Chapter Text
My name is Tom. Yeah, I know. How average is that? You probably want a last name, to help keep me straight from all the other Tom’s you know. Well, that’s not going to happen. You might even think I picked Tom to be more anonymous. And maybe I did, you’ll never know. Regardless, it’s what you’re going to get, so you have to deal with it.
What you have to understand is the world is flooded with aliens. Not like that Star Trek crap, but a real invasion. They invade people’s heads, set up shop around a person’s brain - literally - and then they’re what we’re calling Controllers, so named because they control the host entirely. We like to keep the names simple here. Says Tom.
Now before you walk off and call me a whack job, I’ve gotta tell you something. I’m only taking the time to write this out so more people will know. Maybe if you had some clue, got a little suspicious, you wouldn’t walk yourself into a trap. I wouldn’t blame you. I nearly got my foot caught in a Yeerk trap, and its just luck that I’m not. But if humanity can survive a little longer then maybe the Andalites will get here in time to rescue us. So try to be a little more paranoid out there, and maybe we’ll make it. Maybe.
I won’t tell you where I live, but it doesn’t matter, because no matter what town you’re in, it’s all happening around you. I might even be in your town. Your own local Tom, as it were. Good ol’ Tom, who isn’t really that good at school, but has a sick three-point shot and occasionally has some good jokes. Okay, like three good jokes, but they’re pretty fantastic.
My life used to be really normal. True Tom normal. And I liked it normal. I’m not really that impressive of a person, and to be frank, I really don’t want to be. I mean, I’m great at basketball, might’ve even been good enough to get a scholarship. I could’ve put in more hours and really worked my lay-up. Mom had her reservations about how much time I devoted to ‘ball, like I could’ve done something better than basketball with my spare time. Well, maybe playing basketball was nice and normal. Maybe playing basketball is what we should all be allowed to do, while we wait until we have to grow up. Because when you do have to grow up, it will probably slap you in the face and you just have to step up.
My plummet into adulthood came about on a Friday night. I was sitting in the food court at the mall, watching the girl working the counter at the McDonalds. I had been following stupidly after this other girl Jenn until I overheard her with her friend. Apparently I was “really stupid, but we need all sorts”. At the time I was just hurt and angry, and pretty bummed out. Now I just think I dodged a major bullet.
So I was there to watch this other girl, who’s name I didn’t know, but she was really bright and upbeat, which I thought was pretty incredible for someone who manned the McDonalds counter at the mall. I’d seen her earlier that week, after the fallout with Jenn, and I just kind of kept coming back, I guess. As it was Friday, I was staying even later than usual. I think the girl finally noticed me, which was pretty embarrassing. I had my notebook out, so I could have theoretically not been ogling her for an hour or so. And then there’s this hand smacking my shoulder and my kid brother’s best friend is pulling up a chair. He’s this short kid with dark, long hair. I wondered if it was a new trend. Some other kid sat down in the other chair. The kid had straggly blond hair. I was happy to see that if there was a long-hair trend, it was limited to Marco. I closed the notebook.
“Tom.”
“Midget number 2.” I glanced at Marco’s friend.
“Oh right, Tobias, Tom. Tom, Tobias. He’s new. And guess who he’s looking for? Surprisingly, the same person I am! So where’s Jake? I’ve been waiting in the comic book store all night. Used up all my quarters. I would’ve had no one to brag to if I hadn’t noticed Tobias just skulking there.” Marco jerked his finger in the boy’s direction. Marco was generally alright. Talked too much sometimes. Jake would come home and complain how Marco would beat him on some game. I’d joke that I needed someone to keep Jake in his place while I was away. Ugly faces may or may not have been exchanged. The usual sibling stuff. Jake was into all sorts of games, or at least had been until lately. I used to play with him, but he seemed to have lost all interest in it lately.
