Chapter 10: The Alliance.
10:00 P.M. Sunday, December 24th, 1922:
Completely oblivious to what was going on just down the street, adrenaline was still coursing through Steele. The malamute could barely sit still, he was still much too excited from the awesome rush he had gotten just a few minutes ago.
After gloating to Jenna, Steele had joined his friends in chasing Balto across town, and the feeling of running had been incredible. It had been so long since his last confrontation with Balto, Steele had almost forgotten what the thrill of the chase felt like. He had been right on Balto's heels, never letting the wolf-dog out of his sight, but he didn't try to catch the hybrid right away. Steele had been toying with him the whole time, making the game all the more interesting by giving the wolf-dog a sixty second head start. Steele and his gang had chased Balto all the way across town, out of Nome, and back to the safety of his trawler.
Even though it had only lasted for a few brief minutes, Steele felt extremely satisfied that night. The malamute felt that they had reminded the wolf-dog of his place in the world, and had also gotten back at Jenna for choosing a half-wolf over him. "That'll teach that wolf-dog to humiliate me and try to steal my girl", Steele smirked.
When they were done chasing after the lobo, Steele and his gang returned to Old Mill, only to find Jenna was now gone, along with Dixie. "Ugh, she probably just ran home crying", he thought dismissively.
Jared and his pals were gone as well, and Steele was certain the Newfoundland had left to go tell on him to Doc. He knew he would be in big trouble once Doc found out about his unwarranted attack on Balto, but Steele really didn't care what the old fossil thought of him. Eventually, the power-hungry malamute would find a way to overthrow Doc's position as the town alpha, and then he would finally get to run Nome himself.
After seeing Jenna run out of the Old Mill, most of the dogs in the room had realized the party was over and went home, eagerly awaiting Christmas morning. However, some of them were still inside the building, choosing to sleep there for the night.
Just as Steele was about to pick up a bone and start chewing on it, the doors to the Old Mill flew open and Dixie ran inside, screaming at the top of her lungs like a madwoman. "THEY HAVE HER! THEY'VE TAKEN HER!", she yelled.
Steele, Nikki, Kaltag and Star turned to stare at her, dazed. The usually cheery and well-groomed show dog now looked utterly terrified, and her fur was covered in dirt and blood. At first, Steele thought she was just being overly-dramatic as usual, but as soon as he saw the blood, he knew something was wrong. "Who has what?", he asked slowly, putting down his bone.
"Devil and his pals, they've taken Jenna!", Dixie elaborated, causing the whole room to go quiet.
Steele froze where he stood, stunned, and his pals glanced at each other, rapidly and nervously, until the malamute finally comprehended what Dixie had told him. "How? How?! She was with me the whole night!", Steele demanded in disbelief, starting to grow angry.
"She ran after YOU when YOU were chasing Balto! She got lost, and I guess that's when they most have grabbed her!", Dixie snapped, her fear for Jenna morphing into outrage at the malamute.
"Then, Jenna's been taken, and it's all my fault", Steele realized, thinking aloud.
"Yeah, it is! And if anything happens to her, I'll never forgive myself!", Dixie insisted, as the show dog finally felt herself start to cry. She hated herself for letting Jenna go outside alone, even she logically knew there wasn't much she could have done to stop her, and now the husky's chances of survival were really slim.
Steele's head snapped up and the malamute's expression set into a scowl, rapidly replacing his worry with anger and determination. "Dixie, what did they tell you, exactly?", he prompted, already contemplating a plan.
Behind him, Nikki, Kaltag, and Star assumed their usual positions, flanking Steele on either side and getting themselves ready for the inevitable fight with Devil that the knew had to be coming. The three-dog gang knew their boss was going to find Jenna at whatever cost, and that he would show Devil no mercy when he found him. Steele would probably kill the rival malamute as quickly as possible, for having to gall to even touch his girl again.
"They said they were going to take Jenna to the Great Chasm, and they also told me to tell Balto to come meet them there, alone", Dixie recounted, trying to mimic Devil's ultimatum as best as she could. She hadn't exactly been in the most attentive state of mind when he threatened her.
"Why tell Balto? Who cares about him?", Kaltag asked, confused. Steele, however, kept silent; he already knew about Devil's grudge with the wolf-dog.
Since Steele obviously wasn't going to answer the chinook's question, Dixie decided to shed some light on the situation herself. "Balto was the one who saved Jenna a few weeks ago. I know because Jenna and some goose were seen trying to drag him to safety after the fight", Dixie explained.
Kaltag's eyes lit up and the chinook turned towards Steele. "Ah, so they want to get revenge on Balto and they're gonna use Jenna to do it. Does that sound familiar to you, boss?", he frowned, hinting at disapproval.
"Kaltag, shut up, I'm trying to think of a plan", Steele growled softly.
"What do you mean, 'think of a plan'?! We have to find Balto and ask for his help, Jenna's life depends on it!", Dixie asked incredulously.
"I'm not asking for help from any wolf-dog", Steele retorted, seeming distracted.
"Jenna will die if you don't!", Dixie shouted, growing frustrated. However, Steele still didn't reply, and Dixie could tell that the sled dog hadn't even paid attention to a word she had said. "Fine, if you won't ask him, then I will! I'll just go see if he's home!", she snapped, before turning on heels and marching towards the door.
"Dixie, wait!", Steele abruptly shouted, catching the show dog by surprise.
Dixie turned to glare at the malamute and raised her eyebrows skeptically.
"I'll go ask him", Steele insisted.
