Prelude
Marco
My name is Marco. And, I'm an Animorph.
I've been through a lot during my life as a superhero. Thought about a lot of things too. Things I never want to have to think about again.
But there are some things, things that don't make my head hurt too much, that I can just think about while lying on my bed and listening to Bob Marley.
One that's popped up a lot lately is, do we really think the Yeerks are only invading here in this town? (Never mind where that is…) Is good old America the only Yeerk target? No, 'course not.
So, while we're here fighting the Yeerks, who's fighting them everywhere else on Earth? Anybody?
Chances are we're the only ones. Makes you feel like a real one-of-a-kind freak.
And we probably are.
Maybe.
But, you know…sometimes I wonder.
Chapter 1
Fi
My name is Filiara-Etragurj-Shremtul. Please, call me Fi. I am an Andalite female. I am not in the Military, or any thing related to it. My arrival on Earth is a puzzle, then, isn't it? Yes, quite a mystery. How did a young Andalite Female end up crashing her lone ship into the crust of this out of the way planet?
It was completely and accident, and certainly not my fault.
But, I don't really want to talk about that…maybe we'll return to that subject later.
Anyway, I crashed onto this bizarre planet. I was sure it was all over, that I would stay there until I died a horrible, honorless death in that endless field of trees with pink leaves.
But then, my saviors came. Five brave young humans pulled me from the twisted wreckage of my fighter, and kept me safe until I regained consciousness so I could morph to heal the injuries.
They were curious, and without a doubt scared. But they stayed there, by my side, until I was able to tell them my situation. I told them of the Yeerks. I told them everything.
And then, I did something unforgivable. I took the Morphing Cube from the burning debris, and gave them to the power to morph.
They would be my comrades, these humans. Together, we would stop the Yeerks. Or, in the very least, I had thought bitterly, Make them very, very, annoyed.
Amara, Kai, Lani, Shinji, and Nichirasu. Three females and two males. Four females, counting me. I was pleased with the odds. We became a team. We called ourselves the Battle Senshi. Kai wanted to be the Bishoujo Senshi, but Nichirasu and Shinji did not approve.
We fought well together, and although there were a few disagreements every now and then, we always pulled through, and were friends in the end.
After I declined their wishes for me to lead them, the humans all agreed (all except for Lani) that Amara should be the leader of our group. She was surprised, and bit flattered, I believe. She is a good leader, calm and intelligent.
We infiltrated. We tampered. We destroyed. We blew them out of the Yeerk pool. For months it's been going on like that. We live in secret, hunt the Yeerks by night. It's the only way, really.
I acquired a human morph, by using a procedure that involves mixing the DNAs of creatures of the same species to come up with an original body. I chose to be female, of course.
My human friends and I have been very successful in our exploits. I couldn't be sure if it was because the Yeerks were weak or we were strong, but either way, it was clear we were winning.
Each day, more people were freed. Each day, less Hork-Bajr and Taxxons in the Yeerk pool. Fewer people leaving and entering it.
Under these circumstances, leisure is something we do more and more often.
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
We were at a place humans call a Water Park. I do not understand it's purpose, since there is an ocean quite close to us, but I must admit, Water Parks are great fun.
"WOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOO!" Amara called, going down one of the long tubes that appeared to be cut in half on a large car tire.
I was in the 'inter-tube' right behind her, letting out cries of joy as well. "YEAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"Oh, man!" Amara called over her shoulder. "This is so coo-"
SPLASH! She landed in the large pool of water at the base of the slide.
SPLASH! Down I went
SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH!
We all struggled to catch our breath, giggling.
"That," Said Nichirasu, ringing the water out of his hair. "Was so, cool."
"Exactly!" Amara agreed gleefully, climbing out of the pool.
"Where to next?" Kai wondered, squinting as she looked around the area. Normally, Kai wears spectacles that allow her to see clearly. I do not know why she can't see clearly naturally, she just cannot.
"Silver bullet," Lani said immediately, almost like an order. "That one's sooo cool."
"Whatever, I'm game." Said Shinji, returning his inter-tube to the pole with all the other inter-tubes.
"After we ride the silver bullet, I would really enjoy to go down the Black Hole. I can understand why they call it that. It is painted black, and the tube is not cut in half, like the other slides. But the Silver Bullet is white, not silver." I said, confused.
"They call it that just cause you go as fast as a silver bullet when you go down it," Shinji explained.
"Do silver bullets go faster, or slower than normal bullets?" I inquired.
"Forget it." Lani said. "Let's just go."
We hiked up to the top of the Silver Bullet in our are bare feet. A huge disadvantage of feet over hooves is that they are much more sensitive to heat.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Kai said, trying to keep her feet off the ground as much as possible.
"Itai! Itai, itai, itai!!" Nichirasu agreed.
When we made it all the way to the top, the breeze was a bit stronger, and now, in contrast to our feet, we were cold.
But that was not really what caused me to shudder like I did right then. It was not because of the evaporating water on my skin causing me to cool off. It was because of the Yeerk Bug fighter that I had just seen landing on top of the Mall.
Chapter 2
Shinji
Nani?!" Kai cried.
"Are you sure?" Lani said skeptically. Or maybe she just wanted to stay and ride the Silver Bullet.
Fi nodded her head in a very exaggerated way. "I am very sure, Lani-chan. A Yeerk fighter. On top of the mall. It was only there for a moment, and then it disappeared behind a kind of clear shimmering curtain. Force field, probably." She paused. "If we go to investigate, may we stop at the Panda Express?"
Amara patted her on the back. "We'll see."
"How do we go? Human or…or what?" Kai wondered.
We were all hiding out underneath a bridge that goes over this river thing at the far end of the park. No one was around.
"By the time we walk over there, we'll have lost them," I pointed out.
"Right. So, let's do birds." Lani said, tapping her foot impatiently.
Nichirasu rolled his eyes at me. Lani has a way of bossing people around sometimes. All the time.
"Flying would be a good way to get from this point to the Mall. Mall-uh."
"Oh, no. She's doing it again!" I exclaimed in mock horror.
"Doing what? Wuh-tah?"
"People. Let's go." Lani had already started her morph, probably to crow. Lani lived next door to a Shinto Shrine. The girl who lived there kept crows.
A few minutes later, a few crows and pigeons flew from under the bridge, and no one noticed.
We landed in a Dumpster behind the mall and demorphed. Since we had been wearing our bathing suits, we didn't have to take time to change into our morphing outfits. (You can only morph in skintight clothes, as Lani had tearfully discovered after she'd torn up one of her designer shirts.) This was a good thing and a bad thing. The good thing, we hadn't lost much time. The bad thing, we were in our bathing suits, bare foot, and covered in garbage. Also, to make matters worse, we were all squished up against a very large purple Andalite.
"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…!" Nichirasu groaned.
"Owowowowow! Watch the blade, Fi-chan! Please!!" Amara cried.
Fi quickly began her human morph. Her human morph was made from the DNA of all of us. It's kinda weird how you can see parts of me in her face. But only sometimes, because most of the time, she just looks like a lunatic with really short hair and bizzare mismatched clothes (usually on backwards.)
Okay, now there were six human kids in a dumpster.
Much better.
I took a banana peel off my head.
"This is universally gross." Lani whined, crawling out.
"Agreed. Why do we always have to land in dumpsters?" I said, giving Fi a hand.
"Because no one ever looks for birds turning into humans and aliens in dumpsters." Amara said. "Alrighty. Uh…I don't know what we can do about clothes. We can't really do anything about that right now. I guess it just looks like we just came over from The Beach. Which we did. So…"
She looked at Fi, who was kneeling and staring intently at a column of ants climbing up the side of the dumpster.
"Amazing. Zzzzing. Look at how they carry nearly ten times their body weight!" She was muttering.
Fi is easily distracted sometimes.
"Yeah. Okay." She rubbed her temples. "Let's just go inside and look for anything unusual."
We searched the mall. We found jack squat. There was nothing bizzare or weird of out of the ordinary. Except for the six kids walking around with no shoes, one of which kept having to get dragged away from things by the other ones, shouting things like, "Look! Look! FORTUNE COOKIES!!! Cuu-kees!"
We took a break and sat down in the food court. We didn't have any money with us, so Kai went to her locker at the Sports and Wellness place and got her emergency money from her bag.
"Pizza for me and Shinji, Hotdog on a Stick for Nichirasu, a SoBe for Lani, burger for Amara, and a Teriyaki Chicken Bowl for Fi." Kai presented everyone with his or her food.
"Domo Arigotou, Kai-chan." We chorused.
Amara looked around to make sure nobody was close enough to hear. You can never be to careful when it comes to Controllers. And with Bug fighters landing on the roof, you know there's gotta be one or two lurking around.
"Okay," Amara said, swallowing a mouthful or burger. "So we didn't find anything. Are really sure you saw it, Fi-chan?"
"I am very sure, Amara-san." She had bits of rice stuck to her chin./p
"So, why would a Bug fighter be landing on the roof of the mall?" I wondered.
"Gotta be another Yeerk pool entrance. What other reason could there be?" Nichirasu said, chewing on the stick thoughtfully.
Lani chugged her SoBe. "Of course! Such a popular place, no one would think it weird that so many are coming and going from it."
"So there's a Yeerk pool? Under the mall?" Kai shook her head. "What's the world coming to? Even the mall's not safe anymore."
"Was it ever safe?" Nichirasu muttered darkly.
"We've gotta find out where it is. Think about the other entrances we know about, what are they?"
"Girls locker room at the High school."
"Boys locker room at the Junior high."
"Bathroom at the Burger King."
"And the dressing room at the Wal-Mart." Amara concluded, tucking a loose strand of her blue hair behind her ear.
"So, they're all places where there are no cameras or anything and not a lot of people around to see it." I sighed. "There are thousands of places like that at this stupid place!"
"It's not stupid!" Lani cried.
Amara was shaking her head. "Dressing rooms, bathrooms, locker rooms…how are we gunna do this?"
There was a thoughtful silence.
"Yum. YUH-um. Teriyaki. Yah-ky."
We sighed. What an intelligent way to break the silence.
Oh, well. It was Saturday. We were at the mall. We couldn't find a single alien in the area. Cept for Fi, of course. And why waste a perfect Saturday?
"Whelp, I'm going to the arcade." I got up and trashed my trash.
"Me too."
"Me three."
"Video games! Game-zuh!"
