What was even left to do anymore, what objective remained for the poor souls cast into the Omnihive? Under the maddened veil of the world's crooked sunset, each party began the long trek back to the Gates of Heaven. The team walked in grieving silence, the fleshy bowels underfoot breathing in rhythmic patterns. The world felt bigger than usual, emptier, bloated with loneliness even with the three of them together.

"Thanks for uh... helping me," Rocky said, speaking up to the mercenary leading the walk home. "I guess you didn't have to, and I... appreciate it."

"Don't mention it," came Ryder's dejected, exhausted response. "We're in this together, remember?"

"I could almost forgive you for leaving us."

"Seriously?" Marshall said, cross as he walked behind his captain.

"Look, I don't blame you for hating me, I kinda hate myself too," Ryder said, fidgeting with his blood-stained gloves. "It was a terrible decision I forever cursed myself for making, and if there's anything I can-"

"No," came Marshall's firm growl, shutting him down.

Rocky flicked his tail in his brother's path, a gentle symbol to back down. "Getting out of here alive is a start, once all this is over with, then we'll talk."

"There's nothing to talk about," hissed the Dalmatian. "If he never left us, we'd probably still have a full family!"

A sear of anguish twisted through Ryder's face, "it... it really took three of you, huh?"

"Two," Rocky said, "Skye didn't uh... she didn't go out like Rubble and Zuma did."

"What happened?"

"Well, in some twisted, fucked-up way, she was sort of the lucky one. Chase shot her in the Lookout, she never got to see the hive or even Feroxmalis itself, she died before anything really went down."

"He shot her?" Ryder exclaimed, facing the mix in exclamation.

"That idiot thought she was the infected one, shot her point-blank. Honestly, it was the perfect distraction, cause now everyone's focused on that and 'Rubble'," he made air-quotes with his paw. "Was able to slip away in a kennel and finish... whatever he was doing. So yeah, pretty much everything went to shit when you left."

"I'm sorry," was all the leader could say, stunned by the horrifying memory painting in his mind. "I'm... so sorry." He wouldn't push the subject, but so feverishly the boy hunted for any possible way to mend the old wounds. The search would likely be treacherous and timely, but there had to be something, some kind of way to make it up to the dear pet he once loved and cherished.

"Can I just ask you one thing?" Rocky sped up, walking beside the boy.

"Sure, I guess."

"What really was going on before you left? What were you doing while everything was falling apart?"

Ryder averted his gaze from the mixed breed, looking off to the blood-red sunset on the horizon. He went silent, either from trying to find his own words or out of sheer guilt not wanting to address the past. He couldn't hide from it here, not with Rocky right next to him, and certainly not with Marshall's glaring eyes burning a hole in his back.

"I knew what was going on," the boy sighed. "I had received a message that 'Experiment 6233' was getting airdropped into Adventure Bay, and that we, for our own sake, should stay away."

"I bet you knew the ACG too, didn't you?" Marshall spoke up accusingly.

"Knew them? Marshall, I had direct contact. They instructed me to disregard any incoming missions, as it could interfere with their containment procedures."

"What about the mission with the missing woman and dog?" Rocky pointed out. "We went on that one."

"Yeah well, sue me for getting restless," came the boy's offhanded reply. "Ignoring the ACG was one thing, but I couldn't just turn a blind eye to every mission after that. Dozens of people need help every day."

"Yet you abandoned them."

Ryder pointed his finger at the grey dog, snapping in agitation. "I was under the impression both the ACG and Archline would have the whole thing under control! I told Chase so many times to just... drop it!" His voice rose a hair, "to just ignore them, to forget the whole thing and pretend they weren't there. I should've known he'd go behind my back..."

"Cyrus was making notes about Chase's involvement," he continued. "I guess Archline was keeping track of it, and I got a pretty angry message from Dutch himself. I guess he was angry that I couldn't control my police officer, he told me that you... all of you, were lost, and that I was to pack what they told me and evacuate the area."

"If Chase obeyed you, Feroxmalis would've killed us all," Rocky flattened his ears at the tone, narrowing his eyes at a haunting thought entering him. "And that's what you wanted, huh? You wanted us to get massacred."

"Rocky, that's not-"

The captain cut him off, "you did! Because with us gone, no one would've ever known that you abandoned the entire city to be used in a field experiment! People died to that thing, even before it came out of Rubble! Where do you think it got the dog mask from, it was prowling through the streets hunting dogs in the shadows!"

