now i thought this would be pretty interesting: an alternate reality to the movie Bolt. the first chapter takes places after Penny gets Bolt just to get everybody up to speed here. the story is gonna be done with the thoughts of certain characters throughout the story. there will be plenty of characters new and old and otherwise throughout the story. not to mention a few love interests for you romantics. so read on fellow readers and writers.
Ch. 1: Leaving Home
"I'm home!" a teenage girl call out as she tossed both hear back pack and gym bag aside. She kicked the door closed as she took off her jacket and flung it aside. She wore a red shirt and blue jeans, and her shoulder length hair supported a red head band in it. What? You gotta a problem with me kicking the door closed? Well get in line because my mom's at the top of the list. And at least I close the door, so you can't really say anything, especially since I live in Santa Monica. Anyway, you probably want an introduction. Not really anything much to say about me. I'm average height, have freckles, and my eyes are hazel. I guess you could say my body's well porportioned, surprisingly enough. I'm a gymnast and I know a few kinds martial arts. O-kay, so I'm not your average girl, although you probably got that already. Oh by the way, the name's Penny Aita. And to make it clear, don't call me Penelope.
She crossed her arms and started tapping her foot. "Mom! I said I'm home!" Nothing. She sighed exasperatedly. Probably off on one of her so called 'business trips.' Knowing her she probably left a note on the fridge. Typical mom, right? She turned to her right and walked into the kitchen. Immediately after she walked in she turned to the refridgerator on her left. She gave it a thorogh look over.
"Okay. Not home and didn't leave a note," she said to herself. She shrugged her shoulders and said, "Whatever." She opened the fridge, took out a microwavable burrito, then kicked the door closed. She opened the door to microwave opposite of the fridge and placed the burrito inside, closing the door afterwards. She set the microwave for one minute thirty seconds, then pressed the start button. The microwave started humming. You think I'd should be concerned for my mom's whereabouts, right? Well what part of average don't you understand. Alright, so I am a little worried, but if she is on an actual business trip, then she probably left in too much of a rush to leave a note, right?
Minutes later the girl walked into the living room with her burrito and a bottle of soda. She fell on the sofa, set her soda on the lamp table on her right, and placed her feet on the glass one in front of her as she reclined on the sofa. She grabbed the remote from the lamp table to her right and turned on the television. Like I said before, I'm not your average, prissy, sissy girl. No. I'm the kind of girl who can be your worst enemy if you piss me off. She took a bite of the burrito as she watched an episode of NCIS. It was a few minutes before she heard the sound of a crash in a room. She sat up a looked to her right. If that's not my dog, this guy's gonna be sorry he ever set foot in this place. She got up from the sofa and headed into the hall. Just as she passed the bathroom, however, she stopped. Wait how did they get passed my dog? She shook her head and continued on. Yeah, I know. It took me that long to think of that.
She walked into her bedroom and stopped. She stared at the room with wide eyes. Holy crap! Everything in her room was tossed, turned over, and torn apart. Her entire room was in chaos. Yeah, I doubt my dog would do this. She took a few steps inside and looked around.
You ever seen those martial artists in the movies that always know when someone's behind them. All of sudden, Penny trust her right elbow back into the stomach of a man, then slammed her fist into his groin. When he doubled over Penny lifted her same side leg over him and brought her heel down onto his back. Yeah, I'm one of them. She turned back to the door to see two more standing there, one overly muscled, the other extremely skinny. She heard her closet door open and out stepped four more all of whom had an atheletic build. They all wore the same dark blue tights and same colored helmets with black visor. Penny stood so that her legs were two shoudler lengths apart. Her back leg was more bent than her front. Her arms were bent, her right more closer to her face, and her hands flat and her fingers close together. Five against one. Hardly fair right? You keep believing that sport. The first of the guys from the closest at her. Penny lifted the knee of her back leg and drove the outside edge of her heel into his stomach. She pivoted on her supporting leg and snapped her lower leg up into his face, knocking him over. She brought down her lower leg and shook her head while smirking. Why do they alwasys do that? Two more of the masked men from the closet came at her. She ducked down and rammed her shoulder in the legs of the left intruder, sending him onto his back behind her. She then grabbed the wrist of the second intruder then his opposite shoulder and flipped him over her back without much effort, being lower than him, slamming him onto the other. She pulled her fist back then struck the guy on top in his face. Immediately after she stood up she ducked under a haymaker punch and turned about face. She struck the intruder with an uppercut to the groin first then the stomach, then grabbed the back of his neck and kneed him in the face.
