|Reviewer's Area|
Forlay: I'm gonna get to the mushy romance stuff, don't worry. And this chapter is definately more cutesy than the other ones. (I think it's impossible to do otherwise, but... whatever. X_x)
Jinako-chan: Haven't gotten around to reading your fic yet, sorry. Just got back, anyway. I wrote this down on paper and then typed it up. Took a bloody long time, too. ^_^; Anyways, BROWNIES ARE YUMMY! .... Heh. What I really meant to say is that, yes Marco's okay. As okay as he can be, attached to... Whoops, giving away this chapter. ^_^; But he's fine.
Fangrlwlotsofideas: *covers ears* Loud! ^_^; But, I continued! *holds out chapter of a silver platter* Here you go!
Alisha: This chapter is definately longer. Happy reading!
Alikat: I didn't think so, either. Said the girl that laughed when her hand got cut open. X_x Although, that might have been from shock.
Lauren: I'm baaaaaaack! *people scream* -_-; Anyways, thank you!
lunaticclowngirl: Slightly. But that doesn't mean my stories are. And no, this has no relation to #27: The Exposed.
Lady Atheilen: I did. ^_^;
THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO ALL OF THOSE WHO REVIEWED, WHETHER YOUR COMMENTS WERE NICE OR NOT. YOU BOOSTED MY REVIEW COUNT EITHER WAY! ^_^
Chapter Five (Ah, screw it. I'm not gonna rename these chapters. X_x)
"Demorph, Marco! Demorph!" I yell desperately at him, trying to get him to come out of his daze. "De. Morph!"
Yeah, yeah.
"Marco, it's me, Erek! Demorph, or you're going to die!"
Erek? His hazy mind begins to clear.
"Yes, Marco. It's Erek. Please demorph or you won't survive. Demorph. Do it now!"
//Please, please, please.// I plead with whatever higher force might exist. //Please, please let him live.//
Yeah, okay. Okay. For a few seconds, nothing happens. Then the coarse hair on his arms begins to disappear, arms returning to human, skin becoming an attractive light tan colour.
Finally, finally, Marco emergs. Dazed, confused and scared, but alive. Without even thinking, I hug him.
"You're alive!" I exclaim, blushing and releasing him.
"Yeah." He mumbles. Tears slip out of his eyes. "Yeah." But even as he cries, he begins to remorph. A tiger roars in pain.
Gotta help them. Somehow, he still seems out of it.
"Marco? Are you alright?"
Uh-huh. He says, barely listening.
I begin to get worried. This is not like Marco at all. "Demorph again, Marco. I'll make sure they're alright. Demorph. Something's wrong."
'Kay. He begins to demorph again.
"Marco, what's wrong with you? You're just agreeing with whatever I say. What happened?"
"Dunno. She kicked me a few times, stabbed me with something... a test tube, I think."
Marco, are you okay? Marco!
"Marco's fine, Cassie!" I yell. "I'll be there in a second!" She does not answer me. But Andrea does.
She runs in, her hologram dropped. "Erek!" She cries out gleefully. "You're here! Wonderful!" She holds out something to me. "This is what will free you! Free the rest of us! Take it, Erek." Andrea looks quite serious for a moment. "You want to help them in this war, Erek? Then take this. It will free you."
I shake my head, feeling sick. Is this really my friend? "Andrea, you don't know what you're saying."
"Yes, I do!" She insists.
"No, you don't, Andrea. You are acting under a chemical influence. Just calm down."
She laughs. "Oh, Erek. You're such a hypocrite. You want to fight the Yeerks, but all you can do is give information. But when you finally get the chance to help in the battle, you turn it down."
"I have fought, Andrea, and I have killed." I say quietly. "And I do not want to fight. In any case, if I used the chemical, I would be out of control like you. And there would be a very good chance that I would hurt the Animorphs and other innocent humans. Like you have."
"You are a fool, Erek." She snarls at me. "And come out from behind that idiotic hologram. You are not human, no matter how much you wish to be."
I shake my head. "You are the fool. And I don't want to be a human."
The Animorphs watch this exchange in silence. They have already demorphed and remorphed, healing their injuries. All but Marco.
