Introduction:

Hello everyone. I'm the Cool Kat, and as all of you know, today is Saturday, Oct 27, 2012. I can't believe that it's been almost a year since Balto and Jenna faced Steele in the Old Mill. It's been nearly 365 days since I posted "Salvation, Part 2" on October 30, 2011. Yeah, I know it's been a while since I wrote that cliffhanger, but I still can't quite wrap my mind around an entire year. And for all of you who've been waiting for me to update since then, I thank you all for being so patient, and I am so, so sorry for keeping you waiting this long.

The original release date was mid-September, but that got pushed back because of a collaboration fic I did with another author (when I have to choose between my writing my own stories, or keeping a promise I made to a friend, I try to put friendship first whenever I can). But in the end, pushing back "Salvation, Part 3" worked for the best, because now this fic starts before Halloween (happy Halloween by the way), and ends right before Thanksgiving (unless you live outside the US, in which case Thanksgiving has either already come or hasn't come yet. Like my Canadian friend, WolfdogmeetstheLionKing. By the way Shawn, I've always been curious about this. Why is Thanksgiving in October in Canada?).

"Salvation, Part 1" was my very first fanfic, freshly revised and published on September 17, 2011. And no one on this site ever forgets their first story, whether it's a funny one-shot or a multi-chaptered drama. It's hard for me to say what were my favorite moments in that story, since I enjoyed writing every chapter. But the parts that really stood out for me, the defining moments in the fic, are Balto proposing to Jenna, Jenna's family arriving in Nome, Jenna's first trip to Balto's trawler, Jenna rocking the Old Mill with Dixie and Sylvie, and Balto triumphing over Devil's gang, right before saying good-bye to Jenna in an act of selfishness I can't even imagine doing. Let's just say Balto and Jenna experienced what it was like to be Romeo and Juliet at a very early age.

"Salvation, Part 2" was a bit more low-key. While Part 1 was about Balto's origins, and his tragic love story with Jenna, Part 2 was more about the aftermath of the serum run, and Balto adjusting to his new hero status. When I first finished Part 2, I was slightly disappointed by the way it turned out. I thought it was boring and uninteresting, but guys like AniUniverse, Kodiwolf231, Mojotheamoroq, and WolfdogmeetstheLionKing seem to disagree, so I guess it wasn't that lackluster. After rereading the second installment, I realized it was a lot more domestic than Part 1, and there was a lot more talking in it than there was in Part 1, but that didn't necessarily make it boring. Besides, it was probably a good idea to take it slow after such an explosive event like the serum run. Even heroes need a breather every now and again. There was another thing that surprised me when I looked back on Part 2. I can hardly believed I was actually able to write a sequel to a project, only a few weeks after I finished writing the first one. For an absent-minded guy like me, that was a lucky achievement. Unfortunately, the next gap between the trilogy was a bit longer.

I had actually planned to write the finale of the Salvation trilogy at the start of the new year, but I came down this really bad case of writer's block (truly horrible), and I ended up writing a completely different story, "Erdan 2", to break it. My first Kung Fu Panda fic, writing for (who else?) Wolf Boss (dubbed Zhong) and his adopted son Erdan. It was actually a great experience (writing for characters that have opposable thumbs makes things a whole lot easier), and I think my writing style has really improved because of all the great advice I got from other authors. Not to mention I made a new friend in the process. But "Erdan 2" did run on a lot longer than I thought it was going to. What I had imagined would be a three month project actually turned out to be eight months.

And while I was doing that, I was working on this collaboration fic with an old buddy of mine, Kodiwolf321 (fanfic author, rapper, songwriter, maybe you've read some of his fics? He does quite a few collabs with other authors), called "The Revenge and Redemption of Steele". It was my first time writing for Balto's son Kodi, and his wife Dusty (with an unborn child on the way to boot). It was also my first experience writing for a relationship that wasn't the usual boy/girl thing. Ah Blake and Griff, what an odd pair you guys were. The brawler and the boy scout. The hothead and the pacifist. The idea of having two male sled dogs snuggle together for warmth might seem weird and uncomfortable to some, but being a gay writer myself, every scene they were in together felt so right, every bit as normal as Balto hugging Jenna. So Griff and Blake are easily my two favorite OCs I've created so far. Plus, Steele got to be more than just the usual bad guy, and actually help Balto for once instead of adding to his problems. It was a lot of fun, and an enormous relief to write something that wasn't 26 chapters long or extended beyond one part (I really need to write smaller, self-contained fics more often. They're done and over with a lot faster, and a lot less tiresome).

