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

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Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

I mean, we don't know that the Gardens doesn't have a killer whale tank, or given the casualness this area has about wild animal sightings, for all we know, a pet killer whale got loose and is wandering around the woods, hanging out with the leopard.

# ? May 14, 2021 05:31

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# ? May 26, 2024 11:32

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

David teamed up with Satan Killer Whale, the nemesis of Jesus Whale.

# ? May 14, 2021 05:44

Acebuckeye13: Nov 2, 2010; Ultra Carp

Epicurius posted:

I mean, we don't know that the Gardens doesn't have a killer whale tank, or given the casualness this area has about wild animal sightings, for all we know, a pet killer whale got loose and is wandering around the woods, hanging out with the leopard.

The Gardens is basically Seaworld+an amusement park, so it makes sense they'd have an Orca tank.

# ? May 14, 2021 05:48

Shwoo: Jul 21, 2011

They get an orca morph from the Gardens later in the series, (Not really a spoiler, it's the cover morph for that book) and although Cassie's dialogue implies that it's new, it wouldn't be the only continuity error in Animorphs.

That, or David stole a plane ticket to San Diego and took a trip to SeaWorld.

# ? May 14, 2021 06:02

Tunzie: Aug 9, 2008

Shwoo posted:

That, or David stole a plane ticket to San Diego and took a trip to SeaWorld.

David would never steal a plane ticket. That would be a crime! But a bird can�t steal a plane ticket...

# ? May 14, 2021 09:37

nine-gear crow: Aug 10, 2013

Also as we've seen from first hand experience with the kids just getting started, even getting a single morph has a compounding effect on one's ability to acquire more and more morphs, and the more morphs one has, the more tactics to acquire additional morphs one also has. And David might be a cowardly shithead sociopath, but he's also smart, creative, and determined. I'm not the least bit surprised he McGyver'd his way into accruing an orca somehow.

# ? May 14, 2021 10:09

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

I think the biggest mistake the authors made was having Jake and David fight in tiger/lion morphs because a) I think a tiger takes a lion and b) in every other situation David has shown that he loves the large powerful versions so him being a threat to the Animorphs, especially one on one, makes sense to me. This is a good example.

Also I know they are tired, but a lone orca doing weird un-orca things not being David is just an example of how not-paranoid they still are, despite dealing with an invasion of brain stealing aliens.

# ? May 14, 2021 11:42

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

It happens in the book but a tiger's big move is the neck bite which would get foiled by a lion's mane. So making that tactical mistake leaves the tiger open to counter-attack. A tiger is bigger, faster and cooler than a lion though and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise.

# ? May 14, 2021 14:25

WrightOfWay: Jul 24, 2010

I wouldn't really say David definitively beat Jake in a straight fight. He didn't land a decisive blow until the skylight got involved and it was basically luck that Jake got seriously injured in the fall and David didn't.

# ? May 14, 2021 20:16

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Animorphs Book 22-The Solution, Chapter 17

quote:

Six thought-speak voices said the identical word at the same time.

<David!>

<Yes, David,> he said with grim satisfaction. <Five little dolphins and one big orca. Let�s see how that works out.>

<He still thinks Tobias is dead,> I said in private thought-speak. <He hasn�t counted us. Tobias, stay behind us and ->

Ax interrupted. <David doesn�t know which of us is Tobias. He�s expecting five of us. We are six. The sixth person, the one who conceals his presence, could be any of us.>

<What are you suggesting?> Jake asked him.



 Cassie said.

<Okay, then, Ax is right. Cassie, hang back. Get out of range. Good idea, Ax. But don�t call me �prince.�>

<Yes, Prince Jake.>

<Okay, we need to keep David busy,> Jake said.

<Let�s do it!> I yelled. I didn�t care if David was ten times my size. I hated the creep. But the more sensible parts of my brain could not imagine how I was going to fight him and last more than a few seconds. Not as a dolphin, at least. Even a shark would be helpless. The orca was just too big.

<Hey, I�m Free Willy,> David said with a laugh. <Free Willy�s hungry.>

<Why don�t you tell that joke to Visser Three?> I sneered. <Maybe he�ll arrange for you to die laughing.>

<Ah, Rachel. That is you, right? Psycho Rachel?>

<I�m the psycho? That�s good, coming from a certified nutcase like you, David.>

<I�m nuts? Hey, I�m not the one threatening to kill anyone�s parents, you crazy witch.>

There it was. Blurted out for all the others to hear. I lied.

<Yeah, you did,> he said, and even I could hear the ring of truth. <Did you know that, big Jake? Did you know that, Cassie, with all your moralizing? Did you know Rachel threatened to kill my parents? How about you, Andalite? Of course we know smart-mouth Marco would approve.>

No one said a thing. No one came to my defense.

I felt hollow all of a sudden. Like I could feel their silence as a big hole in my insides. Who were they to be judging me? Which of them hadn�t done things they were ashamed of?

Was I ashamed? Was that what I was saying?

No time for all that now. David had kicked his tail into overdrive and he was coming at us like a train.

<Okay, here�s the plan: Whoever he chases, the others come in and nail him. Aim for his eyes. They might be vulnerable,> Jake instructed.

I was still waiting for him to say something. Like maybe �It�s okay, Rachel, no big deal.� But nothing. Nothing! I wanted to scream at him: �Why did you let me go after David if you didn�t think I was going to threaten him? You hypocrite!�

But there wasn�t time for that. Because now I could see the black-and-white pattern racing at me out of the gloom. He was lit up by a flash of lightning. He looked like some weird cross between a cow and a bus.

But this creature had a very large mouth and a lot of teeth. And he was very, very fast. He was aiming straight for Ax.

<I�m right here, David,> I said, and gave a kick with my tail. He veered, changing course, and hurtled toward me.

I kicked hard and rocketed straight at him, like I was aiming for his nose.

Closer� Closer� CloserCloserCloser!

I turned my flippers and went straight up. UpUpUp, skimming past David�s blunt snout!

WHOOOSH! Out of the water, into rain and lightning. High as I could fly. I hung in midair, looked down as gravity grabbed me again, and right below me I saw the killer whale�s open mouth.

Falling! Falling toward that open mouth!

<Nooooo!>

But David was slipping back, too. He hadn�t had time to get himself ready. He was slipping back beneath the water, and I was falling toward him �

SPLASH! I hit water, not teeth, and I kicked madly to get speed. Where was David? I couldn�t see him!

Echolocate, Rachel. Come on, concentrate!

I fired a burst. The echo was instantaneous. He was behind me. I jerked left and the big black and- white snout went barreling past.

From nowhere another dolphin appeared. It rammed David�s right eye with its beak, then slid down beneath the great monster.

<Ahhh!> David cried. But he kept his focus on me. I couldn�t believe how quickly he turned.

How quickly he built up speed to come back after me.

This was impossible! I was playing tag and I was it.

I rolled over, belly up, reversed course and slid beneath him, crossing sideways, literally rubbing belly to belly. Then I came up his right side, halfway down his body, back behind the tall, graceful dorsal fin.

Now I was out of his sight. As long as I stayed right there with him, move for move, he wouldn�t see me, let alone reach me.

But David wasn�t content to play tag with me. He targeted the next dolphin he saw and I couldn�t match his speed.

As his tail blew past, I clamped my jaw down on it.

Big mistake.

He whipped me up and down, up and down as he kicked. Teeth ripped out of my jaw. Dazed, I had to let go. Then he turned and came for me again. I tried to swim, but the whiplash motion had disoriented me.

All I saw was a huge, gaping jaw coming right for me. And I knew I could not escape.

The orca filled my entire range of vision. So big! So impossibly fast.

