Disclaimer: I don't own anything save for characters/species not already owned by someone else. I like Gargoyles, Animorphs, and Pokemon. This crossover story line contains all three. Enjoy! ~Grimwood ~grimwood83@yahoo.com

Oh, a couple of notes: * = telepathy/thought-speak " = regular speech/quote ~Commercial Break~ = generally, a shift in characters and/or location that lets you take a break for getting a snack or whatever and can be ignored ~~ = automatic translation of the Pokemon spoken language # = translated Yeerk speech. If you need to see what an Andalite looks like, go to www.scholastic.com/animorphs and click on the link that goes directly to the books. It shows Ax on some of the book covers, his brother on the cover to Andalite Chronicles, an Andalite female on Hork-Bajir Chronicles, and Visser Three/One, who has an Andalite host body, on Visser. IF a person wishes to "borrow" a character that I have invented, they must ASK FIRST! I will then consider letting them use it.

Oberon's Gate

Part 3: Cubed Evolution

~Highest tower of the Eyrie Building~

Callahan let the gentle breeze blow the purple fire out. She stood there, looking at her audience. Privately, the female not-quite-a-wolf thought that the Legend's Council must be going bezerk. The fiery wolf spotted the various humans, Gargoyles, and of course Oberon. The only Pokemon the hybrid could see was Mew and a Pikachu.

The Pikachu, the she-wolf noticed, was on the shoulder of a very peculiar looking animal. Callahan knew it wasn't a Pokemon, but she didn't know what it was, either. It was blue, had a similar build to the mythological centaurs, and the air of a warrior. Its tail was like a very furry, venom-less scorpion tail. It had no mouth and three vertical slits where the nose should be. The hands had what the hybrid thought was too many fingers. Also, it had not only two eyes directly on its face, but it also had a pair of them on constantly swiveling stalks!

~~Okay, maybe I came through at the wrong place or possibly time,~~ Callahan stated, stepping back.

"What brings you here?" Oberon demanded to know.

~~Oh, Your Majesty! You received the message from the Legend's Council, didn't you?~~ Callahan asked as she bowed to Lord Oberon.

The ruler of Avalon raised his eyebrow, folded his arms, and said, "Yes. Why do you inquire?"

Callahan scratched her ear with a hind foot before replying, ~~Because we need some help. The council has been debating on it for quite some time. The help we need is going to sound like a lot, but it isn't. When you first told us of Demona, we began trying to warn Pokemon. Now, we need a gym to help warn trainers.

~~The council thinks that your allies could build and run such a gym. The members of the Legend's Council also say that to help, they will make a few visits to the gym. Their only other request is that the badge the gym awards be called the Legend's Badge.~~ Callahan reached behind herself with her mouth to the place where the message for Oberon had been stored.

Elisa stepped forward and offered some assistance. Callahan accepted, and Elisa retrieved a piece of parchment. Unrolling it, Elisa saw that it was blue prints for the badge! "The Legend's Council must be quite intelligent to come up with all this," the cop said. She handed the paper to Rachel, who looked very excited.

The picture on the paper showed actually several different badge designs. Each one showed a different legendary Pokemon on a badge. Some designs even had multiple legendary Pokemon on them. Rachel stated, "I thought a gym could only pass around one badge design."

~~The Legend's Council decided that the humans to run the gym must pick which design to use,~~ Callahan explained, undaunted. She laid down with her head resting on her paws.

Hudson looked thoughtfully at the parchment. It had been passed around for a moment so that everyone could get a good look. Then the eldest of the Gargoyles said, "Looks as though each wants its own badge."

Callahan chuckled with her head slightly off her paws. ~~Now you know why the gym leaders need to pick the badge.~~ The fiery wolf shifted into a sitting position while she spoke.

"COOL!" Rachel exclaimed.

"Isn't that just like you, Xena?" Marco said more than asked. "Jake, I vote Rachel for Gym Leader."

Jake looked at Marco, then at Rachel. The "leader" of the Animorphs replied, "Okay. Any other nominees?" No one spoke up, so Jake continued, "All in favor of Rachel as Gym Leader, say 'Aye'." He received a chorus of "Aye"s. "That's settled. Okay, team. Ready to go back through the gate and establish a gym? OR do we want to spend a few weeks here?"

"Uh, Jake? I'd like to go show off my new friends to my family first," Marco admitted with a lopsided grin.

