The Protector
Chapter #1
My name is Tobias.
When the others tell you about our, well, our adventures I guess you could call them, they explain that they can't tell you their last names, or where they live. That doesn't apply to me. I can tell you everything.
I don't know my last name--I can't remember it. I think it might have started with a B... or was it a C?
As for my home, I live in a forest. My address--a tree.
You see, I'm a hawk.
But before I say how I got to be a hawk, I'd better explain why we can't tell you our names or addresses. We- that's the Animorphs. We morph animals. Get it--Animorph, animal morpher?
We got the ability to morph animals from a dying Andalite. The Andalites are the only hope we have against the Yeerks- other than the morphing ability.
Who are the Yeerks? The Yeerks are a race of fist-shaped parasitic slugs who take over the minds of other, weaker, creatures and use them as hosts. They've already taken over the Gedds, who are sort of like monkeys, the Hork-Bajir, who are huge blade-covered monsters who used to be rather sweet, the Taxxons who are despicable worms, and now the humans. But they won't take us all over. We're going to stop the invasion.
We hope.
See, that's what we do. Using the morphing power, we follow the Yeerks' actions, see what they're going to do next. Then we try to stop it.
Sometimes, we fail miserably. Other times, we win small victories. Slowly, slowly, we're wearing down on the Yeerks. Strike, pull back, strike again, pull back.
There are problems, of course, other than the fact that we might all get killed. The morphing power has its limits. You have to be able to take over the animal's mind, which is usually easy. But sometimes it can- literally- drive you insane. And, of course, there's the time limit. If you stay in a morph for over two hours, then you're stuck in that morph. That's it. Unless, of course, some omnipotent being comes along and helps you out. That's what happened to me. I'm still a hawk, but I can morph. I even have a morph of myself.
But even with all the problems, sometimes I really get a kick out of beating the Yeerks back, saving the world again for today.
Chapter #2
But we weren't thinking about saving the world today as we walked down the street to the Community Center that foggy Thursday morning. Or at least, they walked. I flew.
"How did I get into this?" Marco groaned. Marco's a short Hispanic-looking boy who makes way too many jokes. He takes the whole 'saving the world' thing as a joke. He can help us get through our problems sometimes, though.
"Oh, come on, Marco! It's not that bad!" That was Jake. Him and Marco have been friends ever since they were both eating mashed bananas'n'carrots in a jar. Jake's our leader.
"Grow up, Jake. You're only coming because Cassie wants to." Jake blushed. You see, Jake likes Cassie. You know, as in LIKES. Cassie turned on them both.
"If you both don't shut your traps right now, I'll... I'll..." Rachel stepped in for her.
"She'll get into her skunk morph and spray you both!" Rachel is amazingly good-looking and brave. Marco calls her Xena, Warrior Princess. It fits. I sort of like Rachel, and I think she likes me okay, but I'm a hawk. I'm not sure how to think about it yet.
Cassie was looking thankfully at Rachel. Jake and Marco were making awful faces at the thought of skunk musk. You have no idea how bad it smells. And believe me, you don't want to know. I decided it was time to step in.
C'mon you guys, quit giving Cassie a hard time. She's saved your butts too many times to count- it's about time you paid her back. It's the least you can do just to go to one nature music concert. You see, that's where we were going. Cassie is a nature nut, or, in the words of Marco, tree hugger. She loves things like nature concerts and asked us to come along to the one at the Community Center. We weren't exactly thrilled at the idea, especially Marco. Marco was groaning.
"Aww, Tobias, you've always siding with the girls." I didn't reply because at that moment I caught a lovely warm thermal. Thermals are rising columns of air- great for flying. I rose high up, then glided down again back into thought-speech range. Thought-speech is what you use to talk to people when you're in a morph. As I zoomed back toward the group, I noticed they had stopped.
Hey! What is it? Rachel glanced up and put a finger to her lips, which was ironic since I wasn't making a sound. I flew down and landed on her shoulder. She pointed to a notice by a door we were passing. It said: Private meeting of the Sharing. Authorized Personnel only. Standing by the door was a tough-looking human. But we knew he wasn't really human. He was a Controller, a Yeerk host.
That's what the Sharing does- breed new Controllers. It just pretends to be a fun family organization that does things like barbecues and water-skiing.
I'd give half my beak to find out what they were talking about in that meeting.
Hey, why can I practically read Rachel's mind at the moment? I said.
"Oh good grief." Rachel said rolling her eyes. "But yes, let's go in, cockroach perhaps?" She asked.
We all exchanged glances. Cockroach was probably the only insect morph we had that everyone could agree on, since we hadn't had any really bad incidents with them yet, except for Jake getting sprayed one time.
"Cockroach it is then." Jake said. We found a little alleyway where no one would probably come. They all shed off their outer clothes to reveal their morphing suits and took off their shoes. You see, you can only morph skin tight clothing, since any other clothing just falls off if you shrink, and- um, becomes a little small when you get larger. Shoes are out of the question, they always explode or get shed. I didn't really have any clothes to take off.
"Oh, man, I said it about a hundred times, and I'll say it once more." Marco stated. "We look like refugees from the circus."
"Yes, Marco, we've heard it a million times, and now lets stop talking and start morphing. I want to get through this as quickly as possible. We're missing the concert!" Cassie said, and started to morph.
Now morphing isn't exactly the prettiest thing, and in my case its even uglier, since its generally from red-tailed hawk to something different, but Cassie has this uncanny ability to make it less stomach churning, maybe even pretty. We all followed her example.
Generally when you morph to something smaller than yourself, the first sensation you have is falling slowly, like jumping off the Sears Tower in slow motion. I didn't have to "fall" as much, but still fell. My feathers on my back hardened and became glossy. I could feel my bones squish and turn to mush. My organs shifted around to accommodate the cockroach body. Huge feelers grew out of my forehead while my eyesight diminished. Huge legs sprouted from my sides while the final changes completed.
Oh man, this roach morph isn't one of my favorites. Rachel commented. Whenever they were in morph, they could use thought speak, or using your head to talk if that's what you want to call it.
We started to walk through the cracks in the wall, slowly making our way
towards the place where the Sharing meeting was taking place. I wondered what was going to be going on in there.
Lost in my thoughts, I nearly collided head on with another cockroach.
Hey, Marco are you chickening out? I asked. There was no answer from the roach. Hey, who is that? I asked. There was still no answer. I wasabout to conclude that this was a normal cockroach, but I just felt that it wasn't just a roach. It backed away from me and scurried off.
Did you guys see that? I asked.
What? Rachel asked.
Oh, nothing. I replied. Just a strange cockroach. We traveled for a little while before finding a ray of light at the end of a crack in the wall. We went through the crack and heard voices talking. The meeting was just beginning.
"As you all know, we have a new plan for our invasion. We've decided on a new approach for the Sharing meetings. Not enough people have been coming. It seems too 'uncool', and people only join if someone they know is on it. So we're going to get someone everyone knows to join it." Jake winced at the voice, and no wonder. It was the voice of Tom, his brother. Tom's a Controller. The Yeerks don't care if they break up families.
"But we tried that before, and it didn't work." I remembered the incident the Controller was relating to well. The Yeerks had taken over a movie star to enter the Sharing, but we had stopped their scheme. I scuttled about a little. My cockroach body was nervous because of the bright overhead lights. Cockroaches hate light.
"This time, we will do it right." Tom, or the Yeerk in his head, spoke in a way which did not allow objections. The Controller who had brought it up shut his mouth. Wise move. The Yeerks love to kill anyone who does the least bit thing wrong. Tom was continuing. "This time, we're going to get-"
"Sir! There are several small bugs on the floor!" The Controllers instantly began murmuring and looking around. To most people, seeing a couple of cockroaches on the floor would mean nothing. But to Controllers, it meant the Andalite bandits, in morph.
That's what they think we are- Andalites. We never morph back to human in front of them, or use thought-speak. They might be able to tell then that we're humans, and blow our cover.
"Oh, they're probably just bugs." Some Controller muttered. "You don't need to make a fuss." He was obviously new. Tom looked at him in fury.
"We'll get to you later." he growled. "Kill the bugs! Or better yet, don't kill them! Capture them, if you can!" The Controllers instantly leapt for us.
Scatter! Rachel screamed. She didn't need to- our roach bodies knew exactly what humans meant. We scattered. Feet slammed down around us and hands groped around.
Ha ha! Marco gasped out. They're way to slow to- AAAAAAH! Suddenly Marco was caught up in a huge hand and lifted.
Marco! I shouted. Then suddenly a hand grabbed me too. I tried to squirm out but could not move. I heard Rachel and Cassie yelling too. We had all been captured! I tried to bite, or sting, or something, but a roach's weapon is its' armor. We were helpless! Suddenly a roar rent the air.
GGGGGRRRRRRROOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGKKKKKK! I gasped inwardly as the Controllers around me suddenly scattered- and not on their own, either. I could hardly believe my lame roach eyes as a huge velicoraptor (you know, the smart dinosaurs in Lost World) leapt through the fallen Controllers and began prying fingers open. Believe me, the Controllers didn't let the dino rip apart their hands- they let us go fast. I stood on the floor, my roach brain terrified at the lights and huge monster ahead of me, not sure what to do.
Run, you idiots! I didn't know who said it, but I took the advice. I ran as fast as my little roach legs would carry me and managed to find my way out of that building. Everyone else poured out behind me. We hurried off back to the alley to demorph.
Who the heck was that? I asked, in hawk form again. Rachel finished morphing and her skin became pink.
"I have no idea." she said, with a frown.
We finally got to the concert, shall I say, somewhat late? Cassie's parents were there, wondering where the heck we had been.
"Where were you?" Cassie's mom asked, in her nervous mother voice. "We thought that you had been mugged or something."
"Of course not mom." Cassie defended. "We just stopped into McDonaldsfor a quick shake."
"Well, next time tell us." Cassie's dad said. "The concert started about fifteen minutes ago." We rushed up into the theater, myself in human morph, and got into the concert.
We were all in our seats, listening to the music. Marco was making a face that looked like he was in agony. Rachel looked like she was about ready to strangle him. I was pondering, only half listening to the music. A velociraptor? I asked myself. They're dinosaurs, and dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years! Unless this was some alien that was able to travel through time, which was very unlikely, then what, or who was it? We had to find out, since they seemed to be on our side.
"What's wrong Tobias?" Jake asked me. Apparently, he noticed my pondering look.
"That was a velociraptor in the Sharing meeting." I replied. "A DINOSAUR. Isn't that a little odd to you?"
"I have to admit, you don't see it every day." Jake replied.
"This is obviously some sort of being that wants to help us." I said.
"A being that can travel through time?" Jake asked. "That's a little far fetched, except for an Ellimist, but they wouldn't use such an approach. This is definitely some different being."
"Do you think that maybe its an Andalite, and maybe they have developed some new technology that would allow them to acquire deceased animals?" I asked.
"Not likely." Jake replied. "They don't develop new technologies THAT quickly."
"I think we should ask Ax." I said.
"I definitely think you're right." Jake replied.
"Hush you guys!" Cassie whispered to us. "The music is going on, and I don't think that you should be talking about dinos or Andalites when we're in here!"
We stopped talking, and tried to listen to the music, but my mind was too preoccupied. I settled down, anxious to get to Ax to ask him.
Chapter #3
In a few hours, the concert finally ended. I say 'finally' because it really wasn't my type of music- though it wasn't bad. 'Finally' also because I kept having to go to the bathroom to morph out and back into our human forms, and I was getting tired. Rapid morphing tires you out big time. Cassie's parents decided to drive home, while we just decided to walk. It was nice to walk on the ground for a change, but nothing will compare to flying the thermals. We walked for a while, Cassie and Rachel on one end of the street, and Jake, Marco, and I on the other end. We did this so it didn't look like we were hanging out together, because then people might put two and two together, and that person might be a Controller. I was squinting with my human eyes which seemed so weak after hawks' eyes, looking in shop windows, when I noticed something strange.
