A/N: Hope that this chapter makes up for the really short ones earlier! Decided to take the time and give this story that attention that it deserves.
Jeer-Yee Two
My name is Jeer-Yee Two. And I was in big trouble.
I swam my way over to the pier, tensely waiting for the host's ear to enter the pool. Millions of thoughts raced through my head.
The ripple came! I scrunched my way over to the ear at about an 1 Iph (Inch per hour). I had had far better bodies. I'm not talking about controlling a Hork-Bajir, Taxxon, or even human. I've been far better things. Been, not infested. The truth is, I'm not even a yeerk.
I'm an Ary-Oo, The race that embodies perfection. We are absolutely perfect in every way. Flawless. We have no weaknesses. And that is why all of the other races will have no defense when we invade them. They will be crushed beneath-
(Jeer-Yee Two!)
I snapped out of my thoughts. I had been in the host body for about two minutes without realizing it. That happens some times. All of the other races are tied down to fabric of reality, while we Ary-Oo have broken free from it, and the inevitable laws that come with it.
"Yes, Visser three?" I asked, feigning fear of this commander that all of his subordinates share. An Ary-Oo knows no fear.
(I want your report on the andalite bandits!) He roared. (You said that you had information!)
This is why I was in deep doo-doo. Mary Sue, a low ranking Ary-Oo scout, had telepathically sent me the names of all the 'andalite bandits'. Unfortunately, my host mind had intercepted part of the transmission, and but assumed it came from me. She was very excited, she thought that we were going to get a big promotion for finding the andalite bandits. She was voluntary, and she had told the Visser that we knew the identities of the andalite bandits. I couldn't afford to give them out at the moment, they were crucial to the overall plan. Hence the problem.
"The Andalite Bandits-" I stalled, reaching out with my mind. "They are-"
(What?) Visser snapped.
Suddenly I felt Mary's mind connect to my own, finally. It is so difficult to link minds with a lowly scout. Their powers aren't fully developed enough.
I need the Andalite Bandits to attack the the yeerk pool, I muttered.
Why?, She asked. I fumed. It wasn't for a scout to ask questions.
Have you lost control of your projection?, I snapped. You do not ask questions, you just obey!
Alright!, She grumbled. I think I can get them to attack tomorrow.
I broke the connection, not bothering with pleasantries. As if a warrrior had to be polite to a scout!
"Attacking on Sunday." I said to the Visser with false confidence ringing in my voice. "The Andalite Bandits will be attacking on Sunday!"
I left a gleeful Visser Three planning the demise of his enemies, while I jogged up the yeerk pool stairs. The body was young and fit, yet she was panting when we reached the top. I had chosen this body especially to be the same age as Mary Sue. Mary's telepathy was horrible at the best of times, and communication was crucial. We could communicate with mouth-sounds, and we would look less suspicious if we were the same age and sex.
I emerged from the yeerk pool and into the bathroom of a movie theater. The owner nodded to me as I walked out.
My inner voice told me to look up. I obeyed, and saw a red-tailed hawk circling overhead.
Tobias, My mind whispered. An andalite bandit name! I scanned the crowd, pushing my mind to it's limit.
Marcia. Ron. Luke. Josie. Benny. Tommy. Marco. Kenny. J-
Wait! I flipped my eye's back and aimed at the short boy I had seen. Marco. My mind whispered. Shit.
I ducked behind the corner of the building. My cover could not be blown. If the andalite bandits attacked now, Visser three would try to kill me. I could easily take him out, but that would arouse some serious suspicion. So I waited, waited and watched.
After about five minutes, Marco walked over to a magazine stand and picked up a batman comic. A tall blonde girl joined him, and they started chatting. Rachel.
A few seconds later, a short black girl entered my sights. She headed for the magazine stall and-
DUCK! My mind bellowed. I dropped to the ground swiftly, and saw the shadow of a red tailed hawk pass overhead. I stayed low, waiting.
