Bolt vs. Balto

The sun slowly rose in the sky. It was April 14th 1929.

A brown wolf dog rose from his bed on the deck of his boat.

"Morning Boris." He said to the Russian goose.

"Vhere are you going?"

Balto shrugged. "I'm going to the house. Jenna is expecting me."

He padded up to the house. The door was open. Thieves were very rare in this area. But it was still dangerous. He entered the house.

"Hello sleepyhead. Have a good sleep?" Jenna asked.

"I'm fine. No nightmares tonight."

"Where have you been lately?"

He sighed. "I've been busy. There's a crazed dog that's been slaughtering livestock and dogs in the area. We call him the Butcher. Enough said. He may have gotten Nikki."

"What? How?"

"He's missing. He's probably dead. I need you to stay inside until we catch the killer."

Jenna sighed. "How close are you to catching him?"

"We're taking it day by day. When he kills again we'll be there to stop him. Where's Kodi?"

"He's in Anchorage. His dogsled team got a transfer. We may not see him for awhile."

Balto smiled. "He's all grown up. He needs some space between his job and his parents."

Jenna nodded. "It's still going to be hard."

"I gotta go. Seamus invited me to the barn this morning."

Jenna nuzzled him. "Good luck."

Balto padded to an old barn. He pushed the door open.

"Hey! Seamus!""How you doing Balto?" Seamus asked. He had a thick Boston accent.

"Good. Jenna is fine."

Seamus looked at Balto grimly. "We have bad news. We found Nikki."

"Where is he?"

"You…you don't want to see him." Seamus said sadly. From his tone Balto could tell that he didn't.

He looked around at the other dogs. "So do we know who the Butcher is?"

"He could be anyone. I'm suspecting he's some psychopath we don't know. He has help though."

Balto's ears perked up. "He has help? How do you know? Who is it?"

"I don't know who it is. But there's no way he could get away so easily without help. For all we know it's someone in this room."

He glared at Balto. Balto frowned. "You think I'm helping this guy?"

"Well…" He looked at the other dogs. "You're part wolf. As much of a friend…well…wolves have a history. A violent history."

Balto looked hurt. "So you think I'm helping the Butcher of Nome?!"

Seamus sighed. "Balto. Forget it. We're fine. We're all hunting the Butcher together."

"Do we know what the Butcher looks like?" Balto asked.

"No."

Balto sat down on a bale of hay. "Why not?"

"You met this guy?"

Balto frowned. "No."

"Exactly. He's a freakin ghost."

The sun slowly rose in the sky. It was April 14th 2009.

A white German Shepherd rose from his bed. He was in a small hotel room in Nome Alaska.

"Good morning wags." Mittens said. "How'd you sleep?"

"Good. No nightmares tonight." Bolt said tiredly.

Bolt and his family had taken a little vacation to Alaska.

Bolt had wanted to come see the memorial to one of his heroes. Balto the wolf dog.

He looked at the memorial. There was a statue of Balto and a small plaque telling his life story.

"All the way from Nenana to Nome? How could he do that?" Bolt asked.

"Oh that was the old days. Before dogs were..." Mittens stared at Bolt. "...damaged goods."

The family moved on. Bolt noticed something lying at the base of the monument. A small broken blue bottle.

Bolt stared at it. It was old and dusty.

He noticed some writing on the side. He touched the bottle with his paws.

Suddenly everything around him changed.

A young female dog padded through the alleys of 1925 Nome.

She suddenly became aware that she wasn't alone.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

"Run doggy."

The dog frowned. "What?"

"RUN DOGGY!! I'M COMING FOR YA!!"

The dog saw something dart towards her. She shrieked, then began running.

"He's on the move." A dog announced. "Dusty is the bait."

Balto and the dogs were immediately on their paws.

"We're gonna get the little SOB. Come on!" Seamus said excitedly.

Bolt's surroundings changed. He realized he was running.

In front of him was a female dog. She was running away in terror. He was chasing her.

"What?" Bolt asked himself.

"Please! Leave me alone!" Dusty shouted.

Bolt skidded to a stop. "What's going on here?"

Suddenly he heard paws padding on snow. He saw a group of dogs charging at him.

"Don't move!" The brown lead dog shouted.

Bolt screamed, then ran.

The dogs pursued. They weren't damaged goods. They were big dogs. But Bolt was too fast.

He noticed the town. He frowned.

Dogsled's were zipping through the town. The occasional old car could be seen, a rare technology out here.

"What?" Bolt asked again. Everything was old fashioned.

He kept running. He looked back. Only one dog was pursuing him now.

But this one was faster. He was bigger. He wasn't a dog. He was a wolf dog.

"Give it up wacko!" He snarled ferociously.

Bolt suddenly stumbled. He fell face first in the snow.

He groaned. The wolf dog helped him up.

Then he punched him in the face. Bolt fell back.

"And…what exactly did I do to deserve that?"

"You killed my friend you bastard." Balto snarled. "You'd kill my mate if you had the chance."

Bolt stared peculiarly at the wolf dog. "Am I missing something here? What are you talking about?"

"You killed all those dogs. You're the Butcher."

Bolt swallowed. "That's not good is it?"

Back in 2009 Penny returned to the monument.

"Bolt! Where are ya buddy?"

There was no response. Penny noticed a small broken bottle on the floor.

She noticed something else. There was a small strand of white hair on it.

"Huh?"

Penny touched the bottle. Suddenly everything around her changed.

She disappeared.