Animorphs:The Second Coming

#5 New Times

By: Forlay

Chapter 1

My name's Ritora. Well, Ritora-Fuloa-Maheen actually, but you can stick with Ritora.
 And we were in big trouble.
 Don't ask me why we did it, or why Prince Aximili gave his consent for us to do it.
 Tom had the stupid idea for us to go cruising up in space. We needed a break. Our parents had just left about a week ago with our friend Abata to attend some peace conference type things on Earth. We also needed some time to ourselves. We'd been living with kids from Earth. Their parents had sent them here as refugees to get away from the rioting on Earth.
 See, in North America, and some other countries as well, I'm sure, people got into the government who didn't like having Andalites coming to Earth and mingling in their society like a regular person, so they encouraged people to kill anybody suspected of being an Andalite. The kid's parents didn't think Earth was safe for them anymore, so they shipped 'em here.
 My younger sister, Jordan, and I are living with Lindsey and David. David is the son of one of my mother's close friends, Melissa, back on Earth, and Lindsey is the daughter of one of Melissa's friends. Her sister, Sondra, is living by herself in Marco's house. My twin cousins, Catara-Fitalia-Gooroara and Tom are living with Melissa's twin neice and nephew, Julie and Kevin.
 We'd all become friends, despite some differences when we first met, but we'd become close friends recently. But, Tom had a valid point, for once in his life. We'd spent every waking moment of the last week and a half together, so we needed time apart.
 So, he suggested that Catara, Jordan, himself and I all convince Prince Aximili to let us take a small, obsolete transport ship up in space for a joy ride. Prince Aximili must have been preoccupied because he actually agreed, as long as a trained pilot went with us. We agreed.
 So we were up in space, having fun just orbiting the planet and having time to ourselves, when we saw it.
 We'd never seen one before, but we knew what it was, even before our pilot told us.
 A Visser's Blade Ship.
 "What the heck is that thing doing up here?!" Jordan asked. "Hasn't anybody seen it yet?"
 < It's powering up weapons. It appears it's going to fire at us, explaining why we can see it. It can not fire while cloaked, > The pilot said calmly.
 "Can we fire back?" I asked, coming up behind him.
 < No, we can't. >
 "Then let's get OUT of here!" Tom shouted.
 From out in space, we saw a slight red glow as the Blade Ship prepared to fire Dracon Beams, and then, the red lasers fired at us.
 Without thinking, I ran to the opposite side of the room from all the consoles and threw myself to the ground. Seconds later, the others followed my lead.
 Just as it looked like the dracon beam was going to hit us, the pilot fired the few obsolete shredders we had.
 The two weapons hit head on! There was a brilliant white light... I could see through the walls of the ship! I could see the bones in my hands! I could see Jordan's bones!
 And then...I only saw black.

Chapter 2

I was suddenly painfully aware of the fact that I was on my back. On my back with something sharp sticking me. I opened my eyes and closed them quickly to protect them from the bright light. I lifted my hand up to shade my eyes and tried opening them again, and got the shock of my life.
 Standing over me menacingly was an Andalite. Now, I've grown up with Andalites, so you'd think I'd be used to them. And I am, on the most part. I'm just not used to waking up and finding one with his tail blade at my throat.
 < Prince Jake, this female is awake. >
 "It's Jake, Ax. Just Jake."
 Prince Jake? Ax?
 "Would somebody mind telling me what's going on here?" I asked as a boy, about my age, joined the Andalite.
 < Quiet! > the Andalite said, sounding slightly familiar. < Prince Jake, what should I do with this girl? >
 "I'll tell you what you should do," I said, getting angry. "You should let me stand up and get that sharp Andalite tail away from my throat!"
 < How do you know I am an Andalite? > he narrowed his main eyes at me as his stalk eyes waved back and forth.
 "How do I know you're an Andalite? I've grown up with you...guys...all..." I stopped suddenly. I remembered where I'd heard their names before. Like me, my uncle, Jake, was called 'Prince' by Ax...or Aximili-Esgarouth-Isthill...who I know as Prince Aximili.
 "Have you guys found any more people just laying around here in the forest?" I asked.
 Jake eyed me suspiciously, "Yeah, why?"
 "Take me to them. But first, get this tail away from me."
 He thought it over for minute, "Ax, let her up."
 < But Prince Jake... >
 "Just do it, Ax."
 < Yes, Prince Jake. > He reluctantly took his tail from my throat and I jumped up. "Okay, now. Where're the others?"
 "Hey, Jake!" a girl's voice from behind me shouted. "We found three others in all." A tall girl with shiny blond hair jogged up to us. "They're all demanding to see this girl..Ritara, Ritora, something like that." She turned to me, and I got a serious feeling of deja vu, "You her?"
 "Uh...yeah. I'm Ritora. Where are my friends?"
 "We found Ritora!" the girl called.
 A moment later, Jordan, Tom and Catara were standing next to me, standing across from us were Jake, the blond girl, a black girl and a hispanic boy. Just above us, in the trees was a red tailed hawk. Most people wouldn't have noticed the hawk, but I had a good reason to be on the look out for hawks.
 "Do any of these people look familiar to you guys?" I asked the others in a whisper. They all looked confused, but I didn't have time to explain.
 "Who are you?" the blond girl asked.
 I paused for a moment, trying to think of the right words to say this. "Can I ask you guys something first? It will make what I have to say so much easier. Your name wouldn't happen to be Rachel, would it?" I asked of the blond girl. Her eyes widened in shock, but she nodded.
 I pointed to each of the others, "guessing" their names correctly. "And that bird in the tree, just above Rachel. The red tailed hawk? His name's Tobias. He's a nothlit. A human trapped in his morph."
 Rachel's eyes got dangerously narrow. "Alright. Who are you?!"
 I took a deep breath. "I think...I mean...yeah. We're your kids."

