The mission to silence the source of the anti-morph serum was an overwhelming success, however, it had been done before the Animorphs themselves even set out to accomplish it. The flow of the poison had been permanently halted, the one in charge of tainting the tap water now dedicated to ensuring it never enters the pipes again. But as the Animorphs returned home, they encountered yet another surprise, the invisible ship had been sighted! Noting its proximity to the ground, the Animorphs quickly hypothesized it intended to land, so quick and eager Harry, without any warning, took chase, leaving the rest of the Animorphs to figure out what to do next. Although this next calm will be appreciated, it won't be easy.

The Art of Free Time

Day 19, Afternoon

After we had returned to The Sanctuary, we told everybody what happened in thoughtspeech, in person, James was just as relieved as any of us were, and bewildered at the rest of the details.

"So Harry chased after the ship? And Warlike stopped the flow of the Anti-morph serum?" James asked incredulously.

"Yeah, but that's not what's important right now," I said.

"If Harry tracks that thing down, then it means we've found Them," Rachel said. Her words have taken on that deadly serious chill.

We're close, this time I can feel it. A confrontation with them is inevitable, and coming soon.

"And how do we know he's going to be okay?" Cassie asked. "Nobody has any idea what he's up against, what we're up against, and worse, he has no backup. If they find him..."

"We can't worry about that right now," Marco said. "We can try talking with him in thoughtspeech, but he's not going to send anything back, not until he tracks it down, or fails."

"Long distance thoughtspeech when inexperienced people do it hurts," James said. "It's like shouting at the top of your lungs, but giving yourself migraines instead of blasting your throat out."

"Jake," Tobias spoke up, breaking his silence, which had been spent obsessing over his analyzer from his seat on the table. "I've finished analysis of the substance."

We all turned to face him with bated breath, the silence so deep even the creak of the chairs we sat on wouldn't have broken it.

"It's Antimorph venom."

Ben grit his teeth and looked away from us to seethe, eyes murderous, body shaking, Ellen shook her head, her face even paler than normal.

Rachel smashed her fist against the table and cursed.

"What's going on with that?!" Rachel said in outrage. "Anti-morph serum, Antimorph venom? Whatever this crap is, how do The Controllers have that?"

"No, it can't be the Controllers," Alice said.

"Why not?" Rachel asked.

"If it were Them, then sooner or later they're gonna start using Antimorphs to attack us," Tobias said.

That's nonsense though, it doesn't make sense for ETCS to imprison Antimorphs. I mean, they're morphers, too, right? How can they keep one contained, much less extract its venom and put it inside the plumbing? But on the other hand...it would mean They have creatures designed to kill morphers, and worse, they have at least one that can convert us into one of their own kind, like a zombie virus.

Just like what Warlike did to that administrator guy, forced his mouth open and stuffed his stomach to overflowing with his venom. He got out fine, but if the same happened to one of us, first would come the disorientation, then the nausea, then we change. Not morph into something else, but change, twist, warp...devolve in body and mind.

I let out a shudder involuntarily.

"But why wouldn't it be Them who has the Antimorph Venom?" Marco pointed. "Torelli wants to hurt aliens, but would he even bother wanting to make Animorphs metamorphosise into what's essentially a rabid and feral version of themselves? I mean, he has human safety to consider afterall!"

"You say that is if human safety was something he ever considered!" Ben uttered as if what Marco said was the most ridiculous statement he ever heard.

"Enough!" I said, standing up. "We clearly have a lot to think about and consider, Antimorph Venom was being poured into the pipes, now it's gone, Harry flew off to track down a phantom ship and is missing for the time being, those aren't questions. It doesn't matter who put the poison in there, it's not there anymore, and Harry's not going to write us back anytime soon, so we should move onto another topic."

"Like the fact Warlike was the one who did it," Cassie pointed out softly.

Him again, I thought. What are he and Lotr even trying to do?

"He seemed quite intelligient, for a human animal," I said. "Did he seem any different from before he was imprisoned, Alice?"

"He's pretty similar, he hasn't changed but he's definitely grown," Alice said. "He's a lot more considerate than he used to be, whether or not this growth is because of his own aging, his incarceration, or Lotr's influence, I can't tell."