Dixie stared at the malamute, scrutinizing him, and she saw something in his eyes that told her he meant what he was saying. A wide, toothy grin spread across Dixie's face, as she realized Steele was willing to swallow his pride and put aside his prejudices to help her save her friend. "Thank you, Steele! Thank you so much!", she cried, running forward and wrapping her arms around the malamute.
Steele simply rolled his eyes at her affectionate outburst and glanced at Kaltag. However, Steele's perplexed teammates knew him better than that and could tell there was something else he still wasn't telling Dixie.
"You'd better go find the others and tell them what happened. We'll find Balto and head for the Great Chasm", Steele ordered Dixie, once had stopped glomping him.
The show dog nodded her head and quickly ran outside, disappearing into the snowy night as quickly as she had came.
As the doors of the Old Mill slowly closed again and the room grew quiet, Steele sighed; he thought the annoying girl would never leave him alone.
"Hey, boss... we're not really going to ask Balto for help, are we?", Kaltag inquired reluctantly.
"Of course we are. But you don't really think I'm just gonna let Balto take all the glory for this, do you?", Steele retorted, quirking a brow suggestively.
"Steele, you're not making any sense", Star stepped forward, slowly and cautiously.
The malamute smiled sinisterly and then sauntered easily over to Star's side.
"Don't you see, Star? Devil has presented us with a golden opportunity. We'll head over to the Great Chasm, with Balto alongside us, and tonight five of us will go in but only four of us will come out, alive", Steele suggested, eyes glinting.
((()-()))
Outside of town, a saddened Balto laid down inside his trawler, trying to keep himself from crying, again. Boris watched as the husky lowered his head into paws, desperately wishing that there was something more he could do, but he felt about as bad as his son.
After the pair had been quiet for a good long while, listening to the snow fall softly and steadily while the wind blew outside, Boris walked over to place a wing on Balto's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Balto. Maybe I shouldn't have talked you into going", the snow goose apologized.
"Don't blame yourself, Boris. I was the one who let Steele find me", Balto insisted.
"But as your father, it's my responsibility to keep you out of trouble, not put you into it", Boris argued, sitting down next to the hybrid. "If I'm going to be your protector, then I'm gonna have to insist you take fewer risks", Boris resolved.
Balto smiled lightly, and lifted his golden eyes to question the old snow goose. "Wait, so you're taking care of me?", he asked incredulously.
"Hey, without Boris Goosinov, you would have been dog chow years ago", Boris insisted, and they both knew the Russian bird was only half-joking.
Balto chuckled, feeling a bit better. It was funny how such a sour old guy like Boris could always bring a smile to the hybrid's face whenever he needed cheering up.
"Now come on, son, we'd better get to bed. Christmas is tomorrow morning", Boris reminded him.
"True, but I kind of doubt Santa delivers presents to dogs", Balto teased him, unable to pass up the opportunity.
Boris only rolled his eyes at his son's attempt at humor, and walked over towards the corner where he and Balto slept every night.
While Boris crawled underneath Balto's familiar blanket / rug, Balto started walking in the same direction when the wolf-dog suddenly frozen, his ears pricking up and the hackles on the back of his neck raising.
"What is it?", Boris asked, quickly noticing his son's strange behavior.
The snow goose flinched when the wolf-dog put one of his large paws over his beak in the blink of an eye, stifling his angry cries. "Shh, I think I hear someone outside", Balto explained with a whisper.
"Well, can you at least let go of me?!", Boris snapped, annoyed.
Balto nodded in silent compliance and slowly removed his paw, though he made sure he didn't make any other noise whatsoever. The hybrid sniffed the air to investigate further and gasped.
"What, who is it?", Boris asked, starting to become a tad worried.
"It can't be", Balto muttered to himself.
"Who?", Boris stressed, growing frustrated.
But before Balto could answer him, the silence of the night was broken by the sound of dogs barking, and then a loud yell. "Hey, Balto!", a familiar malamute yelled, causing Balto and Boris to both cringe. "Hey wolf-dog, are you in there?!", the sled dog demanded, growing impatient.
Balto glowered and then looked at Boris. "It's Steele, he's here", he said, stating the obvious.
"What?! But why?!", Boris sputtered. His son could only shrug in reply, having no answers himself.
"Wolf-dog, I'm not gonna say it again! Are you even in there?!", Steele yelled, but Balto pointedly chose to ignore him.
"I'm guessing he loved the chase so much, he's come back to do it again", Balto said, sounding utterly disgusted. The wolf-dog got up to move, and the snow goose's eyes widened in alarm.
"No, Balto, you can't!", Boris insisted.
Balto glanced back at him. "Listen Boris, I've managed to put up with them chasing me out of town. After all, I don't belong there. But I'm not going to let Steele and his gang of thugs try to intimidate me in my own home!", Balto vowed.
"Balto, I'm serious here, just come outside!", Steele repeated himself, but he continued to be met with silence.
"They'll kill you!", Boris warned him.
"I don't care. Steele has gone too far this time, and I'm putting my foot down!", Balto decided firmly.
Before his father could argue with him again, Balto brushed past the old goose and stepped outside the cabin, into the cold night air. Balto quickly ran to the edge of the boat and peered over the side. Behind him, Boris waddled onto the main deck, wanting to be present as well. After scanning the dark ground for a few moments, Balto found what he was looking for. Steele and three-dog gang were directly below them, waiting for the hybrid to come meet them.
"Steele, what are you doing here?!", Balto demanded, baring his teeth.
"We need your help!", Steele called, raising his voice so that Balto could hear him.
