Chapter 2
Marco
My name is Marco. I came up with the name Animorph, and now I was about to die. Everyone else had their eyes closed. I watched my last few seconds of living. Just as the Rachel's nose hit the Blade ship, time froze. I don't mean is looked like it. I mean froze. The ship had already hit the Blade ship, and was frozen in mid-explosion.
" Guys! Look!" I cried. Jake and Tobias looked over at me, then the veiwscreen.
" Menderash, what's going on?" Jake asked. Menderash didn't say a thing.
[There's only one person who could do this,] Tobias said.
" The Ellimist," Jake sighed.
NO, a voice said. NOT THE ELLIMIST.
" What was that?" I asked. Suddenly, we weren't on the Rachel anymore. We were. I don't know how to describe it. It was like we were everywhere and nowhere, all at once.
" I think I heard that voice before," Jake said.
" What?" I asked, and heard Tobias echo me behind.
" It was before the Helmacrons made the attempt to take over your body, Marco," Jake said.
" Ugh, don't remind me. You know, Rachel told me that the only reason that I morphed cockroach that time was because I had rabies," I interrupted.
" Marco, I went to bed, and when I woke up, I was twelve years later and the Yeerks had taken control of Earth. I destroyed the ray the Yeerks were building that would have turned the moon into a Kandrona producing moon. After I did that, I heard that voice," Jake said.
YES. THAT WAS I. I AM THE BEING WHO EXPELLED THE BEING KNOWN AS CRAYAK OUT OF ONE GALAXY, AND UNWITTINGLY INTO YOURS. MY NAME IS UNPRONOUNCEABLE, BUT YOU MAY CALL ME CREATOR.
" Creator. Great. This guy thinks he's God," I muttered.
[Marco, shut up. If he thinks he's God, he's probably got a good reason,] Tobias growled.
I AM HERE BECAUSE YOU LONG AGO EARNED THE CHANCE TO REDO EVERYTHING.
" Redo everything? You mean from Day one?" Jake asked, " But the Drode offered me that once, and then he left without even trying."
HE DID TRY. IT BROKE DOWN. BUT THAT WAS NOT THE WAY I WOULD CHANGE IT. THERE ARE MULTIPLE WAYS THAT COULD HAVE CHANGED EVERYTHING. SUCH AS THE ADDITION OR SUBTRACTION OF ONE ANIMORPH. OR FINDING AXIMILI-ESGARROUTH- ISTHILL OR NOT. OR VISSER THREE BEING PROMOTED. HOWEVER, I AM WILLING TO CHANGE ONLY ONE THING FROM THE BEGINNING. TAKE YOUR CHOICE.
" What? What is he saying?" I asked.
[He's saying we can change things from the beginning, like give us another Animorph from the moment Elfangor came to us to the day we rammed the Blade ship, and if things turn out well, we won't have rammed into the Blade Ship,] Tobias said. Jake turned to the two of us.
" Guys, I won't do anything without your opinions here," Jake said.
" Rachel's dead, but I agree with what she'd say. 'Let's do it'," I said.
[We can do it all over again, but what good would it do for us?] Tobias asked.
" We could get Rachel back with our choice," Jake said.
" But how would that affect now? I say it should be another Animorph from the beginning," I said.
" Cassie should be here," Jake said.
WHAT I AM OFFERING WILL AFFECT HER AS WELL.
As suddenly as we'd appeared here, Cassie was here.
" What am I doing here?" Cassie asked. She noticed Jake, Tobias, and me.
" J-J-JAKE!?" she cried, and ran into his arms.
" It's me Cassie. It's me," Jake whispered.
" But, what happened?" she asked. " I. I thought you were all going to die out there when you left Earth." Tears were streaming down her face, but both she and Jake didn't seem to even notice them.
" Someone is offering us the chance to go back in time to a point we choose and alter time," Jake said.
" We could get Rachel back?" Cassie asked, looking straight into Jake's eyes.
" That's one possibility. We could do anything. This guy, the Creator, he wants to give us a chance," Jake explained.
" Then I want to do it. Whatever you guys choose, I'll do it," Cassie said.
" That's one for another Animorph from day one and one who doesn't care. What do you two say?" I asked.
Tobias said one word. [Fight.]
Jake nodded. " Unanimous," he said. We stood together, almost like the old days.
VERY WELL THEN. YOU WILL HAVE NO MEMORY OF ANYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED IN THIS WORLD. THIS WORLD SHALL CONTINUE WITH PARALLEL VERSIONS OF YOURSELVES. FAREWELL.
Whiteness overtook me, and I knew nothing.
