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

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

Pwnstar posted:

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.

Did you have a page of Animorphs-by-Dostoyevsky ready to go, or

# ? Mar 19, 2021 13:31

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# ? May 26, 2024 04:00

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

Tree Bucket posted:

Did you have a page of Animorphs-by-Dostoyevsky ready to go, or

Gotta be prepared for any eventuality.

# ? Mar 19, 2021 14:02

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Ok, it's time to get back to our favorite Russian teens as they ponder the futility of existence.

Animorphs-Megamorphs 2: In the Time of the Dinosaurs, Chapter 26
Marco

quote:

�You know, for being big, lopsided crabs with way too many eyeballs, these guys are really all right,� I said, as I reclined against a force field shaped into an easy chair and tinted an attractive blue.

A day had gone by. The Mercora had speed-healed Tobias�s busted wing, fed us, customdesigned a place for us to stay, and even attempted to make clothing for us. I was feeling pretty relaxed, gazing out of a window down at the Mercora who were busily working in the fields tending their broccoli.

Yes, broccoli. Turns out broccoli isn�t even from Earth originally. The Mercora imported it from their home planet. Which explains a lot, I think.

This is the truth THEY didn't want you to know.

quote:

�We have a nice apartment. We have food. Sadly, it�s all vegetables, but hey, later we can introduce the concept of the McRex: two all-Tyrannosaurus patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. The McRex, the Quarter Tonner with cheese. And not to be
impolite about our new pals here, but I�ll bet these Mercora would be pretty tasty served with some melted butter.�

�What are we doing here?� Rachel demanded. �What are we going to do, just sit around on these La-Z-Boy force fields, eat broccoli, and listen to Marco babble like an idiot?�

That�s when Ax came back in the room. He�d been talking to the Mercora. They found it easier communicating with him because he uses thought-speak like they do.

 Ax announced. <In order to repair the Sario Rip and snap us back to our own time, they say - and I agree - that we would need an explosion of great power. At least as great as the power of that fusion weapon aboard the submarine. The Mercora point out that such an explosion would annihilate this entire settlement.>

�So? We do the explosion out in the countryside,� Rachel said.

�And wipe out a few hundred thousand dinosaurs?� Cassie said.

�Besides,� Jake pointed out, �the Mercora have already told us they don�t control the countryside. Out there, beyond the force field, the Nesk are more powerful.�

I reached down and snagged a carrot stick from a little ice bowl. At least carrots were from Earth. I munched it, thought about making a Bugs Bunny joke, decided the joke I had in mind wasn�t all that funny, then said, �Look, we all want to get back, right? Our families. My dad. But either we can or we can�t. If we can�t, absolutely can�t, then maybe we should just try and make the best of this.�

Ax came over to stand by the window. He looked out with his main eyes. One stalk eye was pointed at me. The other was pointed toward the rest of the group. <The Mercora don�t use explosive weapons, anyway. They would not have anything powerful enough. However�>

I saw Rachel�s head snap around. �However what?�

<However, they say the Nesk do have large explosive weapons. They say the Nesk have a base twenty miles away. It is very well defended. No Mercora ship could hope to get close. They have a standoff. The Nesk cannot penetrate this valley through the force field. The Mercora cannot eliminate the Nesk base.>

�Are you making a suggestion?� Jake asked Ax.

<No. Just reporting what I have learned from talking with the Mercora.> I sat up. I looked Ax in the eye - the eye pointed toward me, that is.

�Okay, what are you not mentioning?�

Ax turned back to the group, but kept that one eyeball on me. <The Nesk are scavengers. The ships they fly, the weapons they use, are all modeled on the tools of races the Nesk have defeated. The Nesk have learned to mimic the bodies and shapes of these other races in order to fire the weapons and fly the ships. The Nesk believe the dinosaurs belong to them. As their property. They believe this planet belongs to them. But they cannot tolerate the existence of other sentient, intelligent species. They are determined to wipe out the Mercora.>

�You know, it doesn�t matter if they�re space ants or plain old Earth ants, ants are just not nice people,� I said, and munched a second carrot.

Rachel rolled her eyes. �Ants are not nice people? There�s a brilliant comment.�

�Okay,� Jake said. �So we have two alien races fighting to control Earth. The Mercora seem basically harmless. They just want to plant broccoli -�

�That�s not harmless,� I muttered.

�- and live here in their valley. The Nesk, on the other hand, are aggressive and murderous. The Mercora can�t help us. The Nesk maybe could help us, but won�t because, after all, we�re an intelligent species, too, and they don�t like competition.�

�Send Marco to talk to the Nesk,� Rachel suggested brightly. �They won�t mind him.�

�Ha. Haha and also ha,� I said. �Look, to get serious here, the Nesk didn�t smoke that Spinosaurus that was gonna eat Rachel and Tobias, right?�

Tobias stopped preening his feathers. He was perched on the force-field table, having enjoyed a tasty prehistoric rat brought for him by the thoughtful Mercora.

<They knocked it out. It was alive, though.>

�Exactly. So I guess the Nesk don�t mind dinosaurs. I mean, okay, if a Mercora flying saucer shows up at the Nesk home base, they blast it. But what if a whole different kind of army shows up there?�

Rachel suddenly grabbed my shoulder so enthusiastically it hurt. �It�s a miracle! Marco actually came up with a good idea. We can morph dinosaurs and stomp on in there, set off some big honkin� explosion and maybe undo this Sario Rip of Ax�s!�

<It is not my Sario-> Ax began.

�Wait a minute, why are we attacking the Nesk?� Cassie demanded. �Just because we don�t like them doesn�t mean we take up sides in the Mercora-Nesk war.�

�Look,� I said, prying Rachel�s gymnast-strong fingers off my collarbone. �We need a big explosion to hopefully close the Sario Rip. The Nesk have things that go �boom.� And they aren�t expecting a bunch of dinosaurs to show up asking to borrow a cup of plutonium, right? Now, that�s not
too complicated.�

<Plutonium?> Ax snorted like I�d made a joke. <Oh, you�re serious. But maybe the Nesk have slightly more advanced explosives.>

�What are you talking about?� Cassie cried. �We can�t just go around picking fights like this. We all want to get back home. But we�re sixty-five million years in the past. And we are not supposed to be here. Anything we do could end up changing the course of history in some terrible way.�

�Ah,� Jake said, nodding.

�We could do something that ends up totally altering the future without even knowing it,� Cassie said. �We could � I don�t know, we could do something. Something wrong.�

�We could change the future so that Hanson would never have existed,� I said. �I say we try!�

�You going to try and wipe out every guy who�s cuter than you, Marco?� Rachel asked. �That�s half the human race.�

�Look, we can�t go messing with the future,� Cassie said. �It�s too complicated. Too many consequences.�

<Too late,> Tobias said, speaking up for the first time. <We have Homo sapiens alive here in this timeline. Not to mention me. Whatever I am. See this rat I just ate? That could have been the rat that will pass on the genetic material that someday grows a smarter rat. And fifty million years from now, maybe that�s the DNA, the stuff that�s needed to push the earliest primate over the top. I may have wiped out the human race.> He looked down at the fur and bones. <And it wasn�t even a very good rat. Too thin and stringy.>

One by one, we all looked at Jake.

�Oh, puh-leeze! I�m supposed to decide things that may wipe out the human race?�

�You�re Batman,� I said. �I�m just Robin. The boy wonder,� I added with a leer at Rachel.

Jake shrugged. �What are we supposed to do? Sit here and grow old, eating broccoli with the crab people? Never even try to go home?�

<There is one other consideration,> Ax said. <We are here. Which means we were here, sixty five million years in Earth�s past. In other words, maybe our presence here is vital to the future. Maybe we did something that caused the future to happen the way it happened.>

�Is anyone else�s head exploding from all this?� I asked.

�Great,� Jake said, stomping a few steps in frustration, then turning around again. �So if I suggest we attack the Nesk, maybe that wipes out the future. And if I suggest not to attack the Nesk, that could also wipe out the future. Excellent. Perfect. As long as it�s all nice and clear.�

<This decision may not be clear,> Tobias said quietly. <But another decision may be so obvious we can�t ignore it.>

No one asked what he meant because at that point some Mercora showed up with more food. But I filed away his words. I filed them away in my head and I had the definite feeling I�d be doubleclicking on that file again.

Yea, this might turn out to be a pretty difficult choice. Also, while this isn't the existential Russian dread I promised you, it has some time travel paradoxes, so that's something.

Chapter 27
Ax

quote:

I am often amazed at Prince Jake�s ability to make decisions. I call him my prince because any Andalite warrior needs a prince to serve. But I know that he is just a human youth, as I am an Andalite youth. And yet he is very impressive for a human youth. He understands instinctively that making no decision is also a decision. So he accepts the responsibility.

If he were an Andalite I have no doubt he would become a true prince. Still, he does very well for a human.

In the end, we decided to �go for it.� That is a human expression. As I understand it, the expression means that without having any clear idea of why we should do something, we would do it anyway.

