So Prompto's starting out on the Templar's side, did anyone see that coming?

Maybe. You guys are pretty smart or figured this will cause drama for the story.

Also a shout out to my friend for helping me act out Noct's capture so I could write the position correctly.

Disclaimer: Still just have my plot bunny

Warning: Acts of violence and trauma but no blood

000

Convocation

Chapter 3

000

Cor sat at his office, looking over the intel Ignis had gotten from Monica. He was also looking over the report of the mission including the part about Noctis running off on his own to face Ardyn and getting captured as a result. Ignis and Gladio stood in front of his desk, Ignis was standing still though looking down at the floor while Gladio had his arms folded, glaring off to the side.

"And you say both Ardyn and Verstael were there?" Cor finally asked.

"Yeah," Gladio managed to get out. "How the hell did this happen?!" he finally snapped. "We've been so careful, how the hell did we not know Ardyn was there?"

"I'm as surprised as you," Cor admitted. "Normally we always had plenty of time to switch teams when it looked like he and Noctis would run into each other. I don't know what went wrong this time. Maybe our sources were caught or Ardyn realized we've been tracking him."

"Which would imply he's been looking for Noct," Ignis said. "And finally found him."

"It would explain how quickly he was subdued," Cor added.

"Sir," Ignis said, his voice growing soft. "Is it safe to assume Noct is being taken to Abstergo?" The three men fell into an uneasy silence. Abstergo: a global pharmaceutical giant that was a front for the Templar Order and a death sentence for any Assassin that got taken alive. There had been a few missions that started as possible rescues only for one of two things to happen: either the captured Assassin had gone mad from the Bleeding Effect, unable to tell their personal memories from those of their ancestors, or they were recovering dead bodies for proper burial.

"... If they took him alive," Cor said slowly. "They'll want him for the Animus Project. He's the last of the Caelums."

"He's only twenty," Ignis said, knowing what was likely going to happen.

"... There has to be a way," Gladio growled, hating this feeling. Of being helpless to save his friend, his brother.

"Stake out the headquarters," Cor said. "Look for any opening, any weakness. We still have a few days before the worst sets in. Make that time count."

"Sir," the pair nodded and headed out.

000

Noctis stirred, groggily blinking as he looked around. He was in a room, a room that was too bright white and pristine, laying on a cot and his body felt so heavy. Trying to sit up he cried out and fell back, clutching his right bicep and feeling a bandage there. That jolt of pain brought everything back: the mission, seeing Ardyn, stalking the man through the theater, his capture, he had been shot. Noctis looked at his arm and sighed in relief at not seeing any fresh blood staining the bandage. Now that his head was clearer he was able to get a better look around. He was in a cell, one that seemed designed to hold trained Assassins given there were no windows and the vents were far too small for anyone, even a child to climb through. Most of the walls seemed to be reinforced concrete except for the fourth one which was just a wall of steel bars and a door. A third of it though was still concrete and that Noctis saw was partitioned off, most likely as a bathroom.

"So I'm given some privacy," he muttered, seeing a camera in the hallway outside was pointed at the bars, allowing security or whoever was watching the feed to see him unless he was in the partitioned off area. "That's almost decent of them." Carefully easing himself up this time he went to check the partitioned area. Yep a toilet and sink looked back at him and a test of the sink showed clean, clear water. Good even if they were going to starve him he could at least stay hydrated. Not that he planned on staying here, the first chance he got he was busting out.

Until he realized he was no longer in his Assassin jacket or street clothes, in fact he seemed to be in medical scrubs and soft shoes and his hidden blades were gone. Noctis wanted to smack himself for being stupid, of course if Ardyn was used to Assassins running around he'd know to quickly disarm any that fell into the Order's hands. Did they have to change his clothes though? That felt… a little too personal and invasive especially since it was done while he was unconscious and unable to fight back. And he was sure the Assassins who had been recovered from Abstergo might not have had their hoods but the rest of the outfit had been intact. Noctis couldn't help but shudder that he was being singled out like that, purposefully being made to feel uncomfortable and uneasy. No not just that, being forced into a new outfit when he had no possible control or way to gain control of the situation was to enforce that he was powerless against the Templar, that he somehow belonged to them now and they could do whatever they wanted to him.

"Like hell," he spat. Somehow he had to get out of this cell and into an area where he could escape. If he could recover his hidden blades on the way out great but just escaping would be best. He heard footsteps approach his cell and got an idea. Turning the sink back on he had it run at a weak stream and crouched behind the partition, waiting for the guards to walk into his trap. If he could get one of their nightsticks that would be perfect. He smirked a little when he heard the footsteps stop outside the door but no one unlocked it or tried to come in.

