Chapter 20 Here we go again

Chicago April 10, 1929

Lucas surveyed his surroundings and felt as if he were walking in slow motion. Each and every corner looked and felt familiar to him. He took in the smells of the city and reveled it, not only the smells of food and parks, but the smells of the car exhaust and squalor. It all felt fresh to him, yet eerily haunting.

"Lucas, come on, we have a lot of ground to cover." Bismarck said, noticing the day-dreaming shepherd. He did not respond. Lucas's day dream was slowly turning into a nightmare. Memories of years past flew before his eyes. Across the street, he could see Vito's and smell the smoking meats. The images of his puppy-hood friend were slowly being replaced with the reason he had never returned to the big city. The memory of when they walked into a swarm of hungry rats burst into his mind. The sea of red-eyes before him and the laughter, Lukas verged on breaking down. Bismarck ran to his son, who was now lying down, silently sobbing. As Bismarck tended to him, Boris looked up at Balto.

"There was time when that could have been you." he said. Balto closed his eyes and sighed.

"There was a time when that was me. I know how he feels, lost, scared, alone. He is a strong kid, he'll heal, and it will just take time." Time was not on Lucas's side today, he wanted to curl up into a ball and disappear. The flashes of the darkest day of his life resurfaced and now played out like a horror flick.

Chicago Loop District, December 25, 1928

Lucas was quietly minding his own business, taking in the smells of Vito's deli when a snowball pelted the side of his face. He turned in the direction of the attack to be greeted with another snowball to the face.

"Hey!" He quickly wiped the snow off of his face and looked around. Before he knew it he was tacked from behind. His attacker knocked him to the ground and pinned him down. "I give up, you win."

"I thought you shepherds were mighty attack dogs." Jo had beaten him, again.

"I thought you border collies were nice and docile. Best five out of eight?" Jo shook her head and knelt down.

"Never, now go on, a bet is a bet." She got off of him and he stood up. She was large for her breed and her fur was almost completely black except for a white streak that ran from her forehead to her nose. Lucas wanted to stare into her blue eyes, but she had other plans. Jo stepped on his paw and snatched him out of the daydream he was having.

"Come on, get a move on!" She ordered.

"Alright, alright, you're so bossy." He turned and walked towards the fence that separated Vito's backyard from the snow-covered alley.

"This coming from Bismarck's son, right."

"Speaking of him, when he finds out we left, he is gonna kill us."

"He has to find us first. Go on, I'm hungry" Lucas gave in and jumped the fence. He silently landed on all fours and ducked behind a crate of charcoal. The fat Italian known as Vito walked up to the crate with a shovel. Lucas did his best to make his large body as small and stealthy as possible. Vito obviously plunged the shovel into the charcoal while humming a tune from the old country. He tossed the shovel full of coal into a large fire chamber connected to his smoker. Lucas watched him pick up a pair of succulent red porterhouse steaks he had just hand seasoned and plopped them onto the smokers rack, which just happened to be both Lucas' s and Jo's favorite. The jingle of a bell in the store called Vito through the open back door. Lucas took the opportunity and sneaked around the yard and darted past the door. The steaks were like a pie on a windowsill, fresh for the taking. Lucas picked up both in his mouth and sprinted for the fence; he leapt over it and saw Jo waiting below.

"Not bad, missed your record by about five seconds." Lucas tossed her a steak; she caught it mid air and took a bite out.

"Merry Christmas Jo." Lucas wished the city hung mistletoe on all of the streetlamps, he could make a killing."

"Thank you, and Merry Christmas." Both downed their steaks and Jo was ready for their next bit of holiday shenanigans.

"Race you to the river!" She darted off in the direction of the water and Lucas gave chase.

"Why does everything have to be a competition with you; can't we just have some fun?"

"This is fun!" They turned a corner and Jo jumped over a pile of trash. Lucas came around the outside and passed her.

