Episode One: Fury
Part One: The Assination
April 2nd, 2000
Antimorph flagship Anubis
DAVID
I slept it off.
I had drunk myself to shit after the battle with the Animorphs at the mall, amazed that I hadn't died of liquor poisoning. It had been a day, and I still hadn't come to grips with the fact that my protégé, my greatest ally, Lewis Sanders, had been killed in battle.
I would have revenge.
I pulled myself together, pulling on a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt, and speaking on the intercom: "All Antimorphs to the bridge, important meeting. Five minutes."
Five minutes later, we were all assembled on the bridge of the ship. My eyes wandered over them all.
Aleks Stantford, a former street punk from downtown L.A., a mercenary for hire. Ruthless, determined, nefarious in his own mind. A true force to be reckoned with.
Marc LaRouche, our pilot and computer tech. Very smart, a lonely boy who had joined us after we presented ourselves to him.
Skorre Fett, an intelligent Hork-Bajir, rebellious and calculating. A great tactical mind, and cunning instincts made him a valuable ally.
Sara Berenson, sister of the bitch, Rachel, my greatest foe. We had kidnapped her from her home and used her to lure the Animorphs to the mall. We had given her the morphing power, but she had yet to officially join our legion.
Lastly, I saw the strangest of the crew, Ripper. No first name, no last name, only a demented persona and a damaged psyche, Ripper believed he was a servant of god, helping to destroy a plague of evil dogs on earth. Whatever had caused him to lose his memory, Ripper was now more beast than human. His hands were like scraggly claws, his teeth had been filed into sharp, wolf-like fangs, and his short form was skinny and corpse-like. Despite all this, he could jump far and was naturally very fast. In our last battle, he had killed more than a dozen Hork-Bajir, and wounded some of the Animorphs greatly, without aid from the rest of us.
Still, Ripper was dangerous, and he had to be kept in check.
I cleared my throat.
"OK, we're all shocked about what happened last night. We fought hard, and we fought well. Still, we lost one of our own. Sanders was cruelly slain by Jake Berenson."
I looked at Sara, she flinched.
"Sanders was my second in command. Now that he has been murdered, I must appoint a new Lieutenant. Aleks, you are next in line. You are now second in command of the Antimorphs."
A smile crept onto Alek's face.
"Thank you, David."
I looked at Sara.
"Now, we have to explain ourselves to the newest member of our motley crew."
"You don't have to explain anything. Sanders told me all about what you all are. You are the Antimorphs, you fight The Animorphs, human morphers infested by Yeerks. I know all about it. I know that my cousin was one. I know my sister is one. I know that the Yeerks killed my other sister and mother four months ago, when they infested Rachel. I know that I have to help you. And I will."
Quite a speech. I must have taken a lot of guts for an eleven year old kid to say that.
"Very well, Sara. You are one of us."
"Now, we need to plot our course of action. There are three Animorphs left: Cassie Verenda, Rachel Berenson, and Aximili-Esgarrouth-Ithsill. We need to deal with this, soon. Any suggestions?"
"Kill 'em," grunted Ripper, "Chew 'em up and spit 'em out."
"No. Don't kill Cassie. We agreed to make her one of us. We cannot kill her."
Shit. I had promised LaRouche that we would make Cassie an Antimorph. LaRouche, it turns out, once had a romance with her, and he didn't want to see her dead.
"Fine. Verenda will not die. But as for Rachel and Ax, we need to execute them, soon. The Yeerks will soon be after all three of them, and we cant allow even one of them to fall into the hands of the Empire."
"We should take the Andalite first," said Skorre, "He is physically the strongest."
"Yeah, but strength isn't everything, Skorre," muttered Aleks, "As you so valiantly demonstrated the other night."
"How dare you say that! I fought just as hard as you, or the others! And I may point out that you were the one with Sanders when he succumbed to his wounds. Why did he not morph out?"
