Visser One>
I was enjoying myself rather profusely even though the stupid human
who was my host kept begging for her parents to be released. She believes
she can fight me. I am Visser One! I controlled an Andalite war-prince
long before her, she was no different. There was some resistance at first,
but he came to accept the fact that I was in charge. It was only a matter
of time before she would realize it too. I called for the Animorph named
Rachel. She would be the first to experience pain. She was shoved into
the room before me with her hands tied behind her back.
I knelt so I could see her eyes. "I'm going to enjoy this," I told
her.
She spat in my face. I stood and wiped the saliva away from my eye.
I really was going to enjoy this to its full potential. I punched her in
the face repeatedly making her bruise and bleed. My host cried out, cursing
me, but I ignored her. I threw her against the wall then began kicking
her in the ribs and stomach until she could no longer breathe easily. She
couldn't morph to repair the injuries thanks to my new toys. Anti-morph
collars are a device that prevents anyone whose DNA is programmed into
it from morphing. Rachel was coughing up blood when I grew tired of her.
I had her returned to the confinement and the next one was brought in.
This time it was Tobias.
"Too bad I don't have an Antarean Bogg morph available. I'd kill you
just like I killed Elfangor."
"You son of a-!" he lunged for me.
"Come on Tobias. Let me see what you've got!" I challenged. "Oh I forgot...
you're a nothlit, you can't morph."
I beat him across the back and face with a steel pipe. Blood poured
from the gash above his swollen right eye. His nose was broken and jaw
fractured. When I was through with him I went on to Cassie then Marco.
Finally I came to Jake. His would be four times worse. I started out with
beating him to a pulp, then I dislocated every joint possible. Afterwards,
I broke his fingers and toes one at time. Then I broke both his arms and
legs in at least four different places (actually, I lost count). I placed
a large wooden block between his feet and shattered his ankles and knees
with a sledgehammer. I even used a pair of pliers to pull all of his teeth
out. It was wonderful hearing his screams of pain and seeing the tears
in his eyes as I broke every one of his ribs. Now that I was satisfied
I would go to the next part of my plan: enslave their children. I morphed
to golden eagle and flew back to my host's home where I found her siblings
searching for their missing mother and father.
"What happened?" I asked, playing my part.
"Mom and Dad are missing and the house is a mess," the one called Jason
said. "Where the hell were you? You weren't in school."
"I wasn't feeling good."
"So you just decided to go flying?"
"Up yours! I have a lot on my mind," I said truthfully.
Nicole changed the subject before I decided to morph and rip him to
pieces. "Do you think someone might have kidnapped Mom and Dad?"
"Maybe someone broke in after they went to town."
"But Mom's car is still here and there's a bullet hole in the hood."
Just then Travis, Michael, and Cheyenne landed and demorphed. They
obviously arrived at their homes and found the same scene. Worry was upon
each of their faces.
"You guys too?" Cheyenne asked.
"What do you mean 'you guys too'?" I asked.
"Our houses are the same way," Michael said.
It was now or never. "I'll get Darrax. Cheyenne get Ketara. We'll meet
in the park."
I morphed to eagle and headed to the Hork-Bajir colony. Once I had
taken over the other Animorphs they would be the next thing on my infestation
list. I easily found the one named Darrax, he was sitting in his favorite
tree looking out over the park. I told him about the miss-ing parents,
then without him knowing, acquired his DNA. We flew to the rendezvous point
and went over the plan to find our missing loved ones. The Andalite war-princess
was there as well. I acquired her too.
"Where do we begin?" Travis wondered.
"There are many old buildings around the area. We should start there,"
I suggested.
They agreed. We soared above the rooftops of the city looking for anything
that appeared to be out of place. After searching two buildings and one
warehouse we came to the one where they were being held captive. I sent
a private message to my troops.
We're here. I want them blindfolded and silenced.> After we were in our original bodies we snuck around to a low window and climbed through. "Everyone stay alert," I said. "It could be a trap."
They nodded in unison and stealthily walked along the empty halls, checking
every room we came to. The Andalite's stalk eyes kept constantly scanning
the area for any possible threat. Little did she know that the true threat
was among them. I decided to acquire her again just in case I had to use
an Andalite as a disguise. As we entered the room where the trap was to
be sprung I held up my hand and signaled for them to wait. I held a finger
to my lips and slowly eased the door open. There it was, the most beautiful
picture I could ever have imagined, all the Animorphs completely helpless
and at my disposal. They each went to their own parent and removed their
blindfolds. I had gone earlier and retrieved the Iguadons for the attack.
I waved my hand and they prepared to descend from the shadows and tear
their opponents to shreds. Michael removed the tape from his mother's lips.
"It's Visser One! Stacey's Visser One!" Rachel yelled.
Seven heads turned to look at me. I shrugged. "I guess playtime's over.
KILL THEM!"
The Iguadons jumped down from the rafters and surrounded the Animorphs
on all sides. It was amazing how fast they could morph, within the blink
of an eye they had assumed their battle morphs and attacked. I had them
severely outnumbered. They would be mine in a matter of minutes. The Andalite
leaped over the brawl and landed in front of me. Her tail was twitching
with rage. I began my new morph, it would be quite impressive. Blades sprouted
from my forehead, elbows, wrists, and the back of my legs. Another set
of bladed legs shot out of my hips and both sets ended in the clawed Hork-Bajir
feet. A sixth finger grew on my hands and each finger grew a sharp claw.
