Author's Note: First things first, big apology in the lack of updating. They're a sad side effect of out of city trips and an exercise-happy mom. Plus, the fact that my first draft of this chapter (which was finished Wed.) sucked like...a big sucky thing.
This version is mucho, mucho, much better. Even though it's lacking in the action.
Secondly, oooh...Yeerky-tricks afoot, my pretties. =) Though there's even more shocks waiting.
Thirdly, enjoy!
Threads of Fate
Chronicle One
"Wait until it is night before saying that is has been a fine day." - French Proverb
-Chapter Thirteen-
Jake
My name is Jake Berenson, and my life is starting to do a total 180.
The flashbacks were weird enough. The knots they'd been causing in my stomach were enough to make me spend a week in front of the porcelain god because I was so freaked out.
But I didn't have time to think about that. No time to think about how something was wrong.
No less than twenty-four hours ago a woman had been shot before my eyes.
Inside The Sharing. A new-world, like, Boys and Girls Club. Normal. Good, really. Right?
I'd had a bad feeling about The Sharing ever since I'd gone there with my brother Tom on Monday.
It felt like that was years ago. Back when my life at least had some semblance of normality.
Sure, okay, that was back when I found out my parents were getting a divorce and I had my first two flashbacks but at least back then I still had the comforting thought that I was crazy.
That was before I met Cassie, Marco, and Tobias. Before I found out Rachel had flashbacks too.
Finding out that you aren't alone in your craziness doesn't help when you're trying to convince yourself that you're nuts. Because then it goes into that dangerous concept that perhaps you're one-hundred-percent sane, and let's face it, there's going to be times in life where you wish it was all some dream concocted by your head, even though you know it's not.
This was one of those times.
After mine and Cassie's escapade, I'd bided my time. As much as was good for me, anyway.
I didn't want Tom finding out about what I'd done. In particular after I'd seen the owner of our town's chapter of The Sharing pulling a gun on some innocent woman.
I waited until Saturday to call everyone up. Everyone meaning about three-fourths of the people I needed to call, since I hadn't been able to find "Avan" or "Isthil" in the phone book.
That bothered me but I'd try to contact them later. Or maybe see if Rachel knew their numbers, or email address, or screen names, or anything that would've helped me find Tobias and Ax.
At the moment my room had been invaded by my cousin, my once best friend, and Cassie.
Marco was sitting backwards in my computer chair, his arms resting on the back support.
Rachel was sitting on the floor next to him about two inches away from my computer.
A small part of me wondered what was up with the close proximity, but I put that thought away.
Cassie was leaning against the wall next to me, chipping in every now and then as I told Marco and Rachel about what happened at The Sharing. As Cassie and I related the tale of Victor Trent and the Esca-something Device he was looking for. As we told them of our suspicion that whatever The Sharing was mixed up, it wasn't human. That maybe everyone who went there was a fake.
Everyone. That included Mr. Trent and our principal, not to mention a good chunk of the community. Teachers, policemen, maybe even my next-door neighbor. And to top it off about half of the student body. Even my brother might be a fake, some weird copy of himself.
I didn't believe that, though. I couldn't. I wouldn't until I'd uncovered Tom's impostor.
So I told myself that Tom was too smart to get involved in some alien conspiracy, told myself that there was no way possible he could be like the other members of The Sharing.
Alien. Dangerous. My enemy. "So that's the whole story." I said to Rachel and Marco.
"I don't believe you." Rachel said, her eyes full of contempt. I just blinked at her.
Hey, you try reacting like normal when you're operating on more jolt than the human body should be able to handle. And a generous lack of sleep.
Rachel caught on to the shock hidden in my blinking. "I don't mean about The Sharing." She said.
"What I mean is that I don't believe you two! Why in the world would you both decide to go off and ditch school, leaving the rest of us to wonder where the hell you were?" Rachel shouted.
"Rachel, I told you, I wanted to check out The Sharing--" Cassie said.
"To get Mr. Chapman off your back, I know." Rachel exhaled, finishing Cassie's sentence.
"Look." Rachel said. "I get the reasons and a big woohoo to both of you for figuring out our enemy is the Boys and Girls Club of the Future. Thanks, guys, really. But, you know, a lot of stuff happened yesterday. Stuff that it would've behooved you guys to have seen." She said.
