Sorry it's been so long! I've just been really busy with a show our school is doing and other stories and exams and so on... But here's chapter five, anyways, read and review!
Oh, and a comment to the reviews: A lot of you ask me why Marco and Rachel haven't thought of morphing each other's DNA and become themselves again, but I recall Applegate explaining stuff like this... When Tobias got the morphing power back, he could have morphed his human body and stayed permanently that way, but he would have lost his power to morph! That's what would happen with Marco and Rachel too if they decide to morph each other and pass the two hours limit. And hey, who knows how this swap is affecting their morphing anyway? It's a big mystery, lads...! ;)
***
CASSIE: A QUESTION OF REPLACEMENT
It was lunch break. I sat in the cafeteria at a table with Jake, both of us eating in silence.
Finally, I decided one of us had to speak. "So have you seen Marco today?"
"You mean Rachel?"
"No, I mean Marco, in Rachel's body. I haven't seen him."
"I met Rachel in Marco's body earlier today."
"Yeah, I met her too. I'm talking about Marco in Rachel's body," I argued.
Jake looked at me. "No, I haven't." Then he turned his attention to the peas on his plate again. It was obvious he wasn't too happy about the situation, and I was about to confront him on the matter when I heard Rachel's voice behind me:
"Finally, food! I've almost missed the cafeteria's food." Seconds later, she sat down next to me with a plate filled with food.
"I take it you didn't get any breakfast this morning?" I asked.
"Hey, Rachel's house is loaded with all this girly food and vitamines and all that, and I just couldn't bother with it. It's like a labyrith, trying to work your way out in there!" Then she dug greedily into her food with her fingers grasping the knife and fork, eating like some savage. It wasn't difficult to believe Marco was really in there.
"Where have you been?" Jake asked Rachel's body.
"Me showing up at this hour really says it all, doesn't it?" she replied.
"Yeah, and it's suspicious," Jake said. "Rachel managed to get here on time, she's even trying to stay in character with your behaviour and everything. You not showing up before lunch hour is making me nervous."
"Hey, what do you think I was doing?" Rachel asked, acting hurt. "Believe me, this isn't the body I wanna spend my time in. But I have no choice, as it is. And if I HAVE to spend time in this body, I don't wanna do it at school. Spending time at school already sucks, if not for doing it in this body."
I spotted Marco's body moving around at the other end of the cafeteria, and waved him over. He took a seat and glanced suspiciously over at his nemesis who sat there eating like a pig. "You're giving me a bad reputation," he finally said. "That's disgusting."
"It's called eating," Rachel replied. "But hey, your body's so perfectly skinny it doesn't surprise me you've never heard of it."
"Hey!" Marco bellowed. "You watch it! If you so much as dare to INSINUATE that I..."
"Calm down," Jake barked at them both. "You're drawing too much attention to us. Not that that's uncommon, but try to avoid it for once. We've got a situation here, right? So. Both of you okay then?"
"Yep," Rachel said. "Pretty much.
"I guess so, for now," Marco said.
"Any trouble?" Jake asked.
"With your sister, Rach," Rachel said, pointing an accusing fork covered with spaghetti towards Marco. "She's a real pain in the -"
"You're just gonna have to live with that," Jake interrupted. "Because we've got a bad situation here. Listen, I've got something to tell you all." He caught eye contact with me. "The Drode showed up in my room last night."
We all suddenly became a lot more serious. "What did he say?" I asked.
Jake sighed. "He was cocky as hell, of course. So proud of his doings. I asked him how he had the right to swap Rachel and Marco, and he said Crayak and he'd found a loophole in those playing rules of theirs and the Elimist's. Apparently, we so strongly asked for it, he claims, he had a right to give us what we wanted for the price of something he wanted."
"A stupid swap," Rachel said.
"Right. It amuses the Drode like you wouldn't believe. He couldn't stop laughing. I almost jumped out to choke him, but didn't because it would probably have made Rachel and Marco remain like they are forever."
"But we might not have to?" Rachel in Marco's body asked with anticipation.
"Maybe not," Jake replied. "I argued for a while with the Drode, and I actually think he's gonna get into some trouble if he leaves the two of you this way. The rules, once again. But he doesn't wanna give up his price, so to speak."
"So what does he want?" I asked.
"He wants some other swap," Jake replied. "If the two of you are to be yourselves again, he wants us to give him two others we would allow him to swap brains, two that would be as, how did he put it, as amusing as Rachel and Marco to swap."
