AN: Well, I took a good look at the story, as I've written it so far. And I have one word. Yuck. Seriously, what was I on? So, from here on out, I'm taking this an entirely different direction from what I had originally intended. Sorry if it's a little confusing, but it will all be cleared up. I promise.
Disclaimer: I am getting sick of these. All right. I own nothing. It's not mine. Don't sue me.
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Marco
You know, it would be really nice if I could have a normal life. Hell, I'd settle for a normal week. But no, that can't happen. Not possible. The universe would explode if Marco had a normal week.
I hate my life.
I suppose I should back up, huh?
My name is Marco. I can't tell you more than that. Or they will get me.
Yeah, THAT sounded sane. Unfortunately, I am not insane. Though sometimes I think I am.
I have a deadly enemy. Actually, all of the human race has a deadly enemy. But the only people who know are dead or enslaved. Except me, and my friends. And now you.
Are you nervous yet? You should be.
They're called the Yeerks. They're parasites. Little gray sluglike thingies. They can crawl into your brain and take you over, controlling your actions, your speech, your life. You loose everything. Your family, your friends. Normalcy. Individuality. Privacy. Freedom.
It sucks.
And now you know why I'm paranoid.
Because I am one of the six beings on this planet that they would most like to get their hands . . . well, figuratively, anyway . . . on. I am part of a rag-tag little group who have one weapon against the Yeerks. We can morph, becoming any animal we wish. Well, almost. And we use that power to fight. That's it. That's the entire army against the Yeerks.
Now are you nervous?
That's how I live my life. And on top of that, I have to keep up a normal façade. Or the Yeerks will find me. And that would be the end of Planet Earth.
All this can be a bit stressful at times. So can you blame me for trying to spend a normal day at home? It was summer vacation. Dad was at work, and Nora was spending the day at a friend's, taking her demonic poodle with her. I had the house to myself. Nothing but video games, TV, loud music and junk food, all day. That was the plan.
Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a normal day in the life of Marco.
Briiiing! Briiiing! Briiiing!
"Alright, I'm coming." I picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Marco? It's Erik."
Okay, I lied. We are not the only Yeerk resistance. We have help. Informants. Including the Chee. The Chee are a race of androids. Thousands of years old, incredibly strong, and smarter than any human could hope to be. Also programmed to be non-violent, so they do not fight. Instead, they bring us information, like Erik was doing now.
Usually the information Erik brings results in me running for my life. Understandably, I was not happy to hear from him.
"Oh. What's up?"
"I just got the brand-new Final Fantasy game. You want to come over and play it?"
I wished fervently that he really did want to play video games. Because playing the new Final Fantasy game sounded really good right now.
"Hell, yes. I'll be over in a bit."
"Cool. And . . . you should invite Jake and the gang, too. We'll make a party out of it."
Well, there goes that. By 'Jake and the gang', he meant the rest of the Animorphs. So this was a business meeting, after all.
"Sure. I'll call him now. See ya in a bit." I hung up.
* * * * *
A few minutes later I was flying over the woods nearby, no longer human. I was in osprey morph. And man, was it a gorgeous day.
Hello, you big, clumsy, utterly out-of-place bird you.
Flying off to my side was Tobias. Tobias was once human. But he spent more than two hours in morph and was now trapped in the body of a red-tailed hawk. That's his natural form, now.
I still tease him about eating rodents. What happened to him frightens me.
Due to a strange twist of fate by an otherworldly being known as Ellimist, Tobias got his powers back and was able to re-acquire his own DNA, so he can become himself for two hours at a time. Well, it's better than living forever without being able to play video games. Not to mention being able to sit.
Hello to you, too. 'Bout time I found you.
You find ME? Marco, I knew you were here before you did. I just wanted to see how long it would take you to realize it.
What makes you think I'm not just out to enjoy the summer thermals? I asked, a bit needled. He didn't answer. He didn't have to.
Who called the meeting?
Erik, actually. Wants us all over his house ASAP. Jake's calling Cassie and Rachel as we speak. Where's Ax?
At his scoop. You go on ahead, we'll meet you there in a few minutes.
Right. See you later.
We peeled off in two separate groups. See, the less of us were in the air at once, the better. Birds of prey aren't exactly social critters. And any bird-watcher would notice a red-tailed hawk and a couple of osprey flying in formation. One of those bird-watchers might be a Controller with a Yeerk in his head.
Pleasant thought, huh?
A few minutes later I flew in a conveniently open window on the ground floor of Erik's house. His 'dad', also a Chee, nodded to me.
Coast is clear? I asked. He nodded.
"Jake, Cassie and Rachel are already in the basement. The other two are on their way, I take it?"
I nodded. A strange thing for a bird, let me tell you. I demorphed and headed down to the basement. Barely thirty seconds later Tobias and Ax joined me.
"How did you two get here so fast?"
Tobias was still in his hawk body, but I swear he looked smug. Ax answered.
Tobias found a shortcut. Over the large road you humans call a 'highway'. There were very strong thermals there.
Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. Ax's normal body was not human, either. He's an Andelite. An alien. But they've already been described to you, so I won't repeat it.
There was a sudden jolt. The entire basement shuddered and began to drop, like one huge elevator. When it came to rest, one wall disappeared, leaving an entrance open to a huge park-like underground structure, with the dog-like Chee and other happy little canines romping about.
One Chee detached himself and came towards us. A hologram shimmered up around him, and he turned into a plain-looking, dark-haired boy about my age. Erik.
Sometimes I was happy to see him. Now was not one of those times.
Jake, ever the fearless leader, spoke first. "All right, Erik. What's this all about?"
Instead of responding, Erik extended his hologram all around us. Suddenly we were standing at the top of a tall building, at least four stories up.
"This is footage taken by Yeerk surveillance in Japan." Erik said. He pointed with one paw-like metal hand to a spot to my right. We all turned to look.
On the ground, a few blocks away, was a squat, one-story Japanese-style home There was something moving in the yard behind it.
It looked like a space ship.
I squinted, taking a closer look. Yes. Definitely a space ship. Not one I had ever seen, though. I didn't recognize it.
An Andelite ship!? Ax, of course. Well, that answered my question. We all looked at him. He looked shocked. But it is not a fighter. It is a civilian craft, with no weapons. What is it doing on Earth?
"That's what the Yeerks would like to know. They are sending an investigation party overseas tonight." Erik said, closing his hologram back around him.
"We can't let them find it." That was Cassie. Sweet, caring, tree-hugging Cassie. Of course, she would want to save any Andelites aboard from capture or infestation. But the rest of us were all sharing a different thought.
It was possible that the pilot of that ship was stranded. No way to get back. And would welcome a way to hide. And maybe to fight.
More members of our little group were always welcome.
"So how are we going to get to Japan? It's kind of a long way away." Rachel asked.
Erik smiled. "Myself and two more of our people were assigned to the investigation. Because we speak Japanese."
I think we all just kind of stared. Suddenly Jake smiled. "I think I have a plan."
Why, oh, why, did I have the feeling that I was NOT going to like this?
Yay to my reviewers! Well, reviewer.
Chessrook: Umm, well . . . *looks sheepish* I don't really work well with others. And I'm so busy I barely have time to write my own fics. Senior year, you know. College applications and such. Sorry . . . ^.^;
Come on, guys. I want more reviews! If you're reading this, review!!
