Chapter 14 – Unleashed

Alpha swerved back and forth as he dodged enemies, the cat hanging on for dear life as he moved as quickly as he could. Jack stayed as close as he could to his partner, lifting his pistols and firing bone darts into every enemy that got close with deadly accuracy. One of the rather large ones stepped in front of Alpha, causing the wolf to stop in his quest and gaze at the head like the top half of an ape's skull and the shoulders of a massive human. Jack leapt up to the beast, hooking his pistols to his long boots before grabbing one of his knifes. With amazing acrobatics, he latched his arm to the best's neck to swing around it and jab the long blade into the back of its neck, severing the neck from the rest of the spine. He flipped around it some more, placing his feet against its chest as it toppled to the ground. Alpha raced on by as Jack once again found the speed in his legs. Mittens looked to the wolf with a questioning glance, and Alpha just grunted as he held onto the crystal ball in his mouth tighter.

Nightmare growled angrily as Bolt zipped by him. He quickly turned his head and snapped at the flying dog, just narrowly missing his opponent. He then brought his fist up, slamming the massive hand into the hero as hard as he could, causing Bolt to stagger as he tried to regain his balance. 'He's fast!' Bolt thought to himself, 'A lot faster than Dragoon was!' He turned to the behemoth, his eyes focused on his target as he looked for some kind of weakness. 'I'm gonna have to be careful!' he finished, and raced forward, slicing the blade across the back of Nightmare's incoming fist as it grazed him. He made sure to bury the blade deep in the flesh, 'If I can force him to use up his energy, I can get close enough to tear the mask off.' he thought to himself as he exited out of the shoulder. He once again continued to soar, only to be struck in the back by Nightmare's tail. He felt himself land on his paws, Nightmare's spiked tail trying hard to crush him. Bolt gripped the handle of his sword hard in between his teeth as he pushed up against the pressure of the appendage. 'Damn, he's a lot stronger than he's been letting on!' Bolt realized as he pushed, 'But so am I!' He quickly curled into a ball, spinning rapidly in place as the tail came down on top of him. He burst through only a fraction of a second later, soaring high until Nightmare's hand came in, smacking him in the side without the blade of his sword. "Goof!" Bolt cried out as he dropped the sword. He quickly regained his balance and dove for the blade right as Nightmare's other hand came soaring just above him. He caught the weapon by the handle as he dove to the ground, slamming down right in front of Mittens, Rhino and Alpha. The impact kicked up dust, covering them all in a thick brown cloud and sending them all into a fit of choked coughs. "You alright Alpha?" Jack asked as he lifted his arm to cover his mouth. "Yah!" the wolf said as the dust settled, "I'll be fine!" Mittens dropped down, quickly passing Rhino, who now was on his back after having his ball dropped. "Hey!" the hamster shouted as he lifted himself up, "Wait for me!"

Bolt turned back to the behemoth, the wheels in his head turning rapidly as he tried to think of a way to defeat his foe, "BOLT!" he heard his wife shout as she neared him. He turned to her, his sword still in his mouth as he looked into her eyes, "Nightmare…sword…death…!" she told him. His sword disappeared in a flash of light, "What are you talking about?" he asked. Mittens took a soothing breath as she tried to calm her nerves, "Nightmare's going to take your sword and use it to kill you!" she said. Bolt lifted his eyebrow a little, curious as to what she had to say. "I saw it in a dream, he can infect even our own weapons!" she told him, and then turned with Bolt and Rhino as they heard Nightmare roar. The behemoth had his fist raised high in the air, ready to strike. Bolt turned in hast and once again changed in. "BOLT WAIT!" Mittens called out as he raced off. Once again Bolt let his sword reappear, in his mouth and raced in, slamming himself in between the knuckles of the giant hand and shredding it in seconds.

Rhino was happy that he had his ball when the flesh turned liquid came raining down in globs, and watched as Mittens and Alpha lifted their paws out of the muck in a comical disgust.

Bolt backed up, letting loose his laser eyes as Nightmare lifted his other hand to block them. The other hand quickly growing back, "You think to force me to use my energy?" Nightmare asked as Bolt circled around him. "Thanks to my consumption of human flesh into my mask, I have enough life energy to last me years without rest at this pace! How long will it take you to fatigue?" Bolt grunted, and raced back down to the ground, landing on the concrete with a skid. He tossed his sword to the side and lifted his head with a howl.