Chapter 3
Rachel
"I can't believe this! This is so cool!" I said, grinning.
You guys, I don't think we should get too excited,-Tobias said cautiously.
"Yeah," Jake said. "It might not be what we think it is."
Maybe I should explain. Eric, the Chee, had just gotten wind that there is another group of 'Andalite Bandits' harassing the Yeerks over in Japan. The Yeerk invasion over there is being totally trashed. These other 'bandits' are kicking Yeerk BUTT!
We were all in the barn, and Ax was in human morph, since Cassie's parents were home.
"Well, why wouldn't it be? I mean, we do have it on kind of a reliable source." I said, nodding at Eric. "So, what do we do about it?
"We have to figure out how to contact this other band of 'Andalite Bandits'." Ax concluded.
"But are they really Andalite bandits?" Cassie said, raising an eyebrow. "Or are they…like us?"
Ax stiffened.
"Well," He hesitated. "It is possible that another Andalite…like my brother…has broken the law of Seerow's Kindness. But it's doubtful. They are most likely a group of Andalites who have lost their transport and are harassing the Yeerks until they can be rescued."
"But don't you get it?" I said excitedly. "It doesn't matter what they are! They could be Taxxons, for all I care! All that matters is they're on our side. We get more allies, it strengthens us, weakens the Yeerks."
"However," Eric began. "This group of 'Andalite Bandits' is currently reeking havoc in Japan. All the way across the pacific ocean! How are we supposed to contact them, anyway?"
Personally, I didn't care. We'd find a way. We had to.
But Marco shook his head. "There's no way. We'll just have to wait it out, until they come and find us."
I tapped my foot impatiently. "So, what? What? We just lie down and do nothing?"
Jake nodded slowly. "Maybe…maybe not."
"Well, what do we do, fearless leader?" Marco asked.
"I'll think of something."
"Great."
Cassie was bouncing excitedly while trying to force a pill down a raccoon's throat. "Well, I don't care. Wow. Maybe our team will get bigger? This is so cool!"
Jake grinned. "Well, it is kind of nice to think we're not alone. So, Eric? How long have these other guys been doing this?"
"Not too long. A few months, maybe." He looked thoughtful. "I wonder where they got the morphing power…?"
"It is kind of suspicious…" Marco said, loosing his momentum.
"A trap?" I ventured.
"Maybe…" Eric shrugged. "But I doubt it. Visser Three is so cheesed. The invasion isn't going well over there. The New Andalite Bandits are doing some serious damage."
"Cheesed?" Marco said, raising an eyebrow.
"Perhaps they are trained Andalite Warriors?" Ax suggested.
"Well it's not doing any good just sitting around talking about it. Let's find some way to get a hold of these new guys!" I said, throwing my hands into the air.
"Oh, I almost forgot."
"Yeah, Eric?"
"Well, since it's going so badly over in Japan- I hear they blew up an entire Yeerk Pool- the Visser is leaving today to go over there personally to take care of it. Probably just kill everyone who's failed him, actually. Either way, he'll be gone a week." "An opening!" I cried.
Everyone looked at me like I was nuts.
"Don't you see? With the Visser gone, we can push our limits. Trash the Yeerks. With no leader, they'll be confused, unorganized. We have to attack!"
"Oh, and it just worked so well last time." Marco said, rolling his eyes.
"Yes," Ax agreed. "The "hammer concept" was not totally successful."
"Hey, I said I was sorry!" I said defensively. "Besides, I've learned my lesson. No leading for me. Jake is still the main man."
"Anyway," Jake said. "I think we should break for now. It's getting late and I'm going to miss dinner. My grandparents are coming."
"Oh, you know you just want to watch Friends." Marco teased.
"Actually, Marco. Friends will not be on for two more of your hours." Ax said matter-o-factly.
"Ax-man! They are all of our hours. Not just mine. On Earth, we all use the saaaame hours."
Jake ignored them. "Okay. So, let's meet here tomorrow morning. After Church, I guess. And…hopefully I will have come up with something."
"Fine," I agreed. Then I grinned. "It's still cool."
Chapter 4
Kai
It was twilight. I was standing in front of a gorgeous palace; the two moons were brilliantly full and spilling their light down upon me, making my long white gown simply glow. I ran my fingers through my dark purple hair and-
My what?
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!"
I shot up in bed.
I looked around. My stuffed Hello Kitty, my SailorMoon alarm clock, my X-files poster. Everything where it should be.
I kicked off the covers.
"No more pizza with pineapples before you go to bed, Kai-chan." I muttered to myself.
I fed my gold fish, Dana and Fox, stuffed a pop-tart in my mouth and was out the door.
"Bugh-baaui Mougm!" I called over my shoulder and choked on frosting, slamming the door behind me with my foot.
I hopped down the steps, still trying to get the back of my foot into my shoe, while juggling my other pop-tart and Lani's long ago borrowed Sailor V comic book.
"Kuso! Lani-san's gonna kill me if I'm late again!!"
I zoomed up the street and made a sharp turn around the corner. And plowed right into someone.
"Aiya!!" I fell back on my butt. "Na, na!! Gomen, gomen!" I hopped up. "I'm really sorry, but I'm kind of in a hurry so-"
Then I looked up and saw who I had bumped into.
It was man, not to tall, but still very intimidating. He wasn't ugly, but I could tell by looking at him he had a very ugly personality. His eyes were scary.
He said nothing.
"Ne….well, I've really got to jet it…so…I'm sorry again!" I hesitated, and then ran past him. "Ja!" I called over my shoulder.
He didn't even turn around. He just kept walking.
Creepy.
I looked at my watch. "Yah!! I'm late! I'm late!"
Chapter 5
Nichirasu
I yawned. It was too early for this.
We were all meeting at Lani's house, since her parents were out and we could talk openly without worrying.
Also because Lani's house is cool.
It's the biggest house I've ever seen. There's hot tub and a swimming pool, a huge entertainment system with DVD player; huge comfy multi coloured beanbag couches and chairs, and, best of all, a fully stocked refrigerator.
I munched on some potato chips, lounging on a big beanbag. I was chillin. Relaxing. Shinji was playing video games with Amara (Tekken, I think) and kept yelling things at the screen and slamming his game controller into the ground as Amara was Amara laughing hysterically. He was losing, bad. Fi was staring at the huge Aquarium, Lani was pacing, and Kai was absent.
"Is she always late?!" Lani asked rhetorically.
"Yep," I said with a mouthful of chips.
"You should know that by now, Lani-chan." Amara said with a laugh. "KIAH!! I win again!"
"NOOOOOOOOO!!" Shinji cried.
"But…why doesn't she get a watch or something?? Does she even have an Alarm clock?!"
"Yeah, she does." Amara said. "It plays the SailorMoon theme song."
"And speaking of that," Lani said, moving on to her next thing to complain about. "She borrowed that SailorV comic from me over a year ago, why hasn't she given it back?"
"Why don't you just buy a new one?" I asked, watching Shinji get clobbered.
"Because, Nichirasu-chan, that volume is no longer in print. It's a collector's item!"
"Then how come you lent it to her? YES! VICTORY!!"
"You're CHEATING!! YOU HAVE TO BE!!"
"That's what so inky about it. It wasn't a collectors item when I lent it to her."
"Do you have names for your aquatic animals, Lani-san?" Fi spoke up.
"Huh?"
"Well, Kai-san has aquatic animals also. Although not in such a large tank. But they have names. What are the names you have given your aquatic animals?"
"They're fish, Fi-chan." Lani bent down, snapping out of her whining state. "Well, that's Tenchi and that's Ryoko."
I snickered.
She ignored me.
"That's Sakura, since she's kind of pinkish, that's Hime, since her nose is always in the air, and that's Koi, since he looks kind of like a little Koi fish."
Fi nodded. "I understand all of these references, Lani-san. But why has Kai named her fish Fox and Dana?"
Amara laughed hysterically and I groaned.
"NAAAAAA!!!! Konnichiwa, minna-san!! Sorry I'm late!!" Kai burst in the door, kicked off her shoes, slid across the floor and nearly slammed into a wall.
"What kept you?" Lani said, narrowing her eyes.
"Well, first I had that most bizzare dream, then I woke up late and I tried to get here as fast as I could-I really did, Lani! Don't look at like that!-but I accidentally ran right into this man that was walking down the street and he was really scary and I guess that slowed me down a little bit, cause I swear I left my house right when you told me to-"
"Kai?" I said.
"Yes?"
"Breathe."
"Okay." She collapsed into a beanbag and stole my chips.
"Hey!"
"There's more in the kitchen." Lani said.
"Okay," Amara said, putting down the game controller. "Can we get started here please?"
"Wait! Best 15 out of 16!!"
"Forget it, Shinji."
Chapter 6
Lani
"Okay. This meeting is now in session." Amara said officially, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Honorable Judge Amara presiding." Nichirasu said.
Amara glared.
"Sorry. I couldn't resist."
"Anyway," Amara continued. "Let's go through this again. Fi thinks she saw a Bug Fighter land on top of the mall-"
"I did, Amara-san!"
Amara nodded understandingly. "I believe you, Fi. So, Fi saw a bug fighter on the mall. But when we went to check it out we didn't find anything."
"And," I broke in. "It probably landed there because it was a new Yeerk pool entrance."
Amara glanced at me with an unreadable expression. "But we couldn't possibly find it, not with all the places it could be. So, what's the next step?"
"I say we drop it. If it's important, it will reveal itself eventually. Everything always does." Shinji said wisely.
Amara chewed her lip. "This sucks. We can't do a thing about it. But we'll just have to chill for a while here, guys. The Yeerks are still majorly pissed at us for blowing up their pool-"
"-Spiteful, bitter creatures, those Yeerks." Nichirasu said.
"And they are probably not to happy with us right now. We try anything and that'll be the end of us." She paused dramatically. "Yeah. Okay. Meeting adjourned."
Nichirasu munched on his new bag of chips.
Great. Now we had no lead, and no idea what we were supposed to do. Normally, we do get leads. There is one leak in the Yeerk hierarchy.
At first, we were unsure as to whether to trust this Yeerk. In fact, we still don't trust her totally. Her human name is Miaka. Her yeerk name is Astral.
She and her host are partners, really. They work together, as a team. Her Yeerk is a member of the Yeerk Peace Core. We have given her very little information about us ourselves. All she knows is that some of us are Andalites, and some of us are human.