Chapter 3

Rachel, Jake, Cassie and Marco all looked like their mouths were going to hit the ground. It would have been a funny sight, if I wasn't trying to figure how in the world we managed to go back into the past to meet our parents when they were our age.
 "How can you be our kids?" Cassie asked. "I mean, we're not even in high school yet, we can't have kids, let alone kids that are our own age."
 Ax said.
 "You'd believe right, I bet," Tom said.
 "So, who's who?" Marco asked.
 Oh boy. This was gonna be fun. Since nobody else was volunteering, it looked like I was going to be the one who got to announce her parents first. "I'm Ritora-Fuloa-Maheen. Eldest daughter of...of Rachel and Tobias."
 "I'm Jordan, youngest daughter of Rachel and Tobias."
 "I'm Catara-Fitalia-Gooroara, daughter of Jake and Cassie."
 "And I'm the lovable Tom, son of Jake and Cassie."
 I don't know whether it was concious or not, but Rachel moved away from Tobias, and Cassie and Jake moved away from each other, like they suddenly didn't want to be near eachother. Which, you really can't blame them. I mean, they just met their own kids and found out who they were going to marry in five minutes.
 "So let me get this straight," Marco said. "Xena marries a bird boy, and our Fearless Leader here marries Ms. Hug-The-Trees?"
 Rachel sent Marco a look that would have made anybody else cringe. But Marco, being Marco, just laughed it off.
 We all stood around for a moment, not really saying anything. I noticed that, somehow, us kids were standing directly across from our parents. Both Jordan and I were in front of Rachel, Catara was across from Cassie, and Tom was standing across from Jake.
 I looked at Rachel, trying to see if I looked like her when she was my age. Our hair was about the same length, but while hers was straight and shiny blond, mine had a slight wave to it and was a dirty blond, more like Dad's, not that I could see what Tobias' hair looked like now. A major similarity between Rachel and I were our eyes. She had defiant blue ones, like mine. And we were both tall. I wasn't quite as tall as this Rachel, but I was close.
 Jordan looked like a younger version of the Rachel standing in front of us. We all had the same blue eyes, but Jordan's hair was totally different. It was short and very dark blond, almost a light brown. And she was pretty short. Not even as tall as Marco.
 I could see the same similarities and differences in Catara and Cassie and Tom and Jake. Catara's skin was a shade or two lighter than Cassie's, and her hair was longer with more brown in it. But both had a sort of...I don't know, aura? about them that just gave you the feeling that they were both kind and compassionate, which was true.
 The similarities between Jake and Tom were purely physical. Both were solidly built, and they both had short, brown hair, although Tom's was a little darker. And Tom's skin was slightly darker than Jake's. But while Jake had serious brown eyes, Tom's were laughing and mischeivious. You could look at both of them and see right away that their personalities would be wildly different.
 Tobias finally broke us out of our spell, < What are we going to do with you guys? We can't stand around here all day. >
 "They could come to our houses. I mean, Jordan obviously can't go with Rachel, there's already a Jordan there. Same with Tom and Me," Jake said.
 "Catara and Jordan could go with Cassie," Rachel suggested. "Tom could go home with Marco, and Ritora could come with me."
 We all agreed.
 "Wait, Catara and Ritora need human sounding names. You two can't be around our families and have Andalite names."
 "Catara could be Cat," Marco said. "You know, short for Catherine or whatever. And Ritora could be...could be..."
 "Rita? Tori?"
 "Tori sounds best to me," I said.
 "Cat's fine," Catara agreed.
 Jake checked his watch, "I've got to get home. Dad ordered a big fight on Pay-Per-View. I have to get home to watch it. Why don't we meet back here around 10 tomorrow. It's Saturday, no school."
 We said our good byes and went off our seperate ways. Marco and Tom walking with Jake, Cassie, Catara, Jordan, Rachel and I walking together.

Chapter 4

Rachel quickly introduced me to her family when we reached her house. It was weird meeting somebody else with the name Jordan. Of course, I'd met Jordan before, but she was an adult then. I'd also met Sara and Naomi. Again, they were much older when I'd met them. After the introductions Rachel and I hurried up to her room.
 We talked for awhile. Rachel wanted to know everything about the Andalite Homeworld and her future self and everybody, but I couldn't tell her too much. As far as I knew, nobody remembered meeting us, so I couldn't tell her much. She looked frustrated, but I guess she understood.
 Around six, Tobias flew by to hang out with us for awhile. Rachel's mom and sisters were out, so we didn't have to worry about anyone overhearing our conversation with a hawk.
 As we talked, Rachel pulled her chair over to her desk and pressed a button on a large, square box thing. Just a little bit smaller than the TV we have back home. When she pressed the button, the screen lit up, showing several small icons.
 I leaned over her shoulder, "What's this?"
 "Huh? It's a computer?"
 I stared at it for a minute, then started laughing. Rachel looked at me as if I was insane, Tobias just glared at me with his ever fierce hawk eyes, but I'm sure he would have been wearing an expression identical to Rachel's if he was human.
 < Is something wrong, Ritora? >
 I tried to subside my giggles and wiped the tears from my eyes. "It's just that...that...it's so big! I mean, our computers back home aren't state-of-the-art, but most of them are a third of this size!"
 Rachel rolled her eyes, "Figures our kid would be another Ax."
 Now it was my turn to give her a look. "Ax is always acting superior to humans. He has a need to point out how Andalite technology is better than human technology in practically every way," she explained.
 I laughed, "Sounds like Abata."
 There was an awkward silence for a few minutes. I'm sure Rachel and Tobias still felt a little weird around each other. I'd feel weird around somebody if I suddenly learned that I was going to end up marrying them.
 Finally, Tobias said, 
 Rachel and I said goodbye to Tobias. Something about the way he'd said another hawk was moving in made me think he was lying. He probably just wanted to get away from us. Away from the entirely weird situation we had all been thrust into suddenly.
 Dinner with Rachel's family was weird, too. Let's face it, everything about this day was turning out to be weird. I should have known better than to listen to Tom!
 After dinner, Rachel and I watched TV while her mom read to her little sisters. The TV programs we watched were pretty much the same as what we get back home. We also watched something called a 'video'. You put a box like thing with tape inside it into a large rectangular box, and the box, called a VCR, replays what's on the tape. I'm gonna have to see if they still have those things in the future. They're cool.
 Around 10, Rachel's mom sent both of us to bed. Since I hadn't exactly packed for a trip to the past, I didn't have a change of clothes with me, or anything to sleep on, but Rachel loaned me a shirt to sleep in and gave me a sleeping bag and pillow.
 After a long period of silence, when I thought Rachel was trying to get to sleep, I realized she was just sorta staring at me. "What?" I whispered, careful to make sure no one overheard us. We were supposed to be asleep, after all.
 "Oh, nothing."
 "Yeah, right. Come on, why're you staring at me."
 "I was just thinking, that of all the weird things I've encountered as an Animorph, from getting the power to morph in the first place, to all the battles, to...um...anyways, nothing is as strange as meeting my daughter." She laughed, "I mean, I never figured I'd have one kid, let alone two daughters on an alien planet."
 "And to top it all off, you end up marrying a boy who's currently a hawk?"
 She was quiet for a moment, "Yeah." She yawned, "I'm gonna go to sleep now. If we're gonna get you guys home anytime soon, I'm gonna need all the sleep I can get."
 "Good night, Rachel."
 "Good night."