"Hey, look, you guys." I said, pointing in the window of a Golden Corral restaurant. It was brightly lit and we could see inside easily. Across the restaurant in a corner table sat two men. One of the men looked nervous. The other man was stuffing himself- with grated cheese and -get this- mustard packets. "Refresh my memory. Ax isn't here, right?" You see, Andalites don't have mouths in their normal (if you can call a huge blue deer with a human torso and four eyes normal) bodies, so when they get at food the flavor drives them slightly nuts. Marco looked at me like I was insane.
"Well, gee, I wonder. I don't see a terminally cute guy around here anywhere, and he wouldn't be roaming the streets otherwise, so I sort of think he's not here." Rachel glared at Marco.
"He stayed behind in the forest because he wasn't feeling well, Tobias. Don't you remember?" I was shaking my head.
"Yes, I know! I remember where he is. But if Ax's in the forest, then who's that?" I pointed to the man gobbling the cheese and mustard. The other man who was sitting with him appeared to be begging him to stop. For a moment the man turned toward us. Cassie hissed.
"Chapman! And that must be-" I nodded.
"Visser Three. Come on, let's go."
Visser Three was the only Yeerk who had managed to acquire an Andalite. Because of this, he was able to morph and had the high rank of 'Visser'. He was our worst and most hated enemy. He had killed prince Elfangor, the dying Andalite who had given us the morphing power. As for Chapman, he was a high-ranking Controller- and also our assistant principal.
Jake went up and told Cassie and Rachel what we were going to do. They came in after us, so no one would notice. We went in and went to the restroom, where we would morph. Fly was the decided morph, although we would have to watch the fly's mind, because being in a restaurant in a fly's view was that it had died and gone to heaven. The girls came in after us, and we flew around the counter for a moment while we waited for them.
Well, okay, now where do we go? Rachel asked.
Hmm, I said, and looked around with my terrible fly compound eyes. After a moment, I saw a place that was blocked off by a couple of guards. There! I said. Follow me. We flew towards the guards, looking like just a few flies.
We got up there in time to hear one of the guards say to a guy that this area was reserved for someone important.
Here we go. Jake said. I wonder why they're meeting in a restaurant?
Apparently, Visser Three wanted to try food out. I muttered, remembering the gorging Controller. As we came close to Chapman and Visser Three, we heard the buzz of speech. I frantically worked at sorting it out- I was not used to the fly morph which I had acquired only recently. Finally I managed to figure out what they were saying.
"So explain this to me again. What exactly does this... this Regieg scanner do?" Visser Three asked. Chapman had finally managed to stop his out-of- control eating. Our assistant principal sighed like one who had explained something many times.
"The Regieg scanner, when activated, will tell if there is an Andalite in morph anywhere in a fifty-foot radius of the spot where it was activated." Visser Three made a face.
"Only fifty feet? What's the use of it then?" Chapman looked slightly nervous, as if his life was on the line, which it was.
"You can check suspicious people, Visser. Also, we can place Regieg scanners in certain places to monitor if any Andalites arrive. We can even rig them up with an alarm that warns us when they are coming." Visser Three smiled.
"Good. That is very good, indeed! Try it out now." Shrugging, Chapman brought out a fist-sized object that looked vaguely like a fish. As he began pressing its buttons, alarm shot through me.
Out! We've got to get out of here! Everyone haul butt! I flew crazily away from the table as fast as I could, then slowed as I realized no one was following me. Hey! What's the deal? Come on, you guys! Marco laughed.
Ah, Bird-boy, we're not Andalites. I felt stupid, to say the least.
Riiiight. I calmly flew back just in time to hear Chapman say,
"An Andalite! There is one here!" Visser Three leapt up, knocking over his chair.
"Where? Where?!" Chapman pressed buttons furiously, then calmed visibly.
"Oh." Visser Three looked at him like he was turning orange and sprouting tentacles.
"What do you mean, Oh? Where's the Andalite? I'll have his head!!!!" Chapman, looking sheepish, looked up at his leader.
"I'm afraid you already do, Visser. Ah- you're an Andalite in morph." Visser Three sat down quickly, embarrassed, waving a dismissal at the alerted guards.
"Of course. I knew that. Just- testing you, of course." Rachel snickered. Jake murmured,
The leader of the Yeerk invasion on Earth and he doesn't even know what race he is! We all had to laugh at that, and I nearly forgot to keep my hold on the ceiling in my glee. We slowly calmed down and heard Chapman saying,
"I'll test the students in my classes today. There's something strange about them- I don't know what it is, but I don't trust them." Visser Three snorted.
"Andalites wouldn't go to SCHOOL, Chapman." The assistant principal shrugged.
"I don't know, maybe they want to learn about Earth." Visser Three nodded slowly.
"Perhaps. Yes, do check them. It would not hurt." With that, both of them rose, the meeting apparently over.
We'd better go. Jake said, and we hurried off to the bathrooms to morph again. We had hidden our extra clothes (you can't morph anything other than minimal clothing- it gets shredded) in the trash cans, and luckily no janitor had been through. We hurried out into the dusk, worrying about the new developments. I walked with Marco and Jake towards their home before I morphed out and went home. Like I said before, my address is a tree behind Cassie's house. I was kinda anxious to get home because I needed to watch my territory for any other hawk rivals and so I could talk to Ax. Red- tailed hawks are very territorial, and I have a pretty good territory, so I have to guard it sort of well.
Chapter #4
I flew slowly, wondering who the heck was that velociraptor, and how the heck he or she got the morph of a velociraptor. Ax explained to me once a little bit about DNA, and that it degrades over time, loosing a piece as it multiplies. After a while, there is no way one could acquire the animal.
I landed in the tree I usually spent the night in. One of the things I miss about being human is really sleeping, I mean, out like a light sleeping. When you're a hawk, you only half sleep, since raccoons have a tendency to climb up and snatch a red-tail when he least expects it.
Ax? I called out. There was no answer for a moment, but then I picked up the slight sound of galloping hooves. Ax lives with me in the woods, so we're kinda like roommates, if that's how you like to put it. He appeared galloping from behind me. He pawed the ground slightly, and looked up at me.
Hello, Tobias, he said. How was the concert?
Great, but something went that was unexpected. I replied.
And what was that? Ax asked.
We were walking to the theater, I explained. and saw a meeting of the Sharing that seemed to be pretty important. We went in, and eavesdropped for a little while, and got inside where they saw us. We scattered, but unfortunately, we were captured. We probably would have been goners, but a velociraptor jumped in!
Velociraptor? Ax asked, confused.
Its a type of dinosaur, that became extinct millions of years ago. I explained.
That's impossible. Ax said bluntly. DNA would have degraded too much to be able to be able to acquire by this time.
I figured you would say that. I said. Is there any type of alien that could do that?
We have never shared our morphing technology with other species, except for Elfangor's situation. Ax said. Unless this is a special breed ofAndalite, which is very unlikely, then this is an impossible situation. Go on with your story.
Well, I continued. This was starting to sound like some sort of old excuse some kid would use on his mom if he was late for dinner. After the concert, we walked past a Golden Corral and saw our old friend Visser Three stuffing his face with mustard packets.
At least I'm not alone on that part. Ax said, using his eyes to sort of give a smile.
We morphed roaches, and snuck up on him. They were talking about something called a Regieg scanner, that could find anyone in morph within fifty feet, and Chapman is going to try it out on the kids in school! This means the others! I said nervously.
We've got to get to that device, and destroy it. Ax said bluntly. I totally agreed.
The next morning, I took a long flight. The other Animorphs had to go to school, except for Ax, of course. But I could ride the wind! I rose as I caught a lovely warm thermal, a pillar of warm air. My mind was whirling with thoughts about what had happened yesterday. Who could this strange rescuer be? It couldn't be a real velicoraptor, could it? Did dinosaurs get hold of time machines? What if it was some alien species that happened to look like a dinosaur? What if- My thoughts were suddenly broken as I noticed a bird, a peregrine falcon. That wasn't too strange, although there weren't many of those around. The strange part was that the bird was flying oddly, as if it didn't know how to fly. Either it was injured, or, well, that was the way we flew when in morph, not being used to flying.
Hey! Rachel? Marco? Is that you? Anybody? The falcon jogged in its flight slightly, but did not reply. I was thinking it over when I noticed something. Down on the ground below was a man, who was aiming at the falcon. He was too close to miss.
Hey! You falcon there! Move your butt! Get out of there! I knew I could do nothing- animals couldn't hear our thought-speech. I was about to fly away when I noticed that the falcon had- somehow, heard me! It was getting out of there as fast as possible. I could see, rather than hear, the hunter below swearing.
I finally decided, this was definitely a being in morph over there. I banked around and started to follow the red-tail. She (I use "she" because this was a female, and I didn't know who it was, so "she" was going to do.) seemed not to notice for a while, and flew east.
Oh good grief, not another one. She said. It definitely was a she! I didn't know who she was though. She sounded human, but Andalite. My mind was very confused. She banked around, and headed straight towards me.
"TSSSEEEERRRRR!" She cried, and raked my back. I was unharmed, but frazzled. Now why would she do that? Grr! Get out of here! Stupid males, won't leave me alone for a second. I've got to get a different bird morph. She said. Apparently, she thought I was a normal red-tail, boy was she ever wrong. She banked off again, and headed at top speed towards the east again. I tried to follow her, but she had dove into the trees, not allowing me to see her, even with my super-sharp hawk eyes. This was definitely something I needed to take to Ax.
Chapter #5
I landed on a branch just above the stream where Ax drank. He was there now, taking a drink. Now, I probably explained to you that Andalites have no mouths, so how the heck was Ax taking a drink you ask? Well, its strange, but he absorbs grass and water through his hooves! He seems slightly embarrassed about it, because he never talked about it before.
Hey Ax-man. I said with a friendly tone. "Ax-man" is my nickname for him.
Hello, Tobias. Ax replied. I thought you were out hunting. I have almost totally reverted to a hawk's natural behavior, that means hunting for mice and the like.
I was, but I bumped into our velociraptor friend again. I said.
Oh? Ax asked with curiosity.
She was definitely in a rotten mood. I said.
She? Ax asked with even more interest.
Yes, and there are two reasons I call her "She." I explained. First off, she had a red-tail morph of a female, and because I think I annoyed her a little, and she blew off at me, thinking that I was a natural hawk, even though I had warned her about a hunter. Something was definitely on her mind.
Well, did you find out who she is, I mean, species wise? Ax asked. One can find out another's species by just listening to the accent.
I did, I replied. But she boggled me. She sounded human, but she also sounded Andalite. Do you think that maybe she is something like a shape shifter?
No, Ax said. She definitely isn't that. Frankly, I don't know what she is.
Chapter #6
We met in Cassie's barn after school. We were going to discuss how to get at the Regieg scanner, and everyone had a lot to say. I didn't have a chance to get a word in edgewise about the mysterious morpher.
"You won't believe this!" Rachel was almost squealing. "Chapman came in today and scanned us! He knocked out one of our teachers, probably- she wasn't there. Then he showed us some dumb video about whales-"
"It wasn't dumb!" Cassie interjected. "It was fascinating." Rachel sighed.
"Okay, he showed us a fascinating video about whales. And he kept changing things with the remote control. Only it wasn't the remote control- it was the Regieg scanner! You know how it looks similar?" I was beginning to understand, but Ax looked about as confused as an Andalite can.
What is a remote control? What is... video? Marco rolled his eyes.
"Remember television, Ax?"
Yes, of course! Ax said. Your primitive, strangely two-dimensional, television.
"Yes, our primitive two dimensional TV." Marco said with surprising patience. Surprising for him, at least. "A remote control is a device we use to, uh, manipulate this television we have. Video is a way of showing things on television." Ax still looked confused, but he was beginning to get it.
Ah, I see. Video is the alternative to short-wave laser transmitting with GRD! Of course. And what does the Regieg scanner have to do with it? Marco opened his mouth to explain, but Rachel jumped in.
"The Regieg scanner is shaped like a remote control, Ax. They look similar. So Chapman was pretending he was changing channels- but he was really checking if any of us were Andalites."
"He did it during every period." Jake said. "It's lucky this wasn't the day you decided to learn more about humans' schools, Ax."
