The Generation
Note 2 self, the song is called "Tipsy"
Chapter 19- Cassie
Dreams, disturbing dreams. No, not even. They were echoes...
BAM BAM! Two shots... but the controllers rarely used guns! A scream of fear. A roar of rage. Then two words that nobody wants to hear. "She's dead."
Then more words, ones that I, as a pacifist stuck in a war that she didn't want to hear, but knew would come.
//She died in the service of the people, defending freedom. Andilites! Let us rise to battle this menace alongside our human friends! We fought together, we reached the stars together!//
"Yeerks, the humans freed us! This enemy came from our ranks, betraying us! We have no reason not to fight this new enemy!"
"Animorphs, I led you once, from war and slavery to peace!" I knew who was speaking. This was Jake, rallying his people to war. "Once we fought, once we paid a terrible price! Now one of our ranks has fallen! The andilites have a ritual of vengeance! Her killer still lives! We must take up the burden of revenge!"
//Anatipeopleweweresavedbythehumansofearthwhostoppedamenaceatourdoors.Nowwewillrepaythem.AnatipeoplewewillfollowthehumannamedJakeintobattle.Foriftheyeerkscametousoncetheywillcertainlycomeagain,morecarefulthistime,spreadinglikeaninsidiousmenace!Forourfreedomandforthefreedomofall,wewillreturntothebattlefield!!//
//Taxxons, we gave in to temptation once! In service to the living hive, let us take care not to make the same mistake again! Let us not stray from the teachings of serenity and brotherhood of the hive. We lived a cursed life too long. Now we are free. Let us use that freedom to defend our friends and brothers!//
[My brother Leerans together we have fought for so long! Safe in our fortress of water, with human and andilite allies at our side, we have managed to repel one invasion. We will now repel many, many others!]
"Hork bajir brothers. I am a seer, destined to show you a new way. None regrets more than I that this way would lead to blood. We are once again given a terrible choice... FREE OR DEAD!" THUMP!
And the thoughtspeak cries of fear and pain.
//TALA! MORPH BACK! DO IT NOW!//
//Bryan! Above you!//
//LEE BEHIND YOU! DUCK! DUCK NOW!//
//NO NO NO YOU DON'T!//
//Tyson, Tyson you need to morph back! Do it now! The venom is killing you! You're losing blood! Please Tyson!//
//Get the anti-venom here now!//
//Got it! Hurry Kai!//
//Tyson, Tyson talk to me!//
WHAM!! //TYSON! MAX! MORPH OUT NOW!//
//Tyson... Tyson is he?// Asked a small, weak voice.
//He's dead Max...//
//Too... too late then... I was too late... at least he was... was hu...man...//
//MAAAAAAAAXXXXXXXX!!// I heard the keening of animals, of morphs. Eagles, falcons, hawks, Hork bajir, animal roars, sobs, howls of pain and anguish, as the Animorphs and the BBA mourned not one, but two of their own.
I sat up straight in bed, startling the Drode who had been standing near the bed. "YOU!" I hissed. "What are you doing here??"
"Hi Captain Killer Cassie! I was just coming to ask how my old friend Max was doing!" Drode said cheerfully. Drode was a creature that looked like a cross between a human, a dinosaur, and a prune. He had a humanoid head with dark green rims around his eyes, black skin that wrinkled like a rotten prune, and a body reminiscent of a very ugly iguanodon. To add to its annoyance, it seems to know just how to get on our nerves.
I did NOT want my nerves gotten on. "What do you want Drode?" I asked.
"Oooohhh Captain Killer Cassie has a little attitude! You wouldn't shoot the messenger would you Cassie?"
"What messenger, all I see right now is a prune colored rat?!" I snarled. I swung on him. The punch connected and Drode giggled.
"Oooh Captain Killer Cassie! That tickled! Do it again!" Drode giggled.
"What do you want Drode?" I demanded. "Or are you just here to harass me?"
Once, a long time ago, Drode tempted Jake into making a decision. The decision was to go back and never have walked through the construction site. Drode's plan had come apart because I was what he referred to as an anomaly, a person anchored to the strands of space-time. Since then, he has not, as far as I know, meddled with time again. But you never know. I was worried that I might wake up in... I don't know some place that I didn't want to be.
"Well, I came to wish you luck in Galactic War One which is scheduled to begin exactly ten years after the destruction of the yeerk empire. It will be the destruction of one, either Crayak, or the United Animorphs Alliance. And you know what? From where I'm sitting my money is on Crayak that out of the twelve, no, thirteen Animorphs currently in existence, only one will survive, the Cowardly Killer Captain Cassie!" Drode said the title in a sing song voice.
