It was the year 1928 in the unsuspecting, humble, little town of Nome, Alaska as a female, Scarlet-red fur coated husky with a face that could melt the snow around her , waits in a upright position upon a snow mound on the shore of a nearby harbor. It was six to seven.
"Oh, where is Balto?" She asked herself in a disappointed tone. It was that moment that her son, Kodiak or as they call him "Kodi" came up to her "Uh hey mom, you ok? Where's dad?" The boy asked her, then she turned her head to face him and said "He's supposed to take me to see the northern lights. But I guess he's training for the Iditarod race tomorrow. Kodi why don't you go find dusty and then we can all go?" He smiled. "Alright." he ran off into the town to find his girlfriend "See you later!" he called out as he ran.
Meanwhile on the other side of town, Nome's famous hero was running seven mile laps, he was exhausted. But the Russian snow goose didn't make it easy for him, "Come on Balto, just ten more laps!" yelled the goose at the running wolf-dog, whose panting had greatly increased since the beginning of the training at seven in the morning. "I Think..My heart's….Gonna..Explode….Boris!" said Balto between pants of his steam-like breath through the below thirty degree weather. "Oy Balto, you do want to win do you?" The wolf-dog just ran around him and after one more lap he stopped next to the snow goose. "Yes. I do but there's… more important…..things In mind." The goose only looked at him, placing his feathers under his chin "Like?" "I'm supposed to meet Jenna." Boris just sighed "Alright, have it your way." Balto grinned, "What's the occasion? You never stop at the middle of training." He looked at him with a blank face "I've got a date with Stella tonight," he said as he spreads his wings and flew off into the sunset (His fear of heights has slightly disappeared since Boris told Balto about his fear.) And with that, Balto ran into town, looking for his love. The time was six fourteen.
The northern spectacle known as the Aurora Borealis was in play in the early night sky, how the colors moved across the sky as though god was painting a masterpiece in the canvas that was the stars though they were merely reflections from broken glass bottles with light from a candle-lit lantern located behind the town's hospital. Either way, it was beautiful. Every dog loved it; they took their mates to it, cuddling close and enjoying it, but it was almost abandoned, one was the mate of the Hero, Jenna, looking into the lights dancing across the sky, waiting for her lover. There he was, walking towards her "Balto there you are, I was worrying about you," she nuzzles his cheek. "Sorry to keep you waiting Jenna." He nuzzles her back smiling. "Hey pop," Said his son, lying next to his girlfriend, Dusty. Balto looks at him "Hey Kodi, seems that you aged a bit since I saw you." "Maybe it's because you've been training with Uncle Boris to long." He grinned. "Oh ha-ha, very funny." He said mockingly, rolling his eyes. "Hey I wonder where Star and Angel could be." Asked Dusty when she heard a cough behind her and she turned her head to see the the Alaskan Klee Kai and his mate, Angel,the Malmute with light, golden fur and baby blue eyes. People say that she and star look alike but she didn't mind "Oops, sorry about the Star," Said Dusty with a nervous smile. "Ah no worries, I get that all the time." Star's smile though, was a reassuring one.
"So what brings you here?" "Well Angel and I were going to see the Aurora Borealis, but we didn't know we were having company." As soon that was said, the spectacle was in full bloom. Colors were waltzing against the sky in a vivid style. Everyone was awestruck and mesmerized. "Isn't it beautiful Star?" asked Angel in a gentle tone. Like the rest of her, she was a gentle spirit, yet headstrong. "Yeah," He nuzzled against her chin. "It sure is." She smiled at his touch and nuzzled him back. Though in all this comfort and awe, Kodi had a look of fear in his eyes as he looked up in the sky to see that the Borealis faded away and a hazy rust-red color filled the sky, a black, swirling vortex appeared above them "Uh..Dad?" said Kodi with a petrified look on his face. Balto looked up also, the same look upon his face (The same look were on the others faces) like a chain reaction. "What the heck?" Asked Balto as he looked in the sky, confused on what was happening.
What was happening? How? Why? These were the questions that ran through everybody's mind at the time. But as they stood around, traumatized, a violent gust of wind as sharp as the finest-made swords blew onto them, screaming in agony and being pushed into the snow-covered ground, splattered with blood. Then the flow of the wind changed, acting like a vacuum by sucking Balto in to the vortex. "Arrgghhh!" Balto screamed as the winds sliced through his skin. "Balto!" exclaimed Jenna, she jumped up and latched her mouth on his paw, her teeth breaking through his skin. Making him scream louder though it's better than being sucked into who knows what. The sharp winds scratching at her muzzle, her eyelids closed shut though tears escape her closed eyes due to the pain afflicted on her, pulling her lover to safety but the wind pulls them farther and farther apart that it seemed impossible for them to return to each other. Her jaw tightened on his paw, but the wind pulling them apart makes her teeth scratch into Balto's skin, blood blowing into her mouth.