“I’m not his keeper. He’s probably at that Sharing thing again. I regret ever taking him there in the first place.” The Sharing was this organization. Like scouts but for both boys and girls, and even some parents or older people. They had cook outs and things. That’s where I’d been following Jenn, the girl who thought I was stupid. Jenn was the reason I hadn’t been there on that Friday, as well, crazily enough. I just couldn’t face her after hearing what she had said.
“Ugh, he promised me he’d come and hang out. He’s been spacing out on everything. Maybe we should we stage a rescue. I can go in, make some noise, and you can carry him over your shoulder. Toby here can run defense.”
“Good plan. I like the part where I save him like a whiny little girl.”
“Speaking of girls,” Marco interrupted. “Hello lovelies. Here to meet someone dark and handsome.” Marco brushed his hair to the side in what he must have thought was entrancing. It wasn’t. But then again I was an idiot back in middle school myself.
I turned just in time to see that this was quickly going to become a bad situation. The girl Marco had set his eyes on was my cousin Rachel. And if there has ever been a girl that does not take well to a catcall, it was Rachel. She had all the markings of Miss Teen USA along with the battle cry of an Amazon warrior.
“Excuse me?”
“Ok, I don’t want this to get ugly -“ I said, trying to save the situation.
“Why are you hanging around an ape like Marco? He’s barely evolved enough of a brain to speak, and we’re the worse for it,” Rachel said.
“Your mouth says ape, but your eyes say Greek god.”
“I really need to get home,” Rachel’s friend said. She was a short African-American girl, and realized I kind of knew her too. But only because Jake had a crush on her. I’d caught him over his yearbook, reading her note out loud just past graduation the year before. It hadn’t taken long to connect that girl with Rachel’s friend, Cassie. To be frank, I’d been surprised when I saw her. She was really quiet, wore old jeans and plaid shirts. She seemed honestly nice. To be frank, I was kind of proud of Jake’s taste.
I still found every opportunity to tease him about it, naturally, although it had been a while at that point.
“You’re not going through that construction site, are you?”
“Oh, please. Don’t tell me you want to come and protect me,” Rachel said.
“I actually feel I should protect the ax-murderers,” I shot back. I’d had completely other concerns at the time. Word around the high school was some drug dealers had moved into the area. It was pretty deserted, but there were often people there at night - kids drinking, homeless people curled up wherever they can fit. I had no idea if the drug dealers were new or not. But everyone cut through the construction site; not going through the site took forever to get home. I would’ve told Rachel to go the long way around, but I knew she wouldn’t. And no cousin of mine would run into drugs on my watch, no matter how tough she thought she was. “Alright, come on, dweeb brigade. Let’s get you home to your parents.” I stood to leave with the girls, but was surprised to see Marco and the other Tobias kid following.
“I want to stop by your place, give Jake a piece of my mind,” Marco said. I shrugged. What did I care? I was too stupid for Jenn, too pathetic to talk to McDonalds checkout girl, and now I was leading the middle school train home like ducklings.
I find it really depressing that I really felt I’d hit rock bottom at that point. Turns out rock bottom is really a lot deeper than any of us thought.
So we crossed the road and headed into the construction site. It was a big area, with trees on both sides and a huge field separating the site from the houses. It was supposed to be this big shopping center, but that didn’t pan out. Now it was just all these half-finished buildings, huge piles of rusted steel beams, those huge concrete pipes, mountains of dirt and pits of muddy water. There was this big creaky crane, too.
It sounded deserted that night, to my relief. Even though they talked tough, I could tell the kids were a little on edge. ‘Good,’ I thought. ‘You shouldn’t go poking about here anyway.’
But then that Tobias kid just kind of stopped. He started pointing straight up. I wondered if they kid was all there - he had been spaced out all evening - but then I looked up.
I almost missed it at first, but then I couldn’t tear my eyes away. A brilliant, blue-white light scooted across the sky, going fast at first - too fast for an airplane - then slower.
“What is that?” Rachel asked. She sounded amazed.
“I don’t know,” Tobias said.
“It’s a flying saucer!” Cassie yelled out.
