by Roaming Tigress and Shelley Inks, creator of Keleen Vanderchill
Chapter Eighteen:
An Encounter of The Eggman Kind
After having their fighting wounds taken care of, Keleen and Javert split up to search for Steelbeak in the F.O.W.L facility. To avoid detection from vigilante crime fighters and police, the exterior of the headquarters was designed to look like an ordinary upper class apartment. The sheer size alone combined with a complex system of offices and departments made it a challenge to find even a large avian. Thanks to security cameras, they knew that Steelbeak was still in the building and possibly waiting for them in ambush.
"Any sign of our favorite little game cock?" Javert asked over his walkie talkie, searching the upper portion of the huge F.O.W.L facility. He had passed by the Dental office and saw Victoria's teeth being looked after, but the pyromaniac was the least of his concern.
"I haven't come upon a single feather," Keleen said with slight disappointment. "I wish I could report you back with something. If he knew what was good enough for him, he'd give in."
"Hah, he doesn't know the meaning of the word!" Javert growled, looking at a bad bruise on his arm. "I'll tell you what. Instead of looking for him, how about we lure him into us?"
"Sounds like a good idea . . . " Keleen replied, searching through the tunnel system. "How do you plan on doing this? Use Victoria and the kid and hold them hostage?"
Sometimes classic methods worked the best for such experienced villains such as Javert, and he considered it. Yet, he went back to his old idea of using Keleen to mentally ensnare him in a trap. His feelings toward Keleen had changed, from merely thinking of her as just another F.O.W.L employee to actually loving her, and decided to tell her his plan instead of just using her.
Javert passed through the busy laundry room, blowing cigarette smoke into whichever face was closest to him. "Well, Steelbeak has always been good with women, maybe - - "
At the other end of the line was a laugh from Keleen. "Oh, you're not suggesting I pretend to be falling in love with him do you? I'm as much attracted to him as I am to that blanketed buffoon! I just wouldn't be able to pass it off well enough. According to my father, he's too smart for most mind games."
"I had an even better idea!" Javert explained, keeping his voice low in case Steelbeak or an ally of him was listening in on the conversation.
"Oh? Do tell . . . " By now, Keleen was more than intrigued by what he had in store. While talking to the seasoned murder, she came upon a telephone book that just happened to belong to the maligned menace.
"I recently met a group of ex-Eggmen who had been badly treated by Steelbeak in the past," Javert explained, sneaking into an empty, unused room. "They have been looking to get revenge on him for months, but haven't been unable for reasons they never told me.
"Interesting . . . " Keleen murmured, flipping through the pages of the book. Several names accompied by phone numbers have been crossed out, including one for her mother's.
Javert's twisted mind was getting all the more cruel and twisted, for he knew his girl loved it. "I was thinking maybe perhaps I can have them search him out and make their attack. Wound him badly, but not mortally!"
"Yes . . . Wouldn't want them doing what you wanted for years!" When it came clear to Keleen that Steelbeak wasn't hiding anywhere in the cellar, she made her way back up the stairs.
"Non! I was thinking that perhaps if he was wounded enough, you can pretend to become sympathetic to him," Javert suggested, hearing footsteps from outside the room. "I admit to watching you take care of his wounds ze other night. Zere is a soft spot in him, and it's eventually going to become his ultimate downfall if he isn't careful."
"I'll go with it," Keleen said after a brief moment of silence as she thought it over. "Steelbeak might see through it, but I'll give it a try."
"Excellent!" Clicking his walkman off, Javert strolled down the hallways of the were he met up with Keleen. She was leaning up against a wall, dressed in a black dress.
"Ready for our celebration?" She asked with a wry smirk, heading out the back door which lead out into the parking lot.
Meanwhile, Steelbeak had found his wounded wife in F.O.W.L's very own onsite hospital. He had been worried about her, especially after the fairly brutal scuffle in the High Command Chamber Office. Thanks to a passing agent of middle class, he was able to find her.
"Steelbeak . . . Are you all right?" Victoria quietly called out to him. She was laying in a cot, recovering from anesthetic after a surgery to repair her teeth. This was a rare moment in which she placid and vulnerable.
The sight of his wife in an unusually calm mood had softened a hardened expression upon his face. The fight was too fresh in his mind, and he was still very much on his guard. He bent down to her bedside, stroking her hair carefully as if she was made out of glass.
"Yes, I'm fine, but what about youse? What did dey do to youse?" He asked, giving her a kiss on her ghost-white cheek. His silver eyes flitted about, half-expecting either Keleen or Javert to leap out and attack him.
Exhaling with a slight shudder, Victoria smiling as she saw Tatiana and her husband by her side. "Oh, they knocked some teeth out, dragged me out into the cold when I was out like a light. Not before I got a good scrap in, mind you."
"Are you going to be better, mommy?" Tatiana asked, crawling into the cot to be cuddle up to her overprotective mother.
"Of course, dear! Why wouldn't I?" Victoria laughed, sitting up to give her little girl a tight hug. "I just got a bit scuffed up. I'll be fine in no time!"
A small band of Eggman made their way into the hospital room, and neither of the three took any special notice to them. They were often wounded and killed on duty, so their presence alone wasn't suspicious. Appearance wise they also looked like the others, sporting new silver and black suits that came with the rein of Victoria and Steelbeak. The tallest of them all was the first to approach.
"Awww . . . How sweet! Ya got the daddy, the mommy, and even the little baby! All that is missing is the family Golden Retriever, the SUV and the Mickey Mouse ears!" The leader of the lot commented in a greatly exaggerated sweet tone, hugging himself.
Steelbeak spun around, putting himself on the defensive once more. He hadn't brought his gun with him when he stopped in to visit his wife, but at the moment he rather wish he did. These were rouge Eggman, and knew the leader of the group all too well.
"Keep it up, guys, and you'll rot my teeth out!" Another Eggman taunted, this one speaking with a noticeable hiss to his voice.
"Why did youse come 'ere? I kicked youse out months ago!" Steelbeak demanded, protectively standing in front of his wife and child.
"Aren't we entitled for a visit after you starved us from full pay?" Asked Basil, the shortest of the Eggman and "second in command" to Tyrone. He pretended to sound hurt from Steelbeak's order, cringing back to make it look like he was truly intimidated.
"No . . . Tell me why's I should let youse live . . ." Steelbeak let out a deep and audible growl from his chest, staring him down.
"If you knew what was good for you, I suggest you hightail it out of here, mate!" Victoria flatly suggested, keeping a firm grip on Tatiana. She would be surprised if they hadn't even attempted to steal her away.
Tyrone slipped back from the rest of the group, and with a nod his cronies made their attack upon Steelbeak. Victoria grabbed a scalpel and rushed at the group, slashing and stabbing as many Eggmen as possible. She momentarily left her child unattended, but the Eggmen were so involved in the assault that they paid no attention to her.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" Tyrone demanded, violently pulling her off of one of his men. He kept her away from his face and grabbed her scalpel, holding it up to her narrow throat. Even this didn't frighten her, and she bit down on his hand.
"You little cuss" He hissed, letting Victoria go and dropping the surgical appliance. He tried smacking her in the face but instead received a direct and well deserved kick to the groin.
"Great lummox . . . " Victoria growled, watching him hobbled away along with the rest of his men. It didn't take her long to figure out the cause of their sudden departure, and she did what she could to comfort her crying daughter.