Filling the Deck IV

Day 6, Evening

It was dark all throughout the city, even darker than it would normally be. Later on after we returned from the Gardens, the power had gone out across the entire city. Apparantly the nuclear plant that powered the whole city and surrounding area had suffered a malfunction. Nothing serious happened, we later learned that the reactor shut itself down to prevent issues, it was up and running the next day. We were flying over the darkened city as owls, getting our chosen morphs under control was going to be a nightmare, when we come to it. Cassie's not here because she fell ill, when we dropped her off she was pale...back then I had all sorts of fears about what was happening to her.

((Alright, there it is. Right where it's supposed to be,)) I said as the place entered our field of vision.

((Oh man,)) Rachel commented. ((They didn't waste any time taking the sign off, did they?))

The building that was the Skridge Meatshop was a two-story building that was very wide. Both floors of that building are at least the size of a football field, the fact that this entire place is...was run by a single family is impressive. The first floor is the shop section, the second floor is where they store all of the meat. On the roof of the second floor we found the vent we were going to sneak through. I demorphed and tried to unscrew the vent, my fingers couldn't grab the screws for a while, but after some minutes I managed to get the cover off.

I took a hold of the vent and set it down gently on the roof and got a good look at my outline.

((I hope Tobias brings back some clothes we can morph in,)) I said to Rachel.

((Amen. When I signed up to save humanity, I did not intend to do it streaking.))

((I'll scout it out,)) I sent to Rachel before crawling in the vent. I'll need to figure out how to get bugs under control when Tobias comes back.

The vent's metallic insides were chilly, of course my bare skin isn't used to this kind of contact. I crawled through the vents and found a way into the giant freezer that was the entirety of the second floor. After I unscrewed the vent door out of the other entrance I gave Rachel the signal to come in.

((I want to ask you something,)) I said, shivering in the coldness of the room, which was even more brutally cold now that I wear nothing. ((How on Earth do you plan on getting this meat into your reserves anyway? You don't seriously plan to thaw it, chop it all up into bite sized pieces, then freeze them again and swallow it, right?))

((Well,)) Rachel began, shivering in the cold. ((Tobias said in his letter that the 'down the hatch' method is the easiest, not the only way. I just press it into my skin and think of adding it to my reserves, right?))

((Huh, okay, let's get started.))

It didn't take us long to find our first meat, when it came into contact with Rachel's skin her eyes were as wide as moons.

"HoOoOoOoOoOoOo, chilly!"

Rachel pressed the meat against herself, it was pretty big, but it wasn't oozing in.

((Rachel,)) I started.

((I'm fine,)) she said. ((Tobias said this method was harder, so all I have to do is try a bit harder.))

Rachel struggled, hugging the meat, I was worried we would both die of hypothermia at this rate. The soles of my feet are already starting to hurt.

((Rachel, I don't thi-)) I started, but was interrupted when she exclaimed in my head suddenly.

((Ha ha! Yes! I got it!))

In the darkness of the room I could see that the massive piece of meat Rachel was hugging get smaller.

((Awesome. I'll go turn off the refrigeration,)) I said while walking to the door that led to the rest of the shop.

((Wait! Don't do it,)) Rachel said as the massive slab of meat she was hugging disappeared, she moved on to another one. ((Fingerprints!))

((Ah nuts,)) I pointed out. ((Come to think about it, Tobias also said in his letter that we can expel the things we put in our biomass, right? So if I started absorbing the meatshop products, I'll be able to transfer them over to you, right?))

Rachel stopped.

((Huh, that's a pretty sweet idea. Let's do it!))

And so we went on a quest to absorb every piece of meat in the shop, it was difficult to phase the meat inside me at first, but it got easier as I picked up steam. We were in there for several hours, by the time we were done I felt the frostbite in my fingers and toes. It was even more of a pain to get the screws of the vents back on, but we left without a single trace that we were ever there.

"Oh, oh! That hurts," I hissed when we got back on the rooftop, flexing and unflexing my fingers. The pain of the frostbite grew much sharper when we entered the warm summer night air.

((Let's turn owl.))

((I can't agree more!))

