Animorphs: The Time
Chapter Two
Previously:
Cassie:
...I reached the Visser. He swiped his tail at me. With quick wolf reflexes, I dodged it and lunged to take a bite out of him. Jake came, with a roar escaping his tiger mouth. He slashed his huge paws at the Visser's arms. Andalite arms are weak, making the Visser drop the device he was holding. It landed on my snout and I tossed it to Ax who caught it. He carried his Andalite hooves away, along with the device.
/NO!!\ The Visser roared, trying to gallop after him. Jake and I quickly blocked his path and snarled nastily.
His Andalite eyes burned with intent to kill. /You won't get away with this, Andalites!\
We felt the room shatter and rumble. Marco and Rachel were on their jobs...
Rachel:
I head butted the door. The bear in me hardly felt a thing. I was thankful. If I were human, it would have brought me a concussion. Bear endurance was something.
Right beside me, Marco was giving his all in slamming his gorilla fists into the steel door.
Neither of us were doing much damage. At this rate, we might all end up dead. Can't allow that, now can we?
An idea appeared in my head. Teamwork.
I said. /Marco, on three we ram this thing down! Got it?\
He grunted. /Got it, Xena.\
/One!\ We backed away from the wall to allow as much force as possible.
/Two!\ I bent my head, ready to charge. Marco seemed agitated to take off already but he held himself for the last moment.
/THREE!\ We broke, going all out towards the steel door. As we made contact, I felt the whole room tremble and shake like a major earthquake. There was a deep dent in the door. Perhaps another ram would bring it down?
/Yah-hah! That was good!\ I cheered triumphantly. /Again, again!\ I reminded myself of those Teletubbies after the video on their tummies had ended.
We backed away once again.
/One, two, THREE!\ We rushed forward once again, hitting the door as hard as we could. Behind us, we heard a loud, painful whimper.
I heard Jake yell. /Cassie! Cassie!\
I glanced back. A wolf was sprawled on the floor, struggling to get up. A long, deep gash ran along her side. The Visser must have gotten her, and he was still proceeding toward her to finish her off. Jake growled loudly and lunged into the side of the Visser. A flash of blue and Jake was knocked to the ground, skidding. Thank god it was only the flat of his blade. His care for Cassie must have made Jake reckless.
/Jake!\ I called. /Be careful! Don't get yourself killed!\
I saw Jake hesitate as he thought things over in a hurry. The Visser was still heading towards Cassie.
Clank. The device slid across the floor, towards me and Marco. My bear eyes just barely made out a image of Ax recovering from the kick that sent the time traveller towards us. He went to assist Jake and Cassie.
I bent down to pick it up. It fumbled in my bear paws. I growled. /Marco, get that for me.\
He got his gorilla hands and picked the time travelling device up with ease. /Easy peesy.\ I imagined the grin on his face then felt a twinge of irritation.
Sleeeech. The screech of blade against blade. The Visser and Ax were fighting each other.
Off to the side, Jake was nudging Cassie delicately with his snout./Demorph, Cassie! Demorph, please. Hurry!\ He tossed his head to one side and looked straight at me and begged./RACHEL! Take her behind the boxes. She can't be dead. Make her demorph.\ There was distress in his voice. Obvious distress.
I lumbered toward them. Picking Cassie's wolf form up in my paws, it made her seem like a doll compared to me. Jake took one final glance at Cassie's closed eyes before returning to the battle to help Ax.
I took her behind the boxes and settled down. /Come on, Cassie. Change back now. You're safe from the Visser's view. Come on, girl. Demorph for us. Demorph for you. Save yourself.\
There was no change.
I panicked./Cassie! Listen, demorph! Now! Do it for Jake!\
Jake's voice appeared in our heads. /Come on, Cassie. Don't die on me!\
A dreadful pause. Then I saw her fur sinking back into her body.
I felt delight. /She's doing it!\
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jake pounce at the Visser with more heart than before.
I watched Cassie return to human form. She was breathing heavily. A word escaped her gasping lips,"Ouch..."
