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

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Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

Epicurius posted:

I'm sorry if I spoiled such a major plot point for you.

I think its actually in the next book

Yeah I just looked up that book and I think it is. :shobon:

# ? Mar 13, 2021 21:07

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# ? May 25, 2024 18:24

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Animorphs-Megamorphs 2: In the Time of the Dinosaurs, Chapter 17
Rachel

quote:

They were around me. All around me. Maybe ten of them. Deinonychus, Tobias had called them. Like wolves. They circled me like wolves.

They were not big, certainly smaller than my grizzly bear morph. Maybe ten feet from halfgrinning mouth to rigid tail. But they were dangerous. Even with my dim grizzly bear eyesight, I could see their bristling weapons. The scythe-clawed hands; the huge ripping talon; the razor-sharp teeth.

I had weapons of my own. I had strength enough in my arms and shoulders to push over a Toyota. I had my own evil, ripping claws. I had teeth. But I was not fooled. I knew my only hope was that the Deinonychus would be discouraged by the fact that I was unknown prey.

Maybe the pack could be scared off. Maybe they wouldn�t like the smell of bear. I wondered if

Tobias was safe up in his tree. I hoped so.

The leader, the Deinonychus with the shortened tail, stepped to the front.

�HhhooorrRAAWWWRR!� I roared, and rose up erect to my impressive seven-plus feet. In my own time, there was no land predator as large or with as much raw power as a grizzly. But this was a whole different time. And a way, way different standard of large.

I knew these Deinonychus shared an environment with Tyrannosaurus and probably a dozen other very big, very dangerous lizards. And they thrived in that environment. How was I ever going to scare them?

The leader cocked his head and listened to me roar. He looked directly at me, considering,wondering.

Then two of them leaped!

�RROOAAARRR!� I bellowed. I swung my meat-hook claw with all my might. It was a lucky blow. I caught the closest Deinonychus across the neck. He collapsed.

With no signal that I could see, they all backed away. The leader sniffed at me. He sniffed at his comrade, who was no longer moving. Intelligent eyes considered.

This time I heard a signal. It was almost the cheeping of a songbird. �Neep!�

The Deinonychus pack circled around. It was so precise. So planned, almost rehearsed. They were not running away. They were not giving up. Instead they were preparing a more concerted attack. They were prepared to take losses. That meant they would press the attack this time. Press the attack till I was down. Till I was food.

But something wasn�t right. I could see it in the leader�s eyes. He was glaring hard at a Deinonychus that had just arrived.

This new dinosaur stepped forward. He sniffed at me from a safe distance. And then, without warning, he leaped!

A slash with his left foot claw ripped a two-foot-long slice in my chest. It hadn�t cut deep into vital organs but it hurt.

�HhhhRROOOAAARRR!� I bellowed.

But there was an even louder roar. The leader of the pack screamed at the impertinent new dinosaur. The new Deinonychus jumped back, away from me, and spun around to face the enragedpack leader.

The two Deinonychus stood bristling, face-to-face. A challenge! That was it. The new Deinonychus had ignored the leader. He�d attacked on his own. And that was an attack on the leader�s dominance.

The leader hissed. It was a low, sinister sound. He stuck his tail straight back. The challenger raised his clawed hands, ready for battle.

And it was only then that I spotted the twisted pieces of fabric around the challenger�s arm. Fabric torn from my own leotard and wrapped around Tobias�s splint.

<Tobias!> I cried. It was Tobias. It had to be. But he had ripped a hole in me �

I realized what had happened. Tobias had somehow acquired this Deinonychus�s DNA and morphed him. But in doing so he�d lost control. The Deinonychus�s instincts had pushed Tobias�smind aside and taken control.

And now Tobias was in a showdown with the pack leader. A showdown to determine whowould be boss. And who would be in charge of destroying me.

Tobias and the leader circled each other slowly, warily.

<Tobias! Listen to me. You�ve morphed a dinosaur. You�ve lost control. It happens sometimes. You need to ->

The pack leader leaped! He landed, deadly feet out, mouth snapping, right where Tobias hadbeen a split second before. But Tobias had dodged left, then crouched low to get in under the leader�s guard. Chomp! �ScrrEEEEE!� The leader jumped back, shocked. A piece of his left flank was missing.

Tobias circled again, tail stiff as a pole behind him. Now the leader was more cautious. He waited for Tobias to make the first move. It wasn�t a long wait. Tobias charged. With split-second timing, the other dinosaur jumped up in the air. He met Tobias�s face with his own wicked talons.

Slash!

�ScrrrEEEE-uh!� Tobias fell back. Blood gushed from a wound in his face. The pack leader pressed the attack. Tobias stumbled back in seeming panic.

�Hrrooo-HAH!� A cry of triumph came from the pack leader. He leaped. Too soon! Tobias was under him, ripping upward with his forepaws. He jammed his claws into the other Deinonychus�s chest.

The pack leader screamed and flailed. But he could not tear Tobias�s teeth away from him. It was over.

Tobias stood up. And he screeched a loud cry of challenge. �Hreee-YAH! Hreee-hrEEEEYAH!�

He looked at the rest of the pack. They looked at their fallen leader. Then they looked at Tobias.

And one by one, like vanquished knights offering their swords to the victor, they each lowered their noses to the ground in submission.

Tobias turned. Turned to look at me.

<Tobias, it�s me, Rachel. Listen to me, it�s Rachel.>

I was using one paw to hold my own wound closed. The pain was intense. But the fear was greater. I saw the look in Tobias�s eyes.

<Tobias, you are human. You are human. Get control of the morph!>

He advanced toward me. He was hungry. The others advanced just a step behind him.

<Tobias! Listen to me. You are a human being! It�s me, Rachel. Your friend. You are human, you �>

No, I realized. No, that was wrong, wasn�t it?

<Tobias. You are a hawk. You are a red-tailed hawk. Remember your wings? Remember flying? Flying high on the thermals?>

His deadly jaw was inches away. He stopped. He tilted his head. And suddenly, his entire body seemed to shudder.

<Rachel?> he said.

Right. In a lot of ways, he's as much bird as person now. Also birds=dinosaurs, as I'm sure most of you know, and interestingly enough, the animals most closely related to the birds were probably the dromaeosaurs, of which Deinonychus was a member. Hence, that picture by Feetnotes

Chapter 18
Jake

quote:

Down it came. Like having the Goodyear blimp dropped on top of you. Only much, much heavier.

I couldn�t see a thing, only feel the air rush aside as the beast fell. I rolled.

WHUUUUUMP!

�Aaaahhh!� I cried. I was pinned. My legs were caught beneath the long-necked dinosaur�s belly. Just my lower legs, and nothing had been broken, but when I tried to move I realized I was trapped.

�Jake!� Cassie cried. �Where are you?�

I wanted to tell her to shut up and save herself. Another part of me wanted to beg her to help me.

I was shaking. Literally shaking. Like I had fever chills and I just couldn�t stop them.

CHOMP!

The huge head came down and ripped violently into the long-necked dinosaur.

CHOMP!

The Tyrannosaurus was eating ravenously. Just a couple of feet above my head. Then I guess it chomped into something tough, because it yanked. And that yanking lifted the big dinosaur�s weight off me for a second.

I was out!

I rolled. I jumped to my feet.

�Ooof!� I went down. My legs had gone numb from being pinned. I could move them, but - Down it came! Flashing teeth all around me. No way out. I curled into a ball.

�Oh, God!� I cried.

The Tyrannosaurus�s jaw closed around me. I clenched my arms and legs tight together. Still those teeth cut grooves in my left shoulder. No room! The mouth was too narrow. I pushed my numb legs out before me, down the Tyrannosaurus�s throat.

I was in the Tyrannosaurus�s mouth. No room to move. Stinking foul air. Sticky saliva all over me. A big tongue that tried to push the rest of me down the waiting, greedy throat. He closed his mouth and crushed the air out of my lungs.