"But he's still a ticking time bomb," Cassie said, I widened my eyes and looked to her. The fact that she was saying that about him, despite what she said about his intentions on the journey back surprised me.

"No matter what he believes, he's a person chronically eager to do harm, if he's still a person. I could just taste the bloodlust and malice in his every word. Even though he's technically on our side, I don't think we should seek him out."

"But what about this purple eyed Animorph?" Rachel said. "If Lotr partnered with him, then I'm pretty darned certain that he intends to cause massive amounts of damage."

"Do you think towards Them or us?" James said.

"So what can we do about this?" Marco said, giving me a side-eye.

What can we do about this? I blinked as I thought, reviewing all the information in my head. I looked at everyone else to give my answer.

"Nothing. We can do nothing. So we shouldn't worry about this because we can't do anything to affect it at all. The only thing we can do is wait for Harry to signal us when he finishes his pursuit of the ship."

"If he can," Marco muttered. "I mean, come on, how does he think he can chase down a spaceship with a pair of goose wings? This isn't a comic book!"

The New Blood Animorphs returned to their homes and their human lives while the Old Bloods, as always, remained in The Sanctuary's Security Room. They were all silent to eachother as they sat on the table, they waited, stewing in their own thoughts until James was the first to speak up.

((What are you going to do about this?)) James asked. ((We can't keep them in the dark forever.))

((Who says we intended to do that?)) Ben asked.

((But you heard them earlier,)) Ellen commented. ((They still tried to eliminate ETCS as a culprit, without evidence proving their innocence in the Antimorph Venom plot. They won't trust us.))

((If we keep lying to them, it's only going to end in disaster,)) Ben said. ((What do you think's going to happen if they discover our deception and we had no intention for them to eventually find out the truth? Do you think that won't cause them to lose whatever trust we built with them before then?))

((Ben has a point,)) Alice said. ((But Ellen shouldn't be dismissed eiher. They might not be at full strength, but they're stronger than the vast majority of us in The Sanctuary right now and most of us are not fit to fight even a human. They may have our resistance to mind control, but that still doesn't change the fact that they're ignorant, and decieved on many levels, and bound to react wildly if their assumptions and beliefs are challenged. This in combination with them possessing our power makes them far more dangerous than normal humans.))

((And do you think their reaction to being decieved would somehow be less dangerous, then? And speaking of danger, my friends are different, I bonded with them for a reason, and our five years apart hasn't changed them...I wish I could claim the same.)) Tobias, closed his eyes and bowed his head in shame.

((If they find out we're lying, Rachel will react the most extremely, and the worst she'd do is try to put the one she deems most responsible in a chokehold or punch them.))

((So you're seriously going to try to keep it up?)) James asked incredulously. ((This is not how you build an army...))

((Fraternity founded on lies is destined to not last!)) Ben protested.

((No, we're not going to lie to them forever, who says we need to 'lie' to them at all?)) Tobias said. ((We break the truth to them slowly, trickle down trivia and relevant, or irrelevant, information, provide hints to them about what's really going on, and when they put enough pieces together to start asking the questions that really matter, we give them the proof behind what we say. Their reaction to our deception will be minimized, and that aside, I don't think it'll jeopardize the trust they put in us as much as you think.))

The others turned to regard Tobias with interest, eager to hear more.

((Yes, we lied to them about what we are, but other than Harry, when have we been dishonest about who we are? Trust is built on interaction and familiarity, so as long as we stay true to ourselves and don't make an active effort to hide it from them, when the New Bloods realize the truth, even if they're mad at first, they'll understand, and remember the real threat doesn't have anything to do with us.))

((You're just like your father,)) James said fondly.

Tobias turned to face him, a distant look in his eyes, he stared at him for a few moments, unable to say the words.

((...Thank you.))

Ben turned to face everyone present, his words clear.

((So, what parts do we start revealing to them first?))

Everyone blinked and looked at eachother for further consideration, Tobias himself suddenly looked very lost, exactly the same as everyone else, so he put his face into the palm of his hand.

This is clearly going to take more than one meeting to formulate a plan.