And that we are out to rid our planet of her species.
She's a traitor, really. A sell out to her own race.
But if I were a Yeerk, I probably wouldn't feel to bad about it.
She crops up every now and then. Not too often. And when she does it's not for long. She contacts Fi, usually by way of computer. (Fi has managed to hook up quite a little space for herself in the woods, complete with internet and cable TV.)
But Astral wasn't showing up now. She usually only drops a hint or too, and then vanishes. And only when something is REALLY important.
She told us where a Yeerk pool was once.
I remember the first time I went down into that place. It was a total nightmare. We managed to flush all the free humans from the pool, (There weren't too many Hork-Bajr on guard) and then…we blew it up.
We'd tunneled down to the roof of the dome, and rigged up a lot of some of Fi's advanced explosives, mixed in with some plain old human dynamite. Once we were sure that the place was clear of everyone (We even made sure that the Human controllers were locked away safely) we hit the button.
We were above ground, of course. The ground simply collapsed.
The Yeerk controllers were screaming and screaming…
Once it was all over with, we let the controllers go, with a simple message: Leave. Go home, and just leave us alone.
The days afterward were scary. People randomly freaking out on TV, and then suddenly recovering. Cars screeching out of control on the road, drivers gone mad. The Yeerks were starving of their Kandrona Rays.
The humans we freed, (There weren't that many) we made sure they kept quiet. If they took this to the government…if the war was put outright…the humans would loose. For sure.
The Yeerks were still recovering, of course. This new Yeerk pool was probably the new permanent pool, not the temporary one they'd been using for the past couple of weeks.
So, we'd decided that we had to wait it out and lay low. Amara resumed beating Shinji at Tekken, Fi was reading the SailorV comic Kai had finally returned, and Kai and Nichirasu kept fighting over the potato chips.
I took out some nail polish and gave myself a manicure.
Wait it out? Fine with me. As long as we didn't have to blow up anything for awhile.
Chapter 7
Marco
We all met up in Cassie's barn that Sunday. Somehow Rachel convinced Jake to go with her plan about the trashing-the-Yeerks-while-the-Visser-is-gone thing.
I refused to do it unless we infiltrated first this time.
Rachel ducked her head and agreed.
We all morphed birds and landed on the roof of our first target: A Yeerk controlled book store.
We'd gotten this one the last time, too. But we'd hit all of our targets, so we really didn't have any other choice but the destroy them all over again.
I didn't have a problem with it.
We did flies, and checked around. No little kids, not too many civilians, and no old people.
Okay! Ready to smoosh… (is that a word?) ready to crush the bookstore.
And we did.
Then we smooshed the TV station and the computer goods store.
And then, we headed for the final destination: the Style-R-Iffic.
What a Lame-O-Riffic name for a hair salon, I commented as Rachel busted down the door.
"HHHROOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!! OH MY GOD!"
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
"Do something!!!"
"Quick-hit it with the hair dryer!!"
'Hit it with the hair dryer'?! Tobias said, laughing.
Frantic women ran out of the door, screaming bloody murder.
I knuckle walked over to one of the mirror/table things and knocked it over. Then I opened all the bottles of shampoo and emptied them all over the place.
Hey! That's my favorite brand! Rachel complained, toppling shelves of mousse.
Sorry.
I ripped off a couple of framed pictures of perfectly styled people from the walls and smashed them into the windows.
Cassie was knocking over other shelves of shampoo on the other side of the room. Take THAT you animal testing jerks!
While all this was happening, the radio was still on. It was playing the Dixie Chicks or something. I calmly smashed the radio into the ground.
I'm not a big fan of country.
Ax calmly walked over to a cowering woman in the corner and took the hair dryer from her. Her hair was still bubbly with Shampoo.
Do not be afraid, He assured her. She passed out.
I think we're done here. Jake said, calmly pushing over the appointment desk with one paw.
I turned, and saw something you don't normally see in a hair salon.
Hork-Bajr! Cassie cried.
Bail! Now! Jake called.
We all bolted for the exit, but a group of Hork-Bajr cut us off.
Go back! The back door!
Wait! I can take 'em!
Rachel, COME ON!
So, we bolted for the back door. I turned around a sharp corner and went down a long corridor.
What are Hork-Bajr doing here anyway?! I screamed.
I don't know! Cassie cried frantically.
I glanced over my shoulder. They were gaining fast.
Suddenly, everything changed. On second we were in a nice, normal hallway, and the next, we were surrounded with piles of wood and dusty floors and random sheets of bubble wrap.
They must be adding a new wing, Jake said breathlessly. Just keep going! Their coming!
I ran.
ARRRRRRGHH! He's got me!
Rachel!! Cassie cried.
It's okay it's okay! I'm on it! She called back, sounding pained.
Keep going! Jake roared. She'll be fine!
Then, I noticed something. Jake! There's a door up ahead!
What? It's probably a trap!
It's the only way! Go through the door or fight!
The Hork-Bajr had gained back the distance they'd lost while fighting Rachel.
Okay! Everybody go through the door on the left!
I hit the door, full on with my shoulder. It flew open, sending me flying down a flight of stairs.
Go, go, go! I heard Jake say.
Jake slammed the door with one of his powerful paws.
Oh, my god. Cassie breathed.
I guess she'd noticed where we were. I'd noticed it too.
The Yeerk Pool.
Chapter 8
Ax
Uh-oh. Everybody, hurry! Find a place to demorph, don't let anybody see you, and remorph flies. NOW! Prince Jake said in panic.
I did not have to find a place to demorph. While the others scattered blindly behind crates and boxes, I leapt away from the door as it burst open, a crowd of Hork-Bajr flooded onto the stair. They did not see me. I had the element of surprise.
FWAPP FWAPP FWAPP FWAPPFWAPP!
The Hork-Bajr were no longer a problem.
Prince Jake? The Hork-Bajr will not be bothering us again.
Good job, Ax. Now, go find Rachel. We'll come follow you as soon as we can. Hurry!
I stepped over the fallen bodies into the hallway. As soon as I was through the door, it slammed shut. I snapped around and stared at it a moment.
I grabbed the door knob and twisted it with my weak hands. Locked!
It was a steel door. No hope of my tail blade slicing through it.
Prince Jake! The door to the pool has sealed itself!
The was no answer.
Prince Jake!
I would find him later. I had orders to follow. I ran down the hallway. The wall was streaked with blood. I found a jumble of bodies on the floor, beneath the remains of a fallen wall.
Rachel?
The wall lifted. A serverely wounded grizzly bear pushed up from the twisted debris.
Ax? She asked weakly.
Rachel, you must demorph. You are injured. Prince Jake and the others are trapped in the Yeerk Pool.
She quickly began to demorph. What happened?
Chapter 9
Jake
This was great.
Just. Great.
Okay, so there we were, mid-morph in flies, and suddenly I was hearing loud, raging, rambling, vibrations.
It was someone screaming.
With anger.
"You incompetent FOOLS! You're almost worse than those bumbling idiots I have just removed from their posts in destroying the new group of Andalite Bandits! I will destroy you for this!"
"B-but Visser-"
"You DARE interrupt me, fool?!"
Silence.
I tried to buzz as close as I could. The beginnings of a tail spouted from the Visser's human morph.
I will show you what happens to those who interrupt me!
FWAPP!
The human controller cried out in pain.
The other one shrunk back, clutching her clipboard.
I leave you for one day and already the Andalite Bandits have discovered our new pool entrance! FOOLS! The Visser seethed. He pointed at the woman with the clipboard with a thin Andalite finger. You. I want you to take a fighter and a dozen Hork-Bajr to the human country called Japan. I don't care what you must do, but I want those bandits dead. If you can infiltrate them, fine. But bring me their leader. I want to make him scream.
And the Winner of the spirit award goes to… Marco whispered in private thought speak.
The woman nodded quickly.
Do not disappoint me, Sub-Visser 34.
She trembled only slightly. "I won't, Visser."
Have you ever tried for hours just to come up with an idea? Just slaved and slaved away, trying to make something work?
Well, I've done that too. But sometimes Ideas just totally jump out at you, and you just can't refuse.
I've got it!
Got what? Tobias asked.
I'll explain later, let's go find Ax and Rachel!
When we were finally sure that the area was clear, Rachel busted down the door by ramming a big old thick metal pole into it, Viking style.
We were hiding in a dumpster on the side of the building. I hate dumpsters.
Now we had to plan. And we didn't have much time.
See, what I had in mind was pretty loony. Insane. It was going to take some serious speed and a lot of luck. Rachel would love it.
It was very risky. I wasn't sure if I should even bother bringing it up. But it had to be done.
It was our only chance.
"I love it!"
Told you.
"Uh-oh. If Rachel loves it, that seriously means we're toast." Marco whined.
My plan was to…hijack the Yeerk Fighter as it was leaving. We had to find someway to get contact with these other guys, and this was our only way.
We'd get on board, unnoticed, and then when we were clear of any way for the
Yeerks to rescue the Sub-visser, we'd spring the attack. We'd tap into their files and find out all we could about these new bandits. And then we'd find them. Somehow.
It was the best I could do at the spur of the moment, okay?
"Sorry, man. But there are a few problemos with your plan." Marco held up one finger. "One: Parents. How long will this take, anyway?"
Bug Fighters, being stolen Andalite technology, though they were altered, their capabilities remain pretty much the same. To get across this ocean called the Pacific, it would take perhaps .5 Earth hours.
"Okay, so there you go. But how long will it take to contact these guys, anyway? And how do you think we're going to do that, exactly?"
"Who cares, Marco? We'll worry about the details later!" Rachel was, of course, pumped and ready to go. Tobias shifted on her shoulder.
What if something goes wrong? Like we can't find them. Then we'd end up stuck in Japan and no way home.
"We could always put ourselves in crates and fly cargo," Marco suggested helpfully.
"Can we really do this?" Cassie spoke up. "I mean, just jump them like that? I don't know…it's just seems so…I don't know…"
"We don't have to hurt them, Cassie. If all goes right then we'll have 12 more free Hork-Bajr in Jara's colony." I pointed out.
"Still…"
"But look. We don't have much time. It's now or never. Do we try this or not?"
There was a pause.
"Ax, do you think this will work?" I asked him.
I will follow where ever you lead, Prince Jake. Also, I would love to try any new and exotic foods the Japanese have for sampling. Sushi looks delightful.
