Author: Canes
Title: Doorways 01: The Mission
Date: July 1, 1999
Keywords: humor
Distribution: Archive anywhere but please send me a little email saying where first.
Summary: The Ellimist contacts the Animorphs and sends them on a bizarre mission.
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
----------------------------
The Mission (1/1)
----------------------------
The sound of frantic footsteps echoed across the halls of the empty school. "Jake!" Cassie yelled. "Marco! I've been look all over for you! There's something I think you need to see..."
They followed her to Cassie's locker where Rachel was already standing. "What is it?" Asked Marco.
"Look." Cassie opened her locker. "I found it in here this morning, after first period. I decided to wait and tell you about it when the coast was clear."
Inside was a creature of obviously non-human origins. It was about three feet tall and wore a tan-colored cloak. It was greenish in color and two massive elfish ears stuck out of its head. It peered around inquiringly as the four of them stared. It looked vaguely like... no... make that *exactly* like...
"Yoda?"
MARCO, WRONG ARE YOU, EH? THE ELLIMIST I AM.
"Uh-huh."
They had no idea what to do. They looked at each other and shrugged.
"Right.." said Jake, slowly. "So, what do you want with us?"
YOUR HELP, THE SYNDICATE OF ELLIMISTS NEEDS. DISCOVERED WAS THE SECOND ESCAFIL DEVICE. VERY MUCH NEEDED IT IS. VITAL IN THE MISSION ARE YOUR MORPHING SKILLS.
"Where was it found?" Cassie asked.
ANOTHER DIMENSION IT IS IN. VERY MUCH LIKE YOUR OWN. BUT NOT COMPLETELY. THE CONSTRUCTION SITE, THE PORTAL IS IN, TO TAKE YOU TO THE OTHER DIMENSION. IN A PLACE YOU MIGHT NEVER SUSPECT, IS THE ESCAFIL DEVICE. TOBIAS AND AXIMILI ARE AWARE OF THIS. IF FEAR IS WHAT YOU FEEL, UNDERSTANDABLE IT IS. WHAT FEEL YOU?
"Scared, I guess." Rachel replied.
FEAR LEADS TO ANGER. ANGER LEADS TO HATE. HATE LEADS TO... SUFFERING.
"Uh...huh." said Jake, slowly. "We, uh, we should be on our way. It was nice running into you."
WHAT FEEL YOU, JAKE?
"I dunno. I was a bit cheerful today."
AH. CHEER LEADS TO PRIDE. PRIDE LEADS TO FEAR. FEAR LEADS TO ANGER. ANGER LEADS TO HATE. HATE LEADS TO... SUFFERING.
"Okay... Right." Marco said. "I don't know about you guys but I'm starving. Let's go get a bite to eat."
HMM? HUNGER LEADS TO MALNUTRITION. MALNUTRITION LEADS TO WEAKNESS. WEAKNESS LEADS TO FEAR. FEAR LEADS TO ANGER. ANGER LEADS TO HATE. HATE LEADS TO --
"Yeah, we know, we know." replied Jake. "Hate leads to suffering. Right. Great. Terrific. Now let's go."
IMPATIENT ARE YOU? IMPATIENCE LEADS TO --
Bam! The locker slammed closed before The Ellimist could go on. Rachel, Marco, and Cassie raised their eyebrows at Jake.
"Sorry." said Jake. "It was starting to get irritating."
Cassie sighed and opened the locker. The Ellimist was gone.
Half an hour later...
Jake, Cassie, Marco, and Rachel arrive at the construction site. Tobias and Ax are already there, waiting.
Tobias stirred. Sheesh, what took you guys so long?
"Don't ask." replied Jake. "So where is this portal?"
Follow us.
They walked around the edge of the building until they reached a portion of the site that was hidden away by thick greenery.
We need all of you to morph into roaches. said Tobias. The portal is accessible by only small insects.
One by one they morphed. The only reason they morphed one by one was because once they liked watching. Once you get used to it, they thought, It seemed pretty cool.
They navigated their way through a long series of tiny tunnels that Ax and Tobias had already been through. As they went on, the tunnels grew wider and the distance from the floor to the ceiling seemed to increase. All of a sudden, the top of the tunnel sharply curved upwards, and the bottom of the tunnel sharply curved downwards, into what formed an underground cavern.
There's enough space here. You can morph back.
Now, like usual, they all raced to see who would morph back the fastest. Partly because it made them proud and partly because they liked watching. Ax was first, followed by Cassie, Tobias, Rachel, Marco, and then... Jake. Poor Jake. He never quite seemed to get the hang of this.
Without scanning the entire cave, their eyes settled on a large hole in the middle of the room. They could not see what was on the other side of it. But somehow, they could feel that it led to the other dimension.
"I'll go first." said Jake.
First where? Ax said in thought-speak.
"Into the portal. I don't want anyone else getting harmed." Jake looked behind him and took a deep breath. He walked to the hole and stepped inside, slowly and carefully. The others looked at the hole, wondering what they would find on the other side. They were nervous. Who would go next?
"I'll go." said Rachel.
As Rachel walked towards the hole, slowly and carefully, she stopped abruptly. "Jake?"
Jake emerged from the hole, looking sheepish. "That wasn't the portal, was it?"
I never said it was, Prince Jake replied Ax.
"Well, let's go find it then! Geez, what do you people think we're doing? Playing games?"
The others rolled their eyes in response. Ax motioned towards a dark corner of the room.
There it is. Under the rock is a wormhole, created by visitors from another planet, hundreds of years ago. It has been preserved and unmoved since then. Come, let's enter.
