Here's the next chapter, guys! I hope you enjoy where this is going.
Marcus: I'm glad you like the explanation for how the shrinking is working this time around. It was too good of an opportunity to bring David back, even if it might seem too soon. But I do want him to be reoccurring and not just forgotten. And yeah, it is pathetic the way he'd rather get revenge than actually fix the problem, but that seems like David. Also, I agree, a naked Helmacron is incredibly squicky.
Ani-maniac: Thanks! I really like how Melissa is turning out, and I'm glad you think she fits without taking over someone else's place or character too badly.
Toe of Sauron: Wheee, you came back! That's awesome, and I'm glad you like the reference to your namesake. ;) And yeah, that sentence made sense, but then again, I'm weird. Glad you like it, and nice to hear from you again!
Jay: Way back in my version of the Threat, Cassie explained how David became a part of the team originally and how they trapped him as a rat. Also, in the Rachel book of that trilogy, Rachel says that Cassie told her exactly what happened to make David hate them so much.
SBelle: Oh no, I couldn't just 'change David good'. He makes too good of a vaguely sympathetic 'villain' to neuter him like that. I'm sure he sees himself as a hero of sorts, but then, what good bad guy doesn't see themselves as the good guy? Also, good to see you considering 'your character' returns in this chapter. ;)
Niroi: Aweosme, glad you (and everyone it seems) like the emo, whiny teenaged Sauron.
I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter, and I hope you like this one as well. Please enjoy!
Chapter Four
Haha! Our pitiful rivals, stains on the tapestry of our galactic conquest, have lost their prisoner, O Lord High Master! Those fools aboard the Galaxy Blaster have utterly failed in their mission and their incompetence shall be sung as a ballad to the ages for all time! Once again, your loyal crew aboard the proud ship Planet Crusher, the name of which has always caused agonized dread and sobbing fear among the pitiful and pathetic survivors of our glorious devastation across the known universe, has proven ourselves to be the superior Helmacrons. We will find these change-beasts and we will force them to do our bidding! Once again, the Universe will tremble to its core at the utterance of the name Helmacron! Unless they are Galaxy Blaster Helmacrons, in which case all will laugh. Because the Galaxy Blaster are fools! Fools!
--- From the log of the Helmacron ship, Planet Crusher.
The Helmacrons continued to stare. Who was I kidding? Morph or no morph, I couldn't convince anyone that I was a member of a war-obsessed, psychotically overconfident race of boogers with plasma rifles. I barely scratched out being in the fifth grade play. I was supposed to be a tree of sadness, but I couldn't keep my arms up and I kept smiling goofily at my parents. I was a happy tree! With lazy limbs!
I summoned all of my theatrical skill, which in my case consisted of spreading my arms wide and acting arboreal. At least I got a speaking line this time. (It has also managed to uh… ingest my uniform! I will need another before we lay waste to this planet in the name of the Captain! Point me to the laundry facilities!)
The lead Helmacron sneered, and for a second I thought it was over. Then it pointed. (Have the male get your new uniform and meet us at the docking bay. It is time to abduct another of our prizes. Even the weakling males should be able to recapture the intruding wallower.)
Weak male? That made me blink. The full circle vision didn't show anything behind me, but I looked down to see one of the Helmacrons hovering there. Only he wasn't so much hovering as bowing and he looked different than the Helmacrons I had seen thus far, smaller and weaker somehow. And much less full of himself.
Then it hit me, all of the other Helmacrons I had seen were female. The males were docile, they were the servants. The females were the warriors, the psychos, the crazies. If I saw an Abercrombie & Fitch in here, I was going to write this off as one of Rachel's fever dreams.
The male made a 'come, come' gesture and began to walk with his eyes downcast. I glanced back to the females while starting to walk after him, but they had already forgotten me. (Uhh, what's your name?)
At his blank look, I raised a hand in a gesture. )You know, what are you called?)
His answer sounded as confused as it made me. (Male.)
I shook my head. (Your name is male or you are a male?)
He opened the door we had arrived at. (What is a name?)
Shut up, Melissa! You don't know anything about this race! Apparently they don't have names. (Something for females to have and you not to know about.) I answered primly before stepping inside.