“A flying saucer?” Marco said. He laughed, and then he looked up and his voice trailed off.
“It’s coming this way,” Rachel said.
“Get out of the open,” I said.
“What?” Rachel was still looking up, so I took her by the arm. It was a testament to how bizarre the situation was that I didn’t lose that arm immediately.
“All of you, get over this way and out of the open.” I herded them as best I could towards one of the big piles of concrete pipes. I practically had to carry the dreaming boy. By the time I had him with the others the ‘saucer’ was close enough to see it wasn’t really a saucer at all.
The thing was only about as long as a school bus. The front looked kind of like a chrome egg. The back was a long narrow shaft with two crooked, stubby wings. The end of each wing had what looked like mini-jet engines, if jet engines glowed blue out the back. The back curled up over top again, like a scorpion’s tail.
“That tail thing looks dangerous,” Marco said. The ship kept getting closer, and I was out of ideas on what I could really do at this point. I still couldn’t really believe what I was seeing. I looked over the kids’ faces. Marco had his phone out.
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked.
“This is going to make a great video,” he said. “Someone go out and call it down.”
“No one is going out there!” I hissed.
“Come on, Tom. Do it for the Vine.”
“That meme has never been funny and is not appropriate now and you need to put that phone away!”
The ship, meanwhile, had come in really close. It was maybe a hundred feet in the air over the field we’d been standing in. I could feel my hair standing on end. Rachel’s long blond hair was sticking straight out in every direction. Only Cassie looked normal. The Tobias kid was grinning.
“I think it’s going to land,” he said. I decided then that the kid wasn’t all there and I should probably see that Tobias didn’t get lost finding home again. But he was right. The ship kept coming in lower. I could see the sides in detail now; it had black burn marks along the top, and some of the skin of the pod had been melted. It touched ground and instantly the blue lights went off. Rachel’s hair fell back down onto her neck.
“It isn’t very big, is it?” Rachel whispered.
“Well, it’s bigger than any spaceship I’ve seen,” I muttered.
“We should tell someone,” Marco said. “I mean, this is kind of major, you know? Spaceships don’t just land in the construction site every day. We should call the cops or the army or the president or something. We’d be totally famous. Maybe we could get on Letterman. Or Colbert, I guess.”
“We should definitely call someone,” I agreed. The others were all behind me, and now that the ship had landed I felt less like it would shoot. But I also couldn’t really leave. I mean, there was a spaceship in front of me. A real spaceship! I wasn’t really into comics or science, but it still seemed pretty incredible.
“I wonder if we should try and talk to it,” Rachel suggested. She was standing there with her hands on her hips now, looking at the spaceship like it was a puzzle. “I mean, we should communicate. If that’s even possible.” Tobias nodded but I put an arm out to stop him.
“Alright, I’ll handle this. You see anything - I mean anything - out of ordinary and you are all running home. Right?” Marco laughed, but his voice was a little too high.
“Right, I’ll run off as soon as I see something weird.”
“Just do it, alright!” I stepped out of the shadow of the pipes, trying to act less scared than I felt. I felt pretty damn scared. It was the kind of scared where you wonder why you’re not pissing yourself, because you can’t imagine being more scared.
“Hey in there! Uh, Mr. … Whatever you are.” I held up my hands in the universally calming gesture of I-have-nothing-please-take-pity-and-don’t-shoot. “We, uh, we don’t really want any trouble. So if you could, you know, come out so we know you can’t shoot us with your ship it’d be… nice.” Even I thought that sounded lame.
“Have we considered the plausible possibility that the alien from space doesn’t speak English?” Marco asked. “Well, everyone speaks English on Star Trek,” Cassie said with a nervous laugh.
“We’re not going to hurt you,” Tobias said from behind me. I turned to see he’d stepped forward, which aggravated me to no end.
