- Chapter 14: RHINO TO THE RESCUE

- Rhino –

Rhino had spent most of his life wishing he was someone else. More specifically; wishing he was someone bigger, stronger and more frightening – someone who could jump-kick armed soldiers through the air and make evil masterminds tremble in their boots. Someone like Bolt.

But there were times when his less than fearsome size could come in use; like when you want to infiltrate a huge enemy prison, guarded be equally huge humans – all without being noticed, capture or squashed. Of course, being a master of stealth also helped.  

It hadn't been easy. When it became clear that Mittens had been compromised by whatever evil organization hosted this vast prison, Rhino had sprung into action. He had started by scouting along the edges of the building in search for potential entry vectors, just like he had seen Bolt do on the magic box. It didn't take long before he found particularly suitable entry for a creature his size - a ventilation shaft.

He had seen Bolt use ventilation shafts to access enemy territory many times on the moving pictures, but he alway used his laser vision to cut a way inside for himself and his person. Rhino, having no laser vision, had to make due with unscrewing the hatch with his dexterous paws. It took several minutes until the last screw came off, and the entire process had made his paws ache something terrible, but it was all worth it for the mission.

Once inside, he had scurried, quickly but silently, through the mazelike shafts until finding another hatch, this one at roof level. Peeking through the vent, the tiny infiltrator could see the human guards moving about below, their large furry heads passing by so closely that he could almost reach out and touch them. His small heart pounded hard, partly because of the adrenaline, partly because he hadn't moved this much in years.

He knew that the slightest noise would expose his position and then those guards would be all over him. He'd be captured or worse. Although they didn't seem particularly organized, he figured that these tall enemies must mean business if they're brave enough to capture not one, but two of the superdog's closest friends.

Still, they couldn't be that professional: So far, he hadn't encountered any traps, laser tripwires or surveillance cameras – things that you'd think that any self-respecting evil organization would install in their prisons.

What they wanted with Mittens was also a mystery to him. The cat was clearly too amateurish to pose any real threat to their malicious plans. Perhaps they planned to trade her for ransom. At least that meant she was probably still alive…

As soon as the coast was clear, the master of stealth jumped from the shaft, landing - almost soundlessly - on the desk in the reception area. He did a quick look around. No guards in sight. The staffing was another thing about this place that struck Rhino as surprisingly incompetent. So far he had only counted three guards, and they all seemed to be sitting somewhere down the hall, sipping coffee and blabbering, completely oblivious to his intrusion.  

He considered maybe hacking the computer standing on the desk, but knowing that time was of the essence, he decided to hurry down the corridor, instead. If they had Mittens, who knows what they'd do to her if they thought she had any valuable intel they could use against Bolt. These guys were not above torture, he was sure. And Mittens was probably a talker.

Luckily, the cat's obliviousness to even the most basic of superhero knowledge had been obvious from the start, and Bolt, being so smart and all, had been very selective about which info he shared with her - something that Rhino had noticed repeatedly during their trip.

 In fact, when he thought about it, Bolt had been noticeably quiet about his superpowers ever since he rescued Mittens that first time she had gotten herself captured. Surely, the superhero was just playing it safe. Most of this stuff was classified after all. At least that had been Bolt's reply whenever Rhino had questions about his superpowers, and if Bolt was keeping certain things from him then surely he mustn't have told the cat hostage anything at all.

No, Rhino was more worried about what they'd do with Mittens once they realize that she's of no use to them. He shuddered at the thought and decided he better locate and secure the cat, ASAP. Even though Bolt and Mittens really weren't on great terms at the moment, he knew Bolt would never forgive him if he'd let anything happen to her. 

He scurried down the corridor, checking each corner to make sure he run into any of the guards. Luckily, this area seemed just as unguarded as the reception. But there were so many corridors, so many doors, so many turns. It would take him forever to search this place!

But he couldn't stop now. It wasn't just about Mittens. Benji was somewhere in here too, and that dog obviously held some kind of extra importance to Bolt. Rhino wasn't sure what, but there was something about Bolt and that Labrador. It was the way they acted together - something he couldn't quite put his paw on. Like they were extra good bros or something.