I picked up the alarm clock from my bedside table, the old fashioned Sponge Bob one that Rachel's little sister Jordan had given me for my birthday...
And flung it at a Drode that was no longer there...
The next day we were supposed to meet Johnny at the beach. We'd have two purposes.
The first was to begin training the Blade Breakers with water morphs. Thus the reason why I'd set the same Sponge Bob alarm clock I had broken for four a.m. Thanks to Drode, however, I had gotten up at closer to two a.m. That was also why I was on my seventh cup of coffee by the time a seagull/raptor convention converged on the Gardens to acquire a dolphin morph and the morph of the resident orca whale, Swoosh.
The second was to figure out how to smuggle designer clothes into the Beyblades Ball. We were hoping that Johnny would be able to help somehow.
"Hi, you look happy today." Rei said cheerfully as his mouth emerged.
I grunted something that he couldn't hear. The sun had still not come up. It was that gray, predawn sort of thing.
"Oh. Forget I said anything."
"What happened?" Jake asked.
"Remember how Drode called me Killer Cassie?" I asked irritably.
"Um... sort of." He blinked in surprise at the sudden change of topic.
I gulped at my double sugar Vanilla Chai and answered. "Well according to him I am now Captain Killer Cassie."
"He showed up?" Rachel demanded.
"Yes, and received a punch in the eye and a Sponge Bob alarm clock to the face." I grunted. "And his head was so hard that it broke the alarm clock. Sponge Bob and his Squirrel... diver... companion... THING..."
"Sandy..." Marco interjected.
"Are now missing their HEADS!" I finished.
"What did Drode want?" Jake asked, clearly afraid that a week's worth of misadventures had occurred in the space of a day.
"He wanted to congratulate me on being the only Animorph destined to survive an intergalactic war that would result in Crayak taking over the Galaxy. He said that it would occur about ten years after we defeat the yeerks." I downed the last drops of my Dunkin Doughnuts Vanilla Chai before looking at their reactions. "The result was that I woke up over two hours before the alarm was scheduled to go off at four a.m. Added to that I went to sleep at about twelve because we had an emergency training pow wow."
Marco whistled appreciatively. "What makes him think that we're all going to die?" He asked, as he watched Kenny lure Swoosh to the side of the tank with fish.
"Something about Max." I growled. "I think that there's a turning point coming up, like the construction site incident."
//And if Max doesn't make the turning point...// Tobias asked.
"Then all of us, and the human race, are dead meat in at least ten years, and somewhere in our lifetimes." Marco rolled his eyes. "Have I ever mentioned that this is insane? Because this is insane! Insane!"
I looked mournfully into my empty cup before throwing it into the trash can. "Jake!" Kai swam up to the edge of the tank. "We've finished."
"Great, lets morph people! We meet Johnny at ten, lets finish this exercise before then!" Jake raised his voice slightly so that he could be heard.
We morphed and flew. The dolphins were kept in a separate tank from the orcas because of the tendency of the former to eat the latter. Therefore we had to flap to the other end of the zoo area to get to the dolphin tank. This was one of those times that I had to agree with Marco.
Life is insane.
We flew out to a cove and made a splash down landing in the water.
//Why the hell are we landing in WATER?// Tyson demanded. //Man this is one angry eagle!//
//Because we had to do it once.// I said, landing by Tyson's head as it emerged.
"And I am thrilled how?" Tyson spat, treading water.
"You don't have to be." I said as my mouth emerged. "Right, dolphin is the easiest, dolphins first. Then we'll morph Orca and power our way down shore to the rendezvous point with Johnny. I've already taken the time to plant clothes and shoes in the beach brush."
"And I am happy about this how?" Tyson asked, right before his face sprouted out and out into a dolphin grin.
Max looked at him for a moment. They stared at each other. Then Tyson went under because his hands had shriveled into fins. Max, currently finished with his own dolphin morph, pushed him to the surface to finish the transformation. I couldn't help but wonder as the changes kicked in, what was that about?
I sank into the water, keeping my eyes on the Blade Breakers. Kai's hair was sucking into the dolphin head. Rei's eyes were changing from catlike, to the black, playful dolphin expression. Kenny's glasses floated free, to be caught by Tobias. Hillary's toes and painted toenails were fading to gray, melting into her new fins.
//Woah...// Kai whispered as the dolphin instincts kicked in. //Wow...//
//Everybody okay?// I asked.
//I think so.// Kenny said softly. I saw a dolphin shake itself out.
//THEN LET'S PLAY!// Hillary cheered.
//Oh yeah! Watch what I can do!// Tyson exclaimed. He dove deep under the water. //Cause I'm a dolphin and I am HAPPY!// He came, powering up. //LET IT RIII-IIP!// He burst up over the water.