We would attack at dawn. I asked why dawn.

�Tradition,� Marco said. �You do shoot-outs at high noon, you stretch in the seventh inning, you attack at dawn.�

Like much of human thinking, this is a mystery to me.

�You also get executed at dawn,� Cassie said.

�Thank you, Cassie, for that bit of optimism.�

We had explained our plan to the Mercora. They approved. We would attack the Nesk home base and seize an explosive weapon. A bomb. A �nuke,� as my human friends said. Then we would return to the ocean and attempt to explode this �nuke� in such a way that it would close the Sario Rip and return us to our own time.

I hoped the Mercora would have some idea how to do this. I certainly didn�t. We learned about Sario Rips in school. But I wasn�t really paying attention that day, and I can�t be expected to remember all the things I learned in school. Can I?

Again, I love Ax's devotion to slacking off.in class.

quote:

I was sure my human friends understood this. But to be absolutely sure, I mentioned it as we sped through the night toward the Nesk base aboard a ground-hugging Mercora transport.

<Prince Jake, you do understand that I have no idea precisely how or where or when to set off an explosion that will seal the Sario Rip?>

�What? What?!�

I was mistaken. It was clear from the expression he made with his human mouth, and the way his voice became loud and rose at the end toward a sort of shriek, and also by the way his eyes alternately narrowed and expanded, that Prince Jake had not been entirely clear on this point.



�Don�t you think you might have mentioned this earlier?� Marco said. �Like before we signed on for this suicide mission?�

�Look, we need the nuke, right?� Rachel said. �One way or the other, we need the nuke. So let�s do it.�

�Oh, I hate when she says �let�s do it,�� Marco moaned. �I�ve changed my mind now. I can learn to like broccoli.�

One of the three Mercora with us scuttled around to face us. It opened a half dozen eyes in a rapid flutter. <We are close to the place we will leave you. It is on the edge of the Nesk defensive grid. As close as we can go. Approximately point zero zero zero zero two six eight light seconds from the base.>

�Which would be � ?� Prince Jake asked me.

<Approximately five of your miles,> I translated.

�Five miles? In the dark? Here in Cretaceous Park?� Marco said. �That�s kind of a hike, isn�t it?�

But the Mercora were firm. Any closer and the transport would be spotted and fired on. Success depended on surprise. We were to appear to be any bunch of wandering dinosaurs. Harmless to the Nesk.

The transport came to rest amid jumbled rocks. The Mercora were very advanced when it came to force fields. But their ships were clunky and slow, compared to Andalite technology. Or what would be Andalite technology in sixty-five million years.

It was very dark outside. The Mercora kept their exterior ship�s lights low. And as I trotted down the ramp, the brightest thing around was the comet. It was shockingly close now. The tail would certainly brush the planet as it passed.

Dawn was still two hours away. We were to travel the five miles to the Nesk base in that time and be ready to move in as soon as the sun rose on the horizon.

<Take this, Andalite,> the Mercora copilot said. With one of his hands he gave me a small communicator.

<A thought-speak communicator?>

<Yes. The humans could not use it, but you will be able to.>

<What is its purpose?>

<You can inform us how the mission goes,> the Mercora said.

<Are you offering to help?>

<No. We cannot risk our limited ships and equipment.>

I nodded as if I understood. But I was puzzled. The Mercora scuttled back aboard their ship. It lifted silently off the ground with an intriguing violet glow, then sped away into the darkness.

I don�t know about the humans, but I felt extremely lonely. I am always alone, being the only Andalite on planet Earth. But now I was more alone than that. My own people would not exist for tens of millions of years.

We were in the dark, a very deep darkness, beneath the glowing comet, in a past that was not my own, in a past filled with destructive monsters.

From far off I heard, �Hunh-huhnroooaaarrr.� Then Prince Jake said, �Okay, let�s morph.�

Ok, it's time for a nuke heist from the Nesk nest.

Epicurius fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Mar 21, 2021

# ? Mar 20, 2021 05:00

Jazerus: May 24, 2011

not gonna lie, crab people broccoli planet is the best planet we've heard of yet

all of this does raise a question, though - just how destructive is the game between the ellimist and crayak? if there were space-faring aliens 65 million years ago, and yet there's no indication that they even left a mark on the galaxy at all...it doesn't paint a pretty picture

Jazerus fucked around with this message at 18:26 on Mar 20, 2021

# ? Mar 20, 2021 05:46

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

Possibly interesting fact: if you were like me and didn't really get the anti-broccoli meme as a child that's probably because you are genetically lucky. To me broccoli basically doesn't have a taste, its just plant stuff. To other people broccoli can be absurdly bitter and gross. Like the cilantro thing theres a certain gene that affects how it tastes and you either get hosed or you don't.

# ? Mar 20, 2021 05:51

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

Jazerus posted:

not gonna lie, crab people broccoli planet is the best planet we've heard of yet

Spoilers chief, and very.

# ? Mar 20, 2021 05:52

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Jazerus posted:

all of this does raise a question, though - just how destructive is the game between the ellimist and crayak? if there were space-faring aliens 65 million years ago, and yet there's no indication that they even left a mark on the galaxy at all...it doesn't paint a pretty picture

As we will see in the series, pretty destructive.

# ? Mar 20, 2021 06:09

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

Pwnstar posted:

Possibly interesting fact: if you were like me and didn't really get the anti-broccoli meme as a child that's probably because you are genetically lucky. To me broccoli basically doesn't have a taste, its just plant stuff. To other people broccoli can be absurdly bitter and gross. Like the cilantro thing theres a certain gene that affects how it tastes and you either get hosed or you don't.

Huh, I didn't really get it, either, but I never heard that it's the same story as cilantro. I liked broccoli and I still do.

# ? Mar 20, 2021 08:53

Mazerunner: Apr 22, 2010; Good Hunter, what... what is this post?

I also wonder how much is growing up with, well, not so great cooking.

I mean, love my mom, but she'd only boil broccoli and other veggies. But now I've learned you can bake or fry them and also to Salt, Pepper, Oil, Garlic and maybe cayenne or something and it's like, what the hell.

# ? Mar 20, 2021 09:32

Starsnostars: Jan 17, 2009; The Master of Magnetism

Is there a time when Ax is asked a question about an alien thing and it turns out he was paying attention that day and knows all about whatever subject he has been asked about?

# ? Mar 20, 2021 11:29

Jazerus: May 24, 2011

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

Spoilers chief, and very.

uh...i was talking about the mercora homeworld. you know, the homeworld they already mentioned like a chapter ago? where they are crab people and have broccoli? i'm trying to figure out what you considered a spoiler there and i'm coming up completely blank

# ? Mar 20, 2021 14:46

Karanas: Jul 17, 2011; Euuuuuuuugh

Epicurius posted:

As we will see in the series, pretty destructive.

And yet it's so much more restrained than back when they actually went fisticuffs with each other

# ? Mar 20, 2021 17:18

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

Jazerus posted:

uh...i was talking about the mercora homeworld. you know, the homeworld they already mentioned like a chapter ago? where they are crab people and have broccoli? i'm trying to figure out what you considered a spoiler there and i'm coming up completely blank

The war between Crayak and Ellimist. Beyond the glimpse of Crayak at the end of The Capture, I don't think it's even come up yet.

# ? Mar 20, 2021 17:41

Jazerus: May 24, 2011

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

The war between Crayak and Ellimist. Beyond the glimpse of Crayak at the end of The Capture, I don't think it's even come up yet.

i'll put spoiler tags just in case, but i'm 99% sure we've already gotten a good idea of what the deal is with them. i'll spoiler my original post tho

# ? Mar 20, 2021 18:26

feetnotes: Jan 29, 2008

Out of curiosity, is there anyone following this thread who hasn't read the series before, or read ahead at all, and thus doesn't read anything behind spoilered text?

I understand the spoiler policy either way, who knows if people lurking haven't read any further ahead, etc. It's just such a common practice on the forums that I don't think twice about, it's kind of funny wondering to what extent we all know how the story goes but maintain kayfabe.

# ? Mar 20, 2021 18:31

GodFish: Oct 10, 2012; We're your first, last, and only line of defense. We live in secret. We exist in shadow.

And we dress in black.

I've read random books throughout the run, including the very last one and one about the two guys.

# ? Mar 20, 2021 21:07

HisMajestyBOB: Oct 21, 2010; College Slice

I stopped around book 26 or so. I've been spoiled (outside this thread, years ago) about some of the plot tidbits from near the end, but not the details.

# ? Mar 20, 2021 22:20

WrightOfWay: Jul 24, 2010

I read probably about half the books and in no particular order. I didn't read any of the Chronicles books, so I'm definitely looking forward to more of those in the future. I read the last book a couple of years after I had fallen off the series because I saw it in the library and was curious how the series ended. That was an experience.

# ? Mar 20, 2021 22:33

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

HisMajestyBOB posted:

I stopped around book 26 or so. I've been spoiled (outside this thread, years ago) about some of the plot tidbits from near the end, but not the details.