"Yes, yo-u do-o." Her speech becomes slower.
"Andrea?" I ask, stepping forward.
"St-ay ba-a-a-ck, Er-r-r-e-k-k-k." She growls, her speech becoming ever slower. She also takes a step forward in a threatening manner. A very, very slow step.
She stops moving, her foot poised in mid-air.
Erek, what's happened? Jake asks, turning his tiger head to look at me. I shake my head, clearing my mind.
"I'm pretty sure she's shut down. Permanently or temporarily, I can't be sure right now." I carefully control my hologram. My human eyes had begun to show my emotions. Sadness, hurt, anger, pity. Now emotionless. At least, on the outside.
"But you should hit the weak spot anyway. She might re-boot her system somehow."
Ax whips his tail forward, the blade hitting the spot with a ringing noise.
Ow. He says.
Demorph. Jake says. He glances at Marco. What's up with him?
Marco's sitting quietly by my side, head resting against my force field and hologram leg.
"I don't know." I say, worried. "He told me Andrea stabbed him with a test tube. I think there might have been some chemicals in it. He's been obeying everything I say." I decide to try something. "Marco, morph to osprey."
He blinks innocently up at me. "Okay." The changes begin, feathers coming first.
"Alright, that's enough." I tell him, nervous now. "Demorph." He does.
This is seriously not good. Tobias remarks, preening his feathers. What happens if we're in a fight and Visser Three tells us to surrender or something?
We all look at him.
Rachel growls. "Great! We're gonna get found out because Marco's acting like the perfect obedient child."
He may only respond to one person. Ax suggests.
"Marco, say 'I'm an idiot.'" Rachel tells him with a slight grin.
Marco looks up at me. "Should I?"
"No." I say quickly.
"Well, that's good." Jake remarks, looking just a little relieved. "At least we know he won't listen to whatever a Yeerk tells him to do."
"Yeah." Rachel snarls. "He'll just run off to Erek to ask if it's okay, first."
"But why would he listen to just Erek?" Jake wonders, looking thoughtfully at me. I shrug.
I hear something. Like a big truck moving. Tobias says. He flies out a broken window, returning a few seconds later. The army's here, guys. He reports.
"Erek, can you project a hologram around us to make it look like nothing's here?" Jake asks, human again. His arm is around Cassie's shoulders. Tears slip silently down her face.
"Sure. I can get you guys to my house." I tell him. I start moving, and Marco immediately gets up to follow me.
"Well, Erek, you now have pet to live with you." Rachel says with a grin. Jake glares at her.
"Not the time, Rachel." He says, obviously worried about his best friend. I fight to keep my hologram face from blushing at the thought of Marco as my pet.
I project my holgram around us, relieved that I don't have to concentrate on keeping my face normal. We walk out of the building, me carrying Andrea, Marco following at my heels like a faithful little puppy. I grin at the thought, knowing that I'd be blushing again if I could. I also know that I'm thinking like an idiot.
Do you think that Andrea will re-power her systems before we reach your house, Erek? Ax inquires.
"No." I say. "You hit her pretty good." I glance behind me. "Marco, please morph to gorilla and help me with Andrea. We'll get home faster."
"Sure!" He begins to morph, looking positively ecstatic to be able to help me out. He lifts Andrea's feet, and we start moving faster.
"That's freaky." Rachel remarks. Jake nods in agreement. Cassie just looks sad, though she's no longer crying.
Silence reigns for a few more minutes, until I stop walking. They look at me, confused. "We're here." I say. "Oh! You can't see through the hologram, can you?" They shake their heads.
"Demorph, Marco." Jake says, after Marco sets Andrea down. He looks at me.
Can I?
I sigh. "Yes. Go ahead."
A minute or so later, I change my hologram back to human form, but also put it around Aldrea. I pick her up, and bring her inside the house, motioning them to follow. Marco had already bounded after me.
"John?" I call, looking around the house. He comes running at Chee speed, a blur to the human eye. Not to my eye.
"You've got her. Excellent." He takes Aldrea's feet, and we both start to carry her downstairs to our 'basement'.
"Come on." I tell the Animorphs. Well, the Animorphs sans Marco. He seems to like the idea of following me everywhere.