Either way, it was clear the superdog really valued Benji's company, so he must be important to the mission in some manner the hamster just couldn't see yet, maybe as a junior sidekick or something alike.

But that stuff didn't matter now. All that mattered was completing his mission. Thinking of all the praise he'd get from Bolt when he hears all about how he managed to rescue both Mittens and Benji from this place made his belly flutter excitedly. He hummed his favorite theme song, the stealth-theme song from the moving pictures he knew by heart, while continuing journey into the belly of the beast in search for the two helpless animals. Until Bolt arrived, he was their only hope…

- Mittens -

Mittens yawned, stretched and lied down on the dusty floor, licking one of her snow white paws as she prepared her weary body for yet another attempt to get some shut-eye. She wasn't exactly tired - just very restless and insanely bored, but as there really aren't all that much else to do when you're a poor cat trapped in a barred storeroom for unwanted pets, so she figured she might as well try to rest some more. At least sleeping kept her from pacing around restlessly, letting this infernal, inescapable cage eat away at her sanity.

Even though the around ten square-feet she had available in there was more than plenty of room for a cat her size, she felt impossibly cramped; practically claustrophobic, as if the bars were constantly closing around her, constraining her, making it impossible to even breathe.

She had enough room to lie down, stretch freely and even pace around in tiny little circles when she got too restless. But by now, she had stretched, slept and paced on every one of every square inch of her cage, and every bar had been extensively kicked, pushed and stomped in search for potential weaknesses. She had tried them all, at first with burning hope and eventually out of lingering desperation. And not a single one of them would even budge. And squeezing between them? Not a chance unless she wanted to leave her ribs behind. Not that she hadn't tried…

How long had she been in there? Days? Weeks? Though it felt like it had been a lifetime since she had managed to inadvertently (and embarrassingly) lock herself in, she knew it couldn't be more than a couple of hours, tops. Hours of pacing, napping, stretching, grooming, resting, another a few desperate attempts of squeezing between the bars, then more napping. And the hours had gone by so insufferably slowly. If she had nine lives, if felt like she had spent them all in there.

The only thing to accompany her in the pen was a bowl of smelly dog food the humans had some thoughtfully left her. That bearded lumberjack one had even come by and replaced it for her once. He smelled like old cigarettes but didn't seem as psychopathic as he looked. But she still wouldn't touch the food.

Even though she could literally hear her belly growling furiously in protest of the many days she had gone without a decent meal, there was no way she would stoop as low as to try dog food. She still had a tiny bit of dignity left.

The worst part was a lingering feeling that she was forgetting something; somethin potentially important; something that maybe could get her, Bolt and Benji out of there. Or maybe it was someone. But she couldn't think of anything or anyone that could help them now, so she decided it was probably just wishful thinking. She was so done with wishful thinking. It only ever made matters worse.

Wishful thinking is what had made her think she could rescue Bolt and Benji from a dog pound just like that - and now she was trapped right in there with them, like a common stray. Wishful thinking is what had led her to believe her old family actually loved her - right before being unceremoniously thrown out on the street like an empty milk carton.

Wishful thinking was thinking that she could somehow patch things up with Bolt and Benji. Her apology hadn't exactly worked out that well, and all she had since they got locked up together was arguing with Benji, going through plans of escaping, whining endlessly the impossibility of their demise and disagreeing with everything and everything the Lab had to say. It wasn't barely even her fault – it game instinctively. Like a reflex. And Benji didn't exactly make things better by constantly reminding her of how stupid she was for locking herself up like that.

 Bolt would interrupt them occasionally when things got too heated, but mostly he just kept quiet – unusually quiet even for Bolt. Still, he was always there to support Benji whenever the Lab seemed to need someone to lean against, even though there were always those cage bars between the two. The sight of them drawing strength from each other, when she was here alone on the other side, always gave her a sting of jealousy and made her regret the whole mission even more. Wishful thinking was thinking that cats and dogs could even get along to begin with. She should have listened to reason, and the laws of nature, and stayed away.  