I grabbed that tongue. I locked my fingers on the rough, wet thing and focused with all that was left of my terrified, jibbering brain.

I wasn�t even sure I�d acquired the DNA when I started trying to morph. I was doing it all at once. I was acquiring and morphing and screaming in terror.

But I began to grow. I couldn�t be near those teeth when I grew. They would lacerate me. I wormed down the roaring Tyrannosaurus�s throat. Down away from the teeth. Its powerful throat muscles were pummeling my legs now, but I was morphing.

The Tyrannosaurus realized something was wrong. It had swallowed the wrong thing. It coughed and gacked. Then, a massive surge of muscle spasm, and I was falling.

Flump!

I hit the soft side of the fallen long-necked dinosaur. I tried to grab on, but failed. My hands\ weren�t my hands anymore.

I rolled onto the ground at the Tyrannosaurus�s feet. I was at his mercy. Utterly.

But the big monster was not able to attack. Something had happened to its insides. I don�t know if I ruptured something, or what. But the tyrant lizard stomped three, four, five steps away and collapsed. It sat down on its tail, then fell over onto its side, moaning.

I lay there gasping, not knowing what body I had, not caring. I was alive. I tried my mouth. No, I couldn�t talk. I demorphed. Then tried again.

�Cassie! Marco! Ax!�

�Jake?� Cassie�s voice cried in the darkness.

It took a few seconds for us to find each other back at the glowing embers of the campfire.

Cassie put her arms around me, slime and all, and hugged me. I was too shaky to return the hug, but it felt good.

�Is it dead?� Marco asked.

�No,� I said. �But I think I hurt it. It�s on its side over there, I think.�

�You know what we should do,� Marco said grimly. �We should all acquire that Tyrannosaurus. We need one alive to acquire. It�s alive. Until we acquire a Big Rex we�re just going to get chased around till sooner or later we get eaten.�

�I already did it,� I said. �But you�re right.�

None of them were anxious to walk over and start touching that creature. Even moaning on its side, it was terrifying.

We came up slowly, carefully, tentatively beneath the tail. We carried small torches to light our way.

Marco was the first. He pressed his hand against the crocodilelike flesh.

And then Ax.

And lastly Cassie.

It was strange. Like some kind of ritual. Three humans and an alien, all carrying torches that might as well have been cinders in the endless darkness. We cowered before the groaning, wheezing monster and touched it.

�It�s so strange,� Cassie said. �We�re humans in a time millions of years before the first humans. In our time, Homo sapiens run the planet. In this time it�s the Tyrannosaurus. You always wonder who would have won, if humans and dinosaurs had lived at the same time. Who would have survived?�

�They would have hunted us like cats hunt mice,� Marco said. �Primitive humans with sharp sticks and maybe a couple of torches? No contest.�

<Yes, but you are not just primitive humans,> Ax said. <You are primitive humans with Andalite morphing technology.>

Not for the first time, I wondered if Ax had developed a sense of humor.

And then the adrenaline and lack of sleep and the physical beating all came together. My eyes closed all on their own. My legs buckled. I fell, and arms reached out to take me.

I've always thought that Axe had a sense of humor all along....it's just that Andalite humor tends to be a lot more suble than human. Also, hey, they can all morph T-Rexes now!

# ? Mar 14, 2021 04:51

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

I think Ax also just has a very dry sense of humour even by Andalite standards.

# ? Mar 14, 2021 06:57

e X: Feb 23, 2013; cool but crude

Thermals save the day!

# ? Mar 14, 2021 07:16

WrightOfWay: Jul 24, 2010

SirSamVimes posted:

I think Ax also just has a very dry sense of humour even by Andalite standards.

Yeah, Elfangor had a more straight forward sense of humor in the Andalite Chronicles.

# ? Mar 14, 2021 08:26

Pwnstar: Dec 9, 2007; Who wants some waffles?

"Remember me, Rachel who you love?" - Nope
"Remember thermals?" - Hell yeah I do

# ? Mar 14, 2021 20:07

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Slow zoom on Tobias' little Deinonychus eyes, overlaid with soft piano music and flashback footage of him as a hawk floating high on the thermals

# ? Mar 14, 2021 22:55

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Animorphs-Megamorphs 2: In the Time of the Dinosaurs, Chapter 19
Marco

quote:

After we let Jake sort of doze for a while, we decided that maybe sleeping between a dead longnecked dinosaur the size of Nebraska and a moaning, sick Tyrannosaurus was not a great idea.

So despite the fact that it was so dark we couldn�t see our own feet, we trudged on. At least it wasn�t raining. After that big huge flash, I�d assumed rain was coming. But maybe that�s not the way it worked in this millennium.

�So basically everything is fine,� I said, shifting my pathetically dim torch to my other hand. �We�re tens of millions of years in the past. We have no food except charred scraps of dinosaur-on-a stick. There�s a river over there, but if we do go and get a drink, some monster crocodile will jump out and chomp us. We�re lost, which is fine because let�s face it, we�re not exactly looking for the nearest Taco Bell, so who cares where we are? Plus, just to make things perfect, we�re wearing Tyrannosaurus skin sandals, which is going to really, really endear us to the next Big Rex we see.�

�I wish Rachel were here,� Cassie said.

�Yeah,� I said, suddenly sad. �She�d say something like, �I can stand the dinosaurs, Marco, I just can�t stand listening to you whine.��

Jake laughed softly. �You do a pretty good Rachel impression.�

I heard Cassie sniffle.

�You know what occurs to me,� I said. �We survived, right? I mean, twice we�ve been jumped by tyrannosaurs or tyrannosauri, whichever. I�m still here and I�m not Captain Heroic. And Jake is still here, despite the fact he�s a big, galumphing, clumsy oaf, and not even all that bright.�

�Thanks,� Jake said.

�My point is, if we could survive, are you going to tell me Rachel and Tobias - Xena, Warrior Princess, and a Bird-boy who has to hunt his breakfast every morning - didn�t make it? Come on, anything that wants to kill Rachel would have to be meaner than Rachel. And you know that�s not even
possible.�

Cassie chuckled. She sniffled, too. The truth was I was talking total bull, but who knew? Maybe somehow Rachel and Tobias really did make it. It was easier to believe they did.

I�ve always said you make a choice in this world. You can see the world as being tragic, or you can see it as being funny. Some things just flat-out aren�t funny, of course. But with very few exceptions, you can usually find the humor in life and in people. I guess if you want to see the world as being sad, terrible, unfair, boo-hoo boo-hoo, that�s fine. But man, what kind of life is that?

That's basically Marco's philosophy in life, in a nutshell.

quote:

We trudged. We stopped and dozed. We got up and trudged some more. And gradually that humongous comet in the sky grew faint as the sky began to light up with the rising sun.

Then with shocking suddenness, pop! The sun just seemed to jump up off the horizon. I tossed away my charred stump of a torch, closed my eyes, and spread my arms wide to welcome good old Mommy Sun.

It illuminated a scene out of some museum diorama. The plain stretched out before us, punctuated now with clumps of trees and sudden jutting rocks. The stream still wandered beside us.

The woods were off to one side. The volcano was still smoking away, looking intimidating as it towered up above the plain.

And scattered about on that African-looking savanna, where you might expect to see gazelles or wildebeest or lions, there was a small herd of Triceratops. They moved along calmly, maybe a hundred of them. Like an old-west buffalo herd, I guess. Only Buffalo Bill would have hung up his hat rather than go after these bad boys.

<Does the rising sun make humans feel more optimistic?> Ax asked.

�Yeah. Unless it�s a school day,� I said.