"I told you, he was unconscious, died almost as soon as I found him. There wasn't a thing I could do."
"Yeah, you heard 'em, Carver, kid was dead. Dead like a dog. Dead like those other Carvers I killed, too. Even when they ran, just jumped up on the back and ripped 'em up…like dogs…he he he…" Ripper panted.
"What's a Carver, Ripper?" Asked LaRouche.
"What do you think a Carver is? Look at Skorre. He could carve a sword out of monkey shit."
So, he had a name for Hork-Bajir now. How nice.
"Alright, everyone. Let's take a while, think everything over."
The crew began to depart for various sections of the ship, as Aleks left, I called him back.
"Wait, Aleks. I have a special assignment for you."
ALEKS
David gave me the assignment.
In secret. None of the others knew about it. He said I was just the kind of man he needed for this job.
He was so right.
He told me to go, in secret, to the home of Cassie Verenda, and kill anything that I found there.
I took a Bug Fighter down to the surface, landed it in the woods, grabbed a sawed-off shotgun from the armory, and went through the woods in the direction of the farm.
It was raining as I approached the farmhouse. Rain fell through the trees like bullets, the ground covered in mud. I loaded the shotgun with two shells, and, standing in the dim evening light, cocked it.
KA-CHINK!
I walked towards the house.
CASSIE
My family and I were sitting down to dinner, though I was feeling apprehensive about it. I shouldn't be here, I thought, I should be with the others, waiting for the Antimorphs counterattack.
It had been little over a day since the battle at the mall. Marco…funny Marco…killed by the soldier named Sanders, who had in turn been killed by Jake. Then…Jake was killed by David, attacked from behind as he tried to limp away from the battle.
No one had told their families about it. Everyone had just assumed that they had run off somewhere, maybe gone camping or fishing, as they had done before we had all become Animorphs.
But now it was late. They would have been home by now. Oh God, my heart ached just thinking about them. They were dead, just like Tobais. And now only Rachel, Ax and I stood against both the Yeerks and the Antimorphs fury.
"Cassie? What's wrong?" asked my father, with a puzzled expression on his face, "you haven't touched your salad."
"And I spent all day making it, too." My mother sighed, "Italian dressing and organically grown chicken aren't cheap or easy to make."
"I'm sorry, mom. I'm just worried about Jake. He's been missing all day. Marco too. I'm worried that something has happened to them."
"Oh, Cassie. Don't be ridiculous. Boy run off sometimes. I've seen Jake and Marco, they look just like Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. They'll be back tomorrow, don't worry about them. Boys will be boys."
I didn't find comfort in my mothers words. I knew it wasn't true. Jake was gone…never to come back."
"Don't worry, Cassie. Everything will be alright from now on."
The words had barely left my fathers mouth when the door was kicked open, and a man with a sawed-off shotgun stood at the ready.
He fired, causing my fathers head to explode.
"NO!"
I recognized him. It was Aleks, one of the Antimorphs, David's
cronies.
A sinister smile lit up his face. He took aim at my mother, hitting her in the chest.
"MOM!"
She was dead. No pulse.
"Time to die, Cassie."
He fired at my gut. I felt the shells flying through my lungs. I couldn't breathe.
"Not dead yet? Don't worry, you will be."
I looked at him.
"Why…" I gasped, "Why my parents…why?"
"Simple. LaRouche suggested it all. He wanted to see you dead very badly, your family too. He thinks you betrayed him. I cant say I don't blame him."
"No…Marc wouldn't do that…"
"I'm afraid he did, Cassie. He gave David the idea. I carried it out. Don't hate me, kid, I'm just the messenger."
Aleks raised the shotgun to my face, cocking it. I saw his finger tighten around the trigger. My eyes went wide. I was terrified beyond beleife. How could Marc have done this? Why would he order his friends to kill me?
But there was no time to think about that.
Aleks pulled the trigger, and I died.
