Note: This is my first fanfic, and it's probaly going to be cruddy. I tried my best.  All characters shown here are Copyright universal studious and Amblin Entertainment, with the exeption of the Character Strider, who is copyright wolflover421.

                  You Can't Beat Balto!

          Strider padded into the town of Nome. So, this is the place where the legendary Balto saved a few lives by being a fast dog, eh? Not much, now is it... He thought to himself. He wandered around, until a pretty husky with auburn eyes and a reddish-creme coat greeted him.

      "Hi there! I'm Jenna. I haven't seen you around before, are you new here?" she said politely to the newcomer.

      "Oh, hi, I'm Strider, yeah, I am new here. I just came here from a distant town about 3 seconds ago." he replied, with a hint of laughter in his voice.

    "I see...." Jenna commented, noticing how hungry and tired the dog looked.

    "Where are you from?" she questioned.

     "Oh, somewhere far away, you wouldn't know the town." he lied easily to her.

     "Oh....would you like something to eat? You look half starved to death." she commented again.

     "Now that you mention it, I am kind of hungry." he replied. "I um..haven't been able to catch much when I left."

     "I thought so. Follow me!" Jenna replied, running off. Strider ran off after her, going quite fast, tearing ahead of her. Then he stopped, waiting for Jenna to catch up.

     "Whew! You ran fast, especially for a half starved dog!" she joked, trying to catch her breath.

      "Anyway, I have a little spot where I like to keep a bit of food. Odd, isn't it?" she added, motioning to a mound of dirt.

      "Erm....mound of dirt? What's that got to do with food?" Strider quetioned.

      "Silly! The food is UNDER the dirt." she replied, giggling.

      "Oh, so you're going to dig it up! Got it." he said, winking. Jenna padded towards the dirt and started digging. Then, she stuck her head in the good-sized hole and pulled out a small box. Jenna nudged the lid of the box off and there was a few fat sausages.

         "Here, have a few." she sad happily, inviting Strider to come and take a few. He did so, and wolfed all 3 down. "Delicious...." he said, and trailed off.

         "I'm sorry, did you want some?" he added.

         "No, no, I'm good, thanks anyway." she replied.

          "Well, I better get going then. Thanks for the food and the warm welcome, Jenna! Bye." he said.

          "No problem, and see you around!" she said, and walked off. Strider did the same, in the opposite direction. Lost in his thoughts, he bumped into none other than Balto himself.

       "Oops, sorry...wait, are you Balto?!?" he said excitedly, almpst jumping up and down.

        "Um....yeah, I am. I haven't seen you here before. Are you new here?" he replied, caught off guard by the excited dog.

        "Yeah, I an, you mean THE balto? The one that saved the whole town of Nome? The hero?" he asked, looking like he was going to pee from excitement.

        "Woah there, take it easy! Yeah, I guess when you put it that way, I am. I don't know any other Balto in Nome!" he replied, laughing at how excited the new dog was.

        "I was expecting more than a mutt. I could beat you. You don't look so fast." he sneered at Balto, taking on a new tone.

         "Is that a challenge?" he snarled back. 

         "Yeah. Yes it is." he replied calmly, smirking.

         "Good. Then the race is on tommorow. Good luck." Balto said, trying to callm down. He strolled away, angry at the newcomer. Who does he think he is? Well, it doesn't matter. He'll be humilitated tommorow when he looses in front of everyone.  

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Balto and Strider were at the starting line, preparing for the race of a lifetime. Every dog in Nome was there, all of them cheering for Balto. Balto scanned the crowd and spotted Jenna, waving and shouting and cheering on Balto. Balto beamed at her, knowing, preparing, to prove that you couldn't beat Balto, and that he would not be embarassed by your average street dog.

    This is against all the odds. Your the underdog, Strider. No one is expecting you to win. No one wants you to win. But you have to prove them wrong, prove to them that even your average street dog can beat a mutt. Strider thought to himself, preparing to run for his life.

      "Scared mutt?" Strider sneered at Balto.

      "You wish." he snarled back.

       Just then, the bang of the gun shot fired into the air, and they were off! Balto and Strider were head to head, until it came to the turn. Strider slid out completley and landed on his back, wincing from the pain. Nonetheless, he got back up and caught up wtih Balto. Strider snapped at Balto's legs, but missed, and fell again. Balto sprinted towards the finish line, when Strider caught up with him again! Strider snapped, but this time, he hit his target, but Balto kept on running. Strider finally lwet go of his leg, and stopped. He lowered his head sadly, knowing he had been beaten by Balto. He looked up, only to find sevral dogs snering in his face. 

    "You never had a chance!" one of them barked.

    "How dare you challenge Balto! You got what you deserved!" another yelled in his ear. He ran off, away from the crowd, sad that he had lost the challenge. He put his head between his paws and sighed.

   "I guess you can't beat Balto." He got up and strolled out of Nome, defeated.

   "That's right, you can't beat Balto. What a jerk." Jenna muttred, going back to Balto.