Day broke over Nome as everyone had gathered at the Finish line eager to see who would show up. Jenna was near the church with Mel and Dipsey while Steele was there too, but for Jenna's sake, he kept his distance knowing she would want it that way.

"They should have been back by now.", Mel said growing frantic, "I knew it, they're in trouble."

He fell to the ground as if a bomb would fall out of the sky and put his paws over his head. Dipsey hardly heard him as she was gorging on the jerky she had brought with her. Jenna however did.

"Please, Mel, don't get started.", she told him.

Steele opened his mouth to say something, but a grinding sound reached all the dog's ears which put Jenna and Mel on edge.

"The plane.", Jenna said with defeat in her voice.

"It's gonna win?", Mel asked before falling to the ground again, "Oh brother."

Dipsey stopped enough to try and listen to the sound also while Jenna searched the sky. The plane was nowhere in sight.

"Well, where is it?", she asked.

Steele felt an opportunity and decided to take it as he looked around. The sound had paused and Dipsey looked confused.

"Wait, what happened?", she asked.

The sound started up again and Jenna turned and realized what the sound really was.

"That's the sawmill."

"Not the plane?", Mel asked in a much calmer tone.

Steele buckled.

"Jenna, I know this isn't a good time though but-"

He was cut off by the faint sound of barking and howling which made his heart stop as Jenna looked out smiling knowing too well who it was.

"Balto.", she said before dashing off, "Togo!"

Steele looked especially surprised.

"Well I'll be darned."

Dipsey and Mel chased after Jenna as Balto and Cole were seen coming out of the morning fog and straight for Nome.

"They won!", Jenna cheered.

"They did it?", Dipsey asked.

"I don't believe it.", Mel put in.

Steele's expression melted into one of frustration and disappointment.

"Dang and I was hoping they would lose."

He kicked the side of the church wall, but then a bunch of snow fell off the roof and landed over his whole body burying the mean dog within a moment. He managed to get himself out to see Jenna, Dipsey and Mel running alongside Balto, Cole and the team as they made their way to the finish line. He spat out some snow that had gotten into his mouth, but then another batch of snow fell off the roof and buried him once more.

/

Balto and Cole heard the cheering around them and Cole remembered the time he and Balto had brought the diphtheria medicine to Nome which made him smile even bigger.

"Easy, easy.", Mr. Simpson instructed as the team came to a halt in front of the post office.

Mr. Conner came out and Mr. Simpson looked his way a bit concerned.

"Did we beat the plane, Mr. Conner?"

Mr. Conner smiled.

"Congratulations there, Mr. Simpson. You've done it. You're the winners!"

That only made the dog mushers present more ecstatic as another round of cheering rang out. Even the dogs were celebrating. As much as all this was, Cole noticed Balto look a bit worried.

"Yeah Togo!"

Cole turned to see Fox nearby with Nikki, Kaltag and Star all looking complimentary.

"You did it again Togo!", Nikki called out.

"You and Balto were the fearless, the dependable, the-", Kaltag started.

"You both won!", Star interrupted.

Fox just gave Cole a smile as Cole returned it and put a paw to his tag thinking if Seppala was watching down on him. Kodi even gave a howl of a wolf which Cole couldn't help but smile at before another memory came to mind.

"Man, I wish Aleu was here to see her brother win this race.", he thought to himself as he looked into the sky, "I wonder how she's doing right now?"

As he pondered, a thought came to mind: what if Nava had passed on? That would explain the way he looked when he appeared and how he could have gotten back to Nome so fast. Maybe he was like Aniu now. A spirit guide to help others on the path of their lives like Aniu was for Balto.

"Nigaq and Sura must be helping Aleu keep the pack in order.", Cole said to himself, "They always were supporting Nava thought it probably shouldn't come as a surprise since they were family."

He couldn't help but imagine the duo in his mind's eye. Their identical emerald green eyes though their coats were slightly different and the way they sang together with such heavenly voices. They were like angels in wolf bodies and if Cole was human he would have ran his hands over their rough coats. He was brought out of his thoughts when he noticed Balto looking a bit worried.

