Diesel points the shredder at me and very deliberately flicks the settings to high. "Now you better vacate Amits head before I blast a hole in it. I'll count to ten. 1..." Behind him, Jay is rousing. "2." Jays eyes flick open, and he looks around, focusing on Diesel, then me. "5" Damn! While I'd been focusing on Jay, Diesel has been counting. "6!" "Amit?" Jays weak voice says, then: "Diesel, no!" "I have to! She been taken!" He roars, twisting around and firing, but, no before Jay attacks him. Guess I forgot to properly lock the cage. The beam skims across my left foreleg, and I lose balance and slip into the pool.
At the cages, I can murkily see faces above the pool. Must! Get! To! The! Surface! But it's to hard. My foreleg burns, and the thick sludge is pulling us down. Maybe we should just give up... I try to pull a breathe in, but only get sludge. My eyes start to flicker closed. «This is the end.» I mutter. «Yes.» Amit agrees. Blackness begins to cloud into our mind...
... and suddenly everything is searing light. We're no longer drowning. We aren't even in the pool anymore. We are floating in the pure whiteness of z-space. Before us, two mighty creature sit. One appears in the form of a old Andalite, wrinkles cross-crossing his face. The other is part living, part machine, a giant red eye.
AMIT. ATMINE. YOU ARE SPECIAL. PUT TOGETHER FOR A REASON. TO BRING SBOUT A NEW AWARENESS OR-
The red eye interrupts him. "Or rule the known universe, and beyond." The old Andalite glares at him.
THE CHOICE IS YOURS. I HOPE YOU CHOSE WISELY.
Then we're drowning again. Hands pull at us, and suddenly there is air! Air! I cough, and sludge comes up, before I gasp for air. Strong hand slap my back, and I cough again. My stalk eyes swivel, adjusting to the light, as focus on a face. "Jay?"
He looks grim, but nods. "C'mon." I stumble to my feet, before realising that Amit was in charge. I don't try to seize control, just watch warily. Jay leads us away from the edge of the pier, I where Diesels unconscious form lies. I hope was just unconscious. Be hard to find more hosts in deep space. I take control for a moment and sink to the ground next to him, my fingers finding his neck. Yep, he lives. Jay crouches near-by. "Amit? Or... someone else?" He looks so innocent, but his hand clutches a shredder which I know is deadly.