Chapter 49
Marcus
Somehow, despite the savage, powerful blow, Bolt managed to stay conscious, although his vision faded completely, every sense shutting down for a few seconds, leaving him aware of nothing but the pain in his jaw, where he had been struck.
The first Bolt was aware of after the blow was a voice, sounding distant and distorted in his semi-consciousness. "How did you survive, dog? You should be dead!"
But Bolt ignored the voice, instead focusing on his powers, heavily diminished with recent use, attempting to use them in some way to help assist in pulling himself out of his daze. It took every remaining piece of his power, but he finally brought himself out of his semi-conscious daze, and returned to the world around him once more. He found himself lying on the floor, next to the guard he had knocked unconscious mere seconds ago, and could also see the shadow of someone else standing over him. He turned his head to look, wincing as the pain in his jaw flared angrily, and stopped as he saw the man that had attacked him.
It was the dark-skinned, tattooed man from Highton...Marcus. He was wearing the same black business suit as all of Calico's high-ups, and in his hands he held what appeared to be a length of metal pipe. The face of Calico's second-in-command was locked in a fierce snarl, but behind it Bolt registered a sense of shock...the man obviously had not expected Bolt here.
But why? Bolt though as he slowly tried to get to his feet, still dazed despite his powers taking away some of the pain and confusion. Bolt had, somehow, set the alarms off, so why was Marcus so surprised to see him here?
In the end, it was Marcus himself who provided the answer. "First, Calico says that that stupid traitor has attacked the facility, and now you rise from the dead to harass us again!" But before Bolt could understand the full meaning of Marcus' words, the pipe in his hands came to life, Marcus launching another vicious swing at Bolt, the intent obvious.
But Bolt, still dazed from the first blow, simply did not have his old reflexes about him. He saw the blow coming, but by then it was far too late. All he could do was quickly throw what little power he had left into protecting himself from the blow, and hoping it did not hurt too much. The pipe connected solidly straight into Bolt's mark, the force of the blow sending him cartwheeling down the hallway, where he collapsed to the floor, his vision darkening at the edges as his powers slowly started to fade, and slip from his mental grasp.
"But I guess it doesn't matter any more," Marcus continued his musing, seemingly talking to himself as he beat Bolt to a pulp, as if this was something he did every day. Bolt realised, with a nasty feeling of dread, that the man probably did do this every day; beat Calico's enemies until their broken bodies lay dead at his feet. "In the end, both you, and Bruce will die in vain, and your precious Penny will soon suffer the same fate, once Richard has told us what we need to know!" Laughing manically, Marcus slowly strode towards Bolt once more, the pipe raised for another swing.
Bolt desperately tried to get to his feet, but the two blows he had suffered had left him dizzy, confused, and barely able to hold on to his powers. He was having difficulty just figuring out where Marcus was coming from. In the end, as Bolt finally got his feet under him, and was moments from getting back up, he felt the pipe slam into his soft, unprotected stomach, and with a howl of agony, he was once again thrown aside like he weighed nothing. Dimly, he registered slamming into, and then clean through, a wall, coming to rest amongst crumbling pieces of wood and plaster, knowing his fight was already over. He had tried to protect himself from the last blow, and in doing so, had saved himself from losing consciousness...just. But as he lay amongst the rubble, he felt the last of his power finally fade away, and with it, any hope of putting up any more fight.
"It's just unlucky for you that I never carry a gun, otherwise you might have been able to enjoy a quick and painless death." Marcus' voice was once again distant as Bolt struggled with his failing senses, desperately trying to keep conscious. If he faded away now, he was dead. "Now, I can have some fun before I kill you!"
Bolt realised that the voice was getting closer, and that Marcus must be right on top of him. Desperately, what little vision he had swimming, he tried once more to get to feet, to do something to either protect himself or fight back, but his strength was gone. Expecting another solid beating from the pipe Marcus wielded, Bolt was slightly surprised when he felt Marcus pick him up instead, but his surprise quickly turned to yet more pain as Marcus hurled him across whatever room he was in, causing him to smash through yet another wall. The only thing Bolt was aware of as he once more collapsed to the floor, was that ground had changed from the soft, plush carpets of the hallways he had travelled through to hard, cold tiling. Desperately fighting his semi-consciousness, he at last managed to get his eyes working again, and noticed that the room he had been sent crashing through was some sort of office, and that he had ended up back in the reception room he had arrived in when he first entered the building. Slowly pulling himself further back towards complete consciousness, Bolt also felt something warm and sticky, coating his right flank, including his foreleg, and realised that he was bleeding. Marcus was completely dominating him...and he had no way of fighting back. The man was obviously a powerful fighter, and without his powers, what was a simple White Shepherd like him going to do against that sort of raw, brute strength?
Once again, even though Bolt had been fighting to regain his senses, he gave no resistance when Marcus once again arrived at his side, picking him up roughly. He had no strength left, since every ounce of it was currently being devoted to keeping himself aware his surroundings. He needed a miracle...and he knew it.
