DISCLAIMER: I'm having a nickel drive. Everyone who reads this MUST donate a nickel to the Freak Apple Wants Animorphs Fund! FAWA will give all of you nuclear wedgies if you fail to give me your nickels. So fork over my nickels, punks!
I'm just kidding, please don't abandon me.
NOTE: H0wdy! Now, I know you guys really don't give a flaming hoot what's going on in the movie theater, am I correct? All YOU wanna know is, does Rachel remove Marco's head, and will Ax get that box of Raisinets he's craving? Hee hee. At least that's how I think I would feel. Well, tough noogies people. =P I want this story to be 20 something chapters and I think Rachel doing Marco bodily damage would only take like, 1. So I'm adding stuff. Nyah Nyah! **moons people** Though of course, it will get much worse for those two. . .
Oh and I would like to respond to a review publicly, since it made me giggle. It's from my buddy Senydegger, who writes: I'd like to keep my butt as un-bald as possible!...Heeheeheeheeheehee!! **giggle laugh snort** Ahhh, I love my reviewers. Love ya Senydegger!
F-RECAP-LE: So they get Rachel's mom and Marco's Dad away safely by. . . erm. . .pooping on them. The two lovebirds are on their way home, so Rachel and Marco have to make a mad dash before their parents discover they're not home. The others stay at the theater to save the other people.
Tobias -
You realize they're going to kill each other before they make it home. I informed Jake. Rachel and Marco had just disappeared from my view, just after Marco reported that all the movies would be starting at 8:15 sharp for the Grand Opening. We were now two people short.
We sat on top the Sherman Multiplex, looking down at the people slowly filing in. More people were also arriving. Old people, young people, people on dates, some huge guy who looked like he ate muscles for breakfast. . . We saw a few of the employees; controllers dressed in red and black. We were prepping ourselves pathetically for the mission, like we usually do. But for some reason I was feeling pretty edgy. Like this was not going to be that easy. I assured myself that it was just because we were missing Rachel, but the feeling didn't leave. We've done plenty, but this type of nervousness was a different than the usual. I couldn't explain it.
They'll get over it. Jake said briskly. We need to get inside this thing.
To do what? Cassie asked.
Is there a main point to these movie theaters? Ax began.
Yeah, Ax-man. To watch movies.
Yes. So if the movies were disrupted. . .
There'd be no point in coming here. Jake finished. Unless of course you enjoy buying severely overpriced Hawaiian Punch and 5 dollar chocolate bars.
Even with that luxury, people will get angry? Ax asked.
I laughed. He was joking, Ax. People don't come her to buy the expensive food.
Ax seemed completely bewildered by the fact that buying food would not make up for the movie. Oh. Well, my suggestion is to somehow cut off the electricity. I know for a fact that human technology could do very little without electricity.
They have backup generators. They always do. It wouldn't last long, but it would be enough to get these people to stay. Cassie said. (Note: Okay, I just learned that this is not the case in some movie theaters. But that's how it is here. The movie theaters were open the first night of the big blackout. . .)
New plan.
Well, then we sabotage the projectors only. Jake said. People can't see their movies without projectors.
No one said anything a few seconds.
Why does it seem like our plans are wayy too simple and easy and. . .well. . .unheroic? I wondered.
Don't tell me you're gonna start on the Marco rant. Jake moaned. We do what we gotta do.
I'm kind of starting to see his point though. I mean, that oatmeal thing, that Zone 91 thing, that whole burger fiasco. . .that kind of stuff isn't exactly what the history books are made of. I continued.
Jake sighed in our heads. Seriously. Did Rachel kill Marco and now you're channeling his spirit?
Nah, I'm just. . .nevermind. I said. The nervous feeling still hadn't left, but at least I wasn't in human form so I couldn't show these emotions.
Tobias, are you okay? Cassie asked. Jake and Ax didn't react, so I guess shewas speaking privately. Leave it Cassie to be able to read the emotions of a bird.
I'm fine. Totally fine. I lied. A little nervous I guess, since Rachel and Marco aren't here.
You're just missing Rachel. I repeated to myself. It's just different, that's all. Then I snapped back to the others.
Ok let's do this. But you know, whatever higher power is out there, I'll bet he's laughing at us right now. (Note: Hehehehe. Yes I am, Tobias. Indeed. . .)
Alright. I think we all have to go human though, in case they decided to install one of those Gleet Biofilters. I'm sure they would have thought of a bunch of bugs sneaking in. Cassie pointed out.
That's risky, but we don't have another choice right now. But we'll need money for admission. Jake said.
On television, when young humans wish to view a movie free of charge they always sneak to a back door, which is always curiously left open. And I use the term "sneak" loosely, because the humans merely bend their knees and walk closer to the ground while shuffling loudly, though they are rarely discovered. Then they hide in conveniently high thornless bushes placed almost strategically in front of the open back door. Ax said.
