Chapter 10

"WHERE IS SHE?!!!" Bolt shouted.

The butcher chuckled. "She's dying. That's where she is."

"But she's alive?" Bolt asked.

The four, Bolt, the Butcher, Balto, and Rhino, were all in an old abandoned building.

"I want to know, where she is." Bolt said with a low, cold voice.

The butcher sniggered. "This is funny. I swear. You're little voice. Trying to be tough. Trying to be badass."

Bolt shook his head. There were tears brimming in his eyes. "I just want to find my friend."

"Well keep going. You'll have to kill me to make me tell you."

Bolt shook his head. Suddenly he slammed his paw down on the broken leg.

The butcher yelped.

"Does it hurt?" Bolt asked.

The butcher sniggered. Bolt grabbed his head and smashed it into the ground.

"I WANT TO KNOW WHERE MY FRIEND IS!!!" Bolt bellowed.

The butcher backed off, still laughing. "You…you'll never find her. Do…do you know what happens to a cats body when it is deprived of…food or water for weeks? Do you know what you find?"

"A corpse?" Bolt offered.

"DING DING DING DING DING!! Correct! You're a smart little bastard!"

Bolt hit him in the face. "SHUT UP! TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!!"

The butcher continued laughing. "I really like slim jims. Don't you? Come on Bolty. You gotta love slim jims."

Bolt brought back his paw for another punch. Something suddenly grabbed it.

"What are you doing Bolt? You're torturing him!"

"Balto. What would you do if he did this to Jenna? Huh? Would you be doing this?"

Balto frowned. "I thought you were just friends with Mittens."

"We are! Okay. How about Boris?"

Balto sighed. "I would know my limits."

"Is anyone dead?" Bolt asked.

He turned back to the dog.

"I should congratulate myself." The butcher announced.

"Why is that?"

"I've taken…the hero. The cute little doggy. And I've turned him into a monster. A killer. Just like me. I've turned him into you."

Bolt raised his paw. The butcher exposed his throat.

"Go ahead Bolt. Kill me. There are two types of people in this world. Somebody's and nobody's. Be a somebody."

"Tell me where my friend is. Then I'll kill you."

The butcher laughed loudly. "It doesn't work that way Bolty."

Bolt let out a snarl, then raised his paw.

At that moment the door opened.

"Bolt?" Bolt turned to see Penny standing in the doorway.

He stopped. He lowered his paw.

"Bolt? What are you doing?" She noticed the beaten dog in the corner.

"Did you do that?"

Bolt let out a small whimper. He ran up to Penny. Penny stroked his head.

"It's okay Bolty."

The butcher bellowed in laughter. "She feels sorry for him. I'm the one who got beaten here!"

Balto growled at him in anger. "Now tell him where Mittens is."

The butcher shrugged. "Okay. Obviously I can't win. You won't kill me. So I'll take you to her."

He got to his feet and limped out the door. The dog and wolf dog duo followed

"Where are you taking us?" Bolt asked.

"Too many questions. I could get intimidated. Then I'd have to…refuse to show you where she is."

Bolt snarled. "You are gonna show us where she is. Otherwise…I'm never gonna kill you."

The butcher nodded. "See that's the attitude I like."

He continued limping through alleyways. Finally he came to a dumpster.

"Mittens?" Bolt was a hissing sound from inside the dumpster.

"Open it." Bolt commanded.

The butcher shrugged. Then he lifted the cap off the dumpster.

Bolt looked in. There lay Mittens.

"Bolt? Geeze that was fast."

Mittens climbed out of the dumpster. The butcher nodded.

Suddenly he grabbed Mittens by the neck. "Now…let's negotiate."

Bolt jumped. "No. Don't."

The butcher backed up, Mittens in his grip. He suddenly lashed out, hitting Bolt in the throat. Balto jumped on the dog.

"You backstabbing son of a…"

"Language, wolf dog." The butcher warned. He threw Balto into the wall.

Bolt's eyes weren't working right. Everything was flashing. He saw a large black dog appear over him.

"See that building over there Bolty?" He pointed at a tall building. "DO YOU SEE IT?!"

Bolt nodded weakly.

"Good. I'll be on the roof with gloves here. And I'm gonna kill her. So when you finally decide to wake up…try and stop me."

He raised his paw and brought it down on Bolt's head, knocking him out.

"Hey Bolt. C'mon wake up."

Bolt opened his eyes to see Balto standing above him. "It's too early to wake up."

"I'm gonna go save Mittens without you then."

Bolt snapped awake. "Mittens is in danger! I'm gonna have to go without you if you don't wake up!"

Balto rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Okay."

The two ran up the stairs of the building.

"Why do you think he told you where he was going?" Balto asked.

"He's nuts. Probably schizophrenic or something." Bolt replied.

They came out onto the roof. The butcher was at the edge. He had Mittens in his grip.

"About time. I was about to throw her off."

"We can talk about this. What do you want?"

The butcher thought. "You know what I want? I want to go back to 1929. I want to go to…Anchorage or Nenana or something. And I don't want anyone to try and catch me."

"Deal, give her to me." Bolt said.

Balto shook his head. "That's not gonna work."

The butcher arched an eyebrow. "What?"

"If I let you go, you'll just kill again. I can't let that happen."

The butcher moved closer to the edge. "You know…everyone has a line that they say. Before they kill they're victim."

Bolt and Balto looked at each other. They nodded.

"What is that some sort of code?" The butcher snapped.

Bolt and Balto smiled.

"You are cunning. You know that?" He noticed Mittens hadn't spoken.

"Such a screwed up couple. A dog and a cat. Geeze."

"We're just friends." Mittens hissed.

"Of course. Hey, I forgot to ask you something. Do you like Slim Jims?"

Bolt realized what was about to happen. He and Balto charged at the butche.

All four animals were thrown from the roof.

Mittens screamed in terror as she fell. The butcher laughed with glee.

Bolt managed to grab onto Mittens and used his body to absorb the fall.

Balto landed in a dumpster. Bolt and Mittens landed in a trash can. The butcher landed on hard gravel.

Mittens got up. "Thanks guys."

Bolt got up. "You're welcome."

Balto winced as he got up. He laughed.

"What's so funny?" Bolt asked.

"Look in a mirror Bolt. You look like crap."

Bolt nodded. "I know. It's all this…time travel. And falling off buildings..." He groaned. "...Isn't helping anything."

He looked down at the butcher. He was still. His eyes were open.

Balto checked his pulse. Dead.

He sighed. It was over.