<I know.>
I froze, felt my anger chill. The voice had been in my head. It occurred to me that hearing voices was a sign of insanity and maybe my brain had just snapped. Maybe I wasn’t in a field with my brother’s friends seeing a spaceship. Maybe I was on my way to a padded room.
“Did everyone hear that?” Tobias whispered. The others nodded, but I made an about-face back at the ship. I felt like an emotional roller coaster - first awe, then fear, now anger.
“Okay, alien thing. I want you to come out now and deal with me properly. We here on Earth speak face-to-face like f-, like gentlemen, and I don’t want to see any funny business because there are children here and you’re not hurting them without dealing with me.”
“I’m not a child -“ Rachel began until the non-voice cut her off.
<I will not hurt you. Do not be frightened.>
“We won’t be frightened,” Tobias said. I really hated that kid at that moment. But there wasn’t time to protect the kid from himself as the ship was opening up.
And it really did just kind of open out of nowhere. A thin arc of light appeared and slowly a doorway appeared in the smooth wall of the ship. I stood there, hypnotized, and then the alien came out.
I’ve never really thought about aliens much. I kind of thought they’d be human-ish, but just with really big heads, like in Independence Day or something. This thing looked like a genetic freak. It looked like someone had taken the upper body of a man, then just sewed on a deer under that. And then dyed it blue, just for fun. Its face had no mouth, and it had eyes moving about like the stalks on a snail. Finally, I saw the inspiration for the ship’s scorpion tail arching over the alien’s back.
“Hello,” Tobias said. He’d somehow walked up so he was level with me. I finally gave up. Saving three kids had to be fine if the fourth was too stupid to remember self-preservation. He just stood there grinning. I returned to the alien with a scowl.
<Hello,> the alien said.
“Hi,” the kids said. They sounded closer, too. I cursed the idiocy of middle schoolers. I knew some really colorful curses at that time, too.
Suddenly, the alien staggered. He fell out of the ship to the ground. I rushed forward without thinking, grabbing one thin arm. Tobias had the other. We couldn’t really pick him up, though, so we just carefully helped him down to the ground. From this close, I could see a burn covering half the alien’s right side. He suddenly seemed a lot less scary.
“He’s hurt,” Cassie said.
<Yes. I am dying,> he said.
“Can we help you? We can call an ambulance or something,” Marco said.
“We can bandage that wound,” Cassie said.
<No. I will die. The wound is fatal.>
“Ok, I don’t know what an ambulance would really be able to do, but you can’t just… die. You’re the first alien to Earth, it’d be dumb if you only got here to die.” I didn’t know how, but I thought he was smiling at me. Something in his eyes seemed to smile at me at that moment.
<I have not given up quite yet. But I am not the first alien. There are many, many others.>
“Other aliens? Like you?” Tobias demanded.
The alien shook his big head slowly. <Not like me.> He cried out, and his pain echoed silently in my head.
<They are different. They have come to destroy you.>
No one laughed. It sounds hilarious now, but then it really didn’t. I suppose we should have doubted him, but it was really hard to. I mean, he was an alien, falling out of the sky and then literally tripping over his feet or hooves or whatever to die in the dirt. So yeah, we all just accepted he was speaking the truth at that point. I think we would’ve accepted anything. We were actually past jaded teenager skepticism. What a miracle.
<They are called Yeerks. Many are here. Hundreds, maybe more.>
“They’re already here? Why hasn’t anyone noticed them?” Marco said reasonably. “I think someone would have mentioned at school. Or on Wikileaks. They get all the juicy news.”
<You do not understand. Yeerks are different. They live in the bodies of other species.> The alien closed his eyes and concentrated. Suddenly a bright picture popped into my head. I saw a gray-green, slimy slug about the size of a rat.
<They are almost powerless without hosts. They - > Suddenly there was another spasm of pain our heads, but sadness, too. He didn’t have much time.
<The Yeerks are parasites. They must have a host to live in. They enter the brain, absorb it and take over the host’s thoughts and feelings. It is easier if the host is voluntary, but they can do so forcibly. The host may rebel, but they can only resist a little.>
“Look, these here are kids. I’m a kid. You should really be telling the government.”