Within the room, I saw row upon row of identical silver jumpsuits with turquoise collars. There was also a row of the laser weapons. I quickly grabbed a jumpsuit and stepped into it, zipping the thing up before taking one of the guns. I didn't have a clue of how to use it, but it might help. Besides, the male would have thought it even more strange if I didn't take it.
(Okay, uhhh, male, take me to the docking bay now.) I ordered in my best 'don't mess with me' voice, which sounded suspiciously like a cross between my 'I just swallowed too many sweettarts' and my 'I really need to sneeze' voices.
Regardless of how pathetic of a demanding female warrior I made, the male led me to the hanger. Just inside, I could see the group of Helmacrons giving each other a pep talk. I could also see David, standing slightly apart from the others with a guard on either side of him. I had to get out of here before they used David's power to shrink the others.
If I kept going, I'd just be back where I started. The second I said anything that made me look unhelmacronish, David would know what was happening. I didn't know why he wasn't actively searching for me, but I didn't want to push things. Instead of continuing to walk, I stopped short and pointed to the fighter furthest away from the group. (Prepare this ship, pl-uhh… male.)
He gave me that same downcast yet confused look and shuffled over to the ship, slowly pushing the wheeled stairs in front of it. I guess that was the extent of the preparation that males were allowed to do. Fanwhoopietastic. But I couldn't back out now, so, praying that the helmacron ships were intuitive, I slowly climbed the stairs.
Just in case by some million to one chance you ever find yourself in a similar situation, here's a tip, the helmacron ships are anything but intuitive. A moment later, I sat in the ship facing a row of instruments that might as well have been in hieroglyphics. Why did such a stupid race have to be so technologically advanced!?
Even as I sat down and pulled the cockpit closed, I was demorphing. I wanted out of that creepy, crazy body and back into my own. Even changing into bugs wasn't nearly as disturbing as finding a body without any sort of intuition or instinct.
A minute later, I was staring, boggle-eyed at the blinking lights and buttons. There was a row of yellow glowing buttons on the right side, a row of blue buttons on the left, a couple big levers above me, and a panel of green lights that might be buttons slightly under these two softball sized crystal orbs that rested where a steering wheel or control stick ought to be. My finger hesitated in midair while I tried to find what might pass as an ignition.
Finally, I settled on using eenie meenie miney moe. Running my fingers along the buttons as I chanted quietly to myself, I eventually settled on a blue button near the right orb. Covering my eyes with one hand, I pressed it gingerly.
Tip number two, when in a similar situation; never trust the fate of the world to eenie meenie. Frankly, Moe's the only trustworthy one. Instantly as I pressed the button, a line of solid red light shot out of the ship and disintegrated one of the other fighters that was parked in front of it.
The Helmacrons at the far end of the docking bay and David were going to have whiplash for days from how fast they spun around at that. David's mouth formed the words and I heard my name. Then the Helmacrons were coming at me. Uh oh.
When in doubt, press every button on the console. I fired three more lasers and disintegrated another ship before screaming. "How many weapons do you have on this thing?!"
In desperation mixed with frustration as the Helmacrons drew near, I shoved both hands against the orbs. Immediately, the ship lifted up, banging off the roof of the hangar as it shot forward. Oh. That was why I couldn't find the ignition button. There wasn't one.
The Helmacrons had come to a stop before the ship could run over them. It was good to see that even their particular brand of suicidal cockiness had its limits. David however, came right under the ship. I think the only thing stopping him from grabbing the fighter was his programming's uncertainty of whether I would survive a forced crash or not. That and he probably wasn't certain that he could stop it even with his strength.
The cockpit of the fighter skimmed inches under the ceiling while the Helmacrons shouted angry demands through my head that I stop and land so that I could be appropriately punished. Instead, I gingerly brushed a hand over the right orb. The ship rocketed upwards, smacking against the ceiling with a bone jarring crash that made me wince. Luckily, nothing seemed broken. I braced myself once more and brushed it slightly in the other direction. The ship lowered almost to the floor and I quickly brushed it back up to avoid picking up hitchhikers.