Day 20, Morning

It was decided that the best thing to do was to take another break. The duration of this conflict, we had realized, would be a balancing act, a balance between us fighting Them, and maintaining our human lives.

"Look alive, midget!"

I was playing basketball with Tom, it was so strange, knowing what was living inside his own head, and still going on like normal, he has no idea that his ruse is up. In the days since I discovered my brother's infestation, I paid closer attention to him, watched for the subtle things, the tilting of his body, the tiny inflections in his voice, any stray movement on his face. Nothing, I saw nothing had changed, he acted exactly the same as before, it took me weeks of observation to realize the first observation, his reduced interest in basketball.

But still, his Controller acted so perfectly, so much like the Tom I knew, that it took me weeks to realize it, and that was only because he no longer challenged me to basketball games.

Whoever it was, whatever it was that replaced my brother, he was one of the best actors on the planet.

FWOOSH!

"Hey, come on bro, get your head in the game!" Tom said after I failed to keep him from scoring in my goal.

We returned to the middle of the driveway, the dribbling recommenced. After some fancy footwork, I managed to get close to the goal Tom was protecting, jumped up, ball in hand for a slam dunk, and Tom knocked it from my fingers.

"Are you dreaming in la la land? You're going to be in ha ha land when this is over!"

His act was flawless.

"Oh, not so fast!" I said, smiling to keep up the appearance, chasing after the ball.

It has to have access to his memories, how else can that thing impersonate my brother so perfectly?

One thing's for sure, though, I was always faster than Tom, so when he knocked the ball from my hands, I'm more likely to reach it first. I grabbed it and started dribbling right when it reached the road, where my goal was. Tom was immediately on the offensive.

What is it like behind his eyes, looking at me? Is he suffering in there? Can he even see anything outside his head? Is he even alive?

No! I shouldn't think that, Tom's alive, he has to be!

"Whatcha gonna do, bro? Whatcha gonna do?"

"What I'm gonna do," I said. "Is THIS!"

I shot my arms forward ahead of me, faster than Tom himself could react, the ball was sent flying across the driveway towards the garage door, where his goal was.

FWOOSH!

The orange ball landed in the net and bounced on the driveway.

"And the crowd goes wild!" I shouted triumphantly.

"Not yet, midget," Tom said. "Two out of three, it's a tie!"

"You're on," I said. "I'll save you any day."

"Save me?" Tom said with a smile.

Oh crap.

"Take you!" I quickly corrected myself. "I meant take you on, honest!"

"Did you, now?" Tom said. "And what are you going to save me from? Is that what this game is about?"

"Hey, Jake-man!" I heard a shout in the distance. I turned my head down the road to see Marco, quickly approaching on his bike.

"Ah, your friend," Tom said before beginning to walk back inside. "Later."

It's not him, the old Tom would've finished the game no matter what, even if he had to stop, he would've been disappointed.

"What's up, Marco?" I asked.

"Something's come up," he said. "Something really REALLY important, and I need you to come with me, right now!"

The way his tone was, his phrasing of his words sent chills down my spine.

"Not Them?" I whispered.

Marco shrugged, "Eeeh, it might be Mexican food. Might not be."

"I''ll be there."

"Excellent!" Marco said, smiling. "Bring your swim trunks, I'll be waiting."

((And I have a plan,)) Marco said in my head, his extremely serious thought-speech voice tone contrasting sharply with his real, rather high pitched voice.

I turned to walk back to my house and caught my brother just as he reached our front door.

I'm going to save you, Tom, I silently swore in my head, making sure to not allow a single word to actually leave my head. I swear, as long as I live, I'll find a way, I'll find the way out and free you from this monster pretending to be my brother. That freak will not destroy my family, not while I'm alive.

I finally sat down at the lounge next to the table holding tacos, nachos, and the enchiladas, my mouth was a straight line as I stared blankly ahead, not at all interested in Cassie in her swimsuit jumping into the pool. Okay, I was definitely interested in Cassie, even moreso than usual, I would rather not look at or think about anything else other than her, anything would be better than dwelling on how Marco duped me, but Cassie? She is perfect.