Apparently, so did Marcus. "You are weak, dog, and you are beyond saving. Your precious girl and her father are stuck in the cavern below! There is no-one to save you!"
But Bolt's mind lurched at the triumphant rant. The cavern below? his mind echoed. Penny was being held in some cavern below this facility! She was close...too close. He was not going to get so close to her, only to be defeated by this man! In his desperation Bolt felt a new strength begin to course through him, bringing him back to full consciousness, full awareness. His powers may still be lost to him, but now he had his fighting spirit back.
But Marcus seemed to realise that something was amiss, and wasted no time in throwing Bolt once again, sending him back the way the two of them had come. But now Bolt was ready, and as he flew through the hole in the wall, back into the office, he twisted himself in mid-air, righting himself just as he hit the ground, staggering but managing to stay on his feet. Finally ready, he turned back to Marcus, growling savagely. He knew that he had vowed to avoid killing at all costs, but he could also tell that Marcus was savage, cruel and evil. As long as the massive man still breathed, he would try and kill not just Bolt, but Penny and Richard, too. Bolt realised that if he did not kill Marcus, the man would kill him.
Marcus, for his part, laughed in the face of Bolt's new vitality. "So you do have some fight in you after all! Good! For a moment I thought you weren't going to present any challenge!"
Spurred into action by Marcus' mocking words, Bolt blasted towards the man, teeth bared, ready to fight like he had never fought before. He charged, before bounding slightly into the air, in preparation for a massive leap that would allow him to sink his teeth into Marcus' grinning, triumphant face, and wipe the smile from it once and for all. Marcus simply widened his smile at Bolt's predictability, and let the dog come to him.
But Bolt's move was a feint, and instead of leaping high into the air, he ducked low, sliding along the tiled floor of the reception area, his paws lashing out, pulling the man's feet out from under him. But once again, the big man's reflexes surprised Bolt, and although his paws did catch the man's legs, he did not fall, but merely stumbled slightly, before turning around, his smile fading as he finally decided it was time to stop toying.
Bolt yelped as Marcus' kick hit home, sending him skidding far along the floor, thumping softly into a wall as he quickly pulled himself to his feet, slightly fearful now. Marcus was proving to be beyond Bolt's capabilities...he needed his powers back, and he needed them now. He quickly checked them, seeing if they had recovered at all during the short skirmish. He found his powers lingering in the dark corner of his mind they occupied, but they were still exceptionally feeble. He needed more time.
But Bolt suddenly felt Marcus' hands close around his throat, and he realised that, distracted as he had checked for his powers, he had let Marcus get to him. Cursing his own stupidity, he struggled desperately against Marcus' grip, but the man was simply too strong, too powerful. Any attempts by Bolt to find some way out of this predicament were torn from his mind as he felt Marcus squeeze, crushing his throat, choking him.
Marcus laughed once more as Bolt struggled desperately to escape his grip, only succeeding in draining his rapidly depleting oxygen supply. "Too bad, you filthy mutt! You're done, finished! And this time, you will die...I'll make sure of it with my own two hands!"
And Bolt, his struggles becoming more and more feeble as his energy, and consciousness, once again faded, realised that Marcus was right. With no powers to save himself, and his own physical strength no match for Marcus' brutality, he realised that he was finished. And in the end, Bolt could only wait for the end as he stared up at the sky. Why? he silently pleaded of no-one in particular. Why do I have to die now, so close to saving her?
In the end, the two of them were so focused on their own little world, that neither of them noticed the third one until it was far too late. With startling suddenness and speed, a dark bur shot through the shattered glass door Bolt had smashed earlier, aiming straight at Marcus and Bolt, completely engrossed in their mismatched fight.
Bolt never even knew the new presence was there until he felt something hit Marcus...hard. The man was knocked off his feet, more because of the unexpected nature of the attack than the strength of the attacker itself. Startled by the act of defiance, the man let go of Bolt, who collapsed to the ground, coughing and gagging, desperately trying to draw breath and recover from the vicious choke hold Marcus had held him in just seconds ago. Realising he had just been saved, Bolt looked up as soon as he had recovered, trying to understand exactly what had happened.
When he saw who had saved him, he froze.
There, in the middle of the reception lobby, facing Marcus off, a determined look spread across her face, was Mittens!
Bolt finally recovered from the unexpected arrival. "Mittens, what are you doing?!"
"Bolt, go, run! Find Penny!" Mittens snapped back, never taking her eyes off Marcus, who was getting to his feet, still a little stunned by the sudden intervention of the lean, black cat.
But Bolt had dropped all thoughts of Penny. He knew, first-hand, the kind of skill Marcus had in fighting. Mittens may have been a former assassin of Calico's, but even she had no chance against the man she was now locked in a stand-off against. He had to intervene, but how? Letting his instincts guide him, Bolt charged towards Marcus once more, hoping a lightning-fast strike at the man while he was still down might tip the scales back in their favour.
But Bolt did not give Marcus' fighting skills enough credit. In the end, all his head-long charge gave Bolt was Marcus' clenched fist straight to his side, sending him flying, losing all awareness of where he was as he tumbled away from the fight, Mittens calling after him desperately.