This time, Jake and Rachel stayed behind the rest. Marco moved forward and lifted the rock. He looked back at them and Ax nodded. He dropped his feet in the hole and the rest of his body followed. They each did the same. Jake went last.
Inside the wormhole...
Jake was travelling at speeds he knew, from science class, must almost reach the speed of light. He imagined travelling through wormholes to be full of fascinating colors and brilliant images of plants and stars, but he saw nothing. It was jet black. But, he still felt the force of the wormhole. Perhaps it was due to the fact that this was interdimensional travel, and not traveling through the universe. All of a sudden he felt the ground thud beneath him again. He was in the same hole he had entered through. His head felt like the contents of his brain were mixed with and egg beater and fried. He groaned.
Following his groan were the groans of the others who already traveled through. "What happened?" He asked.
We are in the second dimension. I hope. Ax peered around the underground cavern they were in. It looks exactly the same.
"What if we never travelled at all?" said Marco. "What if this is just the same old place that we came in through? What if the creature that called himself The Ellimist wasn't The Ellimist at all but some wannabe Yoda alien who came to --"
Enough! thought Ax. How else do you think we were all able to fit inside that hole? It's size can allow only one body to sit in it. It was a wormhole entrance. We traveled through it. The exit back to our own dimension is somewhere else. Never underestimate the power of The Ellimist. He knows where you are sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows when you are bad or good --
"So be good for goodness' sake!" Jake sang, loudly. When he realized no one was singing along with him, he looked around sheepishly. "Excuse me." he said as he made his way back to the hole and sat inside.
"Anyways," said Cassie. "What do we do now?"
The Ellimist said that this dimension is much like our own. My guess is that we can exit this tunnel the exact same way we came in -- as roaches.
They did as Ax suggested. Once they were out of the tunnel, they morphed back into their original forms, except for Ax, who morphed into his human morph.
As they looked around they realized that this was exactly like their own dimension. Perhaps they were a little bit skeptical as to if they even were in another dimension, but it was best not to question it. They all agreed to meet back at Cassie's house, the next afternoon.
One hour later, at Jake's house...
Strange, he thought. Nothing seems different. I fit right in... My phone number's the same... My room is exactly the same... My dog, my mother, my father... All the same...
His thoughts were interrupted by his brother, Tom, who opened the door and greeted him.
Jake asked, nonchalantly, "So, how did The Sharing go?" He knew that they met everyweek around this time.
"The Sharing? What's that?"
"Uhh... Nevermind. Where'd you go?"
"Jerry's house. Hey, what's for dinner?"
About the same time, in Marco's house...
Marco relaxed on the sofa, after a long day. What a scam, he thought. There is no other dimension, that was no wormhole, and nothing is different. Sheesh.
He flipped through the channels, unable to find something that he wanted to watch. Channel 14, channel 15... No wait. He flipped back to channel 14. Catchy theme, he thought. As the opening sequence of the show went on, Marco's eyes fixated themselves on the televison.
About the same time, in Cassie's house...
Cassie had nothing to do and was on her couch, watching television. All of the occurrences of the day were pushed out of her head as she relaxed. She was watching a show she thought sounded interesting. Her eyes widened as she realized what she was watching.
"The Animorphs?!" She yelled out loud, in surprise and confusion. "What the... I don't look like that!"
She picked up the phone and started dialing...
About the same time, in Rachel's house...
"The Animorphs? What?" Rachel said as she scooted in closer to the television. The show she was watching was about... them? No, no it couldn't be! What if this is a Yeerk conspiracy? Couldn't they be orchestrating this whole thing? After all, the media was a powerful weapon... What if...
"Hey..." she said, interrupting her thoughts. "It's not so bad!"
About the same time, in Jake's house...
Jake sat, watching his television with interest. Ring-Ring! He picked up his phone. "Hello?"
"Jake, it's Cassie. Are you watching the same thing I'm watching?"
"Yeah... Don't you just love those teletubbies?"
"No... Turn it to channel 14."
Jake did. "Oh my... Oh dear..."
"Does it seem any familiar, Jake?"
"Uhhh... No. Should it?"
"Jake!! It's called The Animorphs! It's about *us*!!!"
"Oh. OOHHHHHHHH...." The situation was dawning on him.
"I guess we *are* in another dimension, after all!"
Early the next morning...
Jake walked casually through the mall. If this *is* another dimension, he thought, maybe the yeerk hole won't be there anymore. He entered the gap and picked out a nice brown shirt to try on. He carried it to the dressing room,morphed into a roach and waited.
He waited for ten minutes. Then thirty minutes. Then one hour. Then two hours. Each person who came in to try on clothes never entered the yeerk hole. They came then left. Came then left. Came. Left. Came. Left. Jake hurriedly morphed back into a human and made his way to Cassie's house.
At Cassie's house...
"What horrible actors!"
"We don't morph like *that*!"
What, did they really think andalites looked like that??
"What's up with all the unfunny one-liners?"
They all talked rapidly, giving their opinions of the show. Jake arrived. They asked him where he was and he explained.
"Wow," said Rachel. "I'm starting to think that yeerks don't exist in this dimension! But, we all know, that it is impossible. I mean, come on, they exist *everywhere*!"
They all stared at her. "That's it!" shouted Cassie. "The Yeerks don't exist in this world!!"
The statement finally dawned on them. So much finally made sense...
"If that's true then where is the device?"
"I think I know," said Marco. "I taped the show. Let's watch it..."
He popped the tape inside the vcr and played it. It was obviously a rerun of the first episode. Halfway into the show, Rachel said. "That sure looks like that box thing we found earlier..."
They all stared at her. Their eyes widened. "That's it!!!" shouted Marco. "That's where the device is! They are using it on the show!"
To be continued...