I raised an eyebrow. "What stuff?" I asked Rachel, looking over at her and Marco.
"First off, guys with laser beams. At school, no less." Marco chimed in, using his fingers to check off the list of "stuff" Cassie and I missed during our escapade.
"Not to mention our friend Mister Hyperactivity is a t-r-a-i-t-o-r...what?" Marco asked.
Rachel, Cassie, and I were all staring at him. It ended up being Rachel that spoke for us.
"You could've mentioned that earlier, you know!" She shouted.
"Wait." I said. I looked at Marco. "You're talking about Ax, right?" I asked.
"Thought I spelled it out for you, Captain Brilliance." Marco joked. I ignored him.
"How do you know?" I pressed. I watched as Marco sighed. As a grim expression swept his face.
"Well, for starters, he knew why you and Cassie ditched." Marco told us all.
"Then he more or less told me that he ratted us all out to Chapman. Not to mention the big honking flashback I had where he killed a bird for no reason whatsoever." He added.
For a second, his words hadn't registered with me. Ax had sold us out to Chapman? No way.
Cassie was studying Marco with those piercing eyes of hers. "You're sure?" She asked.
"Certain." Marco replied.
"Even about the flashback?" Cassie asked.
Marco hesitated to answer. "Yeah." He said. "It has to be him." He said.
I saw doubt flicker in Cassie's eyes. "I mean, from the first time I saw him he bugged me. Something about him ticked me off. I knew there was something abnormal about him." Marco amended.
"Well, this is just great." I said. "Anything else to add?"
"Melissa was with Phaser Man." Rachel said, chiming back into the conversation.
"Melissa Chapman?" Cassie asked her. "Yeah." Rachel said. "They were planning something."
It was then that I noticed her eyes looked bloodshot, that my cousin seemed to be suffering a major lack of energy. Like she hadn't slept all night. I could sympathize.
After having a nightmare about a mysterious man with a gun and a strange blue box shooting me, then waking up only to fall back asleep to a weird dream where I was decked out in brown armor riding on the back of a tiger and watching my brother get stabbed over and over, I sympathized.
"So that means the Chapmans are involved with The Sharing. Or at least, most of them." I said.
"As in Principal Chapman the Chapmans?" Marco demanded.
"No, the other Chapmans, Marco. The ones in Idiotville, USA." Rachel shot back.
They were glaring at each other. Rachel's irritation I could understand. Her best friend was mixed up with what was looking to be a big bad. But the chip on Marco's shoulder, I didn't get.
But I knew we didn't have time for their baggage. "Guys, knock it off." I said.
"We need to find out what's going on at The Sharing. What they're up to, and if possible, what that 'Escafil Device' Victor Trent was talking about is. We also need someone to check on Ax and Chapman and see how much they know." I instructed the others. Then I began forming a plan.
"My brother goes to The Sharing, so I can try and see if he'll tell me anything. Rachel, you try and talk to Melissa. Marco, you told me your Dad was a sciencey type. See if he's ever heard of an Escafil Device and in the meantime, research it. Cassie, you can check out Ax." I instructed.
Then I found them all looking at me. "What? Anyone not like that plan?" I asked.
"It's fine, Jake." Cassie told me. She was smiling at me, which caused me to smile back.
"Yes, excellent." Marco said, doing a perfection impression of Mr. Burns.
Then he seemed to think over his words for a minute. "Fearless Leader." He added.
Rachel then gave a not-so-subtle roll of the eyes, but she did laugh. "Let's do it." She grinned.
At that moment, I felt a strange twist in my chest. Kind of like the feeling you get when you come home. Like the world's all right again.
I smiled at my friends. "Yeah, like Rachel said." I laughed. "Let's do it."
"We sound like one of those corny 'kids against the world' books." Marco whispered.
I hid a snigger, Rachel pretended to be annoyed and I'm not sure Cassie got it.
I went back to Army-General-Mode. "You guys go find out everything you can. We can meet up tomorrow at," I chewed on my lip as I tried to think. "Well, where can we meet?" I asked.
"Not at my place." Marco said. "It's a living health hazard."
"Or mine." Rachel said. "You know Jordan and Sarah, they'll barge in on us."
"We could meet at my parent's barn. It's on the edge of town." Cassie said.