((Marco,)) I asked. ((When you mentioned Mexican food, you weren't talking in code, were you?))

((Okay, yes, I lied,)) He confessed.

((Marco!)) I scolded. ((You can't do that sort of crap! I mean, I can understand where you're coming from, but using our morphing pwoers for this? Doesn't that seem petty to you?))

((Hey, cut me some slack!)) Marco defended himself. ((Darlene permabanned me from every party she ever hosted for dunking a snickers bar in the pool! And I already told you this, she paid me to toss it in there! I still have that 100.41 and I'm not spending it until you help me with this!))

((And do you think getting revenge will help?)) I said as some pool-goer did a cannonball, while Cassie returned to lounge right next to me, this is a pretty good day, regardless of the direction this conversation is going.

((No, what's going to help is you and Cassie saving Darlene from me, and then asking her to take me off of the not allowed list for her parties! But not make it too obvious, you know?))

((Yes, it's crappy, I know, but think about it. Why do you think we should use our powers to right this wrong? Using the morphing power to assault Darlene and her friends to manipulate her into doing the right thing is on the same level as breaking and entering into someone's house to steal a drawing that got stolen from you!))

I heard Cassie sputter beside me, she spat lemonade all overherself, she extended her arm, cup still in hand, and had a coughing fit. I heard a suspicious noise among the crowd, when I glanced I saw Rachel looking away from me.

((No...)) I said to the girls in disbelief as I leaned to my girlfriend and started patting her back. ((What did you do?))

Cassie continued her coughing fit, but thoughtspeech doesn't need a clear windpipe to be used.

((Okay, it kinda almost didn't happen, but I found out that I accidentally left my wallet in the Chapman's House day before yesterday,)) Cassie said. ((And I brought Rachel for moral support.))

((So you broke into Chapman's house to get it back?)) I asked in disbelief. ((Cassie! You're supposed to be a good girl!))

((Yeah, that house had a totally different feeling at night,)) Rachel said.

((Ugh,)) I said.

((I know, I know,)) Rachel said. ((You can't just do that, but Cassie left sensitive information in her wallet, notes about alien things.))

My eyes widened as I processed that information.

((I understa-)) But I was interrupted.

"AAAIIIIIIIIIII!"

But before I could respond I heard the shrill cry of Darlene and her friends, I turned to see them running away, pool chairs abandoned, and a mouse was nipping at their heels.

"Oh brother, he's actually doing it," I said as I got up to deal with the commotion.

[2 Weeks & 5 Days before Jake, Rachel, and Cassie received the morphing power]

Midnight

In a town somewhere in Oregon, Warlike rested after a violent clash.

It's not like it could be helped, Warlike thought to himself as the commotion washed over him.

By some miracle, as they fled from the forest Lotr was able to give Warlike clothes to blend in. Some boots, a trench coat, and overalls. Warlike hated the clothes, it blunted his skin's senses, and if he ever needed to morph, he knew they wouldn't turn with him.

The Antimorph was forced to abide by it, though, he needed to hide, and morphing clearly wasn't going to cut it. Worst of all, even though they had technically won that encounter, with both of those D0gbones being wrecked, ETCS forces were still too numerous, forcing them to flee into a nearby town to hide.

((They'll look for us in the wilds,)) Lotr explained. ((They'll never expect our kind to try and take refuge among the humans.))

((Not "our" kind!)) Warlike remembered specifying.

Of course, what Lotr failed to mention that though ETCS offense was in the wilds, they filed into the surrounding towns to protect them, meaning that Warlike was trapped in a this building as the ETCS troops patrolled along with their vehicles. Warlike wanted to rip their heads off, but he was panting from exhaustion, he knew that if he was discovered, then he was done for. Worse still, ETCS would know to search abandoned buildings, yet Warlike was inside a bar, with a dozen people still mulling about. They were concerned, wondering why the troops were issuing orders to remain indoors, but that meant they're not focused on him, in this calm moment, the Antimorph levied questions.

((So, The Light Machine,)) Warlike asked Lotr.

((What about it?))

((Once you destroy it with that lantern you have, the Andalites and ETCS will die for good, is that right? What do you plan to do, once the Andalites are destroyed?))

