One Least Likely

by Augustine Quill

Everyone knows David's fate, but when Cassie gets a chance to change the past, David's fate and countless others' may change. CH 66: David attempts to stymie his new opponents at their next theft.

41. Beastiary

To my adoring fans,

With "One Least Likely", or OLL, taking up most of my fanfiction energies, I rarely get the time to branch out into other fandoms (Or if I do, they don't generate much response. Case in point: "Return of the Tamers").

In expansion of this whole "Beast" concept, I have delivered this chapter. For a better explanation of the entire Beast concept, read Elcolo9's "The Antimorph Saga" which can be found in my Favorite Stories section of my bio.

This is a break for me, so most of all, this is my FUN chapter. Bwa-ha-ha.

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February 10, 2000 10:03 PM

"To be . . . or not to be. That is the question." said the voice on the TV. Not Hamlet, but Dinobot from Beast Wars Transformers. "These disks I hold -- are they a record of what WILL be -- or only what of MAY? For if the future is indeed immutably foretold, then my demise is but moments from that confirmation, for I could not live if not the master of my fate."

I can relate.

"But IF... the future CAN be changed -- if these disks record merely one path of all the myriad ways the cosmos might conform -- then their power is infinite! And yet, still limited -- for they could be used but once, and in that change be rendered fiction forevermore."

"Ayla, stop movie file." I said. "Open Code of Hero. Marker 13."

"The question that once haunted my being has been answered." Dinobot said. "The future is not fixed, and my choices are my own. And yet, how ironic . . . for I now find I have no choice at all."

"Stop file." I said. "My choices are my own. I do not have to destroy the universe. I can choose not to walk through the door that Fate has shown me."

"Are we talking about the Beast thing?" Ayla asked.

"'Men are masters of their fates/The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars/but in ourselves . . .' Cassius, Julius Cæsar."

"Hamlet, Dinobot, Cassius." Ayla listed. "Dead, Dead, Dead!"

"Fiction! Fiction! Fiction!" I countered.

"Cassius was a real person." Ayla corrected. "Born-"

"Not interested, Ayla. My point is, I can control my life, find my own destiny."

"Or die trying."

"Better myself to die than all of existence."

"Are you going to the Valentine's Day Dance on Friday?" Ayla asked.

"Your obvious attempts to change the subject do not work, Ayla." I said.

"Neither do yours. Are you going or not?" Ayla persisted.

"Friday? That's tomorrow. I don't know." I said.

"You've been worrying about this entire Beast thing for months. You need to snap out of it!" Ayla said, suddenly mimicking Cher from Moonstruck. Ayla seemed to pick up my penchant and habit for quoting movies. "There is a 74% that your anxiety is exacerbating your fragile mental health. There exists an extensive amount of scenarios on what your anxiety may do to your morphing powers, especially since yours in particular are deviant from the norm."

"Well thank you, Dear Abby-tron, I'll keep that in mind." I said. "I'm tired of talking to you, Ayla. I'm going to bed. Activate sleep mode."

"Mmph! What makes you think I desire to converse with an irrational, manic-depressive, callow, abrasive, crabby-pants?!" Ayla said right before activating sleep mode. I don't know where I went wrong, but somehow I programmed mood swings into Ayla's character logarithms. I knew I should have left the computer geek stuff to Dr. Orbin.

"What does it mean to be a Beast?" I said to myself. Perhaps I misunderstood the Drode. That thing always talks in riddles. What does it mean to be a Beast? What does it mean to be a Beast? What does it mean . . . . .

I was dreaming.

"You worthless sonovabitch!" cried my father. "I tried to make a man out of you. Not some wussy-kicking, universe destroying, faggot!"

"It means frightened and weak-willed." said Jeremy London.

"Really? Shit." said Jason Lee. (The actor) "That's the only part of the letter I thought was complimentary."

"Ha Ha." Ayla said.

"Fuck you, Dad." I said. "I decide my fate. I can choose not to destroy the universe."

"What about chance?" Ayla asked.

"Never leave anything to chance." said my father.

"Never leave anything to chance." said Jake.

"You're not a man. You're a Beast!" said my father.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"You're a Beast!" my father repeated.

"WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!!!! TELL ME WHAT THAT MEANS, FATHER?!!!!" I screamed.

"You're a Beast!" my father repeated. "Ha Ha Ha Ha."

I became angry and morphed into a lion. My arms, however, were still humanoid. I attacked my father.

"TELL ME!"

I then felt a strange feeling of vertigo. I became oddly aware of my surroundings. I was dreaming. I knew that. The term was "lucid dreaming," but this felt like something more. All the other images from my dream disappeared. Except my father. He was there. He had a strange, twisted smile on his face.

"How appropriate." He said. "You beckon your spiritual father to come as your biological father."

"Spiritual Father?" I repeated. "God?"

"Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha! Not God. Far from it! I am no vassal of Yah-weh the Power."

"What are you?"

"I am that merry wanderer of the night." said the apparition in my father's form. He was quoting Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

"Robin Goodfellow." I recognized.

"Robin Goodfellow. Puck. Lucifer. I have so many names, but you can call me Dad."

"Al Pacino. Devil's Advocate."

"Your head is filled with such useless shit."

"How are you my father? James Hunting is my father."

"Biologically yes, but there are other forces than biology. Hmmph. I don't know why I'm telling this to a little pissant like you. My wayward Beast-child, blocked from guidance by the Lord of Treason, Crayak! Worse yet, you're actually a servant of that Damn dimensionally-fused, mortal son of Yah-weh!"

"Jesus?"

"Catch on quick, don't you Davie?"

"You called me a Beast-child. What does it mean to be a Beast?"

"What does it mean? My prodigal son wants to know what it means to be a Beast? Perhaps you'd like to see what some of your brothers have done?"

"Brothers?"

"You'll hear the thoughts of either their victims or the Beasts themselves. Enjoy! And watch for the Mark of the Beast."

FLASH!

David Moonbeam had always been a rebel without any cause other than destruction, it had made him the cancer of Utopia, it had gotten him resurrected from the grave by a demon who saw potential and it had allowed him to blaze his way across the galaxy to Concord Dawn, home to millions of alien species passing by, the greasy truck stop of the Universe, a planet-wide Las Vegas.

So what is there to do for a rebellious teen away from home? Get a tattoo.

It was the idea half-formed in his mind when he'd shoved the posse inside the taxi-craft this morning, they had stolen credits to blow, why not do something to bring the happy family closer.

The closest was a little place between replicant brothel and a greasy fast food restaurant for plant life forms, it looked liked any other human tattoo parlour in the system to him, extravagant designs filled the dirty windows.

Inside was the same story, tattoo designs covered every wall, grungy in a colourful kind of way, just clean enough to pass government regulations, the tattoo artist was the big difference compared to any in the human system, a bright red octopus-like creature easily the size of a human; it had dozens of tentacles, some thick as human thighs, others longer and whip-like.

