Chapter 5
"That's impossible," said Philip. "This is all some weird hallucination. I don't believe what I'm seeing!"
--You'd better believe it, Philip! I'm a grade-A alien now!-- Thought speak! I could speak to them with my mind! Well, I guess now that I didn't have a mouth any longer, I had to be able to communicate somehow! There were other differences, other than my physical form, too, I realised. I suddenly felt more confident. Optimistic. Not only had I taken on the alien's form, I had also attained its' psychological make-up!
--Wow,-- I whispered. --This is so incredible! You guy have got to try this.-- I took an experimental step forward, my shiny black hooves stepping nimbly over the wreckage. It was all so easy, so graceful. I moved my new tail, blade glistening in the light of the spotlights. What a tail it was! So strong, so powerful! A nifty bit of evolution had taken place somewhere along the line for this race. This tail was the ultimate weapon.
Ferdie seemed to think so too. He jumped back as I struck my tail forwards over my head. "Watched out!" he exclaimed. "That tail is not a toy! Pretty cool looking, though. When do I get one?"
--As soon as you have all morphed,-- said the alien. --In fact, we are running out of time. You can see that your comrade is safe. You must now do as she did, and acquire and morph me.--
The others were almost tripping over themselves to acquire the alien. Philip cautiously placed his injured leg on the ground and hobbled over to him. I could see drops of sweat forming on his brow. The wound must be quite serious, I thought. Either that, or Philip was terrified.
--One at a time,-- the alien said. The others formed a short line in front of him and began to acquire him. Philip went first. His eyes narrowed as he concentrated on the alien. The alien went limp, his glittering green eyes glazing over. Then went Ferdie, smirking as he did so.
"Well," he said. "This isn't too weird. Excuse me, good sir? Do you mind awfully if I could borrow your DNA briefly in order to escape from a race of crazed, insane aliens?"
The girl, whose name I still didn't know, went last. She eyes were wide with fright as she gingerly placed her hand on the aliens' arm. After a few seconds, she snatched her hand away. The alien snapped out of his trace and into action.
--Good,-- he said. --Now, quickly, you must morph me.--
The others became to concentrate again. The girl was muttering "Oh, god, oh god" over and over. Ferdie was looking excited. Only Philip looked serious. It seemed like he was viewing the whole like some kind of military exercise. A bit like I was, I supposed. This was the job, get on and do it. Otherwise, die.
I stood in front of the others to give them some encouragement as the charges began to show. --That's it guys,-- I said. --It feels pretty unusual, but it doesn't hurt. The weirdest part is when the second lot of eyes appear.--
The morphs began to take place. Ferdie's was the most dramatic – he suddenly fell forwards onto his face as his legs were sucked up into his body.
"Omph!" he groaned, as his face hit the floor.
The girl had shut her eyes. But I imagined she could probably still feel what was happening – her whole face was twisting and warping into a hideous mixture of human and alien.
Philip was gradually turning blue, like I had been. But his legs were also changing at the same time, slitting into four as my left leg had done. There was a sickening crunch as the bones changed direction. Philip yelped. I tried not to wretch.
Ferdie had managed to stand up again now – his new, alien legs were appearing fast and he scrambled to get control of his new muscles, to push himself out of the dust and blood on the floor. But he had yet to turn blue, or change his facial features – so now resembled a rather good-looking centaur from Greek mythology.
Philip's injured leg was now as good as new as his blue skin rapidly covered the wound. A tail shot from his behind, the blade forming fast. Then, his hair dissolved into nothing, and his ears stretched like mine had done into the horse-like alien ears. His morph was almost complete – his was the fastest of the four.
Ferdie's was taking a little longer, but he was getting there. The girl was still whimpering – but in thought-speak.
--You're doing great, guys,-- I said. I realised I felt responsible for them, especially now that I had morphed the alien already. Which was silly – I hardly knew them!
We stood there in the smoke and rumble. Five identical aliens. One original, lightly flecked with small injuries here and there. Four perfect, indistinguishable copies. It was an amazing feeling – exciting, exhilarating, unbelievable and terrifying.
--Follow me,-- said the alien. --We don't have much time.--
We galloped off down the corridors. Another wave of adrenaline rocketed through my veins as I felt the pure, fantastic power of my legs. I was graceful, supreme, incomparable. A freak of nature. But a fabulous one at that. It was all so easy, so effortless. Here I was, jumping over wreckage and soaring over holes in the floor as if I was an Olympic athlete! A runner, high jumper and dancer all in one! --Yaaahhh-hahhhh!-- I yelled. It was a total, insane, rush!
The alien galloped in front of me, slashing and swiping with his tail at various strange aliens which tried to block our way. I heard him yell in thought-speak as a laser-like beam burned his flank. Deep, growling, alien voices echoed throughout the corridors.
"Andalite!" cried a voice behind me.
"Get them!" shouted a terrifying, eight-foot dinosaur-like creature – moments before the alien knocked his tail-blade against its head.
"There's loads of them! I thought there were only two Andalites, Sub-Visser!"
"Well you obviously made a mistake, you fool!" yelled another dinosaur. "And make sure you find the humans too – they're bound to be with another Andalite!"
I looked back at the others behind me, who looked equally overwhelmed. Their hooves pounded on the shiny surface, razor-sharp blades held high above their heads. I could hear their thought speak crying put different yells and shrieks of excitement and disbelief. Ferdie, who was right behind me on my tail (almost literally!) seemed to be loving the whole experience. His crazed though-speak laugh resonated through my head as we turned a blind corner at top speed, dodging another dinosaur. We galloped down the darkening hallways, dust flying, hooves pounding, and no idea of what lay ahead of us.