//So?// Kai asked, surfacing. //I can do THIS!// He fired a burst of echolocation clicks.
//And that does?// Tyson asked skeptically.
//Tobias throw Kenny's glasses in the water.//
//HEY!// Kenny protested.
Tobias dropped them in. We watched them sink to the bottom. Kai turned away while they sank. Then he fired a burst of clicks. //Got them!// Kai powered down to the bottom and came back up with the glasses in his mouth. //See! See! I told you that was cool! Drop a ring, or a pearl! Hell, drop a marble or a small coin! I can always find it!//
//Betcha can't catch me Tyson!// Max exclaimed. They zipped off into the water, twining over and around each other in joy. Twining? Wasn't that mating behavior in dolphins?
//Right, everybody listen up. Somewhere within this and the two neighboring coves, we've hidden a broken dracon beam on the ocean floor. Your job is to find it in the next... ten minutes! Ax, keep track now.//
As I watched, they formed up into a staggered V shape. Ax had taken Ezimili in to acquire both morphs that night so that she could participate, which was why I had been up at twelve, taking them to the Gardens. We shadowed the others at a distance, Tobias keeping track of their progress. //They're close to it Cassie. Whoops! Kai's found it, but he dropped it. I don't think they have the hang of the whole picking things up without hands thing.... Whoah! He's got it! Max got one end and Tyson has the other. They're attempting to carry it together, but the dracon beam keeps slipping. Are you sure that these things are water proof Ax-man?//
//They are very water proof, although I don't think its been necessary in quite this way just yet Tobias.// Ax answered.
//Hey, we could start Consumer Reports, the Yeerk Edition!// Marco joked.
We chuckled. Then Tobias said, //Here they come Cassie.//
The blade breakers rounded the corner and I had to laugh. They were arching up and up, throwing the Dracon beam to each other in relay groups of two. //Yeay! This is fun!// Rei exclaimed.
//Fun?// Marco asked. //Check out the dolphin brains Rei. And trust me, this is way WAY different from the Orca. We tried it yesterday.//
//Aw man, you guys take all the fun out of a good thing.// Hillary protested. But they began to demorph.
We morphed into Orcas and began the trip up coast to the barren beach where we'd agreed to meet Johnny, and the Breakers found the main difference between Dolphin and orca brains. The difference was like that of a dog and a wolf. The orca, unlike the wolf, had prewritten plans of how to attack this or that sea animal from this or that approach. In other words it was probably the first and only morph that the Blade Breakers would encounter that had a separate mind from theirs.
The only person who had trouble was Kenny. The orca mind seemed to have no respect for someone so small. On the other hand, Kai seemed to have no trouble at all with the orca. Tyson joked about them having a similar mentality.
That was when Jake said, //You'd better hope Tyson, that it's JUST Kai and not anybody else. The sixth animorph, David, had an orca morph and almost killed us with it. You'd better hope that you NEVER, EVER have to fight an orca.//
//Okay you guys, we're there!// Tobias told us. //And the only person there is Johnny. He's wearing a Good Charlotte t-shirt and a black pokemon baseball cap. He's wearing those really weird men-in-black type sunglasses. I think he might have had some trouble with groupies along the way.// Then. //HEY THERE JOHNNY! Okay you guys I think I have his attention now. Yeah you! We're the pod of orcas coming in from off shore.//
Ax and Ezimili detached themselves from the group to morph birds of prey and be ready to go their own way. The Blade Breakers detached themselves from the group as we'd told them and started demorphing even as they were powering their way into shore. We emerged, one wet and soggy group of humans in assorted leotards, leggings, t-shirts and bike shorts.
"Whew! What a rush!" Tyson sighed, squeezing out his hair.
"I have absolutely NO idea what happened to my hair wrap." Rei said, looking mournfully at his long, tangled wet hair.
Kai smiled, reaching out to caress his head and cheek gently. "I'll help you brush it when we get home."
Kenny's teeth were chattering. "Let's not do that again any time soon..." He shivered. "That morph does NOT like me."
"Thanks for coming out here Johnny." Jake shook hands. "I came because we need information."
"Well, that seems to be all that I'm good for." Johnny said sarcastically.
I listened carefully while I passed out the clothes and flip-flops. "You'll get your chance Johnny." I said placatingly.
"Told you they'd be jumping to help us." Rei whispered as he took a towel from the duffel bag.
"We need to know if the BBA has locker rooms." Jake went on.
"They do, but the convention center doesn't." Johnny told him.