When Penny turned to the final two however, she was struck in the jaw. She turned a 180 as she stumbled back and fell. She pushed herself up and looked back to the buff intruder who struck her. Blood trickled from the left edge of her lips. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Is that all you got?" she said. The musculed masked man lifted both of his arms. Suddenly a white dog rushed in and stood in front of Penny. It was a white German Shepard, with a black mask around it's eyes, black ears, and a black lightning bolt on both sides of its body that strecthed from the shoulders to the middle of its hindlegs.
"That's the dog!" yelled the skinny intruder.
Wait! What do they want with my dog? "Bolt! Get out of here!" Penny cried. The dog stood its ground, growling at the buff intruder.
"Come here, you," he demanded as he reached for the dog. When he was close enough the dog lashed out and snapped its jaws down on the guy's left arm. The man yelled out as he tried to pull away from the dog.
"Lego! Let go!" The dog was surprisingly stronger as it held tight despite all of the shaking. He tried to kick at the dog but his eyes went wide when his leg made contact. The dog did let go and shook itself of the attack as the burly man hopped on one leg while clutching his other leg in pain.
"AAAHHHHH!!!" he cried out. "I think my leg's broken!!"
Penny saw that as an advantage and stood up. She moved passed her dog towards the muscled guard and used a roundhouse kick to his right arm. The attack nearly broke foot, but the impact forced the man to land on his broken leg. The man yelled out in even more pain as he raised his leg again. She kicked with her opposite leg, using another roundhouse to kick him in the inner thigh. Immediately after she recoiled the leg, she twisted her body then snapped the top of her foot into his groin forcing the man onto his broken leg again. The pain was to much for the man to bare. In one final attack, Penny sweeped the back of her fist into the man's shin, and side-stepped to avoid being fallen upon.
Penny hissed as she grabbed her fist then heard a clicking sound. She looked to the lanky intruder still at her bedroom door. He pointed a gun at her. She didn't move, as panic took over her. The man was about to pull the trigger when he yelled in pain. Bolt had clamped down on the raider's shin. He tried to pull the leg out of the dog's grip. When he finally knew he couldn't he aimed the gun at that dog.
"BOLT!!! NO!!!" Penny screamed. The dog looked up at the gun and stared wide-eyed at it. In a few seconds the gun suddenly exploded in the man's hand. Penny's mouth was agape. What just happened?
Bolt let go of the intruder's leg and looked to his human. She stared back at her dog. The scrawny guy took the opportunity to limp out of Penny's room. He was near the bathroom when a bark caught his attention. When he turned he was tackled to the ground by the dog. He pinned the man's arms to the ground and stood over him growling. Penny appeared behind him.
"Alright, I want some answers, pencil neck," Penny demanded.
"I don't care if you have some crazy, mutant dog," he retorted, trying to keep his calm. "I'm not talking to some punk, little girl."
Penny deepened her glare. "Oh really?"
Yells bubbled from the man as his head was dunked into the toilet. He struggled trying to get out but Penny proved to be stronger. She lifted his head out of the toilet and slammed him up against the edge of the bathtub.
"Still don't wanna talk?" she said with a sly grin.
The man gasped for air. "Not...a chance," he breathed in reply.
Her grin turned into a teeth baring frown. "How 'bout I slam the toilet seat on your head while dunk you in there?" She felt something tug at her pant leg. She turned to see her dog as he sat on his hauches. He gave her a pleading look and whined. Penny's eyes widened. She let go of the man and turned to her dog.
"Did you... just talk?" she asked her dog.
Bolt tilted his head at her. "Of course I can talk! Why wouldn't I be able to talk?"
Penny was utterly horrified. O-kay, it's official: I'm losing my mind. "Uh, well because you're a dog?"
"Wait," Bolt said. "You understood me?"
Penny waited for a few seconds before she said, "Yeah." Bolt had the same shocked expression on his face.
"Are you talking to your dog?" inquired the lanky man. The reply he got was a kick to his face.
Penny crawled a little closer to her dog and sat on her knees. She stared her dog for a while. O-kay. Recap. First, my mom isn't home; some weird guys in tights come busting into my home; and my dog is some kind of mutant. Not really complaining about my dog though. It's just...weird.
"So what now?" Bolt asked tilting his head.
Penny shrugged her shoulders and replied, "Don't know. You tell me."
"Well there's got to be a reason why those humans came here," he suggested then he tilted his head and added, "Other than coming after me of course."
