Let's Read Animorphs! The Whole Series! Ch-ch-ch-chaaanges

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Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Sorry about the delay. Today's my birthday, and I spent it like I spend every birthday, leaving my human host and slipping into a pool of stagnant water so I can photosynthesize under the light of my home sun. But I'm back now.

Book 11: The Forgotten-Chapter 13

quote:

1:48 P.M.

I can�t begin to explain what the rain forest is like. To explain it, you�d have to be a poet and a scientist and a horror writer.

All I can say is how it makes you feel. You feel small. Tiny. Alone. Hopelessly weak. Afraid.

You feel heat and suffocating humidity. It�s like there�s not enough air. Every breath is like sucking air through a straw. You�re breathing steam and perfume and the stink of dying, rotting things.

The jungle is all around you. It presses against you on all sides. Wet leaves in your face; creepers that seem to reach up to trip you; sharp-edged stalks that cut you.

And then there are the twin horrors: bugs and thirst.

Mosquitoes, gnats, big flies, and other flying insects I didn�t even have names for followed us in swirling clouds. They�d descend and attack, then disappear for no reason, only to attack again later. If you stopped, even for a few seconds, you could find your foot covered with ants or centipedes or
beetles or bugs that defied description.

And it didn�t help that we were shoeless.

See, it does cover that they were in their morphing outfits.

quote:

The heat sucked every ounce of moisture out of us. It was as bad as any desert. You�d think with all the greenery there would be water everywhere. But no. The actual ground under our feet was dry.

All the water is captured in the plants.

All the while, as we fought our way through the thickets of vines and ferns and bushes and gnats and flies and mosquitoes, we were followed by a serenade of cackles, groans, screams, yelps, insane animal giggles, clicking, scratching, and the occasional coughing roar as each new species comments on the idiocy of a bunch of suburban kids wandering around the rain forest. For all we knew, they were taking bets on how long the dumb humans would survive.

We had pushed two hundred yards deeper into the rain forest from the Bug fighter when we heard an uproar behind us.

�Andalite!� a Hork-Bajir voice bellowed. �Andalite!�

<They�re after him!> Tobias called down from above. <Ax has six Hork-Bajir on his tail! You happy now, Jake? Ax-man! Look out! Behind you!>

I bit my lip till I tasted my own blood.

�We have to morph and go back for him,� Rachel said. Her eyes were blazing. I could have said no. I had reasons to say no. We were in an unknown place, facing lousy odds. Besides, of us all, Ax was the fastest and best able to escape. But Rachel would have just gone anyway.

�Just two of us go,� I snapped. �Me and you, Rachel. Marco and Cassie, stay back.�

�Why are we staying back?� Marco asked, outraged.

�Because we need backup, Marco,� I said tersely. I don�t know if he understood this or not. Rachel did. She started to morph. I was morphing into my tiger morph as fast as I could.

Rachel was already well into her grizzly bear morph - massive shoulders and shaggy brown fur and long, curved claws.

TSEEEWWW! TSEEEWWW!

The sound of Dracon beams reached us. The jungle animals up in the trees exploded in a fury of commentary.

Ke-RRRRAAAAAWWWW!

HOO! HOOHOOHOOHOO!

I could hear something large crashing around the brush, but I couldn�t see anything. In the rain forest you�re lucky if you can see five feet in any direction.

<I�m ready,> Rachel said.

<Wait for me,> I told her.

<Catch up when you can,> Rachel snapped. She lumbered away, back toward the Bug fighter, a huge, rolling mass of heavy fur and muscle. I cursed her silently.

My body was already covered with orange-and-black-striped fur. I was on all fours. Long, yellow fangs grew in my mouth. Long, wicked claws grew where my fingernails had been.

I felt the tiger�s mind.

I saw through the tiger�s eyes.

I felt the surge of power, the rush of the tiger�s might. He was at home in a tropical forest. This was the kind of place he belonged. The tiger was lord of his own native turf.

But of course in the tiger�s native jungles, there aren�t Hork-Bajir. And there�s no Visser Three.

I leaped forward, following the path Rachel had plowed through the bushes. I caught up to her easily. I belonged in the jungle. The grizzly did not. Rachel was breathing hard.



I listened with my tiger�s ears. I receded just a bit within the tiger mind and let the animal instincts guide me. The tiger knew how to follow sounds in the rain forest.

<Come on, Rachel,> I said. I plunged forward, toward where I heard the loudest sounds crashing through the forest. But I soon realized Rachel couldn�t keep up.

I was really ticked off right then. At Rachel, for being so impulsive. At Tobias for acting like I wanted to put Ax in danger. At the Yeerks for causing all this. At the jungle itself. And worst of all, at me.

I�d made mistakes. Too many mistakes. Now I had to choose.

Stay with Rachel, or rush ahead and try to find Ax.

Help came from the sky. <Left about fifty feet, Jake,> Tobias called down to me.

I was mad at Tobias. But not so mad I would ignore him. I charged left, slinking swiftly through the brush.

<Jake! Look out! There�s one right->

�Haarrgghh!� the Hork-Bajir yelled triumphantly. He swung a bladed arm at me and sliced through the ferns and bushes like a lawn mower going through grass.

His elbow blade missed me by inches. I felt the breeze from it.

I knew what to do next. I fired the coiled muscles in my hind legs and I flew. In midair I extended my paws, each as wide as a frying pan. Out came my claws.

And I roared. HRRROOOOOWWWWRRRR!

I swear, that sound actually silenced the monkeys and birds.

I hit the Hork-Bajir. He went down, swinging fast, but too slow. Hork-Bajir are fast. But when it comes to close-in work, slashing and parrying and applying the teeth, the tiger is faster and nastier.

He slashed. I felt pain sear my right shoulder.

I slashed and heard the Hork-Bajir cry out.

His snake-head jerked fast, aiming his forehead blades for my face.

I ducked and dove in, sinking my teeth into his neck.

From somewhere I heard the sound of a bear�s pained roar. I heard crashing, thudding sounds. I pulled back, leaving the deadly, bladed, seven-foot-tall Hork-Bajir lying on the jungle floor, moaning in pain.

I actually felt a moment of pity. The Hork-Bajir race has been enslaved by the Yeerks. This Hork-Bajir warrior didn�t ask to be here, bleeding from a dozen wounds in an alien jungle a billion miles from his home.

But then, I didn�t ask to be here, either.

Fair enough.

quote:

I listened for sounds of Ax. Nothing.

I listened for Hork-Bajir. Nothing.

I listened for Rachel. Nothing.

It was like they�d all just disappeared in the green. Green, everywhere I looked.

Then �

A sharp pain in my left paw. I looked at the Hork-Bajir, but no, he hadn�t moved. I realized I was falling over.
Simply falling over.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the snake slithering off. It was bright yellow.

<Demorph!> I told myself. <Demorph!>

But my head was swimming. And the green was closing in around me. Burying me in green.

A bird landed beside me. I could see that.

<Jake! Morph back, man! Morph back!>

I was trying. I was trying to remember what it was I was supposed to become. Then �

FLASH!

I was walking home from school. Me and Marco.

We were talking, wondering what Tobias wanted.

Tobias�s thought-speak voice was in our heads saying -

FLASH!

Tobias�s voice saying, <That�s it, Jake. Come on, man. Keep at it.>

I could see again! I could see my hands stretched out in front of me on the ground. They were half-human, half-tiger.

Could I morph away from poison? Would morphing get it out of my system? Should have asked Ax, I berated myself.

But I was already learning the answer. As I became more human, I felt the poison weaken.

<Come on, Jake, come on,> Tobias said. <There�s no time!>

�What � what is it? More Hork-Bajir?� I asked him when I had a mouth again.

<No. It�s Rachel.>

I felt my heart miss several beats. I climbed up, rickety from the quick change. I felt like

throwing up. Maybe it was the poison. Maybe it was just too much happening at once. �Where is she?� I asked.

<Straight behind you. Maybe a hundred feet. Hurry! I�ll go up and see what�s happening.>

He flapped away, leaving me alone and barefoot and vulnerable in the rain forest.

I found Rachel by following the damage she had done: three Hork-Bajir lying unconscious or worse. I didn�t have time to worry about them.

Because that�s when I saw Rachel.

She was out cold, still in grizzly morph. She�d been cut up badly by Hork-Bajir blades.

She was lying there on her side, bleeding. But that�s not what made me want to scream.

Her fur was alive.

Alive with a million ants that were already ripping away a million tiny bites from her wounded flesh.

If you don't actively hate ants by the time this series is over, I wonder about you.

Chapter 14

quote:

2:30 P.M.
�Rachel!� I yelled. �Wake up!�

<Jake! Stop shouting,> Tobias warned from up above me. <Hork-Bajir could still be all around here! I can�t see through all this undergrowth.>

I threw myself down next to Rachel and started swatting at the ants. But instead of getting rid of them, the ants just swarmed across my hands.

There had to be ten thousand ants. Rachel had fallen almost on top of their mound. I could see ants carrying away tiny pieces of bloody bear flesh.

�Do you know if there is any water near here?� I asked Tobias.

<There�s a stream. But it�s too far, Jake, she weighs hundreds of pounds. What are you going to do, carry her to the water?>

I could see Rachel�s bear chest rising and falling. She was breathing. Still alive. I kicked her. I kicked her hard. �Wake up!� I hissed. �Come on, Rachel, wake up!�

The ants were getting at her ears now. They swarmed across her closed eyes. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry.

I don�t think I�ve ever felt so totally helpless.

Rachel was out cold. The thousands of swarming ants would make sure she never woke up. They would kill the bear before Rachel could morph out. They would eat out her eyes and crawl into her head, and there was nothing I could do.

�Tobias! More ants! Find more ants!�

<Are you nuts?>

�Do it!� I yelled, not even caring if someone heard me. �I need another colony of ants!�

Tobias clicked. I could see his fierce eyes grow wider. He flapped away, staying as low to the ground as he could. He circled tightly, and then flared to kill his speed.

<Here! Here!> he yelled.

At that moment I heard movement in the bushes. I looked and saw two wolves. Two very out-ofplace wolves. Their intelligent faces were sticking out of the brush.

