This chappie's a bit rushed. So, sorry...next chappie will be better, promise!
Let me tell you something. Shape-shifting is a lot different from morphing. For one thing, if you get hurt in your own body, you stay hurt. It doesn't work like the DNA stuff of morphing.
I landed back at the colony, with Ax and Marco jumping off me and demorphing as soon as they could. Must suck being a flea.
Not long after, Marco took me to Cassie's mum, who expertly wrapped a sterile bandage around my hand, stopping the new flow of blood after she'd cleaned and disinfected the wound. It hurt for a little while, but then I felt better.
Ax was working on the small damages done to the watch when a little while later Cassie and Jake returned, still looking a little worse for wear. But I knew they'd be ok. There was something else in Jake's eyes; the beginning of a plan.
Ax was lucky and managed to fix it without destroying it as we kind of all stood around him in a loose circle and watched. I thought it must have been nerve-racking for him, being watched. But when he handed the watch to me, he was smiling. The weird way Andalites do with their eyes. I took it in my good hand, smiling back at him.
(You may attempt communication with your friends now. I have successfully completed the fix by fusing the co...)
"Ax, don't get all science guy on us, all right? I hate it when you do that" Marco, of course.
I looked down at the watch, pressing a button and suddenly finding everyone was now beginning to crowd around me. Sheesh, how did Ax do it?
In seconds, the watch began to blink like it did the first time, and I smiled. I pushed the button again and the screen came to life. Static, then...
"Hello? Who is this?" Ithiell's voice!
"Ithiell! It's me, it's Jade!" I said a little too excitedly, but then calmed myself.
"Jade? What is it, what happened?" Now I could see his face, and he looked concerned. I looked up at Jake, who was practically looking over my shoulder.
"I think the ball is in your court now Jake" I said handing the watch to him. He seemed a little reluctant to take it, but then the watch slid from my hands, and the two began to talk.
And at night fall, the Animorphs took off, into the night. They gave me specific instructions to stay here and wait. But truthfully, I'd had enough of waiting. I had enough of not knowing. And there was no way I was going to loose the Animorphs... my friends, again.
So when the peregrine falcon took off, he had one extra passenger aboard. A fly.
I nestled deep in his feathers, careful not to be seen by Tobias or felt by Jake. They didn't need to know I was there. No one did.
Amanda would know what I'm capable of. Ithiell sure as heck knows. Robert... well, although there are times that you just want to turn around and rip his tongue out, there are other times when he can simply amaze you. So, I guessed, he would know too. In fact, he'd probably do it himself. Rtaia... well, maybe she'd see possibilities, but she's kind of slow when it comes to reckless action.
But the Animorphs...? No. Not even Cassie could guess. And Cassie was the one who apparently saw everything. She knew how to read people. But I think I had even her clueless. I was a turncoat. Sometimes I'd sway one way, sometimes the other.
I was careful to move when Jake demorphed, shrinking to flea and landing on top of his head and burrowing my way into his hair which seemed as thick as trees to me. But I didn't care, just as long as Tobias didn't see me, and if he did, he thought he was looking at one of the others.
"Where are you guys anyway? Where on my body did you end up after I demorphed?" I heard Jake ask the others as he sat in a car.
(Gotta tell you, cousin, I don't know where we are exactly, and I don't really want to know) Rachel replied.
"Mmmm. Good point" he said. I zoned out for a little while until I heard something like music playing for a little while. Then the rumbling started.
"Um... you guys feel that?"
(We're fleas, we feel everything) Cassie replied.
I heard Tobias say something, but I was too focused on the rumbling. Then... we were moving down! Even my little flea body felt that.
I am never, ever doing this again I promised myself, guh-ross!
We soon came to a stop, and I knew this was the time I got off. I jumped off Jake's head as he got up and I landed on the seat he was sitting in. Still warm too.
I quickly became a fly, wishing I had a can of raid to spray myself with, and zoomed with crazy fly wings up towards the ceiling, landing upside down and gripping with my little fly feet. Urgh, yukko!
I watched as Jake walked up onto the podium, in front of god knows how many Taxxons, and made an impressive display of showing them another way out of the war. He became an anaconda... and the Taxxons were in awe. Or as much awe as a Taxxon can be in. Jake made an impressive speech too. I admired his courage. All these Taxxons... with their funny jelly eyes and dangerous mouths...
I honestly would have been running and screaming by now. Probably not in that order either.
They all wandered off... all but one, who talked to Jake. I could only guess it was their leader. Minutes later, Ax, Cassie, Marco and Rachel all stood in the underground caverns, all as themselves.
Then he came. Tom. I swear if I had been human I would've wet myself. Immediately, this mission that turned out hopeful went really, really bad.
I watched as Tom and Jake bristled, neither of them willing to back down. Rachel was now a grizzly, and Ax was in striking distance of Tom... but I saw the tension between the two sides. Between the supposed brothers. Between good and evil.
He offered an ultimatum. A deal. A way into the Pool ship. Jake took it. I had to stop myself from screaming "You idiot! Do you have any idea what you've done!!"