Part One: The Assination
April 2nd, 2000
Antimorph flagship Anubis
DAVID
I slept it off.
I had drunk myself to shit after the battle with the Animorphs at the mall, amazed that I hadn't died of liquor poisoning. It had been a day, and I still hadn't come to grips with the fact that my protégé, my greatest ally, Lewis Sanders, had been killed in battle.
I would have revenge.
I pulled myself together, pulling on a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt, and speaking on the intercom: "All Antimorphs to the bridge, important meeting. Five minutes."
Five minutes later, we were all assembled on the bridge of the ship. My eyes wandered over them all.
Aleks Stantford, a former street punk from downtown L.A., a mercenary for hire. Ruthless, determined, nefarious in his own mind. A true force to be reckoned with.
Marc LaRouche, our pilot and computer tech. Very smart, a lonely boy who had joined us after we presented ourselves to him.
Skorre Fett, an intelligent Hork-Bajir, rebellious and calculating. A great tactical mind, and cunning instincts made him a valuable ally.
Sara Berenson, sister of the bitch, Rachel, my greatest foe. We had kidnapped her from her home and used her to lure the Animorphs to the mall. We had given her the morphing power, but she had yet to officially join our legion.
Lastly, I saw the strangest of the crew, Ripper. No first name, no last name, only a demented persona and a damaged psyche, Ripper believed he was a servant of god, helping to destroy a plague of evil dogs on earth. Whatever had caused him to lose his memory, Ripper was now more beast than human. His hands were like scraggly claws, his teeth had been filed into sharp, wolf-like fangs, and his short form was skinny and corpse-like. Despite all this, he could jump far and was naturally very fast. In our last battle, he had killed more than a dozen Hork-Bajir, and wounded some of the Animorphs greatly, without aid from the rest of us.
Still, Ripper was dangerous, and he had to be kept in check.
I cleared my throat.
"OK, we're all shocked about what happened last night. We fought hard, and we fought well. Still, we lost one of our own. Sanders was cruelly slain by Jake Berenson."
I looked at Sara, she flinched.
"Sanders was my second in command. Now that he has been murdered, I must appoint a new Lieutenant. Aleks, you are next in line. You are now second in command of the Antimorphs."
A smile crept onto Alek's face.
"Thank you, David."
I looked at Sara.
"Now, we have to explain ourselves to the newest member of our motley crew."
"You don't have to explain anything. Sanders told me all about what you all are. You are the Antimorphs, you fight The Animorphs, human morphers infested by Yeerks. I know all about it. I know that my cousin was one. I know my sister is one. I know that the Yeerks killed my other sister and mother four months ago, when they infested Rachel. I know that I have to help you. And I will."
Quite a speech. I must have taken a lot of guts for an eleven year old kid to say that.
"Very well, Sara. You are one of us."
"Now, we need to plot our course of action. There are three Animorphs left: Cassie Verenda, Rachel Berenson, and Aximili-Esgarrouth-Ithsill. We need to deal with this, soon. Any suggestions?"
"Kill 'em," grunted Ripper, "Chew 'em up and spit 'em out."
"No. Don't kill Cassie. We agreed to make her one of us. We cannot kill her."
Shit. I had promised LaRouche that we would make Cassie an Antimorph. LaRouche, it turns out, once had a romance with her, and he didn't want to see her dead.
"Fine. Verenda will not die. But as for Rachel and Ax, we need to execute them, soon. The Yeerks will soon be after all three of them, and we cant allow even one of them to fall into the hands of the Empire."
"We should take the Andalite first," said Skorre, "He is physically the strongest."
"Yeah, but strength isn't everything, Skorre," muttered Aleks, "As you so valiantly demonstrated the other night."
"How dare you say that! I fought just as hard as you, or the others! And I may point out that you were the one with Sanders when he succumbed to his wounds. Why did he not morph out?"