Near the top of the bulbous body area was a huge mouth filled with clean straight teeth that looked like a horse's only larger, three light orange eyes with a slit of sky-blue in each read the newspaper he was holding, two very small horns jutted from his forehead.

He bore one distinctive mark of a tattoo artist no matter the species, he was highly decorated himself, strange designs ran down his bulk, bleeding skulls and burning dice, alien women in suggestive poses, the word MOM inside a heart decorated the top of his left dominant tentacle.

He spotted them after a moment and swallowed what looked like a mouthful of seaweed-jerky, "What can do you for?" It rumbled, the creature's voice was bowel-tremblingly deep.

"Name's David Moonbeam, want some tattoos for me and for my posse."

"Ratnim-Sculuck-Broadback, you've come to the right place, got something in mind?"

When Moonbeam had left he had, the symbol he'd used briefly for the Moon Beam Posse during his first shot at life, a human skull inset by a crescent moon symbol, but like many things it had now seemingly slipped his sieve-like memory by.

"We'll just look a..." He started to say when he saw the barcode symbol; it was nothing special certainly, just a black and white barcode being licked by cartoon flames, "That one." He pointed to it without thought.

Ratnim's eyes followed the finger to the barcode, "Heh heh." He growled a laugh, "That's usually a droid tattoo, reads 666 under their scanners." This didn't seem to make an impression of any sort on Moonbeam; his posse backed him, impassive looks on each face. "Alright what difference it make? Dats the one you want sure thing."

A minute later Dave was sitting on a large white table with his shirt off, Ratmin was holding a small electric device that looked like a cross between a fountain pen and a very tiny harpoon, "Where you want it?"

"Here." Moonbeam clapped the side of his right bicep, "Same for them." There were no objections, Ratmin thought the whole set up was a little weird himself but kept quiet and went to work.

The alien tattooing process didn't hurt, it itched like steel wool being brushed lightly against the skin but didn't feel anything like the human method, confirmed by Taz, Roach and Siggs who all had tattoos already.

"I didn't know you had one." Roach rasped to Siggs, "Where is it?"

"Bet you'd love to know." Siggs teased.

"You show me yours I'll show you mine."

Siggs was the last and Ratmin finished up when the towering Fornsmith lumbered through the door and bellowed for Broadback.

He was a conehead was what Moonbeam noticed with quite some amusement, like in that comedy with Dan Ackroyd, Only this one was the Hulk Hogan of all Coneheads, about 8-foot tall and so broad he had to go through the door sideways.

A grey beard went with a human mouth and nose but the eyes, he had six, where a human's would be bulged red globes the size of tennis balls, a little further up the cone of his head glittered blue eyes that looked like rare gems and near the top were two small green ones, the size of marbles.

"I just wanna get just one skull in before I have to leave on business again." The posse assumed he was talking about on his right arm, it was coated with skull tattoos joined by swirling black patterns, there were at least forty skulls up and down that huge, beefy, arm, varying sizes and species were evident.

"Another job well done Jupiter?" Ratmin bellowed back.

"Well enough to be added to the arm of fame." Jupiter replied, it dawned on the posse, this Fornsmith was a bounty hunter, and this could be a bit of a problem for them as the flavour of the mouth bounty.

Jupiter had a sidearm the size of a sawn-off shotgun and a collection of blades on his belt, when he went to sit he shifted uncomfortably, a huge laser-blaster was strapped to his back.

His arm wasn't his only trophy, several dry flaps that looked suspiciously like the ears of several different species hung off his hunting vest, around his neck was an enormous tooth, to the posse it looked like something tore out of a T-rex's mouth from Earth's ancient past.

Rachel paid Ratmin, Moonbeam considered what to do, they might be able to sneak away, not draw the bounty hunters attention, but...It had been a slow couple of days.

He strode up to the giant conehead, "Morning" He said pleasantly.

"Mornin'." Grunted the bounty hunter offhandedly, he looked away for a moment but drew back to the cheerful human, all three pairs of eyes squinted at Moonbeam thoughtfully, he shook a huge finger at him.

"I know you from somewhere, don't I?" He asked, Moonbeam remained silence.

Jupiter's finger shook more violently as he spoke "Yeah, Moonbeam, David Moonbeam." Red eyes glanced to the posse, blue scanned the room but the small green ones stayed locked on Dave.

Surprisingly fast for a big guy he grabbed at his sidearm, Moonbeam reached under his jacket for his MiniUzi, the posse went for their own weapons.

A shot rang out, as shots are wont to do.

FLASH!

We couldn't have predicted this. It was insane. One of our own. My team and I must fight back. The universe's only hope consists of Kaylee Cranston, Rachel Berenson, Marc LaRouche, Dustin Shang, and myself, James Malcolm. We had to stop him. We had to stop David Ortega.

We found him in the quarry. Unmorphed. Waiting for us. Like a crocodile for fish.

"You can't do this, David!" I shouted.

"You'll destroy everything." Kaylee added.

"Fools. This is my destiny. Only I can fulfill the prophesy. You are only delaying the inevitable!" David shouted back. "I have taken control of my former master. And yours!"

"No!" Dustin yelled.

"He's not backing down." Marc said.

"We have to fight him." Rachel agreed.

"This is gonna suck." Dustin complained.

"We have no choice." I said. "Time to Morph."

"Yes. Let's!" David dared.

My Team and I did, as we did many times before, our 'ritual' if you will before battling. This time we did it, knowing it could be our last. Thus we cried our battle cry much louder and stronger this time.

"Maiar Rangers!!!" We shouted. "Power Up!!"

"Maiar Ranger One! White!" cried Kaylee.

"Maiar Ranger Two! Pink!" cried Rachel.

"Maiar Ranger Three! Blue!" cried Marc.

"Maiar Ranger Four! Yellow!" cried Dustin.

"Maiar Ranger Five! Red!" I cried.

David laughed. "Maiar Ranger Six! Green!"

We were morphed, including our foe. Our garments, resembling Angel armor. David's, resembling Demon's armor. On all six of us, our ranger suits show our colors, along with our number designation, in white and gold, on our chest and each of our shoulders.

David was no different. On his Green armor, was a black and gold 6 on his left shoulder, chest, and right shoulder. Three 6's. 666.

I guess I should have seen it coming.

"With both Zordon's and Dark Specter's powers added to my own, I will crush the five of you like so many ants!" David shouted maniacally. "I will be the only Power Ranger in the Universe. Maiar 6. The Dark Green Machine! I will control the universe. Or I will destroy it!"

"You'll have to get rid of us first!" I shouted bravely.

"We need Maiarzord power now!" We shouted together. "Mega Maiarzord!"

