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Real life hurts

by TigressPL

Chapter 3: Fun, boredom and heroism

Two hours have passed since Bolt and Penny went out to play and they were still at it. Mittens was patient though – after eating breakfast, something those two evidently didn't need, she laid down besides Rhino, devoting some of her spare time to learn something more about her… friend. She never truly understood how this rodent keeps his energy from exploding in him – when he really wanted to, he could muster enormous amounts of strength, and yet he preferred to spend whole days on a sofa, watching his beloved Magic Box. She tried to start a conversation, but the only thing she got in return was 'yeah', 'nah' and 'huh?'

After five minutes she gave up and simply watched some criminal movie with the hamster, sending him a pitiful glance every time he exclaimed one of his favorite phrases. She really wanted to understand him better, though she soon understood the only way to achieve that would be to destroy the TV. Besides, from the very beginning she treated this activity as a way to fill the time while waiting for the dog to return, so the failure didn't hurt that much.

Finally, they got back. Penny was panting – she probably tried to retreat from their game too soon and Bolt chased her down. Seeing that Penny went to the kitchen for some breakfast and Bolt lagged slightly behind, she used the opportunity to approach him and discuss few things. He seemed absent-minded, a blank expression on his face, so she gently nudged him. He flinched, regained his awareness and looked at her, opening his mouth to say something… But instead he just stared at her, mouth agape.

She endured it for a while, but finally lost her patience. "What is it, Bolt, is this some kinda new joke of yours?"

"Have you…" he started, looking like he wasn't sure what he really wanted to tell her. "Have you had a weird dream about a perfectly white room, door emerging out of nowhere and a window-like thing to watch us sleeping?"

Her jaw dropped and it was her turn to remain speechless for a moment, thinking hard about what she just heard.

"Yes, but wha-" she hadn't had a chance to end a sentence before her friend pointed the mirror hanging on a wall right next to the entrance of the kitchen. She gazed at it and froze.

She had a fresh scab on her cheek.

Two pigeons were flying high above the buildings of Hollywood's suburbs. Their flight was unsteady, every so often they switched through air currents, separating for the time being, then rejoining, though they didn't seem to notice.

"Hey, Huey?" called one of them, with slightly green feathers on his neck. "Thah new type o'cake wah undredi… unpreci… surprisingly gooth, eh?"

"Yeah," the other replied, shakily keeping the altitude. 'That ting dey call… al.. al… alcohol? I thinh thah didda job…" he smiled dreamily.

"Ya, know wha? I gotta rest fa a while, this is killin' me," with that, the green pigeon started a crazy nose-dive towards the ground, dragging his companion after him. They neared a square house, standing alone, only one within sight. Huey spread his wings, trying to land on a railing. He aimed well, but he didn't reduce his speed appropriately; that mistake caused him to smash into a wooden column, supporting the roof. He recovered quickly and glanced behind him, looking for his friend…

"Joey, no!" he exclaimed, once he saw what the other pigeon was up to do. All the vagueness disappeared from his voice, driven away by fear. "We don't sit on those, we are too he-" he was cut short when the electricity line, connecting the house to the pole, gave in to the weight of the bird. Luckily, the culprit managed to catch air before he hit the ground. Huey was by his side in a second.

"Great job," he snapped, angry with his friend about scaring him silly. "I hope that's been enough of a rest for you, let's go."

Joey shrugged, not sure what just happened, but he followed his friend into the air, resuming their journey.

Meanwhile, in the house in question…

An armored bus crashed into a wall of the building and broke through intact. It stopped inside, letting several highly equipped special soldiers leave it. They immediately opened fire, meteorically tearing some aliens, present in the room, apart.

"Awesome!" commented an addicted voice. Rhino leaned closer to the TV to see every detail better, when all of a sudden, the appliance went off.

"Hey!" he turned round, sure that Mittens or Penny's mother turned his precious Magic Box off for some stupid reason. Though, the remote laid a few steps further, and no one was within his sight.

