Second Animorphs
#2: The Massacre
Chapter One
My name is Elfy. Of course, that isn't my real name. That is
my screen-name. You know, like the Internet and stuff. Well…it's
as close as you will ever get to knowing my true screen name. My
actual name is Mary. But again, I won't clarify that for you. See…would
you give away vital information if several hundred people would like your
head served to them on a giant wooden stick? Well, there ya
go.
Now…in every book, whether it be the original Animorphs or the Second Animorphs,
it starts out with what the Animorphs are, how they came to be, and all
of that annoying garbage. Look…I want you to trust me on what I am
about to recite. But I don't want to bore you to death…and telling
all of that all over again is a waste of time. I will tell you what
you need to know.
You must know three things:
1.) Trust that everything I am about to
tell to
you is true.
2.) The world is under invasion by the
Yeerks.
3.) There are two small groups fighting
the Yeerks…basically Earth's only hope.
Now, if you want to know more than that…READ
THE
OTHER BOOKS! I'M SICK OF TYPING
IT! However, I will explain to you number three on my
little list back there. Earth's
small resistance. Well…they come in two groups. The first,
and original, group is located on the other side of the USA. They are called
the Animorphs, and include five young humans and one Andalite{get used
to the idea of that…there are a lot more stranger things to come}.
Followed by their 'leader' Jake, and the rest of the team including Cassie,
Tobias, Marco, Rachel, and Aximilli-Essgarouth-Isthill, they attack the
Yeerks whenever possible. Heh, try and guess the alien.
On the other side of the country, a new group of Animorphs have sprung
up. The Second Animorphs. My Animorphs.
The Second Animorphs are the group that I am involved with. I make
up one of the four members of our team. Altogether, there is Andagorilla,
Forlay, ¥eerkiller, and Myself. Again, those are not all true
screen names. And for the safety of my friends, their true names
shall never be heard from my mouth in this story.
Now, you are no doubt wondering, Are you kidding me?!? All we have
are nine human kids and one Andalite fighting for Earth, MY home planet?!?
Of course, I'm willing to bet that that thought probably comes a long time
after, Oh boy, here's a nutcase! Break out the straight jackets and
lock her up!
First of all…don't think that!!! That's rule number one on my handy-dandy
list up there!!! Don't you think number one is the MOST important?!?
Anyway, we aren't 'just' normal kids. To make a very long story short,
we have the power to morph. We can touch and 'acquire' any animals
DNA. Then by weird means, we turn into that animal and go about talking
in thought-speak. HEY! I SAID FOLLOW RULE NUMBER
ONE!!! We use the morphing power to attack
the Yeerks whenever possible. But there is a catch. See, you
can only stay in a morph for up to two hours. What happens after
two hours, you ask? Well…learn about Tobias. He is what the Andalites call
a nothlit. Once you go past the two hour time limit, you remain in
that body trapped forever. Tobias was lucky. Although he must live
as a red-tailed hawk, he can still morph. He can even morph his human
body. The Ellimist gave him back that power, as he also instructed
for the Second Animorphs to be
created.
And, oh yes, there is one other drawback. Sometimes you can become allergic
to a morph you acquire. And just as my luck goes, I was allergic.
Allergic to an African Elephant.
Chapter Two
My story begins last Saturday. What would have been a normal day.
For any other group of kids, anyway.
We had all gathered down at the beach. We haven't had too many meetings
since we came to be the Second Animorphs, but those that we had had been
gathered in the forest up the hill. But it was a nice day out, and
we wanted to be by the water. Besides, if anyone was trying to listen
to us and keep their distance, couldn't. The splashing of the waves kept
our conversation semi-private.
"So what's the deal? Why are we all here…instead of in there?"
Forlay
asked Anda, as she pointed to the water.
Anda{short for Andagorilla}
had gathered us all together.
"Yeah, what's the big news?" I asked her.
"Well…it looks like we got ourselves our first battle." She replied.
"Oh the joy, I can hardly wait!" Yeerkiller said sarcastically.
"Chicken." Forlay replied. She is most like Rachel, from the
other group of Animorphs. Always willing to go hack some Yeerk slug
to itty-bitty pieces.
"Oh man. This is so just like the army. Oh boy, lets go march
off to war and get ourselves killed. You know, the world should be
filled with lazy people, that way if there were ever a war, no one would
show!"
"Yeah, but the Yeerks aren't lazy. Now are you guys gonna listen
to my
news or what?" Andagorilla said,
obviously eager to let us know about this new Yeerk movement.
"OK, shoot." Yeerkiller said.
"Alright. Well, I've been morphing to red-tailed hawk sometimes at
night and flying around when I can't sleep.
Anyway, last night I flew a
little ways out over the water.
And guess what I found out?"
"Lemme guess!" I chimed in. "The fifth dentist was there and
caved and now they're all recommending TriDent!"
Everyone just kinda
looked at me oddly, confused out of their minds. "What? No one watched
Friends last night?"
"Back to reality, I saw something strange below the water about a mile
out." Anda started again. "And I saw Chapman. I think I've
found the reason he came out this way. I heard them
talking about a kandrona. I think
they have started to build a second one under the water. Which means they
need it to feed Yeerks in Yeerk pools. Which means there has
to be another Yeerk pool around this area."