When we reach the basement Marie, Gordon, Lance and Freida come up to us. "What happened there? Did she kill anybody?" Gordon asks anxiously. I say nothing. Jake steps forward.
"Yes." He says haltingly, looking sadly at Gordon. "We don't think anyone escaped her. She killed everyone that was working there that day. I think the call for help was made from inside the building."
Gordon doesn't look at Andrea. Neither do Freida or Lance. Maria does, but glances away again. They don't look at me, either.
"He did it for a good cause." Marco says softly, surprising us all.
Marie looks startled. "Yes, I suppose so." But still, she does not meet my eyes. I don't want her to.
"About how long will it take to repair her? Re-pear. Rea-pear." Ax asks, having morphed to human.
John sighs. "I don't know. Possibly two, three days at the least."
I scowl. "Great. Now we can't ask her what was in those test tubes."
John looks curious. "Why?"
"Because Marco's been affected by whatever was in them, or so we think, and happens to be obeying Erek's every order." Rachel says, looking annoyed.
"And if we don't find out what it was, we might not be able to get him back to normal. It affected his DNA somehow, obviously, or else morphing would have cancelled out the effects of it." Cassie says quietly, speaking for the first time since we left the chemical plant.
"Oh. Well, Andrea was telling me about her team's research about a week ago." John says, smiling. "She said that they were creating a new formula for out of control humans. It makes them completely obedient to the first person they see about a minute or so after taking the drug. Obviously, the first person Marco saw after he demorphed was Erek."
"That's awful!" Cassie exclaims. "Making someone obey you against their will!"
How long will it take to wear off or whatever? Tobias asks, ignoring Cassie.
John frowns. "Well, she said that it usually took about three weeks. But they were fine-tuning it, so it may take longer." He looks at Cassie. "Actually, it's designed to stop whatever's making the child or adult rebellious. It was mostly designed for criminals. The medication would eventually change their way of thinking when it came to breaking rules, and then the person wouldn't have to take it anymore. It was a secret formula, and in the making for quite some time. But don't worry, one small dose shouldn't do him any harm."
"Three weeks!" Jake says, his voice raised slightly. "Isn't there some way of neutrilizing it or something?"
I shake my head. "No. If it's merged with his DNA then we have to wait for his DNA to assert itself over the medication and override it."
Jake runs a hand through his hair. "Great. What if we have to go on a mission?"
"I don't know. In any case, your parents should be expecting you home sometime soon." They look at me. "Internal clock." I say. "And Marco will be fine with me."
Jake nods. "Yeah. I do have to go. Thanks, Erek."
I smile. "No problem, Jake." They leave, Tobias muttering something about an owl that chases him around if he gets back to late. I look at Marco, standing silently beside me.
"I think it's time for you to go to bed." I say. I noticed the yawn.
"It is supposed to make them sleepy after the first dose." John tells me, smiling an amused smile.
I sigh. "Alright, Marco. Go to bed." I shoo him off to the little bed in the corner of our small mini-park. Once he settles in, I turn to walk away. He whimpers.
"What is it?" I sigh.
"I... don't know. I don't want you to go." He looks up at me with wide dark eyes. "Will you stay with me?"
I swallow. "Okay. But only for a little while." I sit beside him on the small bed. He's asleep within minutes.
I get up to leave, and I'm immediately called back. "I thought you were asleep." I say, a little cross.
"I was. I just sorta... knew when you were gone."
I sigh again, and lay down beside him. "I'll stay with you. Now go to sleep."
"'Kay."
The way he agrees, and is acting so un-Marco-like is unnerving me. But in any case, he falls back to sleep again very quickly. This time, I don't try to get up.
Sleep, I order my myself. And wake up at six-thirty, unless woken up.
I have to tell myself to sleep, because I don't need to, really. But that doesn't mean I can't.
I'm asleep faster than Marco was.
--------------------
I have an adorable mental image of that picture. *squeals* So cute!
...Anyway.
O_O This is looooooong. Long for me, anyway. Longest chapter I've ever written. And a lot more cutesy, too. ^_^
Yes, I'm going to get into the whole romance scene in this story. Very soon, too.
Happy reading, the next chapter should be up soon!