Chapter 5

The next day, we were all back in the woods in the same area we'd been found in the day before.
 "Okay, I've got one question," Tom said. "What ever happened to our pilot? Or the ship? Anybody realize that we found neither of them yesterday?"
 "Ax, is it possible that we could have been sent here with out the ship and pilot? Like, maybe this sario rip or whatever only affected us four?" I asked.
 < It's possible, > Ax replied. < And seems to be the only answer in this case. >
 "Okay, now that we've got that much figured out, how the heck are we gonna get home?" Jordan asked. "Earth's great and all, but we don't belong here. On this planet or in this time."
 "And that's not our only problem," Marco said.
 "What?" Rachel asked.
 Marco sighed, "Erek called me last night. The yeerks are planning to run this huge computer program that would take control of all Earth's sattelites in orbit. Meaning the yeerks could wipe out everything. Communications, computers, or, heaven forbid, TV." He paused, "And to make matters worse, not only could they just shut down all these things, they could make them broadcast whatever the yeerks wanted. All the channels would be 'Yeerk TV'."
 Jake's face was conflicted. Like he was trying to decide which was more important, sending us back to our own time and prevent any further destruction of the time line, or taking out the yeerks. I made his decision easy, "Well then, if they Yeerks even think they can touch TV for a second, we'd better go stop them."
 "We?" Cassie asked.
 "Yeah, we. As in, all of us."
 < Whoa, whoa, whoa. You guys can't-- > Tobias started to protest, but Jordan cut him off.
 "What, just because we don't come from this time, and haven't fought quite as many battles as you have, we can't join in on this fight?!"
 "It's more important to stop the Yeerks than getting us back to our own time," I added. "We all need to put our efforts into stopping this plan. After that we can focus on getting us back home."
 Rachel was nodding, she agreed with us. Jake looked relieved that he didn't have to try and decide which problem to take care of. Both Cassie and Marco looked like they were trying to figure out if it really was the right thing to do to let us fight. I couldn't tell what Ax and Tobias were thinking. Andalites rarely show facial expression, and the fierce gaze of a hawk gives nothing away.
 "Alright, you guys will fight with us," Jake said, finalizing the decision. "Marco, did Erek say anything as to when the Yeerks were going to try and start this?"
 "Within the next few weeks."
 "Okay, that doesn't give us much time. Marco, go over to Erek's and get every piece of information on this as possible, no matter how small. Tom, why don't you go with him. Once you two've got the info, we'll all meet at Marco's to go over it. That alright with you?"
 Marco shook his head, "Dad's home all day today. He's got a day off, for once. He's not going to want to spend it in a house with 10 teenagers."
 "My parents are out today," Cassie volunteered. "Mom's over at the Gardens, they're getting a new lioness today. And Dad's out someplace trying to get more funding for the clinic."
 "Okay then, Marco, call Cassie when you get the stuff from Erek. We'll all meet over there shortly after."
 We split up for the rest of the day. Jake went over to Cassie's with Catara and Jordan, Rachel went home to spend time with her family, and I spent the rest of the day out in the woods.
 The woods here on Earth were alot different than the woods and forests back home, but woods were woods, and I'd always felt very at home in the woods. Unfortunatly, I hadn't been able to spend time out there for the past month or so, courtesy of the Yeerks.
 I hung out with Tobias and Ax. We all were in the woods just outside of Tobias's meadow so Tobias could hunt. Not a pretty sight, believe me. I thought morphing could be weird and gross, but very few morphs are more disgusting than watching a hawk swoop down on a mouse and eating it.
 Ax was cool, though. A little disconnected though. He seemed to want to ask me alot of stuff, but he probably knew asking too much could alter the time line, just like I knew. But he couldn't resist asking a few questions.
 < How is my family, in your time? >
 I smiled. "You've got a younger brother, Abata-Elfangor-Aximili. He was born before your parents knew you were alright, so they named him in honor of you and your brother."
 < And my--never mind. >
 "Your parents?"
 < An Andalite warrior should not get homesick. They may be away from home for years. >
 "But Ax, you're not a full warrior yet. And your parents are fine."
 I'm not an expert at reading Andalite emotions, but I was pretty sure Ax was relieved to hear that.
 Tobias came swooping in and landed on a branch above our heads, < Marco and Tom are heading over to Cassie's. Meeting must be ready to start. >
 "Okay, cool." Since the meeting was in Cassie's house, Tobias and Ax had to morph human, just in case Cassie's parents came home.
 Remember how I said that morphs could be very weird? Nothing is weirder than watching a hawk and an Andalite twist and mutate into a human being.
 As Tobias grew, I could finally compare myself to what he looked like at my age. My hair was slightly blonder than his, and my facial features slightly sharper, but we were about the same height. Both he and Mom were tall, but Mom must have always been slightly taller.
 Ax was weird, too. I'd never seen an Andalite morph human, and what was weird is that I knew the person Ax was morphing. In more ways than one. I knew his morph had been compiled of the DNA of Rachel, Jake, Cassie and Marco, but I couldn't help but catch glimpses of myself and my friends in there. Not very much, but his skin was almost exactly Catara's color, and his hair was just slightly darker than mine or Jordan's. All in all, a very weird sight.
 We walked slowly towards Cassie's. Tobias and I had to help Ax walk across the field, and I even had to help Tobias up a few times. But we managed to make it to Cassie's house without any major incidents.
 "So, what'd you find out?" Jordan was asking as Tobias, Ax and I walked in.
 For once, Marco looked serious. "This is way more serious than we thought. According to Erek, the new system is going to be set up within the week." I let out a low whistle. That didn't give us much time. "And that's not all. Remember that security system that was around the Pemalite Crystal?" Of course, I didn't. Niether did my friends. But I saw all the Animorphs shudder slightly at the memory. "Well, guess what. This one is supposed to be worse."
 There was an ominous silence. Thee were dark looks in the Animorphs' eyes. Except for Ax and Tobias. Neither of them could make facial expressions unless it was deliberate. Finally, ever impatient Jordan broke the silence. "What was so massive about that security system?"
 "It wasn't really the security system that was so horrible," Rachel said quietly. "It was what happened after we made it through everything...." she trailed off. Catara, who was standing next to her, put a hand on her arm. Rachel shook her head, as if trying to clear it. "Anyways, it wasn't our best moment. I think I speak for everyone when I say I don't want to relive that expirience." Everyone nodded their heads.
 "So, what, we just give up right here?" I demanded. "Just because of a really bad expirience, you're going to let the Yeerks take over all the satellites? Leading to a much easier take over of the world?"
 Marco's head snapped in my direction, "Hey, how many near death expiriences have you had, Miss Crazed-Psycopath?"
 I was just about to come up with a really crushing come back when Catara stepped between us. "Ritora, let's think about this a little bit more before deciding whether we're going to do anything or not. And Marco, no, we haven't had many 'near death' expiriences, but that doesn't necesarily mean we're eager to go have one. Maybe it just means the four of us have slightly less to lose than all of you. After all, our parents are you. They understand the risks we have to take."
 "Where's this project based?" Jake asked.
 "That's the other problem. It's in the capitol. And that's not exactly near here, ya' know."
 Rachel jumped up "Hey, that's where our history class is going on a field trip on Monday. We can go with them--"
 "Hold on, not all of us can," Tobias pointed out. "And how do you expect to get away from all the teachers?"
 "They're giving us the opportunity to do some exploring on our own. When we do, we can go blow up what we need to."
 "How do the rest of us go with you?" Tom asked.
 "Don't the teachers let you have, like, friends visit you in school sometimes?" Jake asked.
 "Yeah, once in awhile," Cassie said. "But won't they think it's pretty weird if the four of us all bring a friend or two?"
 "A few of us could go in morph," I suggested.
 "But how?" Tobias asked. "Those who morph will have the time limit to deal with, and with de-morphing and re-morphing, they won't be able to keep up with the bus. Not that it'd be an easy task with out a time limit."
 "Houston, we have a problem," Marco joked.

