Jake
"Oh, I just love California!" Katie exclaimed above the music. Alexis nodded her approval and sang along to Fall Out Boy's don't you know who I think I am? Al glared at them.
"Remember girls, we're here on a mission." He told them.
"Aw, Come on, Al! Loosen up a bit! Can't we just take a break for once?" Katie pouted. I saw Marco roll his eyes.
"Tell me about it!" He replied, glaring at me. A slow song suddenly came on and he walked over to Katie and offered his hand to her. "Shall we dance?" Katie giggled and the two of them disappeared into the crowd. I glanced at my watch.
7:10, we had some time.
"Hey!" I heard Carly greet from behind me as she wrapped her arms around my waist. I smiled and faced her. I gently swayed my body with hers to the beat and got completely lost in the music. So lost that I forgot to watch the time. After only a few seconds, it seemed, I caught a glimpse of it on someone's phone.
7:55.
"Oh shit!" I yelled, breaking away from Carly and racing up to Al. I grabbed his shoulders and he wheeled around, giving me an annoyed look.
"Where is everyone?" I yelled above the noise. Al shrugged.
"Why?" I showed him my watch and saw his eyes go huge. I nodded.
"Alright, you go find your team, and I'll go find mine. Pick up each other's members if you happen to see them. When you can't find anyone else, meet me by the Coke machine on the western side of the building, okay?" I instructed.
"Yeah, sure." He agreed. Carly walked over.
"What's going on?" She asked. I grabbed her hand and half-threw her over to Al.
"No time to explain! Follow Al!" I told her. She looked at me pleadingly.
"But-"
"Go!" I yelled. Carly glanced at me hopefully one more time then reluctantly followed Al. I took off in the opposite direction and instantly saw Cassie, Rachel and Tobias hanging out with Sam. I walked to the center of their group.
"Let's go! We're late, and I've still got to find Ax!" I ordered. Cassie looked at me strangely.
"What about Marco?" She asked. I shook my head.
"Nevermind him. He should still be with Katie, so Al can pick them up. We still have to find Ax!" I cried desperately. Tobias tried him with thought-speech.
"I've got him! He says that he's on the western side of the building with Alfred, Marco and a few others. He says to be on the lookout for Sam and Alexis because they haven't found them yet." Tobias reported.
"Alright, thanks Tobias." I said, leading our group to the Coca-Cola machines. Alexis showed up a little later with Ax leading the way. Al and I just stared at the large steel doors in front of us.
The entrance to the Yeerk pool.
"So," Al breathed. "I guess this is it." I nodded and studied the door handle. It had some kind of keypad with strange numbers or letters on it.
"Ax!" I called. "I think you had better take a look at this!" He strolled over in his very attractive human form and studied the symbols. "Think you can decode it?" I asked him.
He looked at me and nodded. "Yes, Prince Jake." He replied.
I laughed. "Don't call me prince."
"Yes, Prince Jake." Ax smiled and went to work. I walked over to Rachel and Carly and waited for the doorway to open. When it finally did, the thirteen of us snuck in so that we wouldn't be seen. In the far corner of the room, were a sink and a coat rack.
"It cannot be this easy!" Rachel exclaimed. I shrugged.
"It's worth a try." I replied and stepped forward, grabbing the right knob on the sink. I turned it three times to the right. No water poured out. That was a good sign. I turned it once more to the left, then reached for the coat rack and turned the hook farthest to the left twice around.
A low rumbling was heard from deep within the stone walls and the floor opened up beneath us. Much to my surprise, we didn't land on stairs, but on a solid concrete slab. The lift slowly began its descent.
"Wee, Rachel, I think you just found your answer. Do you have any more questions for the Almighty One?" Marco joked.
"Sshh! Listen." Cassie said. We all stopped soon enough to hear the faint sound of screams below us. The New Yorkers trembled with fear.
"Wh-what is that?" Michael asked us. Marco turned to him.
"Screams." He replied. I listened. They were getting louder by the second! I turned to Ax who was now Andalite.
"Ax? How fast do you think we're descending?" I asked. He thought for a minute.
((I would estimate close to ten meters per second.)) He informed me. I nodded. I was pretty sure we weren't that far from the bottom.
"Alright guys, let's go alien!" I yelled enthusiastically. Much to the other's total surprise, the six of us began to change. Marco, Cassie, Rachel and I went straight to our morphs while Ax and Tobias had to demorph first.
When the morphs were complete, we stood tall as six full grown Hork-Bajir. The seven others were now cowering in fear against the back wall of the shaft.
((Ax, Tobias, keep an eye out.)) I ordered. They turned their backs to me and I looked back at the New Yorkers. ((It's alright you guys.)) I said soothingly. They jumped upon hearing my voice in their heads.
((Relax! It's me, Jake.)) I told them. Al narrowed his eyes in confusion.
"Jake? Is that really you?" He asked the alien to the right of him. I laughed out loud.
((No, that's Marco. I'm over here.)) I chuckled, raising my arms high above my head. Al looked somewhat convinced that I wasn't going to hurt him, but I don't think Katie was too sure.
"What the hell are you?" She asked.
((Hork-Bajir.)) Rachel replied.
"Fork the what?" Michael asked.
((No, Hork-Bajir.)) I replied, enunciating every syllable. ((These are our usual disguises for going undercover at a Yeerk pool.)) I explained.
"Disguise?" Sam asked. "You mean 'not out-of-place'?" I nodded my huge bird-like head. "Just how many of these things are there?"
((Prince Jake, we will be at ground level in a matter of three of your minutes.)) Ax informed me privately. I took the chance to load the gun I had received from a different battle.
((Hundreds.)) I told Sam. ((Maybe thousands.)) Their jaws dropped.
"Th-Thousands?" Katie stuttered.
"Oh my God, we're all gonna die!" Zach screamed. I kept loading my gun. I suddenly felt the floor shudder slightly.
((Nah. Just watch out for the blades and you'll be fine.)) I told them as the doors slowly opened.
Then the six of us leapt straight into Hell.
