Chapter 29: Jake: No Reason To Live

I looked from David to the person on my right and said;

"First remove the bag over his head, I want to see my brother before I die."

David looked shocked, so did the others, obviously they didn't guess who else was here. It seemed simple to me.

"Your brother? What do you mean?" Marco asked, frantic.

"David, why is Tom here? He has nothing to do with this." Rachel demanded.

David remained silent for a second, then smirked. "Of course you figured out who it was, Jake. But tell me, how'd you figure it out, surely The Ellimist didn't tell you, he's not allowed to intervene."

The others looked at me. "He didn't tell me who it was, I figured it out myself. You see, I figured you out, David."

"Oh did you?" He asked. "I doubt that."

"What did you figure out Jake?" Cassie asked.

"What are you talking about?" Rachel demanded. "There's nothing to figure out, he just wants us dead."

"You're half right, Rachel. He does want us dead but only one of us can die, but more importantly he wants to beat me."

"What do you mean beat you?" Rachel asked. "He already beat us."

"I mean that doesn't just want to kill me, no, he wants to destroy me, see, he blames me for ruining his life, more than the Yeerks, more than Visser Three. He doesn't just want me hurt, he wants me defeated, by having to kill one of you in cold blood by my own hand. That," I said, standing tall and looking David in the eye. "Is what he wants, he wants to destroy me."

The others all stared, silent, not knowing what to say, but knowing that I was right. "Isn't that right, David?" I asked.

David just glared at me, if looks could kill, I thought.

"Don't think that you're smart for figuring that out, it was pretty obvious." He said, walking in a small circle inside the pillars where we stood. "I mean, why else would I go through all this trouble of catching all of you? And the idea of making you kill one of them was my idea, by the way. When Crayak heard my idea, oh man, you should've seen the look on his face, not that he really has a face, but he was ecstatic."

"You sick monster! This is all you're fault!" Rachel screamed, trying as hard as she could to break free from the chains and run at David.

Whhhaaammm! Two men rushed over and began beating her with bats and fists. "Aaahhhh!" She cried out in pain. She collapsed, a small pool of blood forming around her.

[Rachel!] Tobias yelled in our heads, almost deafening.

David looked to me, enjoying seeing me flinch every time Rachel was struck.

"Stop." I pleaded. "Leave her alone, I've made my decision." This got his attention.

David held up a hand and the two stepped back, leaving Rachel lying on the floor, blood gushing from her mouth, covered in bruises and marks. She opened her eyes, looking at me, the look sent shivers down my spine. It was helplessness and despair.

"Now, was that so hard, Jake? Is it really worth your friends being beaten? Just tell me who dies and you can all go free. Besides whoever dies, of course." He said with a laugh. He was loving this.

I looked from him to the others, then to my brother besides me.

"You heard me," I said, gathering up all my strength for what was going to happen. "Uncover his face, I want to see my brother before I die. Wake him up so I can talk to him."

"Don't think you can order me around, Jake. The days of me taking orders from you like a little soldier are over. I was planning on showing you him anyway, why else would I have gone through the trouble of bringing him here?" He pointed to Tom. "Boys."

He said and two guys walked over to Tom and removed the bag from his head. I could see that he was actually awake, but his mouth was covered by duct tape so that he couldn't talk. Tom blinked as his eyes adjusted to the light and let out a sound of pain as the tape was ripped of his face. He looked around at all of us, shock on his face. He looked from me to the others in the circle, practically freaking out when he saw Ax in his Andalite form lying on the floor. "An Andalite? What is going on?" Tom's face immediately froze as he realized that he let the word 'Andalite' slip around all of us, who he thought were just his little brother and his friends.

He looked to me. "Jake? What's going on here? Are you okay? Why are your friends here, and that, that alien looking thing over there on the floor." He looked around at all of us again, completely confused, trying to figure out what was going on. "Cassie?" He asked. "Rachel, and Marco too, and an alien and a thing in a cage?" I could see him focusing on Tobias, trying to see what he was. "A bird? What in the world is going on?" He asked me.

Before I could say anything David stepped in front of him. "Now now, Yeerk, haven't you at least began to figure it out?" Tom looked shocked, at least the Yeerk in his head was shocked, he thought David was dead. "Oh come on, Yeerk." David continued. "Use that parasitic brain of yours and begin to think. Your little brother and friends are here with an Andalite, who you of course recognize, and that little birdie in the cage, who you've seen for years, don't tell me you can't figure it out."