"We just need a demorph point near the convention center. And since we won't be big enough to carry them ourselves, we'll need somebody to take them ahead in advance. The outfits are still at your place. We'll call you when we're heading out."
"Oh, so now I'm a courier?" Johnny rolled his eyes. "Tell me this, how soon do I get to learn to morph?"
"As soon as we manage to save whichever member of your team the yeerks decide to capture Johnny." Marco answered with as much charm as he could muster.
Johnny glared death at him. "I hope you're not pulling my leg about this." He sighed in agreement.
"There's one more thing." I told him. "You can be our eyes and ears at the Ball. When you notice that one of the members of your team is missing, try to find us."
"Even better." Marco grinned wickedly. "Anybody got a random song?"
"CASTLES IN THE SKY!" Rachel exclaimed. "That's my favorite, and they don't play it that often! So there's no mistaking it!"
"Okay then, whichever one of us notices something is wrong, request castles in the sky and try to find us... where?"
//In the corner opposite the DJ.// Tobias suggested. //Its dark, and nobody would hear you.//
"That's the make out corner." Marco shook his head. "It wouldn't work."
//Then where?//
"Under the speakers, we'd have to shout, but we wouldn't be overheard very easily."
"Trust Marco to designate a 'Make out corner.'" Rachel rolled his eyes.
"Okay folks, we're settled?" Jake asked.
"Yup, we are." Was the general agreement.
"Then let's rock. We've got miles to go before we sleep." Jake grinned.
And hours of tense waiting, of adrenaline simply from having to wait for dusk.
But most of all, hours of fear that we would miss, something, something important.
Because no matter what happened, there was the future to think about.
The future didn't exactly look like a good thing.
~Max~
I've got the most horrible feeling. I felt horrible for a lot of reasons as I walked home that day, getting ready for the meeting and the mission.
The first reason was that I knew my mother would be upset. She had always protected me, and now I was going beyond her reach. I felt like I was lying to her. My relationship with my mother had gone down hill since I'd become an Animorph.
I looked around the city sadly as I walked. I saw lovers arm and arm. I saw children out shopping with their parents begging for this or that toy. I remembered when my mother and I had done just that. I saw a bunch of children playing with their beyblades on the playground. I just stood at the fence and watched them for awhile. I considered joining them.
But that wasn't me anymore.
The second reason was that I was struggling, struggling to figure out just who I was, where I was going to go with my life. What was I going to do after all of this was over? Would I go back to being Max of the Blade Breakers, instead of Max of the Animorphs? Was there ever any going back?
Somehow, deep inside of me, I knew that there wasn't.
The third problem was way, way deeper than the first two. The night after our first time, I had heard, echoes, disturbing echoes of a battle. I remembered scenes of death and carnage, scenes I knew hadn't happened yet.
WHAM!! //TYSON! MAX! MORPH OUT NOW!//
//Tyson... Tyson is he?// I asked, barely able to speak, to think, sinking down into darkness.
//He's dead Max...//
//Too... too late then... I was too late... at least he was... was hu...man...//
//MAAAAAAAAXXXXXXXX!!// I heard the keening, horrible, heart rending, from hundreds of animal and alien throats.
Were these visions of the future? I had no idea, but I had the horrible, nagging sense that something was wrong. I was forgetting something, there was something that I had to do. I had to do it, because if I didn't, something horrible would happen. As I walked toward home, the feeling grew stronger, almost a panic.
I made it to my room and put on Melissa Etheridge. She always soothed me.
Don't be afraid
Close your eyes
Lay it all down
Don't you cry
Can't you see I'm going?
Where I can see the sun rise
I've been talking to my angel
And he said that it's alright
I picked up mother's angel off of my dresser and put it on my desk.
I've always had to run
I don't know just why
Desire slowly smoking
Under the Midwest sky
Bur there's something waiting out there
That says I've got to try
I've been talking to my angel
And he said that it's alright
I put my mother's picture next to it. Jake would hate what I was about to do. He would say that it was stupid, that it was bad security.
This town thinks I'm crazy
They just think I'm strange
Sometimes they would own me
Sometimes they wish I'd change
"Mom." I whispered to the picture. "I'm sorry mom. I'm sorry Jake. But I've got to do it. I've got to make her understand." I said, as tears streamed down my face.
But I can feel the thunder
Underneath my feet
Cause I sold my soul for freedom
Its lonely but its sweet
I dug a paper and a pen out of my desk. The paper was that fancy letter paper that has pictures on it, angels in this case, how appropriate.
Don't be afraid
Close your eyes
Lay it all down
Don't you cry
Can't you see I'm going?
Where I can see the sun rise
I've been talking to my angel
And he said that it's alright
I thought for a moment, and then I began to write. "Dear Mom..."