Rachel wanted to okay her moving to the Pokeworld with her family, though she was pretty much planning on doing so anyway. Soon enough, the Animorphs departed with the promise of being back in a few weeks to get things going.

~Commercial Break~

~Six months later, deep in the Johto Region, at the newest gym~

Rachel had recruited Macbeth as her co-gym leader. So far, they had only had two challengers. Of those two, only one of them had received the Legend's Badge. Oddly enough, the "winner" had been Marco. The "loser" had been one of the Pokeworld's trainers: Gary Oak!

Gary had wanted to battle Rachel, literally. He wanted to pit his Umbreon against her grizzly morph. Rachel, not being a Pokemon, had done quite well. Griz had complemented her on it.

~~D'ya think that any Ditto could go up against an Animorph?~~ Griz had asked with a glance at Rachel's two. Rachel shrugged.

Suddenly, her two rambunctious little sisters came racing in. Griz and Rachel grinned. It had taken about a week to convince their mother, Naomi, to let them all live in the gym. The clinchers had been Macbeth's arguments that: A) he could easily provide "adult supervision" and B) the girls would have the combined protection of him, various Pokemon, and Rachel. In addition Xanatos said something to the effect of Naomi being a Legal Ambassador for the two worlds, and that with her help further catastrophes similar to Demona's would be stopped.

Shortly following the girls' entrance, two Pokemon came in. The first was a Vulpix nicknamed Pixie and trained by Sara. The second, which was being trained by Jordan, was an Eevee nicknamed Vixen.

Macbeth, who had gone through the gate to talk to Naomi, looked at everyone with a stern face. "All right, you two. Yuir mother made me promise tae have ye in bed by midnight," he said. Partly, they were allowed up that late to see the Gargoyles. Macbeth continued, "It's time tae get ready for bed."

"Aww! Do we really have to?" Sara complained, showing big "puppy eyes."

"Yes, or else I'll tell yuir mother that ye need a few days back home." He glanced at the two sharply. One of his Pokemon, a Gengar he called Banshee, looked at Pixie and Vixen in a no-nonsense you-need-to-rest-too sort of way.

The girls and their Pokemon walked somberly out of the room. Rachel said, "They'll get used to all of this eventually."

Tobias swooped in, followed closely by Tornado. Tornado had evolved into a Pidgeotto. *Why're they so glum?* the red-tailed hawk asked with a quick glance at the four youngsters.

"They wanted to stay up late and Macbeth put his foot down," Rachel explained with another shrug.

~~Oh, is that all?~~ Tornado quipped.

Soon enough, Lexington and his Pokemon walked in. "Hey, guys! Can we try for a badge? Marco's been showing his around as if he was advertising for you," the green Gargoyle stated.

"Aye, we accept yuir challenge. An' which of us would ye rather go against?" replied Macbeth with one eyebrow raised and a fist on his hip.

"If it's okay, I'd like to battle you, Macbeth," Lexington replied, pointing to the millennia-old warrior. Banshee and a Houndoom stepped forward. Lexington's Meowth Tekkno, Tauros Mesa, and Furret Oz, none of which had been in a Poke-ball all night, looked startled. They'd never been up against a Gengar before and had heard how difficult such battles could be to win.

However, they were also very loyal to Lexington. Not one of them wanted to let the green Gargoyle down. What startled everyone in the gym was a blast of purple fire! Emerging from the flames was no other than-

"Callahan!" Rachel shouted, shocked. No one had seen her or any legendary Pokemon for at least two whole months! "Whatchya up to?"

~~Oh! I'm terribly sorry. Have I interrupted something?~~ she replied when she saw Lexington, Macbeth, and their Pokemon.

"No, not really. They hadn't started their battle yet," Rachel stated calmly.

~~Good. The Legend's Council has located Demona's hideout. It's not easy to reach.~~

*Then how do we get there?* Tobias asked, focusing his sharp gaze on the fiery wolf.

The hybrid sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. She sighed again and said, ~~The council says that my Fireburst is the only way to get there. Unfortunately, a series of tests showed that I can't transport anyone but myself when I use either my Fireburst or Fireport.~~

*Fireburst and Fireport?* Tobias wanted to know. His already sharp gaze intensified.

Callahan shook her head, not sure how to explain. Finally, the she-wolf replied, ~~"Fireport" is when I go between the dimensions without using Oberon's gate. "Fireburst" lets me travel at the speed of light. It starts with a burst of orange fire.~~

~~Okay. Next question. Where is Demona's lair?~~ Tekkno asked, swishing its tail.