Chapter 6

    We debated for awhile what we were going to do. It was mostly the Animorphs who talked, though. They knew what was going on, but we added our thoughts whenever we could. Ax stayed quiet most of the time. Only interupting to play with a word somebody else had said. Was I ever glad that Abata didn't have a human morph. I don't know how anybody could stand Ax as a human.
    Finally it was decided what we'd do. Tom, Catara and I would be going with Marco, Cassie and Rachel. Jordan, Tobias and Ax would be morphing insects and hiding themselves in our bags.
    Of course, for Jordan, that meant acquiring an Earth bug. We couldn't risk anybody seeing an alien bug on the bus. Jordan chose fly, since that's what Tobias and Ax would be doing.
    Cassie held out a glass jar with a fly in it for Jordan. Jordan unscrewed the top and quickly placed her hand in and caught the fly before it could escape.
    "Can I just say this feels extremely gross? It's worse than the artichan," she complained as she acquired the fly.
    After she took her hand away from the fly and let it fly away, Tobias said, "You'll probably want to try out the morph before Monday. It's got some...ah...powerful instincts."
    Marco giggled. Jake was trying, unsuccessfully, to keep a smile off his face. Obviously, Tobias had had some trouble with the fly morph. "What's so funny?" Tom asked.
    Marco and Jake just kept trying not to laugh hysterically. Tobias was glaring at the two of them. Cassie put a hand on Tobias's shoulder, while Rachel sent death glares to Marco and Jake. Ax looked just as confused as the rest of us.
    "I do not understand this. Stand this. And. Is. Issssssssssss. Ssss."
    Jake sobered up, "Nevermind, Ax. Anyways, I've got to go. Mom's dragging me and Tom out shopping. And it's probably getting close to two hours."
    "One hour and fourty seven minutes have passed. Even. Seven. Ven. Vvvvv. Interesting sound. Vvvv."
    "Yeah, Ax. I wouldn't be able to live with out the sound that 'V' makes," Rachel said sarcastically. She picked up the jacket she had hung around the back of a chair, "I've gotta get going, too. Who's coming home with me tonight? Ritora?"
    "Yeah," I said, standing up from my position on the couch. We all said our good byes and headed in separate directions.

    "Rachel! Tori! Perfect timing," Rachel's mom said as we stepped into the house. She was dressed up in a navy dress suit. "I've got to go in and do some work on a case somebody just dropped. I need you two to watch Jordan and Sara. You don't have anything planned, do you?"
    Rachel sighed, "No. Not really."
    "Thanks, Rachel. You, too, Tori." She gave her daughter a kiss and patted me on the shoulder and then blew out the door.
    "She always like that?" I asked Rachel as we went into the kitchen to get a snack.
    "What, she isn't totally psyco when you see her?"
    I shook my head as I opened the refrigerator, looking for the Coke. "I've seen her once, and I guess she was on her best behavior, or whatever. Besides, she's a grandmother in my time."
    "Hmmm, good point. Hey, grab me an apple out of there." I grabbed her apple and my can of Coke and hoisted myself up on the counter next to Rachel.
    "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACHEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLL!!!" I nearly fell off the counter when I heard the shriek. I was ready to run, expecting something had happened to one of Rachel's sisters, when little Sara came running into the room.
    "Rachel! Jordan's being mean again! She won't let me watch any cool TV shows!"
    Rachel sighed, shook her head, and allowed herself to be pulled into the living room to settle the spat between her sisters.
    Rachel and I spent the rest of the evening with her sisters watching TV, making sure everyone got to choose shows to watch. Since Rachel's mom wasn't going to be home till real late, we ordered pizza. I'd only had a real, delivered pizza once before, but it didn't compare to this. There's nothing like a 20th century hand tossed cheese pizza with breadsticks on the side.
    Rachel and I had stayed up late Saturday night talking, so when we got up (late) on Sunday, we found a note on the table.
    Girls--
        Had to run back into court again this morning.
        I hope to be back around two.
                            Love,
                                    Mom
    "Great, more babysitting," Rachel complained. "You're lucky your sister is too old to be babysat. You don't have to waste your weekends babysitting, for no money."
    "In case you've forgotten, I don't exactly have alot to do on my weekends. And my Jordan's only a year or two older than yours."
    "She's also alot cooler than mine. She's got spunk, personality, whatever you wanna call it."
    "In other words, a miniature you?" I joked.
    She grinned, "Yep."
    "Y'know, she is alot like you. In fact, Tom and Marco have given her the title of Xena."
    She got a mock serious look on her face, "I kicked Marco's butt for taking away my title, right?"
    I just laughed. "She got Xena, I got stuck with fearless leader."
    "Ah, so you're the leader. I was begining to wonder if your group had one."
    I sighed, "Yep, we do. Unfortunatly. I don't know why I'm the leader. I mean, you'd think Tom or Catara would have been the natural leader. But no, it had to be me."
    Rachel smiled reasuringly, "Well from what I've seen, you've been a pretty good 'fearless leader'."
    At first I had envied Rachel for having two younger sisters to spend time with. But after spending a day and a half with both of them, I couldn't wait untill Monday to get out of the house. Even if it did mean putting myself and my friends in mortal danger.

