PAW Patrol: Incubus

Chapter 24- Assault and Containment

Rocky, Marshall, and Everest were being escorted into the unknown by the enemy soldiers, until one of them suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway. "Sir," said one of the Archline soldiers, speaking to another. "There's something in the ceiling."

The entire escort came to a halt, the four enemy soldiers spiking with alarm and turning their guns high.

"Impossible," Rocky's fur stood on end, realizing how exposed they were. "Did it follow us...?"

"It should've been distracted with the other squads," said an Archline soldier. "How did it find us so fast?"

Rocky expected the stench of rotting death to hit his nose, the trademark signal of a ferox warrior. The scent was stapled to his memory long ago thanks to Feroxmalis, likely never leaving his mind any time soon. He braced himself, subtly motioning for Everest and Marshall to get behind him, waiting for the sounds and smells he knew.

They never arrived; he smelled not bloodstained gore and adrenaline, but something entirely different. It was something calmer, more familiar, even Marshall had his confused nose in the air. They could smell gunpowder and worn metal, and it took him a second to realize what was actually approaching.

"Guys," he whispered to friends. "Get... down."

"What?" Everest said, raising an eyebrow.

"Get down," the captain backed up from the distracted enemy soldiers. "Get down!!"

The next few seconds came as a blur, happening so quickly none of them had any time to register what was happening. The sky fell, rupturing from above in miniature, organized explosions, staggering the entire group as a husky and two Labradors descended into the hallway. They landed before anyone could face them, peppered from above by veiling debris and bent shrapnel. A quick succession of gunfire rattled through the Archline soldiers, their bodies dropping before Rocky could even recover from the blast.

When his vision focused, he stood up to the new presence with a softened expression. An elated smile brightened on his face, as did Marshall's as well, overjoyed at the new dogs standing before them.

"Strap," Rocky said, mere seconds from vigorously hugging his squad mate.

Burton and Paige looked over the dead Archline soldiers to confirm the kills, while the husky approached his leader. "Captain Rocky sir... it's good to see you alive."

"You got my message?"

"Course we did, sir," the husky smiled through his mask. "You didn't think we were really gonna leave you down here, did you?"

They were all dressed head to paw in full riot gear; only the sturdiest, most tightly layered armor the ACG produced. It was no wonder the three of them alone had come so far, the armor itself had probably absorbed dozens of bullets by now.

"Who- who are you?" Everest took a nervous step back, tense at the new presence.

"Assault and Containment Guild, ma'am," Strap said, looking at her. "We're here to rescue you."

Marshall spoke up, his voice filled with joy at the reunion. "How did you even get down here?"

"Well it wasn't easy," Burton said, walking over to join them. "Once we learned of Archline, we had to go on a whole other mission just to get the schematics for this damn place; almost lost Strap in the process. There's an elevator shaft a little way away from here, it's not the main entrance, but it's certainly an exit."

"Good work, soldier," came Rocky's relieved breath. "Good... work."

"So where's Chase?" the Lab cocked his head.