A/N I finally decided to write a story on Thrax's childhood. I'll also continue through "Almira's Story", showing his POV on meeting Almira. I don't own Thrax; he belongs to Warner Bros. I DO own his surname, his family, and other characters you don't recognize from Osmosis Jones.

DNAngelFangirl: Thanks :D

He doesn't even have his scars yet, I'm afraid...

Chapter 6

School continued on normally. It never crossed Thrax's mind that Hamilton would hear of him spraining Herman's wrist, thus making sure he paid the price. But Thrax had other things on his mind: today was the first day of killing tests.

During the killing tests, the viruses, bacteria and germs exited the rat to some mice, killing them as their past relatives did. It was a test of how well the students did killing. If they could kill mice, they could kill even bigger targets.

Thrax's excitement for the future killing tests had dwindled down after Hamilton came around. But when he heard the tests were near, he got excited again. Ed was more excited; finally, he was able to show off how Ebola killed.

The disease, Ebola, had symptoms such as a dry hacking cough and vomiting. The victim died of severe blood loss.

Red Death was a rare disease, so no one really quite knew the symptoms or how the victim dies. A Red Death virus causes a sore throat and stuffy nose, posing as a simple common cold. Then the hypothalamus gland, in the brain, is tampered with. This causes a massive fever, eventually killing.

Even though the diseases were just as deadly as the other, Ebola was more well-known than Red Death. Therefore, it was one of the most feared diseases on the planet. Ed knew it, and made sure everyone else knew it. Some students were very impressed; others were just plain annoyed. One of those "others" was Thrax Muerja.

Even though Red Death wasn't as well known as Ebola or Rabies, it was just as deadly; maybe even more feared. Instead of something sinister, like blood loss, the cause of death was a simple high fever. That would make anyone scared that they had Red Death when they had a fever. But Red Death was rare, so practically no one knew about it.

Thrax tried not to let it bother him, but he was always reminded about his species' rarity; especially by those such as Herman and Ed. Herman, he was used to; Ed, it was more annoying because they were friends.

Soon enough, the students were ready to kill. Thrax had a blank chain wrapped around his wrist. Before he died, Joseph had given him the chain, saying it was a Red Death virus' most prized possession. It held the hypothalamus beads that a virus stole; that was what caused the fever to rise.

Ed possessed no tool to carry beads from DNA. He simply sucked blood cells dry of their liquids and threw them into the stomach to be vomited, thus causing the severe blood loss. "Good luck, Thrax," He grinned in a competitive way. "You'll need it."

Thrax just threw a scoff at his best friend. "All right, students," The principal said loudly. "You are clear for takeoff in three…two…one…infect!"

The students took off. Some glided like flying squirrels to a lone mouse. Others had to hop like grasshoppers. Once inside, they didn't dawdle; they started infecting like their lives depended on it.

Thrax sliced through blood cells and germs with his glowing burner claw before making his way to the brain. As he rode the elevator, he suddenly cursed sharply; he didn't know where the hypothalamus chamber was!

As soon as he exited the elevator, he searched around furiously. It was half an hour before he found the chamber. Killing the scientists guarding the chamber, he stood before the tall chamber made of protoplasm. Inside was the swirling DNA strand. He quickly made out a single blue and purple orb. The hypothalamus bead. But how am I gonna get it?

Remembering his claw, he lit it up and shoved it into the protoplasm. After several seconds, it exploded. Thrax had to shield his eyes from the bright light. He waited impatiently for the bead to come within his grasp. But when he went to grab it, he missed. This continued on for several minutes.

"C'mon, baby," He muttered. This time, he held his hand up, waiting for the bead to come within his sights. His arm shot forward like a cobra, and his claws closed around something. He pulled his arm out, grinning at the sight of the little bead. "Gotcha." He grinned, holding it close to the chain. The black material was sucked to the bead, and the chain swallowed it like a snake.

Nodding once, Thrax exited the brain, headed for the mouse's nose. He noticed it was getting hotter in the mouse. On a digital thermometer, he saw that the temperature was 99.7. It worked!

As soon as he got back to the rat, he took out and showed the bead to the principal; it was proof that he had killed. "Congratulations, Mr. Muerja," The principal nodded. "A very nice first kill."

My first kill. Thrax grinned with pride. Not even Ed, who was gloating so much, one would have thought his head would explode, could spoil his good mood.

Thrax strolled home in a very good mood. He swung his chain around his wrist as he hummed his favorite song, Fever. Granted, it was a human song, but he liked it anyway.

As soon as he walked into the house, he was greeted by his little sister running up and hugging his legs. "Hi, Thwax!" She giggled.

Thrax patted her head, smiling. "Hey, Amelia."

Amelia had grown into a pretty three year old. Her black hair was in several little dreadlocks, and her cheekbones and chin were a little pointed, although not as much as Thrax's or Joseph's. She liked wearing dresses; she was wearing a light green one at the moment.

"Hi, Thrax," Elaine greeted her oldest child. "How was your first killing test?"

"Decent." Thrax nodded. "I forgot where the hypothalamus chamber was."

Elaine shook her head, but was smiling anyway. "Well, it'll stick to your brain after a few more tests. How many mice did you kill?"

"One. But should I have killed more? I thought it was a test of how fast ya kill a mouse."