Chapter 7

Monday morning Rachel and I were the first to wake up since we had to be to her school early to catch the busses. We had to walk to school just as the sun was thinking about coming up. We met the others on the way there. Except for Ax and Tobias. Tobias was himself, flapping like mad above us. Ax had it a little easier. He'd acquired an owl morph, so he was at home in the dark.
 As we walked, Tom shivered in the cold. "How can you stand how cold it is?" he asked between chattering teeth. The Andalite Homeworld, is closer to their sun than Earth is, so we've grown up used to warm weather. Cool for us is around 60 degrees, while here the current temperature was down in the 40's. Of course, the Animorphs didn't have a problem with it.
 "Oh, you big wuss," Rachel said good naturedly. "Here, take my jacket. It's not that cold."
 For a moment, it looked like Tom wasn't going to take it. Probably didn't want to be shown up by a girl. But, the cold got the better of him. He shrugged into the jacket.
 We walked the rest of the way to school in silence. Only talking to tell Tom to stop complaining about the cold.
 When we reached a small wooded area just outside the school grounds we stopped. This was where Jordan, Tobias and Ax were going to morph then hide in our bags till we were on the bus.
 "All clear?" Jake called up, quietly, to Tobias and Ax.
 < Yes, Prince Jake, > Ax said, since he could see better than Tobias.
 < Yeah, it's too early for anybody to be up to make trouble, > Tobias said as he dove from the sky and landed on a tree branch above us.
 "Okay then. You guys better morph quick, though. Just in case somebody does come."
 As Jordan and Tobias started twisting and mutating into flies, Ax silently landed on the ground in front of us and began to de morph.
 It was a nightmare scene. A girl shrinking and twisting and grinding down into a fly, a bird undergoing the same mutations, and an owl shooting up into a blue centaur-slash-scorpion alien. If I hadn't been used to things like this, I would have run away screaming for my mommy.
 In three minutes, I couldn't see any of them. They were all in fly morph. Unfortunatly, we couldn't see any of them.
 "Jordan?" I asked.
 "Tobias? Ax?"
 < I'm here, > Tobias said.
 Ax said.
 "Jordan?" I asked again. "You okay, Jordan?"
 "Tobias, try her with thought speak," Jake said.
 < Hey, Jordan. It's Tobias. You still with us? >
 "Uh-oh. I think the instincts got her," Rachel said.
 "At least there aren't any toilets around here," Marco said with a smirk.
 Tobias said warningly.
 Suddenly, < WOO HOO!!! Yeah!!! >
 "Jordan?"
 < Jordan? >
 < Yeah, it's me! >
 "You okay?" Catara asked.
 < Yeah, instincts got the better of me for a minute. Man, this thing can fly! >
 "Yeah, I would have gathered that," Tom dead panned. "Considering the name of the disgusting little bug is 'fly', you would think it could fly." A small fly buzzed around Tom's head a few times, just enough to annoy him.
 Rachel zipped open her backpack. Her's was mostly empty to keep anyone from being crushed. "Over here, guys." One by one, three flies zipped into the bag. The rest of us started walking towards the school.
 When we got there, we all had to split up. Everyone had to go meet their individual homeroom teachers to tell them that they were here, and we'd be there, too.
 "Ms. Parker?" Rachel asked, stepping up to a tall woman with piercing gray-blue eyes and shoulder length brownish-red hair.
 "Yes, Rachel?"
 "Just checkin' it to let you know I'm here. Oh, and this is my friend, Tori. She's a friend from out of state. She had to come stay with me unexpectedly. It's alright if she comes, right?"
 "Sure, sure." Ms. Parker checked something off on a clipboard she was holding. Probably marking that Rachel was there. "You'll be on bus 113 with half of Paloma's homeroom."
 "Okay," Rachel said, then motioned for me to follow her down a long line of big yellow vehicles, that only slightly resembled the busses I'd ridden during my short trip to Earth. Each bus had a number painted on it. We walked down the line till we reached one with '113' on it. We were some of the first on, except in the very back, Marco, Tom, Jake, and Catara were waiting, saving us seats.
 "It'll be noisy enough back here to keep anyone from noticing if we start talking to flies," Marco explained.
 < Ouch! Hey, watch it, Rachel! > Jordan's voice complained. < Stop throwing the bag around! >
 "Oops, sorry," Rachel appologized as she opened up her backpack.
 < We on the bus? > Tobias asked.
 "Yeah. We're way in the back, only a few other people are on, and they're way up in front. But don't go flying off anywhere."
 The three flies buzzed aimlessly around our heads, only landing occasionally. It was all I could do not to swat them. I guess that's anybody's first reaction when they have a bug flying around their head.
 "Hey, watch it you three," I hissed, "some kids are coming back here, and they aren't going to be as understanding of flies buzzing around them as we are."
 All three flies landed. One on the seat back in front of me, one on Rachel's bag, another on the window, but they didn't stay there long. I guess flies always have to be moving. I wouldn't know, I've never been an Earth insect before, let alone a fly.
 After half an hour of just sitting and talking, well, Tom, Catara and I added very little to the conversation, considering we didn't know what was being said half the time, the bus finally jerked forward.
 "Owch!" I shouted after the fifth speed bump we'd driven over. The back of the bus seems to bounce the most. "What the heck is up with those stupid speed bumps? Don't they know they have a tendancy to bruise butt bones?"
 The other's looked like they were in as much pain as I was. "Nope," Rachel answered. "They're fine in a car, they're even okay when you're in the front of a bus, but the back is like riding in a pop corn popper."
 Once we were past the speed bumps leading out of the school, the ride was smoother. We were able to hold a conversation. We talked mostly about TV and music, since those were things we knew a little about. A lot of TV shows from this time were on TV in reruns in our time, and our parents had a bunch of oldies music, which, of course, was the current music.
 < Prince Jake, > Ax said cutting into the conversation. < We have been in morph for an hour and 45 minutes. We must demorph soon. >
 Jake looked out the window, "We aren't anywhere near where our scheduled stop is. And while Jordan and Tobias might be able to demorph back here, Ax would be just slightly noticeable."
 "Is there a rest stop anywhere near here?" I asked. "We could say it was an emergency, that we absolutely have to stop."
 Marco looked around Jake out the window, "There's a McDonald's over there. Somebody go up to the teachers and ask for a stop."
 "I'll go," Rachel volunteered. She set her bag down on the floor and tripped and stumbled her way up to the front of the bus where all the teachers were talking.
 After a minute, she made her way back to us and slipped into the seat next to me, "I told Ms. Parker that you, Catara and I need to make a pit stop. We're gonna be at McDonald's in a few minutes."
 True to her word, we pulled up in front of the McDonald's in a few minutes. Catara, Rachel and I all scrambled off the bus, each of us with a fly perched on her shoulder.
 "Okay," Rachel whispered once we were inside. "Tobias? Ax? We're gonna let you off right outside the men's room. Who are you two on?"
 < I'm on somebody with blond hair, > Tobias said. < Not sure which of you it is, though. >
 Ax stated.
 < I'm on Rachel, > Jordan said. < I'm sitting on the shoulder of someone with really blond hair, which would have to be Rachel. >
 "Okay then. Ritora, let Tobias off in front of the men's room, you too, Catara. I'll take Jordan into the women's."
 We walked towards the back of the seating area. Rachel walked straight into the women's room, while Catara and I paused briefly in front of the men's while Tobias and Ax flew in before following Rachel. I just hoped there'd be an empty stall for the two of them to use.
 Five minutes later, all six of us were back on the bus. Tobias, Ax and Jordan freshly morphed, good for another two hours.
 Half an hour later, the bus pulled up in front of an imposing white building. Ms. Paloma, the other teacher on our bus, stood up. "Alright everybody!" she shouted. "Grab your bags and coats. Don't leave anything on the bus, then,in an orderly fasion, exit the bus and find either Ms. Parker or myself."
 Of course, nobody listened to Ms. Paloma. Bags and coats were grabbed half-hazardly. Few people caring whether they brought their bag with them or not. And then they pushed and shoved and tripped out of the bus.
 "Everybody still with us?" Cassie asked once we were off the bus before we split up to go with our teachers.
 < Yeah, > Jordan replied.
 "Okay, you still have an hour and a half in morph. We need to meet up with our teachers, then, if I remember the itinerary right, we've got all morning and part of the afternoon to do some exploring on our own." We split up to go with our various classes. Rachel, Cassie, Catara and I with Ms. Parker, Marco, Jake and Tom with Ms. Paloma, our fly friends splitting so two went with one group, one with another. I'm not quite sure who went with who.
 "Okay, class," Ms. Parker said, clapping her hands to get our attention. "You all have your buddies, right?" there was a chorus of yesses, "Good. Stay with your buddy at all times. Meet back here at 1:30 to have lunch, and then we'll go on the guided tour."
 Rachel, Cassie, Catara and I snaked through the throng of kids to find the others. We met them by a flag pole, away from the rest of the kids. Jordan was demorphed, and Tobias and Ax were human.
 Tobias and Jordan were rubbing their arms, cold. It was warming up, but spandex isn't a very warm fabric. "Got the clothes, Rachel?" Tobias asked.
 Rachel opened her bag and handed Tobias, Ax and Jordan more appropriate clothes. Jordan quickly pulled on a pair of light blue jeans and a black V-neck shirt. Tobias and Ax looked like Tommy Hilfigger models. Not that I would have known that, except for the fact that the name 'Tommy Hilfigger' was emblazoned everywhere on the clothes.
 Once everyone was dressed, Rachel said, "Alright, let's do it!"