"I'm game!" Rachel said happily.
Marco shrugged. "Might as well."
Okay.
Cassie paused. "Okay. But I have a paper due tomorrow, and if I don't get home to do it on time, I'm going to be mad."
I grinned.
"Deal."
Chapter 10
Amara
Late that night, I walked silently on the sidewalk in front of the hospital. The cool evening air made me rub my hands together before opening the glass door to the entrance.
"Hello, how may I help you?" The young woman at the desk asked.
I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Yes, I'm here to see Akari (no last name), please."
Tap, tap, tap when the keys on her computer. Her face saddened when she looked at the screen. "Intensive care unit?"
"Yes, ma'am." I said quietly.
She gave me a small smile. "Room 104, level two."
"Thank you."
I walked up the hall and punched the Up button on the elevator. Once it opened, and I stepped inside with my hands folded.
The elevator lurched and so did my stomach. It seemed to creep up to the second floor, and after an eternity, the doors opened.
"Room 104…room 104…" I mumbled.
Then I saw it. I looked inside the little window, and there she was, looking so small and frail in her little bed.
I gently pushed open the door into the dimly lit room. "Akari-chan?" I whispered.
No answer. She was sleeping.
Stepping over to her side, I began to realize just how bad my little cousin's condition was.
She was slowly dying of cancer. Well, recently, not so slowly. The doctor predicted about one more month and then it would be over.
I knelt beside her, taking her hand in mine, and bowed my head. "Kami-sama," I said softly. "Don't let it end like this…"
I left her there, laying her bed, with the rhythmic hum of her heart monitor.
Once I was home, I realized I was alone. My mom and my little bro were out somewhere. 'Went to the store,' the sloppy note on the fridge said.
I plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV, staring at the ceiling.
"Stop thinking about it, Amara." I scolded myself. "Akari will be fine, she's be just fine. Don't let it mess you up like this…"
I turned my head to look at the TV. It was the news. The picture in the background looked like some twisted wreckage of a helicopter or something.
"…The explosion happened at a building near Tokyo Tower, earlier this evening. The mysterious crash has resulted in 7 injured bystanders, and about 1 million yen worth of damage. The craft remains unidentified, and the pilot and passengers are yet to be found. But chances are, there are no survivors."
I stared at the 'craft', partly covered in debris, which appeared to just have smashed into the side of the building. Pilots get worse all the time…
"Hey, wait a second…" I said. I jumped up off the couch and ran to the TV. I grabbed it with both hands and got a good look at it.
"Oh, my god…" I breathed. "That looks like a bug fighter."
"Lani! Lani!" I yelled into the phone.
Lani's groggy voice responded, "What do you want?"
"Shut up for a second! Turn on your TV! The news!"
"This better be good, Amara." She grumped. Then she paused. "Is that what I think is??"
"Yeah, it is! Call the others! I'm going to go get Fi!"
Chapter 11
Cassie
MARCO!!!! Rachel screamed. Jake, what were you THINKING, letting this LUNATIC pilot the fighter!
Hey! Marco said defensively. We're all okay! I didn't get anybody killed!
I would have rolled my eyes, if I could have. We were hiding in an old broom closet in the building that Marco had slammed us into.
After we got aboard the bug fighter, we'd waited till we were far over the ocean before attacking. Ax had knocked them out, and we'd tied them up in the corner. Then, after we…landed… we dragged them out and left them in the basement. They'd wake up eventually.
It was an improvement over the alternative, which was dumping them into the pacific ocean.
Now we were a small group of flies hiding in a broom closet.
Okay, guys. Jake broke in. Demorph. Ax, morph human. We'll slip out the back door or something, and plan from there.
Not much of a plan, fearless leader. Marco teased.
It's the best I can come up with right now! He cried.
I just laughed and returned to my human form.
We tiptoed behind all the reporters and police officers inside the building, unnoticed. And all the while I was getting this really weird feeling. Like something was about to happen.
I hate it when I get that feeling, because I'm almost always right.
Chapter 12
Fi
We headed over to the building Amara had described. The others went as themselves, and I morphed to human. Amara decided it would be best if we just 'scoped it out' before taking action.
I donned my artificial skin and we were off.
Lani was eyeing me ruefully.
"Is something the matter, Lani-san? San. SAHN.."
"Fi. Remind me to take you shopping sometime soon. Those clothes you have just aren't working for you."
We boarded the human transportation system called a 'Bus'.
"What is wrong with them? Do they not look like normal artificial skins?"
Lani began to speak but Amara stopped her.
"They're fine, Fi. I think they look great."
"Very spiffy," Kai agreed.
I looked down. I was wearing a bright blue 'sleeveless' with a white 'button down' over it, but not buttoned. On my human legs I wore dark green 'cargo guys shorts' and 'rainbow knee-highs'. Around my waist was tied another 'long sleeved button-down', which was green. My human feet were protected by 'thong sandles'.
Protection with artificial skin apparently requires many layers.
By the time I was done speculating about artificial skin, we had arrived at our destination.
Upon leaving the bus, Amara dropped some human money into a box by the bus pilot. Another thing I do not understand about humans is their money.
The area was crowded with humans, trying to get a glimpse of the fighter sticking out of the building. It looked almost comical.
"Okay," Amara said quietly, and we all leaned in to listen. "We go around the camera crews over the left of the building, into the alley. Then we morph birds and fly into the opening. We demorph, and poke around a little bit. Okay?"
"Let's book it!" Shinji said gleefully.
Lani stared at him. "Shinji, stop stealing lines from Sailor V. It's disturbing."
We stealthily made our way behind the mass of people, and into the dark alleyway.
"What is it with the alleys?" Nichirasu asked suddenly. "Why are we always doing everything in alleys and dumpsters? I mean, can't we try something new?"
"Nichirasu, we really don't have time-" Amara began.
Just then, the door she was standing next to flew open and hit her in the face. She went flying backwards, and landed in…well, a dumpster.
"Amara-san!" We all cried.
Then I found myself staring face-to-face with six human youths. They did not look quite like my friends. They looked…different. Just slightly, but I could see differences. They had lighter hair, for example. And tanner skin.
Then spilled into the alley. The last one shut the door behind him. Nichirasu took Amara's arm and helped her sit up in the dumpster.
"OKAY, whoever did that is about to get a piece of my mind!" She yelled.
Chapter 12
Tobias
We stood there in the alley, unsure of what to do. We'd run into a group of Japanese kids, and they firmly blocked our path.
"Um, excuse us." Jake said loudly.
The girl in the dumpster said something loud and curt in Japanese. She took some trash off of her blue-haired head.
"I'm sorry…" Cassie said apologetically to her. Then she looked pointedly at Marco. "I think you bashed her on the head."
"We don't speak your language," Jake continued. "So, um…."
The guy with the black hair was helping blue hair out of the dumpster. She wiped her self off and planted her self firmly in front of us. She leaned in and narrowed her eyes as she looked at Jake. She asked him something.
We all glanced at each other.
The black haired one made a sarcastic remark. I don't know what he said, but I guess it was probably something along the lines of They don't speak Japanese, you idiot.
Suddenly, the blonde haired one said something. Then all six of us stared at her. Stared at her long and hard. Because something about the way she'd said us our hearts stop.
It sounded something like this:
"Nichirasu-san, RAH-su…SAHN, San-uh…Amara-san wa…WAH…iie EE-YEH bakiyo, dah. DAH.."
"Did she just….?" I let myself trail off.
"She sounded just like…" Rachel looked at me.
"What? WUH-tuh?" Ax asked stupidly.
Cassie grabbed his arm. "She sounded just like you, Ax! She plays with words, like you do!"
"Nani??" Blue hair demanded impatiently.
Then, suddenly, we were tumbling trough space and time.
Chapter 13
Kai
Spinning, spinning, everything was spinning! And then, it all stopped.
We were standing in whiteness. All of us. The Battle Senshi…and the strange Americans. It extended forever to either side of us. And I began to get that sinking feeling.
Twelve voices uttered the same word.
"Ellimist!"
Then twelve heads stared at each other in confusion.
The Ellimist appeared, then. He was laughing. In the guise of an old man, like always.
"Ah, my friends. You finally meet." He grinned.
"What are you talking about??" Lani demanded. "Who are they?"
One of the Americans, a blonde girl, said something to the Ellimist in a language I did not understand. She sounded unhappy.
"Well, perhaps things would go better if you could understand each other."
Suddenly, a wall in my mind evaporated. I felt a deeper understanding. The language barrier! It disappeared! Just at the tanner American boy was saying:
"Ellimist! What are we doing here?? And why did you bring these wack-jobs?!"
Lani lept and grabbed his shirt collar. "Did you just call me a wack-job?"
"Who? Me? No, no, of course not." He smile sheepishly and Lani let him go.
"She's always like this when she's been deprived of her beauty sleep." Nichirasu stated.
"You wanna start something with me too, Nichirasu??"
The Ellimist broke out into laughter again.
"What? What's so funny?!" The blondie American demanded.
"I was just hoping you'd get along better then this." He said with a smile that was not at all forced.
"You still haven't answered our question." The taller, brown haired boy asked. "Who. Are. They?"
The Ellimist floated down to our level. Then he gestured as if he were casually introducing two groups of his friends.
"Animorphs, meet the Battle Senshi. Battle Senshi, these are the Animorphs."
Our eyes met, and then, the truth donned upon us all.
"Their humans!" We cried.
Chapter 14
Rachel
"I don't believe this! Let down again! Here they are, not Andalites, but KIDS! Plain, HUMAN kids, just like us! When will it end?!"
I was not a happy camper.
There we were, floating in nothingness, when the Ellimist breaks the news that the 'resistance' that we were hoping to find was a let down, like many times before. They 'new Andalite Bandits' were just like the old. A group of KIDS!
"Hey, we're not exactly happy with this either!" The badly dressed chick with the blue hair defended. "We were hoping you were Andalites!"
"Hey, hey, hey. Everybody chill for a second." The brown-haired guy said calmly. "We're not all kids."
"What do you mean?" Cassie asked softly, confused.
"She's an Andalite." He said, jerking his thumb at the really oddly dressed girl behind him.
Ax's face kinda lit up there for a second. Be he regained his composure. Then he spoke up. "I…I am also an Andalite."
There was a pause.
"How cool!!" The girl with glasses cried.