While we're on the subject, I wanna set a few records straight, and for those of you who are a bit sensitive about this subject, I suggest you skip the next few paragraphs. When I first started posting "The Revenge and Redemption of Steele" in September, it got a lot of mixed reviews. Normally I wouldn't think too much about that. After all, you can't force someone to like what you write, and a little constructive criticism never hurt anyone so long as it's good-natured (I'm always telling people not to be afraid to be honest with me). Except, some of them weren't about whether or not the story was good or bad, or whether the grammar needed improving. Some of them were from some people who had read my previous fics, and always preferred my traditional pairings over my alternative ones. For those of you who reviewed that day, and are reading this right now, I want you to know right now that I hold no hard feelings towards you, especially since you were all so nice and understanding about it (except for that MattKearneyfan guy, who's review was so spiteful and ignorant that I hope he never comes near another one of my stories again. Like I said, I never ignore a review whether it's positive or negative, unless it's a flame, which was only written for one purpose, to hurt people). And as for that anonymous guy who posted a review in the beginning, I'm glad you'll still read my other fics, even if your views aren't the same as mine. You're a real nice guy, my friend.

After all, Kodiwolf and I came into that project knowing that a everyone's values and ideals are different, and that a lot of straight readers probably wouldn't be interested in that fic (with the exception of Animation Universe, who continues to surprise me everyday with a curiosity that's even bigger than mine). I imagine my actions over the past year must have been quite weird to you guys. First I write two fics about Balto and Jenna getting engaged, and I promise you a third one in a few months. But then I turn my attention to a Wolf Boss fic (you know, that bad guy wolf who beat up Po in "Kung Fu Panda 2"? If any of you have ever seen that movie. I know that a lot Balto fans aren't that into Kung Fu Panda. I wasn't either until last December) for eight months before I return to the Balto community with a story that isn't the long overdue third part of "Salvation", but a slash fic where Steele and Kaltag are lovers (I always thought Steele and his right hand man had an interesting dynamic, where Kaltag claims he lives to follow him, but he really can't stand him. I couldn't resist putting on the slash goggles).

I wanna say again that I would never try to force my opinions and ideals on you guys, but I'll always write gay fics as well as straight ones (the number will be pretty even over the next year). I'm proud to be gay, but that doesn't mean that I'll limit myself to just one type of fic. I also get the urge to write a good Balto and Jenna story every now and then. So that's why I always pack so much detail into my summaries (without giving away the whole plot), so that you guys can know what you're getting yourselves into before you start reading (and make sure you check the ratings too, they're important). I respect the fact that everyone sees cartoon characters in their own way. Because while I'm a big Tintin/Haddock shipper, I know that to some people they'll always be just friends. Or how I think Balto & Steele, and Po & Wolf Boss would make great main characters for a slash fic (how can you hate someone, but love them too all at the same time?), but to most they'll always be enemies.

So again, I thank you guys so much for being so patient, especially since Part 2 ended on a year-long cliffhanger. I'd also like to thank you guys for the great reviews you posted between now and last October. Although my fics were barely even noticed when I first posted them, they really seemed to draw attention during the summer, and I met a lot of other Balto fans because of it. Among some of them I'd like to thank are Kodiwolf231, the very first to comment on my stories, and my oldest friend on this site. Not to mention Mojotheomegawolf, for reviewing back in January. Thanks Mojo, for giving these stories the time of day, and doing a fellow writer a favor when hardly anyone else would. I'd also like to thank Animation Universe 2005, for reviewing all four of my stories thus far. Just like Mojo and Kodiwolf, I have the utmost respect for you friend, and wish you lots of luck with your own compositions. I'm also grateful to DemonKing97, The Ultra Grand, Exmoorpony, and for popping in from time to time and surprising me with a new message in my inbox whenever I least expected it.

And most of all, I'd like to thank WolfdogMeetsTheLionKing, for not only giving me two wonderfully detailed reviews that covered all the fundamental review bases (the good, the bad, what worked, what didn't work, your favorite scenes, yada, yada, yada), but also listening to the orchestral tracks I listed. Buddy, every now and again it's nice to meet another user who likes orchestra music. It's such an underappreciated genre, but it has so much heart and power to it (I'm smiling right now, just thinking about "The Doctor's Theme: Series Four").

