Animorph Successors

[Cloudbreaker]

Ben had a smile on his face as they made their way to the food court.  He was glad that everyone seemed to get along reasonably well despite having just met. 

While he stood in line at the Cinnabon Ben tried to come up with a good way to explain his plan to them, but was having a hard time doing so.  After setting down a heaping tray of cinnamon buns down on their table, he decided it would probably be best to get it over with quickly.  Like pulling off a bandage.

"I suppose you are all wondering what I wanted to talk to you about."  Ben took a bite out of a cinnamon bun as he looked from one face to another.  Then, lowering his voice, he continued.  "I- I want to start a new group of animorphs.  And I would like the four of you to be members."

Ben quickly looked around to see if anyone else had been eavesdropping and made a motion with his hands for the others to keep quiet any reactions they might have.  Ben was so nervous at the moment that he was starting to sweat.

[Darth Revan]

Garrett had taken a seat and started into a bun once Ben let go of the tray. When he let loose his plans, Garrett froze; mouth open and the bun was halfway in his mouth. Garrett took a bite and threw his voice so he wouldn't have to talk with his mouth wide open. "You want to what? Dude, the war is over. What exactly are we supposed to fight?"

[Terenia]

Raya, declining to eat anything, had taken a seat next to Garrett. When Ben revealed his plans she does not react immediately, except to become very, very still as she has a rapid internal conversation.

<He's insane,> Raya hissed.

<Maybe not,> Marisol said, <hear him out.>

<No. Why should I listen to some half-baked former Controller who wants to play hero?>

<It may help your cause,> Marisol said calmly, <it's not as though we are making much progress on our own.>

Raya exhaled, a breath she hardly knew she had been holding, and pushed her beret back so that she could fix Ben with a steady gaze.

"A new group of Animorphs," she repeated, remembering vividly several times when she herself had been in the presence of the 'Andalite bandits', "I'm afraid I have to second Garrett's question. What, exactly, would we be fighting? The war is over. The Yeerks lost, humans won, everybody's happy."

Raya struggled not to sound too bitter at that last sentence. She couldn't afford to reveal who - what - she truly was.

[Cloudbreaker]

"That's just it.  The yeerks lost.  Not everyone is happy."  Ben momentarily pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to think of a good way to explain what he was getting at.

"I assume you have watched the news at least occasionally during the last six years.  So surely you have seen reports of ant-yeerk groups.  Those people who seek out yeerk nothlits, their supporters, etc.  Humans may have been saved from the yeerks, but who is going to save the yeerks from the humans?"

Ben looked over at Chad.  "Chad, you are already helping your former yeerk controller, am I right?  Sadly, I was unable to help Kopak 452 before one of the ant-yeerk groups got to him.  But I want to make it up to Kopak, and the other members of the Yeerk Peace Movement that helped humans in our moment of weakness.  It is the least I can do.  But I can't do it alone..."

[Darth Revan]

Garrett continues to eat and talk using his ventriliquism technique, "Well, it's not like the anti-Yeerk groups are out in the streets marching around and storming peoples homes. I mean, it's more like what the KKK was in the 30s. How do you suppose we find these people?"

[KitsuneMarie]

Ertoran, who had taken a seat beside Ben, was watching him with interest, although not with quite enough to keep her from enjoying her cinnamon bun to the fullest. After she was done eating, she used her fork to scrape every last drop of sugary icing from the cardboard--which she had learned (the hard way) to never eat--and nibbling it from the plastic. Even after her fork was clean, she kept it in her mouth, her gaze having a hard time avoiding what was left of the others' cinnamon buns.

With quite a bit of difficulty, she forced herself to put down her fork. Speaking softly, she murmured, "I am not sure, but this cause is just. The Yeerks have been forced through a cultural genocide of sorts, and yet the cruelty towards them has not yet ceased."

[Darth Revan]

At first glance, Tora looked like a whack or a spook. After hearing her actually speak, he realized she wasn't weird, well she was, but she was brilliant. Changing his demeanor completely, he asked with admoration, "You know, no one ever talks like that anymore. It's a shame. Kind of reminds me of my brother. He always talked that way too."

[Terenia]

Raya listened to Ben's explanation in complete astonishment. She let Garrett and Ertoran take over the conversation briefly, as she was unsure how to respond.

<See?> Marisol said smugly, <they want to help you.>

Raya did not respond to her host, she was a bit too shocked, her brain racing with the possibilities. Finally, she took a deep breath and addressed the group in a low whisper.

"You want to help the Yeerks?" she said slowly, "Despite the fact that they spent years trying to enslave and destroy humans? Despite the fact that they would have destroyed Earth itself, if given the chance? Why? Why do you care about what happens to your former captors?"

<That's not the nicest way to accept their offer...> Marisol commented.

<I have to make sure they're serious,> Raya said, <I'm not getting my hopes up just yet. This could be a trap. Maybe they found out about us somehow.>

[Chad32]

Chad was quick to grab a cinnamon bun, as he loved sweets, but stopped when Ben talked about starting a group. He even mentioned Chad helping his Yeerk. After collecting his thoughts, he spoke.