"They're going to post scanners all over." Cassie said, sounding worried. "We've got to steal the technology before they can."
"Wait!" Jake interjected. "It's really not going to be that much of a problem. The only one they will be able to track is Ax."
I'd rather not be tracked, if that is acceptable. Ax said, sounding tense. I decided it was time to mention the morpher I had seen.
Hey, you guys. Before we go screaming off smashing machinery, can I tell you about something I've seen? They turned to me.
"What is it, Tobias?" Marco asked. "Some especially tasty mice over by your tree?" I dutifully ignored him and continued.
Remember that velicoraptor? Well, this morning I was out flying and I noticed a red-tailed hawk, like me. Now, I'm the only one around, so I was slightly suspicious. Then I noticed how it was flying. Strange, like it didn't know the wind too well. Like you, when you first started out. Rachel was frowning.
"Did you go closer?"
Sure I did. And the strangest thing was, it attacked me! It was a red-tail female, a pretty good-looking one too.
"Oooooh, Bird-boy's in looove." Marco hissed. I glared at him, which is easy with hawk eyes, and looked nervously at Rachel. She was smiling. I continued.
Anyway, it seemed hawk males had been bothering her all morning, so she thought I was just another suitor. She said something about, males bothering her and having to get another morph. Then she scratched me and flew off. Still hurts. Cassie was frowning.
"She certainly doesn't sound dangerous. Could you tell if she was an Andalite?" I bobbed my head up and down, slightly flustered.
That was the strangest thing. She sounded sort of like a cross between human and Andalite, or a mix. I couldn't distinguish the accents too well. They sat in silence, digesting that.
"Well, I think we should form a flying patrol, check out the area. If we notice strange animals, we check. But we can mostly look for Controllers putting up scanners. We can follow Chapman tomorrow- he'd be home already by now." That was a perfectly legitimate idea, so we morphed into our various birds, except me of course, and headed out across the town, in the direction of the mall. We were flying spread out over a residential area when I noticed someone who seemed engrossed with something in their hand.
Chapter #7
There!
Right there! Ax and I noticed it in the same moment. We all banked around, circling above the man.
That's a Regieg scanner all right. Jake said. Our ultra-sharp eyes could pick out the brand name on the guy's sweater, let alone a remote-control sized blinking object.
Hey! Rachel said. It's Chapman! It was. Chapman was walking along the street, fiddling with the scanner.
He must be on his way home, and decided to try out his scanner. Marco said. Hey! It looks like he's found something! Chapman looked up sharply and pointed at a man walking along further down the street, talking to a girl about our age.
"Andalite!" he hissed. The man heard him and turned in shock. Chapman whipped out his Dracon beam and some sort of radio. As he was struggling to juggle them all at once, I took action.
Let's go! I shrieked. We screamed down on the Controller, screeching with our birds' voices. We were so intent on putting him out that we didn't notice when the girl the man had been talking to screamed for him to get inside. She looked around nervously, then ducked behind a bush. Only twenty seconds later, a red-tailed hawk flew out of the bush, screaming loudly. I heard the words in the scream and stopped scratching at Chapman's bald scalp. The bird was yelling-
You're not going to hurt my uncle, you obnoxious slug! Chapman was swearing and swinging at us. Rachel had grabbed the Dracon beam and dropped it in a gutter. I pulled away from his head and flew at the bird.
Shut up! He'll get your accent! Who are you? The bird slowed in her flight, then suddenly shot off. I was about to call out to her when Rachel called out.
All right! I've got the scanner! Let's get out of here before, well, I don't know. Let's go! I stopped wondering about the odd bird and shot off. Seven birds, one holding what looked like a remote control, flew back across the neighborhood, leaving a swearing Chapman behind and a shocked- looking woman in a bathrobe with shampoo in her hair staring after them.
Chapter #8
We all flew back to Cassie's house, with about fifteen minutes left before time would be up. Everyone morphed out, except for me, and Ax stayed an Andalite, since Cassie's parents weren't home at the moment we got in there, so we wouldn't have any unexpected visitors. Rachel, still holding the Regieg scanner, tossed it a couple times up in the air and then handed it to Ax.
This is definitely new technology. He commented, examining the little remote control like device. It must have been a Yeerk that was smarter than the average Yeerk.
"And his name must have been Yogi the Yeerk." Marco said, then with a perfect Yogi the Bear voice, "Hey Boo Boo!" We all collapsed laughing at Marco, relaxed now that the ordeal was somewhat over. I couldn't collapse though, and Ax didn't get the joke.
Who is this Yogi? Ax asked, confused.
Don't even ask Ax. I replied.
After everyone had calmed down slightly, Jake said, "Okay, now that we've got this Regieg scanner, what do we do with it?"
Well, I know the first thing we can do with it. Ax said, setting the scanner on the ground. Suddenly, FFWAP! the scanner was in two pieces. FFWAP! FFWAP! FFWAP! now eight. He gathered the eight pieces of the scanner, and said, We should take these to the ocean, and throw them in. The sea water should be enough to corrode them to the point of irretrievability.
"Well, I could only understand up to the throwing them in part, but okay, let's go skip some technology on the ocean." Marco said.
"Wait just a sec," Rachel interrupted before we could all bombard out the door. "Cassie, didn't you say that the Yeerks were putting up scanners all over school?"
"Yes, what are you saying?" Cassie asked, unsure.
"Well, if this is anything like Terminator 2, we'll have to destroy all evidence of the technology, that means getting rid of ALL the scanners, and maybe even the instructions." Rachel explained. "Otherwise, they could create another one without so much as a blink."
We all paused, soaking this in, then Jake said, "You're right. We'll need to get into the Yeerk pool where they almost undoubtedly keep the instructions, and if they aren't in there, we can just create a little havoc." We all nodded, and we all took a couple pieces of the now deceased scanner, myself taking one piece and Ax going human for the walk. I took to the air and followed them below.
As we went, I listened to the conversation going on below me between Jake, Ax, and Marco.
"Who do you think this new morpher is?" Jake queried casually, in a whisper though, in case there would be any listeners hiding somewhere.
"Well, Tobias said that she's an Andalite mix." Marco said. "So maybe we have another Spock, I dunno."
"Either way, she definitely wants to help us, but why all the secrecy? Why do whenever we try to strike up a conversation with her, she disappears?" Jake asked.
"Maybe she just is shy, and just appears like we do." Ax said.
"Well, I dunno, but she definitely is a threat to the Yeerks." Jake stated. "She can morph a raptor for crying out loud!"
I can see the ocean up ahead you guys. I stated, as we got closer and
closer to the shore. After we dumped these pieces, we could then begin our rampage against the Regieg counters.
Chapter #9
We were walking back from the ocean (yes, walking- we had morphed out in the forest and walked home, except me and Ax, of course) with me flying overhead when I noticed a girl running around nearby. Something about her struck me as, well, familiar somehow. I quickly said my goodbyes and flew off to investigate. It was very strange. She was just running around in circles in her bare feet- which was also strange as it was still winter and though the air was warm, the grass certainly wasn't. I circled overhead and looked at her carefully. I couldn't recognize her from anywhere, but there still was some sort of familiarity- I couldn't understand it. Suddenly she spoke, almost in a whisper.
"I never knew grass could taste so good. To think I missed it all those years..." Bewildered, I flew off. Grass? Good? Andalites ate grass... could this girl be the mysterious morpher, who had an undistinguishable accent? I banked suddenly and flew back to where she had been, but she was gone, apparently done with her 'meal'. What kind of species could she possibly be? Some new alien we hadn't heard of? But she had an Andalite 'accent'. Sort of. It was too much for one hawk to sort out. I flew over the forest, deciding to leave it until later. Besides, I was hungry.
The next day, I found Rachel and flew high enough above her not to attract attention, but close enough to keep my link.
Are you going to try to find and disable the scanners? She nodded almost imperceptibly. What can I do? Rachel looked around, and risked speaking aloud. I flew down a little so as to hear easily.
"We'll dump the scanners out by the Dumpsters." she whispered. "You can pick them up and dispose of them somewhere so they won't notice."
I can do that. I said, swooping around in the cool morning air. I'll see if I can get Ax to help, too. Rachel nodded slightly again and started back off for school. I went straight up on a slowly rising thermal, surprising at such an early time in the day, when the air wasn't too hot. I headed out over the forest, Rachel and the other few scattered humans there shrinking into colored dots.
That night, we all met at Jake's house, since Cassie's dad was going to be doing some things with the barn, we couldn't exactly meet there. The plan was go sneak in, tear down the scanners, hack them apart, then take them to the ocean once we had gotten them all. It was going to be one of those tense missions, where even a pin dropping sets you on end.
"So, here we go, on another suicide mission." Marco stated. "This is really bad for my health, you realize that." We chuckled nervously, since this was, like I said, another one of those tense missions.
"What are we going to use as the morph? Orph?" Ax asked, making extra sounds. Ax is an Andalite, which I have already stated. That means that they have no mouths, so having a mouth is like having the greatest toy in the world to them. Poor Ax, you don't even want to hear about his food frenzies.
"Well, my guess is that we use our bird morphs, get in, then morph to something a little more dangerous." Jake explained. "It will be Marco and Ax doing the disabling, since they will be the only one among us with opposable thumbs."
"Thank you very much." Marco replied, taking a bow.
"Okay, you stage taker, let's go!" Rachel said. For once, Marco didn't make a remark about Xena, Warrior Princess. I can almost swear, for all this time, before we were Animorphs, there was an Amazon warrior inside her, just screaming to get out and cause a little havoc.
We all (Well, not all, since I already was a bird, and Ax had to morph from human to Andalite to owl.) started to morph, and I shut my eyes, since morphing isn't exactly pretty. Only Cassie is the one who can make it look artistic. No offense to the others, but you don't even want to see some of the morphs we had to use that were really gross. They just have to let it fly, and each time we morph its somewhat different. I heard Marco chuckle once he could use thought-speak.
What? I asked.
I was just wondering, what would our reply be if someone came up and asked what we did in our spare time? I understood exactly what he was talking about. Everyone else finished up their morphs, and we flew out into the night sky, myself having to be guided by them since I didn't have a night bird morph.
Chapter #10
I wonder what would happen if a non controller found us? Marco queried as we went down the halls.
We had snuck in through an open window, although it was a tight fit, since their wing spans were larger than the window.
Let's see, he would probably have a heart attack and be scarred for life. Cassie replied. We laughed nervously. Marco was in his gorilla morph, myself as myself, Ax as an Andalite, Jake as a tiger, Cassie as a wolf, and Rachel as a bear. It would really drive a person insane if they saw us at the moment.
Well, here we go, scanner number one. Rachel said as we found the first of the remote control shaped detectors.
They shouldn't be activated yet. Ax said, I am guessing that they are run as a network.
Well, good, I don't want any unexpected visitors. I replied. Not to mention, if one of those things go off, we're screwed.
Marco reached up and plucked it from its perch on the wall. He brought it down and handed it to Ax. You may do the honors of the first Regieg scanner. It took only a moment for Ax to understand what he was saying, then FFWAP! FFWAP! FFWAP! FWAPP! the scanner was no more. He put the pieces into a bag that Jake was holding in his teeth.
We took about an hour going through each of the halls, looking for any other scanners. We had collected about ten when we saw the last one, or at least I did.
There! I cried. I think that that's the last one. We were walking towards it, and then we could call it a night.
BWOOP BWOOP BWOOP BWOOP BWOOP! An ear piercing alarm rang through my head, and wouldn't stop if the world was coming to an end.
Oh man! Cassie cried. Let's get out of here!
This must be one that was activated individually. Ax reasoned, trying to keep his cool.
Well, I don't care if it was activated while some fat guy was eating a jelly donut! Marco yelled over the alarm. Let's make like a tree and leave!
"Hold it right there Andalites!" A voice hissed from behind us. "You won't get away this time!" I immediately recognized it as Chapman's voice. I turned around, and there were about ten Hork-Bajir, five Taxxons, and Chapman, all with Dracon beams aimed right at us. We turned around again and there were about five more Taxxons behind us now. We were totally and utterly trapped.