((Isn't it obvious?)) Lotr said. ((When all other Andalites on this world are gone, we begin our assault on The Parasite, and drive them from the planet.))

((And what about ETCS?)) Warlike demanded. ((They're clearly not going to sit on the sidelines while we do that... how do you plan to attack The Parasite?))

((We'll utilize the Chee to assemble an army,)) Lotr explained. ((There are only four of them, but they can seek out the Antimorphs still loose and recruit them to our cause.))

((The Antimorphs?)) Warlike asked. ((Have you seen their condition? How broken they are? We're animals, most can't even talk! They're attack beasts who can only follow rudimentary commands!))

((You're not an animal, but you and the Antimorphs troubles are why The Chee are important,)) Lotr explained. ((Do you even know what they can do? They serve, they protect...and heal. Mentally and physically.))

((But being an Antimorph is not a deformity a Chee can cure us of!)) Warlike angrily pointed out. ((If it was, then why-))

"Can I take your order, sir?" The bartender asked Warlike, interrupting his conversation, the hood of his coat covering his orange eyes.

Considering that right now he was very thirsty, and unwilling to hydrate himself with his biomass reserves, Warlike decided to play.

"How much will your biggest water cost?" Warlike answered. The bartender blinked at how odd his voice sounded but turned around to get it out.

"Nothing, as long as you don't break the glass," the bartender then placed the large glass of water on the bar and pushed it, sliding it towards the Antimorph. Warlike's gloved hand moved in a blur to catch it and moved it closer to his body. Then he noticed the problem.

"Are your straws free, too?"

This question elicited laughter from the humans surrounding him as the bartender reached under the counter and placed a disposable plastic straw into the large cup after removing its paper wrapping.

"So, what's your story?" An inebriated man said to Warlike before he could take a drink. He couldn't see his face, for the Antimorph was trying to hide his own eyes.

He removed his lips from the straw to respond carefully.

"My story, is leave me alone."

"Come on, man, why not brag about your reflexes?" The human said. "We all saw how you snatched that cup!"

"What's to brag about grabbing a cup?"

"What else is there to do?" The man said. "ETCS Marshal Law or whatever is having all of us stay indooors due to some alien crap. Bull! Why we gotta be stuck in here? Might as well make the time pass quicker!"

"Then let me pass it alone," Warlike said, turning away from the man to try and drink.

"Hey, come on man, it's not like you're whatever animal Aunty Alien's so worked up about out there!"

Warlike froze and began shaking, staring down at his glass, straw just about to touch his lips.

Bothersome pests, why can't they leave anything alone!

Warlike took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"So, what job do you work?" Another guy, who he could tell was an old man from his voice, asked.

"You do you, and I do me. I do what I do, leave me be."

"Had a bad day?"

Warlike barked a single laugh.

"I can count on my fingers the ones that weren't."

"Oh," another man, more drunk than the rest said, before spouting words that were impossible to understand.

"Ye a course ha'won goo day!" The guy slurred. "Ya juzz be a sou puth! Lookin' fo people to ma' juzz like you! An look, yo wari'a diapa!"

Warlike understood what the man said, his eyes widened and his pupils began shaking, his teeth ached as he clenched his jaw in an effort to keep his mouth shut.

"Hey, knock it off, Chris!" The old man said. "It's not like you have room to talk, you're a miserable excuse for a human being. Why would a doctor spend so many nights here?"

"'Ey, oo are y't'talk about me? Hic! It's ma wurd against yuts."

"As they say. If one person tells you you're a horse, they are crazy. If three people tell you you're a horse, There's conspiracy afoot. If ten people tell you you're a horse, it's time to buy a saddle!"

All of a sudden a gloved hand reached out and grabbed the old man's neck, he threw several punches at Warlike, but he didn't budge. For the first time Warlike looked up and saw the old man's eyes go from angry to confused and scared as the Antimorph's glowing orange orbs stared him down. Warlike squeezed, crushing his neck.

The Antimorph then felt a crackling stinging sensation on the side of his face, the bartender pulled out a taser and was shocking him. Warlike dropped the man and swung his arm around so hard that he decapitated the bartender, sending him and his head flying across the room.

