Secret Invasion
It was a cold afternoon in February when Gallant first saw it. Most of the people he came across were going through something, but only rarely would they accept help when he offered it. Whether out of pride or distrust, people wanted to deal with their own problems whether they could or not. But then there were the emergencies, people Gallant couldn't ignore today because they might not be there tomorrow.
He was a janitor. Gallant had never spoken to him more than an occasional good morning, but he had seen the man here and there for the past year. He was about forty, taller than average with a habitual slouch and a round face with a few days of stubble on his chin. His face was calm. His posture was calm. His mind screamed.
"Hey," Gallant said, walking over to him. "Are ... are you alright?"
The man stopped, setting down his mop. "I ... yes, I think so. Is something wrong?" His tone was full of polite confusion. His emotions matched that of someone drowning.
"Hey!" Shadow Stalker, his partner for the afternoon, snapped. "Come on. I don't got all day."
Gallant hesitated, not sure what to do. "I just wanted to tell you that I appreciate what you do. These floors have never looked better, and that makes a difference no matter what anyone says."
The man blinked, then his face split open into a wide smile. "Well, thank you. That's always nice to hear."
Shadow Stalker made no effort to hide her impatience. "You done, or can we go yet?"
Gallant turned and walked toward her, his gait casual. "Keep an eye on him," he said when he was out of earshot, his voice low.
"What?"
"Do not let him out of your sight. Sedate him if you have to."
"You're kidding." She sounded skeptical, but she spoke quietly all the same.
He shook his head. "I need to report this to the Director. He's been Mastered."
WWW
The janitor, Louis Andrews, made no protest as he was escorted to a Master-Stranger confinement cell. He acted confused at first, and then annoyed, but his emotions lit up with hope.
On the second day, he asked to be released. He asserted that he had proven himself to be of sound mind despite whatever false alarm had sent him here, but his emotions were full of terror. Until, that is, his request was refused. Then they turned to relief.
On the third day he began to curse and swear, demanding to be let out or to see a lawyer, all while to Gallant's eyes alone, he was filled with anticipation and spiteful joy.
That night, he began to scream. They called in Panacea to examine him as PRT troopers held him down.
"There's something in his brain," she confirmed. "I think it's organic. I've never seen anything like it."
It took one hour. He writhed and wept and screamed and thrashed, all while his emotions were colored with triumph, then it ended. He lay on the floor and laughed, scratching at his ear as a small, gray-green slug spilled out of it.
"Mr. Andrews," Director Piggot said through a speaker as a pair of troopers collected the specimen for study. "How are you feeling?"
The janitor sat up and wiped his eyes. "Lady," he said, sounding exhausted. "I've never felt better in my life."
She glanced at Gallant, who nodded. The man's ecstasy, his relief, his joy shone around him like a sunrise. "All the same, we'd like to keep you here for a few more days just to be sure."
"No problem," he said. "Keep me here all week. This cell is nothing compared to what I've been through."
Piggot raised an eyebrow at that. "What, exactly, have you been through?"
The man sombered and he took a deep breath. "They're called Yeerks."
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When Taylor first got her powers, it had been overwhelming. There were millions and millions of bugs all around her, crawling and smelling and seeing with hundreds of millions of eyes, and for over a month now she had been aware of all of them.
After a while she got ... mostly used to them. Trying to see through them was a headache in the making, but by just knowing where they were, she could form a picture of her surroundings.
And those surroundings terrified her. It wasn't a matter of going to Fugly Bob's and finding out that they treated the healthcode more like a list of general guidelines than rules. It was finding a massive underground complex that spanned through most of the city. At first she thought it was someone's doomsday bunker, or a supervillain's Bond lair, but it had entrances to the Brockton Bay General Hospital, the Forbes Art Gallery, even one to Winslow High School.
Winslow freaking High. Why on earth would anyone want a secret entrance to her high school? It wasn't an emergency bunker. The city already had the Endbringer shelters, and those weren't secret. It wasn't for the heroes. Arcadia, where all the Wardes not so secretly attended, didn't have one, and neither did the Protectorate HQ or the PRT building.
That left the villains, but that didn't make sense either. She had only a vague idea of where the villains controlled their territories, but no one gang controlled the entire city. And if there was such a supergang, why, why, why would they want a secret entrance to her high school? The thing went directly to her principal's office, for crying out loud.
That was why she did something she had sworn to never do. She stayed after school by choice to figure out what the hell was going on.
What she found would haunt her nightmares.
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A/n I really loved the Animorph's series growing up, and Worm had a very similar tone. I wonder why I haven't seen more Worm Animorph crossovers.
Maybe because Worm has enough to deal with without an alien invasion.
Anywho, this was just an idea that popped into my head one day. Certain parahuman abilities make a secret invasion a lot more difficult, and the PRT has standard procedures to deal with people being mind controlled. Also, as a personal headcanon, if the Yeerks were to change tactics for an open war, Scion might do something.
Meanwhile, the longer the Yeerks stay around, the better chance the humans have of stealing Yeerk technology. Not Tinkertech, but normal tech that can be reverse engineered and follows the laws of physics, and offers faster than light travel. An enterprising secret society (cough, cough, Cauldron) could use that as a get-out-of-Apocalypse free card.
Just a though. If you would like to see this or any of my other snippets expanded, let me know.