<We are the same. It doesn�t make complete sense, but it does make me feel better. I can see. Seeing is useful.>

�Plus it blanks out that comet, and that thing was starting to bug me. On the other hand, I�m looking at a bunch of dinosaurs the size of cement trucks, so -�

<The comet bothered you? But not the flash of light?>

�Lightning. So what?�

<No, no. Not lightning. I assumed you knew. It was artificial in origin, not natural.>

It took me about five more steps before I said, �What?� I stopped. Jake stopped. Cassie stopped.

�Artificial?� Jake asked. �What do you mean, artificial? Doesn�t that mean man-made? Or at least, made?�

<Yes, of course. The flash was not a naturally occurring phenomenon. It was all wrong for lightning. My stalk eyes are capable of seeing a little further into the ultraviolet and infrared spectra of light and ->

�Just tell us what it was!� Cassie yelled impatiently. That shocked us all. Cassie never yells. But then again, maybe she�s just not a morning person.



Jake took a deep breath. �Ax? Do me a favor. Don�t assume we know these things, okay?�

<Yes, Prince Jake,> he said.

Jake looked at me. �You think Yeerks got transported back to this time with us somehow?�

<Prince Jake, I don�t ->

�Don�t call me prince,� Jake said automatically.

�There weren�t any Yeerks anywhere near that submarine when it blew up,� I said. �Especially not any Yeerk spacecraft. I mean, come on, I think we�d have noticed.�

<It isn�t the Yeerks,> Ax said. 

�Highly advanced dinosaurs?� I said. �Professor T-rex? I don�t think so.�

�Last night I saw some weird flashes far off,� Jake said.

�Me, too,� Cassie said. �I assumed they were lightning or something.� We resumed walking.

�Ax-man, I think maybe you�re just nuts.�

<Me? Wrong? It is possible,> Ax said dubiously. <But the nature of the light certainly seemed to�>

He droned on for a while about the wavelengths and the retinal impact patterns and distance sense and a lot of other Andalite stuff that humans would probably learn about someday.

I tuned it out. I was watching the Triceratops herd, which was off to our side now. I mean, come on, every little kid has a toy plastic Triceratops at some time. And here they were. Real. Actual dinosaurs moving along, munching the grass, occasionally using their huge long horns to dig up a tasty herb. It was cool. Set aside the fact that we had taken a big elevator ride about ten floors down on the food chain. It was still cool.

�Oh, man, look. I think we�re coming up on some kind of big gorge or whatever,� Jake said.

The prairie before us did seem to stop suddenly. The grass wasn�t waving beyond a certain point.

�We�ll have to go around,� Cassie said.

�Why?� I wondered. �Where exactly is it we think we�re going?�

�What do you want us to do?� Jake asked peevishly. �Sit down right here and start building a new civilization?�

�I�m just saying it�s not like we have an appointment to be somewhere.� We marched on, unable to see the extent of the rift till we got close. And then suddenly we could see. It was incredible. Like walking up on the Grand Canyon the first time. We were at the edge of a valley hundreds of feet deep and miles across. It gave me vertigo just standing there, like I might fall in.

And it would be a very long fall, with plenty of time to scream on the way down.

But that wasn�t what really knocked the wind out of us. Because see, the valley wasn�t empty.

Down there, spread across a mile of valley floor, were glittering, shining buildings. Buildings.

And hovering protectively above those buildings was something that looked an awful lot like a flying saucer.

So that might be the source of the light.

Chapter 20
Tobias

quote:

�How�s the wing?� Rachel asked.

<It itches. How are your feet?>

�They hurt all over again.�

<Am I hurting your shoulder?>

�Nope. Not like you hurt my stomach when you opened me up like you were gutting a fish.�



�I know. I�m cranky. I didn�t exactly have a good night�s sleep. I seem to remember having to morph the grizzly bear, only to have you come along and slice me up like I was a pepperoni pizza. Slice me up like I was a hunk of cheese.�

I sighed. I tried to balance on Rachel�s shoulder without digging my talons in. We�d ripped a patch of the dead Deinonychus�s skin to cover her shoulder, but it wasn�t staying on.

�Sliced me up like I was a ham,� Rachel muttered. �Like I was bacon. And eggs. And some hash browns. Denny�s. I�d give up shopping for a Denny�s Grand Slam breakfast right now. The one with the pancakes. Get the hash browns as a side order. Two sausage links, two slices of bacon, two eggs over medium, you know? Not too soft and runny. I don�t like them soft and runny. Maple syrup on the pancakes. Has to be maple. What kind of person puts boysenberry syrup on pancakes?�

<So I�m guessing you�re hungry?>

She turned her icy blue eyes toward me. �Like a loaf of bread. That�s how you sliced me up. Like a loaf of bread you get fresh from the bakery, all crusty and crispy and golden on the outside and soft and white and still-warm inside. And raspberry preserves. Has to be raspberry. I like Smuckers. A big jar of raspberry preserves with the seeds. I mean, what kind of baby has to have seedless preserves?�

I looked at her with my hawk�s eyes. I was inches away. It was like looking at her through a microscope, practically. She hadn�t slept, hadn�t brushed her hair, and she was in a bad mood. But she looked great.

I looked away. What was the point? Jeez, my own tiredness and hunger must be affecting me. I was starving. I could see little shrewlike mammals flitting between tree roots and cowering beneath ferns, but with a busted wing there was nothing I could do.

All I could do was watch the trees as we walked. We had left the Deinonychus pack behind in the night. As leader of the pack, I�d snarled at them till they backed away. I left them looking lost and stupid. But pretty soon they�d get around to choosing a new leader.

Rachel had acquired one of them. It hadn�t been easy, but I�d been able to control the murderous creature long enough for her to touch him.

Now we were wandering along in the forest. Looking for food. Looking for Jake and the others. Looking for a clue of what to do.

We were entering an area with more vegetation now. There were clusters of palm trees here and there. Clumps of five or ten trees with some bushes around the base. It made me nervous. They blocked my view.

On the other hand � <Hey, don�t dates grow on trees?>

�Not according to my mom. She�s thinking about dating again. You know, it�s been awhile since the divorce and � oh. You mean like dates you eat? I guess they grow on trees.�

<On date palms, right?>

�Like I know? Like I go food shopping out in the wild? Picking dates off trees and tomatoes off vines and corn out of, I don�t know, corn trees?�

<Corn trees? Corn trees?>

�Oh, fine. I�m starving and you�re picking on me because I�m not a farm girl like Cassie.�

<We could go look at those palm trees. Maybe they have dates or coconuts in them. Something for you to eat, anyway.>

�I could use a rest. And some shade.�

We headed toward the second nearest clump of trees. Two monstrously big Triceratops were over in the shade of the nearest trees. Supposedly they were peaceful plant-eaters. But they were big as elephants, with three-foot-long horns. So no matter how peaceful they were, I didn�t want to share the shade with them.

<There�s definitely something up in those trees,> I said. I could see pods of some sort clustered under the fanlike fronds.

We reached the shade of the tree. Rachel set me down on the ground and threw rocks till she knocked a pod down. It was brown, about the size of a coconut. She used another rock to bash it open.

Inside was a whitish pulp.

�Well? What do you think?�



Rachel made a face. She held a piece of the pulp up to her nose. �Smells okay.� Then she shrugged, popped some in her mouth and swallowed. �Hmm. Not bad.�

<What�s it taste like?> I asked. I gazed up jealously at the fruit. I was low down on the ground, not able to see much but the towering trees. But something caught my eye. Through the smooth trunks and riotous bushes, I saw something curved. It looked ridiculously like a handheld fan. Only much
bigger. There were spines or spokes with brightly-patterned green and red fabric between them. No, not fabric. Skin. But it had to be from something dead. It wasn�t moving. Totally still.

<Rachel. I think there�s something just on the other side of this clump of trees. See that - yaahhh!>

The fan had moved.