We all looked at Ax strangely.
Yeah, well, um, that was a Disney Channel movie, Ax. I said. I doubt it'll work like that here.
It's worth a shot. Let's fly round back. Jake spread his wings and took off, followed closely by Cassie, Ax, and I.
Behind the theater was your basic grimy old alley. This was downtown, after all. I spotted a skinny, greasy cat rummaging through a dumpster. No "strategically placed" bushes in sight. But there was a door.
Is it locked? Cassie wondered.
I'll check. You guys cover for me. Jake flew down to the alley and landed on an old cardboard box. The greasy cat hissed at him.
Nice kitty. . .Jake said. Then he began to grow. His feathers lay flat on his body and changed back to human skin. His owl face was sucked into his regular human one. Just as his beak melted away, he turned to the cat.
MEEEEEE-ROWWWWWRRR!!!
"Ahhh!"
The cat pounced on Jake and latched on to his shoulder. Jake started flail wildly, trying to throw off the insane cat.
Jake! Stop that, you'll hurt the cat! Cassie cried.
"I'LL hurt the CAT!?" Jake cried, stumbling into a pile of moldy newspapers.. Finally he was able to grab it and swing it off him and down the other way of the alley. It landed on its feet, hissed, and stalked away. I did all I could to suppress the rising burst of laughter.
Jake looked at the scratches left on his shoulder. "Damn cat." Then he tried the knob on the door. "It's locked."
Crap. I muttered.
Wait. You hear that? Cassie said suddenly.
I do. Prince Jake, hide. Someone is coming! Ax warned.
Jake's eyes grew wide. He looked around wildly and finally decided that it wouldn't kill him to swan dive into a dumpster. He didn't bother to shut the lid. He didn't have time, because once he pulled a moldy box over his head, the door swung open.
"I'm tellin ya, I heard something out here!" It was a skinny little man. He was accompanied by some monster of a guy. It was the guy with big huge muscles.
"Whatever. You know we've got the Filters all over in the building. Nothing's getting inside." Muscle Guy said. Then he emptied a plastic bag full of Sheetrock and dust into Jake's dumpster. "Come one, let's go. We have to finish this idiotic plan of the Visser's."
"Idiotic? Don't let him hear you say that." The skinny guy warned.
"The fool doesn't know what he's doing." The Muscle Guy shrugged. Then he took out his key, reopened the door, and flung it open again. The two controllers went back inside, the door closing slowly behind them.
Jake emerged from the dumpster and threw a small piece of sheetrock at the foot of the door. With aim that even impressed me, a hawk, he was able to stop the door from closing all the way. The piece of sheetrock acted as a doorstop.
He waited a moment, in case they heard him, then he got out of the dumpster and peered in the door slowly.
Nice! I commented. He grinned. Then he waved us to come down. We did, and landed on the rim of the dumpster.
Oh, that is rancid. . .Cassie said, looking into the dumpster.
"Demorph, let's move." Jake whispered.
Cassie demorphed, while Ax quickly went to his Andalite body, then to human.
Wait we need some eyes in the skies, just in case. I said.
"You're right." Jake whispered. "But I have a suggestion. . .Ax. . .um, there might be food in there. . .and you still talk a little strangely. . ."
So? Ax huffed, taking offense.
"Ax, I know you have self control. It's just that even the slightest thing out of the ordinary would set these guys off. I hope you understand." Jake reasoned.
"Prince Jake. . ."Ax started. But he gave in. "I will stay out here then." He went back into owl mode and took to the skies again.
"I think he's a little miffed." Cassie whispered.
Jake sighed. "Let's go."
He creaked the heavy door open slowly and we each squeezed in the opening. Then he carefully closed the door, not letting go until he heard the soft click. We were now in what looked like a storage room. It was full of buckets, pieces of dry wall, cement bags, and other construction stuff. Across us was another door, which no doubt led to the movie theaters.
"Think we'll look out of place wearing these?" Cassie wondered, tugging at her leotard. Jake and I were dressed in our usual bike shorts and tight T-shirts. Morphing suits.
"Not to mention Jake reeks of dumpster stew." I added.
"Umm. . ."Jake's eyes scanned the room. "Wait, there." He went toward a bucket and pulled out a grimy-looking T-shirt, probably left there by a construction worker. He replaced his own stink shirt with it (Cassie looking embarrasedly at the dusty floor). The shirt read "Bullshit. You're ain't 21."
"Nice shirt." I commented. "Anything else in there for us?"
"No, oh wait." He produced paint-splattered overalls. I took them and put them on. They were way too big, but at least I wasn't running around in tights.
"So, I'm stuck looking like a ballerina at a movie theater?" Cassie asked, crossing her arms.