To be continued…later
Marco
My name is Marco. And, I'm an Animorph.
I've been through a lot during my life as a superhero. Thought about a lot of things too. Things I never want to have to think about again.
But there are some things, things that don't make my head hurt too much, that I can just think about while lying on my bed and listening to Bob Marley.
One that's popped up a lot lately is, do we really think the Yeerks are only invading here in this town? (Never mind where that is…) Is good old America the only Yeerk target? No, 'course not.
So, while we're here fighting the Yeerks, who's fighting them everywhere else on Earth? Anybody?
Chances are we're the only ones. Makes you feel like a real one-of-a-kind freak.
And we probably are.
Maybe.
But, you know…sometimes I wonder.
Chapter 1
Fi
My name is Filiara-Etragurj-Shremtul. Please, call me Fi. I am an Andalite female. I am not in the Military, or any thing related to it. My arrival on Earth is a puzzle, then, isn't it? Yes, quite a mystery. How did a young Andalite Female end up crashing her lone ship into the crust of this out of the way planet?
It was completely and accident, and certainly not my fault.
But, I don't really want to talk about that…maybe we'll return to that subject later.
Anyway, I crashed onto this bizarre planet. I was sure it was all over, that I would stay there until I died a horrible, honorless death in that endless field of trees with pink leaves.
But then, my saviors came. Five brave young humans pulled me from the twisted wreckage of my fighter, and kept me safe until I regained consciousness so I could morph to heal the injuries.
They were curious, and without a doubt scared. But they stayed there, by my side, until I was able to tell them my situation. I told them of the Yeerks. I told them everything.
And then, I did something unforgivable. I took the Morphing Cube from the burning debris, and gave them to the power to morph.
They would be my comrades, these humans. Together, we would stop the Yeerks. Or, in the very least, I had thought bitterly, Make them very, very, annoyed.
Amara, Kai, Lani, Shinji, and Nichirasu. Three females and two males. Four females, counting me. I was pleased with the odds. We became a team. We called ourselves the Battle Senshi. Kai wanted to be the Bishoujo Senshi, but Nichirasu and Shinji did not approve.
We fought well together, and although there were a few disagreements every now and then, we always pulled through, and were friends in the end.
After I declined their wishes for me to lead them, the humans all agreed (all except for Lani) that Amara should be the leader of our group. She was surprised, and bit flattered, I believe. She is a good leader, calm and intelligent.
We infiltrated. We tampered. We destroyed. We blew them out of the Yeerk pool. For months it's been going on like that. We live in secret, hunt the Yeerks by night. It's the only way, really.
I acquired a human morph, by using a procedure that involves mixing the DNAs of creatures of the same species to come up with an original body. I chose to be female, of course.
My human friends and I have been very successful in our exploits. I couldn't be sure if it was because the Yeerks were weak or we were strong, but either way, it was clear we were winning.
Each day, more people were freed. Each day, less Hork-Bajr and Taxxons in the Yeerk pool. Fewer people leaving and entering it.
Under these circumstances, leisure is something we do more and more often.
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
We were at a place humans call a Water Park. I do not understand it's purpose, since there is an ocean quite close to us, but I must admit, Water Parks are great fun.
"WOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOO!" Amara called, going down one of the long tubes that appeared to be cut in half on a large car tire.
I was in the 'inter-tube' right behind her, letting out cries of joy as well. "YEAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"Oh, man!" Amara called over her shoulder. "This is so coo-"
SPLASH! She landed in the large pool of water at the base of the slide.
SPLASH! Down I went
SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH!
We all struggled to catch our breath, giggling.
"That," Said Nichirasu, ringing the water out of his hair. "Was so, cool."
"Exactly!" Amara agreed gleefully, climbing out of the pool.
"Where to next?" Kai wondered, squinting as she looked around the area. Normally, Kai wears spectacles that allow her to see clearly. I do not know why she can't see clearly naturally, she just cannot.
"Silver bullet," Lani said immediately, almost like an order. "That one's sooo cool."
"Whatever, I'm game." Said Shinji, returning his inter-tube to the pole with all the other inter-tubes.
"After we ride the silver bullet, I would really enjoy to go down the Black Hole. I can understand why they call it that. It is painted black, and the tube is not cut in half, like the other slides. But the Silver Bullet is white, not silver." I said, confused.
"They call it that just cause you go as fast as a silver bullet when you go down it," Shinji explained.
"Do silver bullets go faster, or slower than normal bullets?" I inquired.
"Forget it." Lani said. "Let's just go."
We hiked up to the top of the Silver Bullet in our are bare feet. A huge disadvantage of feet over hooves is that they are much more sensitive to heat.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Kai said, trying to keep her feet off the ground as much as possible.
"Itai! Itai, itai, itai!!" Nichirasu agreed.
When we made it all the way to the top, the breeze was a bit stronger, and now, in contrast to our feet, we were cold.
But that was not really what caused me to shudder like I did right then. It was not because of the evaporating water on my skin causing me to cool off. It was because of the Yeerk Bug fighter that I had just seen landing on top of the Mall.
Chapter 2
Shinji
Nani?!" Kai cried.
"Are you sure?" Lani said skeptically. Or maybe she just wanted to stay and ride the Silver Bullet.
Fi nodded her head in a very exaggerated way. "I am very sure, Lani-chan. A Yeerk fighter. On top of the mall. It was only there for a moment, and then it disappeared behind a kind of clear shimmering curtain. Force field, probably." She paused. "If we go to investigate, may we stop at the Panda Express?"
Amara patted her on the back. "We'll see."
"How do we go? Human or…or what?" Kai wondered.
We were all hiding out underneath a bridge that goes over this river thing at the far end of the park. No one was around.
"By the time we walk over there, we'll have lost them," I pointed out.
"Right. So, let's do birds." Lani said, tapping her foot impatiently.
Nichirasu rolled his eyes at me. Lani has a way of bossing people around sometimes. All the time.
"Flying would be a good way to get from this point to the Mall. Mall-uh."
"Oh, no. She's doing it again!" I exclaimed in mock horror.
"Doing what? Wuh-tah?"
"People. Let's go." Lani had already started her morph, probably to crow. Lani lived next door to a Shinto Shrine. The girl who lived there kept crows.
A few minutes later, a few crows and pigeons flew from under the bridge, and no one noticed.
We landed in a Dumpster behind the mall and demorphed. Since we had been wearing our bathing suits, we didn't have to take time to change into our morphing outfits. (You can only morph in skintight clothes, as Lani had tearfully discovered after she'd torn up one of her designer shirts.) This was a good thing and a bad thing. The good thing, we hadn't lost much time. The bad thing, we were in our bathing suits, bare foot, and covered in garbage. Also, to make matters worse, we were all squished up against a very large purple Andalite.
"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…!" Nichirasu groaned.
"Owowowowow! Watch the blade, Fi-chan! Please!!" Amara cried.
Fi quickly began her human morph. Her human morph was made from the DNA of all of us. It's kinda weird how you can see parts of me in her face. But only sometimes, because most of the time, she just looks like a lunatic with really short hair and bizzare mismatched clothes (usually on backwards.)
Okay, now there were six human kids in a dumpster.
Much better.
I took a banana peel off my head.
"This is universally gross." Lani whined, crawling out.
"Agreed. Why do we always have to land in dumpsters?" I said, giving Fi a hand.
"Because no one ever looks for birds turning into humans and aliens in dumpsters." Amara said. "Alrighty. Uh…I don't know what we can do about clothes. We can't really do anything about that right now. I guess it just looks like we just came over from The Beach. Which we did. So…"
She looked at Fi, who was kneeling and staring intently at a column of ants climbing up the side of the dumpster.
"Amazing. Zzzzing. Look at how they carry nearly ten times their body weight!" She was muttering.
Fi is easily distracted sometimes.
"Yeah. Okay." She rubbed her temples. "Let's just go inside and look for anything unusual."
We searched the mall. We found jack squat. There was nothing bizzare or weird of out of the ordinary. Except for the six kids walking around with no shoes, one of which kept having to get dragged away from things by the other ones, shouting things like, "Look! Look! FORTUNE COOKIES!!! Cuu-kees!"
We took a break and sat down in the food court. We didn't have any money with us, so Kai went to her locker at the Sports and Wellness place and got her emergency money from her bag.
"Pizza for me and Shinji, Hotdog on a Stick for Nichirasu, a SoBe for Lani, burger for Amara, and a Teriyaki Chicken Bowl for Fi." Kai presented everyone with his or her food.
"Domo Arigotou, Kai-chan." We chorused.
Amara looked around to make sure nobody was close enough to hear. You can never be to careful when it comes to Controllers. And with Bug fighters landing on the roof, you know there's gotta be one or two lurking around.
"Okay," Amara said, swallowing a mouthful or burger. "So we didn't find anything. Are really sure you saw it, Fi-chan?"
"I am very sure, Amara-san." She had bits of rice stuck to her chin./p
"So, why would a Bug fighter be landing on the roof of the mall?" I wondered.
"Gotta be another Yeerk pool entrance. What other reason could there be?" Nichirasu said, chewing on the stick thoughtfully.
Lani chugged her SoBe. "Of course! Such a popular place, no one would think it weird that so many are coming and going from it."
"So there's a Yeerk pool? Under the mall?" Kai shook her head. "What's the world coming to? Even the mall's not safe anymore."
"Was it ever safe?" Nichirasu muttered darkly.
"We've gotta find out where it is. Think about the other entrances we know about, what are they?"
"Girls locker room at the High school."
"Boys locker room at the Junior high."
"Bathroom at the Burger King."
"And the dressing room at the Wal-Mart." Amara concluded, tucking a loose strand of her blue hair behind her ear.
"So, they're all places where there are no cameras or anything and not a lot of people around to see it." I sighed. "There are thousands of places like that at this stupid place!"
"It's not stupid!" Lani cried.
Amara was shaking her head. "Dressing rooms, bathrooms, locker rooms…how are we gunna do this?"
There was a thoughtful silence.
"Yum. YUH-um. Teriyaki. Yah-ky."
We sighed. What an intelligent way to break the silence.
Oh, well. It was Saturday. We were at the mall. We couldn't find a single alien in the area. Cept for Fi, of course. And why waste a perfect Saturday?
"Whelp, I'm going to the arcade." I got up and trashed my trash.
"Me too."
"Me three."
"Video games! Game-zuh!"
