Chapter Twenty: Finisher
From the Analogs of Elias Vanguard
My vision...is fading... I can't tell...if my feet are on the ground or not... Am I...alive...or am I dead?
(Elias!)
The voices...still shouting at me...to do something. Anything. Telling me to wake up and fight.
But...should I even? Whether or not the wound heals...do I have the right to keep altering everything? For all I knew...I was only making it worse. A broken woman...attempting an impossible dream... My own actions becoming the very consequences the children will have to endure...
All I have done...was driving on my own selfishness...
Maybe...the most merciful thing was...to let go...
...Yeah...
"Geez, look at how pathetic you are, Elias. This is how it all ends. And all because of one wimpy kid caused you to deteriorate like this, all smushy and frail inside."
...
No...that's not... That...couldn't be it...
I...I think she's an idiot...
An overly optimistic child...who is foolish...and believe...in a bright world...when there isn't...who would run head first without thinking of herself...
And moreover...our paths...they have become different a long time ago.
"What made you think you could change anything? Was that girl really your ticket out of your miserable hell? Please..." David uttered. "Just some special little princess in a bad fairytale that really influenced a beast like you, ain't that right?"
Yes...in some way...I saw that girl as special... It was like...she just wasn't going to be me...
No.
She probably will be... She may even die...like me...
And yet...
I was willing to believe...because of her...it was going to be different this time...
Yes...that was what I believed...
...I wonder...if that is still true to me...?
(Horatio!)
My eyes shot open when the girl in her wolf morph shouted that name. At the corner, I watched as the blurred multicolored image leapt up to the large monstrosity.
Fangs dug deep into one of Visser Three's tentacles.
(Argh!) I heard the Visser hissed.
It may have been a nip but it was enough that his tentacle loosened, letting go of the unconscious girl. At once, the young Andalite darted forward as fast as he could run. Both arms lifted up instantly as he stared with that hopeful, terrified face.
He caught the girl in his arms and held her close, shaking her gently.
(Kelly! Kelly!)
"That stupid mangy dog!" David cursed somewhere.
I glanced as much as I could at the intruder. Standing bravely in front of the Andalite, ready to jump up again, was the girl's dog. Horatio.
Of course, you'd do that. You have been waiting for the chance. Or have you really gotten close to her after nearly two years?
Even so...why...?
...Why would this happen?
I...don't get it.
The girl wasn't meant to exist. She was supposed to be 'my' past self, not this version. Up to this point, I have thought that everything was trying to defy that new fact. Her existence...would only make it worse for herself in the long run...
And yet...
Something was stupidly preventing her existence from being taking away...
Is this what everyone calls fate? Is it just another trick from the Ellimist or Crayak? Another toying of the One or another small defiance by his opponent in all of this? Or am I reading too much into this?
But still...why...
Why...was it different this time...?
Why now was it making a difference? Was it worth the consequences to keep on fighting?
...Why was I really here for?
Is it just only for the mission? Is it because of my toll for the changes in time?
No...none of those...
From the beginning...I believed that the girl would only be something I have to lose.
There is a lot to lose. Something that girl could see more clearly than I did. Something more important to her than her own life.
And I have been blind not to see everything she sees.
If that girl never had existed... She wouldn't have the loving family and they wouldn't have the adored daughter... She would not have both the pains and joys of life to build and strengthen who she is... She wouldn't have met her cherished friends, whether deceased or not... She wouldn't have been saved by those children as well as saving them... She wouldn't have created and breathed life into her Taliths. She would not have changed the many lives she has touched and be changed by those over these nine years...
Most of all... She would not have changed my perspective of everything.
There is a lot...and much more to lose...
Was it fair not to change the past? Is it fair to take back all those important things away?
No. Not the slightest...
David may be right...
He...and everyone else may be right...but...
That child...may be stupid...and doesn't understand anything in such a dire, desperate time...odd thing is...unlike those other children...unlike me...
She saw otherwise.
Even though...not once...not once...
Not once...has that girl lost hope in any of those situations.
Jake
Horatio barked fiercely at the enormous monster Visser Three was, breaking us out from our bloodcurdling fear we remembered from that night. He was arched down, bearing his teeth aggressively. For a dog that was bigger than mine but smaller than Visser Three, he wasn't backing away in terror. Something Bernese Mountains Dogs don't usually do that Cassie had pointed out before when Horatio was placed in her care.
But Horatio had the hostility. Against anyone who would bring harm to Kelly and her family. That included a hulking, dangerous two-legged creature.
It was a shock that he had scurried up to Visser Three, leapt and bit on one of his tentacles.
That released Kelly from his grasp. Just as she was falling, Ax immediately hurried with arms spread out wide. Ax caught her just in the nick of time, his tail supporting his weak arms to hold her up tight.
With Horatio's constant barking, I was no longer afraid of what I was seeing. Why should I be? We weren't the same kids back at the construction site, hiding behind some debris in fear. We have used our morphing powers many times even with practice. We were more experienced than we had been before.
We had dealt with Visser Three before and many times.
And what we needed to do now was to rescue Elias.
(Everyone, formation! Cassie! Marco! You're in charge of getting Elias free!) I ordered quickly. (Rachel, you and me are going heads on at David! We can't let him stop them!)
(Gladly!) Rachel uttered, readying herself.
(Ax! Tobias! Stay back and keep Kelly safe!)
He obliged with a nod and quickly galloped away, just missing Visser Three's reaching tentacles. Tobias took off to the air.
"Oh? This is going to be child's play," David cheered as he flexed out his alien arm.
I had to be crazy to take out David. After everything we've seen him do. So we had to be extremely cautious or he'd joyfully kill us both.
(Careful, Rachel,) I warned her. (He's not the same as the other David.)
Instead of brushing me on the spot like she sometimes do and charging in, Rachel gave a nod with her bear head. She knew as much as I did who we were dealing with. Not some Yeerk with a Dracon beam or an Andalite Controller. It was one grown man with a different and hostile power than ours.
"Don't worry. I'm going to take my time in this one. And this time, Elias' not saving your skins."
As much as I wanted to believe he was wrong, I couldn't. The levels he and Elias were at were equal.
So could we stop him?
We had to try.
I stalked to the left while Rachel circled to the right. A tiger and a Grizzly bear between David. He may be able to do brutal things but there was no way he could handle both animals at the same time.
At least, that was what I had hoped.
Rachel attacked first, standing on her back legs with claws held high. But David gave a sway of his arm at her, knocking her to the ground easily. His back was still turned from me.
"ROOOAAARR!" I pounced with claws and teeth out.
A sharp kick hit my abdomen and I went tumbling on my back. I felt a rib break.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you two. But you two are just too far behind me to catch up."
I was starting to think that we couldn't really take down David, not the way he was. Only one person could and she was still in Visser Three's grasp.
Elias.
I took a quickly glimpse at how she was doing, hopeful that she was still conscious. I was afraid that she had lost consciousness from all the blood loss twice: from the butchering Andalite tail to the savage bite.
Instead, I was seeing her ground her teeth. Not out of pain. But something else.
That was when I saw one of her guards glow again. Dropping out into her hand was another cylinder object and again she forcefully inserted it into her leg, the liquid inside squeezing downwards into her bloodstream.