"Sorry." Jake shrugged.
"Alright, let's get this over with." Cassie sighed.
We slowly pulled open the other door and were greeted by dim lights lining a velvety red corridor. Movie posters papered the area. No one was around.
"This must be the 'Employees Only' part of the theater." Jake said. We stepped onto the carpet and walked to our right, searching for the doors that led to the projection rooms. Suddenly behind us we heard soft footsteps.
"Someone's coming!" Cassie hissed.
"Hide!" Jake said.
I quickly dove behind a cardboard cutout display for the movie Freddy vs. Jason. Unfortunately, Freddy and Jason's glaring mugs were only big enough to hide me. Jake and Cassie searched frantically for a place to hide.
"Hey, is somebody there?"
Suddenly Jake grabbed Cassie by the shoulders and pulled her towards him. Then he shoved his mouth on Cassie's and began to make out.
I made a mature face.
"Hello? What the - " It was a guy dressed in regular clothing, not the red and black uniforms that employees wore. "Oh, uhh, sorry kids. I was looking for the bathroom and I just - sorry I shouldn't have came in the Employees Only door. I just really needed - uhhh. . ." The guy shoved his hands in his pockets and blushed. "Sorry, I'll um, I'll go. . ." He turned around and walked quickly out of sight.
Jake released Cassie, breathing hard. Cassie almost fell backwards, panting just as heavily. Her eyes were wide and she was staring at Jake. Jake was determinedly not looking at her. They were both blushing.
I popped my head out from behind Freddy. "So, um, let's go?"
"Right. Oh, right!" Jake snapped out of it. He led the way down the hall, fiddling with his hands. Cassie and I followed him.
Finally we reached our first door. It had the letter A painted on it.
"My guess would be this is the projection room for theater A." I said.
"Alright, let's go. Slow, just in case the worker is early."
I turned the doorknob and opened it a crack. Jake peered in with one eye.
"It's dark. No one in there yet. But we have to go fast, the clock there says we have 10 minutes, tops.
We piled into the room and looked around. There were suggestive posters hanging on the walls, as well as a few adult-only magazines. I had to wonder what a yeerk wanted with those, but I came to the conclusion that I really didn't want to know. A cold cup of coffee sat on a chair. And in the middle of the tiny room was the projector. The lens pointed out to the dim theater, were a few people were already sitting, munching on some pre-movie popcorn.
"So we just. . .smash it?" Cassie asked, eyeing the big black and gray machine.
"Yeah," Jake said. He put both hands on it. "Help me."
Cassie and I leaned into it and sent it crashing over. Pieces from the inside broke off and flew in every direction. The roll of film rolled away.
"Okay, that's one. How many theaters are there?" Jake asked.
"I think Marco said 12."
"Twelve!?" We gotta go faster then.
We cracked open the door again to make sure no one was around, then we proceeded to rooms B through E without any interruptions.
We stood in front of were Doors F and G should have been. Instead, there were two doors locked with panels. Complicated looking panels. I looked further down and saw that the letters continued H-L.
"No F and G. I wonder what's back there." Cassie said.
"Do you think they're hiding something?" Jake asked.
"Why else would they lock them?" I said. Suddenly my stomach jolted, as if it were trying to tell me something. Again, I felt the unexplained nervousness.
"Tobias?" Cassie asked, looking concerned.
"Nothing." I looked away.
"You guys, we have to come back here when we're at full strength. But for now we have to get to the other projectors. We have like 5 minutes."
Finally we snuck out of the last room, L. Our mission was a success. At least for now. Now we had to escape.
"We leave the same way we came in." Jake said. Then we started for the storage room.
"WELCOME TO THE GRAND OPENING OF THE SHERMAN CINEPLEX! YOUR MOVIES WILL BE STARTING SHORTLY, SO WILL EVERYONE TAKE THEIR SEATS."
The loudspeaker echoed down the corridor. We looked at each other and sprinted toward the storage room. Then we heard voices.
"I can't believe we have to be sit in a stupid room while the humans watch their stupid movies." We heard a controller complain.
"They'll be taken care of soon enough." Another controller said. Their footsteps were getting closer. If we ran now, they would hear us.
"Walk, fast." Jake muttered out of the corner of his mouth.
We stopped our all-out run and start to walk quickly, making as little noise as possible. A split second before the controllers came around the corner, Jake pulled open the door and we tumbled inside.
"Jeez." I gasped, wiping the sweat off my forehead. We sat for a moment, trying to breathe again.
"ELISS!! ELISS!! The projectors are smashed! Andalites!" a voice cried.
"Bail! Bail!" Jake scrambled up and tore open the door. As we left, we heard the other controller.
"Andalites? Are you insane? If the Andalites were here they would have tried to get into the locked rooms. No, this is the work of some fool human children. My host has teenagers, and they did the same thing at another theater. They are always causing trouble. The bandits aren't that stupid."