A smarter cat wouldn't have risked her freedom for the fate of two pooches, one of which she just happened to like a whole lot. A smarter cat wouldn't have gotten all sentimental with others after being hurt so many times before. A smarter cat would have known better. But Mittens wasn't a smart cat and that's why she was trapped in this cage.

She turned to look at her two canine jail mates. Benji was still snoozing, leaned towards the bars of Bolt's cage, probably wanting to be as close to his beloved German Shepherd boyfriend as possible. Boy, that dog really does love Bolt, she thought to herself. Even when they were in different cages, they were inseparable. Bolt in turn was just sitting there in his cage, leaned against the bars, still locked in an intensive staring context with the metal padlock on his cage. 

“Give it a rest, Wags. That thing ain't gonna burst into flames and melt anytime soon"

“Oh uhm…" Looking up, Bolt chuckled nervously, visibly embarrassed to be caught trying to invoke his fictional superpowers again. “Old habits I suppose"

Mittens rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say, hero…"

“Don't listen to her" Benji, who apparently had only been half-snoozing, got up to deal Bolt's cheek a soft nuzzle through the bars. “Don't care about her. She's just scared. We all are"

-"Oh sure, make me the bad guy…So typical" Mittens yawned before going back to grooming her tousled paw“ At least I'm realistic about our chances of getting out of here" she continued between her licks. “…Which are zero by the way"

- “You don't know that" Benji retorted indignantly. “These places aren't completely inescapable"

- “Really?" Mittens raised an eyebrow. “And how would you know?"

- “Because I straight up ditched one of these places before I met you guys!"

- “Oh really?"

- “Yes, really! I told you guys about it didn't I? - How my family threw into one of these pounds before and I escaped. Then later that day, I ran into Bolt in that forest…"

- “If I remember correctly, I pounced you to the ground and interrogated you" Bolt added. “I never did get to apologize for that…" he smiled, remembering that night when they first met. It seemed like a life-time ago, even though it couldn't be more than a couple of weeks.

- “Well I suppose I was just asking to get attacked by a vigilant superdog, sneaking about like that" Benji replied, regretting nothing. Their first meeting might have been anything but romantic, but just the memory of it made the Labrador smile slightly.

“Yes, yes that's all really sweet and all but I'm really more interested in how you managed to bust out of your last dog-pound. I mean, you have any actual jail-breaking skills? Any tricks for busting these cages? Because they seem pretty pooch-proof to me"

She gave her cage bars a demonstrative pawing. The metallic clang echoed depressingly in the room. “These bars are on pretty solid. Trust me, I've tried each one of them like a zillion times"

- “Well…I didn't exactly break out per say“ Benji admitted. “One of those guard humans forgot to lock my cage. I figured that if I ran back to my family's house fast enough, they might still be there. They weren't… But then I spotted you guys… and you know the rest"

- “Well that's just great! Here I was, thinking you might actually know a thing or two about busting these penitentiaries but it turns out you were practically let out by some fumbling human buffoon.  Forgive me if I'm not exactly bursting with optimism over here"

 She rolled her eyes again before laying down to rest, this time with her back against the dogs.

“… Wake me up when you've hatched some kind of miraculous escape-plan or discovered some secret passage or something. Until then, I'm just about done talking to you two delusional pooches"

- “Fine with me!" Benji barked angrily. “I guess that's all the help we can expect from a stinkin' cat anyway!"

He stopped when he felt Bolt nudge him slightly. “Easy, Benji. Getting on each other's nerves all the time is not gonna get us out of here sooner" he whispered, knowing that nothing good would come out of his two friends getting into another cross-cage quarrel.

- “You don't have to always protect her, Bolt, especially not when she's being a giant douche" Benji said, glaring angrily in the cat's direction.

