New Arrival

Nome Alaska, 7 am, 1925;

Balto leaped from his boat, he was running late. He started into a dash as soon as his paws hit the ground, "I better make up the time or Jenna will be worried." he said, smiling at the thought of his mate before jumping onto the top of a fence then onto a roof and making his way across town. He had traveled the country for the past few months along with Nikki, Kaltag, Star, and the other dogs on the team. Everywhere they went, they were met with a hero's welcome. It was fun but Balto missed his friends in Nome horribly. When the humans with them saw him sad one day, they correctly guessed he was homesick so the other dogs were still traveling and he’d been taken home. A few things had changed while he was gone. Jenna had told him her friends Dixie and Silvie’s families had moved away in his absence due to the overflow of tourists into the town, she didn't know if it was for good or not. Likewise Boris hadn’t been able to handle all the tourists poking around the boat so he had left, naturally Muk and Luk had followed their ‘uncle’, until Balto came back or the tourists thinned out, both of which had happened so he had sent word with the last sled dog team that had gone out to the town Boris was staying near, one that the dogs, all young ones on their first run, had wanted him to lead but he turned them down. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, it was no secret he’d wanted to be a sled dog since he was a pup, he’d just been away from Jenna too long already. That was also why he was late, because Boris wasn't there to wake him up. Balto stopped, his paws sliding on the new fallen snow, he had been so caught up in his thoughts he hadn't noticed he was running towards the edge of a roof with the next one being too far for him to jump. He slid to a stop right at the edge. "That was close." he said, turning to get back on his path, his right front paw slipped on a patch of ice, causing him to lose his footing and fall off the roof. Luckily he landed in a pile of soft snow. "I guess I better be more careful, won't always be a pile of snow to break my fall." he said, crawling out and shaking the snow off his coat. "Good thing Boris wasn't here, he would of given me an earful for that." He laughed, thinking of just what the goose might of said when he remembered something. The town were Boris was staying was only a day or two away from Nome. Maybe the sled team would be coming back soon and even though he guessed his friends probably wouldn’t be able to keep up with them, he still wanted to know if they had gotten the massage. It wasn’t too far out of his way so he ran down the main road.
As he ran, he heard some people ,most of them looked like tourists, talking about his heroics, he even slowed down when some reached out to pet him. To be honest, he really didn’t care about the fame, all he had really wanted to do was save Rosy for Jenna and he had done that, not that he wasn't glad that the towns people didn't hate him anymore. He then saw something that made him stop, Steele was walking down the other side of the street. No collar hung around his neck anymore, his owner and friends had disowned him after finding out what he had done. Some people pet Balto on the head as they pass, sparking a glare and snarl from Steele, whom they were ignoring completely. Humans might not of known everything that happened that night but it didn't take them long after Balto and the sled team returned to figure out Steele had abandoned his team in the middle of a blizzard. The tables had been turned, Balto was the hero and Steele was the hated outcast and Steele didn’t like it one bit. Balto didn't know if it was that or the fall Steele had taken after their fight but Steele was becoming almost insane. Balto looked around for some way to avoid Steele, no such luck, he’d have to do his best to ignore him. Balto had to walk at a slow pace, there were more people in this area or else he might of just dashed past Steele. As he passed, Balto braced himself as best he could for Steele’s insults. "Stupid half-breed, why don‘t you just go back to your pack like a good wolf ? I promise I‘ll take good care of Jenna, even if she has horrible taste in mates." said Steele mockingly, making sure Balto heard him then letting out a rather disturbing laugh while his face turned to an almost demented smile.
Balto didn’t respond in any way, he just walked past the larger dog. Once Steele was out of sight, Balto hung his head and tail low, he was sad, angry, and confused. No matter how hard he tried to ignore it, no matter how many times he heard the same insults, Steele’s words always cut like a knife and hearing Steele wanting to take Jenna away just made him furious. He really didn’t want to fight Steele, that was just what Steele wanted, but he wished Steele would stop, that’s why he didn’t show Steele that he was upset, that would only get him picked on more. He was proud of his wolf half and he and Jenna loved each other too much for anything to get between them so why could Steele always get to him? He dug his nails into the ground in an attempt to vent some of his anger. He drove it out of his mind as best he could, if the sled team had came back he didn’t want to look upset when he met them and he definitely didn‘t want to look it when he saw Jenna. He went back into his run once there was enough room to do so, the sooner he checked the sooner he'd get to Jenna and Rosy. He reached the edge of town and looked around, he didn’t see anything, not even tracks in the fresh snow. "Well, maybe in the morning." he said, slightly disappointed. Boris was the closest thing he ever had to a father and those two polar bears were like family too, he just wanted to know if they were on their way home yet. Balto laughed, he had a pretty weird family, his mother was wolf, his father was a goose, his best friends were polar bears, Jenna was the only normal one in the bunch. As he turned to head back into town, he caught smelled something. It wasn’t very strong but he recognized it as the smell of burnt fur, he remembered it from when Jenna had burned Steele a few months ago. He looked back into town and then in the direction of whatever he was smelling. "Well it can’t be far besides someone might be hurt and I can’t just leave them out here." he said and ran after the scent. At first he didn’t see anything until he almost tripped over the red and white dog buried partway in the snow. He looked it over, at first he was worried it might of been Jenna but then he realized that it was too small to be her, whoever it was they were younger than he and Jenna were. He could tell from the scent that it was a female and strangely she smelled similar to his mate, he thought she must just be another husky. Then it occurred to him, the amount of snow on her meant she’d been unconscious out in the cold for awhile, a lot of times that was when someone died, was she still alive? "Hello?" he asked, he was happy to see some response in the form of a small twitch on her eyelid. He nudged her with his nose.
Tina began to wake up, the first thing she noticed was that she was freezing cold, it made her entire body ache. She couldn’t remember what happened, she was in too much pain to concentrate on trying. "If you don’t wake up, you’ll freeze to death out here." said a voice as something gently nudged her shoulder. She opened her eyes with a groan but her vision was blurred for a few seconds. When her vision focused, she was surprised to see Balto. She had no reason to believe she was face to face with her idol, she was just startled to see a wolf dog of any kind. She tried to get to her feet but she was shivering too badly and her legs felt numb from the cold. Balto saw this. "You must be freezing, let me help you to the boiler room, you can warm up there." said Balto.
He helped Tina up and let her lean on him for support. "Th-thank y-you." she stuttered.
A few minutes later, Balto set her down in the warm boiler room and managed to find her a blanket. Balto then laid down near by. Normally the sled dogs stayed here when not on runs but all the sled teams were out at the moment so the boiler room was empty. Balto then noticed the burn on Tina’s neck, the shape of it was strange, like whatever burned her had grabbed her to do it. That was strange but not as strange as how much she looked like Jenna, the only differences was her age, the tuff of fur over her eye, and the eyes themselves. Her eyes were strange, it wasn’t that he hadn’t seen eyes like them before, in fact it was because they seemed so familiar, he just couldn’t remember where he’d seen them before. "Feeling better?" asks Balto in a concerned voice after letting her warm up for a few minutes.
"Yes, thank you very much, if you hadn't found me, I probably wouldn’t of lasted much longer. I owe you big time." said Tina, getting up and shaking a combination of water and unmelted snow off her fur before stretching her legs to try to get the blood flowing threw them again.
"You're welcome but you don't owe me anything, I was just doing the right thing."
"It was still a nice thing to do, one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me." Even though she was very grateful, Tina hadn't been looking at Balto when she said that, she was still wondering where she was. Even though she wasn't hurting anymore, all she could remember about what happened was at the moment was that she was in New York City in the summer before she lost consciousness and she woke up outside a town half buried in snow. Her enhanced intelligence on the other hand seemed unaffected. She looked around the room, looking for some inclination of her location. Then she spied a newspaper clipping on the wall. She had seen it before, it was one of the newspaper articles from Nome about Balto’s sled run. What shocked her was that it looked so new. "Excuse me, how old is this?" she asked pointing to the article with her nose.
"That’s from the newspaper a few months ago, why do you ask?" asked Balto, he found it strange considering nearly everyone in the country knew what he had done.
"I’m just trying to figure out how I got here, where is here anyway?"
"Nome, Alaska." Balto noticed the shock on her face when she heard that. "Why are you so surprised?"
"Because before I lost consciousness, I was in New York City."
"You're pretty far away from home."
Tina was in shock, Balto was right she was very far from home but that wasn't as surprising as the fact that from the looks of things she was in 1925, about 83 years in the past. Had she really went back in time? Then it hit her. She was talking to a wolf dog in Nome, Alaska in 1925. "Your name wouldn’t be Balto by any chance would it?"
"That’s my name."
"The same Balto that on February 2, 1925 lead a sled dog team through a blizzard, past many obstacles including his long time tormentor Steele to deliver a load of desperately needed diphtheria antitoxin to the town of Nome, thus turning from a despised outcast to the town hero?"
Balto was surprised by how specific she was. "Yes, that's me."
"Amazing…oh sorry I haven’t even introduced myself. My name is Tina."
Tina’s expression completely changed, she had looked rather confused before she found out who he was but now she was very happy, if not a little embarrassed for not introducing herself earlier, this confused Balto a little. "Glad to meet you, I have a feeling you’re glad to see me."
"Yeah, you’re my role model, I wish I could do all the things you’ve done and a few things you haven’t done…yet. By the way has Jenna had her first litter?"
"What? No." said Balto, a little unsettled, what she had said was strange and her question seemed to come out of nowhere.
Tina wondered, if she really had came back in time then she could alter history but sense she was never supposed to be there she had already done that, the truth was no one knew what would happen because she was the first one she knew of that had gone back in time, maybe she was even supposed to have come back or the universe was going to implode, human time travel theories were confusing. She guessed as long as she didn't reveal too much it would be ok. "Really? You’ll be very proud of them, two in particular take after you a good bit. One in looks, the other well you know what they say, like father, like son." said Tina.
Balto gave her a confused glance. "Well I’m sure I will be proud. Sorry but did you get hit on the head or something?"
"No, but I seem to remember lightning for some reason, everything else is a blur right now."
"Well that explains that burn on your neck but how could you know about kids I haven’t had yet, are you from the future or something?", he thought Tina was joking.
"Actually, yes."
Balto just stared for a few seconds. "You’re serious?"
"Nah, I'm just pulling your leg...or then again maybe I‘m not." said Tina with a laugh and a mischievous smirk, she decided maybe she’d better wait a little while before telling the truth, at least until she could completely remember what happened before she went back in time, but she couldn‘t resist fooling around and she seemed to remember that Balto had a good sense of humor.
Balto looked at her cautiously, what did she mean by that? He decides she was joking and laughs. "You had me going there for a minute, I'm still not sure about you but lets go see what Jenna has to say." he said, a little unsure of what to make of Tina.
"Ok, I’ve always wanted to meet her too." said Tina, making sure her bandana was on tight and biting off what burnt fur she could reach, Balto noticed her bandana strangely looked like Jenna’s, only aged.
"Nice bandana, my wife wears one like it."
"Really?" Tina said, after Balto turned around a smile crossed her face. "You have no idea." she whispered.
Balto looks over his shoulder. "What?"
"Oh nothing." she said as he lead her out the door…