When she finished she
seemed relieved, letting us know about
it.
"A kandrona out there?" I said, looking over the water.
"Yup." She said grimly.
"Well, what are we going to do about it?" Forlay and Yeerkiller inquired
at the same time.
"Great minds think alike!" Forlay joked to YK{short for Yeerkiller},
laughing.
"Well…I'm not completely sure. But I think we should go take a look.
It's still early, so maybe we could go to The Gardens and get a dolphin
morph to go check it out with."
"That's probably a good start." Yeerkiller said.
"Maybe I should sit this one out. I haven't 'burped'{that's the term
used for when the animal you have become
allergic to leaves your body} out that darn elephant yet." Then,
as an after thought, added, "Is it me, or does that sentence just not sound
right?"
"It's definitely weird. But that's true. However, it would be a good
idea if you got this morph anyway…I'm sure we'll need some water animal
in the future." Forlay told me.
"Yeah…alright. I'm in." I said and began to morph into the
bird I would be flying to The Gardens in. The peregrine falcon.
Chapter Three
After checking for anyone watching us, I began to morph. The peregrine
falcon is by no means the largest or toughest bird out there. But
no matter what sized animal you are morphing into, it always seems to me,
the biggest animal in the world. I think that's
because when you morph, it doesn't exactly
happen in some logical order, although Anda tells me she thinks I
morph the best.
The first changes I noticed were my eyes. Suddenly, I could see out of
both sides of my head at once! Then, my eyesight grew dimmer and
suddenly stronger. I could see way up into the forest! When
I turned to look at my friends, oh boy did I wish I did not have that eyesight.
Yeerkiller's legs had
thinned so much, they looked like straws, and she wasn't shrinking at all.
However, I was. I shrunk and shrunk and shrunk until I thought I
would fall over. But I didn't. It was extremely weird, because
besides the eyes, I was almost a regular human about 2 feet tall.
That's when the feather pattern appeared and became three-dimensional.
My legs became birds legs and wings formed. I was now a peregrine
falcon.
I waited for the familiar falcon mind to bubble up inside my mind, but
I was ready for it and easily controlled it.
< Are we all ready for take off? > YK asked us in thought-speech.
Though-speech is what we use to communicate in morph. You can only
hear it in your minds, and it can be directed privately or to everyone.
< YK, this is air flight control. You are clear for take off.
> Forlay giggled.
< Lets fly! > I told everyone, lifting into the air. The
others all had an easy time getting up into the air, while I had a little
more flapping to do. Because my bird isn't too big, it has to
work harder to get lift-off. But
man you should see a peregrine falcon dive down to the Earth!
Flying isn't like anything you would expect. It is so amazing!
It is…like swimming up in the air. I know that's hard to imagine,
but remember my rule number one!
< We're almost there, I can see the parking lot. >
Anda told us all.
< We're almost there already? Cool! > I said, diving down
towards the parking lot. < Try and catch me! MWAHAHA!! >
There was no way anyone could catch up to me, but all the same they tried.
I came in fast and swooped over the cars, zooming back up over the high
fence that kept kids out that didn't feel like paying. If only they
knew some kids could turn into birds and get
right past it…
< Alright, where's the dolphin tank? > I asked, leading the way.
< Turn right here, left. > YK instructed.
We all turned and saw the tank. We couldn't acquire a morph through
a morph, so we had to land behind the bathrooms and demorph. So far,
we can only morph in skin tight clothing. So when we demorphed, we
all had leotards on. Which didn't look too insanely
strange, seeing as how The Gardens is
a zoo/amusement park type thing.
"Oh man, could it smell any worse back here???" Forlay said, plugging her
nose.
"Oh yuck, lets get out of here!" We said, climbing over the small
wall in front of us.
Standing in the middle of the small road, I asked, "Alright…now where is
that darn tank? I could see it from up there…"
"Its right there." Anda said, looking behind me, laughing.
"Come on!" YK grabbed us and pulled us towards the tank.
To our advantage, they were feeding the dolphins, so they let some of the
kids give them some fish and pet them. We did, and acquired the mammal
at the same time. For some odd reason, they didn't become faint like
most animals did, so we left without anyone ever knowing something was
up.
Gathered back at the beach, we decided to try the dolphin morph. Everyone
else was doing fine, until it was my turn.
"I'm not exactly the best swimmer…" I said shyly, looking at the
water.
< Come on, it's fun! Let the dolphin do the swimming. >
Forlay told me privately.
"Alright…" I muttered, wading into the water. That's when the feather
pattern emerged on my arms.
< Ah! Your doing it again! Get out of the water!! >
YK yelled to me.
"AHH!" I quickly ran out of that water and calmed down. The
allergy is activated by emotions.
I sat down on the sand and looked out to my dolphin friends. "I told
you I get nervous in the water." I said, and pulled my clothes on.
Chapter 4
After the rest of the group
had gotten semi-used to their new dolphin morphs, they demorphed and climbed
up the sand next to me.
