shed skin and dissolved it in the water, which turned bright green. She let out a sigh. "Alright, this can heal all your wounds but there’s something that I didn’t tell you before, the normal body is not designed to heal this quickly and as such, it will hurt, it will hurt worse than anything you’ve ever felt. It last take one hour to finish, in that time you will be in absolute agony, the stress could kill you." said Tina, the scientists had tested this on a US marine and it had been too much for him. "So if you want to get your family and flee Nome, I’ll stay here and fight the Outsider alone." she said.

Jenna looked at Balto, she didn’t want him to endure that much pain but they had to stop this monster. She nodded. "I don’t want him to be in pain but that thing is going to wipe the town out if we don’t stop it so I don’t think we have a choice." she said.

Balto thought about it and nodded. "Same here, bring it." he said, managing to smile. Tina nodded and allowed Balto to drink the medicine. He gagged but managed not to throw up. "Oh, it tastes disgusting."

"I know, it will take a few minutes to take effect." said Tina, pinning her ears, feeling guilty she was going to put him through so much pain. Tina turned to Jenna. "This is probably going to be hard for you to watch, you don’t have to stay."

Jenna looked at Balto then at Tina. She laid down next to Balto. "I’m not leaving him." she said.

It took a few minutes and Balto thought that it wasn’t working until it kicked in. He grit his teeth, his muscles tightened, it took all of his willpower not to scream in pain and the only reason he didn’t do that was for Jenna’s sake. It felt like his ribs were being torn from his body and his skin was burning, tears of pain ran from his clinched eyes.

Jenna felt like crying herself, she wanted it to stop, she hated seeing her beloved in so much pain but knew it had to be like this. She put a paw on his back to comfort him. "Just hold on Balto, I’ll be here the whole time." she said softly.

Tina on the other hand couldn’t bare watching it at all. "I’ll go keep a look out for Steele." she said and left. She felt ashamed for acting this way but it just hurt her so much to know she was putting her hero through unimaginable pain. "I a wimp." she said as she set in front of Balto’s boat. "I should be up there, encouraging him through this but I can’t." she looked down and some tears ran from her eyes. She felt someone in front of her. She looked up.

In front of her was what she first that was Aniu but then she realized it was a wolf dog, about her age, and male. "Hello sister, long time no see." said the dog.

"A-alex? Is that really you? But how?"

"In the flesh, well not exactly since I’m kind of a spirit." said Alex. "I’m your spirit guide, I’m supposed to help you. I followed you back." he said, his voice comforting. "I wish I could nuzzle you but I’m not solid at the moment."

"I missed you so much, I’m so sorry I caused your death." said Tina, crying a little.

"It wasn’t your fault, I was just doing what any big brother would of done."

"Yeah, I guess. I’ve been beating myself up all these years and if I hadn’t, then I might not be in this mess and nether would Balto and Jenna."

"Fate is harder to change than that, well you know, except when time travel is involved." he said, smiling warmly. "You need to go be with Balto, he needs you to be strong for him."

"I don’t know if I can…"

"You have to be, you’re a descendent of Balto, he never quit when someone he loved needed him, even if he needed someone to remind him."

"I guess your right. Thanks brother." said Tina with a smile.

"Welcome." said Alex, he let out a howl and vanished.

Tina went back up to Balto. "Come on Balto, you can do this, you have to do this." she said.

When the hour was over, the pain stopped quickly. Balto relaxed, breathing heavily from the effort it took to withstand the pain. Jenna licked his nose and nuzzled him. "Did it work?" she asked.

Balto waited till he got his energy back , which didn’t take as long as he expected, before standing up, he felt as good as new, maybe even better. "Yeah, I feel a lot better, that stuff works good." he said, ripping off his bandages. "If only it didn’t hurt so much."

"Yeah, that’s a nasty side effect." said Tina. "Well only one thing to do now."

"Take the Outsider down."

"Right, I’ve got a plan, we lure it into the ice cave and use some dynamite I found in the shed outside the boiler room, the humans use it to open paths blocked by avalanches and rockslides, to trigger a cave in to trap it." said Tina.

"But what about its regeneration?" asked Jenna.

"I can use something from its shed skin to have the opposite effect, we just got to get it into its system."

"How do we do that?" asked Balto.