/Don't worry.\ I comforted the best I could. /You did it, Cassie. Rest for now. Get ready to go soon. We're just gonna finishing taking care of this darn Vis-\
CRASH! The steel door knocked down. But it went the wrong way. Marco came rolling backwards as useless as a tumble weed. At the ruined door, an army of about 15 Hork-Bajir arrived.
/No...!\ Marco groaned.
I snarled. /More trouble. Let's do this! Rest, Cassie. Then come in whenever you want.\
I left her behind the boxes and brought my grizzly legs running toward the Hork-Bajir. I roared loudly in their faces and drool slid down my muzzle. I launched myself at one, knocking two others behind it. Slashing and biting, I ruined the alien's body and face. It screeched in agony as I gave it wounds beyond repair.
Marco came, slamming his fists into the heads of Hork-Bajir. They were instantly knocked out.
The remaining Hork-Bajir did their best to slash at us.
Swiiip. Swiiiip. Green blades soared in the air all around us. Some more or less accurate than the others.
/You IDIOTS!\ The Visser roared in the midst of the battle. /Go after the device! Forget the Andalites and get the device! It's more important than anything else! GO!\
/Marco?!\ I shouted when I saw he wasn't holding the time traveller. /WHERE IS IT?!\
/Cassie.\ He replied simply as he continued clobbering the Hork-Bajir. He was annoying calm when I had just stressed myself.
I took a quick glance at Cassie as she held the device between her wolf jaws. She dashed out the wrecked door, taking the device with her.
/That's my girl.\ I said. Proud and relieved that she had taken it out of here so quickly.
I felt a sharp prick as a blade sliced me. I turned back to the crowd of Hork-Bajir. Some had left to go towards the steel door. I ran towards them, but Jake beat me to it. He snapped at them and growled ferociously. I teamed up with him and blocked the way.
/We're out in a few minutes, everyone.\ Jake ordered. /Corner them to the farthest wall you can get, then run for it!\
I lunged at the crowd gathered in front of us, causing them to lurch back. Swiping my paw threatening in front of their faces was rewarded with another step back. Cowards. Soon, they were backed up nearly to the wall but not quite touching it. I decided it was enough before they realized what we were up to.
I hauled butt out of there, followed by a limping Ax, a bloody Jake, and a tired Marco. I probably looked as bad as them.
I instantly found Cassie's wolf scent. /This way, this way!\ I ran down the corridor. We could hear the shouts and roars behind us. Of Hork-Bajir and the Visser. We had to hurry.
We turned the corner and were confronted by about four Taxxons. Not much. Ax got rid of them quite easily with a quick swipe of his tail. They were probably just guards. Lousy guards.
Soon, we saw light at the end of the corridor. It wasn't the same way as when we had came in. Apparently, there were several entrances and exits.
Ax started morphing into his northern harrier while he galloped toward the end of the corridor. We didn't want to risk any non-Controllers to see him in alien form and the morphing also repaired his injuries. Without a doubt, the Yeerks won't be heading out into the area. They didn't have the ability to morph to human or animals.
We finally reached the end of the corridor.
The light blinded us, momentarily.
Tobias:
After several moments of waiting, I finally saw Cassie appear. She had something strange in her mouth. She dashed into the shelter of the trees.
/What is that?\
/Time travel device.\ She answered.
/So it was time travel?\ I asked, incredulously.
She nodded tiredly. She hid behind a tree and collapsed. She probably had to go through tons of morphs at the looks of it. Even an estreen like her could be tired after many multiple morphs. I probably won't find out the exact details of the battle anytime soon. I hardly ever do and I'm not sure if I do want to find out. I watched as she slowly regained her human form.
Her snout was replaced with human lips and nose. The fur disintegrated into her body. Her tail slurped into her behind and she got her fingers and toes back. Her knees made a sickenly crunch as it reversed itself to its original form. She sat up against a tree, leaned her head back, and closed her eyes. She looked exhausted.
I let her rest.
Moments later, a band of animals arrived from the same direction Cassie had came from. A grizzly bear led the way with her talented nose.
