Animorphs Enter the Beast Wars

[Gaz]

15) IN TARANTULAS’ LAB:

Tarantulas was still hard at work in his lab. Whatever weapon had been used, the time machine was badly damaged and was taking quite a bit of work and effort to try and repair it.

“With the help of this time machine,” Tarantulas said, “I can finally escape this hideous planet!”

It was at that moment that Tarantulas made a startling discovery. Underneath a damaged panel was something that looked all too familiar to Tarantulas. Carefully removing the chip, he placed it on a scanner and said, “Computer, analyze this.”

There was a brief pause before a readout appeared and the female voice of the computer replied in a calm, even tone, “Device is Predicon in design.”

“What?!” Tarantulas exclaimed. “How is that possible?”

Yet, as he continued to analyze the device, more and more Predicon technology surfaced along with technology that must have belonged to the aliens. It had been integrated into the overall structure, which was Predicon. Perhaps that was why the device had malfunctioned, the two technologies were not compatible. Yet, how had those aliens gotten their hands on Predicon technology to begin with?

Suddenly, a thought came to him and he dug in his computer files for a project forgotten until recently. On the screen was a file that no one else had ever seen, especially not Megatron. It was the schematics for a Time Travel Device that Tarantulas had conceived of before he was bent on getting a stasis pod to use as an escape ship. Once that idea had come about, the Time Travel Device had fallen by the wayside.

Though, maybe the Time Travel Device had not stayed buried in his computer after all. All the Predicon components of the device matched up with the ones he had listed in his schematic. Again, the question of how that was possible arose.

But wait, it said in the schematic that there ought to be a record of usage somewhere in the workings of the Device. If that had been finished, hopefully the weapon fire had not damaged it too severely. It was the only way for Tarantulas to ever really discover what had happened.

[Gaz]

16) THE CONTROLLERS REGROUP AND VISSER THREE ENTERS:

What remained of the controllers raced after the cheetah and was preparing to open fire when the cheetah began to change. The paws hardened into hooves. At the same time both the legs and tail stretched out. A wicked blade sprouted from the end of the tail, which began to whip around in irritation. A torso grew, while the head changed shape. Very soon an all too familiar figure stood before them. He radiated pure evil, and though the form was Andalite, they knew where they evil came form.

“V-Visser Three!” Robert exclaimed.

What did you think you were doing? Visser Three demanded.

No one had dared asked where Visser Three had been. And no one was entirely quick to answer his question. Eventually Robert stepped forward to speak for the group.

“Visser,” he said, “we were attempting to retrieve the Time Travel Device from the things who stole it.”

That was a foolish move. Visser Three said. Did you not think to wait? The Andalite Bandits also need the Time Device. We will wait until they try and attack, and when those things are distracted we will go and steal the Time Device back.

Robert swallowed nervously. It was such an obvious plan, one that had the Time Device and the Andalite Bandits in the same place at the same time. But the overwhelming feeling of power that Robert had felt when he was temporarily “in charge” had greatly clouded his judgment. At that moment he was feeling a great deal of relief for the situation because if there had not been so few of them left, Visser Three would no doubt have…

Before Robert even knew what was happening, his head was no longer attached to his body, and the Visser was wiping his tail blade on the grass. The others looked on nervously, not wanting to move or say anything. They all knew what this had to mean, Visser Three had been following them in morph and watching them. He had seen Robert take the opportunity to be in charge and the fact that his plan did not work out well.

We wait, Visser Three said.

[Gaz]

17) MARCO:

Marco again. I had told Jake right from the start how insane this mission was. And there we were in a space ship with robots that turned into animals! Minus Jake, I might add. We had yet to make any moves to try and find him. Rachel was getting more frustrated by the moment. Cassie was starting to get more than a little anxious herself.

Rachel wouldn’t like to hear me say it, but I was starting to think we needed those robot guys. So far they hadn’t done anything to us, they seemed all right. Though I still wasn’t sure I totally trusted them, I know Rachel didn’t. After a while I got bored and started matching up the personalities of the Maximals with our own.

Rhinox seemed to match up with Ax and Cassie. Ax because he sounded like he was pretty smart technology-wise, and Cassie because he seemed pretty gentle as well.

Dinobot seemed like the robotic soul mate for Rachel. He was a fighter to the core, just like our own Xena: Warrior Princess. He seemed to trust us as much as Rachel trusted them.

Rattrap seemed like my kind of guy, sarcastic and wisecracking.

Optimus seemed a lot like Jake, the responsible leader that tried to hold it all together. Which was what we needed because the Animorphs were hardly functioning as a group. Rachel kept pushing for us to “take some action” while Cassie reminded us how she hated being in charge like that. Me? I’m not the leader type.

Before I could analyze any more personalities, Optimus decided it was time to switch into ?“leader mode”. Meaning, he stood up straight and tried to sound responsible. Which wasn’t too hard, I mean, from what I could tell he was one of the most responsible of the group.