Rachel froze. �Please don�t tell me it�s another of your dinosaurs.�

<When did they start being my dinosaurs? Let�s just back away slowly.>

Rachel reached down to lift me up. �What is it?�



We backed away, keeping our eyes firmly fixed on the spotted fan or sail. But as we backed away I realized Rachel�s shoulder was getting tougher to hold on to.

<What are you doing?>

�I�m morphing,� she said. �I�m hungry, you�re hungry. Maybe we can take this guy down and have a nice big dinosaur breakfast.�

<What? What?>

�I�m morphing that dannynockorus.�

<Deinonychus?>

She couldn�t answer. Her tongue was no longer human. Her skin was pebbly and rough. Her shoulder sloped downward and I jumped off to land in the grass.

I wasn�t exactly happy with Rachel at that point. But at the same time, I wondered if maybe she was right. We had the Deinonychus morph. Why not use it?

I began to morph myself. Great, it would mean resetting my splint yet again. This was no way to heal. Then again, starving wasn�t all that good for your health, either.

The breeze shifted. The skin and bone sail moved. It moved to catch the breeze. Why? I should know. There was some fact hiding just in the back of my head. What was I forgetting?

I pictured my toy dinosaurs. Tyrannosaurus rex, Brachiosaurus, Stegosaurus, Allosaurus, Spinosaurus.

Spinosaurus?

Big sail on its back. What about it? What was it like? What did it do? Was it an herbivore?

Moving!

CRASH! CRASH! Crrrrr-UNCH!

Up rose the sail as the Spinosaurus stood up. Crash went the bushes as it swiveled to look at us.

Crunch went a tree trunk as it thrust its head through the trees to get a closer look at us. The head was bigger than Rachel.

She was just completing her Deinonychus morph. Would she be able to control the dinosaur�s active instincts? She was more experienced at morphing than I was.

The Spinosaurus glared at us. Or at Rachel, at least.

<He�s scared of us,> she said. <He�s big, but he�s probably just some great big prehistoric cow, right?>

<Rachel. Look at the teeth. Do those look like herbivore teeth?>

<Oh.>

The Spinosaurus rose up to its full standing height, looming up huge behind the trees. The curved sail on its back was more than five feet high. Tail to nose it was fifty feet long. It stood on two legs - smaller and weaker legs than a Tyrannosaurus, but plenty to move with.

The Spinosaurus was silent. It just stared as two Deinonychus emerged from a girl and a bird.

<We can still take him.>

That would be Rachel, of course. I�d never say anything so stupid. <What are you, crazy? He weighs tons. We weigh pounds.>

<There�s two of us. One of him.>

<One is plenty!>

<Okay. Then let�s run away.>

<Now you�re talking.>

We turned. We ran.

We ran right into the Spinosaurus�s mate.

The couple that hunts together...

Spinosaurus is actually kind of interesting because it was semiaquatic, and people think it ate both land animals and fish. Some people actually think the sail on the animal's back acted like a fish fin. Other people, of course, disagree, with some people thinking it was used in mating displays, and others thinking it was used for thermoregulation. So, we don't know for sure.

# ? Mar 15, 2021 04:28

WrightOfWay: Jul 24, 2010

This all brings up the question, if you eat in morph, does that carry over into your base form? Could Tobias have morphed human and eaten some fruit to assuage his hunger?

# ? Mar 15, 2021 06:40

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

WrightOfWay posted:

This all brings up the question, if you eat in morph, does that carry over into your base form? Could Tobias have morphed human and eaten some fruit to assuage his hunger?

I don't think so. I think that stuff has to go out into z-space and disappear, not carry over, same as injuries don't (supposedly :argh:

) carry over. It's not like all their breakfasts fall onto the ground (or burst their intestines) when they morph mosquitoes.

# ? Mar 15, 2021 07:05

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

I remember having Spinosaurus toys and stuff that did not at all make it clear how absolutely loving massive they were. I always assumed they were roughly cow sized, maybe on par with a triceratops at largest. When I saw a skeleton of one in a museum I was completely blown away that they were that huge. I hadn't read about them probably since the 90s or early 2000s, and the more modern aquatic reconstructions are very cool. Like huge evil ducks. The snaggly teeth are of course great for snagging fish and other slippery prey, but also add to the overall...spininess. Love these big guys.

I'm really enjoying this book so far, and having the gang split up for this part is nice, even though it is completely dubious within the established lore of the series. :shrug:

Watching Tobias and Rachel start to fray is a little sad but also a very interesting angle we haven't seen much of yet. Things are about to get very weird.

# ? Mar 15, 2021 07:56

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

Whats the smaller dinosaur with a sail?

# ? Mar 15, 2021 09:37

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

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

Whats the smaller dinosaur with a sail?

Dimetrodon is the famous sail-backed beastie, but it was around 50 million years before dinosaurs.

# ? Mar 15, 2021 09:57

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

Please, everyone knows all dinosaurs existed simultaneously and were just having a gigantic royal rumble constantly :rolleyes:

# ? Mar 15, 2021 10:00

cptn_dr: Sep 7, 2011; Seven for beauty that blossoms and dies

Dimetrodon wasn't a dinosaur!

# ? Mar 15, 2021 10:45

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

Anything before the meteor hit was a dinosaur :colbert:

Except, like, mice. And trees, I guess.

# ? Mar 15, 2021 10:50

disaster pastor: May 1, 2007

WrightOfWay posted:

This all brings up the question, if you eat in morph, does that carry over into your base form? Could Tobias have morphed human and eaten some fruit to assuage his hunger?

No. In a later book, Rachel brings Tobias McDonald's. He eats the hamburger patty as a hawk so he's actually sated, then morphs human and eats the rest with Rachel.

# ? Mar 15, 2021 12:26

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

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

Please, everyone knows all dinosaurs existed simultaneously and were just having a gigantic royal rumble constantly

~~There is about as much time between dimetrodon and tyrannosaurus, as there is between tyrannosaurus and us.~~

Diplodocus using its long neck to pluck tasty pterodactyls from the sky!!

# ? Mar 16, 2021 02:59

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Animorphs-Megamorphs 2: In the Time of the Dinosaurs, Chapter 21
Rachel

quote:

What could I do? I had to attack. The Deinonychus body was surging with power and deadly energy.

Then again, the Spinosaurus was way, way too big. To give you some idea, if we�d both been dogs, the Spinosaurus would be a German shepherd and I�d be a Chihuahua.

Chihuahua weigh from 3-6 pounds, while German Shepherds weigh from like 50-90 pounds, So that's something like a 15-1 ratio? Deinonychus
weight about 160-220 pounds while Spinosaurus weighed 14,000 � 17,000 pounds. That's something like a 77-1 ratio. So, that's actually a Chihuahua taking on 5 German Shepherds at once. But nobody ever said Rachel was a coward.

quote:

No choice. No way around the second Spinosaurus.

<Attack!> I yelled.

I leaped. The steel spring legs lifted me off the ground and I flew through the air, deadly raking claws outward. I was aiming for the Spinosaurus�s exposed belly.

SLASH! With my oversized talons. Two bright red lines in the Spinosaurus�s belly!

Two little lines that looked like something the Spinosaurus might put a Band-Aid on. The Spinosaurus looked puzzled. And then it looked annoyed. It ruffled its weird sail back and opened its jaws and looked at me like I had �Oscar Mayer� printed on my back.

<Okay, forget attack. We go back to plan �B.� Run!>

And that�s when I noticed the other creature step smoothly out from the bushes.

It walked on two legs. It was rough-textured, like it had really chapped skin. It was reddish in color. It had two big eyes and a small mouth, all of the same reddish-rust hue. It stood about eight feet tall. It was carrying a weapon.

It was not a dinosaur.

The creature raised the weapon and pointed it at the wounded and angry Spinosaurus. I saw no flash. Heard no explosion. But the Spinosaurus fell over. Like a redwood falling in the forest, it fell over.