"Creepy…" he muttered, rolling towards it. He tried pushing some buttons, but the TV didn't react. That's when the truth hit him: somebody broke his beloved form of entertainment.

"You vile, barbarous agents of evil… You will never beat me, not if I shall call forth whole my strength, every piece of my long training…" during the monologue he got out of his ball, stretching quickly. "Have at least the tiniest bit of courage and show up, you pathetic destroyers!"

Nothing happened.

"I thought so, you damn bastards. Don't think you can hide though – I have razor-sharp eyes and possess the powers you wouldn't even surmise a warrior my size could ever be vested with!"

Still nothing.

"I wonder where Bolt is?" he left his maniacal voice and looked about the room once more. "Probably with Mittens, taking new lessons. Well, I'll have to try and fill my time with something not connected to the Magic Box. Let's see…" he rested his chin on his hand and took a blank expression, thinking deeply.

While Bolt and Mittens had been talking in the living room, Penny had quickly eaten her breakfast and decided to go for a walk in a park with her mother, both animals eagerly joining them, even though Bolt hadn't eaten anything today. It was still early, so he didn't really care, he was more focused on discussing the newly arisen situation with his feline friend. Granted, the park wasn't near Penny's home, there was a forest closer, but they had lots of time, so they decided that it will be good as a target of a long walk.

"Dear, there's something I was about to tell you yesterday, but in all this commotion… I mean, first you were preparing for the party, then you came back so angry that you wouldn't talk to anyone… It escaped my memory."

"What is it, mom?" Penny asked.

"I just got a call from Sovereign Entertainment… They want you back, Penny, you and Bolt… I have my doubts, I'll admit, but they offered you a new agent. He seemed to understand your situation quite well and… I thought we could at least hear out what do they have to offer."

"You're right," Penny agreed after a while. "It's worth hearing out. I already miss that job, but… won't it interrupt my lessons? I won't quit school for them."

"Of course not, honey. That's why the agent has to be a specialist, I'm sure he'll gladly answer each of your questions."

"Sounds good. When will this new guy come?"

"He's going to pay us a visit at noon, so in an hour we should go back. We don't want to leave him waiting for us at our doorstep."

Back in the house... five minutes later.

A perfectly still figure of a hamster didn't move a bit of his body, save one finger that he continuously rubbed against his chin.

Knowing the perfect manners Bolt had (as long as he could see her), Penny didn't bother keeping him on his leash. As she was walking with her mother, the two animals had laid down under a tree. They were enjoying the shade and the wind, both soothing the heat of the last days of August, as well as the overall tranquil atmosphere of the park. The reason why it seemed so silent here came to them after few minutes: the absence of Rhino's always-on Magic Box was unbelievably explicit.

"Ahhh, I could spend weeks just lying here," Mittens said in a dreamy tone.

"Would you focus a bit?" Bolt was evidently unable to relax. "We have to unravel the mystery of this weird dream we both had last night…"

"Oh, please, would you just stop it? I simply scratched myself in my sleep, the rest is simply a coincidence."

"You know it's not!" the dog snapped. "You didn't move a paw in that window-like thing in our… your dream, the blood simply started to seep from your real cheek when you scratched yourself in the dreamworld..."

"It was a dream, Bolt! It wasn't real, like your previous life!" Mittens was clearly fed up with the discussion.

Bolt was about to answer, when his stomach rumbled, reminding him that he skipped supper and breakfast. The ex-super dog smirked, forgetting about the riposte and put an afraid look onto his face. He caught his belly and sat down, looking at Mittens with a perfectly feigned look of fear and hate.

"What is that?" he screamed. "Ok, you have two seconds to tell me what you've implanted in me, cat. Poison? A parasite? Poison? Oh no, I just said that didn't I? See, I'm all discombobulated! I can't think straight."

