Chapter 12 – Perfection
"Damnit!" Max growled as he continued firing his gun, "It's like a zombie invasion, the more I kill, twice as many come round the corner!" He pointed his minigun at another of the approaching minions, the bone darts shredding it to ribbons and passing through to the next three. Suddenly he noticed a solder fall next to him, either unconscious or dead, he couldn't tell at the moment. One of the monkeys that helped with the medical team arrived quickly, checking for a pulse and calling out, "I got another one down, looks hurt badly." The monkey then placed a large disk on the man's back, the center shining brightly before the solder was teleported away. "We just keep losing men, and if we even try to get close to Nightmare he scoops us up and swallows us!" BrawnsClaw said as he neared his partner. The two of them touched back to back, becoming surrounded by several dozen more minions. "Nice knowin you buddy!" Max said as he sprayed the group with his bone tacks. "I'm not giving up now!" Brawn said angrily, and took another killing blow with his claws. The circle seemed to get tighter and tighter, until they heard a loud, 'POP, POP, POP.' in such a rapid succession Max swore it was one sound, and the sound kept going. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" they heard the keeper of the Felarian weapons shout out as she appeared from behind the group. The gun she had in her hands was slightly larger than Max's minigun, it hung on her side with what looked like a large silver dragon scale attached like a shield that reached to her shoulder and just below her knee. "YAH!" she called out as she turned, the much larger bone darts ripping through the flesh of the minions like a hot knife through butter. "WHAT YOU GOT BITCHES!? WHAT YOU GOT!?" she cried out as she mowed down half of the monsters she saw. "You've been wanting to use that line ever since you saw that movie!" she heard Dustin say as he moved up close to her. In his hands he held something that looked like an assault rifle made from red ant armor.
Savage smiled and turned to him, kissing him on the cheek as she let her gun slow down. Max could finally see the entire thing; underneath it at the back was a drum, one that looked like a scaled egg sack woven from a spider, the silver plated scales covering the entire thing. Her hands were placed on top, her left hand holding onto the rounded back handle while her front hand reached forward, holding up the front with her knuckles facing the enemy. At the front of the gun, he could see three long gleaming white barrels, each one spinning in a circle as they finally slowed down to a stop, "Damn right!" she said to her boyfriend. "Hell!" Max shouted as he and Brawn fought off the remainder of the minions, "I want one of those guns!"
"Nuh uh!" Savage said as she lifted the barrels up to be at her side, "No one touches Tiny but me!"
"It's her favorite gun!" Dustin explained as she lowered Tiny back down and started firing again. Each one of the projectiles that struck something, practically made the target disintegrate. "Can I at least have something with that big a caliber?" Max asked as he rammed the barrels of his gun into another monster, and lifted it up. "I doubt it, that gun seems to be the only style to handle that big of tack!" Dustin told him as the monster began spinning. "Too bad!" Max shouted as the monster finally exploded from the spinning force.
Bolt came in fast, letting his laser eyes sear their way into the skull mask of the behemoth. Nightmare turned his head in aggravation as the green beam burned its way into a few inches of his skeletal mask. Suddenly Bolt found himself lifted up by an unknown force and he closed his eyes to struggle against it, "I also know the magic of Neutros!" Nightmare said as he turned to glare at the levitating dog. Nightmare then opened his mouth, pulling Bolt closer and closer. Suddenly, a great fireball slammed into his tongue from above Bolt. Nightmare turned his head away from the impact, "GYAAAAAAAAAA!" the beast shouted as his magic faded. Bolt dropped a few inches before he felt the wind harden underneath his paws, "So what?" Mittens asked as she used the wind to pull Bolt away from the behemoth, "You don't have any friends!"
"I need no such weakness!" Nightmare said as he turned back to look at the two of them. Small explosions rang out from his side, the minions he was spawning instantly turning into a sloppy liquid mess on the ground. Nightmare turned to the source of the explosions, finding the Tarnildrans launching missiles at him from a distance.
