Gus was busy training hard. That made Calico smile. He couldn't help but notice how the super wolf dog wanted his approval above all else. Still, he had to remind himself that the purpose of Gus was to get rid of Bolt, not impress people with his skills. But Calico had noticed that there were some of Bolt's powers he hadn't used yet; the laser eyes or heat vision for example. However, he did notice one power that Bolt never used; fire breath. And he had instantly guessed that this power was unique to Gus and Bolt didn't have it. That was a good thing. Calico had ever since encouraged Gus to use his super-secret power advantage whenever possible. The exercise Gus was so involved with was a field exercise, without borders or walls. The obstacles were spaced out all over the place and Gus had to find what he was looking for in the depths of the jungle foliage. Gus found and bunch of chests and burnt the lock of one before smashing through the others with his super strength. Just then he caught wind of a scent and dashed off after it. The scent Gus had picked up was that of a sheep. The unfortunate animal met its end in the full force of Gus' super strength.
Over the clearing two other animals were meeting their end. The two guards guarding the entrance to Calico's temple hideout were both smacked against the massive wooden gate. Gus heard the men screaming from the gate and let out a loud howl. Three more guards came jumping over the low walls near the gate to see what the commotion was and Gus started making his way there too. The three guards arrived on the scene and were all smacked into walls or the gate itself by Bolt. Three more guards appeared and succumbed to the same miserable fate as did the two that followed and the one after them. Two more appeared and Bolt smashed into both of them bowling them both over, and then smacked the second one into the gate. The one that followed the two didn't seem to get a much better time of it. But just then Gus arrived on the scene. He was a little taken back when he saw the small white American Shepard in the middle of all the unconscious bodies. But then rage consumed him as he looked at the bodies of CaliCorp's soldiers. With a growl, Gus leapt off the wall and streaked towards the super dog with his head down. Bolt looked up just in time to see a blur of dark red and white flying at him, and then the two dogs collided. The other dog, Bolt noticed, was a little taller than him and had a dissimilar shape, however it looked rather on the frail side, and Bolt was a heavy duty indestructible super dog, so how had he been bowled off his feet? Especially when the dog in question was thinner than him. And why did it feel like he was a normal dog that had just collided with a tank? Then… nothing. Bolt collided with the wall with the same amount of supersonic force that he'd used on Calico's men and fell, out cold. Gus kept going, jumping over the low wall and running until he stopped dead. In front of him, was Calico. And he was smiling. Gus looked at him uncertainly. Calico reached out his hand to the wolf dog mix and Gus pressed his head into his palm and heard Calico whisper two words;
"Good boy." Gus' deep brown eyes glistened as he stared up at Calico. And in an instant he knew. He fought for him now. That white dog… was his enemy.
Everything hurts. That would be the only expression capable of describing what Bolt felt right now. He still didn't understand it. A normal dog had just crashed into him and drove him into the wall and driven him to semi consciousness. Sure, it was a dog that was bigger than him, but he was an indestructible super dog and was far heavier than the weight that the strongest dog could lift. So how had that happened? Bolt shook off his confusion and looked over at the wooden gate. There were too many loose ends to tie up first. With a mighty bark From Bolt the wooden gate exploded. Bolt continued on his way, but halfway along the bridge he was stopped by another growling dog. A dark red and white growling dog. Bolt had no time for this. He growled and charged the other dog with his head down. The other dog seemed to do the exact same thing. Super dog collided with super dog and, his opponent being bigger, Bolt stumbled back from the blow of super strength. Any normal dog's skull would have been crushed. The two super dog leapt, heads down colliding in mid-air. Bolt was sent rolling backwards from the force. The two super dogs stood side on from each other, growling at each other. There was a little confusion in Bolt's eyes and Gus picked it up.
"You're not the only one with an advantage now, pearl pedigree!" he growled, confirming what Bolt had suspected a little while ago. Then Gus leapt at Bolt, tearing his fur with his jaws. Bolt struggled on the ground before getting his left paw free and reversing Gus' pin. Gus drew the sharp wolf claws on his right paw and scratched Bolt up his lightning marked side. Bolt still felt the searing pain but for whatever reason took no damage from the wounds and simultaneously Gus felt a burning pain in his paw as the claws blunted. In anger, Gus shoved Bolt off him with his left paw and got up. Gus leapt at the white Shepard and Bolt dodged his attack, jumping off the bridge but holding on with one paw and swinging his bulk back around to where he'd entered this fight in the first place. As he swung by Gus, he grabbed a mouthful of the wolf mix's scruff and swung him back to his side of the bridge. There was a mighty crash as Gus landed heavily and a crack. Gus heaved himself up just as the part of the bridge he was standing on collapsed and leapt for Bolt's side. He managed to pull himself onto Bolt's side of the bridge and shook himself briskly. While he was recovering Bolt sized his chance and charged Gus with his head lowered. Gus saw him coming at him and planted one forepaw firmly on the bridge, lowering his head. There was a crunch as Bolt slammed head on into Gus and Bolt felt like his head had been squashed into the rest of his body as he bounced off Gus' invincible mass. Bolt lay there stunned momentarily. "Jealous of invulnerability?" he laughed. "Well I don't care!" as Bolt got up Gus lunged at him in a Dash Attack that sent him staggering backwards, then a Strong Attack that knocked the super dog off his feet and sent him sliding back along the bridge. Gus leapt at Bolt and Bolt leapt up as if to meet him, but then kicked off Gus' chest leaving him to bounce backwards towards the drop into the fast moving river under the bridge. Gus hurled himself up and leapt at Bolt pinning the white super dog to the ground. With a growl Gus grabbed at Bolt's brown leather collar and tore. Bolt kicked him in the side with this left foot, heaving Gus off of him and over the bridge. And Bolt was pulled with him, bound to the other super dog by that collar around his neck. Bolt managed to position his weight so that he was supported by the bridge. Gus had no choice but to let go. Bolt watched his enemy splash into the river and drift away gasping for air.
