Good news: I'm not dead (or am I?)! I've just been busy/distrafted/lazy thanks to the holiday season. But fear not, here it is: book 61. I hope you enjoy it. Soon, I intend to update some of my other, more random stuff, too, but I'll make no promises. Maybe I'll even finish Tanxgizin'. I was writing Krixmuz, too, but got distracted/busy/lazy.
Imagine a picture of Cassie turning into the head of an Anati. (Don't' know what that is yet? You will. Just read the fic and it'll make sense)
61: The Judgment
AUTHOR'S NOTE
So I realized something. When K.A.A. was writing book 54, she left Cassie on Earth at the end of it. I don't know if it was because K.A.A. didn't like her anymore or what, but I do know that Cassie was, at that point, removed from the books.
I've decided to do the same thing here. Like Jake and Santorelli, it's time for Cassie to leave.
Part of this decision is that I can't write Cassie well. She and I are completely the opposite person and I can't write her without making her sound like an idiot so it's best if I don't try. Besides, she's barely in any of my fics anyway. And it made way for the next Animorph...
To the three of you who like Cassie (and I don't think you even read these): sorry. To those of you who, like me, want her head on a pike: CELEBRATE!!!
Enjoy or go to hell.
If I owned the Animorphs, you wouldn't be reading this for free.
Chapter 1
My name is Cassie. I can't tell you my last name or where I live. There was a time when I could. For the first thirteen years of my life, I could have told you all of that. And four years ago, I could have done it, too. But not anymore.
The first time I had to start keeping secrets was because the Yeerks came to Earth. I'm sure you know all about that. If not, then you really need to go back and learn about it.
Now, I have to lie for the same reason. The Yeerks are back. They're in a new town, so we are too. We created new identities. But, see, we can't let this war become public. So we can't let you know what town it is. I won't even swear it's in the Unites States of America.
Long story short, not all of the Yeerks were defeated. Some fled on the Blade ship. They ran into a being called The One and now they work for him. He gave them some new, deadly hosts. He gave them back their leader, Esplin 9644, formerly known as Visser Three/One. He even gave them David, the one who betrayed us.
Who are we? The Animorphs, of course. But not like you might remember us. Some of us are gone. Ax was captured by the Yeerks and is now the Visser's host. That was what set us onto this war in the first place.
We lost Jake, too. He sacrificed himself to destroy a hanger full of Yeerk ships that could unleash their plague on the galaxy again, much worse that it was already. We lost Jake, but, because of a deal he had cut with the Crayak, we gained someone else.
Rachel was back from the dead. Jake bought her life with his own. Now, it's almost like she was never dead. If dying had changed her at all, it's hard for even me to tell. She's still the same strong, fearless Rachel she always was.
Marco's still here. Still cracking jokes, still being paranoid; still Marco. I know he hurts a lot since Jake's death, but, because he's Marco, he won't let us know or help. He hates pity, even when he deserves it.
Tobias is still here, but he's nothing like he was when we first met him. He's our leader now, for one thing. He's human again, thanks to Crayak. I don't know what to think of Tobias. It's like he's three different people. Sometimes, he as kind and gentle as people say I am. Other times, he as cold and ruthless as Marco can be. Still others, he was hot-blooded and reckless as Rachel. But he hasn't gotten anyone killed and that's always a plus in my book. I worry though; I don't know how far he'll go to win. I don't know where he draws the line. Sometimes, I'm not even sure there is a line.
We have two new members as well. One is Jeanne. She's French and, we recently learned, Rachel's step-sister. She and Marco like each other, but she's too in awe of Marco (because of the whole Animorph thing) to make a move. And Marco, being Marco, is kind of clueless when it comes to things like this.
Out last new member is Alloran-Sirinial-Fangor. He's Tobias' Andalite half-brother; Elfangor's other son. Alloran's a computer genius; he's as good as the Chee. I don't know Alloran all that well, but he seems like a good kid.
And, of course, there's me, Cassie. You probably remember me. You might have even read about me in history class. Did you ever see a picture of me? Well, if you did, you wouldn't recognize me.
