Different Path
Chapter 5
Too many Rachel's
A/N; To faithful reader Aurora Stanfords, Sorry for leaving you out of the last chapter, but you're in this chapter, so enjoy!
"Okay, let me get this straight; you want to acquire a leopard, a tiger, and a cheetah?" I said.
"And a male African Bull Elephant." replied Casey.
"And you would just go out and pet them? Who do you think you are, Rachel Junior?" I asked.
"Hey, you told us to think of what we wanted, that's what I want."
"Oh by the way I want an Elephant too," piped up Stephen.
"And I want a Tiger," added Madison.
"And a Cougar," said Richie.
"And a Panther," said Erin.
"Aren't they the same thing?" asked Richie.
"Oh Yeah... well I prefer saying panther," replied Erin.
"What about a Polar Bear?" asked Georgia.
"Or a Black Bear?" said Erin.
"Or an Ocelot!" said Madison.
"Or a Lioness!" said Georgia.
"A Dingo!" said Stephen.
"Maybe a Wolf..." mumbled Richie.
"Sharks!" yelled Madison.
"Yeah!" agreed Richie and Erin.
"Or a Dolphin!" said Stephen.
"I wanna fly..." said Casey.
"Like an Eagle!" said Erin.
"Bald Eagle!" countered Madison.
"Red Tail!" replied Richie.
"Or a Duck!"
Everyone turned to look at Stephen.
"What? A Duck flies!" defended Stephen.
Everyone laughed.
"C'mon, are we gonna go get eaten by animals or aren't we?" called Madison.
"The way things are going, I think the girls are gonna eat the animals rather than vice versa," I mumbled.
"Okay, this is the panther enclosure." I said.
"Cougar," corrected Richie.
"Whatever," I replied. "Now I'll go in and tranquillise it; my hologram won't work cos' these animals smell better than they see, and my force field should be saved for when we tackle Erin and Stephen's 'Bull Elephant with Extra-Tusk', so be quick."
I crept into the enclosure. The area is covered in artificial trees and shrubs. I feel adrenaline start to creep into my blood. Why the hell do they make these enclosures with so many places for the animal to hide?! He could be right next to me for all I know! I turn to my right on an impulse. Nothing. I sigh in relief when a swift movement to my left knocks me over.
"Aww...This is gonna hurt..." I sigh as the panther/cougar pulls back a paw to knock me over again.
The cat suddenly went limp. It slumped to the ground with a glazed look in its eye. Standing behind it are Richie and Erin, touching the cat's fur.
"Thanks... They wouldn't happen to keep painkiller in this zoo, would they?"
It was about 3 in the afternoon when we all trudged back to the warehouse I had bought to hold meetings for 'The Giving'. I round up everyone and have them practice their morphs. As they change, I give pointers on how to control instincts and use thought-speak. Something nags at my mind though. I turn my head around to see a figure standing in the doorway. My mind goes alert. She saw the team morph! Who is this person? I search the Ellimist's memories. I find a match. Her name is Aurora. But she's meant to be a controller! How could she have passed through my Gleet Bio-Filters? I briefly notice a colourful notice in her hand with 'The Giving' advertisement. No-one could pass the Gleet Bio-filter with a Yeerk in their head. This girl came here of her own free will. Then why does the Ellimist memory say she's one of them? Unless... Time had changed. The Ellimist memories catalogued the last timeline when I had succumbed to Crayak. And he'd changed that. I was now one of the good guys, and I somehow my actions afterwards changed the infestation of this girl so she never had been.
"You there, why are you here?" I asked.
She stares awestruck at the Auxiliary Animorphs behind me.
"Why are you here?" I ask again.
She finally takes notice of me. "I...I've come here for 'The Giving; Recruitment'? It says here that we can 'Help save the Planet' and 'Those in Need', 'Do something New' and 'Change into something Better'? It's kinda vague, but I have a lot of free time and... I want to help. But... How... Is it... why were those animals just kids? I mean... they were just kids, and they started to mutate, and if that's what you mean by 'change' I think I'll have to pass..." she said, getting hysterical.
"I'll tell you everything. I'm sorry you couldn't have had more time, but now, you have to help us. You've seen too much." I said.
She starts to back away. I say "Won't you at least listen?"
That makes her stop. She hesitates, and then says reluctantly "Fine...I'll listen."
My Hologram replays everything for her. The Ellimist, the Andalites, the Yeerks, the Hork-Bajir, the Humans. I play it slowly this time, so as to let it properly sink in. The others also gather round for the full-story.
After the last Entry, it is almost 6. I walk up to Aurora, and ask her if she's in.
"I'm in," she says.
We paid another visit to the zoo. I had arranged a meeting with one of the workers there, Aria. Surprisingly she was a teenager like us. We decided to recruit her. We took her into a spare room and dished it all out for her. She was pretty calm about it.
"So you guys have finally shown up, eh? It's about time." she said after we had finished.
"What?" I said, rather dumbstruck.
"I've known about the invasion for a year. I try to find out how much people know online by using a fake username and internet connection. Perhaps you might have seen me as 'MegMom'."
Of course! I should have remembered! That's how I found some of the others! Richie was Chazz, Erin was CKDsweet, and Madison was Carlito. YrkH8ter was Aurora! Somehow I had changed all of them so all but Aria knew about the invasion!
We brought out the blue cylinder and once more I took out Ax's blood to activate it. Aria asked to acquire it.
"Wait, you want this Andalite morph?" I asked incredulously.
"Yeah, I mean don't we want some more firepower than just Earth-Animals? I've heard about the Andalites, they're supposed to be perfect in battle."
"Fine, acquire it and then we should go get some more morphs. I reckon everyone should get a polar bear and Orca morph cos' we're going to the Arctic tomorrow!"
"What?!" some of them cried. I explained that tomorrow was when we would be fighting the Venber, and reminded them about the cold the original Animorphs almost died in. They agreed after the shock of learning about such a big mission.
"By the way, what do you guys want for your morphs?" I said to Aurora and Aria.
"A lioness," said Aurora breathlessly.
"I've always fancied Tim, our White Siberian Tiger." replied Aria.
"What is wrong with you girls? Isn't one Rachel enough!?" I screamed, recalling the earlier visits to the cat enclosures.
They all just laughed.