All of a sudden, at the area she injected herself, veins swelled up underneath the narrow torn openings in her suit, pulsating in an eerie blue radiance that crept throughout her skin. Instantly, Elias arched back, her body riddled with violent convulsions.
David soon noticed this. His eyes widened.
"You...! But that's your second dosage!" He shouted and in an instance, his face changed drastically. "YOU IDIOT! YOUR BODY WILL EXPLODE!"
What?
Garrotting sounds escaped her mouth as Elias struggled to breathe. The creepy blue streaks made their way to her punctured neck, making cracks across her face until the ends met at her whitened eyes. The bite mark rapidly shrunk away like a brush at a few specks.
I thought that weird injection was something helping her to heal faster.
An overdose could kill her! ?
"Why would you do that! ? What do you think you'll gain anything! ?" David hollered.
No reply could even be given as Elias clearly tried to fight against the excruciating contractions shooting throughout her body, her very own lungs being constricted tightly.
(Elias!) Cassie cried out worriedly. I had the same thought as she had. The way the cracks across her skin was as if her body was really going to rupture.
After all the, Elias' body went limp in Visser Three's tentacle. She didn't explode like what David had predicted but she didn't move a muscle. The blue lines eventually faded into her pale beige color.
But seeing Elias motionless terrified David instead of thrilling him.
"N-no... KILL HER!"
With a slow, sluggish tilt of his enormous head, Visser Three glanced at David confusingly.
"KILL HER!"
(You will not order me, human. Know your place!) he groaned as he held Elias higher up. Cassie and Marco could not help her out, not with the Hork-Bajir in their way.
"You stupid moron! Kill her now! Before she wakes up!"
Visser Three simply gave a harsh hum in response.
(Losing your nerves, are we? Look at this nothlit. She cannot move, let alone attack me.)
My tiger eyes grew wide once I noticed something. It was rather faint and small that most eyes would miss. But I could see it in Elias' possession.
Nestled securely in the palm of her hand was the small, blue cube.
She had called again. What was more, she was still conscious to have a plan in motion.
CRACK!
Visser Three didn't see the tiny broken fragments as they delicately flowed upward, a stream snaking behind him. I may have been the only one casting my eyes up the floating fragments. Not sure if the others or David noticed it. The triangles spread out too far for maybe David to notice it as an upcoming threat. But they mended together at the highest point possible, above Visser Three.
Visser Three drew her closer to his open razor mouth. (You shall have the same pleasure as an old Andalite friend of yours did, nothlit.)
Pieces glued together into blades, scaly flesh and angled black eyes pointing down.
It was the lizard Talith. Rolled up and ready.
FWIIIPP!
FWAP!
The huge lizard dove down, its long body spinning clockwise and the blades going faster like a saw blade. In one swift go, it sliced through three tentacles, even the one holding Elias. Visser Three simply stood, first unmoved by the surprise attack. He then examined closer to his injury.
Then he howled from the pain.
"R-R-R-R-A-A-A-W-W-W-W-G-G-G!"
(Yes!) I hollered.
Free from his clutches, Elias landed on her feet and quickly stood up without succumbing to her pain. Or maybe ignoring it altogether. The lizard Talith instantly spun to her and with a leap, entangled its body around her free arm.
"That idiot!" David cursed.
(I WILL KILL YOU FOR THAT, NOTHLIT!) Visser Three bellowed.
Elias didn't falter. She raised the heavy lizard up as it instantly loosened from her arm and reeled its body back round.
"DON'T MOVE!" Elias shouted as loud as she could. Rachel and I froze on the spot at her command.
FWIIIPP!
The lizard whisked away and slashed off another few tentacles. A second time as it bent back in mid-air in a circling pattern. Visser stood there, wailing in agony at the bleeding stumps he had.
I watched it spun above us, gracefully landing on the ground. With the lizard at the wheel, it directed its spinning body – leaning to a sixty degree angle – around and headed towards us.
My tiger mind wanted to move. But I stayed.
David noticed my gaze and swiftly turned back.
FWAP!
The blades struck at his side, wedging a whole arm and a leg off. David stared at his wounds explode in blood as he tumbled down in blood-filled coughs that eventually died out. In the nick of time, the lizard's body angled back up and rolled on, missing me completely by the hair.
I had never been so terrified at the close shave with my claws digging into the ground.
The lizard kept on going across the dirt. It spooled out just a tip of its tail into a hook and continued dashed to its new target. Elias' broken mechanical arm.
It hummed up to the arm, wrapping its tail immediately around the hand and dangling it up from the ground as the Talith continued to spin until it was within radius of its mistress who was standing straight and bold as she has done many times before. With one huge jump, it unreeled itself along Elias' shoulder with its tail hanging the arm near the socket of where it was pulled from.
The cables of the arm immediately took a life of their own, snaking back to the socket. The lizard's tail released the arm as it began to join back to Elias' shoulder.
(You will pay for your insolence!) Visser Three roared.
In three giant steps, he ran towards her. But Elias remained unfazed. Once the metal arm clicked into place and her bionic fingers twitched animatedly, Elias darted towards Visser Three. With a skip in her feet, she slid underneath Visser Three like a baseball player sliding to home base, just missing the ramming of his head. The lizard had climbed quickly across her chest and onto her arm as she gave another flung, this time at one of the Visser's massive legs.
FWIIIPP!
FWAP!
The lizard's jagged blades cleanly cut off the thick leg. With little tentacles and no way to keep his body straight, Visser Three struggled to stand one just one leg as much as possible. But it wasn't over even when the lizard bowled back to Elias and she skidded away from the giant monster. Again, she pitched the lizard at him.
FWIIIPP!
FWAP!
Right through the bone. There was nothing for Visser Three to stop a living spinning saw blade. With another agonized scream, he helplessly descended down with a loud thundering thud.
The remaining Controllers watched in frightful awe at how easy Visser Three was chopped down to size. The last few humans and aliens trembled at the sheer pure power Elias brought out. Even the Taxxon Controllers, hungry as they may be, slithered back from the battlefield. Whether or not they may have seen Elias' Taliths in action before, they definitely had not seen her summon them out.
As Visser Three began to demorph – shrinking down in size – Elias began to tread towards Visser Three. Walking at her own methodical pace.
(S-So you finally got out of that husk of yours, Black Massacre!) Visser Three uttered with a rare terrified tone.
Elias said no word and merely strolled on in a bold and indestructible posture. She was the same as she was before. The Black Massacre. The only one the Yeerks feared the most. Even Visser Three himself.
(Y-You think you can kill me! ? Y-You said it yourself! You know this host!)
Visser Three was going to pull out the card. Kill him and you would kill the host. Buy him enough time so that he could completely be in his Andalite form. He was only halfway in his demorphing.
But Elias kept on going. He truly underestimated her and although I couldn't read anything from her calm cold face, I knew one thing. Murder was the last thing on her mind.
This was the real Elias. Not the demented madwoman who had gone postal and slaughtered the Yeerks with her bare hands minutes ago.