We were in disguise in our new town. Marco now had a blue faux-hawk and matching contact lenses. His usually stylish wardrobe was traded in for tacky shorts and shirts from bands I've never even heard of. Rachel's hair, for maybe the first time ever, was cut short. Aside from that, she looked the same. As for me…
"Try this one on," Rachel ordered. She had given me a makeover and was making sure it stuck. My hair was long and straight now. Contact lenses made my eyes green. And my cloths were all…well, the stuff Rachel would make me wear.
Most of us were at the mall that day. Rachel had decided to buy Alloran some new cloths. She dragged me and Jeanne along, too. Tobias and Marco said they had some work to do and disappeared before they could be questioned.
I was glad those two were finally spending some time together. They had never been close, but I think it's because they never knew each other. Now, they seemed to be working better together. Or maybe it was just my imagination.
Rachel handed me the shit she was holding and then turned to Jeanne. "Jeanne, you're pretty much perfect. Just one thing needs to go."
"What?" Jeanne asked. She was almost as beautiful as Rachel, really. I couldn't imagine what Rachel wanted to change.
"That hat has to go." Jeanne had taken to wearing a green army barrette.
Jeanne shook her head. "Rachel, this hat was Santorelli's. He wanted me to have it."
"Oh. Sorry, I didn't know. Okay, yeah, keep the hat. Maybe we'll work around it. Yeah, that's good. Let's get you in some cammo. It'll be a good look for you."
Santorelli was one of us briefly. He was a hardened military man about twice our age. He was a Controller for a while; a bodyguard for Visser Six. He died on a mission to hide the Time Matrix where it could never be found. He and Jeanne had a special relationship, since they were the only two new members at the time.
We were heading for the Army-Navy store to work on Jeanne's new look. I was happy because that meant Rachel would stop worrying about mine for a second. Alloran looked about as happy as I did. It was kind of weird to see him smile, since his human morph looked almost exactly like Tobias.
Rachel reached the store. And then, everything stopped. I heard Marco moan, "Oh no. Not this again."
Chapter 2
Tobias spoke almost right after Marco did. "Alright, which one of you is it? Drode? Crayak? Ellimist?"
I wasn't surprised to see the two of them. We had been through the whole time-freeze thing before and it had stopped surprising us long ago. The same thing with people popping up when they shouldn't.
Marco and Tobias were standing about ten feet away from us. Marco was holding a burger, dripping with condiments. Tobias was holding a very large box of french-fries. Alloran's eyes lit up. Silently, Tobias offered the box to him.
THE THIRD TIME IS INDEED THE CHARM, TOBIAS came the answer. The voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. We knew that voice. The Ellimist.
He appeared before us as some kind of alien. He was vaguely humanoid, but clearly different. Instead of hair, he had magnificent, rainbow-colored quills. Four wings came from his back looking like an angel's. He had four arms and four blue eyes as well. He stood on two feet. I noticed that the tops of his feet were like talons. It looked almost like he could rotate a foot to stand on a talon instead.
"New look," Marco commented.
"A very old one, actually," Rachel corrected. "It's been a while, Toomin."
"Toomin…" the Ellimist mused. "It has been eons since I've been called that. Hello, Rachel. Hello, Animorphs."
"Toomin?" Tobias asked, raising his eyebrow.
"Oh. Yeah. Didn't I tell you guys? Just before I…died…the Ellimist told me his life story," Rachel explained. "Do you mind if I call you Toomin?"
"It is considered improper conduct for one to refer to a gamer by his real name when he is playing his game," the Ellimist answered.
"I'm betting that's a no on the whole Toomin thing," Marco said to Rachel.
"Well, I'm not playing games anymore," Tobias said. "Just get out of here, Toomin. I've had enough of your games. Your games are what took my father from me. And my mother. And my body, mind, and soul.."
I was surprised. None of us had ever spoken to the Ellimist like that before. I knew Tobias didn't particularly care for him, but he had never been so open about it.
Then I remembered Crayak. Crayak had made Tobias human again. It was Tobias, more than any of us, who had advocated helping Crayak in his war against The One. What had the price of Tobias' humanity been? Did he go over to Crayak's side?
Crayak was evil. This I knew. The Ellimist may not exactly have been good, but he was trying to help humans.
"Thank you, Cassie," the Ellimist said.