"You asked for it." Jo was fast, but Lucas was faster. It did not take long for him to see the bridge and their finish-line. Jo was a respectable thirty feet behind him. He zipped around another corner and the bridge was directly ahead. He sprinted the last fifty feet and slid to a halt. For once he finally beat Jo at he own game. He turned around, panting, looking for Jo so he could begin to gloat. However, there was no Jo to be seen. Lucas knew she would take the same root as him so he retraced his steps. It did not take long for him to find Jo's trail. Her line of tracks followed his until the banked off to another side alley and the tracks turned into a scuffle. Blood shown through the snow and a dead body was in front of him. The body was that of a rat. Two more just like it were strewn in the alley. Lucas heard a bang on the side of a garbage can and he jumped around the metal can with his teeth bearing. The bang was Jo knocking a rat into the can, breaking its neck. She tossed the rat away and looks at Lucas with a mixed emotion of fear and anger.

"Nice timing, you showed up just in time to miss the party." She scolded. Lucas was thinking of an answer that would not end him up in the doghouse for the foreseeable future when he saw another rat come around the corner. Both dogs snapped their heads in the direction of the lone rat. Two more came around the corner, then four, then ten.

"Looks like I made it for the after party though." Not before long, it was obvious they would be hopelessly outnumbered. "I'd hate to say it but maybe we should-"

"Run!" Jo turned tail and both beat a hasty retreat. They came to the intersection of the alleys and more rats occupied their escape route.

"Come on, we can lose them if we make it to the river!" Lucas grabbed her by the scruff and pulled her in the direction of the river. They constantly looked over their shoulders as they ran. The swarm did its best to stay on their terrified heels. They spent so much time looking behind them; they almost didn't see the wall of rats in front of them. Both stopped dead in their tracks and Lucas came face-to-face with his father's old friend. Claudius was as ugly as ever and was none too happy with their presence.

"Do you realize where you are and who I am?" Claudius cracked a smile of jagged-yellow teeth.

"Who died and made you king of the cesspit?" Jo snapped.

"You have a mouth on you, good I like my dinner a little tough, but not that tough. Do me a favor and tenderize them." Claudius sent his rat-pack on the attack. Lukas did the math and he did not like their chances.

"You just had to open your mouth didn't you?"

"He was being snarky, sue me." Jo picked up a rat and tossed it over the large embankment and into the river. The rat hit the thin ice and plunged into the freezing water. Lucas caught a rat by the tail and swung it like a mace; knocking down another four. He then pounced on another. Jo tore though as many as she could. Her thick fur made it nearly impossible for the rats to do any real damage. Within minutes, they were wading in dead rats, but more kept coming. Lucas was beginning to tire and Jo felt like her batteries were running low. If they did not get help soon they would be done for. The rats saw them lose their edge and pressed the attack. They separated the two dogs and made them lose the advantages they gave one another. Jo saw more coming and backed up. The rats continued to close in on her and she stepped back again. Her back paw slipped on the icy embankment and she caught herself just in time. She looked out on the rat swarm closing in on her and now knew she had to fight just to survive the next ten seconds. She lashed out with everything she had. No matter how many rats she felled, a dozen more replaced them. The rats charged her and knocked her over, she attempted to stand when another wave crashed into her. She lost her footing entirely and she and half a dozen rats plunged over the embankment and down to the icy river.

"No!"Lucas shouted as she fell. The dog fell through the ice and splashed into the bone-chilling water underneath. She did not surface. "You sons a bitches!" Lucas's brain turned off and he began to carve through the army in front of him. He lost track of how many he felled and his fur was caked in blood. Rat bodies piled around him. Soon the attacks began to lessen. Then he heard why. The barking that signaled his father was coming. Claudius shouted to his army

"Enough, we need to retreat, more are coming." He stalked away and his rats began to scatter. Bismarck and four others, including Ripley ran around the corner. The first thing Bismarck saw was his son, covered in blood and bites; then he saw the hundreds of dead bodies around him. Next he saw what was not there.

"Son, what happened? Where is Jo?" Lucas saw his father and felt relived. Then he collapsed, he wasn't sure if it was out of pain or the loss of the adrenaline he had been running on or the question that his father just asked him. Bismarck and Ripley ran to his side and began to check him over.