Callahan hung her head. She knew how to get there but didn't know the name of the place and said as much in a quiet voice.

"Then how're we tae get there?" Macbeth inquired. He now had both fists on his hips and a deep scowl on his face.

~~The Andalite morphing technology,~~ Callahan said weakly.

*WHAT?!* Tobias exclaimed and flapped his wings in surprise while Rachel jumped back a bit. Just then, several more purple fires appeared! From each one emerged a Callahan look-a-like. Jake was the first to demorph. Brooklyn went next and held a small blue cube in one hand. What was even more surprising was that not only did the trainers from the Gargoyles' dimension demorph but all of their Pokemon did, too!

"No way!" exclaimed Rachel in disbelief.

"Rach, you're gonna love this morph," said Marco, patting Rachel's shoulder knowingly.

~Commercial Break~

~Half an hour later, everyone - and that includes the trio, Angela, the original six Animorphs, Macbeth, Jordan, Sara, and all of their various Pokemon save Rachel's two Ditto - has morphed to Canis flamus (the Ditto used Transform and took on the form) and is at the entrance to Demona's Hideout~

Callahan watched as the others demorphed. She had rather enjoyed having them along. After all, the hybrid reminded herself somewhat sadly, she HAD been the only one of her kind in that litter. She shook her head to clear away any tears before the others could take notice.

~~Well,~~ the fiery she-wolf began after the demorphing was complete, ~~behind this boulder is the entrance to Demona's lair.~~ Callahan tapped the specified boulder with her left fore-paw. ~~It is too big for me to move alone. Will you help me?~~

~~Why bother? We could just phase right through. Morph ME!~~ Macbeth's Gengar Banshee declared. They acquired its DNA. Then Brooklyn had Callahan touch the cube. She, too, acquired Banshee's DNA. Soon, the team was following it's lead.

~Demona's Hideout, main cavern, several hours - not to mention demorphs and remorphs - later~

*This is so weird! I love it!* Rachel exclaimed. Everyone else laughed quietly. Banshee had given them a crash course in how to be invisible and/or intangible.

The three Gengar that had sided with Demona sensed the vast number of others. One of them tried unsuccessfully to inform the Gargess. The problem was, Demona hadn't used Oberon's Gate since her first time. She couldn't understand the Pokemon language! Demona did, however, notice that the Gengar were acting strangely.

"I wish I still possessed the Grimorum Arcanorum," she muttered. The female Gargoyle figured that the spellbook would have had a spell for translating languages. She turned back to a large parchment on which was her "plans".

Marco privately thought spoke to Ax, *Uh, Ax-man? How much longer do we have in morph?*

Ax replied, *Thirty of your minutes.*

*For the trillionth time, Ax! They're everyone's minutes!* Marco chided. Everyone telepathically laughed at the two of them openly. Marco and Ax hadn't concealed the latter part of their discussion from the rest of the group.

"What was that?!" Demona demanded, her head shooting straight up. She looked all around her, but couldn't find the source of the laughter.

*Macbeth?* Jake began.

*Yes?* came the response.

*Since you said that you know how to deal with Demona, what's the game plan?*

*First, ye'll need tae know that when Demona gets attacked, I'll feel it. Tha's if I'm too close. Perchance we need a distraction to draw her friends away. Callahan's Fireport should do th' trick.*

Callahan caught the cue. She demorphed quickly. Fortunately, Demona's head was down again. The hybrid shot a stream of fire at Demona's Pokemon. That got their attention! Then, the fiery wolf vanished in a burst of purple fire.

Demona's Pokemon left, passing through the intangible and invisible Pokemon, Gargoyles, humans, and Ax! They'd never known of a Pokemon to use a Teleport technique with fire before. They figured that this Pokemon would make a good ally.

Macbeth and his Pokemon followed. *We shall take special care of them! Ye'll need to wait for Banshee to return before ye render Demona unconscious,* Macbeth explained. *Good luck, my friends.*

*Okay, what's part two of plan A?* Charger asked.

*Shouldn't we figure out who's in charge first?* Tekkno countered. The vote was majority rules and Brooklyn won reluctantly.

*Hey, could've been worse. We could've had a tie,* Jake pointed out.

