Chapter 7 – Warrior
"It's mine!" Dark Bolt said as he looked up at the completed soul. He quickly turned his head down to Bolt, the dog still lying still on the ground in pain, "You see where your compassion has led you?" he asked, "You see what real power means? You take what you want when you want it! Force is what's necessary. Your worry for others is what kept you held back, and all I did was cut loose!" He turned his nose back to the floating crystal above his head, "I'm the one who has the power, the magic, and the knowledge! I alone am able to control the entire Warrior's Soul!" he called out. "You are not worthy of its power!" he heard from around him. "Eh, what?!" Dark Bolt asked as he turned his head down to the ground again. In front of him stood a Neutrosian, clad in silver armor with a powerful looking sword at his side. To his right stood the Scholar and to his left, the Mage. "You?" he asked, "You warriors are no longer connected to the soul, leave me to my destiny!"
"Your destiny is to be destroyed!" the scholar to his right said, "You lack what the crystal requires!" Dark Bolt quickly let his laser eyes fire off, piercing through the intelligent spirit and dispersing him quickly, "Is that what you think?" he said and turned to the Mage on his left, "I have bested my other half, I was the one who escaped the mountain of regret and sadness he had built up!"
"You have destroyed everything you have looked at, from cities to lives, and now your own family!" the Mage said sadly. Dark Bolt opened his mouth, spewing his green fire at the Mage, causing her to fade into the air, "I can make a new family, one that will obey my every command without question! The Warrior's Soul has chosen me as its new guardian. Only I have the power to give it what it wants!" he shouted. "You know nothing of the soul, we warriors of Neutros created it for better reasons then power!" the Solder responded. "And yet is still chose power over compassion, now Leave me!" Dark Bolt said, and once again spewed his fire. The green flame surrounded the spirit, taking its form, "You will not have the power you require. It will never choose you!" the Solder said, and vanished, leaving Dark Bolt's sight.
Now he could see his other half, Bolt, rising up, only one of his three broken legs not touching the ground. "HOW ARE YOU RISING UP?" he shouted in anger, and let the flames build in his mouth, "Lie there and wait for you demise!" He opened his mouth, spewing his green flame all over Bolt, engulfing him in the fire that burned like the heat of hell. Suddenly the soul pulsed, the pressure rippling out ward and blowing the fires out from around Bolt, the fur all over him burned, yet he still stood. "What?" Dark Bolt asked as he turned his head back to the Warrior's soul, "What's going on?" The soul pulsed once again, creating pressure on Dark Bolt's head and back. The black dog grunted as he stood still, resisting the power of the Warrior's Soul that tried to press him into the dirt. First the red Magic Soul pulsed, emitting a power that burned and froze him at the same time. Next the yellow Earth Soul pulsed, the pressure increasing as it slammed into him. Last the blue Power Soul pulsed, sending a surge of power, not through his body, but rather through his nerves, shocking and stunning him in his spot. It then raced into Bolt, slamming him in his chest and lifting him off of the ground, his body shining as the light surrounded him. "NO!" Dark Bolt shouted, and let his eyes shine with light, the lasers firing off, and hitting Bolt in the chest, right where the Warrior's Soul pressed against his fur. Bolt didn't even flinch, instead he gazed at the crystal that lifted him up. "No!" he repeated as Bolt lifted higher and higher. The soul quickly soaked into him, vanishing behind the fur. The light intensified, becoming brighter than anything dark Bolt had ever seen, yet the light didn't hurt his eyes, he just looked on with surprise, a surprise that quickly turned into hatred, "No, it just can't be true!" he said, and opened his mouth again, letting the green flames engulf the source of light. It swirled around Bolt a few seconds, causing Dark Bolt to smile at his success, and then squint in confusion as to why there were no screams of pain. Then it burst open, spreading across the field with a wave of intensity. Dark Bolt was forced to grip the ground with his claws to keep from being lifted up and tossed aside.