My name is Marco. I came up with the name Animorph, and now I was about to die. Everyone else had their eyes closed. I watched my last few seconds of living. Just as the Rachel's nose hit the Blade ship, time froze. I don't mean is looked like it. I mean froze. The ship had already hit the Blade ship, and was frozen in mid-explosion.
" Guys! Look!" I cried. Jake and Tobias looked over at me, then the veiwscreen.
" Menderash, what's going on?" Jake asked. Menderash didn't say a thing.
[There's only one person who could do this,] Tobias said.
" The Ellimist," Jake sighed.
NO, a voice said. NOT THE ELLIMIST.
" What was that?" I asked. Suddenly, we weren't on the Rachel anymore. We were. I don't know how to describe it. It was like we were everywhere and nowhere, all at once.
" I think I heard that voice before," Jake said.
" What?" I asked, and heard Tobias echo me behind.
" It was before the Helmacrons made the attempt to take over your body, Marco," Jake said.
" Ugh, don't remind me. You know, Rachel told me that the only reason that I morphed cockroach that time was because I had rabies," I interrupted.
" Marco, I went to bed, and when I woke up, I was twelve years later and the Yeerks had taken control of Earth. I destroyed the ray the Yeerks were building that would have turned the moon into a Kandrona producing moon. After I did that, I heard that voice," Jake said.
YES. THAT WAS I. I AM THE BEING WHO EXPELLED THE BEING KNOWN AS CRAYAK OUT OF ONE GALAXY, AND UNWITTINGLY INTO YOURS. MY NAME IS UNPRONOUNCEABLE, BUT YOU MAY CALL ME CREATOR.
" Creator. Great. This guy thinks he's God," I muttered.
[Marco, shut up. If he thinks he's God, he's probably got a good reason,] Tobias growled.
I AM HERE BECAUSE YOU LONG AGO EARNED THE CHANCE TO REDO EVERYTHING.
" Redo everything? You mean from Day one?" Jake asked, " But the Drode offered me that once, and then he left without even trying."
HE DID TRY. IT BROKE DOWN. BUT THAT WAS NOT THE WAY I WOULD CHANGE IT. THERE ARE MULTIPLE WAYS THAT COULD HAVE CHANGED EVERYTHING. SUCH AS THE ADDITION OR SUBTRACTION OF ONE ANIMORPH. OR FINDING AXIMILI-ESGARROUTH- ISTHILL OR NOT. OR VISSER THREE BEING PROMOTED. HOWEVER, I AM WILLING TO CHANGE ONLY ONE THING FROM THE BEGINNING. TAKE YOUR CHOICE.
" What? What is he saying?" I asked.
[He's saying we can change things from the beginning, like give us another Animorph from the moment Elfangor came to us to the day we rammed the Blade ship, and if things turn out well, we won't have rammed into the Blade Ship,] Tobias said. Jake turned to the two of us.
" Guys, I won't do anything without your opinions here," Jake said.
" Rachel's dead, but I agree with what she'd say. 'Let's do it'," I said.
[We can do it all over again, but what good would it do for us?] Tobias asked.
" We could get Rachel back with our choice," Jake said.
" But how would that affect now? I say it should be another Animorph from the beginning," I said.
" Cassie should be here," Jake said.
WHAT I AM OFFERING WILL AFFECT HER AS WELL.
As suddenly as we'd appeared here, Cassie was here.
" What am I doing here?" Cassie asked. She noticed Jake, Tobias, and me.
" J-J-JAKE!?" she cried, and ran into his arms.
" It's me Cassie. It's me," Jake whispered.
" But, what happened?" she asked. " I. I thought you were all going to die out there when you left Earth." Tears were streaming down her face, but both she and Jake didn't seem to even notice them.
" Someone is offering us the chance to go back in time to a point we choose and alter time," Jake said.
" We could get Rachel back?" Cassie asked, looking straight into Jake's eyes.
" That's one possibility. We could do anything. This guy, the Creator, he wants to give us a chance," Jake explained.
" Then I want to do it. Whatever you guys choose, I'll do it," Cassie said.
" That's one for another Animorph from day one and one who doesn't care. What do you two say?" I asked.
Tobias said one word. [Fight.]
Jake nodded. " Unanimous," he said. We stood together, almost like the old days.
VERY WELL THEN. YOU WILL HAVE NO MEMORY OF ANYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED IN THIS WORLD. THIS WORLD SHALL CONTINUE WITH PARALLEL VERSIONS OF YOURSELVES. FAREWELL.
Whiteness overtook me, and I knew nothing.