Ax made a sort of growling noise and leapt forward. The Controllers backed up slightly, lifting their Dracon guns higher.
Stop, Ax! I cried. You'll just get yourself killed! Reluctantly, the Andalite stepped back. Chapman lifted his weapon, and we were herded like, well, like animals to a math classroom, of all places. I looked around with mild surprise. I had always thought Mrs. Baknoor was very strange. Chapman went around behind her desk and did something we couldn't see, and a large portion of the floor opened up. The opening was utterly black, and I could hear screams coming from deep down. I knew instantly what it was. A doorway to the Yeerk pool.
You see, the Yeerks have a weakness. They must absorb Kandrona rays, which they would normally get from their sun, every three days in order to survive. And they have to get out of their host's head to do so. That's why they made Yeerk pools- huge, horrible slimy things with thousands of Yeerks all sliming around together. The screams come from the involuntary hosts when they realize where they are. Not that they didn't know, but when they regain control of themselves again.
That's where we knew we were headed when they pushed us into that hole.
We fell.
The hole was the top of a chute, and the chute led to a blank room. The chute was actually a dropshaft, Yeerk technology which was like an elevator without the elevator box. You think where you want to go, and the elevator takes you there.
Only now we went where the Yeerks wanted us to go.
We landed, and a horde of Controllers forced us into a too-small cage. Several times one of us tried to break free, but it was to no avail.
We were really, and truly, stuck.
Finally, we relaxed a bit, which means we stopped snarling at the Controllers.
How much time? Cassie asked weakly.
Half an hour. Ax said glumly.
We're in for it now, folks! Marco moaned. We are doomed! Kaput! And that means Earth is doomed! Kaput!
How many times have you said that in the past week, Marco? Rachel tried weakly to joke. I tried frantically to think of something reassuring or funny to say, and failed. We were sitting in gloom when suddenly there walked up to us an Andalite.
Chapter #11
Visser Three.
He walked around the cage, grinning evilly as he seems to like to do.
Well, my Andalite friends, it seems you are finally caught.
We'll never surrender to you, Yeerk scum! Ax snarled. Visser Three cocked his head and thought.
Why is it always you who talks, child, and none of the others? And why are you out of morph, while the others remain in these pitiful animal shapes? He glanced at me. I boiled but knew I could do nothing.
Do you really think, Ax said carefully, That a handful of humans could be giving you all the trouble you're getting? We held our breath. The Visser thought.
No. We sat back in relief. Of course not. But it is... odd. Very odd. Perhaps you are all children... Rachel apparently took that as an insult and threw herself against the bars. It was all she could do to keep from screaming insults at the Andalite standing calmly outside the bars. Temper, temper, my Andalite friend. After all, there is nothing you can do. Unless you have another one of your tricks up your sleeve? A monster to rescue you, perhaps? I thought suddenly of the mysterious rescuer. It would be the perfect time... but nothing happened. As I thought, the Visser brought out a small device. Speaking of tricks, I take it you've heard of our new little devices? We stared in horror. You seem to like chopping them up. It hurts my feelings. Absently, the Andalite-Controller pressed a button.
GRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGG! Suddenly, a scene from the Lost World leapt around the corner. A gigantic Tyrannosaurus Rex, sometimes called King of the Dinosaurs, slashed its way through the Hork-Bajir as if they were grass blades to a lawn mower. My heart leaped as the monster came up to a cowering Visser Three. But instead of slashing him to pieces, the T- Rex dropped something at the Visser's feet, then dashed back out to slash up some more Hork-Bajir. The Hork-Bajir were quickly becoming fewer, and not just because they were running off.
I looked in interest at what the dinosaur had dropped at the Visser's feet. It was what appeared to be the shredded remains of a couple dozen Regieg scanners, along with something that looked like a blue cylinder, well crunched. The Visser ran his fingers through the debris, let out a moan, and headed for the doors like there was a T-Rex on his tail- which there was. The Controllers gone, the huge dinosaur came over to our cage and picked the lock. That is to say, is ripped the side open. We poured out, cautiously.
Hurry! The dinosaur said simply, and I caught again that strange mix of accents. We hurried to the dropshaft.
We flew towards the dropshaft, Jake tearing through a Taxxon who happened to be in our way. I followed the very huge T-rex towards the drop shaft, who enlarged it so she could fit through. School, I thought, but my thoughts were interrupted by a very large KABOOM! She had planted a bomb in the Yeerk pool! It didn't do much damage though, but I get the distinct feeling that about two or three uninhabited cages, and a portion of the Yeerk pool. Maybe some of the Yeerks were killed! I resumed my thought, and zoomed up the shaft. I saw Marco trying to "swim as he fell up.
Ugh, I'll never get used to these dropshafts! He said as he floundered in the air. We got back to the school, which was a very tight fit, considering that our mysterious friend took almost all of the room. Cassie, Ax, and I got into the hallway, where we could make a little extra room. Everyone except Ax and I morphed out. Our friend stayed in her morph, unsure of what to do.
Okay, that's it! Rachel said, still using thought speak. She was obviously tired with our friend coming and leaving, coming and leaving, even if she got us out of tight spots. Who are you? What are you? How can you morph dinos?
Yes, if you are not an Ellimist, or an Andalite, then why do you help us? Ax asked.
C'mon out with it! Marco said. You won't be able to leave with that bulk of a morph, and someone is sure to see you, so just morph out and get on with it! It's not like we're going to kill you.
I could almost detect a toothy smile on that T-rex. Then she began to morph.
At first, they were only little changes, then the actual demorphing began. The scales on the dinosaur began to melt together to create pink skin. She slowly sunk in size, going to about our size. The three claws on her puny arms began to become five fingers, while a blue leotard began to show through the scales. Auburn brown hair grew through the reptilian head, and twisted into a braid. Once she was finished, she had become human, with eyes closed. Then she opened her eyes, which were an incredible green. Then I noticed something. I looked at Ax, then at our friend. They both had the same green eyes. I don't know what it was, but I felt an attachment to this strange being.
Chapter #12
"You're--" Cassie said. "You're human!"
"Half human actually." She said. "My name is Sara. I'm a half Andalite, half human being."
All four of Ax's eyes bulged.
But that's impossible! he hissed. Sara looked at him and sighed.
"Well, I don't know the whole story, but apparently my father fell in love with a human and deliberately got stuck in human morph. Then he left, but before he did they had a kid. I don't know why he left or what happened to him. But somehow he erased all memory of himself from his wife, and she forgot him. But she had me. She remarried and then divorced the guy- he took me. I don't remember him much. He got killed when I was very little, and I got sent to an orphanage. I stayed there for five years, then Gran picked me up." We were all staring, openmouthed.
"Uh, who's Gran?" Jake managed to ask. "Your grandmother?" She looked annoyed.
"No. He's a nothlit, too. My father asked him to take care of me."
"Wait a second!" Marco interrupted. "How do we know you're not a Controller?" Sara looked extremely irritated.
"I just saved you from certain death, at the cost of many Controllers. Now, somehow I don't think that's something a Yeerk would want to do." Marco shrugged.
"Yeah... I guess..."
"Wait!" Cassie said. "How could you be half-Andalite? Your dad was in human morph- there shouldn't have been any Andalite traits passed on!" Sara looked pained.
"I-I don't know. You'll have to ask Gran that. But I did get some traits- I can morph fast, morph extinct animals-"
"We noticed." Rachel murmured softly. Sara continued.
"Use thought-speak when not in morph, um-"
Eat grass. I broke in. She looked at me in surprise.
"Yes. I have to eat grass, as you say, once a week in order to get nutrients. How did you know that?"
I saw you. I said. Yesterday. Suddenly we heard shouts from the nearby math classroom. We looked at each other, nervously.
"Run!" Jake shouted. They made a dash for the door.
Ax! I hissed. Come on! We hurried to a nearby classroom, where Ax morphed his human. Then we hurried out the back door, just in time. We could hear Controllers running in the halls. Glad to be free, we ran (and flew) toward the forest like there was no tomorrow.
"Wait a sec!" Sara called, once she realized where we were going. "It will take us forever to get to the forest. Come with me!" At first, we were all hesitant to follow her, unsure whether or not to trust her. Then, realizing the logic of the situation, we turned toward the direction she was leading us.
"Hold on," Cassie said. "Ax probably needs to morph. He can't just go as an Andalite. People will definitely notice."
"You're right." Jake agreed. "Ax, why don't you go behind those bushes over there, and hurry! The controllers will be coming at any moment, and notice us around."
Ax acknoledged this, and dashed behind the bushes to morph. I followed to talk with Ax for a moment.
Ax, do you get the feeling that there's something, important about her, aside from the obvious? I asked.
No, not that I know of. Ax replied as he lost his stalk eyes. The only noticeably important thing about her is that she is a half-Andalite.
Well, I feel something important about her. It's like, I've known her from somewhere. I replied.
"C'mon, I want to get going-ing." Ax said, adding in the extra sounds he always uses.
Don't do that, or someone is likely to notice. I hissed. I was nervous, and we might get caught.
We came out again, Ax now as a human. I would fly a short distance up, since my eyesight was impaired by the darkness. They trotted slowly, since Ax hadn't had much experience with two legs still. Sara had to keep waiting for them since she kept leaping ahead. She was obviously very fast.
Chapter #14
In about half an hour, we managed to get to the location that Sara wanted us to go. It was a small house, that seemed right for only two people. Hadn't she said something about a guy named "Gran"?
"C'mon in," Sara invited. She walked up and opened the door, then gestured towards us. "Hurry! The controllers will be patrolling this section any minute." We dashed inside, preparing for the worst.
We walked inside to a warmly lit room, that was small, but comfortable. We crowded into the living room, that looked normal enough. A man walked down the stairs, and smiled.
"Well Saramistrum," He said, "It seems you found some allies."
"Hello Uncle Gran." Sara said, and then said, "Everyone, this is my Uncle, who raised me."
"Pleased to meet you." he said politely.
"Saramistrum?" Cassie asked.
"Yes, that's the last part of my Andalite name, Wisteria-Delphini- Saramistrum." Sara replied. We all stared, and she said, "Don't even ask."
"You're a nothlit? It?" Ax asked the person.
Gran seemed to stare for a moment, not realizing the question, probably because of the extra sounds Ax added in. Then he said, "Oh, I understand, yes, I am."
"Speaking of which," Sara said, "I don't know your names. I've been helping you all this time and we were never accquainted."
"Maybe that has something to do with the fact that you kept dissapearing on us." Rachel said, almost sneering.
"Sorry, but I didn't feel that I should let you know. I had only found out that I was an Andalite, and was still a little astounded." Sara replied.
"Okay, I won't even ask." Marco said. "My name is Marco, cutest lookingguy in school, practical joker, etc," Sara listened to his blabber for a moment, then slapped her forehead, as if she already knew that Marco was a little on the arrogant side, but not in a bad way.
"I'm Cassie." Cassie said, "Not much to say about me, except I'm the person who gets most of the animal morphs."
Then Jake took the floor. "My name's Jake, supposed leader of our group, but not really."
"You are too." Rachel said. Jake was about to protest, but she then said, "I'm Rachel, supposedly called Xena, Warrior Princess."
"Speaking of which, you need a nickname." Marco said. "How 'bout Spock? Hey, you're half human." Sara stared at him like he was insane. Ignoring her, Marco continued. "Ookay, Spock it is."
Then Ax stepped foreward, and said, "I am Aximili-Essarough-Istill, at the moment in morph."
"Its nice to see another Andalite in the neighborhood." Gran said, "It's been a long time since I have been on the Andalite home world."
Finally, it was my turn. I'm Tobias, I said, Not much more than that, except I'm stuck in my hawk form, but I can morph. Somehow, I didn't think this was enough. Have we met before? I get the distinct feeling I know you from somewhere. She stared back at me, with those incredible green eyes.
I get the same feeling. she replied.
"Well, enough of all this little chit-chat, Sara, be prepared to be launched into the war of the Yeerks against the little guerilla troop. You are going to be launched into one of the most hopeless wars ever fought." Jake said.
"I already have." Sara said. And she was one of us.
