The People, The Princes, My Brother by Joltz

Aximili ran through the dark tunnels of the yeerk pool. He wasn't morphed, and he wasn't bothering to keep hidden from the controllers. He was there for a reason. And he would accomplish his goal.

Even if he had to die in the process.

Prince Jake had forbidden him to do this, he knew. But the burden of revenge kept pulling at his soul, and he couldn't ignore the burning hatred inside him any longer.

He followed the path that Erek had showed himself and the other animorphs on a past expedition to the yeerk pool. He knew very well that he had a very good chance of dying, especially if there were more controllers in the room than he was expecting. That thought slowed him for a moment, but then he kept moving. He was too far to turn back. He would do what tradition had told him to do long ago.

The pathway abruptly ended, revealing a large, steel door. He hissed a password, also supplied by Erek, and the door flew open. Ax tumbled in, prepared to stand face to face with hundreds of controllers.

Instead, there was only one.

The yeerk turned, facing Ax. He had a very rare, but all too familiar host body. Four hooves clattering against the metallic floor, many fingered hands clenched, and four eyes bearing an angry glare, the yeerk hissed, [Welcome, bandit. I have been expecting you.]

[Visser 3.] Ax hissed, his words soaked in anger. [My name is Aximili. Brother of Elfangor.]

Ax watched the Visser's eyes widen in surprise as a cruel smirk played across them. [Brother of Beast Elfangor?] He said in an amazed tone. He laughed in thought-speak. Not a happy laugh, but a horrible, angry laugh. [I have come to avenge my brother's death.] Ax continued, oblivious to the laughter. ]And I will not leave this place until you are dead.] The Visser's laughter stopped.

[Correction, Andalite. You will not leave this place. Ever.] Without warning, the Visser lashed out, his tail rocketing towards Ax. Ax quickly parried the move and side-stepped the next blow. He spun around and struck with all his strength, his tail blade skimming Visser 3's arm. [Ahhh!] The Visser cried in pain.

[Give up, Yeerk?] Ax said, even though he knew that the Visser would not. The Visser laughed again. [Give up? Why, the fun is only beginning!] And he began to morph. [Being as you are Beast Elfangor's brother, this morph should be fitting. After all, it is what brought your brother to his painful end.]

'I cannot let him morph' Ax thought to himself. [Coward.] He sneered. [You dare call me a coward?!] Screamed the Visser in rage. [You're afraid to fight me tail-to-tail. You know that I have an advantage over you. You know that I'll win.] Ax said, his eyes narrowing.

[You want to die by my tail, is that it? Any way we fight it will be your miserable life that comes to an end, not mine.] The Visser sneered, not realizing that he had just insulted himself. Now it was Ax's turn to snicker. [Silence!] The Visser roared, now demorphed. [Your life ends now!]

Tails clashed as Ax and Visser 3 parried and thrust, blocking each other's blows. Ax lunged forward to slash at the Visser's throat. The Visser dodged and whipped his tail forward, slashing Ax's side. He then brought his tail up and hit Ax in the head with the flat of his blade. Ax fell to the floor with a cry, dazed.

[Talk, Andalite.] Snarled the Visser. [Tell me where the other bandits are.]

Instead, Ax muttered. [Why didn't you have your hork-bajir kill me? They knew that I was here.]

The Visser laughed. [Because I wanted to kill you myself.]

Ax's head was swimming. Every muscle in his body ached for rest. "No! No! He cannot win! He must not win! Think of the people who fought him and lost their lives!" A small voice in his head screamed. [Can't fight. Too tired.] He muttered. [Tell me where they are!] The Visser screamed, but his voice was distant. "Do it for the princes, who gave up everything to lead the people!" the voice screamed again. [Can't fight. Too tired.] Ax repeated. [I'm not asking you to fight! Tell me where they are!] The Visser shouted again, this time his voice a bit clearer. "If you cannot fight for those who you don't know, then fight for your brother." The voice hissed. [Tell me now!] The Visser shouted once again. Ax lifted one stalk-eye.

[I shall tell you nothing.] He snarled. [Then good-bye, Andalite.] Visser 3 said, all four of his eyes narrowing. He lifted his tail and swung. Suddenly Ax was up on his feet. [This is for the people!] He shouted, blocking the Visser's swing. [This is for the princes!] He shouted again, slicing the Visser at the base of his tail, making it fall limp. He moved closer to the Visser, who was now paralyzed with shock and fear. [This is for my brother.] He hissed in a barely audible whisper. He then drew back his tail, aimed, and swung for the killing blow.......