"What are you talking about?" Tom asked, trying to not look like a nervous wreck, he didn't want to show us that what David was saying ws true.

"Enough of the games, Yeerk. Don't try to hide it anymore, it's useless. Jake and the others already know what you are. They've known for years."

Shut up, David, I thought. He was blowing our cover to my brother, even if we got out of here the Yeerk in his head would know that we were the 'Andalite Bandits'.

Tom looked even more shocked. "How? How do they know?"

"Oh come on, you stupid Yeerk. Figure it out. Take a closer look, look at the Andalite and the hawk, and count how many of Jake's friends are here. There are six of them total, and how many of your so-called 'Andalite Bandits' are there?"

That's it, we were dead, Tom knew all about us. I could see the shock leave his face and be replaced by a face of hatred and anger.

"David," Tom asked. "You mean to tell me that my little brother and his friends are the Andalite Bandits?"

"Of course I do. They've been fighting against you Yeerks for four years now. Every single setback was caused by them, by him." David said as he pointed to me.

"What do you mean that all of this was caused by Jake? He's just an ordinary human."

"He may be a human but he's definitely not ordinary. He and his friends were given the ability to morph by Elfangor years ago and have been fighting you since. I mean, come on, it was pretty obvious."

Tom looked at me, his face filled with so many emotions at once, mostly confusion and utter hatred.

"Tell me, Jake." Tom asked me, with hate on his tongue. "You're the tiger, aren't you? You're their leader right? Visser three always thought that the 'Andalite Bandit' in the tiger morph was the leader."

I just stood there, unable to speak, my mind racing, all I wanted to do was talk to my brother before I died, not his Yeerk. Now thanks to David Tom's Yeerk knew all about us.

"Jake!" He yelled. "Answer me, are you fighting with the Andalites?"

"I am, we all are." I answered him back.

"So David,"Tom said, turning his head towards him. "Why am I here? We all thought that the so-called Andalites had killed you to keep you quiet after we didn't see you for awhile after we infested your parents."

"Why don't you ask your brother and his friends, they're the ones who got rid of me by trapping me as a rat. But now I'm back. And for why you're here, that's pretty simple, you're here because out of every single person on this planet he cares about you the most, even more then his little girlfriend over there. You see, I'm here to destroy him, he's going to have to kill one of his friends in order to free the others."

"But why am I here? I'm not with the Andalites? When Visser Three hears about this he's gonna send an entire army of Hork-Bajir after you to-"

"Oh shut up, Yeerk. You're giving me a headache. How are you this stupid? Of course I'm not going to just let you go, I'm gonna make Jake kill you after one of his friends." My heart sank, I figured that something like this was going to happen but to hear it myself, it nearly destroyed me.

"That wasn't in the Ellimist's deal, you can't do that." Rachel screamed.

"Actually I can, Xena." David mocked. "The only condition was that only one of you Animorphs could die, he didn't say anything about normal people or Yeerks. I can kill whoever I want as long as they aren't one of you."

I looked to Cassie besides me and took her hand again, she started to cry again, she knew what I was going to say.

"Enough of your monologuing, David." I paused, mouthing the words 'I love you' to Cassie. "I've made my decision, I've decided who's going to die."

David smirked. "Good, it's about time, I was getting pretty bored watching you all cry and hold hands. So tell me, Jake, who's gonna die?"

"May I ask for one thing first?" David's smirk left his face, it was replaced by a questioning look.

"You mean a last request? I don't see why not, as long as you keep it brief, I have a hot date tonight."

"Yeah right." Rachel whispered under her breath loud enough for David to hear.

"At least I'm not dating a bird, Rachel." He shot back. "So Jake, what do you want from me?"

"I actually want something from Tom, not you."

"What could you possibly want from the Yeerk? He's chained up just like you." Than David's face lit up. "Oh, I get it, but have fun convincing the Yeerk to go along with it."

Tom looked at me. "What do you want, Andalite loving scum? I suppose that you want to talk to your oh so precious brother, don't you?"

"I do, it's not much to ask, think about it. You're going to die anyway, might as well let Tom talk to me so he quits screaming in your head for a few minutes."