�Cassie! Marco! That is you two, right?�

No, Jake, it's two completely unrelated North American Grey Wolves.

quote:

Looking closer, I could see that they had been in a fight. There were cuts. There was blood. They began to demorph.

<Oh, my God,> Cassie moaned as she saw Rachel and realized what was happening.

I didn�t have time to explain. I bent down and began yanking out tufts of bloody grizzly bear fur.

<What are you doing? Leave her alone!> Marco yelled.

I yanked several handfuls of bloody fur. Then I raced toward the spot where Tobias waited. He was resting on a strong fern, looking down at a swarming mound of ants.

I took a small sample of the grizzly fur and laid it right beside the mouth of the ant mound.

The reaction was instantaneous. Hundreds of ants swarmed across the bloody fur.

I used another tuft of fur to lift a handful of ants, then I walked a few feet toward Rachel and

dropped the tuft. I repeated the process, getting closer and closer to Rachel. I was worried the ants might lose the scent. But they were keeping up with me, and even racing ahead.

Slowly, surely, I led the ants to Rachel.

Cassie and Marco were human once more. They looked like I probably looked: scared, horrified, vulnerable.

�We have to get them off her!� Cassie cried when she saw me. �They�re inside her ears! They�re in her mouth! They�ll kill her!�

�I know.� I dropped my last blood-soaked tuft of fur. If this didn�t work, Rachel was finished. I stepped aside and put my arm around Cassie.

The new colony of ants followed the trail I�d left them. There was a moment�s hesitation, almost as if the whole rampaging colony paused upon seeing the bear.

But then, like the well-trained army they were, they attacked. Ten thousand new ants swarmed onto Rachel�s unconscious body. They slammed into a wall of ants from the first colony.

I�ve been an ant. I�ve seen how different colonies of ants get along. I hoped they would act the same way here.

They did. It was like some old Civil War battle. The two armies charged at each other.

Perfect, obedient automatons responding only to smell and instinct.

They attacked each other. The ants swarmed back out of Rachel�s ears and mouth, ready for the battle.

�That was good thinking, Jake,� Cassie said. �But sooner or later, one colony will win.�

�We have to hope Rachel regains consciousness before then,� I said.

The enemy armies of ants battled ferociously. It wouldn�t look like much to most people. But having been an ant, I had some idea of the awesome slaughter that was going on in the fur of the grizzly.

Down there, ants were being torn apart by other ants. Literally torn apart. Legs ripped out.

Heads bitten off. Stinging poisons being sprayed.

The battle was turning. The challengers� mound was too far away. They weren�t able to call up enough reinforcements. In a few minutes the desperate ant war would be over.

But while they fought, they did not tear into Rachel�s flesh. And then �

<Unh � wha � oh! Oh! Oh! I�m covered in ants!>

�Rachel! Rachel! It�s me, Jake. Morph out. Morph out and be ready to run!�

Rachel didn�t have to be told twice. She started demorphing.

She shrank. Pink flesh replaced fur. Massive shoulders and huge paws became smaller, human features.

�Oh!� Rachel cried as soon as she had a human mouth. �Arrrrggghh!�

�Rachel, get up! Follow me!� I said to her. �Tobias? Where�s that stream?�

Tobias rose up and flew swiftly through the trees. I followed, crashing through the bushes, my bare feet torn, tripping. It was no more than a hundred feet. It felt like a mile.

Rachel was screaming now. Rachel is the bravest person I know. But the thousands of vicious ants were beginning to attack her, now that they were done attacking each other. No one can stand that.

No one can stand that.

�Get off me! Oh, no! Oh! They�re in my -�

Suddenly there was no more green. A muddy stream � I leaped for the water. Pah-LOOSH!

I heard Rachel hit the water beside me. Pah-LOOSH!

I swam toward her. She was still underwater. The water was too murky for me to be able to see her well. All I saw was flailing limbs.

Ants were floating to the surface of the water and being carried away by the current.

Then �

SPLOOSH!

Rachel came up, gasping for air.

�Are you okay?� I asked her.

She looked around, confused for a moment. Then she recognized me. And she spotted Marco and Cassie on the bank of the stream.

�Get out of the water!� Cassie screamed.

I grabbed Rachel�s arm and dragged her toward the bank. I pushed her ahead of me, slipping and sliding up through the muddy grass. I was just pulling my feet up out of the water when I saw the churning, frothing commotion Cassie had seen first.

I yanked my feet away, inches ahead of a school of flesh-eating piranha.

�This is the rain forest?� Rachel demanded angrily, spitting water and combing through her hair for any remaining ants. �This is the rain forest everyone wants to save? Ants and piranha and snakes and bugs the size of rats? Well, as far as I�m concerned they can burn it down, pave it over, and put up
malls and convenience stores!�

I sat staring at the piranha. They say a school of piranha can strip a cow down to nothing but bones in a few minutes.

Right then, thinking about what almost happened, shaking and panting and wanting to cry, I agreed with Rachel.

It's a very understandable sentiment. It also answers the question of whether this is Costa Rica or the Amazon, as they don't live in Costa Rica.

Epicurius fucked around with this message at 00:12 on Oct 25, 2020

# ? Oct 24, 2020 03:44

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 26, 2024 18:43

Synesthesian Fetish: Apr 29, 2008; Ya know, I useta be President... I'll let you kids punch me anywhere but the face for a dollar.

Happy birthday!

# ? Oct 24, 2020 06:35

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Synesthesian Fetish posted:

Happy birthday!

Thank you!

# ? Oct 24, 2020 07:01

SirSamVimes: Jul 21, 2008; ~* Challenge *~

I forgot how horrifying this particular book is. :stonk:

# ? Oct 24, 2020 07:16

Shwoo: Jul 21, 2011

quote:

<They�re after him!> Tobias called down from above. <Ax has six Hork-Bajir on his tail! You happy now, Jake? Ax-man! Look out! Behind you!>

I bit my lip till I tasted my own blood.

I know this is Jake reacting to the way all his decisions so far seem to make things worse, but when I first read this book, all it communicated was that it was possible to bite your own lip hard enough to draw blood. I spent ages trying. It led to a life-long lip-biting habit. I don't know why I had such strong reactions to this book in particular.

quote:

�This is the rain forest?� Rachel demanded angrily, spitting water and combing through her hair for any remaining ants. �This is the rain forest everyone wants to save? Ants and piranha and snakes and bugs the size of rats? Well, as far as I�m concerned they can burn it down, pave it over, and put up malls and convenience stores!�

I sat staring at the piranha. They say a school of piranha can strip a cow down to nothing but bones in a few minutes.

Right then, thinking about what almost happened, shaking and panting and wanting to cry, I agreed with Rachel.

I wonder if the Yeerks see Earth the way the Animorphs see the Amazon.

Also,

Synesthesian Fetish posted:

Happy birthday!

# ? Oct 24, 2020 07:18

Tree Bucket: Apr 1, 2016; R.I.P.idura leucophrys

Shwoo posted:

I wonder if the Yeerks see Earth the way the Animorphs see the Amazon.

That makes a whole lot of sense.

# ? Oct 24, 2020 08:20

Dumper Humper: Jul 15, 2020; by Fluffdaddy

FlocksOfMice posted:

I don't think I ever really liked the Ellimist and whatever the guy with the C name were up to--the original story as presented gave them a lot of concrete, down-to-earth consequences, stakes, and enemies, and introducing cosmic horror beings into it, for me, escalated it into a realm of "okay, wait, really?"

Those are the most realistic parts of the book. The entire series being a result of a pissing match between two assholes who will never face any consequences for their actions, who are completely untouchable by dint of the power they wield over the ones who actually fight their war is like....America.txt

# ? Oct 24, 2020 22:26

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Book 11: The Forgotten-Chapter 15

quote:

3:09 P.M.

�Now we need to find Ax,� I said. �But we need to be careful. This jungle alone is enough to mess us up bad. And we have the Yeerks to deal with as well.�

 a thought-speak voice said.

�Ax!� I cried.

<Yes, it�s me,> Ax said. <But I am in a morph. Don�t be startled.> With that, he dropped from the tree above us and landed on the ground.

�Well,� Marco commented with great satisfaction. �Someone finally made a monkey out of Ax.�

He was small, covered in brown fur, and definitely a monkey. But he was alive.

I don�t think I�ve ever felt so relieved in my life. I had been screwing up plenty. First by deciding to go into the stupid Safeway to begin with, then by endangering Tobias, then by endangering Ax, then by leaving Rachel alone to almost get killed. But at least no one had gotten killed.

Yet.

�I�m thinking spider monkey,� Cassie said, frowning. �But I�m not sure. I�m not all that strong on rain forest animals.�

The monkey - Ax - was holding something in his paw. It was bright yellow and about the size of a computer diskette, only round and a little thicker.

�What is that?� I asked.

 Ax said. <This is a vital part of the Bug fighter - the computer core. No one can fly the Bug fighter without it.>

<That thing is the computer?> Tobias asked.

<Yes, the Yeerks are still somewhat primitive. An Andalite version would be a third this size.>

I love Ax

quote:

�Well, I�m relieved you�re okay, Ax,� I said. �We haven�t been doing very well.�

 Ax said simply. <There are several dozen Hork-Bajir out combing the forest, looking for us. I think they are divided now into platoons of five, each accompanied by a human- Controller, I haven�t seen the Visser, but he will be around as well. And as you know, Visser Three
can morph, so he could be any of the animals we see.>

�That�s a good point,� Rachel said. �We have to be on the lookout for animals as well as Hork- Bajir and the natives.�

�The human-Controllers,� Marco said thoughtfully. �I think I know why they�re traveling with the Hork-Bajir. See, the human-Controllers would know which animals belong here in the rain forest, and which don�t. If they see a grizzly bear or a tiger or a wolf, they�ll know that it doesn�t belong. They�ll know it�s us.�

�Good thinking, Marco. We need local morphs,� I said.

 Ax suggested. 

�Marco is second cousin to a monkey,� Rachel said.

I was glad to see she was teasing Marco again. It meant she was back. Still, there was a darkness in her eyes. Not even Rachel could just shake off what she�d been through. And knowing Rachel, she would react by being more aggressive.

Maybe too aggressive.

�Monkeys would be good,� Cassie said. �It would get us up off the ground and into the trees.�

�Okay, Ax, lead on. Tobias? I hate to ask, but we could use some air cover.�

<No problem,> Tobias said.