"Barn?" Marco demanded, snapping his head to look at Cassie. "Did you say barn?"
Cassie's eyes flashed in what I think was annoyance. "Yes, I said barn." She exhaled.
I could swear that Marco's jaw was about to drop to the ground. "No way." He said.
"Yes way." Cassie said, a sardonic little grin on her face. "Ask Jake if you don't believe me."
Marco cocked an eyebrow. Rachel gave me a sideways glance. I said nothing.
I just sort of stood there and blushed.
"Get your heads out of the gutter." Cassie instructed.
We did. I ran both hands through my hair, then let them rest on my neck. "Tomorrow afternoon."
"Everyone get to Cassie's barn tomorrow afternoon. That is a good time, right, Cass?" I asked.
"We can stay until about three. Dad has to perform surgery on an otter at three." Cassie reported.
"Otter?" Marco asked. "Shut up." Rachel told him.
"Okay, then. Everyone show up at the barn before three. I don't care how you get there, just do it. Rachel, see if you can reach Tobias and tell him where to meet us. Cassie, address." I said.
Just so you know, I wasn't getting off on telling everyone what to do. I've never been a bossy kind of guy. It was just something I did. I've been told I'm a natural-born leader, but I don't believe that. I'm just the guy that everyone kind of turns to. I mean, look at Nicole and her posse. I don't know why, though.
Besides, someone had to do it.
I lead Cassie over to my desk and let her borrow a pen and a few pieces of paper.
She had nice handwriting. It wasn't fancy, but it was neat and easy to read.
My handwriting hasn't changed from the first grade. It's still a mess.
"Thanks, by the way." I whispered to Cassie as she wrote down her address. I kept my voice low so that Marco and Rachel couldn't hear me. I think they both thought that I had a thing for Cassie.
Which I don't. But I like her. She was nice, calm and even though you wouldn't guess it, she was brave. I guess that maybe I sort of admired her. But I didn't like her.
I mean, I didn't wonder what it'd be like to kiss her or anything. Or hold her hand.
She had a sweet smile though. I liked it when Cassie smiled. Like she was doing now.
"No problem, I want to help." Cassie whispered back to me. "And I want some answers." She added.
I remembered the lady lying dead in The Sharing building. "Me too." I whispered.
"Oh, Cassie. Look at you, in your stunning bird-doo-covered overalls. Kiss me, kiss me now."
Cassie and I both turned to the owner of the irritating voice. Marco looked back at us with an expression of pure innocence on his face. I didn't buy it for a minute. Must've been the way he was trying like hell not to laugh. Rachel, on the other hand, didn't have as much restraint.
"You have some serious issues." I told Marco. He just grinned at me. "So says Loverboy." He said.
I looked over at Cassie. She was smiling at Marco's joke. That made me feel kind of good.
But I still grabbed a pencil off my desk and threw it at Marco's face. "Ow!" He shouted.
Rachel hid a snort of laughter. Marco picked the pencil back up and threw it at me.
I caught it in midair. I have good reflexes, since I play basketball a lot.
Cassie handed over the pieces of paper to Marco and Rachel. She also gave one to me.
"Thanks." I said, smiling at her. She just shrugged. "No problem." She said.
After that, Cassie and Marco left to go what I'd ordered them to do. Rachel stayed behind.
She waited until she could hear the downstairs door shut before she went to me.
"I didn't know your folks were splitting up." Rachel whispered.
"I was going to tell you." I muttered, feeling like a jerk for not saying anything earlier.
"It's okay. I understand." Rachel said. Then she went up to me and hugged me.
I didn't expect that. Rachel's not what you'd call sentimental. She's tough, not sappy.
A moment later I hugged her back. Then we pulled apart. "Jake, it'll be okay." Rachel told me.
For some reason that just made me want to hug her again. I didn't.
"I'm sorry about Melissa." I told her. Rachel nodded. "I'm sorry about Tom." She told me.
Then Rachel was looking at the piece of paper in her hand as if she'd never seen it before.
"Gotta get going." Rachel said to me, holding up the piece of paper. "Do some investigating."
"Yeah." I said. Rachel gave me another quick hug, and then she went out the door.
And, for the first time this week, I felt better.
~~~
The gunshots rang through the building.
"GET BACK HERE!" A voice, a man's voice, screamed through the complex.
