DISCLAIMER: **hangs head in shame as she stands on a scaffold being publicly ridiculed by everyone for being told off by K.A. in the last chapter**I don't own the Animorphs. . .**gets hit by stale marshmallow peeps**
NOTE: Hehe, I can't believe you people noticed the Wagner thing. There's like a bajillion people named "Wagner" and you automatically assumed it was from X-men? Actually yeah, yer damn skippy its from X2, hehe. Actually Nightcrawler's name was Kurt Wagner. I saw X-Men with a guy named Kevin Walters and for a week after the movie he kept saying "Kuht Vag-nuh" so now I call him "Kevin Vag-nuh", or Kevin Wagner. That's were I got the dude's name from. Plus the day I wrote that chapter Kevin stuck ice in my underwear so his name just stuck out to me then. . .
F-RECAP-le: The'Morphs follow the Nesk to this place where they are snatched up by this big freak monster that made ME want to piss my pants. Then they wake up trapped in this unnervingly white prison were Cassie is injected by some mysterious substance **dun dun DUH!** The controller, now dubbed "Kevin Wagner" seems to have some idea as to what is going on. . .
Cassie-
My heart skipped about three beats.
"What do you mean it's the same stuff!?" Jake demanded. He clutched my hand tighter.
"I mean, they injected the same stuff that melted that arm into that girl." He said, pointing at me.
"So why hasn't she melted or anything yet?" Marco asked.
The arm probably decomposed because there were not enough cells to contain that serum or whatever it was. They needed a full, living mass of cells. . . Ax ventured. (Note: Perhaps this would be a good time to point out that I know very little about DNA, genes, and junk like that. I got a 58 on that exam, hehehehe. Anywhoo, I don't know if this could happen in real life, I'm just an idiot with a demented imagination.)
It's funny how much control the mind has over the body. A second ago I felt completely fine. After hearing this I suddenly felt ill.
"Why are they doing this? This cloning and gene combining?" Rachel demanded. "Are we just those jerks' EXPERIMENT!? Cuz I'm gonna go kick some-"
"I think an important question is where they got dinosaur DNA to clone in the first place. . ." Kevin said slowly. We weren't in a rush to tell them they probably got it 65 million years ago on our planet.
"Probably just look like dinosaurs. Some aliens look like other species and aren't even closely related. I said dismissively. No need to make things more complicated by telling him the truth.
Jake wouldn't let go of my hand. It was sweet, I know, but I kept thinking about how I didn't want him to see me melt into a puddle. Besides the pit in my stomach I didn't feel any different, except for a dull pain coming from my arm were the needle bit. I didn't say anything.
"Maybe if you demorph, it'll get rid of that stuff the injected into you." Rachel suggested hopefully.
"It's worth a try." I struggled to keep my emotions in check and concentrated on my wolf morph. I shut my eyes. After a couple seconds of concentrating I opened them. Everyone was staring at me. I still felt human.
"I can't morph." I said. They didn't say anything. They were staring at my left arm. I glanced down. "AAHH!"
The skin on my arm was pebbly and colored a dark green. Dinosaur skin. Tyrannosaurus Rex skin.
The serum must have placed itself in your DNA and is affecting the morphing technology. Ax stared.
I touched the patch of dino-skin. It was really creepy. What was happening to me? What if. . .
"T-try to morph out." Jake stammered.
I nodded and shut my eyes again. When I opened them the patch of skin was still there.
"How come it's not working?" Rachel asked, frustrated.
I. . .I suspect. . . Ax was having trouble speaking.
"What is it, Ax?" I prodded.
"What the Andalite is trying to say is: it's probably the start of a transformation. You may end up half-dinosaur, half-human." Kevin said bluntly. He said "human" with a distinct sneer. "Or maybe more dino than human, who knows?"
I couldn't believe it. What if it works and I can't control myself? I had been a Tyrannosaurus before, and I lost control. I killed and almost devoured a Triceratops, not to mention I tried to fight the others. A predator's instincts were frighteningly and dangerously strong. What if I end up hurting one of them? I didn't want to become a rampaging, bloodthirsty monster again. I'd rather dissolve into a puddle of goo than hurt Jake. He ran his fingers over the pebbled skin. Kevin rolled his eyes.
IT IS TIME.
The voice echoed off the blindingly blank walls of our cell. Suddenly a standard door-size shaft opened on a far wall. Thousands of Nesk stood before us, composing one large body holding their torture-beams.
"You're late, we've already had the welcome party." Marco said. "It probably goes without saying, but this is all deviously INSANE." (Note: I think that's the first time I've made him say that. . . **bangs head against wall**)
It was then that I realized the Nesk creature had two eyes. They were large and black. I wondered what they were, black Nesk all bunched in a ball? The big black "eyes" stared blankly at Marco.
"Don't mind him. He has brain cell issues." Rachel said. The Nesk seemed to perk a little at this, but they continued.
COME. The creature just left us, expecting us to follow. Like back on the island. I wondered were we were now. The fall down that tunnel seemed endless, so for all I knew, we could be anywhere from the center of their planet to a couple meters from the surface. Thinking your falling to your death while being paralyzed and wrapped in the arms of some radioactive monster kind of dulls your estimating skills.
Our little group trooped out of the white room and into an equally bright passageway. It was like the complete opposite of the Mercora, who also lived underground, but it was mostly dark with a few glowing vegetables.
I felt an itching in my skin. I scratched it, despite my parents' endless lectures on how never to scratch. Both of them are vets, and animals and scratching come hand in hand. As I scratched I felt something strange. I looked down and found that I had scratched off an entire patch of skin, revealing more dinosaur skin.