WHAMMM!

The second Spinosaurus processed this and decided to go back to sleep. Tobias and I stared at the rough-textured creature with the gun. <What the � what is that?>

 Tobias said. <But I can guarantee none of my toy dinosaurs ever carried guns.>

The creature gazed curiously at us with what seemed to be eyes, although they were mere indentations in its face. From its head a pair of antennae, flexible as whips, grew and began waving toward us.

Satisfied after a few seconds of this, the antennae were retracted.

�You may not kill those creatures. There are very few left. They are ours. All creatures are ours. All things are ours. What are you?� it asked in a rough, raspy, buzzing voice.

It was speaking English. Now, on Star Trek you see aliens speak English all the time. Like that would be normal. But in real life when you encounter an alien speaking English, it�s just weird. You figure at the very least they should be speaking Russian or Japanese or something.

�Answer.�

<We�re � dinosaurs,> I said, feeling fairly idiotic.

�You speak now without making sound. Explain.�

<Why don�t you explain?> I said. <Who are you? What are you doing here? And how do you speak our language?>

�We hear while you are talking. Listening long time. Since night.�

<How did this guy manage to follow us and listen in?> I asked Tobias.



�Change to your other form.�

<He�s seen us morph.>

<What are you?> Tobias demanded.

�We are the Nesk. This is our planet. Change to your other form.�

<Pushy, isn�t he?> I said.

<He�s got the gun.>



�This weapon can cause creatures to become unconscious. This happened to the great beast you were attacking. But it can also cause death. Change into your other forms. Or I will cause your death.�

The Nesk raised the weapon and pointed it at us.

Now, maybe I have to back down before a fifty-foot-long Spinosaurus. But I�ve faced plenty of pushy aliens with ray guns.

I knew this Nesk character with the ego problem would expect me to charge him, like a dinosaur.

But I�m a human. Better yet, I�m a gymnast. So, just like on the balance beam, I spun on one leg and whipped my rigid tail into the Nesk.

<Take that!>

My tail hit hard. It slammed into the Nesk at his chest level. My tail broke him in two. The top half simply fell off. Like I�d chopped through a tree.

<Oh, my God!> I cried, horrified. I�d only intended to knock him down.

But then my horror changed tone. The severed lower body seemed to be dissolving. Breaking into thousands and tens of thousands of tiny squirming pieces!

And the fallen upper body was still holding the weapon. Raising it toward me again! No time for pity. I lunged, mouth wide-open. I bit down on that raised hand. It dissolved. Crumbled. I felt a squirming in my mouth. Then stinging, burning. I spit out the gun. It hit the dirt. And a wave made up
of the Nesk�s body parts raced to reach it.

My mouth was still alive with stinging and burning. The tiny reddish body parts began to crawl out of my jaw, up onto my muzzle. Up where my eyes could see them clearly.

Then I remembered that smell. The acrid smell of a tunnel, the stink of deadly automatons racing to tear me apart.

Ants!

The Nesk was made up of millions and millions of ants.

Do you think Applegate had some particular hatred for ants? Went on too many ruined picnics? When ants show up in these books, it's never a good sign.

Chapter 22
Cassie

quote:

�Okay, those buildings were not built by dinosaurs,� Marco said.

Jake looked at Ax. �Ax? Do you have any idea what is going on here?�

Ax looked as puzzled as he was capable of looking. <You are sure this is not some unknown chapter of human history?>

�Ax, at this point humans aren�t even a gleam in some tiny mammal�s eye. We�re a long, long way from seeing the first primate. Let alone an actual human. Could they be Andalites?�

<They are not Andalites,> Ax said. <We, too, have not yet evolved by this point. In fact, I believe our planet is still wandering between two different stars, one of which will later go nova, but in such a way that the shock wave will ->

�A simple �no� would do,� Marco interrupted.

<They are certainly not Taxxons, Hork-Bajir, or even Yeerks. None of those species exists yet.>

�The Pemalites?� I suggested. We knew of the Pemalites from Erek. Erek looked and acted like a normal kid, but he was actually an android- a Chee - built by the extinct race called Pemalites.

Marco shook his head. �Erek told us when they arrived on Earth, the last Pemalites were dying. The Chee joined their essence or whatever with wolves. There aren�t any wolves. We�re probably tens of millions of years away from wolves, too.�

�So who is hanging around on Earth in this era who can build cities and flying saucers?� Jake asked impatiently.

�Why don�t I go ask them?� I said, pointing to the small city in the valley. �Or at least go check them out. My osprey morph would be perfect. There are birds in this era, so I shouldn�t be too obvious.�

Jake nodded. �Okay. That�s what we�ll do. We�ll all go. But this just gets weirder and weirder.�

�You know, only one of us has to go,� I suggested. �Why don�t I do it? You guys can all stay here for now.�

Jake cocked an eyebrow. �What are you talking about?�

�Well, shouldn�t we take the absolute minimum risk?�

Jake shook his head and kept looking at me like he couldn�t figure me out.

�Look, we�ve already lost Rachel and Tobias,� I blurted. �I lost my best friend. I don�t want to lose � you know. Anyone else.�

Marco looked like he was right on the verge of making a wisecrack. But he stopped. Still, I guess he just couldn�t totally restrain himself, so he said, �Why don�t I go with Cassie? Somehow I don�t think it�s me she�s worried about losing.� He gave Jake a sidelong smirk.

Jake rolled his eyes. �We are not going to lose anyone, okay? It�s probably safer for us all to be in the air together. Here on the ground we have Big Rex to worry about.�

It made sense. But it didn�t make me feel any better. It had been just twenty-four hours since I�d last seen Rachel. I hadn�t had all that much time to think about her. I�d been busy staying alive. And I guess the truth is, I almost didn�t want to think about her really being gone.

But last night, in that terrible black chaos, blind, unable to tell where Jake�s terrified cries were coming from, I just kept thinking, No, it can�t happen again. I can�t lose Jake, too.

Now here we were, staring down at what might be our only salvation in this dangerous world.

But I was more worried than before. Maybe I trust animals more than civilization.

�Okay,� I said. �But I get a bad feeling about this. See, this can�t be right. There can�t be a city down there. It doesn�t make sense. There are no cities in the age of dinosaurs. And no flying saucers, either. I know we have to check it out, but we need to be careful.�

I began to focus on my osprey morph. An osprey is a type of hawk that normally lives by water and eats fish.

Gray feather patterns began to appear on my skin. I saw my bare feet become talons, my arms twist into wing shapes. It was a morph I had done many times before. But it was a morph from a different world. This was a world where true birds seemed to be small in number.

There was a nice breeze blowing. And I could guess that there would be excellent thermals - warm updrafts - welling up from the steep valley walls.

<Everyone ready?> Jake asked.

<Look!> Marco yelled.

Half a dozen small dinosaurs, each standing on two legs and no more than three feet high, goggled at us with huge yellow eyes.

<Let�s fly,> Jake said.

The dinosaurs attacked at a run. A very fast run.

 Marco said as we flapped into the breeze and raced along on our talons.

I reached the edge of the cliff. I opened my wings and sprang out into the void. The tiny dinosaurs stopped at the edge and watched us go.

<This does seem to be a dangerous time in Earth�s history,> Ax said. <It�s a wonder humans ever evolved in such a dangerous world.>

<The dinosaurs were all gone before humans evolved,> I pointed out.

<All?> Ax asked, puzzled.

<Yeah. There were no dinosaurs by the time humans began to appear. They were all wiped out much earlier.>

<Unless you count the Flintstones,> Marco said. <�Flintstones, meet the Flintstones, they�re the modern stone age family.�>

I�d been right about the thermals. It felt good to be floating on a warm breeze. I know this seems crazy, but I somehow felt more at home in the osprey morph than my own human body. Humans just seemed so totally out of place in this era.

