Summary: There's one obvious problem when Takeo grows a set of wings.

Tear

By Dark Ice Dragon

Takeo jumped out the way of M-21's oncoming slash. At one point, he would have blocked the attack, but the entire room shook at M-21's claws slamming into the ground.

"Think we should start training on one of the islands?" Tao murmured from the side, hunched over his laptop.

Takeo gave a curt nod as he aimed at M-21's kneecaps, seeing M-21's lips curl up into a smirk before he dodged. They didn't need to do more than that; Tao could see all their movements.

"Noted!"

M-21 was faster than him, keeping him on the defensive; Takeo could see areas to attack, but M-21 was gone by the time he reached them.

Dark Spear bubbled at the back of Takeo's mind, whispers filling his head, tempting him to use them. To grow faster, stronger.

No. Not yet. He hadn't pushed himself to his limit yet. He gritted his teeth as Dark Spear howled, demanding to be used.

M-21 hesitated, raising an eyebrow.

Takeo shook his head, gathering his strength, making sure it wasn't a call Dark Spear would answer.

But the next time they clashed, Takeo's eyes widened when he felt something collect at his back. Something tore its way out there, taking his shirt along with it. He stumbled a step, his senses going haywire as he got a rush of new information, trying to understand what his body was telling him.

He had extra limbs on his back, like arms, but his hands were half the length of the arm, with less flexibility or fingers. He tried to move them and something blew past him, ruffling his hair. The new limbs felt stuck, only moving in certain directions.

M-21 stared past him, his eyes wide and Takeo took a breath, steadying his nerves. Something had changed about his body, but it wasn't something he could ignore. He had to know what it was.

Taking another breath, Takeo drew one of the new arms around to see it.

It...was a wing, covered in feathers the same colour as his hair. The wingspan looked like it could be wider that he was tall.

"Takeo!"

"Urk!" He didn't spin in time, so Tao leapt onto his back, arms snaking around his neck in a hug, his legs going around Takeo's waist, just under where the wings stopped. Tao pressed up against his wings didn't hurt — Takeo just knew what feathers he would need to straighten once Tao got off. If he could reach them.

"You're the one shredding shirts now!"

M-21 groaned as Takeo chuckled, relaxing. No matter what happened, Tao would be the same.

"Do you feel like whistling or chirping?" Tao said, one hand running one edge of the wing. It felt as if Tao had decided to stroke his arm, but the skin there wasn't as sensitive. The feathers Tao touched fluffed up for a second before settling again.

"No," Takeo said, shaking his head.

"Hmm." Then Tao's hands were in Takeo's hair. "No new feathers there..."

"Tao..." M-21 sighed.

"Whaaat? You grow fur all over and your hair sticks up, doesn't it? It's a totally reasonable question!"

M-21 grimaced but didn't have a response for that. Instead, he focused back on Takeo, studying his wings before looking at him again. "How long do you think you can keep the transformation for?"

"Uh..." Takeo blinked at him, and Tao squawked when his wings shuffled. "Ah, sorry. But...I'm not sure?" This was different from what happened when he called on Dark Spear; he was usually fighting with Dark Spear for every second it was there, making sure they didn't overwhelm him. With the wings they were just...there. Like they'd always been a part of him.

M-21 frowned and unease started to form in Takeo's gut. The transformation had felt so natural that it was unnatural.

"Wanna time it?" Tao said, his phone already in his hand.

"Yeah," Takeo said as M-21 began picking up the ripped pieces Takeo's shirt. Frankenstein wasn't back from the school yet, but they should have some information for when he arrived.

xOx

Tao squinted at his phone, and Takeo buried his face in his arms with a groan.

"That's you passed an hour," Tao said. "How you feeling?"

"The same," Takeo said. "Completely normal." He didn't feel any weaker from when he'd first transformed. If anything, he felt stronger since he wasn't sparring anymore.

They'd had enough time to scan him as well as figure out where exactly his muscles attached to his bones. Each new check they did made it clearer and clearer that this wasn't a temporary transformation. The only thing they hadn't checked yet was if his wings could carry him in flight.

"Sooo," Tao said, brushing his palm with one of Takeo's feathers that had fallen from his wing, "what're we going to do about clothes?"

...Damn. Takeo flexed his wings as far as they could go on impulse, feeling the stretch and breadth they had. They weren't going to tuck neatly under a shirt.

"Frankenstein should have arrived by now," M-21 said, getting to his feet. "He'll know what to do."

Nodding, Takeo got to his feet as well and together they left the lab.

xOx

"Hm," Frankenstein said as Takeo stared, so close to his jaw dropping open. What had just-? "Try this on and see if it fits."

Takeo took the offered shirt without thinking, still trying to understand what he'd just seen. Except he hadn't seen much, Frankenstein's hands a blur, even to Takeo's eyes.

"Wow, Boss!" Tao said, peering at the shirt Frankenstein had just made out of nothing. "I didn't know you could sew."

Frankenstein smiled, adjusting his glasses. "Where do you think Master's clothes came from?"

"You? Huh!"

It was a button-up shirt (when had Frankenstein sewn the buttons in?) with slits at the back, large enough for his wings to slide through.

...If he could figure out how to put it on.

Takeo stretched out a wing and then folded it, trying to picture how he was supposed to move.

"I think..." Tao said, calling on his cables to make himself taller. "Tips of the wings first, right, Boss?"

"That should be the easiest way to put it on, yes."

Tao waggled his fingers at Takeo's new shirt, his head higher than Takeo's. "Arms up!"

Takeo did as Tao asked after giving him the shirt. He frowned as his wings tried to stretch upwards as well and it was hard to untangle which set of limbs he was trying to control.

"You eventually get used to it," Tao said with a chuckle, lifting the shirt up.

Takeo blinked at him, his wings folding back on instinct. How did-?

"Okay!" Tao pulled the shirt down on the tips of Takeo's wings and Takeo fought not to extend them and rip the shirt in the process.

Tao's cables kept the shirt open for Takeo to slip his hands through the sleeves and. Oh. Of course. Tao had his own set of extra limbs that didn't move the same way as his arms.

The slits were large enough to accommodate his wings, but the feathers at the tip were still trapped when the shirt was pulled on completely. Takeo exhaled when he felt M-21's hands there, easing the last part through.

"Thanks," Takeo said as his wings rolled, getting used to the sensation of the cloth close to them.

"How does that feel?" Frankenstein asked.

"It fits," Takeo said. His wings had enough space to move without pulling on the shirt.

"Great!" Tao clapped his hands. "While Boss checks you over, me an' M can design a new shirt for ya!"

"I didn't ag-" M-21 sighed as Tao dragged him out the way.

"Well then," Frankenstein said, peering at him over his glasses with a smile. "Shall we get started?"

Takeo smiled, and nodded, falling in step beside him as Frankenstein led the way to one of the machines they hadn't seen being used yet. Once they'd figured out what had happened, then he could start wondering what was going to happen in the future.

Prompted by paradoxicaldreamer, who wanted bird!Takeo, who can't wear regular shirts anymore.

I shall help feeding the plotbunny, ahah