(Y-You cannot stop us!) he shouted as he struggled onto his four growing legs and backed away. He was still lacking his scythe tail. (S-Someone will take my place! They will come after you and destroy you! The same goes for those warriors!)
Fear gripped tight to him as he hopelessly watched her draw closer and closer. The lizard hissed intimidatingly at him, its waving blades foretelling his downfall.
(Y-You can't! I am a Visser! Y-You are just a nothlit! You are nothing!)
Elias' arm lifted up, a gesture that showed she was ready to throw the lizard again.
(No! This cannot be happening! Wait! Stop!)
Elias then surprisingly let go of the lizard, its form breaking away into the blue fragments. She wasn't going to finish it off with another toss of the living discus.
But she certainly was going to finish it one way or another.
BAM!
It was out of the blue but it was powerful. Even more so, it was the very first. The first time any of us have ever seen a human – any human at that – sent a straight blow at Visser Three's face. Not with her cybernetic arm but with her good right arm.
The bone structures of his left cheek cracked loudly under the blue fur. His whole Andalite body flopped back while Elias rubbed the tenderness out of her knuckles.
(What-? A-A fist! ?)
BAM!
Anyone of us never expected a second pitch from the left fist.
Elias fired again. Right. Left. Right. Left. Each clean punch battering at him like he was thrown into a boxing ring, the moves too quick for him to handle against as his body was slumped back inch by inch from every hit.
It was even to the point that it was taking him much longer to demorph. Especially with the bruises and cracked bones constantly happening.
(S-Stop!) he pleaded. For the first time, I was hearing our greatest enemy beg for mercy. (I-I c-cannot demorph-! T-The pain!)
He was feeling pain over and over again, with every fist Elias delivered as he was healing while demorphing. It was nothing but an endless cycle that kept on repeating. And the worst part for him, if he were to stop demorphing, the pain would still come.
This kind of agony would never end until Elias stopped.
And Elias wouldn't stop.
(Stop! Stop it! NO! PLEASE! STOP!)
Elisa then swiftly kneeled down, drawing back her right hand one final time.
And Elias no longer had her quiet and unemotional expression. This time, she glared at him with the utmost willpower she had surging through her eyes. She wasn't going to accept Visser Three's beseeching one bit. It was even at that minute, I could have sworn I have seen that familiar resolve somewhere.
Yeah... Kelly showed that when she faced head to head with David.
His four bloodshot eyes were at their widest at the sight before him. He was so deeply afraid that he soon came to a realization.
Her fists. Every powerful strike thrown at him. They weren't for the Andalite, Alloran.
Every one of them was meant for Visser Three.
BAM!
Her balled up fist rocketed up to Visser Three's chin, sending him up and off his front legs. Elias clutched her hands together and swung them back as much as possible. With everything she got left.
It was her finisher.
SMACK!
The gripped fists smashed down onto Visser Three. The blow forced his legs to drop and he quickly fell to the ground.
And that was it. The first fall of a Visser. Right before our eyes.
Elias cringed calmly away, overcome with exhaustion to the brink. But all of a sudden, in last than five seconds of rest, she rushed away from the collapsed Andalite Controller with a painful and startled face.
She quickly grasped the helmet she had dropped when she was attacked from the back and hurriedly put it on. Her body trembled once more unexplainably but she held herself down to cope with whatever aches she had wrecking through her.
The Yeerks had been reduced down to dwindling numbers. By Elias. And by us. But even with how little they were, some saw the opportunity to attack her.
A Hork-Bajir and a Taxxon jumped to the moment. Rachel and I sprinted to them, one of us taking down one of them.
The Hork-Bajir was easily taken down with a bite to its throat and the Taxxon squashed.
Every one of us was busy dealing with the Controllers. Marco dealing with juggling a few Taxxons away, Cassie jumping onto another Hork-Bajir and Ax still protecting Kelly in his arms with Tobias' help.
Even Horatio. For a dog, you had to give him credit for being tough.
"BARK! BARK!" he yapped sternly.
His barking was a good distraction. Horatio would manoeuvre about quickly, blocking any enemy in his way. It would tip the scale for the Yeerk Controller to silence him out.
FWAPP!
WOOSH!
The Hork-Bajir or Taxxon was taken out before it could lay a claw or teeth on him.
Elias clouted the ground, forcing herself to get up on her tired legs. Again, her emotions were sealed away by her helmet but in her gestures, it showed she was losing the imperturbability she had always wore before.
("Enough! Enough of this!") Elias hollered at her loudest.
Two blue rings pierced through her orange screen, where her eyes should be behind.
("I won't let you change anything! I won't let you take everything away from those children!")
The small Escafil Device cubes materialized around her within their calm twister.
("I won't let you take away the child's time!")
One hand seized one of the cubes.
("I won't let you bring back the Original!")
CRACK!
Out from the blue splinters came the armored centaur Talith.
Zzzzzzzzzaaaaaappppp!
The Talith immediately crossed its pincers up and the rays easily bounded off its hard shell. It flanked out its pincers threateningly and roared, scaring a few nearby Yeerks.
"KREAOWR!"
One rock of a pincer and it managed to nail one Taxxon by the neck and lift it up effortlessly. Like a worm caught between the jaws of a bird. The other pincer seized the Taxxon's end and stretched the alien into two.
A swing to her guard, Elias withdrew out a pistol and began shooting.
So that was it. A battlefield. Just like back in the factory. The six of us. Elias. And a giant lobster-Andalite-shark creature. It was effective, better than any of our fights. Instead of backing away from an army when all options except one were used up, we were making the Yeerks back away. Not the other way this time round.
We were winning!
(Jake!) Cassie called out to me. A motion of her head shaking to the left made me look.
I quickly realized why.
In the midst of fighting, Elias suddenly had a hand grasped at her chest as if trying to grab something within her but couldn't. Not with the chest plating of her suit in the way. She desperately was thrashing while trying to keep standing, her anguished expression concealed under her helmet. I could tell she wanted to fight but her body was reaching its limit whether she liked it or not. The pistol fell from her open hand and vanished.
Her legs gave way and she dropped.
(Elias!) I hollered as two Hork-Bajir hurried for the chance.
With a sharp turn, the centaur Talith alarmingly noticed its fallen keeper being easy prey.
"KREAOWR! ! !" it howled angrily and stampeded towards them.
The Talith was the first to reach Elias and with its giant pincers, it scooped her body up just seconds before the Hork-Bajir sliced with their blades. It gave a warning hiss and in a split second, veered around in a three-hundred and sixty degree, the fanned tail smashing into them and hurling them away with tremendous force.
It roared one more time and stepped backwards in a kind of lobster walking manner.
It was time to go. But the Talith didn't turn around and go immediately. It was waiting. For us.
(Everyone! Time to go! Move!)
The others heard me loud and clear, and tailed after me as I ran to the Talith. Horatio not too far from Ax and Kelly.
Much to my alarm, Visser Three was by now demorphed completely. The injuries inflicted by Elias had been erased out. Once his eyes retained their clearness and the clogged vessels thinned out, he spotted us making our escape.
(STOP THEM!) Visser Three ordered.
Zzzzzzzzzaaaaaappppp!