And then �

Well, then I saw what orcas must want to be when they grow up.

Not the twenty feet of the killer whale, more like forty or fifty feet. Not the four or five tons of the killer whale, more like fifty or sixty tons.

Almost extinct, almost wiped out at one point. But there were still humpback whales in the sea.

And one of them was Cassie.

<Hi, David, it�s me, Moby Cassie,> Cassie said. <Why don�t you leave my friend Rachel alone? >

If David had known much about whales, he�d have known that the humpback was almost powerless against him. It had no teeth. Just baleen.

But I guess there�s something about seeing a creature the size of a house coming after you that makes you want to leave the area.

David left. But not before calling back to me, <Later, Rachel. There�ll be another time.>

Even if it doesn't have teeth, if a hunchback whale rams an orca it outweighs ten to one, that's probably not going to be pleasant for the orca.

Chapter 18

quote:

I flat-out was not going to school the next day. I just didn�t care. I went home and fell into my bed with my clothes on and was out cold.

Way too early in the morning I heard voices downstairs. Somber, muted voices. No laughter. I didn�t care. I went back to sleep.

Then Jordan came up and kicked my bed till I rolled over, face plastered with hair, eyes glued shut. �It�d better be good or you are going to wish you�d never been born!� I said.

�It�s Saddler,� Jordan said.

It took me several seconds to make sense of that. �Huh?�

�He�s not doing very well, I guess. They think he�s going to die.�

Saddler. My cousin. Jake�s cousin. Right. Yeah, now I remembered. He�d been hurt. He�d been moved to the children�s hospital near us.

�Oh. That�s too bad,� I managed to mumble.
�That�s all you can say? �That�s too bad�?� Obviously I wasn�t going back to sleep. I sat up. I tried to wake my brain up enough to think of the right things to say, but my head might as well have been stuffed with cotton balls.

�He�s probably going to die,� Jordan said again.

I began to realize what Jordan wanted. She felt bad. She felt scared. She wanted me to reassureher.

I made a �come here� motion with my hand and fought down a yawn. �Sit here,� I said, patting the sheet beside me. �Look, it�s a bad thing. It�s about as bad a thing as there is. I mean, he�s just a kid. His parents are going to be so messed up after this. I know how you feel.�

�It�s just so bogus,� Jordan said. �I mean, he was just riding his bike and then, like, all of a sudden his whole life is maybe over.�

I nodded. �Yeah. Life isn�t fair.�

Jordan rolled her eyes at me. She knows a dumb cliche when she hears one.

�Sorry,� I said. �Look, bad stuff happens. Doesn�t mean it�s going to happen to you. Doesn�t mean it�s going to happen to me or Sarah or Mom or Dad.�

�Yeah, but that�s what�s so weird and all. I mean, I feel like scum because I felt kind of glad it wasn�t me. You know? It was like �Whew! Close one!� But that�s not right. I should just be sad. And I am. Only it�s not just sadness. It�s also, like, �Glad it wasn�t me!� And then I was all, like, �I would never ride my bike like that.� You know, the guy who ran into him is saying Saddler just shot out into the street without looking. So I�m thinking Saddler got run over because he was stupid and careless. But that�s not right, either.�

�It�s not right, but I think it�s probably normal,� I said. �I mean, you don�t want to think it could happen to you. So you have to come up with excuses. Ways it could never happen to you. You end up blaming the person who got hurt. Because then you don�t have to think about what if it was you it happened to. You even start getting mad at the person it happened to. Like �How dare he drag me down into all this pit of darkness? How dare he get hurt and make me feel bad?��

Jordan nodded. �That�s just so wrong, though.�

I shrugged. �Yeah, probably. But it�s also how people are. You don�t want to go around thinking, �It could be me next. It could be my sister or mother or father.� You�re going to do anything you can not to feel that way. You have to put up a wall between you and the fear. You have to cut yourself off from it, tell yourself you�re safe. Bad stuff only happens to people who are careless or stupid or evil.�

Jordan seemed to feel better. She even smiled. �Mom says we can stay home from school today. You know, in case ��

I made a face. �Talk about a bad reason to skip school.�

�Yeah. Well, maybe he�ll be okay.�

�Yeah. It�s like on ER. The doctors are always worrying, but then the patient survives.�

�And if they�re a cute girl they get to date Noah Wylie,� Jordan said, laughing.

�Exactly. So don�t write old Saddler off yet, okay?�

She left and I staggered, still half-blind from the sleep gunk in my eyes, to the bathroom. I splashed my face with cold water.

<Ooooh, I never realized you were so wise and all.>

I jumped straight up. I spun around. Search � search � search � nothing! Nothing in the shower. Nothing on the floor. Nothing on the ceiling.

I stood there, very, very awake. �What do you want, David?�

 he said. <What�s the matter? Does it make you nervous having me around?>

I kept searching the room. Inside the medicine cabinet. Nothing! Then, slowly, with a creeping, crawling sensation of disgust, I realized. He could be anywhere. He could be � on me.

�Should I go get some flea powder?� I asked the empty bathroom. I tried to sound tough and indifferent. Like I wasn�t scared.

<You have to put up a wall between you and the fear, Rachel,> he mocked. <You have to cut yourself off from it, tell yourself you�re safe, Rachel. You have to tell yourself that bad stuff only happens to people who are careless or stupid or evil, Rachel.>

�What do you think you�re accomplishing, David?� I asked.

<I�m sending you a message, Rachel,> he said with silky intensity. <See, I know where you live, Rachel. That�s my message. You want to threaten me? I know where you live.>

I had to fight down the panic that was competing with rage in my head. I couldn�t let him know he�d gotten to me. �My family isn�t part of this.�

<So you say.>

�Your parents are Controllers now. That makes them different.�

<Are you a hundred percent sure that your mother and your sisters aren�t Controllers?>

I swallowed hard. I had to remain calm. That was the point. I had to remain calm. If I blew up he�d know he had power over me. �You would go after little girls, you gutless piece of crap. You said you wouldn�t hurt humans who weren�t in morph. I always knew that was bull. A coward like you has no honor.�

It was a pathetic, obvious ploy. Would he fall for it? It depended. How did David see himself?

<You want rules, Rachel? I�ll give you rules: Give me the blue box and I�m gone. I�ll go to some other city. I�ll take what I need. I have the power! But I want that box!>

�What for, you idiot? You want to make more Animorphs? Why? So they can do to you what you�re trying to do to us?�

I guess that made him think. I thought it might.

<Stay away from my family, Rachel. I�ll stay away from yours. Just you and me. That�s the deal. You and me.>

�I�ll take that challenge,� I said.

<Cool. Now, hey, go ahead and enjoy your shower.>

He was silent after that. He said nothing more. Maybe he was really gone.

But for the first time, I decided to skip my shower.

David and Rachel aside there, I really liked the conversation between Rachel and Jordan, because that is how it ends to go.

# ? May 15, 2021 04:43

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

Epicurius posted:

David and Rachel aside there, I really liked the conversation between Rachel and Jordan, because that is how it ends to go.

Eh. It sounds nitpicky, but their diction seems kinda off here. Jordan almost seems written too old, and Rachel seems like she doesn't quite know how to talk to children. But... it's her sister. They're not that many years apart.

# ? May 15, 2021 07:02

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

Fuschia tude posted:

Eh. It sounds nitpicky, but their diction seems kinda off here. Jordan almost seems written too old, and Rachel seems like she doesn't quite know how to talk to children. But... it's her sister. They're not that many years apart.

I agree, something about Jordan's dialogue has real "my 10 yo son just asked me why president twunp was so mean to Missus Maddow" tweet energy. I'm willing to at least chalk Rachel's awkwardness up to being insanely stressed and underslept.