"Oh my god." I whispered.
"What?" Jake asked. His eyes searched me for what could be the matter. I quickly switched to walking on his other side, so he wouldn't see what happened to my arm.
"Nothing." I said, keeping more or less a nonchalant (vocab word!) expression on my face. No need to worry anyone any more than I had too. A voice inside my head was saying, "Just tell them, that's what you always tell THEM to do. Don't hide anything." Now that was just a kick in the behind. It was true. And I had a lot of other things I had no choice but to be hypocritical about; I didn't need to add to the list.
"Cassie?" Rachel asked, still carrying Tobias. The ceiling was too low for him to fly. She had slowed her pace to walk with Jake and I. I sighed and showed the growing patch of dinosaur hide.
"Holy. . ." Rachel's eyes bugged out. I had been able to peel away all the skin on my forearm revealing fresh reptile-like skin. The skin on my other arm was feeling a bit loose also.
Before any of them could say anything more we realized that the Nesk ahead of us stopped moving. It broke down into its little ant pieces and they filed into two holes on either side of a blank wall. The wall opened up like the hole did earlier.
"I guess we go inside?" I said.
We then entered an incredibly huge room. All of us, except for maybe Kevin and Ax who were used to seeing alien things more or less, were dumbfounded. It was just as white as our cell, except infinitely bigger. That wasn't the mind-boggling part though. The room was teeming with lots and lots of different aliens. Some we recognized. There were Gedds, Taxxons, Andalites, Hork-Bajir, Mercora, your standard abduction-UFO-type aliens, and lots more interesting species. There were even what I assumed to be Pemalites, the creators of Erek and the other Chee, who looked like dogs who walked on two legs. But they all had one thing in common: They all seemed to be at least part dinosaur.
The Taxxons were coated with the same skin that covered my left forearm. The Hork-Bajir had a frill around it's neck, like a Triceratops. The Gedds seemed to have sprouted Pterodactyl wings. They were all the result of mutated genes, all walking around like nothing was wrong. It was disgusting. Unnatural and immoral. I didn't even know if these creatures were born or if they were created in a lab from one of those test tubes Kevin saw. I didn't want to be here to see this. Ax was staring in shock at a Dino-Andalite.
"No humans." Marco pointed out. He was right. In this hodge-podge of freaks of nature I didn't catch sight of any humans. They probably never got enough human DNA to be combined. Until me.
I felt an itchy sensation on my shoulder. A Nesk creature grasped it tightly.
YOU ARE STAYING HERE. it said.
"What!?" Jake's eyes flared up. "Why? She stays with us!"
SHE WILL STAY.
"No she will not, you di-" Before Rachel could continue her sentence another Nesk grabbed her and knocked her to the ground. Tobias was also covered with Nesk. Then even more Nesk wrapped an arm around me and pulled me away.
"Ow! Let go! Hey!" I tried to kick at them. Dents appeared were my feet connected, but they were just filled up again by more Nesk.
"Let go of her!" Jake cried. He attempted to lunge at them.
"Jake!" Marco yelled. A Nesk pulled a weapon and aimed.
"AHH!"
"JAKE!" I screamed. Jake fell. Ax swiped at the weapon, knocking it out of the hand, but a sea of Nesk had suddenly arrived and was crowding around our ankles. They quickly reformed a hand and re-aimed.
"Stop it, you idiots you'll get us all killed!" Kevin yelled.
STOP. We stopped our struggling. THE FEMALES WILL STAY.
"Me too?" Rachel asked, confused. Not to mention covered from head to toe in Nesk. Her attempts to brush them away were futile.
"Why?" Jake asked weakly from the floor.
WE NEED THE FEMALES. THE REST OF YOU ARE MEETING WITH THE LEADER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.
What are you going to do to them? Tobias demanded. No answer.
"Jake, we'll be fine." I assured him. I wasn't completely sure of this. It was bad enough that I might end up like. . .those creatures. But Rachel too?
"Don't worry, no one's touching ME. Or Cassie." Rachel agreed. Despite the fact that she was currently being subdued by millions of aliens that could burn her to death with one bite each.
"Jake, we might learn something if we meet with the leader guy." Marco said.
"Marco, you weasel!" Rachel accused.
"You just said-!"
I don't think we should split up, Jake! Tobias said.
Prince Jake, I agree with Marco. Ax tossed in his two cents.
Jake was quiet for a few seconds. He glanced at me, still trying not to be too obvious. I knew what he was trying to tell me.
"Just go. We'll be okay." I told him.
Jake nodded and turned to one of the Nesk creatures that brought us here.
"Don't hurt them. We'll go to your leader."
Kevin sneered.
The Nesk silently began to march again to the far side of the room. The guys followed slowly and they disappeared behind a shaft that opened in the wall. I heard Marco mutter a "This is insane."
A group of the altered aliens formed a ring around me and Rachel. They watched us silently.
"Got that bad feeling?" Rachel asked.
"Big time."
THE END. I know. It sucked, but that's cuz I have a final on Monday and I just needed a way to resist studying. Oh yeah, Kristen goddess: "LOL" means "laugh out loud". But one time I had this VERY awkward conversation with this guy who thought it meant "Lots of Love" and he TOTALLY took it the wrong way. So you're not the only one who didn't know, no need to smack yourself in the head. Unless you like it as much as I do! **smacks self in head** Weeee! I want some red jelly crystals!!
Oh yeah, my website now has an Animorphs part. It's still under construction, but I got some stuff up. It's all organizized now. Animorphs: Freak Apple style. Just go to my profile and clicky the thingy.