The Andalite stalk eyes appeared at the top of my now Hork-Bajir head.
My flesh turned greenish brown and became leathery as my spine elongated
to form the Andalite/Hork-Bajir tail with the four Hork-Bajir blades and
the one deadly Andalite blade on the tip. I was fast and powerful. And
very deadly.
Take your best shot Yeerk,> she spat.
My pleasure.>
I slashed her across the chest twice, leaving multiple wounds. I stood
on my hind legs and kicked her with my forelegs. She sailed across the
room and hit the wall. The Hork-Bajir came at me next, I took him down
with little effort. The Andalite was on her feet once more, but instead
of attacking me again, she freed the other Animorphs.
You must morph!>
"We can't!" yelled Cassie. "These collars supress our powers."
Her tail flashed and the collars fell to the floor. Jake remained in
his chair, he was in far too much pain to move. Ketara went over and arched
her tail.
Hold still Master Jake.>
FWAP!
His collar fell to his lap. They began morphing to their various battle
morphs: grizzly, tiger, wolf, gorilla. The only one who remained human
was Tobias. They charged the Iguadons and began to kill them one by one.
Rachel's grizzly morph approached me.
You're dead slug.> She raised up and drew back one massive paw.
Noooo!> Jake yelled and tackled Rachel.
Rachel stood up and faced him, enraged. What the hell do
you think you're doing?!>
She may be Visser One now, but she's still my daughter and I will
not let you kill her. I don't give a damn if I'm making a mistake.>
She stormed off to join the rest of the battle. Jake stared at me with
his tiger eyes.
Let me talk to him,> Stacey pleaded. It's a small request.>
Make it short,> I said. Then to Jake I said: I have someone
here who would like to speak with you.>
I returned to my human figure and stood before him, then released control
over my host. She collapsed to the floor. Jake demorphed and cradled her
head in his arms. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she spoke. "I'm
sorry."
"It's not your fault. You couldn't have known it would happen," he
said.
"Kill me Dad. Kill me now, I'm begging you. Please, if you love me,
end my suffering."
"No. I'll find a way."
"How? There's no way to stop him, what are you going to do?"
"There's always a way. Don't give up whatever you do. Don't listen
to anything he tells you."
"He has Tom and Melissa," she said.
"I know. He'll pay for it too. You hear that Yeerk?"
"Loud and clear," I said. I had taken control once more.
My hand shot up and closed around his throat. I squeezed until he began
to turn purple. He would die before I ever would, even if I had to use
my bare hands to do it. Jake's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he
became weak from the lack of oxygen. He was almost dead when a ham-sized
hand grabbed me by the shoulder.
Leave him alone,> said Marco.
He flung me to the other side of the room and carried Jake to safety.
I held my side as I stood up. That ape had broken my ribs! I had one more
little surprise in store for them. I signaled for Tom to retrieve it. The
battle ceased as the sounds of a baby crying filled the air. I took the
child and morphed my hand to Hork-Bajir, holding my wrist blades up to
his throat.
Mark!> Marco and Cheyenne cried.
"Demorph or I'll kill him! All of you!"
They submitted to my demands and returned to their natural bodies.
I knew that Marco would sacrifice himself to save his child, so I made
a proposition. "Surrender and become hosts, or watch as your child and
wife die by my hand."
"Where's my wife?!" Marco demanded.
I pointed out a window. I had her, along with Jake's wife trapped in
a net that was dangling over a pit filled with sharp, rusty pieces of scrap
metal and giant shards of glass. Melissa was operating the crane that suspended
them above it. All I had to do was give a signal and they would fall to
their deaths. Anger filled Marco's face as I marveled at my long-awaited
victory. Then I saw the eagle strike. Melissa thrashed wildly as it tore
at her scalp with it's talons. I noticed then that Rachel was gone.
"ROOOARR!"
I turned in time to see the tiger leap on top of me. The baby was snatched
from me by his father before I hit the ground. I slammed my fist down on
Jake's snout and pulled myself free. I was about to morph my Andalite/Hork-Bajir
morph when Darrax bounded up to me.
"Sorry Stacey," he said grimmly and drove his wrist blades deep into
my chest.
My heart and left lung had been pierced and I began bleeding to death.
I felt weak. Too weak to maintain control over my host. She took his clawed
hand in hers and squeezed as blood dripped from the corners of her mouth.
"Forgive... me," she whispered, raising her hand to touch his face
as she faded into the blackness of death.
I opened my eyes and found that I was standing within a black space.
I tried to figure out where I was but had no clue. I looked up and saw
a huge red eye peering down at me. It was attached to a mechanical body
which sat upon a throne.
"Visser One. At last we meet," the eye said. "I am Crayak."
"What do you want with me?" I demanded.
"To help you get your revenge. And mine."
"What do you mean yours?"
"I despise Jake more than you do. I have tried countless times to get
him to join me. Rachel's death was part of my doing until the Ellimist
put the idea into your host's head to use the Time Matrix and save her.
He broke the rules of the game."
"Game?"
"The Ellimist and I play a game that decides the fate of the universe."
"And exactly how are you going to help me achieve my goal?"
"As you know your host is dead. I can return you and let you continue
in your plans for total domination. There is also one more who wants to
destroy Jake and Rachel as badly as the both of us. His name... is David."