"Alright, I think its
time we go down there and investigate now." YK said, wiping the water out
of her eyes.
"Yeah...go see if we
can find this kandrona down there. Should we go now? If we are just looking
around...that shouldn't take too long." Anda said, standing up and looking
over the water again.
"Alright." I started
to get up. "Hey, don't get yourselves killed down there playing detectives,
OK?"
"Your not coming with
us?" Forlay was alarmed.
"Let's face it. Until
I burp up that elephant, I'm just a danger to your first mission. We are
all going to get afraid down there, I bet, so if I were to go, I'd just
start having allergy attacks."
"She's right, Forlay."
YK sadly told.
"Not completely." Anda
said, reassuring everyone. "She could still help."
"How?" I asked, hopeful.
"Do what Tobias had
to do all those times before he could morph again. Go spy around up here.
Follow Chapman...if he is playing a key role in the construction of this
kandrona, he's bound to lead us somewhere."
"That's a good idea!"
I said, jumping up.
"Alright then. Anda,
Forlay, and Myself will go play Sherlock Holmes. Elfy, you go follow
Chapman. Check out the school...maybe
we can find some leads there. All meet back here in two hours, ok?" YK
told us, taking charge.
We all agreed, so fifteen
minutes later I found myself playing Virtual Fighter at the arcade in the
mall. I wish I was down there helping them...what if they get in a fight
with sharks or something?
I kept thinking. Not your fault...you
wouldn't be helping them anyway...all they'd need was to
fight sharks and then have an African
Elephant sink to the bottom of the ocean. My thoughts
were soon interrupted.
"Hey kid, you any good?"
Some big bully-type kid asked me, coming up to the video game.
"Huh? Oh...um...I think
so." I said.
"Yeah? Alright...I'll
play ya." He popped his quarter in the machine and we began to play. As
it turned out, I was a good player...I beat him five times!
"Not bad, squirt."
He said, putting yet another quarter in.
That's when I saw Chapman.
Atleast I think it was Chapman. He was standing behind a table at the entrance
to the arcade set up with a lot of flyers and music playing around it.
Obviously, whoever this was, was trying to get the kids coming into the
arcade to sign up for something.
"Hey...who is that?"
I asked the kid I was beating at Virtual Fighter.
"Who, him? Oh...he's
some new guy in town. They say he's from the other coast bringing this
group he's in over here. Kinda like a boy-scout/girl-scout type thing.
They're calling it, 'The Sharing' or 'The Share-something.'"
"Really? I think I'll
go check it out."
"I just joined it...it's
pretty cool. We do cookouts and things." He told me.
"Alright, here," I
said, tugging on a kids shirt behind me. "Play for me." And I marched over
to the table.
"Hi there! Would you
like some information on The Sharing?" Chapman asked me.
"Um...sure. Uh...is
there a fee or something?" I manage to get out. I was trying to stay calm
all the while I was nervous.
"A fee? No way. We
wouldn't take your kids' money away from your video games! We do not have
any fees, and all you are expected to do is have fun! Would you like to
sign up?" He went on.
Oh man, he was worse
than those annoying sellers who call you up at home to sell you stuff.
Who would want this guy as a principal???
"Um...not right now.
I think I want to get some more information first." I said, watching his
eyes. That's when I knew for sure it was Chapman. I saw some of his Yeerk
characteristics show through, his eyes flickering for furry with the annoyance
of a child not joining his Yeerk front organization.
"OK, anything that
suits the child." He muttered out.
"What exactly do you
do?"
"Well...we have a barbecue
scheduled. However, that has been postponed because it was
scheduled to be held at the beach. And
we are currently...having some problems...with a certain group of children
against or organization. Now, you wouldn't know anything about that, would
you?" He said sternly, leaning over me.
"Um...uh...no sir!"
I almost screamed. Oh great! I felt the changes beginning. I was afraid
of
Chapman right then...and my feet were
changing to elephant feet!
I didn't know what
to do, and then things got ten times worse. A young boy about my age walked
up to Chapman and pulled him aside, but I could still make out what they
were saying.
"Sir, we just have
some news. Radar on the new kandrona has shown advancement around its perimeter.
We believe it may be the Andalite Bandits."
That got my attention.
"Um...so can I sign up or what?" I asked Chapman, trying to distract him
from learning about my friends down there playing detectives.
"What? Not now, you
fool! I have an emergency to attend to!" He yelled at me and ran out the
door.
I kept thinking about
that young kid who was now a Yeerk Captive. Right then I wished more
than ever I was under the water, able
to distroy that horrible, horrible kandrona and end all of the Yeerks madness.
But right now, I had to warn my friends. Chapman was on the way with probably
a dozen or so more Yeerks. Maybe later I could free a human from the Yeerk
torture.
Chapter 5
I couldn't exactly just
go running out the door after Chapman. Some Yeerk would have seen me and
noticed that my feet...well...no, my legs...weren't normal. So I headed
back into the arcade. A lot of the kids were wearing things way worse than
elephant feet and legs.
I stopped and turned
to the big bully-type kid I was playing video games with before. "Hey,
do you know of a backdoor out of this arcade?"