Chapter 3
Rachel
"I can't believe this! This is so cool!" I said, grinning.
You guys, I don't think we should get too excited,-Tobias said cautiously.
"Yeah," Jake said. "It might not be what we think it is."
Maybe I should explain. Eric, the Chee, had just gotten wind that there is another group of 'Andalite Bandits' harassing the Yeerks over in Japan. The Yeerk invasion over there is being totally trashed. These other 'bandits' are kicking Yeerk BUTT!
We were all in the barn, and Ax was in human morph, since Cassie's parents were home.
"Well, why wouldn't it be? I mean, we do have it on kind of a reliable source." I said, nodding at Eric. "So, what do we do about it?
"We have to figure out how to contact this other band of 'Andalite Bandits'." Ax concluded.
"But are they really Andalite bandits?" Cassie said, raising an eyebrow. "Or are they…like us?"
Ax stiffened.
"Well," He hesitated. "It is possible that another Andalite…like my brother…has broken the law of Seerow's Kindness. But it's doubtful. They are most likely a group of Andalites who have lost their transport and are harassing the Yeerks until they can be rescued."
"But don't you get it?" I said excitedly. "It doesn't matter what they are! They could be Taxxons, for all I care! All that matters is they're on our side. We get more allies, it strengthens us, weakens the Yeerks."
"However," Eric began. "This group of 'Andalite Bandits' is currently reeking havoc in Japan. All the way across the pacific ocean! How are we supposed to contact them, anyway?"
Personally, I didn't care. We'd find a way. We had to.
But Marco shook his head. "There's no way. We'll just have to wait it out, until they come and find us."
I tapped my foot impatiently. "So, what? What? We just lie down and do nothing?"
Jake nodded slowly. "Maybe…maybe not."
"Well, what do we do, fearless leader?" Marco asked.
"I'll think of something."
"Great."
Cassie was bouncing excitedly while trying to force a pill down a raccoon's throat. "Well, I don't care. Wow. Maybe our team will get bigger? This is so cool!"
Jake grinned. "Well, it is kind of nice to think we're not alone. So, Eric? How long have these other guys been doing this?"
"Not too long. A few months, maybe." He looked thoughtful. "I wonder where they got the morphing power…?"
"It is kind of suspicious…" Marco said, loosing his momentum.
"A trap?" I ventured.
"Maybe…" Eric shrugged. "But I doubt it. Visser Three is so cheesed. The invasion isn't going well over there. The New Andalite Bandits are doing some serious damage."
"Cheesed?" Marco said, raising an eyebrow.
"Perhaps they are trained Andalite Warriors?" Ax suggested.
"Well it's not doing any good just sitting around talking about it. Let's find some way to get a hold of these new guys!" I said, throwing my hands into the air.
"Oh, I almost forgot."
"Yeah, Eric?"
"Well, since it's going so badly over in Japan- I hear they blew up an entire Yeerk Pool- the Visser is leaving today to go over there personally to take care of it. Probably just kill everyone who's failed him, actually. Either way, he'll be gone a week." "An opening!" I cried.
Everyone looked at me like I was nuts.
"Don't you see? With the Visser gone, we can push our limits. Trash the Yeerks. With no leader, they'll be confused, unorganized. We have to attack!"
"Oh, and it just worked so well last time." Marco said, rolling his eyes.
"Yes," Ax agreed. "The "hammer concept" was not totally successful."
"Hey, I said I was sorry!" I said defensively. "Besides, I've learned my lesson. No leading for me. Jake is still the main man."
"Anyway," Jake said. "I think we should break for now. It's getting late and I'm going to miss dinner. My grandparents are coming."
"Oh, you know you just want to watch Friends." Marco teased.
"Actually, Marco. Friends will not be on for two more of your hours." Ax said matter-o-factly.
"Ax-man! They are all of our hours. Not just mine. On Earth, we all use the saaaame hours."
Jake ignored them. "Okay. So, let's meet here tomorrow morning. After Church, I guess. And…hopefully I will have come up with something."
"Fine," I agreed. Then I grinned. "It's still cool."
Chapter 4
Kai
It was twilight. I was standing in front of a gorgeous palace; the two moons were brilliantly full and spilling their light down upon me, making my long white gown simply glow. I ran my fingers through my dark purple hair and-
My what?
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!"
I shot up in bed.
I looked around. My stuffed Hello Kitty, my SailorMoon alarm clock, my X-files poster. Everything where it should be.
I kicked off the covers.
"No more pizza with pineapples before you go to bed, Kai-chan." I muttered to myself.
I fed my gold fish, Dana and Fox, stuffed a pop-tart in my mouth and was out the door.
"Bugh-baaui Mougm!" I called over my shoulder and choked on frosting, slamming the door behind me with my foot.
I hopped down the steps, still trying to get the back of my foot into my shoe, while juggling my other pop-tart and Lani's long ago borrowed Sailor V comic book.
"Kuso! Lani-san's gonna kill me if I'm late again!!"
I zoomed up the street and made a sharp turn around the corner. And plowed right into someone.
"Aiya!!" I fell back on my butt. "Na, na!! Gomen, gomen!" I hopped up. "I'm really sorry, but I'm kind of in a hurry so-"
Then I looked up and saw who I had bumped into.
It was man, not to tall, but still very intimidating. He wasn't ugly, but I could tell by looking at him he had a very ugly personality. His eyes were scary.
He said nothing.
"Ne….well, I've really got to jet it…so…I'm sorry again!" I hesitated, and then ran past him. "Ja!" I called over my shoulder.
He didn't even turn around. He just kept walking.
Creepy.
I looked at my watch. "Yah!! I'm late! I'm late!"
Chapter 5
Nichirasu
I yawned. It was too early for this.
We were all meeting at Lani's house, since her parents were out and we could talk openly without worrying.
Also because Lani's house is cool.
It's the biggest house I've ever seen. There's hot tub and a swimming pool, a huge entertainment system with DVD player; huge comfy multi coloured beanbag couches and chairs, and, best of all, a fully stocked refrigerator.
I munched on some potato chips, lounging on a big beanbag. I was chillin. Relaxing. Shinji was playing video games with Amara (Tekken, I think) and kept yelling things at the screen and slamming his game controller into the ground as Amara was Amara laughing hysterically. He was losing, bad. Fi was staring at the huge Aquarium, Lani was pacing, and Kai was absent.
"Is she always late?!" Lani asked rhetorically.
"Yep," I said with a mouthful of chips.
"You should know that by now, Lani-chan." Amara said with a laugh. "KIAH!! I win again!"
"NOOOOOOOOO!!" Shinji cried.
"But…why doesn't she get a watch or something?? Does she even have an Alarm clock?!"
"Yeah, she does." Amara said. "It plays the SailorMoon theme song."
"And speaking of that," Lani said, moving on to her next thing to complain about. "She borrowed that SailorV comic from me over a year ago, why hasn't she given it back?"
"Why don't you just buy a new one?" I asked, watching Shinji get clobbered.
"Because, Nichirasu-chan, that volume is no longer in print. It's a collector's item!"
"Then how come you lent it to her? YES! VICTORY!!"
"You're CHEATING!! YOU HAVE TO BE!!"
"That's what so inky about it. It wasn't a collectors item when I lent it to her."
"Do you have names for your aquatic animals, Lani-san?" Fi spoke up.
"Huh?"
"Well, Kai-san has aquatic animals also. Although not in such a large tank. But they have names. What are the names you have given your aquatic animals?"
"They're fish, Fi-chan." Lani bent down, snapping out of her whining state. "Well, that's Tenchi and that's Ryoko."
I snickered.
She ignored me.
"That's Sakura, since she's kind of pinkish, that's Hime, since her nose is always in the air, and that's Koi, since he looks kind of like a little Koi fish."
Fi nodded. "I understand all of these references, Lani-san. But why has Kai named her fish Fox and Dana?"
Amara laughed hysterically and I groaned.
"NAAAAAA!!!! Konnichiwa, minna-san!! Sorry I'm late!!" Kai burst in the door, kicked off her shoes, slid across the floor and nearly slammed into a wall.
"What kept you?" Lani said, narrowing her eyes.
"Well, first I had that most bizzare dream, then I woke up late and I tried to get here as fast as I could-I really did, Lani! Don't look at like that!-but I accidentally ran right into this man that was walking down the street and he was really scary and I guess that slowed me down a little bit, cause I swear I left my house right when you told me to-"
"Kai?" I said.
"Yes?"
"Breathe."
"Okay." She collapsed into a beanbag and stole my chips.
"Hey!"
"There's more in the kitchen." Lani said.
"Okay," Amara said, putting down the game controller. "Can we get started here please?"
"Wait! Best 15 out of 16!!"
"Forget it, Shinji."
Chapter 6
Lani
"Okay. This meeting is now in session." Amara said officially, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Honorable Judge Amara presiding." Nichirasu said.
Amara glared.
"Sorry. I couldn't resist."
"Anyway," Amara continued. "Let's go through this again. Fi thinks she saw a Bug Fighter land on top of the mall-"
"I did, Amara-san!"
Amara nodded understandingly. "I believe you, Fi. So, Fi saw a bug fighter on the mall. But when we went to check it out we didn't find anything."
"And," I broke in. "It probably landed there because it was a new Yeerk pool entrance."
Amara glanced at me with an unreadable expression. "But we couldn't possibly find it, not with all the places it could be. So, what's the next step?"
"I say we drop it. If it's important, it will reveal itself eventually. Everything always does." Shinji said wisely.
Amara chewed her lip. "This sucks. We can't do a thing about it. But we'll just have to chill for a while here, guys. The Yeerks are still majorly pissed at us for blowing up their pool-"
"-Spiteful, bitter creatures, those Yeerks." Nichirasu said.
"And they are probably not to happy with us right now. We try anything and that'll be the end of us." She paused dramatically. "Yeah. Okay. Meeting adjourned."
Nichirasu munched on his new bag of chips.
Great. Now we had no lead, and no idea what we were supposed to do. Normally, we do get leads. There is one leak in the Yeerk hierarchy.
At first, we were unsure as to whether to trust this Yeerk. In fact, we still don't trust her totally. Her human name is Miaka. Her yeerk name is Astral.
She and her host are partners, really. They work together, as a team. Her Yeerk is a member of the Yeerk Peace Core. We have given her very little information about us ourselves. All she knows is that some of us are Andalites, and some of us are human.