Chapter #1
My name is Tobias.
When the others tell you about our, well, our adventures I guess you could call them, they explain that they can't tell you their last names, or where they live. That doesn't apply to me. I can tell you everything.
I don't know my last name--I can't remember it. I think it might have started with a B... or was it a C?
As for my home, I live in a forest. My address--a tree.
You see, I'm a hawk.
But before I say how I got to be a hawk, I'd better explain why we can't tell you our names or addresses. We- that's the Animorphs. We morph animals. Get it--Animorph, animal morpher?
We got the ability to morph animals from a dying Andalite. The Andalites are the only hope we have against the Yeerks- other than the morphing ability.
Who are the Yeerks? The Yeerks are a race of fist-shaped parasitic slugs who take over the minds of other, weaker, creatures and use them as hosts. They've already taken over the Gedds, who are sort of like monkeys, the Hork-Bajir, who are huge blade-covered monsters who used to be rather sweet, the Taxxons who are despicable worms, and now the humans. But they won't take us all over. We're going to stop the invasion.
We hope.
See, that's what we do. Using the morphing power, we follow the Yeerks' actions, see what they're going to do next. Then we try to stop it.
Sometimes, we fail miserably. Other times, we win small victories. Slowly, slowly, we're wearing down on the Yeerks. Strike, pull back, strike again, pull back.
There are problems, of course, other than the fact that we might all get killed. The morphing power has its limits. You have to be able to take over the animal's mind, which is usually easy. But sometimes it can- literally- drive you insane. And, of course, there's the time limit. If you stay in a morph for over two hours, then you're stuck in that morph. That's it. Unless, of course, some omnipotent being comes along and helps you out. That's what happened to me. I'm still a hawk, but I can morph. I even have a morph of myself.
But even with all the problems, sometimes I really get a kick out of beating the Yeerks back, saving the world again for today.
Chapter #2
But we weren't thinking about saving the world today as we walked down the street to the Community Center that foggy Thursday morning. Or at least, they walked. I flew.
"How did I get into this?" Marco groaned. Marco's a short Hispanic-looking boy who makes way too many jokes. He takes the whole 'saving the world' thing as a joke. He can help us get through our problems sometimes, though.
"Oh, come on, Marco! It's not that bad!" That was Jake. Him and Marco have been friends ever since they were both eating mashed bananas'n'carrots in a jar. Jake's our leader.
"Grow up, Jake. You're only coming because Cassie wants to." Jake blushed. You see, Jake likes Cassie. You know, as in LIKES. Cassie turned on them both.
"If you both don't shut your traps right now, I'll... I'll..." Rachel stepped in for her.
"She'll get into her skunk morph and spray you both!" Rachel is amazingly good-looking and brave. Marco calls her Xena, Warrior Princess. It fits. I sort of like Rachel, and I think she likes me okay, but I'm a hawk. I'm not sure how to think about it yet.
Cassie was looking thankfully at Rachel. Jake and Marco were making awful faces at the thought of skunk musk. You have no idea how bad it smells. And believe me, you don't want to know. I decided it was time to step in.
C'mon you guys, quit giving Cassie a hard time. She's saved your butts too many times to count- it's about time you paid her back. It's the least you can do just to go to one nature music concert. You see, that's where we were going. Cassie is a nature nut, or, in the words of Marco, tree hugger. She loves things like nature concerts and asked us to come along to the one at the Community Center. We weren't exactly thrilled at the idea, especially Marco. Marco was groaning.
"Aww, Tobias, you've always siding with the girls." I didn't reply because at that moment I caught a lovely warm thermal. Thermals are rising columns of air- great for flying. I rose high up, then glided down again back into thought-speech range. Thought-speech is what you use to talk to people when you're in a morph. As I zoomed back toward the group, I noticed they had stopped.
Hey! What is it? Rachel glanced up and put a finger to her lips, which was ironic since I wasn't making a sound. I flew down and landed on her shoulder. She pointed to a notice by a door we were passing. It said: Private meeting of the Sharing. Authorized Personnel only. Standing by the door was a tough-looking human. But we knew he wasn't really human. He was a Controller, a Yeerk host.
That's what the Sharing does- breed new Controllers. It just pretends to be a fun family organization that does things like barbecues and water-skiing.
I'd give half my beak to find out what they were talking about in that meeting.
Hey, why can I practically read Rachel's mind at the moment? I said.
"Oh good grief." Rachel said rolling her eyes. "But yes, let's go in, cockroach perhaps?" She asked.
We all exchanged glances. Cockroach was probably the only insect morph we had that everyone could agree on, since we hadn't had any really bad incidents with them yet, except for Jake getting sprayed one time.
"Cockroach it is then." Jake said. We found a little alleyway where no one would probably come. They all shed off their outer clothes to reveal their morphing suits and took off their shoes. You see, you can only morph skin tight clothing, since any other clothing just falls off if you shrink, and- um, becomes a little small when you get larger. Shoes are out of the question, they always explode or get shed. I didn't really have any clothes to take off.
"Oh, man, I said it about a hundred times, and I'll say it once more." Marco stated. "We look like refugees from the circus."
"Yes, Marco, we've heard it a million times, and now lets stop talking and start morphing. I want to get through this as quickly as possible. We're missing the concert!" Cassie said, and started to morph.
Now morphing isn't exactly the prettiest thing, and in my case its even uglier, since its generally from red-tailed hawk to something different, but Cassie has this uncanny ability to make it less stomach churning, maybe even pretty. We all followed her example.
Generally when you morph to something smaller than yourself, the first sensation you have is falling slowly, like jumping off the Sears Tower in slow motion. I didn't have to "fall" as much, but still fell. My feathers on my back hardened and became glossy. I could feel my bones squish and turn to mush. My organs shifted around to accommodate the cockroach body. Huge feelers grew out of my forehead while my eyesight diminished. Huge legs sprouted from my sides while the final changes completed.
Oh man, this roach morph isn't one of my favorites. Rachel commented. Whenever they were in morph, they could use thought speak, or using your head to talk if that's what you want to call it.
We started to walk through the cracks in the wall, slowly making our way
towards the place where the Sharing meeting was taking place. I wondered what was going to be going on in there.
Lost in my thoughts, I nearly collided head on with another cockroach.
Hey, Marco are you chickening out? I asked. There was no answer from the roach. Hey, who is that? I asked. There was still no answer. I wasabout to conclude that this was a normal cockroach, but I just felt that it wasn't just a roach. It backed away from me and scurried off.
Did you guys see that? I asked.
What? Rachel asked.
Oh, nothing. I replied. Just a strange cockroach. We traveled for a little while before finding a ray of light at the end of a crack in the wall. We went through the crack and heard voices talking. The meeting was just beginning.
"As you all know, we have a new plan for our invasion. We've decided on a new approach for the Sharing meetings. Not enough people have been coming. It seems too 'uncool', and people only join if someone they know is on it. So we're going to get someone everyone knows to join it." Jake winced at the voice, and no wonder. It was the voice of Tom, his brother. Tom's a Controller. The Yeerks don't care if they break up families.
"But we tried that before, and it didn't work." I remembered the incident the Controller was relating to well. The Yeerks had taken over a movie star to enter the Sharing, but we had stopped their scheme. I scuttled about a little. My cockroach body was nervous because of the bright overhead lights. Cockroaches hate light.
"This time, we will do it right." Tom, or the Yeerk in his head, spoke in a way which did not allow objections. The Controller who had brought it up shut his mouth. Wise move. The Yeerks love to kill anyone who does the least bit thing wrong. Tom was continuing. "This time, we're going to get-"
"Sir! There are several small bugs on the floor!" The Controllers instantly began murmuring and looking around. To most people, seeing a couple of cockroaches on the floor would mean nothing. But to Controllers, it meant the Andalite bandits, in morph.
That's what they think we are- Andalites. We never morph back to human in front of them, or use thought-speak. They might be able to tell then that we're humans, and blow our cover.
"Oh, they're probably just bugs." Some Controller muttered. "You don't need to make a fuss." He was obviously new. Tom looked at him in fury.
"We'll get to you later." he growled. "Kill the bugs! Or better yet, don't kill them! Capture them, if you can!" The Controllers instantly leapt for us.
Scatter! Rachel screamed. She didn't need to- our roach bodies knew exactly what humans meant. We scattered. Feet slammed down around us and hands groped around.
Ha ha! Marco gasped out. They're way to slow to- AAAAAAH! Suddenly Marco was caught up in a huge hand and lifted.
Marco! I shouted. Then suddenly a hand grabbed me too. I tried to squirm out but could not move. I heard Rachel and Cassie yelling too. We had all been captured! I tried to bite, or sting, or something, but a roach's weapon is its' armor. We were helpless! Suddenly a roar rent the air.
GGGGGRRRRRRROOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGKKKKKK! I gasped inwardly as the Controllers around me suddenly scattered- and not on their own, either. I could hardly believe my lame roach eyes as a huge velicoraptor (you know, the smart dinosaurs in Lost World) leapt through the fallen Controllers and began prying fingers open. Believe me, the Controllers didn't let the dino rip apart their hands- they let us go fast. I stood on the floor, my roach brain terrified at the lights and huge monster ahead of me, not sure what to do.
Run, you idiots! I didn't know who said it, but I took the advice. I ran as fast as my little roach legs would carry me and managed to find my way out of that building. Everyone else poured out behind me. We hurried off back to the alley to demorph.
Who the heck was that? I asked, in hawk form again. Rachel finished morphing and her skin became pink.
"I have no idea." she said, with a frown.
We finally got to the concert, shall I say, somewhat late? Cassie's parents were there, wondering where the heck we had been.
"Where were you?" Cassie's mom asked, in her nervous mother voice. "We thought that you had been mugged or something."
"Of course not mom." Cassie defended. "We just stopped into McDonaldsfor a quick shake."
"Well, next time tell us." Cassie's dad said. "The concert started about fifteen minutes ago." We rushed up into the theater, myself in human morph, and got into the concert.
We were all in our seats, listening to the music. Marco was making a face that looked like he was in agony. Rachel looked like she was about ready to strangle him. I was pondering, only half listening to the music. A velociraptor? I asked myself. They're dinosaurs, and dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years! Unless this was some alien that was able to travel through time, which was very unlikely, then what, or who was it? We had to find out, since they seemed to be on our side.
"What's wrong Tobias?" Jake asked me. Apparently, he noticed my pondering look.
"That was a velociraptor in the Sharing meeting." I replied. "A DINOSAUR. Isn't that a little odd to you?"
"I have to admit, you don't see it every day." Jake replied.
"This is obviously some sort of being that wants to help us." I said.
"A being that can travel through time?" Jake asked. "That's a little far fetched, except for an Ellimist, but they wouldn't use such an approach. This is definitely some different being."
"Do you think that maybe its an Andalite, and maybe they have developed some new technology that would allow them to acquire deceased animals?" I asked.
"Not likely." Jake replied. "They don't develop new technologies THAT quickly."
"I think we should ask Ax." I said.
"I definitely think you're right." Jake replied.
"Hush you guys!" Cassie whispered to us. "The music is going on, and I don't think that you should be talking about dinos or Andalites when we're in here!"
We stopped talking, and tried to listen to the music, but my mind was too preoccupied. I settled down, anxious to get to Ax to ask him.
Chapter #3
In a few hours, the concert finally ended. I say 'finally' because it really wasn't my type of music- though it wasn't bad. 'Finally' also because I kept having to go to the bathroom to morph out and back into our human forms, and I was getting tired. Rapid morphing tires you out big time. Cassie's parents decided to drive home, while we just decided to walk. It was nice to walk on the ground for a change, but nothing will compare to flying the thermals. We walked for a while, Cassie and Rachel on one end of the street, and Jake, Marco, and I on the other end. We did this so it didn't look like we were hanging out together, because then people might put two and two together, and that person might be a Controller. I was squinting with my human eyes which seemed so weak after hawks' eyes, looking in shop windows, when I noticed something strange.