However, Balto simply brushed off Steele's pleading words, believing that they were just another lie from an untrustworthy bully. "I know this is some kind of trick, Steele, and if you think I'm going anywhere with you, then you're completely out of your mind!", Balto warned, short on patience.
"This is serious, Balto! Devil, Wilson and Cookie, they kidnapped Jenna while we were at the Old Mill, and unless you come find them tonight, they'll kill her!", Steele explained desperately.
Hearing Steele's chilling words, Balto instinctively froze up, his jaw going slack for a few moments, before the hybrid shook his head and growled again. "Nice try, Steele. I almost believed that one, but I just saw Jenna at the Old Mill myself, a few minutes ago", Balto bitterly retorted.
"They took her while I was chasing you. Please, Balto, I know you have every reason not to believe me, but Jenna's in grave danger and she'll die soon if you don't do something!", Steele stressed, practically begging now.
The part of Balto that had his common sense wanted to simply send the malamute packing and go back to bed - it was a very, very appealing notion - but something else was stopping him from doing that. It was the sight of Steele begging. Balto had never seen the proud sled dog beg for anything before, especially not from a hybrid like him.
Balto scrutinized the malamute, examining his words, his expressions, and maybe even his soul, looking for some sort of lie, and after a few moments, he found unexpected sincerity. It seemed Steele was telling the truth. Still, he had to make sure, just in case his instincts were wrong.
"Then she wouldn't be home, would she?", Balto mused thoughtfully.
"She wouldn't be what?", Steele asked in confusion; Balto had spoken too lowly for him to catch all of that errant thought.
Instead of replying, Balto leapt off the side of the trawler and fell through the air for a few seconds, landing agilely on his feet not far from his present company.
"Wolf-dog, what are you doing?", Steele demanded. But Balto just ignored him and dashed off in the direction of Nome.
"Balto, wait!", Boris shouted, flying off his adoptive son. Steele and his gang quickly followed after the snow goose, not wanting to lose sight of the hybrid.
His thoughts firmly focused on one thing, Balto ran through Front Street, looking in every direction until he finally found what he was looking for - the red house with the yellow, broken fence.
Balto quickly pushed the front gate open, invited himself into the yard and started smelling the doorsteps. Sure enough, there was no sign of Jenna's scent anywhere - which meant she hadn't been home since she left with Steele a few hours earlier. Balto did a sweep of the entire perimeter of the house, wanting to make sure his hunch was correct before he left again. After a few more seconds, he ran out Rosie's lawn, brushing past Steele and his gang again, and continued to smell every inch of Front Street, searching for any sign of the husky's scent.
And then, he caught whiff of something else, something that filled him with dread. Balto followed the familiar, metallic, repulsive scent of fresh blood back it's source: the alleyway behind the butcher's shop. To Balto's mortification, he saw some blood had collected around a nearby woodpile, and Jenna's scent was currently mixed with that of Devil, Wilson and Cookie's. Everything Steele told him, it was all true.
"Jenna, what have they done to you?", Balto whispered, horrified.
"Nothing yet, but they will if we don't find her before sunrise", Steele answered, finally catching up with the wolf-dog.
Balto turned in Steele's direction, his face set in a determined grimace. "Alright then, I'll come with you", he decided.
"What?!", Boris yelped, shocked. "But Balto, you can't trust this guy!", the snow goose stated, appalled that his son was about to go on a suicide mission with his worst enemy.
"Maybe I can, maybe I can't. Either way, Jenna needs us to do something soon", Balto replied, unfazed. will die if I don't do something soon", Balto replied, unfazed.
"But-", Boris was about to argue, before Balto cut him off.
"Boris, I already made my choice weeks ago, when I saved her from Devil the first time, remember? I've known for a while that I'll always be there to help her when she needs it, even if it means a little danger. Wouldn't you do the same thing if you were in my place, and it was Natalya who needed helped?", Balto reasoned, lifting his eyebrows encouragingly.
Boris opened his mouth to contradict that, before he paused and reluctantly closed it again, because he already knew the wolf-dog was right on the money. "Yeah, I would. I'd probably hate myself in the morning, but I would", he admitted quietly, feeling tired.
Balto placed one of his giant paws on the snow goose's shoulder and grinned at him. "Don't worry Boris, I promise I'll be back soon, and I'm bringing Jenna with me", Balto declared, sounding a tad too cheery.
"Really?", Boris asked, lifting his eyes, wanting to believe that was true.
"You know I'd never lie to you Boris, especially not over something like this. Now, why don't you head home and wait for me there, until all of this is over?", Balto suggested, doing his best to calm and reassure the avian.
Boris nodded his head, albeit reluctantly, and he shot one last worried look at his son, who was about to risk his life again for the second time in three weeks, before he flapped his wings and flew away - choosing not to look back.
As soon as Boris was gone, Balto let out a sigh; warm breath drifting from his lips while he let his body slump.
"What was that about?", Steele asked, sounding utterly annoyed.
"That was me lying to one of my best friends. I'm probably not going to be coming back alive", Balto answered guiltily, before he turned to face Steele and his gang. "Because I'm going to have to save Jenna alone", he resolved.
"What?! But you need us!", Steele argued, shocked and appalled by the wolf-dog's decision.
Nikki, Kaltag, and Star nodded their heads in agreement, they didn't want to miss out on the action any more than their boss did.
"If you guys come then they'll just kill Jenna for sure, and we can't risk that", Balto reasoned.
Steele opened his mouth to say something, and Balto pointedly raised a brow, daring the malamute to argue with his logic. After a moment, Steele scowled, knowing the hybrid had a point. Devil had specifically asked for Balto to come alone, or else Jenna would pay the price for their defiance.