Surprising Truths

Nome, Alaska, 4 am;

Tina woke up. Everything seemed to be perfectly calm. She was sleeping in the shed behind Jenna’s house, Jenna and Balto were sleeping inside the house. She couldn’t understand why she woke up. She heard something outside, footsteps. She began to feel afraid. "Who’s there? Balto?" she asked.
The door splintered and in walked Tina’s worse nightmare, the Outsider. Tina couldn’t run, she just backed away from the creature. It shot forwards and extended its claws. It drove its blades into the wall around Tina’s head and kept them there, ensuring she had no escape. Hello, traitor. said a menacing voice but the Outsider’s jaws didn’t move.
"Did you talk?"
You could say that. the creature gave her a frightening smile. You cannot escape me, I’ll always be there. I’ll always be lurking in the shadows, waiting. You and this town have three days. In three days, this town’s streets will run red with the blood of my victims and there is no way you can stop me. Now wake up. the voice said. The Outsider extended its other claws and launched them towards Tina’s skull.
Tina snapped awake, breathing heavily. She looked around, everything was the way it should be, the door was still there, the Outsider wasn’t. "Was that just a dream?" she asked, calming down.
No, it wasn’t. Did you forget our link? I can enter your dreams when you are not concentrating on blocking me. I told you, you can’t escape me…Three days til-
Tina blocked the monster’s thoughts out. She was glad she could, she’d forgotten it was capable of doing that. She reconnected to the monster. "We will stop you, we will find a way to defeat you for good." she said in her mind before pulling out.
Jenna walked into the room, she looked scared, almost crying. "Tina, can I talk to you?" she asked.
"Yes, of course you can."
"Alright." Jenna walks into the shed. "I had a dream about that thing, the Outsider…"
"And?" Tina wondered if the Outsider had developed a way to get into Jenna’s mind as well but it was unlikely.
"It…It killed Balto in my dream. It stabbed him in the chest and then threw him hard against a mountain side…then he just laid there, bleeding in the snow…It all seemed so real. It was terrifying." The last thing Jenna wanted was for her mate to die, she was always so afraid of losing him, she loved him so much.
"It was just a dream Jenna. I know it scared you but it was just a dream. You’re afraid the Outsider might kill him so you had a nightmare. There is no reason to be scared of your dream. Theoretically the Outsider can’t kill Balto because I would then never meet your descendent to learn about him, then I’d never of stopped at Balto’s statue, it wouldn’t of caught me and been struck by lightning and we wouldn’t of came back and it couldn’t kill him, it would cancel itself out in what’s called a time paradox which is supposed to be impossible…Unless…"
"Unless what? If there is something tell me."
"Me and the Outsider changed the past just by coming back, it might be able to kill Balto without threatening itself and your dream might have been a premonition." she didn’t want to say that but she didn’t want to lie.
Jenna gasped. Just the thought of losing her mate terrified her. "So Balto might die?" she started crying.
"Jenna, there’s a good chance that isn’t the chase."
"But it could happen right?!" Jenna was upset.
Tina didn’t want to answer but she had to. "Yes…it could."
Jenna was confused and upset. "I need to think for awhile." she said and dashed out of the shed.
"Jenna! Wait!" Tina yelled after her. Tina went into the house and nudged Balto. "Wake up, something’s happened." she said.
Balto woke up and looked at her with a yawn. "What happened?" he asked.
"Jenna ran off."
"What? Why?"
"She was scared because she had a nightmare about the Outsider killing you and I tried to calm her down but I just made things worse." Tina started to cry. "If anything happened to her, its my fault."
"No, calm down. We have to find her."
"Your right. Where would she go?"
Balto looks out the window at the hill overlooking Nome, it was lit up with an aurora. "I think I know."
Tina nodded but then got a shocked look. "Oh no. The Outsider, its near there."
"Then we better get to her before it does.
Jenna looked at the beautiful aurora emanating from the broken bottles laying nearby with a lantern shining on them. Tears ran from her eyes and melted through the snow below her head. "Balto…" she said. So many things ran through her mind. The Outsider could kill her mate, she’d had a nightmare about that, dreams could show the future, she knew that. Part of her wanted to be mad at Tina for bringing that monster back but she knew Tina didn’t deserve that, Tina wanted to stop that creature more than anyone. "You can’t die Balto, you just can’t." she said, crying. She couldn’t bare to lose Balto, he meant everything to her. Without him what chance did they have to stop that beast? If he died, so would Nome and the family Jenna loved so much. She hadn’t had pups but according to Tina she was supposed to…with Balto. If Balto died, those pups would never be born, there lives were on the line even if they hadn’t gotten life yet. "I won’t let this monster do that, I’ll kill it myself if I have to." She heard something behind her. She looked but nothing was there. "W-who’s there? Balto? Tina? Is that you?" She was getting frightened. Was it Steele? Was it…that monster? Both thoughts scared her. She looked all over the hill side, she couldn’t find anything. She looked back to the aurora and calmed down a little. She felts the vibrations in the ground of something large landing behind her. She ran forwards and looked back. A look of terror went across her face.
The Outsider looked over the dog in front of it. It was aggravated, it had thought Jenna was Tina, it was incapable of pinpointing Tina’s location as accurately as she could it and Tina and Jenna’s similar appearance confused it. Still, it had began a hunt, it was programmed not to, back at the lab it was painfully shocked for doing that. It took a slow step forward, a clip proceeded its metal claws extending.
Jenna’s eyes locked on the metal claws gleaming in the moonlight, she could see old bloodstains on the blades, she didn’t want her blood to join them. She rushed in the opposite direction, through the aurora but she realized too late it was a dead-end. She looked at the creature for a second before closing her eyes. "I’m sorry Balto." she said, expecting to feel the monster’s blades stabbing into her in a moment but nothing happened. She opened her eyes to see the Outsider looking across the hillside, looking for her despite being in plan sight. It couldn’t see her for some reason. She thought about running but whatever was blocking her from view would very likely fade if she did. The monster growled angrily. It stepped forwards but the moment its head enter the aurora it leapt backwards out of it with a roar of pain. Jenna was intrigued by this, did the aurora hurt it somehow?
The Outsider rubbed its eyes for a second. It let out a furious roar. It knew its prey was there, it could smell Jenna, hear her heartbeat but it couldn’t see her. It looked around before its eyes locked on the lantern. It walked over and picked it up. The aurora faded and Jenna became visible to it. It smiled. It knew most organisms would laugh at this time, it wondered if it could. It went through images it saw through Tina, it only knew what she saw when she wasn’t blocking it out. It remembered a movie scene.
Jenna gasped as the monster smiled. It opened its mouth, Jenna expected a roar but instead was greeted by a far more disturbing sound. The Outsider laughed but the laugh sounded…like Balto’s only warped in a evil manner so that it was just so disturbing. Jenna ran as the monster crushed the lantern in its claws like tissue, she knew it could easily do that to her skull. She ran as fast as she could. She looked down at Nome, the place she normally felt safe in, she wanted to run into town but knew the monster could follow her and attack then, she’d be dooming her family. She ran into the wilderness.
Jenna ran for what she thought was hours, her paws hurt, she was breathing heavily but she kept running, she was so scared but more for her loved ones than herself, she couldn’t imagine how Balto would react if that monster killed her. She finally stopped and collapsed, breathing hard. It was a few moments before she could stand. She looked around, she wasn’t too far from Nome, she was on the end opposite of the place she started, she’d reach Balto’s boat before Nome, that was fine with her. She started to walk back to Nome. Something grabbed her by the hind leg and took her into the air. To her terror, she looked into the Outsider’s evil eyes. She couldn’t read anything in those eyes but pure cruelty and evil. It let out another warped laugh that mocked her mate’s and threw her. She slammed hard into a tree and let out a loud yelp. She landed on the ground as it approached. For a second she thought about playing dead before remembering what the monster did to its victims. She looked up at it as she heard the click as its claws extended. She whimpered as it lifted its weapon into the air and drove it forwards. She closed her eyes and awaited her death. When she didn’t die she opened her eyes. The monster had stopped inches from her snout, she could smell the blood on them. It wasn’t looking at her, she followed its gaze and found Tina standing nearby.
"Let her go Outsider! Its me you want." said Tina, hopping the monster would chase her.
The Outsider looked at Tina for a second. Its head snapped back to Jenna. Its claws retracted and it pointed to her before roaring in her face. It then turned and ran after Tina who ran off.
Jenna was still shocked, she was inches from dieing but it wanted a chance to kill Tina over taking her life. Its massage was clear though. It was saying ‘You got lucky’. She knew now where the smell of rotten meat back in the cave came from, the monster’s breath. Balto ran up to her, worry obvious on his face. He nuzzled her lovingly. "Are you alright?" he asked.
"I think so." she said. She tried to stand and walk but her front ankle gave out and she went face first into the snow. She tried again with the same result, this time with a little pain in her ankle. She growl. "Why does this keep happening to me?"
Balto would of laughed if it wasn’t such a serious moment. He helped her up and let her lean on him. "Lets get you back to Nome."
"But what about Tina?"
"She’ll be fine, she has more experience with this monster than we do. She’ll meet us back at the boat." It was sunrise when they got within view of Balto’s boat. "Do you want to rest on the boat for awhile?" he asks.
"Yes." replied Jenna, her ankle was hurting pretty bad.
Tina came running up, breathing hard. "Ok, I lost it in the woods and I’m guessing it headed back to its lair with the sun rising." she said once she caught her breath.
"Sorry for running out like that."
"I can’t blame you for that. Its fine." Tina thought for a second. "I think its important for us to fully trust each other, there is something else I’ve been keeping from you but this a far more joyous thing."
"What is it?" asked Balto, hopping for some good news.
Tina walked back to where Balto and Jenna’s prints lay in the snow. She put her paw between the two sets of prints, when she lifted it, what they saw shocked Balto and Jenna. Tina’s paw print looked more like Balto’s than Jenna’s and was larger than Jenna’s. Tina giggled. "Big paws run in my family."
Balto’s eyes went wide when he heard that, he remember saying the same thing months ago to Jenna. "You’re part wolf aren’t you?"
Tina nodded with a smile. "Yes, I got it from my great, great, great grandfather and I got my looks from his mate."
Balto and Jenna looked at each other then at Tina, then they realized what she meant. "Balto, she has your eyes." said Jenna, still in a little shock.
Balto looked in a puddle nearby at his own eyes then at Tina’s, sure enough they were the same. "We’re your ancestors?" he asked.
Tina nodded and reared her head skywards before letting out a howl, not like the mocking howl Steele would sometimes do but a true wolf’s howl…