Before long the pain in our fingers disappeared as they were replaced with feathers. We ran to the edges of the building and took off, and two owls flew into the night sky once again. We flapped our wings, and while we could hear it, the sounds our wings made were far quieter than any other bird. I could even feel the silence in how smoothly the owl's wings, my wings, cut through the air.

Throughout the night I had the most surreal feeling in my life so far, my cousin and I planned to break into a meatshop, which we carried out perfectly. Our purpose was to 'devour' as many of the products in there as possible so Rachel would gain the ability to morph into an elephant. Now Rachel and I were flying away from the scene of our crime as owls. What other kind of person would be able to go through such a chain of events?

My cousin and I flew silently to our next destination, and as we did I couldn't help but feel enabled, by the morphing power. I felt freer than any other person on the planet, I mean, I can change my body at will, how free is that? And yet at the same time as I left myself to my thoughts, a sense of loneliness was growing inside me. I feel powerful, but as more time went on and my life grew further and further away from what it used to be, as myself, Cassie, and Rachel morphed animals and now we have embarked on our first mission, I felt strangely isolated. Here I am, flying through the night sky exactly as a Great Horned Owl, manipulating the air and catching the winds exactly the way a real owl would. I put my hand on the bird, and now his strength is mine, I can fly just as well as a hawk, an owl, or bat, run like a cheetah, a wolf, or a horse, see in whatever crazy perspective a chameleon, fly, or spider would...summon and control the untamable primal might of a lion, bear...or elephant. What other people are capable of any of that?

I looked to Rachel as we flew to our next destination, she was flying ahead of me, we grew some distance apart, but I could still see her. Of course, the others, Tobias, Rachel, Cassie and I, it didn't seem like it then, but we were given a power that I'm barely just now beginning to really comprehend. But there was nobody else who could even dream of doing any of those things, Marco was left out, a decision he regrets with the benefit of hindsight. I'm not alone in this, but there are too few people like myself on the entire planet. Other than us three and those few others, who else on Earth could possibly understand this? And when the dust clears after we've destroyed The last Controllers on the planet, who on our side will be left? I can only hope all of us make it out alive, but even back then, I could tell none of us were getting out in one piece.

We are alone.

In that moment as we flew to our next destination I realized that I had entered that world Elfangor and Tobias belonged to. A world of aliens, conspiracies, cloak and dagger wars, and power that no ordinary person would ever be able to dream of possessing. It was a dark and lonely place, one where we have to hold on to our friends and allies with everything we have, but determining friend from foe aside from Controller will be Hell, as I'm just new realizing.

((Hey Jake,)) Rachel said, butting in my head. ((I was thinking.))

((About what?)) I responded.

((About the frostbite, I know we'll heal from it, having found out the hard way after trying to test my pain tolerance. Actually it's about the pain tolerance, Elfangor said we would get pain tolerance that was superhuman. And I figured we're not going to get all of the abilities at once, but every time we morph wouldn't that give ample opportunity to speed along the process? I mean, day six, and that meat locker stung like Hell, other than the morphing power we're still a bunch of humans. And Cassie's the supermorpher, so she'll get it first, maybe that's what her getting sick really is, but that's a big maybe. The point is she's not getting any of the extra abilities either!))

((We'll definitely have to ask Tobias about it,)) I said. ((Marco's actually keeping a mini notebook filled with questions for the guy, he's already got that one down.))

((Okay,)) Rachel concluded. ((Oh, looks like our next stop is in sight. Looks like it's cats and dogs on the menu.))

((Cats and dogs? Like a vet?))

((I think it would pay to look around.))

I looked around to see what Rachel was talking about. It took a while for my eyes to find it, owl eyes don't move in their sockets.

((PETA?)) I asked in confusion. ((Why them? I didn't think PETA even has a kill shelter, don't those guys treat animals like royalty?))

((Oh you'd be surprised,)) Rachel said darkly. ((Cassie told me about them. Every single last one of those guys are the worst breed of hypocrite. If I could bring a jug of gasoline I'd probably burn the place down...probably for the best I don't, though.))

((...I don't think I'm going to like what we find in there, am I?)) I asked Rachel.

((I promise you, you won't.))