Before we get into this, I'd just like to warn you guys right now. If you haven't read Salvation, Part 1 and Part 2, this story won't make any sense to you, at all. And if you have already read them before, you might want to think about rereading them now, since this fic literally picks up right where the last one left off, and resolves a lot of concepts that were introduced in the previous ones. As far as the music goes, like before, this story contains tracks from the Doctor Who soundtracks, brilliantly composted by Murray Gold and stunningly brought to life by the BBC National Orchestra. Most of the themes I assigned for Balto and Jenna in Part 1 return here (both the tracks themselves and variations on them), most significantly "I Am The Doctor", Balto's motif. The 7/11 rhythm returns here, but in a new form, bigger and bolder, and maybe even more epic, than before, as Balto faces a whole new set of challenges to overcome.

Basically, Part 1 introduced all the characters you needed to know, and Part 2 sets up everyone and everything up for the finale. So now, without further ado, I present "Salvation, Part 3", the conclusion to the engagement story that's been twelve months overdue.

Chapter 1: Silence.

12:00 P.M. Tuesday, February 3, 1925:

Silence fell across the land. The never ending silence was enough to send chills up the spines of everyone and everything within a five mile radius. Normally, the small country (soon to become state) of Alaska was always loud, exploding everyday with the sound of raging wind and blustering blizzards. But on this one specific day, everything was quiet. The harsh blizzard that been terrorizing Alaska's north-western coast for the past two weeks had finally passed, and the sun was shining again. Now the only sound that could be heard in the wilderness was a few gentle breezes, birds chirping, animals threading softly through snow, and water flowing softly down a stream. Normally, the woods were vibrant with life, and the sound of wolves howling, bears roaring, and eagles shrieking could be heard for miles around. But for some strange reason, it was almost as if every animal in the forest had decided to sleep in that day. However, the local forest area wasn't the only place where everything was quiet.

Between the woods and sandy white beaches, there was a small town called Nome. The little fishing community had been a well-known part of Alaska for years now, and it currently held more than nine hundred human residents. Usually by high noon, the local townspeople were all awake and walking up and down the streets of Nome, going about with their daily routine. But today, most of the humans in Nome were either inside their homes, or inside the local hospital, watching over their sick loved ones. For the past few weeks, an outbreak of the disease, Diphtheria, had plaguing Nome and the nearby Indian reservation. Diphtheria was a vicious disease that attacked the throat and quickly shut down all internal organs within a matter of a days, resulting with in patients falling into an irreversible coma and dying if they weren't treated quickly enough. The epidemic quickly took hold on Nome's children, and eventually things got so bad that the local undertaker ordered for child-sized coffins to be built.

After sending out a team of sled dogs to retrieve some medicine from the town of Nenana, they became hopelessly lost in the blizzard, the people of Nome had no choice but to start grieving over their loss. But in the town's darkest hour, one lone wolf-dog hybrid named Balto reluctantly rose to the occasion and braved the blizzard himself to rescue the team and save the town. Along the way, the wolf-dog had to fight the team's own leader, Steele, who was stubbornly intent on staying in the blizzard and letting his own team to freeze to death just so he wouldn't have to share the glory with a half-breed. After defeating Steele and returning to Nome, Balto reunited with his beloved, a rust and cream colored husky named Jenna, and proposed to her. And to the hybrid's delight, Jenna eagerly agreed to marry him.

The very next day, Balto found that the children of Nome were rapidly recovering and that Jenna's human owners had agreed to take him in as way of repaying their debt to him. And to add to that pile of good news, Balto also learned that he was going to become a new member of Gunnar Kaassen's famous team of sled dogs, taking Steele's old position as lead dog. However, the malevolent lead dog wasn't about to give up his old status so easily. After learning of Balto's happy new life, Steele challenged the hybrid to a fight to the death, inside the Boiler Room at exactly high noon. Despite Balto's pleas to stay behind, his fiancée Jenna had decided to join him in his long-overdue fight against Steele, not wanting to left behind again.

And that was the reason why Nome was so silent. Every human in Nome was busy taking care of the sick kids, and every dog in Nome (or at least the ones who had been in the Boiler Room) were anxiously waiting for the outcome of Balto's final fight against Steele. But as Balto and Jenna prepared to face the malamute inside the Boiler Room, neither one of them knew that the events of what would follow would change both of their lives forever. Now the only thing that stood between them and Steele was a thin wooden door that inconveniently blocked their path. Balto raised his paws and pushed inwards on the door as hard as he could, watching it fall backwards and slam into the hard concrete floor.