# ? May 15, 2021 07:11

Shwoo: Jul 21, 2011

quote:

I flat-out was not going to school the next day. I just didn�t care.

If you're keeping track, and why would you be, this is their sixth school day in a row. No wonder Rachel's had enough.

# ? May 15, 2021 08:23

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Epicurius posted:

Ax interrupted. <David doesn�t know which of us is Tobias. He�s expecting five of us. We are six. The sixth person, the one who conceals his presence, could be any of us.>

<What are you suggesting?> Jake asked him.

Ax is once again MVP

Epicurius posted:

<You want rules, Rachel? I�ll give you rules: Give me the blue box and I�m gone. I�ll go to some other city. I�ll take what I need. I have the power! But I want that box!>

�What for, you idiot? You want to make more Animorphs? Why? So they can do to you what you�re trying to do to us?�

I guess that made him think. I thought it might.

However... Rachel is also MVP.

Re: the conversation with her little sister, I think the reason it's forced is because it's a shoehorned bit of theme. It went completely over my head as a kid, but it's basically Rachel spouting the just world fallacy, comparing the Saddler situation to David. Because it just as easily could have been David who got the "lucky" shot of being one of the original kids in the construction site, and Rachel who got caught up in poo poo a year later and saw her family infested. And obviously she grasps that on at least a subconscious level. (Whether this actually works or not, YMMV, but that's definitely the point of the conversation.)

# ? May 15, 2021 12:34

Bibliotechno Music: Dec 30, 2008

quote:

<Cool. Now, hey, go ahead and enjoy your shower.>

He was silent after that. He said nothing more. Maybe he was really gone.

But for the first time, I decided to skip my shower.

Ugh, this is so gross.

# ? May 15, 2021 14:12

e X: Feb 23, 2013; cool but crude

I think that David comes across as hypercompetent is another result of the whole storyline only taking up three books. He goes from collapsing in his very first fight to being able to outsmart and outfight all of the battle hardened Animorphs in the span of a couple of hours. But he kind of has to be, otherwise the entire story falls apart.

# ? May 15, 2021 15:14

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

Part of that is the nature of guerrilla warfare. David always knows where the Animorphs will be (because they told him their plans/he knows where they live) so he can gently caress with them then escape and finding a single dude who can effortlessly hide anywhere is very hard. There is also the fact that they are hung up on their outdated human ideals of "morality" and "fairness" because they could easily murder this motherfucker but chasing him off 20 times is sustainable for sure.

# ? May 15, 2021 15:37

CidGregor: Sep 27, 2009; TG: if i were you i would just take that fucking devilbeast out behind the woodshed and blow its head off

Pwnstar posted:

There is also the fact that they are hung up on their outdated human ideals of "morality" and "fairness" because they could easily murder this motherfucker but chasing him off 20 times is sustainable for sure.

Also known as the Batman Paradox

# ? May 15, 2021 20:03

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

CidGregor posted:

Also known as the Batman Paradox

I was legit thinking about this meme while writing that so others may now enjoy it also if it is to their taste.

# ? May 16, 2021 01:42

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Animorphs Book 22-The Solution, Chapter 19

quote:

I didn�t feel even slightly safe till two hours had passed. That�s how long David could stay in morph. After that, if he�d been a flea or a cockroach or whatever, he�d be stuck.

Two hours later to the minute, I arrived at Jake�s house. There were extra cars in the driveway. I guess Saddler�s family had come over.

Jake answered the door. I saw half a dozen people beyond him in the family room. They all looked like they were getting ready to go.

�Hi, Rachel,� Jake said. �Did you come over to-�

I grabbed him by his shirt and yanked him outside onto the porch. I�ve never done anything like that to Jake. I shocked myself. I know I shocked him.

�David was in my house!� I hissed in his ear. �He was in my bathroom.�

Jake looked puzzled. Then his eyes widened. �In morph?�

�Of course in morph. You think he�d come over and ask my mommy if I could come out to play?!� I was yelling.

�Calm down, Rachel, the whole family is here. We�re all about to head to the hospital to see Saddler. Tom is here,� he added with a significant look. Tom is a Controller.

I lowered my voice to an intense whisper. �He was in morph. He may have been a flea. He may have been on me. On me!�

Jake nodded warily. �Yeah. I guess we have to expect that kind of thing.�

�He�s made me his number-one target,� I snapped. �Did you expect that?�

�What do you mean?�

�I mean it�s personal between me and him. And I think you know why it�s personal.�

Jake shook his head. �Look, we all stand together, Rachel. You know that.�

�Do I? Nice job of standing up for me before, Jake.�

�When?�

�You know when,� I said. �When David told everyone what had gone down between me and him and all I hear is the big, empty silence from Cassie and Tobias and all.�

�It was a combat situation, Rachel. What did you expect me to do? Stop and explain to everyone that David was lying?�

I glared at Jake and just then his dad came out on the porch. �We need to get going, Jake. Hi, Rachel. Why don�t you come with us?�

I don�t know why, but I said, �Okay, yes.�

Jake�s dad closed the door again.

�You think David was lying?� I asked him.

Jake looked away. �It doesn�t matter what I think, Rachel.�

I laughed. �You know something, Jake, you are becoming a real leader. You even have the whole hypocrisy thing down.� I started to walk away. �Tell your dad I changed my mind.�

�Rachel.� Jake trotted over to catch up to me. �What�s bothering you?�

�What�s bothering me? Aside from the fact I�ve never been so tired in my life? Aside from the fact that David is out to get me? What�s bothering me?�

�Yeah. Aside from those things. I mean, I know you, Rachel -�

�Yeah, you sure do,� I snapped.

�Look, I don�t have time for twenty questions.�

�When you were going after David and you sent Ax for help, why did you tell him to get me and not Cassie or Marco?�
Jake looked surprised. He shrugged. �I don�t know. I guess I thought you were closest.�

�Wrong. Try again.�

Jake flushed angrily. But then I saw the beginning of a rueful smile. �I thought David had killed Tobias. I thought he might kill me. I wanted � firepower.�

�I see. You wanted me for my morphs.� It was a good answer. It could have almost been true.

�Okay. So we come down to the second question: What did you think I would say to David yesterday? In the cafeteria. Why did you let me go after him?�

Jake�s rueful smile became sadder. For a long time he didn�t speak. �I guess -�

�Jake! Come on. Rachel, if you�re coming, let�s go!� Jake�s mom yelled.

At the same time the garage door opened and the family�s new minivan came backing out. I piled in with Jake and there was nothing more said.

Maybe it was true about the morphs. Maybe I had jumped to a conclusion. After all, it was true I had the grizzly bear morph and the elephant morph. Both of which were as strong or stronger than David�s lion. And it was true that neither Marco nor Cassie had anything to match the lion�s raw power. Maybe that was all there was to it. Maybe my cousin didn�t see me as some crazed Femme Nikita killer.

But I�d have to wait and hear his answer to my second question.

Jake had said, �It was a combat situation, Rachel. What did you expect me to do? Stop and explain to everyone that David was lying?�

But I knew one thing for sure: Jake was lying. He knew what David had accused me of was true.

Not for the first time, I looked at Jake and wondered what he had become. He was sitting there, looking like any other kid stuck in any other boring minivan. If you saw him walk down the street you might think, Oh, there�s a nice-looking guy. But you wouldn�t see half of what there was to Jake.

But then, I guess that�s true of everyone. You can never be sure whether the pretty blond lugging a pair of bulging Express bags through the mall is just another sweet, ditzy, harmless mall rat.

Or me.