Rachel rolled her eyes. "We're amusing, are we? Oh, I'm so glad! We get to please little Drody-boy, that's all that matters to me! I'm glad I'm of help!"
"Shut up," Marco said, then he turned to Jake. "So all we have to do is fine two people in the world who can't stand each other, and allow the Drode to swap their brains? That will be easy! There's plenty of people in the world who hates each other."
"Honestly," I interrupted. "Have you all gone insane? We can't just say yes to this!"
They all looked at me.
"Listen," I said, "this is obviously some sort of big joke. Of course the Drode and Crayak aren't allowed to fool around like this! They can't be! I bet it's all a joke, and as soon as we give him some other brains to swap we'll learn it was all for nothing. And even if it isn't," I added, "we can't allow to innocent people to have their brains swapped just like that."
"What, that's what happened to us!" Rachel's body argued. "And with all respect, we're saving the world here. I'm sure some other enemies can't have that claim."
Marco nodded. "And I WON'T remain like this. There's no chance. I had to see Marco in his boxers yesterday! I'm still traumatized, I doubt I'll ever recover."
"Look," Jake said, "I thought about it. I think we have to do this! We can't just hope it's all a joke. What if it's not? Rachel and Marco can't remain like they are now. We'll need to find someone who deserve to have their brains swapped, so I don't have to have that Drode come to my room every night."
I leaned forwards and took Jake's hand in mine. "Look," I said. "I know you're stressed. All of this is affecting you."
"Hey!" Rachel's voice said angrily.
"But that doesn't mean we can let innocent people suffer from it! The Drode and Crayak always comes to you, and that's bad. But who really deserve to have their brains swapped like that?"
"Especially not me," Marco commented.
"Seriously, Jake," I said. "Who can we have the conscience to push this upon?"
"We'll work someone out," Jake said. "The Drode'll be back to see me tomorrow evening. If we don't have a good replacement by then he'll leave Marco and Rachel as they are."
After this we all went silent.
Jake finished his food, then got up. "I suggest we ditch the rest of today's school," he said. "I don't know about you, but I wanna get the Drode and Crayak and their ideas as far away from us as possible. So I think we should go to Tobias and Ax and work all of this out."
Marco and Rachel nodded, and I felt as though no one would listen to me.
Maybe my moral was just too high.
***
What do you think? Reviews please!
Oh, and a comment to the reviews: A lot of you ask me why Marco and Rachel haven't thought of morphing each other's DNA and become themselves again, but I recall Applegate explaining stuff like this... When Tobias got the morphing power back, he could have morphed his human body and stayed permanently that way, but he would have lost his power to morph! That's what would happen with Marco and Rachel too if they decide to morph each other and pass the two hours limit. And hey, who knows how this swap is affecting their morphing anyway? It's a big mystery, lads...! ;)
***
CASSIE: A QUESTION OF REPLACEMENT
It was lunch break. I sat in the cafeteria at a table with Jake, both of us eating in silence.
Finally, I decided one of us had to speak. "So have you seen Marco today?"
"You mean Rachel?"
"No, I mean Marco, in Rachel's body. I haven't seen him."
"I met Rachel in Marco's body earlier today."
"Yeah, I met her too. I'm talking about Marco in Rachel's body," I argued.
Jake looked at me. "No, I haven't." Then he turned his attention to the peas on his plate again. It was obvious he wasn't too happy about the situation, and I was about to confront him on the matter when I heard Rachel's voice behind me:
"Finally, food! I've almost missed the cafeteria's food." Seconds later, she sat down next to me with a plate filled with food.
"I take it you didn't get any breakfast this morning?" I asked.
"Hey, Rachel's house is loaded with all this girly food and vitamines and all that, and I just couldn't bother with it. It's like a labyrith, trying to work your way out in there!" Then she dug greedily into her food with her fingers grasping the knife and fork, eating like some savage. It wasn't difficult to believe Marco was really in there.
"Where have you been?" Jake asked Rachel's body.
"Me showing up at this hour really says it all, doesn't it?" she replied.
"Yeah, and it's suspicious," Jake said. "Rachel managed to get here on time, she's even trying to stay in character with your behaviour and everything. You not showing up before lunch hour is making me nervous."
"Hey, what do you think I was doing?" Rachel asked, acting hurt. "Believe me, this isn't the body I wanna spend my time in. But I have no choice, as it is. And if I HAVE to spend time in this body, I don't wanna do it at school. Spending time at school already sucks, if not for doing it in this body."