"Hey, look, you guys." I said, pointing in the window of a Golden Corral restaurant. It was brightly lit and we could see inside easily. Across the restaurant in a corner table sat two men. One of the men looked nervous. The other man was stuffing himself- with grated cheese and -get this- mustard packets. "Refresh my memory. Ax isn't here, right?" You see, Andalites don't have mouths in their normal (if you can call a huge blue deer with a human torso and four eyes normal) bodies, so when they get at food the flavor drives them slightly nuts. Marco looked at me like I was insane.
"Well, gee, I wonder. I don't see a terminally cute guy around here anywhere, and he wouldn't be roaming the streets otherwise, so I sort of think he's not here." Rachel glared at Marco.
"He stayed behind in the forest because he wasn't feeling well, Tobias. Don't you remember?" I was shaking my head.
"Yes, I know! I remember where he is. But if Ax's in the forest, then who's that?" I pointed to the man gobbling the cheese and mustard. The other man who was sitting with him appeared to be begging him to stop. For a moment the man turned toward us. Cassie hissed.
"Chapman! And that must be-" I nodded.
"Visser Three. Come on, let's go."
Visser Three was the only Yeerk who had managed to acquire an Andalite. Because of this, he was able to morph and had the high rank of 'Visser'. He was our worst and most hated enemy. He had killed prince Elfangor, the dying Andalite who had given us the morphing power. As for Chapman, he was a high-ranking Controller- and also our assistant principal.
Jake went up and told Cassie and Rachel what we were going to do. They came in after us, so no one would notice. We went in and went to the restroom, where we would morph. Fly was the decided morph, although we would have to watch the fly's mind, because being in a restaurant in a fly's view was that it had died and gone to heaven. The girls came in after us, and we flew around the counter for a moment while we waited for them.
Well, okay, now where do we go? Rachel asked.
Hmm, I said, and looked around with my terrible fly compound eyes. After a moment, I saw a place that was blocked off by a couple of guards. There! I said. Follow me. We flew towards the guards, looking like just a few flies.
We got up there in time to hear one of the guards say to a guy that this area was reserved for someone important.
Here we go. Jake said. I wonder why they're meeting in a restaurant?
Apparently, Visser Three wanted to try food out. I muttered, remembering the gorging Controller. As we came close to Chapman and Visser Three, we heard the buzz of speech. I frantically worked at sorting it out- I was not used to the fly morph which I had acquired only recently. Finally I managed to figure out what they were saying.
"So explain this to me again. What exactly does this... this Regieg scanner do?" Visser Three asked. Chapman had finally managed to stop his out-of- control eating. Our assistant principal sighed like one who had explained something many times.
"The Regieg scanner, when activated, will tell if there is an Andalite in morph anywhere in a fifty-foot radius of the spot where it was activated." Visser Three made a face.
"Only fifty feet? What's the use of it then?" Chapman looked slightly nervous, as if his life was on the line, which it was.
"You can check suspicious people, Visser. Also, we can place Regieg scanners in certain places to monitor if any Andalites arrive. We can even rig them up with an alarm that warns us when they are coming." Visser Three smiled.
"Good. That is very good, indeed! Try it out now." Shrugging, Chapman brought out a fist-sized object that looked vaguely like a fish. As he began pressing its buttons, alarm shot through me.
Out! We've got to get out of here! Everyone haul butt! I flew crazily away from the table as fast as I could, then slowed as I realized no one was following me. Hey! What's the deal? Come on, you guys! Marco laughed.
Ah, Bird-boy, we're not Andalites. I felt stupid, to say the least.
Riiiight. I calmly flew back just in time to hear Chapman say,
"An Andalite! There is one here!" Visser Three leapt up, knocking over his chair.
"Where? Where?!" Chapman pressed buttons furiously, then calmed visibly.
"Oh." Visser Three looked at him like he was turning orange and sprouting tentacles.
"What do you mean, Oh? Where's the Andalite? I'll have his head!!!!" Chapman, looking sheepish, looked up at his leader.
"I'm afraid you already do, Visser. Ah- you're an Andalite in morph." Visser Three sat down quickly, embarrassed, waving a dismissal at the alerted guards.
"Of course. I knew that. Just- testing you, of course." Rachel snickered. Jake murmured,
The leader of the Yeerk invasion on Earth and he doesn't even know what race he is! We all had to laugh at that, and I nearly forgot to keep my hold on the ceiling in my glee. We slowly calmed down and heard Chapman saying,
"I'll test the students in my classes today. There's something strange about them- I don't know what it is, but I don't trust them." Visser Three snorted.
"Andalites wouldn't go to SCHOOL, Chapman." The assistant principal shrugged.
"I don't know, maybe they want to learn about Earth." Visser Three nodded slowly.
"Perhaps. Yes, do check them. It would not hurt." With that, both of them rose, the meeting apparently over.
We'd better go. Jake said, and we hurried off to the bathrooms to morph again. We had hidden our extra clothes (you can't morph anything other than minimal clothing- it gets shredded) in the trash cans, and luckily no janitor had been through. We hurried out into the dusk, worrying about the new developments. I walked with Marco and Jake towards their home before I morphed out and went home. Like I said before, my address is a tree behind Cassie's house. I was kinda anxious to get home because I needed to watch my territory for any other hawk rivals and so I could talk to Ax. Red- tailed hawks are very territorial, and I have a pretty good territory, so I have to guard it sort of well.
Chapter #4
I flew slowly, wondering who the heck was that velociraptor, and how the heck he or she got the morph of a velociraptor. Ax explained to me once a little bit about DNA, and that it degrades over time, loosing a piece as it multiplies. After a while, there is no way one could acquire the animal.
I landed in the tree I usually spent the night in. One of the things I miss about being human is really sleeping, I mean, out like a light sleeping. When you're a hawk, you only half sleep, since raccoons have a tendency to climb up and snatch a red-tail when he least expects it.
Ax? I called out. There was no answer for a moment, but then I picked up the slight sound of galloping hooves. Ax lives with me in the woods, so we're kinda like roommates, if that's how you like to put it. He appeared galloping from behind me. He pawed the ground slightly, and looked up at me.
Hello, Tobias, he said. How was the concert?
Great, but something went that was unexpected. I replied.
And what was that? Ax asked.
We were walking to the theater, I explained. and saw a meeting of the Sharing that seemed to be pretty important. We went in, and eavesdropped for a little while, and got inside where they saw us. We scattered, but unfortunately, we were captured. We probably would have been goners, but a velociraptor jumped in!
Velociraptor? Ax asked, confused.
Its a type of dinosaur, that became extinct millions of years ago. I explained.
That's impossible. Ax said bluntly. DNA would have degraded too much to be able to be able to acquire by this time.
I figured you would say that. I said. Is there any type of alien that could do that?
We have never shared our morphing technology with other species, except for Elfangor's situation. Ax said. Unless this is a special breed ofAndalite, which is very unlikely, then this is an impossible situation. Go on with your story.
Well, I continued. This was starting to sound like some sort of old excuse some kid would use on his mom if he was late for dinner. After the concert, we walked past a Golden Corral and saw our old friend Visser Three stuffing his face with mustard packets.
At least I'm not alone on that part. Ax said, using his eyes to sort of give a smile.
We morphed roaches, and snuck up on him. They were talking about something called a Regieg scanner, that could find anyone in morph within fifty feet, and Chapman is going to try it out on the kids in school! This means the others! I said nervously.
We've got to get to that device, and destroy it. Ax said bluntly. I totally agreed.
The next morning, I took a long flight. The other Animorphs had to go to school, except for Ax, of course. But I could ride the wind! I rose as I caught a lovely warm thermal, a pillar of warm air. My mind was whirling with thoughts about what had happened yesterday. Who could this strange rescuer be? It couldn't be a real velicoraptor, could it? Did dinosaurs get hold of time machines? What if it was some alien species that happened to look like a dinosaur? What if- My thoughts were suddenly broken as I noticed a bird, a peregrine falcon. That wasn't too strange, although there weren't many of those around. The strange part was that the bird was flying oddly, as if it didn't know how to fly. Either it was injured, or, well, that was the way we flew when in morph, not being used to flying.
Hey! Rachel? Marco? Is that you? Anybody? The falcon jogged in its flight slightly, but did not reply. I was thinking it over when I noticed something. Down on the ground below was a man, who was aiming at the falcon. He was too close to miss.
Hey! You falcon there! Move your butt! Get out of there! I knew I could do nothing- animals couldn't hear our thought-speech. I was about to fly away when I noticed that the falcon had- somehow, heard me! It was getting out of there as fast as possible. I could see, rather than hear, the hunter below swearing.
I finally decided, this was definitely a being in morph over there. I banked around and started to follow the red-tail. She (I use "she" because this was a female, and I didn't know who it was, so "she" was going to do.) seemed not to notice for a while, and flew east.
Oh good grief, not another one. She said. It definitely was a she! I didn't know who she was though. She sounded human, but Andalite. My mind was very confused. She banked around, and headed straight towards me.
"TSSSEEEERRRRR!" She cried, and raked my back. I was unharmed, but frazzled. Now why would she do that? Grr! Get out of here! Stupid males, won't leave me alone for a second. I've got to get a different bird morph. She said. Apparently, she thought I was a normal red-tail, boy was she ever wrong. She banked off again, and headed at top speed towards the east again. I tried to follow her, but she had dove into the trees, not allowing me to see her, even with my super-sharp hawk eyes. This was definitely something I needed to take to Ax.
Chapter #5
I landed on a branch just above the stream where Ax drank. He was there now, taking a drink. Now, I probably explained to you that Andalites have no mouths, so how the heck was Ax taking a drink you ask? Well, its strange, but he absorbs grass and water through his hooves! He seems slightly embarrassed about it, because he never talked about it before.
Hey Ax-man. I said with a friendly tone. "Ax-man" is my nickname for him.
Hello, Tobias. Ax replied. I thought you were out hunting. I have almost totally reverted to a hawk's natural behavior, that means hunting for mice and the like.
I was, but I bumped into our velociraptor friend again. I said.
Oh? Ax asked with curiosity.
She was definitely in a rotten mood. I said.
She? Ax asked with even more interest.
Yes, and there are two reasons I call her "She." I explained. First off, she had a red-tail morph of a female, and because I think I annoyed her a little, and she blew off at me, thinking that I was a natural hawk, even though I had warned her about a hunter. Something was definitely on her mind.
Well, did you find out who she is, I mean, species wise? Ax asked. One can find out another's species by just listening to the accent.
I did, I replied. But she boggled me. She sounded human, but she also sounded Andalite. Do you think that maybe she is something like a shape shifter?
No, Ax said. She definitely isn't that. Frankly, I don't know what she is.
Chapter #6
We met in Cassie's barn after school. We were going to discuss how to get at the Regieg scanner, and everyone had a lot to say. I didn't have a chance to get a word in edgewise about the mysterious morpher.
"You won't believe this!" Rachel was almost squealing. "Chapman came in today and scanned us! He knocked out one of our teachers, probably- she wasn't there. Then he showed us some dumb video about whales-"
"It wasn't dumb!" Cassie interjected. "It was fascinating." Rachel sighed.
"Okay, he showed us a fascinating video about whales. And he kept changing things with the remote control. Only it wasn't the remote control- it was the Regieg scanner! You know how it looks similar?" I was beginning to understand, but Ax looked about as confused as an Andalite can.
What is a remote control? What is... video? Marco rolled his eyes.
"Remember television, Ax?"
Yes, of course! Ax said. Your primitive, strangely two-dimensional, television.
"Yes, our primitive two dimensional TV." Marco said with surprising patience. Surprising for him, at least. "A remote control is a device we use to, uh, manipulate this television we have. Video is a way of showing things on television." Ax still looked confused, but he was beginning to get it.
Ah, I see. Video is the alternative to short-wave laser transmitting with GRD! Of course. And what does the Regieg scanner have to do with it? Marco opened his mouth to explain, but Rachel jumped in.
"The Regieg scanner is shaped like a remote control, Ax. They look similar. So Chapman was pretending he was changing channels- but he was really checking if any of us were Andalites."
"He did it during every period." Jake said. "It's lucky this wasn't the day you decided to learn more about humans' schools, Ax."