Rivals

Nome, Alaska, 7 am;

Tina finished her howl and walked over to her ancestors. "Yeah, the descendent I was talking about was my mom. She was so proud to be related to you and so am I." she said.
Balto was a little shocked but Jenna wasn’t. "I’m glad to hear it. I guess that explains why you look so much like me." said Jenna.
Balto nodded. "Yeah…I know this is supposed to be happy but that monster is still on the loose…Tina if you’re my descendent, what would happen if the Outsider killed me or Jenna?" he asked.
Tina cocked her head a little confused. "Well I’m not sure. Ether I’d simply disappear from existence or nothing because I’m not in the future so changes to the timeline might not effect me, that and it would make a time paradox." she said.
"A what?"
"A time paradox, lets see how do I explain this? Well if the Outsider killed one of you, you wouldn’t have pups and as such my ancestors wouldn’t be born and nether would I. If I was never born the Outsider wouldn’t be linked to me and couldn’t come back in time. If it never came back in time, it couldn’t kill you and I would be born and it would come back and kill you, stopping me from being born, stopping it from killing you-"
"Alright, I get the point, you’re starting to make my head hurt." Balto rubbed his head with his paw to show it.
"I know, time travel can do that to you." she smiled a little.
Jenna smiled in response. "We will stop that thing, I’d rather die than let it kill my family." she said bravely.
"Same goes for me, backing down isn’t something that works for me." said Balto.
Tina nodded. "Right, I’ve had that monster connected to me for a long time, I won’t stop until that thing is beaten for good." she said. She saw Jenna’s injured paw. "What happened?"
Jenna was confused for a second before she followed Tina’s gaze to her hurt ankle. "Oh, the Outsider threw me, I guess I landed hard on this paw." she said.
"Well lets get onto the boat and I’ll check you out, I know a few medical facts, this big brain of mine comes in handy sometimes." Tina smiled.
"Thank you."
The three begin to walk toward the boat again. "So Tina, how do you feel about being part wolf?" asked Balto, curious.
Tina laughed. "Well interesting question. I am very proud to be part wolf, even if its rather small. I wish I was more wolf, maybe Damien wouldn’t of picked me up if I looked like a wolf pup." said Tina with a laugh.
Balto smiled a little. "Yeah, though a good human might of not wanted you ether."
"I’d rather have no one than a psychopath and a homicidal genetic freak."
"Point taken."
They get up on the deck and lay Jenna down. Tina looks over Jenna’s ankle, it was a little swollen. Tina felt it with her paw, Jenna winced a little, it hurt a good bit. Tina continued and when she stopped she gave Jenna a smile. "Don’t worry, its not broken, it will be sore for awhile but you’ll be fine."
Jenna smiled. "That’s good." she said.
Balto nuzzled his mate. "I’m so glad you’re safe, it could have been a lot worse." he said. He was about to say something else when something hit him rather hard in the side. He went skidding across the deck, his shoulder getting cut up from splinters. He got up to find Steele standing where he was moments earlier. Steele’s white fur was still tinted pink from Tina and Jenna’s prank. "What are you doing here?"
Steele growled. "Well I waited all night for you to come sleep so I could kill you but you didn’t show up." he said.
Jenna’s eyes went wide, she was afraid Steele would try that. "That’s low, even for you." she said.
Steele ignored her and charged Balto. Balto tried to get out of the way but his injured shoulder prevented him from being fast enough. He braced himself for the impact. Steele collided with Balto, who stood his ground and pushed back. Steele bit down on Balto’s shoulder. Balto returned the favor.
"Balto!" said Jenna as she tried to rise but her ankle hurt too much.
"Jenna, you relax, I’ll hel-" said Tina her eyes went wide as she was interrupted by the Outsider’s mental voice.
Hello traitor. I am going to share a little secret with you, you know how you think you’ve lost some of your memories? You didn’t lose them, I stole them. said the evil voice.
"Tina, what’s wrong?" asked Jenna, something was wrong.
"The Outsider is talking to me, it can do that through the link." said Tina. "What do you mean ‘stole them’?" she asked in her head.
Just that, I took your memories, they are in my mind to use as I chose, did you enjoy that bit of your past I gave you while I was in the time stream? asked the Outsider.
Tina gasped. "That was you? You gave me that nightmare? Why?"
I can taste you fear, it is quite a wonderful taste. Now I’m going to give you a bit of info that will give you a new idea of your ‘heroic ancestor’.
Tina’s eyes went wide before they closed and she collapsed, unconscious. "Tina? Are you alright?" asked Jenna, very frightened.
Steele snapped his head to the side and threw Balto across the deck. Balto quickly got up. "Half-breed, do yourself a favor and just let me kill you."
"I don’t want to fight you Steele." replied Balto.
"Then I’ll just tear you apart." Steele charged at Balto, Balto jumped to the side to avoid him then drove his head into Steele’s ribs. Steele fell to the deck but got up quickly. "I thought you said you didn’t want to fight."
"I don’t but that doesn’t mean I won’t if I have to. This is your last warning, if we fight I won’t hold back this time."
"Nether will I."
"Don’t say I didn’t warn you." Balto leapt on Steele and clawed him across the face, leaving a bleeding cut. Steele replied with a swipe of his own, with a similar result. Balto bit down on Steele’s leg and yanked it out from under Steele. He pinned Steele to the deck and bit Steele’s shoulder. Steele rolled Balto over and tried to bite Balto’s throat. Balto avoided the bite and kicked Steele hard with his hind legs. Steele fell off him and Balto latched his jaws onto Steele’s back. Steele growled and reached around. He bit Balto’s hind leg and threw him, ripping off a sizeable chuck of his own fur in the process. Balto slammed into the deck rather hard. He didn’t stay down. Steele growled and charged. Balto bit into Steele’s shoulder and used Steele’s momentum to throw him. Steele landed near the edge of the deck and got up. Balto ran forwards and slammed into Steele’s side, sending the larger dog falling off the deck. Balto flinched as Steele hit the ground hard. Balto looked over and saw Steele laying motionless below, his chest still moved with his breaths, Balto was glad he hadn’t killed another dog. "Don’t say I didn’t warn you." he said, breathing heavily. He walked over to Jenna and looked at Tina. "What happened to her?"
"I don’t know, she said the Outsider was talking to her through the link then she just passed out." said Jenna, worried.
Tina’s eyes snapped open and she got up, strangely smiling. "Your plan backfired, you’ve just made me love Balto even more, you should of stopped earlier than that." she told the Outsider through the link, she blocked it out before it could respond.
"What happened?" asked Balto.
"Well turns out I didn’t lose my memories, the Outsider stole them. It was the reason I had that nightmare to my puppyhood, it used the memory to scare me. It tried again just now but it backfired."
"What do you mean?"
"I’ll tell you, you see, it was trying to make me hate you but it backfired big time."