Brooklyn wanted to sigh, but he didn't want to risk giving away their position, either. *Alright. First, Ax? How much time is left for our morphs?*

Ax replied hastily, *Twenty-five of your minutes.*

*Marco, don't even,* Brooklyn warned. Then he continued, *Just be glad telepathic conversations don't take long.

*Okay, here's the plan: Rachel, you use whatever attack you want to get Demona's attention. Once we have that, everyone demorph. However, Rachel WILL NOT begin her attacks until Banshee returns. Understood?* Everyone did and said so telepathically. *Good. Now we wait.*

~Commercial Break~

~Meanwhile, in the tunnel that leads to Demona's lair~

Demona's Pokemon weren't more than fifteen minutes out, but Pokemon can go a lot faster than humans and consequently get farther. Macbeth and his little group decided they were far enough away from Demona. Macbeth instantly sent Banshee back to the others. He and the pack of Houndour with a few recently evolved Houndoom demorphed! Catching all of Demona's allies by surprise, Macbeth shouted encouragement to his friends as well as useful suggestions. At one point, he morphed to Canis flamus and joined the fray.

~Demona's Hideout, five minutes later~

Banshee had morphed Canis flamus once more himself! It cut the travel time down considerably not to have to worry about everyone else demorphing and remorphing (he forgot that he was under a time limit as well). The Gengar used Fireburst to get back even faster!

Reaching the entrance to Demona's Hideout, Banshee demorphed. It turned invisible. Then the Gengar let the others know it was back by deliberately stepping on Demona's tail before going intangible.

Rachel, recalling Brooklyn's instructions, dropped her invisibility and intangibility. She threw Nightshade at Demona. The female Gargoyle wasn't effected by the attack, though it did get her attention!

"What did you do that for?!" Demona yelled, automatically assuming that both pranks had been pulled off by one of her three Gengar.

*Okay, Brooklyn. We have her attention! What now?* Marco asked.

*Everyone! Battle forms!* Brooklyn instructed. Then everyone that could demorph did. Rachel's Ditto remained in the Gengar forms. Just as the Animorphs, Sara, and Jordan began to remorph, the Trio and Angela turned to stone! Demona, meanwhile, had turned into her human form for the day!

"You meddlers will pay dearly!" Demona shouted, angry at being interrupted. Before any of the Pokemon, Ax, or the humans could do anything, Demona chanted something in Latin and vanished!

"Okay, Ax. Next time, remind me to ask how close to sunrise we are," Marco stated after every- one, including the Ditto, were back to their natural forms.

*Of course, Marco,* the Andalite replied.

Jordan and Sara snuggled up against the Gargoyles and also fell asleep. "Not a bad idea," Jake said sleepily, watching his younger cousins. Everyone got comfy and went off to sleep.

~Commercial Break~

~Back to where Macbeth is~

Macbeth demorphed. He remembered a spell that might help. Calling his Pokemon out of the battle, the ancient Scott chanted, "Allies of one I think of as foe, now your way be blocked by this woe: memories of any Gargoyles bae gone from you eleven grand Pokemon!" While he chanted, Macbeth pointed at Demona's Pokemon.

Dazedly, the superclone Gyarados said, ~~Where are we? Oh, no! A human! Scatter!~~ The various ex-allies of Demona's indeed scattered.

Macbeth and his Pokemon all laughed heartily. They headed back to Demona's lair to see how things were working out. When they arrived, Banshee was the only creature awake. Callahan, who had come back shortly after everyone else had fallen asleep, was curled up in a rounded corner where her flames would be harmless.

The Houndour and Houndoom decided that they also needed rest. They, too, curled up for the day. Macbeth made himself comfy and rested as well, waiting for everyone to wake up.

That night, everyone changed into Canis flamus. Well, except Callahan, who really WAS one. Then they all used Fireburst to get back to the gym. It didn't take long. What surprised them as they demorphed was that Naomi, Fox, Alex, and Mewtwo were all in the gym looking very worried!

"Is something wrong, Mom?" Jordan asked after demorphing.

Naomi looked at Fox, then Mewtwo. Her expression read, "How do I explain? Where do I even begin?"

Mewtwo hovered next to Naomi and floated over to the group of humans, Gargoyles, Ax, and Pokemon. *Demona teleported herself back to the dimension from which you came. She has. . . found and taken captive certain humans. Demona has asked for a terrible ransom in return of her prisoners' freedom.*

*What's her price and who has she captured?* Tobias inquired, his hawk eyes locked on the super- clone.