I breathed a sigh of relief. A small shadow appeared. Ax.
I was about to contact you. How did it go? Ax said.
"Fine, fine, no problem at all." Cassie wheezed.
Ax looked at Jake's grubby T-shirt.
Bullshit?
- - - ACK! My last chapter before school starts! **sobs and cries and stuff** No0o0o0o!! Don't make me go! I wanna stay stupid!! **grabs onto Jinako-chan** Don't make me go!! No0o0o0o0o!!! **Jinako-chan shoves me away, so I grab the Fanfiction.net people** WAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!
THANK YOU for all the reviews! Anything, compliments, criticism, weird stories of stuffed lobsters (anyone seen Amy Angelblade around?). . .makes me feel good. Though I just realized you guys are reviewing because of the story. See, here I am thinking you guys review just cuz I gots a sexy butt ;-)
THE HAPPY KORNER! (aka place were I read your mind! o0o0o0o0o!)
Philip (Triple Point) - Hey, if Erek can handle building the pyramids, he can handle babysitting. Then again. . .is IS Jordan and Sara. . .Egads, ideas for next chapter are flooding in my head. O0o0o, nah, I'll put rubber chickens in a different chapter. . .ohh. . .okay, now I know what I'm gonna write. Hee hee. Battle Royale may come. . .but I Think I'm gonna juice the Marco-Rachel thing for all it's worth. Ah the twisted webs I weave. . .Ew, spiders. I hate spiders. EEEEEK!
Senydegger - Hee hee, h0wdy. Hope you didn't mind me exposing your wishes of having a hairy butt for all to see. If you want me to change that I will. But it was funny. Actually its less funny than I thought it was, now that I think of it. But I'm too lazy right now to hit the backspace key. And just so ya know, I will NEVER stop typing! MUAHAHAHAHAHAA!
Freak show - they lets you do anything on your school computers. That aint fair, we always got a pointy nosed librarian breathing down our necks! Yeah I'll keep writing, just don't. . .don't do anything with that blood **cringes**
DawnOfEast - You know one of my favoite quote from the Animorphs was something I think Marco (I THINK) said, which was something like "When this is over and they ask us about the war for history books, lets leave this part out." So I just sit here thinking u whacked out things for them to do. It's fun!
SouthrnBelle - Marco and Rachel. . .hmmm, the thought never crossed my mind. . .**puts on dumb face** Not telling, nyah nyah!
Myst4 - Hehehe @ the refreshing thing. I do that a lot too. I wish noe one had lives, like me, so hey could just update their stories already! **glares at certain nameless people** Hee hee, hawk porn **gigglesnort**
Remnants-2011 - Ah yes. Will do, chief!
Alara-Sirinial-Alamon - Hee hee, thanks for reading this one. You don't have to read the others to read this one, its independent. As for the hilariousness, I have my voices in my head to thank.
*ROGUE* - I realize I've gotten a lot of reviews. I'm grateful for anything, hehe. But I do believe you got some Jake and Cassie in this chapter, no?
RasberryGirl - Another tally for Marco and Rachel. Hmm. . . it appears something must be done about that. . .Hey, if you want even more of that, go read Amora's fic Your Basic Nightmare. It's a blast! (But it hasn't been updated in like forever) Oh, and what's the Cabbage Patch? Is it like the funky chicken?
Oedipal Kat - I'm improving? Wow thanks. So you like what you're reading? You're not just saying that cuz I got a sexy butt? Dang. . .hehehe.
Chelz-Aelle - o.0 That has got to be the awesomest poem I've ever read EVER!!!! LoL no I never played bad birdy, but I will now! Oh and I heard BBQ chips were really coated his pig. . .nah never mind. Hee Hee hee.
DH L'Orange - I am happy to provide laughs to anyone. Normally I'd just look at someone and they'd laugh (I am quite funny-looking) but since you can't do that, my writing will have to suffice. See ya!
Amy Angelblade - Indeed. . .Rachel's worst fear. Hee hee. Ohhh that just gave me an idea about cheescake! **writes on a post it** Alright then, I think you're a good writer except you DON'T FINISH them, leaving me to CRY IN DESPAIR **sulks**. And yes I will thicken the plot. You thicken a plot by feeding it pizza and pork rinds J You choose StarFox? **snickers. The verb, not the candy bar ;)**
Surreal Serpent1 - Yo' wish is ma command!
mistresso of madness - I love you and the voice in your head too! But it sounds like you need to show that voice in your head who's boss. I locked mine in an electric cage and fed it only Fruity Pebbles once a day. That put it back in line.
InsaneFrog - I remember you! Yeah, I wrote another one. Jeez, when am I gonna stop torturing you guys, hehe. Well, thanks for reviewing!