March 11, 2011
San Diego, California
11:10 pm
Team #31 - Demos' POV
“Um....Are you sure you have it pinned down hard enough” Cody asked, nervously
<Yes! Now hurry up and acquire it!> I said as I lay on top of the large cat
Cody gulped and held his hand out in front of the bobcat.
“RRRRRRRRRRRWOOW!”
“AH!” Cody yelled, backing away from the it.
“Stop being such a baby and touch the damn thing!” Jess demanded, safely behind a fence separating her and the others from the faux bobcat habitat.
“Yeah Cody!” Blue chimed in “It's bad enough you guys took forever to even find the cat! Just walk up and touch it! It's not that hard.”
“Well if it's so easy, why don't you come over here and do it!?” Cody asked
“I already did. We're waiting on you and Jess.”
<Uh..no hurry or anything but this guy is starting to scratch and...it kinda hurts>
Not sure how this happened, I could have sworn I put all my weight on this thing's back so it couldn't move. But somehow it rolled over on it's back so our faces were literally inches away from each other and then it started to claw and bite at my face and shoulders.
<AAAAH> I yelled in my head while, at the same time, letting out a painful roar with my bear mouth <CODY! HURRY THE F--- UP!>
Startled by both my roar and the bobcat's, Cody fell backwards, landing on his butt. The color was slowly draining out of his face as he looked the snarling cat in the eyes right before it sank its teeth into my nose.
<CODY! I'M GONNA KILL IT IF YOU DON'T GET OVER HERE IN 3...2....>
“AAAAAAAAH!” Cody yelled, leaping at the bobcat, grabbing it by the ears and acquiring it while, at the same time, pulling it's head away from my face.
Now normally, that would have been a very dangerous and VERY stupid thing to do. But lucky for both of us, even the most vicious and bloodthirsty animals become docile when they're DNA is being acquired. The bobcat made a soft purring noise as Cody laid it's head softly on the ground.
“You can get up now” he said “As long as I have my hands on it, it should stay calm.”
I did as he said and hopped off of the bobcat. As soon as I stood upright, I felt a rush of blood run down my face. I tried my best to rub it out of my eyes but my clawed hands made it hard for me to do that without accidentally scratching myself.
<Ok> I said while demorphing <You already know the drill, right? When you let go of the bobcat's ears you gotta run like hell!>
“Yeah” He said “I know”
“Seriously once you let go, that trance wont last any more than 10 seconds” I reminded him, now some sick bear/human abomination “You remember how Sealie almost didn't make it right? And I'm pretty sure that's faster than her's so you gotta freakin' book it! Seriously that thing will kill you!”
“You aren't helping!” Cody snapped
“Ok! Ok! Sorry. Just letting you know” And on that note, I ran as fast as I could to the others and gave Cody an encouraging “thumbs-up” once I was safely behind the fence separating us from that beast.
“You think he'll make it?” Sealie asked
“I don't know...that is a freakin bobcat” Blue said
“You got away just fine. And I'm pretty sure your battle morph is faster than a bobcat” Jess reminded him
“....I guess I got lu...”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!”
“Oh! Look he's doing it!” Sealie cheered
We watched as Cody sprinted toward us. He was halfway there when the bobcat snapped out of its trance and chased after him.
“Come on Cody!” I yelled “Just a little more”
BAM!
He hit the gate, separating us from the bobcat, so hard that he fell over. Meanwhile, the cat was getting closer with each passing second.
“CLIMB!” Jess screamed
Cody scrambled to his feet and started climbing up the gate the bobcat had finally reached him and jumped up to swipe his claws against his prey. Luckily, Cody was high enough for the cat's paw to miss his foot by a mere few inches. He continued to climb the 12 foot gate until he reached the other side, where we caught him when he jumped off, like the others did for me.
“That....that...Ohmygod!” Cody said between gasps for air, before falling on his side
“C'mon! We gotta keep moving.” Jess said
After I helped Cody up, we made our way to the last exhibit so we could fine Jess' battle morph. We made our way to African grasslands replica to find what she was looking for.
“Why are we back here?” Blue asked “Don't you think we woulda found it while we were getting my morph?”
“No. Yours doesn't hang around water like mine does.” Jess said, pointing to a makeshift waterhole, occupied by sleeping flamingos, and antelopes
“Well I don't see it.”
“It's probably sleeping in the water” She claimed, climbing the tall fence separating us from the fake habitat “Coming, Demos?”