Penny straightened up and crossed her arms. He has a point. There's got to be a reason why these guys tore up the place.
She stood up and looked back at Bolt. "Watch pencil neck here," she ordered. "If he wakes up, knock him out again, alright?"
Bolt nodded and said, "Can do."
Penny walked out of her bathroom and headed towards the end of the hall. I'm definately gonna need a lot of serious therapy after this.
Penny pushed open the door to another bedroom. This one was just as trashed as the her's. Penny crossed her arms and huffed as she looked around the room. Mom isn't gonna be to happy about this.
It took her several long, tiring, sickening minutes of thorough searching her mother's room and still Penny came up with nothing. Penny exhaled as her shoulders fell against the wall. She let herself slide down it until she was sitting with her legs outstretched and stared at the cieling. Like I said before: I'm definately gonna need a lot of serious therapy. I've gone through stuff in my mom's room I could have lived without.
I still don't understand why she had to divorce dad. And I wish I knew why he was away so often and wouldn't tell us why. Penny sighed. I just hope that they're alright. A whining noise caught her attention. She turned her head to the door to see Bolt sitting in the doorway. He pushed himself up and walked over to Penny. After he sat down next to her, she rubbed his head and smiled.
"Thought I told you to keep an eye on that guy," she said.
"I did. I just made sure he couldn't get away," he replied. "Oh and the others escaped."
Penny put her head against the wall again and looked up at the cieling. "Great." She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and released it. I should be concerned about those guy that escaped, but right now I'm to tired to give a crap.
"Found anything yet?" Bolt asked after a moment. Penny just shook her head.
"Want me to go check your room?" he offered tilting his head to the side again.
She turned her head toward him and smirked. "I'm sure you could with that strength of yours." Bolt nodded then trotted out the door.
Yeah, I know it probably isn't good of me to make my dog check my room, but I'm tired, and, hey, he offered. She rested her head against the wall again and closed her eyes.
It was night before something nudged her. Penny stirred and opened her eyes sleepily.
"You awake?" someone whispered.
Penny turned her head to her dog who was sitting next to her on his haunches. "I am, now," she said groggily. She sat forward and put a hand over her eyes. "Did you"-she yawned-"find anything?" She opened one eye and looked at her dog.
Bolt shook his head with a whine. Penny sighed and closed her eye, then asked, "What about my laptop?"
"Your what?" Bolt asked tilting his head.
"The red, folding, whirring thing."
"Oh! Yeah, I found that. It was actually the only thing that wasn't touched."
Penny looked her dog and smiled. "Well that's good to know." The knuckheads searched my entire room and leave my laptop untouched? Either they're not the brightest robbers ever, or I'm just incredibly lucky. She pushed herself up from the ground and walked out of her mothers room with Bolt trotting after her.
Penny was on her laptop checking her mail. Bolt was next to her with his paws on the desk. "What are you looking for exactly?" Bolt asked.
"Don't know," Penny shrugged. "Maybe something that would explain why those guys came her." She paused before she continued, "I would talk to that guy again, but I don't think I'll get anything out of him?"
"Maybe you didn't use the right method?" Bolt insisted.
Penny gave a quizzical look to her dog. "What are you saying? We threaten him with killing?"
"Hey, slamming a toilet lid on his head and pushing him in the water would have killed him," Bolt asserted. "All I'm saying is that we hang him over the side of something very high. Scare the truth out of him."
Penny had a sly grin on her face. "I think I've got the best place, too." Suddenly her computer dinged. Penny looked at her computer. A message read:
Web cam message received. Want to read it?
Bolt tilted his head. "Web cam message?"
Penny looked back at her dog. O-kay. A dog that can talk and read. Guess I shouldn't be surprised though. I read books with him from when I was eight to when I was eleven. Again this is the part where not being average comes in. She turned pack to the screen and clicked the yes button.
Another window popped up in the middle of the screen. The background was dimmly lit but a man in the foreground could be seen in near perfect clarity. He had brown hair, blue eyes, and side burns that stopped at his cheeks. He wore an unbuttoned labcoat and a green buttoned up t-shirt. Penny hardly reckonized him but she had an idea.
"Dad?"
"Penny, this is your father," he said in a low voice. "I don't have much time, but I'll give you what I can. They have your mother and I and are going after you and your dog next. Especially your dog. Who they are I can't tell you."
