"What in the hell is that?!" Loren demanded of no one, having just caught sight of the immense, swirling tornado of matter that was at the center of their small universe.
Elfangor had seen it before her, since he was not preoccupied with the current status of his nonexistent footwear. It was big, probably bigger than some of the tornadoes that Loren had seen on those news reports from Texas. It also looked a lot more solid than those tornadoes.
"Elfangor, get down!" Loren shouted, knowing that he would only be confused if she said 'duck'.
Elfangor leaped out of the way, just as what Loren could have sworn was a house went flying past them.
The Time Matrix should be in there!
He did not just say what I think he said, Loren thought. "In there?! How can we go in there? We'll be killed!"
It's the only choice we have. Either the Time Matrix is inside that vortex, or… he hesitated. Or there's nothing inside there but emptiness, and we'll both be trapped in that vortex forever.
"Nice options. And by the way, that was sarcasm."
Yes, I think I am beginning to recognize it, Elfangor said, with a sidelong smile just for Loren. Then he became serious again. We'll have to close our eyes, block out everything you see, or even think you see, and keep going forward. It is the only way we will be able to get inside.
"Hold my hand, Elfangor," Loren asked.
Elfangor closed his slender hand around Loren's, closed his eyes, and together the ran into a maelstrom of reality itself. Elfangor had not known what he would find inside the vortex, but he had long since given up trying to predict what would happen next. From the moment the captain had called him to the bridge of the StarSword, everything had been a surprise.
When they first came to the vortex, it was as if something was holding them back, but the two of them were not going to give up so soon. Elfangor and Loren pushed forward relentlessly, and finally made it past the barrier. The gale-force wind no longer held them back, and instead they were pulled deeper into the swirling column of matter. What had seemed solid from the outside instead passed through them as they went deeper still.
At last, the storm abated, or else they had arrived at the eye of the storm. When Loren and Elfangor opened their eyes, they saw that they now stood on a flat, featureless plain. They couldn't see the sky beyond the howling wind, and the ground didn't have a single scrap of vegetation. For that matter, the landscape itself looked like an old fuzzy photograph. There were no details at all, at least not that either of them could see.
"The eye of the storm," Loren muttered. Elfangor wondered what she was talking about, but then decided not to ask.
Sitting unobtrusively amid all the chaos swirling around outside, was the off-white spheroid form of the Time Matrix. It was at the center of this patchwork universe, as well as the only way out.
We did it, Elfangor marveled. The Time Matrix, it is here.
"Okay, that's good. But what do we do now? Look at my hair, your hooves, look at my fingernails. The time distortion is really strong here, this close to the Matrix."
Yes, I know. But we'll both be fine once we make contact with the Matrix and leave this universe.
That was when Loren noticed the head starting to peek through the wall of the vortex. Elfangor saw it a few seconds after her, and they both watched as an arm and shoulder pushed in a second after.
"It's him!"
***
It had taken Visser Thirty-two a bit longer than he would have preferred to find the center of their universe. Though he had admittedly been a bit off-balance from the words that his recreation of the Navari had said to him. The Visser pushed those thoughts out of his mind.
The Navari's body had vanished without a trace, once it had merely come in contact with the vortex of matter at the center of their jointly created universe. In a way, Visser Thirty-two was glad that this had happened, since he no longer had to deal with a pale copy of the creature that had fascinated him. But in another way, the Visser was sad to know that he would probably never see that powerful and engaging creature ever again.
As he finally pushed his way through the inner wall of the vortex, the Visser heard someone call out. It sounded like a female, and since the only female here was the one traveling with Elfangor, he knew it must have been her.
***
Elfangor and Loren both glared hard at Visser Thirty-two once he had come all the way into the eye of the storm. Either the Visser didn't notice, or he just didn't care. Loren was willing to bet that it was the latter, since he had never seemed to show any reaction to them other than amusement or subtle annoyance. But now he actually seemed… surprised.
What? The Andalite child and his pet, still alive?
Yes, still alive, Elfangor spat, narrowing his eyes.
Four Mortrons came into the eye right behind him. They seemed a bit tiered, so maybe he'd just figured out about the universe and come barreling in here to try and stop them from leaving. The Visser himself was looking around the expanse of the eye, like he wanted to find something to use against them.
"Elfangor," Loren said in a low voice, so as not to attract Visser Thirty-two's attention.
Elfangor turned his left stalk eye to look at her, and was hard pressed not to yelp. Her fingernails were four inches long by now, making her hands look like inhuman claws. Her hair was piling up around her feet, and her toenails were just as long as her fingernails.
Stand perfectly still, Elfangor advised her, cocking back his tail and preparing to strike. Hold out your hands, and don't move them.
SLICE! SLICE! SLICE! SLICE!
