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: We all love Almira :D
It's tempting, but I'm gonna stop at the end of AS. I only continued through OJ in AS just to show Almira's involvement in the movie. We already know how Thrax is involved.
thebigcrunch9: Thank you :)
Sounds interesting :)
Chapter 14
About twenty minutes later, as the female cell was tightening the bandages around Flaming Death's neck, the hyena woke up, whimpering softly. Thrax was standing by the door, arms crossed. Preemer was pacing back and forth in front of him, looking only mildly worried; he looked more angry that he lost a lot of money with Flaming Death's loss.
"She's lost a lot of plasma," The female cell sighed solemnly. "It's a miracle she woke up."
"She's awake?" Preemer stomped over to the hyena and shouted, "Ya stupid hyena! Ya nearly had 'im!"
Flaming Death only curled her lip in response. "Matt, enough." The female cell frowned sternly. "She was weak. She didn't have very much strength. How much are you feeding her?
"A few scraps o' meat three times a day." Mr. Preemer shrugged. "She gets an extra one per winning fight."
Thrax couldn't help raising his eyebrows incredulously. "That's it?" He muttered.
"That's it?" The female cell echoed the virus, her eyes darkening. "She needs to eat more! Look how thin she is!"
"She's right," Thrax spoke up, walking towards Preemer and the cell. "She barely weighed anything when I picked her up, an' I could feel her bones." He honestly couldn't fathom how Preemer never noticed how nearly skeletal she looked.
"She needs to build up some weight before you can even think of getting her on her feet." The cell scowled at Preemer like a mother disciplining her child. "She shouldn't be so thin you can practically see through her skin. Feed her, exercise her, and call me when she can at least support herself." She stormed out of the warehouse, shaking her head in exasperation.
Preemer slammed his fists on the wall, cussing loudly. "Ya brought this on yerself, Matt." Thrax shrugged, sitting in a chair. "An' you were lucky I was there to get that dog off her."
"Shut up!" Preemer snapped loudly. "I can't believe it, I just can't believe it! One li'l mistake, an' Flame needs bed rest! Just 'cause she's thin an' has some wounds."
"Didn't ya see how much plasma she lost?" Thrax asked, raising an eyebrow as he fiddled with his chain. "Or how thin she is? Would you be able to fight in those conditions?" I certainly wouldn't.
Preemer ignored Thrax and turned on the hyena. "Ya lost me a lotta money!" He yelled, raising his cane over his head. Thrax saw Flaming Death flinch down and hold her sore paw over her eyes.
Quick as a flash, Thrax stood up from the chair and grabbed Preemer's wrist before he could hit Flaming Death with it. For added measure, he also held his glowing burner claw to the germ's throat. "Preemer, enough." He scowled darkly. "I may kill cells an' germs that stand in my way, and kill humans with a heat wave, but even I wouldn't beat a defenseless animal, especially when she's inured." He let the Preemer's fist go as his claw darkened back to its original color. "Look, since I got some time to spare before I get to the deadline to kill this sucker, I'll help you with your hyena."
Preemer raised an eyebrow at him, rubbing his wrist. "Who are you, an' what've ya done with the real Thrax?"
The virus only laughed. "The real Thrax is right here, baby. He's just had a very rare change of heart."
"Lucky me." Preemer grumbled.
"Not you, her." Thrax corrected, nodding at Flaming Death.
"Whatever, let's just get 'er into tip-top shape, an' fast." Preemer left the warehouse, still grumbling under his breath.
Thrax shook his head, sighing, as he sat back in the chair. How can that chowderhead not see the hyena's bones showin', or the scars she has? Or maybe only I can see them, since I know about abuse firsthand, and have scars myself. Of course, there's the fact that Preemer's too stubborn for his own good. He looked at Flaming Death, who was still lying on the newspaper-covered table. She had been cleaned, and her neck and leg bandaged. Her leg wasn't broken; only bitten so it was sore and bloody. Her neck had been the most injured, but she had been saved in time.
The hyena stared back at him lethargically. Her eyes still had hostility and fear, yet they also had a touch of gratitude, as if she knew Thrax had saved her life.
