Balto was surprised at this but took advantage and put his hind legs out in front. When he hit the monster’s chest he kicked out and landed a few feet back. The Outsider finally staggered back a few feet. Balto charged forwards and head butted it in the stomach. The Outsider doubled over and coughed, the air driven from its lungs. Balto sprung up and struck the Outsider in the jaw with his head. The monster finally fell to the ground but Balto staggered back and shook his head. It was hurt him some to strike the monster’s metal jaw bone with only a thin layer of skin covering that part of the Outsider’s body. He cleared his head and charged the monster again. This time the Outsider caught him as it stood up and quickly threw him into the air before driving him to the ground. Balto’s ribs hit a patch of stone on the ground and he let out a cry of pain. The Outsider did a running kick into Balto’s ribs knocking him a few feet away. Balto coughed and hacked, trying to catch his breath, he knew a few of his ribs had been bruised but he managed to stand up. The Outsider cocked its head in confusion. It moved its mouth as if trying to make words. It did so a few more times. "W--…--’t…-o-…--e" it said, the missing letters imposable to understand, none the less it smiled.

Balto’s eyes went wide. "Did you talk?" he asked, shocked.

The Outsider smiled more and tried again. "W-y…wo-’t…yo-…die." it said, the massage was clear though.

Balto was surprised but laughed as best he could despite his bruised ribs. "You’d really get along with Steele." he said.

The Outsider let out a roar and charged. It swung its hand downward at Balto’s skull but he avoided it. It swung its other hand around but he got out of the way again. He backed up against and low tree limb. He remembered something from his encounter with that bear a few months ago. He backed up more and bent the limb before waiting for the monster to approach. It ran at him and he got out of the way, the limb swung forwards and struck it over the head, snapping on impact but causing the Outsider to fall to the ground. Balto picked up a rock in his mouth and slammed it against the Outsider’s skull, actually getting a roar of pain to come from its maw. He repeated this until finally green blood oozed from a wound on its head. He didn’t like to be this brutal but this opponent required him to be. The Outsider snarled in rage and caught Balto’s throat as he tried to bring the rock down again. It rose to its feet and threw Balto, he slammed hard into a tree, he yelped but didn’t lose consciousness. He got back to his feet. He could tell the monster was getting angry, he didn’t know if that was good or bad. He waited for it to charge and get close enough before jumping over it. It slammed through the tree but swung its tail around and into Balto’s already injured ribs. He fell to the ground with a groan. He got up as quick as he could and turned back to the monster, he was in a lot of pain but he wouldn’t give up as long as he could stand. The monster was slightly injured from going through a tree but was down. It brought its hand up and into Balto’s bottom jaw, sending him falling onto his back. He shook it off and got to his feet again before being kicked in the ribs again, sending him rolling across the ground until he came to a stop. He managed to get up again, despite agonizing pain in his ribs. The Outsider brought its hand down on the top of Balto’s head. Balto managed to stay on his feet but blood trickled down his face, he’d been busted open. He looked at the monster, his vision blurred, he felt dizzy and staggered around before falling to the ground. He tried to rise but couldn’t. He looked up as the monster approached and laughed evilly as it extended its metal claws. Balto lost consciousness as the beast rose its weapon to the sky…

Saving a Hero

Alaskan Wilderness, midday;

The Outsider looked down on Balto’s unconscious form as it prepare to end his life. It’s claws drove downwards but stopped right before they entered Balto’s skull. It snapped around to find Tina standing there. "Leave him alone, its me you want!" she yelled, wanting more than anything to defend her hero. The Outsider looked back to Balto and roared just like it had at Jenna, pretty much saying ‘you got lucky’. It turned back to Tina and let out a roar. It charged at her and tried to slash her with its claw. She leapt out of the way and got between it and Balto. The monster turned to look at her. It let out a massive roar. Suddenly there was a snapping sound, it turned around as a tree fell on it’s head. It fell to the ground, knocked out and pinned under the tree.
Tina smiled, the Outsider’s claw had cut through a tree as she’d planned. She turned to Balto and her smile vanished. He was battered and bleeding, she cried some. She had to get him back to Nome, she’d promised Jenna. She managed to get him onto her back and moved as fast as she could. She couldn’t believe her hero had lost, she knew it had been likely but she’d had so much faith in Balto, that he’d be able to put an end to that genetic demon but he wasn’t. "He lost…" she said softly, in disbelief somewhat.