The voice was so packed with rage that it didn't even sound human.
Maybe, I thought to myself, the voice wasn't human. Not for real.
I was running through the building as fast as I could manage. I was pushing my way out of the crowd, out of the seething mass of humanity that seemed to be growing thicker the harder I tried to get away from them. Another shot of the gun. I saw the bullet as it sped through the room.
I saw as a girl, behind me, fell to the ground. She would not get up again.
I kept running. No time to look at the girl, no time to see who she was. Just time to run.
"Get back, Bandit!" The voice screamed. I turned around. He was chasing me!
He was a man, but I couldn't make out any features. He seemed to have blended into the darkness.
"Give it back to me, Andalite!" The man shouted as a new volley of bullets ran through the building. The people behind me started collapsing. The room was heavy with blood.
They were dying! Because of me!
All of the sudden, a door appeared in front of me. I lunged forward and wrenched it open.
Then I shut it behind me. A bullet whizzed through the door. It missed me by just an inch.
Then I saw it. It was tucked away in the farthest corner of the room.
To be honest with you, it didn't look that remarkable. It was just a normal, average, blue box.
But I grabbed it anyway.
Then the door burst open.
There were two people running into the room. One was the man with the gun.
The other was a tall teenager. He looked a lot like me, but y'know, older.
"Tom!" I cried out in surprise.
"Jake, run!" He yelled. "Do you hear me? Run!" My brother ordered me, shoving me out the door.
So I ran. Away from it all. In the distance I could hear gunshots.
I awoke with a jerk.
"Ow! That was my nose!" Tom cried. I blinked a couple of times, then I stared at my brother.
He was clutching his nose and his face was twisted in pain. "Sorry." I muttered.
Tom took his sweet time removing his hand from his nose. "You'd better be." He groaned.
Then he felt his nose with his left hand. "I think you broke it." Tom whimpered.
"Huh?" I said. I still hadn't quite woken up.
"My Nose. Broken. Thanks, Midget." Tom summarized. Then he looked at me, concern on his face.
"That must've been one hell of a nightmare." He said.
"Nightmare?" I asked.
"Well, those didn't sound like happy screams." Tom said. "Unless you're a masochist." He added.
I shook my head. Then it started coming back to me. My dream, I mean.
The gunshots. The blood. All the people dying, being mowed down like grass by the bullets.
"I'm gonna throw up." I choked out. Tom jumped up and, to my surprise, picked me up.
He carried me down to the bathroom upstairs. He used his free hand to force the seat up.
Then my brother set me down on the tile, placing my head in front of the porcelian peehole.
I emptied out my guts.
I just sat there for a moment, afterwards. I turned my head away from the toilet. Focused on the tile beneath me. Tom didn't do anything. I guess he was waiting to see if I needed his help.
Then I remembered Tom barging in the dark room, the one with the blue box. Those gunshots.
I threw up again. Tom put a hand on my shoulder. I puked again.
Then, shutting my eyes so I wouldn't ralph again at the sight of my own vomit, I flushed it down.
Tom helped me as I wobbled my way back to my room. He even helped me cover up again.
"You need anything? A glass of water, maybe?" Tom asked me. I shook my head.
"You want to talk about it?" Tom asked. I shook my head again. Tom chuckled. "Neither would I."
He ruffled my hair and I shut my eyes. Sooner or later, I fell asleep.
But my thoughts about the people at The Sharing were plaguing me. They weren't human, that much I was sure of. They might even, more than likely were connected with the Controllers.
Whatever they were. But Tom wasn't one of them.
He couldn't be.
~~~
It was about nine o'clock when I heard from Rachel. I was on the computer, trying to see if I could find any information about The Sharing via the web. Despite a good two hours of grilling him for info, Tom hadn't told me much. Just told me that when you became a full member "your whole world changed". He also mentioned that The Sharing was going to try branching out a bit, they wanted to build an Activity Center on that abandoned construction site by the mall.
I told him it sounded like a cool idea. Which was a total lie. The idea of anything related to the Sharing caused my stomach to get all queasy. A new Activity Center didn't help that.
But it was better than knowing nothing. Still, it didn't help me much. Hence the websurfing.
I was going to when the Instant Messenger Screen popped up.
She-Roar: Jake!
Jake161621: Rachel? What's up?