Coincidentally this is the last main series book that KA wrote before permanently punting it over to ghostwriters. (25 is the first ghostwritten book). I think she picked it up again for the 10ish books in the final arc.

When I first read it as a kid I actually stopped in the very final book before the conclusion arc kicks off, because I thought they'd been spinning the wheels and going nowhere for a while, and didn't read any of the final arc except the very last book. Kids make odd decisions.

# ? Mar 20, 2021 23:17

rollick: Mar 20, 2009

I had a big incomplete set that I got in a car boot sale, where maybe half the series was missing at random. I can't remember how many I read, and I don't care about spoilers.

It's been weird reading along sometimes and thinking, ah I mustn't have had this one, and then some little detail pops out as something I definitely remember in vivid detail.

# ? Mar 20, 2021 23:33

Bibliotechno Music: Dec 30, 2008

I read the whole thing in two jogs (1-27 or so as they were released, then the rest when the final book came out,) but thanks to �gifted kid� ADD speed reading, I only remember the broad strokes, so I appreciate the spoilers. I am REALLY looking forward to the Hork Bajir Chronicles! I�ve been remembering bits and pieces of the plot from backstory in the books/this thread, but parts of the worldbuilding are fully etched in my brain and I�d forgotten where they were from until this thread!

I just want to say that this thread has brought me so much joy and is exactly the kind of thing that keeps me here. Both my parents read Animorphs along with me, and they�ve both been delighted to chat about it again, and it�s actually been a really nice bonding point with my dad: we haven�t talked much the past few years, so that�s really cool. My half sister is about to turn 9 and is a good reader, so she�s just about ready and my dad said he�d read it with her!

# ? Mar 21, 2021 00:03

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

Bibliotechno Music posted:

I read the whole thing in two jogs (1-27 or so as they were released, then the rest when the final book came out,) but thanks to “gifted kid” ADD speed reading, I only remember the broad strokes, so I appreciate the spoilers. I am REALLY looking forward to the Hork Bajir Chronicles! I’ve been remembering bits and pieces of the plot from backstory in the books/this thread, but parts of the worldbuilding are fully etched in my brain and I’d forgotten where they were from until this thread!

I just want to say that this thread has brought me so much joy and is exactly the kind of thing that keeps me here. Both my parents read Animorphs along with me, and they’ve both been delighted to chat about it again, and it’s actually been a really nice bonding point with my dad: we haven’t talked much the past few years, so that’s really cool. My half sister is about to turn 9 and is a good reader, so she’s just about ready and my dad said he’d read it with her!

Hell yeah. My godson just turned 11 and I haven't seen him yet but I'm gonna give him the first five or 10 books. He loves animals, aliens, and reading and I hope he won't think they're too weird. These books were such a huge formative series for me, and I think I've said it before but I've carried the anti-war and environmentalist sentiments I got from these books my whole life and it's served me well. Rereading with this thread has been so cool.

I know I got to at least the 30s but have never actually read the end of the series. Think I spoiled the big series ender setpieces for myself sometime in college. I have some memories of buying the one with Jake turning into a (minor book cover spoiler) beaver being the last one I actually read when it came out, but I think I maybe picked it up on a whim after a year or two of not reading them. At this point I've read at least a synopsis of almost every book, but I've never been precious about spoilers at all. I wasn't able to find the dinosaurs book online on my last reread so this is my first time reading it since the 90s.

# ? Mar 21, 2021 00:27

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Animorphs-Megamorphs 2: In the Time of the Dinosaurs, Chapter 28
Cassie

quote:

I didn�t want to be here. I didn�t want to be doing this. We didn�t really have a plan. We didn�t truly know what we were doing. But I couldn�t sit it out. No way. Not when my friends were facing danger.

I looked up. The comet was shockingly big in the sky. The tail spread a quarter of the distance from horizon to horizon. It was beautiful. But it frightened me. Ahead, in the direction of the Nesk base, there was a slight, reddish glow that seemed to hover in the air. I realized it was the summit of the volcano.

�Okay, let�s morph,� Jake said.

There was no doubt which morph he meant.

This was not a place for my osprey or my dolphin, my skunk or even my wolf. This was dinosaur country. I had only one morph that was useful in this situation.

Tyrannosaurus rex. The tyrant lizard king.

In all of Earth�s history, all the millions of years and all the billions of animals that have come and gone, this one single creature was the most powerful predator.

�I can�t believe I�m stuck in a lousy little Deinonychus morph,� Rachel complained. �You guys all get to do Big Daddy, and Tobias and I have to be Babysaurus.�

�I wish I wasn�t doing it,� I said.

�Yeah, right,� Rachel snorted.

There are some things about Rachel I still don�t understand. And things about me that must mystify her, I guess. Rachel loves the big predator morphs. I don�t. I never want to hurt anyone or anything. Not even when I have to. Not even when there�s no choice.

�Tell you one thing,� Marco said. �If you�re gonna walk around in the dark here in Cretaceous world, you want to be carrying the big guns. And Big Rex is the biggest.�

�I guess I�d rather have the Mercora�s force fields,� I said. �I like the way they do things: They protect themselves without having to be so violent.�

<They don�t seem to object to our being violent for them,> Tobias said.

I looked to see him in the dark. He was already morphing. A man-sized dinosaur was growing from a bird.

�Let�s just do this, all right?� Marco said impatiently. �I�ve been on the wrong end of a fight with a Tyrannosaurus, okay? I don�t want to be standing around here debating in the dark when another one shows up looking for an early breakfast.�

Jake said, �Rachel, Tobias, you guys keep an eye on us. These are new morphs for the four of us. We may have some trouble adjusting.�

I took a deep breath. I guess I�d been hoping somehow we�d change our minds. But the time had come.

I focused my mind on the Tyrannosaurus whose DNA was within me. And I let the changes begin.

I expected to sprout right up. But the first changes were more subtle. My skin became rough and slightly loose. Like it didn�t quite fit. Lizard skin. Crocodile skin.

My hands split in two. My thumb and next two fingers melted together. My two smaller fingers did the same. And then the bones grew out through the lizard flesh. The finger bones grew and came to a point, two small but wicked claws.

I felt my bones grow thick and massive. My pelvis bone swelled out against my flesh. I thought it would break through. But then I realized the growing had started. I was rising up, up from the ground.

My legs were thickening, growing. Muscle layered over muscle. Muscles much bigger than my own human body. Bone and muscle, bone and muscle.
My spine began to stretch, with a squeaking sound that radiated through my head. The base of my spine stretched out and out, longer and longer, five feet, six, eight, ten feet! And longer still.

My feet grew, spreading wide into three massive toes, each ending in a ripping, rending claw. I felt my weight settle on those feet, felt my claws sink into the moist soil as I grew by tons with each passing moment. But for all that, it was the Tyrannosaurus�s head that shocked me the most. My jaw
went from being measured in inches to being measured in feet. The bones grew dense and heavy. The muscles rippled beneath the gravel skin. My face bulged out and out and out. My eyes spread apart, blurring everything until they had reached their proper location, facing forward.

My head expanded, grew in every direction. Bigger, always bigger! I was towering above the ground now. Huge! I balanced on my powerful legs, tail out behind me, body forward, poised.

And then, at last, came my teeth. I felt the itching in my mouth as my pathetically tiny, my ridiculous human, teeth grew. From a quarter inch to an inch, to three inches, to six, seven!

New teeth appeared. Twice my normal number. They sprouted from the bones of my massive jaws.

And I was complete. More than forty feet from head to tail: the length of a bus. Eighteen feet tall: the height of a two-story house. Seven tons of bone and muscle: the weight of five cars.

Power and speed and destruction made flesh. Power the world had never seen before and would never see again.

I had become Tyrannosaurus rex.

King of the dinosaurs.

Honestly, Tyrannosaurus rex deserves the title apex predator.It's interesting, though, that for all of its popularity, it really didn't have that large a range, really. It lived, as far as we know, exclusively on the island of Laramidia, which is, admittedly, a big island...it's pretty much most of the western US and Canada.It was also one of the nine to thirteen known Tyrannosaur species, and the last one to become extinct. My favorite part is the names of some of the other species: Lythronax argestes (The Southern King of Gore), Teratophoneus curriei (Monster Murderer), Tarbosaurus bataar (Alarming Lizard Hero), and Bistahieversor sealeyi (Bistahi Destroyer)

Chapter 29
Marco

quote:

Surrounded! I was surrounded by enemies! I could see them looming up around me. They would fight me for food. They would steal prey. They had entered my territory!

�RRRRROOOAAARRR!� I bellowed in rage.

�HeeeRRRROOOOAAAARRR!� they answered, one by one.

Four of us together in one place. Impossible! My territory. Mine!

�HeeeRRRROOOOAAAARRR!� I raged.

But the others did not run away. They roared back at me. Four huge voices cried, �Outrage!� We bellowed and roared our threats, but no one ran away.
I stamped my feet, one after the other. I swung my tail back and forth.