I sat on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket watching TV, Dad had gone to a friend's house and picked up a number of VCR tapes and cold medecine, recordings of some show about finding cryptids, like bigfoot, or encounters with creatures that may be aliens. I don't normally watch TV, but since the TV doesn't have cable, this particular show was a treat.

I felt the palms my hands begin itching, I opened my left hand and saw that a couple of welts had popped up in my palm. I felt funny in my throat again, but this time it's a bad funny.

Is this a side effect of the morphing tech? I wondered. Is my body rejecting it?

I returned my eyes to the TV to distract myself with the show's theme. I decided to watch the most recent one first, this tape was actually recorded just a few hours ago, the episode aired for the first time earlier today. The show's host began speaking again in his deep, low droning voice.

"Things exist in our world and beyond you would not believe. From the alien to the supernatural, from spontaneous combustion to the glacial and insidious creep of the Magma Weed. There is the unknown, the unexpected, and the forgotten, but which are real? We're here to find out, but don't take our word for it, decide for yourself, is it Fact or Freaky?"

The title came on, in pale ghostly green letters. I shook my head and enjoyed the show, despite its cheesy title. It was already halfway done and the last creature was being introduced, and quickly becoming a favorite of mine.

"In a summer cabin in the Sierra Leone mountains, a couple had an unexpected close encounter with a creature the likes of which none had seen before.."

The scenery changed to a flyover of a forest before switching to a man and woman in their thirties.

"Allan and Maria Shepherd were finishing up getting ready to retire for the night in their house when they encountered something remarkably unexpected."

"Maria was the one who actually saw it," Allan said. "She was taking out the trash when she heard the thing rummaging in the garbage. It was obviously eating something, I assumed it was the leftovers of the chicken we had last night."

Maria nodded, "Yeah, when I saw it I ran back inside and got the camera. I thought it was a possum or raccoon at first, I think you know well how wrong I was."

The scene changed to the side of their house, a wooden cabin, with the trash can still visible at the side. Maria began talking again, the visuals changed again, this time to a re-enactment of the scene. It was night and the trash can was shaking, Maria came on the screen, her Polaroid camera in hand

"I rushed back inside the house as fast as I could and grabbed the camera. I made a bet with Allan that a week wouldn't pass by before some scavenger got to that chicken. Well, I don't know what it was, but it was definitely not here for the KFC."

I chuckled.

Maria, in the re-enactment, crept up on the shaking trash bin. It was the large kind, with wheels and a hatch on top. Maria flipped the hatch open and took the picture, camera flashing, causing the screen to white out. The white faded, turning into the picture that Maria took of the creature. I blinked, the show's definitely living up to the tagline, this was the strangest thing iI've ever seen.

It appeared to be a giant blue gecko with ivory white stripes, but it had what looked like dragonfly wings running parallel to its back, it was staring at the camera like a deer caught in headlights. Its huge mouth was wide open, as if in an expression of shock. The most attention grabbing feature were the eyes, which did not belong to a lizard.

The eyes were green, massive bulbous spheres that extended over the top of the head.

"After taking the picture it jumped out the trash bin," Maria elaborated as another re-enactment scene started. As the thing jumped up Maria backed away in cried out in shock.

"I tried to see where it had went, but it was gone. Like it had vanished into thin air."

"What's probably even weirder was what it was eating," Allan said. He leaned down and grabbed an object, making sure to hold it to the camera. "Our little guest was munching on this."

The object had holes in it, but what was weird was that it meant the bugly-eyed lizard was eating tin cans, or whatever metal cans are made from nowadays.

"What in the world is that?" I wondered out loud. I blinked, this is not the weirdest thing I've seen, Just a week ago I met a dying shapeshifting alien who gave me, my best friend, and boyfriend the ability to morph.

I sighed and continued watching the show.

((Oh my God, that was horrible!)) I remarked as Rachel and I left the facility.

Rachel sighed in my head. ((See now why Cassie hates those guys?))

((A hundred percent,)) I answered. ((On the bright side, the frostbite's gone.))

((Ha ha, yeah,)) Rachel agreed. ((That crap hurt.))

I looked up at the sky, the Moon was beginning its dip down the sky.

((How long have we been out?)) I asked.

((Dunno,)) Rachel said. ((Weren't we also supposed to get an internal clock? I'm starting to think Tobias isn't being a hundred percent honest with us.))

