Tokyo Bay Riders

5

"How do you know it's a dragon?!"

Raiden looked at Adonis like he'd gone mad, but with the way his hair was getting more white by the day he definitely fit the role of a mad scientist. Adonis would have to make a mental note to dye his hair again at some point.

"It's the only likely outcome" Adonis shot a look at Vulcan, who ultimately understood what his captain was hinting at. A son going missing wouldn't have been a problem, but with a potential dragon on the loose there was a possibility the boy they were after was already long dead. Dragons would kill if they were extremely hungry- and all livestock in the small village were under strict lockdown and supervision. Attacking a boy wandering at night wouldn't be a surprise to the group.

"You're not going on your own" Vulcan was quick to grab the older males arm as he tried to walk away, a stern expression on his face.

"It's better if I go alone. No one else gets hurt that way"  Adonis answered too casually for Vulcan's liking, the grip on his arm not loosening. Vulcan hated this Adonis. The ideologically stubborn one.

"That dragon could be anywhere" Vulcan spoke through gritted teeth, Adonis still not budging.

"Prepare for the worst. If you find a body - call out a signal, we'll call the coronary and retrieve it together" Adonis changed the subject quickly, shrugging out of Vulcan's vice grip and speaking the latter part of his sentence quietly. Their client wasn't going to have the faintest clue at what was going on, perhaps that was for the best for now.

"Do we tell her yet?" Ara whispered, eyes watching the mothers every move as she attended to her youngest son, wiping mud from his face and fussing around him.

"No. It's best not to" Adonis hated this part of the job. He'd seen it so many times since even before day one, but it never failed to make his blood run cold.

"TEAM, MOVEOUT!" Adonis was quick to bark, his teammates jumping into action under his commands. As they scrambled to their dragons who'd landed in a flash, Adonis didn't budge from the ground. He'd let everyone get a head start before he took off with fury.

"GET IN TOUCH IF THERE'S ANY PROBLEMS!" Vulcan yelled as his dragon started to move its wings, the flapping noise and gusts of air hard to hear over.

"KEEP IN TOUCH WITH EACH OTHER! DON'T DIE!" Adonis yelled back, watching Raiden salute before his copper dragon Taranis took off at an alarming speed. They were soon to vanish from sight, disappearing behind the mountainside. Mitzi however had held back- she'd watched Raiden and Taranis effortly take off from the safety of her own dragon.

"MITZI, COME ON! YOU'LL BE FINE!" Adonis knew she was confident, but the lack of training with the team would surely put anyone on edge. She quickly turned towards him, looking down from above with a smile. Sometimes a few words of encouragement were all that were needed. In seconds she'd followed Raiden's lead, shooting up into the sky elegantly.

Vulcan and Ara had already taken off in the meantime, no need for farewells as they'd got a longer journey ahead of them.

"Mr Cassidy..." Adonis was bought out of his thoughts as a small voice came from behind him.

"Madam" Adonis gave a small warm smile back to Chihiro, who had sent her son away to speak privately with the captain. He could tell just by her stance and fidgeting hands exactly what was coming.

"Will you bring my son home to me? Please? I know he might not be..." She was close to tears again, voice trembling as she spoke. Adonis didn't let her continue, taking her hands into his gloved ones, he squeezed them once. He'd adopted this from Raiden and Ara's funny little way of communication - one squeeze to the hand meant 'it's okay.'