Chapter 21
I was the only one of the group who had morphed a Yeerk before, which didn't really make this experience any more pleasant for me. I was curled around Kitty Pryde's brain, trying desperately not to read her innermost thoughts. I saw through her eyes as she approached the Information booth, heard with her ears as she asked how to get to Sesame Street, and fell with her down the dropshaft to the Yeerk pool.
I could feel Kitty about to scream, but I reached around her mind and stopped her. (Sorry, Shadowcat,) I said. (But a Controller wouldn't scream in the dropshaft.)
(You're right, Cassie. Thanks,) she replied shakily. I could tell she was creeped out, but there was nothing I could do about it.
At the bottom of the dropshaft, we found a normal-looking door—although it was plenty weird that there was a door all the way down here anyway. We opened it, passed through the Gleet BioFilter without a problem, and entered a huge cavern.
(Don't stop and stare, just keep walking like you know where you're going. Look for a place to ditch me,) I instructed.
(This is horrible,) she said.
(I know,) I replied. (But don't show on your face that you think it's horrible.)
I could feel the effort she was putting into keeping a blank expression.
(Look to the right,) I said. (Bathrooms. Even Controllers have to go sometimes.)
She walked over and entered the furthest stall. I crawled out of her ear, and she picked me up off of her shoulder. (Close the toilet seat and set me on top of it,) I said. (You go get in line, I'll morph and meet you back out there.) If she said something, I couldn't hear, but I felt myself being set down on something smooth and plastic.
I morphed back quickly, relieved to no longer be a Yeerk. But I was a little at a loss. I wasn't sure where the others were, or how long they'd been here. I didn't want to morph and start a panic if the others weren't ready. I sat on the toilet and waited for a minute. Luckily, I heard Jean's voice in my head: Animorphs. X-Men. Storm and Iceman are in position. Be ready for attack in 3 minutes. For me, that meant going wolf. But I couldn't just morph wolf in this bathroom, someone else might come in. In fact, someone did come in, just then. I hoped they didn't notice my bare feet sticking out from the farthest stall.
I decided to leave the bathroom—how was I going to open the door as a wolf?—and look for a place to morph, hoping no one would notice my strange outfit in the meantime. Luckily, the edges of the Yeerk pool cavern were full of dark, isolated corners and hiding places. Poor design on their part—but I guess smoothing the walls of a rocky cavern seemed like unnecessary work, and lighting this whole place would have been a huge electricity bill.
I slipped into a crevice along the far side of the pool, opposite the infestation pier, and morphed. No one noticed me. I was glad for my fur—it was starting to get cold down there. I sniffed and found that Marco was pretty close to me, blending into a dirt mound left over from construction. The others were further, across the pool, but not far enough to hide from my keen wolf nose. I felt better having smelled my friends; it was strange to have started a mission without them.
(Everybody ready?) Jake asked.
(Ready as I'll ever be,) Marco grumbled.
(Hey, I was born ready,) Rachel said jauntily.
Tobias, Ax, and I all chimed in, although slightly less enthusiastically than Rachel.
Then Jean gave us the signal, and we burst out of hiding. Erek had been right—this pool was less defended than "our" pool. But there were still enough Hork-Bajir and Taxxons to make life difficult. I raced around the pool to the infestation pool and launched myself at a Hork-Bajir guard. A human-Controller fired a Dracon beam and singed my tail, but no major damage. Ax was behind me, and he knocked the weapon out of the man's hands with his tail.
(Thanks,) I said.
(My pleasure,) came his reply.
I saw that Wolverine had used his claws to cut open the holding cages, which only added to the chaotic scene. A few freed Hork-Bajir joined the fray on our side, not knowing our plans, but happy to fight the Yeerks.
Rachel, of course, was taking on about 10 Hork-Bajir at once. She was taking a lot of damage, though, and I worried about the hungry Taxxons approaching her. Just as I was about to lope over and help her, I saw Tobias swoop down and slash open a Taxxon with his talons. The others happily turned on him, devouring their brother.
(Rachel, you need to demorph!) I called.
(Our five minutes are almost up, anyway,) she replied, still ripping at a Taxxon.
I glanced at the pool. It looked like you could go ice skating on it. Cyclops turned his blasts on the pool's perimeter. (Guard Cyclops,) Jake called. (He's going to be their top target now.) Jake immediately followed his own command, knocking a human-Controller to the ground before she could fire a Dracon beam at him. Wolverine sliced two Dracon guns in half, one with each hand.
Jean took a bad hit from a Hork-Bajir. Her right arm was no longer attached to her body.
"Jean!" Cyclops yelled.
(She'll be fine after she morphs,) I told him. (Jean! Morph!)
She fell back to the side of the battle and began to morph. Ax had let all the X-Men acquire him for just this reason. She soon pranced back into battle, tentatively slicing at Controllers with her new tail.
Meanwhile, the pool was looking pretty decimated, and the wounded and dead Controllers were piling up. I felt nauseous at all the destruction, but hoped that it had at least bought some Controllers their freedom.
(OK, Shadowcat, get the BioFilter, and we're out of here,) Jake said.
She ran off, straight through any rocks or walls that were in her way. We began to follow.
"Don't let the Andalites get away!" I heard a voice cry out. I took a direct Dracon beam hit, burning a whole through my belly. I was too stunned to even feel pain. Marco scooped me up in his gorilla arms as he ran by.
(Thanks,) I said. (I feel funny…)
(Start morphing, Cassie!) he said.
(I like being a dolphin,) I said. (Can I be a dolphin?)
(Good grief,) Marco said. (Sure, you can be a dolphin. But first, you have to be a human. Cassie. The girl. C'mon.)
Human? Well, okay. I started morphing back. My fur disappeared. The hole in my stomach was closing up as Marco carried me up the dropshaft. By the top we got back up to the top, I was human and healthy. We came up into the subway station at the Information booth. The man looked surprised—there must be a different exit somewhere. Or maybe it was just the gorilla.
"Don't miss King Kong the Musical!" I said cheerily, as Marco roared. We then dashed up the stairs, found a good Dumpster for Marco to demorph in, and headed for Times Square, trying to look casual dressed in Spandex, which was no easy task.
Had the others gotten out alright? I'd been too focused on my own injury to pay attention. Marco said he had definitely seen Jean, Ax, and Tobias make it out ahead of us. I hoped Rachel was OK. She'd been looking rough the last time I'd seen her. I tried to reassure myself—Rachel was fine, she was always fine. And sure enough, I saw her blonde head scrutinizing a Gap billboard.
"That is like, my favorite store!" I said. She spun around and smiled at me.
"Is that where that leotard is from?" she asked. "Leotards are so in these days."
The three of us joked as we anxiously scanned the crowd for our friends. Soon, we heard a telepathic call from Jean, who summoned us over to meet near a newspaper stand. All 12 of us had made it out, thank God. We split back up into our smaller groups and headed back to Westchester, feeling tired, but content with our mission's success. I leaned my head on Jake's shoulder in the car ride back, thinking that the war seemed a little bit less hopeless with our new allies.