Forlay: I'm gonna get to the mushy romance stuff, don't worry. And this chapter is definately more cutesy than the other ones. (I think it's impossible to do otherwise, but... whatever. X_x)
Jinako-chan: Haven't gotten around to reading your fic yet, sorry. Just got back, anyway. I wrote this down on paper and then typed it up. Took a bloody long time, too. ^_^; Anyways, BROWNIES ARE YUMMY! .... Heh. What I really meant to say is that, yes Marco's okay. As okay as he can be, attached to... Whoops, giving away this chapter. ^_^; But he's fine.
Fangrlwlotsofideas: *covers ears* Loud! ^_^; But, I continued! *holds out chapter of a silver platter* Here you go!
Alisha: This chapter is definately longer. Happy reading!
Alikat: I didn't think so, either. Said the girl that laughed when her hand got cut open. X_x Although, that might have been from shock.
Lauren: I'm baaaaaaack! *people scream* -_-; Anyways, thank you!
lunaticclowngirl: Slightly. But that doesn't mean my stories are. And no, this has no relation to #27: The Exposed.
Lady Atheilen: I did. ^_^;
THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO ALL OF THOSE WHO REVIEWED, WHETHER YOUR COMMENTS WERE NICE OR NOT. YOU BOOSTED MY REVIEW COUNT EITHER WAY! ^_^
Chapter Five (Ah, screw it. I'm not gonna rename these chapters. X_x)
"Demorph, Marco! Demorph!" I yell desperately at him, trying to get him to come out of his daze. "De. Morph!"
Yeah, yeah.
"Marco, it's me, Erek! Demorph, or you're going to die!"
Erek? His hazy mind begins to clear.
"Yes, Marco. It's Erek. Please demorph or you won't survive. Demorph. Do it now!"
//Please, please, please.// I plead with whatever higher force might exist. //Please, please let him live.//
Yeah, okay. Okay. For a few seconds, nothing happens. Then the coarse hair on his arms begins to disappear, arms returning to human, skin becoming an attractive light tan colour.
Finally, finally, Marco emergs. Dazed, confused and scared, but alive. Without even thinking, I hug him.
"You're alive!" I exclaim, blushing and releasing him.
"Yeah." He mumbles. Tears slip out of his eyes. "Yeah." But even as he cries, he begins to remorph. A tiger roars in pain.
Gotta help them. Somehow, he still seems out of it.
"Marco? Are you alright?"
Uh-huh. He says, barely listening.
I begin to get worried. This is not like Marco at all. "Demorph again, Marco. I'll make sure they're alright. Demorph. Something's wrong."
'Kay. He begins to demorph again.
"Marco, what's wrong with you? You're just agreeing with whatever I say. What happened?"
"Dunno. She kicked me a few times, stabbed me with something... a test tube, I think."
Marco, are you okay? Marco!
"Marco's fine, Cassie!" I yell. "I'll be there in a second!" She does not answer me. But Andrea does.
She runs in, her hologram dropped. "Erek!" She cries out gleefully. "You're here! Wonderful!" She holds out something to me. "This is what will free you! Free the rest of us! Take it, Erek." Andrea looks quite serious for a moment. "You want to help them in this war, Erek? Then take this. It will free you."
I shake my head, feeling sick. Is this really my friend? "Andrea, you don't know what you're saying."
"Yes, I do!" She insists.
"No, you don't, Andrea. You are acting under a chemical influence. Just calm down."
She laughs. "Oh, Erek. You're such a hypocrite. You want to fight the Yeerks, but all you can do is give information. But when you finally get the chance to help in the battle, you turn it down."
"I have fought, Andrea, and I have killed." I say quietly. "And I do not want to fight. In any case, if I used the chemical, I would be out of control like you. And there would be a very good chance that I would hurt the Animorphs and other innocent humans. Like you have."
"You are a fool, Erek." She snarls at me. "And come out from behind that idiotic hologram. You are not human, no matter how much you wish to be."
I shake my head. "You are the fool. And I don't want to be a human."
The Animorphs watch this exchange in silence. They have already demorphed and remorphed, healing their injuries. All but Marco.
