The True Definition of Courage

Chapter 1… The Beginning and the Katz Motel

Two days… I'd been waiting to call someone for two days. It was supposed to be a regular check up but… sigh… I'll just have to bear it and hope Mom and Dad are alright. That fucking doctor… he'd better hope he never sees me again… that's all I'll say…

I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Courage Bagg. My parents are… were James Bagg and Samantha Carson. I'm not really what one would consider… normal. For one… my hair is naturally pink… Two, I have two dog ears protruding from my head… and I have a tail… a small one. I'm about six feet tall. I usually wear some blue jeans and a pink hoodie with a white shirt underneath… Oh and I'm also into skater shoes… so… yeah…

I guess I should tell the story…

He looked around him… there were cops all over the place. They'd already taken his statement. I was just waiting for anyone to just comfort me or tell me that Mom and Dad were fine. He focused his attention on the door again as it opened to reveal his grandparents. He looked at his grandmother. Grandma had always been there for me when I needed her. She was a short woman… about five feet tall… but that didn't mean she wasn't a strong woman. She beat my grand dad's ass constantly when he did something bad. He moved his eyes over to the man next to her. Grandpa… well… Eustace Bagg was one of, if not the most, greedy, selfish, and stupid opportunists in the world… but… he usually made up for it in the end… somehow. His grandmother was at his side in an instant. Her Irish accent thick, she said, "Oh Courage… We're so sorry… They… they found James and Samantha out in a…" He stopped her. "I know," he started, his lips trembling, "I was there." Even Eustace kept his mouth shut. "C'mon… let's get you to the house…"

That would be the first of my adventures… and of my… "breakdowns"…

They'd been driving for a while now… We eventually found ourselves at the hellhole known as the "Katz Motel". It was a shoddy place… but it had beds. Courage got out with Muriel and Eustace and went in. There was no one at the counter. They got closer and out from behind came a red cat. "Good evening." He had a smooth voice making him sound just a wee bit evil to courage… but his grandparents were baited the minute they saw the motel.

"I'm Katz. I will be taking care of you this evening…" His eyes landed on courage. I knew he wasn't to be trusted the minute I saw him. But when I looked into those yellow eyes… I saw the evil… I saw the malice… I saw… death. "Ah… I see you have a hybrid in your group… very well. Here's your key. I was just glad I knew how to fight. They went to their room and settled in for the night.

Courage couldn't sleep. He'd been up all night thinking about his parents. Pain … He'd been thinking about what he could've done differently. Guilt… Anger... He was angry. He was furious… He was enraged. He heard a noise and looked to where it came from. He saw what had to be the hugest spider in the world… literally. However… he wasn't afraid… he didn't fear this trivial thing before him.

In fact… he was glad to see it. It was something to take his anger out on. He also noticed it going for his grandparents. They were all he had left and he wasn't going to let them get hurt on his watch. He hopped out of the bed and grabbed a piece of pipe out of the noticeable hole in the wall. He got close to the spider and smashed it into oblivion. He wasn't surprised to see that his grandparents were still asleep. They could literally sleep through anything.

He got dressed and after grabbing the pipe, left to go have a… talk with Katz. When he finally made it he wasn't surprised to see that Katz wasn't there. Courage was getting mad. He'd already killed more spiders that seemed to come from no where. Using his anger he hopped the counter and went into the next room. There was a staircase leading down to the right.

After he'd come down realized that he heard footsteps behind him. So… he's trying to play cat and mouse. Fine… I'll let him think he's in control for now. Courage took off in a run to sell it and came to a door on the right. He went in and instantly wished he hadn't. It seemed that Katz had been conducting experiments on quite a few spiders…

He looked around and saw some of the more grotesque ones. Some had more legs and some had less. Others had none or had no eyes. Then he realized… Katz must've intended to use them for these experiments… RAGE… He was pissed off at Katz at that moment. How dare he intend on hurting his family! HOW DARE HE EVEN GET THE IDEA! He heard the footsteps stop at the door. RAGE! He charged the door and then bashed it in.

