For a facility hiding within the depths of the Earth, its white-walled corridors were pristinely designed. Rocky felt as if he were walking through a palace, his awe never fading as traversed deeper into the complex. Every door was made of shining glass, every floor so clean he could see his reflection, all accented with paint that formed symmetrical designs as they walked. More dogs appeared the further he was led in, they passed by several animals in white coats completing various tasks. The Shibi Inu at the front desk nodded to him, the two mutts carrying a locked container quickly parted to let them through, and Rocky snuck a glance into an officer room where a Rottweiler was hunched over a desk, typing away on a computer.

"Welcome to Site 16." Dutch said aloud, glistening pride in his voice.

"I appreciate the tour." Rocky muttered, uneasily following the executive. "How many of these places do you have?"

"Enough. But this one is special, being the home of our most successful projects yet."

"Which are?"

Passing through a doorway, the two dogs crossed a large catwalk, overlooking a massive room where dozens of animals were scampering like rats. Large, blocky machines were set up all around, dispensing and retrieving test tubes on command. Rocky spotted a table where at least four of the workers were huddled around a computer, one of them pointing at the screen and talking aloud. Squinting his eyes, Rocky slowed his pace, coming to look over the railing.

"The honor to be God, be Rocky." Dutch seemed to read the captain's interest. "The dominion over all life, down to the manipulation of its very cells. It's a honor that's rightfully ours."

"Liberty did say you were genetic researchers."

"Liberty knew nothing," Dutch scoffed. "How can one undersell us with such a... basic title?" He came to the railing as well, looking over the researchers with glinting eyes. "With achievements like ours, we deserve more than some pathetic label, we deserve..." he thought for a moment. "To be worshipped."

"You're just a dog, Dutch." Rocky faced him, "just as I am, and every other dog in the world."

A faint twitch went through the executive. "I could prove you wrong so easily." He gestured for Rocky to follow, leading him away from the view. An unnerving feeling followed him as he moved, a twisted light beginning to emit from the leader in front of him. He couldn't get Chase or Marshall out of his mind, both his brothers taken away into the unknown, how many friends was he supposed to lose today? He was already stolen from the protective arms of the ACG, and now his family was likely gone as well.

"Go have a seat," Dutch said, opening the door to a meeting room and beckoning for Rocky to enter. He held a firm, frozen gaze onto the mix with every step he made, eyeing him as he walked in. The room alone wasn't anything special, just a large table with a couple chairs. A few shelves and smaller tables lined the edge, some holding an array of fake plants and even a small coffee machine.

Following him like a prowling coyote, Dutch shut the door behind him. "Thirsty?"

Rocky placed himself in one of the chairs, trying to shake the curling feeling his chest. "No... thank you."

"Oh come now," Dutch walked to the coffee machine. "It's rude to deny the feeding hand of the superior."

Superior? Rocky's eyes narrowed slightly at Dutch's wording. Who did this Malinois think he was? "No, really. I'm not that thirsty..."

"Figures. Don't know why I expected anything out of a low-class mutt."

"Why did you take me all the way in here?" Rocky flattened in his ears, growing agitated.

Dutch rolled his eyes, moving to the front of the table where his signature place stood. "If you're the only reasonable one, and I seriously hope you are, then maybe you're good enough to ask a few questions." He said, taking his seat. "That shepherd you travel with is quite skilled in starting fights he can't finish."

"He's my brother."

"No he isn't," Dutch said flatly. "Your breeds are too different, Rocky. It's genetically impossible."

"Maybe so, but he's more of a sibling than anyone else could've been. Marshall too."

"After what you endured in your little tower, I suppose so." Dutch raised an eyebrow, speaking with an unnervingly icy tone. "How does such a bland group of animals take down a perfect bioweapon?"

"We had help, and we had each other." Rocky glared at him. "That was all we needed."

"Admirable words, but if you were really that effective," the dark animal chuckled. "Then maybe the rest of the PAW Patrol would still be alive."

Rocky's composure slipped for a split-second, his lips curling in a violent twitch. His claws unsheathed automatically, fur sticking up in grey spikes. His anger was clearly visible, a sight that made Dutch grin. "Maybe so," He hissed, his voice rising. "But Feroxmalis is dead. Fuck you, and your twisted experiments. You failed."

"Did we?" Dutch smirked. "Sure, it's dead... that one, at least."

His words hung in the air for a moment, Rocky almost brushing past them until they floated into his ears. There was a moment of processing, then delivered a revelation that made him freeze in his place.

"Wait..." Rocky stared. "What do you mean... 'that one?' Liberty told me you designed the creature from the ground up." His voice filled with terror. "Are there... are there more?!"