"Heh, the cops after
you, too? There's a door behind the Mortal Kombat III game. Good luck with
the cops." He said, still staring at the screen.
"Um...yeah...whatever.
Thanks." I said and darted for the Mortal Kombat game. As I rounded the
corner, I knew this wasn't gonna be good. If Mortal Kombat III was here,
it was the newest game in the store. Which meant that's the game every
kid wanted to play.
"WHOA! You beat Motaro!
You can play as him now!" One kid was saying to the kid playing.
"Dude, shut up! You'll
break my concentration!" Was the reply.
I knew this was bad.
Have you ever tried to get past, let alone behind the system, of a group
of kids waiting for a new video game in an arcade?
"Excuse me." I kept
saying as I got past some of the younger kids. Some of them were OK about
letting me by, others...well...
"Hey, no cuts!" Some
older kid said to me.
"I'm not cutting...I
just need to get to that door."
"I SAID, no CUTS!"
He yelled pushing me back into a wall.
"Look, I don't want
to play the dumb game! I just gotta get somewhere FAST!"
"You tryin' to start
something with me? Look...no one cuts in front of me. Those guys got by
because they are my friends. Now get lost!" He said getting ready to punch
me.
"I will! Just let me
leave through that door!" I pointed through the crowd towards the door.
"That's it." He said,
and swung his fist at me.
"AHH!" I don't think
I got hit...I think it was just the terror of going to get hit. Instead,
a huge hand grabbed the hand of the kid who was going to punch me. It was
the boy I had played Virtual Fighter with.
"She said she's just
gotta get through that door." He said sternly to the other boy. Then, turned
to me, "We outlaws gotta stick together. Hurry up before those cops find
ya!"
"Um...right...I...uh...thanks."
I mumbled and ran out the door. Behind me I could hear the sounds of a
good sized fight breaking out. But I couldn't worry about that now. I had
to save my friends.
Chapman would have
been half way to the beach by now. If only I could morph!
I saw a dumpster and
ended up having to climb into it. Trust me, I very, very, very, VERY gross
thing. Soon I began to morph.
I was almost fully
falcon, before I had to stop and start all over again. ARGH! Concentrate!
No emotions, no emotions...calllllllllllllllllm yourself. I thought,
trying to hold back the fear and stop the uncontrollable morphing.
Finally I morphed to
falcon, and after getting a soda cup thrown in on me, lifted into the air
and headed straight for the water.
All the while I was
yelling, < Forlay, AG{yet another shortened name for Andagorilla}, YK!
GET OUT OF THE WATER! DEMORPH! HEAD DOWN
STREAM AWAYS!
DEMORPH!!! > in private thought-speak.
Maybe I was close enough to be heard by them. After a
few moments of yelling, I faintly heard
them.
< What? > YK, or
maybe it was Forlay, asked me.
< Chapman is on
his way! Some sensors on the kandrona...don't ask, just get out of there!
> I screamed.
< OK, we read you.
Demorphing now. > Anda said.
By the time I finally
flew over the walls of trees of the forest and over the beach, I saw Chapman
and some other Yeerks looking around in the water. My friends had manage
to join a volleyball game and pretend they had been playing volleyball.
The Yeerks wouldn't have suspected them for a few reasons. One, they were
dry, and two, no Andalite in a human morph would have been able to run
and play volleyball that well in human morph.
I landed on the top
of the volley ball net facing my friends. < Oh good, > I started, <
you got out OK. You're safe! >
Forlay turned to me
on her turn to serve and silently said, "And you wouldn't believe what
we found out."
"What?" A member of
the other team yelled.
"Nothing. Four serving
Five." She said, and served the volleyball over the net.
Chapter Six
After the game, which they lost by the way…hehehe, I landed and demorphed
under the protection of my friends.
"Thanks again for the warning there, we were almost toast." YK told
me, patting my arm as it demorphed from a wing.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…so what's this big news??? Something big? Tell
me!" I said, eager to find out what all the commotion was over this
trip underwater.
"Well, three things." Forlay started. "One: it looks as if
that Kandrona is going to be lifted up over the water onto some small island.
Of course, it will be pretty far out, away from
human eyes. Right now its
being constructed in a small capsule-type thing. Two: This thing
is huge! As in, BIG! Like a submarine. I think this is
majorly important. And three: He was there."
"Uh-oh. Are we thinking of the same he?" I inquired.
"Uh-huh. Visser Three." Anda told me.
"Oh man. Wasn't he happy enough on the other coast?" I sighed.
"Well, obviously this is a major Yeerk achievement. He doesn't want
to have any other Yeerk get the credit for it. We heard him talking
about promotions. He can't wait to be Visser Two if all goes well."
Anda said again.
"Well, so if we destroy that Kandrona, Visser Three leaves and we stop
a big Yeerk plan, right?" I asked.
"Yup." They all said at once.
"I hate to say this, but what's the plan for getting rid of it?"
I asked them.
"Well. According to some Yeerks we heard over talking, that Kandrona
down there is going to be lifted out of the water tomorrow. So, I
was thinking Monday after school, leaving time for them to get it up and
all, we go take it out. Morph to dolphin, swim out there, destroy
it. Hopefully get some piece of it to show to some officials.
