The dark ring was glowing nonstop now. The two headed towards the door that would take them to Calico and finally end what they had been fighting for, for years now. They walked up the stairs and Bolt's friend, the cat eyed dog stepped in front of the door, standing tall and seeming to bask in the door's presence. Yet, when he turned back around and went to sit by the stairs, his head was drooped and he was notably sad. Bolt cocked his head.
"What's wrong?" his friend closed his eyes and sighed.
"Once you go through that door, you will never come back out." he told him. "Our travels will come to an end… I have to admit this, but I am a very… VERY bad person… dog." he stood and looked to the roof of the veranda type overhang they stood on with his eyes closed. "You don't need me Bolt, but I will forever be a part of you. An unnecessary one… but a part of you. If I am not as friendly as I have been from this day to this night, don't let me in. promise me that." He looked back at the floor. "Sometimes when I close my eyes, I pretend I'm alright, but it's never enough. Whenever I howl out, my echo is the only voice that comes back. The shadows that surround me are the only friends that I have."
"I… I don't really know what to tell you…" Bolt looked down too.
"You don't have to tell me anything. I know I'm an evil dog." and with that he raised his paw, black energy surrounding Bolt. With a purple flash, Bolt's green/yellow eyes turned brown and the blue markings disappeared. Bolt blinked surprised. "You don't need me. …any of me, including my influence."
"I… I don't know what to say other than… you're right… not to be rude." His friend shook his head.
"You've never needed me, and you never will." He stretched, black energy swirling around him. "Use your powers only for good Bolt. Don't turn into a dog like me." His tail turned into a blade and a pair of wings sprouted from his back. "Make haste, Bolt. Farewell." And with that, he walked to the edge of the veranda and jumped off, extending his bat wings and flying away. Bolt sat down to wave as his friend looked back while flapping his wings. Then, he glided around the mountain out of sight. But Bolt saw him once more, as a shadow in the distance, flying upwards towards the moon. Then, he turned and pointed the glowing dark ring at the door which opened, allowing him to walk through.
Bolt woke slowly, opening his eyes he saw he was in a cage. The super dog slowly got to his feet. After he looked around, he began to check himself carefully, lightning bolt mark; check, no weird colourful markings; check, no creepy black glowing ring; check… wait what? The dark ring was still glowing. Bolt raised his eyebrows. Then, he realized that what his mysterious evil friend had said, seemed to have been true, and not just some weird dream. Calico must have some power crystal gem, this ring was truly the ring of darkness and everyone had been wrong about it, and throughout the whole time he'd been sleeping, he'd been subconsciously charging his ring, probably for this very purpose. Bolt lifted a paw to look at it. Glowing black, it was pretty easy to see the very real possibility that this could be a weapon of ultimate evil. Taking a deep breath Bolt slammed his paw on the ground. There was a massive explosion and purple and blue light shot into the sky. When it faded, the cage that once contained Bolt had been smashed into several pieces and purple lightning bolts shimmered around them like they were charged with electricity. Bolt shook with the output of evil energy, his pupils glowing blood red before he noticed the destruction and calmed down. Remaining on task, Bolt got up and ran from the room he was in. eventually, he made it outside to a somewhat familiar, but seemingly updated battle arena, in time to see his mortal enemy Gus with a brown scarf on, fire some sort of yellow explosive sphere at three of Calico's goons who hurriedly dodged.
"Ugh, hold still." The wolfdog growled.
"Hey, wolfdog!" he called out. Gus turned and Bolt saw clearly a red gem nestled in the folded knot at the front of the scarf.
"That must be the power crystal!" Bolt thought.
"What? You?!" the wolfdog growled. Bolt grinned as the dark ring glowed.
"If you want to test that power crystal, why don't you try it on me? I'll stand still. I promise." Bolt said, trying not to growl at his foe as his tail twitched in excitement.
"What? But how did you know about…?" Gus growled. "Whatever, you just sealed your fate!" Bolt growled and dashed in to attack. Gus stood calmly before shooting another explosive sphere. It was way too late to dodge. The charge ripped through the super dog like a sharp pencil through paper. Bolt flew backwards and lay still. Gus laughed. "Man, this thing is super effective!" Bolt's power necklace began to glow, followed by the healing talismans. Finally, the dark ring shimmered into life, blacker and darker than ever. Purple lightning shimmered around Bolt's body and the super dog leapt to his feet, lunging at Gus in a super strength charged charge. Gus quickly sent his right forepaw shooting forward to ground himself and Bolt's skull met Gus's iron, invincible body. There was crackling sounds as the lightning passed between them, and them Bolt staggered back, flopping into a sit. Gus stood again, but then screamed in pain as the lightning coursing around his body electrocuted him. Bolt smiled evilly as Gus fell to the ground, but the wolfdog was more durable than he thought, getting back up and catching him with another sphere and causing him to flop into an awkward lay down pose. However, Bolt's power necklace talisman started to glow again, quickly followed by the healing talismans. Gus syphoned some power from the power crystal and used a ground pound to send lightning shocks all over the place. Bolt yelped and shivered as he got hit, but the dark ring shimmered into life once more. Bolt leapt up and shadows leaked from his body, tearing through Gus and causing him to fall to the ground. Bolt's power talisman was still glowing. Gus seemed to still have plenty more energy left to fight. He leapt up way too quickly than he should have otherwise, catching Bolt off guard with another explosive sphere. Bolt flopped to the ground but at this point, the healing talismans were glowing again. Bolt attempted to get up but Gus hit him with another explosive sphere, throwing him along the ground. Bolt tried to get up again but Gus shot him one last time, a direct blow to the head. Bolt gasped, trying to get air and lay limp.
"Sometimes when I close my eyes, I pretend I'm alright, but it's never enough." The voice of the cat eyed dog echoed in Bolt's mind. The super dog half opened his eyes. Given the choice, he might not have gotten back up. He was way too tired. But then he saw the flickering dark ring and his eyes widened. Bolt closed his eyes to concentrate and purple lightning bolts began to flicker around his body. Bolt leapt to his feet, obviously surprising Gus and colliding head first before the wolfdog could do anything about it. Bolt didn't even put his full power into the collision. The lightning transfer did most of the work, electrocuting the wolfdog and causing him to flop to the ground. Bolt growled fiercely, slamming his paws on the ground and sending purple light shooting into the sky as he caused another explosion, making the ground shake tremendously. Gus was panting and shaking in pain when the light faded. He tried to get to his feet, but Bolt jumped up, shadows firing out from his body in all directions. Gus yelled in pain, pawing at his eyes. Then, he slowly stood, still shaking and placed his right forepaw forward, grounding and sinking into his invulnerability state. The two's brown eyes locked with each other, Bolt could see the anger and fear hidden within Gus's eyes, and it was almost hilarious to him. Bolt leapt up and kicked the wolfdog hard in the head. Though Gus was invincible, it was clear he'd felt it somewhere. His eyes snapped tightly shut, and after it was delivered, he panted, accidentally dropping his shield. This left him clear for Bolt to barrel into him three shattering times before delivering a deadly paw strike that sent the wolfdog flying back. Bolt leapt after him, sending him flying further with another purple light explosion and beating him up with his paws for a while afterward before charging up a purple energy beam with the dark ring and shooting Gus with it. The blast sent him crashing into, and ripping straight through a rock.