Meanwhile, my host mind was blubbering at me. (What are you doing?) She cried. (Why are you spying on these kids? We should be back with Visser three, planning the ambush of the Andalite bandits!)
My god, She was so annoying. I would have to dispose of her when I got the chance. I was eagerly contemplating this, when four kids entered the theater. Marco. Cassie. Rachel. Ax. Phillup. Ax. PHILLUP! AX! PHILLUP!
I fell over, dazed. But then I felt myself stand up. The host! I was dimly aware of her taking us inside of the theater, determinedly heading for the yeerk pool. It was time to take a serious risk.
(You! Listen to me.) I said to my host. (Those four are the andalite bandits!)
She felt the truth in my statement, and she was not stupid. She came to same conclusion that I had. If the Andalite Bandits attacked today instead of tomorrow, Visser three would make sure that her head rolled.
"Damn!" She swore, a rather bad habit she had picked up from me. She yanked out her dracon beam, and went into the movie that they had.
It was dark, and it took a moment for our eyes to adjust. By the light of the flickering screen, we could barely make out the group moving towards the projection room.
Suddenly, Ax/Phillup looked back at us, and motioned to his friends. They all dropped into the sea of heads.
"Double damn!" She said angrily. "What now?"
I gave her some brief instructions, and then crawled out of her ear. I was blind and deaf again, but not for long. It was time to unleash the full power of the Ary-Oo.
I called out for a link to one of the sub-leaders. The leader couldn't be bothered for something as mundane as this. Suddenly, I felt my mind meld with another. Sub-Leader 876.
Yes? The coldness in his voice was so intense that I shivered.
Requesting new projection. I said. Combat situation.
I readied myself for the new form, but instead got a voice yelling at me.
You moron, I can't give you a new projection here!, He bellowed. I was shocked. You are in a reality field! You are grounded! Repeat, You are grounded! Get out of there, Jeer-Yee!
I was grounded! How had that happened? We Ary-Oo have broken free of reality, which in a quantum-mechanical way is a sort of floor, and we soar above it. The building, or something in the building, was projecting a reality field that had caused me to fall towards reality, and my realistic levels were becoming dangerously high. If I didn't get away from this field soon, I was going to crash. Reality would get a firm grip on me, and it wouldn't be letting go this time.
I felt the connection with the sub-leader break. My powers were no longer strong enough to support a link to the Ary-Oo home world. But they were still strong enough for a simple short-distance connection. It was time for an even bigger risk.
You! I snapped weakly at my host, fumbling for her name. Jessica! Get me outta here, pronto! Please!
I was unconscious by the time two hands picked me up and hurried me from the building.
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MARCO
Okay, can you explain something to me? Cuz none of us can figure this out. Tobias found Jake and Mary at a movie theater. We concoct a simple plan to get a moment alone with Jake and warn him about Mary. We all meet up in front of the theater, and go inside. We spot Jake, and go towards him. Nothing to do with the yeerks, right? Right. So why the hell does some chick suddenly whip out a dracon beam and start shooting the crap out of us?
I didn't think you knew either. This is what happened:
We moved towards Mary and Jake, planning on grabbing Jake and whisking him away before Mary knew what happened. We paused behind them, and I was just about to grab him, when Ax said "I believe there is somebody following us."
We all ducked simultaneously, and the chair in front of us exploded. Rachel caught the full force of it, and was knocked backwards by about five rows. I looked up slowly, and saw this hot-looking girl with a dracon beam. She was wearing leather from head to toe, looking like she just stepped out of a Matrix movie.
"Stand up!" She said. Lots of people were stampeding the exit, and I resisted the urge to do the same. Instead I slowly rose, with my hands in the air. Jake turned around and glared at me.
"Marco!" He bellowed. "You're ruining my date!"
That was when I knew. There was no way the real Jake could see his best friend with a dracon beam pointed at him and come out with 'You're ruining my date'. Jake had been bewitched, or whatever.
"Actually." Mary said, smiling a wicked smile that made my heart leap in spite of itself, "It's called Sued. Mary Sued, to be exact."