He flew up into the trees. I knew he was tired. And I knew he was hungry. Flying is hard work, and a bird�s metabolism is fast. They can�t endure long periods of hunger as well as a human. But what else could I do?

Ax did not lead us very far. Within ten minutes we were standing beneath a group of monkeys chittering and yipping in the trees high above us.

It isn�t possible to acquire a morph from a person who�s morphed. In other words, we couldn�t just copy Ax�s monkey morph. We had to go to an actual monkey.

 Ax said.

�How?� Marco asked.

Ax hesitated. It�s hard to tell if a monkey is embarrassed, let alone a monkey with an Andalite mind. But I could have sworn Ax was embarrassed.



�Well, that does it,� Marco said flatly. �We have moved permanently to bizarre-o world. We�ve traveled in time, we�re in a jungle fighting brain-stealing aliens and ten thousand annoying species of bugs, and our resident space cadet is a hot-looking monkey. Somebody -�

�- wake me up when we get back to reality.�

�- wake me up when we get back to reality.�

Marco and I said it at the same moment. He stared at me. I stared at him. Everyone else stared at us.

I sighed. �I guess I have something to tell you guys. I should have said something earlier, probably. But I thought I was just going nuts or something. See, I�ve been having these flashes. Really intense. It�s like, I�d be in school and then suddenly I was here. And since we got here, I�ve been having flashes that I�m back home.�

Jake's flashback confession aside, I want to remind everyone that Ax's plan is to seduce a monkey so that the Animorphs can steal it's DNA. I love Ax.

quote:

Rachel rolled her eyes as if to say, �What next?� Cassie looked concerned. Marco looked like he was trying to find a joke in the situation, but was too tired to come up with anything.

�I knew what Marco was going to say just now because that was one of the flashes,� I said.

Ax stared at me with large monkey eyes. <Prince Jake, how long ago did you start having these flashbacks?>

I shrugged. �It was just this afternoon. Yesterday, or today, whatever you�d call it. I was square dancing when the first one happened. Why?�

�You were square dancing?� Marco said. �I�d have paid to see that.�

Ax scratched his neck vigorously, then looked intently at what he�d scratched up. He popped whatever it was into his mouth. Obviously, he was letting the monkey mind have some control.

<Prince Jake, as I said, I�m not an expert on Sario Rips. But I think what�s happening is that the flashbacks are fluctuations where two simultaneous identical states of consciousness intersect outside of space-time.>

�That would have been my guess,� Marco said. �Simultaneous � whatevers.�

 Ax began.

�A theory is more than I have. What is it?�

<I suspect we have moved backward in time. But not far. We are existing simultaneously both here and back home. There are now two Marcos, two Cassies, two of each of us. One here, one there. At the same time. The flashbacks only started today. So I suspect we have gone back one day in time,
a little less.>

�That�s good,� Marco said.

<No,> Ax said solemnly. <It�s not good. We are in two places at the same time. That is impossible. It�s a time-space anomaly. It�s an unstable condition.>

�Meaning � ?� I pressed.



�So why haven�t we annihilated ourselves yet?� Rachel asked.

<We are still within the Sario Rip effect,> Ax said. <I think. So � so I think we�re okay till we get back to the time when the rip occurred. At that time, the rip will end, and we�ll have an impossible situation: two identical groups of people existing in two places at one time. I think my
teacher said it would cause a mutual annihilation. We�d cease to exist. Both groups. Here and back home. The time when the Sario Rip occurred was eight fifty-four, exactly.>

�In other words, if we�re getting back to our own time, we have to do it before the Sario Rip occurs at eight fifty-four,� I said.

<Yes. We�d have to go back and change the time line. So that none of this would happen. We have less than six hours.>

�How do we do that?�

<I�m not sure.>

I nodded. �Well, if we�re trapped, so is Visser Three, right? He must know about Sario Rips, too. If he�s going back, we can go back with him. All we have to do is get to the Blade ship, hide out on board, and let Visser Three take us home. I mean, that�s the only way, right?�

<There could be -> Ax started to say. Then he stopped.

�What?� I asked him. �Is there some other way to get back?�

Ax gave me a long look. Like he wasn�t quite sure what to say. Or whether to say anything at all. He was in monkey morph, so I couldn�t read his expression.

<As I said, Prince Jake, I wasn�t paying attention the day they taught this in school.>

I knew he was hiding something. I should have pressed him. But I didn�t.

Just one more mistake from the �fearless leader� of the Animorphs.

A lot of this book is Jake mentally flagellating himself for screwing up, so far.

Chapter 16

quote:

3:40 P.M.

It was easy to �acquire� the monkeys. Several of them swung down from the tree to sniff at Ax.

And they didn�t seem terribly frightened by any of us, since we were all standing very still and quiet.

I reached very slowly, very gently for one particular monkey. He looked at my hand, considering it. Then he turned his back, as if asking me to scratch it.

�Okay,� I said. �I�d be glad to.�

I scratched the little monkey�s back. And as I did, I closed my eyes and focused my thoughts on the monkey. He became quiet, like he was in a trance. That�s how animals usually are when they�re being acquired.

I absorbed the monkey DNA into me.

�This should be especially easy,� Cassie commented as she finished acquiring a different monkey. �These monkeys aren�t direct relatives of Homo sapiens, but still, most of our DNA will be identical. After all, a chimpanzee�s DNA is like ninety-seven percent identical to human DNA.�

�Or in Marco�s case, ninety-nine point nine percent,� Rachel interjected.

�Yes, it�s like the fact that Rachel�s DNA is actually ninety-nine percent identical to Malibu Barbie,� Marco shot back.

�Could we concentrate here?� I said gruffly. Actually, I was relieved to see everyone behaving normally. It�s when Cassie isn�t talking about animals and Marco and Rachel aren�t teasing each other that you have to worry.

�Ax? Did you have any problems with the monkey�s mind when you morphed?� Cassie asked.

<No. Except � well, they are similar to morphing a human, but much more excitable. Also, they don�t fall over as easily as humans do.>

Ax is constantly amazed that humans walk around on just two legs, without even a tail to hold us up.

�Okay, let�s do it,� I said. �We�re short on time, and we are exposed, sitting out here looking like dumb, barefoot kids from the suburbs. Tobias? Ax? Both of you keep an eye out for any trouble.�

<This whole rain forest is nothing but trouble,> Tobias said darkly. <Especially when you�re a red-tailed hawk and you stick out like a sore thumb.>

He was right, but I had to worry about one thing at a time.

And I knew from my �visions� that we could successfully morph into monkeys. Unfortunately, the visions didn�t tell me whether we�d succeed or fail, end up alive � or not.

I concentrated on a mental image of the monkey. And very, very quickly, I began to feel the changes.

The real monkeys began to see the changes, too.

SQUEEE! SQUEEE! SQUEEE!

The real monkeys leaped onto the tree trunk and scampered up toward the high branches.

I shrank. That was to be expected. But the more I shrank, the more vulnerable I felt. Brown fur sprouted from my arms and legs. My face remained furless, and my lips puffed out to form a rubbery muzzle.

The largest single change was the tail. I felt it come shooting out from the base of my spine. But I�d had a tail before, so I didn�t think much about it.

Then I realized something. The tail moved. Not just back and forth, like a dog�s tail. It moved like a fifth arm.

<Hey, the tail is neat,> Cassie said. <Try moving it. You can feel that there�s a part of your brain that controls it. Just like an extra hand.>

She was right. And Ax was right, too. There was very little that was new or strange inside the monkey�s mind. Like a human, it had only a few basic instincts. Like a human, it depended on learning to guide its actions.

The eyes were similar to human eyes. The ears no better than our own. The sense of smell was a bit improved, though.

<That was an easy morph,> Rachel said. <So. What can this monkey do?>

I shrugged my narrow monkey shoulders. 

I turned to the tree trunk. Like almost all the rain forest trees, it was shockingly tall. And there were no low branches. But there were strangling vines wrapped all around the trunk, like a nest of snakes.

<Let�s try it out,> I said. I reached for a vine and held it tentatively. I positioned one foot. Then I carefully reached for another handhold.

<Prince Jake,> Ax said. <Let the creature do the climbing. It knows how. Like this.>

He put the Bug fighter�s computer in his mouth and leaped right through the air, snatched a handhold, and was fifty feet up the tree before I could blink three times.

I took a deep breath and relaxed my control. I allowed the monkey mind to come forward and just said, <Climb.>

Ax was right. The monkey knew how to climb. You know the way Michael Jordan knows his way around a basketball court? Or the way Kristi Yamaguchi knows her way around the ice rink?

That�s how the monkey knew the trees. It knew the trees. It understood the trees. It was born to be in the trees.

Hands, toes, hands, toes, it found every little handhold, every foothold, never a hesitation, never a doubt, never a question. That monkey knew exactly, precisely what to do.

I felt like I had swallowed ten Mountain Dews and a box of Ring-Dings. I was tiny, but man, I had energy. I flew up that tree.

I met Cassie up in the high canopy. <Yow! Ax was right. This monkey can climb trees!>

<That�s not all it can do,> she said. The others were just catching up to us. <Watch this.>

She launched herself out into the air.

We were fifty feet up, easy, as high as a five-story building, and Cassie just fired her hind legs and flew through the air.

She snatched a hanging vine with one hand, but never stopped swinging forward.

That was all I needed to see. It was a game of chase through the treetops. The monkey wanted to play, and so did I. I needed some fun. I needed some fun in the worst way.

I leaped. For about two seconds that felt like ten minutes, I hung in the air. Then, my left hand simply reached out, found a branch, swung me forward, launched me once again through the air,

reached out again �

Swing and fly and grab and swing and fly and grab!

<Oh, yes! Oh, definitely!> Marco exulted as he followed Cassie and me through the trees.

Swing! Flyyyyy! Catch! Swing! Flyyyyy! Catch!

The little monkey brain processed every move, prepared every action and reaction. The entire world was branches and vines to the monkey.

Swing! Fly through the air with the ground a deadly fifty feet down! Catch at the last possible second! Swing again, out into the void, catch just in time to save your life!

It was the scene from my flash. Me, zipping through the trees.

