A/N: Now, I'm bringing this story back, but I'm writing 2 different versions. This one is Roxas's POV, and the other will be from Night's. I'm so sorry about the long hiatus, but I'm busy. I have school, work, studying, family drama, and other things going on, so…yeah. And besides, my writing skills have greatly improved since I first wrote this fic. Enjoy~
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story & the dragons.
The Experiment, Roxas's Story
Chapter 1
I sat in the tree alongside my partner, my black combat boots keeping a firm grip on the branch I was crouched on. My black hooded trench coat kept my silver wings and tail hidden from the moonlight that shone down on everything, coating all of the area surrounding us in a milky glow. The silver dragon dug his claws into his branch above me, a few tiny chips of bark falling onto me from the action.
Apparently, he had heard about this place while performing recon in the town one evening, and we had mutually agreed to destroy the place. We planned on sneaking in, disarming the security system, making our way to the lab, and then destroy the building from there, hence ending the lives of any suffering experiments.
Out of nowhere, an agonized scream sounded from the heart of the facility, and our heads snapped up to look at each other. My partner's pure silver eyes showed alarm, and we nodded to each other before launching ourselves from the tree, landing on the cold concrete of the roof lightly. Fortunately, the night clouds hid the moon from exposing us as we dashed along the roof.
The silver dragon pried open the air vent, allowing me to climb inside first, and then he followed shortly after. We silently crawled through the air vents, careful to avoid the grates that would crumple under our weight and give us away.
"Where do we go first?" I asked quietly as we went.
"Control room. We need to deactivate their security system and distract the guards somehow," he replied in a hushed tone as he took the lead. I followed him to the control room, where a bored-looking guard was sitting at the control panel, flipping through a magazine. Glancing at my partner, who nodded, I dropped quietly out of the air vent, slipped up behind the guard, and snapped his neck, killing him instantly. As I dragged the body into the corner, the silver dragon slid into the seat at the controls and rapidly began to type.
I waited patiently until he was finished hacking through the security system, and handed him the radio from the dead guard's belt once he had snagged the flash drive from the safe. As soon as it was in his claws, he held it close to his mouth as he shouted into it.
"Attention, all guards: there has been a break-in out at the west gate. All assistance needed, please report there now for back-up!" he yelled. Once the crackling reply sounded from it, we hid from view as the entire patrol of guards stampeded past, heading for the west gate. When they were all gone, we quickly made our way to the lab s the screams became louder and more intense. Upon reaching the lab door, my partner paused.
"Be careful in there," he warned me. "Remember, even though I deactivated the iron barrier, they can still capture us if they get too close."
"Don't worry, Night. We're here to destroy the lab, easy as that," I shrugged.
"I know that, Roxas, and we're also going to rescue any experiments like us if they're here," he reminded me. "Come on, let's go." Right before he could open the door, however, an ear-splitting, blood-curdling scream of terror and agony sounded from inside the lab. I paled considerably at the sound, and I saw Night shiver slightly. He quickly slid through the door, and I followed, but the scene we came upon should have belonged strictly to a sci-fi movie.
Several scientists were lying about, dead, as several more were attempting to contact the guards. The rest of them, at least 18 of them, were gathered around a tall, raging redhead that had a black, armor-plated, reptilian tail and long, slender, black wings. His eyes were completely black, no white visible within them, and he was visibly shaking with fury. The redhead's stance was protective, his gaze fearful, as he snarled and attacked the scientists as they edged closer with syringes and iron-laced nets. A small, dark form lay unconscious in an iron cage behind him, and I heard Night gasp in horror beside me.
"Night? What is it?" I breathed.
"I'll tell you later, but we need to help them, now," he growled, and darted out of hiding with me right on his heels. Together, we killed the remaining scientists, even the ones trying to call the guards. When they were all dead, I cautiously approached the newly changed hybrid as Night stood back and watched warily.
"Easy now, we're not going to hurt you. We're here to help," I murmured. I held my hands up to show I didn't have a weapon, but the redhead tensed as I inched closer. A rumbling growl emerged through his bared teeth, warning me to stay back, but I went a little closer instead.
"Careful, Rox," Night cautioned. I flicked the tip of my tail in acknowledgement.
"I promise, we're not like them," I swore to the man. "We're only here to help. We'll destroy this place when we get you out." My words finally seemed to get through to the redhead, and he relaxed slightly. His eyes briefly turned to green human ones before he passed out. I darted forward and caught him before he could hit the glass and debris-covered floor, though. When I darted forward, Night ran to the cage and smashed the lock, and then picked up the black dragon inside.