He darted in front of Ryder, stopping the boy in his tracks with his teeth bared. "And you know, I bet every single kill that soulless creature pulled off was perfectly executed. You know why? Because everyone knew Rubble, he was one the sweetest, most kindest, most innocent bulldog anyone had ever known. A tiny puppy with big dreams, who would ever suspect anything in front of him?"

"Okay, okay, you've made your point," Ryder backed up, holding his hands in resignation. "I get it, I'm a fucked up person who should be shot on sight, I get it."

"I don't think that," the captain shook his head. "I don't wish death on anyone... people with a soul at least. I just hope you know; it's immensely disappointing this is where our future went."

Their voices returned to peaceful listlessness, moving along in mournful contemplation. Marshall refused still to even stand near Ryder, forcing Rocky to hold the middle and keep the squad bridged. He couldn't bear to see them break apart, not at a time like this, he had to keep everything glued together no matter what, especially after the loss of the scientists.

Across the bloodied hills of carrion and quivering, stretching tendons, two more exhausted survivors were nearing the end of their own journey, approaching the exit of the Aorta Tunnels.

"So what were you doing while I was gone?" Chase looked to his partner.

"For starters, I totally knew you were making it out there," Everest said, waving her paw. "I wasn't that worried..."

"Sure you weren't," the shepherd said with a chuckle.

"I mean if you survived everything else, you could likely survive what was in there. Gene- something, whatever its name was."

"Genesis."

"Right, right. You're very capable, but so am I! I found a place to huddle down in, and I can smell danger from a mile away, nothing gets even close to me without exposing itself."

A nervous frown slid down Chase's face, "really? Nothing at all?"

"That's what I said."

"Even if it was... walking right beside you?"

"If it was, I think I wouldn't need my nose at that point. I'd see it, wouldn't I?" Everest gave him a sweet smile. "It wouldn't be very hidden if it was standing right next to me."

"Yeah... you're right," Chase said, turning his head away and looking to the floor. She was completely oblivious to the nightmare escorting her, a cursing blindness that scared Chase more than anything else in the decrepit realm they moved through. How far could he go? An end was coming, but the distance to such Chase was unaware of, how long could he lie before the horror itself tore free from him?

The haunting memories of his first, and last, terrible lie danced like reckless children in his mind. Skye had been innocent, but he told everyone the mystery was solved, proudly puffing his chest and basking in the first time he ever fully controlled the entire PAW Patrol. It was like moving pieces on a chessboard, the sheer elation coursing in his veins when he could bark orders and the others listened. He felt invincible, like a tactical mastermind, a puppetmaster moving each and every piece to its designated location while the anomaly was cleaned up.

Until it all fell apart.

It fell apart because he lied, because his kill was unclean, the true culprit making their final move to the grand prize. Zuma turned on everyone because he figured out the lie, resulting in death taking the labrador when it was probably reserved for Chase instead. No one ever trusted him again until Feroxmalis perished, and even then, he knew he was no true leader of the patrol. Only a disgusting fraud of a dog defiling the name of the PAW Patrol, standing where Ryder, or perhaps Rocky, was always supposed to stand. He couldn't lie, he knew in his mind, silently breaking down mentally as he looked at Everest's wandering gaze. Not anymore, and especially not to her.

"There's something else," Chase said, stopping.

The husky turned, looking at him with a quizzical expression.

"Hold on, I need to do something first," he reached around his neck and unclipped his collar. Dutch couldn't hear this under any circumstances, no matter how severe it was to break the rules. If he knew, a whole world of torture would likely start heading Chase's way.

He moved forward and reached his paw around Everest's neck, bringing them in close as he removed her own collar. She oddly didn't fidget at the close contact, despite mild surprise at the feeling of her collar being detached. Chase took both accessories in his mouth and swiftly tossed them over his shoulder. They'd have to be retrieved later, but this was no time for eavesdroppers.

The husky glanced to the side, confused at the action, "what're you-"

"Everest, something... happened, in the Nexus."

"What, are you okay?"

He tried to deflect the question but truth was spilling at an uncontrollable rate. "Yeah I... well, no. I'm not fine, not at all, actually. Some bad shit happened down there and... I'm really not sure what to do." He slowly sat down, crumbling under his own sorrow, even worse as the one witnessing it all was the one dog he truly cared for.