He looked shocked. "How did you know that he is screaming?"

"Oh, please." I said. "I was a Yeerk once, years ago, when this all started. I was stuck, tied to a chair for three days by my friends in order to starve the Yeerk. So believe me, I know that Tom is screaming inside you head. It's probably getting hard to concentrate with all that noise, isn't it?"

"You were a controller once? Good, serves you right for getting in the way of the glorious Yeerk Empire."

"So are you going to let me talk to him or not?" I asked.

The Yeerk burst out laughing. "Oh course not, you think that I'd be nice and do that for you? You humans are truly stupid."

"Well then." David said, stepping in front of me again. "If he's not gonna let you talk to Tom then let's get this over with. Oh Jake, I bet that I can guess what's going through your head right now."

"And what's that?"

"You're wishing that you never made me one of your little Animorphs, aren't you? You know, making me the seventh Animorph was the worst decision you ever made, it ruined all our lives."

"Seventh?" I asked in a whisper, my mind imploding, I had just figured out what the Ellimist had hinted at, I was too busy earlier to figure it out. But now I had him, I had David. The Ellimist wanted us to win, but he couldn't tell me outright what to do, so he gave me a hint. I thought for a few seconds, but the biggest question was how I was going to pull it off.

"Yeah, seventh." David asked with a mocking voice. "What, you too stupid to count to seven? I'm the seventh Animorph. Jeez, Jake, how are you so stupid?" He ended with a laugh.

I turned to Cassie for a second and squeezed her hand and gave a look that said 'trust me'. I was worried that she wasn't going to catch it but her tears and silent cries slowly stopped as she watched me. She got the message, that's my girl. I didn't want her to worry.

"You're right, David." I said as I stood tall in front of him, my friends all looked to me, worried, all except Cassie, about what was going to happen. "You're an Animorph, just like us, and since I have to kill an Animorph, I have decided to kill you so that we can all go free."

David froze, he didn't expect this, he thought that he had me beat. My friends all looked at me, faces mixed with worry and happiness.

"Can you do that?" Rachel asked, through tear-filled eyes.

"Jake," Marco asked. "Why didn't you tell us that this was your plan, we were all worried that you were going to die."

[Marco's right, Jake, you should've told us?] Tobias said from inside his cage.

"Jake," Cassie now. "Are you sure that this will work? What if the Ellimist didn't count David as on-" David broke her off, his face was red with rage.

"Of course that won't work!" He screamed, getting in my face. "The Ellimist isn't here, I am, I'm in charge here, what I say goes. And since you decided to refuse to kill one your friends, I'm going to kill all of them, right here, right now." David said this as he was just inches from my face. A big mistake, yes I was chained to this pillar but I still had good movement of my arms. I could end this madness now with my own hands.

"Boys!" He yelled to the guys around us. "Kill them all, but leave Jake for la-" He stopped as I let go of Cassie's hand and grabbed David by the neck, using all the strength I had left to crush his windpipe and end this nightmare.

He was in shock for just a few seconds, just enough for me to dig my thumbs into his windpipe, causing him to choke.

Whhhaaammm! "Aahhhhhh!" I screamed in pain, some of David's guys started beating me and pulling him back. "No!" I yelled, as they pulled David aside, just a few more seconds and he would've been dead and this would've all been over.

The guys stopped beating me as David raised his hand, coughing up blood.

"That was a nice try, Jake. I gotta give you credit, I didn't see it coming. You know, with your stupid no killing humans policy. Didn't think you'd have the balls." He rubbed his neck and looked at the others. "Can you guys believe that, he just tried to kill me? Jeez, and here I thought that he didn't have it in him."

"Oh don't flatter yourself, David." Rachel said. "I'd kill you myself if I had the chance, we all would."

"While I believe you, Xena, I don't think Cassie, Marco nor Tobias over there could do it, given the chance. There just must be something about your family about not caring about how many people you kill. You must all be blood-thirsty savages, I bet."

[Guess again, David. I'm a hawk, I kill for a living, you're nothing more than a mouse to me, or a rat, in your case.]

"I see why you like him, Rachel." David said with a laugh. "He's a killer just like you. This is gonna be fun, killing all of you as you beg for mercy, especially you, Rachel. But which morph should I use? Lion just for good measure? How about cobra so I can see you slowly die from the poison? Or should i just do it myself, and kill you with my own hands?"