<They ambushed us,> the alien continued. <They will track me here, to destroy all traces of me and my ship. I sent a message to my home world. We Andalites fight the Yeerks. They will send help, but it will take time. A year possibly, or even more. The Yeerks will take over in that time. You must tell people. You must warn your people.>
“They’ll never believe us,” Marco said hopelessly. “No way. Even if we got video they’d say we just photoshopped it.”
<Then… Another way. Go into my ship. There is a small blue box, very plain. Bring it to me. Quickly! I have little time and the Yeerks will find me soon.>
“Ok,” I said, standing. I suppose I should have been worried leaving the others with him, but the alien seemed alright. He was dying on the ground, after all. “I’ll go get it.”
I was scared shitless looking up at that ship. I tried to look calm, though. It’d be bad to look scared now, with Jake’s friends there. Me being scared would lead to them being scared. More scared. Also having the midgets see me scared would be hard to live down. So I went in.
The ship was surprisingly simple. Everything was a creamy color and had rounded edges. Kind of reminded me of the Apple store, only less obnoxious. And the ground was covered with bright colored grass. I spotted the box easily. It was sky blue and around four inches on each side. It was heavy for such a small thing. Nearby there was a small, 3D picture of four aliens standing together. Two looked like kids - maybe even brothers. It was the Andalite’s family, I thought. I picked up the picture without really thinking as I left the ship.
“Here’s the box,” I told the Andalite. I gestured with the picture.
“Is this your family?”
<Yes. Keep it. The thought of it disintegrating with the rest of my ship…> The alien never finished the statement. He took the cube and I put the odd picture in my pocket. It didn’t fit well, but it was secure enough.
<I know you are young. But I can give you something to help you fight the Yeerks. It is a power no other human has ever had. But it may tip the scales, help you to hold the Yeerks at bay until the Andalites can arrive. This technology has been kept from the Yeerks. It enables us to pass unnoticed in many parts of the universe: the power to morph. We have never shared this power. But your need is great.>
“Morph? Morph how?” Rachel asked, and her eyes narrowed.
<To change your bodies,> the Andalite said. <To become any other species. Any animal. You will only need to touch a creature to acquire its DNA pattern, and you will be able to become that creature. It requires concentration and determination, but, if you are strong, you can do it. There are limitations. Problems. Dangers, even. But there is no time to explain it all… You will have to learn for yourselves.>
“He’s kidding right? I mean, become animals?” Marco laughed derisively.
“No, he’s not,” Tobias said softly.
“You can’t saddle us with this,” I told the alien. “You want us to put ourselves in front of hundreds of aliens?”
<If you choose to receive this power, than you must guarantee that you never fall into Yeerk hands. But it will not force you to fight. It will only give you the ability.>
“I’ll do it,” Cassie said.
“What’s that?” Rachel asked. I followed her gaze up. Overhead there were two pinpoints of bright red light shooting across the sky.
<Yeerks.> The Andalite said the word in our minds and I could feel his hatred. <You must decide. Quickly!>
“We have to,” Tobias said. “How else will we fight?”
“This is insane!” Marco said.
“I’d like more time, but it’s not really a choice,” Rachel said. “I’m for it.”
“Hold up, don’t be reckless,” I reasoned.
“Reckless? How is it reckless to stand up against an invasion?” Rachel looked me square in the eyes, determined. My aunt had always said Rachel and I were alike. Hard-headed and stubborn when we set our minds to something. And a bit idealistic, too, she’d said. That was what I saw right now, and she was right. We couldn’t seriously roll over and play dead. That wouldn’t keep the Yeerks away. If we accepted they were real, then we had to take whatever we could to try and stop them. We could figure out how later. But for now, we had to take the weapons we could.
“Alright. Alright, we don’t have a choice.”