I spotted Marco's body moving around at the other end of the cafeteria, and waved him over. He took a seat and glanced suspiciously over at his nemesis who sat there eating like a pig. "You're giving me a bad reputation," he finally said. "That's disgusting."
"It's called eating," Rachel replied. "But hey, your body's so perfectly skinny it doesn't surprise me you've never heard of it."
"Hey!" Marco bellowed. "You watch it! If you so much as dare to INSINUATE that I..."
"Calm down," Jake barked at them both. "You're drawing too much attention to us. Not that that's uncommon, but try to avoid it for once. We've got a situation here, right? So. Both of you okay then?"
"Yep," Rachel said. "Pretty much.
"I guess so, for now," Marco said.
"Any trouble?" Jake asked.
"With your sister, Rach," Rachel said, pointing an accusing fork covered with spaghetti towards Marco. "She's a real pain in the -"
"You're just gonna have to live with that," Jake interrupted. "Because we've got a bad situation here. Listen, I've got something to tell you all." He caught eye contact with me. "The Drode showed up in my room last night."
We all suddenly became a lot more serious. "What did he say?" I asked.
Jake sighed. "He was cocky as hell, of course. So proud of his doings. I asked him how he had the right to swap Rachel and Marco, and he said Crayak and he'd found a loophole in those playing rules of theirs and the Elimist's. Apparently, we so strongly asked for it, he claims, he had a right to give us what we wanted for the price of something he wanted."
"A stupid swap," Rachel said.
"Right. It amuses the Drode like you wouldn't believe. He couldn't stop laughing. I almost jumped out to choke him, but didn't because it would probably have made Rachel and Marco remain like they are forever."
"But we might not have to?" Rachel in Marco's body asked with anticipation.
"Maybe not," Jake replied. "I argued for a while with the Drode, and I actually think he's gonna get into some trouble if he leaves the two of you this way. The rules, once again. But he doesn't wanna give up his price, so to speak."
"So what does he want?" I asked.
"He wants some other swap," Jake replied. "If the two of you are to be yourselves again, he wants us to give him two others we would allow him to swap brains, two that would be as, how did he put it, as amusing as Rachel and Marco to swap."
Rachel rolled her eyes. "We're amusing, are we? Oh, I'm so glad! We get to please little Drody-boy, that's all that matters to me! I'm glad I'm of help!"
"Shut up," Marco said, then he turned to Jake. "So all we have to do is fine two people in the world who can't stand each other, and allow the Drode to swap their brains? That will be easy! There's plenty of people in the world who hates each other."
"Honestly," I interrupted. "Have you all gone insane? We can't just say yes to this!"
They all looked at me.
"Listen," I said, "this is obviously some sort of big joke. Of course the Drode and Crayak aren't allowed to fool around like this! They can't be! I bet it's all a joke, and as soon as we give him some other brains to swap we'll learn it was all for nothing. And even if it isn't," I added, "we can't allow to innocent people to have their brains swapped just like that."
"What, that's what happened to us!" Rachel's body argued. "And with all respect, we're saving the world here. I'm sure some other enemies can't have that claim."
Marco nodded. "And I WON'T remain like this. There's no chance. I had to see Marco in his boxers yesterday! I'm still traumatized, I doubt I'll ever recover."
"Look," Jake said, "I thought about it. I think we have to do this! We can't just hope it's all a joke. What if it's not? Rachel and Marco can't remain like they are now. We'll need to find someone who deserve to have their brains swapped, so I don't have to have that Drode come to my room every night."
I leaned forwards and took Jake's hand in mine. "Look," I said. "I know you're stressed. All of this is affecting you."
"Hey!" Rachel's voice said angrily.
"But that doesn't mean we can let innocent people suffer from it! The Drode and Crayak always comes to you, and that's bad. But who really deserve to have their brains swapped like that?"
"Especially not me," Marco commented.
"Seriously, Jake," I said. "Who can we have the conscience to push this upon?"
"We'll work someone out," Jake said. "The Drode'll be back to see me tomorrow evening. If we don't have a good replacement by then he'll leave Marco and Rachel as they are."
After this we all went silent.
Jake finished his food, then got up. "I suggest we ditch the rest of today's school," he said. "I don't know about you, but I wanna get the Drode and Crayak and their ideas as far away from us as possible. So I think we should go to Tobias and Ax and work all of this out."
Marco and Rachel nodded, and I felt as though no one would listen to me.
Maybe my moral was just too high.
***
What do you think? Reviews please!