Shaking himself off quickly, all thought of his own pain and harm gone knowing Mittens was in danger, risking herself for him, Bolt jumped back to his feet almost instantly, finding himself back in that office he had been hurled through once more. He turned back to the hole in the wall he had created when Marcus had thrown him into the reception lobby, thinking of returning to the fight. Instead, he was forced to watch in horror as Mittens latched onto Marcus' head, digging her claws in as hard as she could. Marcus struggled with her, swinging his head in all directions in a desperate attempt to remove the bundle of fur from his head, roaring in frustration.
"Bolt...go!" Mittens cried as she continued to cling to Marcus. "I'll...hold him off...just go!"
But Bolt did not run. Mittens had just saved his life, although he had no idea how she got here. All he knew was that he could not leave her at Marcus' mercy, not after having just been a victim of it himself. He looked around the room, looking for anything, absolutely anything, that he could use as a weapon, knowing that he did not have the strength necessary himself to take the bulky man down. His eyes eventually found the steel pipe he had been so thoroughly bashed with, which Marcus had obviously discarded when he had decided to throw the dog around instead.
But just as Bolt made to seize the pipe, he heard of loud screech behind him, and turned around. Marcus had finally gotten hold of Mittens, tearing her from his head, leaving long gazes in his scalp. Roaring with the stinging pain Bolt knew he must be feeling, Marcus then hurled Mittens across the room, the little cat crashing hard into a wall and then lolling lifelessly to the ground, her body remaining still long after she came to rest.
"Mittens!" Bolt immediately started towards her, his first thought to make sure that she was alright, but stopped himself as he saw Marcus reach into a desk in the room, pulling out a small, glistening knife. The intention was obvious...he was going to slice her open there and then, and then come after him! His first instinct at that point was to charge Marcus once again, to stop him before he could reach her, but again he was forced to stop himself. He had no way of stopping Marcus in this, powerless state, all he would do was...
His powers! A quick check confirmed to Bolt, that, with the fight having dragged on longer than both Bolt and Marcus had anticipated, his powers had recovered enough for him to do something...but not much. He'd have one chance, possibly two if he did something small, but what could possibly work?
It took him two seconds to figure it out; the pipe! Launching into action, Bolt darted back, grabbing the pipe in his teeth and turning around, intending and throwing the massive piece of metal at its former owner. But he stopped once more. Marcus was now directly over Mittens, his knife poised over her. He appeared to be savouring his final victory over the cat, possibly recognising her as one of their former workers and using the moment to gloat about her betrayal. If Bolt threw the pipe now, there was a chance that, even if he hit Marcus, that the knife might still hit home when the evil man dropped...and Bolt simply would not allow that. If he wanted to hurt Marcus, he needed to get the knife away from Mittens first.
A plan now solidly formed in his mind, Bolt now search for something, anything, that he could use to attract Marcus' attention. In the end, he settled on a small cardboard box, lying in the corner of the office. Knowing that he had mere seconds before Marcus decided to end his gloating, and also end Mittens' life, Bolt grabbed it and, without stopping to look, threw it, using his powers to assist both the power and accuracy of the throw.
Bolt never intended to harm Marcus with the box, merely distract him, and cause him to move the knife away from Mittens. In the end, it worked beautifully. The box sailed through the air, passing clean through the hole in the wall, and struck Marcus square in the side of the head. The fragile cardboard tore apart on impact, ripping itself open and sending small, pale objects sailing across the room, drifting around like snow. Marcus, who had not been expecting the sudden impact against his left ear, jerked away from it instinctively, his knife hand moving away from Mittens as he looked up, his face locked in an agitated frown as he tried to figure out exactly what had happened. His eyes flashed quickly to the hole in the wall, where he had last seen Bolt...just in time to see the metal pipe heading straight for him!
After Bolt had thrown the box, he had moved straight away, sending the pipe on its way straight afterwards, knowing that Marcus would not let the setback distract him for more than a couple of moments. But even he could not foresee what would have happened next. If he had, Bolt might not have done it.
The pipe, which Bolt had thrown with every last drop of power he had left, sailed across the room at a terrifying speed, spinning rapidly as it covered the distance between dog and human in the blink of an eye. Marcus had only time to register its presence, and see where it was going, his eyes bulging in a sudden appearance of pure fear...the fear of a man who knows he's going to die, before the pipe struck.
The pipe hit Marcus square in the chest, tip-first, and the power behind Bolt's throw caused it to simply keep going as if Marcus' body did not exist, spearing clean through him, before finally being forced to a stop, the tip sticking out from between his shoulder blades. Marcus staggered back from the impact, but somehow remained standing as life poured from him as fast as blood poured from the wounds in his torso. He only had time to look down at the wound, the dim realisation of what had happened dawning on his face, before the last of his life finally left him, and he crumpled to the floor, his eyes going blank as he died, his evil mind silenced at last, no longer able to assist Calico in his scheming plans for global terror.