Ax paused to let us all catch up. He wrapped his tail around a branch and hung there, panting. I wrapped my own tail around the branch and let go with my hands and feet. I hung there, high above the forest floor, by my tail. I swayed gently in the breeze.

<This sounds weird, but there�s something � familiar about this,> I said to Cassie when she caught up to us. 

<It�s called brachiating, I think,> Cassie said. <Swinging through the trees. It�s what our distant ancestors did, millions of years ago. Maybe little bits of that memory are still stuck in the back of our human brains. Maybe all the stages of evolution are still a part of us.>

<Or maybe it just reminds me of playing on jungle gyms when I was a little kid.>

<Oh, sure, if you want the boring, obvious explanation,> Cassie said with a laugh.

<It�s like gymnastics,> Rachel said. <Only this monkey could totally destroy any human on the uneven parallel bars. If the monkey team could be in the Olympics, they�d win every medal.>

<Can I ask a question?> Ax interrupted. <Where are we going?>

We all stared at him. Then we burst out laughing. The monkey bodies laughed, too, a wild, chittering sound. That just made us laugh all the more.

 I said to Ax. <Now get serious. We have stuff to do. We have to find the Blade ship. And we have to get back to our own time before eight fifty-four.>

<Can we play chase some more first?> Marco asked.

And I would have said yes, because I was as caught up as he was in the idiot joy of being a monkey.

But right then, I saw down below us a troop of Hork-Bajir. Five of them, slashing their way through the undergrowth with a human-Controller following along behind.

<Let�s follow them,> I said. <Sooner or later they�ll head back for the Blade ship, right?>

So, to summarize this chapter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy6CFTMnYa4

At least we know what's going on now, and they have a goal and a plan to get back. Whether it will work or not....

# ? Oct 25, 2020 00:11

FlocksOfMice: Feb 3, 2009

Dumper Humper posted:

Those are the most realistic parts of the book. The entire series being a result of a pissing match between two assholes who will never face any consequences for their actions, who are completely untouchable by dint of the power they wield over the ones who actually fight their war is like....America.txt

... ffffffffffffffffffffffffUCyeah that's a really good point.

# ? Oct 25, 2020 01:44

Rochallor: Apr 23, 2010; ふっっっっっっっっっっっっｃｋ

That theme is repeated down through several different layers, too. The battle for Earth is just a small, sacrificible part of the Andalites' war against the Yeerks, and the Andalite-Yeerk War is just one conflict in the Ellimist's duel with Crayak. Towards the end you even get the Animorphs creating their own disposable pawns in the auxiliary Animorphs.

# ? Oct 25, 2020 08:42

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

"gently caress the rainforest now that I've had direct experience with it" really reminds me of that one early South Park episode which probably came out around the same time as this book

edit - OK this book was September '97 and the South Park episode was April '99 but close enough

# ? Oct 25, 2020 13:18

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Book 11: The Forgotten-Chapter 17

quote:

4:23 P.M.

I don�t think I ever realized how strong Hork-Bajir are till we followed them as they rampaged through the rain forest.

They used their arm blades to slash at the vegetation, leaving a path of destruction in their wake.

They slashed and slashed and never seemed to tire.

There was a human-Controller with them. A guy who looked like he might be nineteen or twenty.

He was in good shape, but he was gasping and sweating and struggling to keep up with the powerful, tireless Hork-Bajir.

Far above them we swung and flew and caught and swung again.

<Are these guys going somewhere, or just wandering around?> Rachel grumbled. <Ticktock, ticktock. We�re running out of time.>

�There! There!� the human-Controller rasped weakly, pointing in the direction of the base of the tree we were in. �That animal! That piglike thing, I don�t think it belongs here.�

I think the guy was just tired. Looking for an excuse to sit down and rest. But without pausing even to consider, the lead Hork-Bajir drew his Dracon beam and fired.

TSEEEWWW!

The wild pig, or whatever it was, sizzled and disappeared. The Dracon beam kept traveling. It hit and sliced through the trunk of our tree.

<Move!> I yelled as the tree began to shudder and sway.

We leaped wildly for the next tree. I fired myself out into the air. The tree was falling too fast.

No time to plan a landing!

I flew through the air for a very, very long two seconds. I dropped. The ground came rushing up.

I could see the face of the human-Controller staring up at me, wondering �

A branch! I reached. Missed!

No, wait! Suddenly I was stopping, swinging in a crazy circle. I almost laughed when I realized what had happened. My tail had grabbed the branch my hand had missed.

�I don�t like that monkey,� the human-Controller said.

We've all been there, man.

quote:

The Hork-Bajir leader once again drew his Dracon beam and aimed for me.

But I was out of there. I raced back along the branch, holding on with my toes. And I swung around the back of the trunk a split second ahead of �

TSEEWWW! ZZZZAAAPPP! The tree trunk exploded right in front of me as the Dracon beam turned its sap to steam. Heat scorched my face. I lost my hold and began to fail.

Then � a hand grabbed me.

<Hold on!> Rachel said as she swung me toward a new branch.

�That does it! That�s no real monkey,� the human-Controller yelled. �The monkeys! Kill all the monkeys! Kill every monkey you see!�

Five Hork-Bajir drew their weapons.

<No!> Cassie cried. <Jake! We have to stop them!>

<Cassie, get out of here! Go!> I yelled.

TSEEEWWW! TSEEEWWW! TSEEEWWW!

Dracon beams fired their killing light. Tree branches fell away like someone was trimming a rosebush. And one of the beams hit a monkey.

<Cassie! Marco! Ax!> I yelled.

<It wasn�t one of us,> Marco answered.

Monkeys were destroyed. Birds in the trees were destroyed. A sloth and its baby, hanging from a branch, were destroyed. The Hork-Bajir were on a rampage. They were past just shooting at monkeys. They were shooting at anything that moved in the high branches.

<They�re killing everything!> Cassie cried, outraged. <We have to stop them!>

<This isn�t time to play save-the-rain-forest, Cassie,> Marco snapped. <This is time to play save your own butt!>

<Jake!> Tobias yelled down from above. 

<Yeah, we kind of noticed,> Rachel answered.

We had swung away from most of the slaughter. But we were still near enough to hear the wild, huffing laughter of the Hork-Bajir and the giddy, insane cries from the human-Controller.

I know there is a difference between human life and the lives of other animals. I mean, I guess there is. And I definitely know there is a difference between human life and the lives of trees. But still, that mindless, pointless massacre of trees and the animals in them made me sick.

The Hork-Bajir were just cutting everything down. Smoldering stumps stood where trees had been sliced up. The forest was screaming in anger and confusion.

HOO! HOOO! HOOHOOHOO!

Ke-RAW! Ke-RAW! Ke-RAW!

Then something strange happened.

As the Hork-Bajir stomped on through the rain forest, something fell from a tree. It was very long, and it wrapped itself around the lead Hork-Bajir.

<A snake!> Rachel yelled.

<Man, I didn�t know snakes came that big!> Marco said.

The snake swiftly coiled around the Hork-Bajir and squeezed. The other Hork-Bajir began to slash at it. Then �

<Get back, fools, and be glad I don�t kill you all,> a sneering, thought-speak voice said.

The Hork-Bajir stopped trying to free their trapped friend very suddenly. They stepped back.

And just watched the struggling Hork-Bajir.

I knew that thought-speak voice. We all did. Somehow the sound of it in your brain made you feel afraid.

Once the Hork-Bajir stopped struggling, the snake began to change. From the impossibly long snake body, an Andalite grew.

An Andalite body, at least. But not a true Andalite. Because in that Andalite head lived the Yeerk slug who held the rank of Visser Three.

It�s strange, how two almost identical things can be so totally different. See, Visser Three looked almost exactly like Ax, or any other Andalite. And yet, there was never a moment of doubt when you saw him that this was an evil creature.

The four remaining Hork-Bajir and the human-Controller were shaking with terror before the Visser.

<What are you fools doing?> the Visser asked in deceptively calm tones. He looked at the human-Controller.

Visser Three is never very careful about his thought-speak. Thought-speak is like E-mail: You can decide who it goes to. Or you can just blast it out for all to hear. I guess if you�re as powerful as Visser Three, you just shout away.

I do see Visser Three as the person who hits "respond all" to office wide announcements.

quote:

The human-Controller turned several shades lighter than his natural color. �We � we � we we we were following your orders, Visser. To destroy any animals that don�t belong here because they could be the Andalite bandits.�

<And you thought perhaps the trees were Andalites, as well?>

�No � it was � um ��

The Visser raked his Andalite tail forward and pressed the blade against the man�s throat. <Did it occur to you that the Bug fighter is less than a hundred yards from here? Did it occur to you that Dracon beams travel a long way? Did it occur to you that we cannot get back to our own time without that Bug fighter? And did it occur to you that I MIGHT BE IN MORPH and that you might end up shooting me?>

The human-Controller sank to his knees. �I didn�t � we never � it � it � was them!� He pointed a finger of blame at the Hork-Bajir.

I whispered to Ax. <What�s that about needing the Bug fighter to get back to his own time?>

Ax shrugged his monkey shoulders.

 He held up the little disk from the Bug fighter�s computer. <But they can�t fly the Bug fighter without this.>

It came to me then, in a flash of insight: I had made a terrible mistake. I had risked Ax�s life to get the computer, to make it impossible for the Yeerks to fly the Bug fighter. But now, we knew they�d have to fly the Bug fighter to get us home.

You could say we had a bargaining chip. You�d think maybe we could trade Visser Three the computer for a ride home. But I knew better. Once he had the computer, the Visser would just kill us.

We were trapped. Trapped, because of my own mistake.

This is a very crisis of leadership book for Jake.

Chapter 18

quote:

5:25 P.M.

We had been in monkey morph for almost the two-hour limit. It was time to change and regroup, and hopefully figure out what to do next.

We swung away through the trees, far from Visser Three. We scampered down to the ground and began to demorph.
Tobias flew up and landed on a fallen tree beside us, since there were no low branches. There was a black, singed area on his tail.

�Tobias!� Cassie cried. She rushed over to him as soon as she was human again.