We flew toward the shining city in the valley. With osprey eyes I could see much more clearly. I saw buildings that rose in steep, smooth sweeps, like they�d grown from the bedrock. Windows were stuck in odd locations, some aiming out, others more like skylights. And there were fields planted
with green and arranged in neat circles instead of rows.

<�From the town of Bedrock, they�re a page right out of histo-ree,�> Marco sang.

As we got closer, I could see creatures of some sort. They looked a little like large - very large - crabs. Only with shells in a wild array of colors, deep blue, spring green, orange. And while on one side there was something very much like a large pincer, on the other side there was a pair of hands.

<Those are definitely not any species I know of,> Ax volunteered.

<They don�t look friendly,> Marco said.

<Marco, how can you possibly ->

WHAM! Something hit me! I was tumbling through the air. I fell ten feet, opened my wings again and veered into a breeze. I caught air. Nothing broken.

<Jake!> I cried.

<Look out, it�s coming around again!> Jake yelled.

I turned my head just in time to see it fill my entire field of vision. Like some monstrous bat.

Green-and-yellow leather wings twenty feet across. An impossibly long, bony head.

 I said.

<There are more,> Ax said tersely.

They were dropping from caves in the valley wall. Three, four, six of them. They opened their wide leather wings and swooped toward us.

So it looks like we have two groups of aliens here...the Nesk, who are the ant people and these crab people.

Also, these animals attacking them are pterosaurs of some sort, who are not dinosaurs, but instead flying reptiles related to dinosaurs. We know they ate fish, and some of them also hunted on land. Pterosaurs are another one of those popular prehistoric animals you see a lot of in art and fiction.

# ? Mar 16, 2021 03:38

WrightOfWay: Jul 24, 2010

A million ants in a trenchcoat is a pretty fun alien design.

# ? Mar 16, 2021 05:14

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

Epicurius posted:

So it looks like we have two groups of aliens here...the Nesk, who are the ant people and these crab people.

Also, these animals attacking them are pterosaurs of some sort, who are not dinosaurs, but instead flying reptiles related to dinosaurs. We know they ate fish, and some of them also hunted on land. Pterosaurs are another one of those popular prehistoric animals you see a lot of in art and fiction.

Great time to mention that evolution loves a crab.

I love/hate Marco's "uh, in English, four-eyes?" method of shutting Ax up. It's a great way for KAA to add some implications without having to spell too much out, but I also want to hear everything about the Andalite homeworld's history as a rogue planet.

# ? Mar 16, 2021 07:51

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

QuickbreathFinisher posted:

Great time to mention that evolution loves a crab.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking_about_the_immortality_of_the_crab

# ? Mar 16, 2021 08:49

nine-gear crow: Aug 10, 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N7oSJiKwiQ

# ? Mar 16, 2021 09:44

Cythereal: Nov 8, 2009; I love the potoo,
and the potoo loves you.

QuickbreathFinisher posted:

I also want to hear everything about the Andalite homeworld's history as a rogue planet.

It sounds to me more like the Andalite home system was a binary star system and their world was caught in an erratic orbit until one of the two stars went nova.

# ? Mar 16, 2021 12:38

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Animorphs-Megamorphs 2: In the Time of the Dinosaurs, Chapter 21
Tobias

quote:

They swarmed toward Rachel. Millions of ants. And a group of them was already reforming around the weapon, forming a sort of hand to raise it high and aim it.

I had a very low-tech idea of how to deal with that. I leaped. I landed with both feet on the ants around the weapon. And I began to stomp.

I stomped like mad with my Deinonychus feet. They weren�t great feet for stomping because they were basically built like bird feet. But they were fast. I was stomping at a rate of several stomps per second. And whatever kind of super-alien ants these might be, they couldn�t stand some man-sized dinosaur stomping on them.

The Nesk broke and ran. I roared in triumph and turned to Rachel. She was avidly licking the ants off her with her long tongue.

<What on or off the Earth was that?> I said.

 Rachel said. <I�ll tell you something about your Cretaceous Park here, though. I don�t like it. It�s grinding my last nerve. Not bad enough we have murderous dinosaurs everywhere. Noooo, we have to have ant-creatures from planet Zeptron!>

<Zeptron?>

<It�s the first word that came to mind, all right? You want to grind my nerves, too?>

<Nope. Definitely not. But maybe we should ->

Ch-ch-ch-CHEEEEEW! Ch-ch-ch-CHEEEEEW! Ch-ch-ch-CHEEEEEW!

The ground beside me exploded, like it had been ripped by an invisible plow. I jumped. Another plow mark just behind me! I saw movement. And there, racing toward us across the plain, was a gleaming, silver craft. Maybe twice the size of a Bug fighter, but shaped like an elongated pyramid, long end forward.

Ch-ch-ch-CHEEEEEW! Ch-ch-ch-CHEEEEEW! Ch-ch-ch-CHEEEEEW!

The ship fired again and blew two more five-foot-long furrows in the ground.

<Run!> Rachel said.

<Run!> I agreed.

We ran. Deinonychus can run when it wants to. Very fast. Maybe twenty miles an hour. Too bad the silver pyramid was about a thousand times faster.

But it hesitated. I glanced back and saw it pause over the spot where we�d been. A sort of tube with a scoop on the end lowered to the ground. And I swear it vacuumed up the ants we�d scattered.

It came after us again. We dodged and the craft fired, ripping tear after tear in the ground around us.

<They�re playing with us!> I yelled.

 Rachel said.

<No, I mean, like cat and mouse. They can hit us any time. They�re missing on purpose. They�re enjoying this.>

<Or else they�re herding us,> Rachel said grimly. <They want us to keep going this way.>

Directly ahead of us was a small herd of Triceratops. Of course, small only referred to the number of animals in the herd. Each one was the size of an elephant.

 I said. <I�m gonna leapfrog!>

<What?>

I didn�t have time to explain. We reached the Triceratops. One huge bull swung his three-footlong horns toward us in challenge. I sidestepped him and leaped onto the back of an equally big but less alert female.

I leaped! Soared through the air, coiled my legs, timed it just right to slam my legs down on the Triceratops�s back, bounced off her, and hurtled another ten feet in the air.

From up there I could see the trap. Then I was falling. WHUMPF! I hit, rolled, jumped up and yelled, <You were right, it�s a trap! There�s a whole wall of them. A whole wall of ants! Billions! The only way out is left, but there�s a sheer drop there. Can�t tell how deep.>

<Great! A sheer drop or a wall of space ants! Nice choice.>

<On the count of three, we dodge left and keep going no matter what. One � two �>

<Three!> Rachel yelled. We hauled left.

Ch-ch-ch-CHEEWWW!

Explosions of earth and rock cut across our path but I didn�t care. I�d seen what was up ahead. This was better.

We raced, panting and gasping, toward what looked to us like the end of the world. A sudden gap. An emptiness.

<What is it the sky divers always say before they jump?> I asked.

<Geronimo!> Rachel yelled.

<Yeah, that�s it,> I said and leaped into emptiness. Rachel was three seconds behind me. It might have been a five foot drop. It might have been ten feet. Unfortunately, it was about five hundred feet.

<Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!> I cried.

<Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!> Rachel agreed.

Falling, falling, spinning out of control, no time to morph. I was going to die. I would be slammed against the ground far below and die.

But even as I spun crying through the air, I swear I saw bright buildings. And then, much closer, a bird. A very familiar bird. Back in my own world I have to watch out for peregrine falcons. See, every now and then one of them will actually take a shot at a hawk.

It was like some insane joke. Like fate was trying to get a good laugh at me. Dinosaurs, aliens, and now my old nemesis, a peregrine falcon.

Then I saw the other set of wings.