"Oh," Tobias broke in, "now he's back with the mind-reading. How about you let us keep our private thoughts to ourselves? You're no better than a Yeerk."
We all gasped. The Ellimist turned to Tobias. "If it makes you feel better, I cannot read your mind. Crayak prevents that."
"I already like him better than you."
Marco tapped Tobias on the shoulder. "Uh, dude? The Ellimist could destroy you and everyone you ever met."
"No. He needs us. That's why he's here."
That might have been true, but Tobias was walking a dangerously thin line.
"Yes, Tobias, I do need you. All of you. While Crayak and The One fight their war, some things are going neglected. Some things need a push in the right direction. And some things need to be pushed away from each other."
"And because you 'never interfere' you need us to do the pushing," Tobias concluded.
"More or less," the Ellimist answered wryly.
"Then I'll go with less," Tobias replied.
"You don't even know what he wants us to do," I argued.
"Doesn't matter. We're in a war here. And it isn't a part of his game anymore, so he isn't interested in helping us."
"You don't speak for everyone," I answered. "We should at least hear him out."
"I'm with Cassie," Marco agreed. "I don't particularly care for these little adventures he likes to send us on, but they may be useful. Like the Iskoort episode."
"I will agree with Marco," Jeanne said. "If it may be useful, it is not a chance we can pass up."
Rachel shook her head. "I'm with Tobias. All you care about is your game, Ellimist. We're in a war here; we don't have time for a game. Unless this helps us, I'm against it."
"Alloran?" I asked.
((I will do as my Prince commands.))
"Three to two, then," I said. "Go on, Ellimist."
He nodded. "Thank you again, Cassie. I will do as I have done in the past. I will tell you the problem. I will give you the possible results. Then, I will give you a choice."
I thought I heard Tobias mutter something about a bull under his breath. The Ellimist continued. "You will choose how this story ends. Many can be saved or many can be killed. What happens is up to you."
Chapter 3
We listened as the Ellimist explained what was going on to us. "The One and Crayak are fighting their war. They have agreed to certain rules not dissimilar to the ones that govern our game. I was employed to enforce these rules."
"And you should know that what you are doing now is strictly against them," came a new voice. The door to one of the bathrooms opened. Behind it was a black expanse with stars zipping by.
Someone came through that door. A tall, very thin man with black hair and grey skin. He wore an expensive, black suit. In one hand, he carried a briefcase. There was something…off about him. Everything seemed off-color, like it was just a shade away from what it should be. The overall effect was disturbing.
"Who are you?" Tobias demanded.
"Like you, I am a servant of the people, Tobias." His voice was wrong, too. He stressed the letter s, almost like he was a snake talking. His tone and inflections were odd. They were…alien was he best word. His rhythms were off, too. Everything about this man was just a bit off.
"Which people?" the Ellimist prompted.
I felt like he should have given an evil smile, but he didn't. His face remained as immobile as Tobias'. "Whichever people pay me what I ask, of course." His voice was low, throaty.
He went on. "In this particular incident, I have been hired by…let us call him The One. He intends to make certain that the rules are obeyed by all parties and, to be sadly honest, he does not trust you, Ellimist."
"What rules am I breaking?" the Ellimist demanded.
"You are offering an opportunity to one side and not to the other. That is in strict violation of rule seven-hundred thirteen, subsection C. I have a signed copy right here if you would like proof."
The Ellimist shook his head. "So that's why you're here? I do not need to be watched."
"Regardless, I am only here to serve my purpose...just like the rest of you. Now, I believe we should make sure that everyone is present first."
The door behind the man opened again. This time, our enemies came out. First was the biggest Hork-Bajir I've ever seen. Guraff 427. We had met him on our last mission. He didn't seem like one of the bad ones. Maybe there was still hope for him.
Next came the Visser in Ax's body. It was hard, seeing Ax. I was a Controller, briefly. I knew what he was feeling. But the Yeerk in my head had been kind; she turned into a friend. Ax was a slave to the monster who had killed his brother and countless others. Every moment must have been torture.
Last came the rat. David. He was once an Animorph. Then he tried to kill us, so we trapped him in the body of a rat. The One gave him back his morphing powers and now he's after us again.