<I�m fine,> Tobias said, as Cassie lifted his tail to check for damage. <But someone took a shot at me and almost hit me. I guess one of the human-Controllers must have been a birdwatcher. He knew red-tails don�t fly in the Amazon. But before they chased me off, I saw them working on our crashed Bug fighter. Three Taxxons crawling all over it, repairing it. And a bunch of Hork-Bajir shooting anything they didn�t like.>

I told Tobias what we�d overheard Visser Three saying. �They need the Bug fighter to get back to the right time. I don�t know why, and Ax doesn�t know why.�

Ax was fully Andalite again. He held up the yellow disk. <They cannot fly that Bug fighter without this. I guarantee it.>

He was still focusing on that. Not thinking ahead to the fact that we needed the Yeerks to have the stupid computer now. I know it sounds weird, but I was actually mad at Ax for not seeing what an idiot I�d been. I wanted someone just to say, �Jake, you�ve blown it, man. You�re not the leader anymore.�
It would have been a relief.

�Jake!� Rachel hissed.

�What?�

�Don�t move. Don�t anyone move a muscle,� Rachel said.

I moved nothing but my eyes. From the bushes around us, utterly silent, the heads began to rise.

Beside each head, a spear, cocked and ready to fly.

�I think the local guys have the drop on us,� Marco said nervously.

I was amazed. It is impossible to sneak up on an Andalite. It is even more impossible to sneak up on a red-tailed hawk. And yet about twelve guys, some older, some younger, all with intense, jet black eyes and black hair, had done just that.

There was no doubt in my mind that if we even twitched, let alone attacked, twelve poison tipped spears would fly, and the six of us would go down permanently.

�Uh � Cassie?� Marco whispered. �You�re the tree-hugging, save-the-rain-forest, love-the planet person here. Who are these guys?�

�Humans,� Cassie said.

�No duh,� Marco said.

�That�s all I know. Humans. Some bunch of people who live here. What am I, an encyclopedia or something?�

Should ask Ax. He's the one with the Almanac. But, if you're curious, over 400 tribes live in the Amazon rainforest, so its not surprising she doesn't know who these guys are.

quote:

�I don�t think they like us,� Rachel said. �But they don�t look like they want to kill us.�

I recognized one of the faces. It was the kid who�d thrown a spear at me before. His alert, black eyes watched me. Rachel was right: They didn�t like us.

�I wonder if they saw us morph?� I decided to try raising my hands in a gesture of peace.

Slowly, slowly, I raised my hands, palm out.

No one stabbed a spear in me. That was a good sign. I took a deep breath. Until that moment, I�d forgotten to breathe.

�Hello. We � um, we don�t want any trouble,� I said.

�You got that right,� Marco whispered.

One of them stepped forward and came right up to face me. He may have been thirty or forty or eighty. I couldn�t be sure. But he was definitely the leader of the group. You could tell. He was wearing extremely little. So little I think Rachel and Cassie would have been embarrassed, if they weren�t busy being terrified.

The man lowered his spear and peered intently into my face. He spoke. But it was no language I knew.�

Sorry, I don�t speak, um, whatever.�

The man thought that over for a moment. Then, he pointed a finger at me and said, �Macaco.�

I guess when I didn�t understand that, either, he decided I was an idiot. He launched into an amazingly good pantomime of a monkey.

�Oh, monkey? Monkey is macaco?�

The man nodded and smiled. Then the smile was gone. He jabbed a finger right in my chest.

�Macaco. Tu. Esp�rito macaco.�

�Whoa!� Marco said. �That�s Spanish. Esp�rito means spirit or soul.�

�Maybe it�s Portuguese,� Cassie said. �They speak Portuguese in Brazil. This man is probably the headman of his village. He probably has some dealings with the Brazilians. He must have learned some Portuguese.�

�Portuguese, Spanish, they�re sorta alike,� Marco said. �Spanish is all my grandmother speaks. And my mother grew up speaking Spanish.�

�So you can translate?� Rachel asked.

�Well, no. I mean, I know maybe fifty words. But it�s easy to figure what he�s saying. He�s saying Jake is a monkey spirit. Esp�rito macaco.�

So as long as the headman uses a Portugese cognate of one of the fifty words that Marco knows, they're fine. Actually, there's another option. There's Ax. I mean, I assume Ax doesn't speak English, being an Andalite and all, which means the Animorphs must understand his thought speak as English and he understand them the same way. So, then, wouldn't the tribesmen understand his thought speak in their native language?

quote:

�So they did see us morph,� I said. I nodded at the man. �Yes. Esp�rito macaco.� Yes, I was a monkey spirit.

He looked hard at Ax. At his extra stalk eyes and his wicked tail. �Mal. Diabo.�

�I�m guessing he�s calling Ax a devil,� Marco said.

I shook my head firmly. �No mal. No diabo.�

The man glared at Ax. Then he took the butt of his short spear and began to draw something in the dirt. It took a few seconds for me to recognize it. It was a creature with two arms, two legs, and a tail. It had blades on its elbows, knees, and head. The man pointed at the drawing. �Diabo. Monstro.�

I swear I almost started laughing in sheer relief. The man had drawn a Hork-Bajir. �Yes, definitely. Mal. Diabo. Monstro and any other bad word you can think of.�

I took my bare foot and rubbed out the drawing.

�He liked that,� Rachel said.

The guy grinned and slapped his chest. �Polo.�

�That�s either his name or his favorite brand of shirt,� Marco said.

I pointed at myself and said, �Jake.�

The man nodded. Then he rubbed out what was left of the Hork-Bajir picture. He grinned a huge grin. He laughed out loud, and all his men and boys laughed with him. Even the kid who�d tried to shish kebab me.

�You know, I think I like these guys,� Rachel said.

Suddenly, the skies opened up, and rain came pouring down on us. Pouring down like we were standing under Niagara Falls.

Polo grabbed my hand and forearm in a strong grip. We were sealing a deal. �Diabos. Matar diablos.�

�I think he said hunt � kill the devils,� Marco said.

I looked into Polo�s eyes. I had no doubts. �That is exactly what he said.�

Polo and his people stepped back into the bushes, and in an instant they were invisible in the pouring rain.

�Those little guys up against Hork-Bajir warriors?� Rachel shook her head skeptically.

�I have a feeling about those �little guys,�� Cassie said. �I think maybe this forest is theirs, and they don�t like a bunch of alien diablos stomping around killing everything in sight.�

�Better to have them on our side than against us, that�s for sure,� I said.

Suddenly I felt really tired. Too many dangers. Too much adrenaline. And even though it was just late afternoon here, in Brazil, in this time, my own body had been awake and fighting and morphing for almost twenty-four hours.

The rain was just absolutely pouring down from the sky. Tobias couldn�t even think about flying. I could see I wasn�t the only one exhausted.

�So this would be the �rain� part of rain forest,� Marco said. �They don�t do anything halfway around here, do they?�

We trudged through the downpour, drinking our fill from the water that drained down off the leaves.

But finally, I could see that no one could go any farther. At least I couldn�t. Time was running out - we had just about three hours. We had no solid plan. It was the worst possible time for a rest. But there was no going on. Not yet.

�Let�s take a break,� I said.

�Where?� Marco asked.

I flopped down in the mud and rested my back against a tree. �Right here, man. Right here.�

Cassie came and sat beside me. The noise of the falling rain made our conversation private.

�How are you doing?� Cassie asked me.

I shrugged. �I�m fine. Why wouldn�t I be?�

She looked at me skeptically. �Jake, I know you. I can see it on your face. You�re worried. And you�re mad. Since I don�t think you�re mad at any of us, I�m guessing you�re mad at yourself.�

I looked away. �Everything will work out,� I lied dully.

�You know, it was kind of funny seeing you and Polo together.�

�Yeah? Why?� I didn�t really care. I was too tired to care. But Cassie was being kind, and I needed some kindness.

�Because you�re the same, you and Polo. He�s you, and you�re him. The leaders. You know, he took a risk putting down his spear. We might have killed him and his people. There was no way he could know if it was the right thing to do. He just made the best decision he could. That�s all anyone can ask from any leader.�

I felt for Cassie�s hand in the rain. It was too dim and gray to see her face well.

�I�m so tired,� I said.

Cassie laid her head on my shoulder. �I know, Jake. Rest. Just rest.�

That's sweet. Cassie is the most emotionally intelligent of them, and she cares for him, so she knows the right thing to say.

# ? Oct 26, 2020 00:36

FlocksOfMice: Feb 3, 2009

Huh, unsurprisingly I had always remembered the line about the trees' deaths as coming from Cassie, not Jake. That line was one of the things that stuck with me my whole life and made me more sympathetic to trees, which, I guess as we're finding out, are basically plant wizards that trade with one another across fungus internets, so that's neat.

# ? Oct 26, 2020 02:51

QuickbreathFinisher: Sep 28, 2008; by reading this post you have agreed to form a gay socialist micronation.
`

drat, I finally got the graphic novel of Invasion and while it is basically a shot for shot retelling, it is a really gorgeous and evocative one. The art style is so good for shifting gears instantaneously between the light hearted goofs, the dark themes and body horror, and the emotionally devastating parts like Jake realizing what Tom is and Tobias getting trapped. Would highly recommend. I'm not even that into comics, but it feels like the visual adaptation I wish I had when I was a kid.

The kids are really cutely animated and the realistic animals give the battle scenes a little bit of a different feel. I really like how he differentiates the thought speech with different colors based on who's speaking. The artist did an interview on an Animorphs podcast I've been listening to and he seems like he's really trying to be faithful to the source material. I think he definitely succeeded.

# ? Oct 26, 2020 07:48

Soup du Jour: Sep 8, 2011; I always knew I'd die with a headache.

https://twitter.com/graphixbooks/status/1320757100725833729?s=21

Visser Three living his best life

# ? Oct 26, 2020 21:42

Synesthesian Fetish: Apr 29, 2008; Ya know, I useta be President... I'll let you kids punch me anywhere but the face for a dollar.

Soup du Jour posted:

https://twitter.com/graphixbooks/status/1320757100725833729?s=21

Visser Three living his best life

How many controllers lost their limbs/lives helping him get into that?

# ? Oct 26, 2020 23:28

nine-gear crow: Aug 10, 2013

There's a second drawing to go along with that one:

https://twitter.com/chrisgrine/status/1320838256670482433

# ? Oct 27, 2020 00:02

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

They are cute! Chapters coming soon.