The twenty-five-foot-wide wings and bony chisel-head of a creature no human had ever seen before.

Pteranodon! I thought. I used to play with you.

Jake and Tobias have found each other! And so has Tobias's old playmate.

I'm just doing one chapter today because I think the next two chapters go better together than this one and the next one does, if that makes sense.

# ? Mar 17, 2021 05:19

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

QuickbreathFinisher posted:

I love/hate Marco's "uh, in English, four-eyes?" method of shutting Ax up. It's a great way for KAA to add some implications without having to spell too much out, but I also want to hear everything about the Andalite homeworld's history as a rogue planet.

As a literary technique, it shares kinship with H.P. Lovecraft's "and what I saw there, I cannot tell you, for surely the knowledge would drive you M A D ! Rest assured it was hecka spooky tho."

# ? Mar 17, 2021 06:42

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Animorphs-Megamorphs 2: In the Time of the Dinosaurs, Chapter 24
Jake

quote:

The flying dinosaurs were above us. That was the problem. We were more maneuverable, but they had the altitude. And slowly but surely, by circling above us, they were forcing us down and down. Down toward the glimmering city below us.

I looked in every direction. How to get away? How to get out from under this trap?

The silver flying saucer was now only twenty feet below us, the highest spires of the alien city just another thirty feet lower than that.

We were trapped. If we went up, the flying dinosaurs. If we went down, the city full of bright, bizarre, two-handed crabs.

<Back to the cliff wall,> I said. <The thermals will be strongest there. Maybe we can get enough lift to outrun them straight up!>

We curved back toward the cliff wall. Four of us. Cassie and Marco in osprey morph, Ax as a northern harrier, and me, a peregrine falcon.

We flapped at full speed for the cliffs. I could see colonies of the flying dinosaurs nesting there on crags in shallow caves. More were taking wing.

Stupid! I was leading everyone right back toward more of the creatures. And yet it might just work. <Get ready everyone! Hug that cliff wall!>

I was ten seconds from slamming right into the cliff. Five. Three!

Something falling toward me! Quick turn left. Two dinosaurs, looking like miniature tyrannosaurs, were falling, kicking and scrabbling. They�d leaped off the cliff! A shower of falling rock was dislodged behind them.

They fell. The leather-winged flying dinosaurs closed in on us. In a flash of swift movement, one of the falling dinosaurs reached out with its little forepaw and snagged one of the leather wings! To my utter amazement, I saw him reach with his free claw to grab the other wing tip.

The dinosaur spread the wings as far as it could. Twenty feet of leathery wing. Like a hang glider. Just enough to glide with.

The second dinosaur caught a leg on a jutting rock. It slowed the fall, but only for a second, then it tumbled away. But now there was enough time. The dinosaur with the living hang glider swept toward it.

<Rachel, get ready to grab something!> the first dinosaur yelled. It was as if someone had stuck a thousand volt wire in my ear.

<Tobias?>

<Jake?>

WHAM! Tobias aimed for Rachel and slammed into her. Rachel was knocked into the cliff wall. Tobias was able to catch a ledge. Rachel scrabbled frantically, but kept missing her hold. She tumbled into a nest of the flying dinosaurs.

There was a furious falling, rattling, screaming, dirt-flying tussle that rolled down the cliff, but when the dust cleared, there was Rachel � or at least a dinosaur� holding tight to the legs of one big leather wing and the neck of another.

She dragged them down the side of that cliff, both of them flapping madly. I dove after her, calling to the others. Down, down, down. Then WHAM!

She landed. But not on the valley floor. She landed in midair. She was crumpled on what looked like midair. And the two tattered, leather wings were beside her. Also in midair.

They were saved by Tobias and Rachel, ostensibly, but we all know they were saved by thermals.

quote:

<Force field!> Ax yelled.

I pulled up, just as my breastbone scraped along what seemed like a pure, clear glass roof.

The others swooped down and landed on the force field.

<Rachel?> Cassie cried. <Is that you?!>

<Of course, it�s me,> Rachel said, sounding as if the idea of her being some little dinosaur who�d just jumped off a cliff, grabbed a pair of giant leather-wing dinosaurs and landed on an alien force field was totally normal. <Who else would it be?>

We were all treated to the utterly bizarre sight of an osprey attempting to hug a dinosaur.

 Marco began, <but you�re both alive!>

<Of course,> Tobias said. <You think getting eaten by a Kronosaurus was going to kill us? Nah. Or being chased by a pack of Deinonychus?>

<What are you, Dinosaur-boy?> Marco asked.

<Now you know what I�ve been putting up with since yesterday,> Rachel said. <This-a-saurus and that-a-saurus. Tobias rattles them off like they were, I don�t know, like any normal person would rattle off the names of major clothing designers.>

<What do you call the morphs you�re in?> I asked.

<Deinonychus. And those flying reptiles there are Pteranodons,> Tobias said. <Am I the only person who ever played with dinosaurs when I was little?>

<Hey. There are buildings down there,> Rachel said. <What�s going on? We were being chased by these aliens who are ants but who can join together to form bodies and carry guns. He � or they � said they were the Nesk.>

Every eye turned to Ax. He sounded a little exasperated.

Ax is reasonably saying here, "Look, I may be your 'alien friend', but I'm still a teenage aristh and not some magical supercomputer. I don't know everything about every single thing that exists or has ever existed. Give me a break, buddy! Ask Tobias...at least he knows something about this era."

quote:

<At least sixty-five million years in the past,> Tobias said. <Cretaceous Age. The last age of dinosaurs.>

Marco moaned. <Oh, man. Sixty-five million years! I thought it was just maybe six or seven million years. I was holding out hope that we�d find some primitive people. You know, like in that old movie Quest for Fire? Only the babe tribe, not the hairy tribe. There would be this primitive tribe and because of my superior knowledge I would become their ruler.>

<Your superior knowledge of what, Marco? Your superior knowledge of Spider-Man�s super powers?> Rachel asked scornfully. <You run into a tribe of Neanderthals, you�d end up being their pet monkey.>

Everyone laughed. Even Marco. It was good having the group together again. But I had to get us moving.

<Excuse me, but we seem to be standing on a force field a hundred feet or so above a valley filled with aliens. Maybe we should leave. Unfortunately, there are still a bunch of mad Pteranodons above us.>

<And maybe a small ship full of those Nesk whatevers,> Tobias pointed out. <Are they the same aliens who are down in this valley?>

<No,> a voice said. <The Nesk and the Mercora are not the same.>

I looked at Ax. He looked at me. Everyone looked at everyone else. None of us had spoken.

None of us even knew the word �mercora.�

Out across the force field, they appeared very gradually. At first there was just a ripple in the air, then a sort of bad TV picture full of static. Then the picture was clear and real and threedimensional.

<A localized, force-field-derived sensor shield!> Ax said enthusiastically. <Excellent!>

We were face-to-face with the aliens. Not that we could be sure where the face was, exactly.

Chapter 25
Ax

quote:

We Andalites know more about alien races than anyone in the galaxy. We have been in space longer and traveled farther. Plus, we are scientists as well as warriors, so when we find a new race we study it. As opposed to wiping it out or enslaving it, as the Yeerks do.

We know of the Gedds and Hork-Bajir and Taxxons, the Korla, the Skrit Na, the humans, and many, many others.

But this race, these Mercora, were just strange. For one thing, they were not at all symmetrical.

There were three of the creatures. They moved upon seven legs. Four on one side, three on the other. To make matters worse, the four legs were larger than the three. So they scuttled sideways in the direction of the small legs.

They stood about half the height of a tall human, and seven or eight feet wide.

On the side with the four big legs, there was a sort of three-way pincer claw. It looked very powerful. It looked like the sort of thing I would not want to have to fight against.

On the other side, the weak side, there were two arms similar to my own, but even stronger than human arms. The arms ended in long, tapered, delicate fingers.