/Cassie! Tobias!\ Rachel called.
/Right here.\ I said. /Cassie's tired. What happened in there?\
/Visser Three.\ Jake said simply. It was enough to explain everything. Even though we had Ax, an experienced Andalite invested by a Yeerk could be hard to take on. Not to mention even more difficult if there was back up.
I fluttered up into the trees to take a look. From the tunnel they had came from, stood the Visser. His eyes were dangerous as he scanned the area. We were all hidden, but my hawk eyes could still see him while he couldn't see us. He had weak Andalite eyes that were nothing compared to mine. I had a close up of him, as if he was standing right in front of me.A curse screwed into our heads. He didn't care who heard. /You won't get away with this! I will get that device back and destroy you once and for all. Enjoy your last moments. You won't know what got you when you suddenly disappear from reality./
He took one last scan then disappeared into the tunnel.
Everyone began demorphing, except Ax and me. Once everyone was human, they paused tiredly before going bird morph.
/Let's get out of here.\ Jake said.
I took a glance around. /Clear. No Controllers.\ We took off towards the sky. Rachel held the device in her talons. It looked surprisingly light and small for something that had the dangerous power of time travel.
When we arrived back at the barn, everyone demorphed. Ax remained in Andalite form. Cassie's mom had went to The Gardens and Cassie's dad had a meeting while we went away. Rachel placed the device on a table and we gathered around to take a look.
It was silver and shiny with many rows of different colored buttons. On the side, it had a single, tiny lever. The device was rectangular, like a walkie-talkie. It had a screen on top and if I hadn't know better I would have thought it was suited for watching videos. Basically, it looked almost like human technology but of course we knew better.
/Don't touch it.\ Ax warned.
"Thank you, Mr. Obvious," Marco retorted with a roll of his eyes.
Jake questioned,"Ax, do you know how this thing works?"
/My apologies, Prince Jake. Back in my home planet, I've never held one of these in my hands. They are limited and kept in tough security. You have to be a very high rank to touch one and an even higher rank to operate it. The schools had strict rules of not mentioning the device during lessons. Highly prohibited to talk about, in case any of us developed ideas to use one falsely.\
Rachel asked,"Got any guesses on how it works?"
/I believe if this device is from the Andalite planet then it should operate in a way roughly the same as anything else we've created. Blue should be the 'on' button, as you humans refer to it. Green should be off. The red lever has a high chance of being the trigger to press once you have finished inserting the time you want to go to.\
Marco nodded. "Okay. That's a start. Now, who's going to press it?"
We stared silently at each other.
Jake took his finger and hovered over the only red button. Then he pressed it. There was a silent second when we thought it was broken until the screen lit up and came to life.
A robotic voice sounded in our heads. /Darrath Tiempus Dalin.\
/I'm guessing that's the inventor and the name of the machine?\ I said.
Then it started beeping.
"A bomb!?" Marco screeched, taking a comical step back with his arms spread out in from of him.
/A code.\ Ax explained.
Cassie said,"Like Morse Code?"
/Yes, only it is an Andalite version.\
Jake asked,"Can you translate it for us?"
/I don't specialize in old Andalite language but I think I caught something along the lines of 'enter' and 'time'. Perhaps it means to type in the date you want to travel to?\
"But we don't know what the buttons mean." Rachel reasoned. "There's not a single word on the buttons to indicate what they are."
Ax picked the device up. He studied it before pressing a button. Then he set it back down on the table. The buttons were now lit up, with symbols on them.
/That should do.\ Ax said, satisfied.
"Um...Ax?" Marco said. "What do those symbols mean?"
Ax replied./Old Andalite numbers and letters.\
/Can you read them?\ I asked.
/Yes. Some. It should be enough to operate the device.\ Ax replied.
Rachel grinned. "Well, let's get this baby up and running."
/We're actually going to use it?\ I asked.
"Why not?" Rachel countered. "It'll be fun won't it?"