When it settled down, he looked up, and let shock dominate his expression. Bolt stood there, shining as bright as the sun. When the light dimmed out, the two of them could finally see the armor Bolt wore, a golden suit fit for a king with a long bright red scarf hanging off of his neck, flying in some invisible wind. The helmet looked to be a cross between a medieval knight's helmet and a crown as it sat upon his head, the spikes up top spreading out with the Warrior's Soul in the middle. Dark Bolt couldn't help but notice that the soul had changed as well. The gems no longer looked like pedals, but rather diamonds, and there were four of them, not three. The top gem was blue, with the right one red and the left yellow. The fourth gem shined with a white light that seemed to connect them all.
The rest of the armor had long thin spikes running along the back, each one like the hairs on Bolt's back. "WHAT THE…?" Dark Bolt asked as Bolt lifted his paws to look at himself. "My legs, they're healed!" Bolt said. "WHAT!" Dark Bolt screamed, and again let his eyes lasers erupt from his eyes, striking Bolt in the chest, and bouncing off. "Uh…" Dark Bolt gasped in awe as he watched Bolt continue to look himself over. The white dog looked up to Dark Bolt, and leaned forward, baring his teeth angrily. The spikes on the back of his armor slowly lifted up as well, acting like the hairs on his back as he growled at his enemy. Dark Bolt crouched down as well, readying himself to attack, or for an attack. The two of them glared at each other, until Bolt lifted himself up, "Leave now and never return!" he said, and Dark Bolt simply rushed in. He was sure he had hit Bolt, yet he felt nothing. He lifted his head and looked around, "What?" he asked himself. Suddenly he felt something hit him in the back, knocking him to the ground in a puff of dust. "GOOOOF!" he grunted as he felt the impact.
He lifted himself up slowly as he tried again to look for Bolt. All he found was a shadow on the ground. When he looked up, he found Bolt, floating in place, several feet above the ground. "Not possible!" he whispered to himself. "I said, leave!" Bolt reminded him, "I'm giving you this chance to walk away and live!"
"As if you could kill me mutt!" Dark Bolt yelled at him. "I can, and I will!" Bolt responded, "Unless you tell me where you put Mittens and Rhino!" Dark Bolt smiled brightly as he imagined a wicked plan, "Yah, right, I tell you and you kill me on the spot." he said. "I'm not like you Dark Bolt! I won't sink to your level!" Bolt reminded him as he floated there, "Where are they?" Dark Bolt pointed his nose towards the right, "I left them under a sign in that dumpster area over there!" he said. Bolt gazed at him, disbelief in his eyes as he looked into the soul of his darker half. Then, he turned and without touching the ground, raced off. "You forget so easily!" Dark Bolt said in a low growl, "I can't leave you, I'm as much a part of you as you are of me! So if you get too far away…" He was cut off when he faded into shadow, shrinking to the ground to zoom across the concrete towards Bolt.
Bolt arrived at the place Dark Bolt had described, a large sign in a massive area filled with garbage and dead grass. It reminded him a lot of where Mittens had tried to convince him that Penny wasn't real, trying to get him to stay with her instead. He touched down, and looked under the great fallen casino sign, finding Mittens and Rhino, just now coming to, "Are you two alright?" he asked as he crept underneath. "Yah!" Mittens replied as she rubbed her head. When she looked up at him, she couldn't help but gasp in surprise, "Bolt?" she asked. "Yah, it's me!" he said as he backed his way out, letting the hamster and the cat exit of their own free will. "What happened to you?" Mittens asked while Rhino remained silent. Bolt couldn't even answer before his rodent friend pointed behind him and shouted, "LOOK OUT!" The canine hero turned just as the shadow neared him, entering into him quickly and laughed. "Dark Bolt!" he grunted and crouched down to all fours, closing his eyes and resting his chin between his front two paws.
End Chapter 7