Chapter 8

    Erek couldn't get us an exact location of where this super system was based. We just knew it was in the office district of the city. A place where nobody would notice if alot of high-tech computer equipment and guys in business suits suddenly showed up.
    "Well, this is a bust," Marco complained, sitting down on a park bench after an hour and a half of searching.
    Tom sat down beside him, "He's right. How the heck are we supposed to find the base of a major Yeerk operation in the middle of a city none of us have been in before?"
    "So, what? We're just gonna give up?" Jordan demanded.
    "At least for a lunch break."
    Jake looked down at his watch, "Okay, we can grab a burger over at McDonalds fast."
    "Alright!" Tom shouted, jumping up. "Food!"
    We walked down the block to the McDonalds. Tom was the first inside and was ordering food just as the rest of us walked in the door. Jake ran up to him, put a hand over his mouth, and placed a different order while the rest of us found a table big enough for all of us, except for Tobias and Ax, they had to go demorph again. A few minutes later, Jake was leading a sullen Tom to the table, both were carrying trays filled with french fries and drinks. Tobias and Ax were right behind them.
    I stared out the window as I ate my fries. I wasn't really paying attention to anything, when I noticed that there were alot of people in suits walking in and out of a building across the street. "Hey, what's going on over there?"
    Marco looked out and shrugged, "Looks like another office complex."
    "Yeah, but wouldn't there just be moving people there?" I asked. "I mean, I'm not a big expert or anything, but I don't think you move in heavy office equipment, or lots of computer things, in suits and while talking on cell phones."
    Cassie looked out the window, too. "She's right. They're acting really weird. Like something major's going on. Something they can't mess up."
    "Well, well, well," Jordan said. "Looks like we found ourselves some Yeerks."