"Mephistozord, arise!" David shouted.

FLASH!

The Anicatrons were foolish to give us this technology. Now the Universe will feel the wrath of Ceri's Kindness. We took the nearest planet we could find, the Anati. Great hosts. Not much bigger than our Gedds, but much better mobility. I definitely like this prehensile tail. Unfortunately, these things take FOREVER to breed, so we'll have to find another species, eventually.

I didn't tell the council, but I found something here. Something . . . . strange. The Anati were very afraid of it, but I was not some silly, primative, superstitious Anati. I went into their "Forbidden Cave" and found it. To anyone else it might look like six small stones latticed together, but I could FEEL the power. I held it in my hands and all at once the power flowed through me. I could take on ANYTHING! Destroy anything. The stone talked to me. It was the Hexstone. The Hexstone of Fate. I could control Fate! It told of two other stones like it: The Hexstone of Chance and the Hexstone of Will. They were on different worlds, the stone told me, but if they were united, one could control the universe. Or destroy it, as I saw fit.

I would find the other two Hexstones. My name is Deyvyd Six-Six-Six of the Sulp Niar Pool. Soon, I will be Emperor of the Universe!

FLASH!

"Ophanimon!" cried my little sister, Eve Berenson, "Don't give up!" A feminine angel advanced toward the evil digital monster

"You can do it, Seraphimon!" cried Eve's boyfriend, Adam Verenda, a charismatic and powerful African teenager. His digital monster, or digimon, a male angel clad in knight's armor joined his female counterpart.

"Kerpymon! Help them!" cried my cousin, Rachel to her clownish-looking angel digimon which still possessed a hint of her original rabbit form.

"It won't work!" said Rachel's little brother Jordan/Megagargomon, a giant dog-like creature, standing upright in green armor. "He's too strong. You need to bio-merge like me and Terriermon."

My name is Tom Berenson, and I am a digi-destined. A useless Digidestined. My digimon can only evolve to an Ultimate form, dwarfed by the power of David's new Mega.

David Ichijoji. He started with a rookie like all of us. DeviBeastmon. But he evolved to Champion Level, Dracmon. Then Ultimate level, Shrikemon. Now his Mega Level, DeQuinzBeastmon, and ugly and powerful son of a bitch. He has all ready absorbed the power of fellow demonic megas, Malomyotismon, Beelzemon, and Daemon. And now he has absorbed Apocalymon. With all that power he can . . . and will destroy the digital world. Hell, with that power, he's liable to destroy the real world as well!

But we can't fight. Only Adam's, Eve's, and Rachel's digimon have the power to digivolve to Mega. All three angel types. Appropriate, seeing how they must fight a devil of a monster. That is until Jordan discovered something called Bio-merging. He actually fused himself with his digimon. The result was a Mega level fighter to contend with. Now, if only Adam and Eve could do it.

There were six of us. Myself, Dani Shang, William Roberts, Victor Azular, Jorge Rojando, and Eric Meyers. There were also our digimon. Kabuterimon, a giant stag beetle, is mine. Dani's is Airdramon, a flying serpent. William has Monochromon, a black and white triceratops. Victor has Garurumon, a vicious wolf. Jorge has Kuwagamon, a humongous stag beetle. Eric's digimon was MetalGreymon, a tyrannosaur on steroids and giant metal claw. All our digimon were default Champions. Except for Eric's, his was a particular feral default Ultimate. Nonetheless, he was still just an ultimate, and could not stand the power of DeQuinzBeastmon.

"DeQuinzBeastmon! Take those two out!" David commanded.

DeQuinzBeastmon lifted up his mammoth, grotesque head. "Satan's Fire!!" He spewed. Seraphmon and O_mon were hit. The blow forced them to de-digivolve back to Angemon and Angewomon.

"Angemon!" Adam cried as he ran to his fallen partner.

"No!" Eve cried doing the same.

"They're in the line of fire!" Airdramon shouted.

"Eve! Adam! Get out of there!" I shouted.

"No use, Tom. They won't leave their digimon." Kabuterimon told me.

"We can't wait! Mega or no Mega. I'm fighting!" Eric shouted as MetalGreymon placed his partner atop his head. MetalGreymon roared in agreement. MetalGreymon charged into battle.

"What do we do, Tom?" Dani asked me.

"I say we fight!" Jorge shouted.

"Yeah!" Kuwagamon chimed in.

"And give David a serious ass-whuppin'" Victor amended.

"And his ugly digimon, too." Garurumon added.

"I shall not stand idle!" Monochromon chimed.

"Will?" I asked.

"Our chance of survival is nil." Will said looking up from his labtop. "DeQuinzBeastmon's power levels are staggering. We will surely be deleted. Still. I can't sit here while David and his bastard digimon destroy everything we've worked so hard to protect."

"Besides. Eric is already trying to clobber the monster!" Jorge shouted.

"Giga destroyer!" shouted MetalGreymon from afar.

"Let's go!" I commanded. "Digivolve to Ultimate!"

"Kabuterimon digivolve to . . . . Megakabuterimon!"

"Airdramon digivolve to . . . . Megadramon!"

"Monochromon digivolve to . . . . Triceramon!"

"Garurumon digivolve to . . . . Weregarurumon!"

"Kuwagumon digivolve to . . . . Okuwamon!"

The five of us joined Eric and MetalGreymon and charged the humongous digimon that was David's partner.

"Horn Buster!"

"Ultimate Slicer!"

"Tri-Horn Attack!"

"Wolf Claw!"

"Double Scissor Claws"

"Giga Destroyer!"

"DeQuinzBeastmon, get rid of these weak, pathetic meddlers." David commanded.

"Damnation Bubble!" DeQuinzBeastmon summoned and MetalGreymon was trapped inside a green bubble that glowed a black shine. "Damnation Bubble!" The other five charging Ultimates were soon caught together in a second bubble. "Damnation Bubble!" This time, it was the six of us plus Rachel who were trapped in that bubble.

"Now, my friend. Destroy them!" David commanded.

"Hand of Fate!"

"Celestial Arrow!"

Two attacks hit DeQuinzBeastmon and distracted him. He delayed his annihilation of us to taunt the two perpetrators, Angemon and Angewoman.

"Ha Ha Ha. Do you really think a Champion and an Ultimate could actually stop me?" DeQuinzBeastmon taunted.

That's when I noticed that the two angels had riders. "We can and we will." Angemon said boldly.

"Your evil is terminal, DeQuinzBeastmon!" Angewoman said.

"You too, David. You will lose because you are evil. We will win because we are good and pure." Eve said proudly.

"So Fuck off!" Adam added.

"Heaven's Charm!" Angewoman summoned. A circle of light attached itself onto our damnation bubble and freed the seven of us. Kerpymon grabbed MetalGreymon's bubble while Jordan/MegaGargomon grabbed the bubble that held the other five digimon.