Flashback

Tina’s child self lay were her father left her, badly hurt and crying. "Why papa? What did I do?" she cried.
"Tina? Where are you sis?" called a voice. In a few seconds, a white husky pup moved into the pup’s view, it was her brother Alex. He looked at her and his eyes went wide. "Mom, Tina’s here, she’s hurt." he yelled before running over to his crying sister. "Tina, who did this to you?"
Tina looked at him and cried. "Daddy did this, I don’t know why but he did."
Alex looked rather surprised but he went to help his sister up, not caring that her blood stained his white pelt. "Don’t worry Tina, we’ll get you help."
Tina’s mother and her siblings came over, all quite scared. "Oh no, Tina, kids, help Alex with your sister." ordered the mother. The pups all came to help their hurt sister. The followed their mother back to where they lived.
Tina was quiet for a little bit except for her sobbing. She finally decided to talk. "Momma, why did daddy do this to me?" she asked, confused and upset.
Her mother sighed. "Well you see we’re part wolf, he just found that out and he doesn’t like it."
Tina cocked her head. "Part wolf?"
"Yes, you’re great, great, great grandfather was a half wolf named Balto."
Tina looked angry. "I hate him, why’d he have to be half wolf? Make daddy hate us."
"Don’t say that. You’re father is at fault here. Our ancestor was a dog to be proud of. He saved an entire town in 1925, all out of the goodness in his heart."
Tina’s eyes lit up. "Really? So we’re related to a hero?" she was excited now.
"Yes, it’s a really nice story."
"Tell us please?" Tina wanted to hear it, she was a pup, her curiosity outweighed the sadness and hurt.
Tina’s siblings joined in asking. "Alright." said their mother with a chuckle. "It all started in Nome, Alaska in 1925..."

Flashback end

"So my mom told me my first story about you that night. I wouldn’t have gotten through that without it." said Tina, smiling.
Balto was surprised some. "Glad I helped you" he said with a smirk.
"Tina…was Alex the one that…died?" Jenna asked, cautious not to upset Tina.
Tina nodded. "Yes, we were playing and I got in the road. He pushed me out of the way of a coming car, he saved my life at the cost of his own. I’m not upset about it any more. I blamed myself but I know it wasn’t my fault."
Jenna nodded. "I’m glad of that. Can we head to Rosy’s now?" she asked, she yawned a little, that was a very tiring ordeal…

Balto and The Beast

Nome Alaska, 8 am;

Balto stood in the shed behind Rosy’s house, Jenna slept in her bed, the humans thought she’d spent the whole night there with Balto. Balto couldn’t get it out of his mind how close he was to losing his beloved mate. The Outsider was literally inches from taking Jenna away from him forever. He looked at Tina. "Thank you for saving her Tina." he said.

Tina was looking out the door at the sky. "No problem." she said, not looking at him.

"Something wrong?"

"It’s a cloudy day."

"So?"

"The Outsider might be nocturnal but it can come out on a cloudy day, its near were we found the bear right now."

Balto nodded, at least it wouldn’t attack yet. He had to stop that monster before it hurt anyone else. He thought over his options, pretty much they were, fight or flight. He looked at Jenna, her ankle was a little swollen even though it wasn’t broken. He was so close to losing her, she meant everything to him. He turned to Tina. "I chose fight." he said.

"What?"

"I’m going to fight the Outsider." Balto took off out the door before Tina could argue.

Tina got ready to go after him but looked back at Jenna, she didn’t want Jenna to wake up with no one there ether. She ran over a nuzzled Jenna. Jenna woke rather quickly. "Tina? What going on?" she asked

"Balto’s gone." said Tina, worried.

"What do you mean?"

"He went to fight the Outsider, alone."

A chill went done Jenna’s spine and she got a worried expression. Her nightmare flashed through her mind. "Oh my gosh, we have to go after him." she tried to get up but pain shot through her ankle when she tried to stand and she fell back down.

"Jenna, I’ll go, I know where it is and you’d only slow me down in your condition. No matter what happens, I’ll bring him back."

Jenna wanted to go find her mate but Tina was right, she would just slow them down. "Alright, be careful."

"I will."

"…Can he beat it on his own?"

Tina sighed. "I don’t know, its strong and durable but it isn’t nearly as quick as he is. If he can outmaneuver it, he might win." Tina truly thought Balto could beat the Outsider, he was her hero, in her mind there was nothing he couldn’t do but the scientific side the humans had put in her mind said there was no way on earth he could win.

Balto ran through the snow and ice. One thing was on his mind, protecting what mattered to him most, his family and friends, he wouldn’t let them die, even at the cost of his own life. That was a bet he’d always make, his own life was of little importance if someone dear to him would be saved by his sacrifice. There was no fear in his mind, he didn’t let it, if it was there, he wouldn’t be at his best for the fight he was going to have. "I won’t let it win, that monster won’t beat me." he told himself.

The Outsider looked at the dead bear again, seeing how much it had decayed and such, it didn’t know cold could slow down decay, it documented it to memory. It extended its claw and checked it over, making sure it was free of scratches and such, it didn’t care about the bloodstains. It let out its newly acquired laugh as it looked at the bloodstains on its blades before retracting them. Balto jumped into the clearing and looked at the monster with a growl. It looked back and cocked its head. It identified Balto from the movies Tina had seen, it knew who he was but didn’t make a move. Tina was a threat to it, Jenna had been hunted by mistake but it had started hunting her so it had to kill her now. Balto hadn’t been encountered or attacked it yet, it wouldn’t attack unless he did.