"Yes, yo-u do-o." Her speech becomes slower.
"Andrea?" I ask, stepping forward.
"St-ay ba-a-a-ck, Er-r-r-e-k-k-k." She growls, her speech becoming ever slower. She also takes a step forward in a threatening manner. A very, very slow step.
She stops moving, her foot poised in mid-air.
Erek, what's happened? Jake asks, turning his tiger head to look at me. I shake my head, clearing my mind.
"I'm pretty sure she's shut down. Permanently or temporarily, I can't be sure right now." I carefully control my hologram. My human eyes had begun to show my emotions. Sadness, hurt, anger, pity. Now emotionless. At least, on the outside.
"But you should hit the weak spot anyway. She might re-boot her system somehow."
Ax whips his tail forward, the blade hitting the spot with a ringing noise.
Ow. He says.
Demorph. Jake says. He glances at Marco. What's up with him?
Marco's sitting quietly by my side, head resting against my force field and hologram leg.
"I don't know." I say, worried. "He told me Andrea stabbed him with a test tube. I think there might have been some chemicals in it. He's been obeying everything I say." I decide to try something. "Marco, morph to osprey."
He blinks innocently up at me. "Okay." The changes begin, feathers coming first.
"Alright, that's enough." I tell him, nervous now. "Demorph." He does.
This is seriously not good. Tobias remarks, preening his feathers. What happens if we're in a fight and Visser Three tells us to surrender or something?
We all look at him.
Rachel growls. "Great! We're gonna get found out because Marco's acting like the perfect obedient child."
He may only respond to one person. Ax suggests.
"Marco, say 'I'm an idiot.'" Rachel tells him with a slight grin.
Marco looks up at me. "Should I?"
"No." I say quickly.
"Well, that's good." Jake remarks, looking just a little relieved. "At least we know he won't listen to whatever a Yeerk tells him to do."
"Yeah." Rachel snarls. "He'll just run off to Erek to ask if it's okay, first."
"But why would he listen to just Erek?" Jake wonders, looking thoughtfully at me. I shrug.
I hear something. Like a big truck moving. Tobias says. He flies out a broken window, returning a few seconds later. The army's here, guys. He reports.
"Erek, can you project a hologram around us to make it look like nothing's here?" Jake asks, human again. His arm is around Cassie's shoulders. Tears slip silently down her face.
"Sure. I can get you guys to my house." I tell him. I start moving, and Marco immediately gets up to follow me.
"Well, Erek, you now have pet to live with you." Rachel says with a grin. Jake glares at her.
"Not the time, Rachel." He says, obviously worried about his best friend. I fight to keep my hologram face from blushing at the thought of Marco as my pet.
I project my holgram around us, relieved that I don't have to concentrate on keeping my face normal. We walk out of the building, me carrying Andrea, Marco following at my heels like a faithful little puppy. I grin at the thought, knowing that I'd be blushing again if I could. I also know that I'm thinking like an idiot.
Do you think that Andrea will re-power her systems before we reach your house, Erek? Ax inquires.
"No." I say. "You hit her pretty good." I glance behind me. "Marco, please morph to gorilla and help me with Andrea. We'll get home faster."
"Sure!" He begins to morph, looking positively ecstatic to be able to help me out. He lifts Andrea's feet, and we start moving faster.
"That's freaky." Rachel remarks. Jake nods in agreement. Cassie just looks sad, though she's no longer crying.
Silence reigns for a few more minutes, until I stop walking. They look at me, confused. "We're here." I say. "Oh! You can't see through the hologram, can you?" They shake their heads.
"Demorph, Marco." Jake says, after Marco sets Andrea down. He looks at me.
Can I?
I sigh. "Yes. Go ahead."
A minute or so later, I change my hologram back to human form, but also put it around Aldrea. I pick her up, and bring her inside the house, motioning them to follow. Marco had already bounded after me.
"John?" I call, looking around the house. He comes running at Chee speed, a blur to the human eye. Not to my eye.
"You've got her. Excellent." He takes Aldrea's feet, and we both start to carry her downstairs to our 'basement'.
"Come on." I tell the Animorphs. Well, the Animorphs sans Marco. He seems to like the idea of following me everywhere.