The suited man straightened his tie. "I believe we are missing just one last member." Then, the Drode appeared. The Drode, with his purple, wrinkly body, many jointed hands, and all-too-human face. The Drode, wearing a shower cap and a pink bathrobe.
I know the Drode is the right hand of Crayak. He's nearly all powerful. Either could destroy us without even thinking about. I know all this. I still laughed so hard I cried. So did everyone else. Even Tobias, who I didn't think remembered how to laugh or cry.
The Drode glared at the suited man. Then, his face broke into a smile. "Well, well, well. If it isn't my best friend. I haven't seen you since that…incident…in New Mexico."
"Ah…yes, Black Mesa. Such a sweet memory."
"And more than profitable for you, as I recall," the Drode added. "How is Gordon?"
"That, I am afraid, is none of your concern."
"Fine. What about Shepherd? Can I have him?"
"As I have told you twenty-seven thousand three-hundred and seventy-nine times: no."
"But you aren't even using him!" the Drode whined.
"Hey!" Rachel shouted. I managed to wipe the tears out of my eyes in time to look. "Is that my robe!?"
The Drode shrugged. "Did you leave it on the bathroom door in the Reliquary?"
"That is my robe! What…why…you were…" Rachel sputtered, either too furious or confused for words.
Tobias just shook his head. "Imaeus …why?"
"Because yours is too coarse," the Drode answered.
Imaeus? That wasn't right. It almost sounded like Tobias and the Drode were friends. No, that couldn't be right. Tobias would never go that far to Crayak's side. Would he?
"Why were you using my shower at all?" Tobias demanded.
"Hey, it takes work to look this good!"
Marco decided it was time to say what I was thinking. "Everyone stop. Tobias, Drode, you two have some explaining to do. Since when are you friends? Since when do either of you have any friends at all?"
Tobias answered him. "Remember how the Ellimist told Rachel his life story? Well, the Drode told me his. He's not so bad after all. No so different from us, at least."
The Ellimist glared at the suited man. "Are you satisfied now?" he demanded.
"Perfectly. You may continue, Ellimist."
Chapter 4
The Ellimist let out a great sigh. "In one week, three fleets will meet each other. One is an Anati fleet. One fleet is Helmacron. The final is Garatron. When these three meet, they will destroy each other."
"You're kidding, right?" Rachel butted in. "I can understand the Garatrons being a threat; I've fought them. And I can get the Anati, since they apparently fought off the Yeerks pretty handedly. But the Helmacrons? They aren't dangerous. They're just annoying."
"At your current size, yes. But you must understand some things. The Anati are a proud people. The Helmacrons insulted them and the Anati had to retaliate. The two fleets will collide and the Anati will almost certainly destroy the Helmacrons."
"So what's the problem?" Tobias asked.
"The Helmacron have enlisted the aid of the Garatrons. The Garatrons exist in extremely low numbers. And the Helmacrons possess a doomsday weapon."
((What is it?)) the Visser demanded. I could see the wheels turning in his head at the thought of a new weapon.
"A shrink ray that will activate if their flagship is destroyed. Any within three light years of the flagship will be brought down to Helmacron size with no way to return."
((So a few aliens get shrunk. No problem of ours,)) David insisted.
"It is worse than that. The shrink ray will work differently on the Anati. It will destroy them. As for the Garatron…as I said, they exist in severely low numbers. With the fleet shrunk, the Garatrons on it will be unable to reproduce. Their numbers are low enough that, with that many missing from the gene pool, inbreeding will lead to the collapse of the race within three generations."
The Drode clapped his hands. "I love this game. Ellimist, you can still throw a good party."
"This slaughter needs to be stopped, Drode."
"Says you," the Drode shot back.
"I offer you all the chance to help me. If you succeed, I can guarantee that it will aid you in the future."
The Drode closed his eyes. "Ah, I see. Yes, indeed it would help. Alright, Ellimist, I'll help."
"The One is also in favor of this,"
"So what do we do?" I asked. "How do we help?"
The Ellimist smiled at me. "How do we help. Not 'What's in it for us?' or 'Why should we listen to you.' That, Cassie, is why I choose you to lead my team."
"Team? We're picking teams now?" Marco asked.