Note 2 self, the song is called "Tipsy"
Chapter 19- Cassie
Dreams, disturbing dreams. No, not even. They were echoes...
BAM BAM! Two shots... but the controllers rarely used guns! A scream of fear. A roar of rage. Then two words that nobody wants to hear. "She's dead."
Then more words, ones that I, as a pacifist stuck in a war that she didn't want to hear, but knew would come.
//She died in the service of the people, defending freedom. Andilites! Let us rise to battle this menace alongside our human friends! We fought together, we reached the stars together!//
"Yeerks, the humans freed us! This enemy came from our ranks, betraying us! We have no reason not to fight this new enemy!"
"Animorphs, I led you once, from war and slavery to peace!" I knew who was speaking. This was Jake, rallying his people to war. "Once we fought, once we paid a terrible price! Now one of our ranks has fallen! The andilites have a ritual of vengeance! Her killer still lives! We must take up the burden of revenge!"
//Anatipeopleweweresavedbythehumansofearthwhostoppedamenaceatourdoors.Nowwewillrepaythem.AnatipeoplewewillfollowthehumannamedJakeintobattle.Foriftheyeerkscametousoncetheywillcertainlycomeagain,morecarefulthistime,spreadinglikeaninsidiousmenace!Forourfreedomandforthefreedomofall,wewillreturntothebattlefield!!//
//Taxxons, we gave in to temptation once! In service to the living hive, let us take care not to make the same mistake again! Let us not stray from the teachings of serenity and brotherhood of the hive. We lived a cursed life too long. Now we are free. Let us use that freedom to defend our friends and brothers!//
[My brother Leerans together we have fought for so long! Safe in our fortress of water, with human and andilite allies at our side, we have managed to repel one invasion. We will now repel many, many others!]
"Hork bajir brothers. I am a seer, destined to show you a new way. None regrets more than I that this way would lead to blood. We are once again given a terrible choice... FREE OR DEAD!" THUMP!
And the thoughtspeak cries of fear and pain.
//TALA! MORPH BACK! DO IT NOW!//
//Bryan! Above you!//
//LEE BEHIND YOU! DUCK! DUCK NOW!//
//NO NO NO YOU DON'T!//
//Tyson, Tyson you need to morph back! Do it now! The venom is killing you! You're losing blood! Please Tyson!//
//Get the anti-venom here now!//
//Got it! Hurry Kai!//
//Tyson, Tyson talk to me!//
WHAM!! //TYSON! MAX! MORPH OUT NOW!//
//Tyson... Tyson is he?// Asked a small, weak voice.
//He's dead Max...//
//Too... too late then... I was too late... at least he was... was hu...man...//
//MAAAAAAAAXXXXXXXX!!// I heard the keening of animals, of morphs. Eagles, falcons, hawks, Hork bajir, animal roars, sobs, howls of pain and anguish, as the Animorphs and the BBA mourned not one, but two of their own.
I sat up straight in bed, startling the Drode who had been standing near the bed. "YOU!" I hissed. "What are you doing here??"
"Hi Captain Killer Cassie! I was just coming to ask how my old friend Max was doing!" Drode said cheerfully. Drode was a creature that looked like a cross between a human, a dinosaur, and a prune. He had a humanoid head with dark green rims around his eyes, black skin that wrinkled like a rotten prune, and a body reminiscent of a very ugly iguanodon. To add to its annoyance, it seems to know just how to get on our nerves.
I did NOT want my nerves gotten on. "What do you want Drode?" I asked.
"Oooohhh Captain Killer Cassie has a little attitude! You wouldn't shoot the messenger would you Cassie?"
"What messenger, all I see right now is a prune colored rat?!" I snarled. I swung on him. The punch connected and Drode giggled.
"Oooh Captain Killer Cassie! That tickled! Do it again!" Drode giggled.
"What do you want Drode?" I demanded. "Or are you just here to harass me?"
Once, a long time ago, Drode tempted Jake into making a decision. The decision was to go back and never have walked through the construction site. Drode's plan had come apart because I was what he referred to as an anomaly, a person anchored to the strands of space-time. Since then, he has not, as far as I know, meddled with time again. But you never know. I was worried that I might wake up in... I don't know some place that I didn't want to be.
"Well, I came to wish you luck in Galactic War One which is scheduled to begin exactly ten years after the destruction of the yeerk empire. It will be the destruction of one, either Crayak, or the United Animorphs Alliance. And you know what? From where I'm sitting my money is on Crayak that out of the twelve, no, thirteen Animorphs currently in existence, only one will survive, the Cowardly Killer Captain Cassie!" Drode said the title in a sing song voice.