The cat rose up, grinning widely before taking on a serious expression and responding in an evil tone. "Finally, the Man with a Blue Eye will win! I'll never give you an antidote, it's kept safely in his fortress, guarded by a vicious, genetically altered hamster."

Bolt came up and neared the cat with a menacing look.

"Give me that antidote…" seeing that his efforts are useless, he suddenly changed tactic, tilting his head a bit, dropping his ears and slightly looking up. "…please?" he added in a begging tone.

Mittens couldn't hold it any longer. She sniggered, shaking her head.

"You're one damn good actor, you son of a bitch…"

After a while the pun sunk in and they both burst into laughing.

Back at the house… fifteen minutes later.

The only moving thing in the living room was a certain finger, rubbing certain cheek.

Five minutes later…

"I have no idea," Rhino snapped, coming down from the sofa. He decided to walk around the house, maybe that way he'll find something fun to do…

"You stand no chance against me, cat, nor do your miserable brethren, for you have chosen the path of evil. Even though you tried to recreate my superpowers in those pathetic friends of yours, I do not fear, as my allegiance to good will give me the strength I need to-"

"Eh?" Mittens cut in, faking a yawn. "Sorry, I felt asleep at 'miserable'. Did you say anything worthwhile?"

"That's enough, you sordid creature of darkness! Now I will-" he didn't have a chance to finish again, as Mittens struck a pose.

"Don't you move! Or I will summon my mind-blowing powers to make you fall sleep and cut a scratch in your cheek!"

"Oh no!" he crawled away from her, again taking on a horrified expression. "That mark of evil would obliterate all the good in me, that I might even abandon Penny! That's never gonna happen, as-"

Once more, he was cut short, when loud hail reached them, 'Bolt, Mittens! Come on, we're going back home!" Penny called.

"Will anyone let me finish any of-" he started once more.

"-your lines?" Mittens grinned widely. "No."

"Boooooring!" yawned Rhino, pacing lazily around the kitchen table.

For over an hour he tried to find anything to do, but his efforts were fruitless. There was nothing to eat, nothing to watch, no one to talk to, generally: nothing to do.

Resigned, he came over to a wall and hit it with his forehead. Even the air-hole wasn't fun anymore. He could once more exclaim his dissatisfaction with boredom and let it echo, but when no one was going to hear it…

He suddenly blinked, remembering a part of Bolt's story about the great fire, when he saved Penny, using the ventilation to enhance his bark to Superbark… But before that, he crawled into it and was about to get out… That's it!

The hamster rubbed his hands, looking at the air-hole with newly born interest. Then he started climbing up the plastic construction. It wasn't easy, but he managed to unscrew it. He smiled contentedly.

"There's no screw that I know, that can-" he suddenly silenced, when the wall started to recede at hectic pace. The suspended voice turned into scream, when he spotted also hurriedly closing floor.

Fortunately, the fall from one foot wasn't too dangerous for a rodent his size, so after a while he pulled himself together with a moan. It hurt, but he forgot about the pain in the second as he glanced inside the duct. It was twice the hamster's width and a thick layer of dust lingered on the ground.

"Let it begin, let it begin!" he cried out before going into the darkness in search of new adventures.

They were headed in the direction of Penny's voice, when Bolt suddenly stopped.

"Wait a second…" he muttered, now deep in thought. "She called you by your name…"

"Yeeeeah," she answered, looking at him like at some kind of a freak. "That's what they usually do when they want to get your attention or make you come to them…"

"How did she know your name in the first place?"

She sent him a glance, full of astonishment. She opened her mouth to say something sarcastic, but just then the thought sunk deeper and she just stood there, mouth agape, staring at the dog.

"I'm telling you, something strange is happening here," Bolt stated, resuming their trek towards their owners. He waited until she joined him before he continued his thought.