"I'll set up the bomb, you watch these two," I said, and carefully set the man next to my silver partner before digging through my pack. Once the bomb was set up, I turned to Night. "It's all set up!" I called to him, and went over and handed him the detonator.
"Good job, now let's go home," he said, and I nodded, spreading my wings. We crashed through the ceiling of the lab as we each held the victims of the experiment. As soon as we were out of the blast radius, Night pressed the button on the detonator, and the lab exploded. When it ended, all that was left of the large building was a smoldering crater in the ground.
As we flew home, I occasionally glanced down at the redhead in my arms. His features, now softened from his unconscious state, seemed kind and gentle. He had a pair of black, upside down teardrops under his eyes, one under each eye. He was tall, his limbs long and lanky in proportion with his height. The black wings that had grown on his back with his change were like mine, only a little bit longer. It was the same with his tail: black and a bit longer than mine. The bright red spikes on his head moved a bit as the wind blew past us while we flew, and I knew they were natural, no gel needed.
When we arrived back home, which was a tree house in the woods of Twilight Town, I landed first, carrying the redheaded hybrid to a pile of deer and rabbit skins by the window and laying him there. Night placed the black dragon next to the man, carefully folding his wings for him and then turning to me.
"Let's get their wounds taken care of," he said softly, and I nodded once before retrieving a bowl of water, a few cloths, and some of our medicinal herbs. "Mind cleaning his wounds?" my partner asked, gesturing to the redhead. I blushed very lightly, and hoped that Night wouldn't notice as I nodded. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on my side this time. "You like him already, don't you?"
"What? No way, Night, I don't even know his name," I argued, and my flush deepened. He fixed me with a firm look as he paused in cleaning the dragon's wounds.
"Roxas. There's nothing wrong with liking him. If he becomes your mate, then so be it," he shrugged. "I approve of anything you do, as long as it's the right choice in the long run. Remember, we're partners. We share that bond."
"Right…" I sighed, and we resumed cleaning their injuries. After a short silence, I asked, "How do you know that dragon?"
"He's my twin brother, Shadow," the silver dragon murmured, lowering his gaze. "I didn't even know he was in the human world. I thought he was still back home, watching over our clan. I'm just glad we found him, but I would prefer it wasn't under these circumstances…"
"I understand, Night. Remember Ventus?" I reminded him quietly, and he mumbled in acknowledgement. "Well, hopefully I can see him again someday, just not have him freak out about my wings and tail, among other things."
"I know he'll accept you, Rox. He's your twin, after all. It'll probably take some time to forgive you for not seeing him sooner, but he'll forgive you," he told me. We fell into silence after that. When we were done cleaning their burns, needle marks, cuts, and all of the other injuries, we both applied some marigold paste to the wounds. As Night covered the more severe ones with bandages, I sat back against the far wall, closing my eyes for a moment to rest.
X*X*X*X*X*X*X
A sudden snarling woke me up, and my eyes snapped open to see Night pinning his brother completely.
"Shadow! It's me, Night! You're safe now!" he shouted at him over the snarls. As soon as the silver dragon uttered the word 'safe', Shadow stilled and relaxed, not making a sound.
"Night?" the black dragon said, confused. "Where am I? What's going on? What're you here?"
"We saved your ass, along with the human I'm assuming you're bonded to," my partner replied, gesturing to the still-unconscious redhead. Shadow nodded, but his eyes widened in horror when he noticed the man's wings and tail.
"What happened? And who's 'we'?" he questioned, staring at the man's new features.
"I'll explain once your partner is awake, and the other one who helped me is my human partner, Roxas," Night told him, pointing at me. I gave a two-fingered wave in greeting.
"Ah, so you're the one Night was sent here for," Shadow said. "Roxas, is it? I'm Shadow, leader of Diamond Clan and Night's twin brother."
"Nice to meet you. Night never told me before we rescued you that he had a brother, let alone a twin one," I greeted, shaking hands with the black dragon. I gave Night a pointed look.
"It never came up!" he snapped defensively, frowning. A soft groan interrupted us, and we all looked to see the redhead was waking up. "Shadow, quick, pin him! Remember to pin his tail, too!" Night ordered urgently, and the black dragon swiftly complied, pinning his partner and wrapping his own tail with the man's. The redhead began to snarl and thrash, struggling against Shadow, his eyes completely pitch black with no visible white.
"Axel, it's Shadow! Calm down, we're safe!" he yelled over his partner's snarls. Like with Shadow, when the word 'safe' was uttered, the man stilled, calming down and his eyes becoming green, human ones. I noticed they were almost cat-like in appearance, and they were actually mesmerizing. Those green orbs watched Shadow as if in a daze, but when he snapped out of it, they flicked about the tree house, panicked.
