reason than hatred. "Wocky, please! Get out of there! I can't lose you again!"

What Rocky and Charm shouted next after grunting while staring each other down however, helped Marshall and Zuma see what this really was. "We're not, done!"

Marshall and Zuma then heard Richie and Slash fighting and looked back to see them in the main office. Marshall called to Richie, hoping that he could help them get out. "Richie! Zuma and I got turned back! We have to find Chase and Rex's demons and get out of here!"

Richie gave a thumbs up in response while still focusing on the battle, aiming a sword slash at Slash, and then dashing past him just fast enough to grab his remote. As soon as Slash noticed that he had it, Richie crushed the remote and threw it on the ground, breaking it completely. This made it impossible for Slash to set off the guns aimed at Chase, Marshall, and Zuma remotely. Richie then gripped his sword and continued fighting Slash off. Marshall and Zuma nodded to each other, knowing that now was their chance to at least try and escape to help.

Flare was running on the third floor to reach the others, and in the hallway, she got a glimpse of Rocky and Charm fighting. After observing the room, she saw Marshall and Zuma trying to escape and knew she had to help them. She jumped up into the floorboards to get some stealth from the ceiling. She still had to wait on ending her demon infection, knowing she still needed the extra strength and durability to take on Slash if need be.

Rocky and Charm were still fighting down below, and Rocky spoke up about his motives as he punched Charm to the ground. "It meant everything to me when I learned that I could help you."

Charm got up and punched Rocky in the face, causing him to stumble back a bit with Charm adding something to that statement. "And it meant everything to me that you wanted to."

Rocky and Charm then walked up to each other, putting their paws on their shoulders while looking at each other lovingly. It was clear that their need to vent from the fight was done, and now they could focus entirely on the mission again. Rocky also offered one declaration that he knew would help the both of them. "Brothers?"

"Yes." Charm responded with immense joy, and the two hugged each other while shedding tears of joy. "Brothers forever." Marshall and Zuma also took note of two embracing as they kept looking for a way out of their cages. Zuma was happy for Rocky and was glad that he was able to reconcile with Charm after so long. Marshall however, tried to be happy, but it was clear he was still struggling to forgive Charm after all he's done.

Slash noticed the fight ending as well after getting sent back by another one of Richie's kicks. He wasn't angry however. Instead, he spoke into the microphone again with glee and energy after barely dodging one of Richie's sword slashes. "Oh well. All good things must come to an end I suppose."

Flare was in the ceiling as Slash started his announcement, doing her best to stay quiet as she heard the rest of what Slash had to say. "No matter. I was going to kill you all once I got bored anyway!" Flare became horrified over that for a brief moment, but bounced back just as fast and continued moving. As she did, she noticed a piece of the base crack, leading to her realizing how fragile the ceiling was. She punched the ceiling flooring, making sure to only open up a small crack she could peek through. That's when she looked at the room from the ceiling.

Flare noticed that the cages Chase, Marshall, and Zuma were in were right below her. She knew she could get to Marshall's if she planned this right. She punched the flooring again and allowed herself to descend. Everyone else noticed the floor crack as Flare then grabbed onto the chain to Marshall's cage. She slid down with Richie keeping Slash busy by blinding him with a holy water grenade. Flare took the gun that was aimed at Marshall and tossed it to him. "Don't worry. We'll find the demon who infected me and Chase too."

As scared as Marshall was, he nodded in response with Charm picking up the gun and putting it away before taking out Trickery's deck of cards. As he did this, Flare unlocked Marshall's cell with her knife and then jumped over to Zuma's. Marshall held onto his cell as Flare then used her knife to unlock Zuma's cell. "You've been infected for a while Zuma. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm okay. Physically anyway." Zuma responded, knowing he'd need to talk to someone about what being a demon was like. Just then, Rocky and Charm rose up to the canines on a ground platform, amazing the three of them quite a lot. "Whoa! Sick wide Chawm dude!" Zuma then realized that could sound weird due to the team's history with Charm. "Is it cool if I call you dude now."

"Only if I can refer to you as the only member of the team illiterate enough to be a stoner." Charm replied with a sly grin and deadpan voice, leaving Zuma to shrug in response, since he could tell it was a joke. "Anyway, those windows are almost impossible to break. We'll have to go back the way Flare came to get out of here without Slash stopping us."

Marshall looked down to the ground before looking up at the ceiling Flare came through. He was scared, and gulped to show that, but he knew there wasn't much choice. "Any chance you have another one of those fancy platform rising cards?"

Charm revealed another card to Marshall's request, leaving Rocky to point out another detail they'd have to remember. "That ceiling looked pretty easy to break. We'll have to go one at a time." The others nodded, ready to do whatever it took to stop Slash. Marshall also looked at Chase's demon with hope, showing that he believed they would be able to save him soon.

