A/N: Congratulations to Ember Nickel for winning the second Visser Three's Journal contest! To see what Ember won, visit my profile page. :) Ember chose Tobias as its character to feature in the chapter. Also, Ember had the choice to create a dialogue to include in it. Ember's dialogue is:
(Hork-Bajir at seven o'clock!)
(Ah. Thanks.)
(You're welcome. Least I can do.)
(Don't talk that way!)
(What do I do?)
(You...you keep the spirit. Of what we're fighting for. Kind of like that honor deal, that Elfangor had.)
An uneasy pause, then: (Has all that been public?)
With that said, this chapter is set in Animorphs #15: The Escape.
Thanks again, Ember! And of course, this chapter is dedicated to you. Hope you enjoy it!
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Visser Three's Journal
Chapter 10
My Side of The Escape
May 28th
Dear Journal,
For the first time in a week, I was in the black waiting room. I saw Ellie, her hair hanging more dreadfully than before. She looked up at me with glimmering green eyes.
" Like, hello Visser!" she said.
No, NO! my mind exclaimed, but I didn't listen. ( Hi Ellie. )
Then, as usual, Iniss walked into the room with his thinking cap, his buck teeth and his broken red bottle.
( What's wrong, Iniss? ) I asked again.
" I can't find any water!" he sobbed.
( Water? ) I asked skeptically.
" Yeah, I need water to fill up my bottle!" he exclaimed. I looked down at the bottle, and this time I tried to protest.
( Iniss, your bottle is broken, ) I said. ( You can't -- )
Haha, don't worry. It's not going to last very long anyway, Visser One's voice rang out suddenly, cutting me off.
( Visser One! What the hell are you talking about? ) I asked, suddenly feeling despaired. Lost. Frustrated.
I expected the usual "You're such an idiot, you know that?". But no… this time, she said something different. And ten times more disturbing.
It's all your fault, Visser Three! Her accusing voice taunted me. All your fault!
( WHAT is my fault? ) I yelled to the ceiling. ( … ANSWER ME! )
" Who are you talking to, Visser Three?" Ellie asked. At least this part was normal…
I pointed to the wall. ( Visser One. Didn't you hear her? )
" Visser One?" Ellie repeated, as if lost.
It's all your fault, all your fault, all your fault…
" Visser!" Iniss pulled on my fur and repeated, " I need some water to fill up my bottle!"
I looked at him and saw Ellie, from the corner of my eye, looking at me with the strangest expression in her eyes. Her eyes glimmered red.
Visser Three…
( SHUT UP, VISSER ONE! ) I screamed, clutching at my head. ( LEAVE ME ALONE! )
Visser Three!
( NO! )
" VISSER THREE!"
I awoke in a startle, only to find Visser One's pretty face staring down at me, unimpressed.
( Visser One! ) I exclaimed. ( What are you doing here? )
She raised an eyebrow. " You were yelling at me in your sleep. Are our arguments really that bad?"
I smirked. ( Do you ever doubt it? )
She smirked back and punched me. " Never did, never will."
( Never do, ) I added, pushing her clear off my bed. Yes, she was sitting on the bed.
Or had been, at least… Hehe.
" I just got back from Earth yesterday, but I'm going back this morning. I have to oversee an Earth project today," she chimed merrily. " And you are coming as well."
That sent me bolting to the ceiling! Well… okay, not the ceiling ITSELF… but the lights tied to it. I almost broke one clear off, too! What? My bed is SPRINGY!
( WHAT? ) I exclaimed once I was once again stable on the bed, or lack thereof. ( WHY? )
" Because YOU are responsible for the Andalite bandits, AND Earth, last time I checked." Visser One snapped. " You must be there to catch them if they show their filthy faces."
I glared at her. ( I'm not going with you, ) I snapped.
Visser One laughed cruelly. "Who said anything about coming with ME?"
And that's how, four hours later, I was driving my own Blade ship to Earth, at speeds that would make a god damn Garatron beg for mercy.
I had nothing for equipment. I had nothing for a crew except for a bunch of fat, bumbling Hork-Bajir dressed in red diving suits who wouldn't stop whining that they didn't want to go in the "wet", and one random Taxxon – the co-pilot, and no, it wasn't Joe – who kept snarling about my "idiotic generation".
" Back when I was a grub," he muttered bitterly in practically incomprehensible Taxxon gibberish as I tried to maneuver the ship around an asteroid before I shot it into Zero-Space. " We had none of this Andalite-Controller fad… Andalites don't make damn good drivers! Sweet blessed Kandrona, what is the Empire coming to with an incapable female-hosted Yeerk in power, a crazy pipsqueak commanding Leera, and Andalites at the helm of our ships? …"
And on and on he went, causing me to wonder why the old fart was even here. Lords know he wasn't helping the INCAPABLE ANDALITE drive the fricking ship!