Abruptly, the Helmacrons seemed to realize that they had ships too and started to run to them. Okay, time to learn faster! I was not going to survive a dogfight in this thing. Escape was my only chance. Taking a chance, I brushed my hand over the left orb. Obediently, the ship shot forward. My dad's old computer used to have this trackball thing instead of a mouse. It was like piloting with two of those! Great, I hated using that thing to check my e-mail and now my life depended on my using two of them in synch?
I couldn't give the Helmacrons time to get to their own ships and take me down though, so there was no time to flinch. Keeping my right hand over that orb, I shoved my left over the other orb and the ship rocketed through the hanger bay. I got all kinds of pleased with myself until I realized the exit was the other direction. I said another bad word when I realized I had to figure out how to turn around. Then I decided that working out turning in this thing wasn't going to be time effective. So, taking a breath, I ran my hand backwards along the orb.
Of all the grand escapes in galactic history, shooting in reverse past a bunch of blue, pimple sized dictators while screaming, "You can't conquer the galaxy! You don't even know what a steering wheel is!" may not be the most impressive, but you have to admit that it's memorable. The left wing clipped the side wall and almost sent the entire thing out of control as I added. "Or rear view mirrors!"
I heard David's voice in my head then. (Melissa. Come back. I can protect you from them. They can't hurt me or my force field. You're not like the others. You didn't betray me. It's not your fault. You can be on my side.) The crazy guy actually sounded hopeful, like he was genuinely reaching out. (You're not one of them.)
Since the fighter was still faced inward toward the docking bay even as it shot out into open sky, I could see him standing there, watching me. I knew he heard me when I spoke, even with the distance between us. "Yes, I am." Then I threw both hands out to spin the orbs, and the ship seemed to sprout rocket boosters, shoving me back into the seat as it careened up and forward, over the Helmacron battleship and out of there!
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"Let me get this straight. There are teeny tiny alien invaders the size of fleas, who shrunk Melissa down to their size, and now they have David?" The question came from Marco, the cute, dark haired boy who is just as much a pessimist as he is a comedian, which is an odd combination. "First it was the Yeerks, then we find out some Intergalactic junk traders were here years ago to kidnap Tobias's mom, and now these guys? Who's next, the Shi'ar? Maybe the Cylons? Is Earth that Burger King just off the freeway that every alien empire has to make a pit stop at? I mean seriously. Who's next?"
(Probably the Vogons.) I muttered while laying on my haunches in the palm of Rachel's hand in the form of the neighbor's Doberman. I liked being in the form of the dog, because dog's don't really worry about anything. They're usually just happy to be alive, and if they get to play, they're even happier. This dog wanted to play, and to sniff this enormous expanse of human skin, but I just laid there after explaining for the third time everything that had happened.
After escaping the Helmacron ship, I had found myself over the school. A few minutes of playing with the control orbs taught me how to move the ship from side to side by spinning the right orb left and right, and to turn one way or the other by moving the left orb the same. The Helmacrons didn't send ships after me. I wasn't sure why. I did know it couldn't be anything good.
It had been easy to find Rachel's house. I knew the route by heart, and it was a good thing I had stolen the fighter, because trying to get there at my current size would have made the trek across the backyard in Honey I Shrunk The Kids look like a quick trot. It hadn't been quite as easy to get Rachel's attention until I smacked myself with a duh and morphed so that she could hear me.
Once I managed to convince Rachel of what was going on, which wasn't that hard once I got her to see me, she contacted Jake. He in turn had to come over and hear it, and then he called the others. Everyone met by Ax's little dug out hole thing that he lives in out in the woods. That was where I had just told the story for the third time. Now I just watched as they all towered over me.
(This is fascinating.) Ax said slowly in wonder, as his stalk eye peered closely at me. (These Helmacrons have used the morphing energy for something that it is clearly not designed for. I wonder if the aspects of this ability may be used to--)
"That's great, Ax." Marco cut into the Andalite's musings. "I hate to interrupt you, but I think Melissa's getting antsy. Get it? Ant--" He doubled over, coughing as Rachel elbowed him with her free arm. "Ow." The motion of her body moving so quickly would have made me fall over if I had been standing. As it was, I felt a little seasick.