"Irrrrgg! You've let them get away!" David said furious. "Get rid of these four NOW, DeQuinzBeastmon!"

DeQuinzBeastmon began to lift his monstrous head.

"Adam. Eve. Get to safety!" Angemon warned.

"My Heaven's Charm will save you." Angewoman added.

"No way, Angemon. We're in this together. We're gonna stay that way." Adam said.

"We go forward to face the Beast!" Eve shouted. Definitely my sister. DeQuinzBeastmon looked ready to let loose his lethal attack.

"Maybe we didn't think this all the way through." Adam said.

"Satan's Fire!"

"Adam! Eve! Bio-Merge now!" Jordan/MegaGargomon shouted.

The Fire hit my sister, her boyfriend, and their respective digimon. What followed was an explosion of light.

"Angemon!""Bio-merge to . . . Maiarmon!"

"Angewomon!""Bio-merge to Maiarwomon!"

In the wake of DeQuinzBeastmon's attack were two seriously HUGE and majestically clad Angel Digimon. Adam and Eve were not in sight.

"You're gonna pay for your deeds, DeQuinzBeastmon!" Adam/Maiarmon said.

"And then you're gonna get the help you need, David Ichijoji." Eve/Maiarwomon added.

"I don't need your help." David yelled defiantly.

"Satan's Fire!" DeQuinzBeastmon attacked. The two bio-merged megas fell back, but were not down for the count.

"Sword of Gray'Ang!" Adam/Maiarmon attacked with a sacred blade.

"Paradise Blessing!" Eve/Maiarwomon attacked with the holy light that erupted from her hands and wings.

DeQuinzBeastmon bellowed in pain and de-digivolved all the way back to DeviBeastmon. David ran to his fallen comrade.

"No!"

"Your reign of terror is over!" I shouted.

"Don't make us get ugly." Okuwagamon grinned.

"Surrender your evil ways." Adam/Maiarmon advised.

"It is our destiny to destroy the likes of you!" DeviBeastmon said weakly, but stubbornly from his master's arms.

"And we are bonded in that destiny!" David said as he held up his Digivice. It glowed its black shine, and soon he was surrounded in his fractal code, a series of 1's and 0's.

"He's digivolving." Kerpymon said.

"Into what?" Dani asked.

"Oh no." William said, looking at his labtop. "Tom, David's fractal code is 1010011010."

"So?" I asked.

"In decimal form, that number is . . . 666."

"My God." I said.

"This is bad, isn't it?" MegaKabuterimon asked.

"He's bio-merging!" Jordan/MegaGargomon shouted.

"DeviBeastmon!""Bio-merge to . . . MariusBeastmon!"

"This is going to suck." Adam/Maiarmon stated.

FLASH!

It was weird to think of this place as our sanctuary. Upon arrival into this weird little world, this is where were brought and tortured, just to see if we were witches. Our former captor is now our host.

We have lost many troops, and we have lost our mountain paradise, once the center of this bubble universe. But what has hit us the most is that we have lost one of our own.

Christopher Hitchcock, who was with us when we came to Everworld, is dead.

David Levin, our leader, had led us right into one of Ka Anor's traps. Several of our troops decimated. Zeus, Odin, Ares, Athena, . . . gone. Merlin, dead. Christopher too. Mt. Olympus seized. We now hid in the last place I thought I would ever consider safe. Loki's castle.

I cried on Jalil's shoulder as David argued with Loki.

"Your leadership has near destroyed us!" Loki shouted.

"I know, but there was a dividend. Look. The Cronus Stone. With this, I have the power of a god, but the will of a human. I will replace Merlin." David insisted.

"You don't just replace Merlin, stupid fool!" Loki shouted. "I grow tired of your piss poor direction. Because of you, we have lost Zeus, Athena, Baldur, even Odin. Does it surprise you that I mourn Odin's demise? I do mourn. With the All-father gone, a piece of me dies too."

"The time you spent in the Hetwan Camp has taken its toll on you, Davideus." Heracles said. "You look at the mark they gave and you seethe with anger. I have noticed you grow more thirsty for Hetwan blood."

"That thirst and this stone have twisted your mind, David Levin." Quetzalcoatl said.

"Look, I'm tired of this shit. We've been through this. You gods cannot unite properly. You need a human. With Merlin gone, that's me."

"Do you know what that mark is on your chest?" Quetzalcoatl asked me.

"It's a serial number." David said. "I don't have to read Hetwan to know its serial number. If Christopher were here, he'd mention the karmic destiny of a Jew in a concentration camp getting a number tattooed on him."

"You're right. Christopher would say that, . . . if he were here." Jalil added with extra emphasis.

"We were warned about that mark." Thor said grimly.

"What the fuck? Warned?" David asked.

"When we all used to be Maiar." Loki said.

"All of you?" I asked.

"Yes, April O'Brien." Quetzalcoatl stated. "Before the first human walked the earth we were all Maiar who served the Power, until we chose to live with the humans."

"What's a Maiar?" Jalil asked.

"Who cares? The point is, we need to think of a plan to get Ka Anor off Everworld." David insisted.

"Ka Anor IS Everworld, now!" Loki said. "You will destroy everything."

"The humans will rally with me. They at least know what it means to fight for something you believe in." David said as he stormed out with the Cronus Stone.

"Beliefs are dangerous things." Jalil said. "People die for it. People kill for it."

"What does the mark mean, Quetzalcoatl?" I asked.

"It is a serial number, like he said." Quetzalcoatl answered.

"What number?"

"Six hundred sixty-six." said Apollo.

"666?" I said with a shudder. My Catholic upbringing knew what that meant. "Mark of the Beast."

"He will destroy everything." Loki said. "He will destroy Everworld."

FLASH!

I held my sword high. The Eye of Gray'Ang gave me much power. No. Power is never a gift, but a responsibility. Nonetheless, my sword could now vanquish the terrible enemies that were before me.

My name is BeRandor Kent. I am a Gedd. In Terran measurements, I am 6 feet and 1 inch tall. My team and I landed on Great Terra when our home planet, G'Dronite, was destroyed by a comet. With me is Sitecha Matnor, a scientist and the guy who was told NOT to crash into any planets until we get to New G'Dronite. We also have Duchess Kangel Shadur, a teenage minor noble who thinks she's a warrior. We also brought along Kangel's friend/pet yeerk named Gato and his host, a portly three-foot creature called a frigi who Gato named Cyith.