"Chase," Everest was starting to become unnerved, a slow anxiety chilling in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"This is difficult to say," came the shepherd's breaking voice. "But... when I went down there, I met Mother Genesis, the... what I assume is the omniscient entity that controls all this bullshit. The reason she spoke to me, and the reason I walked out so easily was because..." His voice locked up, frozen terrified under the husky's stare.

"It's because I'm infected," he said finally, almost feeling a giddy squirming in his stomach.

"You... what!?" Everest flared her fur, tensing up as if she were about to spring.

"The ferox messiah, that's apparently what it's called," Chase said, utterly defeated. "Supposed to be even worse than the warriors... the first of its kind."

Everest stood for a long time, staring in what Chase perceived as horrified betrayal. She was about to run, he knew it, just seeing the look in her eyes it was too obvious.

The husky took a small step backward, "how... much time do you have?"

"I don't know... and she doesn't know either."

"I- you- we have to do something!" came her panicked exclaim, stuttering all over herself. "There has to be something, we need to get it out of you!"

"I don't- I don't think that's possible."

"No, it has to be! I'm not letting this happen to you!"

"There's nothing you can do!" Chase said, barking his response. "The damn thing's been hibernating inside me since the Lookout! It didn't wake up until I finally came in here, it's only a matter of time!"

"Then we need to act now!" Came the husky's fierce argument, fear and anger overpowering in tandem. "Archline may be a sketchy-ass company, but they're sure to have something to help you!" She grabbed his paw in hers, trying to pull him along.

He defiantly pulled away, "Everest, I need to go back to Genesis. If I cross through the gates, the messiah could be born at any moment and rain hell! It'll tear through my body!"

"Well maybe-" the sorrow-filled husky stumbled to say, swimming in a torrent of questions and fears over her dear friend. "I- I don't care! I'm not leaving you down here."

Chase's face hardened, sharply turning away in the opposite direction. "Find Rocky and the others, go with them, and I'm going to-"

"No!" she suddenly jumped in front of him, blocking his way. Staring at him with all the poise of an unmovable object, she spoke slowly, voice rumbling with a low growl. "Chase, you're insane if you think I'm letting you walk away from me."

"Everest, don't-"

"Don't do what? Keep the dogs I care for close to me?"

"Get out of my way!"

The two animals faced down one another, Chase feigning quick, increasingly agitated movements to fake her out and slip by, but Everest was quick, anchoring herself to the tunnel floor and blocking his advances. The defiant shoving quickly escalated into a snarling tussle of spiraling fur and teeth, neither one wanting to hurt the other but so coldly intoxicated in their own emotions.

"Just stop!" Chase barked, shoving backward the husky. "You have no idea what's growing inside me, I need to get it as far away as possible!"

His partner stumbled back and nearly slipped on the floor, splashing the red runoff into her fur. "I won't leave you, you'd have to kill me!"

Fiercely they clashed again, unhinged ferocity lashing in their claws and bellowing snarls. Like maddened crows fighting over a piece of carrion, the tunnels were nearly echoing with their feral noises, loud enough to likely summon the entire army of ferox warriors upon their position. The mother's deliberate order to call them off was the only thing keeping the monsters from magnetizing directly toward the dogfight in the tunnels, leaving them only to one another. His body coated in small scratches and abrasions, Chase landed a square blow on Everest's chest, knocking her away. The fervent husky couldn't find her footage in time, her body collapsing a few feet away in crumbling defeat.

Panting out in exertion, Chase stood above his partner, his limbs going sore. "What is so important about this to you, don't you understand!? Don't you have any idea?!" came his teeth-bared shout. "If I stay with you, it'll put everyone at even greater risk!"

"Alright fine, new plan!" Everest pushed herself up, wincing from the pain left on impact. "We won't go near the others, we'll find somewhere, a place you can be contained!"

"I'm not letting you lock me in some room, I have to go back to-"

"And I'm not letting you leave me!" came the husky's raging snarl, standing her ground even as her body and voice tired from the altercation.

"Everest, I don't-" Chase paused to breathe. "I don't want to hurt you. Just please... don't make this harder than it has to be."

"Are you really going to make me lose someone else?!" she said, her seething anger slowly fading into great fear. "Leave me helpless to do anything as someone I care so deeply about walks off to die!?"

"How many times are you going to make me say this, why can't you just listen to what I'm trying to tell you?"