Jake frowned and tried to keep everyone on track. "Okay, so we have these miniscule aliens. Helmacrons. Do you know what they are, Ax?"
There was a visible wince from his direction. (No, Prince Jake. I have never heard of this species. Then again, there are literally hundreds of sentient creatures in this universe, and I only have a passing interest in xenoanthropology. But I am quite certain that these beings were never exclusively covered in any of my courses, and reasonably sure that they went entirely unmentioned. The days that I missed or was-- ) He paused before continuing. ( -- otherwise distracted, I made up for later. Mostly.)
Tobias, the boy who had been trapped as a hawk, looked sideways to him from his tree branch. "Ax-man, you could just say 'Nope'."
(Guys?) I pleaded with a bit of desperation. (Can we focus on finding a way to get me back to normal? As normal as I can be, I mean.)
Jake's massive, house sized head nodded. "First, we have to find these Helmacrons. How do we do that?"
There was a sudden rush of movement, accompanied by wind that nearly knocked me out of Rachel's hand, if she hadn't stumbled forward to catch me. Abruptly, two figures stood in front of the group, towering just as tall over me as the others did. Rachel hissed and I could feel her heart beating rapidly as she held me closer to her. I guess she felt a little guilty and maybe upset about nearly dropping me. "What the—Belle? Erek? Don't do that!"
Erek and Belle were both members of the same android race, the Chee, that David had trapped himself as. All I really knew about them was that they were programmed to be pacifists and that despite that, they were incredibly powerful. I also knew that their creators, the Pemalites, had been destroyed thousands of years ago. Now the only remnants of the Pemalites were in the descendants of the beings that the Chee had created by merging the Pemalite spirit with earth wolves. That's right, dogs are the product of wolves mated to super advanced aliens. Think about that the next time Oscar or Fluffy piddles on the couch.
Erek spoke first. "We can locate the Helmacrons. You know that David is with them then." His eyes focused on me in Rachel's hand and he smiled a little. "Nice choice of morph to communicate in, Melissa." He answered my question before I could ask. "I'm sorry, we don't have the technology to put you back to normal."
Belle added. "But we are certain that the Helmacrons themselves can do it. If you catch them. If you stop them." She looked pensive. They both appeared to be on edge. Considering what we were seeing was a holographic image that they had to consciously change, that said a lot for how uptight they had to be.
"Ooookay." Marco frowned, looking straight at Erek. "Go home. I'm serious. You guys are about to say something that makes this more than what it looked like. You're nervous about something, and I hate it when you're nervous. The last time you were nervous, we ended up caught between the yeerks, David, and the leaders of the free world. Just go home. Please."
"Sorry, Marco." Erek did look regretful, and more than that, worried. "This is important. This is so important."
Jake sighed, closing his eyes and looking for a moment like he really wanted to agree with his best friend and tell them to go home. "What is it? And can you really track the Helmacrons?"
"Yes." Belle nodded. "That's why we both came. There are two Helmacron ships. We must track them both and force them to leave this place, before it is too late."
(What's the rush?) Tobias asked from his tree. (I mean, not that we shouldn't hurry and help Melissa, but why are you rocketing in here and andele'ing us on? What's the deal?)
The two Chee looked to one another before nodding. Belle started. "The Helmacrons may not be a serious threat themselves, but there is a reason they are so confident. They have never met a planet that was not swiftly conquered."
"Huh?" Rachel's hand tightened a little and I winced. "What are you talking about? They're tiny. How do they conquer entire worlds?"
Belle shook her head. "You misunderstand. I did not mean that they conquer the world. They are harbringers, heralds. They find the worlds for conquering. Later, the worlds are destroyed and the Helmacrons remain convinced that it was their doing. But they are simply searchers. It is what comes after the Helmacrons, following their lead, which you must fear."
No one else spoke for a minute, so I found my voice and asked, tentatively. (What… what comes after the Helmacrons?)
Erek's gaze focused on me once more, and his voice was pained, cracking. "After the Helmacrons… come the Howlers."