The others did the same. They stamped their feet at me. At each other. Tails were swishing madly, ripping bushes and small trees out of the ground. The threat display was clear. Someone should back down. The only alternative was to do battle.

�HeeeRRRROOOOAAAARRR!� we each cried, swaying as we stomped, swishing our tails, tossing our heads, opening our mouths wide to display our deadly teeth.

Then � a scent.

We each caught it at the same time. The bellowing stopped. I turned my head toward the smell.

Darkness. But the scent was there: living flesh. Prey.

<You guys, you�re losing it! Jake, Cassie, Marco, you guys are losing it!>

There was prey just a few feet away. Two smaller creatures. Only two of them, and four of us. Not enough prey. The others would try to take them.

I leaped!

The little dinosaurs turned and ran. I was after them!

<Jake! Ax! Marco, you idiot! You guys are caught up in the morph! That�s us you�re chasing.>

Noises in my head. Meaningless. Running now, the chase was on! But the others like me were still there. Running, too. Trying to steal my prey!

<You guys are grinding my nerves! You�re hunting us.>

<Rachel, we can�t outrun them! But we can out-turn them, I bet.>

<Oh, this is so not fun! I�m gonna end up being breakfast for Marco. Talk about humiliation. When I say �now!� we double back on them!>

<Yeah.>

More sounds in my head. Strange. Disturbing.

<Now!>

The two swift, small creatures suddenly stopped and ran straight for me. In a flash, they were past. I stopped. I blinked. I was confused.

But then I smelled new prey. More this time! Close by. The wind was in my face. I knew this was a good thing. When the wind was in my face, the prey did not flee as quickly.

I quickly forgot the two small creatures and advanced toward the herd I smelled up ahead in the darkness.





<Jake! It�s me, Rachel. Snap out of it. Cassie, buddy. It�s me, Rachel. You�re being controlled by the morph.>

The prey was close now. Yes, I could smell them. I glanced at the others like myself. Marching beside me through the darkness. Many prey this time. Enough for all.

Closer� closer�

Attack!

I bounded forward at full speed. Attack! Tail out behind me, head held forward, I raced toward the helpless prey!

In the darkness I saw a shape. Prey! I saw the bulk, the curved back. I saw the horns. Two very long and a shorter one.

The horns disturbed me. But too late to do anything but attack! Nothing could stop me. Nothing could escape.

The horns turned toward me.

Hummm.

I dodged left. The horns turned.

Hummm.

I slowed down. I stopped.

�Shnorf! Shnorf!� the horned creature said.

I saw the others like myself. All were staring at the horned creatures. All had stopped their attack. <Maybe now they�re calmer,> the voice in my head said. <Um, you guys? Those are Triceratops.>

Huh?

<Jake, Ax, Cassie, Marco, get a grip. You are in morph.>

In morph? Me? Marco?

Yaaahhh! My brain snapped back suddenly. Instantly I was me again. Okay, me again in a body that was fourteen thousand pounds� worth of trouble.
But at that exact moment, one of us attacked.

�ROOOOAAAARRR!� A Tyrannosaurus leaped suddenly to the right, jerked its head left, and chomped its humongous jaws down on the arched spine of a Triceratops.

�Rrr-EEEEE, Rrr-EEEEE!� the Triceratops screamed. And then everything went completely insane. The Triceratops staring up at me lunged. Deadly three-foot-long horns were aimed at my belly, propelled by six tons of weight.

I jumped back, inches from being gored.

Another Big Rex - I don�t know if it was Jake or Cassie or Ax - went roaring into battle. The massive jaw tried to clamp on one horn and hold it.

The battle was on. Tyrannosaurus versus Triceratops. The battle every kid with toy dinosaurs imagines. It was sheer, screaming madness.

<You idiots!> Rachel roared. <Back away! Back away!>

But then she and Tobias joined the fray, trying to help. They were tiny, but they could attack the lumbering elephant-sized Triceratops with more agility than we could.

My own opponent shnorf-shnorfed a couple of times, then came after me again. I backed away. I didn�t need this fight.

<Aaaahhh!> I tripped, staggered back on one knee, and began to fall over. I reached to use my hands, but they were useless. I hit the dirt on my side.

The Triceratops was on me!

<Aaarrrgghhh!> Three feet of horn rammed into me. It caught between two ribs. The pain was shocking and immediate.

But now the Triceratops was vulnerable. Its dangerous horns were stuck, and its front leg was in reach. I opened my jaw, jerked my huge head forward, and clamped down with all my might.

The Triceratops backed away. I released his leg and snapped at his side and missed. He lunged again. I was still down, still on my side, bleeding. I swung my legs forward and shoved my taloned feet in his face. I caught the closest horn between my toes and shoved back with all my might.

I went scooting backward under the impact of the Triceratops�s charge, but those horns didn�t get me. Not this time.

I rolled into something that splintered and crashed. A tree! I had just knocked over a tree! I scrambled up, not an easy thing to do when you�re a Tyrannosaurus. I got to my feet just as the Triceratops charged again. I backed away, but now there were trees all around me, hemming me in
like a cage.

Then, in the darkness, the shocking sight of another Big Rex. It leaped on my Triceratops! It opened its mouth wide, and then sank three dozen or more seven-inch-long teeth into the Triceratops�s neck.

�HoooRRROOOOAAARRR!�

�Rrrr-EEEEEEE! Rrrr-EEEEEEE!�

In fury and rage, the big predator yanked the front of the Triceratops up off the ground. An animal the size of an elephant, simply yanked up off the ground.

The Tyrannosaurus shook its head, shaking the screaming Triceratops like a dog worrying a bone.

And then, the Triceratops stopped making sounds. It hung limp. The Tyrannosaurus dropped it and stood over the fallen creature.

�Huh-huh-huh-RRRRRROOOOOAAAARRR!� it bellowed in triumph. The sound shook the leaves in the trees. It rattled through my wounded belly.

�Huh-huh-huh-RRRRRROOOOOAAAARRR!� it screamed again.

It was all the violence of nature, all the ruthlessness of the survival of the fittest, all the power of muscle and bone and claw and tooth, all the ageless, never-ending lust for conquest wrapped into one awesome roar.

I braced myself, afraid it might attack me next.

<Jake? Is that you?> I asked.

<No,> a thought-speak voice replied.

So, as is not uncommon, the instincts of the morph took over, which is a lot more dangerous when it's a T-rex than when it's a mouse.

Epicurius fucked around with this message at 03:46 on Mar 22, 2021

# ? Mar 21, 2021 04:50

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

Jazerus posted:

i'll put spoiler tags just in case, but i'm 99% sure we've already gotten a good idea of what the deal is with them. i'll spoiler my original post tho

Nope, I've been rereading the books only in this thread and it hasn't come up at all.

# ? Mar 21, 2021 05:27

ANOTHER SCORCHER: Aug 12, 2018

Tyrannosaur factoid - new research suggests that the presence of large carnivores like tyrannosaurs and abelisaurs, especially at the end of the Cretaceous period, filled multiple predatory ecological niches during their growth and outcompeted medium-sized mesopredators thus reducing species diversity. A modern ecosystem has multiple predators of varied sizes - raccoons, foxes, wolves, bears in the forest for example - but because tyrannosaurs grew from turkey-sized newborns to massive predators they filled most of those niches themselves. This lack of predator diversity may have made the late Cretaceous ecology more brittle and contributed to ecological collapse once other pressures were applied.

# ? Mar 22, 2021 01:28

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

ANOTHER SCORCHER posted:

Tyrannosaur factoid - new research suggests that the presence of large carnivores like tyrannosaurs and abelisaurs, especially at the end of the Cretaceous period, filled multiple predatory ecological niches during their growth and outcompeted medium-sized mesopredators thus reducing species diversity. A modern ecosystem has multiple predators of varied sizes - raccoons, foxes, wolves, bears in the forest for example - but because tyrannosaurs grew from turkey-sized newborns to massive predators they filled most of those niches themselves. This lack of predator diversity may have made the late Cretaceous ecology more brittle and contributed to ecological collapse once other pressures were applied.

That makes a lot of sense! Particularly if the Rexes refrained from eating their younger relatives.
On a similar note, where is azhdarchid research up to? I remember reading that researchers are having a hard time working out exactly how a duck-sized hatchling quetzalcoatlas winds up as an aircraft-sized adult quetzalcoatlas. The physics of flight at the different sizes are quite different.
There's certainly theories out there that adult quetzas were basically giraffe-sized ground-based predators of anything small/slow/stupid enough to be swallowed...

Tree Bucket fucked around with this message at 02:04 on Mar 22, 2021

# ? Mar 22, 2021 01:59

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Sorry about the quote screwups lately. Don't know what happened. Lets hope it doesn't happen in....

Animorphs-Megamorphs 2: In the Time of the Dinosaurs, Chapter 30
Jake

quote:

Cassie stood roaring over the fallen Triceratops. She was the only one still caught up in the Tyrannosaurus�s mind. It scared me. It scared me for her. She hadn�t wanted to do this morph. And now it had seized control of her. Gentle Cassie was trapped in the mind of a killer.

