TITLE: "Adventures in Clubbing"

AUTHOR: Doctor Strangelove (strangelove317@hotmail.com)
RATING: PG-13
SPOILERS: Um, I don't know. No particular spoilers. Visser Three is still Visser Three.
FEEDBACK: I'd love it.
DISCLAIMER: K. A. Applegate owns the Animorphs. The song is "Blue" and was written by Angie Hart and Joss Whedon.

"Adventures in Clubbing"

Written by: Doctor Strangelove

"Can I make it right?"

"Can I spend the night?"

The rain poured down on my face as I listened to the preacher guy rambling. Reading from the Bible and saying kind words about someone he'd never met. He was kind, he was loved, he'll be missed, he's in a better place. The standard bullshit said to make the parent's feel better.

I couldn't even look at Tom's mom and dad. They just sat there crying. Jake was next to them, staring intently on the coffin. He was trying to be strong but I could see the tears running down his face. Rachel might've been the worst. She didn't show any emotion. She just sat there, stoned face. It scared me. I don't know what I looked like and I don't want to know. I might've been crying. I don't know.

I sat there wishing it was over. The funeral was tight, constricted; I couldn't breathe. I really didn't want to be there. But I had to be. I had no choice. It was my fault. My responsibility. I killed Tom.

Finally the guy finished talking. It was over. All that's left was the body. So that's where Tom's legacy ends. Just another hole in the ground in Restful Pines Cemetery. I stared at the mahogany casket. It was a closed casket ceremony. I wasn't supposed to know that. I wasn't supposed that Tom's body had been so mangled and destroyed that it was no longer recognizable. But I did. I had seen the body.

Jake stood up and walked over to the casket. I followed him. We stood there in silence while I struggled for the words. "Jake, I'm sor-"

I stared at the rubble that had collapsed on Tom. I was paralyzed. All I could do was stare. Oh, my God. Someone said that. It might've been Tobias. It might've been me.

Marco, That one was definitely Tobias. A Hork-Bajir hand landed on my shoulder and Tobias turned me around to face him. Marco, we've got to get out of here.

I could only blink in response, Tom.

Tobias paused and the expression on his face fell a little. Well, as much as a Hork-Bajir's face will let it fall. I know. But, Marco, they're going to be sending backup soon. We have got to go and we've got to go now.

I nodded. He was right. We had to go. Tobias tightened his grip on my arm and pulled me over to one of the hallways. We started to run the best we could but soon stopped dead in our tracks. There was a sound like metal being shifted around. Someone behind us was still alive.

I turned around just in time to see the metal that had crushed Tom go flying across the room. One shard left a small gash in my arm but I didn't pay any attention. Because where the pile of rubble should've been, where Tom's corpse should be, was Tom.

"Warm skin,"

His clothes were tattered and he had a few scratches but he was very much alive.

"Wolf grin,"

I didn't really get time to celebrate because Tom had quickly crossed the room and grabbed my arm. He twisted it back hard and I growled in pain. He lifted me off the ground by my broken arm and threw me into the nearby wall. My landing shook the room and left a serious dent in the wall.

I heard a loud roar and looked up in time to see Tobias about to hit me. I rolled over as fast as I could but the blades on his body, blades meant for cutting bark, cut my broken arm. Tobias had it worse though, his left arm was missing entirely.

We exchanged a glance and nodded in understanding. Tom could kick our asses from here to Tuesday one on one. He may not be as strong if we increased the odds in our favor. As Tom was walking towards us, brandishing Tobias's arm like a weapon, we rushed him and sent him sliding into the wall.

"High tide,"

He was down, but not out.

"Inside,"

Tobias quickly picked up something off the floor and we hauled ass down one of the halls. We ran as fast as we could. I knew Tom was strong, but I was praying he wasn't fast too. Either my prayers worked or Tom decided not to follow us. Whatever it was, before I knew it Tobias and I were out in an alley. Tobias demorphed immediately, the blood loss was pretty severe, but I waited to make sure we weren't followed. Not that I'd be that good if we were followed.

After a few minutes I decided a gorilla in an alley might attract some attention. I quickly demorphed and then went into my harrier morph. We needed to get the hell away from there. When I finished I looked over at Tobias. Even as a hawk he looked shaken by the previous events. He was also holding something in his talons.

For some reason unbeknownst to me, I shuddered. What's that?

A disk, or something. His voice quiet. I didn't like it. It scared me. Tom dropped it after... Oh, God. After we knocked him into the wall, it fell out of his pocket. I figured it might be helpful.

Hope so. Or maybe it's just an illegal copy of The Sims. A joke. Sometimes those are pretty helpful in dark situations.

Yeah, maybe. I think my little joke calmed Tobias down some.

We didn't say another word, we just headed for the skies. Riding the thermals far away from the madhouse we were just at. I felt like doing a Charlton Hesston and screaming, "It's a madhouse. A madhouse!".

I hit Tom. A gorilla hit a human at full force, knocked him into a wall, and then a ton of machinery collapsed on him. That guy should be dead for numerous reasons.

"Can I make it right?"

But he wasn't. Tom was still alive. And then he kicked mine and Tobias's respective asses. A gorilla and a Hork-Bajir. That should not have happened.

"Can I spend the night,"

I know I should be happy Tom was alive. But a tiny little voice in the back of my head was whispering to me. And it was probably right. For some dark reason, I was really wishing that I had killed Tom. Right then I really wanted him to be dead.

"Alone?"

To reviewers: Jinako-Chan: Okay, Tom's not dead. I didn't kill him. But I believe you'll agree with me in saying that something is definitely up with the boy. Yep, everyone kept there pants on. There'll be no sex. At least not for a long time. What started as one little story is rapidly becoming a series of fics. I'll be busy for a while. "Never underestimate the kicking ability of a panicked female who has been trained to kick." That's just funny. Besides the song and using a dream as foreshadowing, there wasn't a lot of Buffy in the dream. I used the song again this chapter, it just seemed to fit. Who says that dream wasn't a good omen. Okay, it's not a good omen Well, sort of. It is an omen for things to come. Let me just say, that's not the last time you'll see that dream.
Aqua Rhapsody: Thank you! You don't have to explain if you don't review every chapter. It doesn't bother me. But it is greatly appreciated.
You'll know eventually: Thank you, I'm pretty proud of that dream. The short battle scene bugged me too, but I think I did a better job this chapter. Fight scenes are hard to do in fanfic.
Aaren: The Oedipus thing makes sense. To me, anyway. You've got to think outside the box, don't use mother and father in the traditional sense. But I'll give you this, do either Tom or Ax have anything in common with Marco's mother?