"David is one of the prisoners," Fox said with a tear slowly falling from her right eye. "The others. . . are the parents of all the Animorphs. Naomi was the only one to escape because she. . . she wasn't with the others when Demona attacked." More tears followed the first and her words had been spoken with care.

"And you came tae warn us?" Macbeth replied. Naomi and Fox nodded, and Alex started to cry. Loudly.

Lexington took Alex and comforted the quarter-fay. "Don't worry. We'll rescue 'em. What was Demona's price?" Naomi, Fox, and Mewtwo exchanged glances. Lexington's phrasing had caught them off guard, but they really needed to stop hedging and answer that particular question.

Finally, Mewtwo said, *Demona wishes to have the "spell" that turns you into Pokemon.*

"UH-OH!" was the chorused response from those with the morphing technology.

~~She would abuse the technology!~~ Callahan exclaimed, fiery hackles up.

"I have a BETTER idea!" Marco exclaimed, snapping his fingers on "better". "Remember the nice Yeerks? Let's give one of those to her instead!"

"WHAT?!" Cassie, Jake, Tobias, and Ax all yelled.

At the same moment Rachel enthusiastically agreed, "Hey, great idea, Marco! Let's do it!" She shoved one fist straight into the air. Griz followed her lead and shoved its own arm up in support, even thought it didn't know what a Yeerk was.

"Better than what, anyway, Marco?" Jake tactfully asked.

"'Better than what?' You actually have ta ask?! Better than giving her the technology and making a mistake as big as Seerow's or worse, of course!" exclaimed Marco, who now had an extremely smug expression on his face.

*How d'we know where to find her, though?* Tobias asked with a very sharp glance at Marco. Then everyone looked at Mewtwo, and Tobias did a bit of preening.

*According to Mew, Demona is holding her captives within the ancient ruins of one of Japan's finest castles. Mew does not know the name of the ruins, but he can get you there once you are back in your home dimension.* Mewtwo twitched his tail and hovered closer to the group.

Before anything more could be said, the superclone transported them back to Professor Oak's. Everyone called their Pokemon back into their Poke-balls (Ax's Pikachu went to his shoulder) and went through Oberon's Gate.

From there, on instructions from Jake and Ax, Mew transported them to the Yeerk Pool!

~Commercial Break~

~At the Yeerk Pool, moments later~

"I will never be used to this place," Jake stated with a shudder.

"What is this place?" asked Brooklyn, looking around. There were holes in the tops and bottoms of certain cave entrances where bars had once been to "help" keep the "host bodies" from escaping.

"Welcome to the revamped Yeerk Pool!" Marco announced as though they were all tourists in Hollywood.

"Oooh! That is NOT very pretty!" Angela exclaimed, spotting the actual pool teeming with Yeerks.

"It isn't intended to be pretty," Jake replied with a shrug. "Cass? Are you sure you can handle doing this?" What Jake was referring to was that Cassie was going to use her Yeerk morph. She would go into the pool and talk to and find a Yeerk to give Demona. They had a good plan for how to get the immortal Gargoyle to cooperate, too.

Owen and Alex stood near the pool. They had snatched Owen while they were still at the Eyrie Building. Owen was going to "teach" Alex a new spell if the Yeerk Cassie found would cooperate.

"Of course I'm sure, Jake. I've been in a Yeerk pool before, remember? Only this time, I won't be risking getting myself killed by them," Cassie said in reply to Jake. Then she began the morph, which is complicatedly disgusting. Finally, she looked like a mutated, mucus-coated slug that wasn't very big but quite squishy. Since she didn't have any sense of sight, smell, or sound, Cassie thought-spoke, *Could someone please stick me in the pool?*

Though weirded out and very displeased, Ax scooped Cassie into his left hand. The Andalite then, as gently as he thought possible (with restraint from the temptation of throwing his friend like a baseball), Ax put Cassie into the Yeerk pool.

Cassie "swam" to the nearest Yeerk. It took a while for her to figure out how to communicate. At last, she learned that it had something to do with touching "palps" to other Yeerks. ("Kinda like when bees use their antennae to communicate," Cassie had said upon later reflection.)

#Excuse me,# she said to one Yeerk. #I'm Cassie, one of the Animorphs once thought to be "Andalite Bandits". We need to ask a favor of one of you. Any one up to it?#

#I'm not sure I understand. If you're a human that fought us, why would you want our help?# one Yeerk asked.