Spread it around. And hope that it doesn't turn into a big battle.
But if it does, we'll have the advantage of a big beach, water, and a forest
up there." Anda told us all for the first time.
"OK, that sounds good. But what about Elfy? She's still sick."
YK asked Anda and Forlay.
"Um…well…she could be a look out. Up in the forest. If it gets
really bad, she can morph to falcon and guide us to the forest. Letting
us demorph and hide unseen." Anda thought.
"That leaves her out of all the action!" Guess who that was.
Yup, Forlay. How'd you know?
"Not a problem. Believe me." I said, standing up.
"Chicken." She replied, laughing.
"Chicken doesn't say the half of it. Chicken, yellow, afraid, petrified…"
I told them all.
"Yeah, we get it." Anda said, getting annoyed. "Now lets break up
for the evening and tomorrow. OK? After school tomorrow, meet
over....um…over…uh…" She was looking around for a good place to hide
us from view.
"How about there?" YK said, pointing over to a spot in the water
covered by shade.
"Perfect." Forlay said. "See you all Monday." We had to break
up for the rest of the weekend, because normally, we wouldn't have spent
that much time together. The only real time we do spend a lot of
time together is at school or on the Internet.
**************************
It was now Monday, with only two periods left until our insane mission.
The worst thing ever, is sitting in Earth Science class, awaiting English,
and then having a stupidly insane
mission where you have to sit and worry
about your friends getting killed. Then, to top it all off, I finally figured
out why seeing that boy talking to Chapman had bugged me so much.
Anda, Forlay, YK, and myself all talk to many others over the Internet.
One of those kids is a boy with the nick-name 'KingMeatBall.' I had
seen his picture only once, but I knew it had
been him. He goes to our school,
but is a bit younger, so I never see him.
He was a Yeerk??? We had all known each other for a long time…surely
he couldn't have been a Yeerk all that time. Could he?
"Mary?" My teacher asked me.
"What? Er…um…'Yes'" I said, hoping Yes had been an answer to
some problem from last nights homework.
"Yup. The right answer is yes, because when an igneous rock forms…"
She told the rest of the class. I breathed a sigh of relief.
A few hours later, it was the end of the day. I had made it through
science and
English…somehow, and now I was looking
to go to the beach. As I stepped outside, I looked up into the sky
to see if Forlay or any of the others had morphed to bird to fly there.
Sure enough, there was a big bird silhouette carrying a big bulky object.
I'm guessing a
bookbag.
<Hey Mary. If you can hear me, move your bag to the other shoulder.>
Forlay told me, so I shifted my bag.
<Cool. YK is about a block behind you, and your almost to the
beach, so I'll meet you there. So long!> She flew low overhead
for a second, then flew up. I waved a sort of 'good-bye.'"
Down at the beach I met up with the others. "Hey, we all ready to do this?"
I asked, throwing my bag down and sitting in the sand.
"Ready as we'll ever be. How about you?" Anda asked.
"I've got the easy part. You guys are down there risking your lives.
Don't worry about me…just save your own butts." I told them, standing up.
"Lets do it!" Forlay yelled.
"Ugh…did you have to say that? That always leads to trouble."
YK said, sighing.
"Lets get in the water and change. Elfy, take our bags. If
there isn't much trouble, we should be outta there in about half an hour.
OK?" Anda asked me, stepping into the water.
"Alright. See you in a half-hour. Good luck." I told them,
saluting them as they morphed.
"You, too." YK spat out as she fell under the water, morphing.
I headed up the hill into the forest. Into what terrors were about
to come.
Chapter 7
I had my watch on. They had morphed at about 2:47 p.m. Now,
it was 3:26. Just about a half hour had gone by. Surely they would
have contacted me…let me know things were OK. Right?
I couldn't stop thinking about them. I tried to think of other things,
telling myself they were fine. But something just kept bugging me
about them. So I climbed up a tree and leaned on a
branch, peering over the beach out below
me. The water was totally calm.
< ELFY! > YK's thought-speech rang in my head. Alright!
They were alright!! < I know you can't reply, but we got some
trouble here. Visser Three is here. He is chasing us rapidly
towards the shore. I know this sounds
bad, but GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE THEY GET YOU! >
Oh MAN! This was bad. Very, very bad. My friends were
down there right now! What could I do?? Nothing! They
had suggested that I run away before they got me, too. But I couldn't
just abandon my friends!
To morph elephant would
be suicide! I got ready to jump down when I saw the dorsal fins first
emerge from the sea. One…two…three! Yes...they were all there!
And that's when He appeared.
Out of the water like a huge submarine, Visser Three arose. Did you
see Godzilla? The newer movie? Well…he looked exactly like
that…only about a forth of its size. My friends stayed under the
water a bit…just enough to demorph and remorph into battle animals
unseen.
A gorilla, cheetah, and a buffalo ran up onto the beach and turned to face
the Abomination. Visser Three looked down at them in pity, then burst
out laughing.
<HAHAHA! This is what you have spent your time on Earth acquiring?