"It can be, yes," Elaine nodded, picking up Amelia into her arms. "But it can also be a test of how many mice you can kill within the time limit."

Before Thrax could say anything else, there was a loud belch. They turned towards it to see Hamilton leaning against the doorway, grinning. Not a good sign. "Well, hello, Thrax."

The young virus simply nodded in a returned greeting. "So, I heard ya got in trouble at school t'day."

At Elaine's glance, Thrax explained, "Herman tried to punch me first; an' when my back was turned. I just grabbed his first an' sprained his wrist."

Elaine seemed relieved at this; Hamilton was still indifferent. "Elaine, how's about you let Thrax an' I talk, man-to-man?"

Both viruses' faces paled at that suggestion. "Hamilton, I-"

"Now!" Hamilton snapped, glaring at her.

"It's fine, Mom," Thrax nodded. "I'll be okay."

Swallowing nervously, Elaine left the room in regret. "So, you sprained his wrist, hm?" Hamilton asked, strolling over to Thrax; his hand was behind his back.

Thrax nodded, trying not to let the fear show in his eyes. "He tried to throw the first punch."

"Of course he did. Y'know, Thrax, I was thinkin' today that you're gettin' kinda old for the belt."

A flutter of hope rose in Thrax's heart. "So yer gonna stop usin' it?" He asked hopefully.

"Oh, I'll stop using the belt, Thrax," The young virus' hopeful expression melted away; something was up. "It's just that I'll be usin' something else to discipline you; somethin' that'll hopefully make the message stick. Perhaps literally. And it's the perfect time to test it out."

Licking his lips nervously, Thrax asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer, "What's this thing you'll be usin'?"

With a nasty grin, Hamilton revealed his hiding hand. In his claws was a handle measuring a foot long; at the end was a long tail that slowly tapered at the end. A whip.

Thrax's eyes widened in horror; he felt like throwing up. Hamilton was planning to "discipline" him with a whip, like an animal? Did Elaine know?

While he was still frozen, Hamilton grabbed his shoulder and threw him over the back of the couch. He pulled the back of his sweater up. "Maybe this'll make the message stick!"

Thrax clenched his eyes shut, waiting for the pain. With a loud crack, the whip struck across his back. Thrax's eyes popped open as he hissed in pain. It stung something terrible! He actually felt the whip slice his skin open. This was worse than the belt!

CRACK! The whip bit through his back again. Thrax let out another loud hiss, gripping the couch with his claws tightly. As he was continued to be "disciplined" Thrax never cried out in pain; he only hissed through his clenched teeth. He had decided long ago that he wouldn't give Hamilton the satisfaction of a cry in pain. It seemed to make Hamilton angry that Thrax wasn't screaming. Eventually, he was tired from hurting Thrax. Panting, he pulled Thrax's sweater back down and stumbled away; wherever he went, the young virus couldn't care less.

Thrax slowly stood up, panting sharply at the stings in his back. As he slowly hobbled to the bathroom, he met Elaine at the door. "How bad is it?" She asked.

He didn't say anything at first. He gestured for her to follow him into the bathroom. Once the door was closed, he started to take his sweater off. "See fer yerself." He said, slowly pulling the clothing off over his head.

For the first time, Elaine actually screamed at her son's injuries. She looked absolutely horrified. "Oh my God!" She gasped. "Thrax, what did that bastard do to you?"

Thrax turned so he was facing away from the mirror, and looked over his shoulder. What he saw nearly made him sick.

There were lacerations across his back, and they were all bleeding. They crisscrossed across his back, overlapping another. They looked very ugly.

"Thrax?" Elaine spoke up.

Sighing bitterly, he answered her previous question, "Did'ja know he has a whip?"

"Whip?" Elaine whispered, visibly paling. "He…he beat you…with a whip?" At Thrax's nod, she sat on the closed toilet as tears began to run down her face. She buried her face in her hands and just sat there, crying. Thrax stood in silence until Elaine stood up and wiped the tears away. "Let me see it again. We need to treat them before they get infected."

"That'd be ironic." Thrax scoffed, but turned anyway. Elaine retched a little, but nevertheless, treated the wounds as usual. They stung even worse than before. Thrax bit his lip and groaned until they were all treated. He carefully pulled his sweater back on.

"What did you do?" Elaine whispered.

"Nothing! I didn't do anything! He just said I was gettin' too old fer the belt, an' was usin' the whip to make the message stick, whatever the hell that means."

"I have to talk to him-"

"No! Remember what happened last time? He did it again, an' he hurt you." Thrax took his mother's hands in his. "Listen, you can't talk to him."

"Thraximus,"

"Please, Mom. I just don't want him to hurt you, or Amelia. I'll…I'll pull through it."

Elaine didn't look like she was going to agree, but she finally sighed, "You're right, Thrax, but I have a right to protect my children."

"…Mom, I'm afraid this time, there isn't much you can do to protect me."

Even though she didn't say it, she knew he was right. No matter what they did, Hamilton would always hurt Thrax.

A/N Sorry for being inactive with this and my other stories; it was Christmas, after all :D

Since this is Thrax's first kill, he's not gonna be a natural right away. Plus, he's gonna have more trouble in a human body, since a mouse's is much smaller.

Now we all learn the reasons behind Thrax's back scars: a whip. Poor Thraxy :'(