“Am I the only sane person here?” Marco asked. “Not just the aliens, but the idea of a bunch of teens fighting hundreds of aliens?”
“You don’t need to join,” I said. “I’m not about to force you into a dangerous situation.”
“No, I mean. Look, I’m in. I just think it should go on record,” Marco said. “This is absolutely crazy and we’re all at least a little suicidal to go in for it.”
<You are decided?> the alien asked.
“Yeah,” I said. I was getting tired of speaking for everyone, but it couldn’t really be helped. The alien lifted the box.
<Each of you press your hand against one side of the cube.>
We did. Five hands, each pressed against one side. A sixth hand, with too many fingers and blue skin, pressed the sixth. Something like a warm shock ran through me. And then all at once it was over. It didn’t seem to take any time at all, for something so powerful.
<Go now,> the Andalite said. <Only remember - never remain in animal form for more than two Earth hours at a time. Never! That is the greatest danger of morphing. If you stay longer than two hours you will be trapped, unable to return to human form.>
“Two hours,” I repeated. Then I felt a wash of fear and dread crawling up my spine, originating from the alien. His eyes were craned towards the sky.
<Visser Three! He comes. Run! The Visser is the most deadly of your enemies. Of all Yeerks he alone has the power to morph, the same power you now have. Run!>
“Go!” I hissed. Rachel moved towards the alien. I grabbed her arm - a second time that night - and turned her around. “Run. We can’t help him now.” The Tobias kid had run to the ship, but was now crouched down by the Andalite’s side. The alien placed his pale blue hand over Tobias’s forehead; he rocked back, like he’d been shocked. I pulled him up and dragged him running, dodging around loose junk and potholes.
A red light snapped on. The spotlight from the landing ship illuminated the fallen Andalite. A second light joined the first as I pulled Tobias around a low crumbled wall. The others were huddled there. We were out of the immediate vicinity, but still close enough to see the Andalite on the ground. I knew we should’ve run straight out, but I also felt the need to stay. If this Visser was our deadliest threat, then I wanted to see the guy while I had the chance. I crouched down and peeked cautiously over the wall.
Two stubby ships touched down on either side of the Andalite ship, then a larger ship descended. A big rusted earthmover sizzled and disappeared as the giant black ship landed in its place. It was a vicious looking ship, like the handle of a battle ax. It wasted no time in opening a door, which also appeared out of nowhere.
Cassie started to scream, but I clamped my hand over her mouth.
“It’s okay,” I whispered, even though it wasn’t. “It’s going to be okay.” I didn’t really have anything else to say. Cassie’s hand was a vice around my wrist but I couldn’t tear my eyes from the ships. Tall, terrifying creatures came from the black ship. Sharp horn-blades stuck out from all over their bodies: elbows, knees, feet, shoulders; even the head had blades. Their heads were snake-like and their mouths sharp like a falcon.
<Hork-Bajir Controllers.> The alien was talking again, though the “sound” was fainter. <The Hork-Bajir are good people. They have all been enslaved by the Yeerks. They are to be pitied.> Then something else came out.
They were like giant, slimy centipedes. They were too big around to hold, if anyone had been crazy enough to try. Four wiggling red eyes ringed the tops until, pointing straight up at the very end, the round Taxxon mouth opened and closed continuously, ringed by hundreds of teeth. <Taxxon-Controllers,> the alien continued. <Taxxons are evil.> That seemed like a credible assessment to me.
All the aliens were carrying small pistol-like devices. They spread out, forming a ring around the Andalite ship. One of the Hork-Bajir came towards us. We all ducked down. I caught sight of Marco’s face - he was pale and his mouth was tight in terror.
<Silence!> the Andalite warned us. <Hork-Bajir do not see well in darkness, but their hearing is very good.>
The Hork-Bajir moved closer, but we all stayed glued to our spots. I cast an odd eye to Tobias, but the troublemaker seemed compliant now. I tried to calm my breathing. I was fairly certain the alien could hear my heart racing, if not the five hearts here. The Andalite had said good hearing.
