Well, this was an interesting chapter. I had to do a little research for this one. As always, I need to spell better, but other than that, I think this is one of the better chapters. It was fun to write, that much I was sure. There's a small fight scene, it's short, but that's because the fight didn't last long. I don't own Animorphs, and I think that there are a lot of people happy that I don't. No flames please!


3
Mind Games

Math class was a boring as ever. Logarithms, square roots the normal math equations. Monday was moving so slowly, and yet, it couldn't move slow enough. I didn't want to stay in this dragging class anymore, but at the same time, I wasn't sure if I was ready to fight either. Tonight, we were to attack. I had no qualms about risking life and limb, hell; I wanted to tear things apart! Only, I still didn't know why I was chosen to become an Animorph. That was what was bothering me. Although, I have to admit, it was nice to be able to use some of the animal's traits during the day. I sat in the back of some of my classes, and I couldn't always see what the teacher wrote on the board. So I would morph just my eyes into eagle eyes, so that I can see. Cool, or what? But I digress. Right now, I was sitting in math. With three minutes to go. And then I'd meet the posse. We were going to enter the "pool" through the janitor's closet. That's what they told me anyway. I don't see how an entire colony of evil slugs that were taking over the world could fit in a closet, but if they were smart enough to get here, then they must have found a way.

Not that I was going to question it. We were going to get there in shifts. I was going to go first with Rachel, Marco with Cassie would come next, and Jake Ax and Tobias were last. Mainly because Ax and Tobias had to morph from human to whatever they decided to come down in. Jake wanted to be with them for security. That's also why Rachel was coming with me. For security. So that if I tried to pull a fast one, Rachel would be able to take me down. Or try to anyway. Not that I would do anything.

All too soon, and yet, not soon enough, the bell rang, and we had to leave. I went to my locker, and threw my shit into it. I held the door open for a moment, then looked over it to see Rachel waiting there.

"Hurry up will you! We have to get going." She hissed in my ear.

"Hold on for a moment, he's starring at us."

"Who?"

"Who else watches this hall? Mr. Controller himself. Anyway. I can't close the door."

"Why not?"

"Because there's a hand in the way." I glared pointedly at her, and she moved her hand from my wrist sheepishly.

After a moment, the "watcher" moved away, and I closed my door. We headed to the closet, and saw Marco slip into the boy's bathroom at the same time Cassie slipped into the girl's. They had seen us, and would join us in a little while. At the moment though, we had to get in.

Rachel looked around to make sure the coast was clear while I rolled my eyes. I grabbed the knob and stepped into the small room without difficulty, "short" Rachel following fast in after me, and slamming the door shut after her. I call her short, mainly because I am the tallest in the group now; Rachel was tallest before I came, but, once again, I stray.

"What did you think you were doing? Could you have made it any more obvious!" Rachel whisper/yelled at me. I grinned wolfishly at her.

"Yes, I could have kissed you, grabbed your wrist, and made it look like it was a sex closet rather than a janitor's hideaway. But I don't swing that way today, k? Drop it and let us in already!" she starred at me. I think that was the wrong thing to say, but I really didn't care at the moment. My current sex preference wasn't the issue at the present. In three minutes, Marco and Cassie would be doing… roughly the same thing. But at the same time, it was fun to mess with her mind.

Shaking her head, Rachel reached up, grabbed a hook on the wall, and gave it a twist. The wall opened up behind me, and Rachel pushed me through it. We began walking down the stairs that had presented themselves at our feet, and the silence grew. Finally, Rachel spoke up.

"Did you really mean that back there, in the closet?"

"Mean what?"

"About the kissing thing and all that." I had unnerved her… this could be a fun time passer. XD

"Idunno what you're talking about Rachel."

"You know full well what I'm talking about!"

I was amazed, in two minutes, I had successfully freaked Rachel – the "tough one" – out! I really had underestimated these Animorphs. But if some joke like that could make her so shaken up, was it really worth it? What would Jake say? I know that he wouldn't like it, but then, if I could shake Rachel, was it possible to move him from his stoic demeanor also? Would he also become a quacking pile of putty if I tried anything? But then again, Rachel had seen so much over the last year, what had made her suddenly act like this? I had made one small sex joke, given her a smile, and she just fell apart. If I had touched her, or made any kind of advancement, then yes, I could see why. But I was only answering her question. Abet, a little rude, and very crude in its manner, but nonetheless. Could I really have shifted her perspective of me so drastically in short amount of time? Or was I just over thinking this?

"Max? Hello, you in there?" Rachel was waving her hand in front of my face, trying to get me to answer her. I grabbed her wrist and watched her reaction. There was nothing. We had stopped walking, but other than that, there was nothing.

"Don't do that again, got it."

"Yes, sorry." I released her. "Um, I'm sorry for over-reacting like that. I don't normally act like a total freak case. I'm just nervous, working with a new person after what had happened with David. He had it in for me."