"Run!" Someone cried out.

Leave no witnesses, Warlike decided.

Warlike then leapt into action to attack the most sober group of people. Fangs ripping into the throat of the first man, he grabbed a barstool and threw it at the second, the seat shattering off his back. The Antimorph then took the downed man's body and threw it at the most drunken person, the offender who the old man was defending him against, now laughing at the carnage before him. Warlike, in his anger, grabbed his head and smashed his face against the stool he was sitting on.

Then the Antimorph turned to the corners of the bar, a small table to his left had two people, both face down, they were unconscious. Or so it seems.

Warlike slowly approached the two humans, removing his clothing as he did so. First gloves, then the jacket came off, then the boots left his feet as he reached the table to examine the two humans.

The first one had no hair on his head, completely shaved, and was a bit on the large side, while the other was smaller. A lot smaller.

Are you a child? Warlike wondered. A father taking a boy to drink?

Warlike's hand reached forward to grab the older man's head, eliciting a gasp!

Pretender.

Warlike's bare clawed hand reached forward to grab the human's face at the side and before his victim could react, twisted, breaking his neck.

Warlike turned to the kid, who looked nothing like his father, and picked him up by his slightly curly brown hair, which had bits of yellow in it, his skin was like brown sugar. All of these details Warlike took in as he pried the teenaged boy's eyes open.

Eyes unfocused, he's going to have a nasty surprise when he wakes.

The young one's asleep, he doesn't wake even with my manipulation of his eyes, better keep him that way.

The Antimorph rested the boy's head down on the counter gently, and moved returned to his drink of water.

Warlike reflected as he removed his overalls from his body, revealing almost all of his bare skin.

He bent his legs and sat down on his barstool with a squish and grabbed his glass, considering the gravity of his actions.

By the Ellemist, not again! The Antimorph despaired, mourning what had happened, despite the humans being his enemy. My instincts prevailed again. I lost control, and...that first one was defending me!

This...this is exactly why I belong in a cage, Warlike confessed to himself.

But I can't turn back, now. Not when Elfangor's so close, not with The Cube in his possession.

Warlike swallowed his grief and picked up his glass from the bar.

With Lotr's help, my revenge against the-?!

Warlike removed the glass of water from his lips and spit the sip of water he took from it. The Antimorph looked at it with the strangest expression his face could make. Every emotion was seemingly on his face all at once as he turned the glass to look at it.

What in the Ellemist's Husk is the meaning of this? The water's tainted!

Warlike crawled over the counter and reached the faucet the bartender used to fill his glass. Warlike ran the water on his fingers and took a drink from it. He spit it out.

That definitely wasn't him. The tapwater's been tainted, but with what? And WHY? Warlike returned to his seat at the bar, grabbed the glass and took a long deep whiff of it.

What is this scent? And why is it so familiar? Warlike wondered...Wait, there's something else.

After the next round of sniffing his orange eyes exploded open.

"ANDALITE!" Warlike roared. "There's an Andalite, here! Hiding in this room!"

And not just any Andalite either, it was that Aximili Lotr talked about!

Warlike looked around at the bodies, the entire place won't be safe. Not unless he...

Warlike reached down at his final conscious victim, grabbed his torso in both hands, and pulled hard, ripping the corpse in two. The Antimorph let the bloody pieces fall to the ground. That settles it, no one else was leaving this place alive, Aximili's morph could be anyone, even the dead. The only way to kill them for sure in morph was to rip them in two!

"No. Please. Help me!" Warlike heard a female whimper in the back.

Who is that? Warlike turned to face the sound of the voice, she was resting facefirst on a table, her entire body obscurred by clothing, the only part of her he could see was her hair. The Antimorph crept up on her. That can't be The Andalite, the tone is wrong.

"Get me out of here! Not them. Not them! Anyone but them! Help me! Please, hurry. Help me! Please!" The woman continued to cry in that muted whisper.

When Warlike got close enough to her, he took a deep breath through her noise, taking in her air. She smelled very strongly of urine, clearly something was wrong with her.

"Please! Help me! Lord Zavezz! Help me!"