"It was always like that in my previous life. Whenever something strange happened, it was a clear sign that a new adventure is about to begin. Just like back then, when we were following an agent of the Green Eyed Man, who disappeared after going around the corner…"

"Bolt, how many times do I have to repeat it? It. Was. Not. Real!"

"Yeah, but you… and Rhino, which is even more important for the case, told me that it's always based on reality. If in the show mysterious events preceded every thrilling mission, why should it be different in this real life?"

She didn't answer, thinking it over hard.

It was already half past eleven when the family neared their home, as they didn't bother to go fast, they simply enjoyed the stroll. This somewhat irked Bolt, as his hunger was screaming louder and louder to him, but he didn't say a word to complain… mostly because he was still trying to explain how in the world did his person and her mother figure out Mittens'… and Rhino's names.

He was indeed so deeply in thought, that he didn't even notice Penny's playful attempts to make him run with her. That startled Mittens greatly - since Bolt became a normal dog… well more normal than before, he jumped on any opportunity to enjoy time with his person. Now, with a serious look on his face he stared off into the distance. Even such an insignificant indication of how deeply he cared about the situation made her heart heavier. Will he ever be able to snap out of this?

'Of course he will, he's just been through a lot,' she scolded herself. 'It hasn't even been two months since his whole world has been torn asunder, he'll need more time to adjust.'

She gently nudged him. It hurt her to see that even despite coming out of his reverie his face remained so serious. In the past weeks she got thoroughly accustomed to him smiling most of the time.

'Sad or angry, his face is still so… soft. Now his old customs start to take over, once more hardening his wonderful face… Wait a second… I didn't think that, did I?'

To her utter relief, Bolt summoned her favorite smile once he understood her concern. He rushed after his person, barking with excitement, followed by gazes of his feline friend and Penny's mother.

Speaking of whom…

"Oh my," she sighed as she saw the electricity wire, hanging loosely from the pole. "I wonder how this happened," she muttered, taking out a cell phone to call for service.

As soon as they got into house, both Penny and her mom rushed to their rooms to get dressed properly for a semi-official visit, leaving the animals behind. They watched them dash upstairs.

"Man, I'm hungry," Bolt complained. He was panting after running with Penny, but only because he lacked energy due to missing two meals. Considering that, there was nothing weird in the fact that a second later he was in the kitchen, devouring the meal prepared for him in the morning by Penny's mom.

Mittens smiled, contended that her friend finally got over those strange thoughts he had. He would surely go back to them, but she was thankful for what she has at the moment.

"Is it just me, or is it strangely silent in here?" Bolt asked, having finished his late breakfast in record-breaking time.

'What made him so perceptive lately?'

"Yeah, now that you mention it… Of course!"

Bolt tilted his head in confusion.

"The TV is off.. That means Rhino can't watch it for some reason, so he probably… um… What does that crazy rodent do when he isn't watching that damn thing?"

"As far as I'm concerned, last time he willingly left the 'Magic Box' he traveled across whole world with his idol and his prisoner."

She laughed, then looked about the kitchen and saw the vent open. She pointed it out to the dog and they both went closer to examine it.

"One would think that bolts would be enough protection against rodents," she sighed.

"Hey!" bolt defended. "I'm the only Bolt around, plus I haven't been around…"

It took Mittens a while to understand what was he talking about.

"I meant bolts, like… screws!" she explained.

"Ah… Yeah, looks like someone who invented the screws… SCREWED the job," he snorted.

"SCREWyou!" she joined his laughing. "I see your mood has ameliorated, hasn't it?"

"Yeah," he admitted. "Why shouldn't it? I got the best company I could imagine, I'm near my person, my stomach's full, and we've got a reason to laugh… What more could a dog want?"

'Best company he could imagine? I came before his beloved »person«? Is it possible, that I've become that important to him? And does he..? Oh, damn. Not again. Get the hell out, stupid thoughts!'

Five minutes after noon, a firm knocking echoed over the house, immediately pulling the host out of her lair. Penny's mom quickly went over to the door and opened it, silencing Bolt along the way.