# ? Oct 27, 2020 00:23

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Book 11: The Forgotten-Chapter 19

quote:

6:49 P.M.

I woke up suddenly, with the feeling that I had slept too long.

I opened my eyes.

Black night. Night so black it was like being smothered in black felt.

But not everything was dark.

Six inches away from my face, two eyes glowed green and gold. I could smell foul breath. I could feel its breath on my face.

Jaguar!

The big cat stuck its nose closer to me, trying to decide who I was, and what I was doing in its forest.

I might have wet my pants right then from sheer terror. I don�t know, because I was soaked to the bone from the rain, which had finally ended. I was sitting in mud, feeling the adrenaline pump into my veins. Feeling fear again.

I was going to live or die depending on what the jaguar decided. Was I food? Or was I not? If the cat was hungry, and if I smelled like prey, it would sink its massive yellow fangs into my neck and it would all be over in a second. I wouldn�t even get the chance to scream.

Then, a faint memory of hope! There was one thing I could do. No time to morph, but �

As slowly as I could, I raised a trembling hand to touch the jaguar�s spotted fur. I focused my mind. I concentrated fervently on acquiring the jaguar. And I prayed the jaguar would act like most animals act when they are acquired. I hoped it would go into a trance.

When I opened my eyes, the jaguar closed his.

�Marco!� I hissed. �Cassie! Rachel! Ax! Tobias! Somebody!�

�Wha? Huh?� Marco said groggily. Then, �Whoa! Whoa! Wake up, you guys! Jeez, Jake, what are you doing? That jaguar could chomp you.�

�Really? I hadn�t thought about that, Marco. Thanks for pointing that out to me. Now, look, I�m acquiring him to keep him calm. Here�s what we do. One after another, we acquire him, then we move off. Ax?�

<Yes, Prince Jake,> Ax said.

�You think you can outrun this big kitty?�

<Yes.>

�Okay, then Ax, you acquire him last, and run for it. Just in case he�s in a bad mood.�

Five minutes later, we were all a safe distance away.

�You know, you were probably fairly safe, Jake,� Cassie said.

�I doubt jaguars eat prey your size.�

<I�ll bet they eat prey my size,> Tobias muttered.

�What�s cool is we all have a jaguar morph now. Perfect for traveling the rain forest at night,� Cassie pointed out.

�Speaking of which, it�s late,� Rachel said. �Ticktock.�

<We have two of your hours left,> Ax said.

�Two hours to find the Blade ship, smuggle aboard, and hope Visser Three knows how to get us all back to our normal time,� Rachel said. �Wonderful.�

Put it that way, it seems unlikely.

quote:

�The jaguars are predators,� Cassie pointed out. �That means senses adapted for hunting in the rain forest. They would be able to find the Yeerks, if any animal could.�

Marco laughed. �Cassie, you�re just looking for an excuse to morph something new.�

�Cassie�s right,� I said. �Look how dark it is. I can�t even see you guys. No streetlights, no house lights, no car lights, even moonlight and starlight can�t penetrate the trees. We�re helpless in this dark.

Barefoot, lost, and blind. We need eyes. We can morph owls, but we don�t know what dangers the rain forest might hold for a plain old horned owl. Jaguars, on the other hand, look like they can take care of themselves.�

�Let�s do it,� Rachel said. �We�re totally helpless in this darkness.�

�We need a way to carry the Bug fighter�s computer with us,� Cassie pointed out. She tore a strip of cloth from her shirt tail, twisted it, and threaded it through a small hole in the computer core.

�I�ll take it,� I said. The computer was my stupid mistake. I should carry it. Cassie slipped it over my head. It hung like a big, dorky medallion.

I took a deep breath. �Okay, boys and girls and Andalites. Let�s morph.�

<Jake, I have to try to fly up above the trees, try to get some moonlight,> Tobias said. <I�m as blind as you guys are down here.>

The jaguar was a strange morph for one reason: because it wasn�t strange at all. It was just like morphing the tiger. The jaguar is smaller and stockier than a tiger. But it is still one of the big cats.

But for the others, it was their first experience with a big cat. As my jaguar eyes came on and the darkness grew much lighter, I could see the final transformations.

I saw the long, yellowed teeth grow in Cassie�s mouth. I saw the pattern of large, hollow spots spread across Rachel�s skin. I saw the claws sprout from Ax�s weak Andalite hands. I saw the way Marco fell forward to land on all fours as his tail extended like a snake behind him.

<Oh, this is beautiful,> Marco said. <Oh, man! Oh, man! Feel the rush!>

<Hah-hah!> Rachel crowed. <This is like, so alive! It�s so not afraid!>

I knew the feeling. It�s different being an animal at the top of the food chain. An animal that doesn�t worry much about being killed. It�s not arrogance, really. It�s an absence of fear. Just like a tiger, a jaguar may be startled, surprised, alarmed, but never afraid. It may run away in the face of humans or loud machinery, for example, but somehow it isn�t afraid when it does that.

I saw Rachel take a swipe at the air, testing the speed of her paws. <Not as powerful as a grizzly bear, but awfully fast.>

<Excellent senses,> Cassie said. 

<I�m having a strange desire to eat a monkey,> Marco said. <And yet, I was a monkey a few hours ago. We�re all going to end up in the nuthouse someday. You realize that, right?>

<Tobias? Can you hear me?> I called in thought-speak.

<Yeah, I hear you. It�s much better up here. There�s a three-quarter moon and a million stars! I can see well enough to fly, but I�d break my neck if I tried to land.>

<There are far more than a million stars,> Ax commented.

 Tobias said with a laugh. <Hey! Hey! There�s a glow. Like a town, maybe. Lots of lights.>

<If they�re still working on the Blade ship, they�d have lights, right?> Cassie pointed out.

<It�s the only clue we have, and we are running out of time,> I said. <Let�s go.>

<Go into the light,> Marco said.

<What?>

<Poltergeist. That old movie. Don�t you remember? The little munchkin lady saying, �Go into the light, go into the light�?>

<What was this light?> Ax asked, completely mystified.

 Marco said. <But, hey, I could be wrong. Maybe it was just a big, bright, afterlife McDonald�s.>

<Shut up, Marco,> Rachel said.

We had two hours left. Then, if Ax was right, the Sario Rip would end, and the universe would have two Jakes and two Cassies, and would eliminate them both.

Go to the Blade ship. Get aboard. Hope Visser Three could get us back. Somehow. Even without the Bug fighter�s computer.

Not much of a plan. But I was the leader, and a leader has to give people hope. Even when he doesn�t have much himself.

<Let�s go see what this light is,> I said.

Just wanted to say, I love Ax and Marco.

Chapter 20

quote:

7:05 P.M.

Even through the eyes of the jaguar, the rain forest was dark.

But, oh, the things I saw, gliding like a ghost along the jungle floor.

It was like some incredible theme park ride. Like one of those haunted houses, where each turn of the little car you�re in brings you face-to-face with a new goblin or ghoul or skeleton.

But it wasn�t dead spirits that I saw in my trip through the rain forest. It was life. Life in more shapes and types than you can imagine.

Huge snakes, twenty feet long and as big around as the branches they hung from. And snakes so tiny they could almost have been worms.

Monstrous insects, beetles the size of your fist, and centipedes as big as rats. And rats as big as poodles. At least, they looked like rats. And frogs in bright, warning, touch-me-and-die colors.

And ants everywhere, some marching along in columns, with each ant carrying a piece of leaf ten times its own size. Lizards that shot past, flashes of green. And what I assume were salamanders, like lizards but in brilliant, slimy colors. And overhead, birds and monkeys and more birds.

We had been blind as bats, stomping through the rain forest in our human bodies. We had seen nothing. But the jaguar saw and smelled and heard everything.

A million species of life filled the forest around us. Forms of life stranger than anything that had come from outer space. Incredible, insane, brilliant life, all fighting to stay alive, all working to grab one little piece of the rain forest.

It was overwhelming. For a long time, none of us said anything. We were discovering a world we had never even guessed at. It was as if Polo and his people had been transported to a shopping mall at Christmastime. They would have been amazed and stunned at all the things man creates.

Now, the reverse was happening. This was the world the jaguar knew. And it was the world that Polo and his people knew. Their shopping mall at Christmastime, filled, not with all the things man makes, but with all the wild, amazing, insane, extreme, shocking creativity of nature.

And every time I thought, Well, I�ve seen it all, the rain forest would answer, Kid, you haven�t seen anything. Take a look at this bird! Take a look at that flower! Get a load of this creature! Little human boy, I have more to show you than you could see in ten lifetimes.

<Okay,> Rachel said, breaking the silence at last. 

<You have an amazing planet,> Ax said. <Amazing.>

Surprisingly, it was Cassie who reminded us of our mission. <We have very little time left. We have to get to the Blade ship.>

<You�re right, Cassie, but I thought you�d be enjoying this,> I said. <This is the ultimate nature walk.>

<Yes, it is,> she said softly. <And the Yeerks want to destroy it, and anything else they can�t use on this planet. I�m not going to let that happen. So let�s haul butt, find the Blade ship, get back where we should be, stay alive to keep fighting, because no one, man or alien, is messing this place up
while I�m around to stop them.>

Right. Doesn't really surprise me that Cassie is mission focused.

quote:

<Yes, ma�am,> I said.

 Marco said.

From high above us: <I�m over the lights now. It�s not a village. It�s the Blade ship. And guess what? They dragged the Bug fighter here, too.>

Something about that fact � that the Bug fighter was with the Blade ship, made me uneasy.

There was no reason for Visser Three to have his people drag the two ships together. There was something wrong there. Something I should see. Something I should realize.

But I shook it off. My problem was that I needed a plan. It was time to think, not time to worry about things that made no sense.

It seems to me that if Visser Three is trying to recreate the accident that brought them there...the Dracon beams from the blade ship and the bug fighter hitting, he'd want to line them up near each other to make it happen. Right?

# ? Oct 27, 2020 02:05

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

True, but it also screams ambush.

# ? Oct 27, 2020 03:58

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

True, but it also screams ambush.

How many times do our heroes not walk into an obvious ambush?

