PAW Patrol: Incubus

Chapter 25- The Ascended

"Think very carefully what you do next," came Dutch's warning, making sure to flash the gun holstered on his belt. "Now drop your weapon."

Rocky growled and stood firmly in place, keeping his remaining friends and family behind him. "Not a chance."

They met each other in a silent standoff, keeping place on opposite ends of the bridge. The yawning abyss below was a mortifying drop, likely falling all the way back down to the Gates of Heaven. Everest and Marshall stood at their captain's side, forming their wall against the last surviving member of Archline. Everything led up to this, Rocky could almost feel thousands of spirits watching him at every angle; every last friend he lost, every brother-in-arms fallen in battle, they all accompanied him until the very end.

"You've gone too far with all this!" Rocky said, his voice filled with hatred. "It ends now, Dutch!"

"Like it ended for your ACG comrades?" the Malinois hissed at him, keeping his icy stare. "What about Ryder, Zuma, Skye, or Rubble? Tell me, captain Rocky," he leaned in with a leering tone. "How many more of your friends are going to die because of your defiance against us?"

"Is that what you call this?" Marshall suddenly came forward. "Innocent victims desperately fleeing the Archline Foundation? Have you any empathy for the people you hurt!?"

Dutch gave him a cold stare, "as a matter of fact, no, I don't. Why can't you just let go what happened in Adventure Bay? Feroxmalis was only gonna be active for so long, give it a few more days and the ACG would've just sent it back to me. Everything you did was completely excessive, and the PAW Patrol might still be alive if you had just waited it all out."

"Waited it out?" Rocky said, twitching. "It killed dozens of people, we had to destroy it!"

"And that's what separates you from me, captain. You never see the bigger picture, always have to act on the here and now."

Everest flattened her ears, letting a growl through her bared teeth. "Your 'bigger picture' is an apocalyptic wasteland. You honestly don't expect someone to try and stop that?"

"Of course I expect it," came Dutch's annoyed reply. "People are so unwilling to admit when something is superior to them, everyone's too comfortable with themselves nowadays, obsessed with image and identity. Why do you think I keep a military force? People have stood up against us before, and we've burned them all just the same."

"Then you are officially a threat to mankind," Rocky stepped forward with glaring eyes. "I cannot allow you to walk free."

"Oh what, you're a soldier of the peace now?" the executive said mockingly, cocking his sharpened head. "Don't tell me stories, Rocky. The ACG is nothing but mercenaries pretending to be an army. You're nothing but nobodies!!" He barked, raising his voice an octave. "But through me... you could be so much more."

"Don't give me this textbook bullshit, Dutch," Rocky said with a feral snarl. "Whatever you're doing, I want no part of it."

"All three of you are adept at fighting bioweapons, and you've survived the conditions of the Omnihive, do you have any idea what that makes you to me?" The CEO leaned back, speaking methodically to punctuate every last word. "The most valuable, vital assets, in all history of the Archline Foundation. With your cooperation, the very world could be at our paws."

Everest came forward, "why would anyone want that?! To just... have everything with no gain, no spirit, no passion?!"

"Through my FRX, the strongest can survive and-"