Standing in the doorway was a young, perhaps twenty-five year old man with long brown hair, tied neatly. He was dressed formally and carried a traditional briefcase. The only thing that didn't match an image of a regular bureaucrat was the helmet he was holding. Indeed, looking over his arm, she spotted a black Harley, left on the side of the street.

"Good morning… Mrs. Beatrix Fisher, I presume?"

"In person," Penny's mother smiled. "Please, come in."

She led the agent inside, pointing a place to leave his helmet. He obeyed, and then kneeled in front of Bolt.

"Hello, dog-star," he let the dog sniff his hand and petted him after the animal was done.

Having completed the welcoming ritual, he followed Beatrix to living room, where the host seated him at the table.

"I don't know if you already noticed it ma'am, but your power line has been snapped."

"Yes, that's why I cannot offer you tea or coffee, I'm sorry."

"Oh, please, don't be."

"Good morning," Penny greeted him, coming into the room.

"And this would be our talented actress, Penny, right?" he smiled. "My name's Arthur Black and I'm here to discuss some ideas with you and your mother."

"What exactly?" Beatrix inquired, sitting next to Penny on a sofa, opposite to agent's armchair. "I thought Sovereign Entertainment replaced Penny with that… Laura Newman, isn't it?"

"Correct," Arthur smiled. "The only problem is… What the hell?" he trailed off, hearing multiplied squeak, coming out of ventilation. "Are there rats in your house?"

"No, of course not!" defended the host. "It has to be Rhino…" seeing the are-you-nuts look of agent, she quickly added, "our hamster. I wonder how he got in there though…"

"Well, never mind. Where was I?" asked the agent. "Ah, yes. Forgive me for such bluntness, but… the new 'Penny' sucks. The show is losing popularity, S.E., I mean Sovereign Entertainment, is going to end it, abandon production. This visit is the last attempt to save 'Bolt' from disappearing…"

"The only culprit of the lowering popularity is the new actress? I can't believe it," said Beatrix.

"Well, of course she isn't. The new Bolt… I'm sorry, I keep forgetting that dog's name, he's still slightly afraid of some scenes, so shooting them lasts days. And bear in mind that the show was always focused on Bolt; he, I mean the original Bolt, always presented the highest level of emotion in expressions, moves, in everything. His substitute is far from that, he's… shallow. What's more, the surveys show that our viewers don't like the new plot, including aliens."

"How are you going to fix that?" Penny asked. "The aliens will simply disappear? Transforming me… um, her into me and sending me and Bolt back to Earth first?"

"No, of course not," Arthur smiled. "The new plot is going to…" he started to describe scenarios for upcoming episodes.

When people began to talk to themselves, Bolt lost his interest in them and returned to the kitchen. Mittens was sitting in the doorway, probably waiting for him to get back from the traditional barking at the newcomer. He sat beside her, waiting for her to say something, when the idea hit him. After a few seconds, he glanced at the cat – she was saying something, he just didn't hear a word.

"…Bolt?" was all he heard. She clearly spotted his reverie.

"I think I know why this guy came here," he explained. "He came from that place where I spent whole my previous life, which means-"

"You know where did he come from?" Mittens cut in. "How?"

"I felt it... That guy smells like that place."

"Right, how could I forget about that particular ability?" she asked semi-sarcastically.

"The presence of this man," Bolt continued, undiscouraged by her comments, "means they are going to take Penny back to that studio, with me… We're going to perform again…" Mittens searched for a sign of joy or sadness in his voice, but it seemed clean of any emotion.

"Is that… a bad thing?"

"Are you joking? This is fantastic!" he exclaimed, suddenly grinning. "This means more time spent with my person, plus I'll be back to what I do best…"

He looked at her and lost all of his glee.

"But… it will also mean less time spent with my friends…"

'Does he really care THAT much?'