One particular Hork-Bajir in the back lifted his arm. " V-Visser!"
For the Emperor's sake, he reminded me of Iniss. ( WHAT? )
" D-Do we have any motion sickness bags?" he squeaked. " I get m-motion sick when we transfer to Z-Z-Zero-Space."
Oh, for the love of… ( Throw up in whatever you can find, just NOT ON MY FLOOR! )
The Taxxon frowned as well as a Taxxon can.
" Back when I was a grub, we killed off inadequate host bodies right away!" he scowled. " There was none of that attractive host body deal we seem to find among our officers these days… and that girl is too young and too prissy to be leading an army, mate." – oh great, he was BRITISH, too! A British Taxxon! Or at least one who liked England. – " Hopefully the Council will soon learn to stop acting on infatuation and boot her out of office! Back in my day we didn't allow military leaders to have female hosts anyway, they distract the sense out of the other Vissers…"
I shot the ship into Zero-Space, causing a few of the Hork-Bajir to become hysterical (haven't they ever been on a fricking SHIP before?) as the Taxxon scowled on and on… I ignored him – actually, I even gloated a little that someone other than ME finally realized that Visser One was completely overrated.
Visser One was no doubt already on Earth – she had to be there to supervise the whole thing, or almost. Plus, she had left four hours earlier than I had (right after she told me I wouldn't be travelling with her), and her ship was faster.
She would definitely be on Earth by now. And soon, as soon as we got out of Zero-Space and into Earth's system, which should not take long, so would we. It's a good thing we got the ship's Zero-Space transfer log fixed (it took eight hours to get to the home world in the first place because my freaking ship just WOULD NOT STAY in Zero-Space), that's for sure. How I'd known I would soon need it though was beyond me.
( Prepare to exit Zero-Space! ) I called out.
The Hork-Bajir braced themselves, praying to the great lords. The Taxxon scowled some more. I decked the Zero-Space transfer button, and –
-- WOW. That was lucky. We landed right behind Earth's little moon, and were now… heading directly for it in an inevitable crashlanding!
" OH MY ZELHARI!" some Hork-Bajir screamed, while another hyperventilated audibly.
" STEER, you peabrain, STEER!" the Taxxon shrilly commanded.
( Are you questioning my abilities, low-rank? ) I cruelly spat.
" WHO YEH CALLING LOW-RANK, YEH GIT?" the Taxxon shot back.
( You, and if you don't shut up, I will personally fry your flub with a Dracon cannon! ) I yelped, as this unworthy Taxxon was distracting me from flying AWAY from the moon.
The Iniss-like Hork-Bajir in the back threw up violently. He retched and retched and coughed for about five minutes before passing out next to his hyperventilating comrade. Who the hell gives THIS to a Visser as a crew? Am I simply doomed to being unlucky forever, or is it just karma? I knew I should have never eaten that stupid Elfangor! He was damn CURSED!
After wallowing in self-pity for a little while, I found in in my generous heart to save myself – oh yeah, and the crew – from certain peril. I managed to turn the ship within meters of collision with the moon (and creating even more craters than it already had) while the elderly Taxxon muttered harsh pretenses, and the Hork-Bajir in the back belched out all his stomach acid. What a lovely trip this was.
We now flew in the general direction of Earth. We were supposed to land in a remote field on "Royan Island". I used the tracker system on my computer to pinpoint the island by simply typing in "Royan Island" and praying it only turned out one possible location… Thankfully for us, it did. I entered the newfound coordinates to the island, then put the ship on autopilot the rest of the way.
" Back in my day, we didn't have no autopilot," the Taxxon snarled. " You young Yeerks are always trying to take the easy way out of things! You use your brand new computers instead of your god damn brains!"
( You know, ) I said smolderingly, ( for someone who was apparently born at the dawn of the universe, you're actually VERY ANNOYING! )
That shut the Taxxon up for a while, though I knew he would soon start yelping and whining again about "back in his day", which was most probably about TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO.
Through the Earth's atmosphere we went, quite surprisingly toward deep blue ocean. Where was the island? … Was it that little dot over there?
Apparently it was, because we were headed right for it! The ship took a sudden dive as I hurried to camouflage it, and we rocketed down toward the island. The Hork-Bajir, who hadn't secured themselves in, came tumbling down toward the helm of the ship. I moved, afraid to be vomited on. I think the motion sick Hork-Bajir was also afraid of my being vomited on, for he would inevitably lose his head.