She's not just questioning what Jake thinks about her. She's questioning what she thinks about her.

Chapter 20

quote:

You think hospitals are depressing? Try a children�s hospital. You go to a regular hospital and see sick people and you think, Oh, that�s something that happens to old people. You know, like lung cancer or Alzheimer�s or whatever.

But in a kids� hospital you see way too many people who look like they could be sitting next to you on the school bus. It makes you nervous.

Saddler was in PICU. Pediatrics Intensive Care Unit. It was like the hospital room from hell.

Four beds in each room, if you can call it a bed when there are these monitors poised over your head showing your heartbeat and brain waves and a bunch of other stuff in wavy, ghostly green lines.

Three of the beds were full. Saddler was in the one farthest from the door. I took one look at him and thought, Okay, I believe in mercy killing. No one should have to be so � helpless.

But I guess that was dumb, because later I heard from one of the doctors that more than ninety-five percent of even the most messed-up kids who go into the PICU come out alive.

No one was being that optimistic about Saddler, though. He was going to be one of the five percent. At least that had been the last thing we heard from the doctors.

Now � well, let me just say that different people react in different ways to �miracles.� We almost couldn�t get to Saddler�s bed for all the doctors and nurses crowding around. Some looked like they�d just had Leonardo DiCaprio tell them they were pretty. They looked transfigured. Others looked mad. Some looked scared.

Saddler�s mother rushed to the head doctor. �Doctor Kaehler? What�s happening? What�s happening to my baby?�

Doctor Kaehler was one of the mad ones. �What�s happening? Good question. Very good question. I have to tell you that we had a crisis here about an hour ago. Your son�s heart stopped. We were rushing him to surgery, but in all honesty he was not going to make it.�

�But -� she began.

The doctor ignored her. �I would have bet my entire career that Saddler would be gone withinthe hour. Then, as they were taking him up to the O.R., something happened with the elevator. It jammed or� or something. The nurse and doctor with him seem to have been knocked out. When they
came to, the elevator was working again. They rushed your son to surgery where he � where he � opened his eyes!�

�What?�

�He opened his eyes. And he said, �Hi.��

Saddler�s mother lost it. She shoved wildly through the gaggle of nurses and doctors. And there she stopped, staring in disbelief at her son.

Saddler was sitting up in his bed. He looked as healthy as if he�d just stepped in from playing soccer.

�How?� Saddler�s father asked.

The doctor just shook his head. �You tell me. There is apparently nothing wrong with your son. And I mean nothing. No broken bones - all healed. No internal injuries. No bruises, for crying out loud!� He was mad. I could understand that. He was a scientist, basically. Scientists like to understand
things.

�It�s a miracle!� Jake�s mom whispered.

�I don�t even believe in miracles,� Jake�s dad said, �but this is a miracle. I mean, I saw him yesterday and he looked like raw hamburger.�

Saddler�s parents were all over their son. Hugging, kissing, jabbering on and on. It was a cool scene. Even I was feeling overwhelmed. Then I caught sight of Jake.

He was the only wallflower at the big party of celebration. He turned away, rage barely concealed on his face.

�What?� I whispered to him. �What�s the matter?�

He said one word. And I knew what I�d been too blind to see. This was no miracle.

Jake said, �David.�

Now, that's pretty perverse, huh?

# ? May 16, 2021 04:29

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

Falling down an elevator shaft counts as dying of natural causes because it was gravity's fault so David isn't a murderer.

# ? May 16, 2021 04:53

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

Epicurius posted:

Animorphs Book 22-The Solution, Chapter 19

quote:
But then, I guess that�s true of everyone. You can never be sure whether the pretty blond lugging a pair of bulging Express bags through the mall is just another sweet, ditzy, harmless mall rat.

Huh, that's the wrong "blond". That's something I've always been lowkey fascinated by; one of the few gendered adjectives in English.

# ? May 16, 2021 06:31

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

I always wondered precisely how David managed to dispose of Saddler's body and now I'm wondering how he disposed of it in that extremely tight timeframe while other people were also in the elevator.

But, yeah, loving dark.

edit - like, surely as KA you'd just write the doctor to say "Saddler miraculously was conscious this morning" which gives David time to work overnight? Shift the Rachel confrontation to the previous evening or something?

# ? May 16, 2021 12:12

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Animorphs Book 22-The Solution, Chapter 21

quote:

Jake and I stepped back from the crowd. No one noticed. No one cared. They had a miracle to witness.

�You think David morphed Saddler?� I asked Jake.

�I know he did. Days back, I mentioned Saddler to all of you. I saw his eyes kind of light up. I didn�t think much of it at the time. Besides, we were kind of busy.�

I nodded. �He needed a life. David�s family are Controllers and he needed a place to go, to sleep, to eat. But it�s just a morph. If he stays in it more than two hours at a time he�s stuck, and he�ll lose his morphing power permanently.�

�All he has to do is go the bathroom, demorph, remorph, and he�s good for another two hours. And take a look at his parents. You think they�re going to notice, or care, if Saddler is suddenly very different than he has been?�

He was right. Saddler�s parents thought they were losing a son. Now he was back. Alive. A miracle.

So maybe his memory was a little impaired. Maybe he didn�t remember his friends or his favorite food. He�d be different, but that was to be expected, with what he�d gone through. And anyway, Saddler always had been a jerk. David should be able to play the role.

What could his family even possibly suspect him of? Being a morph? Obviously not. Then something awful occurred to me.

�Saddler� where�s Saddler? The real one?�

Jake looked grim. �I guess we�ll have to ask David, won�t we?�

I looked at Saddler. There was a momentary gap in the gaggle around him. He saw us. We saw him. His look was pure triumph.

Then the wall of people closed around him again. I was not even slightly surprised when, an hour later, Saddler said he had to go to the bathroom. By himself. He was fine, perfectly fine. Everyone should stop worrying.

He passed deliberately by Jake and me.

�Cousin Jake! Cousin Rachel! I�m glad you�re here. Really, really glad.�

For a brief moment, no one else was within hearing. �You won�t get away with this,� I said.

�I won�t? I already have. And what are you two going to do? The real Saddler was toast. Now those nice people have their son back. So what are you going to do about it?� He started to walk away, then turned back, as if he had some funny secret to impart. �I�ll take the blue box, cousins. Bring it to me. You have twenty-four hours. Starting now.�

He laughed, loudly enough for all to hear. So they all laughed, too, giddy from the fact that unbearable tragedy had missed them.

Jake and I plastered smiles on our faces. But we both felt sick inside.

David had beaten us.

Jake and I left. We went out into the mostly empty hallway.

�Okay, we have to plan right now,� Jake said.

�Plan what?�

�We are never going to know whether we�re being watched by David or listened to by David from now on,� Jake said. �Right now we know where he is. Right now we�re safe.�

�So what are you going to do? Give him the blue box?�

Jake�s eyes flashed. �Never!�

I smiled, despite myself. �Okay. So?�

�So� I don�t know. Do you have any ideas?�

I stopped smiling. �What do you mean?�

�I mean, what do you think we should do about him? About David.�

A nurse came by and flashed an automatic smile. When she was gone I said, �Look, Jake, I don�t know what you�re getting at. And you know what? I don�t think I like what you�re thinking about me.�

�What? What�s that about?�

�You never answered me before, Jake. I want to know. When David left the cafeteria and I started after him, and Cassie said no and you said to let me go, what exactly did you think I would do or say to David?�

Jake nodded. �Oh. That�s what this is about.�

�Yeah, �Oh, that�s what this is about.� What did you expect me to do to David? Did you think I was going to kill him? Did you? Is that why you let me go after him? Is that why you sent Ax for me? Because you think I�m some kind of violent nut you can call in whenever you need some dirty work done?�

�Look, Rachel, every one of us has his strengths and his weaknesses.�

�And my strength is being some kind of crazy killer?� I practically shrieked.