And that we are out to rid our planet of her species.
She's a traitor, really. A sell out to her own race.
But if I were a Yeerk, I probably wouldn't feel to bad about it.
She crops up every now and then. Not too often. And when she does it's not for long. She contacts Fi, usually by way of computer. (Fi has managed to hook up quite a little space for herself in the woods, complete with internet and cable TV.)
But Astral wasn't showing up now. She usually only drops a hint or too, and then vanishes. And only when something is REALLY important.
She told us where a Yeerk pool was once.
I remember the first time I went down into that place. It was a total nightmare. We managed to flush all the free humans from the pool, (There weren't too many Hork-Bajr on guard) and then…we blew it up.
We'd tunneled down to the roof of the dome, and rigged up a lot of some of Fi's advanced explosives, mixed in with some plain old human dynamite. Once we were sure that the place was clear of everyone (We even made sure that the Human controllers were locked away safely) we hit the button.
We were above ground, of course. The ground simply collapsed.
The Yeerk controllers were screaming and screaming…
Once it was all over with, we let the controllers go, with a simple message: Leave. Go home, and just leave us alone.
The days afterward were scary. People randomly freaking out on TV, and then suddenly recovering. Cars screeching out of control on the road, drivers gone mad. The Yeerks were starving of their Kandrona Rays.
The humans we freed, (There weren't that many) we made sure they kept quiet. If they took this to the government…if the war was put outright…the humans would loose. For sure.
The Yeerks were still recovering, of course. This new Yeerk pool was probably the new permanent pool, not the temporary one they'd been using for the past couple of weeks.
So, we'd decided that we had to wait it out and lay low. Amara resumed beating Shinji at Tekken, Fi was reading the SailorV comic Kai had finally returned, and Kai and Nichirasu kept fighting over the potato chips.
I took out some nail polish and gave myself a manicure.
Wait it out? Fine with me. As long as we didn't have to blow up anything for awhile.
Chapter 7
Marco
We all met up in Cassie's barn that Sunday. Somehow Rachel convinced Jake to go with her plan about the trashing-the-Yeerks-while-the-Visser-is-gone thing.
I refused to do it unless we infiltrated first this time.
Rachel ducked her head and agreed.
We all morphed birds and landed on the roof of our first target: A Yeerk controlled book store.
We'd gotten this one the last time, too. But we'd hit all of our targets, so we really didn't have any other choice but the destroy them all over again.
I didn't have a problem with it.
We did flies, and checked around. No little kids, not too many civilians, and no old people.
Okay! Ready to smoosh… (is that a word?) ready to crush the bookstore.
And we did.
Then we smooshed the TV station and the computer goods store.
And then, we headed for the final destination: the Style-R-Iffic.
What a Lame-O-Riffic name for a hair salon, I commented as Rachel busted down the door.
"HHHROOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!! OH MY GOD!"
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
"Do something!!!"
"Quick-hit it with the hair dryer!!"
'Hit it with the hair dryer'?! Tobias said, laughing.
Frantic women ran out of the door, screaming bloody murder.
I knuckle walked over to one of the mirror/table things and knocked it over. Then I opened all the bottles of shampoo and emptied them all over the place.
Hey! That's my favorite brand! Rachel complained, toppling shelves of mousse.
Sorry.
I ripped off a couple of framed pictures of perfectly styled people from the walls and smashed them into the windows.
Cassie was knocking over other shelves of shampoo on the other side of the room. Take THAT you animal testing jerks!
While all this was happening, the radio was still on. It was playing the Dixie Chicks or something. I calmly smashed the radio into the ground.
I'm not a big fan of country.
Ax calmly walked over to a cowering woman in the corner and took the hair dryer from her. Her hair was still bubbly with Shampoo.
Do not be afraid, He assured her. She passed out.
I think we're done here. Jake said, calmly pushing over the appointment desk with one paw.
I turned, and saw something you don't normally see in a hair salon.
Hork-Bajr! Cassie cried.
Bail! Now! Jake called.
We all bolted for the exit, but a group of Hork-Bajr cut us off.
Go back! The back door!
Wait! I can take 'em!
Rachel, COME ON!
So, we bolted for the back door. I turned around a sharp corner and went down a long corridor.
What are Hork-Bajr doing here anyway?! I screamed.
I don't know! Cassie cried frantically.
I glanced over my shoulder. They were gaining fast.
Suddenly, everything changed. On second we were in a nice, normal hallway, and the next, we were surrounded with piles of wood and dusty floors and random sheets of bubble wrap.
They must be adding a new wing, Jake said breathlessly. Just keep going! Their coming!
I ran.
ARRRRRRGHH! He's got me!
Rachel!! Cassie cried.
It's okay it's okay! I'm on it! She called back, sounding pained.
Keep going! Jake roared. She'll be fine!
Then, I noticed something. Jake! There's a door up ahead!
What? It's probably a trap!
It's the only way! Go through the door or fight!
The Hork-Bajr had gained back the distance they'd lost while fighting Rachel.
Okay! Everybody go through the door on the left!
I hit the door, full on with my shoulder. It flew open, sending me flying down a flight of stairs.
Go, go, go! I heard Jake say.
Jake slammed the door with one of his powerful paws.
Oh, my god. Cassie breathed.
I guess she'd noticed where we were. I'd noticed it too.
The Yeerk Pool.
Chapter 8
Ax
Uh-oh. Everybody, hurry! Find a place to demorph, don't let anybody see you, and remorph flies. NOW! Prince Jake said in panic.
I did not have to find a place to demorph. While the others scattered blindly behind crates and boxes, I leapt away from the door as it burst open, a crowd of Hork-Bajr flooded onto the stair. They did not see me. I had the element of surprise.
FWAPP FWAPP FWAPP FWAPPFWAPP!
The Hork-Bajr were no longer a problem.
Prince Jake? The Hork-Bajr will not be bothering us again.
Good job, Ax. Now, go find Rachel. We'll come follow you as soon as we can. Hurry!
I stepped over the fallen bodies into the hallway. As soon as I was through the door, it slammed shut. I snapped around and stared at it a moment.
I grabbed the door knob and twisted it with my weak hands. Locked!
It was a steel door. No hope of my tail blade slicing through it.
Prince Jake! The door to the pool has sealed itself!
The was no answer.
Prince Jake!
I would find him later. I had orders to follow. I ran down the hallway. The wall was streaked with blood. I found a jumble of bodies on the floor, beneath the remains of a fallen wall.
Rachel?
The wall lifted. A serverely wounded grizzly bear pushed up from the twisted debris.
Ax? She asked weakly.
Rachel, you must demorph. You are injured. Prince Jake and the others are trapped in the Yeerk Pool.
She quickly began to demorph. What happened?
Chapter 9
Jake
This was great.
Just. Great.
Okay, so there we were, mid-morph in flies, and suddenly I was hearing loud, raging, rambling, vibrations.
It was someone screaming.
With anger.
"You incompetent FOOLS! You're almost worse than those bumbling idiots I have just removed from their posts in destroying the new group of Andalite Bandits! I will destroy you for this!"
"B-but Visser-"
"You DARE interrupt me, fool?!"
Silence.
I tried to buzz as close as I could. The beginnings of a tail spouted from the Visser's human morph.
I will show you what happens to those who interrupt me!
FWAPP!
The human controller cried out in pain.
The other one shrunk back, clutching her clipboard.
I leave you for one day and already the Andalite Bandits have discovered our new pool entrance! FOOLS! The Visser seethed. He pointed at the woman with the clipboard with a thin Andalite finger. You. I want you to take a fighter and a dozen Hork-Bajr to the human country called Japan. I don't care what you must do, but I want those bandits dead. If you can infiltrate them, fine. But bring me their leader. I want to make him scream.
And the Winner of the spirit award goes to… Marco whispered in private thought speak.
The woman nodded quickly.
Do not disappoint me, Sub-Visser 34.
She trembled only slightly. "I won't, Visser."
Have you ever tried for hours just to come up with an idea? Just slaved and slaved away, trying to make something work?
Well, I've done that too. But sometimes Ideas just totally jump out at you, and you just can't refuse.
I've got it!
Got what? Tobias asked.
I'll explain later, let's go find Ax and Rachel!
When we were finally sure that the area was clear, Rachel busted down the door by ramming a big old thick metal pole into it, Viking style.
We were hiding in a dumpster on the side of the building. I hate dumpsters.
Now we had to plan. And we didn't have much time.
See, what I had in mind was pretty loony. Insane. It was going to take some serious speed and a lot of luck. Rachel would love it.
It was very risky. I wasn't sure if I should even bother bringing it up. But it had to be done.
It was our only chance.
"I love it!"
Told you.
"Uh-oh. If Rachel loves it, that seriously means we're toast." Marco whined.
My plan was to…hijack the Yeerk Fighter as it was leaving. We had to find someway to get contact with these other guys, and this was our only way.
We'd get on board, unnoticed, and then when we were clear of any way for the
Yeerks to rescue the Sub-visser, we'd spring the attack. We'd tap into their files and find out all we could about these new bandits. And then we'd find them. Somehow.
It was the best I could do at the spur of the moment, okay?
"Sorry, man. But there are a few problemos with your plan." Marco held up one finger. "One: Parents. How long will this take, anyway?"
Bug Fighters, being stolen Andalite technology, though they were altered, their capabilities remain pretty much the same. To get across this ocean called the Pacific, it would take perhaps .5 Earth hours.
"Okay, so there you go. But how long will it take to contact these guys, anyway? And how do you think we're going to do that, exactly?"
"Who cares, Marco? We'll worry about the details later!" Rachel was, of course, pumped and ready to go. Tobias shifted on her shoulder.
What if something goes wrong? Like we can't find them. Then we'd end up stuck in Japan and no way home.
"We could always put ourselves in crates and fly cargo," Marco suggested helpfully.
"Can we really do this?" Cassie spoke up. "I mean, just jump them like that? I don't know…it's just seems so…I don't know…"
"We don't have to hurt them, Cassie. If all goes right then we'll have 12 more free Hork-Bajr in Jara's colony." I pointed out.
"Still…"
"But look. We don't have much time. It's now or never. Do we try this or not?"
There was a pause.
"Ax, do you think this will work?" I asked him.
I will follow where ever you lead, Prince Jake. Also, I would love to try any new and exotic foods the Japanese have for sampling. Sushi looks delightful.