Dracon beams flew above us but we kept going, passing the giant Talith. I glimpsed back just to see it swing its tail again, chopping down the trees around. They fell onto of each other like stacks. The giant centaur was smart, creating a block in the path before any Yeerks could slip through. It gave one victorious huff and galloped away.
We heard the Visser scream in absolute fury behind us but we kept on going.
The Talith quickly caught up to us but raced on in great speed. And it wasn't going to follow us. Wherever we had planned to go.
(Now where he's going! ?) Marco uttered.
(Tobias! Follow that...thing.) I still wasn't sure what to call it.
(Got it!)
(We can't lose it. There's no telling what would happen if anyone saw it.)
We continued to give chase, without losing sight of it. Then again, as big as it was, you just couldn't in the middle of the forest. But minutes later, the Talith surprisingly managed to slip out from our radar.
You had got to be kidding me.
(Wait a minute, Jake,) Cassie called out. (I think I know where it's heading.)
(Really? Where?) Rachel asked.
Before Cassie could answer, we were out into a clearing and stopped in our tracks. I quickly knew the answer to that.
(This is...the barn.)
The back of the barn. At Cassie's place. The centaur was sure lucky to have stumble to this place.
But was it really luck?
(Cassie, are your folks in today?) I asked.
(No, they should still be at the zoo.)
That was good. It would be terrible if they saw some new alien species in their backyard.
(There she is,) Tobias pointed out from above. And sure enough, around the corner of the barn was Elias.
She was placed down on the ground, her back against the wall and moreover, the giant centaur was gone from sight. But Elias wasn't moving. With the helmet back on...I wasn't sure if she was alright or not.
(Everyone, demorph but be careful,) I warned them and they did as they were told.
I was the first to go nearer to her. Hoping for some sign of life. The way she was trying to grip something... The thought didn't leave my mind and that was giving me a dreadful feeling.
"Elias?" I called out.
Nothing.
I crept closer.
Then I froze when I spotted at the corner of my eyes the two beady eyes through the trees. I was stupid to turn and look at it. Because the big Talith leapt from the bushes.
"KREAOWR!" it roared at me with the snapping of its claws.
"Yikes!" I yelled, backing away.
The Talith gave a series of low, warning clicks at me, as if it didn't trust me. Or 'completely' trust us.
"H-Hey, now. C-Come on. We're on your side," Marco said nervously.
It didn't let down its guard. After all, Elias, its master, was down on the ground and it had every right to be protective at this critical time.
The Talith's eyes streamed from me to the others watchfully but its head pecked up when it sighted Ax. All of a sudden, it trotted to him curiously.
Ax cautiously arched his tail blade at him as his arms tightened around Kelly.
"What is it doing?" Marco blurted.
From the looks of it, all it was doing was just looking at Ax, first with a sort of curiosity. Then, there was something. Like...nostalgia.
The longer it stared at Ax, the less Ax became wary. Actually, calmer. Mesmerized just by the creature's mellow stare. Oddly enough, it sort of was like how animals reacted when we were acquiring their DNA…
"Ax?" I called out.
He jerked back a little, as if snapping out from a trance. He looked at me with a puzzled face, not sure what had happened.
(Um...yes, Prince Jake?)
"You ok? You suddenly zoned out there," Marco pointed.
(I...don't know.)
The Talith then glanced at Kelly, as if just noticing her. The Talith then backed away slowly and with a shake of its pincers and a loud thud, it flattened it entire body into the ground, legs tugged underneath. Not even a bear or tiger could turn over the Talith when it was a giant horseshoe crab.
It remained as it was for several seconds. Its eyes just darted back to us and then to Elias, giving me the message that it was alright, not that the Talith was on defence mode.
Cassie rushed over to Elias but stopped some metre away. Elias hadn't move from her spot, not even budge a muscle since.
I and everyone else had the same thought as Cassie did. A grim one. Was Elias really ok?
"Elias?" Cassie called out.
Nothing.
She tried again, nearing her hand to Elias' helmet. "Eli-"
A split second later, a gun barrel was pointed at Cassie.
"Stop!" I shouted.
"Whoa, whoa! Easy!" Rachel uttered.
Elias was clearly awake and already on edge. She had withdrawn out her gun and was swinging it about from Cassie to one of us. But her body movements were telling me that she was disorientated. She was still taking more time to progress.
I began wondering if that overdose was what making her unsettled... I became uneasy with that thought.
"It's ok, Elias," I said. "You're safe. Kelly's safe."
Her rapid breathing soon slowed down. Just a little, the gun was lowered.
"Everything's going to be alright."
The gun went down after a long and unsteady moment. But I knew then, Elias wasn't convinced.
("...No.") She then slowly and wearily got up.
"Elias, don't stay," Cassie uttered worriedly. "You need to rest."
Elias ignored her. Clutching her side, she weakly walked to the Talith. ("Nothing will ever be alright...")
It stood back up on all four triangular legs and clicked worriedly. She placed her free hand on the centaur creature, reassuring the big guy. When it nodded its head, Elias thrust her arm down and the Talith was gone in a million broken pieces.
She walked through the disappearing blue triangles.
"Wait," I called. "Where are you going?"
Elias didn't answer straight away. Her mind was focused on one thing.
("Have to...have to protect...")
She fell.
We bolted towards her but stopped just when Elias pushed herself up, her body writhing. Even if her face was hidden behind her helmet, it was clear that there was nothing alright about her.
But she wasn't going to listen. To her body. To us.
"Hey, you can stop this now," Rachel said. There was a slight tone in her voice too. She was scared and worried about this.
"Yeah. The Yeerks aren't coming after us," Marco made that a good point. A reason to put down the weapon and take a break.
Elias ignored that.
("Must...stop him...must protect...")
This...was crazy. Crazy than anyone of us. Elias was showing determination even after being put through the most horrid ordeals. And she had to bear all of those, singlehandedly, for something we don't fully know. Was it for the sake of Kelly? Of her remaining in the present? Or more than that?
Elias had a sense of selflessness that would put us to shame... Anybody to shame.
But it was slowly killing her.
"Elias, you don't need to do this," I uttered, catching up to her. "We can protect Kelly. If you're worried about David, then we'll stop him."
("Have to secure...")
"Elias, this is enough!" I cried out desperately. "You can stop! You don't need to keep on fighting!"
She kept on going. Another second and she'd disappear away from the barn for sure. Mumbling deliriously to herself. Pleas wouldn't stop a person bent on finishing her task to the end.
That was when I thought of another solution.
"Enough. That's an order."
That stopped Elias. She weakly wheeled to me, her face telling me she was unfazed by my remark. But her body told otherwise. Like she had been ordered before. A long time ago.
I didn't care what she thought. That was my order.
If begging won't stop her, then ordering will. And if that doesn't, then forcing will be the last result.
"You're not alone in all of this, Elias," I told her.
The words seemed to stun her since she didn't draw out her weapon in alarm when I went and grabbed her arm over my shoulders. If I had to, I'd drag her to the barn for her to rest. I motioned Marco to help me and with some persuading, he heaved the other arm over his.
We heard a deep, tiring sigh escape from her. She wasn't going to fight us.
("Y-You...are stubborn...all of you.")
Stubborn. Yeah, she was right.