Thrax slowly reached his right hand out, his chain swinging from his wrist, and touched her paw with his fingers. Flaming Death growled and pulled that paw away. Not wanting her to irritate her wounds, Thrax let her alone. Instead, he said gently, "Everything's gonna be okay, baby girl. Just you wait."
It was a week before the hyena was able to stand on her feet. After tranquilizing her so she didn't hurt anyone, the bandages were removed from her leg and neck. There were scars, but the fur would grow over them, hiding them from plain sight.
It was decided that since Flaming Death, the top fighting animal, was out of commission for a while, she would recover in the training pen, which was made of real, fire-proof fencing. The only problem was getting her into the pen without getting bit, scratched, or torched.
At the moment, she had a chain tied around her neck, which was wrapped around a chair leg. Preemer, Hangnail, a tough-looking germ, with big hands and an eye patch, named Puncher, and Thrax were standing in front of her. All eyes were on Flaming Death, and her eyes were on them in return. After several minutes of silence, rolling his eyes slightly, Thrax crouched down and slowly unwrapped the chain tail from the chair leg. "He's crazy." Hangnail remarked, eyes widening.
"No, I know what I'm doin'," Thrax answered, not taking his eyes from the suspicious-looking hyena. Then, he muttered to himself, "I think." He knew what those teeth and claws could do to him, and he did not want any more scars.
Once the chain was loose, Thrax tugged it back until it was taught between his hands and Flaming Death's neck. She growled warningly, not moving an inch.
As Thrax was wondering if he should risk the injuries and get her out, he heard Puncher behind him, "Maybe we could lure her out?"
"Doc says she's gotta build up weight anyway." Preemer commented grumpily.
Thrax heard someone step forward. Then, Puncher called out softly, "Here, girl," Thrax could smell meat to his right.
Flaming Death gained a hungry look in her eyes. Before anyone could move, she leapt past Thrax and onto Puncher. Screaming in fright, he threw his arms back; the piece of meat flew out of his large hand. "Get'er off me!"
Hangnail grabbed the meat. Shaking it slightly to get Flaming Death's attention, he ran out of the warehouse and towards the training pen. Flaming Death jumped off of Puncher and ran after the other germ. Thrax wrapped a loop of the chain around his left hand—which was his dominant hand—and held tight on the chain. Once she reached the end of the chain, the hyena was stopped short and fell, barking in surprise. Coughing, she stood up and shook herself. She scowled darkly when she saw Thrax still holding the chain.
"Nice try, girl," He smirked. He walked towards and around the hyena, gathering up the loose chain until he had about six feet of chain between him and Flaming Death. Then he started for the training pen, gently tugging on the chain, urging Flaming Death to follow. When he looked over his shoulder once, she was begrudgingly following him. Once they got to the opened pen, she ran in and began gobbling up the meat that had been laid out for her earlier, as well as the bait.
Thrax clipped her chain, which was ten feet long, to a nearby post and approached her from behind. While she was still eating, he laid his right hand on her shoulders. They felt thin, and her remaining fur was soft and warm.
Quick as a flash, Flaming Death whipped around and bit Thrax's hand. Crying out in pain, he jumped back and backed out of the pen, holding his hand. He could have sworn she smirked at him as Puncher shut the gate.
"Yer gonna have yer work cut out for ya." Preemer laughed, clapping Thrax on the shoulder. "Ya sure ya wanna help, now?" He and the others continued to laugh as they walked off somewhere.
Thrax stayed where he was. When he looked at his hand, he found that Flaming Death's teeth had broken the skin, and he was bleeding. Great. Just great. He glared at the hyena. Yes, she was indeed smirking smugly at him. "You think you've won, don'tcha?" He snarled. "Well, think again, baby. This is only the beginning. When I'm done with you, you'll be as tame as a kitten."
The hyena scoffed, as if to say, "That'll be the day."
A/N Well, now we know why Thrax was so keen to help Almira. He knows how she feels about being abused. While he was certainly never starved, like her, he knows how it feels to be beaten until you get scars.