There was a some muffled yelling that caused the man to look up for a second. He looked back at the screen and continued. "Now, I can only tell you this: I gave Bolt superpowers. I can't tell you what they are because of counter measures they could probably develop against most of them."
The was a banging sound, which made the man flinch. He looked up uneasily as someone yelled outside. He looked back at the screen and said, "I'm running out of time," he said hurriedly then added, "The scooter I got for your eleventh birthday has enhanced capabilies to it and I've sent upgrades and a location to your laptop. The installation should be done by now. Hurry, Penny."
The banging sound came again, this time louder and more insistent. "Be careful, goodluck, your mother sends her love, and your father loves you."
A crashing sound was heard and light filled the room, before the screen went black. Penny and Bolt sat in silence for a few seconds.
Bolt looked at his person and broke the silence first. "Well that answers our question."
Penny pushed her chair back. "Not really," she said as she got up and headed to the door. "Come on, Bolt." The dog pushed himself off of the desk.
The scrawny man yelled as Bolt held him over the edge of the Lincoln Boulevard bridge above the Santa Monica freeway.
"Please! I'll talk! I'LL TALK!!!" he pleaded to Penny who was looking over the edge.
"I want to know who you work for and what he wants," Penny demanded.
"I-I-I think his name i-is Calico," he answered. "All I know is he wants whatever powers your dog has."
"Where's his hide out?"
"I-I don't know!"
"Funny, I believe you," Penny said then leaned over the rail. "Who does know?"
"I don't know, some guy named Anthony Jeremia! That's all I know, I swear!!"
Penny stood straight, looked her dog, and nodded. Bolt pulled the guy over the edge and laid him on the sidewalk. Penny knelt down and struck him in the jaw with the outer edge of her hand. The man fell unconscious.
Bolt looked at his person and asked, "So what now?"
Penny sighed as a modified '06 Pontiac GTO pulled up behind them. It had an 8", double deck spoiler, 20", silver rims and had tiger stripe design with blue as the main body and orange as the stripes. A man in grey sports coat, white shirt, and jeans stepped from the car. He was tall but rather was rather fat, had blondish-red hair and brown eyes. "'Scuse me, miss," he said as he walked over, "I got report of a man being hung over this bridge." He stopped a few feet from them and crossed his arms. "Mind telling me what's going on?"
Penny looked to the officer. "And a hello to you too, Uncle Jack."
Penny's uncle was a detective for the LAPD. He wasn't the best detective they had, but he was above good. Despite his appearance, he is able to give chase to most criminals who decide they'd rather run.
The two were at a Denny's restaurant with Bolt sleeping in the car. Jack had already called for a squad car to pick up the scrawny man who raided Penny's house. She told her uncle most of what happened, leaving out the super dog part, and the parentnapping.
"I always knew you were a scrapper," Jack chuckled. He took a sip of his coffee then set it down. "You know what I don't get is, how was your dog able to hold the guy over the bridge. I know those dogs are strong but they can't be that strong."
Penny rubbed the back the back of her neck and looked away. "I may not be the best, but I do know when someone's hiding something," he remarked. "Come, Pens. You can tell your uncle."
Penny sighed. "You remember my dad right?"
"The guy who was almost always gone? Yeah, I remember him. Why?"
"He contacted me on my laptop," she began she said in a low voice. "Says some guys after me and my dog."
"Who? What happened?" he asked.
"From what I guess his name's Calico," she answered. "Nothing on where he is, but I know he has my parents."
"They have my, sis!!" Jack exclaimed causing several people to look at them. Jack cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. Penny sunk in her seat, and put a hand over her eyes.
Jack leaned closer to his neice. "So, what are you gonna do now?"
Penny looked to the GTO and saw part of Bolt's side. From what she could tell he was sleeping soundly.
"I'm gonna see if I can find this guy," she finally said.
"Kid, you may be a fighter, but you can't just go off and take down some big organization by yourself."
She looked back at her uncle with determination in her eyes. She leaned closer so that her face was within inches of his. "I'm going to find my parents, and you're not stopping me."
Jack sat back in his seat and crossed his arms. He shook his head and chuckled. "I think you're mother said something about you having your father's determination," he remarked. "Alright, but at least let me give you some funds you might need."
