Chance sniffed the air, catching a faint whiff of burnt ozone, some of the fur on his arms standing upright. He glanced out the window of the small garage, noting the clear changing skies of the sunset, not a thundercloud in sight, and shook his head with amusement.
Seriously, that partner of his…
He wiped his paws on an oil rag, before shoving the cloth into his back pocket and locking the front door, flipping the sign to 'closed'. It was a few minutes early, but the sensors on the outskirts of the property that warned them of incoming vehicles hadn't gone off, which meant that no one would make it in time anyway.
There were some perks to living this far out of the city.
And it looked like a nice night out, it'd be a shame to waste it. Humming happily to himself, he pulled the rag back out of his pocket and worked on getting some of the buried grease out from under his claws as he walked into the residential side of the garage. He paused at the kitchen, checking the fridge to make sure they had food for dinner, idly musing if he should make something now, or later.
Chance caught the scent of ozone again and smiled. Later. Definately later.
He shut the fridge and did one last glance around the garage, then opened the secret hatch down to the hanger, the acrid smell of electricity and ozone getting stronger the farther down he got. A low rumble of anticipation started up, deep in his belly and he could feel himself smiling, showing off his long sharp teeth.
He found Jake in the hanger just as he expected to, the rumble change in in timbre to a purr, as Chance leaned against the wall, enjoying the sight of his partner. Jake had gotten distracted in his work again, sitting cross legged about 12 feet up in the air, glowing faintly light blue as parts of the Turbokat and various inventions drifted lazily around him.
The first time this had happened after the initial event, they'd both freaked out, Chance wrapping himself around Jake and holding on as he tried to keep his best friend on the earth. It hadn't worked, just resulted in both of them hovering in the middle of their living room.
Eventually they'd calmed down. And with composure came control, Jake slowly drifting back down to the ground until they could both stand on their own two feet. Although it took a little while longer for Jake than Chance.
Grappling that this was their new normal took a bit longer than that. And a lot more freakouts.
"I did it again." It was less a question than a statement of fact, Jake's voice drawing Chance back out of his thoughts. Jake sighed, and pushed the welding goggles he was wearing to the top of his head, looking vaguely chagrined. "How long was I out?"
"Not long." Chance assured him, pushing himself off the wall. Probably less than a half hour, he'd last seen Jake just before he'd started an oil change.
The corner of Jake's mouth quirked in a small crooked smile, and he motioned with his head, a silent query if Chance wanted to join him. Chance nodded, his own grin stretching across his face as gravity suddenly lost it's hold on him, Chance floating up to join his partner up in the air.
It had been a normal mission for the Swat Kats, as normal as any of their encounters went. They'd been dealing with a magic rift to another dimension, and stumbled upon a Mage who had been trying to seal the rift.
And a Wizard who had been trying to rip it even larger, his hordes of demonic minions flooding through, causing chaos and destruction in their wake.
There had been so many that the Turbokat had run out of missiles and ammunition, the two of them getting on the ground in order to do what they could in an attempt to stem the tide.
The Mage who was trying to seal the rift had asked them for permission to augment their own abilities in order to defeat the Wizard and seal the rift between their worlds before it tore both apart. They'd agreed and…
Chance still wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, magical armour or weapons, but becoming a were-kat hadn't been it. Larger, faster, stronger, and tougher than he'd ever been before, ripping through minions like they were bowling pins. There'd been a fierce joy to it, the surety that they couldn't stop him.
Especially with his buddy in the air, Jake floating above and pushing half a battalion away with a concentrated wave of his hand. Telekinesis, Jake had called it later, a hushed awe to his voice.
Technomage, was the phrase Dr. Abby Sinian had come up with, when they'd approached her after realising that the gifts weren't going away. Telekinesis was only a part of it, the rest of it having to do with Jake's ability to rebuild and create machines with his mind.
There were some other elements to it, the way that magic spell books lit up around Jake, or the way he'd end up lost in the machines to such an extent that Chance sometimes worried that his partner wasn't coming back.
But that was Chance's job, to protect Jake when that happened, and do his best to bring him back.
Jake offered his hand and Chance took it, curling his feet underneath him, tail lashing slightly at the unnerving feeling of floating without any physical means of support. He didn't need the contact to stay up, but it made him feel better, more rooted. Jake didn't mention it, turning his attention to the machines he had taken apart while distracted, putting them back together again.
Privately, in the deep recesses of his mind, never to be verbally spoken, Chance thought it was a little unfair. He was the one who loved flying, being up in the air, away from the confines of the ground, and yet Jake was the one who who could fly without mechanical assistance.
Yet he was pleased with his own gifts, and Jake's suited him very well. There was something otherworldly beautiful about Jake when he did this, more than the pale blue glow of magic, it was like a glimpse into the inside of his partner. All the things Jake tried to shyly keep hidden flowing out of him, the strength, precision, and control.
Sometimes, Chance wondered what it meant about him, that he turned into a larger, more beastly version of himself. There was a freedom to it, the world seeming to open up to him, sight, hearing, and scent showing him their surroundings in a way that he'd never been able to imagine prior.
It was easy to get lost in that, the world of hunter and prey. But when that happened, Jake was there to pull him out of it with warm hands and soothing words.
Or a floating car fender to the face.
Chance cracked his neck, stretching out his shoulders. "Wanna go for a run?" He asked, the urge to move like an itch under his skin. It always got slightly worse the more round the moon was. They still had a few days until that happened, but it really was a nice night out.
Jake smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling up. "Sounds good." He couldn't keep up on his own paws, but he could fly faster than Chance could run, if he wanted to.
Games of tag had become so much more awesome since the change.
"Sweet." Chance started wiggling out of his shirts, trusting Jake to keep him afloat as he kicked off his shoes, which made heavy thuds as they hit the ground below. Jake chuckled, reaching up and pulling Chance's hat free with his hand, then helped untangle him from the clothing.
"Impatient." Jake playfully scolded, taking the shirts from Chance as soon as he got free of them. Chance shrugged, knowing Jake wouldn't take offense to it. Words got hard sometimes.
The shirts floated away, folding themselves and landing on a clean worktable, his shoes tucked neatly underneath. He huffed in amusement at Jake's fussiness, muscles and bones rippling as he grew larger, feet stretching out of the bottom of his pants.
Elastic was an amazing thing, the too tight trousers the first couple of times he'd done this had been both extremely awkward and painful.
"Ready?" Jake asked, one hand on Chance's shoulder. Chance nodded once, and Jake let out a small cheer, the two of them picking up speed as they shot through the hanger at speeds that usually required the Turbokat to reach.
He didn't try to stop the pleased roar of delight at that, protected from the wind by Jake's ability. Jake laughed in return, mixing his voice to Chance's, the noise echoing in the tunnels of the launch bay.
Then they were out, up into the sky with nothing but the moon and the stars above them, the piles of metal scrap below them, and the glow of Megakat City in the distance.
Jake flew them in a lazy loop, then down towards a dirt covered path, free of sharp metal pieces. "Bombs away!" He called cheerfully, releasing his grip on Chance, both physical and mental. Gravity re-exerted control, Chance hitting the ground and rolling, before getting his paws underneath him and running.
"Can't catch me!" Jake called cheerfully, the faint blue glow around him flickering slightly, like the light of a distant star.
Chance smiled back, showing a mouthful of fangs. Bet he could. He took off running after Jake, who hollered and laughed, darting around the salvage yard like a demented firefly without any fear of discovery.
There were some definite perks to living this far out of the city.