She punched me in the stomach, an astonishingly strong punch. I toppled over, holding my stomach, waiting.
"Get up!" The girl snarled, waving the dracon beam at me. I just lay there, groaning.
I felt someone next to me move slightly. Cassie!
"Wait." I hissed. I threw in another groan.
"Get up!" The girl yelled.
I leapt to my feet, at the exact same time as Cassie. Both Mary and leather girl looked surprised. We both lunged, with an unspoken agreement that Cassie had Mary.
I rammed leather girl hard in the stomach (Yes, I wanted some payback.), and she toppled over with a satisfying bang. Cassie dove at Mary's back. There was no way Mary could dodge, But Mary spun around like she had spidey-sense, and hurled herself into the air. Cassie shot underneath her and crashed into some chairs.
Meanwhile, me and leather girl were wrestling underneath the seats. She was trying to get her dracon beam, and I obviously didn't want her to have it. She had me in a half-nelson hold, and we rolled out into the aisle. As she grounded my face into the carpet, I noticed a gray slug writhing on the ground, clearly in mortal agony. I was just about to put it out of it's misery, when Mary reached down and snatched it up. That girl was involved with the yeerks, too? I didn't put too much thought into it at the moment. Instead, I concentrated on getting my leg away from leather girl before she broke it.
"Argh!" I yelped, as she twisted my ankle painfully. I brought my other leg crashing into her face, and she stumbled backwards clutching her nose. Blood streamed out from between her fingers.
"Freeze!" A man yelled. Oh, so that's what happened to the dracon beam. He was an old man, around fifty or so. I had to remind myself that he was a yeerk as I launched myself at him. This was going to be like beating up on someone's grandfather.
But somebody caught my leg and sent me crashing to the floor. I groaned and twisted around, expecting to see leather girl. But it was Jake who stood over me. Jake, my best pal. Jake, my buddy since forever. His face was contorted with anger, and he was about to bring his sneaker crashing down on my face.
Three things happened at once.
Cassie dove and grabbed Jake's arm. Jake got a shocked look on his face, like he had just touched a live electric wire. The old man fired the dracon beam at me.
Jake twisted his foot away from my face, and did a spinning kick. His foot connected with the dracon beam, and the shot went wild. The dracon beam went soaring across the room, and the man glared at Jake angrily.
"You earthlings are so bothersome." He snarled.
"Yeah, well you yeerks aren't exactly popular either." I shot back, climbing to my feet.
"Yeerks." He laughed softly. "I am not a yeerk."
"What are you, then?" Jake said in his soft, silky, dangerous voice.
"You can call me Gary." He grinned, showing one thousand perfect teeth. "Gary Stu."
He walked calmly out of the theater. We stood alone amid the wreckage of the theater.
"What is going on? Who are these people?" I said, as we scanned the place for Rachel and Ax.
"Mary Sue." Cassie said slowly. "I think I heard that name before."
"I know I heard it, and Gary Stu, too." Jake said. "Something my mom or dad said. I'll check it out."
We searched silently for a while. After a few minutes, Cassie found Ax with a large lump on his head, and Jake found Rachel knocked out inside of the movie screen. I found somebody else.
"Hey guys." I called out, standing over a whimpering leather girl. The old man's shot hadn't gone as wild as I'd thought. She was holding a large burn on her side, with blood oozing out between her fingers.
"Help." She muttered, barely above a whisper.
"Uh-uh." I said dryly. "Sorry, but my mom taught me to never help people who tried to kill me."
"The yeerk's gone." She moaned quietly. I clearly remembered the yeerk on the floor, yet something didn't ring true. Cassie also had a suspicious look on her face. She can smell lies a mile away.
"Don't trust her." We both said at the same time. Jake gave us both murderous looks, and knelt down besides her.
"Cassie, what if she's telling the truth?" Jake asked. "Can you just let her die?"
Cassie got the look on her face that means she's arguing with herself. I knew which side of her was going to win out, and I groaned inwardly.