She swung her head around and glared at me, eyes mad with rage.

<What do we do?> Rachel demanded.

She was scared, too. It scared me all over again, knowing that Rachel was scared. Rachel doesn�t scare easily.

<Cassie!> Marco yelled. <Snap out of it!>

Cassie hunched over the Triceratops and began chowing down. It was an unbelievably gross scene. The sun was just coming up, and there in the pink glow, a creature as tall as a tree was devouring a creature the size of an elephant.

I took a step forward on my massive clawed feet.

Cassie spun her head around and bellowed a threat: <Stay away. It�s mine!>

<Jake, you have to stay back,> Tobias said. <You are invading her territory. That�s her prey. She�ll have no choice but to defend it. She�ll annihilate you.>

<No. She might annihilate this Tyrannosaurus morph,> I said. <But she would never hurt me.>

I knew what I had to do. I began to demorph.

<Prince Jake! That is foolish! You will look like another prey animal to her!>

<No. She won�t hurt me. She�ll recognize me.> I was shrinking already.

<Jake, look,> Marco said, <you may be exaggerating your charm, you know? And if she goes for you, that means we have to try and stop her.>

I hesitated. Marco was right. What if Cassie attacked? But I continued demorphing, shrinking, growing smaller and weaker all the time. The three tyrannosaurs loomed larger and larger above me.

They looked to me like Tobias must look to a mouse. Even the Triceratops seemed as vast as a beached whale.

Cassie watched me, curious. Her forward-looking yellow eyes glanced at me, then at her kill, then belligerently at the other dinosaurs.

And then, slowly, slowly, as my own flesh emerged, as my hands grew human fingers, as my face flattened and hair grew and toes replaced claws, she blinked.

<Oh, my God. What have I done?> she asked. She backed away from the Triceratops.

�It�s okay, Cassie,� I said. �It was just a dinosaur.� It was all I could think of to say. I knew it wouldn�t help. You can�t say �just� an animal to Cassie.

<You got caught up in the morph,> Rachel said. <It happens. All four of you did it.>

<Oh my God!> Cassie cried in horror.

<Cassie, look, it�s not your fault,> Rachel said. <It was the Tyrannosaurus. It was just being itself, you know?>

 Cassie yelled. She began demorphing. But at the same time, I was returning to the Tyrannosaurus morph.

�Cassie, you have to stay in morph,� I said. �We have a mission.�

<No! I don�t have to be this � this � killer!>

<Yes, you do, because we need to go kick some butt on these space ants, all right?> Marco said.

<Cassie, come on,> Rachel said. <We need you.>

 Cassie mourned.

<Cassie, get over it. This is the late Cretaceous, according to Bird-boy here,> Marco said coldly. <There are no humans. No human civilization. No human morality or religion or philosophy. This is hardcore nature. We�re down to survival, here. Survival. That�s all that counts.>

<Surviving and getting home,> Rachel amended.

<There are humans here,> Cassie said. <Us. We are human civilization. We have all that stuff inside us. It doesn�t matter what year it is.>

<Okay, you�re right,> Marco snapped. <It doesn�t matter. If this were 1998 or 2000 or 2121, it would still come down to surviving. And when it�s down to kill or be killed, all that morality and guilt and all is crap.>

Cassie stopped morphing. For a while no one said anything. Then, at last, Cassie said, <You know something, Marco? You�re my friend. I�d do almost anything for you. But you�re wrong. Yeah, we�re just animals ourselves. But we�re the animals who can think. We�re the animals who can imagine something better than kill or be killed. I don�t think predators are immoral. I�m not an idiot, whatever you may think. But I�m a human, okay? And I have to think and care, and I have to feel things. Otherwise I might as well be some gang banger, or a Nazi or, or ->

<A Yeerk,> Ax supplied.

I had finished morphing back to Tyrannosaurus. I waited for Marco to toss out some clever comeback. It never came. Instead, as we once again headed for the Nesk camp, I heard him whisper so that no one but me could hear:

<You know, Jake? I see why you like that girl.>

So what's your take on Marco and Cassie's argument. Is it down to survival in the end, or do we need some basic moral sense? Also, what does the debate tell us about Marco on the one hand and Cassie on the other? And does Marco's last line to Jake recontextualize things?

Chapter 31
Ax

quote:

The sun had fully risen by the time we arrived at the Nesk base. It was near the lowest slopes of the volcano at a place where a rushing stream came down through the pockmarked gray rocks and gave rise to sparse vegetation.

It was very obviously a military base, not like the peaceful agricultural town the Mercora had built. There were perimeter defenses in the form of robot towers thirty feet tall. The towers bristled with several different types of energy weapons. I could see that widely differing technologies were in use. Obviously the Mercora were correct: The Nesk were scavengers. They had stolen these weapons from a variety of races.

The same was true of the spacecraft parked within the camp. There were two of the small pyramidal ships Rachel and Tobias had described. But there was also a ship in the more classic airfoil design, as well as very odd oval-shaped craft.

There was little obvious activity within the camp. But then, the Nesk are a strange race. Essentially social insects with the ability to unite and cooperate to a stunning degree. The �bodies� they formed were only assembled in order to operate the weapons and ships they had stolen. The rest of the time, I assumed, they remained as insects.

<Okay, everybody keep moving forward. Casual. Like we�re all out for a nice morning walk.

Ax, what do you make of it?> Prince Jake asked.

 I said. <Those two creatures over there may have walked right through the base, judging by their present locations.>

<Iguanodons,> Tobias said.

<Do you see the mound?> Cassie asked. <Looks like a dirt pile, except it�s so tall and narrow?

That may be their mound. Like a termite mound. That�s where their queen will be.>

I had seen the mound. But I hadn�t paid it any attention. Now I looked closer. <The mound is defended. Motion detectors tied to what are probably stun weapons. Dinosaurs may travel freely through the base, but the Nesk protect their mound.>

<So where do we find these alleged nukes?> Rachel asked impatiently.

<Warehouses or storage rooms over there,> Marco said. <Three of them in a row. If it were me, I�d put my most valuable stuff in the middle one. It�s more protected. On the other hand, I don�t see any guards.>

 I said. <But there are probably thousands of guards. Remember, the Nesk will only assemble into a larger creature if they have to hold weapons. But the individual insects are everywhere throughout the camp.>

<Okay,> Prince Jake said. <Here�s what we do. Ax and Rachel, head straight for the center warehouse. Ax to point out a nuke, Rachel to grab it, because those Deinonychus hands work better than the Big Rex�s. Marco and Tobias flank to the left. Me and Cassie to the right. We rip open that storeroom, get what we came for, and head for the trees over there.>

I felt nervous. Not about possible battle. Well, yes, about that, too. But mostly, I felt nervous about identifying the �nuke.� Explosive weapons come in thousands of different shapes and sizes. Some are as big as human automobiles, most are much smaller. Andalite explosive weapons are usually no bigger than a human baseball.

<Ready?> Prince Jake asked.

<Been ready,> Rachel grumbled.

<Okay, everyone just keep moving like we�re dinosaurs.>

<Which, thanks to the fact that our lives are totally, completely INSANE, we actually are,> Marco said. <I mean, does anyone else think it�s just plain weird that we�re dinosaurs, getting ready to steal a nuclear weapon from a bunch of antlike aliens, sixty-five million years before the first human being ever said, �Hey, I know what, let�s try cooking the meat this time?� Does anyone else find this slightly nuts?>

<Nope,> Rachel said.

We advanced on the base, not exactly stealthily. There was a definite impact sound each time my Tyrannosaurus foot hit the ground.

I focused on the center storeroom. I glanced over to the trees. The Nesk ships would have a hard time following us through the trees. But getting to them would be difficult. Especially if it took me a while to find what we were after.

The base seemed empty, deserted. But when I focused my Tyrannosaurus eyes, I could see narrow columns of the antlike creatures spreading out like a web across the entire area. When I lowered my foot near one of the columns, it simply swerved aside.

We passed closer to the small, oval ship. It was perhaps twice the size of an Andalite fighter, but it was made up of three interlocking oval tubes. I wished I had time to study it.

The storeroom, just ahead. It had appeared to be built of crude metal. But when I got closer, I could see that it was actually dirt. It had been built in just the same way as the mound, by the labor of millions of the tiny creatures. Then, it had been covered in some sort of residue and polished till it
was bright.

<A bizarre race, these Nesk,> I said. <They have stolen and made use of amazingly sophisticated technology. Yet at the same time ->

Scrr-EEEEEE-eeeee-EEEEEE-eeee-eeee. Scrr-EEEEE-eeeee-EEEEE-eeee-eeee!

A screaming siren! Flashing lights! The robot defense towers blazed with green and blue light.

The spacecraft began to power up.

The entire base was suddenly very alive. Very, dangerously, alive!