Ax said in a grave tone. /You must keep in mind that we may never return to the present ever again. I am not sure if Andalites have perfected this device. There may still be some faults. And even if there were no faults, there is a high chance of one of you not being born. Or even the alter of the present. It may even lead to a faster infestation of human hosts.\
Rachel argued,"Well, since we're going to the past we can do the opposite. We can actually slow down the invasion even more. How hard can it be to keep everything good in its place and only affect the things that we want to affect? We can even have another chance to save Tom."
Rachel fell silent knowing that she probably shouldn't have mentioned of Tom. We knew Jake must be remembering our failed attempts at saving his brother from the Yeerk Pool.
Cassie said softly as she stared at her boots,"We can change the way we went home on that night." She looked up. "We can completely avoid becoming the Animorphs. Avoid all the trouble and murder."
Marco:
We all looked at Cassie. Everyone wanted to stop killing, but none of us were going to say anything. It was practically surrendering the battle to the Yeerks.
I'm not completely sure if the others have noticed yet, but I've been silent ever since the conversation of using the machine came up. Yes, I did want to use the machine to somehow get a chance to save my mom from the Yeerks. But I knew it was very risky. I might not come back home, and my dad would lose another family member. I won't be able to live while knowing I had left him all alone. But Andalite technology had always been very advanced. I've never seen an invention from them that had ever had a fault.
Jake thought up of a solution. "We vote. Think for a minute. Make up your minds, then we vote."
The barn went quiet after that. There was an occasional animal sound from the cages, but that's pretty much it.
If the time machine did have a problem, we can always use it to return back here, right? And if we did alter something we didn't want to, we can give it another try by reversing time once again. Like Rachel said, we could slow down the invasion even more. We won't know until we try.
But...there was also the possibility of something going wrong. What if we can't reverse time to fix one of our problems? We can also end up doomed in the past and have to relive everything that we went through – tests, homework. And lots of things would seem like de-ja-vus. Time travel was never easy. It always gave me a headache when I tried to make sense of it. It always had many different ways of happening.
I was torn between the choices!
/A minute has passed.\ Ax, our friend with the internal clock, announced. At the moment, I disliked him. His time was crazy accurate. I wished he had added an extra minute to the thinking time or maybe even more.
"I say lets do it!" Take a wild guess at who that is. She's tall, blond and none other than Xena: Warrior Princess. AKA Rachel. Nothing less expected from her.
/Sorry, Rach.\ Tobias apologized. /I'm against this. I like the way things are right now. It's not exactly the best, but I can live with it. Who knows what will happen if we mess up the time travel?\
/I agree with Tobias. Many things can go wrong with travelling through time. You must be aware of that!\ Ax declared.
"I'm for." Cassie said. "It's our chance to fix everything that we've done wrong. Since we know our mistakes, we can use them at our advantage."
Jake looked at me,"Your turn, Marco. I'm not having a say in this. I'm neutral."
I gaped. I wasn't ready. "That's not fair! You have to vote." I was sure I said that only to buy time because I knew. I knew once Jake made his mind, it'll be hard to change it. He was a determined person.
Jake shook his head. "Sorry. Look at it this way, if I vote, it'll come out tied."
Cassie agreed,"Which would completely defeat the purpose of even having this voting session."
"Who's side are you on, Ms. I'm Everyone's Friend?" I growled, wanting to divert the attention, change the topic, and release my distress all at the same time. "Look, I don't know, okay? I can't make up my mind."
Cassie said soothingly despite the way I had snapped at her. "Take your time and think. We'll wait."
I didn't like the way she was talking. It reminded me of how you would talk to a crying baby.
"Fine. I'm for." I decided. It was out of mouth before I had a chance to think. I groaned to myself. My guy instinct always did something like this. Make myself feel childish and then feel like I had to prove myself strong to the others. Even if it's completely insane.
Jake clamped his hands together. "Alright then. That's two no's and three yes's. We're doing this. Uh...but the question now is, what time are we going to?"
Author's Note: Okay, that's it for this chapter! Please review. Press the pretty little button on the bottom, left-hand corner and tell me what you think.