A monkey, cat, and a herder like yourselves? All to defeat ME?>
Visser Three screamed for all to hear, followed by a huge roar that shook
me the rest of the way out of the tree. I ran up to
the edge of the forest and ducked behind
some bushes to watch the rest.
<HAHAHA….as easy as it would be to demolish all of you with this morph,
I believe I'll make it a more challenge on myself. That way, I shall
get an even bigger promotion I serve the Council of Thirteen four fresh
Andalite bodies for infestation.> He bellowed and began to demorph.
He didn't worry about demorphing so vulnerably like that, a few truck full
of Hork-Bajir and human controllers had pulled up and unloaded, leaving
about fifty Hork-Bajir aimed with dracon beams at my friends.
He was fully demorphed and planned to fight my friends as an Andalite.
< HAHAHA…foolish Andalites. Now…GET
THEM! >
Instantly, armed Humans and Hokr-Bajir lunged at my friends. I backed
away in fright. Forlay, AG,. And YK were killing Horks and Humans
fast! But not fast enough.
<NOT THE GUNS YOU FOOLS! I WANT THEM ALIVE! WHAT GOOD IS A DEAD
ANDALITE TO ME!> Visser Three yelled,
swinging his tail at a nearby Hork and cutting off his arm.
YK was the first to get caught. She had a powerful morph, however
slow in the crowd of hork-bajir and humans. She fought as well as
she could, but was soon dragged back towards the trucks. They tried to
get her in, but she just wouldn't cooperate. So they left her outside
covered in a net with about twenty armed guards. Forlay and
AG continued to attack.
I was watching Forlay do what she loves best, slain a hork-bajir-controller,
when the changes hit me. My stomach was bulging like an elephants.
Only, I had been calm! Why
was I morphing?
No you idiot! It's the burping! I heard myself yell to myself.
I backed further into the woods. I didn't want Visser Three or some
controller to spot me. Even if my friends saw me
they might become distracted.
The changes were coming fast now, all the while I was still human.
Very strange. I had read about what happened to Rachel, though, and
knew what might come. All the while my stomach was getting heavier,
I fell as I was running deep into the woods.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed at the top of my lunges. It
didn't
really hurt…it was just the idea of an
elephant coming OUT of you, and I was getting crushed by it. That
part DID hurt.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I screamed again, kneeling in the dirt.
The head had appeared, and the elephant trumpeted in fright of my screaming.
My friends must have heard the elephant and me, because I soon heard their
though-speak.
<Elfy?! What's happening?!?! It's the elephant isn't it???>
Anda
yelled in private thought-speak.
Of course, I couldn't reply, so that just kept talking. <Calm
down! It'll be OK!!!>
The elephant was now completely 'burped' up. It was still trumpeting, but
since I stopped yelling, it just stood there. I fell over in the
dirt and breathed hard. And amazingly enough,
the only thing I could think of
was, Oh man. Remind me never to have a kid when I grow up!!!
<Elfy?!? I'm guessing things are better…you're not screaming.
Anyway, GET OUT OF THERE NOW! I'm taking charge for a moment…I wouldn't
normally do this, but this is an ORDER! Three hork-bajir and 3 armed
human-controllers are rapidly coming your way!
They must have heard you. GET OUT
OF THERE!> Anda and Forlay kept screaming at me. Finally what
they were yelling at me to do hit me and I jumped to my feet. I ran
and hid by the edge of the woods and heard them come up.
"Where was it coming from? I don't see anything!" The first
guy was saying.
"Just find Something!! Visser Three will have our heads if we fail
him! AHH! OVER THERE! AN ELEPHANT!" The second controller
screamed, and shot at the elephant with horrible aim. The elephant
got mad. He'd had enough of this shooting and screaming.
With one swing of his powerful trunk,
the controllers were unconcious next to a tree.
I turned back to the scene of war below. Forlay and AG were fighting
their way through a line of Hork-Bajir when I saw the other truck coming.
They weren't gonna make it without some help and the only morph I had now
was a peregrine falcon.
My friends were in very very big trouble. And thanks to my screaming,
their problems got worse as the reinforcements drove in. So I morphed
the peregrine falcon as fast as I could.
Lifting into the air, I flew straight for the Gardens.
Chapter 8
I wasn't sure what I was looking for at The Gardens…all I knew was that
it had better be powerful. It had gotten to be about four o'clock.
My falcon eyes peered into a store and found a clock…plus it was starting
to get dark out earlier.
I flew in low over the parking lot and zoomed over the top of the main
gate.
"Mommy! Look!!" A small child yelled, tugging on his mother's
jacket. He had seen me.
"Not now, Mike! We'll see the birds in a few minutes!" I heard
her say back to him. By then, I was already half way over the park,
I was in such a rush.
What could be strong enough? Rhino? No…too slow. Elephant?
Oh no! We are NOT going there again…AH HA! That's it! It's PERFECT!
I thought to myself, landing on top of the cage, labeled, "LIONS AND LIONESSES.
CAUTION."
Yes! A lioness would be perfect! They were fast and very powerful!
But first I needed to be human to acquire it….oh great.