<A thought-speak detector!> I cried. <They know the Mercora use thought-speak and they have a thought-speak detector!>

<What, are you kidding?> Marco demanded. <How is that possible?>

<Actually, our own Andalite scientists have been trying for years to develop such a system. It would work on the principle of ->

Scrr-EEEEEE-eeeee-EEEEEE-eeee-eeee. Scrr-EEEEE-eeeee-EEEEE-eeee-eeee!

<Here they come!> Cassie yelled. <From the mound! Here they come!>

A red-black river of Nesk poured from the mound. More belched up from the ground beneath us. The soil was alive with them! Millions, millions of them.

<Let�s do this!> Rachel cried.

I leaped toward the warehouse. I kicked with my powerful Tyrannosaurus leg and knocked a small hole in the walls. I kicked again. The hole grew only slightly.

<Marco! Go help Ax!> Prince Jake said.

Soon there were two tyrannosaurs attacking the mud wall.

<This is so Godzilla!> Marco said with a giddy laugh. <After this, we head for Tokyo!>

Suddenly, the wall collapsed. I was inside. But I was too tall! My head emerged above the roof of the building. I would have to crumble the roof, too. And each chunk of roof that fell hid more of the things inside the storeroom.

Rachel vaulted past me and began to dig through boxes and crates, the stolen remnants of a dozen alien civilizations. She used her claws to rip them open, scattering their contents, even as chunks of the roof fell on her.

<The ships are starting to get off the ground!> Tobias yelled.

<Prince Jake,> I said urgently. <You can attack the ships more easily before they get in the air!>

<Yeah, I thought of that,> he said grimly. <Ax, you and Rachel stay on it, man. Everyone else, let�s see just how much damage these dinos can do.>

Stupid thought-speak. I dunno....in their attitude towards other people's property, the Nesk remind me a little bit about the Skritt-Na. The difference is, of course, the Skritt-Na don't seem to be moralistic about it. They steal and scavange because they want to get money, but they don't assume everything is theirs by right.

# ? Mar 22, 2021 03:59

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

Cassie is right in that accidentally killing a Triceratops was tragic but my dudette can you please have a breakdown after we get Back To The Future(tm)? Narratively its frustrating because you are all geared up for some T-Rex action, we are going to finally get to the fireworks factory but then Cassie stops the car and turns around because we gotta talk about our feelings ugghghgh come ooooon.

# ? Mar 22, 2021 04:47

Jazerus: May 24, 2011

Pwnstar posted:

Cassie is right in that accidentally killing a Triceratops was tragic but my dudette can you please have a breakdown after we get Back To The Future(tm)? Narratively its frustrating because you are all geared up for some T-Rex action, we are going to finally get to the fireworks factory but then Cassie stops the car and turns around because we gotta talk about our feelings ugghghgh come ooooon.

it's like a page of text. maybe two since the print in these things was pretty big. in general i think it's narratively valuable to have a team member pushing back against marco's cold pragmatism, and it's rare to have a book - other than those from cassie's perspective, i guess - where this kind of thing takes up very much time at all.

plus, i guarantee you that cassie saw the land before time at least twenty times as a small child

# ? Mar 22, 2021 05:02

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

This is the line that for whatever reason stuck in my head as a kid:*

quote:

<You know something, Marco? You�re my friend. I�d do almost anything for you.>

And I think it's because I took it as a sign that for all their ribbing and complaining and mocking and jibing, these kids are tight and actually really do care about each other and really would lay down their lives for each other. Reading it as an adult, I'm not sure that's actually unconditionally true for any of them except Cassie, Jake and maybe Tobias.

*Unless similar stuff gets said in the future and I'm mistaking it for something else, but it's probably Cassie who says it again down the line anyway.

# ? Mar 22, 2021 09:02

disaster pastor: May 1, 2007

freebooter posted:

And I think it's because I took it as a sign that for all their ribbing and complaining and mocking and jibing, these kids are tight and actually really do care about each other and really would lay down their lives for each other. Reading it as an adult, I'm not sure that's actually unconditionally true for any of them except Cassie, Jake and maybe Tobias.

I think it's true for all of them. Rachel you'd have to tie down to prevent her from unconditionally laying down her life at the barest provocation. And Marco tried, without hesitation despite being in llama morph, to fight a crocodile in order to help Rachel, even though Rachel herself was a grizzly bear at the time.

# ? Mar 22, 2021 15:51

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Animorphs-Megamorphs 2: In the Time of the Dinosaurs, Chapter 32
Tobias

quote:

One minute we were standing in a ghost town. The next minute it was like being trapped in the middle of an out-of-control video arcade. Lights! Sirens! Spaceships powering up. The robot security towers shining broad-spectrum floodlights everywhere.

And worst of all, millions of Nesk everywhere! But they hadn�t attacked us.

<They haven�t figured out it�s us,> I said. <They don�t know where the thought-speak is coming from. They haven�t figured out it�s coming from us.>

<They will, soon enough,> Rachel said. <Ax and I are ripping their building apart. They�ll figure it out.>

<That weird oval-looking ship is powering up fastest,> Jake said. <Let�s get it.>

Three huge tyrannosaurs began stomping toward the ship. I ran ahead of them, faster and more agile in my Deinonychus morph. There wasn�t much I could do to damage the ship. Except�

I leaped, landed on the outer oval, just as the ship began to rise from the ground.

Crunch!

My weight tipped the ship sideways, slamming the outer ring down into the dirt. And then�

WHAMMM!

It was like having someone drop a house on the other end of your seesaw.

I flew through the air, cartwheeled, landed on my dinosaur butt and rolled to my feet.

Cassie had mimicked me. Only when she leaped, she leaped in a much, much larger way. Her massive tonnage ripped open the steel hull, crumpled it like aluminum foil, and flattened a segment of it in the dirt.

<Cool,> she said. <See? I don�t mind stomping machines. Are you okay, Tobias?>

<Well, my dignity is hurt,> I said. <That pyramid-looking ship over there!> We turned and raced toward the second ship.

<Found one!> Ax yelled suddenly. 

<Then haul butt!> Jake cried. <Rachel, can you carry it?>

<Already have it!>

<Do we take out the pyramid ship or run?> Cassie asked.

<Ax and Rachel, get that nuke outta here, the rest of us will stay and do some more damage. Maybe make it harder for them to come after us.>

I ran for the pyramid-shaped fighter. But the Nesk had figured out what was happening. They�d made the mental breakthrough: It was the dinosaurs who�d become their enemy.

Once they figured that out, the Nesk got nasty.

TSAAAAPPPPPPPP!

A bolt of energy from the nearest robot tower blew a hole in the ground, right where I�d been standing a split second earlier. I felt a jolt of pain. The back half of my left foot was burned off!

I staggered on, but now the pyramid fighter was turning toward us, bringing its weapons to bear. I ran full at it, but the wound slowed me down. Jake passed me and bounded through the air, tons of muscle and bone becoming one big projectile. He hit the pyramid fighter just as the fighter fired.

CH-CH-CH - !

WHUMPF!

The fighter went rocketing sideways, out of control. And at that moment a second robot tower

fired.

TSAAAPPPPPP!

KUH-BLOOOOOOOM!

The energy weapon hit the fighter. It exploded, becoming a small sun of brilliant orange and yellow light.

The impact hit me in the side. I was in the dirt before I knew what had happened. Up I jumped, but my leg was weak as the first injury drained its strength away.

Stinging! The Nesk were all over me, biting, stinging, attacking in the most primitive way.

It was really bizarre. The Nesk were frying everything in sight with highly advanced energy weapons, and at the same time, biting.

<Okay, that�s it! Head for the trees!> Jake yelled.

He didn�t have to tell me twice. I saw the tree line, illuminated by early dawn light and the brilliant explosions, and I moved out. Pain or no pain, I was running for cover.

But then, my injured leg just stopped working. I was down! Two gigantic tyrannosaurs lumbered by overhead. I should cry out, tell them. But if I did, they�d die trying to save me.

Like some foul-breathed savior, there came a massive, square head. Down it came, jaws open. The jaws closed gently around me. Seven-inch teeth cut into my skin, but did not penetrate muscle.

The Tyrannosaurus lifted me up and up and up. It jolted away. Each step shot pain through my body. But at least I was up off the ground, away from the Nesk.

<Let me know if I bite too hard,> Cassie said.

CH-CH-CH-CHEEEEW!

The ground beside me erupted. Cassie was carrying me so that I was looking back. I saw the second pyramid fighter rise up and open fire. Behind it came the other undamaged fighter.

I twisted my head forward. A long, long way to the trees. And between us and the trees, one of the deadly robot towers.

Cassie ran.

The fighters came after us. No way. No way to make it.

<I�m going to contact the Mercora,> Ax said.

I barely had time to think what? when the tower opened fire. The others were all past the tower. But Cassie and I were trapped between the deadly fire from the tower and the advancing fighters.

<This doesn�t look good,> I said.

<No. It doesn�t.>

Suddenly, Jake and Marco turned back. They came running at the tower from behind. The tower was thirty or forty feet tall. The two tyrannosaurs slammed into a corner of its support beams.