# ? Oct 27, 2020 13:53

Terror Sweat: Mar 15, 2009

I'm drunk and it's my birthday and I just want to say thank you OP, you and the Chad-virgin Harry Potter-animorphs meme really rekindled my love for this series. Especially since my library didn't have all of them when I was younger, you're the best

# ? Oct 28, 2020 00:34

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Terror Sweat posted:

I'm drunk and it's my birthday and I just want to say thank you OP, you and the Chad-virgin Harry Potter-animorphs meme really rekindled my love for this series. Especially since my library didn't have all of them when I was younger, you're the best

You're welcome!

# ? Oct 28, 2020 02:51

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Book 11: The Forgotten-Chapter 21

quote:

7:36 P.M.

We crept, silent as a dream, through the bush. One foot in front of the other, sliding through leaves, our jaguar spots confusing to the eye, invisible.

The Hork-Bajir had chopped down a clearing around the Blade ship. There were Taxxons crawling over and around the ship, working feverishly. The Taxxons appeared to have finished work on the Bug fighter. Taxxons are like gigantic centipedes with raw, red circular mouths at one end, and a ring of eyes like red Jell-O.

<They fit right in,> Marco said.

I was thinking the same thing. The Taxxons could be rain forest natives. Although, even by rain forest standards, they would have been huge.

<Not enough Hork-Bajir,> Ax said. <There should be more. Many more. They should be ringing the perimeter.>

 Rachel said. <Wait! Look! Inside the Blade ship. Through that window. Visser Three.>

I stared hard and saw the outline of an Andalite head. <Yeah. Good. At least we know where he is.>
<What do we do?> Rachel asked.

She was asking me. And I didn�t happen to have any brilliant answers.

<Okay, we know Visser Three needs the Bug fighter to get back to our time, right? And we have the computer core, so he can�t use the Bug fighter without us. So � we could bargain with him, but he can�t be trusted. Or we could sneak aboard the Blade ship and just leave the computer core where he can find it.>

<If he just happens to find the computer core lying around, he�s going to know how it got there. And he�s going to know what we�re up to,> Marco said.

<Time is running out,> Ax said.

<If we stow away on the Blade ship but don�t give Visser Three the computer core, we�re trapped here, along with him,> Cassie pointed out.

I felt like my head was swimming. Somehow I�d just hoped there would be an answer at the end. But there wasn�t.

<Look, I don�t know, all right!> I yelled. 

<Jake, you�re supposed to be our fearless leader,> Marco said.

I swear, I almost lost it right then. If we�d both been in human form, I might have punched Marco.

Good for him! This is really a conversation he should have had with them before.

quote:

<Oh, man,> Marco groaned. <Jake, you can�t lose it, man. We need you.>

I was about to say something very rude when Cassie interrupted. <Something has been bothering me. Why is Jake the only one who had those flashes? We all exist in both places at once, right? So why is he the only one who had jungle hallucinations?>

The question hit me like a sledgehammer. Of course. It made no sense. I should have seen it. Should have, should have, should have! There were too many should haves!

Ax! I remembered asking him if there was some other way to get back. I remembered the way he avoided answering. <Ax? What do you know that you�re not saying?>

<What do I know,> he answered evasively.

<What do you know � or guess?>

<Prince Jake, as I said, I know very little about Sario Rips. I was preoccupied by ->

<Ax. You call me your prince. Fine, I�m your prince. So answer my question.>

<Prince Jake � it�s possible that you are � I mean, it�s possible that you are the only real person here. The rest of us may only be memory.>

I felt a chill. <What are you talking about?>

<We may not actually be here. Not really. I mean, yes, we were here in one time line, but that time line was later erased.>

<Erased? Who erased this time line?>

<You, Prince Jake. It is possible that only you will escape from this time line. You may go back, alone, and alter everything, so that none of this ever really happens.>

<Is it just me, or is this truly insane?> Marco asked.

<Ax, how would I be the only one to escape this time line? We think the way to get back to our own time involves repeating the Dracon beam accident that caused the Sario Rip. Right?>

<Maybe � Prince Jake, that may not be the only way,> Ax said. <There may be another way. I didn�t want to say anything because I wasn�t sure. And ->

<Hey!> Tobias interrupted sharply. <Visser Three in the window over there? I just saw him wobble. Like a TV picture with interference. It�s not him! It�s a projection!>

<A decoy!> Rachel said.

Suddenly, I saw my terrible mistake. Visser Three knew that eight fifty-four was the cutoff. He knew. And he figured we knew, too.
So he knew that we�d show up, either at the Bug fighter or the Blade ship, trying to beat that deadline. He knew we�d try to hide out aboard one of the two ships. That�s why he had his creatures drag the Bug fighter through the forest to be alongside the Blade ship.

So we�d have only one place to go.

So he�d know exactly where we�d be before eight fifty-four.

<It�s a trap!> I yelled. <It�s a trap! He�s expecting us!>

And at that very moment, we heard his voice in our heads.

<Five cats and a bird. Hah-hah-hah. This will be too easy.>

So, it WAS a trap. But more importantly, i think we're seeing Jake, who's been stressed and second guessing himself the entire time, finally sort of snap.. I really am enjoying Jake's struggles with leadership here. I've complained about him as a character before; that he's too much of an everyman, that he's bland, that he doesn't have much of a personality, but I think this is the first book where he really has his own voice, even if it is the voice of a BIG HONKING GOOBER!

We have two chapters left, so just one chapter tonight, and then tomorrow we'll finish the book.

# ? Oct 28, 2020 03:02

Acebuckeye13: Nov 2, 2010; Ultra Carp

quote:

<They fit right in,> Marco said.

I was thinking the same thing. The Taxxons could be rain forest natives. Although, even by rain forest standards, they would have been huge.

Haha, I wonder if that was intentional foreshadowing, Applegate remembering that line and adding the bit about the Taxxons in the Amazon in the last book, or just a bit ol' coincidence.

# ? Oct 28, 2020 05:27

FlocksOfMice: Feb 3, 2009

Acebuckeye13 posted:

Haha, I wonder if that was intentional foreshadowing, Applegate remembering that line and adding the bit about the Taxxons in the Amazon in the last book, or just a bit ol' coincidence.

Haha omg.

I also remember that line about Jake being the only real one there reallllllly messing with me as a child. It was my first introduction to weird postmodern-esque reality-might-not-be-trustworthy things.

# ? Oct 28, 2020 05:30

Kazzah: Jul 15, 2011; Formerly known as
Krazyface; Hair Elf

Yeah this is the first of several Jake-is-all-alone books spread across the series

# ? Oct 28, 2020 05:33

wizzardstaff: Apr 6, 2018; Zorch! Splat! Pow!

Jake confronting the others with why he is expected to have all the answers and make all the calls is long overdue. None of them asked to be thrust into the Resistance, but he especially didn't ask to lead it.

# ? Oct 28, 2020 05:37

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

OK now I remember why this book is neat even though, you know, in the long run, it's forgettable. Ax telling Jake maybe he's the only real one and the implication that this is because the rest of them get killed in this timeline is a real moment of frisson.

And also sort of foreshadowing for 18 when they're vanishing one by one until only Ax is left

# ? Oct 28, 2020 10:06

QuickbreathFinisher: Sep 28, 2008; by reading this post you have agreed to form a gay socialist micronation.
`

Apparently Applegate and Grant are exiting the movie due to "creative differences."

Shocking, perhaps not, but with their departure, I have zero faith in this adaptation being in any way good

# ? Oct 28, 2020 20:07

nine-gear crow: Aug 10, 2013

QuickbreathFinisher posted:

Apparently Applegate and Grant are exiting the movie due to "creative differences."

Shocking, perhaps not, but with their departure, I have zero faith in this adaptation being in any way good

Oh boy, AniTV 2.0 here we go. I had no faith in this thing from the get go, and Applegate and Grant know a hunk of garbage when they see it, so this is gonna be a real trip if it even makes it to production.

# ? Oct 28, 2020 20:17

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

QuickbreathFinisher posted:

Apparently Applegate and Grant are exiting the movie due to "creative differences."

Shocking, perhaps not, but with their departure, I have zero faith in this adaptation being in any way good

That's disappointing, but probably not surprising. I don't always have a lot of faith in film adaptations of books, especially in the type of books these are.

# ? Oct 29, 2020 01:16

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Book 11: The Forgotten-Chapter 21

quote:

8:00 P.M.

<Run! It�s a trap!>

I bolted. But a vine reached up and snagged my front paws. I tumbled, head over heel. Instantly the jaguar was up, but again a vine grabbed me, wrapping around my neck.

The vines were alive!

Like a snake, it wrapped around my jaguar throat and tightened. I couldn�t breathe! I writhed with all the jaguar�s strength and broke free.

I ran, then � it hit me! I�d been wearing the Bug fighter�s computer around my neck. It was gone!

<It�s a Lerdethak,> Ax yelled. <The vines! It�s Visser Three in a morph. It�s a creature from the Hork-Bajir home world: a Lerdethak. It ->

Suddenly Ax was silent.

The darkness was erupting around me in a tangle of vines. It was like being in a storm of snakes.

The vines shot through the air, reaching, grabbing, wrapping themselves around me. I saw a flash of a jaguar - maybe Ax, I couldn�t be sure - being lifted in the air by one of the living vines. Lifted by his neck, with three more vines wrapping around his legs and body. I wanted to help, but the snakelike things were everywhere! If I hesitated even a second, they would have me.

<Jake!> I heard Marco yell. <It�s got me!>

Cassie�s thought-speak voice just screamed. <Aaaaahhhh!>

<Cassie!> I yelled. <Marco!>

<Jake! It�s huge!> Tobias yelled down from above. <Can�t see well, but like a � like an octopus but with a thousand tentacles!>

A slither of tentacles slapped against me, wrapping around my legs. I leaped � a split second away from being caught.
I ran. What else could I do? I ran!

<It�s swallowing them!> Tobias cried. <Oh, no! NO! It has a mouth. Huge! Help them!>

 I cried.

The vine-tentacles were less numerous now, smaller, weaker.

<I�m inside something!> Rachel said. <Smothering!>

<Prince Jake, we�ve been swallowed by the Lerdethak.>

<Can�t get to you!> I yelled. 

<Can�t � can�t move �> Cassie moaned.

 Tobias yelled. <I�m going down!>

I was reeling from sheer shock and horror. I was running in panic, running flat out. The tentacles no longer surrounded me. But when I paused, panting, to look back, I saw it.