Chapter 9

"They might not be Yeerks," Catara said, but she didn't sound like even she believed it.
 "Let's go check it out," Jake suggested.
 "How?" Tom asked, stealing a few of my fries as he spoke. I hit his hand and made him give back the fries.
 "Roach? Fly?" Cassie suggested.
 I shook my head, "Jordan's the only one with a fly morph, and none of us have roach morphs."
 "Out back," Cassie said. "There'll be tons of flies out by the dumpster."
 We threw away our food containers and walked around to the back of the building.
 "Hanging out by dumpsters behind McDonald's while I'm supposed to be learning about history," Rachel said. "My mother would be so proud if she knew."
 If anyone had happened by while we were back there, they would have thought we were nuts and called up the nearest mental institution. 10 kids behind McDonald's trying to catch flies. No sane person does that.
 After 15 minutes of unsuccessful fly-catching, I sat down on a crate. "One of you guys morph, we'll just acquire you."
 "Huh?" Marco asked. "In case you've forgotten, you can only acquire from a real animal, not a morph."
 Jordan sighed and started to morph fly while Catara explained. "We have an expirimental form of morphing technology. We can acquire a morph from a morph. Of course, this new technology often makes the morphing almost unbearably weird."
 "Oh, and it isn't weird anyways?" Marco asked.
 < Trust me, this is a whole new world of weirness, > Jordan said, mostly fly. < When we morphed artichans, instead of having 12 artichan legs, I had 12 human legs. >
 None of them knew what an artichan was, exactly. But they knew it was a bug, and I guess they could imagine themselves morphing bugs and instead of having bug legs, their own human legs.
 Jordan managed to keep from flying away while Catara, Tom and I acquired the fly DNA. < Whoa, weird, > she said once she was out of the trance. < No more acquiring my DNA. I do not like that trance thing. Especially not when I'm a bug. >
 We hid back behind the dumpster. It was a tight fit, but we wouldn't have to worry about room in a minute. I closed my eyes and focused on the image of the fly.
 Suddenly, my eyes weren't closed anymore. My eyes, my normal, human eyes, had balooned out of my head, so I had huge, blue eyes.
 "Ah!!!"
 < Oh, gross! >
 "Would that be what you meat by 'unbearably weird?"
 I focused harder and suddenly, my eyes shattered into the compound fly vision. Fortunatly, I was noticeably smaller by this point so no one had to watch my eyes splitting into hundreds of tiny eyes.
 My skin became like hard plastic and turned iridescent black. From my back grew two gossamer wings. Finally, when I was almost completely fly, two tiny fly legs burst from my chest.
 For a moment I noticed I was the last one to finish morphing. The Animorphs have had much more expirience at morphing than us, and Cassie is the best morpher of their group. In our group, Catara and Jordan are natural estreens. They can make some morphs look awesome.
 Then, just as I was begining to think this morph wasn't a big deal, the instincts kicked in. Fly! Fly! Eat! Fly! I buzzed my tiny wings and flitted up from my place on the dirty ground and was ready to dig into the rotting food when I heard a voice in my head.
 < Ritora? Hey, sis, you there? >
 Voices, weird. Oh, well. There were fries to eat, couldn't be bothered by them. I landed on the garbage.
 < Hey, Ritora, hellooooooooo. Fearless leader, we need ya'. >
 Huh? I thought. Wait, I? I?
 < Whoa! > I shouted, and buzzed up in the air. < Simple little bugs, huh? >
 < You okay? > Catara asked.
 < Yeah. Let's do this, okay? >
 < Hey, that's my line! > Rachel complained.
 < No, it's mine! > Jordan said.
 < It was mine first! >
 < No it--oh, yeah, maybe. >
 Rachel laughed. Then, to just me and Jordan, < On the count of three, just to bug Marco, say 'let's do it', okay? One...Two...Three... >
 < Let's do it! >
 < Ahhhhhhh! > Marco and Tom moaned while we laughed.

Chapter 10

We flew across the street, with Tom and Marco complaining the whole way that one Xena was more than enough, they didn't need to cope with three. And Tom was trying to convince Marco that he had it worse because he had two of us, while Marco only had Rachel.
 They finally shut up when we reached the entrance of the building. < Okay, how are we going to get in here? > Catara asked.
 < Walk under? > Cassie suggested.
 < There's people walking in and out of here constantly, > Tobias pointed out, 
 < Good point, > Jake said. < Wait for someone to open the door? >
 < As long as they do it within a half hour, > Jordan said. 
 < It took us an hour and a half to get over here? > I asked incredulously.
 < With your guyses little detours to try and go back to the dumpster, yeah. >
 < Hey, is that somebody opening the door? > Marco asked. I tried to make sense of my fly eyes. I thought I saw a head of hair walk below me, but I couldn't be sure.
 < Yeah, it is, > Cassie said. < Guy in a business suit talking on a cell phone. >
 < How can you make sense of these eyes? > Tom asked.
 < I've done this fly morph more times than anybody else, > she explained.
 < Are we going to sit around here discussing fly senses, or are we going to follow this guy in? > Jordan demanded. With my fly sight, I was pretty sure I saw a fly hop up from the ledge we were resting on and buzz towards the door.
 < Right behind ya', > I called.
 If anyone had been paying attention it would have looked like invasion of the flies. A line of flies was something most people would notice. But I'd forgotten one thing: unlike controllers at home, these don't have much of a reason to be cautious. Just so long as they keep any normal humans from getting suspicious, they don't have to pay attention to things like bugs.
 < Well, that was easy, > Tom say cheerily when we were inside.
 < Too easy, > Marco said darkly.
 < Hey, do you guys hear that? > Cassie asked suddenly.
 < What? >
 < Hold on, > she was quiet for a moment. < Uh-oh. Not good. Majorly not good. >
 < What?! > Rachel demanded
 Cassie buzzed back to us, < Let's find a place to demorph, I'll tell ya' then. >
 < Next question: > Jordan said. < Where do we demorph? We don't have much time left, and this is not a morph I'm about to be trapped in. >
 Cassie buzzed back and forth. < Okay, follow me. I think I may have a place for us to demorph. >
 < You better, > Tom muttered.
 We more or less followed Cassie for a few minutes. We had to keep calling to eachother to make sure nobody wandered too far away.
 < It's safe, > Cassie said after a few minutes.
 < And not a moment too soon, > Jordan said.
 As my human eyes appeared I looked around the room. It was dark, so it took a minute to see through the gloom.
 It was small, the ten of us could barely fit in it. It only about twenty feet square, and not very tall. There was only a dust covered window near the ceiling.
 "Geez, Cassie. Where are we?" Rachel asked as she finished demorphing.
 "A storage closet."
 "You guys got to visit the most exotic places, didn't you?" Catara asked.
 "Now, what did you find out?" Jake asked.
 "You guys are never going to believe this."