Balto glared into the monster’s eyes, seeing the same evil stare they always had. "You have threatened my friends and family, you almost killed the one that matters to me the most! I’m going to bring you down even if I have to go down with you." he threatened.

The Outsider replied with its sinister laughter, which needless to say, disturbed Balto a little. Traitor, I’m going to crush your pathetic hero and I’ll not give you the privilege to watch it! it told Tina through the link, it then blocked out its senses from Tina’s access, she could sense what was going to happen. It took a fighting stance and let out a piercing roar.

Balto bared his teeth, let out a howl, and charged the genetic demon. The Outsider swung around and tried to strike Balto with its long tail. He leapt over the tail and landed on the monster’s back. He bit down on the back of its neck and began battering it with his paws. The creature didn’t feel Balto’s bite but it felt the impacts of his paws, that was another chink in its armor, blunt force impacts weren’t as defended against as other types of attacks. It growled and brought its tail around, it wrapped around Balto’s torso before tossing him off. The monster turned and snarled. It did a huge jump and tried to land on Balto with its feet. Balto quickly got up and ran out of the way. When the Outsider hit the ground, its impact created a small crater from its great weight. It turned around and let out a roar before charging. Balto met its charge with his own. He tried to leap over its back but the monster expected this and ducked, bringing its tail up and hitting Balto’s shoulder. He fell to the ground with a grunt of pain, it felt like a whip had struck him, he could feel a welt start to rise. The Outsider brought its tail down on Balto’s side a few times with the same result. Balto couldn’t help but let out a yelp of pain. He rolled out of the way of another strike from the whip like tail. He bit down on the tail tip and pulled back. The Outsider let out an agitated snarl and pulled its tail back. Balto’s paws slid but he just pulled back. The Outsider extended its claws and pulled its tail back with great force. Balto went flying towards it. His eyes went wide as he looked at the claws he was speeding towards.

Thunder roared throughout the battlefield. The Outsider instantly retracted its claws and looked up. 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 as his ribs were still injured from the fall from Balto’s boat and suffered worse injury. Tina looked down, anger in her eyes. "I’m going to warn you Steele, I know this monster better than anyone. If we stand any chance of stopping it we need Balto alive or its going to get to town and it will show no mercy to anyone, everyone will die. If you can’t leave him alone for that, do it for the only thing you really care about, yourself! I’m going to tell you something about this monster, it has claws that can tear clean through six inches of solid metal like its tissue paper, can you imagine what they’d do to flesh and bone!" she warned. She went back to Jenna and helped her carry Balto while Steele tried to dislodge himself.
"Good thing Steele is too stupid to realize it was a trap, again." said Jenna before looking back to Balto, wondering if he was still able to fight that monster.
Meanwhile in Balto’s mind, he’d given up hope. His mental plane resembled the last time he’d lost the will to go on, the bottom of that cliff. He didn’t know whether or not he was still alive or dead, even if he was awake or asleep, he just laid in the snow, his paw over his eyes, crying. "I’m sorry Jenna, Rosy, I couldn’t stop it, I let you all down and now Nome is doomed." he said, depressed. He wanted to get up and somehow get back to Nome but he just couldn’t muster up the willpower to. His ears perked, he heard something. He removed his paw from his eyes and looked up. Standing in front of him was the same white wolf from before. She pointed her head skywards and let out a long, majestic howl and looked at him, expecting a howl in return. This time Balto didn’t hastate, he got up, shook the snow off, and let out a long howl of his own.
Aniu looked proudly at her son and let out a howl along with him. She couldn’t tell him she was his mother, it wasn’t time for that yet. She looked at him. "Hello do you remember me?" she asked.
Balto nodded. "Yes I do, thank you for helping me so much…am I still…" he asked, wondering if he was still alive.
"Alive? Yes you are but unconscious." Aniu replied, she understood why Balto thought he might have been dead.
Balto smiled slightly. "That’s a relief." he said but then lowered his head. "I can’t stop that monster, I did everything I could but I just couldn’t beat it."
Aniu shook her head. "Do you remember what your friend told you before you headed out on your own that night?"
Balto looked surprised. "You know about Boris?"
"I know many things."
"Alright. He told me ‘A dog cannot make this journey alone but maybe a wolf can.’" he quoted.
Aniu nodded. "Yes, that was true for that journey but not this one. Nether part of you is strong enough to beat this creature, you will need help this time. Now awake, you need to get back to the ones that care for you." she said and let out a howl.
Balto groaned as he regained consciousness. He expected to see the frozen wilderness he fought the Outsider in and feel pain and cold but instead saw a lit fireplace, he was warm. He felt a weight on top of him, he looked over to see that his mate was partly laying on him, warming him with her own body as she did before. She saw him and her face lit up. "Balto! You’re alive!" she said and nuzzled him repeatedly. "You almost gave me a heart attack, thank goodness you’re alive."
Jenna got off him and Balto tried to sit up but pain shot through his injured ribs and he felt dizzy. He looked at his ribs, they were taped up. "What happened? How’d I get back here?" he asked.
"Tina saved you, she carried you all the way back to Nome."
Balto looked at Tina who set a little bit away from him. "Thank you, you’re stronger than you look." he said.
Tina blushed slightly. "I guess we’re even huh?" she asked.
"Even…Tina can the Outsider talk?"
Tina cocked her head. "Well its able to talk but it doesn’t know how."
"Yes it does, during our fight, it asked me ‘Why won’t you die?’ it was hard to understand but I got the message."
Tina looked shocked. "This isn’t good, its learning."
"Learning? It can do that?" asked Jenna.
"Yes, its designed to absorb information from any source, to better itself."
"Like it wasn’t tough enough." said Balto, managing to sit up with a slight whimper.
"It gets worse, the longer its alive outside the enclosed laboratory, the more it grows, if we don’t stop it soon, it will metamorphosis."
"What?"
"It will transform into a more powerful form."
Jenna’s eyes went wide. "More powerful?! That monster could already wipe the whole town off the map."
"I know, it shouldn’t evolve before it attacks, we have to stop it before then." said Tina, a serious expression on her face.
"We will win, but I can’t do this alone." said Balto, his normal smile on his face.
"Well before we make up a plan to stop the Outsider, there’s a family in the other room that is very worried." said Jenna. "Rosy and her parents helped bandage you up but Rosy cried the whole time, it broke her heart seeing you so beat up, same with me." said Jenna, nuzzling Balto before the two of them went into the next room to be with Rosy...

Healing Wounds

Nome, Alaska, 6 am;

Balto set on the porch. Jenna and Tina were asleep, he’d had trouble sleeping because of his injuries and something on his mind. "How can we stop it?" he asked himself. He remembered the fight, the only thing that had any effect was hitting it with something, he couldn’t bite through its skin. "Alright so we need to pound away at it but how can that destroy it?" he asked himself. He wished some of his other friend were in town, he needed all the help he could get, he’d even settle for Dixie. He got up with a groan and walked a little bit, thinking. "It’s a living thing, it has to be able to be killed." he said to himself before coughing some from his injured ribs. "Oh man, how am I going to fight that thing again in this condition?" Suddenly something grabbed his hind leg and swung him around into an ally. He slid across the icy ground and banged his head on a trash can. He got up to find Steele standing in front of me.

"Then half-breed, I guess you won’t be able to be me ether." he said. Balto took a snap at the bigger dog but Steele avoided it and struck Balto in the head with his paw. Balto yelped, his head still hurt from the concussion he’d gotten from the Outsider. Steele saw this and grabbed his leg and threw him head first into a trash can again. Balto yelped harder, he tried to stand but felt dizzy again and fell, he’d gotten another concussion. Steele laughed at Balto’s pain. "I don’t care about this monster or whatever it is half-breed, this town hates me so I could care less what happens to it." he said. He bit down on the bandages wrapping Balto’s bruised ribs and tore them off.

"Please, stop." said Balto weakly, he was disorientated by his concussion and felt so weak.

"Now why would I do that?" asked Steele. Steele reared up on his hind legs and brought his full body weight down on Balto’s ribs. Balto yelped loud in pain and coughed hard. Steele did this again, with the same reaction. Steele did this repeatedly while laughing rather psychotically until there was a rather loud snap. Balto and Steele both knew one of Balto’s ribs had broken. Balto coughed harder, some blood coming up. Steele reared up to do it again.