"I'm game!" Rachel said happily.
Marco shrugged. "Might as well."
Okay.
Cassie paused. "Okay. But I have a paper due tomorrow, and if I don't get home to do it on time, I'm going to be mad."
I grinned.
"Deal."
Chapter 10
Amara
Late that night, I walked silently on the sidewalk in front of the hospital. The cool evening air made me rub my hands together before opening the glass door to the entrance.
"Hello, how may I help you?" The young woman at the desk asked.
I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Yes, I'm here to see Akari (no last name), please."
Tap, tap, tap when the keys on her computer. Her face saddened when she looked at the screen. "Intensive care unit?"
"Yes, ma'am." I said quietly.
She gave me a small smile. "Room 104, level two."
"Thank you."
I walked up the hall and punched the Up button on the elevator. Once it opened, and I stepped inside with my hands folded.
The elevator lurched and so did my stomach. It seemed to creep up to the second floor, and after an eternity, the doors opened.
"Room 104…room 104…" I mumbled.
Then I saw it. I looked inside the little window, and there she was, looking so small and frail in her little bed.
I gently pushed open the door into the dimly lit room. "Akari-chan?" I whispered.
No answer. She was sleeping.
Stepping over to her side, I began to realize just how bad my little cousin's condition was.
She was slowly dying of cancer. Well, recently, not so slowly. The doctor predicted about one more month and then it would be over.
I knelt beside her, taking her hand in mine, and bowed my head. "Kami-sama," I said softly. "Don't let it end like this…"
I left her there, laying her bed, with the rhythmic hum of her heart monitor.
Once I was home, I realized I was alone. My mom and my little bro were out somewhere. 'Went to the store,' the sloppy note on the fridge said.
I plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV, staring at the ceiling.
"Stop thinking about it, Amara." I scolded myself. "Akari will be fine, she's be just fine. Don't let it mess you up like this…"
I turned my head to look at the TV. It was the news. The picture in the background looked like some twisted wreckage of a helicopter or something.
"…The explosion happened at a building near Tokyo Tower, earlier this evening. The mysterious crash has resulted in 7 injured bystanders, and about 1 million yen worth of damage. The craft remains unidentified, and the pilot and passengers are yet to be found. But chances are, there are no survivors."
I stared at the 'craft', partly covered in debris, which appeared to just have smashed into the side of the building. Pilots get worse all the time…
"Hey, wait a second…" I said. I jumped up off the couch and ran to the TV. I grabbed it with both hands and got a good look at it.
"Oh, my god…" I breathed. "That looks like a bug fighter."
"Lani! Lani!" I yelled into the phone.
Lani's groggy voice responded, "What do you want?"
"Shut up for a second! Turn on your TV! The news!"
"This better be good, Amara." She grumped. Then she paused. "Is that what I think is??"
"Yeah, it is! Call the others! I'm going to go get Fi!"
Chapter 11
Cassie
MARCO!!!! Rachel screamed. Jake, what were you THINKING, letting this LUNATIC pilot the fighter!
Hey! Marco said defensively. We're all okay! I didn't get anybody killed!
I would have rolled my eyes, if I could have. We were hiding in an old broom closet in the building that Marco had slammed us into.
After we got aboard the bug fighter, we'd waited till we were far over the ocean before attacking. Ax had knocked them out, and we'd tied them up in the corner. Then, after we…landed… we dragged them out and left them in the basement. They'd wake up eventually.
It was an improvement over the alternative, which was dumping them into the pacific ocean.
Now we were a small group of flies hiding in a broom closet.
Okay, guys. Jake broke in. Demorph. Ax, morph human. We'll slip out the back door or something, and plan from there.
Not much of a plan, fearless leader. Marco teased.
It's the best I can come up with right now! He cried.
I just laughed and returned to my human form.
We tiptoed behind all the reporters and police officers inside the building, unnoticed. And all the while I was getting this really weird feeling. Like something was about to happen.
I hate it when I get that feeling, because I'm almost always right.
Chapter 12
Fi
We headed over to the building Amara had described. The others went as themselves, and I morphed to human. Amara decided it would be best if we just 'scoped it out' before taking action.
I donned my artificial skin and we were off.
Lani was eyeing me ruefully.
"Is something the matter, Lani-san? San. SAHN.."
"Fi. Remind me to take you shopping sometime soon. Those clothes you have just aren't working for you."
We boarded the human transportation system called a 'Bus'.
"What is wrong with them? Do they not look like normal artificial skins?"
Lani began to speak but Amara stopped her.
"They're fine, Fi. I think they look great."
"Very spiffy," Kai agreed.
I looked down. I was wearing a bright blue 'sleeveless' with a white 'button down' over it, but not buttoned. On my human legs I wore dark green 'cargo guys shorts' and 'rainbow knee-highs'. Around my waist was tied another 'long sleeved button-down', which was green. My human feet were protected by 'thong sandles'.
Protection with artificial skin apparently requires many layers.
By the time I was done speculating about artificial skin, we had arrived at our destination.
Upon leaving the bus, Amara dropped some human money into a box by the bus pilot. Another thing I do not understand about humans is their money.
The area was crowded with humans, trying to get a glimpse of the fighter sticking out of the building. It looked almost comical.
"Okay," Amara said quietly, and we all leaned in to listen. "We go around the camera crews over the left of the building, into the alley. Then we morph birds and fly into the opening. We demorph, and poke around a little bit. Okay?"
"Let's book it!" Shinji said gleefully.
Lani stared at him. "Shinji, stop stealing lines from Sailor V. It's disturbing."
We stealthily made our way behind the mass of people, and into the dark alleyway.
"What is it with the alleys?" Nichirasu asked suddenly. "Why are we always doing everything in alleys and dumpsters? I mean, can't we try something new?"
"Nichirasu, we really don't have time-" Amara began.
Just then, the door she was standing next to flew open and hit her in the face. She went flying backwards, and landed in…well, a dumpster.
"Amara-san!" We all cried.
Then I found myself staring face-to-face with six human youths. They did not look quite like my friends. They looked…different. Just slightly, but I could see differences. They had lighter hair, for example. And tanner skin.
Then spilled into the alley. The last one shut the door behind him. Nichirasu took Amara's arm and helped her sit up in the dumpster.
"OKAY, whoever did that is about to get a piece of my mind!" She yelled.
Chapter 12
Tobias
We stood there in the alley, unsure of what to do. We'd run into a group of Japanese kids, and they firmly blocked our path.
"Um, excuse us." Jake said loudly.
The girl in the dumpster said something loud and curt in Japanese. She took some trash off of her blue-haired head.
"I'm sorry…" Cassie said apologetically to her. Then she looked pointedly at Marco. "I think you bashed her on the head."
"We don't speak your language," Jake continued. "So, um…."
The guy with the black hair was helping blue hair out of the dumpster. She wiped her self off and planted her self firmly in front of us. She leaned in and narrowed her eyes as she looked at Jake. She asked him something.
We all glanced at each other.
The black haired one made a sarcastic remark. I don't know what he said, but I guess it was probably something along the lines of They don't speak Japanese, you idiot.
Suddenly, the blonde haired one said something. Then all six of us stared at her. Stared at her long and hard. Because something about the way she'd said us our hearts stop.
It sounded something like this:
"Nichirasu-san, RAH-su…SAHN, San-uh…Amara-san wa…WAH…iie EE-YEH bakiyo, dah. DAH.."
"Did she just….?" I let myself trail off.
"She sounded just like…" Rachel looked at me.
"What? WUH-tuh?" Ax asked stupidly.
Cassie grabbed his arm. "She sounded just like you, Ax! She plays with words, like you do!"
"Nani??" Blue hair demanded impatiently.
Then, suddenly, we were tumbling trough space and time.
Chapter 13
Kai
Spinning, spinning, everything was spinning! And then, it all stopped.
We were standing in whiteness. All of us. The Battle Senshi…and the strange Americans. It extended forever to either side of us. And I began to get that sinking feeling.
Twelve voices uttered the same word.
"Ellimist!"
Then twelve heads stared at each other in confusion.
The Ellimist appeared, then. He was laughing. In the guise of an old man, like always.
"Ah, my friends. You finally meet." He grinned.
"What are you talking about??" Lani demanded. "Who are they?"
One of the Americans, a blonde girl, said something to the Ellimist in a language I did not understand. She sounded unhappy.
"Well, perhaps things would go better if you could understand each other."
Suddenly, a wall in my mind evaporated. I felt a deeper understanding. The language barrier! It disappeared! Just at the tanner American boy was saying:
"Ellimist! What are we doing here?? And why did you bring these wack-jobs?!"
Lani lept and grabbed his shirt collar. "Did you just call me a wack-job?"
"Who? Me? No, no, of course not." He smile sheepishly and Lani let him go.
"She's always like this when she's been deprived of her beauty sleep." Nichirasu stated.
"You wanna start something with me too, Nichirasu??"
The Ellimist broke out into laughter again.
"What? What's so funny?!" The blondie American demanded.
"I was just hoping you'd get along better then this." He said with a smile that was not at all forced.
"You still haven't answered our question." The taller, brown haired boy asked. "Who. Are. They?"
The Ellimist floated down to our level. Then he gestured as if he were casually introducing two groups of his friends.
"Animorphs, meet the Battle Senshi. Battle Senshi, these are the Animorphs."
Our eyes met, and then, the truth donned upon us all.
"Their humans!" We cried.
Chapter 14
Rachel
"I don't believe this! Let down again! Here they are, not Andalites, but KIDS! Plain, HUMAN kids, just like us! When will it end?!"
I was not a happy camper.
There we were, floating in nothingness, when the Ellimist breaks the news that the 'resistance' that we were hoping to find was a let down, like many times before. They 'new Andalite Bandits' were just like the old. A group of KIDS!
"Hey, we're not exactly happy with this either!" The badly dressed chick with the blue hair defended. "We were hoping you were Andalites!"
"Hey, hey, hey. Everybody chill for a second." The brown-haired guy said calmly. "We're not all kids."
"What do you mean?" Cassie asked softly, confused.
"She's an Andalite." He said, jerking his thumb at the really oddly dressed girl behind him.
Ax's face kinda lit up there for a second. Be he regained his composure. Then he spoke up. "I…I am also an Andalite."
There was a pause.
"How cool!!" The girl with glasses cried.
To be continued…later