"But isn't there anything we can do to help?", Star asked, worried.
Balto thought about the husky's question for a few minutes, pacing in the meantime, before a light bulb went off in his head. The wolf-dog officially had a plan: a plan that just might work with a little bit of ingenuity and a whole lot of dumb luck.
((()-()))
The full moon hung high in the night sky, telling an impatient Devil exactly what time it was. "It's already midnight, and there's still no sign of Balto", he thought, concerned.
Almost as if he was reading Devil's thoughts, Cookie piped up a few seconds later. "Maybe he just isn't coming. Wolf-dogs are pretty selfish you know. He could have just decided to cut his losses and run off", Cookie suggested, feeling just as anxious as Devil.
"Don't worry, he'll come, so long as we have his little lady friend here", Devil promised, trying to keep up a cocky front. "Isn't that right, Jenna?", the evil malamute taunted, waggling his eyebrows.
Underneath the sinister malamute, Jenna was still struggling to free herself, but Devil was much too strong for her. After she had woken up a few hours ago, she discovered Devil had taken her prisoner. She had tried to escape so many times, only to be caught by Wilson and Cookie each and every time. Finally, after her fifth attempt to evade them, Devil had decided to just sit on top of her to keep the rebellious hostage from escaping. Every bit of Jenna was disgusted as her kidnapper rested his rump on top of her, crushing her underneath his immense weight.
Jenna knew just as well as Devil did that her wolf-dog friend would come to her rescue, only to be ambushed by Wilson and Cookie as soon as he arrived. Devil's friends were hiding underneath the snow, using the darkness of night as a cover, waiting for Balto to eventually find them. As soon as Wilson and Cookie ambushed the hybrid, Devil would push Jenna off the side of the nearby cliff, torturing Balto by making sure he saw her death unfold before his very eyes, and then Devil would finish Balto off himself. Jenna struggled to turn her head around and stared at the edge of the cliff that was only a mere thirty feet away, the very same cliff where she would be meeting her demise soon.
Jenna knew she had to do something soon, because if she didn't it would be the end of her and Balto both, on Christmas morning. "How ironic", she thought bitterly. What was usually considered to be a day of happiness and celebration had been turned into night filled with hatred and revenge.
Across the cliff, hidden underneath the snow, Cookie tried not to let his fear get the best of him. Devil had already gone through his plan to his friends twice, but Cookie still saw big, gaping holes in it. According to Devil, when Balto would arrive, Devil would pretend to negotiate with him while Wilson and Cookie crept up behind him and pinned the hybrid down. And as soon as Balto was restrained, Devil would drag Jenna over towards the edge of the cliff and fling her over, crushing Balto's spirit. And once all the fight was beaten out of Balto, Devil would deliver the final blow by slitting the wolf-dog's throat.
Cookie knew that Devil had no intention of letting Wilson mate with Jenna before they killed her, but that wasn't what the samoyed was worried about at the moment. Devil had been so sure that his first plan would work that he hadn't even thought of a Plan B. If Balto didn't come then the whole plan would fall apart. Devil had already told Dixie about their murder plot, and she would have surely told Doc by now, which meant they could no longer return to Nome. A terrible feeling washed over Cookie as he realized that either way the plan went, Devil's obsession for revenge would cause them to banished from Nome, or maybe even worse. Cookie hated himself for letting Devil talk him into this, he had let his blind loyalty to his friend and his own pettiness get in the way of his common sense, and the samoyed would paying the price for it soon enough.
As Cookie contemplated abandoning one of his oldest and closest friends, Jenna continued to struggle against Devil's hold on her; she knew it was pointless, but that wasn't going to stop her from trying. "You are the worst kind of scum! You're a monster!", she snarled contempously.
But instead of being angry or wounded, Devil seemed amused by Jenna's insults and leered at the husky beneath him. "Why, thank you, you're pretty sexy yourself… for a husky", he chuckled.
Jenna paused and visibly paled.
"I usually prefer my own breed, but since we're both here, under these circumstances, I think I just might make an exception, just this once", Devil suggested suavely, shifting his weight on top of Jenna, confirming her worst fits.
"He's gonna try to rape me, again!", she thought, terrified. However, any thoughts of sexual satisfaction were far from the malamute's mind that night; he had simply wanted to scare her into submission, and he was very pleased when his ploy worked.
Watching Devil and Jenna from afar, Wilson groaned inwardly. "Why does he get to have her first?! He knows I hate getting stuck with his pre-used chicks!", Wilson griped enviously, who was still unaware that Devil intended to abandon the raping part of his plan. Still, he did have his doubts. Devil was never one for keeping his promises, and by the time the night was over, he would probably have better luck with the wolf-dog than Jenna. At that particularly appealing thought, making the hated hybrid his bitch, Wilson had will himself to stay focused on the task at hand.
As Jenna turned her head around again, feeling hopeless, she saw something out of the corner of her eye, something that had made her heart leap with joy. Realizing that her very survival depended on what happened during the next two to three minutes, she quickly snapped to attention and tried to speak to her kidnapper. "Why are you even doing this?!", she yelled, feigning naivety.
The malamute laughed, surprised by Jenna's stupidity. It seemed she wasn't nearly as bright as he had initially thought. "Isn't it obvious girl? I WANT REVENGE! I want to get rid of that wolf-dog forever, and if I have to use you to do it, then so be it!", Devil bellowed, right in Jenna's face, causing the husky to cringe in response. Behind them, Jenna could hear Cookie snickering at her plight.