I waited a moment as Rachel typed her reply. I didn't have to wait long, though, since Rachel's always been a very fast typer.
She-Roar: I have some good news and some bad news.
Jake161621: Um...give me the good news first.
She-Roar: Well, I got some information out of Melissa. Turns out she goes to The Sharing every three days. Her whole family does, in fact.
I hadn't ever realized it before, but Tom kept up the same schedule. He wouldn't go three days without attending a Sharing meeting. He hadn't for the past year or two.
Tom and Dad fought about it sometimes but so far Tom had been pretty good about The Sharing meetings. It might've had something to do with the way we kept our family vacations limited to three days nowadays.
Jake161621: So does Tom, now that I think about it. Do you think there's a connection?
She-Roar: Well, if all the Chapmans and Tom both keep up the same schedule...
Rachel let her comment hang. I was grateful for that. I didn't want to deal with the idea of FakeTom. The dream I had last night didn't help my stubbornness one bit, either.
Now I know how Marco feels. I thought to myself as I remembered the way I went after him when Tom collapsed in The Sharing. Of what he now calls a "panic attack".
Marco told me about his flashback that day. He told me about his mother.
I jumped to conclusions, or at least, that's what I keep telling myself. I mean, the whole thing with Tom had shooken me up pretty bad, I won't even try to deny that. But, I was out of line.
Telling Marco that I believed his mother was one of them, one of the Controllers, was beyond out of line. It was taking the line and flying to Mars with it. Right?
I shook my head to clear away my guilt and typed a reply to Rachel.
Jake161621: Yeah, you're probably right. So, what's the bad news?
She-Roar: I can't reach Tobias.
At that moment, the door to my room opened. I looked to see my mom standing in the doorway.
There was this grim, stiff look on her face unlike anything I'd ever seen.
For a moment I wondered if she and Dad were fighting downstairs. But why would she come to me?
I found out my answer quicker than I would've liked.
"Jake," My mom said, her voice slow and careful. "There's an officer downstairs to see you."
What? I wondered. Then I felt cold fear grab my stomach and twist it with a hot poker.
Had someone found out about what Cassie and I had done? That couldn't have been illegal, could it? The fliers had said they were open! Sure, okay, the only people there were the man with the gun and his posse, but Cassie and I hadn't been breaking the law! Well, Cassie hadn't been.
I was sure her parents had to have called her in sick. Besides, it's not like they sent in freaking police after truant kids? Did they? Was it some new law I didn't know about?
"What for?" I asked Mom.
"I don't know." She whispered. Then she looked at me again, and frowned. "And stop blanching."
"I'm no--" I managed to spit out before my mother's glare told me to go downstairs now.
Mom led me downstairs to the living room. There was a cop sitting on our couch.
He was tall, very tall. There was some orange-reddish hair poking out from under his cap.
At first, he hadn't noticed me. He was writing things down on a clipboard, not even bothering to look up or anything. That didn't last long, though.
I sat in my dad's recliner, across from the couch, and the policeman's head snapped up.
There was something beyond creep about him but I tried to ignore that.
I was too busy worrying about getting locked up in the big house to care much about the cop.
"Well, hello!" He chirped. "You're Jake Berenson, aren't you?"
I nodded. "Yeah, that's me." I said. The cop smiled to himself. "Good. I'm Officer Terrance."
"Nice to meet you." I said, without even thinking about it. Then I held out my hand.
The officer took my palm and shook my hand. "Nice to see some kids are still polite." He said.
"Yeah, that's me. Mr. Manners." I said, trying to keep a smile on my face.
The officer chuckled. "Well, Mr. Manners, I have a few things I want to ask you. Do you mind?"
"Of course not, officer." I said. While I was thinking Hell yes, I mind!
"Good." Said Officer Terrance, a smug smirk playing across his face. "Very good."
He clicked his pen and looked me in the eyes. I kept smiling. I wouldn't work up any suspicion.
"I'd like to know, what were you doing between seven and nine PM Friday night?" The officer asked.
His question took me by surprise because, I guess, I didn't have anything to hide. As far as last night was concerned, anyway. The morning was a whole other matter. The night was safe.
So what's going on here? I wondered. "Playing video games." I answered.
Officer Terrance wrote down something on his clipboard. "Just you? No friends or anything?"