The Great Terran locals are called Homo-Sapiens. Smart creatures. Limited technology, not much past the steel tool stage, but they did ingenious things with stringy plant life and created a world-wide communications network, way ahead of their time. They have a great capacity for understanding. Unfortunately, they are a war-like people. We have two humans traveling with us, a male named Dante Abés and a female named Merrick Carnet. We also had a Demi-human, a human who is also half-animal. We were accompanied by a Half-human, half-two-winged-bird person named Tobias Fangor. The Seven of us have had many adventures, mostly involving a clan of evil Demi-humans led by David Ortega-Kan, a demi-human who was half a creature the humans called a dragon. Half-human, Half-dragon. He was a dangerous sort.

Often times, a being named Whistler would guide us against Ortega-Kan's exploits. He explained that a long time ago, a certain artifact of a creature named Mephisto exploded when Ortega-Kan tried to harness it's power. It broke off into 37 perfect rectangles, each 6 inches by 3 inches. The rectangular shards are imbedded in Ortega-Kan's dragon hide. This is what gave him his power. He also had the bad habit of summoning demi-demons. Half-human, half-demon.

We finally got our break. An alien ship landed on Great Terra. The ship belonged to two androids named Chee-Urnee and Chee-Byrrt. Ortega-Kan's hired help, a pirate named Fargo Steelhand, found the two chee and their unfortunate passengers, three primitive aliens called Andalites. Simple farmers, abducted by some other race and then found by the peaceful Chee Androids. They crashed on Great Terra when a Skrit Na raider exploded to close to them. The blast damaged the fuel tank on their ship, and they made an emergency landing on this planet. That's when Captain Fargo Steelhand found them. Steelhand assumed the ship belonged to the Andalites and that the Chee were only robotic servants. So, the Chee were thrown into the sea, and the Andalites were taken to Ortega-Kan. Ortega-Kan has been attempting to get the Andalites to tell him how to use the ship, so he can enter the "Universal Oneness".

What he means is Z-space. His plans are to get into Z-space and use his "Shrike Power" to destroy the universe, thus getting in good with Mephisto, an Emperor-type Demon, and ascertaining great power. David's plan is simple and would work if for one thing.

The Andalites didn't understand space ships. Never seen one. They were farmers. They knew when to plant and how much.

We found Chee-Urnee and Chee-Byrtt and they told us about Ortega-Kan's plan. He told me about the three andalite farmers: Crau, Tiag, and Plativa.

So here we were, the seven of us, plus the chee, at Mount Golbez, David Ortega-Kan's lair. We couldn't go through because Mt. Golbez had a special energy field around it that weakens all that "are not of this world". Namely aliens. For some reason, it doesn't affect demons. No immortals at all.

That's why Whistler gave me a talisman called the Eye of Gray'Ang. It filled me with the power of a Maiar, whatever that is, and allowed me to get into the Mountain. I barely got into the gates when I saw something that shocked me. Despite being weakened by Ortega-Kan's energy field, the three andalites were fighting back.

The three andalites looked much like a type of demi-human named centaur, except they had long tails that ended in a blade, no mouth, and two extra eyes on stalks. They were being lead by Crau, a blue andalilte, slender, but tough. Tiag was purple, larger and more muscular. Plativa, the only female, was also purple, very frail looking and had a smaller blade. But she was fighting with all the vigor and strength of her comrades.

They were fighting two particular nasty demi-demons named Roach and Coil. We fought them before. Crau, Tiag, and Plativa did and excellent job of holding them off, but were losing.

So I held my sword high. The Eye of Gray'Ang gave me much power. I fought the two unholy creatures with my sword and they fell back. It's holy power rendered them unconscious, but not vanquished.

Thank you for your assistance. Crau said in thought-speech. It was also how Gato talked when he was not in Cyith, but his is much more limited in range. That's why when Gato is in Cyith (or Gato-Cyith as we call the two of them collectively) he uses Cyith's vocal abilities. Frigii are too stupid to talk in their natural state.

"It looks like you didn't need much help." I said. "Grab my tail. As long as you remain in contact with me and each other, Ortega-Kan's energy field will not affect you. The power of the Eye of Gray'Ang protects me."

I led the three Andalites in a strange looking train away from Mount Golbez and to the field where the others made it.

"You made it!" Kangel shouted happily.

"Hooray!" Merrick shouted in glee.

"I'm glad you're back, BeRandor," Sitecha said. "I believe I have found something interesting."

"What?" I ask.

"Merrick has related to me a legend from her tribe. She says a Beast will come to destroy the world and will bear its mark. 666. Dante is convinced that David Ortega-Kan is this Beast."

"His rectangles are 3 by 6. Three sixes? 666? You follow?" Dante said.

"That's idiotic, Dante!" Merrick said.

"Actually, Dante maybe onto something." Sitecha said. "Look. 6 by 3 is 18 square inches, correct?"

"Yes, of course." I said.

"Well, according to legend, David has 37 of these rectangles imbedded into his dragon-like skin."

"37?!" Dante repeated incredulously.

"And 37 times 18 is . . ."

"Wait! I know this!" Kangel said. "Six hundred and sixty-six square inches!" Kangel answered, proud of her skills. Kangel is not the brightest noble on G'Dronite.

"666." I said.

"Mark of the Beast." Tobias added.

"Ha! I was right!" Dante said.

"That's not a good thing, Dante!" Merrick scolded.

Are you saying that thing that held us will destroy the planet? Crau asked.

"No, of course not!" Chee-Urnee said. "He's going to destroy the entire universe."

"Urnee!" Chee-Byrrt scolded.

"This planet sucks." Gato-Cyith said.

"BeRandor! Look out! It's David Ortega-Kan!" Tobias warned with his "Raptor-vision".

David flew in so quick, I had no time to react. He snatched the talisman of Gray'Ang, and flew back.

"He has the talisman!" I said.

"Ha Ha Ha. The Eye of Gray'Ang. The power of a Maiar is mine. Mine to possess. Mine to exploit!" David shouted maniacally as he began to open the talisman.

Whistler appeared then, very suddenly. No, David Ortega. You mustn't open the talisman!

"My name is Ortega-KAN! How DARE you tell me what I must and mustn't do! I David Ortega-Kan who now rules the UNIVERSE!!!!!!!" David Ortega-Kan opened the talisman. What seemed like the light of a thousand suns spilled forward. Roach and Coil came to and cringed from the light. Then the Light enveloped everything around us.

FLASH!

2nd May, 1940, Koln.

German General Heinrich Nearne was anxious. Three of the most powerful men in Germany were coming to see his greatest accomplishment.

There was Field Marshal Hans Jurgen, a solider known for his cruel methods of torture. Thanks to him, many British secrets had been unveiled.

Another person was Hitler's Secret Service Chief, Reinhard Heydrich. Everyone knew that Heydrich was a liar and a scoundrel who had killed German Soliders, dressed them up in Polish Uniforms, and pretended that the Polish had attacked the Germans first.