And you know what? At that point, I did piss myself a little. So never doubt that you can ever be more terrified, because with a seven foot alien monster within five feet, you too can reach that level.
I guess God felt benevolent, though, because the Hork-Bajir moved away.
Actually, they all had turned back towards the ship. I turned to the ship myself, curious. The others seemed to be glued like me to the scene. It was hard not to be curious at what an army of bladed Godzilla beasts and man-sized centipedes stood in rank and file for.
I was almost disappointed when another Andalite stepped out of the ship.
<Visser Three,> the Andalite said. And if I thought the way he said Yeerk had hatred, then this was utter loathing.
But not just that. It was more. There was self-hatred there too. A self-deprecating that just couldn’t stand what the world was. That THAT could step forward. It felt so bizarre, having these emotions thrust into me. To me, the aliens looked the same. I’d only ever seen two Andalites. But clearly the Visser was worthy of the worst revulsion.
<Only once has a Yeerk been able to take an Andalite host,> the Andalite said. <Only Visser Three is an Andalite-controller. That is how he acquired his ability to morph, and you must not fall prey to his ambition!>
The Visser circled his prey confidently. I swear he looked just like the Andalite dying on the ground. I guess that sounds prejudiced. But I could tell, too, there was some awful about him. Maybe it was the way he didn’t seem to care that the Andalite was lying there, dying. I couldn’t have ignored something like that. When he spoke it just twisted my gut worse.
<Well, well,> Visser Three said. Within my head, of course. I was almost acclimated to this head thinking already. I fought down a bubble of hysterical giggles.
<If this isn’t Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. And how many of our fighters have you shredded today? Seven, or was it eight by the time the battle ended? It was a very quick fight.>
The Hork-Bajir made a strange huffing sound. I realized sickly that this was it’s approximation of laughter. I thought I was going to throw up, if that wouldn’t have led to my immediate demise.
<No matter,> the Visser continued. <Your dome ship has fallen. I saw the last bits burn as they fell into the atmosphere of this vibrant little planet.>
<There will be others,> the Andalite said. <The fight is not over.>
<Perhaps, but not for this world.> The Visser stepped closer; Elfangor had to retract his hand to escape its trample. <When the Andalites come here, I will be ready to face them. This world will be my contribution to the Yeerk empire. Why, with this many hosts, I don’t see why we shouldn’t visit the Andalite home world.>
Again the huffing. I could hear human laughter as well. Human-controllers, I thought to myself. They weren’t like me. I couldn’t possibly watch this and laugh.
The Andalite’s tail arced, but the Visser easily pushed it aside. He suffered the tiniest knick on his tail. The attempt was feeble, at most. But I felt strength on seeing it. The alien wasn’t simply throwing in the towel.
And then, bright light. I shut my eyes, and when I opened them, one of the Yeerk fighters was destroyed. The tail of Elfangor’s ship glowed brilliantly in the light.
<Emrit 256! Burn his ship!>
Red beams lanced from the black ship, and the Andalite’s ship was destroyed. Nothing remained - not blackened rods, or even a pile of dust.
But that wasn’t the main spectacle on display. There weren’t two Andalites anymore. Now there was one Andalite - Elfangor, fallen, waiting - and a blue-shaded mass of flesh that was growing taller and taller. His four legs had become two, each the girth of a redwood tree. His head bloated, and a monstrous mouth split from his face.
“This isn’t real,” Cassie whispered. “This isn’t real.”
Looking back, I don’t even know when I stopped holding her head. I don’t even remember now if she was still gripping me. But I can’t forget that behemoth the Visser became. The monster took Elfangor in a tentacle - I can’t even fathom what loathsome world this came from - and hoisted him overhead by the neck.
“No no no,” Cassie whispered, over and over. I remember Rachel sheltering her, I think.
But mostly, I remember seeing Elfangor in the air, still striking at any flesh he could reach, and then dropped into the gaping mouth.