"Nope." I answered, feeling my confusion multiply ten-fold. "Just me." I added.
"All right...nothing strange happened Friday night?" Officer Terrance asked me.
I shook my head. "It was normal. I just hung out in my room." I said. "Nothing weird."
Officer Terrance took off his hat and wiped his brow with it.
"Look," he sighed. "We're looking for this kid--his uncle says he ran away from home."
I frowned. To be honest, I didn't have a clue what was going on. Sure, it was sad that the kid Officer Terrance was looking for had run away from home, but that didn't have anything to do with me. Not that I wouldn't mind helping, but that didn't sound like anyone I knew.
"I don't know what you're talking about, sir." I told Officer Terrance. Then he smiled at me.
"Maybe a name would help." He mused. "The kid's name is Tobias. Tobias Avan."
WHAT? I bit my tongue to keep from shouting out in surprise. Tobias had run away from home?
Well, that explains his disappearing act. The voice in my head said.
Why in the world would Tobias run away from home? I mean, it's not like it was any secret he came from a poor family but I'm not one of those people that thinks that adds up to a shitty family.
But then again, I didn't know Tobias very well. We were acquaintances at best.
How was I to know what his home life was like?
"The principal over at the High School says you two are buddies." Officer Terrance explained.
"So we thought that, maybe, you might know where he skipped off to." The redhead added.
I shook my head, hard. "Tobias and I barely know each other." I said. "We've hung out, but..."
"Don't worry, I get the picture." Officer Terrance said, holding up a finger to quiet me.
I smiled a shaky smile. But I didn't like where Officer Terrance's questions were going.
"I won't mind telling you, though, some weird things have been going on." He said.
"Oh yeah? Like what?" I asked. The Officer shook his head and chuckled again.
"I can't tell you all of it, buddy. But there's that weird fireworks incident at the construction site and the Principal mentioned these odd fainting spells, too." Officer Terrance said.
Fainting spells? I wondered, feeling my guts go cold. Both Cassie and Tobias had said they'd fainted after their flashbacks. Marco's words, yesterday morning, came back to me.
He'd said that Ax had betrayed us. Told Chapman about what happened, about the flashbacks.
Cassie might've had some doubts about Marco's conviction, but I didn't. Not now.
Then the officer laughed to himself, as if he were replaying a memory.
"I had this roomate in college -- paranoid guy." He said, shaking his head. "Believed in aliens, conspiracy theories, all of it. Used to worry about me because I was going into the force. Said the aliens were coming to get me. Man, if I could tell him about all this..." Terrance mused.
"But, listen, Jake. If you know anything, or if anything happens, you call me." He said.
Then he picked himself up off the chair. "I've given your mom my phone number." He added.
Right at that moment, Tom came down the stairs. Looked at mom, to me, to Officer Terrance.
And he smiled.
"Morning, Officer." Tom said, waving a little hello to Officer Terrance.
"Why, hello, Tom. Good morning." The Officer said. "Just talking to your brother here."
"Really?" Tom said, cocking an eyebrow at me. "What'd he do, TP a house?" Tom asked.
"No. He was just helping me in tying up a case of mine. Runaway from downtown." The officer said.
"Oh. I see." Tom said. He had this faraway look in his eyes, almost like he was plotting something.
"Well, see you at The Sharing, Officer. Aren't you becoming a full member today?" Tom asked.
"Oh, yes." Officer Terrance said, smiling. "My wife and kids, too."
"Contrast." Tom said. There was a huge smile on his face. "Let me walk you to the door."
And Tom did just that. In a few moments, Officer Terrance had left our house.
Little was I to know that my day was going to get a lot worse.
Fly my pretties! (Reader Response)
blueiceraptor - Just so y'know, telling me that "This is story is very bad." won't actually help me much. Maybe you could tell me specifically what's so bad about it? If you'd like to actually tell me how I could improve my story, that'd be wonderful. If you're going to start harrassing me or something, though...try another person, buddy. I don't have the time.