I picked up the alarm clock from my bedside table, the old fashioned Sponge Bob one that Rachel's little sister Jordan had given me for my birthday...
And flung it at a Drode that was no longer there...
The next day we were supposed to meet Johnny at the beach. We'd have two purposes.
The first was to begin training the Blade Breakers with water morphs. Thus the reason why I'd set the same Sponge Bob alarm clock I had broken for four a.m. Thanks to Drode, however, I had gotten up at closer to two a.m. That was also why I was on my seventh cup of coffee by the time a seagull/raptor convention converged on the Gardens to acquire a dolphin morph and the morph of the resident orca whale, Swoosh.
The second was to figure out how to smuggle designer clothes into the Beyblades Ball. We were hoping that Johnny would be able to help somehow.
"Hi, you look happy today." Rei said cheerfully as his mouth emerged.
I grunted something that he couldn't hear. The sun had still not come up. It was that gray, predawn sort of thing.
"Oh. Forget I said anything."
"What happened?" Jake asked.
"Remember how Drode called me Killer Cassie?" I asked irritably.
"Um... sort of." He blinked in surprise at the sudden change of topic.
I gulped at my double sugar Vanilla Chai and answered. "Well according to him I am now Captain Killer Cassie."
"He showed up?" Rachel demanded.
"Yes, and received a punch in the eye and a Sponge Bob alarm clock to the face." I grunted. "And his head was so hard that it broke the alarm clock. Sponge Bob and his Squirrel... diver... companion... THING..."
"Sandy..." Marco interjected.
"Are now missing their HEADS!" I finished.
"What did Drode want?" Jake asked, clearly afraid that a week's worth of misadventures had occurred in the space of a day.
"He wanted to congratulate me on being the only Animorph destined to survive an intergalactic war that would result in Crayak taking over the Galaxy. He said that it would occur about ten years after we defeat the yeerks." I downed the last drops of my Dunkin Doughnuts Vanilla Chai before looking at their reactions. "The result was that I woke up over two hours before the alarm was scheduled to go off at four a.m. Added to that I went to sleep at about twelve because we had an emergency training pow wow."
Marco whistled appreciatively. "What makes him think that we're all going to die?" He asked, as he watched Kenny lure Swoosh to the side of the tank with fish.
"Something about Max." I growled. "I think that there's a turning point coming up, like the construction site incident."
//And if Max doesn't make the turning point...// Tobias asked.
"Then all of us, and the human race, are dead meat in at least ten years, and somewhere in our lifetimes." Marco rolled his eyes. "Have I ever mentioned that this is insane? Because this is insane! Insane!"
I looked mournfully into my empty cup before throwing it into the trash can. "Jake!" Kai swam up to the edge of the tank. "We've finished."
"Great, lets morph people! We meet Johnny at ten, lets finish this exercise before then!" Jake raised his voice slightly so that he could be heard.
We morphed and flew. The dolphins were kept in a separate tank from the orcas because of the tendency of the former to eat the latter. Therefore we had to flap to the other end of the zoo area to get to the dolphin tank. This was one of those times that I had to agree with Marco.
Life is insane.
We flew out to a cove and made a splash down landing in the water.
//Why the hell are we landing in WATER?// Tyson demanded. //Man this is one angry eagle!//
//Because we had to do it once.// I said, landing by Tyson's head as it emerged.
"And I am thrilled how?" Tyson spat, treading water.
"You don't have to be." I said as my mouth emerged. "Right, dolphin is the easiest, dolphins first. Then we'll morph Orca and power our way down shore to the rendezvous point with Johnny. I've already taken the time to plant clothes and shoes in the beach brush."
"And I am happy about this how?" Tyson asked, right before his face sprouted out and out into a dolphin grin.
Max looked at him for a moment. They stared at each other. Then Tyson went under because his hands had shriveled into fins. Max, currently finished with his own dolphin morph, pushed him to the surface to finish the transformation. I couldn't help but wonder as the changes kicked in, what was that about?
I sank into the water, keeping my eyes on the Blade Breakers. Kai's hair was sucking into the dolphin head. Rei's eyes were changing from catlike, to the black, playful dolphin expression. Kenny's glasses floated free, to be caught by Tobias. Hillary's toes and painted toenails were fading to gray, melting into her new fins.
//Woah...// Kai whispered as the dolphin instincts kicked in. //Wow...//
//Everybody okay?// I asked.
//I think so.// Kenny said softly. I saw a dolphin shake itself out.
//THEN LET'S PLAY!// Hillary cheered.
//Oh yeah! Watch what I can do!// Tyson exclaimed. He dove deep under the water. //Cause I'm a dolphin and I am HAPPY!// He came, powering up. //LET IT RIII-IIP!// He burst up over the water.