When we reach the basement Marie, Gordon, Lance and Freida come up to us. "What happened there? Did she kill anybody?" Gordon asks anxiously. I say nothing. Jake steps forward.
"Yes." He says haltingly, looking sadly at Gordon. "We don't think anyone escaped her. She killed everyone that was working there that day. I think the call for help was made from inside the building."
Gordon doesn't look at Andrea. Neither do Freida or Lance. Maria does, but glances away again. They don't look at me, either.
"He did it for a good cause." Marco says softly, surprising us all.
Marie looks startled. "Yes, I suppose so." But still, she does not meet my eyes. I don't want her to.
"About how long will it take to repair her? Re-pear. Rea-pear." Ax asks, having morphed to human.
John sighs. "I don't know. Possibly two, three days at the least."
I scowl. "Great. Now we can't ask her what was in those test tubes."
John looks curious. "Why?"
"Because Marco's been affected by whatever was in them, or so we think, and happens to be obeying Erek's every order." Rachel says, looking annoyed.
"And if we don't find out what it was, we might not be able to get him back to normal. It affected his DNA somehow, obviously, or else morphing would have cancelled out the effects of it." Cassie says quietly, speaking for the first time since we left the chemical plant.
"Oh. Well, Andrea was telling me about her team's research about a week ago." John says, smiling. "She said that they were creating a new formula for out of control humans. It makes them completely obedient to the first person they see about a minute or so after taking the drug. Obviously, the first person Marco saw after he demorphed was Erek."
"That's awful!" Cassie exclaims. "Making someone obey you against their will!"
How long will it take to wear off or whatever? Tobias asks, ignoring Cassie.
John frowns. "Well, she said that it usually took about three weeks. But they were fine-tuning it, so it may take longer." He looks at Cassie. "Actually, it's designed to stop whatever's making the child or adult rebellious. It was mostly designed for criminals. The medication would eventually change their way of thinking when it came to breaking rules, and then the person wouldn't have to take it anymore. It was a secret formula, and in the making for quite some time. But don't worry, one small dose shouldn't do him any harm."
"Three weeks!" Jake says, his voice raised slightly. "Isn't there some way of neutrilizing it or something?"
I shake my head. "No. If it's merged with his DNA then we have to wait for his DNA to assert itself over the medication and override it."
Jake runs a hand through his hair. "Great. What if we have to go on a mission?"
"I don't know. In any case, your parents should be expecting you home sometime soon." They look at me. "Internal clock." I say. "And Marco will be fine with me."
Jake nods. "Yeah. I do have to go. Thanks, Erek."
I smile. "No problem, Jake." They leave, Tobias muttering something about an owl that chases him around if he gets back to late. I look at Marco, standing silently beside me.
"I think it's time for you to go to bed." I say. I noticed the yawn.
"It is supposed to make them sleepy after the first dose." John tells me, smiling an amused smile.
I sigh. "Alright, Marco. Go to bed." I shoo him off to the little bed in the corner of our small mini-park. Once he settles in, I turn to walk away. He whimpers.
"What is it?" I sigh.
"I... don't know. I don't want you to go." He looks up at me with wide dark eyes. "Will you stay with me?"
I swallow. "Okay. But only for a little while." I sit beside him on the small bed. He's asleep within minutes.
I get up to leave, and I'm immediately called back. "I thought you were asleep." I say, a little cross.
"I was. I just sorta... knew when you were gone."
I sigh again, and lay down beside him. "I'll stay with you. Now go to sleep."
"'Kay."
The way he agrees, and is acting so un-Marco-like is unnerving me. But in any case, he falls back to sleep again very quickly. This time, I don't try to get up.
Sleep, I order my myself. And wake up at six-thirty, unless woken up.
I have to tell myself to sleep, because I don't need to, really. But that doesn't mean I can't.
I'm asleep faster than Marco was.
--------------------
I have an adorable mental image of that picture. *squeals* So cute!
...Anyway.
O_O This is looooooong. Long for me, anyway. Longest chapter I've ever written. And a lot more cutesy, too. ^_^
Yes, I'm going to get into the whole romance scene in this story. Very soon, too.
Happy reading, the next chapter should be up soon!