“… You shouldn't let her just pick on you like that. Trust me, if you're too nice to people in this world, they'll just walk right over you. Happened to me more than once…"

- “She had a point though." Bolt said “That laser-vision thing – it was stupid. I should know better by now"

- “Hey, don't say that! Look, you were on that sci-fi show for what… your entire life? Of course it's gonna take some time for you to fully adapt to reality! Heck, it's really impressive that you managed to familiarize yourself with all this as fast as you did. You really shouldn't be so tough on yourself"

- “I guess…" Bolt nodded slightly, but still seemed quite unconvinced. his drooping ears were a particularly conspicuous give-away. Benji decided to continue:

- “Have you heard of that Rin-Tin-Tin guy? Poor sucker spent his entire life thinking he was a US Cavalry dog in the Old West! Even after they canceled the show and he didn't have to act anymore, he still believed it. You couldn't tell him otherwise. And they didn't have anywhere near as good special-effects to trick you with back then!"

- “You mean I'm not the only one who… you know… has been deceived in such a manner?"

- “Heck no! There's a long, sad history of duped canine actors. Strongheart, Rin-Tin-Tin, Rin-Tin-Tin The Second, you…  It's usually German Shepherds for some reason. Guess you guys are kind of heroic by nature. All that natural, unassuming heroism must be really easy to take advantage of"  

- “…Or maybe we're just really gullible" The shepherd looked up, smiling slightly.

- “Makes you all the cuter, though" The Labrador smiled back. “Besides, I like you better without laser-vision and megabarks“

- “Superbarks"

- “Whatevs…"

Their noses found each other, quickly followed by their soft muzzles. Interlocking in a sweet, soft kiss, the two indulged in their shared togetherness, forgetting about the harsh reality for just a moment as they enjoyed their intimacy.  

Meanwhile, Mittens couldn't help but glare bitterly in the couple's direction. She knew it was kind of creepy, just staring like that, but it was hard not to when one of those two just happened to be the only animal she had ever felt anything meaningful for in her short miserable life.

She couldn't lie to herself: that sight of those two loving each other made her feel lonelier than any old cage could.

Damn stinking Labrador! It was bad enough he had stolen Bolt from her; he didn't have to rub it in too! She actually regretting coming back to save them. She could have been half-way to Manhattan by now. Even braving the harsh streets of the Big Apple, hustling crumbs from unwitting pigeons, was better than this sentimental mess. At least she wouldn't have to go through watching the animal who she had somehow, stupidly fallen in love with suddenly being so overly infatuated with some random mutt whom he just happened to stumble into one day.

She and Bolt had traveled through entire cities together, walked through snow and rain together. She had helped him discover a whole new life as a dog, a life of his choosing. But her true reason for following him half-way across the continent wasn't as much empathy as the hope that their hostage-situation turned friendship could somehow morph into something even more meaningful along the way. If the dog who had once held her dangling over a bridge could turn around and become her best - and probably - only friend, then who knows what could happen I the future? But then that freaking Lab had just swooped in from nowhere and stolen her well-deserved hero from her. Of course she was pissed. Who wouldn't be?

 Benji really wasn't that bad when she thought about it. Just another hopeless stray like herself, untrusting, clingy and emotional with a short fuse and a tendency to argue - just like herself. He just had the bad luck of being the wrong dog at the wrong place – that is to say between her and Bolt. Perhaps, if Benji wasn't such a rival and just a couple of percentages less annoying, they could have been pretty good friends - and she wouldn't have had to try to destroy him like that.

Not that she would have any chance with Bolt anyway. It was obvious Bolt didn't think of her like that. That he never once had. All those lies about Benji had been pointless to begin with, because she was stupid to think Bolt could ever like her like that.

Mittens guess it was because she was a cat. Dogs and cats aren't exactly a natural fit – even Bolt must know that. But even though that would make sense, she doubted such a thing would bother Bolt. In fact, she doubted anyone had ever told the dog about the birds and the bees yet, let alone which species that goes together with which. For all she knew, he could be completely clueless about what's natural and not. Besides, gender sure didn't seem to bother him so she didn't see why the inter-species thing would.

