Title: The Twins
Author: Alexis Steele
Fandom: Animorphs
Characters: all the majors
Genre: Alternate Universe, after #23 The Pretender
Series: First story in the "Descendents of the Ellimist" Chronicles
Summary: Rewrite of #23 The Pretender. Tobias is about to find more family than he can deal with. Who is telling the truth, and who is spinning a web of lies?
Author's Notes: This fic was my first attempt at fanfiction back in 1999. It has been lying dormant in notebooks and my computer until I pulled it from the Net in 2004. Looking back on the fic about a year ago, I realized that I had a lot of interesting ideas that I wanted to portray in this fic – eventually to become a series – and that I wanted to pick them up again, but I had some major changes that needed to be done to my OC, Shayla. She was a blatant Mary Sue, and now she's become an attempt to see if I can write a competent OC without her becoming a Mary Sue.
And, while I will be following more closely to the events that occurred in the book series, I will always see the characters as their TV counterparts. Let's face it, ladies, the TV series might've deviated a lot away from the books, but it definitely gave us some nice eye candy to glance at. I will also be extending the timeline of the story to five years, instead of three. Therefore, the Animorphs have been fighting the Yeerks for over two years.
Normal speech denoted with "…". Thought-speak denoted in ((italics)). From this chapter onwards, there will also be periods of telepathy written. Telepathy will be shown by ((bold-italics)).
Each chapter heading will tell you who is narrating this part of the story. If you don't see a character's name in the chapter heading, assume that the character from the previous chapter is still narrating.
Disclaimer: With the exception of Shayla and any other minor OCs, all the other characters are the property of K.A. Applegate and Scholastic Books. All feedback is greatly appreciated
Chapter 16:
While we were walking to Ax's scoop, I told Jake, Rachel, Marco, and Cassie about the meeting with DeGroot.
"I don't like this. There's something fishy going on with this meeting," Jake said.
"When does something involving the Yeerks not sound fishy?" Rachel asked.
"You know, she has a point there," Marco added.
"So, what should I do? Not attend the meeting?" I asked.
"No, you can't avoid the meeting. That'll just make the Yeerks more suspicious," Jake countered.
"In the meantime, what will the rest of us be doing?" Marco asked.
"We will be spread out along the block. One of us will be morphed onto Tobias, then no one goes out of thought-speak range," Jake said.
"And who gets to be the lucky Animorph along for the ride?" Marco asked, ultimately regretting he did.
"I'll go," Rachel volunteered.
"Surprise, surprise," Marco quipped.
"No Rachel, not this time. We need your grizzly morph in case this is a trap," Jake concluded.
"Lucky," Marco said under his breath. Jake must've heard it.
"You're out too Marco. Same applies for your gorilla morph."
"All right."
"I could do it," Shayla pointed out. "I mean, I probably shouldn't be too visible, since until now there's only been six 'Andalite bandits'."
"Do you have anything small enough?" Cassie asked.
Shayla shook her head. "No, but I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to acquire something between now and six o'clock."
"But how do we know we can trust you?" Jake argued once again.
Rachel mumbled under her breath. "Here we go again."
"If we can verify Shayla's morphing ability after we meet with Ax, then will you trust her, at least for now, since whatever this meeting is about may affect Shayla as well?" I inquired on Shayla's behalf.
Jake nodded. "Very well. Once we introduce Shayla to Ax, we can try to verify her story, and if it proves she's telling the truth, then she can 'ride shotgun' for tonight's mission."
"Then it's settled," Rachel finished.
By the time we reached Ax's scoop we had our plan figured out. When we reached Ax's scoop, I realized our dilemma.
"Jake, does Shayla come in or does she stay out here?" I asked.
"She should probably stay out here for now. We don't know how Ax is going to react to her," he explained.
"It's okay, I understand," Shayla agreed.
The rest of us walked inside. Ax looked a little upset.
((Tobias, there you are. Where have you been? We were supposed to watch 'These Messages' together, remember?))
"I'm sorry Ax," I started, "I've kind of been through an interesting day. I was at school all day with the rest of the Animorphs. I'm human again and I can still morph."
((Prove it.))
"Yes," a voice from behind me said, "let's end this dispute now."
