Animorphs: The Black Death
3: Acid Reign
Over Erek's house
Everything looks normal from up here, Tobias said.
Yeah, well it always does, Marco was in full paranoia mode. It's what's inside that usually worries me.
We'll land at the back and go from there, Jake decided.
They landed in the back yard and looked around. They quickly noticed that the back door of Erek's house had been literally ripped into little pieces.
"Something tells me I was right," Marco said with no trace of humour.
"What about our new 'friends'?" Cassie asked. "Aren't we going to wait for them?"
"There's no time for that!" Ryan snapped. "By the time they get here it'll be too late. We've got to go in now!"
Jake looked far from happy about this but he nodded.
I will go first, Prince Jake, Ax said. The rest of you had better morph…
Ax was interrupted by a sharp hiss from the back door. One of the aliens had sensed their approach and was now facing them. Jake and Cassie went pale and froze; this was the first time they had faced one in the flesh. Marco started to morph to gorilla. Rachel was close behind with her bear morph. Ryan was morphing to his Andalite form. However they were only halfway morphed when the alien ran at them.
Ax did not hesitate. He raised his tail-blade and struck. It was a perfect strike as Ax neatly severed the alien's head from its body. It collapsed to the ground oozing bright yellow body fluid. Some of it had splashed over Ax's tail as he cut through the alien's head.
Nice one, Ax! Marco said. They're not as tough as they look!
There's four more inside if Erek was right. Let's do it! Rachel was fired up as usual.
AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!
Ax's scream of pain took them all by surprise. They whirled round to see Ax's tail was melting! The alien blood was eating through it like cheesecloth. They looked at the alien corpse and saw the blood was burning the ground too.
"Acid!" Cassie exclaimed. "Their blood's acid!"
"Morph Ax!" Jake shouted quickly.
Ax started to morph just as two more aliens appeared at the back door.
Through instinct Rachel swung her claw and gashed the first one across the chest. Acid blood gushed over Rachel's claw and Ryan's left side. Both screamed in agony as it started to burn into them. Marco punched the second one hard and floored it. However it just got up and charged again.
Jake and Cassie hadn't morphed yet. They couldn't decide what to morph to! The aliens' acid blood rendered most if not all of their morphs useless. Tobias could do little but hover overhead; he couldn't risk his wings being damaged by acid. Jake quickly decided on rhino morph. He decided too late. The back kitchen window exploded outward as another alien jumped through it and landed inches from Jake. Cassie could only watch in horror as the alien ripped off Jake's right arm as if it were pulling a wing from a fly. Then it swung its left claw and severely gashed Jake's chest. Jake crashed to the floor unconscious from sheer pain, loss of blood and shock. The alien then advanced on Cassie determined to tear her limb from limb. It never got the chance. A blue bolt flew over Cassie's head and blew the alien in half. Malarnex decloaked and ran over to Jake. Vorka was only seconds behind, leaping in and ripping the other two aliens apart with his spear. The others managed to demorph and erased their acid wounds. Vorka charged into the house looking for more.
"Jake! OH SHIT!" Ryan was the first to notice Jake's horrific injuries.
They hurried over to Jake's side.
He is dying. If he is to survive these wounds must be sealed soon! Malarnex said. But maybe…
"What?" asked Cassie.
I do not know whether it is safe for humans. He might not be…
Cassie went eye to eye with Malarnex. "If you can do something, do it NOW or I'll kill you!"
Everyone was stunned. Cassie had never acted like that before.
Malarnex sighed. Let's hope he's compatible.
With that Malarnex pulled out a large metal box and pressed a button on the top. It opened to reveal a large array of surgical tools and other nasty looking instruments which the Animorphs didn't recognise. Malarnex pulled out a small burner from the pack and set it down next to Jake. He tipped what looked like several white crystals into the burner and then added a vial of purple liquid. The flame superheated the crystals until they became glowing blue. Malarnex then scooped up several of the burning crystals with a spatula and pressed them into Jake's wounds. The others grimaced in disgust. Malarnex then packed up his tools and stood back.
"That's it?" Marco asked in amazement.
Now we wait, Malarnex said. I hope it works.
To the astonishment of everyone, it did. Jake's chest wound was sealing up and, better still, his arm was regrowing! A third of it had grown back in two minutes.
"How, wha?" Rachel couldn't find the words. Neither could anyone else.
That's our secret, Malarnex said. How many more of the prey are still in the house?
