CHAPTER NINE

((Have you regained yourself, Tom?))

I answered in thought-speak for the first time in my life. ((Yes... unfortunately.))

((Excellent. Use the body to your advantage. Go on.))

I wattled past him. This was so bizarre! I was the Yugosin, but then again, I wasn't. Words cannot describe what was going through my mind just then...

When I climbed the short hill, I noticed something. It was just a feeling, but...

Claws! Yes, I had claws! Very short, sharp ones. The underside of each claw was hollowed out, forming a sort of shovel that could be used for moving dirt...

I began to dig. Slowly, at first. Then faster and faster. I was throwing dirt over my back like it was nothing! Within seconds, I had made a hole that was at least a foot deep. I crawled inside and began to burrow, making a small tunnel through which I could climb.

And boy, could I climb! It felt like I was running in those underground tunnels I made. Zigging and zagging, moving this way and that. No one could catch me! No one!

((Tom. You have been in that morph for nearly two of your hours. It is time to come out.))

I snapped out of it, shaking my head.

Get a grip, Tom.

I climbed my way back to the surface and demorphed. Looking around, I saw piles of dirt scattered about, grass thrown everywhere. It was a landscaper's worst nightmare.

"Gosh...Sorry. I didn't know I could do so much damage in such a little body."

((No need to worry about the turf. Your main concern should be your lack of clothing, though I'll never understand why humans insist on wearing it...))

I looked down. I was naked! Completely naked! How could I have forgotten? Morphing keeps my DNA pattern intact, not whatever clothes I decided to wear that day...

I covered myself and turned extremely red. "I...I'm sorry, Algon."

((Do not apologize. Human nudity, or nudity of any kind for that matter, is not something we Andalites worry with...)) He trotted across the field towards the back of the classroom. There stood a series of tall, metal cabinets. He opened one and came back, carrying something that looked like a blue jumpsuit.

"Is that what I think it is?"

((It is a zet, if that is what you were thinking...))

Zets are a fairly new invention. As more and more humans became important military officers, they were given the power to morph. And, as I realized at the moment, morphing back to human form means you lose your clothes... All your clothes, unless you happen to practice enough with skin-tight stuff, like leotards. That's what humans used to do. But that doesn't look really professional, especially when you're trying to give orders to troops or come up with military tactics.. So, we worked with Andalite scientists to create the zet, a leather jumpsuit that reacts to morphing energy. Rather than tearing, it is absorbed into Z-Space so that it can be recalled when the demorph occurs. Marco always complains that they didn't have these back when he was an Animorph...

I gratefully took the zet and put it on, zipping it up across my chest. Now, all of me was covered, even my feet. Boot-like things were built in at the bottom. I looked and felt like a real soldier.

"Thanks, Algon.. This is so cool."

((Well, I never said you could keep it,)) he said.

"Oh, yeah... Right. Sorry."

He smiled with his eyes. ((I am only kidding, Tom. It is yours to keep.))

"Thank you."

Suddenly, an alarm began to sound.

Reeeeeew! Reeeeeew! Reeeeeeeeew!

"What's going on?" I shouted over the noise.

((I do not know. Stay here.))

Algon trotted over to the doors and opened them. Cautiously, he stepped out into the hallway, looking both ways with his stalk eyes.

((Controllers!)) I heard him yell.

Suddenly, two panthers leaped into view. I recognized them from Earth Studies class. Controllers kept some Earth animals in zoos for acquiring. The Yeerks, too, had the morphing power, though only the most elite troops could use it. There is a lot of betrayal and lies within the Yeerk Empire. That is their weakness...

Algon readied his tail blade, prepared to strike.

((We're here for the boy, Andalite!)) one of the Controllers sneered.

((The boy? You cannot take him. He is my responsibility, and I defend him with honor.))

((Your funeral. Let's get him.))

The panthers began to circle him, licking their sharp fangs.

I had to do something! But what? I didn't have a Shredder. And the Yugosin I could morph was only good for digging holes..

I didn't care. I had to distract them somehow. I wouldn't let them kill Algon.

I was running for the doors when the first panther leaped. He bit Algon in the neck and held on, dangling in the air. Algon thrust his tail blade forward, slashing the panther in the sides, but this left his rear open. The other panther jumped on his back. I saw the sharp, deadly claws seep into the skin.

((AAAAAARGGG!!)) Algon cried.

"Algon!" I yelled. I knew I shouldn't have done it. He was trying to protect me. But I couldn't help it. I couldn't just stand there while my teacher, my friend was being killed.

The first panther fell from Algon's neck, badly injured by the blows of his tail blade. The second panther leaped towards me, running full speed.

((No!)) Algon shouted, galloping as fast as he could into the room.

I saw the panther's eyes. There was a glint to them, a sense of evil that seeped inside me, rattled my bones.

I was going to die. I was going to die and I knew it.

Suddenly, my view was blocked. Algon had rushed in front of me, guarding me from the Controller.

His tail blade arched forward so quickly I couldn't see it. But I knew what had happened.

Algon fell back on me. I was pinned. With a struggle, I managed to crawl out beneath him. I looked down, fearing the worst.. Expecting it, really...

Algon had managed to ram his tail blade through the panther's chest. It was dead. Just like Algon would be soon.

His breathing was strained, forced. The panther had leaped for me, claws extended. Algon's chest had taken the force of the blow. That wound, combined with the blood steadily gushing from his neck, would spell his fate...

"Algon... No.." I couldn't stop the tears. I didn't want to.

((Do not... Do not be afraid. I am honored to die a hero. I.. I have done my duty. You are safe. And.. You must..)) His head twitched for a moment. ((You must stay that way...))

"But.. You can't die."

((I can, Tom. And I will.))

He reached up, grabbing my arm. He pulled it down, placing my hand on his chest.

"What... What are you doing?"

((Acquire me...))

"What? But why?"

He smiled. The last smile he would ever make. ((So that I may keep fighting.))

I did as he said. I owed him that much.

He went into a trance. And stayed there forever.