//So?// Kai asked, surfacing. //I can do THIS!// He fired a burst of echolocation clicks.
//And that does?// Tyson asked skeptically.
//Tobias throw Kenny's glasses in the water.//
//HEY!// Kenny protested.
Tobias dropped them in. We watched them sink to the bottom. Kai turned away while they sank. Then he fired a burst of clicks. //Got them!// Kai powered down to the bottom and came back up with the glasses in his mouth. //See! See! I told you that was cool! Drop a ring, or a pearl! Hell, drop a marble or a small coin! I can always find it!//
//Betcha can't catch me Tyson!// Max exclaimed. They zipped off into the water, twining over and around each other in joy. Twining? Wasn't that mating behavior in dolphins?
//Right, everybody listen up. Somewhere within this and the two neighboring coves, we've hidden a broken dracon beam on the ocean floor. Your job is to find it in the next... ten minutes! Ax, keep track now.//
As I watched, they formed up into a staggered V shape. Ax had taken Ezimili in to acquire both morphs that night so that she could participate, which was why I had been up at twelve, taking them to the Gardens. We shadowed the others at a distance, Tobias keeping track of their progress. //They're close to it Cassie. Whoops! Kai's found it, but he dropped it. I don't think they have the hang of the whole picking things up without hands thing.... Whoah! He's got it! Max got one end and Tyson has the other. They're attempting to carry it together, but the dracon beam keeps slipping. Are you sure that these things are water proof Ax-man?//
//They are very water proof, although I don't think its been necessary in quite this way just yet Tobias.// Ax answered.
//Hey, we could start Consumer Reports, the Yeerk Edition!// Marco joked.
We chuckled. Then Tobias said, //Here they come Cassie.//
The blade breakers rounded the corner and I had to laugh. They were arching up and up, throwing the Dracon beam to each other in relay groups of two. //Yeay! This is fun!// Rei exclaimed.
//Fun?// Marco asked. //Check out the dolphin brains Rei. And trust me, this is way WAY different from the Orca. We tried it yesterday.//
//Aw man, you guys take all the fun out of a good thing.// Hillary protested. But they began to demorph.
We morphed into Orcas and began the trip up coast to the barren beach where we'd agreed to meet Johnny, and the Breakers found the main difference between Dolphin and orca brains. The difference was like that of a dog and a wolf. The orca, unlike the wolf, had prewritten plans of how to attack this or that sea animal from this or that approach. In other words it was probably the first and only morph that the Blade Breakers would encounter that had a separate mind from theirs.
The only person who had trouble was Kenny. The orca mind seemed to have no respect for someone so small. On the other hand, Kai seemed to have no trouble at all with the orca. Tyson joked about them having a similar mentality.
That was when Jake said, //You'd better hope Tyson, that it's JUST Kai and not anybody else. The sixth animorph, David, had an orca morph and almost killed us with it. You'd better hope that you NEVER, EVER have to fight an orca.//
//Okay you guys, we're there!// Tobias told us. //And the only person there is Johnny. He's wearing a Good Charlotte t-shirt and a black pokemon baseball cap. He's wearing those really weird men-in-black type sunglasses. I think he might have had some trouble with groupies along the way.// Then. //HEY THERE JOHNNY! Okay you guys I think I have his attention now. Yeah you! We're the pod of orcas coming in from off shore.//
Ax and Ezimili detached themselves from the group to morph birds of prey and be ready to go their own way. The Blade Breakers detached themselves from the group as we'd told them and started demorphing even as they were powering their way into shore. We emerged, one wet and soggy group of humans in assorted leotards, leggings, t-shirts and bike shorts.
"Whew! What a rush!" Tyson sighed, squeezing out his hair.
"I have absolutely NO idea what happened to my hair wrap." Rei said, looking mournfully at his long, tangled wet hair.
Kai smiled, reaching out to caress his head and cheek gently. "I'll help you brush it when we get home."
Kenny's teeth were chattering. "Let's not do that again any time soon..." He shivered. "That morph does NOT like me."
"Thanks for coming out here Johnny." Jake shook hands. "I came because we need information."
"Well, that seems to be all that I'm good for." Johnny said sarcastically.
I listened carefully while I passed out the clothes and flip-flops. "You'll get your chance Johnny." I said placatingly.
"Told you they'd be jumping to help us." Rei whispered as he took a towel from the duffel bag.
"We need to know if the BBA has locker rooms." Jake went on.
"They do, but the convention center doesn't." Johnny told him.
"We just need a demorph point near the convention center. And since we won't be big enough to carry them ourselves, we'll need somebody to take them ahead in advance. The outfits are still at your place. We'll call you when we're heading out."