There were a lot of eyes. They kept opening and shutting, one or two or three at a time. They were each hidden beneath tiny trap doors in the Mercora�s exoskeleton or shell. Eyes were forever appearing and disappearing. It was very, very distracting.

<Finally,> Marco muttered. <Someone who can win a staring contest with Ax.>

<We are the Mercora,> one of them said in thought-speak. <We are immigrants to this planet. We thought we had encountered most of the many species on this planet. But we have never encountered an intelligent species here before.>

<They think we�re intelligent,> Rachel whispered. <So, Marco, keep quiet. We don�t want them to learn the truth.>

It is strange the way humans will resort to what they call humor when they are frightened. Once again it struck me as strange that they had risen to dominate the very dangerous and hostile environment of Earth. I wondered how well they would have fared if they had coexisted with the dinosaurs.

<May I ask what you call yourselves?> the Mercora spokesman said.

<Is it safe to tell them the truth?> Cassie asked us all privately.

<We�re sixty-five million years before the first Yeerk will show up on Earth,> Prince Jake said. <And maybe these Mercora can help us get back home.>

Prince Jake stepped forward. As well as a falcon walking on a force field could step. <We are called humans. Except for this one �> He tilted his head toward me. <He is an Andalite.>

The Mercora looked confused. Maybe. It was hard to tell. I can barely interpret human facial expressions. But in any case it opened and closed groups of eyes in rapid succession.

<Do you inhabit this continent?>

<Well �> Prince Jake said. <That�s kind of a long story. Um, Ax? You probably can explain better than I can.>

<Yes, Prince Jake. We are from the future,> I said.

<Hey, that�s a much better explanation than Jake could have come up with,> Marco said. <�We are from the future.� Thank goodness we have a brilliant alien Space-boy here who can explain things.>

<The future?> the Mercora said. <How far in the future?>

<A � a long, long way,> I responded.

<Not to get all technical or anything,> Marco said dryly. <Look, sir, ma�am, whatever you are, Mr. or Ms. Mercora, we aren�t what we seem. If you promise not to tell some people who won�t even exist for another sixty-five million years, we�ll show you, okay?>

<Yeah, let�s do it,> Prince Jake said. <What do we have to lose?>

<Aside from our lives,> Rachel added dryly.

<My decision,> Prince Jake said heavily. 

I began to do so. It must have been a bizarre sight for the Mercora. They each opened a startling number of eyes. Tobias went from dinosaur to hawk. Rachel from dinosaur to human. Cassie, Marco, and Prince Jake from bird to human. And I morphed from bird to Andalite.

<As you see,> I explained, <we are two different species. They are human. I am Andalite.>

<And what is he?> the Mercora asked, pointing both hands at Tobias.

<He is a human, but he suffered an accident and was trapped in his morph.>

<You are a strange species,> the Mercora said. <But you are welcome as long as you come in peace and do not serve the Nesk.>

�It was the Nesk that chased us here,� Rachel said.

<Now it speaks with sound!> the Mercora commented.

�Yes, it does that when it�s not in morph,� Rachel said. �I get the idea you and the Nesk don�t get along.�

<They are attempting to destroy us. They want this planet for themselves. We do not wish to leave. This is our world now. Our original planet was destroyed when our sun was drawn toward a black hole. We are all that is left of the Mercora. And we cannot leave this planet. Not that we would ever wish to. It is wonderful. Wonderful. And it will be our home forever.>

A second Mercora spoke up. <What planet in the future are you from, you humans and Andalites? >

Cassie started to answer. �Actually, we�re from Earth. Which is our name for -�

Suddenly she fell silent and looked shocked. Tobias was staring intensely at her. And then he spoke to me in the personal, private thought- speak whisper he�d used to silence Cassie. A whisper the Mercora could not hear.

<No one tell them we�re from this planet,> Tobias said. <Hear me? No one tells them this is ourplanet.>

For a moment I was surprised. Slowly, understanding dawned on me. The Mercora were wrong: They were not going to be a part of Earth�s future. They were destined either to leave � or to be destroyed.

So, this is awkward.

# ? Mar 18, 2021 04:11

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

I like that Tobias gets to be the one to immediately cotton onto the broader implications of what was just said, when it feels like it would normally be something Ax or Marco would figure out.

quote:

We Andalites know more about alien races than anyone in the galaxy. We have been in space longer and traveled farther.

I'm 100% confident this is something Ax has been taught (and believes) but which absolutely isn't true. "America is the greatest country in the world, and everybody dreams of living here."

# ? Mar 18, 2021 07:56

Pwnstar: Dec 9, 2007; Who wants some waffles?

Once again Tobias comes in with the OPSEC, the rest of these literal children need to step it up.

# ? Mar 18, 2021 08:48

Shwoo: Jul 21, 2011

I think the kids are underestimating how long sixty-five million years is here. Then again, we don't really know what happens to civilisations over timescales like that. Or how much of a trace they'd leave.

Epicurius posted:

They were saved by Tobias and Rachel, ostensibly, but we all know they were saved by thermals.

Everything always comes down to thermals. That's the second lesson of Animorphs, right after "War is hell".

# ? Mar 18, 2021 10:42

Strategic Tea: Sep 1, 2012

I love the thermals rising off the napalm in the mornings

# ? Mar 18, 2021 15:10

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

freebooter posted:

I like that Tobias gets to be the one to immediately cotton onto the broader implications of what was just said, when it feels like it would normally be something Ax or Marco would figure out.

Tobias was not only a big dinosaur kid, he's also been a literal dinosaur for months if not over a year now. It's his time to shine

# ? Mar 18, 2021 15:22

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

Yeah, the bird of prey to deinonychus morph (raptor to raptor-?) is one of the less dramatic morphs; it's mostly a matter of scale...

# ? Mar 18, 2021 23:23

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Sorry. Update will be delayed until tomorrow. Spend the time pondering the Animorphs, the Mercora, and the curse of foreknowledge.

# ? Mar 19, 2021 06:02

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

This has gotta be an Ellimist-Crayak game, right? Crayak hurled the asteroid thinking he had won, and Ellimist being the brilliant loser saw the possibility.

# ? Mar 19, 2021 06:09

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

Epicurius posted:

Sorry. Update will be delayed until tomorrow. Spend the time pondering the Animorphs--

Very well, I shall!
Animorphs spelt backwards is Shpromina. Which sounds vaguely slavic to my tragically monoglot brain.
I like to think that early 90's Russian kids read the Shpromina books, in which Zhake and the gang transform into stoats and realise the futility of battling Visser три.

# ? Mar 19, 2021 06:25

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

The series ends with 4 of the 5 dead and the fifth dying of alcohol poisoning as he reflects on the futility of life.

Still less depressing than the original

# ? Mar 19, 2021 06:48

Pwnstar: Dec 9, 2007; Who wants some waffles?

Yakov: In most cases, people, even wicked people, are far more naive and simple-hearted than one generally assumes. And so are we.

Markus: The more cunning a man is, the less he suspects that he will be caught in a simple thing. The more cunning a man is, the simpler the trap he must be caught in.

Rakhil: Right or wrong, it's very pleasant to break something from time to time.

Kasya: Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on Earth.

Tobias: Killing myself was a matter of such indifference to me that I felt like waiting for a moment when it would make some difference.

Ax: The best definition of man is: a being that goes on two legs and is ungrateful.

# ? Mar 19, 2021 08:28

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

Joseph Visserionovich Stalin

# ? Mar 19, 2021 09:21

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 25, 2024 18:24

rollick: Mar 20, 2009

Soup du Jour posted:

Tobias was not only a big dinosaur kid, he's also been a literal dinosaur for months if not over a year now. It's his time to shine

He has nothing to do all day but hang outside the library and read books through the window

# ? Mar 19, 2021 13:02

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

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