Four quick cuts, and most of the extra fingernail fell to the ground, only to start growing again. Elfangor did this job with his stalk eyes, making sure to keep his main eyes on Visser Thirty-two, in case he should make any sudden moves. It didn't seem like he would, though, the Visser seemed much more interested in watching Elfangor. Sizing him up.
So. I suppose we will have to agree to work together again.
The exact same thing would happen, Elfangor said crossing his arms, a mannerism he'd adopted from Loren. Another compromised universe, no better than this one. But this time, we would all be sure to bring allies and weapons from our memories.
At least then we would have a fair fight, The Visser said offhandedly, shrugging.
"He doesn't want to fight you one-on-one," Loren said, putting her hands back down at her sides.
No. He would rather have a host of allies and weapons to back him up.
Loren shook her head, causing the massive pile of her hair to ripple with the motion. "It's not that. Well, it is, but that's not all of the reason. He's afraid to fight you Elfangor, I saw it in his eyes."
Elfangor looked at Loren, then back at Visser Thirty-two. What Loren was saying was impossible to believe, she was fond of him, and was therefore assuming that he was the better fighter. But Visser Thirty-two possessed the body of Alloran, Alloran was a War-Prince, and quite a seasoned fighter. Elfangor knew that Alloran was both stronger and faster than he was.
"He is afraid, Elfangor," Loren pressed.
Afraid of what? This Andalite child? My Mortrons and I will annihilate him!
***
Visser Thirty-two did not know why the Navari had disappeared upon touching the outer wall of the vortex and his Mortrons had not, but now he was going to take advantage of that fact. He almost didn't notice the fact that Elfangor's human pet was speaking to him.
***
"Really?" Loren needled, wanting to see just how far she could push the arrogant Yeerk. "So why not just do it? Why talk about working together?" Loren turned to Elfangor. "Alloran saw you tail-fight, didn't he? So that knowledge is in Visser Thirty-two now, am I right? That's why he's scared, he knows if he challenges you, he's going to get his butt kicked."
I'll make sure to kill you slowly, human, Visser Thirty-two hissed, knowing from his time inside the head of the other human, Chapman, what that particular expression meant. He turned slightly, directing his next order to Jarex and Larex, as well as their two nameless twins. Kill them!
The four Mortrons spun their wheels and came charging at the two of them. Visser Thirty-two, not one to be left out of such an attack, came galloping right in behind them. Elfangor stood his ground, while Loren took a relaxed but ready stance, neither of them was going to back down. Elfangor tried to remember what his combat instructor, Sofor-Ahalan-Dovaren, had taught him about tail-fighting, but for the life of him he couldn't. All he could think was that it had finally come down to a fight that was just between the two of them, the Mortrons almost secondary compared to that fact.
The Mortrons launched their avian portions, intending to slice Elfangor to bits with their sharp beaks. Elfangor knew by now that he could not simply cut them to pieces and be done with it, since they would regenerate as quickly as he could kill them. One of the bird Mortrons dived at him, Elfangor swatted it aside with the flat of his tail-blade knocking it rolling and tumbling across the plain. There it lay, unconscious.
Two of the other bird Mortrons were attacking Loren, Loren swung her bat like a sword, but missed. Loosing her grip on the bat, Loren stumbled when one of the attacking Mortron birds slapped her upside the head with its wings. Elfangor didn't have time to worry about Loren, though, as both Mortron bird and Yeerk Visser attacked him at once.
Elfangor was slashed at by both a Mortron bird's beak and an Andalite-Controller's tail-blade. He managed to block the Visser's blade, but not the Mortron's sharp beak. The alien bird's strike ripped a gash in his left stalk-eye, not deep, but bleeding rather enthusiastically.
The Visser was not one to give up after a single blow, and his swift tail came slicing at Elfangor again. Elfangor tried to block as he had done before, but his aim was thrown off by the attacking Mortron slashing at him.
"Oh no you don't, you leather-winged freak!"
Loren had been cut by one of the Mortron birds circling her, but Elfangor knew that if he tried to help her, he would only succeed in getting himself killed by Visser Thirty-two. Elfangor cocked his tail, hoping that Loren could somehow defend herself from the circling Mortrons. Taking advantage of Elfangor's momentary distraction, Visser Thirty-two struck at him again. This time managing to wound the annoying young Andalite.
Satisfied with his first effort, the Visser struck again. This time Elfangor just managed to parry the Andalite-Controller's tail blade.
Ahh, not so fast now, are you Elfangor? Visser Thirty-two taunted.
Elfangor tried to ignore him, but the Visser's words had more of an effect on him than Elfangor would have liked to admit. Elfangor began to wonder if this entire battle was hopeless. Loren had probably already been killed by the Visser's 'pets'. But then, through his right stalk eye, Elfangor saw something that gave him new hope. It was Loren! She was not dead after all! Indeed, she was making sport of the Mortrons.