"What is taking so long?" a brash young voice asked after a bit.

"Uh sir," one of the guards said. "He's… Uh…" Noctis had to stifle a laugh at the guard trying to delicately explain that he thought Noctis was taking a leak.

"For five minutes?" the voice asked impatiently. "Either he was holding it during the mission, has a serious medical problem or, let's think here, as an Assassin he's pulled a trick. Now get in there and find him, drag him out by his hair if you have to and hope he is in there for you to drag out." Noctis got ready when he heard a keypad beep and the door open. The first guard clearly was more focused on not getting in trouble than his own safety that he didn't think to actually look around the partition before Noctis suddenly slammed his fist into the man's side, aiming for the kidney. The man collapsed in pain as Noctis grabbed up his nightstick, smacking the next guard in the face with it. Noctis stayed just inside the partition, using the cramped space to keep from being surrounded, as another guard rushed him. This guard was hit across the gut, knocking the wind out of him. His fall to the floor however forced Noctis out of his secure location and he stumbled a bit over the man's legs, exposing his back to the now open cell door.

Pain. Noctis's body stiffened as it felt like fire, no lightning was racing through his body causing him to seize up and collapse to the floor. He was vaguely aware of a crackling sound behind him when both it and the pain suddenly stopped. In its place was an intense ache that filled his entire body and left him reeling. He faintly heard footsteps behind him and he tried to roll his body to look when the pain suddenly returned along with the weird sound. Once again his body stiffened and he was in too much agony to even cry out or scream.

"You know," the voice from earlier said as the pain stopped. "I didn't need to do that. If you had just been a good boy we could have been on our way, you walking obediently with us as we went to meet with Mr. Izunia and Professor Besithia."

"Your boss can burn in hell," Noctis managed to hiss out and was rewarded with another round of pain. Thankfully this time it was short and Noctis felt hands grabbing him, forcing him to his feet as something was pulled from his back. He was turned around by the guards and now he was able to see who his assailant was. A young man, about Noctis's own age, maybe a little older, with blonde hair and blue eyes smirked back at him. In his hand was an odd looking gun with wires coming out of the front that now dropped to the floor. A taser gun, no wonder Noctis felt like shit now.

"That defiance may be amusing to Mr. Izunia," the young man continued. "But it's just going to get you punished, Assassin." He spat the last word out as if it was something rotten that had gotten into his mouth.

"Oh that was a punishment?" Noctis managed to smirk slightly despite the aching. "I thought that was a new kind of joy buzzer toy." The young man raised the taser to pistol whip Noctis when one of the remaining uninjured guards coughed.

"Mr. Tummelt," he said. "We… really should get going." The young man paused and lowered his hand, turning to give the used taser to the guard who had just spoken.

"You're right," he said. "We wasted enough time here and it wouldn't look good if our guest slept through his first meeting." Noctis found himself relaxing that he wasn't going to be rendered unconscious again. Unfortunately he wasn't able to anticipate the sudden backhand strike that would have floored him if not for the two guards holding him up. He yelped and winced as his hair was grabbed and he was forced to look at the young man. "Remember," he said. "Defiance has a price." He then roughly shoved Noctis's head to the side as he let go. He then left the cell, Noctis being forced to follow by the guards.

000

Prompto was looking around the large Animus lab, a far cry from the cubicle set up he and the other MT recruits used. He pulled out his phone and took a picture.

"That better not end up in a social media post," Verstael scolded, prepping the Animus for use.

"It won't," Prompto promised. "I'm just really excited to finally be helping out around here. I guess I got carried away."

"Oh let the boy have his fun," Ardyn lightly scolded from his desk. "He's not harming anything and he's smart enough to understand that secrecy is vital to the success of your research."

"Exactly," Prompto chirped, glad someone was trusting him. He heard the doors open and turned, seeing another blonde young man and some guards bringing in the Assassin. Now that he didn't have the hood on Prompto was startled that the guy seemed to be the same age he was.

"Ah, Loqi my boy," Ardyn said as he stood and strode over to the group. "You took so long I thought you had gotten lost."

"That hasn't happened since my first week," Loqi replied. "No, I was simply explaining to our guest here that acting out will have consequences." While Noctis had recovered on the way to the lab it was still clear that something had happened from the way his shoulders and head were drooping plus how the guards needed to help him stand.