Suddenly, Jenna and Devil heard another voice coming from the darkness: Wilson, who was slowly approaching them. "He's coming! He's coming right now!", the husky whispered.
"Balto?", Devil inquired, already knowing the answer.
"Balto", Wilson repeated, grinning.
"Excellent, the plan is working. Wilson, Cookie, take your positions", Devil sneered, whispering his orders so the half-wolf wouldn't overhear him.
Devil looked down and ruffled his prisoner's fur. "You'd better make the next two minutes count Jenna, because pretty soon, you die", he gloated, trying to intimidate her the same way he did Dixie. Jenna growled and snapped her jaws only a few inches away from Devil's face, just missing his snout, which he had to admit impressed him.
After another few more moments, Jenna and Devil picked up a familiar scent - Balto's distinctive, woody musk. "No, no, please God, no", Jenna thought feverently, starting to shut down as it became painfully clear that this was all really happening - Balto was about to walk right into Devil's trap.
Finally, she could see a large, brown shape moving amidst the darkness of night. It ghosted across the field and was illuminated by the moonlight shining from overhead. Eventually, the wolf-dog came into full view, stopping only a few feet away from Devil and Jenna. Even with the silver moonlight shining on his face, making it glow eerily, Jenna could only just make out the expression on his face. The wolf-dog looked pretty steady, his features calm and composed, but Jenna had known the hybrid long enough to know he had to have some kind of trick hidden up his sleeve. Beneath the false calmness Balto was giving off, Jenna could tell that he was excited about something, and maybe a little nervous.
Balto glared at Devil, who was still sitting on top of the girl he loved, and the wolf-dog finally spoke up, breaking the uneasy, uncomfortable silence. "I'm here, Devil. Now what do you want?!", he demanded impatiently.
Devil smirked in response, but he still made no effort to move. "Well, look who finally decided to show up. I thought you'd never come", he cajoled, avoiding Balto's question.
Jenna knew exactly what Devil was trying to do, distract Balto so Wilson and Cookie could get the drop on him. "Balto, run! It's a trap, he's going to kill you!", she screamed, before she was abruptly cut off. Before Jenna could yell another warning, Devil immediately pressed his paws against the husky's mouth as hard as he could, smothering her.
Anger rippled across Balto's face as he saw how roughly Devil treated Jenna, but the wolf-dog managed to control his anger long enough to calmly respond. "I already know Jenna. This little meeting of yours was obviously a trap from the beginning, isn't it?", Balto replied, glaring at Jenna's captor.
"My, you are perceptive, aren't you? I wouldn't expect a wolf-dog to be so sharp", Devil drolled.
Balto growled underneath his breath, and again fought back the urge to lunge at Devil.
To Jenna's horror, she could see Wilson and Cookie only a few feet behind Balto, silently moving closer and closer towards the hybrid with each passing second, waiting in the wings to spring their deadly trap. But before the two dogs could make their final move, Balto abruptly spoke again, causing his assailants to freeze in their tracks.
"Oh, by the way Devil, your two friends, Wilson and Cookie? They don't have to try to sneak up on me. I smelled them as soon as I arrived, and I already know this is an ambush. Why else would you ask me to come alone?", Balto announced, feeling as annoyed as he looked.
At the first, the malamute looked surprised, caught off guard, and then he laughed, amused by the wolf-dog's foresight. "My, aren't we lippy today? I don't remember you having such a smart mouth the last time we met", Devil observed.
Balto simply shrugged in response, though the scowl on the hybrid's face still remained.
Wilson leered at the wolf-dog standing in front of him, hackles raising as he admired the view of his prey. Besides him, Cookie noticed that his friend seemed to be distracted. The husky was staring at Balto intensely, and not in a murderous sort of way. It was a lustful stare, the same one he sometimes gave dames.
"But… what?", Cookie thought, dumbfounded.
However, both dogs took their attention off of Balto when their leader spoke again.
"Anyway, it doesn't matter. If you knew this was a trap, then you also know that we want you to trade your life for Jenna's", Devil declared, all the humor gone from the malamute's voice, replaced by sadism and stone cold-efficiency.
"And why should I trust you?", Balto retorted, raising his eyebrow.
As Wilson and Cookie joined Devil, flanking him on both sides, the malamute smirked again. "Because wolf-dog, you don't have a choice. Either you agree to my terms and let us kill you while Jenna walks out of here free, or you try to fight me and you both get to die here", Devil offered cruelly and confidently.
As much as he wanted to look tough at the moment like his pals, Cookie shot a quick, nervous glance Devil's way. Because the samoyed knew that this was it: whether or not the plan succeeded or failed all depended on this pivotal moment.
Tears flowed down Jenna's face, and the husky wished more than anything that she could warn Balto about how Devil was going to kill them both anyway. As Balto seemed to be thinking about his options for a few moments, Jenna realized there was still something she could do. The captive husky opened her mouth as wide as she could force it and bit down on Devil's paw, which was still placed over her mouth. The malamute yelped in pain and leapt backwards, finally releasing Jenna from his grip. Jenna quickly leapt to her feet, only to have the wind knocked out of her as Wilson tackled her to the ground.
"NO!", Balto screamed, terrified that Wilson would kill the husky. However, instead of murdering her like Balto had feared, Wilson sat on top of the husky, just like Devil had. That still didn't reassure him though. To the wolf-dog's horror, unlike Devil, Wilson promptly shoved his big, bushy tail into Jenna's mouth, gagging her. Stubborn as ever, Jenna refused to be silenced. She struggled underneath the husky's weight and bit down on his tail, hoping he would jump off her like Devil had. But instead of releasing her, Wilson only cooed in demented pleasure. The sadistic husky was more than just a rapist and a womanizer, he was also a masochist and he got off on pain. Jenna wasn't going to get him to budge.