And there was another. The second most powerful person in Germany. Hitler's Assistant, Rudolf Hess. Rather a strange choice for an Assistant, Heinrich thought, he was a firm believer in things like the Occult, and Beasts, nonsense like that. But then again, Hitler was a little mad himself. Birds of a feather........

Heinrich's thinking was interrupted by the sound of a truck coming towards him. It stopped, and out came Hans Jurgen, along with a lot of Soliders.

Heinrich smiled. "Honestly, Hans, so many Soliders?" Since Heinrich and Hans were old friends, he was one of the only people who could get away with something like this.

The Field Marshal looked annoyed. "English Spys might have tried to waylay me. You never know, Heinrich. But, anyway, are you still calling yourself DaKaarl?"

That struck a cord with Heinrich. "When the name DaKaarl is idolised in every German home, you won't be so cocky then, Hans."

"I am sorry. I kiss your feet in apology, O Great One."

Heinrich sighed. How can such a ruthless Solider be so childish? Before he had the chance to say this to him, a Limousine appeared. When it drew close to the two Soliders, the Chauffer got out the car, opened a door, and Reinhard Heydrich came out, looking suprisingly cheerful.

"Hi Heinrich, Hans. Been here long?"

"I've hardly been here at all." Hans asked. "What's up with you anyway, why are you so happy?"

"The idiot Media have swallowed my Story that the Polish attacked us first. Honestly, I could have told them that the Polish were aliens and they would have believed it, the way they lapped it up!"

"That's the Media for you," Heinrich agreed, but only because he wouldn't dare disagree with someone so far above him. In Reality, he knew that the Press were just pretending to believe it, because it was a story for the Newspapers. "they'll believe anything."

"Too true." Hans said, obviously thinking the same thoughts as Heinrich.

"So, Heinrich," Reinhard asked. "what's this great plan, then?"

"We must wait for-" Heinrich started, but was cut off by the sound of an Engine. Everyone looked up to see a Plane doing loop-the-loops and various other tricks in the air.

"Rudolf, perhaps?" Hans finished the sentence. "The psycho in the Plane?"

"It would seem so." Reinhard said.

"He's an insane little shit," Heinrich said. "but if he's here, and he is impressed, he may tell Hitler, and that would mean promotion!"

Then, the Plane landed, and Rudolf jumped out.

"Hi, all!" He said. "Just felt like having a little fun. So, Heinrich, what's all this about?"

Now that everyone was here, Heinrich was ready to reveal his plan. "Follow me." He said.

He led them into a Building, the Nazi Training Base that he operated. When they got to a Wall, he pressed a Lever, and a Bookcase swung open, showing a lit path that led downwards. While they went down, Heinrich filled them on the back story of the plan.

"You may find this to believe," He told them, "but one day, when I was walking down the Street to meet with a Sergeant, something fell out of the Sky right at my feet! It looked like some kind of Technology. So, I took it to my Lab-"

"Lab?" Rudolf asked. "You're a Scientist as well?"

"Yes," Heinrich replied. "didn't you know? So anyway, I studied it, and it turned out that it was Technology, technology which was far superior to what we have here on Earth. The Technology to make Robots."

"You are joking." Hans said. "You made Robots?"

"Not quite," Heinrich replied, with an air of mystery in his tone of voice. "The computer could not Understand everything. I can only make Humans into Human/Robot Hybrids, which are deeply flawed, due to having emotions."

"So," Reinhard asked. "what happened?"

"Most of my attempts were a complete failure. The Solider or Soliders I tested on either ended up dead, injured, or the same. But then I tried it on a low-level Solider, on about my 50th attempt."

"And?" Rudolf asked.

They had reached a door. Heinrich opened it, and the men were treated to an amazing sight.

There was about 25 Soliders, all at ease. Behind them was something shocking, imprisioned in a Glass Cage.

It had Nazi Uniform on, and it was a Human, they could tell that much. But it was a Human like no other. The left hand side of his body was Human, but the right hand side was Machine. Pure Metal. And it had the most evil look any of them had ever seen. The look was more evil then Hitlers look when he was really pissed at the British.

"This is good," Hans said. "But how will it help us?"

Heinrich had an insane glint in his eye, not unlike Rudolfs, or Hitlers. "This is the best part." He said, in a voice that scared Hans. "It is programmed to eliminate threats. if there is any threat to the Nazi army, this will destroy it. At the moment, it can only spot huge threats, not minor ones, but this will soon be sorted out. Would you care for a demonstration?"

"Ooh, yes please!" Said Rudolf, with the same glint in his eye that Heinrich had.

"Then we shall begin." Heinrich looked at one of his Soliders. "You! Get the Prisoner!"

The Solider nodded, ran off, and returned a minute later with a British Solider, tied and gagged.

"Now, untie him, and put him in the Glass Cage!" Heinrich ordered.

The Solider nodded again, untied the Brit, opened a door to the Cage, and pushed him in.

"Just release the force field that it is trapped in......" Heinrich said. He got a controller out of his pocket, and pushed a Black button.

Black. somehow, that colour suited the moment.

DAVID

I was severly pissed off.

I have all this power, but I can see no threats. I am just in this cage. What do I do?

Then, my master, DaKaarl, came in with some people. He motioned to someone, and they brought in a British Solider.

A threat! Kill it! KILL IT! The Android part of my Brain screamed at me. But I could not move. I was stuck! Then, the threat got pushed in this cage.

I still could not move! Then, suddenly, whatever was holding me got removed. I was free to move again.

KILL IT! KILL THE THREAT! My brain screamed.

I rushed towards the Solider, and held my Android arm out. It went through the Soliders bladder, leaving a Hole that you could see through. The Solider fell to the ground, strangely quiet.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING? The human part of my brain screamed at me. STOP THE MURDER! But the Android in me said: NO! MORE KILLING! MORE! And the Android part was stronger.

I went over to the Solder, who was trying to crawl away. I pulled out a Machine Gun from my inside shirt pocket. I aimed it at the Soliders head. And, ignoring the pleas to stop from my Human Brain, I shot the bastard Brits head off.

I picked the Head up, and I did something which made my Human Brain lose all hope. I ate it. I ate the Head of an innocent Solider.

No, not innocent. He was a threat. That was why I had killed it.

Suddenly, I saw something on my Arm. I looked at it. It was my birthmark, which said 666. But now it was like it was shining. What did this mean?

Heinrich turned to his superiors. "Well," He asked. "what do you think of it?"

Hans was hanging with his mouth open. "That could win us the War!" He said. "Good work!"

"A little gruesome, but I agree with Hans." Reinhard said. "It is excellent."

"Yes." Rudolf said. "Yes! YES! We will get the English for sure! I will tell Hitler about this excellent, excellent thing! But one thing, what is its name?"

"The Humans name is David Schmidt." Heinrich told him. "But it is more then a Human now. It's full name is David Schmidt, Nazi Weapon 12, Prototype Number 29A."