"Whatever, I got it. No more funny stuff until I'm officially one of the 'gang'."

"So, do you …you know… 'Swing that way'?"

"Idunno, never stopped to think about it. I've never really been interested in either, but if I had to choose at a moments notice, I guess I'd say that I didn't care what I was with. Men or women, I'll take both or neither. I don't care."

"Oh, okay then. I guess that's fine with me."

"Oh please. You've got it bad for hawk-man. I've seen how you look at Tobias, and how Jake and Cassie treat each other, and Marco's got this thing for the girl in our English class. You people are too obvious. You have to learn to control yourselves, or comandante tres will win. We don't want that now, do we? That'd kinda defeat the whole point now, wouldn't it."

She starred at me, then at the steps, silent as the stone that we walked on.


Golden Fang


We walked for what seemed like forever. The lack of conversation didn't help. Finally, the "pool" came into sight, and I couldn't help but stop and stare. It was huge! Not only that, but the cages and the screams and the smells and the organized chaos… it was a lot to take in. Rachel sighed as she looked at it.

"No matter how many times we hit it, it never looks like we make a dent in their numbers. I hope that Jake knows what he's doing."

"Of course he doesn't." she glared at me.

"Don't insult Jake like that!"

"I'm not."

"… but…"

"I'm merely stating a fact. Look at it from my point of view. Five teenagers… six now, are thrown into a battle that they know nothing about, with enemies that they didn't know existed until they were forced to, with weapons that they don't fully understand. They fight on with only a vague idea of how to do so, no help from their supposed 'allies', and a force against them that they can't possibly win against without help. Then they get a novice alien on their side who understand just as little as they do, even though he grew up around this kind a thing. And all the while, we're expected to do everything in our power to still lead 'normal' lives with our 'families' if we have them, not take any causalities personally, and live our lives as dope-headed, brainless teenagers. I don't know about you, but I constitute that as not knowing what we're doing." There was silence. Then…

"I see your point."

I blinked at that. She agreed with me? This is defiantly a strange day. First, she's angry, then scared, then she's like a lamb to the slaughter. What was with this group?

"Thank you." I mutter, and we continue down. "K, so, we're supposed to wait down there, behind the building to our right, Cassie and Marco across the way behind the other building, and morph into our strongest animal when we see Jake on the stairs. Idunno about you, but so far, I don't like this game plan. I think that we should all be here first, then attack. It's too easy to get separated. And too easy for Jake to get caught on the stairs. I don't like it one bit."

"I know that it doesn't seem like a good plan, but this way, it looks like our numbers are big enough to surround them. make them panic a little. That gives us a little of an edge. Also, there's the idea that we're seeing how you do under stress. Look, there's Cassie and Marco, we should get ready."

Soon enough, there was a tiger on the steps, an Andalite behind it, and a hawk that zoomed out over its head with a screech. That was to be our queue to morph. Rachel got bigger. And when I say bigger, I mean over two tons in just as many seconds. Her nose sprouted from her face, and she turned as gray as the water in the pool that we were attacking. She was becoming elephant. My turn.

I was going to do something rather simple. I was going to become a Hork-Bajir. The first morph that I ever did, and probably my best. I wasn't going to do the one that I had made, I wanted to pass that by them before I used it, so why not stick to what was "familiar"? my legs lengthened, I kicked off my shoes as my feet spread and grew talons, and my hands had claws that could slice through a car. I turned red, and I lost my eyes. I really didn't like that I couldn't see, so I pulled a little of the eagle into it as well. There, that was more like it. I heard a howl of a wolf.

(Cassie> Rachel told me in my head. (Now it's our turn!>

A loud trumpeting sound ripped from her, and she took off, ploughing through the wall that hid us. I sighed. Now how were we going to hide and change back if we needed to? Whatever, I should enjoy it while I could. I bunched my legs tightly, and sprang into a crowd of confused controllers. They all had darquan beams, but it looked as though none of them knew what to hit first. So, I decided for them as I took off their heads with a swift slice of my elbow and writs. There was a roar, and I felt something sharp enter my leg. Wincing, I looked down from seven feet up, and found a tiger with his claws embedded into me.

(What?> I asked him.

(We don't kill them. They are still able to come back to our side if we ever get the slugs out of their heads. We don't kill unless we have no choice. Got that?> Jake bared his teeth, and growled.

(Yes, I underget that Jake, I'll keep it to a low.>

(Thank you.>

(Whatever.>

He ran off, and barreled through some of the jelly bugs.

(These are alright to kill. Taxxons are evil, they kill easy, and would eat us whether they were controllers or not.>

Disappearing again, he left me with a very angry mob of jelly bugs. Taxxons, that's what he called them. almost like he knew that I wanted to kill something. DUH! I grinned inwardly as I made them nothing but a pile of gore. That was fun, were there anymore? I stopped for a moment as I saw Rachel race by swinging her trunk, and Marco stay behind her swinging his gorilla fists. What was it that Rachel had said earlier? "No matter how many times we hit it, it never looks like we make a dent in their numbers."