We are stubborn to just drop everything and run from the war. We are stubborn to ignore what is really at stack. Stubborn to turn away from a fight with tail between legs. Some kind of nature we can't escape, even if we tried.
The same went for Kelly.
And Elias.
"I should say the same thing to you," I told her.
Elias said nothing back. I didn't expect her to.
Cassie went inside the barn first. When she told us the coast was clear, Marco and I dragged Elias inside. She then stopped Ax for a moment and proposed to let Kelly rest in her bedroom. A good idea, after everything she's been through. With the help of Rachel, they did just that.
While we placed Elias in one of the empty stalls, far enough that Cassie's dad wouldn't notice and the rest joined us, Tobias dutifully scouted about for any upcoming dangers we had to expect.
After three long rounds, Tobias came back. No one was after us. So far.
All six of us circled around Elias as she exhaustedly took off her helmet, leaning back feverishly. By now, I was getting used to the fact that Elias really looked like an adult version of Kelly. And that was a frightful thought. For the others, they were still unnerved by that face.
But we said nothing. How could we anyway?
By now, I was expecting her to calmly snap at us for staring but Elias was just too tired. Too tired to flinch when Cassie warily placed her hand on her forehead.
"You're burning up," Cassie worriedly said.
"A side-effect... Don't bother about it..."
"Elias, you're got to cool down or you'll get worse. You got to take this suit off-"
"It won't matter..."
Cassie frowned. "...It does to us."
Elias glanced at her, her face still emotionless you just couldn't tell what she really was feeling.
"It matters that you live."
I wasn't sure if those words got to her instantaneously or eventually... Regardless, she gave a heavy sigh and sunk her shoulders.
"...D-Aegis-001...Primary...activate sleep mode."
A series of beeping sounds was heard. Then clicking mechanical sounds as in an instant and before our very eyes, the plates of her suit scrolled down from her neck and down her body.
Elias didn't need to physically take off the armour. It was doing it for her, shredding off to reveal a futuristic version of a skin-tight garment with a strange logo printed on the left of her chest. And it revealed a lot more than that.
The receding plates reached to the arms. The left mechanical arm was there. As real as anything else. But it didn't stop there. I was immediately aghast when the plates came down to the legs.
Cassie and Marco couldn't help but gasp and they regretted doing that.
Elias' legs... They were also replaced with cybernetic limbs... The original right leg was completely gone from the hip. The left was up past the knee and while both legs were different in length, the limbs had the same design. Same wires, same artificial muscles.
Where the limb met to the skin in her left leg, there were scars that looked like from an operation. Then again, she had several other scars. Some that looked like injuries from a Hork-Bajir or a Dracon Beam. Others looked like cable holes, gruesomely still with some small machine devices embedded into her skin, right where the joints where. A closer look at the remaining plates told me that they were somehow connected to the suit.
The plates finally snaked to the soles of her feet and disappeared away in a flash of faint blue light. To where? I don't know.
"...Oh god..." Marco blurted it out.
I couldn't blame him or anyone. I even had the same awful thought everyone else was thinking.
Kelly was going to lose her arm and legs in the future. And faced a lot of unimaginable things.
It was plainly obvious after that. No matter how hard we tried to hide it, a glance from Elias told me she was reading us like a book. Noticing her gaze instantly ashamed us.
Her emotionless gaze soon softened.
"I am sorry... I keep forgetting these."
She apologized. Just for having those limbs. I guess it was just subconscious to think they 'were' your arm and legs.
Our shock mellowed away after that. And as pathetic as it was, it was changing to pity. The feeling was making me revolted. I was upset of myself that I was handling the situation badly and expecting Elias to reproach me, telling me that what I was thinking was wrong.
She didn't...with her glance fixed to the ground.
Cassie then brought in a blanket and pillow. "I...I'm not sure if these will do but... Here."
She placed the pillow behind Elias and covered her up as best as possible.
"...K-Kelly is upstairs..." she said, trying her best to make this less awkward than it already did. "She's still unconscious but...I don't' think she's hurt."
"...That is good."
Was it? Was it alright? After everything Kelly had faced and the recent events? Was she really going to wake up and be ok?
I may not have known Kelly that well...but just because she did things different that any normal people would do, just because she saved Ax from being taken or stabbed an alien with a weapon or stood up to David... That didn't mean she was strong.
She was fragile. To the point she almost jumped off a building. And after all this...
"Stop worrying..."
Elias snapped me out of my thoughts and I then found myself eye to eye with her. That stare she was giving at me somehow was making the anxiety go away.
"What happens next...will be entirely up to you children and her..." Elias explained. "There is no second guess anymore. Whether you all stand up high after everything or don't...it still lies in your choice."
(But-) Ax started but was cut by Elias' glance to him.
"She is a child... I know... So are you..."
She was right. Kelly was a kid. And so were we. Just kids dragged into a fight that no one knew about. And as many times as we had to bear, even with scars, we had always went forward about it.
The same was said about Kelly too.
"Up till now...do you honestly think she's that breakable?"
In body? Maybe a little. In mind? Maybe a lot. But in spirit?
...No. That was the answer.
Elias then pushed herself up a little, groaning painfully with every struggle. Cassie tried to help her as best as she could until she found a comfortable place in her seat.
"...What David said earlier...that thing you injected into yourself... It's what hurting you, isn't it?"
Elias remained silent for a minute. "My body...is just trying to cope with it..." She looked at Cassie, noting she wasn't swayed. "Don't worry about it."
She turned back to us.
"You have questions. But I won't answer all."
"What? Just like that? You can't leave us in the dark," Rachel said.
"Yeah! I want to know is what the heck is going on here," Marco uttered. "We got a crazy lunatic from the future with a better morphing power, powerful hybrids appearing out of nowhere, some prophecy on the oddball and now you! Of course we got questions and we want them answered!"
Elias strangely laughed. Well, I couldn't tell if it was one. Her face was still as cold and emotionless as ever. The laugh itself was just effortless.
"Oddball..." she muttered out the nickname, making Marco cringe back with fear. I guess he was regretting that big time, especially when he said it to Kelly's future self. Elias, however, found it rather ironic. "Somewhat suits her..."
(...If you won't answer all our questions, then what can you answer?) Tobias asked.
"...A few things. I believe, you are more curious about the calling than anything else at this moment."
"You mean that summoning thing you and Kelly did?"
Elias nodded.
"That is a question I am not unauthorised to answer..."
"Unauthorised? Who-?"
I stopped Rachel. She raised an eyebrow at me but one look told her she couldn't ask that question. Not something of who else was involved. Who gave the orders to Elias.
This was something that happened in the future. Before everything.
"Go ahead," I said.
Elias took a moment to prepare herself. "The calling...is a new experimental invention, like the morphing. 'Escafil Callers', those with the power, are able to 'perceive' the animals' DNAs stored in Z-Space by morphers and combine them to make Taliths into their liking. Their own imagination."
"Imagination?" Marco repeated.
"Like how you focus to acquire DNA or morph into an animal. Callers focus on imagining how the Talith should look, act and become. The power uses the caller's subconscious to make a Talith's physical form and mind-set. Once the Talith is complete, they can concentrate on making the creature real."