None! They all looked round to see Vorka. He had a severed alien head on the point of his spear. Erek came out behind him at a distance.
"Are you ok, Erek?" Marco asked.
"Fine. They never reached the basement. But the house sure needs some work now!" Erek then noticed Jake. "Is he all right?"
Malarnex gently picked up Jake. He will be. We should go back to our base.
"Back to the barn then," Ryan sighed. He wasn't in the good mood he usually was after a battle.
NOT your base. Ours, Malarnex said. We have equipment there that you will need. Use your aerial morphs and follow us.
With that, the Predators cloaked. Since Malarnex was carrying Jake the cloaking shield covered him also.
I can see them, Tobias said from overhead. Morph and get up here!
Over the mountains
The Animorphs were having trouble keeping up with the Predators. Although they were carrying Jake they were still amazingly fast and the Animorphs had to fly at full speed just to keep pace. They knew where they were headed when they saw a large crater in the ground up ahead.
Where have I seen that before? Marco said mockingly.
Don't remind us, Marco, Rachel said.
They landed at the edge of the crater, demorphed and went inside. As expected, they found a pod at the bottom. It was identical to the first one and Vorka was outside the door waiting for them.
About time! he snapped. This way.
"He's as friendly as ever, isn't he?" Tobias sighed.
They walked along the glowing corridors of the pod until they reached the main room. Jake was lying on a table in the centre. It looked like he was wearing a tight fitting suit of black armour, similar to the Predators' suits. Malarnex was there to greet them.
He's fully healed. Once he wakes up, we can start again. Hopefully we'll be more cautious this time!
Rachel didn't like his tone. "Why didn't you tell us they had acid for blood?"
I tried! Malarnex roared. But you weren't listening. If you'd allowed me time to finish this might not have occurred!
Rachel said nothing more. The rebuke was due and she knew it.
Is the new armour ready? Malarnex asked Vorka.
Almost. I'll need more time to modify a suit for the Andalite. The rest are ready however.
Good.
What are you talking about? Tobias asked.
We've developed armour that the prey's blood can not penetrate. Your leader already has his. Malarnex turned to Vorka and the rest of the Animorphs. Vorka, get them their suits. I don't want a repeat of this battle!
Vorka led the Animorphs into another section of the pod. Tobias stayed with Jake. The armour wasn't much use for a hawk or his other small morphs.
You should try and find the prey again, Malarnex suggested. I'll stay here.
Tobias sighed. All right. I'll be back soon.
With that, Tobias flew out of the ship.
Malarnex looked at Jake. They had been lucky once; they wouldn't be again. He knew that the prey should have had time to begin building their hive by now. They would have to act soon or this planet was doomed.
In the woods near town
Malarnex didn't know how right he was. The remaining warrior aliens and the new, fully matured Queen had discovered the woods entrance to the Yeerk pool. Two human controllers, or rather what was left of them, lay just outside the entrance. The aliens had killed them as they had come out, leaving the entrance open for them. The first alien that entered fell foul of the Gleet bio-filter. The Andalite inventors of the device had claimed it was a solid defence against any enemy nine times out of ten. This time was the tenth. The particle beam blew the first alien apart but in doing so it caused acid blood to spray everywhere. It ate through the walls and floor and the circuits of the bio-filter causing shorts, sparks and eventually total systems failure. Spurred on by the Queen, the remaining warriors charged past the body and the wrecked bio-filter without hesitation. The Queen somehow managed to manoeuvre her large form down the corridor after them. The Yeerk pool lay open and exposed before them.
Visser 3's Blade ship
Visser 3 was trying to come up with a new plan of destroying the Andalite bandits when he was disturbed by a call from the bridge.
"Visser, there's a transmission from the ground pool. It sounds urgent!"
Visser 3 hurried to the bridge.
Put it on!
The display screen showed a hysterical human controller at the pool.
"Visser! We are under attack! They're slaughtering us!"
Screams could be heard in the background.
Calm down! Who is attacking you?
"We don't know what they are, Visser! They're killing us! AAAARRRRGGHHH!!!"
Visser 3 could do nothing but look on in shock as the controller was torn apart by four aliens. He had time for a good look at the abominations before the screen went dead.