"Victory of the Daleks" by Murray Gold begins.

Hearing the noise, Steele lifted his head and sneered at the couple that was now standing in the empty space where the Boiler Room's front door used to be. "Hello Bingo, long time, no see", he grinned. The malamute's expression was smug, like a child who had gotten exactly what he wanted for Christmas. Which Balto supposed made sense, since what was gonna happen next combined the two things Steele loved best in the world: fighting and torturing his rival.

However, Balto and Jenna chose to ignore him and stepped inside the room, wearing neutral expressions on their faces. Even though they had both feared the town bully for so long and treated him with caution, they had also learned to stand up for themselves over the past few weeks and now neither one of them was afraid of confronting the malamute if they had to. And unfortunately, this was one of those times when they had no choice in the matter.

Steele slowly stood up and glanced curiously at Jenna, finally acknowledging the husky's presence. He had been so focused on Balto's arrival that he had hardly noticed the half-breed's mate had also followed him in. "Ah, and I see you've brought your little girlfriend, or should I say fiancée? Jenna, you still look just as lovely as ever", Steele noted, wagging his eyebrows.

Jenna didn't speak to him but instead scowled at the malamute, refusing to give him the pleasure of a response.

Steele chuckled at the husky's silence, before turning his head and frowning at Balto. "Some wolf you are, letting your girl fight your battles for you. I've met a bunch of lobos in my lifetime, but never such a spineless coward like you", Steele taunted. In all the years he had known Balto, the sled dog had never expected that the wolf-dog would allow Jenna to get involved with their little feud. He had always seemed so hell-bent on protecting the husky from him, even if, by all rights, it should have been the other way around.

But before Balto could defend his actions, Jenna beat him to it. "I'm here by my own decision Steele", she replied, growing tired of the malamute's stalling. The longer Steele taunted her, playing mind games with her and boyfriend like he always did, the more she was starting to lose her confidence and let her nervousness show. If Steele was gonna try to hurt them or kill them, she wished he would just get on with it already.

Amused, Steele snorted at Jenna's words. "Whatever, I don't mind getting a little girl blood on my paws", the malamute decided, even though he knew he was lying. Deep down, Steele had feelings for the husky and he knew he could never bring himself to kill her, even if he had to. Her being here threw a major wrench in his plans. So the canine bully was glad when Balto changed the subject.

"You don't have to do this Steele, you can't win this fight", Balto insisted, hoping he could somehow reason with the dog.

Steele scoffed in reply, even more amused this time. "Please, you may have gotten the best me during that blizzard, but here in Nome it's a fair fight. The fight that was always meant to be - the final battle between dog and wolf", he said, grinning eagerly.

Balto glared at him, feeling disgusted, while Jenna's mouth hung open in disbelief. "You're completely insane", she whispered.

"Maybe, maybe not. But either way, I'm gonna be the only one to walk out of this room alive", Steele retorted, shrugging, before turning around to glare at Balto.

"Steele, please don't do this", Balto pleaded, still hoping, still praying, there was some way he could change Steele's mind, even though he knew there wasn't.

Steele raised his eyebrows, obviously surprised, before his confusion was replaced by a look of smugness and satisfaction. "Ah, don't tell me that the big bad wolf-dog is begging for his life now?", he taunted, smirking.

"Not my life, Steele - yours. Like I said before, you can't win this, and I'm not gonna kill you. You can't make me kill you. But I can't guarantee you that Doc and the other dogs will feel the same way", Balto reminded him.

"You don't think I know that?", Steele countered smugly.

"What?", Jenna asked, growing really confused now. Steele wasn't making any sense at all. And in all time she had known the dog, he had never been one to talk in riddles, he was far too impatient for that. So what had changed? Besides him going insane of course.

"I've seen dogs like you before, you like to put on your imaginary white hats and pretend you're saints or something. But you never have the guts to finish what you started, like you should had done during the serum run. You always rely on other dogs like Doc to do your fighting for you. And that's why I'll always win. Because unlike you, I don't mind getting a little blood on my paws", Steele explained, stalking closer and closer to Balto and Jenna, quickening their heartbeats with every passing second.

"Who's afraid of the big bad wolf? Not I", Steele whispered, quoting a line from "The Three Little Pigs", the fairy tale that human children seemed to love oh so much.

But before Balto or Jenna could respond, the moment they had both been dreading finally happened. Steele abruptly lunged forward and bared his fangs, aiming right at Balto's throat.

"Doctor Who XI" by Murray Gold begins.