The Drode nodded. "Of course. Three races. Three teams. I choose Tobias."
"Esplin," the suited man decided.
"I think it's pretty obvious how these teams will work out," Marco said. "The Drode already chose Tobias. Next, he'll choose Rachel because she's his favorite. And then they'll take Alloran and make their little family complete.
"Since I'll never help the guy who I'm fighting a war against, I'll go with the Ellimist. So will Cassie and Jeanne. That leaves the One with Esplin, Guraff, and David. Why draw it out?"
"Because you're wrong," the Drode answered. "Think about it. If Esplin, Guraff, and David are all on the same team, they'll probably just try to kill you. They can't be trusted. So we have to break them up. So I'll take Tobias, Rachel, and Guraff."
The Ellimist nodded. "I will have Cassie, Jeanne, and," he added, shooting a smug look at the man in the suit, "David."
I was surprised. He was putting David on a team with us? Well, I guess it was David or Esplin, but still… Then, I remembered that the Ellimist never did something without a reason. He wanted David here. I just didn't know why.
The suited man nodded. "Then I will have Esplin, Marco, and Alloran."
Marco shook his head. "No way. Not both of them. No one will get my jokes!"
The suited man remained motionless, but the Ellimist smiled. "Humor is important. Without laughter, what are we?"
"Him," the Drode answered, jerking his thumb at the man in the suit. "But I'm not giving up my team." Like some kind of twisted miracle, Tobias, Rachel, and Guraff were suddenly wearing black shirts with "GO DRODE!" in big red letters.
"Then I will trade Jeanne for Alloran. I trust this is satisfactory, Marco?"
"It'll have to do."
We broke off into our teams then. I watched Tobias and Rachel go to the Drode without any sort of hesitation. I didn't understand it. The Drode was a creature of violence and hate. He destroyed for the fun of it. How cold they not despise him?
Once, years ago, Crayak had offered Rachel almost unlimited power. He preyed on her sense of justice. He tried to turn her into a monster by getting her to give in not to her darker side but to her better part. It was cruel, twisted, insidious; and it had almost worked.
Had Crayak gotten Tobias and Rachel? I didn't know. I was afraid that he did. Was there anything Tobias wouldn't have traded to be with Rachel, even his soul? I don't know.
((You're starting to realize it,)) David said in my head. ((You're starting to realize that the people you trust aren't the people you should trust. You don't really know them. And if you trust them, they'll just betray you. They already have.))
"Not everyone's you, David."
It was a good reply. It should have shut him up. Except that he replied with something just as good.
((Not everyone's you, Cassie.))
Chapter 5
As suddenly as time had stopped, it started up again. But we weren't in the mall anymore. We were aboard the Reliquary, Tobias' ship.
I didn't particularly like it. It was a war machine with enough power to take down an Andalite Dome ship. It was as black as the Blade ship, with little streaks of white to give it camouflage in space. It had two long, sharp-looking wings extending from the egg-shaped cockpit.
The cockpit was pretty big. In the front was the command center, with the pilot's chair and a place for an Andalite (or possibly a Taxxon) to stand and pilot the ship. At the rear was a living area, complete with a kitchen, bathroom, and a pair of twin beds.
Tobias, Rachel, and Alloran lived here, on the ship. Alloran preferred to sleep outside, but he came in when the weather was bad or it was too cold. It was their home. Which was why Rachel was complaining.
"No way. I am not having Esplin and David in my home. Under no circumstances. Just shove them out of the airlock now!"
"What about Guraff?" I asked.
She shrugged. "He's on our team. We don't have much choice there. But as soon as this is over, he's out, too."
Tobias shook his head. "If I shove them out now, they'll know where we park this thing. That isn't a chance I'm taking. Esplin, have your Blade ship meet us over the town. Cloaked."
Marco shook his head. "If we just let him out, he'll attack us. He's like a rabid raccoon."
We all starred at each other for a few moments. We couldn't figure it out. I decided it was time for me to say something. "Look, everyone, listen up. We're a team now, whether we like it or not. We agreed to this. Now we have to work together. That means we'll have to trust each other."
Everyone but Jeanne, Tobias, Guraff, and I laughed. When Alloran noticed that Tobias wasn't laughing along, he got kind of embarrassed and stopped. Tobias nodded to me and then stepped forward.