"I told you, he was unconscious, died almost as soon as I found him. There wasn't a thing I could do."
"Yeah, you heard 'em, Carver, kid was dead. Dead like a dog. Dead like those other Carvers I killed, too. Even when they ran, just jumped up on the back and ripped 'em up…like dogs…he he he…" Ripper panted.
"What's a Carver, Ripper?" Asked LaRouche.
"What do you think a Carver is? Look at Skorre. He could carve a sword out of monkey shit."
So, he had a name for Hork-Bajir now. How nice.
"Alright, everyone. Let's take a while, think everything over."
The crew began to depart for various sections of the ship, as Aleks left, I called him back.
"Wait, Aleks. I have a special assignment for you."
ALEKS
David gave me the assignment.
In secret. None of the others knew about it. He said I was just the kind of man he needed for this job.
He was so right.
He told me to go, in secret, to the home of Cassie Verenda, and kill anything that I found there.
I took a Bug Fighter down to the surface, landed it in the woods, grabbed a sawed-off shotgun from the armory, and went through the woods in the direction of the farm.
It was raining as I approached the farmhouse. Rain fell through the trees like bullets, the ground covered in mud. I loaded the shotgun with two shells, and, standing in the dim evening light, cocked it.
KA-CHINK!
I walked towards the house.
CASSIE
My family and I were sitting down to dinner, though I was feeling apprehensive about it. I shouldn't be here, I thought, I should be with the others, waiting for the Antimorphs counterattack.
It had been little over a day since the battle at the mall. Marco…funny Marco…killed by the soldier named Sanders, who had in turn been killed by Jake. Then…Jake was killed by David, attacked from behind as he tried to limp away from the battle.
No one had told their families about it. Everyone had just assumed that they had run off somewhere, maybe gone camping or fishing, as they had done before we had all become Animorphs.
But now it was late. They would have been home by now. Oh God, my heart ached just thinking about them. They were dead, just like Tobais. And now only Rachel, Ax and I stood against both the Yeerks and the Antimorphs fury.
"Cassie? What's wrong?" asked my father, with a puzzled expression on his face, "you haven't touched your salad."
"And I spent all day making it, too." My mother sighed, "Italian dressing and organically grown chicken aren't cheap or easy to make."
"I'm sorry, mom. I'm just worried about Jake. He's been missing all day. Marco too. I'm worried that something has happened to them."
"Oh, Cassie. Don't be ridiculous. Boy run off sometimes. I've seen Jake and Marco, they look just like Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. They'll be back tomorrow, don't worry about them. Boys will be boys."
I didn't find comfort in my mothers words. I knew it wasn't true. Jake was gone…never to come back."
"Don't worry, Cassie. Everything will be alright from now on."
The words had barely left my fathers mouth when the door was kicked open, and a man with a sawed-off shotgun stood at the ready.
He fired, causing my fathers head to explode.
"NO!"
I recognized him. It was Aleks, one of the Antimorphs, David's
cronies.
A sinister smile lit up his face. He took aim at my mother, hitting her in the chest.
"MOM!"
She was dead. No pulse.
"Time to die, Cassie."
He fired at my gut. I felt the shells flying through my lungs. I couldn't breathe.
"Not dead yet? Don't worry, you will be."
I looked at him.
"Why…" I gasped, "Why my parents…why?"
"Simple. LaRouche suggested it all. He wanted to see you dead very badly, your family too. He thinks you betrayed him. I cant say I don't blame him."
"No…Marc wouldn't do that…"
"I'm afraid he did, Cassie. He gave David the idea. I carried it out. Don't hate me, kid, I'm just the messenger."
Aleks raised the shotgun to my face, cocking it. I saw his finger tighten around the trigger. My eyes went wide. I was terrified beyond beleife. How could Marc have done this? Why would he order his friends to kill me?
But there was no time to think about that.
Aleks pulled the trigger, and I died.