(Real? How?) Ax asked.
"The mass you store away into Z-Space. Morphing is simply switching between mass, from human to animal and the other way around. That same mass is what is used to 'give life' to an imagination. Bringing the required mass for the creation out of Z-Space and forming the Talith is necessary for its existence…in a duplicated form of an Escafil Device. Breaking that device calls it out and it becomes a living creature. It thinks for itself. It fights. It will react to the caller's emotions and defend them. Those are its primary functions."
"So...what is its secondary function?" Cassie asked.
"To give new and advanced morphs to morphers. A caller is a supporting role to them, opening new doors in any given situation."
"Now that is what I like," Marco droned happily.
That was when he got a glare at him. "Calling is not a toy or a weapon. Neither is morphing."
"I-I didn't mean that way..."
Elias' glare stayed but it was obvious that it softened as she heaved a sigh. "The Taliths are also neither. They are as alive as you are. Do not think less of them."
Marco squeezed his arm, like he was getting a lecture from Elias at school. "Ok."
"Alright, so we can morph into those Taliths," Rachel said.
"Not all Taliths," Elias pointed out. "Taliths are just as intelligent as we are. It is not when a morpher chooses whichever Talith to acquire its DNA. It is the Talith that chooses a morpher to allow so. Anyone else, and it will avoid them persistently."
"If that's the case, how does it choose?" I asked.
"You will know...when it has chosen. Once a morpher has been chosen, they will subconsciously feel a bond with the Talith."
(...So that was what I was feeling earlier.)
"What do you mean, Ax?" I asked.
(The moment with the Talith earlier. I do not know how to explain it but, for some strange reason... I felt...connected with him.)
"Connected?" Cassie repeated.
(Yes... Like the Talith wanted me... I am sorry. I really do not know-)
"You do not need to," Elias stopped him. "That's what you will experience... Now you know which one is yours."
(I see,) Ax said with a sense of given respect.
"Wait...you mean to tell me we can't be any of them? Only one?" Marco inquired feebly. "Well, that blows."
"Consider it a natural defence mechanism..." Elias stated. "From enemy morphers such as Visser Three... Or so...that's what the scientists proclaimed..."
(You said scientists. Do you mean they were created by my people like the original Escafil Device?)
"Will... And not just your people. The same goes for this suit and the weapons."
"Humans. Our people, as well?" I asked.
She gave a slow nod. After all, it was all about connecting the dots. Or some at least. "You could say it's a new form of technology."
(I need to know,) Ax said, taking a step forward. (Does that changable weaponry really belong to my people? Did they manage to solve the problem of non-living objects changing from one to another?)
"We are going off track from the topic... As for that question, I can't reveal that information."
(…I understand. Please continue.)
"...There are conditions of how a caller creates and calls forth a Talith. A caller can access into Z-Space only if they are within range of a morpher or more. The radius they possess can go as far as a few inches to maybe a mile apart. Perhaps further the more experienced they are. If a caller is too far away, they will be unable to call a Talith. The same goes for the morpher. They won't be able to morph into a Talith without a caller."
"Sooo Kelly's like a cable tower?"
Rachel elbowed Marco in the stomach.
"There are also disadvantages to the calling. An inexperienced caller cannot summon more than one at a time. Or even allow the Taliths to exist for too long. The longer they use the power, the more stressed they become."
Cassie fiddled with her hands. "W-Wait, Kelly won't go-"
"No. There is no proof one can become mentally deteriorated from the power...but a caller can exhaust themselves quickly than usual."
"Oh..."
"Then we just have to make sure Kelly doesn't push herself," I exclaimed. And that gave a little hope to Cassie.
(I have one more question,) Ax asked. (This calling, how is it acquired? By a similar Escafil Device?)
"No," she replied. "...D-Aegis-001. Secondary. Activate Z-Gateways."
A flash erupted and the familiar guards materialized across her thighs before our eyes. Once they solidified, Elias waved a hand over one and at her silent command, a long cylinder tube jumped into her hand.
"Acknowledge sleep mode again."
The guards then evaporated away.
(Amazing...) Ax gasped.
"One of the wonders of Z-Space as a mobile inventory dimension pocket," Elias explained. "The future is full of surprises."
She brought the cylinder up into the light and it was the one that Elias had used twice on herself. A closer look told me that it reminded me of some futuristic syringe. But I realized that unlike the others, it was empty.
"The Escafil Device is a solid network of microbionic units that when touched, you gain the morphing power. Escamid... That is the substance that gives one the calling power." Elias fiddled with the syringe, clicking on a tiny button that ejected out an empty tube with the needle. "A liquid form, injected through this into a candidate…creating an artificial neural network into the spinal cord... That is how one can acquire the calling..."
I swallowed at the thought. Instead of a simple touch, you'd get the needle into your back just to be a caller...
"Why?" Rachel horribly asked.
"The only way to tap into a person's imagination... Heh...science can only go so far...it only gets complicated..."
(...You said it can be given to a candidate, right?) Tobias suddenly said from the beams, making Elias gaze upwards to him. (Why Kelly?)
A simple question.
That Elias didn't jump to answer or turn away.
(Why her? This has always been about her from the start because of that calling. So why choose her? Is it because you would have the power too?)
Elias eventually sighed once more. "...Objective reasons. Because of her premonition ability and her mentality. Her precognition...allows her to foresee the events, as well as what animal morph you have. Knowing what kind of animals are in Z-Space stimulates her imagination in creating her Taliths. Additionally, while she is still far inexperienced than I am, you have a better advantage against the Yeerks with her in your team. Whether you put her on the battlefield or not."
"Then personal reasons?" I asked.
Her mouth opened but the words didn't come up. She sunk back down with...reluctance.
"...Would it matter?"
I said nothing back. Elias was not going to tell us why and I knew that was a topic we couldn't pester about.
Not yet...I guess.
"Hey, when you said that Kelly's inexperienced, what do you mean by that?" Rachel asked curiously as Elias kept the syringe away.
The unwillingness went away in her pokerfaced face. "This ability to foresee is not an alien ability. It's actually natural. Even on Earth."
"Natural? You mean anyone can have it?" Marco uttered with surprise.
"Some. You have heard of it in those paranormal books or shows. How it's believed that some psychic people can predict the future or someone foretells their own accident months later in their dreams."
"Yeah, I recalled something like that from the Internet."
"Wait, you mean to tell us what Kelly and you have is that?" I asked.
"Somewhat... I guess... What we have is more of...an evolved second sight..."
"What do you mean by that?"
"...What the girl experiences are overwhelming visions in her dreams. What I experience is a little different. I have more control over my dreams that instead of seeing them at night, asleep, I can see the visions in an instant and awake. I can willingly foretell events that would happen in seconds, minutes, hours. Even days and months. Predicting a fight a second later and I can stop it immediately. That is how fast and advanced my visions are." Elias leaned her head back on the wooden wall, shutting her eyes for a moment. "...A companion of me has been very interested in this study of human precognition."
"A friend? There's someone who's helping you fight the Yeerks?" Cassie asked.