"Balto?", he asked.

Balto looked his way quick.

"Yeah?"

"You okay?", Cole asked as Mr. Simpson started unhitching the dogs, "You seem a bit tense."

Balto sighed.

"I just thought that Duke was coming here."

As much as Cole didn't want to lose to Duke, he didn't have the heart to take pride in another's loss.

"Balto, I'm sure Duke is fine.", he assured once Mr. Simpson got him and Balto unhitched, "You saw that plane. At the rate it's going, he'll be here shortly for sure."

/

Unfortunately, it seemed Cole was mistaken as Kodi and the dog sled team were celebrating on the beach with Fox, Nikki, Kaltag, and Star attending also.

"Yeah, we beat that plane.", Kodi said proudly, "Kicked its tail."

Yeah, if this doesn't prove us dogs rule, what does?", Kirby asked as he eagerly jumped into the water.

The resulting splash doused Ralph though Dusty gave him a friendly smile as he shook himself dry.

"Well, you all did great out there.", Fox said with a chuckle.

"How come you guys didn't volunteer to run with us?", Dusty asked curiously.

Nikki and Kaltag looked nervous, but Star spoke up.

"Oh, we're not the dogs we used to be.", he said to her, "Way past our prime and can't run as fast as we did before."

Kodi decided to take a break from the talk when he noticed Cole and Balto near a boat and came over eagerly.

"Thanks for saving our jobs Dad.", he said happily, "You too Togo."

Balto didn't look so sure.

"For the time being."

Kodi backed off looking shocked.

"What do you mean?", he asked in disbelief.

"I don't think that's the last of the bush planes, son.", Balto tried explaining, "Their day is coming."

Kodi looked to Cole hoping for some back up.

"How can Dad say that Togo?", he asked growing a bit harsh, "We beat him."

Cole took a breath before talking.

"This time we did, but your father and I have seen them.", he said looking Kodi in the eyes, "We can't race them every time."

Kodi backed up looking more shocked and then frowned once he got a good distance.

"You're just wrong.", he said before heading back to the group of dogs still talking.

Cole and Balto observed and while Cole didn't take Kodi's words to heart, Balto did even though Jenna had joined them.

"It's what I think.", Balto said plainly.

"You both know how much this job means to him.", Jenna said.

"Yeah, I know.", Balto said looking down in the water near his feet before looking back at Jenna and then Cole, "Where's Boris? I thought Mr. Positive would be here celebrating with us."

Jenna chuckled a bit.

"Well maybe he made up with his new girlfriend."

"Maybe.", Cole answered.

Balto then looked a bit worried.

"You know, I don't get it.", he said, "Duke should be here by now."

Cole then felt just as worried.

"Balto, I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation."

Unfortunately, some talk from the team caught their ears.

/

"A little bad weather and that yellow-bellied plane flies south for winter.", Kirby chuckled.

"He'll show up when the fog clears up with his tail between his wings.", Kodi agreed.

Cole frowned. Clearly the sled dogs had no idea how plane tails worked, then again at the year this place was in, hardly anyone knew how they worked anyway.

"I know what's wrong.", Ralph piped up, "He's a sore loser."

Cole noticed Balto wasn't smiling as big as he could, but he ignored it as the other dogs headed off while Dusty stayed behind a bit to talk to Kodi.

"What could be wrong?", she asked, "We still have our jobs."

"Yeah, yeah we do.", Kodi said before looking back to see Balto and Cole and looking firm, "And we're gonna keep them."

He and Dusty headed off to catch up with the others, but Cole could see Balto heading off looking down in the dumps. He followed and they got to the sawmill where Balto paused and sat down though he observed the sky. Before Cole could head over, a familiar voice caught his ears.

"Well, look who's here."

Cole sighed heavily. He didn't have to look to see who it was.

"Hello Steele.", he said annoyed.