"They're going to post scanners all over." Cassie said, sounding worried. "We've got to steal the technology before they can."
"Wait!" Jake interjected. "It's really not going to be that much of a problem. The only one they will be able to track is Ax."
I'd rather not be tracked, if that is acceptable. Ax said, sounding tense. I decided it was time to mention the morpher I had seen.
Hey, you guys. Before we go screaming off smashing machinery, can I tell you about something I've seen? They turned to me.
"What is it, Tobias?" Marco asked. "Some especially tasty mice over by your tree?" I dutifully ignored him and continued.
Remember that velicoraptor? Well, this morning I was out flying and I noticed a red-tailed hawk, like me. Now, I'm the only one around, so I was slightly suspicious. Then I noticed how it was flying. Strange, like it didn't know the wind too well. Like you, when you first started out. Rachel was frowning.
"Did you go closer?"
Sure I did. And the strangest thing was, it attacked me! It was a red-tail female, a pretty good-looking one too.
"Oooooh, Bird-boy's in looove." Marco hissed. I glared at him, which is easy with hawk eyes, and looked nervously at Rachel. She was smiling. I continued.
Anyway, it seemed hawk males had been bothering her all morning, so she thought I was just another suitor. She said something about, males bothering her and having to get another morph. Then she scratched me and flew off. Still hurts. Cassie was frowning.
"She certainly doesn't sound dangerous. Could you tell if she was an Andalite?" I bobbed my head up and down, slightly flustered.
That was the strangest thing. She sounded sort of like a cross between human and Andalite, or a mix. I couldn't distinguish the accents too well. They sat in silence, digesting that.
"Well, I think we should form a flying patrol, check out the area. If we notice strange animals, we check. But we can mostly look for Controllers putting up scanners. We can follow Chapman tomorrow- he'd be home already by now." That was a perfectly legitimate idea, so we morphed into our various birds, except me of course, and headed out across the town, in the direction of the mall. We were flying spread out over a residential area when I noticed someone who seemed engrossed with something in their hand.
Chapter #7
There!
Right there! Ax and I noticed it in the same moment. We all banked around, circling above the man.
That's a Regieg scanner all right. Jake said. Our ultra-sharp eyes could pick out the brand name on the guy's sweater, let alone a remote-control sized blinking object.
Hey! Rachel said. It's Chapman! It was. Chapman was walking along the street, fiddling with the scanner.
He must be on his way home, and decided to try out his scanner. Marco said. Hey! It looks like he's found something! Chapman looked up sharply and pointed at a man walking along further down the street, talking to a girl about our age.
"Andalite!" he hissed. The man heard him and turned in shock. Chapman whipped out his Dracon beam and some sort of radio. As he was struggling to juggle them all at once, I took action.
Let's go! I shrieked. We screamed down on the Controller, screeching with our birds' voices. We were so intent on putting him out that we didn't notice when the girl the man had been talking to screamed for him to get inside. She looked around nervously, then ducked behind a bush. Only twenty seconds later, a red-tailed hawk flew out of the bush, screaming loudly. I heard the words in the scream and stopped scratching at Chapman's bald scalp. The bird was yelling-
You're not going to hurt my uncle, you obnoxious slug! Chapman was swearing and swinging at us. Rachel had grabbed the Dracon beam and dropped it in a gutter. I pulled away from his head and flew at the bird.
Shut up! He'll get your accent! Who are you? The bird slowed in her flight, then suddenly shot off. I was about to call out to her when Rachel called out.
All right! I've got the scanner! Let's get out of here before, well, I don't know. Let's go! I stopped wondering about the odd bird and shot off. Seven birds, one holding what looked like a remote control, flew back across the neighborhood, leaving a swearing Chapman behind and a shocked- looking woman in a bathrobe with shampoo in her hair staring after them.
Chapter #8
We all flew back to Cassie's house, with about fifteen minutes left before time would be up. Everyone morphed out, except for me, and Ax stayed an Andalite, since Cassie's parents weren't home at the moment we got in there, so we wouldn't have any unexpected visitors. Rachel, still holding the Regieg scanner, tossed it a couple times up in the air and then handed it to Ax.
This is definitely new technology. He commented, examining the little remote control like device. It must have been a Yeerk that was smarter than the average Yeerk.
"And his name must have been Yogi the Yeerk." Marco said, then with a perfect Yogi the Bear voice, "Hey Boo Boo!" We all collapsed laughing at Marco, relaxed now that the ordeal was somewhat over. I couldn't collapse though, and Ax didn't get the joke.
Who is this Yogi? Ax asked, confused.
Don't even ask Ax. I replied.
After everyone had calmed down slightly, Jake said, "Okay, now that we've got this Regieg scanner, what do we do with it?"
Well, I know the first thing we can do with it. Ax said, setting the scanner on the ground. Suddenly, FFWAP! the scanner was in two pieces. FFWAP! FFWAP! FFWAP! now eight. He gathered the eight pieces of the scanner, and said, We should take these to the ocean, and throw them in. The sea water should be enough to corrode them to the point of irretrievability.
"Well, I could only understand up to the throwing them in part, but okay, let's go skip some technology on the ocean." Marco said.
"Wait just a sec," Rachel interrupted before we could all bombard out the door. "Cassie, didn't you say that the Yeerks were putting up scanners all over school?"
"Yes, what are you saying?" Cassie asked, unsure.
"Well, if this is anything like Terminator 2, we'll have to destroy all evidence of the technology, that means getting rid of ALL the scanners, and maybe even the instructions." Rachel explained. "Otherwise, they could create another one without so much as a blink."
We all paused, soaking this in, then Jake said, "You're right. We'll need to get into the Yeerk pool where they almost undoubtedly keep the instructions, and if they aren't in there, we can just create a little havoc." We all nodded, and we all took a couple pieces of the now deceased scanner, myself taking one piece and Ax going human for the walk. I took to the air and followed them below.
As we went, I listened to the conversation going on below me between Jake, Ax, and Marco.
"Who do you think this new morpher is?" Jake queried casually, in a whisper though, in case there would be any listeners hiding somewhere.
"Well, Tobias said that she's an Andalite mix." Marco said. "So maybe we have another Spock, I dunno."
"Either way, she definitely wants to help us, but why all the secrecy? Why do whenever we try to strike up a conversation with her, she disappears?" Jake asked.
"Maybe she just is shy, and just appears like we do." Ax said.
"Well, I dunno, but she definitely is a threat to the Yeerks." Jake stated. "She can morph a raptor for crying out loud!"
I can see the ocean up ahead you guys. I stated, as we got closer and
closer to the shore. After we dumped these pieces, we could then begin our rampage against the Regieg counters.
Chapter #9
We were walking back from the ocean (yes, walking- we had morphed out in the forest and walked home, except me and Ax, of course) with me flying overhead when I noticed a girl running around nearby. Something about her struck me as, well, familiar somehow. I quickly said my goodbyes and flew off to investigate. It was very strange. She was just running around in circles in her bare feet- which was also strange as it was still winter and though the air was warm, the grass certainly wasn't. I circled overhead and looked at her carefully. I couldn't recognize her from anywhere, but there still was some sort of familiarity- I couldn't understand it. Suddenly she spoke, almost in a whisper.
"I never knew grass could taste so good. To think I missed it all those years..." Bewildered, I flew off. Grass? Good? Andalites ate grass... could this girl be the mysterious morpher, who had an undistinguishable accent? I banked suddenly and flew back to where she had been, but she was gone, apparently done with her 'meal'. What kind of species could she possibly be? Some new alien we hadn't heard of? But she had an Andalite 'accent'. Sort of. It was too much for one hawk to sort out. I flew over the forest, deciding to leave it until later. Besides, I was hungry.
The next day, I found Rachel and flew high enough above her not to attract attention, but close enough to keep my link.
Are you going to try to find and disable the scanners? She nodded almost imperceptibly. What can I do? Rachel looked around, and risked speaking aloud. I flew down a little so as to hear easily.
"We'll dump the scanners out by the Dumpsters." she whispered. "You can pick them up and dispose of them somewhere so they won't notice."
I can do that. I said, swooping around in the cool morning air. I'll see if I can get Ax to help, too. Rachel nodded slightly again and started back off for school. I went straight up on a slowly rising thermal, surprising at such an early time in the day, when the air wasn't too hot. I headed out over the forest, Rachel and the other few scattered humans there shrinking into colored dots.
That night, we all met at Jake's house, since Cassie's dad was going to be doing some things with the barn, we couldn't exactly meet there. The plan was go sneak in, tear down the scanners, hack them apart, then take them to the ocean once we had gotten them all. It was going to be one of those tense missions, where even a pin dropping sets you on end.
"So, here we go, on another suicide mission." Marco stated. "This is really bad for my health, you realize that." We chuckled nervously, since this was, like I said, another one of those tense missions.
"What are we going to use as the morph? Orph?" Ax asked, making extra sounds. Ax is an Andalite, which I have already stated. That means that they have no mouths, so having a mouth is like having the greatest toy in the world to them. Poor Ax, you don't even want to hear about his food frenzies.
"Well, my guess is that we use our bird morphs, get in, then morph to something a little more dangerous." Jake explained. "It will be Marco and Ax doing the disabling, since they will be the only one among us with opposable thumbs."
"Thank you very much." Marco replied, taking a bow.
"Okay, you stage taker, let's go!" Rachel said. For once, Marco didn't make a remark about Xena, Warrior Princess. I can almost swear, for all this time, before we were Animorphs, there was an Amazon warrior inside her, just screaming to get out and cause a little havoc.
We all (Well, not all, since I already was a bird, and Ax had to morph from human to Andalite to owl.) started to morph, and I shut my eyes, since morphing isn't exactly pretty. Only Cassie is the one who can make it look artistic. No offense to the others, but you don't even want to see some of the morphs we had to use that were really gross. They just have to let it fly, and each time we morph its somewhat different. I heard Marco chuckle once he could use thought-speak.
What? I asked.
I was just wondering, what would our reply be if someone came up and asked what we did in our spare time? I understood exactly what he was talking about. Everyone else finished up their morphs, and we flew out into the night sky, myself having to be guided by them since I didn't have a night bird morph.
Chapter #10
I wonder what would happen if a non controller found us? Marco queried as we went down the halls.
We had snuck in through an open window, although it was a tight fit, since their wing spans were larger than the window.
Let's see, he would probably have a heart attack and be scarred for life. Cassie replied. We laughed nervously. Marco was in his gorilla morph, myself as myself, Ax as an Andalite, Jake as a tiger, Cassie as a wolf, and Rachel as a bear. It would really drive a person insane if they saw us at the moment.
Well, here we go, scanner number one. Rachel said as we found the first of the remote control shaped detectors.
They shouldn't be activated yet. Ax said, I am guessing that they are run as a network.
Well, good, I don't want any unexpected visitors. I replied. Not to mention, if one of those things go off, we're screwed.
Marco reached up and plucked it from its perch on the wall. He brought it down and handed it to Ax. You may do the honors of the first Regieg scanner. It took only a moment for Ax to understand what he was saying, then FFWAP! FFWAP! FFWAP! FWAPP! the scanner was no more. He put the pieces into a bag that Jake was holding in his teeth.
We took about an hour going through each of the halls, looking for any other scanners. We had collected about ten when we saw the last one, or at least I did.
There! I cried. I think that that's the last one. We were walking towards it, and then we could call it a night.
BWOOP BWOOP BWOOP BWOOP BWOOP! An ear piercing alarm rang through my head, and wouldn't stop if the world was coming to an end.
Oh man! Cassie cried. Let's get out of here!
This must be one that was activated individually. Ax reasoned, trying to keep his cool.
Well, I don't care if it was activated while some fat guy was eating a jelly donut! Marco yelled over the alarm. Let's make like a tree and leave!
"Hold it right there Andalites!" A voice hissed from behind us. "You won't get away this time!" I immediately recognized it as Chapman's voice. I turned around, and there were about ten Hork-Bajir, five Taxxons, and Chapman, all with Dracon beams aimed right at us. We turned around again and there were about five more Taxxons behind us now. We were totally and utterly trapped.