Finally, the vacuum sucked Balto into the vortex; Jenna's teeth ripped through his lumbrical muscles. "Jenna!!" shouted Balto before the vortex sucked him in and closing when his whole body entered. Making Jenna fall to the ground, landing in the blood pelted snow. "Balto!!" shouted Jenna but her shout echoed in the silenced sky. She fainted from blood loss, falling into the snow, a single tear flowing down her bloody cheek. The sun had completely settled in the west.
The air was humid and the scent of metal was mixing into the humidity, making the wolf-dog stir and wince from his wounds. His eyes opened to see that he was captured in a steel cage in a darkened room with chains hanging down from the ceiling. "Ugh…I feel like I got smashed by a avalanche." He groaned and looked around the room, frightened "Where am I?" He asked himself, he was worried, mostly about his family back home, about the wind.
His worries increased as he saw a hooded figure wearing a black, zipped up cloak. The figure's entire face was concealed by the darkness of both the room and the hood over his head. "So, this is the "great" savior of Nome?" The figure chuckled "Balto, you are no hero!" Balto walked to the front of the cage, looking at the figure with confusion and fear. "Who are you and how do you know my name?" Asked the hero, focusing on the figure. "Oh, I know EVERYTHING about you Balto, the origins of your life and even about your death." The figure grinned even though it was hidden. "But I still don't know who you are." The figure then placed his hands on the sides of his hood, slowly flipping it behind him, revealing…A Dog! A dog with a human body! How it shocked Balto. Looking at his coal-colored fur reminded him of something but he couldn't put a paw on it.
"I am Togo, the real hero of the Iditarod." Togo said a satisfied, dark tone which made Balto's eyes widen and made him almost speechless. "Togo……But I thought you were dead." "That's right; I was dead, and ever since you won the hearts of millions by "saving" the ill children and leaving me out in the barren wilderness where I had to fight to survive, I have been plotting my revenge. But sadly when I was searching for food in the woods, near a mountain side to be precise, a boulder fell onto my spine thus, making me loose feeling in my hind legs. Fortunately, a man whose hair was Grey as darkened stone came to my aid and told me that if he helped me, I would help him in return, becoming his servant for all eternity." "And let me guess, you agreed?" "I had no choice! It was the only way to save my life and the only way to get revenge on you Balto!" Togo spat in anger. "You see, I once had a life, a beautiful family, everything was going perfect for me and you had to take it all away!" he spat out again, making Balto back up a bit. "But I didn't betray you; you betrayed yourself by clouding your thoughts with revenge and lost your sanity-"
"Like I cared about my sanity! You had to be all "Let me get the credit and not let Togo, the dog who worked his tail to the bone" be the true hero."
"I was just trying to put an end to the children's suffering while you were just doing it for the fame and glory."
"SILENCE!!" yelled Togo, making Balto silent then a barrage of chains wrap around Balto, gasping for breath. "And about your friends, they're at our base, being turned to heartless as we speak." Togo said, grinning. "You dirty bastard-!" The chains wrapped around his neck, choking him. Togo waved his finger "Ah ah ah, we wouldn't want to lose our "hero" now would we?" He smiles as he saw his nemesis choking from lack of oxygen. "Is there anything you would like to say during your three seconds of consciousness?" Balto looked at him weakly "You……" With that, he lost consciousness, his head hanging low. Good thing too, his neck was almost broken. He would have been dead if it continued but Togo wanted to savor the moment. He licked his lips "Now I can finally dispose of you once and for all."
Suddenly, a voice appeared in the room. "Togo!" yelled the voice at the dog "hybrid" which made him growl under his breath. "What do you want Zexion?" He didn't bother to turn his head to see the other hooded figure behind him. "I hope your not trying to sabotage our plans." Said Zexion in a emotionless voice. Togo paused "No sir, I was trying to make him weak before we send him to another world where he won't be such a nuisances to us." He knew that he was lying but decided to play along "Excellent, the soon we get rid of him the better, carry on." A portal surrounded him and he disappeared.
Togo growled again, looking at the unconscious hero "You're lucky Balto, if it wasn't for him your guts would be in my stomach right now." He said under his breath and snapped his fingers together to make the chains uncoil Balto and slither into the darkness. A portal opens up in the wall beside him and he pulls out a key from his left cloak pocket and placed it into the cage's keyhole, turns it clockwise and grabs Balto by the throat and pulls him out of the cage. "I don't care where this thing takes you; I just want you to disappear!" With that, he threw him into the portal and it closes. The hooded figure appeared behind him "How dare you interfere with our plans!" The figure yelled at him and Togo turned to him. "My revenge is far more important than some idiotic plan about luring the Keyblade Wielder to us." Togo said in mere anger. "Why do you need me anyway? Where are the other members?" Togo asked the figure. "You know as well as I do that the others are searching for him, high and low." High and low, it left Togo with a animated image of the other members running up a mountain then down then up and then down, it made him smirk for about two seconds them returning his concentration to Zexion. "But wait, weren't the members killed by the Keyblade Wielder?" Zexion nodded "Yes, but luckily Vexen programmed the castle's computer to produce copies of us, Memories and all." Togo smirked at the whole explanation "Ah, very cunning, but how are we going to destroy him? The Keyblade Wielder I mean." "Patience my apprentice, patience, our plan will soon come into fruition."