Katz was indeed on the other side. He was also on the ground glaring daggers at Courage. I didn't care what he thought of me. All I cared about was shoving a knife down his throat. Courage just kicked him in the face and started running to lead him further away from anyone's earshot. Katz was enraged and following at a fast pace walk… probably just couldn't be bothered to run.

Courage finally came upon a dead end and just let the evil cat behind him come. I was ready (in my head mind you) to kill him for real… Katz eventually made himself known. "That actually rather hurt… I demand an apology and maybe I'll consider letting you live… you filthy little mutt." Well if that was supposed to make him apologize than it failed miserably. RAGE!

Courage replied, "Fuck off…" and charged him. Katz just sidestepped thinking that Courage was stupid enough to fall for it… he was consequently hit in the face with a clothesline. He was on the ground again and Courage immediately made full use of it. Katz found himself being punched in the face with his arms pinned. His nose, jaw, and pride were broken in seconds and blood was flying onto Courage's face. This was the breakdown I mentioned… about a minute more and I would've killed him… I'd wish I'd done it later. Courage finally stopped and got off him.

He wasn't done though. Grabbing Katz by the neck he hoisted him up to his feet but kept his grip firm. "What did you intend to do with the spiders?" Katz tried talking but it wasn't easy. "Yoff gooott toooo ttwwyy hadah zen…" Courage suddenly popped his jaw back in place… well… what was left… It was still painful to do so… but Katz started making coherent sentences. "You've got to try harder than that old bean…" He did…

Courage suddenly slammed a knee into Katz's groin before violently punching him in the stomach repeatedly. That got him talking… "Okay! Okay! I was going to use them as a personal weapon against those I choose…" Courage wasn't satisfied yet. "Why did you want to kill us?" Katz glared at him and remained silent. He was consequently thrown into a door while having his head punched into it.

He slid down and got his head subsequently kneed into it… actually managing to force it open… how he stayed conscious was anyone's guess. Courage picked him back up and glared at him in the harshest way he could… which was actually really scary. "Agh! I was testing and feeding them!" That made Courage's mood worse if that was possible. "One last question… Where are you getting the spiders?"

Katz obviously hadn't learned anything. He just gave Courage a look that promised death when he got loose. He should been more afraid of the boy before him. Courage stomped on his leg and bent his arm all the way backwards at the elbow, effectively breaking both. When he was done screaming he answered, "I have them shipped to me by mail order… I have them thinking I'm just a regular scientist… Please don't kill me…" It was then Courage knew he had the satisfaction of breaking Katz's spirit… which was fine with him considering what he would've done to them.

He let the cat go and watched as he crawled away. I knew he left the motel cause I'd put the fear of god into him… which made it easy to blow the place up… He'd found out that Katz had made backups of his data and promptly destroyed them… He'd also found the homicidal maniac's failsafe… Katz had set the place with quite a bit of C4… Courage set the place to blow about three hours after they left.

He'd slept well that night. Calm… He figured it was because he'd adequately vented his anger on the insane keeper of this shoddy place…

They woke up and left the next morning (after the boy showered to get the blood off his face)… Courage smiling as he caught the faint sound of an explosion through his sensitive ears.

They safely made to the house in about five hours. It was an old place… but it was homey and that was what he needed right now… He settled in the attic and promptly fell asleep… Tomorrow was going to bring yet another trial for him…

End Chapter 1… - - - -

AN: Hey y'all… Alright… this isn't a "dark Courage" fic. It's a "pissed off Courage" fic. I'm trying to make this a lot like Splinter Cell: Conviction, so expect quite a bit of violence should anyone be stupid enough to try and hurt Courage's "grandparents" or loved ones. Oh and I am pairing him with Kitty… just work with me on this one… I'll make it work. I'll be going in random order with the series. And yes, I'll be adding humor where It should be in the ones that have it…Oh and the episode: "In Memory of his Courage" will be the last chapter… you'll see why when we get there… So yeah… read and review for me please… I won't get better if you don't.

Neo-Alucard95