Get me Iniss 226 and the commander of the Pool ship immediately! We have a severe problem…
The Yeerk Pool
Although there were only fifteen aliens, including the Queen, it had been an easy victory. They had taken the pool with the loss of only three warriors. Caught by surprise, most of the controllers had been killed before they could do anything. Others were paralysed and knocked out by the stingers on the aliens' tails, making them easier to infest later. The pool was also ruined. A wild dracon beam shot had sent one alien crashing into the pool, contaminating it with acid blood and killing all the Yeerks that were in it. It was all over after ten minutes. The guards were dead and the rest were either still left in cages by the Yeerks or paralysed by alien stingers.
The aliens now had the perfect place for their hive and a ready supply of bodies for infestation…
Over the town
Tobias was having no luck locating the aliens. He had searched over the woods, mountains and the town and had come up with nothing. He decided to pay Erek a visit before he went back, hoping he had something to go on. He got more than he bargained for.
Erek was helping with the repairs to the house when Tobias flew in.
Erek?
"Tobias?" Erek turned to see him fly in. "Good timing. I've just got some news. The Yeerks are going crazy with panic! Those things attacked the Yeerk pool and overran it!"
They did WHAT! I don't believe it, Tobias replied in disbelief.
"Believe it!" Erek said. "Visser 3's coming here to try and retake the pool. You'd better tell the others quickly!"
Tobias didn't need telling twice. He flew at top speed toward the Predators' ship.
The Predator ship
"Man, I thought we wore enough spandex already!" Marco complained. He didn't like the new tight fitting black armour he was wearing.
Ax looked even more uncomfortable. Vorka had had to stretch several layers over his larger form. I can't fight effectively in this!
"What is this stuff anyway?" Ryan asked.
The flesh of the prey! Vorka sneered.
"Oh MAN! Do we have to wear this?" Cassie wailed, looking slightly ill.
It's either that or be burned to death by the prey's blood, Vorka said.
They went back to the control room muttering under their breath. Jake was awake now and wasn't looking too happy.
"You ok, Jake?" Marco asked.
"I nearly get us all killed and you're asking if I'm ok!? No, I'm not!" Jake snapped. He then shook his head. "Sorry."
"Forget it, Jake. We're all to blame. We all charged in there without thinking," Cassie sighed.
Just then Tobias flew in.
Hey guys I know where the…What the hell are you wearing?
Then Jake noticed his black armour. "Yeah, what is this stuff?"
"Don't ask!" Marco snapped.
"You were saying, Tobias?" Rachel said, impatiently.
Tobias quickly told them Erek's news.
"This is not good," Jake said.
No, not good at all, Malarnex agreed.
"What's so bad about it?" Ryan asked. "They've totalled the Yeerk pool and killed some controllers. So what?"
It means the prey now has a site for a good hive cluster and a large number of host bodies for breeding! Malarnex said with exasperation.
"And besides the Yeerks and us, no one knows they're there," Jake groaned.
Ryan suddenly looked less happy.
We must attack now! Vorka said. Strike before the prey can breed again.
How? Ax asked. Even with this protection most of our morphs are useless against this species.
"He's right. We can't bite or claw them like we usually do," Cassie said. Do you have any other morphs? Ones that are more intelligent and bipedal? Malarnex asked.
Rachel's eyes lit up. "Yes! I've got it!"
She then morphed one of their usual enemies: a Hork-Bajir.
"That's good but we don't have those morphs though," Ryan said.
"We can stop at the Ellimist's valley and acquire some there," Marco suggested.
Excellent! Malarnex said.
"What's the plan?" Cassie asked.
Simple. We must attack before the hive is fully functional. If we wait for too long their numbers will become too great. How many entrances does this pool have?
There's one in the school, two in the mall and one in the woods that we know about. There's probably more that we don't, Tobias said.
"We'll use the one in the woods then," Jake decided.
Tobias looked at the Predators. I'll take our friends there. You'd better go and get Hork-Bajir morphs and meet up with us.
"I'll go with you. I've already got mine," Rachel said.
"Ok, we'll meet up in an hour. Let's go!" Jake was back in leader mode again, to the relief of the others.
The Yeerk pool
The hive was now up and running. The Queen had built her vast egg sac over the old Yeerk pool and had laid several eggs already. The warriors had already carried some successful 'snatch' raids. With no one aware of their presence they had been able to sting fifteen more unwitting victims and drag them to the pool. They had been cocooned in resinous ooze and left near the eggs along with the caged victims of the Yeerks. The Queen began to send out more instructions to her warriors. More hosts were needed. It was only a matter of time before there were enough warriors to expand the hive to the whole town and then beyond…
TO BE CONTINUED…