�I didn�t say that.�

�You didn�t not say it!�

�Okay, fine, Rachel. You want to do this, fine. I think you�re the bravest member of the group. I think in a bad fight I�d rather have you with me than anyone else. But yeah, Rachel, I think there�s something pretty dark down inside you. I think you�re the only one of us who would be disappointed if all this ended tomorrow. Cassie hates all this, Marco has personal reasons for being in this war, Ax just wants to go home and fight Yeerks with his own people, Tobias � who knows what Tobias wants anymore? But you, Rachel, you love it. It�s what makes you so brave. It�s what makes you so dangerous to the Yeerks.�

I let his words blow past me. I heard them, I�d feel them later, but I didn�t want to feel them right then.

�You did think I�d go kill David the other day. My God.�

�No. I thought you�d scare him. I thought you�d say the things it took to scare him. I thought you�d say whatever you had to. And I thought that of any of us, David would be most likely to fear you.�

An attendant pushed a wheeled bed slowly past. I tried to look at myself the way Jake saw me. Was it true? Did I love this war?

�I worry about you, Rachel. More than any of the others except Tobias. I feel like this war is to you like booze is to an alcoholic. Like I don�t know what will happen to you if it all ends someday. What are you going to do? Go back to being the world�s greatest shopper? Go back to gymnastics and getting good grades?�

I laughed harshly. �You worry about me? What do you think you�re going to do? Jake, you�re a leader now. You make life-and-death decisions. All the time. You�ve learned to do that. And,� I added bitterly, �you�ve learned to use people. You use them for their strengths and their weaknesses. Worry about me? Like when all this is over you�ll go back to being a mediocre basketball player and a decent student? You�re not even in high school yet and you�re the most wanted person in the Yeerk Empire. Visser Three would trade his Blade ship for your head on a stick.�

We both fell silent for a while. From inside there came the drifting sound of laughter. David was back from the bathroom. Demorphed, re-morphed, and good for another two hours. He could keep that up for weeks, maybe years. At night he could demorph and sleep. In the dark he�d look enough like Saddler. At school he could demorph and remorph between periods, in the stalls of the boys� bathroom. No need to worry about clothing. He�d fit Saddler�s.

The creep. The evil little creep.

My own emotions brought me back to the moment.

�I�m not going to lose it, Jake,� I said, staring down at the polished linoleum. �Maybe you�re right. Maybe I do kind of get off on it all. But I still know where the line is. And I won�t cross it. I am not some kind of nut. I know what I�m doing.�

Jake nodded. �I know you do. But everyone draws their own line. Cassie�s is in one place. Marco�s is somewhere else. Yours is in another. Mine �� He made a failed attempt at a smile. �For example, see, I used to think my line was drawn at using my friend, my cousin, to do my dirty work. Guess that turned out not to be true. Sorry, Rachel.�

I have no idea why I did what happened next. Because I�m really not that kind of person. But I hugged Jake. And he hugged me back.

And then he whispered in my ear, �Okay, now let�s figure out how we take this creep down.�
\
�You know it, cousin,� I said.

Sorry about this. I missed this chapter when I posted yesterday, so here it is.

Chapter 22

quote:

�Jake and I went over every possibility,� I said. �Nothing. Nothing at all. He has us cold.� I looked around at the others. It was a grim-looking little group there in the barn.

�What do you mean, he has us?� Marco said loudly. �That little creep has us beat? No way. We�ve been kicking Visser Three�s butt all this time and we lose to that jerk? I don�t think so.�

�Look, I don�t like it, either. But it�s reality, okay?�

Jake held up one finger. �Fact number one: David has the same powers we have. Which means he�s as hard to destroy as we are. And the Yeerks have tried very hard to destroy us. How are we going to succeed when the Yeerks have failed with all their forces and technology?�

Marco raised his eyebrows in grudging acceptance.

<Yes, that makes some sense,> Ax agreed.

Of course, Tobias had nothing to say because Tobias wasn�t there. Tobias was away.

Jake continued. �Fact number two: David can sell us out to Visser Three. I don�t think he wants to do that because David�s not a complete idiot and he knows that any contact he has with Visser Three is likely to be very dangerous for him.�

�I�m not so sure he�s not an idiot,� Marco said darkly. �I would just like to point out that I never liked that guy. I said from the start that any kid who kept a pet cobra was trouble.�

�Goodie for you, Marco,� I said.

�Fact three: David has now acquired a morph of Rachel�s and my cousin Saddler. What am I going to do? Make my uncle and aunt lose their son again? Better to leave David with them. And best of all, they live out of town, so David would be out of our faces.�

�I have a problem with that,� Cassie said. �I have a problem with the idea that these people lose their son and get this completely different person instead. That seems sick to me. It seems wrong.�

�It is wrong,� I agreed. �But what�s the alternative?�

Cassie shook her head slowly. �There�s no good choice here. But you know what? As sad and awful as it is that your cousin died, that�s natural and normal and part of life. Having some ghoulish fake version of Saddler still around makes me kind of sick to my stomach.�

�Fact number four: We give David the blue box and he has what he cares about. I don�t know what he intends to do with it. Maybe he�ll create his own little group of Animorphs.� Jake made a face like �could be.�

�Yeah, right,� Marco sneered. �Here�s fact five: David killed Tobias. And we�re going to reward him?�

I exploded. �Hey! You think we like this? You think I, personally, like this? I hate that creepazoid. I would destroy him � if I could. But facts are facts, unless you�re completely crazy.�

Marco sneered. �I never thought I�d see the day. Fearless Rachel, mighty Xena: Warrior Princess, humiliated by some kid. You�re done for, Rachel. No one will ever be impressed by you again. You�re a joke.�

I leaped at him and grabbed him by the throat. �Don�t push me, Marco,� I hissed.

He just laughed. �You know, I�m glad about this, at least,� Marco said. �At least David shattered the myth of mighty Rachel. It�s a good thing you did survive, because now you have to live with the fact that you got beaten by David. I guess maybe you�re not Xena, after all. But David may just be Hercules.�

I shoved Marco back and turned away from his mocking laughter.

�Okay, then,� Jake said. �Here�s what I propose to do. I�m going to tell David where he can find the box. One of us will go with him. He�ll probably want that, anyway, so he can be sure it�s not a trap. He�ll probably ask for Cassie. She had the least trouble with him. Speaking of which, Cassie,
you�re the only one who knows where the blue box is hidden.�

�Not to be egotistical or anything, but where I hid it, no one would ever find it. For one thing, I had Ax disassemble it.�

�Say what?� Marco asked. �It breaks down?�

<Of course,> Ax said a little snippily. <It has component parts. Cassie asked me to reduce it to smaller components so that she could hide each piece separately.>

�And so that I could carry the parts in morph,� Cassie said. �Rachel and I -�

�Wait a minute, Rachel knows where it�s hidden, too?� Jake asked, frowning.

Cassie looked embarrassed. �I kind of was scared to hide it where I hid it and not have someone with me. I mean, we had to do rat morphs to get there. And it took several trips because I could only carry small components one at a time.�

Jake laughed. �I should have known if I told you to hide something really well, it�d be hidden where no one would ever find it.�

�Oh, it�s hidden, all right, piece by piece,� I affirmed.

Jake sighed. �Okay, then. I�ll see David-slash-Saddler this evening. I�ll bring him a rat to acquire.�

�That won�t be much of a stretch for David,� Marco said sardonically. �He�s already at least half rat.�

�You�re going to bring him a rat at the hospital?� Cassie asked.