#We have this. . . person that needs special therapy. There's just a few problems. First, she'd kill anyone who tried to tell her she's off her rocker. Second, she's immortal. Third-#

#Back up! Immortal?!# another Yeerk demanded to know.

#Yeah, to our disadvantage. She's bound to someone else and they can only die by killing each other. Also, this person is one form by day and another by night. Her day form is human, and her night one is a creature called a Gargoyle. And one more thing: she wants all humans and any creature that likes them killed!# Cassie explained.

#WHAT?!# a lot of Yeerks exclaimed. #But humans are excellent hosts!# one complained. Then many of them clamored for the job.

#Are you sure? She goes against her own instincts and is the primary cause of the destruction of nearly all her friends and family. She doesn't take the credit, though. She gives that to humans and her ex-boyfriend. Um, ex-mate.# Nearly all the Yeerks changed their minds.

One, however, wanted more information. #If she's so dangerous, how will a Yeerk even get inside her? Will who ever goes in get special protection? Won't she slaughter every Yeerk in the Yeerk Pool when the one goes to get the needed Kandrona rays?#

#I thought you'd never ask,# Cassie replied somewhat smugly. #First, the person she's bound to will morph something. Theoretically, this should cause her great discomfort. While she's distracted by her pain, we'll insert one of you. You'll have a special spell on you that will cancel out your need for Kandrona. How's that sound?#

#I'll do it! By the way, I'm Esplin 5763, and you can call me E5,# the Yeerk responded to Cassie's proposal.

#Fantastic! Now for the tricky part.# Cassie kept her palps in contact with E5's. She began to demorph, willing her hands to be first. By the time Cassie was half through, Owen and Alex had a jar with water ready for the Yeerk.

Since it was obvious which Yeerk Cassie had selected, Owen reached his hand in and grabbed it. Alex burbled happily as the Yeerk was deposited into the jar he was holding.

Jake and Marco helped pull Cassie out of the pool before any Yeerks picked her for its host. Jake hugged Cassie although she was still wet.

Owen handed Alex to Lexington. Then the business man turned back into Puck! "Time for a new magic lesson!" the fay commented happily to his pupil. Alex looked into Lexington's eyes and merged the two of them.

Ax's stalk eyes jumped forward. His Pikachu hopped down and stepped over to Lexington/Alex. ~~What did you do that for?~~ it wanted to know.

*Yes, why?* Ax stepped back, worried Alex would enter him next.

"Because Alex needs Lexington to help him speak. 'Sides, Lexington has helped willingly enough before," Puck replied with a wink. Then he and Alex/Lexington cast the spell of immortality on Esplin 5763.

Mew inquired, "Are you done? If so, don't you think we should get to Demona?"

"Yeah, we're done," Lexington/Alex said. Mew then teleported the entire group, plus E5, directly to the Japanese castle ruins!

~Commercial Break~

~Castle Ruins, somewhere in Japan~

"Where are they?" Demona snarled. Suddenly, Mew and crew showed up! "Finally! Now, hand over the spell and I'll hand over the humans and Pokemon." On "humans," Demona gave an extra growl.

Ax's parents were NOT pleased at being called Pokemon, but they couldn't do much to Demona because she'd magically bound them and the humans to a crumbled-down wall. *We are not polka-something-or-others,* Ax's father openly thought-spoke with offended Andalite dignity. *We are of the proud race of Andalites!*

"Couldn'ta said it better myself," Marco stated with a lopsided grin. Everyone else that had entered ignored the conversation and acted. Macbeth began to morph into Gengar! Lexington/Alex walked over to Demona, who was writhing in pain, while holding the jar with Esplin 5763 in their talons.

*You brought one of the Yeerk scum with you?!* Ax's mother asked with extreme distaste.

"You'd rather give that nutcase your morphing technology?" Naomi countered, pointing at Demona.

The adult Andalites felt rather subdued after that one and kept quiet. The ancient Scott demorphed, keeping Demona fully distracted! The small, green Gargoyle opened the jar and carefully extracted the Yeerk. Then, while Macbeth began to re-morph, Alex/Lexington placed E5 in Demona's ear!

~Commercial Break~

~From Esplin 5763's point of view upon entering Demona's head~

#Wow!# I exclaimed. I had never been in a host like this! My host didn't even notice my entrance at first.

I found the pain control zone of the brain. I turned the pain receptors off. I was then engaged in opening the senses of sight, sound, and smell. We Yeerks thought humans had great senses of sound, sight, and smell! Boy were we wrong! Gargoyles are ten times better!