"29A?" Rudolf said. He looked disturbed.

"Yes. What is wrong with that, Rudolf?" Heinrich asked.

"It is just........29A is hexdecimal for 666, the number of the beast, the number of Hell itself. I have a bad feeling about this....................."

Fool, Heinrich thought. He's nothing but a stupid fool.

"I am probably wrong." He continued. "I will have to ask Hitler what he thinks. I must go now. Goodbye." He left. Hans and Reinhard left as well.

Heinrich went to his Office. They are Fools, He thought. All of them.

What Hans, Reinhard, and Rudolf had failed to realise was that once 29A had won the war the the Nazis, Heinrich would use it to have full control of the Nazi Party, and therefore, the World. Anybody who got in his way would be killed. And the name DaKaarl would be known everywhere.

FLASH!

"Marty! Have you found him yet?" the Doc said over the Nokia-Pilot, handy devices we got from the year 2055.

But we picked something else up. Doc Brown's kid, Jules, followed in his dad's footprints by making a new time machine. This time, out of a Ford Bronco. He time-traveled to the year 2055. That's when he ran into this butt-head. He kidnapped Jules and took the Bronco and went back to the year 1985 to give his great-grandfather a means to become the most powerful man in Hill Valley. Funny thing is, this wasn't the first time, his great-granddaddy got an offer like this.

It's been ten years since I did this, but now it feels like only yesterday. The Doc and I took the Hover-train from our present year, 1995 and went back to 1985, the year Doc and I first started time-traveling.

"I found him Doc." I said. "Man, I thought Griff was bad. This crazy son of a bitch has the number 666 tattooed on his forehead."

"Satanism of the fifties. Seems to happen every century."

"So what do we do, Doc?"

"We have to stop him. He shows his ancestor the time machine, he'll go back to 1955 and we'll have a major paradox!"

"You mean one of those things that can destroy the universe?"

"Precisely."

"Great."

"You must not let Biff see the time machine. Stop his great-grandson. Stop David Tannen!" Doc said.

My name is Marty McFly. And I just want to get Back to the Future.

FLASH!

It was destiny. It was fate. For millennia, mutants have been feared and hated. Now, one mutant will end the madness. My father tried, but I David D'Armegdon, will succeed.

The one called Cable will try to stop me. Pathetic fool. He does not understand the way things are. This is my calling. It is as evident as the 666 birthmark I've had on my arm since birth.

It's not every day you find out the mutant Apocalypse was your father.

I will use their Time Machine and destroy the fabric of Space-Time from the inside out. Not only will I destroy the planet. I will destroy the Universe!

FLASH!

It had to stop.

What once was balanced is now unbalanced again.

And it's my fault.

It never should have happened. No one of our order has ever achieved this level of power. The great one of Degobah. Not my uncle. Not even my grandfather, whom I am named after.

But this one. This one who is so close to me. This one I must stop. It is strong with this one. As it is in all my family. As it is in . . .

Her.

My sister.

Dey Viid Solo.

I am Anakin Solo, son of Leia and Han Solo, nephew of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker.

Uncle Luke is dead. I am the only Jedi now. And my twin sister Dey Viid, she is the only Sith.

"Stop this, Dey Viid!"

"Hello, Brother. I felt you coming today. I felt you coming before you got up this morning. I felt you coming when that Odergreian Beast scarred me with this strange mark. I felt you coming since we were children."

"That mark? It's just a number. The same number three times."

"It's more than that."

"The Force guides us. Not the other way around. The Dark Side has you. You've crossed the line."

"There is no dark side. There is no good side. There is no line, Brother. The Force guides our actions, but also answers our commands."

"You can't control the Force, Dey Viid."

She turned around. Her eyes spewed Dark purple energy. "I AM THE FORCE! I AM A GOD! ARE YOU A GOD, BROTHER?"

"No."

"THEN DIE!" Dey Viid said as energy spewed from her hand to me.

I pulled out my invention. A lightsaber. But one that improves upon the original design. I wielded my white light-saber and it absorbed my sister's dark energy. The great Yoda could do this by hand. I needed a weapon, but a Jedi must do what he must.

"The more you tighten your grip on the Force, the more it slips through your fingers. The more you destroy the energy that binds us. The more you destroy us all." I said.

My sister pulled out her lightsaber. It shined black., not the traditional sith red. "Then so be it!"

FLASH!

It was time, the shield told me. I knew it, in my heart, that I held my destiny in my hand.

I forced my will into the shield, and I felt it take me, absorb me, give me power! I felt warmth, I felt joy, I felt power! I watched as my humanity slipped away, my parents, my sisters, my cousins, my friends, the six humans that forced me to join them, all of it slid away like a stain off a rug. The bonds that made me mortal vanished, and I saw what truly mattered.

Power.

I turned to the Manimals, in their elementally imbued morphs, to Visser Three, in his parody of Darkness, and I laughed. And as I laughed, I began to change.

My body grew, very slightly. The wolf's tail slinked from my back, covered in wiry black fur. Tattered raven's wings exploded from my back. Horns grew from my forehead, the horns of the mountain goat.

Lastly, fire ripped open through my chest, burning the numbers "666" on my chest, but quickly, the fire consumed it and turned the mark into an "18."

I opened my eyes, now wild, like those of an animal. I lifted the shield.

"Well, it's been real, but I gotta fly. I've got plans to make, people to kill, planets to destroy. Catch ya later. By the way, Visser Three, the Manimals are all humans. So, fuck you all, have a nice day."

In my excitement, I almost forgot to blow up the Yeerk Pool.

Destroyed it with the force of ten H-bombs. It took me about the same energy as it would for a human to spit.

The Manimals and Visser Three would survive. They'd be the only ones. Who cares? They couldn't stop me.

Nothing could stop me.

FLASH!

It had been three days since Sirex had lifted me from limbo, taking me away from that island that I had called a home for almost a year.

Sirex had taken me back to the pool ship over the planet, invisible to all but the most advanced Andalite scanners. Visser three has been informed of Sirex's project, and had been one of the first to meet with me . . .

And oh, how I was interrogated.

The Yeerks drilled me for hours at a time, asking names, questions, all the facts in my head.

Of course, I knew that if I told them, I would have no use. They would throw me out of the nearest airlock, my revenge would have failed.

Sirex, too, seemed to be hard at work. He took so many blood and tissue samples that I lost count. He looked under a microscope at all hours of the day and night.

Why did he feel such a need to ensure my rebirth as a clone? He was a shady figure, all right. I didn't know weather I trusted him or not. He sure was mysterious.

The empire would provide me with the tools to become a feared intergalactic mercenary. They had a new Blade Ship, that had been damaged by the Andalites. It wasn't badly damaged, and the Hork-Bajir workers where working feverishly to repair it.