"We gotta keep him busy!" Bolt quickly called out, and the two of them raced towards the skull mask, Bolt ramming his head into the bone. Nightmare flinched from the impact, turning his head as he let out a loud scream. The sound actually distorted the air, causing waves to ripple from his mouth. A few Tarnildrian solders and a thousand of his minions were caught in the wave, the pressure crushing them underneath it. "Damn you!" the behemoth said and again turned his eyes to the guardians. "I will be your end!" he shouted, and crouched with his front legs. He pushed up as hard as he could, moving one of his back legs underneath himself, and standing upright. The front paws on his body shifted, unfolding themselves into hands and fingers, his front legs twisted a little as the formed the arms and his tail lifted up at the base, changing his balance point. "Rhino!" Bolt said into his ear piece. "This just got harder!" the hamster replied, "Even fewer of the behemoth renditions have the ability to stand up like that!"
"The bigger they are…" Bolt shouted, and raced on in as quickly as he could. "BOLT!" Mittens called after him, and could only watch as Nightmare pulled his hand up to his face, and back handed Bolt out of the air. The super dog hit the ground hard, the street caving in around him and burying him in the sewers. Mittens focused, her eyes shining a bright red, and used her magic to push the ground up from under Bolt. He lifted up from inside the sewers, the pillar of earth making him rise as if he commanded it himself. He held his head down as he pushed himself to his paws, "Are you alright?" Mittens asked as Rhino used his jets to hover next to her. Bolt coughed once as he lifted a paw to his side, "The harder they hit!" he said as he finished his sentence. Mittens watched as Nightmare held up his new hand, a circle made of black light instantly shining forth in his palm. Mittens gasped once as she recognized the symbol of a lightning bolt and a shadow merging into one. She quickly jetted in front of Bolt, opening up her paws and glowing with a brilliant light. The black lightning impacted the light, surrounding it and surging around it. He growled once as he saw the shield, and let his magic fade.
Mittens let her own light fade as she nearly collapsed to the ground, "Mittens!" Bolt called out and reached out, grabbing her paw in his. "Come on!" he said gently as he hauled her to the pillar of rock she had made for him. "Let's get out of here!" Rhino said and grabbed Bolt by the waist. He rocketed off just as Nightmare's fist came crashing down onto him. Through the dust that kicked up, Rhino brought his friends around to a nearby building, hiding them in one of the top floors. He set Bolt and Mittens down easily, and then let his mech suit shrink back into his ball. Hiding behind a desk, the three of them evaded Nightmare's wandering eyes. "He's gotten stronger!" Rhino said. "Yah, he's also taller and faster with a much better reach!" Bolt agreed as he held Mittens close. Rhino looked down as they stayed quiet, Nightmare's oversized eye peering into the room they stayed in, "How do we do the Perfect Hero thing?" he asked in a whisper. "Why?" Bolt asked in the same volume. "My battery's low, I've overused the power functions and drained most of my backup supply!" Rhino explained, and placed a claw to his lips as Nightmare's eye came back into view. As soon as it was gone, Bolt turned to his wife, "It won't work without her!" he said as he watched her breath, almost like she was asleep, "I'm ok!" Mittens groaned as she reached up with her paw, and gripped his chest fur, "I've just never had to use that strong of magic that long without rest before, need to work on my stamina!" Bolt sighed in relief, the three of them holding their breath when Nightmare's eye came back. "I know you're here!" he said as he left his eye at the window. "Quickly!" Mittens whispered, "How do we make you the Perfect Hero?"
"You have to give me back the power I gave you!" Bolt said as he heard Nightmare chuckle. The eye moved away, and Bolt could feel the malice in the laughter. "Alright then!" Mittens said, "You can have it!"
"Promise to give it back!" Rhino said hesitantly. "Oh, don't worry about that Rhino!" Bolt told him, "I'd rather have you both by my side then all of that power!" The hamster smiled, and placed his paw against the front leg of his friend, "Kick his butt for us!" he said, and Bolt began to glow as he smiled.
Out side, Nightmare had his fist lifted into the air, ready to bring it down onto the building. He watched the room he knew they were in brighten, and shine through the window, confusing him only a second before he brought his fist down, smashing through the building where they were, and smashing it all the way down to the ground floor. He didn't even care when the wall came tumbling down on his arm. "To think, these are this world's heroes!" he said and pulled his arm from the rubble.
End Chapter 12