More likely; it was her cynical personality that stopped Bolt from ever liking her. She could work on that, but it's would be too late for that now, anyway. Besides, at the end of the day, she'd still be just a skinny, scrawny street cat, and that was probably the real reason Bolt didn't like her.

She knew she wasn't exactly the most impressive specimen the animal kingdom had to offer, even for a feline, and Bolt, who was objectively gorgeous - although he probably didn't realize it himself - was simply way out of her league. Bolt would never be interested in her simply because of what she was – a skimpy little cat with scarred ears. And that's what she hated the most about all this; she never had a chance to begin with simply because of what she was rather than who she was. He would never say it, but she knew it was the truth. And why bother changing her entire personality Bolt would still see her as just a scanty rag? Then she'd rather just stay a cantankerous pessimist and keep to herself, leaving all this oversentimental, soppy, love-mush for the two saliva-swapping lovebirds.

That's why New York would be better for her. At least there she could be alone. At least there she could do what she's actually good at – taking care of herself. And at least there, she could find herself a decent frickin' meal for once.

Her dreaming of faraway metropoles was interrupted when she heard the door at the end of the pens creak eerily. Her feline ears twitched anxiously up as she stared towards the darkness at the end of the room and listened carefully. Naturally, those stupid humans had turned off the lights, leaving half of the corridor in near-pitch black darkness when the sun wasn't shining in, so she couldn't tell if the door had moved or if anyone had entered. But she could still hear just fine and she was definitely hearing something. Was it the sound of one of those nasty caretakers walking outside? Had she heard the door budge slightly? It was impossible to be sure.

“Hey, guys! Someone is coming!" she whispered, but no response came from the smooching puppies who were still too busy rubbing muzzles to hear her.

- “Hey guys! Will you stop eating each other's faces for a second, I think I heard something!" She picked up some of the dogfood from her bowl and threw it at the two oblivious lovebirds.

“Hey! What the bloody hell is your problem, cat!?" Benji snarled, turning his face to stare angrily at her.  

- “Yes, that is kind of rude" Bolt concurred.

- “This is important you guys! I heard someone…"

She was once again interrupted when the door cracked open and something approached. The three animals stared intensively at the dark end of the room where it was hard to see exactly who the intruder was. Whatever it was, it was too small to be human.

Mittens was the first to notice the clattering of tiny rodent feet against the floor. She could recognize that annoying tip-tap anywhere.  

- “Rhino?" she gasped, staring at disbelief at the hamster who emerged under the corridor lights, smiling widely just like a fanboy who had just located his heroes in a maze full of cages probably would.

- “Is that really you!?" She asked.

- “Who else!?" Rhino squealed excitedly as she jumped up in front of the cages, now fully under the lights the captors could clearly see his tiny hamster body and his trademark smirk. He appeared absolutely brimming with excitement.

“Bolt!?" Rhino gasped upon laying eyes on the white Shepherd. “They captured you!? I knew you were in trouble! I could sense it! I always did say you we were telepathically linked!"

 - “I'm so happy to see you buddy!" Unable to contain himself, Bolt gave his little hamster friend a lick, making the latter almost fall over as he was overwhelmed with slobbery canine tongue.

- “Oh gosh, thanks. I'm happy to see you too" Rhino replied, wiping the worst access of dog slime from his face.

- “But how on hearth did they get you, Bolt? These guards don't seem all that organized. Low-level henchmen obviously. Or simple bounty-hunters maybe"

- “Yeah well… somehow they did"

 “Was it invisible force-fields? Scanners? Sleep-Mines? I always did say that those sleep-mines were your main weakness!"

- “Something like that" Bolt mumbled. “But never mind that. How did you manage to locate us all by yourself?"  

- “Yeah. With your tiny hamster feet, it should have taken you literal decades to walk here from the gas station" Benji added who was just as astonished as Bolt was.   

-  “Well, there's been a tad more exercise than usual, no doubt. And a little more than I've comfortable with to be honest. But the truth is that I got her with Mittens on one of those trucks.  She insisted on going in alone because she wanted to hog all the glory and impress you guys but I wasn't supposed to tell anyone!"