((I think Tobias might have forgotten to include a few details in his letter. That's the most likely explanation,)) I responded. ((And Tobias isn't the kind of person to deceive, that aside his father died not even a week ago. I doubt strongly he has his crap together right now.))

((Where else should we hit?)) Rachel asked. ((Other than the meat shop and PETA, I'm not exactly sure where we could find more meat.))

((Let's head to the Gardens,)) I proposed. ((It's closed right now, I think. We're already out, and tonight's the perfect night for us to acquire our battle morphs.))

((Let's do it!)) Rachel said.

Day 6, 12:13 A.M.

The silence of the hospital remained undisturbed. Tobias was examining the monitor that recorded the information his father's tracking device was transmitting. The worm was moving to many places really quickly. But it seemed there were a few places it was going to more frequently than others, most concerningly all of these frequent places are in human towns close to where his friends live.

However, the young Animorph warrior was more concerned with the worm writhing away in his stomach as he prayed.

Some time ago the blood from the bag he had given had emptied into the woman's bloodstream, he replaced it with the IV drip she had when he arrived, but there was nothing more he could do. He removed the vascular filter he had given her, the lady's blood has been mostly cleansed of the impurities. His silence was total, and he waited patiently for a sign.

Then the lady began to stir, she moved around in her cot, Tobias looked up, hope reentering his eyes as the old lady opened her's before looking around the room and placing her book on her nightstand.

"Hello?" She asked the room. "Are you still here?"

Tobias smiled widely and put his gloved hands to the ground and got up, deactivating his invisibility shroud.

"How are you feeling?" Tobias asked. "You're starting to look a hundred years younger."

"I feel it," the lady said, clenching her fist with a strength her fingers had not known in a long time. "Thank you, whoever you are. My eyes haven't been what they used to be. Are you..."

"Yes," Tobias answered her question before he could finish. "I'm the same as you."

"That face? What's with that face? You've been through a lot, haven't you, son? Come here," the old lady said, spreading her arms wide, and Tobias rushed forward and embraced her.

"I lost everything..." Tobias said in a broken voice, tears rolling down his face. "I thought my father and I were the only ones left, and...when they found him, he was too hurt to fight back, it wouldn't stop beating him and...and..."

"It's okay, son," she said. "It's okay."

"Sorry if I seem a tad rude, but who are you? I don't recognize you..." the elder remarked, her ancient voice lacking hostility, more curious than wary. She looked at her arm where the IV drip was connected to her, concern and worry appeared on her wrinkly face. "It seems I've truly lost track of time. How long was I out?"

"We are in the summer of year 13 of the Discae Era, and 1996 A.D."

The old lady gasped, her long white hair shaking as she processed the information. She put a hand to her forehead.

"I guessed that you finally perfected the cube. That's the only possible reason you could have beaten my defect back with a transfusion of what I can assume would be your blood."

"Yes," Tobias removed the blue box from the bag he carried.

The lady's eyes lit up, her breath left her throat as if she was looking at a myth that had come alive from its pages. "Aaah, it's...it's real...in person. But how did I get to this bed?"

"The Sanctuary had been sacked," Tobias reported. "The perpetrators had stolen The Cube, that's why it took so long to reach you."

The Elder's eyes grew fearful.

"My children, my grandchildren, what happened to them? Are they safe? Did they escape?"

Tobias looked down in sorrow.

"Your descendants were among the first killed in the strike, your bloodline has been annihilated."

A few short minutes later, Ellen jumped out of the window, a bag clutched in her feet as her feathers were ruffled by the wind. After removing all evidence of his presence and their departure, Tobias leapt off of the roof, and made way to the final person he intends to recruit into the cause.

((Thank you, Tobias,)) Ellen said as she flew out of thought speak range. ((And may your power serve you better than it did my children in this world of darkness.))

((You too, Ellen. The day of our vengeance is coming, for what they have done, the decievers will die.))

The two birds circled away from each other, flapping in the night air. As they flew on a strong wind pushed Ellen in the direction of the base, which Tobias was tempted to stop resisting it and give in, return to his last friends. But no, there was one last person Tobias needed to find, and if he wanted to find that person, he had to do it alone.