"Nah, forget about it, we'll find a way to keep in contact, as now you won't spend your life on the set, right? Come on, it's your dream, it's your purpose in life…"

"So," the agent asked his possible clients. "Are you in?"

"We'll discuss it," assured Beatrix. "The offer is fair and I think everything has been planned to the last detail, but making decisions in haste is never a good idea. When are you going to resume the production?"

"Well, if I managed to convince you today we were to start new session tomorrow, but-"

"Perfect," she cut in. "We'll contact you in the evening with our final decision."

"Of course," he smiled, standing up. "So… I will wait impatiently for the call. Thank you for hearing me out and… have a nice day."

"You too," Beatrix smiled back, escorting him to the door.

"Investigation of Doctor Calico's top-secret laboratory proceeds as scheduled," Rhino was in his element, narrating his own trek. "After climbing a hundred-story building without an elevator," he referred to some vertical sections of ventilation duct, "and getting through a labyrinth, based in its shape on Gordian knot… he's ready for everything. He knows doctor Calico would never leave his building guarded only by a curved wall, so he expects a new danger to arise in any moment… I summon you, minions of-" he stopped, seeing some movement in the darkness. "Ha! You finally decided to challenge me! Bring it on!"

After a moment of focusing on seeing every possible detail, the hamster was able to differentiate the approaching shape from the background. He swallowed hard; he could discern eight legs and a torso. The spider standing against him was much bigger than him and even though Rhino was doubtlessly heavier, the upcoming battle was going to be even.

They stood still for a moment…

"Die!" All of a sudden, the hamster lunged at the spider, catching one of its legs and sliding under his torso. He didn't release the leg, causing it to tangle with other three right limbs and making the arachnid fall to the ground. He let out a happy cry and tried to break the held leg, but he was too weak. In the meantime, the spider had managed to get up and counter-attack. His two front legs crossed over Rhino's neck, immobilized him and caused him to fight for breath.

He had to admit, this fight was beyond him. With last-ditch effort he pushed the legs keeping him up, and then pulled, causing the spider to collapse to the ground once more. The rodent whooped gleefully, but ran away, knowing that a longer fight could cost him his life.

He ran fast, aware that the spider will soon begin pursuit. Fortunately, he found an air hole fast. It was kept in place by two screws, so he reached out and started to twirl his hands at a hectic pace.

Bolt and Mittens were still standing in the kitchen door, watching the agent leave.

"As I said, don't worry about the separation, we will-" Mittens started.

"Shhhh," Bolt cut in, twitching his ear at barely audible jingle of metal against wooden floor.

"Why, what…?" she suddenly understood, seeing the expression upon his face. He was trying to listen.

'But to what?'

She couldn't hear it, but another, identical jingle sounded in the room. Bolt immediately turned his head towards where the sound came from, only to spot a vent near the ceiling fall from its place and show a certain hamster behind it, looking as he was readying to jump out.

Mittens, led by the dog's eyes direction and a new, loud clang also spotted this and froze in horror. There was no way the hamster was going to live after falling from the twelve foot height. She wanted to glance at Bolt, but he was no longer on her side.

She watched in horror as Rhino screamed frightened to no end and leaped forward, while Bolt jumped at the sofa, ran upon its backrest and leaped high into the air using his hind legs, flying upside down and head forward towards the falling hamster.

Miraculously, he managed to catch the rodent in his mouth – ten feet over the floor!

Bolt smiled slightly, holding his friend safe in his jaws. He didn't even think about what he's doing, it was an instinct of saving his beloved ones – and, however strangely that sounded with reference to the hamster, he was a part of his family. He wondered if Mittens saw that and what would she say – maybe she'll smile with this beautiful smile of hers…

'Did I really think that?' He snapped in his thoughts. 'I cannot possibly…'

Thoughts, vision, everything suddenly cut out with a sudden outburst of pain in his head. He only heard a clatter of breaking glass before everything blacked out.