"Look man. The only thing keeping the anti Yeerk KKK wannabes from storming my house and taking Temrash is that they know I can hunt them down andthere's no way they'd know it was me. If I get caught doin something illegal like this, and get locked up, my neighbors will drag him out and kill him. There's a saferoom in the house that he can run to if something happens, but that only helps until I come back from work or whatever."

"I sympathize with the Yeerks who didn't want to conquer the galaxy. The ones who were forced into the war because saying no to their Visser meant Kandrona starvation. But I know if something happens to me, Temrash will die. I'm the only one he can depend on."

(I'm playing Chad out as the Marco of the group.)

[KitsuneMarie]

Ertoran blinked at Garrett's words and offered as explanation, "I read frequently."

As Chad spoke, she turned her head to watch him. "Sometimes success requires personal sacrifice. The Animorphs, if we truly are using them as a model, displayed this time and again."

Abruptly, she glanced at Raya. "May I have your cinnamon bun if you are not going to eat it?" She could not resist its overpowering smell any longer.

[Darth Revan]

Garrett's eyes narrowed as Marisol was talking, "Wait, what do you mean, 'your former captors'? Are... are you still a controller? Wow, you have some stones coming here. Ha-ha."

He then replied to Tora, "Yeah, Jack liked to read a lot too. Never went outside for anything. I always told him there was a whole world out there to experience, but he always replied, 'There's a whole world in here too.' Kid loved to read."

[Cloudbreaker]

Ben laughed at Garrett's joke.  At least he thought it was a joke.  It wasn't as if Marisol actually could still be a controller.  They were all made into nothlits!

But Ben had more important things to think about.  Like why the two people he figured would be most likely to help him were the two who seemed the most reluctant.  Not that he didn't expect that it would take a bit of convincing for them to agree to help.

"Marisol.  I want to help the yeerks despite their... negative qualities, because it is the right thing to do and nobody else is doing it.  At least not effectively.  And not all yeerks were 'bad.'  Not all yeerks deserve what has been handed to them.  That is why I care."

"And Chad, if Temrash is your only real reason for being reluctant to join, maybe I can help out there.  When my father passed away, rest his soul, he left me most of his assets.  So we could probably arrange for a bodyguard to be hired or find a secluded retreat for him or something.  I'm not sure.  But we can work something out."

"So, what do you guys say?  Are any of you up for it?"  Ben looked from face to face then stretched his hand out so it was resting over the center of the table like he was about to make a pact.

[Terenia]

Raya looked down at her untouched cinnamon bun as though noticing it for the first time. Wordlessly, she pushed it in Ertoran's direction, thinking that eating right now would be a bit like munching on cardboard. She was about to respond to Chad's situation when Garrett spoke, correctly guessing their circumstances. Immediately Raya flushed bright red, realizing her error.

<Smooth,> Marisol said.

"Of course I'm not a Controller," Raya whispered quickly, as soon as Ben finished speaking, "Like Ben said, all the Yeerks are nothlits now. The ones that are left are being hunted down by government agents. If I were a Controller I'd be completely mad to be wandering around in broad daylight like this."

<That's about right,> Marisol quipped.

<Quiet,> Raya said indignantly, <I don't know if I can trust these people. If they find out about us your life is in as much danger as mine.>

Eager to change the topic, Raya pursed her lips, as though carefully considering Ben's offer.

"Alright, I'm in," she said, throwing Marisol's voice to sound as reluctant as possible, "the Yeerks need someone to speak out for them, I guess. This is...a very dangerous undertaking, though."

[Chad32]

"We would appreciate having someone else around we could trust. We've just been paranoid that we'd pick the wrong person. I guess if you can make easier arrangements, then I'm in. I'm tired of having to worry every day, and I know he is too. Not to mention the other nothlits in his situation."

"But first we have to figure out how to defeat them. They're Humans from tis planet, so it's not like they don't belong here. Plus as far as I know they don't have a main base or organization to attack. They just gather at churches talking about how aliens shouldn't exist because their book doesn't mention it, or meet in private homes."

[KitsuneMarie]

Ertoran slid the cinnamon bun from across the table and immediately dug in, once again, scraping all the icing and glaze from the cardboard container and her plastic fork before she was satisfied. She studied Raya as she ate, attempting to read her human body language, which suggested that she was indeed still a Controller. She was surprised that any Yeerk had managed to survive without Kandrona for so long.

"I, too, will join you, Ben," she said as she licked her lips, not wanting to waste some of the precious sugar on a napkin, even though she knew humans considered her actions rude. "This is a cause I support."

Glancing to Garrett, she gave him a smile for the first time. "It is true: literature is fascinating. So what is your stance in all of this?" she asked, gesturing to those at the table--then licking a finger as the gesture made her notice a dab of icing on it.