It ended up I had to go behind the cage. You know those doors for
employees only? Through there. So I landed, once again, in
a dumpster and demorphed. A cup landed on my head…this time NOT empty.
"HEY!" I yelled.
"What th--" A kid asked and peered into the dumpster. "Why
are you in there?" He asked me, helping me out.
"Um…I was just looking…for…a book! I lost it." I spat out.
"Yeah…right…well…be
more careful...or something like that. Bye." He said, walking
away. I ran over to the door.
"URG! It's locked!" I muttered, pulling at the handle.
"May I help you, Miss?" A Zoo staff guy was saying, walking over.
"Um, yes! I'm supposed to meet my Mother back there…but the door
closed before I could get in. Now
it's locked."
"Hmmm…OK. Here." He pulled out a key and opened the door!
"Now hurry along before she leaves without you."
"Thanks!" I said, running into the door.
Once inside, I looked around to make sure no one was in sight. There
was absolutely no one around, so I opened the door to the lions easily,
yet cautiously, and froze in my tracks.
I heard the breathing of the lioness that ran to the door on hearing it
open. She slowly crawled toward me, away from the sight of watchful
eyes above.
"Niiiiiice kitty." I said, holding out a trembling hand. "Can
I pet you? It will only take a second."
The lioness sniffed at my hand, and realizing I was no threat to her, laid
down right there. I placed my hand slowly right between her ears
and acquired her. Luckily, she became dazed and tired like most animals
do, leaving me time to dart out of the door and to safety.
On the way out of the park I realized I couldn't go through the main gate.
They check the back of your hand for the stamped logo of, "The Gardens"
on there. I didn't exactly have one.
So I would have to go remorph to
falcon.
"Hey, you! Weren't you looking for your Mother behind those cages
way back there? What are you doing up here?" The Security Guard
asked me suspiciously.
"Um…I'm…getting us some drinks."
"The refreshment stand isn't anywhere near here."
"Oh yeah! Thanks, I was just about to ask where it was."
"Come over here, I'm gonna have to ask you some questions." He said,
pulling out a report-sheet thing.
"I can't! I promised my Mom I'd be right back." I started,
running away.
"Hey! Get back here! Security!" He yelled at me and into
a walkie-talkie.
Oh great, just what I needed. To be chased through the amusement
park. I had to think fast. So I ran straight for the water
park.
"Get over here! Joe! Stop that girl!" Now there were
two of them.
SPLASH
I jumped into the water.
SPLASH SPLASH
So did they. Just great.
"AHH!" One of them grabbed my foot.
"I got her! Dave! Over here!!" Soon two of them pulled
at my legs and I was dragged out of the water.
"Let go of me! I haven't done anything!" I screamed at them.
"Yeah, sure you haven't. Just a little something called illegally
entering the park. You don't have a stamp on your hand."
"WHAT?!?! IT WASHED OFF, OK?!?! NOW LET. ME. GO!!" I
yelled at the top of my lungs, trying to make a scene.
"Well, we'll have to go check that out. For now, come with us."
And they led me back into a security room.
"Now sit here. What's your name?" The bald guy named Joe asked
me.
"I don't have a name."
"Don't gimme any sarcasm! I want your name."
"Alright. You caught me. My name is Clark Kent. By night,
I am a superhero, however by day, I am a mild reporter for a major Metropolitan
Newspaper." I told them.
"That's it! Give me your phone number right now!" Joe told
me.
"Okay. Which one? I have several. For instance there
is 911, 123-4567, and 000-0000." I said with a laugh.
"That's it. I'm getting the police." And they both marched
into the room. They had long since taken off the hand-cuffs, so I
quickly morphed into my peregrine falcon morph. When
they came back, they got quite a surprise.
"She's right in here, Officer Kelly."
TSEEEER! I shrieked, flying out of the room. In the background, I
heard him yell, "Andalite!," but I was out of there. Out over the
fence, past the parking lot, and soon into the
forest leading to the beach.
Landing and demorphing, I spotted the Elephant still there. "You
still here? Hmmm…" I whispered getting a rather unusual idea.
I began to morph the lioness.
Chapter 9
The first feeling I had was the tail. My tail bone elongated and
thinned out a bit. My back legs were changing rapidly into the small,
powerful legs of the lioness. Unable to support
my own body on them, I fell into the dirt
just as my arms formed the front legs. I could hear
my insides shifting around, forming bigger
lungs and a smaller brain. Soon my eyes and ears adjusted.
I was a full lioness. Almost.
To anyone who saw me, I was a large rat. Then the lightly colored
tan fur rippled across my body. Now I was a full lioness. I
awaited the mind that I felt bubbling up inside me and
prepared for it.
Nothing. This animal wasn't like the falcon, eager to get away and
fly into the sky. She was calm. She knew that anything attacking
her wouldn't stand a chance. The only strong emotion this beast had
was the hunger for the elephant. But it had just eaten, so I easily
restrained her hunger.
I carefully walked through the brush over to the side of the forest and
peered down upon the seen below. A great shock rushed over me.