"No!" yelled Tina as her and Jenna slammed hard into Steele’s side, knocking him on his side. The two females put themselves between him and Balto, snarling and baring their teeth. "Leave him alone!"

Steele looked at the sight before him, he was still hurt from his previous fight. "This is over." he said and ran off, with another psychotic laugh.

"Thank you." wheezed Balto, he tried to stand up but couldn’t even get part way off the ground before falling back down with a groan of agony. "If I can’t even beat Steele, how am I supposed to stop that monster?"

Jenna was crying at seeing her mate this badly hurt. Her and Tina picked him up carefully and took him back to Rosy’s house and got him taped up again. Balto rested in the living room. Tina and Jenna went outside. "What are we going to do? How can he stop that thing when he’s too hurt to even stand up?" asked Jenna, disheartened.

Tina thought for a few minutes. "I know a way but its very dangerous…" she said.

"What is it?"

"The Outsider has great healing powers, it can heal almost any wound. If I can get a piece of it, I can make something that will heal Balto."

"How are you going to get a piece of that monster?"

"Well when it heals, it sheds its old skin, its shed skin will do. Don’t worry it won’t make Balto shed his skin, it only does that because it’s a reptile. I think Balto hurt it in there fight, which is why it didn’t follow us to finish him off last night."

"I’m coming with you."

"No, Balto needs someone here incase Steele comes back, I’ll make it back, I promise." said Tina, she ran off out of town.

It took Tina awhile to reach the Outsider’s lair. It was still sleeping so she snuck into to the cave. Despite not reacting earlier, the stench in the beast lair really made her almost throw up, she just knew how to hide it. She looked around for the shed skin, she saw it, right behind the monster. She got a little mad at her rotten luck. She snuck around. She carefully stepped into the warm waters, trying not to make much noise. She snuck behind it. As she reached for its shed skin, the creature’s tail smacked the surface of the water. She froze. The monster was still sleeping, it must of just moved in its sleep. She bit down on the skin, it tasted revolting and increased her urge to throw up. The monster’s tail smacked down again, this time hitting Tina’s back. She wanted to yelp but managed not to despite the welt forming on her back. She snuck out of the lair, dragging the shed skin. As soon as she got out of its lair, she dropped it and threw up.

A few hours later, Tina and Jenna had Balto on his boat so no one would see what was about to happen. Tina had ‘barrowed’ a bowl of water from Rosy’s house and tore a piece of the 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 covered her throbbing skull again. Her eyes snapped open as she realized something. "Oh no, Balto!" she said. She ran out after Steele.
"Jenna, where are you heading in such a rush?" said a familiar voice with a Russian accent.
She turned to see Boris waddle up. "Oh thank goodness you made it back alright." she said, relieved.
"Why wouldn’t we be making it back alright?"
"Uncle Boris!" yelled Muk as he and Luk ran up and hugged Boris, almost crushing him, as per usual.
"I’d like it if you’d please be getting off me now!"
"Guys! Balto is in big trouble." said Jenna, trying to get them to settle, she needed help.
The polar bears instantly dropped Boris. He shook the snow off himself and got up. "Jenna, what is wrong?"
"I can’t explain right now but Steele is after him and we need to help him, he’s out in the wilderness and there is something much more dangerous out there I don’t have time to explain."
"Be leading the way. Muk, Luk, come on, Balto is in trouble."
Jenna turned to lead the way when she remembered something. That night on the hill, the Northern Lights hurt it… she thought.
Balto and Tina straggled against the wind and snow as they entered the canyon and it subsided. "Well we’re almost there." said Balto, panting.
"Yeah, I wish we’d left earlier before the blizzard started." said Tina.
"Half-breed!" yelled Steele as he stepped forwards.
"Steele?" asked Balto confused. "We don’t have time for this."
Steele laughed. "Really, well nether did Jenna." he said, thinking of a way to infuriate Balto.
Balto snarled. "If you so much as touched one hair on her head!"
"I killed her."
Balto snarled louder. "You’re a liar!" said Balto, mad.
"Even a liar has to tell the truth sometimes." he said with an evil smirk.
Balto was angry, he didn’t believe Steele but he knew deep down that Steele was right, even liars had to tell the truth sometimes. "I don’t believe you."
Steele laughed and untied Jenna’s bandana from his leg. He laid it in the snow. "Look familiar?"
Balto staggered. He felt like he’d just been punched in the gut. Jenna never took off her bandana, never except to give it to him that night. He quickly began snarling. "I’m going to rip you in half!" He leapt on Steele.
Tina rushed to help but heard that evil voice in her head. Oh no you don’t. said the voice. Tina suddenly felt a terrible pain in her head, the worst headache she’d ever had. She fell down and put her paws over head, crying in agony. I’ll let him take care of your hero. Do you like my new power? I have to fully concentrate on the link but it should hold you till this fight ends. Tina was in unbearable pain. He head felt like it was going to explode. Tears of pain ran down her face, she whimpered from the horrible pain.
Balto slammed into Steele and they both rolled across the ground, biting and clawing at each other. Steele kicked Balto off and lunged for his throat. Balto avoided the attack, Steele’s jaws closing on the snow. Balto bit into Steele’s shoulder as hard as Steele in turn bit down on his. Balto rolled Steele over. Steele released his grip and bit down on Balto’s maw. Balto had no choice but to release his grip to pull himself free from Steele grip. Balto bit again, this time tearing off a piece of his ear. Steele growled in pain. He drove his head into Balto’s throat. Balto coughed and staggered off Steele. Steele jumped on Balto and bit into his back. Balto twisted around and knocked him to the ground. He leapt on him and tried to bite Steele’s throat. Steele kicked out with his hind legs, kicking Balto in the stomach. Even with his ribs healed, it still drove the air from his lungs and sent him to the ground in a coughing fit. "I won’t give up." he said through coughing.
Steele got up and laughed psychotically. "Fine, I‘ll just kill you." he said. He grabbed Balto’s leg and threw him. Balto rolled across the ground. He tried to stand but still hadn’t recovered from the kick. Steele tackled him to the ground and stood over him. "Time to die, half-breed." he said and lowered his jaws slowly over Balto’s throat. Before he could close them, he felt something bite his tail. He turned around to find Jenna. "Big mistake sweetie." he said turning his back to Balto. Balto managed to stand and bite Steele’s leg. With all his strength he managed to swing Steele around and throw him. Steele’s back struck the canyon wall, his head smacking hard against it. Steele fell unconscious into the snow.
Balto panted. He looked at Jenna, a smile crossed his face. "Jenna!" he said and nuzzled her lovingly. "Thanks for not listening to me." he said.
Jenna smiled and licked his on the nose. "I can’t stay home while my mate is in trouble." she said.
Balto got Jenna’s bandana out of the snow and slipped it around her neck. "I think this is yours." he said, smiling.
Boris and the polar bears walk up. "Balto! Glad to be seeing you in one piece." said Boris.
Muk and Luk just ran up to hug him, nearly crushing him. Tina finally forced the Outsider from her mind, stopping her agonizing headache. She smiled at Balto and his friends but then remembered the real problem. "Guys, we’ve still got certain problem to deal with." she said.
"Who is this Balto?" asked Boris.
"I’ll explain later. She’s right, we need to stop something really bad." said Balto.
"Hang on." said Jenna, she walked a short distance away and came back with a bag. She opened it to show the broken bottles.
"The Northern Lights?"
"They stopped the Outsider from killing me that one night. They seem to hurt its eyes and block its vision somehow."
"Of course, the Outsider’s eyesight is amazing but that can weaken it." said Tina.
"What is this Outsider?" asked Boris.
Before Balto can respond, the Outsider’s roar echoes through the canyon. They look to see the monster standing on the top of the ridge, the full moon behind it, making it a menacing silhouette as it let out another roar. Luk says something no one but Muk understands. "How should I know what that is?" asked Muk.
"Its something bad, and we’ve got to stop it." said Balto.