She couldn't possibly be this dense, this baffling level of ignorance Chase had never seen in her before. The argument was going nowhere, just a hopeless chorus of yelling and repeating things already said, but Everest wasn't backing down. There had to be something else, a lingering reality waiting patiently to be addressed. He could see it in her eyes, her avoiding gaze, the constant dodging of a rapidly approaching truth.

"Everest," Chase said flatly, his coals of hostility cooling. "What's really going on here? Why are you so desperate to keep me?"

The husky went quiet at his question, a wordless flag that confirmed Chase's suspicions. Was she working for someone? It was a gutting thought, twisting a knife into his stomach as hundreds of possibilities went through his head.

"I told you my big secret already," he continued, watching her closely. "All of them, in fact, so what's yours?" He walked forward, coming directly in front of Everest's hesitant expression. His heart beat faster as he tried to read her forlorn eyes, hunting through the shining blue like reading droplets on ice. Everest was visibly uncomfortable as well; Chase read her stature as the stance of the guilty, adhering to what felt like years-old police training in mind games with suspects.

"Tell me," he said, nudging closer as if he were cornering her.

"Chase, I..." came her shame-filled voice. "I need you."

"Why, for what? What did Dutch pay you?" Chase bared his teeth, already filling the singe of betrayal. "What does he-"

His voice was silenced as Everest leaned in, connecting their mouths together as one, and like magic the helplessness withered away. It was a kiss shared in the abyss, between two gore-slathered, hopeless individuals on the final strands of sanity. Inner darkness lost all voice, beautiful flowers of passion blossoming within them both, all static thoughts and demonic presences were burned away like rats scampering from sunlight. Nothing mattered in that moment, not even the rotting stench of meat attempting to overpower their senses. Everest's paws traced up Chase's neck, wrapping tightly around and leaving little red paw prints in his nape. Fierce electricity crackled between them, traveling to and from their connected embrace with enlightening passion. Chase knew in that very moment, there would never be another dog in the world he'd think of more. Gently they broke their fiery kiss, pulling their heads away yet their arms still wrapped around one another.

"I need you," Everest said, her voice no more than a whisper. "Because no one in the world could make me as happy as you have. You... you can't leave me," came her cracking plea. "Please..."

Mother Genesis was probably trying to say something, but Chase so fiercely drowned in stunned awe that barely any coherent thoughts could form in his mind. Then the noise quickly returned to his head, but not the ramblings of the Omnihive; it was an astounding firework display of singing and dancing, an ecstatic celebration that Chase was powerless to hide, his eyes lighting up with dreaming wonder. Bliss in the purest form surged in his veins, making the shepherd glow in happiness so powerful not even Genesis could speak through it.

"I..." he tried to say, his mouth moving on autopilot. "I... don't want to leave you either."

"What're we supposed to do?"

"No idea," came his dreaming sigh, hopelessly lost in her gaze. "I don't know how much time I have."

"Can we make the most of it?" she asked, still clinging to him. "Find some way to contain you and... there just has to be a way."

"What if I turn?" Chase muttered, pain spreading around his muzzle. "What if I turn and you're there, and Rocky, and Marshall?"

Smiling through the agony in her heart, Everest gently let him go. "I'll think of something, I promise."

The groups finally met up with one another like warriors returning from dreadful action. They came to each other as specks on the horizon, the dogs all squinting their eyes at the distant new presences, only to be filled with laughing joy upon recognizing the other. Rocky and Marshall ran to Chase, leaving Ryder alone in his festering guilt at seeing the German shepherd, his once favorite. The reunion was something they'd cherish forever, Everest having to dive out of the way as the three dogs crashed into a pile of wagging tails and potent elation. Rocky already knew Chase was alive, he had heard his voice only a few hours earlier, but nothing compared to the real thing.

Chase almost howled in tear-filled joy at seeing his two brothers, briefly forgetting about the terrible fate developing inside him. Watching from afar, Everest felt slightly left out but couldn't be happier at the family reunited. She gave a small nod to Ryder, and the boy awkwardly waved back. Rocky and Marshall helped Chase up, now turning to Everest with excited nuzzles and hugs, much to her surprise. Ryder didn't dare approach the team, standing heartbroken at the family he failed to destroy, no more could he flee from his mistakes. The past had found him, gripping the boy in its metal claws and forcing him into living through his guilt. He decided to stay at the back of the line, staring longingly at the cheerful trio now leading the journey home, with Everest in the middle.

Empowered with their reconnection, the group trekked back to the Gates of Heaven, returning to the Archline Foundation.