I turned around and there stood Shayla, standing patiently at the doorstep. Unfortunately, I was unable to stop Ax from lunging his tail-blade towards Shayla's throat. Fortunately for her, Shayla was able to read Ax's mind and anticipate his movements. She dodged his blow and rolled out of the way while standing up behind me.
"Shayla, calm down. We told you to wait outside," I scolded.
"I got tired of waiting, besides if you're going to test out your morphing powers, I might as well show them mine," she explained.
"And Ax, relax a little bit. Shayla is the reason for my interesting day today. I was just informed today that Shayla is my sister," I continued.
((Your sister? Are you certain?))
"We can't prove it by blood analysis, but I believe the source who told us," Shayla said.
((And who was this source?))
"The Ellimist, who else," Marco spoke up, then addressed Shayla, "Don't be so quick to trust the Ellimist. You will quickly find that his 'interference to the point of non-interference' extremely infuriating."
((Why would you trust anything the Ellimist tells you, Tobias? You know he only manipulates us to suit his own goals.))
"It wasn't so much about the Ellimist. I wish I could explain this better, but I followed my instincts, which I will always place above anything the Ellimist could promise us," I tried to defend my position. "And my gut tells me that everything that's happened, not matter how unbelievable it may seem now, is completely true."
"Tobias and I are twins. We were separated from each other at birth. The Ellimist reunited us in order to transfer some inherent abilities from our mother that I have possessed, including a morphing ability that isn't restricted by a two-hour time limit," Shayla explained.
((If you wish to know the truth, I can perform the blood test here in my scoop.))
"How?" Jake asked.
((I just need a sample of both Shayla and Tobias' blood to do the analysis. I have the equipment over here.))
"And how is it that you just happen to have this equipment lying around?" Marco asked.
((I found the components at a local electronic store. It is quite primitive by Andalite standards, but you never know when it might come in handy,)) Ax explained.
"I'm willing to be tested, if this will prove that we're related," Shayla said.
"I don't need a test to tell you that this is the truth, but if it'll put everyone's mind at ease, then I'll do it as well," I countered.
((Very well, this will take but a moment.))
Ax went over to an area of his scoop and came back with an interesting instrument. It looked like a gun, but had a conic shape at one end of the long, cylindrical tube. On the opposite end of the device was a test tube. In the middle of the device were two holes with red and green dots on both sides of each hole.
((Who will go first?))
"I will," I volunteered.
Ax walked up to me and placed the device on my arm. I felt a needle prick and the blood was collected moments later.
((Shayla, your turn.))
"Fire away," she replied.
Ax repeated the same process.
((Now, I will place the two test tubes in the holes in the middle of the therdak filt. It will take five minutes for the blood to be analyzed. If the two blood samples match, both of the lights will be green. If they aren't matches, the red will be lit up. We must be patient.))
"In the meantime, why don't we end the agony that's plagued us all day," Rachel remarked.
"Yes, let's find out the truth," Jake replied.
"Very well, what would you like me to morph?" Shayla asked.
((Both of you do your raptor morphs, then I am going to ask Tobias to morph something from else from his human form.))
"Why Ax?" Marco asked.
((To see if he has retained all of his morphs from when he was trapped.))
"Very well, let's proceed," Shayla said.
Shayla and I stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by the rest of the Animorphs. We both started changing at the same time. I started out with my nose and mouth forming into a beak, then my arms became itchy as feathers formed on my pink flesh, next I began to shrink to a quarter of my size. As this was occurring, my eyesight and hearing sharpened once again (I was trying to keep my enhanced senses tuned down at the moment, otherwise the others would know there was something seriously different about me) and in moments I was in my former body again. I heard exasperating cries from my friends, but mostly because Shayla had imitated the exact same changes as me, except for two differences – one, her morph was a merlin, and two, her clothes weren't lying on a pile on the floor like mine.
"How did you do that?" Cassie demanded.
((It took a few years to perfect. Actually, it seems kind of silly right now,)) she said.
"What does? You are going to tell us how right?" Rachel interjected.
((Of course, except for I don't know how to make it work for Andalites yet. In order to find out for Ax, I would have to morph him. And even then it could take a few years.))
"So, don't keep us in suspense, tell us already," Marco shouted.