"Leave her alone, David." I yelled. "If it's a fight you want then unchain me, we can finish that fight we started years ago in the mall."

"Oh Jake, Jake Jake Jake Jake, you don't think I'd be so stupid as to let you free so you could morph do you? As tempting as it would be I'd rather kill you myself, but first let's start with your friends, shall we?" He motioned to a few of his guys and pointed to Tom and Cassie. "Let's start with his little girlfriend and Yeerk-infested brother. Unchain them and put them on the floor in front of him."

"No!" I screamed as I watched two guys throw Cassie and Tom to the floor. "Cassie! Tom!"

"Screaming won't save them now, Jake, you had your chance, but you blew it."

He grabbed a bat from one of the guys and stood over Cassie. "This could've all been avoided, Jake, their deaths are on you, remember that." He took a breath as he raised the bat over his head. Cassie was screaming for her life, lying helplessly on the floor, her hands and feet bound together by a new chain.

"Cassie!" I screamed, heart filled with rage and sadness as I watched David swing the bat down, it fell in what seemed like slow motion, the bat falling from the sky as it impacted her head, and her head snapping back, hitting to floor beneath her.

Whhhaaammm! "Aaahhhh!" She cried out in pain as the next few blows hit her head, until after the fourth blow when she went silent and limp. For what seemed like hours I watched David savagely beat Cassie, even after she stopped moving. I was screaming at David, every single word I could imagine, screaming that I would kill him with my own hands. Rachel was crying for her friend and threatening his life as well.

Marco was trying not to gag as Cassie's head was split open and her brain was exposed, spewing out blood like an overflowing river. Ax was begging for David to stop and to kill him instead and to let us go free. Tobias was silently ripping out the metal rod in his leg with his beak in order to be able to morph and escape. Tom just laid there, like a statue, his mind blank, thinking about how this was going to be him. And David, he was smiling, and laughing as he beat her, even after death. He kept looking at me and saying that it was my fault.

After what seemed like an eternity David moved from Cassie to Tom. Wiping Cassie's blood from his face with his sleeve. David beat Tom just as brutally, and after a few hits to the head from his bat Tom went silent and still as well.

David stopped after a while, leaning on the bat to catch his breath. He was smiling, laughing, giggling like a little schoolgirl talking about a crush. His men all just stared, some were gagging like Marco, trying not to puke, I bet that none of them had expected this, this type of savagery. The others screamed around me as I went silent, my life was over, they were both dead. My will to live was gone, only hatred remained. With the last of my strength I began to pull on my chains, attempting to break free. The guy next to me stood watching David, he held a knife, but he was distracted, too much to notice me breaking from my chains.

With one final pull I yanked my hands from the chains, grabbing the knife from the guys hand and ran for David.

He was too busy laughing to notice me until I was inches from him, too late, too late to run or hit me with the bat.

"You killed her!" I screamed, as I put all my weight behind my arm as I stabbed him through his chest, I was aiming for his heart but I missed. "You killed him!" I screamed as I twisted the blade, snapping it, leaving most of the blade inside his body.

"You killed them! Now it's your turn!" David stared, eyes as big as dinner plates, knowing that he was going to die. From the corner of my eye I could see Marco yelling 'No'. But I didn't care, I wanted him dead. David fell to his knees as some of his guys ran out of the room, trying to escape my wrath. I stood next to him, as he looked up to me and smiled through blood stained teeth. His smile disgusted me, made me furious beyond belief. "You killed them." I spoke softly. "You finally did it, you got what you wanted, you finally broke me." He smirked as I placed my hands around his neck once again, in one final moment I jerked my hands, snapping his neck, killing him, finally ending this vile nightmare. I stood there for a few seconds, catching my breath. I looked at his face, it sickened me, I pushed him back onto the floor. I kneeled down to where Cassie lyed. "Cassie…" I cried, screaming. "Ellimist! I know you can hear me! You told me to pick David, I did, so why is she dead? Is this what you wanted? To see me broken? To see me beaten? To see me destroyed?" I sat on the floor and pulled her disfigured body onto my lap, holding her beaten and bruised face, crying. "Is this what you wanted, Ellimist? Were the others right, am I too valuable to die? Is this why you didn't want me to die, because I'm too important to you? Then what about her?! Is she not important enough to live? I did it, I killed David for you, so why did she die?" I paused, catching my breath. The others were all in shock, they just all watched me. Rachel cried as Marco and Ax tried to talk to me, I wasn't listening to what they were saying. Tobias removed the metal rod from his leg and was morphing something to escape the cage.