Meters from landing, the ship straightened out to keep from crashing. We were in a large field surrounded by forest. I hadn't thought such a huge field could fit on such a tiny dot, but of course, the dot had gotten bigger as we'd descended. So now, having exited the ship (kept carefully camouflaged, of course), my bizarre crew of Hork-Bajir and I trudged toward what I knew was the uninhabited side of the island. Thankfully, that dreadful Taxxon had decided to stay behind – back in his day swimming was not recommended within hosts – and I no longer had to put up with his incessant raving.
Reaching the shore, the Hork-Bajir gingerly touched the water. As you may have guessed, Hork-Bajir don't normally swim.
" Ewwww," one of them whined as another screamed, and another squealed and ran for the cover of the trees.
" I don't want to go into the wet!" yet another said. " Ghafrash skin gets all dintily!"
A few others enthusiastically nodded their agreement. As for me, I was started to lose my patience with this great band of cowards.
( Get into the water! ) I ordered sternly. ( ALL OF YOU! Unless you wish to lose your heads! )
It didn't take much more than that for my dozen Hork-Bajir to leap squarely into the water. They slipped on the diving masks attached to their suits, and turned on the water jets attached to their ankles. The jets propelled them through the water as they advanced further.
In my Andalite shape I waded into the water. Looking around me to make sure there was no one besides the Hork-Bajir watching, I began to morph this giant snake I acquired while "visiting" Visser Four on planet Leera (Visser One had left him in charge of the planet – he'd been thrilled to learn of this, but Visser One had told me later on that it wouldn't be fun and games for Visser Four, who was completely oblivious to the fact that the Leerans are psychic at close range)… My skin turned yellow and viscous as I elongated – and TALK about elongated! I was like a string, for crying out loud! A gross, yellow string which was getting longer and fatter by the second. My Andalite legs disappeared into the sopping bulk.
A snout appeared very abruptly as my face split open, and lips bulged out of my face. My eyes became larger and greener, and by greener I mean my vision was green and everything. How odd. I felt like a fricking Leeran, and the ocean looked slightly like grass – but why am I telling you all this? You don't need to know every single detail of my morph… My Journal is morphing into Elfangor's hirac delest, that's why. And my brain stem is morphing into an Andalite's complex mind, which makes a horrible narrator.
I am a YEERK, not a stupid Andalite! Let's get to the good part already!
Right, so I finished my morph, and zoomed up to join the frolicking Hork-Bajir, who had soon gotten used to the "wet".
( Let's go! ) I snapped in thought-speech, and dove swiftly under the surface, toward Visser One's underwater shark facility. The point of this mission was, apparently, to make shark-Controllers for use on Leera. They'd be like Hork-Bajir, except underwater, since Leera is about ninety percent aquatic. And lords know Hork-Bajir cannot swim worth shit – at least not without freaking WATER JETS attached to their ankles. Pathetic species, that one. I mean, even HUMANS can swim, and that's SAYING something!
The Hork-Bajir adjusted their masks, then proceeded to following me under the water. We made it to the complex in a relatively short time, even though the vomiting Hork-Bajir from a while ago also became seasick… don't ask me how.
I reached the underwater facility and pulled up to the nearest dock.
( You all stay here and wait as back up, ) I ordered the Hork-Bajir. ( I expect you to come the moment I call. )
The Hork-Bajir didn't say anything to protest. But still I heard voices… suddenly, I realized it was a Leeran's voice! It was definitely coming from up inside the facility. Curious, I listened in, undiscovered below sea level. This snake had excellent underwater hearing. As do many things from planet Leera.
It is not Andalite, the Leeran said in the weird Leeran speech, which shouldn't be comprehensive but is. It is a human.
Someone snorted. I recognized the air.
" No, you idiot," a female voice sneered. " It's a gorilla. They are related to humans, but not human. This is an Andalite in morph."
Hehe, bingooo! It was Visser One, as I'd presumed. Only Visser One seems to enjoy explaining to everyone what a gorilla is.
And – OH SHIT! The Andalite bandits were HERE! If the Council found out I was late to catch them, I'd get a do-in for sure!
I beg your pardon, Visser, but –
What happened to the Leeran, I wasn't too sure, but I did know that I was getting the frig into that building and catching those stupid Andalites once and for all!
I broke the surface of the dock water and reared up onto the well-polished floor of the facility. I immediately saw Visser One, in her host Eva, and a gorilla seemingly trying to strangle the Leeran I suspected had just been speaking.
Visser One's face shadowed with contempt as she saw me.
" Visser Three, I assume," she sneered with an eyeroll.