"I was surprised too." Said the executive. "I was beyond angry about Feroxmalis's death, but as the years went on, we made an... interesting discovery." He leaned back in his chair, eyes willing with awestruck wonder. "We found it, Rocky. We found it and we've never looked back since."

"Found what?" Asked the mix, noticeably on edge.

Dutch leaned forward, flashing his captive a malicious grin. "The Omnihive. And once we made contact, nothing was ever the same again."

"What the hell is an Omnihive?!"

"Liberty didn't lie to you, Rocky." Dutch ignored the question. "Well... maybe halfway. It was actually us who lied, couldn't let her know too much. We did design Feroxmalis, modified its genetic code for months, but we didn't directly engineer it to life. It was a creature we discovered; a parasite uncovered in the deepest parts of the Earth. The only bioweapon we built entirely from scratch was the Mentiarga, that thing was all our creation. Shame it's gone now, but fate requires sacrifice to bring the greater good. Just as billions must die for a single messiah to bring the light into the world."

He watched Rocky's horrified expression with amusement, enjoying the effect it was having on him. "So, we took the Feroxmalis parasite and assumed it was some anomaly, some... unexplainable creature of origin. Maybe it was a prehistoric creature that survived extinction? An extraterrestrial, even? We didn't know, we just ran with it. After we received word that Feroxmalis was destroyed, we pulled together what little we had left and returned to where he found it. We were hoping we could maybe find a whole new one, and we dug for several years. And that was when we discovered something none of us could've ever expected: The Omnihive, deep within the Earth's mantle... and then everything clicked together."

"Their home world, Rocky." Dutch said, making sure his words dug into the mix. "The mother hive is just sitting underneath us all this time! Feroxmalis somehow slipped through the cracks, leading to its discovery, none of us actually realized there was such a goldmine was lying under our feet."

"No!" Rocky suddenly stood up, his body overtaken with horror. "You fucking lunatic, don't you even begin to me that there's more!" It couldn't be, it was impossible, surely it was some horrid joke. In that moment, all the peace Rocky had pulled together, all the inner solace that took years to build up, the endless therapy to quell his nightmares, the feeling of moving on and accepting the past, all shattered in an instant. "There aren't more of them, we killed that one and-"

"There are, Rocky." Dutch smirked. "I saw it myself, and they've become our new signature project."

"You're... you're going to unleash an army!?"

"Oh please, that's just barbaric." The CEO waved him off. "Sure, one bioweapon was pleasant, but with this new discovery, we've turned our sights onto something else: Harvesting their blood." He explained. It's not about weapons testing anymore, this is an opportunity to harvest their power... the power within their DNA."

"To infect others?" Rocky breathed.

"No, that's its natural ability. I'm talking about the unique properties of its genetic code.." Dutch said, holding his paws out. "We discovered the core genes that grants it the might it possesses: Strength, mobility, endurance, and right away we had a new goal. That power... belonged to us. Maybe Feroxmalis was its own project, but finding a way to isolate its own physical might for ourselves was a new objective."

Struggling to comprehend what he was hearing, Rocky looked aside. "Well... did you?"

Dutch grinned, a vicious look spreading through him. "We call it FRX, a vaccine, if you will. A chemical injection that leaves its applicant with... true physical superiority." He waved it off, "sure, they're not normal dogs anymore, but who cares? We created a god, Rocky! And we aren't stopping!"

"I can hardly believe injecting someone with Feroxmalis's genetics would be a successful operation." The mix scoffed, skeptical at the words. "Let me guess, the test subject isn't alive anymore?

"Nope. The injection was several years ago, and they're still alive to this day."

Rocky tilted his head. "Really? Who did you use it on?"

The question was left unanswered, Dutch instead chuckling at the words. Breaking into a wide smile, he straightened up and held out his arms, forming an almost Christ-like pose. Rocky stared at him with a puzzled expression, trying to read the pose before sheer horror spread into his face.

"Wait," the mix reared. "You tested it on..."

"You think I was going to let some random lab rats have the honor of becoming true superiority?" Dutch said. "If anyone here was taking the FRX vaccine, it was me!" Baring his teeth in a deranged smile, the Malinois climbed up onto the table, stalking over to his horrified captive. "Look at me, Rocky. And I mean look at me." He stared down into the captain. "Look what it made me... it was my gateway into a true form of being! The animals that were always intended to walk the grounds and feed on the weak, it starts with me!" He stalked forward, spewing words at rapid-fire. "Do you know how it feels to be better? How it feels to know that you're more than anyone could ever dream of being? I'm the future, Rocky! You could even call me..." his eyes widened, leering straight into Rocky's soul. "God."