�No, he and his family are at my house,� Jake said. �Nothing�s wrong with him, so the hospital let him go. He�s actually staying in my room. His so-called parents have the guest room, and I�m on the couch.�

�What, you didn�t want to share a room with David?� Marco said.

�I don�t want to share a planet with him,� Jake said. �Although I�ll tell you all one thing. I wish it had worked out with David. Whatever else you can say about him, he�s smart, brave, and ingenious.�

We all nodded in solemn agreement.

Yes, yes, he was smart. But was he smart enough? That we would find out.

You can see they're putting on an act here for David, right? Tobias not being there, Marco mentioning Tobias is dead, Jake going out of his way to complement David....

Chapter 23

quote:

We left the job of contacting David up to Jake.

My job, along with Cassie, Ax, Marco, and Tobias, was to prepare. Preparation involved a lot of work. Hard, physical work.

�You�re sure David was in the barn?� I asked Tobias for about the tenth time.

 Tobias said. <All I can swear is that a golden eagle left Jake�s house. It flew here. It landed behind that old toolshed of Cassie�s. David emerged from the golden eagle. Then he morphed to rattlesnake and was last seen sidewinding toward the barn.>

�Rattlesnake,� Marco said. �Interesting choice.�

�Good choice,� Cassie said. �They fit in. They don�t look out of place in this environment. They are poisonous, have very good senses, move faster than a lot of snakes. If, say, some red-tailed hawk decided to try and eat him, he could use his fangs.�

Tobias laughed. <He�s not worried about red-tails. I�m dead, remember? When he was in eagle morph, he saw me. He just assumed I was an innocent hawk flying around.>

We went back to work. Tobias flew cover, staying up high enough to spot anyone who might be approaching. But we had chosen a pretty deserted area to make our preparations. There wasn�t much chance of anyone surprising us.

And we knew David wasn�t around. Jake had called me to confirm that he was impersonating Saddler and being fawned over and pampered at Jake�s house.

Already, it seemed, David was adapting nicely to the role. His �family� would be taking him home.�

At least the weather is better,� Marco said. �I�d hate to be dealing with rain right now.�

�Yeah, it�s a beautiful day,� I agreed.

<Why do humans consider some days to be better than others?> Ax wondered. <And what, exactly defines a �beautiful� day?>

�Sunshine, no clouds or at least not too many clouds,� I offered. �Warm but not hot. Low humidity, because humidity does bad things to hair.�

<But rain is necessary, is it not? So why do you consider it to be less than beautiful?>

We were chatting away like that as we worked. Chatting almost compulsively. No one wanted time to think. No one wanted to have time to reflect on what we were doing and what it would mean. But of course the reality of it all crept into our conversation here and there, in bits and pieces.

Cassie said, �I feel so sorry for Saddler�s parents.�

�Yeah,� I agreed. �I don�t know how they are going to -�

�Also,� Marco interrupted pointedly, �sunny days are better because on sunny days girls wear shorts and, like, little short dresses or whatever. What do they call them? Those dresses that have, like, straps on top and are usually yellow or whatever?�

�Sundresses?� I suggested.

�See? There you go: sundresses. As in sun. You don�t hear about raindresses. You have raincoats. No one ever says, �Whoa, you look excellent in that raincoat.��

<These are types of artificial skin, I assume,> Ax said.

Even Ax was trying to keep the pointless blather going. Even he didn�t want to think too much about what was happening. What would happen.

Tobias swooped low. he said. <Ax-man? You need to get human if I�m not here to watch over you guys.>

<Yes, I will do that.>

Ax began to morph, changing from blue Andalite to olive-skinned human. Early on, Ax had acquired DNA from Jake, Cassie, Marco, and me in a process that allowed him to meld the DNA strands into one. The morph he was now adopting was a strange, and strangely beautiful, human male.

I could look at him and literally see parts of myself in his face. Parts of the other fully human Animorphs, too.

One big advantage: With Ax in human morph, we wouldn�t have to worry about obsessing over dark possibilities. Ax in human morph kept you busy.

See, Andalites don�t have mouths. They don�t make words and they don�t have a sense of taste.

Those two things have a tendency to overtake Ax�s usual reserve and intelligence.

�These are good hands for working,� Ax said. �Wurrr King. I am wurrr king. With hands-zuh. They are strong. Strong hands-zuh.�

Marco sighed. �Here we go again-uh with the Ax-man doing his Rain Man impersonation.�

I laughed. �Just be glad there�s no chocolate around.�

�Or nachos,� Cassie added.

�Or cinnamon buns,� Marco said.

Ax�s handsome human head snapped around. �Cinnamon buns-zuh?�

�No, no, Ax. I�m pretty sure there aren�t any cinnamon buns-zuh � I mean cinnamon buns � around here.�

At last it was time to add the final piece to our creation. Ax and Marco screwed it into place. Marco tested the moveable part.

�That should work,� he said, looking up at me.

�It better work,� I said. �Because as awful as this is, the only alternative is worse. It has to work. It has to work or we � all of us,� I added with emphasis, �we will have to become killers.�

That last line....I mean, Rachel is worried about her becoming a killer to start with.

Epicurius fucked around with this message at 04:00 on May 18, 2021

# ? May 17, 2021 03:14

Shwoo: Jul 21, 2011

quote:

�I don�t want to share a planet with him,� Jake said. �Although I�ll tell you all one thing. I wish it had worked out with David. Whatever else you can say about him, he�s smart, brave, and ingenious.�

We all nodded in solemn agreement.

Just wanted to express my love for this bit. I don't think it's ever stated if David found this suspicious in particular, but I hope he heard it and just nodded his little rattlesnake head like "Just what I thought they'd be saying."

Their pointless conversation in the next chapter to keep their minds off whatever trap they're laying is also pretty great. Poor kids.

# ? May 17, 2021 12:54

feetnotes: Jan 29, 2008

Seems a bit late to start worrying about killing now. David�s done worse things, intentionally, than however many host body casualties have resulted from their battles with the yeerks. Though I guess I can�t remember them specifically fighting or killing any child hosts.

Actually, thinking about it, the Animorphs justifying killing because �host bodies are an unavoidable casualty� or �it�s just a hork bajir� are pretty close to David�s justification that it�s not a crime to kill an animal. Obviously not quite the same but it�s another interesting aspect of his being their dark reflection.

# ? May 17, 2021 15:01

Crespolini: Mar 9, 2014

Seems like it's done for once David decided to become the cousin. His big advantage before was they didn't know where to find him, now they could just go get him.

# ? May 17, 2021 16:13

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

Killing another person (aliens are persons) is one of the worst things you could possibly do. However considering the amount of things you could possibly do is infinite then all the things that are better or worse are just different infinities so actually killing people is mathematically proven to be ethical.

# ? May 17, 2021 16:18

ANOTHER SCORCHER: Aug 12, 2018

Crespolini posted:

Seems like it's done for once David decided to become the cousin. His big advantage before was they didn't know where to find him, now they could just go get him.

Eh, he's trying to present them with a fait accompli - killing him now means devastating Jake and Rachel's family. David is over-relying on his own perceived genius and the Animorphs good intentions, which seems like a characteristic mistake for him to make.

# ? May 17, 2021 19:25

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

FYI, I'm going to be posting in just a minute, but I realized for whatever reason, I failed to post chapter 21 yesterday, which was a heart to heart between Rachel and Jake. It's been edited into the last book chapters, so if you read that post before now, please double check it.