Win, Lose, or Draw

Alaskan Wilderness, 11:30 pm;

"That!" said Balto, getting the sled harness back on.
"I’ve got an idea, we need to put some distance between us and that monster." said Tina, she put on her harness and dashed with Balto deeper into the canyon, the others falling shortly behind..
Steele groggily woke up. "Alright, now I know how he felt." said Steele. He feels something big land in the snow in front of him.
The group reached the end of the canyon. "Alright, this will have to do, Jenna get those set up, there’s a lantern on the sled, its lit use that." said Tina, she turned to Boris and the polar bears. "You three just hide, we can beat this thing and at the moment it has no reason to try to kill you." The three obey and hide behind a snow bank.
Steele is thrown into the clearing, rolling several times before coming to a stop. He coughs and hacks, some of his ribs shattered. The Outsider walks into the clearing, walking on all fours, its snout had lengthened to a more dog-like appearance and dog-like ears now adorned its head. "Tina, explain." said Balto, surprised by the change in the creature’s appearance, as was Jenna.
"Well it considered you a worthy opponent so it most of evolved to be more like a dog." said Tina, reasonably shocked.
"Great, it got more powerful."
"I know!"
The Outsider picked Steele up with its tail and stood up to its full height. It extended it claws in front of its face. "Drop him! He might be a complete moron but he still doesn’t deserve this!" yelled Balto.
The Outsider looked at him then back at Steele. It retracted its claws. "You…disappoint…me…" it said. It took Steele’s front leg and slowly bent it, causing Steele to scream in pain until a loud snap was heard. Steele lost consciousness from pain. The Outsider snapped its head to the side after releasing its grip on Steele’s leg. Its tail snapped sideways and toss Steele easily. It turned back to the group, all of whom were a little shocked by what it just did. It looked up at the canyon wall behind it. It leapt up and slammed its hands into the top, causing another avalanche that sealed off the section of canyon they were in. "No…way…out…but…through…me…" it said.
"You heard it, the only way out is to stop it." said Jenna, still shocked that it had broken Steele’s leg like a twig.
"No matter what happens guys, we can’t let this thing out of this canyon, win, lose, or draw, we’ve got to take it down for good." said Tina, Balto and Jenna nodded.
"I’ll set up the Northern Lights." said Jenna, she rushed off to were she left the bag to find that it had been buried under a layer of snow, she couldn’t find it. She quickly started digging.
The Outsider charged at Tina and Balto on all fours. It leapt at them, claws extended. They jump to the side and its claws drive into the frozen earth. It quickly retracts them and turns. It charges again, for the first time trying to bite them with its razor sharp teeth. The avoid and it gets a mouth full of snow. "Its acting more like a dog now too." said Balto.
The Outsider spits out the cold snow and charges again, moving much faster on all fours but still not as fast as they were, dodging its bite once more. It brings its hands up and hits both at once, sending them rolling across the ground. "Its getting smarter, not good." said Tina.
Jenna gasped as she looked desperately for bag. She began to lose hope until she saw the Outsider land a hit. She calmed down and sniff around for her own scent. She quickly found the bag and ran back to the sled. She saw the Outsider prepare its blades to drive into Tina. She quickly pressed her nose against a button on the machine Tina had made, guessing which on it was. A noise like thunder started sounding. The Outsider looked up and quickly retracted its blades. Jenna smiled and poured the bottles onto the ground, positioning them with her paws. She set the lit lantern behind her and stood between it and the bottles. "Hey! Outsider, come and get me!" she yelled. The Outsider snapped around to see her. It dashed forwards quickly. Jenna was scared but she managed to get the consciousness to get out of the way as the monster leapt at her. The aurora instantly shot out of the bottles and cast over the Outsider. The genetic demon roared in pain as its eyes burned from the bright light. It fell forwards, crashing face first into the bottles, drawing another screech of agony as the sharp shards drove into its eyes. It stood up and roared as it tried to get the shards out, only doing more damage to itself. "Well that worked better than I’d hoped."
Tina thought of something and ran to the sled, getting out a syringe filled with yellow liquid. She threw it at the monster’s head, it broke on impact, sending the fluid running into its eyes. She jumped back, avoiding getting any on her. "What was that?" asked Balto.
"The same stuff I gave you mixed with the left over diphtheria anti-toxin from your run. The same stuff that makes it work on the virus has the effect of reversing the other medicines effect, it can no longer regenerate." said Tina with a smirk. "Oh and don’t worry, I didn’t mess up the time line using that."
"Who knew that night would save us now?" asked Jenna, smiling.
"Lets attack it while its still stunned." said Balto, leaping forwards and kicking off the monster’s chest. The monster staggered back before Tina dashed forwards and drove her head into the monster’s stomach. It gasped as it staggered. It began flailing madly in front of it, blind and not knowing were it was being attacked. Jenna got behind it and drove her head into its back. It fell forwards but caught itself. Tina drove her head into its lower jaw. It staggered back, only to be struck with a tackle from Balto. Suddenly, it stopped flailing and stood absolutely still. "What’s it doing? Do it give up?"
"I’m not going to give it the chance." said Jenna, jumping at it.
"Jenna! Wait!" yelled Tina.
The Outsider twirled around and slammed its fist into Jenna’s side. She went rolling across the ground for a few feet. She got up and managed to shake off the impact. "Alright what happened?"
"It’s using its other senses to track us, it adapted."
"Great, how powerful is this thing going to get?" asked Balto. He ran forward and jumped at it. It spun around and caught him in midair. It threw him a good distance as Tina tried to attack it. It swung its tail around and hit her in the side, getting a yelp out of her. Jenna managed to jump on its back and bit down on its neck. It let out its disturbing laugh and grabbed her with its tail before throwing her. Balto tried to take its legs out from under it but it jumped into the air and struck him with its tail with enough force to knock him a few feet away. Tina and Jenna dashed at it from behind and jumped at it. It caught them and smacked their heads together. It threw Tina away but turned to Jenna. It knew she wasn’t Tina but it was harder for her to tell without its eyesight so it decided to get rid of her. It wrapped its tail around her neck and released its hand hold, leaving her hanging by her neck. She struggled, her air being cut off. She was scared, she couldn’t breathe. Balto shook off the hit he’d taken and saw his mate being strangled. He ran around and bit down on its tail. The Outsider faced its head in his direction, unable to see him, it recognized his scent. It let out a mocking laugh at him. Balto snarled and bit down harder, he kept biting down, not letting up. Jenna began to black out and Balto’s jaw began to hurt but finally he felt his teeth sink in and tasted the horrid blood of the abomination. The Outsider tossed Jenna away and roared in pain as it tried to dislodge Balto.
Jenna gasped for breath, putting her paw over her throat. "That was too close." she gasped.
Tina came over. "Jenna? You alright?" she asked. She looked at Balto and saw some of the monster’s green blood drip from his maw. "I don’t believe it! That thing’s skin can withstand bullets and he bit through! For you Jenna, that’s love there."
Jenna smiled, knowing her mate had done the impossible again, for her. "You know Balto, nothing is impossible."
The Outsider struck Balto’s head a few times with its fists to try and dislodge his grip. Balto felt light headed and let go, it hadn’t hit him with full force. The Outsider felt and bleeding wound in its tail. It snarled and let out a furious roar. It extended its claws, despite the simulated thunder. It charged at Balto, who jumped out of the way. It’s claw drove through the lantern Jenna had used, becoming lodged in it. It didn’t seem to notice as it kept trying to hit Balto with its claw and unknowingly the lantern but it couldn’t manage to hit Balto. It struck the cliff face after one of its misses, shattering the lantern. It’s claw glowed red with heat. "Great as if it wasn’t dangerous enough already." said Balto, though he was very confident now that he knew he could pierce its hide. He kept dodging. One miss drove its claw through a piece of ice on the cliff face, creating a lot of steam and cooling its claw. Balto couldn’t see through the steam and the monster tried to take advantage with its claw. Jenna and Tina picked up a medium sized rock and together threw it into the monster’s path. The Outsider’s claw struck the rock. The steam settled to reveal…The Outsider’s claw’s on one hand had snapped off and driven into the snow! "What happened?" asked Balto.
"When you rapidly freeze hot metal, it gets fragile." said Tina.
"Good, we weakened it." said Jenna, smiling.
"Good, lets finish it off!" said Balto, he jumped behind the still distracted monster and pulled on its tail.
"Jenna, how’s you ankle?" asked Tina.
"I’m not sure, haven’t been paying attention." said Jenna, looking down at her ankle.
"Get closer to the ground please."
Jenna was confused by this request but did so. Tina stepped back before charging forwards and jumping off Jenna’s back. She hit the Outsider square in the chest, combine with Balto pulling it from behind, the monster finally hit the ground. Jenna was still startled from Tina’s actions but ran forwards as the monster set up and drove her head into its bottom jaw. The beast was drove down to the ground and stayed down. "Did we beat it?"
"Don’t let your guard down." said Tina.
The Outsider’s eye snapped open and it whipped its tail around, knocking the trio away from it. It breathed heavily. "Insolent…pests!…" it yelled.
Balto had landed beside the sled. He noticed the dynamite sticking out. He saw that despite being smashed, the lantern’s fire remained lit. "Please let this work." he said lowly. He dashed to the sled and grabbed the dynamite. He ran towards the Outsider, lighting the fuse on the way. It turned towards him right as he jumped onto it. He landed his front paws on its shoulders and drove his head forwards, driving the blunt side of the dynamite into the creature’s empty eye socket as deep as he could.
The Outsider launched its blade-less hand up and grabbed Balto by the throat. It lifted him off it and extended its claw. "DIE!!!" it yelled.
To Jenna everything seemed to slow down as her dream repeated itself in reality. The Outsider plunged its claw into Balto’s chest, his eyes went wide and he gasped. The monster pulled its claw out and threw him, smacking his head off the mountain side and good distance away. "NO!!!" she yelled. She tried to run to him but Tina stopped.
Your hero is dead! said the Outsider’s warped voice in Tina’s head.
"Maybe so but he was enough to take him down. Jenna get down the dynamite!" she yelled, covering hers and Jenna’s heads.
The Outsider suddenly realized what was about to happen, it couldn’t pull the dynamite out in time and it knew it. "Not…Over…" it said, it raised its bloody claw above its head and let out a loud roar…right as the dynamite exploded.
Jenna remained down, she wanted to rush to her mates aid but she couldn’t go until the blast was over. Once it cleared, she looked up. As the dust settled, the Outsider still stood, in a pillar of fire. She looked shocked until the smoke around its upper body cleared, its head was gone. The monster’s flaming corpse fell to the ground. Before it hit the ground Jenna had rushed to her mate who laid bleeding and motionless in the snow. She nudged him, crying uncontrollably. "No! You can’t be gone!" She kept nudging him.
Tina walked over but stopped to look at the dead monster, she could feel its life sighs had truly vanished, they’d killed it. She walked over to Balto. Boris and the polar bears had came over and were working with Jenna to try to wake him up. "Come on Balto, don’t quit on old Boris now." said Boris, shaking Balto head. Muk and Luk were shaking him too but not saying anything, they understood how bad it was.
Tina sighed, crying herself but not nearly as much as Jenna. She went over to the sled and got out the first aid kit she packed. She bandaged up the deep wound in his chest, tears streaming down her face. "Well at least he can’t bleed to death now." she said. She looked up at the mound of snow and ice that the Outsider had left before dieing. There was no way they could just carry him over it. She new the polar bears had strength they had no idea they had, which was why they almost crushed Boris and Balto when hugging them but they wouldn’t even be able to. She realized something. "The sled! We can get him back to Nome for help!" she said. Suddenly though the earth seem to start shaking and the ground beneath the Outsider collapsed, an underground cave had been destabilized by the explosion and now opened like a massive maw to swallow the blazing corpse. The fissure kept going and stopped half way under the sled. Tina ran over and grabbed a rope on it. Muk and Luk came over and tried to pull it back. They tugged and tugged. It was almost to the point it would stop swaying towards the abyss…when the rope snapped. The three of them fell backward but Tina quickly scrambled to her feet and looked over as the sled smashed on the rock a far distance below. She fell on her rear and started crying, losing hope of saving Balto.
Fifteen minutes later after trying to wake Balto, Tina stopped trying so did Boris. Jenna wouldn’t, she kept nudging him, no longer crying just because she was out of tears. "Jenna, he’s gone…we’ve got to go or we’ll freeze to death out here." Tina said, feeling crushed.
"She is right Jenna…Balto is…dead." said Boris, sad. Muk and Luk burst into a crying fit.
Jenna snapped around. "He’s not dead! He can’t be!" she yelled.
"Jenna, if he wasn’t killed by the Outsider to begin with, he’s probably froze to death by now and so will we if we don-"
"I’d rather freeze to death!" yelled Jenna, not willing to leave her mate. She laid on him as the others looked at their feet. "You can’t die…you promised you wouldn’t leave me…" she said softly. She cried, tears she didn’t know she had left…"You can’t be gone…" she said. Suddenly she heard something, a soft rhythmic thumping. A heart beat! She snapped up and looked at the others. "He’s still alive! I heard his heart beat!" she said, excited.
Tina and Boris looked at each other. Tina went over to Balto and put her ear to his chest. She heard his heart beat. "She’s right, he’s heart is beating! Faintly but I can hear it!" she said. They resumed their effort to wake him. Jenna nudged him for a few moments before nuzzling his head.
"Come on Balto, you can’t let us down now." she said.
Balto was in his dreamscape again, unconscious here too. Aniu approached him, Alex beside her. "He’s still alive but he’s so deeply unconscious, almost like a coma." said Alex.
"Alex, you might be from the future but you don’t know all things, Balto will overcome this for his mate." said Aniu. She put her muzzle beside Balto’s head. "Balto, you’re loved ones need you, you must wake, Jenna‘s waiting."
In the real world, Balto’s eyes snapped open. He groaned and looked at Jenna. "Miss me?" he asked.
"Balto! You’re alive!" Jenna yelled. She nuzzled him till she was tired.
"It takes more than a monster to do me in…the Outsider! Where is it?!"
"Dead, we did it, its been destroyed." said Tina, smiling.
Muk and Luk prepared to hug Boris but for once waited. Boris was surprised but smiled. "Oh come on, give uncle Boris a hug." he said. They responded with their normal act of nearly crushing him.
"This is all well and good but…I’m still alive over here!" yelled Steele, laying on his side in the snow, his leg bent at a strange angle.
Tina walked over. "Fine." she said, rolling her eyes. "I’ll hel-"
"No! I don’t want your hel-"
"Shut up!" said Tina and struck Steele on the back of the neck, knocking him out. She bandaged his wounds and straitened his leg before splinting it. She slapped him awake. "There! You didn’t deserve that but I did it anyway and don’t be ungrateful or I’ll reconsider and throw you in the chasm with the Outsider’s flaming remains." Tina’s yelling caused the avalanche blocking the canyon to rumble down itself and into the cave, covering all the remains of the Outsider beneath snow and rock, unblocking the path in the process. "Well that’s convenient"
"Yeah, now let’s go home." said Balto.