"Devil, you better wrap this up!", Wilson warned his pal, bearing a vulgar grin.
Balto snarled and the hackles on the back of his neck raised up. He was barely able to control himself as he saw the evil dog force himself on Jenna. Over the past few weeks, the wolf-dog had learned the hard way that letting his anger get the better of him and trying to use brute force to solve his problems only ever led to more trouble. So instead of attacking, Balto forced himself to remain in place, worried that attacking the trio would only prompt Wilson to kill Jenna. Instead, he turned towards the dog who had started all the madness.
"Leave her alone, Devil! I'm the one you want!", Balto shouted furiously.
"Oh, you have no idea", Wilson thought smugly.
"Okay then, do you agree to my terms?", Devil asked, grinning evilly.
Balto hesitated for a moment, before he finally nodded his head in compliance.
"BALTO, NOOO!", Jenna screamed, finally releasing Wilson's tail from her mouth. Her loud, shrill cries right in Wilson's ear made the husky cringe and scowl down at his prisoner.
"Any last words, lobo?", Devil laughed.
Balto turned to look at Jenna, starting to a shed few tears of his own. "I have to do this, Jenna, if it'll help you. I've lived a good life, and you've made these last few weeks absolutely amazing. I wouldn't change them for the world", he stated proudly, trying his best to stay brave and smile at his friend.
Jenna sniffled and locked eyes with the hybrid, as she realized she was listening to his last words. At first, she thought about arguing with him some more, but then she realized it was pointless. She decided she might as well let him have his moment, since they were both going to die anyway.
As he stood on top of the Great Chasm, surrounded by his enemies who were about to tear him apart at any moment, Balto realized it was Christmas morning, a holy holiday among humans. At the most unlikely of moments, Balto thought about Christmas again and the legend started it: the story of Jesus Christ. Balto felt he had a better understanding of Christ now and what drove him to sacrifice himself for others - love. Balto had never asked to be a hero, and he certainly never pictured himself as a martyr. All the wolf-dog had ever wanted was to live in peace and be accepted amongst the other dogs. But since that dream would never come true, at least he could do this for the girl he loved.
Devil simply rolled his eyes at Balto's overdramatic, overly-sentimental speech. Devil, Wilson and Cookie finally released their hold on Jenna and quickly surrounded Balto, making sure that there was no escape for the canine. "Anything else?", Devil asked sharply..
Balto bowed his head and waited for Devil to deliver the killing blow. He never imagined he would be bumped off by Devil, some dog he barely even knew, but he did have one last thing he wanted to say to the malamute. "Just this. Do you know why wolves travel in packs?", Balto questioned.
"All The Strange, Strange Creatures (The Trailer Music)" by Murray Gold begins.
Devil scoffed. "How the hell should I know? Do I look like some flea-bitten mongrel to you?", the malamute sniped, feeling offended.
"Actually yes, you do. But that's not the point", Balto muttered. The wolf-dog lifted up his head, and to Devil's surprise, the wolf-dog was now grinning about his something, his mood improving greatly in a matter of seconds. "Wolves travel in packs, because they know that there's strength in numbers", he eagerly informed them.
"Well, what does that have to do with anything?!", Devil snapped impatiently.
But instead of answering the frustrated malamute's question, Balto raised his head up high and yelled as loudly as he could. "GUYS, DO IT NOW!", Balto signaled.
Before Devil and his gang could even react, four darkened shapes sprang up from under the snow drift behind them, catching the kidnappers by surprise. To Devil's horror, Steele, Nikki, Kaltag and Star sauntered towards them, each of them grinning with anticipation.
"What the hell?!", Devil exclaimed, shocked.
"You're not the only one who knows that old snow trick. When I was young, Boris used to tell me stories about the great war, how Russian soldiers use to spring ambushes by hiding under a deep snowfall", Balto explained triumphantly.
"But that's not even possible! We would have seen you coming!", Devil insisted, refusing to believe he had just been tricked by a half-wolf.
"Yeah, that would be me", Jenna interjected, beaming as well. Devil turned to glare daggers at husky, which pleased her greatly. "I saw them coming ages ago", Jenna remarked. The captive husky had seen Steele, Nikki, Kaltag and Star hiding under the snow while she was pinned under Devil, and had decided to distract the malamute and his gang and keep them talking for however long she needed to.
While Devil seethed at the husky, Jenna walked over to Balto's side, feeling safe again for the first time in hours.
"Thanks for the distraction Jenna, I never knew you were such a good actor, and the tears were a nice touch", Balto complimented.
"Back at you, I've never seen a guy fake-cry so well before", Jenna replied elatedly. To say they were currently under siege, both dogs were really glad to see each other.
"You knew he had a plan this whole time?! All that crying you did, all of that was fake!", Devil roared, outraged.
Jenna was about to open her mouth to respond, but Steele (brash and impatient as always) shoved past them and bared his teeth at their assailant. "Enough with the small talk, Devil! You are dead", he snarled, which wasn't a threat but a promise, before he charged full-on at the malamute.
Devil raised his own hackles and ran to meet Steele halfway, hoping he could still salvage at least some of his original plan.
As soon as they saw their boss was making the first move, Nikki, Kaltag and Star charged at Cookie and Wilson, determined to keep their own opponents from aiding Devil in his fight against Steele.