It was like some gnarled old tree come to life. Like Medusa�s head, alive with snakes. I saw it outlined against the bright lights around the Blade ship. It was rising from the ground, growing taller and taller. Tentacles like bullwhips! A maze of snakelike arms, all surrounding a dark core. Through
the tentacles I could see a wide, drooping, blue-outlined mouth.

As I watched, a struggling jaguar was tossed inside.

And one thin tentacle reached, whipped, and wrapped around a bird that was diving toward it.

So, he's basically just got to watch his friends get eaten because of a bad choice he made and know there's nothing he can do about it.

quote:

<Hmmm,> Visser Three said. <Just five little Andalites inside my craw. That leaves one still free. But don�t worry. Plenty of time to find you.>

He had them all. He had them all but me.

<Settle down, my Andalite friends. Relax. I won�t kill you, yet. But you won�t morph your way out of this. My Lerdethak morph will hold you tight till I decide your fates.>

He had them. Visser Three had won. I was the only one left. I was their only hope.

Some hope, I told myself bitterly. I was the one in charge. And I had walked them into Visser Three�s trap. Don�t feel sorry for yourself, Jake. Find a way out!

The huge, thousand-tentacled creature moved easily and swiftly through the rain forest. And now, on both sides of it, I saw the Hork-Bajir warriors.

Behind me! All around me! A ring of Hork-Bajir penning me in as Visser Three slithered toward me.
Then �

FLIT!

Even my jaguar eyes couldn�t see the spear fly. I could only see it when it stuck into the back of a Hork-Bajir.

FLIT! FLIT! FLIT!

Spears appeared from nowhere. Hork-Bajir began dropping!

Polo stepped into view. He looked past me and launched his spear at the Lerdethak. Launched it at Visser Three.

But the Visser�s morph was far too quick. One vine reached out, snatched the spear from the air, and contemptuously tossed it back. It stuck in the ground where Polo grabbed it.

There was no way to stop the Lerdethak.

It was safe, surrounded by its vine-tentacles. The only vulnerable part was the head, and it was surrounded by a forest of the -
Wait a minute!

Not like vines! Not like tentacles! Wrong way to think, Jake, I realized. Branches. Like branches!

I dove into darkness and even as I ran, I began to demorph. I heard the flit of spears flying and the cries of Hork-Bajir. But nothing was stopping the Lerdethak.

The Visser kept coming.

I was human now, blundering blindly through slapping leaves, my bare feet cut and bruised. But at least I had a plan. I ran and focused on a quick morph. I ran and shrank, but still I ran, even as my legs became bowed and I bent forward to use my knuckles like extra feet.

And when I was fully monkey � I turned.

The Lerdethak loomed huge above me. Its thousand bullwhip tentacles slashed the air.

<Is that you, my last Andalite?> Visser Three crowed. <Is that little creature your final morph? Pathetic.>

Maybe so, I thought. But as far as I�m concerned, you�re just one big jungle gym.

I leaped through the air.

Leaped for the nearest tentacle.

I grabbed it, swung, and flew!

No other animal could have penetrated that maze of swinging, snapping, slithering tentacles. But to the monkey, it was all vines and branches.

Swing! Fly! Catch! Swing! Fly! Catch!

All at hyperspeed! All at warp factor ten! But the monkey could do it!

I grabbed one especially big tentacle. It swung me far up in the air, trying to snap me loose. But I held on. And now, down below, I could see the Lerdethak�s head. I could see the drooping blue mouth that had just swallowed the others.

I glanced aside. Polo! Yes, he was standing with his spear in his hand.

<Your spear!> I cried in thought-speak. <Your spear!>

In a flash, Polo understood. He threw with all his might. The spear flew straight and true.

And from high in the air, holding to the whipping tentacle with my tail alone, I reached with both hands and snatched the spear out of the air.

Did you know that one of the reasons humans can throw is because we once swung through the trees? Yep. The shoulder design that makes it possible to swing from branch to branch makes it possible to throw a spear.

Very possible.

I threw.

The spear hit home! It sank into the flesh of the Lerdethak, delivering the poisons of the rain forest into the deadly alien creature.

But I had used up all my luck.

A tentacle whipped toward me. Like a snapped high-tension wire, it wrapped itself around my neck, and -

Well, now that Jake's dead, that's the series, everyone. Hope you liked it. Oh, another chapter...

Chapter 23

quote:

8:19 P.M.

- I misjudged the distance to the ground, hit it too hard, and rolled over, a tangle of wings and talons.

<Nice landing,> Tobias said with a laugh.

�Are you okay?� Cassie asked me. She rushed over and picked me up. Then she set me back down because I was starting to demorph. And I was getting heavier pretty quickly.

�What the �� I demanded. I almost had a heart attack. I was back! Back, behind the motel. Back, getting ready to go to the Safeway.

Was it a flashback? One of the visions?

No, it was lasting too long. This was real. I was behind the motel. Getting ready to morph and go check out the Safeway.

I looked at my watch. Could it be? �What time is it?� I asked Ax.

<Eight-nineteen,> he said.

Eight-nineteen. Of course. I knew the time. At eight-nineteen, I had felt strange - uneasy about making the decision to go into the grocery store. But I had made the decision to go ahead. And from that decision, everything else had followed. The Sario Rip. The disaster in the rain forest.

�Cassie? Have you ever been to the Amazon?� I asked.

�What? No. Of course not,� she said.

It hadn�t happened. At least not to this Cassie. It was still something that was going to happen. Unless I changed the time line.

�Are we doing this or what?� Rachel demanded impatiently. �Come on, Jake, are we doing this or what?�

I grinned. I laughed. I�m afraid I flat out giggled. �Or what, Rachel. Definitely �or what.� We are out of here!�

It was a day later before I finally got a chance to talk to Ax alone. I told him everything. He thought I was nuts until I said the words Sario Rip. Then he knew.

<This is all very amazing,> he said as we walked through the woods. The good old, familiar woods. The woods without killer ants and piranhas and jaguars and snakes and natives with poison spears. 

�Yeah, it was pretty amazing,� I said. �I made so many wrong moves, I screwed everything up. The computer � letting us walk into a trap � I mean, we were pretty much doomed. Then it was like I got a second chance to keep it from happening. But I don�t even know how. You � I mean, that other you, or however you want to say it, thought we had to recreate the Sario Rip in order to undo it.�

Ax nodded. <Yes, I suppose that would have worked. And there was only one other way.>

I stopped him. �You never told me about any other way.�

<No, I wouldn�t have,> Ax said. 

�I thought there might be,� I said dryly.

<It is impossible for one person to be in two places at once. In theory. So if you � eliminate �one of the two, well, the consciousness snaps back together. I think what happened, Prince Jake, is that you died.>

I felt a chill run up my spine.

<But even as you died in the rain forest, you were still alive here. So your mind snapped back. Then you undid the time line, so none of it ever really happened. You would find you cannot morph the jaguar or the monkey, because you never really acquired those animals.>

He made an Andalite smile, which just involves the eyes, since they have no mouths.

�They teach this stuff in your schools, huh?�

<Yes.>

�And you didn�t pay much attention to this lesson, huh?�

<True.>

�I can see why,� I said. �This time travel stuff will make your head explode.�

<Exactly,> Ax agreed. <And on that day, there was this game � and this female �>

We walked a while farther. �It was a disaster down there, Ax. I blew it. The only reason we�re all still alive is that in the end, I got lucky.�

<Maybe that is true, Prince Jake. But my brother Elfangor once told me, �It�s a leader�s job to be lucky.� Sometimes, success is just luck.>

I nodded. It didn�t make me feel any better. �Elfangor�s luck ran out.�

<Yes. We must hope yours does not, Prince Jake.>

I laughed. �Don�t call me Prince.�

<Yes, Prince Jake.>

So, that's the book. Like I was saying earlier, the thing that impressed me when I I read it is that its sort of about the nature of leadership, and especially, about Jake's doubt about his own leadership. A lot of it was also about anxiety, and Jake second guessing himself. What did you all think of it, both the book, and about Jake's internal struggles?

Tomorrow, we start Book 12, The Reaction. It's a Rachael book.

# ? Oct 29, 2020 01:32

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

It's interesting that it uses a tired device to teach Jake a thing or two about leadership.

# ? Oct 29, 2020 01:56

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

Also I can't help but picture that thing as a Malboro.

# ? Oct 29, 2020 01:56

Soup du Jour: Sep 8, 2011; I always knew I'd die with a headache.

This is a good Jake book, and kicks off a whole string of them that are about his leadership and the tolls they take on him that are all really solid. There�s a sad bit here where Jake finally does point out that he never really asked for leadership but due to the nature of everything he�s the only one who�ll remember it, so the team never learns from it. And he�ll just internalize it all going forward! :smith:

# ? Oct 29, 2020 02:12

FlocksOfMice: Feb 3, 2009

Normally I hate "haha and none of it really happened!" stories but I still like this. It lets Jake feel the full consequences of "this is what happens when you screw up and you actually full on die" which doesn't really teach him as much of a lesson so much as it teaches him "being an animorph sucks."

I really thought the resolution was more clear, solid, something, though, thinking about the book. It just kinda... resolves a bit unceremoniously doesn't it?

# ? Oct 29, 2020 02:26

HisMajestyBOB: Oct 21, 2010; College Slice

I never cared for it as a kid, but reading it now I'm better able to see it's leadership themes so I like it a little more.

# ? Oct 29, 2020 02:45

King of Foolians: Mar 16, 2006; Long live the King!

I feel bad for Tobias in the new timeline. He discovered the crashed bug fighter, did the recon, got the whole team together....just for Jake to say, �nah let�s not�.

# ? Oct 29, 2020 03:22

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# ? May 26, 2024 18:43

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

FlocksOfMice posted:

I really thought the resolution was more clear, solid, something, though, thinking about the book. It just kinda... resolves a bit unceremoniously doesn't it?

It does end on a hopeful note, saying most of all a good leader needs to be lucky, like Elfangor was, until his luck ran out and he died. Wait, no, that's not hopeful at all.

# ? Oct 29, 2020 03:29

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > Comedy Goldmine > Let's Read Animorphs! The Whole Series! Ch-ch-ch-chaaanges

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