"I'll trust my team. I trust Rachel more than I trust myself. And Guraff…I trust you." Tobias had met Guraff during our last mission. They held each other as hostages while Guraff waited for a ride off of a Yeerk space station. There was something different about that Yeerk. He didn't remind me of Aftran, one of the Peace Movement Yeerks. He reminded me of…I don't know who. But it was someone I knew.
Guraff nodded. "And I trust you, young beast." That was his name for Tobias. It was because Tobias' father was Prince Elfangor; Beast Elfangor to the Yeerks. I go the impression that Guraff admired both father and son. Guraff turned to Rachel. "And I trust you."
"Why?" she asked.
"Because you didn't want to throw me out of the airlock. You will not betray me; not until this mission is over, at least."
I nodded. He was perceptive. But now came the hard part. I turned to Alloran. "I trust you, Alloran." Then, I turned to David. To say that I trusted him would be a blatant lie and everyone would know it. But I had to say something. After all, I was the one who started talking about trust. "David, I trust you."
((No you don't. And I don't trust you, Cassie. How could I? You're the one who came up with your little 'trap me as a rat' plan. None of you can be trusted.))
"For once, I'm with David," Marco agreed, then looked sick at the thought. "Cassie, are you really asking me to trust Esplin? Have you finally gone completely insane?"
Tobias shook his head. "It isn't about mutual trust. It's about knowledge. I know Guraff won't betray me because The One wants us to work together. There's profit in this for David and Esplin if they work with us. I trust that even Esplin will be intelligent enough not to betray us."
That was one of the things that disturbed me about Tobias. He and I often reached the same conclusions, but he got there with cold, ruthless logic while I got there with my heart.
Tobias' cold logic got to the rest of them. Reluctantly, they grumbled their lies about trust.
"Okay, next question," Tobias began. "How do we get there? Rachel, Guraff, and I can't take the Reliquary because Guraff will need to feed. And I won't use any more Yeerk ships than we have to, so Alloran, Cassie, and Tasty will use this ship."
Rachel glared at him like she was about to argue. Tobias slowly shook his head. And, like a miracle, Rachel didn't argue. I'd never seen that before.
Esplin spoke up. ((I must have my guards with me. When I go to feed, these two,)) he swiveled a stalk eye from Marco to Jeanne, ((will attempt to free my host. There must be no chance of that happing. I must use the Blade ship.))
Tobias shook his head. "I'm not leaving those two alone on your Blade ship. Not a chance."
((I thought you trusted me,)) Esplin mocked.
"I trust you not to try to kill us. I don't trust you not to have them overpowered and infested as soon as you get in your ship."
"If I may make a suggestion?" Guraff offered. It was weird to hear him speak. He had a Hork-Bajir body but he sounded very intelligent. Then again, his host was a Seer. And a voluntary Controller, so I wasn't even sure who was really in charge.
Esplin sighed then nodded. ((Go on.))
"The Blade ship has a panic transport. In the event of massive damage to the main ship, there is a smaller ship that can be launched from the Blade ship. It is entirely self sufficient and is Z-space capable. And all of its doors can be sealed shut. They cannot be opened from outside of the room."
David nodded; a weird thing to see a rat do. ((I see where you're going. Esplin takes that ship. That way, he can lock the door and feed without the others stealing his host. No one starves, no one gets infested because Marco and the girl have Esplin outnumbered.))
The Visser wasn't happy about it. But it was the only alternative. In the end, Esplin, Marco, and Jeanne took the panic ship. Tobias, Rachel, and Guraff rode in the Blade ship, since Tobias really did trust Guraff's promise not to have them infested; there might be hope for both of them yet. Alloran, David, and I were off in the Reliquary.
Just before we docked with the Blade ship to move out our passengers, Tobias turned and gave Alloran his final instructions. "Cassie's in charge of you while I'm gone. Obey her as you would me." Then, with a little smile, he added, "No wild parties while I'm gone, you hear?"
"And David," Rachel added, not sounding at all like she was joking, "if you touch anything I'll let Tobias eat you."
Again, sorry for the massive delay. Zaijin for now.