"Son can you hear me? Are you alright?" Lucas blacked out

"You alright son?" Bismarck asked. Lucas came back into reality and saw that he was among friends

"I'm better; this is just a little, overwhelming that's all." Lukas got back on the proverbial horse and continued on ahead next to his father.

"Just a little, you were on the ground for a good half-hour." Steele interjected.

"I'm fine, really." Lucas lied, he was anything but fine. He still had the capacity to walk however and continued on.

"I gotta admire the kid's tenacity." Steele murmured to Balto. Balto raised his eyebrows.

"I guess so."

Bismarck and Lucas led on; Steele and Balto followed close behind with the pups in tow. Boris and Stella had gotten back up in the air and circled above them

"Hey, was it like that for you after you know, you left Nome?" Balto asked Steele.

"Not so much after I left but after I came back. It was not a fun time for me." Steele said, brushing of the question.

"Oh, I see." Balto made a quick decision to drop the subject before more bad memories got dragged back up. The six dogs continued to stroll down the relatively quiet and calm sidewalk. It was still the early morning so commuters would not come out of the woodwork for a little while. It was best to make time while they could. Boris and Stella flew above them and saw the city once again from the sky, at their altitude; the city seemed peaceful, almost perfect. Almost perfect, except for what Boris caught out of the corner of his eye. A single, scrawny dog running down an alley.

"Stella, look!" Stella saw the same thing and dropped out of the sky; Boris dove after her and they landed in front of their canine companions.

"Hey Boris, what gives?" Balto asked as the goose nearly hit his head.

"A dog, in the next street, it doesn't look to good." Boris said, panting. It was all Bismarck needed to hear. The German shepherd bolted like a race horse let out of a gate. The others did their best to keep up, but Bismarck put his boosters on and sprinted around the corner. He couldn't believe what was on the other side.

"Impossible." Was all he could utter. Everyone else blitzed around the corner and saw the dog in front of them. Lucas took one look and nearly fell down. What was in front of them was a black and white border collie.

"Am I dreaming?" Lucas asked. After blinking multiple times, what was in front of him was real. He stuck out a paw and hit the collie, she was solid. "J-Jo?"

"I look good don't I?" she said with a hint of sarcasm. She was underweight and bore a few scars on her sides.

"How, where,-" Lukas was at a loss for words.

"After I took a swan dive, I got knocked out. I came to in some tunnel, practically frozen and half-dead. I hid in there for days, scrounging what food I could. I hoped to get my strength back and somehow get home."

"We searched forever for you. Why didn't you come out to us?" Lukas looked like he would begin to cry.

"I was so scared, I'm sorry." She snapped her head around as if she heard something. "Damn it! I thought I lost them! We have to get out of here!"

Lucas looked behind her and saw his favorite rodent on top of a dumpster. Claudius stared at them hungrily with his single eye. More rats poured out of every crevice and cranny, cutting off any escape.

"Hello Jo, good to see you again." Claudius said menacingly, and then looked up to the others. "Bismarck." he spat out. "How fitting that I finish you here. Tell me do you recognize this place?" Claudius said waving his arms around. Bismarck looked around and realized where he was standing. "It is where we first met, where you first stood in my way, where you gave me this!" Claudius referenced his absent eye and pointed back at the dogs. "And it is where you will all die!"

"Oh, not again." Balto said to himself.

"Yep." Steele returned. "Loki, Suki, go and hide now!" The pups did as they were told wordlessly.

"Boris! Stella! Get moving, you can't be down here." Boris began to protest but Stella took off and grabbed him.

"Now is not the time to argue!" Stella shouted as she dragged him up.

"Jo, can you fight?" Lukas asked.

"Do I have a choice?" Jo responded Lukas answered her with a look that said no. Bismarck yelled over the incoming rats, hoping to rally those around him.

"It is time we ended this, don't spare any of them!" Bismarck stomped on the nearest one to him and bit into another. Balto and Steele were forced to fight off fought off the vermin once again. Lucas took a protective stance around Jo and killed anything that came near. Loki and Suki just did their best not to be stepped on. The chaotic maelstrom of teeth, claws and fur whirled around the alley. Untold numbers of rats poured out of every crevice and threw themselves blindly into the maws of their enemies; soon after, scores of dead rats littered the ground. Steele snagged a rat by the tail and tossed it into another three, handily knocking them down.