Chapter 11

"Visser One isn't trusting Visser 3 with this project. She's coming down here tonight to oversee the final instalation of the system and it's launch," Cassie explained
 It took me a minute to remember who the hosts of these Vissers were. Inour time, both Visser's have Hork-Bajir hosts, although with the recent Yeerk infiltration of the Andalite Home World, they could both have Andalite hosts.
 The Animorphs looked like they wanted to run. Marco was white as a sheet of paper in one of Mom's ancient books. Ax's tail was twitching at the prospect of seeing Visser Three.
 "This is bad," Jordan said, finally breaking the silence.
 "Yeah, you could say that, Kid," Tom said.
 "What're we gonna do?" I asked.
 "You're the Fearless Leader, you figure it out," Tom said, sitting down on an old crate.
 Marco smirked slightly and turned to his own "Fearless Leader". "Y'know? I like that kid. But anyways, what are we gonna do?"
 The Animorphs all turned to Jake, my friends all turned to me. Jake and I sent eachother helpless looks.
 "I say we knock this place to the ground before he gets here," Jordan said.
 "Uh-uh, don't you start bein' Xena too, Kid. The last thing we need is Xena the third," Tom said. "Besides, this Visser One is a 'she'. Don't you ever pay attention to Marco?"
 "Not really." Rachel smirked and gave Jordan a discreet high five.
 "Oh, very funny," Marco said.
 "Jordan may have a point, though," Catara said.
 "No, no, NO! Not you too, Catara! You're supposed to be the sensible one in the family!"
 She smiled. "Sorry, Tom, but Jordan's right. We need to get rid of this place before the Vissers get here." She turned to Cassie, "Visser Three isnt' here yet, right?"
 "Right, but he'll be here soon."
 "How soon?" I asked.
 Cassie shruged. "The guy who was talking just said Visser Three would be here soon. I'd say we have an hour to get this done, at the most, before he's here."
 "And that's the same ammount of time we have left before we need to get back to our classes," Jake reminded us.
 "Any idea where this system is based?" Rachel asked.
 "Top floor, according to Erek," Marco said. "It has the most protection up there. We have to go up 60 floors."
 < This just gets more and more fun, > Tobias said, from his perch on Rachel's shoulder.
 "We could do some sort of bug morph to get up there," I suggested. The rest of the group shuddered, but Jake nodded slightly.
 "It is the best way to get in...but not all of us have to go." He was offering a way out for those of us who weren't too keen on the bug idea.
 "I'm in," Rachel and Jordan said in unison.
 "Same here," I said.
 Cassie, Catara and Tobias were with us too. Ax said. Jake didn't both telling him it was just Jake. We all looked expectantly at Tom and Marco. They looked at eachother, sighed, shrugged, and agreed to go.
 Rachel and Jordan got a dangerous look in their eyes. I swear those two have some sort of telekenesis. "Let's do it!"

Chapter 12

We chose a variety of morphs so we'd be ready for anything. Marco was going to morph a wolf spider. Catara, Tom and I were going as artichans. Ax, Tobias, Jordan, Rachel and Cassie were all going fly, and Jake was morphing dragonfly.
 I concentrated on the image of the artichan. Suddenly, I was falling! No, you aren't, a rational part of my mind argued. You're shrinking. My arms shortened and slimmed into stick-like legs.
 From my chest and stomach, eight extra legs grew, four on each side. Fortunatly, they were tiny, fully formed artichan legs. Tom wasn't so lucky.
 < Yah! Gross! > he shouted as eight full sized human boy legs grew.
 < Oh, yuck, > Cassie said, nearly all fly. < That is not something I needed to see. >
 While Tom's new legs quickly withered and shrank and turned a shocking pink, I went blind. My eyes just suddenly stopped working. Then, just as suddenly, I could see again. But my vision was distorted. Colors were all wrong. Catara and Tom were supposed to be pink, but they were black. But besides the mixing of colors, I had excellent vision.
 Finally, I felt the changes stop. I braced myself for the instincts of the artichan.
 Eat! Eat! Kill! Eat!
 The artichan was hungry for anything living. It hungered for anything with blood pumping through it's veins. No! I said to myself, and over powered the bugs mind.
 < Everybody there? > I asked. They were.
 < Let's go, then, > Jake said. < Cassie, lead the way. Ritora? How well can those things see or climb? >
 < They see fairly well, they're hunters, > Catara answered. < And they're exceptional climbers, we'll have no problem following you guys. >
 < Cool, > Cassie said. < Let's go. >
 I aimed my eyees upward and saw four flies and a dragonfly buzz through a vent on the ceiling. I powered up my twelve disgusting legs and sped up the wall after them.
 We flew and walked through the air vent in silence, only talking when Cassie gave a direction, or someone called out to make sure everyone was still with us.
 < Prince Jake, > Ax said after awhile, < We must demorph soon. We only have five minutes left before we are trapped in these morphs. >
 < Five minutes?! > Jake demanded.
 < Yes, Prince Jake. >
 < Cassie! Is there any place near here where we can demorph? >
 Cassie said. < There's another vent up here, but I don't know what's down there! >
 I sprinted past everyone to the front of our line. I scanned the area, looking for the vent Cassie was talking about. I shouted. I scrambled to the edge and looked down. < Okay, we can not morph there! C'mon! > I kept running forward. We needed to find a place to demorph, but that room was the last place to demorph.
 < Does anyone else have a case of deja vu? > Marco asked.
 We kept running/flying, but there wasn't a place to escape anywhere! < One minute left, Prince Jake. >
 < Ritora, what was in that room? > Jake asked me privately.
 < A small, but heavily guarded, Yeerk pool, > I answered, tersely. < There has to be a dozen human controllers, armed with high power dracon beams, for a pool no bigger than a scoop! >
 < A scoop? >
 < Umm... > I tried to think of an analogy for him that'd he'd understand. < Never mind! Where can we demorph!? >
 < We'll have to take our chances with the room, > he said to me, then to everyone else. < Everyone back full speed! We're going back to that vent! >
 < 30 seconds left, Prince Jake, > Ax warned as we flew/fell through the vent. Thankfully, the vent was in a corner of the room, in shaddow.
 < Everyone, demorph, NOW! > Jake shouted.
 I looked around with my rapidly morphing eyes. < Ax! > I said before I lost my thoughtspeak. < There's a bathroom just to your left, go in there so no one will-- > I made the transition from mostly artichan to mostly human, and my thought speak was cut off. But Ax got what I was saying. I watched as a horrifying mix of Andalite and fly scurried through the slightly opened door and into the bathroom.
 < As soon as you can everyone, morph back! > Tobias shouted. Tobias never gives orders, but he was the only one who could really talk to us without giving us away.
 I finished demorphing and pushed myself as close to the wall as I could, hoping none of the controllers would look over here. If they did, we were dead.
 I took a deep breath, concentrated on the image of the artichan, and prayed to whatever God there is that my friends and I would get out of here alive.

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