She's dead. I killed her. She died because of me. These thoughts filled my head and swirled around and around for what seemed like an eternity.

I held her with one hand as the other picked up the broken, blood-stained knife. I moved it around in my hand, my escape from the pain was right there, I could finally be rid of all this, this anger, sorrow and darkness that I felt. The others were unable to stop me, they were all still chained up, besides Tobias, but he was halfway in morph so he couldn't stop me either. My friends watched me as I looked at the blade and smiled, it was Marco who figured out what I was going to do and spoke up first.

"Jake." He spoke softly, calmly, but I could hear the emotion and worry in his voice as he spoke. "Put the knife down, that's not going to help anything. Believe me. Just calm down and help us out of here so we can get her to a hospital."

"A hospital? A hospital!?" I asked, my voice rising, anger flowing again. "What good will a hospital do? She's dead Marco, I killed her."

"Jake, it's not your fault, David is the one who killed her, not you. So please, please put the knife down, before you do something stupid."

Rachel looked to Marco. "What are you talking about? What's he doing? His back is to me, I can't' see anything."

"He's holding the knife and smiling, I know exactly what he's going to do." Then to me he said. "Jake, please, put it down, throw it over to the side of the room, just so that you can't see it."

"You mean he's…" Rachel stopped, I could hear the realization in her voice. "Jake! Stop, listen to Marco, just put it down."

[I do not understand,] Ax said, moving his body to see Marco and Rachel. [What is Prince Jake going to do? Why are you two so worried?] Neither of them answered him.

"Why should I?" I asked them, all emotion washed from my voice. "She was my world, I have nothing without her. And Tom…, he's gone too. I loved her, I killed her, I loved her and I killed her. I killed him too, both of them. I killed them, I killed them, I killed them." I repeated this several times until Rachel cut in.

"Tobias, hurry up and finish demorphing. You need to stop Jake."

[I'm going as fast as I can, but I'll have to morph human to be able to stop him, as a hawk I can't do anything.]

I heard these voices, but they seemed far away, they grew quieter with every passing second, until I could barely hear them anymore.

I looked again to the knife, my escape from this pain, and placed it's broken blade onto my cold neck, my mind preparing myself for what was going to come, when I heard the voices of my friends rise again.

"Jake," Marco screamed. "Please, stop! You can't do this, we need you. Please," He begged. "Don't do this, you know that Cassie wouldn't of wanted this." Marco's words stopped me, Cassie, I knew that he was right but I couldn't stand the pain. I needed to escape.

"What she would've wanted was to have lived." I answered coldly. "Besides, she's dead, soon I can be with her once again."

[Jake, man. Please think.] Tobias was almost completely hawk now, he still needed to morph human. [Think about your parents, they shouldn't have to lose both of their sons in one day.]

[Prince Jake.] Ax now, he must have figured out what was happening enough to say something. [Please, you must come to your senses, what you are doing will not solve anything. You must know that.]

Voices. All of these voices in my head all at once, but I wasn't listening. All pleading, all worried, all except one, one of them was filled with anger and rage, Rachel's voice.

"Jake! Listen to me! Jake, Jake! Fucking listen to me now, you coward, this won't solve anything, you know it!" Her words were filled with so much anger, it surprised me.

[Rachel,] Tobias said, frantic. [That's not helping, we need to calm him down, not insult him.]

"No." She replied. "He needs to hear this. Jake, the only reason why you're doing this is because you're too much of a coward to live with what happened. Tom's my cousin and Cassie's my best friend, but you don't see myself trying to kill myself, I'm sad and furious too but that won't help anything, you coward."

"A coward?" I asked, calmly, all emotion stripped from my voice. "Rachel, I've been a coward since that night in the construction site when we met Elfangor. We have been fighting this war for over four years now, I'm tired. Rachel, I'm tired of this war, I'm tired of ordering my friends to their death every mission. I've always said to myself from day one that the day that I let one of you die is the day that I quit…, but now with my brother and girlfriend dead…, I…, I can't live like that, knowing that I killed them. You all knew that my plan was for me to kill myself to let you all go free, I should have just killed myself when David asked and she would still be alive. My death now changes nothing, I was going to die anyway."