"Shadow, where are we? What's going on?" he demanded, his voice shaking slightly as Shadow stepped back from him.
"Guess it's time to explain," Night muttered, and the redhead's gaze quickly switched to him.
"Who are you? And what do you mean, 'explain'?"
"Name's Night. I'm Shadow's twin brother and deputy to Diamond Clan," the silver dragon replied. Then I stepped forward to introduce myself.
"I'm Roxas, Night's human partner," I greeted. "Or rather, once completely human." At his curious and puzzled look, I sighed, gesturing to my tail and opened my wings slightly.
"What the fuck?!" the redhead yelped, and that's when he took notice of his own wings and tail. "What happened to me?!"
"That's what I'm going to explain," Night said. "But first, what's your name?"
"Axel," he replied. "Please tell me what's going on. I don't know what happened after I was tortured in that lab."
"Well, let's actually start from the beginning, with Roxas and me," my partner began. "Roxas and I were the first ones to be changed. When I first bonded with Roxas, we had a great life. Everything was simple. I had no worries about being captured. I was certainly suspicious, of course, but didn't often worry about it. His family had accepted me because I protected him, especially from bullies. This was how it was for ten years. He was eight when we met."
"Wait, but Night, you left the Dragon Realms thirteen years ago," Shadow interrupted. "What happened?"
"I'm getting to it," Night snapped. "Anyway, it was when Roxas turned eighteen and he moved out from his family's home that things changed. Drastically. We were at his apartment one night, about to go to bed, when we were captured by some thugs. I tried fighting them off, but one of them snagged me with an iron-laced net. All dragons know that iron is their greatest weakness, so when I was captured in the net and thrown into an iron cage, I freaked. I began to have a full-on panic attack until they jabbed me with a powerful sedative. Roxas was struck over the head and hence knocked out as well, and then we were taken to the old mansion near here.
"We were tested on for six months, being jabbed with needles, tortured with different devices, and put through rigorous exercises before they were able to create the technology and biological advances to splice DNA. And what did they do? They took a sample of my DNA and spliced it into Roxas's, and made him a human and dragon hybrid. When my partner was changed, he became extremely powerful, and they had forgotten to put iron cuffs into the table when they chained him there, so when the splice had fused with his DNA, he snapped. He killed all of the scientists, rescued me, and then we fled, destroying the lab as well as everything and everyone in it.
"Roxas was thinking strictly primal instinct, so he hid us from being captured again by remaining in the trees, tending to my wounds until I healed. Mind you, I had been unconscious throughout all of this, so when I woke up three days later and discovered his wings and tail, I was shocked and horrified. I felt awful that I had let this happen, but Roxas, being the greatest partner anyone could have, assured me he never has and never will blame me.
"After I recovered, we built this tree house, some furniture and such, and I trained Roxas on how to fly, fight, and things of the like. We've been living here for two and a half years now. And that's the story," he finished.
"So, I'm a human and dragon hybrid now?" Axel asked in a small voice.
"Yes and there's a lot to explain about what to expect," the silver dragon answered. Looking at me, he said, "Mind telling him?"
"Sure," I shrugged, and sat up from where I was leaning against the wall. "Basically, you're no longer completely human, obviously. This means you can't return to society. If you try, you'll be captured again and experimented on even more. It sucks, I know, but I have a secret for you once we begin training. Anyway, some things you need to know about being a human and dragon hybrid with Shadow is that you now control all elements, including light and darkness. The only thing with that is that you never use darkness. It's only to be deflected if need be, never used. If you try and use that element, it will change you into a dark being." As I explained, I noticed Night pull Shadow off to the side, but he gestured for me to continue, so I did.
"You'll learn more about your abilities when we go out into the forest, but right now, I'll tell you this: don't expect your life to be easy anymore," I continued, folding my arms. "You've been pulled into something that's bigger than you know, even though you probably didn't want to be pulled into it in the first place. Unfortunately, you have no choice. You're stuck in this life now."
"As long as I'm not alone, I'll be okay," Axel murmured, and I crouched down in front of him.
"Of course you're not alone. A new species like us can't afford to be alone. Especially when no one else is willing or able to help," I smiled softly. He looked up at me, and I noticed that his eyes were even more mesmerizing up close.
"You're right," he nodded, and smiled back. I looked over at my partner and his twin, and straightened up.
"Hey, Night!" I called, and he looked at us.
"What's up?" he asked as they rejoined us.
"We should probably take Axel out for his first run, huh?" I suggested, and he nodded.
"Yeah, let's go," he agreed.
A/N: And there's the end of the first chapter! I hope you guys like these rewrites, 'cause I'm excited as hell about them! Now to continue other fics. Off I go! R&R, peeps!