Gus managed to reach the bank further downstream and dragged himself out. He shook himself off and unleashed a loud growl. As he tramped through the bush grumpily he came upon a lone sheep. He wanted something to bash up right about now. He set his fire breath on it and thought to himself;
"That pedigree thought he could give me the slip! I'll get him yet!" and with a growl, Gus marched off back to the temple hideout.
Bolt made it safely to the other side of the river despite the bridge incident and was making his way over to the temple. He dropped down in the middle of a bunch of guards slamming into the ground and knocking them all away. He followed up with a weak super bark then began to pick single targets to smack into walls. All the commotion could be heard for miles and attracted more guards… and Gus! Bolt was too busy smacking guards into one and other, into the river and into walls to notice the super dog approaching. The last guard he grabbed and overbalanced, smacking the guard's head on the ground. Gus charged Bolt with his head down but Bolt heard his growls at the last second and jumped over him, leaving Gus to slam into the wall. Gus got up and charged again and Bolt jumped over him again so that Gus barrelled off the cliff. One minute Gus was charging… the next minute he was falling. Gus looked up in surprise, then swung around and jammed his claws into the cliff. With a super leap, Gus jumped back onto the battle ground and found Bolt trotting ever closer. He had wanted to make sure Gus had fallen. Gus crouched. "Come on, come on! Just a little closer… almost within range…" Gus thought flicking his tail in anticipation. When Bolt was close enough, Gus stood up and growled, the back of his throat glowed orange. Then he bent his neck upwards and thrust his head forward, unleashing those deadly flames on the super dog. Bolt cringed at the intense heat, and then toppled like a sack of potatoes. Gus smiled and jumped back up to the ledge Bolt had used to enter the stone alter place they'd been fighting in. for the sake of practice, he attacked and killed two sheep on his way over to the temple.
Bolt dragged himself up, his fur singed and covered in ash. He shook himself and wondered what had just hit him. For the first time since he'd been altered, he felt pain. Real pain. The smack arounds the other super dog had given him on the bridge were nothing compared to that blast of fire he'd just gotten caught in the middle of. Bolt lifted one ear. He could hear a helicopter. Then suddenly it appeared over the trees. Bolt ducked over near a gate like wall as the helicopter fired a missile at him. The missile hit the wall Bolt was crouching near and made it explode. The helicopter started firing its machine gun at him and Bolt started to run across the bridge that the wall had been blocking. The helicopter started to fire missiles at the bridge, making sections of it fall down, hoping to drop Bolt into the river, but the super dog turned on the super speed and made it safely to the other side. The helicopter fired a set of missiles at him and Bolt let off a massive bark, making the missiles spin off course, back to the helicopter and it exploded. Bolt ran over to a small area near the temple it looked like the path to the temple but there was a wall blocking his way. Then over the wall Gus came jumping at him.
"Stay!" the other super dog growled at him. Bolt growled fiercely. He hated that word. Bolt charged Gus, head down, recklessly. Gus watched him calmly. It was worth using the fire. He knew he could beat Bolt in a charge. The two super dogs smacked their heads together. Bolt slide backwards from the impact of super strength on super strength. Bolt got up quickly and leapt on Gus, grabbing his scruff and summersaulted, pulling Gus over, then kicking him into the wall with all the force he could drive from his super strength. Gus hit the wall and fell, out like a light. One of Calico's ninjas came jumping into the area with more of his guards. Bolt frowned. Ninjas weren't all that hard to take care of but they were annoying. After doing weak super barks all over the place and smacking the guards around, the ninja jumped onto the wall. A bunch of guards came out and Bolt quickly smashed them all up. Then he turned to the wall the ninja was standing on. Bolt planted one fore paw on the stone and its opposing back paw went backwards to ground his weight. Then, he crouched down and inhaled, energy rushing from his core and expanding in his chest... And then he barked. One loud earth shattering bark. Ripping the stone from the ground, throwing all the lingering guards into the wall the ninja was standing on and bulldozing through the wall itself. Debris fell everywhere and in the midst of it all was the path to the temple that had been hidden by the wall. Bolt walked around the fallen stone calmly and headed over to his destination.