Nome, Alaska, 4 am;

"Why am I even here?" asked Steele, sitting angry on the outskirts of Nome.
"For once I’m agreeing with the bully." said Boris.
"Well I thought you’d want to say goodbye to Tina. Steele she did help you, would you rather she of thrown you into the chasm?" asked Balto.
Steele got mad but said nothing. "Steele you can’t say anything about the Outsider, its extremely important that monster remains a secret." said Tina
"Yeah, yeah." said Steele, not really intending to do so.
"Steele’s you’re still the same selfish glory hound." said Balto
"Well if my calculations are correct, the passage should open soon." said Tina.
"Well if you’re ever around please drop by." said Jenna, nuzzling her descendent.
"Same for you two."
"Goodbye." said Balto, licking her on the cheek.
Tina stepped back and drove one of the Outsider’s broken metal claws into the ground. Thunder roared throughout the area. "Goodbye." she said as lightning surged down from the sky and struck the metal claw. Reality warped around her again. She pointed her snout skywards and let out a howl, Balto joined her and Alex appeared beside Tina and did the same. The warp ended, Tina was gone.
Luk pointed and said something. "How should I know what happen?!" asked Boris. "Oh great, I’m speaking bear again!"
"What the heck happened?!" asked Steele.
"Tina went home to the future, were she and the Outsider are from." said Jenna, rubbing against Balto and chuckling.
"She was staying with her ancestors." said Balto, a smirk forming on his face.
Steele’s eyes went wide as he realized just who he’d been hitting on earlier. "You know I think you guys are right, no one needs to know about this." he said, rather rapidly.

New York City, 7 am, 2007;

Tina reemerged from the warp right were she’d began, this time she was able to not be knocked out. She looked up at Balto’s statue and smiled. "Thank you." she said before letting out a howl. "Better go make sure the world isn’t ruled by apes or something like that." she said with a laugh as she walked off.
Alex and Aniu watch down from above. "Well Aniu, you know that was a dangerous journey." said Alex.
"Yes but fate decided for it to be so and that terrible beast has been destroyed." said Aniu.
"Yeah, our charges’ combined might was too much for it, I just wish it hadn’t been such a close call."
"Time travel may change the path of time but there is always risk."
"Alright but lets try to prevent this in the future, if I was alive I’d of had a heart attack." said Alex with a laugh.

The End…