- “It never occurred to you to mention you got her with him, Mittens?" Benji asked, staring accusingly at the black feline.

- “I had completely forgotten about it! Honest! All the being trapped and arguing and you guys smooching, I knew there was something but it never occurred to me what it was!"

It was actually the truth. She had been locked her for hours and never once had it occurred to her that Rhino was still knocking about outside. It was that lingering feeling at the back of head, but even if she had remembered him, she would have just assumed that he'd left, been caught himself or just frozen in place. Never that he'd actually make it inside, let alone find them without any human noticing. Maybe the hamster was less useless than she thought.

- “Oh don't worry about it, cat" Rhino continued, still beaming with pride. “It was my fault for putting you in danger! I should have known this is way above your skill-level. But now I'm here to rescue you! All of you!"

- “Yeah, I get the point. But how were you gonna get us out, huh? We're gonna need a key for Bolt's cage. I don't suppose you manage to snatch one of those from those low-level henchmen on your way here?"

- “Well, whatever you do, don't try to hide in any cage. Just ask Mittens" Benji added, smirking at Mittens who glared back.

- “I wasn't planning to. And no, cat, I don't need any old key. Not when I have these babies. Behold!" he showed his little hamster hands to the animals, screening them dramatically.

- “You're… you're not holding a key" Benji remarked.

- “Who needs keys when you have magic lock-picking claws like these?" Rhino continued. “Check this out!"

With that, the hamster jumped up to Bolt's cage, wedging himself up the bars until he was about eye-level with the padlock. Bolt and Benji stared at each other confusedly, not quite sure what the hamster was up to. Mittens didn't either until she remembered how the hamster had lock-picked that car before. It was then it hit her that Rhino might actually get them out. Maybe there was hope for them after all?

With practiced ease, the hamster stuck his tiny fingers into the keyhole, moving them around carefully, all the while listening with his ears pressed against the lock. The animals followed his movements tentatively. Suddenly, a metallic little click could be heard – followed by the beautiful thump of the heavy lock falling to the floor.

- “Voila!" the hamster exclaimed happily.

As soon as the hamster had jumped down, Bolt gave the door a careful but nonetheless optimistic nudge. He stared, utterly baffled, as the door simply creaked open, presenting him to the freedom he'd thought he'd never have again.

He jumped out and could barely believe it when he felt his paws, firmly on the cold floor, no longer surrounded by barred pens. Mittens and Benji stared, equally baffled, from their respective cages. Just like that, he had been freed.  

Bolt wasted no time, running up to Benji's cage and throwing his paws against the handle, pressing as hard as he could until the lever was out of the way. The door barely had time to open before Benji flew out like a black flash and overwhelmed him with a hurried but nonetheless loving doggy hug. followed by at least a couple of quick licks.

“We're free! I can't believe it but we're free!"

As wonderful as it was to be back in each other's arms for the first time in far too long, Bolt pulled away, knowing that Mittens also needed to be freed, so he turned his attention to Mittens' cage. 

Her lever was hooked on tight, but  with the combined use of his strong canids and a little help from Benji, he managed to pull it away and get the door open, and with that, Mittens was free as well.

“Finally!" She leaped out before smashing her cage door shut behind her. She was free, and it had happened so fast. And thanks to none other than freaking Rhino!

“I can't believe it" she stammered, overcome by various ambivalent emotions, before wrapping her arms around Bolt's strong neck in a sudden, unexpected hug. She was almost about to hug Rhino too, but thankfully, her dignity kicked in before she had the change.

“Let's get the heck out of this place" she said. The other animals nodded concurringly. For once, every one of them were in total agreement.

Picking up his hamster sidekick so that the former could climb up to his back, Bolt and the others sat out, ready to leave the dog pound behind for good.

As they rushed out of the open door, they animals turned to the corridor where one of the caretakers was standing, staring bewilderedly as the strange crowd of animals, a still smoldering cigarette dropping from his dropped jaw.

 - “What the?..."