Neri, the Queen of the Oceans - Hi! Glad you liked the chap -- and I agree with you that it's sexist to say boys can't cry. The sad part is, with women's empowerment, we're being expected to be more masculine -- and that includes the bad parts, like the not crying. (Not to say I'm not for women's rights, I've been a proud feminist for years now. I'm just against the stuffing-of-emotion-thing.) And, yeah, Tobias's home life sucked. I know that KAA didn't ever outright say that Tobias was abused at home, but she more than hinted at it. Like you said, no wonder he went hawkie. And I actually liked Artificial Intelligence! Until the end, which was sweet and all, but I think it would've been a better idea to end the movie with David at the bottom of the ocean. Or living with Joe, since in my mind, they were getting all family-like. But then the movie wouldn't have been so sad...and I think that was what Spielberg wanted, a lotta sadness. And, nope, I didn't know Spielberg wanted to cast Haley Joel Osment (did I spell that right?) as Harry Potter. That woulda been interesting.
And as for the morphing cube -- as I understand it, only an Andalite can activate it. =)
David will show up in Part Two of this fic, which is either between six or twelve chapter away.
I know where I wanna go with everything, but I'm not sure how long it'll take me to do it...and, on a practical level, it's not wise to take a pet with you if you're going to run away -- be it cat or dog. Most runaways have enough trouble taking care of themselves, let alone a pet. And the whole Cat = Girl thing is kind of irritating, but cats are "traditionally feminine" creatures, they're clean, graceful, and mysterious. So that might be part of it...and the one Harry Potter fic I've ever written was this short 'lil Ginny thing that doesn't make much sense -- but you can check my profile for it. Most of the HP ideas I get are Harry/Hermione (I really don't think Ron & Hermy would last very long), actually...but I did get an idea for this Ginny/Hermione best-friends-bonding thing that I might write someday.
And I write fast? Wow, I always thought I was slow. (Or at least I am compared to some other authors like Freak Apple, for instance.) But I've been writing fanfic since I was in fifth grade, and my own stuff since eigth -- and I'm about to go into 11th grade. So, I guess my speed has a lot to do with years of practice. That and advanced English classes, which are good disipline-wise, since I always have trouble starting a chapter/story/whatever.
And that sucks that they wouldn't post your story -- why don't you try putting it up again? FFN's servers are always wonky, after all. Plus, did you save it any format other than .txt or .html? 'Cuz then it won't upload. And Tobias is next, just so you know.
goddess of darkness - Glad you liked it, and sorry I was such a lazy bum about updating!
Lavenderangel - Woohoo, go R/T! Heehee, sorry, I just like them a lot (in case you couldn't guess.) =) And let's see, I'll try to address some of the stuff you brought up.
Marco angst shall continue in all it's glory. He and Rachel will have the screwiest love lives out of everyone in this series. And y'know, that scene you made up...I've got something sort of like that planned, but it doesn't involve Rachel. **coughs and hides the spoilers**
I'm planning to cram in some R/C stuff soon, whenever Rachel or Cassie's next chappie rolls around. I like them, too. Ax is not of the evil! Rejoice! He's still going to have a lot to deal with, though. After all, he doesn't even remember that he's an Andalite yet, amongst other identity issues he'll have thrown at him. As for Ax's thoughts on Tobi's quick sign off, that'll be mentioned next chapter. And, hey, don't worry about the blindness. I can sort of relate. I've had a goofy leg my whole life (limping for sixteen years and counting!), thanks to cerebral palsy.
And, hey, how'd you know Tobias would go to Rachel...I mean...oopsie, you weren't supposed to know that. And just so you know, I thought about making Snape take away points from Gryffindor. Then I remembered this wasn't a Harry Potter fic. (I also have to keep remembering that Rachel is NOT Buffy, by the way.) And, yeah, I thought Tobias was a good choice for Ax to confess to.
And, um, actually, Cassie's next chapter is gonna be a while. She may possibly be the last one this time around (after either Marco or Ax, I'm thinking. Not what order they'll be in yet.)
DH - Well, what I really meant was that this story's plot is just getting started.
But, wow, you really think this fic's that great? Whoa. Me not used to praise, 'tis odd.
And I don't think Tobias will live at the scoop, but he might hide out there a while. And "a return of the Animorphs"? Oh, well, maybe. =)
JamWing1 - Hey, it's nice to know you like the story. And I agree that Animorphs just wouldn't be Animorphs without the blue box. And, well, I didn't update soon, but I did update! Does that get me any points?
Freak Apple - First off, no killy me for the not-reading and the not-updating-my-fic-site.
