by Roaming Tigress
Chapter Five:
Five Years Later
At the age of ten, Javert had grown from a pudgy toddler to a lean, mean youngster. His naive innocence was replaced with the heart of a devil, and the mind of a seasoned serial killer. Already at his young age he had killed twelve people, and this was just practice.
Most children of his age were writing stories to boost their grades and expand their creativity. Javert, on the other hand, was learning to be a sniper. As efficient as he already was, he had much to learn. The first two people he killed were brought down by multiple shots. His aim was something to be desired.
In appearance, Javert was beginning to look like a predator, with a sinewy body with intense eyes. His once round face was beginning to somewhat resemble Darkwing's, but the similarity ended there. He was tall for his age, and his bill was fairly small. The patch over his eye had earned him the nickname "Pirate Boy", which he despised.
"One bullet to the head will do the trick, son!" Siege quickly instructed her son over his communicator as she made her way to High Command Chamber. "Don't let the adrenaline rush cloud your train of thought. If you let this happen you'll either let your victim escape, or end up getting shot yourself!"
"Don't worry, mom!" He grinned, watching the targets being brought out and placed against a wall of F.O.W.L's firing range. These targets were real people that had been rounded up for Javert's training. Usually they were SHUSH spies who were caught spying on F.O.W.L. At other times they were police officers that were caught unaware. Today, however, he was presented with something a little different.
"Ohhhh we're in luck, a couple of incompetent Eggmen who failed to do their job," he said to himself, loading a bullet into his sniper rifle. Unlike his other targets, these ones were not blindfolded or shackled to the wall for easy firing. They were left to wander in the arena-like compound, giving Javert more of a challenge to shoot moving "prey."
He took no hesitation in pulling the trigger, and in one shot the first Eggman was brought down with a shot to the brain. Not bad for a novice!
"Hah, this is kid's stuff!"
In less than five minutes, the remaining four were brought down. One escaped after being shot in the shoulder (and later recaptured and killed), while another was killed by a shot to the jugular vein. Another was left half-dead, slumped over in a pool of his own blood. The last attempted to jump over the wall and was dispatched with a shot to the back of the head.
"Yas gotta be better den dat if yas wanna be a sniper!" Jeered Steelbeak as he watched on the sidelines with the other agents. To him, Javert was just a wannabe villain with a bratty attitude. A few laughed at his remark, causing the child's temper to soar.
"Awww, the little kid's got the whole angry consumer thing going!" Laughed an observing agent, tossing a apple core at Javert. "Here's some lunch, Pirate-Boy!"
"Who wouldda t'ought dat de son of a 'igh Commander would toin out to 'ave such a bad aim? 'e can't even tell de difference between de 'ead and de shoulders!" Steelbeak said to the applecore-thrower, just waiting for Javert to explode. "I know 'e's a kid an' all but ya'd t'ink de ol' broad wouldda t'ought 'em to aim decently!"
Quickly, Javert pointed his rifle at the rooster's direction and ignored everyone else. The child had gone trigger-happy, and was ready to take another life.
"Do you want to be next?" He asked in a deadly serious tone, not the least bit afraid of the fully mature rooster. His immense size, dangerous beak and muscular statue didn't the least bit intimidate the young Javert.
"Someday i'll probably get my bullet," Steelbeak casually replied, yanking the gun from the scornful duckling and holding it just out of his reach. "Not today. Yer just a kid, I ain't worried about youse if dat's what yer t'inkin'. "
"Give me back my gun!" Javert growled, making a jump for the gun. He tried to give Steelbeak a swift kick to the shin, but ended up getting tripped.
Frustrated at Steelbeak's quick moves, he attempted to steal a gun from another agent, but no dice. For a moment he got ahold of him again, but was quickly bitten on the hand.
"Yeeeeeow!" Javert yelped, examining his hand for any sort of injuries. Fortunately, the bite hadn't broken the skin enough to draw blood, and no bones were broken. Only a superficial scrape remained.
"What's going on out there?" Hissed Siege's voice on the loudspeaker. She had been watching the scrap from the security camera, and was more than annoyed.
"Nothin'!" Steelbeak shouted back, sidestepping another leap from Javert. He grinned as the child went headfirst into the bleachers, banging his head and causing him to black out for "Ev'ryt'ing is a-ok and in top shape 'ere, de kid just took a plunge into de bleachers 'ere, but, yea, ev'ryt'ing's jus' dandy!" Not wanting to get into trouble by his superiors, he slunk off.
"Hah! He'll feel that one tomorrow!" A lean brown dog laughed, pointing at little Javert as he tried to get up off the ground. He stepped aside as the F.O.W.L Medical Unit showed up and escorted the young killer back into the building.
Luckily, aside from a headache and a bruise to the forehead, Javert was none the worse for wear. He rested on his bed, looking up at the ceiling with his eyes narrowed into slits.
"Mom, you should fire that stupid rooster!"
"Easier said than done, Javert," remarked Siege as she hastily placed a cold compress on his forehead. "He's our top agent, although sometimes you'd think otherwise. Agents are only fired at a last moment basis. If we fired them merely for making an ass out themselves, we wouldn't have them to carry out our duties. Nonetheless, I will have a word with him today to ensure today's incident won't repeat itself."
"Well, can I kill him?" Javert asked excitedly, as if he had suddenly developed a caffeine high. "C'mon, please? I'd love to give that idiot a brain shot!"
"NO!"
"Alright . . . " He said in a disappointed tone, turning his head to look out at the window. He had wished his mother was enthused about his suggestion as much as he was. "I guess I'll just be shooting stupid Eggmen and spies all my life."
"Nonsense!" Snarled Siege, wanting to have Javert focus on the positive of his early villainhood. She wouldn't let him give up. "If it's the last thing I'll do, I'll see to it that you become St. Canard's most feared villain! Forget about Negaduck and Dr. Slug and even Steelbeak being on the top. You'll sink them!"
Javert knew that she was saying this just so he would feel better. He didn't reply to this, and simply got up and polished the new sniper rifle Siege had given him. "Since I was very young I hated that Steelbeak. I will kill him, one of these days."
"You better watch your back, or he'll shoot you faster than you can say 'kill'! You're damned lucky he hadn't done more damage to that hand!" She warned, recalling a near successful take over five years into his employment. Steelbeak had been punished for this act, but it had caused her to think twice of what he was capable of doing. "There's a reason for us having to keep close tabs on him. He'll turn on us given the chance, and tried to, once. "
"Pffft . . . " Javert rolled his eyes, not believing that the big hot-shot would even attempt to take control of the organization and run it his way. "What harm could an oversized chicken nugget do?"
"A lot."