Nome, 9:30 pm;

Jenna paced the shed floor back and forth. Before Tina left to help Balto, she’d told her that if Balto was alright, her and Balto would howl but if something was wrong, only Tina would. Jenna dreaded that she’d hear only one, so much that the pain from her hurt ankle didn’t even register in her mind, only the pain in her heart did. "Please be alright Balto, you’ve got to be, I need you…" she said, worry going through her mind. If Balto was dead, what would she do? The Outsider would come to destroy Nome, her family would die, if that happened, she’d have nothing to live for. She tried to take her mind off it, thinking of the pups her and Balto were going to have, wondering what they’d be like, would they be brave like him? Her mind wondered back to the possibility Balto wasn’t coming back, no matter how hard she tried her mind kept going back to that. She started crying, her heart ached, hoping her love would come back. Her ears perked as she heard something, a howl, it was Tina’s. She listened hopefully for Balto’s but heard nothing for a few minutes until Tina’s howl once again broke the silence. Her heart sank. "Balto…" she said softly and ran out the door.
Tina struggled on but she was so tired. She looked back at Balto, he was still unconscious. Her joints were stiff from cold and fatigue, she knew Balto had to be freezing if he was still alive. She wiped the possibility he wasn’t alive anymore out of her mind. "Hang on Balto, we’re almost there." she said, more to reassure herself. They’d just past Balto’s boat, they were almost in Nome, Tina hopped Jenna was coming to help.
Jenna ran through town, not even feeling her throbbing ankle through the agony her heart was going through. She finally reached Balto and Tina, her heart broke when she saw Balto. "No…" she said as tears surged into her eyes. She looked at her battered and beaten mate, crying hard. "What happened?" she asked, very upset.
Tina collapsed and panted hard for a few seconds, she was so tired her whole body ached. "He lost…" she said, disbelief still in her voice.
Jenna managed to pull herself together, she understood how terrible it had to be for Tina, she believed Balto could do anything, he was her hero, Jenna couldn’t imagine how Tina must of felt, having her hopes and her hero crushed. "Is he…is he alive?" she managed to ask, dreading the answer would be no.
"I don’t know…I’m too cold to feel his pulse. I managed to stop the Outsider from killing him but enough damage may of already been done." replied Tina shivering. She managed to get up and stagger towards Jenna house.
Jenna quickly put part of Balto’s weight onto her own back, managing to help Tina support him and take some of her stress off her. She helped carry Balto through the streets. She glanced at his head, blood had stopped coming from his wound but his face was covered in it. She winced but didn’t look away. "Please just survive..." she said quietly.
Steele walked up, an evil smile on his face. "Well, what happened? Half-breed get in a fight with a grizzly?" he asked jokingly.
Jenna looked over her shoulder with a deep snarl that made Steele back up a little bit. "This is the worst possible time. There is something very dangerous out there, Balto tried to stop it, he couldn’t." she said, pinning her ears back and baring her teeth to Steele.
"Well then maybe I should put him out of his misery."
"Touch him and you’ll regret it."
"Who’s going to make me? You?" Steele let out a laugh.
"No, the Outsider will." said Tina.
"What’s that? Another dog?"
"Worse, it’s a monster and its what did this to Balto."
Steele would of laughed but he knew himself just how much it took to do that to Balto. "Well a monster huh? Well I guess this half-breed already proved he can’t stop it so he isn’t really useful anymore is he?"
Tina looked at Jenna. "Looks like he isn’t backing off, I guess I’ll have to take a page from your book." she whispered. She moved out from under Balto and looked at Steele, she batted her eyelids flirtatiously. "Now come on Steele, are you sure you won’t reconsider? I might reconsider your earlier offer of a date if you do." she said, flirting to Steele and nudging him slightly, backing him up.
Jenna didn’t understand until she saw where Tina was luring Steele, a sly smile crossed her face. Steele fell for it, he thought she was hitting on him. "Well I guess maybe I could." he said.
"Of course but there’s something else you could do for me…" said Tina, keeping Steele under her spell.
"What is it?"
Tina looked behind Steele and got ready. "You can…have a nice fall!" she said and pushed her weight up into Steele chest. Steele hadn’t noticed Tina had backed him onto a rather high porch, which he now fell off of. There was loud crash as he landed on an overturned trash can, his mass crunching it. He let out a howl of pain