Elias ignored that question and Cassie backed down. We could tell that was one more question we couldn't touch, even if there was a small chance that maybe...just maybe, Elias haven't been fighting alone.
"...He told me...that there is a rarer number of humans with the same evolving precognition such as the girl's and mine."
She opened her eyes again, this time locking her stare at Ax.
"Because of a small genetic heritage unlike any other."
"I still kind of find it hard. I thought this sort of thing would be what Ax's people are capable of only. Well, some of them," Rachel said.
"But if that's the case, then there are a few out there who also has the same kind of visions Kelly has," Cassie pointed.
"And those about the war," I added. "Elias, does that mean-"
Elias was suddenly spaced out, not putting her attention to us but off somewhere. And the weirdest thing was that her eyes were darting about rapidly.
"Elias?" I called nervously.
It was like she was struck in a trance, seeing something we couldn't see. Or like REM, only with her eyes completely open.
"Elias," I called again, reaching a hand out to her.
The moment my hand touched her shoulder, I felt a very quick zap run through my arm. In less than a second, something flashed before my eyes.
Some sort of vision. Showing me blood. Showing me someone standing painfully with the upmost hatred in his eyes.
No...I was looking through someone else's eyes, watching this person before me. Because I suddenly found myself gazing down to a small cylinder tube in my hand, giving it a tight grasp. I glanced back up to the man and before I knew it, we both charged. Him failing out his monstrous arm and I...ready to pierce the needled tube into him.
As soon as it ended, I was out of that vision. My hand immediately swung off her shoulder like she had some bad contagious sickness. The vision didn't astonish me...it frightened me. I was finding myself breathing heavy in sweat.
"Jake, you ok?" Marco asked.
Was I? I just saw something I shouldn't have. It all looked like a dream...
Or...like the kind Kelly said she always saw...
"...I see..." Elias exclaimed softly. "Even those with the morphing power...can also see them."
"Them? You mean the visions? That was a vision?"
Elias didn't answer at first. "...Nothing surprises me anymore... David is coming."
In an instant, the air in the barn became thin. Everyone's faces and mine were filled with dread at the mention of David's name.
"H-Hold on. You're kidding, right?" Marco pleaded.
"He will be here in an hour." Elias wasn't kidding. She really predicted David's arrival.
"...Oh no. Oh no! Oooh, no, no, no, no, no, no-"
"Marco, stop panicking!" Rachel shouted. "You're not making this any better!"
"Well, excuse me. But the psychopath is on his way here! OF COURSE I'm going to panic!"
"Kelly," Cassie terribly gasped. "He's after Kelly."
"Well, heck. We're not going to let him," Rachel yelled.
"Are you insane! ? This is future David we're talking about! We couldn't stop him before! How is this any different?" Marco cried.
"Then I suggest one thing," Elias offered. "Run."
"What?"
Elias then pushed herself up onto her feet. "Take the girl and leave. Now..."
"No, you're planning to fight him," Cassie said. "You can't even stand! Elias, stop!"
Elias ignored her again and bearing every possible pain in her body, she grabbed the helmet and walked out of the stalk. "...D-Aegis-001...Primary...activate online mode."
At her command, the futuristic suit of armour folded across her body, starting from the soles to her neck in a matter of seconds. The metal indestructible material looked repaired and brand new for some reason, rid of any damage and scratches.
"Stop!" Cassie yelled, grabbing her arm. "This is enough! You're going to die if you keep on fighting!"
I watched as Cassie's body trembled badly as she was almost ready to tear up. That didn't move Elias from her cold composure...but she stopped nonetheless.
"Please stop..." she begged. "There has to be another way..."
"...If I don't, David will succeed... Everything you have experienced up till now will be lost. Everything that exists because of her will cease to existi. And you will go on with a life with no memories or events about that girl... That is a more punishing fate to you and to her than what I am fated for."
Just like that, Elias had laid down the stakes. It all depends on protecting Kelly. If she would die, the present would change. I would never know that an odd good-hearted girl with visions even existed. Or a futuristic version of herself. None of us would.
That...was a spine-chilling thought.
"I don't care about my existence or my death. So if I stop here, what will you do?"
None of us could give an answer.
Elias slipped her arm out from Cassie and walked on.
"There is no other option."
(...You're wrong.)
She halted. In a slow and steady pace, Elias wheeled back just slightly and glanced back at Ax. All four eyes glared at her as he clutched his fingers into fists tightly.
('The eagle soars to touch the clouds. Man follows but falls and breaks his bones. He follows again but falls a second time. If he wants to fly, he has to change his path.')
"Wait, what?" Marco droned confusedly.
Elias turned a little bit more with some invisible sense of surprise. She knew the meaning more than the rest of us did.
(That's what Kelly taught me,) Ax spoke out determinedly. (We'll find another way.)
"...Alright," she started and faced us sternly. The six of us. "Then what do you propose?"
She waited for our answer. I looked to the others, waiting to see if they have any protests against the idea I was thinking about. Marco was of course reluctant but he wasn't going to back down either.
Each of them nodded and I gave Elias our answer.
"...We'll fight him."
In that one moment after I said that and probably for the first time, Elias' cold, numb eyes slowly widened. Gradually, they both relaxed. Elias could tell that we weren't back down this time.
"...You are willing to fight him?" she asked. "He is not the same as before. That man is now faster, stronger, better than all of you combined."
"So?" Rachel uttered. "We're not afraid... We'll stop him no matter what."
"That's the problem," Elias exclaimed. "You have seen us die again and again. That side effect is something that is alleviating him in battle. The same I have been suffering."
"Suffering?" I repeated.
"...Before we came to the past, we were from the future. I was assigned to go back to a certain time to find a candidate through time-traveling. David interfered and we were both thrown into the wormhole," Elias explained. "He killed me within the time wrap. But I managed to kill him as well."
What Elias said next was something you should have read from a horror book or movie.
"We died a long time ago."
The words sent chills down my spine as I gulped at the thought.
"Or...we were supposed to. We landed in the past, nine years ago, completely healed... I changed the past after that. And the Ellimist approached me. He told me that both of us have to bear a sentence for our meddling. The time in our bodies has been frozen that any injury inflicted by each other will simply revert back to normal in time. We cannot age. We cannot live or die. All we can do is watch the world around move on without us... In other words, we are trapped in time."
I sort of understood what Elias was saying but I would have never imagined that time-travelling would have its own consequences. The thought of remaining as you are for nine years like some trapped immortal was...honestly petrifying.
I felt sorry for Elias... And David.
"So...only I can stop him."
"No!" Cassie yelled. "You're far too severe to fight him!"
"Let me repeat myself. Only 'I' can stop him. I am not going to fight this time."
I raised an eyebrow at that statement. The way she said it like she meant another thing. But slowly, I was seeing the picture. And it was a shocking suggestion.
"Do you mean...one of us is going acquire your DNA?" I said.
Everyone's eyes except for Elias instantly bugged out. But none of us gave any objective to the idea.
"I may not have morphing powers like you do. But I have been capable of fighting David with everything I've got." Elias lifted up an arm, showing the powerful plating under the light. "My biosuit has been engineered mechanically and biologically, having its own genetic code that only I can use it alone. There is no other version such as this and no one but me. However, one can also acquire my DNA and a copy of the suit's genetic blueprint. Morph into me and you will also have the suit at your disposal."