The one that had been flying closest to her was now probably regretting it, if Mortrons even possessed that capacity. She had her hands around its throat and was strangling the life out of the creature. The other one had somehow gotten all tangled up in Loren's massive pile of golden hair.
This fight isn't over yet, Visser!
Elfangor lashed out again with his tail; the Visser managed to block the first strike, but not the second. Elfangor resisted the urge to taunt his adversary, just as one of the circling Mortrons bit him, cutting open his right rear haunch.
Elfangor turned his stalk eyes to check on Loren, and caught sight of something that frightened him: Loren's hands were still wrapped around the Mortron's neck, but what was frightening was the fact that her fingernails were growing directly into the Mortron's throat. Elfangor had no more time to think about this rather unsettling development, however, as the Visser's tail blade arced toward his face. Elfangor parried the blow more skillfully than he had the last time, turning his parry into a forward thrust.
Yes! Elfangor exulted, watching his blade sank into the Visser's left arm.
Visser Thirty-two sneered, lashing out with his tail as his pet swooped around to strike at Elfangor again. The Mortron was aimed straight at him, and would have pierced Elfangor's face if it had connected. The Mortron circled back around, and the Visser struck at the same time. Elfangor drew back his tail and prepared to strike, but even as he did, he knew that he would only be able to block one of the strikes.
Whichever one made it through, though, would kill him. Elfangor knew this, but he was determined to die fighting. He was so focused on his battle with the Visser that he almost missed the flash of something seen out of the corner of his right stalk eye. It wasn't moving that fast, at least not by Andalite standards, but the flying object did what it was intended to.
The flying object was the carcass of the Mortron Loren had strangled, it hit the Mortron that was attacking Elfangor and knocked it out of the air. Loren grinned at him, and Elfangor ignored her bloody, clawlike fingernails. After all, those natural weapons had probably helped to save her life.
"I love softball!" Loren exulted, jumping up and clapping her hands.
Elfangor knocked the Visser's tail blade aside with his own, but the Andalite-Controller came within a centimeter of cutting Elfangor's face. Sweeping her softball bat up with a casual scoop, Loren advanced on the downed Mortron that was still tangled in her hair. It was starting to hurt, but she supposed it was better having it there then to have it flying around attacking her.
Or Elfangor, she thought with a halfsmile. Smashing the alien bird's skull with her bat, Loren sliced off the hair that was tangled up with it using her extra-long fingernails. Elfangor smiled as he watched her work, thinking that he could definitely start to like humans. At first, Loren's species had seemed ridiculously weak and primitive, wobbling around on two legs, and forced to rely on spoken words to communicate.
But humans definitely had some redeeming qualities. Especially Loren, Elfangor thought to himself.
Nice throw, Elfangor commented aloud in thought-speak.
"It's called a pitch," Loren corrected, then she smiled. "Thanks."
Your Mortrons are done for, Visser, Elfangor said, trying to resist the urge to taunt the Yeerk. Now it's just you and me, tail-to-tail.
A look of utter hatred settled on the Visser's Andalite face.
Do you think you've won, Elfangor the Andalite? You think that you can kill me now? Visser Thirty-two sneered, chuckling coldly. Then you haven't thought very hard. But, then again I do have the advantage of adding all of Alloran's accumulated knowledge to my own.
"Oh, what are you blathering about now?" Loren cut in impatiently, rolling her eyes at the pompous Yeerk.
Visser Thirty-two raked her with a venomous glare, and Loren stuck her tongue out at him.
As I was saying, what do you think will happen to you if you're still here when I die, Elfangor?
Loren bit back a laugh; Slug-boy was making it very clear that he did not want to speak with her. Loren wondered if she should answer anyway, just to piss him off a bit more. But she decided not to, since antagonizing the guy any further might delay her return to Earth. And besides, she wanted to hear what Elfangor had to say.
Elfangor, for his part, was unsure of what answer to give. He had to struggle to piece together bits of observation with what he had learned back at the Academy, and that seemed so long ago.
What, are the concepts too hard for you to grasp? Visser Thirty-two asked condescendingly. A collapsed timeline will return each of us to our proper spacetime location.
So, you would end up back aboard the Jahar? Back to being sucked into a stellar-mass black hole? I could live with that, Visser. I don't particularly care how you die, quickly from my tail blade, or slowly in the grip of that black hole. I just want you to die. You are an unnatural abomination, Visser. The first Andalite-Controller. I just want to make sure you are the last.
"I told you he was scared to fight you," Loren said, loud enough that Visser Thirty-two could hear her as well as Elfangor.
I guess you were right.
The Visser was hesitating, Elfangor could see it in his main eyes. Elfangor knew in his hearts that Visser Thirty-two would walk away.
The day will come, Elfangor the Andalite, when I will kill you, the Visser hissed. I will make it personal then, Andalite. I will make it very personal.