( Well, I see you've made a mess of things, Visser One. ) I boomed loudly, publicly. ( Our old friends the Andalite bandits seem to have annihilated most of your troops. )
" I'd have more troops if not for your interference!" Visser One raged. " You were the one who had the big idea to rally all the Hork-Bajir to your troops and not leave enough for the rest of us! And if you weren't incompetent and a traitor to the Empire, you'd have seen these vermin cleaned up by now. YOU were RESPONSIBLE for getting RID of them!"
And there went Visser One, emphasizing every other word, which she typically only does with me – being that I'm the only one who can make her angry enough to do it.
( Oh, bullshit Visser One, you are just a coward. ) I said dismissively. ( I'm sure the Council of Thirteen will enjoy hearing your pitiful excuses for failure. )
" What the Council will HEAR is how you were LATE, and have allowed a HANDFUL of MORPHING ANDALITES to go UNPUNISHED!" Visser One screamed.
( You'll lose Leeran for us yet, you half-human fool! )
" Like you've already lost Earth, despite the fact that I handed it to you in perfect shape?" Visser One frowned deeper. " Visser Three, WHAT is your PROBLEM? Where have the trainers gone wrong with you? You have a morph-capable body, and an entire YEERK ARMY at your command, and still you can manage to destroy SIX. FRICKING. ANDALITES. SIX, VISSER THREE!"
And… the yelling began. The gorilla, having just punched out a Leeran, stood there eyeing us strangely, as if he was wondering why we weren't paying attention to them. But hey, when Visser One and I argue, nothing else matters to us besides getting our point across brutally and injuring the other's ego. Forget the Andalite bandits. Visser One's ego is impossible to deflate! Still, she's so much fun to provoke.
I looked at the rest of the bandits, still enveloped in the midst of battle. I saw a tiger, a grizzly bear, a wolf, a hawk, and that ONE RANDOM ANDALITE… the usual, bizarre team of guerilla warriors who, strangely enough, always used the same morph.
I wanted to ponder more on this subject… however, just as I was about to reply to Visser One's attack, I heard a huge, deafening alarm resound.
" Brr-REEEET! Brr-REEEET! Warning. Warning. Containment seals will shut down in three minutes. Extreme hazard. Countdown beginning. Countdown will be in intervals of ten seconds. Thank you and have a nice day!"
Visser One's face went white as she attempted to process this information. As for me, I almost laughed at the pure and simple fact that Visser One's COMPUTER had actually wished us a nice day, even after announcing that we just may all die!
The gorilla ran off suddenly. Then, I heard a snippet of thought-speak conversation
Between two of the bandits… I listened intently, to see what they would say.
( Hork-Bajir at seven o'clock! ) said whom I expected was the hawk, soaring near the ceiling to keep a watchful eye on his comrades.
The grizzly bear looked briefly up at him. ( Ah. Thanks. )
( You're welcome, ) the hawk said. ( Least I can do. )
( Don't talk that way! ) the grizzly bear shouted, sounding injured.
( What do I do? ) the hawk asked cynically.
( You...you keep the spirit. Of what we're fighting for. Kind of like that honor deal, that Elfangor had. )
An uneasy pause, then: ( Has all that been public? )
Apparently, it had. But there was no time to ponder on that either… for at that very moment…
" Containment failure in two minutes and fifty seconds," the automated voice said. " Have a nice day!"
I looked at Visser One. Oh, to see her like that… I gloated, wishing, PRAYING she would die somehow, and that I could get my long-deserved promotion.
I decided to voice this wish. ( Hah hah hah! Water rushing in, and you're stuck in that weak human body, Visser One! If I recall well, this one can't even swim very well. Is that my promotion I see coming? )
For once, Visser One was at a loss for words. Red with anger, she turned and ran for her office.
( Yes, you'd better turn off your computer! ) I taunted. ( If you can! These Andalites are devils with computers, you know! Hah hah hah hah! )
" Containment failure in two minutes and forty seconds. Have a nice day!"
I saw the gorilla run toward his bloody comrades. I decided to take this opportunity to creep up on them… Soon, they seemed to be well into a heated discussion. Heh. I would get my chance to catch them after all! I saw the still-Andalite one, unsuspecting. I lowered my mouth, my teeth bared, and –
The Andalite dodged swiftly out of my way as the gorilla stared up at me in alarm.
" Containment failure in two minutes and ten seconds. Have a nice day!"
I had two minutes and ten seconds to catch them! Time was passing way, way, WAY too quickly. My mind drifted to Visser One and what she was doing… No matter! No time for hateful, gloating thoughts when my goal was finally in reach!