“Yeah yeah. I'm coming” I answered, following Jess
As we made our way to the waterhole, while carefully avoiding any animals that might be sleeping (or hunting) in the tall grass, I went back to my black bear morph. The animal Jess had in mind wasn't normally violent but it's no pushover either. We'd be in a lot of trouble if we were to accidentally provoke it.
“Well....we're here” Jess said nervously “....You go first...you know 'cause....bear's like the water.....”
<Whatever> I said, walking into the cold water till it went up to my waist, while making sure I didn't wake up anything that might be sleeping in this....lake....wat
erhole.....? Whatever, we're gonna call it a lake. <Come on, Jess. The water's fine....just don't step on anything....>
“How about you find the thing first?” Jess suggested “No use going in and it's not even there.”
I sighed <And how am I supposed to find it?>
“No idea”
Wanting to get out of here as fast as possible, I took a deep breath and plunged myself under the water. Bears may be able to swim but their sight underwater is about as good as a human's. I could see stuff but it was all blurred. The only things I could make out were the fish and the sandy bottom of the lake.
<I don't think it's here> I told Jess even though I wouldn't be able to hear her answer
I stood up straight and began to walk out of the water wen my clawed toes suddenly struck something...leather
y? I tried to pull my foot out of whatever it was but my claws were in there pretty good. With no choice left, I quickly yanked it out.
“What the hell was that?” I thought
I put my face underwater to see what I got my foot caught in but the minute my eyes hit the water, they were met by nothing but...red?...blood? The only thing I could see was a hue gray blob and it was....moving...
<Oh my God!> I said, standing upright again and making my way out of here
SNAP!
“ROOOOOOOOOAR” I bellowed as something long and sharp sank itself into my arm
<Jess....I think I found it>
The last thing I heard was Jess' scream before the hippo, with its teeth firmly latched onto my arm, jerked its head back, taking me underwater with it. My first instinct was to swipe my paw across the beast's face. Unfortunately, being underwater slowed down my movements, I struck the hippo but it wasn't hard enough to do any real damage. The bear's lungs weren't built for being underwater for long periods of time and all the struggling I was doing was helping my situation. My vision started to blur even more than it already was and my head felt like it was on fire. Air! I needed air! Without thinking, I breathed in a bunch of water.
“Oh God!” I thought
“Is this really how I'm gonna die? Drowned by a hippo just because so somebody else can pet it?”I couldn't stay conscious any longer. As I blacked out I listened to the peaceful sounds of the lake, what I thought would be the last sounds I'd ever hear.
Until......
“RWERRRRRRRRRRRROW!”
Before completely blacking out, I caught a flash of yellow zoom past my eyes and felt one final, painful, tug at my arm.
“Ben.....Hey....Wake up! BEN!”
My eyes slowly opened. I saw Jess standing over me, tears falling off her face and on to my snout. I looked at what used to be my left arm. All that was left was a blood stump. It was gone but at least I was alive. Alive and....still a bear...? Still a bear!?
<Jess! How long have I been out?> I panicked
“Settle down” I heard a familiar voice say “You've only been unconscious for half an hour”
<B...Blue?>
He smiled “The one and only.”
<Wha...what happened?> I asked, while demorphing
“After the hippo dragged you under, I screamed for help” Jess explained “Even if the others heard me, I didn't think they'd be able to make it until it was already too late. Thank God, Blue was already on his way down to meet us.”
“Yeah. I came to tell you guys that there was an actual hippo exhibit around the corner. It would have been a lot easier and safer if you had just gone there.”
<Wait...the hippo. Jess did you....>
“Yeah.I got it. Blue beat it up pretty bad to get it off of you. I had to acquire it before it died.” Jess answered, pointing to the dead hippo at the edge of the lake. I shuddered at the sight of my arm still in its mouth.
Once I was fully demorphed, I thanked Blue and the three of us got the hell out of there. After climbing the fence back into the zoo, we saw Sealie and Cody sitting cross legged on the ground, playing what looked like poker but with animal faces on the cards.
“Where'd you get those?” I asked
“We took 'em from the gift shop” Cody said, casually
“You stole them?” Jess asked, with a hint of outrage in her voice
“Oh don't get all preachy” I laughed “We just murdered a hippo”
“You guys killed it!?” Sealie asked
“Well Blue did but I acquired it before it died”
“I thought we agreed not to leave a trail of dead animals” Cody sighed
“Well it's not like I had a choice. The thing was drowning Demos.” Blue said, defending himself
“Whatever. Just don't be surprised when this catches the Yeerks' attention. Now let's hurry up and get out of here before we kill something else.”