"Oh no!" Mittens said as she and Rhino finally got out of the goo that caked the ground, "This was in my dream! Come on we have to stop him!" she said and raced off, the hamster and crystal ball rolling around close behind her.

Bolt let the light grow as it shaped itself into a giant sword like his. It stretched for miles as it reached for the heavens. Nightmare stopped a second, surprised by the size of the massive sword as it was swung back, and then at him. Quickly, he lifted his arms, and slammed his hands on both sides of the blade, stopping it mid swing and letting the blade cut into the flesh of his lift palm. "You believe to have won!" Nightmare said and smiled as the blade started to change into black, "It has only sealed your fate, for I know every spell Neutros has to offer, including one that lets me place my blackened soul into an object in my very hands!"

Mittens looked up in awe as she remembered the shape the blade began to change in, the curved scimitar look and the black blade, "We have to hurry!" she said as she pushed her legs even faster. "Hey!" Rhino called out as he too tried to roll his ball with a quicker pace.

Nightmare smiled as he lifted the new sword up so that he could grab it by the handle and spin it around so that the blade was facing the hero. "This is what I get for not listening to my wife!" Bolt growled to himself and turned, picking up his sword from the ground, 'I just hope I can out maneuver him!' With a dash, Bolt raced forward, only to come face to face with the broad side of Nightmare's new sword. The dog hit the ground hard, so hard he buried the spikes on his back and helmet into the ground, 'Shoot!' he thought to himself as he struggled to turn himself over. He felt a shiver go down his spine as a thin shadow passed by him. Turning his eyes to the sky, Bolt looked up and saw Nightmare holding up the giant blade, ready to bring the blade down on top of him. "Bolt!" he heard Mittens shout as his sword disappeared from his mouth. "Mittens!" he called out as she appeared and touched his armor. Rhino followed closely, "Quick give us back our powers!" she ordered. Without a thought, Bolt closed his eyes, spreading the power of the new Warrior's Soul between the three of them as before. He found himself free from the ground when his armor vanished and Mittens pushed him into a roll, "MOVE!" she commanded. He looked up, the blade coming down fast, and he pushed with his back legs, grabbing his hamster friend in his paws and his wife by the scruff with his mouth. The impact of the edge of the blade as it hit the ground tossed the three of them aside asphalt and concrete rising up and flying away with them as they screamed out in panic.

Inside the Astral realm, everyone loomed over the small grey cat, Kevin, as he breathed deep, catching surprise as his eyes shot open with a gasp.

Mitch smiled as he turned to the controls from his work behind the large piece of metal, "Alright, ready Chelsea!" he called out and gave a thumbs up. The large python smiled at him from behind the control board, "Launching Missile!" she said and pushed a button on the controls just as he tightened the last of the fasteners of the panel. He raced over to her as he listened to the rumble, "Take this you over grown mud pit!" he called out as the missile roared out of the holding bay. "I love me a flameless launch!" he said. "Mmmn!" Chelsea groaned lustfully "I'd like you to launch something else!"

Nightmare lifted the blade of his sword to his side with a smile as what looked to him to be dust and rocks quickly settle. His smile widened as he saw what looked to be Mittens stuck under a large piece of rubble, and Bolt shaking off the discombobulation. He smiled again, and lifted his sword, gripping it with both hands. The impact of the missile came from nowhere slamming into his left arm, disintegrating it completely to the shoulder.

Bolt turned back to him quickly, finding him distracted and turned to Mittens. He reached her quickly, and placed his paws under the stone, lifting it easily. Suddenly he heard a roar from behind him, and the concrete became much heavier. "What, the Gravity Well from before?" Rhino asked as he felt the pressure increase, "But that means he absorbed a Rottweiler as well!" Bolt slowly lifted the wall off the rubble that pinned Mittens to the ground, not knowing that Nightmare regrew his arm and again lifted his sword. The blade came down, and struck thin air, "ENOUGH!" everyone heard an echoing voice call out.

End Chapter 14