CRRR-UNCH!

The tower did not fall. But it did shake. And it sagged to one side. Just enough that their next shot went wild.

Jake and Marco slammed it again, and now Cassie and I were caught up with them. Cassie gave the supports a devastating kick.

Slowly, slowly, then faster and faster, the robot tower began to fall.

It fell like a redwood, straight down toward the Nesk mound.

It helped, but not enough. We�d been too slow. As we raced for the woods, the fighters closed in.

There was no way to outrun them. No way to outmaneuver them. They had us cold.

We were all going to die, sixty-five million years before any of us would be born.

Tobias's job in this book is just to get hurt, isn't it? Crushed inside something's gullet, his foot blown off by an alien laser....man.

Chapter 33
Rachel

quote:

We hit the tree line, me and Ax. In my front claws I held a small, oblong white tube. According to Ax, a nuclear explosive.

Let me just say this. Carrying around a nuclear weapon? That�ll make you nervous.

I looked back. And I saw what was about to happen.

Three very big Rexes - Jake, Marco, and Cassie - were running. Head forward, tail back, running like roadrunners. A Deinonychus was in the mouth of one Tyrannosaurus. And two spacecraft were practically above them.

It would be point-blank slaughter now.

<The situation is hopeless,> Ax said.

<What do you mean, hopeless?> I demanded.

 he explained.

I remembered him saying something earlier about that. But it was irrelevant to me.

<I�m going back for them,> I said.

<Don�t be foolish, Rachel. All you would do is give the Nesk another target.>

<Exactly,> I agreed grimly. <Maybe if they�re shooting at me, one of the others will get away.>

I started back out into the open. I heard Ax come lumbering behind me.

CH-CH-CH-CHEEEEW! The pyramid ship fired.

<Aaaaahhhhhh!> Jake cried.

He fell forward, half a dinosaur.

<DEMORPH!> I screamed.

The pyramid ship turned at a leisurely pace, hovering directly above the writhing, thrashing, helpless monster who was Jake.

CH-CH-CH-CHEEEW!

At point-blank range, the Nesk pyramid ship fired.

<Nooooo!> Cassie screamed.

The blast was blinding. But when the flash cleared, Jake was still there! An electric glow illuminated a sort of invisible shell around him.

<Force field!> Ax said. <The Mercora!>

Then we saw the two Mercora ships. Exactly like flying saucers. One was just above the pyramid ship. It had projected the force field to protect Jake.

The Nesk pyramid fighter saw it now, too. It fired. At the same instant, the Mercora fired.

BOO-BOOOOM!

The twin explosions were almost simultaneous. The pyramid ship and the Mercora saucer both blew apart. I thought I saw a big Mercora claw go spinning away into the darkness.

The remaining Mercora saucer hovered above Jake and the others. The remaining Nesk ship seemed to hesitate. And while it did, Jake and the others began to demorph.

<They�re going to try and take us all aboard,> Ax said. <We should demorph. They don�t have room for these bodies.>

I began to demorph, but it was an agonizing wait while the Nesk considered whether to attack or retreat.

The saucer hovered. The Nesk hovered. Standoff.

Jake, Cassie, Marco, and Tobias all demorphed. Ax and I stepped out from the trees, out in plain view. The Nesk were looking at humans for only the second time, and they were seeing an Andalite for the first time ever.

�What do you think they�re going to make of you?� I asked Ax.

<Perhaps they will think that the Mercora have acquired powerful new allies,> Ax said. As if the Nesk had heard him, their ship suddenly veered off and retreated to the wreckage of the base.

I laughed. �Guess you�re right, Ax. Looks like the Nesk have had enough. Modern age or Cretaceous, no one can beat the team of human and Andalite.�

The Mercora saucer picked us up, us and our little nuke. But they were a grim, depressed bunch of aliens. It was hard to tell at first. But then I noticed that each of them was minus one of their smaller legs. There were just oozing stumps.

�What happened to your legs?� I asked. But even as the words were out of my mouth, I saw the limbs in the corner. They were laid out on a brightly colored cloth which was draped over a shelf. There was something ceremonial about it. Almost religious.

<Can you explain the meaning of this?> Ax asked politely.

<We must make the sacrifice of pain. The legs will regenerate, but those we honor will not,> the Mercora pilot said. <This is a symbol. It speaks to our spirit�s pain, by echoing it in physical pain.>

�They did this for the Mercora who were in the other ship?� Jake asked.

<For those who were in both ships,> the pilot said. <To be killed is a sadness. To kill is a sin.>

�You�d fit right in with these guys, Cassie,� Marco said.

Cassie ignored him. �Our legs and arms do not regenerate,� she said to the Mercora.

The pilot responded, <Then you must bear the pain inside.>

�Yes,� Cassie said. �I will.�

�Thanks for saving us. We�re sorry about the Mercora on that other ship,� Jake said. �We owe you. We owe you big. I don�t know if that concept means anything to you, but we owe you.�

�That goes for all of us,� I added. �Anything we can ever do for you � I mean, until we get back to our own time. Anything.�

<Don�t make promises you can�t keep, Rachel,> Tobias said in a thought-speak whisper only I could hear. <It will only make it worse later.>

I looked at him for an explanation. But the eyes of a hawk give nothing away.

So, a few things here. First, as to the question if Rachel would sacrifice herself to save the others, we see she just tried.

Also, amputation as a mourning method is pretty big, even if your limbs do regenerate.

Also, strap in here, and for those of you who haven't read the book or don't remember it, do you know what Tobias is thinking?

# ? Mar 23, 2021 04:19

OctaviusBeaver: Apr 30, 2009; Say what now?

I like the Mercora a lot.

# ? Mar 23, 2021 04:47

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

disaster pastor posted:

I think it's true for all of them. Rachel you'd have to tie down to prevent her from unconditionally laying down her life at the barest provocation. And Marco tried, without hesitation despite being in llama morph, to fight a crocodile in order to help Rachel, even though Rachel herself was a grizzly bear at the time.

Instinctively in the heat of battle, yes. In other circumstances... I'm not sure. I'm not saying they wouldn't. Just that I'm not sure. And with Rachel in particular I think we can already see that it's borne at least in equal measures of her blood/adrenaline-lust.

Epicurius posted:

Also, strap in here, and for those of you who haven't read the book or don't remember it, do you know what Tobias is thinking?

I remember what happens but can't precisely remember how, since I think it involves both the nuke and the comet.

# ? Mar 23, 2021 08:03

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

Epicurius posted:

Sorry about the quote screwups lately. Don't know what happened. Lets hope it doesn't happen in....

Yeah, I've noticed that a lot this thread. Sometimes you open a quote but don't close it with a [/quote] properly, or vice versa.

freebooter posted:

I remember what happens but can't precisely remember how, since I think it involves both the nuke and the comet.

I have a vague memory, but obviously it's the end of the dinosaurs, and the aliens. This book has just been hammering away at the comet from the beginning, it's not like you can't say it didn't warn you.

# ? Mar 23, 2021 08:41

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

I don't remember the ending but the comet has been mentioned what feels like once a chapter, Ax told them they're 65 million years back, and Tobias (the Kid Who Knows Things about Dinosaurs) has been making ominous threats for several chapters as well.

If the comet doesn't hit, then something they do makes it hit. I'm also pretty sure the comet hitting is what makes the Sario Rip open.

# ? Mar 23, 2021 13:12

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Fuschia tude posted:

Yeah, I've noticed that a lot this thread. Sometimes you open a quote but don't close it with a

properly, or vice versa.
[/quote]

I know. I'm sorry. I will try to do better.

# ? Mar 23, 2021 13:56

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

https://twitter.com/chrisgrine/status/1374422958001713165?s=21

# ? Mar 23, 2021 22:15

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

I mean, works for me.

# ? Mar 24, 2021 04:15

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 26, 2024 04:00

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Animorphs-Megamorphs 2: In the Time of the Dinosaurs, Chapter 34
Tobias

quote:

Flying beneath the force field was a strange experience. Plenty of heat radiated up from the Mercora town and the fields around it, so there were stunning thermals. But the force field created a sort of glass ceiling above me that I could not hit without risking another busted wing.

A weird experience. But it was good to be flying again. And I felt like I had a sort of mission. I felt someone should see this Mercora settlement. Someone should see all that would be lost, and remember.

It was amazing, really. The universe had so many secrets. Who would have guessed that so long before the humans and the Andalites and Yeerks would even appear on the screen to play out their own life-and-death struggle, there had been an earlier war for Earth?

Through the slight distortion of the force field I could see the Pteranodons in their cliff-side nests. I wondered how they hunted and what they caught in this strange situation. But who could tell?

Like all living things, they were doing their best to adapt. They were looking to eat without being eaten. Same as my life as a hawk. The same old cycle: Life trying to stay alive by any means it could find. Life trying to survive the enemies of disease, hunger, fire, flood, and all the animals who were bigger and badder.