Ax made a sort of growling noise and leapt forward. The Controllers backed up slightly, lifting their Dracon guns higher.
Stop, Ax! I cried. You'll just get yourself killed! Reluctantly, the Andalite stepped back. Chapman lifted his weapon, and we were herded like, well, like animals to a math classroom, of all places. I looked around with mild surprise. I had always thought Mrs. Baknoor was very strange. Chapman went around behind her desk and did something we couldn't see, and a large portion of the floor opened up. The opening was utterly black, and I could hear screams coming from deep down. I knew instantly what it was. A doorway to the Yeerk pool.
You see, the Yeerks have a weakness. They must absorb Kandrona rays, which they would normally get from their sun, every three days in order to survive. And they have to get out of their host's head to do so. That's why they made Yeerk pools- huge, horrible slimy things with thousands of Yeerks all sliming around together. The screams come from the involuntary hosts when they realize where they are. Not that they didn't know, but when they regain control of themselves again.
That's where we knew we were headed when they pushed us into that hole.
We fell.
The hole was the top of a chute, and the chute led to a blank room. The chute was actually a dropshaft, Yeerk technology which was like an elevator without the elevator box. You think where you want to go, and the elevator takes you there.
Only now we went where the Yeerks wanted us to go.
We landed, and a horde of Controllers forced us into a too-small cage. Several times one of us tried to break free, but it was to no avail.
We were really, and truly, stuck.
Finally, we relaxed a bit, which means we stopped snarling at the Controllers.
How much time? Cassie asked weakly.
Half an hour. Ax said glumly.
We're in for it now, folks! Marco moaned. We are doomed! Kaput! And that means Earth is doomed! Kaput!
How many times have you said that in the past week, Marco? Rachel tried weakly to joke. I tried frantically to think of something reassuring or funny to say, and failed. We were sitting in gloom when suddenly there walked up to us an Andalite.
Chapter #11
Visser Three.
He walked around the cage, grinning evilly as he seems to like to do.
Well, my Andalite friends, it seems you are finally caught.
We'll never surrender to you, Yeerk scum! Ax snarled. Visser Three cocked his head and thought.
Why is it always you who talks, child, and none of the others? And why are you out of morph, while the others remain in these pitiful animal shapes? He glanced at me. I boiled but knew I could do nothing.
Do you really think, Ax said carefully, That a handful of humans could be giving you all the trouble you're getting? We held our breath. The Visser thought.
No. We sat back in relief. Of course not. But it is... odd. Very odd. Perhaps you are all children... Rachel apparently took that as an insult and threw herself against the bars. It was all she could do to keep from screaming insults at the Andalite standing calmly outside the bars. Temper, temper, my Andalite friend. After all, there is nothing you can do. Unless you have another one of your tricks up your sleeve? A monster to rescue you, perhaps? I thought suddenly of the mysterious rescuer. It would be the perfect time... but nothing happened. As I thought, the Visser brought out a small device. Speaking of tricks, I take it you've heard of our new little devices? We stared in horror. You seem to like chopping them up. It hurts my feelings. Absently, the Andalite-Controller pressed a button.
GRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGG! Suddenly, a scene from the Lost World leapt around the corner. A gigantic Tyrannosaurus Rex, sometimes called King of the Dinosaurs, slashed its way through the Hork-Bajir as if they were grass blades to a lawn mower. My heart leaped as the monster came up to a cowering Visser Three. But instead of slashing him to pieces, the T- Rex dropped something at the Visser's feet, then dashed back out to slash up some more Hork-Bajir. The Hork-Bajir were quickly becoming fewer, and not just because they were running off.
I looked in interest at what the dinosaur had dropped at the Visser's feet. It was what appeared to be the shredded remains of a couple dozen Regieg scanners, along with something that looked like a blue cylinder, well crunched. The Visser ran his fingers through the debris, let out a moan, and headed for the doors like there was a T-Rex on his tail- which there was. The Controllers gone, the huge dinosaur came over to our cage and picked the lock. That is to say, is ripped the side open. We poured out, cautiously.
Hurry! The dinosaur said simply, and I caught again that strange mix of accents. We hurried to the dropshaft.
We flew towards the dropshaft, Jake tearing through a Taxxon who happened to be in our way. I followed the very huge T-rex towards the drop shaft, who enlarged it so she could fit through. School, I thought, but my thoughts were interrupted by a very large KABOOM! She had planted a bomb in the Yeerk pool! It didn't do much damage though, but I get the distinct feeling that about two or three uninhabited cages, and a portion of the Yeerk pool. Maybe some of the Yeerks were killed! I resumed my thought, and zoomed up the shaft. I saw Marco trying to "swim as he fell up.
Ugh, I'll never get used to these dropshafts! He said as he floundered in the air. We got back to the school, which was a very tight fit, considering that our mysterious friend took almost all of the room. Cassie, Ax, and I got into the hallway, where we could make a little extra room. Everyone except Ax and I morphed out. Our friend stayed in her morph, unsure of what to do.
Okay, that's it! Rachel said, still using thought speak. She was obviously tired with our friend coming and leaving, coming and leaving, even if she got us out of tight spots. Who are you? What are you? How can you morph dinos?
Yes, if you are not an Ellimist, or an Andalite, then why do you help us? Ax asked.
C'mon out with it! Marco said. You won't be able to leave with that bulk of a morph, and someone is sure to see you, so just morph out and get on with it! It's not like we're going to kill you.
I could almost detect a toothy smile on that T-rex. Then she began to morph.
At first, they were only little changes, then the actual demorphing began. The scales on the dinosaur began to melt together to create pink skin. She slowly sunk in size, going to about our size. The three claws on her puny arms began to become five fingers, while a blue leotard began to show through the scales. Auburn brown hair grew through the reptilian head, and twisted into a braid. Once she was finished, she had become human, with eyes closed. Then she opened her eyes, which were an incredible green. Then I noticed something. I looked at Ax, then at our friend. They both had the same green eyes. I don't know what it was, but I felt an attachment to this strange being.
Chapter #12
"You're--" Cassie said. "You're human!"
"Half human actually." She said. "My name is Sara. I'm a half Andalite, half human being."
All four of Ax's eyes bulged.
But that's impossible! he hissed. Sara looked at him and sighed.
"Well, I don't know the whole story, but apparently my father fell in love with a human and deliberately got stuck in human morph. Then he left, but before he did they had a kid. I don't know why he left or what happened to him. But somehow he erased all memory of himself from his wife, and she forgot him. But she had me. She remarried and then divorced the guy- he took me. I don't remember him much. He got killed when I was very little, and I got sent to an orphanage. I stayed there for five years, then Gran picked me up." We were all staring, openmouthed.
"Uh, who's Gran?" Jake managed to ask. "Your grandmother?" She looked annoyed.
"No. He's a nothlit, too. My father asked him to take care of me."
"Wait a second!" Marco interrupted. "How do we know you're not a Controller?" Sara looked extremely irritated.
"I just saved you from certain death, at the cost of many Controllers. Now, somehow I don't think that's something a Yeerk would want to do." Marco shrugged.
"Yeah... I guess..."
"Wait!" Cassie said. "How could you be half-Andalite? Your dad was in human morph- there shouldn't have been any Andalite traits passed on!" Sara looked pained.
"I-I don't know. You'll have to ask Gran that. But I did get some traits- I can morph fast, morph extinct animals-"
"We noticed." Rachel murmured softly. Sara continued.
"Use thought-speak when not in morph, um-"
Eat grass. I broke in. She looked at me in surprise.
"Yes. I have to eat grass, as you say, once a week in order to get nutrients. How did you know that?"
I saw you. I said. Yesterday. Suddenly we heard shouts from the nearby math classroom. We looked at each other, nervously.
"Run!" Jake shouted. They made a dash for the door.
Ax! I hissed. Come on! We hurried to a nearby classroom, where Ax morphed his human. Then we hurried out the back door, just in time. We could hear Controllers running in the halls. Glad to be free, we ran (and flew) toward the forest like there was no tomorrow.
"Wait a sec!" Sara called, once she realized where we were going. "It will take us forever to get to the forest. Come with me!" At first, we were all hesitant to follow her, unsure whether or not to trust her. Then, realizing the logic of the situation, we turned toward the direction she was leading us.
"Hold on," Cassie said. "Ax probably needs to morph. He can't just go as an Andalite. People will definitely notice."
"You're right." Jake agreed. "Ax, why don't you go behind those bushes over there, and hurry! The controllers will be coming at any moment, and notice us around."
Ax acknoledged this, and dashed behind the bushes to morph. I followed to talk with Ax for a moment.
Ax, do you get the feeling that there's something, important about her, aside from the obvious? I asked.
No, not that I know of. Ax replied as he lost his stalk eyes. The only noticeably important thing about her is that she is a half-Andalite.
Well, I feel something important about her. It's like, I've known her from somewhere. I replied.
"C'mon, I want to get going-ing." Ax said, adding in the extra sounds he always uses.
Don't do that, or someone is likely to notice. I hissed. I was nervous, and we might get caught.
We came out again, Ax now as a human. I would fly a short distance up, since my eyesight was impaired by the darkness. They trotted slowly, since Ax hadn't had much experience with two legs still. Sara had to keep waiting for them since she kept leaping ahead. She was obviously very fast.
Chapter #14
In about half an hour, we managed to get to the location that Sara wanted us to go. It was a small house, that seemed right for only two people. Hadn't she said something about a guy named "Gran"?
"C'mon in," Sara invited. She walked up and opened the door, then gestured towards us. "Hurry! The controllers will be patrolling this section any minute." We dashed inside, preparing for the worst.
We walked inside to a warmly lit room, that was small, but comfortable. We crowded into the living room, that looked normal enough. A man walked down the stairs, and smiled.
"Well Saramistrum," He said, "It seems you found some allies."
"Hello Uncle Gran." Sara said, and then said, "Everyone, this is my Uncle, who raised me."
"Pleased to meet you." he said politely.
"Saramistrum?" Cassie asked.
"Yes, that's the last part of my Andalite name, Wisteria-Delphini- Saramistrum." Sara replied. We all stared, and she said, "Don't even ask."
"You're a nothlit? It?" Ax asked the person.
Gran seemed to stare for a moment, not realizing the question, probably because of the extra sounds Ax added in. Then he said, "Oh, I understand, yes, I am."
"Speaking of which," Sara said, "I don't know your names. I've been helping you all this time and we were never accquainted."
"Maybe that has something to do with the fact that you kept dissapearing on us." Rachel said, almost sneering.
"Sorry, but I didn't feel that I should let you know. I had only found out that I was an Andalite, and was still a little astounded." Sara replied.
"Okay, I won't even ask." Marco said. "My name is Marco, cutest lookingguy in school, practical joker, etc," Sara listened to his blabber for a moment, then slapped her forehead, as if she already knew that Marco was a little on the arrogant side, but not in a bad way.
"I'm Cassie." Cassie said, "Not much to say about me, except I'm the person who gets most of the animal morphs."
Then Jake took the floor. "My name's Jake, supposed leader of our group, but not really."
"You are too." Rachel said. Jake was about to protest, but she then said, "I'm Rachel, supposedly called Xena, Warrior Princess."
"Speaking of which, you need a nickname." Marco said. "How 'bout Spock? Hey, you're half human." Sara stared at him like he was insane. Ignoring her, Marco continued. "Ookay, Spock it is."
Then Ax stepped foreward, and said, "I am Aximili-Essarough-Istill, at the moment in morph."
"Its nice to see another Andalite in the neighborhood." Gran said, "It's been a long time since I have been on the Andalite home world."
Finally, it was my turn. I'm Tobias, I said, Not much more than that, except I'm stuck in my hawk form, but I can morph. Somehow, I didn't think this was enough. Have we met before? I get the distinct feeling I know you from somewhere. She stared back at me, with those incredible green eyes.
I get the same feeling. she replied.
"Well, enough of all this little chit-chat, Sara, be prepared to be launched into the war of the Yeerks against the little guerilla troop. You are going to be launched into one of the most hopeless wars ever fought." Jake said.
"I already have." Sara said. And she was one of us.