I reared back and aimed for the Andalite again. This time… yes! Yes, yes, yes, YES! I felt my teeth sink into his flesh. At this rate, I could gobble him up in one bite!
( Got you! ) I cried in glee.
I bit down harder on the Andalite, who grunted. Finally, I would finish him off. I would – OUCH! What the hell!
I stopped biting, in surprise. And when I looked down, I saw the grizzly bear's claws dug deeply into my lower body.
( Let him go! ) the bear raged. ( Let him go or I'll rip you in two! )
I stood my ground. ( It's a standoff, Andalite. You have me, and I have your fellow terrorist. But the water will pour in soon, and you'll drown! You will all drown in those pitiful bodies. )
( Let him go! ) the Andalite in bear morph persisted.
The hawk looked straight at me with its piercing eyes. ( Let him go, or we'll kill you. That's a promise. )
As if encouraged, the bear cut deeper into my flesh. I started to feel a bit drowsy as yellow-green ooze escaped the puncture wounds the Andalite was creating on my body.
( I guess we have a negotiation here, ) I said weakly.
( Negotiate this, ) the gorilla said as it flung its fist straight into my snout. Acute pain! My jaw flew open and I slipped backward into the dock water, struggling to focus on reality.
I don't know how long I stayed there, underwater, drifting in and out of consciousness. Horrible long minutes passed as I stayed there, unable to morph without drowning…
When I finally got a grip onto reality, it was because I heard a shrill scream from a distant window. I recognized the scream… Visser One! Almost subconsciously, I swam to the window in question and peered inside. The scene was disastrous. Visser One was on the ground, bloodied and unconscious, her Dracon beam scattered inches away from her limp arm. Inside, three of the Andalite bandits seemed to converse, as if deciding her fate.
Had they spared her? Purposely? Raging, thwarted, I examined this possibility… not very likely, as Visser One seemed to have been unconscious for quite a while. But I was so angry with her that I didn't care. I WANTED her to have been spared. I WANTED her to be convicted of treason. I didn't care if it was true or not!
The Andalite walked over to the computer, pondering. Then, suddenly, something caught my eye. Visser One! Moving again, conscious again, not giving up the fight. As she never did. I saw her swiftly grab her Dracon beam, switch the level to six, and roll onto her stomach before expertly aiming the beam at the grizzly bear!
I think the Andalites realized as well as I did that Visser One would not miss this shot. Using his last resort, the gorilla picked up a chair and swung it. And if Visser One had good aim, his SUCKED. He squarely missed Visser One and hit the glass window instead!
Immediately realizing what this meant, I stood there paralysed. The glass cracked, then shattered. Water seeped through the cracks.
Distracted and looking at the glass, no doubt seeing me, Visser One shot – and missed!
The grizzly bear didn't miss this opportunity. It lumbered up and smacked Visser One hard on her back. Ouch. That must have hurt.
I heard the grass crack dangerously. I tried to back up, but to no avail. The glass window broke clear off!
WHOOSH! Swept inside the building like a feather! Water rushed in as I tumbled, disoriented, to the ground. I tried to move against the water, but failed desperately, and gave up trying. I let the water guide me as well as it could, in my wonderful gilled morph. The gorilla, the bear, the Andalite and myself were swept down the hallway. I caught Visser One's despaired eyes as she bumped into a wall, clutching her back.
Stuck. The pressure wouldn't allow her to move to the doorway.
The walls collapsed outward! I was blown out into the ocean, losing sight of the Andalite bandits. No! I looked for them, looked on and on… but they were nowhere in sight. Either they had gotten caught somewhere, or… or…
Suddenly, I saw Visser One floating facedown. She was unconscious and couldn't breathe.
Good riddance! I thought. At last!
But for some reason, I couldn't shake off the image of her lying there so weak, so motionless. It hurt to think she would die drowning, and not by me killing her. It hurt to know my face wouldn't be the last thing she'd see before she died.
I saw a Leeran swim expertly to her rescue. He grabbed her limp, frail body and swam away with it. I saw him board her into a transparent submarine and couldn't help but watch as it zoomed away.
I though I saw six hammerhead sharks swimming away in the distance. But I didn't care anymore.
I followed that sub, wanting to find out for myself what would be done with my worst enemy.
And maybe, if I was lucky, she'd survive one more time so I could kill her myself. Maybe, if I was lucky, we'd be able to have one last argument before she left this universe by my hands.
Well, Journal, as I swam toward that sub, I sure hoped that for once in my life, I was lucky.
Until my return,
Esplin 9466.
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Woot, well that was an action-packed chapter! I loved writing it and I hope you enjoyed it. :)
Thanks to everyone who entered the contest.
Till next time!