"You got to be kidding me," Marco gapped, his mouth still hanging open.
"Wait, wait. So we'll have that armour as well? And those weapons?" Rachel probed with shock.
"Not 'we'. Only one of you can acquire it. This suit has a backup security measure that prevents anyone from just simply acquiring the codes. I can only choose one," Elias clarified. "All I know is once you have accepted my DNA, the suit you will morph with will be at maximum capability, stronger and more powerful enough to use against David. As for weaponry, it may not give you access into the Z-Gateways. Or the weapons."
"Why?"
"Because it knows who is the original user. Morphers are capable of morphing into another being, but not entirely. It will know the difference in the DNA and as a precaution, it will not allow access until it understand the new user."
"Hold on. Technically, the suit is an AI?" Marco asked confusedly.
"Somewhat."
"Okkk. Still confusing but if we don't get weapons, and I'm not saying I like the idea of holding firearms, or being a woman, then how do anyone of us know how to use it?"
"You can. It is designed for the sole purpose of the user's welfare in battle. It adapts itself in any old and new situation given and is constantly updating itself to assist the user. This suit has learnt every single incident I have been through. It has analysed every one of my skills and abilities. It knows how to predict the moves of many enemies I've faced. And all of that information will be in that copy once you have acquired my DNA. All you need to do is simply fight and the biosuit will fight with you."
"What about the calling...? And that clairvoyance?"
"I doubt you will also acquire the calling. It is not genetic. As for the visions...I am not sure myself."
Elias finished talking and let us digest everything she has told. Well, it was a lot. One of us could become like Elias. Morph into the most dangerous assassin, built with her own armour and abilities in one package.
"...What will it be?"
But...there wasn't really much of a choice. We've seen David fight. We've seen Elias fight.
This was the only hope we had if we wanted to stop him.
"Alright. As crazy as it sounds, it's better than heading in with nothing," I said. "So...who should acquire your DNA?"
Elias slowly lifted her hand up, forcing one finger out as best as she could. She was still weak that she was even struggling to hold a finger up.
But Elias pointed. At one person.
Rachel.
"M-Me?"
The young blond-haired girl looked at me if I am crazy. She paced away, a rare sign of fear in her and I knew why. Give her my DNA. Give her the capability to be a monster like me. Even more so, forced with the task to fight against David.
"W-Wait. You're serious?"
I simply gazed at her in silence.
"You're telling me to morph into you and try to stop David as you? I can't-"
"I know what you did that day."
She ceased telling her concerns and stared at me with such wide eyes. So did the other children.
"You have fought him before. You endured everything that he threw at you before he was forced to be a rat."
They slowly settled down and continued to listen.
"That man may have changed but he is no different from the one you knew. You know how to face him. You know how to push his buttons. You have dealt him before and in person. That is why I am choosing you. You're the only one capable of using my DNA to the fullest intention. When he comes here, he will surely kill all of you as well."
"...Because of what I've done..." she said.
I nodded.
"...So...that means...I have to kill-"
"No," I said immediately. "I want you to survive. I want all of you to survive this battle. That is all."
I could tell the reluctance was eating deep into this girl. I knew what her thoughts were. Her task was to end that man's life. That shouldn't be it.
I placed my hands on her shoulders and looked at her eye to eye. "Sometimes, the last result doesn't have to be the only choice." Once she has taken in those words, I stood back from her. "Trust the vision. Trust yourself. That is something you have to learn."
I mentally commanded my biosuit to take away the armor pieces of my right hand and lifted it up to her. A handshake to her and she would acquire my DNA.
Yet, for the first time, I was seeing a side I had not expected of her.
Fearful.
"N-No...I can't do this. I-It's not about David – it's...I just can't."
My hand went down to my side. I couldn't convince her.
I could tell what that fear was. It wasn't because of what she could be capable of, tearing down a man to death. It wasn't because of the creepy thought that I and my younger self were the same.
It was because she would only prove her point that she would become as violent as me. Her dark nature as equivalent to mine...
"I see..." I began, lowering my eyes to the ground.
But that was a point she had to overcome.
"I am sorry then. Because you're going to need this more than you think."
I gave her no warning, no choice to turn back. I launched my hand on hers. I gave the metaphysical order to my system.
Reroute my DNA code into her Z-Space bio storage.
"Wait, what are you-? Stop!" she begged as the plating danced from my hand and up to her arm in a scattering pattern.
(Rachel!)
The others leapt in to pull her away but the moment their fingers touched, they backed away as if holding on red-hot iron.
I guess forcing a morpher to take my DNA is a different feeling than willingly taking it.
Because I was feeling pain. Unspeakable pain throughout my entire body. Not as worse as I felt before but still agonizing.
She tried to pull her arm away from my grasp. I latched my biotic hand to stop her from leaving. I wasn't going to let go. I couldn't.
She needed this. She needs it.
Soon, blue light seeped from my vessels in my hand and into those of hers. The plating began digging into her skin as the brightly hued veins spread across her skin like water rushing into a dried up canal. Her face showed nothing of pain. More of terror.
It couldn't be helped.
Then the world around me became white. I don't know what happened. All I remembered was my interface telling me the transfer was complete.
And in that sheer moment...in the blinding white light...I saw someone familiar...under that same tree in that pocket of space and time…
Her... How annoying...
The whiteness disappeared and I found myself on the ground. In the barn. Nearly close to death again, with my skin burning. All I could hear is just ringing.
I tried to keep my eyes open. Just enough to see the girl alright. Comforted by her companions as she held out her arm as if some stick had pierced into it like an eyesore. The blue lines were gone but I did not see any major injury. Eventually, the other girl approached me with her mouth opening frantically. Silently calling my name.
With all the strength I had left...I pleaded.
"Survive...you have to survive... Please...survive..."
The four children, the hawk from the beams and the Andalite stared at me from way up there. At first, with sympathy. Over a poor, unfortunate soul trapped in her own demises.
All just to protect one little girl. And much more.
Then one by one...I could see that stubbornness in their eyes...although, somehow, it was a different kind. The fear, the indecision, the conflicts were gone. The distrust...the irritating stupid doubt I have constantly seen in them...
Was gone…
The ringing stopped but I was becoming too fatigued to stay conscious... At least, I managed to hear the young boy's words before I blacked out.
"...Alright. Here's the plan."
Vickie: OK, this is official. This is my longest chapter ever. I am never going to make long chapters again after this one.
Marco: But you're adding more words with this note.
Vickie: ...ANYWAY, it's still the climax of this story even if the Yeerks have been dealt with and swept away under the rug. We still have David and it's all depends on the Animorphs this time round. Not Elias, anymore. And how this battle will unfold in the next chapter will be the ultimate fate of everything. Of the Animorphs, David, Elias and Kelly.
Marco: Waaaait a minute. This isn't going to be one of those "someone has to die or else there's no end" moment, is it?
Vickie: ...OkcuttingthisnoteshortI'llseeyouallinthenextchapterbye! –runs-
Marco: ...Damn you woman and your corrupted ways of making us spin in suspense.