A few minutes later, Flare and the others were heading off to the hall to Slash's office, which, by some miracle, still had no demons roaming it. Charm also had a request for the others regarding how they took Slash down. As he was about to say it however, Flare looked back to him and smiled as she responded. "And yes Charm. You can be the one to kill Slash." Charm was surprised by that, but Flare then looked ahead as she stated something else. "But I'm not letting you and Richie fight alone.

Marshall noticed Flare's infection start to get closer, but not quite as close as it did before. He comforted his sister to advise her on what to do next. "Just make sure you do it before the end of your third hour." Flare nodded in response, taking out her knife and showing that she was ready for anything.

Richie and Slash were still fighting with Richie back flipping away from Slash's sword slice, only for his demon powers to start reaching their end. He fell to his knee as he started to get overwhelmed, showing he still hadn't mastered his demon powers yet. Slash showed disappointment, wishing he got to spend more time fighting with Richie. "Hmm. What a pity. You did so well until now."

Just then, Flare burst into the room with the others right behind her. Rocky and Charm also stood next to her with Marshall and Zuma knowing this was their battle. Richie's powers then wore off as he told Slash one part he seemingly missed. "I hope the fact that I didn't come alone increases my grade."

Slash ignored Richie's comment as he then started approaching the canines while taunting Flare's high level of compassion. "I've learned quite a lot about you from my research Flare. Are you sure you don't want to talk?"

"Talk to the knife ditch!" Flare exclaimed, throwing her knife at Slash, who then went to pick it up before Flare charged forward and jumped up. Flare took two holy water grenades, and just as Slash noticed her, she pulled the pins on both of them and slammed them together, creating a massive explosion that sent both herself and Slash back. Flare made sure to close her eyes before this, and despite stumbling a bit, was able to keep her balance. Rocky and Charm then charged at Slash as Flare ran for her knife so she could continue helping in the fight.

Slash recovered his vision a little too late, as Charm managed to kick him in the chest and send him back. Rocky then took his own knife out and aimed a slash at him, only for Slash to grab his wrist and slam him on the ground. This made Rocky yelp before Slash kicked him across the room. Charm caught Rocky before taking his gun out and shooting at Slash, who teleported away from all three of his gunshots. Charm put his gun away before throwing Rocky aside and dodging Slash's roundhouse kick.

Flare then rushed in with her knife and attempted to slice at Slash with her knife, only for Slash to teleport away again. Flare blocked his side kick once he reappeared and then groaned before complaining about his battle tactics. "Ugh, demons are obsessed with teleporting; do something new already!"

"Very well then." Slash snapped his fingers before Charm placed another card down, which led to Slash getting wrapped up in chains. As soon as he was however, several demons appeared in the room to fight back. Marshall and Zuma nodded and escaped the room, knowing that getting infected again would make the others' efforts pointless.

Marshall closed the door and made a call to Richie on his pup-tag to let the others know their plan. "Richie. We'll leave the demons to you guys. Do you know where Rex's demon is?"

Richie shot at Christian before answering, knowing that Rex would be smart enough to stay put and avoid the demons where he was. "He's in a storage closet on the first floor! Take the vents; you can use the downward passages in the ducts to your advantage! We'll find Chase's infection demon as soon as we can!"

"Got it. Thanks." Marshall ended the call and nodded to Zuma, the two of them rushing off to find Rex's demon. Zuma felt bad for leaving Rocky behind after having only recently been reunited, but like Marshall, he knew it would be best for the four who were immune to handle the fight from here on out. For now, all they could do was rush off to find Rex's demon.

Little did they all know however, that one of the forty demons in the room was the first demon Flare noticed the name of: Dora. She used a holy water grenade and threw Dora to the other side of the room. "Richie! Blue fire that one! We're saving her for last!" Richie nodded and ran over to Dora, allowing them all to focus on the other thirty nine demons. Slash decided to sit back and watch the show, confident that an almost ten times greater number count could ware the others out enough to help him kill them later.

Just as Richie said, Rex was still in the storage closet, and he awoke as his normal Bernese Mountain Dog self. He was shocked by his new surroundings, just like Marshall and Zuma were earlier. He wasn't sure what to do, but he knew now wasn't the time to try and escape. He then started thinking to himself about why he was in here. He didn't think Slash would trap him in here away from all the other demons. He didn't seem like someone who would cut corners or drop something when he didn't have to. Charm alone was enough proof of how calculative he was.

After thinking about it for about ten more seconds, Rex came to the conclusion that the Paw Patrol were now in the building and were working to save him and the others. When he heard the demons outside, it was a clear indication that he shouldn't move from his spot. The holy fire surrounding him made it clear he was put there until it was time to leave. He decided to just wait it out, knowing that any other decision would be a foolish one in comparison.

He sure hoped the others were okay, and the more he thought about it, the more worried he got. Flare, Marshall, Rocky, even Charm had him worried. And all he could do now was hope that everyone made it out okay. One suspenseful second at a time.

To be continued.

A black screen was shown with the title of the next chapter appearing on it as Flare, Charm, and Rocky said the name. "Next time, Dead Once, Born Again, Part three!"