((It's a two-fold process,)) she began as she started morphing back to her normal self with her clothes still intact, and not in shreds on the floor, "First, you have to picture the animal you're morphing into wearing the clothes you have on down to the smallest detail, then, and this is the harder part, you have to override the animal's instincts that wearing the clothing is the most natural thing in the world for them to be doing."
"I'll have to try that sometime," Cassie said.
((Alright Tobias, morph something else.)) Ax requested.
"Anything in particular?" I asked.
"Whatever you want to do," Jake said.
"Okay, here it goes," I said as I began the one morph that would be considered my battle morph -- Hork-Bajir. I was going to attempt Shayla's morphing technique. In my mind, I pictured the Hork-Bajir wearing my black pants, black t-shirt, black leather jacket, and of course shoes. Then, I concentrated with all my might in trying to get the Hork-Bajir to realize that wearing clothes and shoes was perfectly natural. First, I started to grow taller, at an alarming rate. Next, my skin became dry, flaky, and hoarse, and blades sprouted out of my arms, legs, and head. I didn't hear my clothes shredding. So far, so good. My feet started shifting into the T-rex form of claws. Then, I heard a popping and tearing noise. In a few moments, I was a Hork-Bajir and my clothes were still intact, but my shoes had been shredded by the Hork-Bajir's massive toe-clawed feet.
"Well, it was good for a first attempt," Rachel shrugged.
Shayla nodded in agreement. "Shoes are actually the hardest thing to conquer. The larger the animal, the harder it is to maintain."
((Can I change back now?)) I asked.
((Yes, Tobias. And hurry, the results of the blood analysis are almost ready.))
I repeated the same process as before and again, my clothes stayed intact.
"Here Tobias," Marco said as he handed me a spare set of shoes that everyone kept around in Ax's scoop in case of emergencies.
"Thanks," I replied, though it came out more gruffly than normal as my vocal cords hadn't finished morphing back to human yet.
After I was my normal self again, I was swarmed with a bear hug from Rachel.
"I'm so happy for you," she squealed.
"I told you there would be nothing to worry about," I explained. "As I told you before, the Ellimist didn't do anything. It's like he was acting as a medium between the two of us."
((If the Ellimist didn't give you back your morphing powers, who did?))
"Shayla, when we transferred our abilities to each other earlier this morning in the woods," I answered.
((What abilities? What else do you possess?))
((Telepathy.)) I answered telepathically. ((Unlimited morphing ability. And a healing ability.))
((Fascinating. The analysis is complete. We should have our results in five of your seconds.))
Five...four....three.....two.......one..........and.............
Beep. Beep.
Two green dots appeared on the device.
((As the results show, the blood analysis matches each other. Tobias and Shayla are, indeed, related. Whether or not they're twins, this device cannot tell.))
"That's fine Ax. All we needed to know is whether we were related anyway," Shayla said reassuringly.
"Yes, this is excellent news, Tobias," Rachel said, congratulating me and my sister.
"Okay, Tobias," Jake began, "as the test results show, Shayla is your sister. And, with the proof I've seen, I'm willing to give Shayla a chance of joining us. On a probationary basis. She will not go on missions alone. For the first two weeks, she will not leave my side during a mission. For the first month, you will only be allowed to go on missions with Tobias, Ax, and myself. After a month has passed, you will be off probation and an honorary member of the Animorphs. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Jake, and thank you," Shayla said. Then she looked down at her watch. "Whoa. We need to get going. We have to get to the mall yet and get Tobias some clothes before his meeting at six. I'm still 'riding shotgun' right?"
Jake nodded his consent.
((What meeting?)) Axinquired.
"We'll explain on the way, Ax," Rachel said.
((Can we get some Cinnabuns, please?))
"Sure Ax, whatever you want," Cassie replied.
((Excellent.))
"Of all the things on Earth to enjoy, he likes Cinnabuns the best. That's a riot," Shayla laughed.
"Just wait until you see him eat them. We still haven't been able to control him and his eating when it comes to Cinnabuns yet," Marco joked.
"I suggest we fly there," I announced, "It will take a shorter amount of time."
"Good idea Tobias," Jake pronounced.
"Yeah, we can try Shayla's technique," Cassie added.
"Let's go," Shayla shouted.