I was trying to get this dang chapter done...writer's block is bad. **pouts**
But anyway, I actually support kicking-Tobias's-uncle-in-the-nads. No complaint from me. =P
Don't worry, though, I've figured out how he'll get his. And glad you like the Dude. But I don't think the kitty'll be getting morphing powers -- that'd just be a big 'ol problem.
And I meant to update soon, but then I got stuck.
By the way, that Tobias Evan and Max thing is BEYOND freaky.
PS: I've almost finished the Tobias sims! They'll be done today or tomorrow! Enjoy!
Tinnuelenath - Mr. Snape? Magical? What drugs have you been smoking?
Yes! I shocked you! Woohoo! **does a victory dance** Anyway, Tobias living with Ax? I'm, uh, not qualified to give you an answer on that one...and Ax is getting a clearance of sorts...but it's a ways away. He's got Tobias and Cassie on his side, and Jake and Marco are suspicious. Rachel's kind of going both ways. But it'll all settle itself out. (In more ways than one, heh. =P)
digimon-lover - Glad you like the story, and I feel sorry for Tobias, too. His life sucks.
But I'll try to update sooner, too. I didn't mean to take so long on this chapter. **sulks**
Glad you caught all the Harry Potter stuffs, too. =)
Patrick Blah - Please don't go insane, that would be sad.
It's good to know you liked the chapter, too. I thought it was better written than some of the others (**coughRachelandMarco'scough**) lately. Glad you liked Ax's IM, too, and it's a relief (I think) to know that breast-enlargement-emails exist. For the most part, I think it was okay for Tobias to run...though that's not saying his life's gonna be easy from here on. And Dude rocks.
RasberryGirl - Woohoo, I made someone care for Tobias. Go me. =)
Hunh, maybe if I keep channeling KAA we could get rid of #54...think it's worth a shot?
I know what you mean about the books being geared towards an older audience. Then again, I find most of the Animorphs fans I know are in High School/College, which is kinda funny...but I think there were a lot of things KAA didn't (or couldn't) go into because the books were for kids. (Like, say, the lack of swearing or sexual tension. Which would be realistic of teenagers...and I won't mention the sexuality issue.)
And J/C are actually comfy and safe at home. Which is certainly more than I can say for Tobias.
Aelle, Queen of Insanity - Glad you liked Ax, the chappie, and the plot twist. And, no, Tobias has never had sex. He's still a virgin. His uncle's a paranoid freak.
freak show - It surprises me how many people like the Tobias-thing. I thought you were all gonna kill me for that, actually. Thanks for the compliment, though.
Loony Lovegood - I know Luna had nothing to do with THAT, but it makes me think of OoTP, which makes me think of THAT. And I loved (dead character), too. He was amazing.
No probs about reviewing first -- but, hey, how'd you know Ax would get his tail back?
**coughs** I mean, I SO did not tell you A HUGE HONKING SPOILER. And no, Tobias will not go David. He's saner than that...and David will show up in Part Two. And he plays a big 'ol role.
David AU good! David AU want! And I admit I don't mind canon too much...doesn't hurt my fave pairings (M/A and R/T) any, but T/A were cute...ooh, and Lupin! That'd be cool! But, dang, between all the requests for Buffy and HP cameos, I dunno if any of the teachers will come from my own mind...and oh yeth, am I big AAML-er. My first love/crush/best guy friend and I were mucho of the Misty-Ash-ness. Including the being to stupid to act on it thing.
Well, since Erek can't have his Howler-memories done away with, I sorta figure the Ellimist's world-warpy wouldn't work with him. Oh, and you're right, one eight*y* is not a time. And lazer is an incorrect spelling. Whoopsie. And, true, Erek has the AI, but Ax is also a l33t h@xor with cool screen names. =P And a loser for a--no spoilers. Almost forgot. And thank GOD Ax didn't ask the Governor to look at his butt, that'd just be...awkward. And Estrid. HISS. I like her as a character a lot, but she broke Ax's heart, which I DON'T like. (Actually, why didn't KAA ever let Marco or Ax keep a girlfriend? Gee, not like that's going to suggest anything. =P) And Gohan is deelish and happy-making. And no telling of the planning, I like it when you guys guess.
PS: Can I also post the Erek ficlet and Cheechron on my site?