Rachel was silent as Marco tried to talk me out of it. Ax begged for me to stop, saying that this was not the way a great Prince should die. But I didn't care, my life was over already with Cassie gone. I saw Tobias, he was nearly human, enough to start to stand and move towards me, but his lower body was still that of a hawk, it would change last.

I looked to Marco as I placed the blade against my throat again. "Tell Cassie's and my parents that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for killing their child. I…, I just can't live without her." I looked down to Cassie's lifeless body and kissed her on the forehead one last time as I closed my eyes and started pressing the blade against my throat as it drew blood. I was just mere seconds from being able to escape my pain when someone grabbed my arm, preventing me from slicing my neck. I expected it to be Tobias, how dare he stop me from being able to see Cassie again.

I opened my eyes, I was filled with shock. It wasn't Tobias who stopped me, but Cassie. I looked down to her, she was still in my lap but her wounds and blood were gone, she looked at me with eyes filled with sorrow and sadness. I just stared at her as she took the knife from my hand and threw it aside, reaching up and touching my face with the other.

"Jake," She spoke, her voice like an angel, soft and gentle, sweet and kind, filling my heart with joy once again. "I can't live without you either." I just sat there, mouth open in disbelief.

"Is…, Is that really you?" I asked, body frozen. "Cassie, is that really you?"

"Of course it is, here." She said calmly, grabbing my hand that once held the blade. "Feel my skin, feel that I am here with you." She brought my hand to her face and touched my hand to it. It nearly made me fall over. The sensation of feeling her body alive once again, it made me cry.

I pulled her to me as I cried in her arms as she hugged me and comforted me and assured me that everything was going to be alright. I felt like a baby in his mother's arms, crying as she rocked him to sleep.

Tobias stood a few feet from us, giving us space, fully human. He then started to free the others. As they were freed they all rushed over to me, crying over me like a child. I closed my eyes once again and became lost in the sound of Cassie's voice as she comforted me.

I looked to Cassie, tears still pouring from my eyes. "How, how are you alive? I killed you?"

"The Ellimist, he told me that since the deal was that you had to kill one of us that anyone of us killed by David would be brought back." Just as she said this he appeared.

{CASSIE IS CORRECT. THE DEAL WAS THAT THE ONLY OF OF YOU THAT COULD DIE HAD TO DIE BY JAKE. AND SINCE CASSIE WAS KILLED BY DAVID I THE DEAL WAS BROKEN AND I WAS ALLOWED TO BRING HER BACK.}

I looked from Cassie to my brother's lifeless body. "But what about Tom? Can't you bring him back as well?"

{I UNFORTUNATELY CANNOT. THERE WERE NO CONDITIONS IN OUR DEAL ABOUT OTHER HUMANS OR YEERKS. I CANNOT BRING HIM BACK. I AM SORRY.}

My heart sank as I looked at my brother's body. As soon as he appeared, the Ellimist left, leaving us alone. The others let me cry and scream for my brother for awhile until they decided that I needed to go to the hospital. Marco said that it would be risky, and that I should just morph and demorph to be healed, but I refused, saying that I couldn't. Eventually they decided to take Tom and I to the hospital, I watched Rachel, Ax and Tobias in human morph carry Tom away as Marco and Cassie helped me to my feet and walk through the forest to the hospital.

Sorry about the sorta long wait with the chapter upload, been busy with work and sleeping.

This was the most gruesome/violent/deep chapter I've ever written, it's also one of my favorites. So let me know if you guys want more serious and deep emotional stuff like this in the future.

I am sorry to say but there are only a handful of chapters left in this story, but have no fear, for I have plans for a sequel to this story already planned out. The first few chapters should go up by New Years(may be changed), I just have to write them out. In the meantime while you're waiting for chapters to be uploaded or for the sequel to come out I'll hopefully be uploading some short one-shots. They will range from serious, like this story to full blown comedies. Just leave some ideas or any feedback you have, I take all constructive criticism.

But enough of my babbling, the next chapter should come out within a week, not more than a week like this one. Thanks for reading, please leave a review and comment.

Hephaestus