This was a strange mission.
After the high-stakes of fighting Zenguh, dealing with a local swimming race did not seem impressive. Still though, the war with the Yeerks continues, even when it is less glamorous. Besides, Zenguh could be anywhere in the universe. All we knew from the Chee was that he was off-world.
However, our current stakeout had been interrupted by the door opening.
"Look, I'm just checking," a voice mumbled, as we scattered in the dark pool room to hide anywhere we could.
"What could possibly go wrong with this plan?" another voice asked.
Just then, I saw Prince Jake's brother, Tom, walk by the trash can I was hiding behind. I began to wonder if Tom had other living arrangements besides Prince Jake's house, because he seemed to be present at the Community Center quite often.
"I think that this plan is ridiculous," Tom muttered. "But of course, we wouldn't want to question the orders of Visser One," He said that last part quite sarcastically, for a Yeerk, doing something that I believe humans refer to as 'jazz hands'.
There was a sudden splashing sound. Tom whirled around to look at the pool.
"Quit playing around!" he said angrily, peering through the dark. There was no response.
‹Guys,› Tobias said to us. ‹This Controller was really close to spotting me. I knocked him out but now I can't go underwater without drowning the dude. I'm just holding him here like an idiot.›
‹Ax,› Prince Jake said heavily. ‹Can you provide us a distraction?›
I demorphed, knocking over the trash can as I did. It made a loud noise in the cavernous room.
Tom and the other Controller spun around.
"Andalite!" Tom yelled.
I sighed. ‹Yes,› I responded. ‹Andalite.›
I simultaneously knocked out Tom with the flat of my blade, and kicked the other Controller with my back legs. He flew into the pool. Tobias dragged both Controllers through the water and heaved them up onto the side, out of the pool.
‹Ax, is Tom out cold?› Jake asked.
I looked at Tom. ‹He is unconscious,› I answered. ‹But he never fell in the pool, so I do not believe that his body temperature has been affected.›
‹Guys? I didn't see this chance coming,› Prince Jake said, sounding like he was trying to suppress his excitement. ‹When's the next time Tom will be this vulnerable? I'm going to try and drag him out of here. Marco? A little help?›
‹Ohh,› said Marco. ‹By 'I'm going to try', you meant 'Marco's going to try.' Cool.›
A tiger and a gorilla flanked Tom. Marco picked him up, and the three of them made their way over to the pool entrance. Before they could get there, the door exploded open, and a Hork-Bajir flew through the opening.
Through the doorway came a large creature that looked very much like the Earth version of an octopus, but with many more tentacles. Its head looked similar to that of a shark, but slightly off. The looks on my friends' faces told me that this creature was not from this planet.
‹What is this, a sharktopus?› Marco wondered. ‹Hm, that's actually a good idea for a movie.›
The creature stopped for a moment in the doorway, surveying the room. We all froze. It was of course Visser One in morph, and he was focused on the Hork-Bajir, feebly crawling away from his most recent mutant morph from another planet.
Suddenly, his attention was drawn to myself, attempting to back away slowly.
‹Could it be?› came Visser One's voice. ‹The Andalite bandits? You all sought me out? I feel flattered.›
He picked up the Hork-Bajir, and just as quickly threw him violently down on the ground.
‹I was coming to teach my advisor here a very personal lesson about idiotic plans, this ridiculous swim meet being the last straw,› Visser One explained for some reason. ‹Do you know how much it cost to put in Yeerk-sized tubes that go all the way to the pool? We had to get a special contractor, and permits, and it was a whole big mess,›
He smiled a big, toothy smile. ‹But this is a wonderful coincidence. I'd much rather teach a lesson to all of you.›
Then he spotted Tobias in the pool.
‹Interesting,› he mused. ‹You acquired one of those human mutants from under the ocean. Let's see how you taste.›
Visser One's "sharktopus" body leapt into the pool, causing a considerable wave of water to slam over the edges. I needed to come to Tobias' aid, but felt restricted by my morph selection for a water environment.
Suddenly I had an idea.
‹With your permission, Prince Jake,› I said. ‹I would like to jump in to help Tobias.›
‹By all means, man,› Prince Jake answered, sounding flustered. ‹We're a little busy over here!›
I looked over with my stalk eyes as I made my way to the swimming pool. A group of blue band Hork-Bajir-Controllers, Visser One's top bodyguards, had entered the room behind the visser. Prince Jake had left Tom on a bench next to the wall in order to fight more effectively. I saw a wolf and a cheetah, Cassie and Rachel, emerge from the shadows. They would be fine, but I needed to get to Tobias.
I jumped.
Once in the pool, I stayed upright in the water by churning my legs as I focused on a morph I thought could help. Visser One's morph was large, but I had one that was even bigger.
I watched as Tobias, in Nartec morph, swiftly cut through the water, dodging bites and grabs by the visser's tentacles.
‹Stay still!› Visser One bellowed.
‹Ax-man,› Tobias called out. ‹He can't really grab me in here. Feels like being a bird in the air. But I have no natural weapons! Ideas? Oh.›
That last "oh" was Tobias' realization of my morph. I was hard to miss, because a giant squid takes up a considerable portion of a human swimming pool, even a large one.
‹Ax! Tobias!› Cassie said. ‹There's too many of them, we're heading out! Jake had to leave Tom!›
‹I'm crawling out,› Tobias reported to me, calmly considering the circumstances. ‹How can I help?›
I wrapped three long tentacles of my own around the visser; two pinning his octopus tentacles together, one restricting his jaw full of razor-sharp teeth. Visser One struggled briefly before I threw him, with all the power a giant squid could generate, completely out of the pool and into the rafters, slamming his shark head into the high bars.
‹Aww! I'm jealous!› said Rachel.
‹I think I'm okay, Tobias,› I answered.
‹Nice one!› Tobias said. ‹You know, this feels like old times. Animorphs versus Yeerks. Maybe it's good that Zenguh disappeared. This feels more right.›
This battle was another stalemate. As Marco liked to say, Tobias and I then "bailed."