"Oh, so now I'm a courier?" Johnny rolled his eyes. "Tell me this, how soon do I get to learn to morph?"
"As soon as we manage to save whichever member of your team the yeerks decide to capture Johnny." Marco answered with as much charm as he could muster.
Johnny glared death at him. "I hope you're not pulling my leg about this." He sighed in agreement.
"There's one more thing." I told him. "You can be our eyes and ears at the Ball. When you notice that one of the members of your team is missing, try to find us."
"Even better." Marco grinned wickedly. "Anybody got a random song?"
"CASTLES IN THE SKY!" Rachel exclaimed. "That's my favorite, and they don't play it that often! So there's no mistaking it!"
"Okay then, whichever one of us notices something is wrong, request castles in the sky and try to find us... where?"
//In the corner opposite the DJ.// Tobias suggested. //Its dark, and nobody would hear you.//
"That's the make out corner." Marco shook his head. "It wouldn't work."
//Then where?//
"Under the speakers, we'd have to shout, but we wouldn't be overheard very easily."
"Trust Marco to designate a 'Make out corner.'" Rachel rolled his eyes.
"Okay folks, we're settled?" Jake asked.
"Yup, we are." Was the general agreement.
"Then let's rock. We've got miles to go before we sleep." Jake grinned.
And hours of tense waiting, of adrenaline simply from having to wait for dusk.
But most of all, hours of fear that we would miss, something, something important.
Because no matter what happened, there was the future to think about.
The future didn't exactly look like a good thing.
~Max~
I've got the most horrible feeling. I felt horrible for a lot of reasons as I walked home that day, getting ready for the meeting and the mission.
The first reason was that I knew my mother would be upset. She had always protected me, and now I was going beyond her reach. I felt like I was lying to her. My relationship with my mother had gone down hill since I'd become an Animorph.
I looked around the city sadly as I walked. I saw lovers arm and arm. I saw children out shopping with their parents begging for this or that toy. I remembered when my mother and I had done just that. I saw a bunch of children playing with their beyblades on the playground. I just stood at the fence and watched them for awhile. I considered joining them.
But that wasn't me anymore.
The second reason was that I was struggling, struggling to figure out just who I was, where I was going to go with my life. What was I going to do after all of this was over? Would I go back to being Max of the Blade Breakers, instead of Max of the Animorphs? Was there ever any going back?
Somehow, deep inside of me, I knew that there wasn't.
The third problem was way, way deeper than the first two. The night after our first time, I had heard, echoes, disturbing echoes of a battle. I remembered scenes of death and carnage, scenes I knew hadn't happened yet.
WHAM!! //TYSON! MAX! MORPH OUT NOW!//
//Tyson... Tyson is he?// I asked, barely able to speak, to think, sinking down into darkness.
//He's dead Max...//
//Too... too late then... I was too late... at least he was... was hu...man...//
//MAAAAAAAAXXXXXXXX!!// I heard the keening, horrible, heart rending, from hundreds of animal and alien throats.
Were these visions of the future? I had no idea, but I had the horrible, nagging sense that something was wrong. I was forgetting something, there was something that I had to do. I had to do it, because if I didn't, something horrible would happen. As I walked toward home, the feeling grew stronger, almost a panic.
I made it to my room and put on Melissa Etheridge. She always soothed me.
Don't be afraid
Close your eyes
Lay it all down
Don't you cry
Can't you see I'm going?
Where I can see the sun rise
I've been talking to my angel
And he said that it's alright
I picked up mother's angel off of my dresser and put it on my desk.
I've always had to run
I don't know just why
Desire slowly smoking
Under the Midwest sky
Bur there's something waiting out there
That says I've got to try
I've been talking to my angel
And he said that it's alright
I put my mother's picture next to it. Jake would hate what I was about to do. He would say that it was stupid, that it was bad security.
This town thinks I'm crazy
They just think I'm strange
Sometimes they would own me
Sometimes they wish I'd change
"Mom." I whispered to the picture. "I'm sorry mom. I'm sorry Jake. But I've got to do it. I've got to make her understand." I said, as tears streamed down my face.
But I can feel the thunder
Underneath my feet
Cause I sold my soul for freedom
Its lonely but its sweet
I dug a paper and a pen out of my desk. The paper was that fancy letter paper that has pictures on it, angels in this case, how appropriate.
Don't be afraid
Close your eyes
Lay it all down
Don't you cry
Can't you see I'm going?
Where I can see the sun rise
I've been talking to my angel
And he said that it's alright
I thought for a moment, and then I began to write. "Dear Mom..."