Chapter Twenty-Three:
BRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIINGGGGGGGG!!!
BRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIINGGGGGGGG!!!
BRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIINGGGGGGGG!!!
BRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIINGGGGGGGG!!!
I grabbed at the ringing phone wildly, desperate to end the insanely offensive noise.
"Mnhnello?" I gasped, sitting upright in my bed.
"Marco," a voice hissed, "this is Jake. Where the heck are you?"
"I'm . . . um . . . um . . . on my way," I said, dropping back onto my pillow. "Heading up there now."
"You're still in bed," he accused.
I rubbed sleep out my eyes, and blinked, trying to adjust to the harsh sunlight that cut through my window. "Who me? In bed? Have you no faith in your best friend?"
"Not when it comes to this. Get out here, now."
"Forgot to set my alarm," I mumbled.
He hung up.
I looked at the clock. 11:30 AM. I had meant to sleep in, sure, but not this late. I struggled to my feet. Fought off the clinging covers. I shook my head to clear it. Tried to get my bearings.
Right. Cassie. The shack. Water tower. Yeerk. Right. Yeah. Okay.
Still mostly asleep, I put on my morphing outfit and opened my window, shivering at the sudden river of cool air that washed over me. I looked down at my arm, covered in goose pimples.
"How appropriate," I muttered, and began to morph.
I landed at the shack. Ax was grazing outside.
Hey, Ax-man.
Hello, Marco.
How's it going up here?
Quiet, so far. The Yeerk in Cassie's mind has now given up all pretenses, and was begging for mercy some time ago.
I winced. I wouldn't have liked to be on that watch.
Needless to say, we ignored it.
Needless to say, I agreed. Who's in there now? I jerked my head towards the shack.
Prince Jake. Rachel and Tobias watched the Yeerk for most of the morning, and have now gone to bring human foods for lunch.
I bobbed my head in a bird nod. Guess I should go report for duty. Is Jake pretty steamed up?
I believe he is comfortable, speaking in terms of temperature.
I meant, is he mad that I'm late?
Oh. I'm not sure. When speaking about you earlier, he used several words I am not familiar with. Mainly adjectives. I can look them up in Webster's, if you'd like.
That's okay, Ax-man. I have a pretty good idea what they were.
Irresponsible was the word he used the most. I know what that means. Reckless, careless, foolish, negligent, rash -
Yeah, thanks. Maybe I should go in with battle morph.
Why?
I chose to demorph instead of answer. Fully human, I pulled the door open, and stepped in.
Cassie was slumping in her chair, a defeated, haunted look on her face. Jake leaned against the wall, his arms folded. Impassive. He gave me a look when I entered.
'I'm not going to chew you out now, because it would look bad,' his expression signaled. 'But just wait until I get you alone.'
Cassie, or rather, the Yeerk controlling her, brought her head up to regard me. "Marco," she said. "Marco, Marco, Marco. Poor Marco's mom is a Controller. Visser One, no less! Lofty connections. Think you could get me a promotion if I survive? Ask your mommy nicely for me?"
I was disgusted, but I wasn't about to let the Yeerk know that. I put my hands on my hips, and regarded it.
"Not much time left, huh, Yeerk?"
"No," it agreed. "Not much. Do you so-called Andalite bandits enjoy doing this? Murdering people? That's what you're doing, you know. It's not a quick, merciful death, either. It's murder. Slow torture. Slooooooooooow."
"Come out of Cassie, and we'll make the end fast," Jake offered.
"I wouldn't give you the satisfaction," it snarled, curling Cassie's lip in a sneer. It was so dramatically un-Cassie. How could we ever have been fooled by it? How could I have been fooled?
I knew how.
"You brought this on yourself," I frowned. "You had the chance to escape."
Jake looked at me sharply. I gave him an 'I'll-explain-later' glance.
"Why didn't you leave when you could?"
The Yeerk stared at me through Cassie's face, her eyes bulging. It turned her lips up in a terrible smile, and began to snicker. The laugh turned into a cackle, which turned into a howl of hilarity. The Yeerk was going mad at the end of its life.
It laughed. It vibrated Cassie's vocal cords, worked her jaw, threw back her head and laughed in my face as though I had just asked the most hysterically funny question ever.
It ran out of breath, and gasped raggedly. "Why, he asks why," it gagged.
"Yes," Jake said. "He does. Answer him."
It looked left, then right, suspiciously, then leaned Cassie's body forward. It smiled with her mouth. "Because," it whispered, "I didn't - "
She was interrupted by the shrill scream of a hawk outside. Jake! Tobias shouted. We have an emergency! Rachel is in squirrel morph on top of the water tower, with an hour and a half left before . . . Jake, she's pinned down by dracon cannons, and can't get away!!
BRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIINGGGGGGGG!!!
BRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIINGGGGGGGG!!!
BRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIINGGGGGGGG!!!
BRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIINGGGGGGGG!!!
I grabbed at the ringing phone wildly, desperate to end the insanely offensive noise.
"Mnhnello?" I gasped, sitting upright in my bed.
"Marco," a voice hissed, "this is Jake. Where the heck are you?"
"I'm . . . um . . . um . . . on my way," I said, dropping back onto my pillow. "Heading up there now."
"You're still in bed," he accused.
I rubbed sleep out my eyes, and blinked, trying to adjust to the harsh sunlight that cut through my window. "Who me? In bed? Have you no faith in your best friend?"
"Not when it comes to this. Get out here, now."
"Forgot to set my alarm," I mumbled.
He hung up.
I looked at the clock. 11:30 AM. I had meant to sleep in, sure, but not this late. I struggled to my feet. Fought off the clinging covers. I shook my head to clear it. Tried to get my bearings.
Right. Cassie. The shack. Water tower. Yeerk. Right. Yeah. Okay.
Still mostly asleep, I put on my morphing outfit and opened my window, shivering at the sudden river of cool air that washed over me. I looked down at my arm, covered in goose pimples.
"How appropriate," I muttered, and began to morph.
I landed at the shack. Ax was grazing outside.
Hey, Ax-man.
Hello, Marco.
How's it going up here?
Quiet, so far. The Yeerk in Cassie's mind has now given up all pretenses, and was begging for mercy some time ago.
I winced. I wouldn't have liked to be on that watch.
Needless to say, we ignored it.
Needless to say, I agreed. Who's in there now? I jerked my head towards the shack.
Prince Jake. Rachel and Tobias watched the Yeerk for most of the morning, and have now gone to bring human foods for lunch.
I bobbed my head in a bird nod. Guess I should go report for duty. Is Jake pretty steamed up?
I believe he is comfortable, speaking in terms of temperature.
I meant, is he mad that I'm late?
Oh. I'm not sure. When speaking about you earlier, he used several words I am not familiar with. Mainly adjectives. I can look them up in Webster's, if you'd like.
That's okay, Ax-man. I have a pretty good idea what they were.
Irresponsible was the word he used the most. I know what that means. Reckless, careless, foolish, negligent, rash -
Yeah, thanks. Maybe I should go in with battle morph.
Why?
I chose to demorph instead of answer. Fully human, I pulled the door open, and stepped in.
Cassie was slumping in her chair, a defeated, haunted look on her face. Jake leaned against the wall, his arms folded. Impassive. He gave me a look when I entered.
'I'm not going to chew you out now, because it would look bad,' his expression signaled. 'But just wait until I get you alone.'
Cassie, or rather, the Yeerk controlling her, brought her head up to regard me. "Marco," she said. "Marco, Marco, Marco. Poor Marco's mom is a Controller. Visser One, no less! Lofty connections. Think you could get me a promotion if I survive? Ask your mommy nicely for me?"
I was disgusted, but I wasn't about to let the Yeerk know that. I put my hands on my hips, and regarded it.
"Not much time left, huh, Yeerk?"
"No," it agreed. "Not much. Do you so-called Andalite bandits enjoy doing this? Murdering people? That's what you're doing, you know. It's not a quick, merciful death, either. It's murder. Slow torture. Slooooooooooow."
"Come out of Cassie, and we'll make the end fast," Jake offered.
"I wouldn't give you the satisfaction," it snarled, curling Cassie's lip in a sneer. It was so dramatically un-Cassie. How could we ever have been fooled by it? How could I have been fooled?
I knew how.
"You brought this on yourself," I frowned. "You had the chance to escape."
Jake looked at me sharply. I gave him an 'I'll-explain-later' glance.
"Why didn't you leave when you could?"
The Yeerk stared at me through Cassie's face, her eyes bulging. It turned her lips up in a terrible smile, and began to snicker. The laugh turned into a cackle, which turned into a howl of hilarity. The Yeerk was going mad at the end of its life.
It laughed. It vibrated Cassie's vocal cords, worked her jaw, threw back her head and laughed in my face as though I had just asked the most hysterically funny question ever.
It ran out of breath, and gasped raggedly. "Why, he asks why," it gagged.
"Yes," Jake said. "He does. Answer him."
It looked left, then right, suspiciously, then leaned Cassie's body forward. It smiled with her mouth. "Because," it whispered, "I didn't - "
She was interrupted by the shrill scream of a hawk outside. Jake! Tobias shouted. We have an emergency! Rachel is in squirrel morph on top of the water tower, with an hour and a half left before . . . Jake, she's pinned down by dracon cannons, and can't get away!!