"I’ll handle that, you just go home to Rosy and spend the time till nightfall with her. Tonight the monster will attack, the temporal storm accelerated the blizzard so it will hit tonight instead of tomorrow, we have to stop it before its too late" said Tina…

Rival’s Last Quarrel

Nome, Alaska; 9:30 pm;

Balto licked Rosy’s cheek as she was tucked into bed, as did Jenna. "Good night." she told them and hugged them both. "I’m glad you’re better." she whispered to Balto.
Rosy’s mother lead the dogs out of the room. "Jenna, I…I don’t want you to come with me and Tina." said Balto, regrettably.
"What? Why? Balto you ne-" said Jenna, surprised.
"Your ankle is still hurt and even if we kill the Outsider, me and Tina could still die out there, someone has to be here for Rosy."
Jenna wanted to argue but knew he was right. She buried her face in his fur and sobbed. "Please don’t say that, you’re coming back, you promised you’d never leave me." she said, saddened.
Balto nuzzled her comfortingly. "I know I did, I hope I can keep that promise." he said.
"I’ll stay here, for Rosy’s sake but please, no matter what happens out there, stop that thing." Jenna said and looked up into his eyes.
Tina nudges the door open. "Balto, its time." she said.
Balto walked over while Jenna curls up in front of the fire. "Please be alright…" "Jenna’s staying with Rosy." said Balto, he really didn’t want to leave Jenna at home but Rosy needed someone.
Tina nodded, understandably. "I understand, I just hope we won’t need her help." she said. "I got us some supplies. I got the dynamite like I said. I also got a sled to carry stuff and I ‘barrowed‘ a syringe from the doctor to put a little surprise for the Outsider in. Remember the plan?"
"Lure that thing into the ice cave and trigger a cave in of ice to bury it…did you do something about what I noticed, with the thunder?" he asked, he’d told her earlier.
Tina nodded. "Well I turned an old radio, an umbrella, and a bunch of stuff in an old junk shed to build a transmitter and portable battery that will make a sound like thunder." This got a confused glance from Balto. "What? I have an IQ of 174 and I’m really good with my paws."
Balto chuckled. "Alright, lets go take the Outsider down."
The Outsider sensed them leaving the town. The blizzard was beginning but it was compelled to murder Tina. It calculated were they were going and found a canyon before the Ice cave they’d have to pass through. It let out a massive roar. The cracking of ice filled the air. An avalanche buries the ice cave and closes off that end of the canyon. It looked at its work and emits another disturbingly evil laugh.
Jenna laid on the floor of the shed, waiting for her beloved to return. "Please be alive." she said. The door swung open, inviting in an already fierce storm. "Balto?" she asked, perking her head.
Steele walked in, prompting a gasp from Jenna. "Well where’s that useless mate of yours?" he asked, a crazed look in his eyes.
Jenna was glad Balto wasn’t there. "He’s gone with Tina to put an end to the Outsider." she said defiantly.
Steele laughed, almost as disturbingly as the Outsider, only this time it was because of the crazed tone of it. "That mutt couldn’t hurt a flea in his condition. How does he think he can beat a monster?"
Jenna managed to smirk. "We healed him, using something from the Outsider. They’re going to trap it in the ice cave."
Steele laughed again. "Didn’t you hear? The path is blocked by an avalanche, they’re walking into a dead end." he smiled menacingly.
Jenna looked shocked. She didn’t want to believe Steele but she could see he wasn’t lying. Jenna, calm yourself down, they’ll find a way to stop it anyway. she thought to herself.
"Now Jenna, we both know the half-breed isn’t coming back, come with me." Steele taunted, adding another psychotic laugh.
"It didn’t work a few months ago, its not going to work now." she said.
Jenna turns around but Steele grabs her hind leg and flips her onto her back. He pins her front shoulders to the ground. "I wasn’t asking." he said, snarling. He was doing this more to scare her than anything else.
It was working, Jenna was frightened, thinking of what he could do. She straggled but could break free. She realized her hind legs were free. She kicked out and connected with Steele’s still injured ribs. He yelped and fell off. Jenna got up and made a dash for the door. She suddenly felt herself snap backwards, her bandana tightening. The back of her head smacked the deck. She didn’t notice, adrenaline kicked in, she ran. Steele kept holding on but her bandana came undone and she got away. She ran as fast as she could through town, ignoring the raging blizzard. She stopped behind a houses, shielded from the storm, her heart racing. She groaned. She laid down and put her paws over her aching head. "Oh my head."
"Oh Jenna where are you?" asked Steele, carrying her bandana in his mouth. He couldn’t find her and her scent was impossible to find in the blizzard. Jenna held her breath, she didn’t even move. Steele growled, then smiled as he thought of something. "Jenna, I’m going to make sure your mate doesn’t make it back!" he said with a psychotic laugh, he dashed off, he remembered the path.
Jenna let out her breath and relaxed for a minute. She