Of course you don't! You stun, you injure, you refuse to kill! That's why they were loosing so badly! Obviously the Andalites kill, hadn't they realized that? Why didn't they kill? Then I saw it.

A streak of blue, a flashing tail, four eyes. An Andalite. It wasn't Ax, as he was trying to get as many people out of the cages as possible, and up the stairs. It was Visser Three. The only other Andalite that was alive on earth. He was the head Yeerk on the planet, the main baddie. Take out him, and you remove the threat to the earth. That's how I understood it anyway. That gave me an idea.

I demorphed behind a pillar, and waited until he passed by. Then I grabbed his tail, and he stopped. He just froze, his stalk eyes drooped. He couldn't see me, and that was just fine. I was absorbing him, he would be added to my repertoire of ammo. I was done with him, and I knew that he would be snapping out of it here in a moment, so I morphed fly. I watched with my bug eyes as he shook himself, looked around for me, then took off. Alone again, I changed back, then looked around the other side of the pillar.

It didn't look too good for us. Cassie was down, Tobias landed beside her, trying to get her up to hide and morph out. Marco's chest was bleeding heavily, and Jake's jaw was hanging loose. Ax was no where to be seen, and Rachel was losing her ear.

Morphing Visser Three was a new experience. Controlling the change as much as possible, I was able to keep my mind apart from the Andalite's. What a control freak! He immediately wanted to lash out at the closest thing to him, which happened to be Rachel. Wait, Rachel?

(You're mine Visser!>

(Wait! Rachel, it's me! Max!>

(Max? How did you get like that!>

(I morphed, duh.>

Then I took off, charging headlong at Visser Three. The Andalite brain was confused, so I took to calming it down. Didn't help much, but it made it shut up. Sometimes, alien's brains are way too sophisticated.

(Hey Visser!>

I yelled it so that only he could hear. He turned, and shot his tail out. I stopped, and shot out my own. We both had our tails pressed tightly to the other's throat. We looked like mirrors to each other. I had my way out.

(Andalite bandits!> he roared so loud in my head I wanted to cover my ears even though I knew it wouldn't help. The room, no matter how large it was, stopped. The Hork-Bajir ran to us, and circled, holding their beams at the ready. They didn't know who was who, what was what. There were two Visser Three's, and it was confusing their little Yeerk brains. This was going to be fun!

(You ready Visser? You think that you're going to get out of this alive? We 'Andalite bandits' have the advantage here. If I can look like you, then how many more of us are there? Yes, you see some of our fighters, the obvious ones. But how many of them are in your own army? How many of these controllers are really controllers? How many are pretending? They know who the real one is, and which one is me. But yours don't. If either you or I give the word to fire, and mine will shoot you with no problem, your other mindless minions will fire as well, aiming just as the they are. You'll be dead before you hit the ground. I can twitch my tail, taking off your head, and you can do the same as you die. You can do exactly the same. Go ahead, kill me, but I will kill you with my dying breath. If I die, I'm just another casualty, if you die, your army is a headless snake. Do you want to loose in this battle?>

We looked at each other, reading for a lie, looking for a break. I let nothing pass, he didn't have to know. I could feel him trying to search me, and I blocked all that he had.

(You weren't here before. There's a different feel to you from the others. Why?>

(Why do you think we have so many in your ranks. We're here, some of us anyway. As the humans here say… 'The Calvary's here!' But this isn't the time. Let the obvious fighters go, the ones that are earth animals, then I will let you go once they are in the clear.>

(Jake!> I sent him privately, as the whole speech I had just given was broadcasted live. (Jake, I know that you're the leader, so what do you need us to do?>

(What the hell did you do that for! Max! We're a team, we do things as a team->

(And yet, you don't have a jaw, Cassie is dying, Marco can't breath, and I have no idea where Ax is. Pull it together Jake! I've given us a chance to get out, take it while we have it.>

(Well, Visser, what will it be?> I let everyone into the conversation now, as Jake was handing out his orders. I saw Rachel lift a limp Cassie into her trunk, ready to leave at a moment's notice. Visser's eyes were shifting from me, to his ranks, to the other Animorphs. The wheels were turning. His tail lowered, as did mine.

(None will touch the Andalites. They can go free. None will touch them. Go.>

(You had better keep your word, Yeerk, we have one of ours nestled in your fur. Ever heard of a poisonous frog? They have them here on earth. One wrong move, and you're dead.>

(You're bluffing.> it was privet, I could tell.

(Maybe, maybe not. Are you willing to test it? What if there is nothing? Then you've gotten you Andalites. But if there is… if I'm telling the truth, then what? There's no going back after a decision like that. Are you going to chance it?> I stepped back at the same time he did. Then I turned, and trotted up the stairs after the others.


Happy Easter all!