Still enraged by Devil's treachery, Steele tackled the malamute as hard as he could, knocking the bigger brawler to the ground. Hoping to wrap up the fight as quickly as he could, Steele opened his jaw and lunged for Devil's throat. However, Devil simply jumped out the way and then smacked Steele in the face with his paw.
Steele shook his head and glared at Devil. "You aren't getting out of here alive, you know. You should have just left Jenna alone!", Steele snarled.
But instead of being frightened or intimidated, Devil only seemed intrigued by Steele's threats. "Why do you even care anyway, Steele? Isn't she Balto's girlfriend, and not yours?", Devil jeered smugly.
Somehow growing angrier than he already was, Steele felt a primal rage surging through him that he had rarely ever experienced before. The sled dog abandoned all other tactics and simply lunged at Devil's throat, intent on silencing the malamute's insolent tongue forever.
While Devil and Steele continued their fight to the death, Balto wrapped two comforting arms around Jenna, inspecting the husky. "Are you okay?", he asked..
"Well, I'll have to take at least a dozen baths to ever feel clean again after being squashed under those creeps, but otherwise, I'm fine", Jenna replied, laughing joyfully. The husky had never been more happy to see her wolf-dog friend, and she was even more glad to see that Steele and the hybrid had put aside their differences to help her."I knew you would come", she stated, real tears of joy making an appearance.
"Hey, I never would have dreamed of skipping out", Balto smiled back.
On the other side of the cliff face, a few meters away from Balto and Jenna, Nikki and Cookie were viciously fighting each other, chow-chow versus samoyed, and both of them were determined to be the victor at all costs. Cookie snapped at Nikki's face, intending to do so damage, but he missed by only a few inches.
Realizing he could use his bigger size to his advantage, Nikki grabbed Cookie's hind leg and started dragging the smaller dog around in circles. Nikki lifted his head and started spinning Cookie through the air, further disabling his opponent. Cookie growled at his foe and bared his teeth, but with the whole world spinning around him and Nikki just out of reach, there was nothing the samoyed could do to free himself from the chow-chow's grip. Soon, after another thirty seconds of Nikki's ministrations, Cookie was completely disoriented and could barely even see straight.
Finally, Nikki released his grip on Cookie's leg and the samoyed went flying, hitting his head on a nearby boulder. Cookie yelped in pain, tensing up as his head started bleeding heavily. Now he was totally dizzy and in excruciating pain, stemming from the back of his head. Cookie decided to cut his losses and run away from the fight while he still could, weakly scampering off. Nikki chuckled at the samoyed's cowardice, and turned around to see how his other teammates were doing.
After comforting Jenna, Balto had joined Star in his fight against Wilson. Even though Balto and Star outnumbered Wilson 2-1, the husky was fair bit bulkier than both of them and he was fighting like a mad dog, snapping his razor-sharp teeth at anything and everything that moved.
Wilson lunged at his opponents and Balto quickly dodged the husky, only to discover that Wilson hadn't been aiming for him in the first place. Star screamed in agonizing pain and collapsed on the ground, his right ear bleeding profusely. To Balto's horror, he realized that Wilson had just bitten off a small piece of Star's ear.
Balto's stomach lurched and he turned to growl at Wilson, looking utterly furious. "You sick-twisted monster!", he accused with a snarl.
"Thanks", Wilson smirked, choosing to take that as a compliment.
Seeing that their best buddy was wounded pretty badly, Nikki and Kaltag quickly joined Balto's side, and both sled dogs had the same thought running through their heads: retaliation against Wilson. Jenna, who up until then had been cautiously watching from the sidelines, felt some anger of her own towards the ruthless husky and joined the fray, adding significantly to the numbers. Now a united front, Balto, Jenna, Nikki and Kaltag slowly and methodically advanced towards Wilson, making the husky take a corresponding step backwards.
Realizing that he was now hopelessly outnumbered 4-1, some of Wilson's cockiness and bravado started to ebb away and the husky continued to backtrack away from his opponents. He quickly maneuvered himself so that he was fighting back-to-back with Devil, who was still facing down Steele himself.
"So fearless leader, when do we retreat?", Wilson asked sarcastically. Now that they were outnumbered and getting their tails beat pretty badly, it was quickly becoming clear to Wilson what Cookie had already guessed a few days before: Devil's revenge plan against Balto had been doomed to fail from the start.
However, Devil refused to let Cookie's cowardice or Wilson's lack of faith faze him, and the malamute growled in reply. "NEVER!", he decided firmly. Even if he and his friends had little to no chances of winning, Devil was not about to defeat by the hands of a wolf-dog. Not again, never again. And even if he was already bleeding from many of his wounds, so was Steele, and Devil wouldn't rest until Balto and Steele were both dead.
Kaltag quickly joined Steele in his fight with Devil, biting and slashing at the malamute whenever they could get close enough, while Nikki chose to attack Wilson, determined to make the husky pay for his unwarranted attack on Star. Nikki tried his leg toss again with Wilson, but the white husky only dodged him and kicked the chow-chow in the face. Nikki flew backwards and collided into a rock wall, knocking the wind out of the chow-chow. Nikki struggled to stand up, only to find his vision had been blurred by the impact. The only thing he could see at the moment were blurs of black, white, brown, red and gray, and all of them were moving rapidly. Until he got his sight back, he was a sitting duck.
Caught in the middle of the melee, Balto and Jenna tried to help the best they could, but neither of them knew who to help: Steele or Nikki. Just as they decided to split up and help both dogs, Wilson walked up behind them. The white husky was injured pretty badly, but he knew that it was already too late to try and surrender; he and Devil had gone way too far. Balto and Steele would never accept a ceasefire after they kidnapped the girl they both loved and wounded their best friends. For all that his hubris had damned them, Devil had been right about one thing: the only way either of them were getting out of the Chasm alive was if they killed Balto and Steele before they killed them.