"There is no end to them." Steele remarked.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll run out." Balto said back and dispatched another rat. Balto turned and saw four that had backed Suki into a corner. Before Balto could say or do anything, Loki jumped out from behind her. Loki pounced on the rats and eliminated each one with a vicious efficiency. Leaping and bounding from one to the next, slamming their heads into the ground. He tackled the last one and bit into its neck. Suki stood untouched and in a bit of a daze.

"Are you ok?" Asked Loki. She did not answer as both were too busy being grabbed by the scruff by Steele and tossed into a pipe "I told you two to hide! Now stay here. Loki keep her safe."

"Yes sir." Loki said in return. Balto, now sure the pups were now safe, went back to the battle. More rats had emerged and Claudius was leading the charge. Lucas saw him and the anger flashed over his eyes once again and he lost control. The shepherd attacked with what could only be a fury of elephantine proportions. Lucas abandoned any and all sense of self preservation. He tore a path through the sea of rodents in the direction of Claudius. It was nothing short of a bloodbath. Lukas could now clearly see his quarry. The fat rat lashed out with a strike of his tail, which Lukas simply stepped on with a paw, the other pinned Claudius down to the pavement. The last thing that Claudius's eye ever saw was a set of teeth. Lucas lifted his head up and tossed the body aside. What was left of the fat king of the rats flew over the heads of his remaining subjects.

"He is dead!" Without Claudius to lead them, the rats routed and ran for any hole they could squeeze through.

"Look at 'em run, ha ha!" Steele laughed as the rats ran for their lives.

"We did it." Bismarck saw what was around him. "We did it. It's finally over." Bismarck sighed out. Lucas turned and saw the path he cleaved through.

"Well, what do you know, we won!" Lukas seemed as if he were a new dog. He was nothing short of ecstatic. He ran to and collided with Jo. He took the time to nuzzle her and say something to her; he said it so low that only Jo could hear it.

"I missed you."

"Me too." Off to the side, Loki and Suki crawled out of the pipe. Balto and Steele picked them up and brought them back to the others. Boris and Stella dropped back out of the sky.

"Congratulations Bismarck." Balto said. "It seems like you all panned out pretty well." Bismarck now wore a few new scars on him, but he seemed to be proud of them.

"The thanks goes to you my friend." It appeared that the danger was now over. Now that the battle had ended, Loki was soon back to his old self.

"Papa, did you see me! I beat all those rats!" Loki bounced into the air. Steele saw how happy he was and decided now was a good a time as any.

"About that. Loki there is something I need to tell you." Loki stopped bouncing and a look of concern washed over his face.

"What is it Papa?" Steele almost broke at the sight of the innocence in his pups eyes

"It is about your mother, she-" a loud and high pitched screech of a tire came from around the corner. The screech was connected to the black car that tore around the corner. Balto recognized the car immediately; it was the same car he was dragged out of when he first arrived in a Chicago three days earlier.

"Who are they?" Lucas asked. Balto knew what he had to do.

"Jo, you said you know your way around the tunnels right?" Balto asked. She nodded affirmatively.

"Then get out of here as quickly as you can." Balto paused for a moment then heard another car coming. "And take Loki and Suki with you. Steele and I can hold them off long enough for you to get away." Loki turned to his father, whose demeanor did not appear to change at all. Before Loki could say anything in protest, Steele held up a paw.

"Loki now is not the time to argue, this is the only way. We will find you I promise." Steele looked back at Bismarck. "Promise me they will be safe." Bismarck nodded and picked up a whimpering Loki and darted off. Lukas picked up Suki on the run and darted into the open tunnel behind Jo. The cars came into the alley and stopped. Balto's old friends, Rico and Tony popped out of the back seat with rifles. Steele let out a scared yelp.

"Are they trying to kill us?" The men lined up shots on the dogs and fired. Balto saw no flash nor heard a bang. What he did feel was something sticks into him. He looked at his side and saw a large dart in his leg; he looked at Steele and saw a matching accessory. Balto's vision blurred and he later lost consciousness.