Under my directions, they even added some improvements, such as an extra layer of armour plating, several extra shield generators, extra heavy Dracon cannons, missle tubes, a spare genrator.

This ship would be the most feared vessel in the galaxy. I even christened it. I named it the Anubis, after the Egyptian god of death, the overlord of hell. He lived in the underworld and ate the souls of the damned. It wasn't far from what I had planned for the Animorphs.

In additon, I had the ship well stocked. Its armory was filled to capacity, with all sorts of Yeerk weapons, such as Dracon beams and cannons of all sizes. Chemical grenades, RPG's, Tripod Auto Guns, explosive slugs for human guns, all at my disposal. It even came with the two standard bug fighters, and I obviously had them upgraded as well.

I would be invincible in combat.

I would first aquire the blue box, the Andalite cube that contained the power of morphing, and locate my own team, my own five warriors to battle Jakes. My own opposite animorphs. I would create the Antimorphs. Together, we would execute our enemies, then take the fight to the Yeerks.

But these thoughts were ones that couldn't be spoken in present company.

Over the three days, I was trained by the Yeerk computers, in the basics of military strategy, covert operations, piloting a blade ship and bug fighters, and the maintenance of Yeerk weapons, eve survivalist methods. I had this training computor installed on the Anubis, but why, I never told the burly Hork-Bajir who moved it.

I was awakened early morning in my small "bed" (actually a shoe-box) by Sirex.

What time is it? I asked groggily. Sirex, is that you? What do you want at this time? I glanced over at the wall clock. It was three in the morning.

Sirex was more alive than I had ever seen him, he moved around the room like Eric Cartman on a sugar high. He was almost……giddy.

"It is done, Taggart! The clone, it is grown! I have done it, what even the mighty Andalite have failed to do, I have freed a Nothlit David, do you know what that means? I'll be Visser threes top scientist, I'll be promoted! I could be a Visser, within a year! I could-" he kept going, with his manic ravings at a million miles per hour. I shut him up.

I lept out of my bed, and using my miniscule mouth, bit him on the toe.

With a whimper, he shut up.

Just take me to the clone, Sirex. I have a job to do.

"Yes, of course David. The clone, the transfer must still be completed."

We moved down he near-empty corridors of the pool ship, to the other end that contained Sirex's laboratory complex.

Once we had reached it, I saw my clone.

It was in a fetal position, in a ball in a large tube maybe eight feet tall and six feet wide. It looked exactly like me, or at least, what I could remember.

"David, it is time for the transfer."

He motioned towards a large cubical in the corner, that I could see was connected via a thin cable to my clones head.

I entered the chamber, an Sirex attached the headset to my brow.

This is it, David. Time for re-incarnation. The cycle of life usually goes from boy to man, but for you, it's gonna mean boy-rat-man.

Sirex looked at me for a moment then flicked a large switch on his control panel.

I started to think something, but my thought were cut short by one small fact.

I was dead . . . .

I awoke, in a human form. I needed air! I burst out of the ball I was tucked in, kicking towards the surface of the tank.

My human lungs filled with air. I had never felt such joy at the same time, even though it hurt at first, I kept doing it.

I was HUMAN! And I was ALIVE! FREE from the hell I had suffered in for a year, and the hell that I had just visited.

I burst from the tank, onto the floor of the pool ships laboratory complex. Sirex stood there, looking quite smug with himself.

I also saw my rat body, lying dead in the transmitter, and was amazed that I had been that for over a year.

"Well, try it out. See if you can morph." He said.

I quickly composed myself. Lion I thought.

I felt my nose get longer, fans sprout from my mouth and short furr creeping up my spine.

I could morph.

"Excellent, now, to test your new body's endurance."

Sirex took out a human gun-a slug thrower. It was a simple revolver.

He took it, and aimed it at my chest.

Before I could stop him, he fired.

But I didn't die, in fact, I felt good, fine, the same as before. The bullet hadn't gone through me at all. Just a bit of blood on the surface. I hadn't even felt the pain. This new body outdid the old one, 100 %!

"Excellent, the stimulants we fed the clone are taking effect. This is the fourth clone of you I completed, but as the other three were, shall we say, inferior, I had them terminated."

He continued. "Thus, your actual name is David Taggart, Clone # 4, series 653, model 13, B.H."

"B.H.?" I said, using my human mouth for the first time.

"Bounty Hunter. With that designation, no Yeerk can touch you." He said as he smiled.

It was now time to put my plan into action. I didn't want the Yeerk empire making me their errand runner, their bitch. No way in hell would I work for them. They infested my whole family, caused Steph to be killed.

I had my own agenda.

With super human speed, I grabbed Sirex by the throat, and threw him into the Mental Transfer Chamber, shutting the steel door behind him.

"Goodbye Sirex. I thank you for freeing me from my morph, but I cannot allow you to live. The empire is my enemy just as much as the Animorphs, and I cant have their leading scientist alive to give them information, now can I?"

He looked at m, with a terrified look in his eye.

The look of a man who knows he is about to die.

Sirex had told me after we had arrived on the ship a bit more about mental transfers. If the original body wasn't hooked up to a new body, the memory would be sent into zero space, preserved for all time, eternally self aware.

Sirex was on a one way trip to limbo.

"Bye-bye Sirex. Say hi to Satan when you get to hell."

I pulled the switch.

I saw Sirex's host twitch, jerk around for a moment, then fall limp. His very soul was, at this moment, entering Z-space for all eternity. An eternal life from which he could not die.

I pulled myself away from the control board, and calmly, like a professional, I played it Bogart and walked to my Blade Ship. I was thousands of miles away before they even knew what I had done.

Now for my next objective: Get the Box, by any means necessary……

FLASH!

FLASH!

FLASH!

What happened? I thought. They were Beasts. Do I have a mark? Will I destroy the universe?

Answer me, Puck!

"If we shadows have offended

Tough shit- 'Twas what I intended

That you have but slumber'd here

While these visions did appear.

And this weak and idle theme,

No more yielding than a dream.

Else the Puck a liar call:

So 'Good Night' unto you all."

I woke up. Images from my dream made my head physically hurt. No. No dream. I called out to him, the one named Puck.

I was the Beast of this world.

But if I was a Beast, what is my Mark?

*****************************************************************************************************************

The Beast named David Moonbeam was written by Britz. You can read more about David Moonbeam in "Moonbeam's War"

The Beast named David Schmidt was written by DJ Eagal. You can read more about David Schmidt in a fic coming soon.

The Beast named David Berenson was written by Ryan Griffin. You can read more about David Berenson in "Manimals".

The Beast named David Taggart was written by Elcolo9. You can read more about David Taggart and the origins of Puck in "The Antimorph Chronicles, the Director's Cut" and "The Antimorph Saga"

The AniCorps. is coming.