Instead, I calmly latched onto Jake's back as he morphed and we flew out of the tunnels. I had to fight the urge to become something with teeth and bite him, or just grow to be something really big and squash him to death.
Him and Cassie were talking, but ignored it. Meaningless debating between those two. Lovers quarrel...
(Marco? Find the Chee. Find them. Bring Erek to me) Jake's voice suddenly cut through my 'man I am so bored' stage.
(How am I going to do that? The Chee hideout is in the blast area. I tried, but it's nothing but destruction, you can't even tell where the streets used to be. And it's crawling with Yeerks shooting anything that moves. It would be very easy to get myself killed going back there) was his response. But I knew... Jake had a plan...
(Yeah, I know. Do it anyway) Jake said (I need the Chee)
I felt sick. Jake was going to risk his best friends life for... for what?! I wanted to shout and scream at him for his stupidity. But I kept my mouth shut, carefully listening as Jake sent the others off as well. All but Rachel.
(Rachel, I have a job for you) I listened to his little 'job', and it just made me hate him even more. Sure, he might have a plan... but it was all suicidal as far as I'd heard!
(Okay Jake, you're right. And you're right to use me for this. Not exactly something I'm proud of, maybe, but later, you know, if- don't be blaming yourself, okay?)
With that, she angled off. But little did she know she had a passenger. And this little passenger had a definite purpose in this war now.
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I didn't know if they'd figure it out or not. If they knew I was gone. I'd said I needed to take a break. For all they knew, I'd gone out for a little fly. Which was true in a way. I was flying, but I wasn't really... uh... flying, if you know what I mean.
I'd left the watch/phone back with the Hork-Bajir. Or, more specifically, with Toby. I knew, beyond a doubt, that he was going to use my friends for this as well. But whatever happened, I knew they would be in much less danger than what Jake was putting his cousin in. His own cousin! The fool...
Well, it became harder to stay attached to Rachel as she demorphed somewhere, then remorphed as a flea. I decided to ditch and watch what she did. She waited. She was very patient, but eventually she found her target; Tom's head. I joined her. A fellow flea on a head of hair. But this fellow flea didn't have a time limit. And this fellow flea was acting alone.
Sometimes crazy works... I remembered one of the boys say to me once. This... this was beyond crazy though.
For a while there was a lot of shaking and bumping, and then we took to the road. It sounded like someone had taken a beating. I ignored it and tried to think of what was to come. Was I doing the right thing? For all I knew, Jake probably had something else in store for me. Well, I wasn't going to play that way. I was... what was I gonna do when the time came? I wasn't exactly as fearless as Rachel, and I didn't have the...
(Rachel?)
(I'm here Jake)
I heard more commotion, then quivered as Visser One's voice boomed, seeming to be angry. I heard... Cassie had been hurt? But... no. He wouldn't let her get hurt like that. No way. Then I realised... and something seemed to click in just the right places.
I heard more angry words, then Visser One commanding that a Taxxon eat Cassie... and her horrible screams I wished I could blank out...
I heard their voices, and finally, Rachel final words to her cousin,
(Doing good, huh, Jake?)
Then, nothing more was said. I just rode on Tom's head, only a little bit away from what I hoped was Rachel. I couldn't tell. And right now, I was terrified. I wanted to talk to someone... anyone... but then they'd know I was here. They'd know, and Rachel would do whatever it took to get me back to Jake, to stop me from stealing her 'glory'. But I wasn't in it for glory. I was in it to stop Jake from making one of the biggest mistakes of his life. I knew... I heard it in his voice... in the past, when I'd talked to him about what would happen if... you know. But now...
The other flea! It just vanished!
No, I said to myself, it didn't vanish, it jumped. Must be her.
I didn't know much about fleas, but I knew that they hardly ever jump away from a warm body. At least, not on purpose. And... did fleas normally hide in human hair? I didn't know.
"That's... that's not a waist dump. They aren't dumping waste! That's the pool. The main pool. It's been flushed" A voice suddenly said, drawing me back to the present.
Then came the worried voices. Almost panicked. And I knew... Jake had struck. Tom might not have known it yet, but he would soon.
"But why? Why would the visser flush... what does this mean?" I took that moment to jump off Toms head, growing little fly wings as I jumped and managing to attach myself to the ceiling as I completed my speed change. It was the fastest I'd ever Shape-shifted. But now I could see with eyes... albeit compound fly eyes, but still eyes... what was happening.
The Pool ship fired, but missed the Blade ship... because that's when I realised where we were... each time. I was also seeing something emerging from a flea under a large console. Rachel.
Tom... or at least the slug inside his head... contacted the Pool ship and spoke with a slightly more deflated Visser One than normal. Then the screen widened and I saw Jake and the others. Tom saw them too.
"Bring us around to target the Pool ships bridge. Do it! Now! Now! Bring us around!" Tom almost shrieked. He thought he'd gotten rid of the Animorphs. Man, was he wrong. And was he stupid. Thinking he could do what the visser had failed to do when...
"Animorph!" Someone screamed in absolute horror. It was only then that I realised Rachel was almost full grizzly bear.
(That's right, genius: Animorph) she said a little self-mockingly. And then I saw her start to do her 'job'.
She attacked.