Steele strutted up to Cole looking smug.

"Why are you out here?", he asked, "I thought you'd be back at the beach."

"Balto's more important to me thank you.", Cole retorted.

Steele chuckled and then cackled which made Cole's blood boil.

"What's funny?", he asked.

Steele pulled himself together to talk calmly again.

"You seriously telling me that Balto is worried about the pilot who almost cost his son his job?"

"No victory is worth it if it costs someone a life.", Cole shot back, "I would know."

Steele's smile broadened.

"Oh that's right. You went a little too fast and your musher hit his head. Maybe you shouldn't have been lead dog at all."

Cole couldn't take it and came up to Steele to look the dog in the eye intensely.

"Seppala knew a lead dog when he saw it.", he said firmly, "You have no right to ridicule his name."

Steele's smile faltered, but he did turn to leave.

"Well, guess there's still a bit of wolf in you after all Togo?", he asked, "Or did that part die out?"

As much as Cole felt like sinking his teeth into Steele's hide, that wouldn't do any good. He just tried ignoring Steele's words as the malamute strutted away. He then headed over to Balto just as he noticed Jenna heading over to him as well. They had reached him together as Jenna spoke.

"What are you two doing here? The party's on the beach."

Cole shrugged as the brief talk with Steele began to wane and his boiling blood cooled.

"I'm just here for Balto.", he answered, "He looks pretty down."

/

Balto however looked worried.

"I'm, just wondering what happened to Duke."

Jenna now looked a bit worried.

"You're really worried?"

"I would be.", Cole stated, "Duke seemed like a great guy."

"Balto! Togo!"

Cole, Balto, and Jenna both saw Muk and Luk bolting towards them looking and acting like they had just seen a ghost. Both bears came to a skidding halt in front of the trio as they panted, but Muk kept talking.

"It was awful. It was terrible.", Muk said before looking toward Luk, "Did I say it was awful?"

Luk nodded and Muk continued explaining.

"There we were, fishing the river, minding our own business when it…it…attacked!"

"What attacked?", Balto asked.

"The monster.", Muk said shakily.

Luk got up on his back legs, threw his arms in the air and made a scary face which make Muk duck underneath Balto while Cole looked unsure.

"Wait a minute, a monster?", he asked.

Muk came out from underneath Balto before talking.

"We could barely see it through the fog, but we could hear it getting closer and closer. Of course, we didn't stick around to introduce ourselves. We bolted!"

Muk started running around while Luk chased him as if to help illustrate what the bears went through as Balto and Jenna looked each other's way amused while Cole rolled his eyes comically and Muk explained further.

"But it chased us, growling and snarling, until finally, it pounced out of the sky. If Luk hadn't yanked me out of the way, we would have been…crushed."

Then both bears burst into loud sobbing and wails as they hugged each other while Balto, Cole and Jenna approached them.

"Where's this…monster now?", Jenna asked.

Muk and Luk calmed down so Muk could point out into the Alaska brush.

"Out there. Stuck in the snow. That's how we escaped."

Balto looked interested.

"It pounced out of the sky?"

Both bears nodded and Cole suddenly was interested too.

"And the snarling it made, was it really loud?", he asked.

"Loud?", Muk answered, "It was louder than a wild-eyed grizzly."

Balto, Jenna, and Cole all realized the exact same thing.

"The bush plane!", they all said in perfect unification.

While all that went on, out in the brush, the plane had crashed and Duke was knocked out. Boris knocked on the door of the compartment before he finally managed to get out and fall into the snow. He struggled to his feet and tried walking.

"Got to get help.", he told himself.

Unfortunately, he didn't walk very far before he spun around and fell flat into the snow. It started snowing, but Keelut came out looking at Boris smiling ghoulishly.

"Oh, a human unconscious with a goose on the brink in the middle of a snowfall.", he chuckled, "Oh, I'm going to love watching them succumb to Nature's icy grip."

He vanished away again cackling as the snow falling started falling harder.