Next, I decided to flap her wings. That was cool! I twitched her tail and flexed her paws. "Fascinating!" I had her mouth and voice box say. "And to think I can only glide." I managed to make that sound like I was disappointed!

Finally, Demona realized I had taken complete control of her body. She told me, "What is going on here?! What manner of sorcery or technology are you using?! What even ARE you!?!"

#I'm a Yeerk. It is neither sorcery nor technology. I'm using my natural abilities to control you. Also, my race is considered parasitic. YIKES!# I exclaimed as I saw one of her memories. I quickly blocked it off. For your information, the memory was of her betrayal to her "clan"! #Cassie was right! You need some SERIOUS therapy, lady-goyle-person-thing!#

"I'm NO lady! I'm a powerful-"

#EEeennnn! Wrong! You WERE powerful. Now, your every movement, every memory, every thought, everyTHING your capable of belongs to me! Hmm,# I stated as I saw the memories of spells. I chuckled as I watched her make a mistake in her early attempts at magic. #That wasn't a very intelligent thing to do.# Out loud, I asked, "Anything in particular you want me to teach her?"

Cassie and a red Gargoyle Demona's memories called Brooklyn exclaimed in unison, "Teach her to be nice!"

"Though that will undoubtedly take a long time, I've got plenty of time now I'm immortal. Anything else?"

"Teach her what it means to be a true Gargoyle again," a female that the memories noted as a biological daughter and called Angela stated.

I looked at some instincts that were pushed into a deep recess of her memories. "Good idea!" I exclaimed as I saw what she had once been: a loving and protecting Gargess that acted without thinking on too many occasions. "Also I think that a good punishment for her crimes will be 'no magic for a full century.' Does that sound good?"

"NO!" Demona yelled at me, pointlessly struggling to regain control of her body. I mentally shook my host's head at herself. She stopped abruptly and had to figure out how I'd managed that one.

Everyone else gave me the opposite answer in a very positive and happy manner. #Chill, Demona. I can help you nicely or rudely, but either way you'll learn.# I utilized the neurons that control facial expressions to make a very smug smile. Out loud, I said, "This should be fun! Thanks for the great host, everyone! Like I already told Cassie, from now on, call me E5. I suspect that would be best for us all." I made Demona's right arm go into a "thinking" position.

~Commercial Break~

~No longer from E5's point of view, and everyone had been transported over to the Eyrie Building~

"That was a different rescue than I expected, m'dear," Xanatos said to Fox. "Where's Alex?" He looked for his son, mystified.

"Right here," Alex/Lexington said, stepping forward. Ax's parents looked as though if they hadn't already been accustomed to strange things when dealing with "alien life forms" that they would have fainted. They really had problems when Alex separated himself from Lexington!

*I do not understand! How is this possible?!* Ax's father inquired.

"Magic," Lexington replied, holding young Alexander Xanatos lovingly in his arms. Then the Gargoyle handed the baby over to Fox and Xanatos. Ax's mother did faint!

*Hmm. I was not aware that our species was capable of fainting,* Ax commented.

Smirking, Xanatos said, "Well, perhaps you would be happier knowing that this young Gargoyle was in a stone sleep for a thousand years." He wanted to see if he could get two aliens to faint in one night. He was somewhat disappointed when the other adult Andalite didn't faint but didn't show it.

*A thousand Earth years? How is that possible?* Ax's father wanted to know.

"Again, magic would be the cause," Owen stated in his business-man tone. "Not only that, the entire clan is over a thousand years old. As for myself, I am member of the immortal race primarily known as Oberon's children." Ax's father staggered on his four deer-like feet. Ax raised his own brow in one of the human expressions he had adopted for mild surprise.

Owen then gave the Andalites a detailed explanation of how this came about. "Bummer," Marco said at the tail end. "Hey, Macbeth? If the gym you and Rachel established was to help warn people and their Pokemon about Demona and she's no longer a threat, what're ya gonna do?"

"If Rachel would like, we could still run the gym. That reminds me! Marco? Rachel? Would ye help me pass around Legend Badges to all who helped in Demona's defeat? I believe t'would be reasonable, do ye disagree?" Macbeth replied. The badges were indeed passed around.

Well, it looked like a "happily ever after" kind of thing, but everyone knows that stories attached to living beings - no matter the species - don't truly end until death. Well, death doesn't always end a story, either. . . .