Chapter Text
Akaashi leapt off of the ground, mottled grey wings spreading and stroking down toward the ground in one powerful motion. The sky was cloudy and the wind was blowing. Had the boy been in his right mind he probably wouldn’t have left the safety of the ground, as there were numerous signs pointing to an oncoming storm. But at present Akaashi only had one thing on his mind, and that was the mission he’d been given. His current goal was to capture as many of his former friends as he could, so that they could be “enlightened” just as he had. The voices in his mind had urged him to accept the mission when the scientists had proposed it, and he’d agreed without any sign of hesitation.
Though he found it funny, the scientists clearly had no idea what the voices wanted him to do. If they had known, there was absolutely no way that they’d be encouraging Akaashi. More than likely they’d try to kill him the first change they got.
After all, Akaashi didn’t think it likely that many humans would be encouraging the destruction of the world as they knew it.
***
Bokuto had awoken from his slumber in a terrible mood, though he couldn’t explain it. The others had tried everything they could think of to cheer him up, but nothing was working. So now the normally talkative and hyper owl-boy was flying silently ahead of his friends, deep in thought. He honestly had no idea where this mood swing had come from. Sure, it’s natural that anybody would be upset after having lost their home and being separated from half of the people they cared about, but Bokuto had managed to stay in a relatively good mood despite all that.
So what had changed?
“Uuuuuuuugh…” Bokuto ran one hand through his hair before bringing it back down to his face and angrily rubbing his temples. “WHY THE HELL DO I FEEL SO UPSET?” He balled his fists up as he shouted and swung down at the ground. Almost immediately a bolt of lightning arced down from above just a few feet away, and Bokuto almost fell out of the sky in surprise.
“WHAT THE HELL, MAN?” Kuroo shouted from a short distance away. He was being carried by Yachi and Kiyoko, who were both as startled as the cat mutant was.
“SORRY!” Bokuto called back, ears turning red in embarrassment. “I’M STILL NOT ENTIRELY USED TO SUMMONING LIGHTNING.”
“Moron,” Kuroo grumbled to himself, and the girls carrying him giggled quietly.
“It’s not a big deal, Kuroo,” Yachi said. “Nobody got hurt, we just got a little surprised!”
“I know, I know. But what if someone had gotten hurt?” Kuroo’s ears and tail flicked irritably. “I swear if he doesn’t get that under control someone’s gonna get killed one day.”
***
From a short distance away, Akaashi spotted the stray lightning bolt, and his sharp ears were just able to catch the sounds of shouting.
He smiled, look in his eyes growing wild.
“Found you, Koutaro.”
***
Yaku yelled angrily at the scientists trying to reach into his cage and grab him, swears falling from his lips while he desperately wished that his cat DNA had given him cat claws as well. Kindaichi watched helplessly from his own cage. He’d already tried transforming into a wolf and trying to break out, but to no avail. The cat mutant punched and kicked to the best of his abilities, but he knew it was only a matter of time until he lost the fight.
The scientists were shouting at one another, though neither boy was particularly concerned with what they were saying. However several minutes later and another labcoat-donning human jogged into the room with a nasty looking syringe and Yaku got very worried. Abandoning his plan to beat the scientists to death with only his fists and feet he crawled to the very back of his cage and curled in on himself, determined to give the guy with the syringe a hell of a hard time trying to poke him.
The man with the syringe was forced to get onto his belly to be able to try and get at Yaku. He inched forward little by little, as if Yaku was stupid and wouldn’t feel threatened if the guy came at him slowly. Yaku glared at the approaching scientist, trying to put as much force and loathing behind it as possible. The urge to reach out and slug the man was nearly unbearable, but the mutant knew that he couldn’t risk getting too close until he was sure he could knock the syringe away. The tension in the air was palpable, and Yaku’s nerves were shot. But finally he knew that he was close enough and fast enough to swat the needle out of the scientist’s hand. He struck quickly and grinned when he realized that he’d been successful.
Unfortunately, the scientist seemed to have been preparing for that.
As soon as the syringe was knocked out of his hand he reached into the pocket of his labcoat and pulled a second one out as quickly as he could. And since Yaku had let his guard down, it was a simple matter to jab the needle into the boy’s arm and get away before much harm could be done. Of course, Yaku did in fact manage to land a punch on the guy’s face, but the damage had already been done. Less than a minute later and his body began to feel heavy, and he knew that he’d been drugged with something to ensure that he wouldn’t be causing any more trouble any time soon. The boy swayed unsteadily and blinked his eyes rapidly, willing himself to stay awake. But his thoughts were no longer coherent, and the last thing he heard before he blacked out was Kindaichi calling his name.