Warlike's eyes widened. An Animorph? Here? And she needs help?

HE smiled his fangs for a brief second.

What luck! The Ellemist must have crossed our paths for both our benefit! This is my chance to repay my debt to Zavezz! We'll definitely be on speaking terms, now!

"Hey," Warlike said to the woman. "What's wrong? Is there anything I can do? It seems you've taken refuge from ETCS here in this bar, same as me! Do you need help? A friend? Whatever you need, I can..."

"Help me! I can't! I can't! Help me! Help me!" The Animorph's cries continued, her body showed no movement either, nothing to indicate that she even percieved Warlike.

Warlike realized that something was seriously wrong with her, and approached with caution.

"Hello?" Warlike took a few further steps closer to examine her, and she only cried quicker.

"Help me, help me! help! Help! Help! Help!"

Warlike gently grabbed her head and lifted it up, when he saw her eyes he flinched in shock.

"Help!Helphelphelphelphelphelphelphelphelp!"

Veins. Her eyes were covered in black veins, her teeth were gone, and her nose was a discolored monstrosity of a protrusion.

"By The Ellemist's Husk!"

"No! NOOOOOOO!" She wailed in horror at the top of her lungs as she moved for the first time since Warlike arrived at the bar. She threw herself to the ground as if possessed!

"Hold on! Hold on!" Warlike said, summoning another item from his sub-space through his skin into his palm. "This'll help!"

The Antimorph knew exactly what fate this unfortunate woman was suffering, having once inflicted it himself, but he swore to never do so ever again. Nor would he allow someone to warp into such a degraded state!

"I can't! I can't! Lord Zavezz! Help me! I can't!"

Warlike reached down and found her back bare, he thrust the device, almost smashing it into her back below the ribcage.

This'll help, Warlike almost repeated, but before the words could leave his mouth...

"What have you done?" A new voice spat from the doorway to the bar.

The newcomer's face was gaunt and pale, with dirty blond hair reaching down to his neck, every inch of his clothing was black, except for the gunmetal gray tips of his fingers, and the green beads embedded into his collar. He knew this person was an Animorph, for he wore a skirt of rods which were clearly a weapon of some kind over his black pants, and his eyes stared at Warlike with a wrathful blue shine, and of course, the gun he had pointed at him wasn't one made by humans.

But all of those details faded from his sight, the whole world, every sound, every sight, every smell, every color, and disturbance of the air faded away when Warlike saw what was in his other hand.

"The Cube." Warlike said as he rose in a trance-like state.

The Animorph Warrior, recognizing his terrible mistake, put The Cube back in his black satchel.

"The Cube," Warlike repeated. "Give it to me."

"Stay back," he said. "Why should I believe you intend to use it for its intended purpose!"

Warlike continued walking forward.

"I'm not like other Antimorphs, I can think. I can reason. And I ask to myself, why can't you see here, that one of your own needs help? She needs The Cube, it's the only thing that could save her. Andalite-spawn."

"Your darkness must be eradicated," the Animorph Warrior declared. "By The Ellemist, The Antimorph's degeneracy will never curse this world, or any world, ever again!"

"Then we share the same intention," Warlike said, still creeping forward. "Just use it on her."

Then the shelf full of bottles exploded behind Warlike as The Animorph shot him.

"But...how?" He stuttered as The Antimorph finally stopped. "I hit you!"

Warlike growled, his eyes glowing with a new rage.

"So, this is how you parlay?" Warlike snarled, beginning to walk forward far faster than before. "I'm game!"

The Animorph Warrior then disappeared, causing Warlike to stop, and become even more enraged.

"COWARD!" He roared, then all of a sudden, it happened.

"NOOOOaUA-!" The woman Warlike tried to help cried out in horror. Her limbs bent and extended, twisting in unnatural shapes, her fingernails turned into talons, her chest broadened and deepened, her muscles expanded. A tail exploded from her rear, tipped with a narrow blade and covered in quills, her legs acquired an extra set of knees and bent to accomodate a more quadrupedal form. Her voice transformed from a cry into a catawauling shriek. Her body was changing, but she was not morphing.

Warlike wasn't the only Antimorph in the room anymore.