"My dear boy," Ardyn said in a concerned tone and walked over, bending over to gently cup a hand under Noctis's chin and directing the Assassin to look up at him. "What happened to you?" He lightly turned Noctis's head this way and that, noting the bruise forming across one side where Loqi had hit him. Noctis gave a seething, hate filled glare before jerking his head free. Why the hell did Ardyn insist on that sugary fake tone, he had to know Noctis wasn't going to be fooled one bit.

"He decided to play an Assassin prank on us," Loqi replied. "So I saw fit to punish him."

"With a taser," Noctis grumbled softly, now directing his glare at Loqi. Ardyn straightened up at that and walked back over to Loqi.

"There are other, less damaging ways to punish him," he said in a soft voice. "Denial of food for example. Or comfort. I don't take kindly to something precious being treated so carelessly." This shift in tone caused Loqi to swallow in nervousness and even Prompto felt uneasy.

"I understand, sir," Loqi nodded. "I will be more understanding of the situation in the future."

"Excellent," Adryn smiled, returning to that friendly cheery tone that was starting to drive Noctis up the proverbial wall. "I really must apologize for my college's overeagerness," he said, walking back over to Noctis. "He just got promoted to a new position and he just wishes to prove himself. You can't fault him for that." The glare he was now receiving from Noctis indicated that yes Noctis could and was going to fault Loqi's cruelty on his desire to prove himself to Templar leadership.

"But enough of that unpleasantness," Ardyn continued with a casual wave. "I believe it's time we addressed why you are here. I know how rough things must be for you, what with being the last of your family and all." He seemed to ignore the guards tightening their grip on Noctis to keep him from flying at the older man. "So I've arranged a little family reunion, with your ancestors." He gave a dramatic flourish and stepped out of the way, directing Noctis's gaze to the Animus. Noctis's face went ashen at the sight.

"No," he said, eyes widening in fear at the device. "No, let me go!" The ache from the tazing, the dizziness from the backhand, the drugs still working their way out of his system, all of that forgotten as adrenaline flooded Noctis's body and he began to thrash in the guards' grip.

"How rude," Ardyn gasped. "And after all the trouble I've gone through to make this happen, the planning and replanning, the least you could do is say 'hello'." He then motioned for the guards to bring Noctis over to the Animus. Noctis for his part tried to dig his heels into the floor but he was continuously pushed closer and closer to the table. He continued to struggle to get free, his cries to be released becoming more frantic and desperate the more he was ignored. Finally he was able to brace his feet against the panels that held the bed of the Animus up and started pushing back against the guards.

"Hey you!" one guard called over to Prompto. "Give us a hand here."

"Uh, me?" Prompto asked, not sure he wanted to get close to the desperate Assassin who was actually doing a really good job of keeping himself in place now.

"You wanted to join us, right?" Loqi sneered. "This is what we do. We remove troublesome, dangerous pests like him from society while making sure they can still contribute to the betterment of humanity."

"R-right," Prompto nodded hesitantly and slowly walked over.

"Grab his legs," the guard directed and Prompto carefully knelt down, gripping Noctis's ankles.

"The shins would be better," Ardyn suggested as he came over and Prompto nodded again, changing his grip.

"Three, two, one," the other guard said and with Prompto's help the guards were now able to lift Noctis up. The thrashing became wilder, Noctis trying to get them to drop him so he could run and escape. One wild kick nearly connected with Prompto's face before ending up getting the blonde in the shoulder a few times. They were finally able to place Noctis on the table and Ardyn took the spot at Noctis's head.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Prompto nearly let go in shock and fear at the desperate rage in Noctis's voice as Ardyn reached down to further restrain him.

"Shhh, shhhh," Ardyn soothed, placing a hand on Noctis's lower chest and the other holding under his jaw to keep his head straight. "It's easier if you don't fight."

"The hell I won't," Noctis hissed through gritted teeth.

"Verstael," Ardyn called over. "If you could please hurry, he's becoming very agitated."

"It's ready," Verstael nodded and pressed a button. Prompto jumped as from slits in the Animus bed came a set of restraints that locked Noctis's ankles in place. He watched in horror as similar restraints locked around Noctis's wrists, waist and neck. The guards walked away while Prompto had to force himself to let go and back away. He… Never knew that's what those slits were for. He had seen them before but thought they were cable ports, not for tying unwilling people to the Animus. Just… What did Abstergo really do?

"Do give my regards to your family," Ardyn smiled as a visor-like view screen slid over Noctis's eyes. Noctis started to feel the dizziness return and his eyes lost focus as the Animus fully activated.