# ? May 18, 2021 04:02

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Animorphs Book 22-The Solution, Chapter 24

quote:

David had chosen the ground for our meeting. A public place. Somewhere none of us could morph. It was inside a crowded Taco Bell.

Outside, night was falling. The neon signs were on. Most drivers had their lights on. The weather had turned bad again. Nothing like the storm the other night, but dark clouds that brought the night earlier than normal.

Inside it was all blazing lights and plastic seats and kids scarfing soft tacos.

The terms were that each of us had to be visible. But even now we weren�t going to appear to be some kind of clique or whatever. Marco was with Cassie. Ax, in human morph, was with me. Jake loitered around the counter, looking like he couldn�t quite decide what to order.

The bright, public nature of the place was supposed to reassure us, too, I guess. We were supposed to be relaxed, not thinking it could be a trap.

But I�ll tell you something. If Visser Three thought for certain that he could catch the �Andalite Bandits,� as he thought of us, he wouldn�t let the public get in his way. He wouldn�t need to send in the Hork-Bajir. He could machine-gun the place using human-Controllers.

That would have made the news, but no one would have thought it was all that strange. I guess that says something about the condition of the human race, with or without aliens.

I sat there, watching Ax eat. I had started out hungry. But watching Ax tear through tacos, burritos, nachos, refried beans, packets of hot sauce and the bag they all came in � well, that kind of took care of my appetite.

�Spicy, right? This flavor� ver ver� this flavor is called �spicy�?�

�Yeah. Spicy. Hot, too.�

�Yes, it is hot.�

�No, I mean the flavor is hot. So is the temperature � skip it.�

�Skip?�

�Forget it. Let it go. Drop it.�

No sooner were those last words out of my mouth than I regretted them. Ax promptly dropped the container of refried beans he�d been holding. It landed wrong side down on the table.

I didn�t even have the energy to roll my eyes. I just went back to staring at the doors, slowly shifting my gaze from one to the next.

Then there he was. Saddler. David. He swaggered in like he owned the world and everything in it. I so wanted to wipe that smirk off his face. But that wasn�t in the script. My role was to seem chastised, beaten down. Defeated and humiliated. That�s what we figured he�d want. That�s what
would make him happy.

David smirked at Jake. Then he brushed past him and came over to sit down across from me.

�You can leave,� he told Ax. �This is a humans-only section.�

Ax turned his head awkwardly to look at Jake. Jake nodded. Ax got up and left. Jake took his place, sliding in next to David.

�So,� David said, �we meet again, Rachel.�

�Excuse me. I�m not involved in this,� I said. I started to get up to leave.

David reached across and grabbed my arm. �What�s the matter, Rachel? You don�t like me?�

�Rachel�s not involved, David. It�s Cassie who hid the box. She�ll show you where it is.�

�I don�t think so,� David said. �I think Rachel is the guide I want.�

�She doesn�t know the way.�

David laughed. He laughed exactly like Saddler. �That�s a lie. Rachel knows.�

�No, I don�t,� I said weakly.

�Don�t be an idiot, Rachel!� Jake fumed. �David knows. He must have been in the barn.� Jake looked like he was suddenly furious at the beans Ax had left behind. He swiped at them with his hand. A couple of globules of the brown goo landed on my arm.

Jake did not apologize. He just glared at me balefully.

David leaned forward, suddenly all business. �Okay, here�s the deal. Rachel takes me to the box. And all of you will follow, staying back at least a thousand feet.�

�You want us to follow you?� Jake asked incredulously.

�Of course. How else will I know where you are?� Jake made a show of looking confused.

�Rachel will lead me to the blue box. You will each be there, right where I can see you, out of morph. Then Rachel and I go in, get the box, and we all say a tearful farewell. You go on fighting Yeerks, I go get rich.�

Jake nodded.

But I said, �I can�t go in there with him. I don�t trust him! He could -�

�Rachel,� Jake said, dripping disgust, �you know, I always thought there was a coward hiding deep down inside all that tough talk of yours. Just do it. You want to remain an Animorph? You�ll follow orders.�

I nodded, meek and afraid.

David searched my face through Saddler�s eyes. Was he suspicious? Had I overplayed my part?

Then he reached across and smeared the re-fried beans down the sleeve of my shirt. And laughed.

So I did something I don�t do much. I started to cry.

You know she jujst wants to pound him.

Chapter 25

quote:

David and I flew. He was in golden eagle morph, and I was in seagull morph. He kept me out in front. He followed close behind. If he had decided to attack me, I would have been helpless. I was like some little Cessna flying with a 747 behind me.

I led the way to the construction site. The construction site where everything had begun so long ago. Where Elfangor had given us our powers.

It was also the place where David had found the blue box.

<Aaah, yes,> he said. <Of course. The last place I would have looked for it. You put it back where it started out.>

I said nothing. I just flew. Jake, Cassie, Ax, and Marco followed at a distance.

I led the way down to one of the several unfinished buildings. It was just four cinder-block walls with a few doorless doorways. I think it was originally going to be a convenience store before the whole thing got canceled. Or maybe a fast-food place. Who knows? It didn�t matter.

We landed in the center of the open, desolate enclosure. There were beer bottles and Coke cans strewn around. There was construction debris, weathered from long exposure to the elements.

<Stay in morph,> David ordered.

I did what he told me. I saw him begin to change, watching the brown feathers melt into pink flesh and the fabric of his morphing outfit.

I saw the moment when David�s smirk emerged from the long, hooked beak. Glancing up, I saw the others circling overhead, doing as they�d been told. The darkness was spreading. My friends were fuzzy gray shadows against the darker clouds.

�Now, Rachel, now you can demorph. But as soon as you do, I want you to go into the rat morph we�ll both be using.�

I didn�t bother answering. I just did what I was told. As I changed, David said, �You know, Rachel, it�s a shame it worked out this way. I mean, if you weren�t such a harsh person I would have invited you to quit this little gang and hook up with me. Jake doesn�t even know how to use his powers. I mean, come on, who cares if the Yeerks are around? With Animorph powers we can have anything we want.�

I began to change into the rat. It was a morph I�d done once before with Cassie. It was not something I wanted to do again. But David had to believe I had morphed it to help Cassie hide the pieces of the blue box.

I began to shrink. The fast, ever falling, falling, falling shrink you do when you�re getting very small. White fur rippled across my body. Down my arms, up my neck, down my back, itching against my outer clothing.

The concrete floor was rushing up at me. All the barely visible cracks and crevices in the concrete now looked like ditches and dried creek beds. The empty beer bottles loomed as big as buses. My own legs were shrinking, becoming stubby, squat, shuffling things. My arms did the same. I could no longer stand. I fell forward.

I shriveled and shrank and became hideous as David seemed to grow ever more huge. He was a monster a million miles tall!

My face bulged out impossibly far, narrowing down to a sniffing pink nose. My ears crawled up the side of my head. And from the base of my spine I felt the distant, numbed sensation of the long, hairless, ugly tail sprouting.

David began to morph, but I could not make it out for a while. Not till I saw the diamond patterned scales ripple and replace his skin. Then his arms and legs began to dwindle away to smoke, and I knew for sure.

He was morphing the rattlesnake.

He was smaller and smaller, but as he morphed, he slithered his coils around me. Brown and tan and black coils looped around me, a fence twice, three times my height.

Sliding over the coils, the head appeared. A forked tongue as long as I was whipped out, tasted the air, and shot back in.

<One wrong move, Rachel,> David said. <Just one wrong move �> Then in �loud� thoughtspeak, he told the others to come down.

Down they came, spiraling through the last gasp of sunlight to land atop the walls that surrounded us. A falcon, a harrier, two ospreys. All deadly enemies of a rat.