Bolt hadn't slept all night. He was lying wide awake on his side in the backyard. I can't believe we're doing this! This has got to be the absolute most craziest thing ever! I mean, my human is risking her life and probably my own by doing this. Bolt rolled over onto his stomach as the sun started appeared above the buildings. We don't even know what we're going up against! Still Penny is determined to save her parents and stop this Calico guy. And if what her father said is true then I can really protect her. I mean she can fend for herself but I just don't like the idea of Penny getting hurt on this...mission I guess you would call it. Bolt sighed through his nose. He straightened his front legs keeping his back legs down then did the same vice-versa. Well, time to go wake Penny. Bolt trotted to the back door and jumped through the dog door. Once he was in he walked through the kitchen, into the livingroom, then into the hall, and finally into Penny's room.
Most of her room was still a mess. Penny was lying on her back arms on her stomach with a blanket covering her from her feet to just under her shoulders. Bolt hopped up onto her bed, sat down next to her, and barked twice. She stirred in her bed for moment before settling back into sleep. Bolt nudged her shoulder which only made her turn onto her side. And she want's to save her parents. Hmm. What was the one thing Penny hated most. Something clicked inside Bolt's head. He straightened his back legs and crept closer to Penny he leaned over her until his muzzle was near her ear.
"Ohh, Penelopeee," he whispered. That alone caused Penny's eyes to snap wide open. She shot up in her bed with Bolt being quick to jump out of the way.
"Alright, who's here and who just called me Penelope?" she demanded only to find her dog staring at her with a mischieveous grin.
"Real funny dog breath," Penny grumbled.
Bolt shrugged his shoulders. "I thought it was."
Penny yawned and stretched her arms. She looked towards the window and shielded her eyes with a hand. After tossing the covers aside she slid out of the bed and headed to the dresser. She picked out a red tank top, jean shorts, some under garments, and then headed to her bathroom.
"You sure you want to go through with this?" Bolt asked as Penny threw her sleeping shirt out of the bathroom.
"You're worried about my safety aren't you?" she called from the bathroom. Running water could be heard from the bathroom.
"Primarily, yes!" Bolt yelled back. He could hear Penny's sigh of relief. He walked his front legs forward and laid on his stomach.
"Do you German Shepards always have to be so over protective?" she quipped. "You're worring over nothing. I can hold my own."
"Uh, do you remember what happened with that over-sized human? Or do you want to be brought back to painful memories?"
"So I got caught by a sucker punch," she said dismissively. "Big deal."
"By the looks of the human; I'd say it was a pretty big deal," he commented. "If it weren't for the smell, and the lack of claws, I'd of thought he was those large bears you see in those zoos."
"You mean a Grizzly?"
"No. Not big enough," he stated, shaking his head.
"Again, I know of ways to take down people twice my size," she alleged. "I can handle anything."
"What about, what do you call 'em," he thought for a moment, "guns, or knives? Stuff like that?"
Bolt could here Penny grumble in the shower. "I know what to do if someone pulls out those kinds of thing, Bolt." The sound of the water stopped. "Now could you stop asking so many questions?"
Bolt sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine!" he drawled out.
After Penny got dressed, her and her dog ate and packed her backpack with clothes, sleeping gear, other necessities, and of course her computer.
She was sitting on her knees, looked through bag making sure not to mess anything up. "Let's see laptop, clothes, tooth brush." She looked up and thought aloud, "What else am I missing?"
"Food?" Bolt suggested.
Penny rolled her eyes. "We'll get food as we go," Penny said without looking over her shoulder. "I told you that already!"
"Geez. Sorry."
She adjusted her position so that she wasn't sitting on her knees. She shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe my Ipod."
"You bring that and you're not gonna bring any food?" This time, Penny gave a glaring glance at her dog. Bolt held up his paws. "Sorry!"
A thought came to Penny's mind. "I got it!" She began to shift around the remain clothes in her room until she found what she was looking for. She lifted out a red one piece bathing suit. "A swim suit could come in handy."
"What are the odds we're gonna go swimming?"
"Either for when we take a break from searching or when we need to go under water," she replied then added, "Duh!" She stuffed the suit into her bag and zipped it up. "Done."
She slipped on her backpack and stood up. "Alright. Let's go."
Bolt bounded along side Penny as she rode her scooter down the street.
"So, where is this place your dad wants you to go first?" Bolt inquired looking up at his human.
"All the way in New York," Penny said in a displeased tone, keeping her eyes on the road ahead.
Bolt looked ahead. "You don't sound to happy."
"Do you have any idea how far New York is?" Penny asked.
Bolt looked back at his human. "I don't even know where New York is."
Penny sighed heavily and said, "Let's just say; it's gonna take us a while to get there."
With that they continued on their way.