I felt the warm wind fill my wings. I turned and circled upward till I could see the entire valley and feel the force field just inches above me. Somehow the Mercora had figured out how to let the rising air pass through the field. They were a smart, advanced, and decent race. I hoped somewhere out in the galaxy there were other Mercora colonies.

Down below, down on what could almost be a street, I saw my friends talking to some excited Mercora. I spilled air and began to dive. Sometimes there�s nothing more relaxing than a hurtling dive through the air.

I perched on a land vehicle that was parked near the others.

<What�s up?> I asked.

�The Nesk are leaving!� Cassie cried happily. �The Mercora say the Nesk have left Earth! Their orbital ships came down and removed everything from the base.�

�Looks like the good guys won,� Rachel said. �I think the Nesk saw that the Mercora had some new friends, some serious, butt-kicking new friends.� She laughed, mocking her own bravado.

<Yeah. Guess so, huh?> I said.

The Mercora celebrated their victory that afternoon and into the evening. They celebrated by plowing up another hundred acres at the edge of the colony and planting seeds.

The others and I went to the rooms they�d set aside for us. We ate the food they�d provided, and rested on the shaped force fields that passed for furniture.

Night fell, and through the window the comet seemed to fill the sky. I perched where I could watch it.

�So okay, now we have to figure out where and when to use this nuke,� Jake said.

<The Mercora have agreed to let us use their computers,> Ax said. <With their help, I can probably recreate the theory behind Sario Rips, and then come up with an accurate plan.>

Jake nodded. �Good. Great. Take your time, Ax. Do it right.�

�Yeah, why rush? We have all the broccoli we could possibly need,� Marco said, making a face of utter disgust.

I watched the night deepen. I watched the head of the comet. And then, I saw it: a stab of flame that shot from the side of the bright white comet head. Blue flame, at a right angle to the trajectory of the comet.

I felt my heart skip a beat.

The Mercora noticed it, too. From the streets outside there came a wailing siren.

�What�s that?� Marco asked. �Sounds like the cops.�

Jake shrugged. �Who knows with the Mercora? They�re some strange aliens. Maybe it�s Mercora music.�

Several minutes later, two Mercora came bursting into the room. Their eyes were fluttering open and shut at an alarming rate. Their two weak-looking hands were waving wildly.

<The Nesk! They cannot accept their defeat. They have decided if they cannot have this planet, then neither can we.>

�What do you mean?� Cassie asked.

<They have diverted the comet. The comet is now on a trajectory for impact on this planet. Here, on this very settlement. In little more than a day, the comet will strike.>

�We can�t let that happen!� Cassie said. �You can�t just give up. Isn�t there some way you can � I don�t know, push it the other way?�

The Mercora responded, <Even our most powerful force field could not move the comet. There is only one chance. The explosive device you took from the Nesk � We could use our last ship, carry it to the comet and explode the device. It might fragment the comet�s head. However �>

�They don�t want to ask us for the nuke,� Jake said.

�That�s carrying politeness a long way,� Marco said. �If it was me, I�d be like, �Hand that over, pal.��

�If we give up the nuke, we have no way home,� Rachel pointed out.

�We have no choice!� Cassie said. �Are the six of us more important than this entire settlement? Are we supposed to condemn them to death just because we want to get home again?�

�Wait a minute, are you serious?� Marco demanded. �We�re gonna give up our only ticket out of here? I don�t think so.�

�Ax, if that comet hits, how much damage will it do?� Jake asked.

But Ax couldn�t answer. He was distracted by what I was telling him in private thought-speak.

Distracted by what I was asking him to do.

To the Mercora I said, <Please give us a couple of minutes to consider. Come back then.>

They left. I met Ax�s gaze. He was looking at me with his two main eyes. His stalk eyes were staring down at the small but devastating weapon he now held in his hands.

So, this is an oh crap moment, right?

Chapter 35
Cassie

quote:

The Mercora went away. And when they came back, we gave them the nuke. I was surprised by the final vote. It was four to two, with Rachel and Marco against. I guess Jake felt he owed his life to the Mercora. Same as I felt. But I was surprised by the quiet way that Tobias and Ax went along.

Neither of them said anything. Just voted with Jake and me.

The Mercora took the weapon and raced to their remaining saucer. I watched from the window as it began to power up.

<We need to get out of here,> Tobias said, speaking at last.

�Why?�

<We have to be far, far from here when that comet hits.>

�What do you mean, when it hits?� I demanded. �The Mercora think this will work. They think they can break it up into small chunks that will burn up entering the atmosphere.�

Tobias stared at me with his cold hawk eyes. <The nuke won�t explode. Ax fixed it so it�ll be a dud. And he fixed it so the Mercora won�t know till it�s too late.>

I just stared. We all did.

�Wait a minute,� Marco said. �If we�re not using it, we better hope the Mercora can! Hey, genius, we�re down here, too! That comet hits and we get pounded five miles down through solid rock. That�s gonna hurt.�

<No time to explain now,> Tobias said. <Everyone morph to birds. We need to haul out of here in a couple minutes.>

�Tobias, what have you done?� I demanded.

 Tobias yelled in a blaze of sudden anger. 

�You need to explain this right now,� Jake said in the low, silky voice he uses when he�s really mad.

<Start morphing or I�ll explain nothing,> Tobias said. <Just do it!>

Rachel started morphing to her eagle morph. Jake hesitated, but there was a force to Tobias I�d never heard before. Jake began to morph. Then Marco. Ax. What could I do? I had to go along. I had to morph.

<It�s the Cretaceous Age,> Tobias explained. <Late Cretaceous, the last age of dinosaurs.>

�So?� I demanded while I still had a human mouth.

<So what do you think happened to them all, Cassie? Dinosaurs ruled the earth for a hundred and forty million years. You�ve all seen how weak and helpless we are in this age. You�ve seen how the only mammals are tiny rats, small enough to avoid attracting the attention of the big dinosaurs. So how
do you think the dinosaurs fell and the mammals rose?>

<They � they evolved,> I said.

<Yeah, they evolved. But evolution got a great big helping hand. See, about sixty-five million years ago � around now � something - they don�t know if it was an asteroid or a comet, but something - hit Earth. Very hard. Hard enough to fill the atmosphere with dust, block the sun, and bring on a colder climate. And that�s how the dinosaurs died.>

<You don�t know it�s this comet!> I cried. <You don�t know!>

<Yes, I do,> he said. <No one in our time ever found a Mercora fossil. Which means they never prospered, never populated the planet, never grew beyond this one handful, this one settlement. This is the comet. This is the time. Today is the end of the Mercora. And today � today is the end of the
dinosaurs.>

I wanted to tell him he was wrong. But I knew he wasn�t. I wanted to cry. But I had become an osprey. Birds don�t cry. It was monstrous, horrible. Inevitable.

<We�re going to let these people, these Mercora, we�re going to let them die?> I asked.

<I�m surprised you, of all people, don�t understand, Cassie,> Tobias said. <It�s about more than these Mercora. The entire planet will be changed today. A million species will begin to die. A few weeks or months or maybe years from now, the last Tyrannosaurus is going to die. And because of that, other creatures will begin to evolve. Including �>

<Us,> I said. <Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens, who could never have evolved unless the dinosaurs had died out.>

<So that comet has to hit,> Rachel said.

<Yes. That comet has to hit,> I said. I hated saying it. I hated thinking that the brave little settlement of Mercora was going to be destroyed. But this was destined to be a day of annihilation,

and I�d known from the start we couldn�t change history. All of this had already happened. Sixty-five million years before I was born.

Ax said, <They will have to drop the force field when their ship takes off. We will need to be in the air, ready to slip out.>

He was right. Tobias was right. I knew it. But it made me sick inside. And I wasn�t the only one.

<You know, these guys saved us. Saved me,> Jake said. 

<They lack the ships,> Ax said. <Their struggle with the Nesk has left them with only that one ship. Besides, what if they found a way to survive? We would have altered history in a very large way.>

<This stinks,> Jake said bitterly. 

<You have no choice, Jake,> Tobias said.

<The ship is almost ready to launch,> Ax said. He�d been keeping watch with his stalk eyes.

<Now or never,> Tobias said.

<Now,> Marco said.

<Yes,> Ax agreed.

<No choice,> Rachel said, sounding more conflicted than I would have expected.

<Yeah,> Jake said. <It�s really not up to us to rewrite history.>

I wanted to laugh. We acted like we were making a decision. But Tobias had already made the hard decision. The comet would not be stopped. The only question now was would we run away and try to live? We knew the answer to that.

<Thanks, Tobias,> I said.

I don�t know if he thought I was being sincere or sarcastic. I wasn�t sure myself.

I opened my wings and flew.

Welp, everybody see that coming? RIP Mercora, I guess.

So, in the Yucatan, ,there's a crater, called the Chicxulub crater. We're pretty sure that it was caused by a giant comet or asteroid, and it's thought that that was the impact that caused the Cretateous extinction.

Epicurius fucked around with this message at 04:29 on Mar 24, 2021

# ? Mar 24, 2021 04:25

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

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