Wilson observed the wolf-dog and his friend, who both seemed distracted at the moment, making them perfect targets. But, however stupid it was, Wilson felt like sparring with Balto first before he killed him, he was still attracted to the hybrid, so he decided to give him a sporting chance. "Hey wolf-dog!", Wilson called, leering.
Balto and Jenna's heads whipped around, noticing for the first time the bleeding, roughed-up husky behind them, baring his teeth at both of them. It didn't take a genius to guess what was going to happen next.
"Jenna, get back", Balto ordered.
"What? I'm not just gonna leave you", Jenna argued, refusing to budge.
"Jenna, think this through. You're not a fighter, he fights dirty, and I won't be able to focus if I'm worried about him targeting you", Balto reasoned, talking fast and hoping the husky would see what he was getting at.
Jenna hesitated for a moment, wanting to waste time arguing further, before she growled in frustration and stepped to the side.
Once Jenna was safely out of the way, Balto turned to glare at Wilson and found the husky was smirking at him again. "How noble of you. Once you're out of the way, maybe I'll try to treat with her a bit more respect than all the other bitches", Wilson taunted.
But Balto just tuned out Wilson's cruel words, he knew the husky was only to trying to provoke him into acting without thinking, like Steele had tried to do so many times. Instead of charging right away, Balto decided to act against his own better judgment and offer Wilson one last chance to back down. "You don't have to do this, Wilson. You can just walk away now and never come back. I won't try to find you, so long as you don't try to find me or Jenna", Balto suggested, even though he already knew the idea was totally pointless.
Instead of giving the idea some serious thought, Wilson just burst out laughing and shook his head at the hybrid, like he had just been told an especially funny joke. "Please, you don't really think I'm going to fall for that? I don't know about you, lobo, but I plan on winning this", the husky grinned.
Balto groaned inwardly. "Why do they always have to be so stubborn?", he thought grimly. Just like he had expected him to do, Wilson howled loudly and charged right at him, determined to kill the wolf-dog. Balto leapt through the air, easily dodging the much slower husky, and landed on his feet behind Wilson.
Balto knew he had to find a way to knock Wilson out or at least slow him down, or else the husky would quickly gain the upper hand in their fight. Despite his 3 on 1 battle with Devil and his gang a few weeks before, Balto actually knew very little about fighting himself and had been acting on pure instinct, passed down from generation to generation by his wolf ancestors. But Balto was sure Wilson had been in dozens of fights before, and he knew every single weakness a dog could have.
Before Balto could get his bearings, he was suddenly tackled to the ground by Wilson and pressed against the snow. Unable to break free, Balto could only watch as Wilson leaned over him, grinning evilly. "Nowhere left to run now", Wilson sneered.
Refusing to give up, Balto bit down on Wilson's leg, hoping his razor sharp incisors would get the goon dog to budge. Wilson flinched at the pain in his leg, before laughing heartily. Balto gaped before he groaned, remembering that biting Wilson hadn't done Jenna any good either earlier.
"Feisty, aren't you? Maybe I should take you instead of Jenna, before Devil kills you anyway", Wilson smugly considered, licking his lips.
Balto's eyes widened, as the implications of what Wilson said sank in. With new determination, Balto maneuvered himself over a bit and kicked Wilson in the belly as hard as he could with one of his hind legs. That move did the trick of getting the husky to back off for a moment, since he had the wind royally kicked out of him. Wasting no time, Balto leapt back to his feet, defenses raised.
Determined not to let the wolf-dog get too much of an advantage, Wilson forced himself back onto his feet as well, no matter how wobbly and unfocused he still was. The husky growled, spun around, and swung his right paw at the Balto, hoping to knock the wolf-dog off his feet. Balto barely avoided Wilson's swing and decided to switch from defensive to offensive maneuvers. Balto lunged at Wilson, though he wasn't really intending on hurting the brute, only scaring him into backing off, and as a result, Wilson fell backwards. The disgraced sled dog landed on his back on the ground, and to Balto's surprise, started sliding away.
Balto down at the ground beneath his feet and realized that they had been standing only a few feet away from a slippery patch of ice. Balto eyes' quickly followed the thin ice path, and to his horror, realized that they had also been fighting only a few meters away from the edge of the chasm the whole time. Balto looked up and saw that Wilson was now sliding towards the edge, unable to find anything with enough traction for the husky to hold onto to. "WILSON! NO!", he screamed.
Wilson screamed in horror as the edge of the cliff raced closer and closer with each passing second.
Balto quickly ran across the ice, hoping that he somehow could help the dog, but in his gut he already knew he would be too late.
Waiting on the sidelines, like Balto had told her to, Jenna gasped and her mouth fell open as she realized that she was about to witness someone's death right before her very eyes.
"WILSON, DON'T GIVE UP! HANG ON TO SOMETHING!", Balto demanded, yelling at the top of his lungs as he pushed himself harder and harder to try to get to the husky in time.
As Wilson continued to slide faster and faster, the cliff face began to get steeper. And as he neared the edge, Wilson could finally see into the bottomless pit where thousands of animals had fallen to their death for millions and millions of years. Wilson was not the first to fall victim to the chasm and he certainly wouldn't be the last. Wilson closed his eyes and braced himself as he finally ran out of cliff. With no hope left of being saved, the white husky slid off the edge of the cliff and began to freefall, falling faster and faster towards his own doom.