We all morphed our bird of prey morphs. Cassie and Marco as ospreys, Rachel as a bald eagle, Jake as a peregrine falcon, Ax as a northern harrier, Shayla as a merlin, and myself, a red-tail. We all morphed our bird of prey morphs. Cassie and Marco as ospreys, Rachel as a bald eagle, Jake as a peregrine falcon, Ax as a northern harrier, Shayla as a merlin, and myself, a red-tailed hawk. But whereas Shayla and I were able to retain our clothing, the other Animorphs quickly lost their clothing as their bodies shrunk in size.
((This is totally unfair!)) Marco whined in protest.
In five minutes, we demorphed outside the mall at the alleyway across the street. I led the other Animorphs to a remote alley near the mall where we all stashed a cache of spare clothing in case we need to morph to spy on the Yeerk pool entrance that's located inside the Gap in the mall. Then we demorphed. It felt good to demorph for a change. While all of us were almost completely demorphed, and the other Animorphs clothed themselves once again, Ax was still in his Andalite form.
"Come on Ax, hurry up. Someone might come down that alley any minute," Rachel urged him
Ax hesitated before approaching Shayla and I. While still in his Andalite form, he reached out and acquired us. He was adding us to the already combined DNA of Jake, Rachel, Cassie, and Marco. Then he proceeded to morph with the newly added DNA. Actually, I was kind of hoping he wouldn't change too much. Too many high-ranking controllers have seen Ax in his human morph. Fortunately, the only things to occur were his hair darkened and his eye color changed from Rachel's blue to Shayla's bluish-gray.
"I've wanted to do that ever since you got your morphing powers back Tobias. I hope you weren't offended, Shayla," he said.
"Why would I be offended?" Shayla asked.
"We've kind of made it a policy to ask a sentient being before we acquire him or her," Cassie explained.
"Oh, well then, I wasn't offended. In fact, I made up a similar rule to that back when I was ten. It would seem a little strange to have two of one person walking around the children's home at the same time. I actually feel honored, in a way. Who else but six other people in the entire universe can say they were used to create another human being?" Shayla explained.
"The scientists from Twins," Marco joked.
"Funny, Marco, funny," Shayla laughed. At least someone laughed at Marco's dry humor.
"I never really thought about it that way before," Rachel contemplated.
With that, we made our way to the entrance of the mall. As we reached the doors, the combination of the massive influx of thoughts coupled with my heightened senses caused me to collapse in sheer agony. As the blackness overtook me, I telepathically called out to Shayla, ((Help me!))
Author's Note 2: Sorry, everyone, but once again I've reached the end of the material that has been previously written. I've been fighting with the muses constantly to get them to concentrate on this story, and we'll see how it goes this week. Sorry to leave it at a cliffhanger.
Author's Replies:
angry-penguin: You're welcome. If there're any other questions you have, feel free to ask. Thanks for the review!
Luckynumbersleven: Wow! I'm certainly not up to K.A's caliber, but thanks for the complement. Now, hopefully I can address some of your concerns.
1) Tobias and the Ellimist – I reworked this chapter at the end to hopefully explain Tobias' feelings, and why he's acting the way he is. I hope it explains his position better. As for the Ellimist, I'm glad you noticed. See, when I first started writing this fic (almost ten years ago) I had to come up with a background for the Ellimist, and I'd envisioned that the Ellimist resides in a Q-continuum like environment that overlooks the multiverses (like Star Trek), so the Ellimist who has been visiting Tobias and Shayla may or may not be the Ellimist Tobias is familiar with.
2) TV Show vs. Book Info: I must be one of the few fans out there who was introduced to Animorphs via the TV and then began to read the books. Thus, the little throwbacks: Gerald, Cassie with the allergy vs. Rachel, and the discrepancies between TV Tobias and Book Tobias. I know they're not book canon, but I try to warn readers at the start of the chapters where information deviates from book canon into TV fanon. I hope it won't be a turn-off to you, but I do understand that a lot of people didn't like the TV series adaptation. To be honest, this'll probably be the only story that has references to the TV show in the chapters, as it's been so long since I've watched the show (not that I can't drag out my tapes and watch them again for posterity's sake *winks*).
Anyway, I definitely look forward to more reviews. Thank you for the honest feedback!