"You're... not even a dog, then." Rocky quivered, shaking at the sight. "You're just... some overpowered mutant!"

"So what? Maybe that's how it was always supposed to be." Dutch shrugged, "the natural order can finally be put into balance, and I'll be the one to do it all! Archline will pass through the whole world, selecting the deserving from the undeserving and FRX will be their ticket to destiny! Unfortunately, we could only make two FRX vaccines with the samples we got from Feroxmalis, the other one is locked away, and I'm the only one with access. The power within this medicine could mean a new world order, if the abilities it gave me mean anything."

The words alone were even more terrifying than Dutch himself, each and every one striking Rocky in the nerves as he listened in. "That's not a future, that's domestic terrorism!"

"Call it what you want." Dutch was unphased. "God was belittled plenty and by many, and the fires consumed them all the same, every single time. Just as it was back then, Archline's fire... my fire, will sweep this filthy globe and rid our world of the weak and undeserving chaff! If we're going to take this to a global scale, then we need more, and with the Omnihive in our grasp, we'll have as much as we need."

"If you've had years to do this, then why haven't you already!?"

"As I'm sure you noticed, Ferox warriors are incredibly formidable." Dutch explained, returning to his chair. "That's exactly what Feroxmalis was; a Ferox warrior. Turns out the name we gave it was completely redundant. We've lost hundreds of soldiers and scientists, all sent into their world only to die within it. I'm sure their faces are being used as masks for the creatures right now." He couldn't help but laugh. "Now that's a detail I could never understand, such cruel-minded animals, eh? They could have an entire culture, behaviors, social lives, imagine the sheer potential of studying them on such a wider scale."

"We need a way to contain those creatures, make them obey us." He continued. "Our scout drones recently found something that piqued our interest; a section of the Omnihive that's fiercely protected. It's some ravine that leads even deeper into the planet. We call it the 'Omnihive Nexus,' and the Ferox warriors are hellbent on defending it." Dutch let a grin slide up his face, giving Rocky a knowing look. "Whatever's in there, we can seize it and use it against them. Maybe it's their eggs, or some other crucial part of the nest. Clearly they're intelligent animals, they'll understand our threat."

With sheer disbelief on his face, Rocky echoed his words back at him. "You want to enter a world of psychopathic creatures, take something important from them, then hold it hostage so they'll do what you say?!"

"Oh I'm not going." Dutch laughed. "Why do you think you're here? Clearly you, that shepherd, and the Dalmatian have some... experience handling these monsters. And you have soldier training, even better."

"Are you asking me to-"

"I'm asking you nothing." The dark animal growled, baring his teeth. "As your executive, I'm ordering you to enter the Omnihive and get us what we want. I'm sure you three will have a fighting chance."

Rocky's heart dropped, staring as terror spread across his face. "You're going to dump us in there?"

"Ryder is going too, as well as a scientist team to work on whatever you bring back. Another team got far enough into the Omnihive that they've set up an outpost to work in. The Ferox warriors don't seem to attack it, at least, not from what I've seen." Dutch thought for a second. "It's not far enough in that they consider it a threat. Do this for me, and who knows? Succeed and prove your worth, I might just secure you a spot in our new world order. Wouldn't it be nice to have FRX flowing in your veins, to seize power that others could only dream of?"

"This isn't going to work, Dutch." Rocky stood up, staring down the powerful mutant animal. "Even if we somehow manage to pull this off, those creatures are smarter than you know! I've seen it all myself!" He leaned forward, getting right in his face. "You're toying with something that could be the end of you!"

"Is it now?" The executive tilted his head. "That's exactly what an inferior being like you would say, I don't expect you to understand anything I preach."

"I'm not doing anything you say! You can throw me to the Feroxes, use me as a lab rat, or kill me outright, I don't care! I'm doing nothing for you!"

He expected the CEO to bristle, but he kept a cool head. "Alright, fine. I'll just send Marshall in."

The captain flinched, his ferocity gone. "W-what?"

"Let's put it this way." Dutch growled, hopping off the table and backing Rocky into the wall. "Marshall is going in there, whether you like it or not. If you or Chase revolt against me, I'll have you killed like the rest, and the poor Dalmatian will enter the Omnihive all alone. Is that something you want? Don't test me you little insect, I'd be more than happy to stick to my word."

Rocky had nothing left to say, he was completely trapped with fear.

"So what'll it be, captain?" Snarled the executive, looming over him. "Will you die and abandon your poor little brother... will you serve Archline, the true rising power of this world, and enter the Omnihive?"