<Now, all four of you demorph. One wrong move and I bite this rat here.>

He opened his fleshy jaws, revealed the hollow, poison-delivering teeth, and moved to within an inch of me.

I knew the rat was fast. But not faster than a striking rattler. I was completely and entirely in his power. And I was afraid.

I was afraid. But the rat, surrounded by birds of prey and with its ancestral enemy the snake just a breath away, was in a state of shrieking terror.

It's not murder if you kill a rat.

# ? May 18, 2021 04:08

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

That previous chapter, the heart-to-heart, is something else. It's impressive that Jake respects Rachel enough to be straight with her that way.

Also that it pretty much says word for word what happens to them both at the end of the war.

Also wow David, power tripping much?

# ? May 18, 2021 04:43

Acebuckeye13: Nov 2, 2010; Ultra Carp

So obviously, David is a jerk, and the books try to lay it on really thick so that his ultimate fate feels justifiable. But reading between the lines, it's also not hard to see exactly how and why the Animorphs failed him�not just because of David's selfishness, but, in a sense, because of their own.

See, David is one of those kids who is genuinely smart and resourceful, but thinks way too highly of himself as a consequence, and doesn't understand the difference between succeeding through his own merits and merely getting lucky. He's also probably used to doing things for himself�we don't know a whole lot about his home life, but presumably with both parents working, his dad constantly traveling, and no real friends, he probably grew up mostly alone and finding ways to take care of/entertain himself. He's not used to relying on others, and as part of the Animorphs clearly resents having to do so.

But while he's obviously selfish and self-interested, what Jake and the rest of the Animorphs never try to do is make use of his selfishness. Consider how Jake deals with Rachel across the last two books�he knows her, he knows what motivates her, and when the time comes he doesn't hesitate to use her against David. And elsewhere in the series, Jake has been able to clearly identify the strengths and weaknesses of the rest of the team, and tries put them in the best positions to accomplish the mission�and has also known when to look the other way when someone slips up or goes rogue.

With David though, Jake is all stick, and no carrot. He expects David to adhere to a rigid moral standard, to follow his orders, to hold his poo poo together in life-or-death combat situations... all for the exciting life of living in a barn, as a fugitive, so he can help fight against a seemingly unstoppable alien threat. It's no wonder that he wants to run out and make a deal instead of fighting�The Animorphs have barely given him a reason to fight.

It's easy to see alternatives where things could have gone better. Letting the B&E with the hotel room slide, for instance�the damage was already done, and giving the kid a night to sleep on a real bed and watch some TV would have probably gone over better than moralizing about how the Animorphs don't use their powers to commit crimes (itself blatant hypocrisy considering the literal dozens of crimes they've committed, both during and outside of missions). But more importantly, and most cruelly, the Animorphs blatantly ignore David's clearest desire: to get his parents back. Had Jake said from the very start "Look, poo poo sucks, but if you can put up with it just long enough for us to get through this mission, we'll do everything we can to free your parents," David probably would have gone along with that! But Jake never offers that carrot, nobody even mentions Kandrona starvation, and David (Quite reasonably) gets it into his own head that the only way he can get his parents back is by dealing with Visser Three.

Unfortunately for the Animorphs, this is where their own selfishness comes back to haunt them. Each of them is fighting for a reason�Jake for Tom, Marco for his parents, Rachel for revenge, Cassie for the earth, Ax for his people, and Tobias for Elfangor. But in a sense, they're also dependent on the status quo�they'll fight to disrupt the Yeerks, but they're extremely hesitant to disrupt their own lives and living situations, especially when it comes to putting their family members at risk. So when it comes to helping David... they don't. They tell him to put the mission first and forget his family, even as they keep their own families as their top priority, and he obviously resents them for it.

This didn't have to turn out the way it did. But for it to go any other way, the Animorphs needed to do two things: They needed to trust David and put his needs above their own, and they needed to give him a personal reason to fight. And they never did.

# ? May 18, 2021 19:03

WrightOfWay: Jul 24, 2010

They really, really should have asked Erek if David could stay with the Chee. Having a real home would do so much for David's well being and mental state.

# ? May 18, 2021 19:19

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

Poor David. If he'd shown up anytime other than during the biggest, most dangerous and highest stakes mission they'd ever done, it might have gone differently.

# ? May 18, 2021 19:27

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

WrightOfWay posted:

They really, really should have asked Erek if David could stay with the Chee. Having a real home would do so much for David's well being and mental state.

I like how our standard solution to all the Animorphs' problems is, "Why don't we send these people to stay with the immortal isolationist secretive androids who don't really like humanity that much and are paranoid about people finding out about their identity?"

# ? May 18, 2021 19:33

disaster pastor: May 1, 2007

Acebuckeye13 posted:

Had Jake said from the very start "Look, poo poo sucks, but if you can put up with it just long enough for us to get through this mission, we'll do everything we can to free your parents," David probably would have gone along with that! But Jake never offers that carrot, nobody even mentions Kandrona starvation, and David (Quite reasonably) gets it into his own head that the only way he can get his parents back is by dealing with Visser Three.

Jake doesn't do this because it's so unrealistic he'd effectively be lying, and intentionally giving the new kid false hope would be horrific. Kandrona starvation only worked in Jake's case because there was no way for the Yeerks to know either that Jake was a new host or that Jake's Yeerk wasn't boiled like the others; the Animorphs got him out before the Yeerk took control and then immediately set about starving it out.

David's parents, on the other hand, are not only known Controllers taken in a high-profile mission, they're probably within Visser Three's sight almost constantly right now. The team would have to find them, kidnap them without harming them (well, harming them further; David's father can only count to nine on his fingers thanks to Ax), get them away safely, keep them hidden for up to three days, and the end result is... they have to go into hiding, from an alien force specifically looking for them, and they can never be taken alive again. Maybe you can give them the morphing ability and put them on the team, but you're probably loving the dynamics up even further by adding two adults whose son is also a member.

The Animorphs were in an impossible situation. Strategically (not morally!), the only reasonable thing to do was to kill David themselves, and there was no way they'd do that. The other alternative was to leave him for the Yeerks, which risked pointing them directly at Marco. So they tried to take a third option by adding him to the team, and as it turns out, he's trash and it's not going to work.

Epicurius posted:

I like how our standard solution to all the Animorphs' problems is, "Why don't we send these people to stay with the immortal isolationist secretive androids who don't really like humanity that much and are paranoid about people finding out about their identity?"

Not only can I not imagine David getting along with the Chee, let alone considering their basement "a real home," I also can't imagine the Chee agreeing to house the Yeerks' most-wanted human knowing that their secret is forever hosed if he gets caught.

# ? May 18, 2021 19:38

WrightOfWay: Jul 24, 2010

The Chee might not agree but its worth asking! And living in the land of dogs is a hell of a lot better than sleeping in a barn and hiding out in the woods or whatever during the day.

# ? May 18, 2021 20:04

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

I bet David doesn't even like dogs.

# ? May 18, 2021 20:14

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# ? May 26, 2024 11:32

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

I bet David doesn't even like dogs.

Jake: Erek, we need the Chee's help.
Erek: Of course, Jake. Anything.
Jake: We need the Chee to take in a kid named David. His parents have been taken by the Yeerks and they're hunting him.
Erek: I see. Well, I'd like to do it, but I need to talk to the rest of the Chee first. You understand how much we value our privacy, so him staying with us and learning our secret is a big thing to ask.
Jake: Well, actually I was wondering if it would be possible for you to find him somewhere else to hide. That would maintain your secrecy, and, well, David doesn't really like dogs.
Erek: Never contact me or any other Chee again, Jake!

# ? May 18, 2021 20:26

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

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