Everywhere, controllers! Some living, some dead. Laying everywhere…in
the water, on the beach, some even close to theforest! YK had broken
free and the controllers that were holding her…well…they rested peacefully
on the ground. Andagorilla was flinging a controller into the water.
Forlay raced around the scene slashing here and there. It was a massacre!
This wasn't a battle…it was a massacre! That's when things got really
ugly.
Out of the water appeared Visser Three. And near him on the beach
was the Kandrona. Just sitting there out in the open. But even
if they tried, my friends would not be able to reach it. A large
group of human and hork-bajir controllers had surrounded them. In a few
minutes, they would be next to the ones laying still on the ground.
< AG, YK, Forlay! Can you hear me?!? > I yelled in private
thought-speech to them.
< Elfy? Where are you? > YK asked me.
< Up in the forest. See me? >
< YAH! Either that's you, or the zoo lost a lioness. > Forlay
screamed.
< Its me. I'm up here with the elephant. Just stay calm,
OK? I have an idea. > I said, running back to the elephant.
< It had better be good! We have some trouble down here! >
AG called up.
I darted back towards the elephant and climbed a tree branch over hanging
him. Lightly, I crawled onto his back. No, that wouldn't work.
I needed protection! So I jumped off and crawled underneath his stomach
between his massive four legs. Slashing at his foot, he didn't move.
Come on! Can't you feel that? I thought to myself. But
of course he couldn't! Elephants have like foot-thick skin. He had
to be frightened in order to run down to the beach. So I let out
a huge roar.
RRRRROOOOOAAAAARRRRR!!!!! That got him going. Plus, all of the controllers
below froze and looked up at the elephant running down towards them with
a lioness darting beneath him.
< GO! GO! GET THE KANDRONA, GUYS! > I yelled to my
friends as the elephant rammed into the nearest controller.
< It's another Andalite! Get him! > I heard Visser Three
scream. Everything turned into a massive battle then. Animal against
human and Alien. I ran out from the elephant and towards the controllers
in the water. YK aimed straight for Visser Three, knocking him over.
Forlay darted for the Kandrona, while AG through a human-controller into
a van. He flew so hard into the back of that truck, that the back
doors slammed shut after him.
< Go for the Kandrona! > I yelled, running for it. Forlay
and I were the only ones quick enough that would be able to get at it.
< There it is! >
< Coming! > Forlay yelled, jumping into the cool water.
Together we leaped at the horrible machine. It didn't budge.
< HAHAHA. > Visser Three laughed in our heads with an evil ring
to it. < Not this time, Andalites. I have taken precaution.
> He yelled, pulling out a remote control and pressing a
button. The Kandrona backed up into
the water and sunk.
< HAHAHA, not this time, Andalite fools! Right now, the Kandrona
is being boarded upon a massive under-water Yeerk ship and being carried
away to a Yeerk Pool. HAHAHA. >
< A trap! > Forlay hissed, turning back to Visser Three.
< Yes, Andalite. A trap. And now, to catch the rodents the
trap was set for. GET
THEM! > Visser Three bellowed to
his guards. They rushed at us.
< AHH! Is it OK if we BAIL now?!? > I screamed, slashing
the human-controller aiming for me.
< Yes! Defiantly, YES! > AG hollered as we all ran for the
forest. We were way ahead of the Yeerks, so we had time to demorph.
Forlay and I stayed behind, waiting for AG and YK to get up the slope into
safety. I spotted KingMeatBall running for us. I slashed at
him, but only knocking his dracon beam away from YK. He fell back
into the rushing mob of controllers. He was still not freed.
We ran into a small cave, demorphed, and quickly morphed birds, flying
away.
< Well that was a big success…NOT! > I yelled, extremely tired.
We flew straight for the nearest of our houses, AG's. She lived closest
to the beach, so we flew into her open bedroom window and demorphed after
making sure her parents weren't
home.
"Now what do we do?" YK asked annoyingly. We were all tired,
and that battle seemed kind of pointless.
"I don't know. We can't really do anything right now, I suppose our
next target should be the Yeerk Pool." Anda told us, pulling on some
normal clothes.
"Until then, we have to keep a low profile." Forlay told us.
"Yeah. But, can we visit the Yeerk-pit some other time? I have
a LOT of homework to get caught up on." I said, flopping down on
the bed.
"Yeah, oh shoot! My parents!" Anda told us, looking out the
window. "You guys gotta go! Fast! I'll see you tomorrow at
school, maybe we can talk then, but not now!!" She hissed at us,
watching her parents come through the door.
We all, once again, morphed to our birds and flew home. To get to
my house I would have to fly over the beach. As I did, I could already
see most of the dead Yeerks being backed into a van. Visser Three was gone.
And the water was washing away all signs of a battle.
That's how Visser Three is. He doesn't care how many Yeerks die,
just so that he may take over our home. When it comes to Earth, he
just doesn't care about morals. But there was nothing to be done
now. We had tried, and failed miserably. If it were the other
Animorphs, they probably would have accomplished something. But they
weren't here. We
would just have to learn how to fight.
I turned and flew out over the water and caught a
good thermal to lift me up a good hundred
feet.
< Wish us luck. >
THE END
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