He gave a quick recap of the situation, as if we really would have forgotten. I mean, how do you forget that robots stole a Time Machine made by the Yeerks? It was exactly as ridiculous as it sounded.

“Why do we need to talk about what to do?” Rachel demanded. “Let’s just go battle morph and go over there!”

We’re not familiar with the Predicons, Tobias reminded her. Is it possible that Visser Three and this Megatron would join up?

Visser Three would not join forces with anyone unless there was something to gain, Ax said. He does not even tolerate being around Visser One.

“And they’re on the same side,” I commented. “Ax-man is right. They both want the Time Machine, they wouldn’t join up with each other.”

“Megatron is the same way,” Dinobot commented. “Unless there was something to be gained, he wouldn’t do it.”

Rachel was still pacing angrily. I could tell she wanted to go out there and do some damage to the yeerks, or anything, really bad.

“Hey, calm down,” Cheetor said. That was a bad move on his part. I’m just glad it was him instead of me, for once. Usually when Rachel was mad it was at me.

“As long as we’re in here and not looking for my cousin, I will not calm down!” Rachel yelled in Cheetor’s face. She turned to glare at Optimus. “You wanna know why I still don’t trust you? It’s cuz we’re in here, and not out there!”

Rachel, said Tobias privately to us Animorphs, getting mad isn’t going to help. We need to have calm minds.

Tobias is correct, said Ax. I wish to find Prince Jake as well, but it would be wise to have a plan.

“Well, then start making one,” Rachel snarled.

[Gaz]

18) INTRUDER:

Tarantulas was hard at work in his lab analyzing parts from the time machine still. Suddenly there was a voice behind him at the entrance to his lab. He was startled for a brief second, and then he was annoyed. Why did that she-witch always have to come down when he was working on something important? Something that could potentially help him escape the wretched planet they were trapped on.

“What are you working on now, tall, dark and gruesome?” a silky voice asked.

“You know what I’m working on,” Tarantulas snipped. “What do you want down here?”

“Take it easy,” Black Arachnia said. “I just came down to talk. I’m curious to know what you’ve learned about the aliens.”

Tarantulas knew she was not to be trusted. At the drop of a hat she could turn on him if things did not go her way. Then again, she was not so different from himself. So, time and time again, he let her in on his plans even though the outcome was predictable. Besides, he liked having someone to gloat to, someone who could appreciate his genius in some way.

“I just want to be sure you do not go running to Megatron with whatever information you happen to gather,” he said, still not looking at her.

“You know I wouldn’t do that,” Black Arachnia replied, pretending to be insulted. “Eventually he’ll come down here himself. Do you really think he’d forget about something like this?”

She had a point. Something as big as a time travel machine would not likely slip Megatron’s memory. He probably already had plans to go back in time and alter the Beast Wars. Or perhaps go back and alter more than just that.

“Many of the base components of the device are predicon in origin,” Tarantulas explained. “The aliens added some of their own technology to finish it.”

“That probably explains why it backfired,” Black Arachnia mused. “The components weren’t compatible.”

Tarantulas realized suddenly why he divulged his plans to Black Arachnia every time she came knocking.

“But how did they get their hands on predicon technology?” she asked.

Tarantulas hesitated a moment before saying, “I searched my databases and the predicon components match the ones from a schematic in my database.”

“So this is one of your creations!” Black Arachnia exclaimed. “But how did they get their hands on it?”

“I’m not sure,” Tarantulas said. “I haven’t even started building such a device yet. In fact, until now, I had forgotten the plans were in my computer.”

Tarantulas was still working as he talked. He had been about to examine what powered the time machine when Black Arachnia had walked in. Slowly he lifted away the panel and saw, to his surprise, what was powering the machine.

“Energon?!” Black Arachnia exclaimed. “You used energon to power this thing? No wonder it was so unstable. Those aliens probably don’t know what energon is.”

“I’m as surprised as you are,” Tarantulas admitted. “Energon was never part of my original schematics. In fact, after a while I dismissed the idea and never got around to figuring out what the power source would be.”

Black Arachnia leaned in to help, they were both so absorbed in what they were doing that neither one noticed a small light blinking on a computer console on the other side of the lab.

This alert did not go unnoticed by someone else. Megatron was sitting in front of a computer watching the spiders. He was glad he had decided to rig a camera in Tarantulas’ lab. Otherwise he would not have gotten the full truth from Tarantulas later.

Just then a blinking light brought his attention away from the video feed. Megatron brought up the security read out, and that had his undivided attention. Something had triggered a silent alarm, but it was not showing up on the screen. So that meant it was neither a Predicon nor a Maximal. It must have been something organic, but how did it get into the ship?

Scorpanok and Waspinator were the closest units to the alarm that had been tripped. Chances were that what ever had set it off was still in that general area.

[Gaz]

19) JAKE:

I was getting to the point where I thought I should find my way out. Being James Bond didn’t seem to be bringing me any results. I was starting to think that I should find my way out and locate the others.

Rachel was probably throwing a fit and Cassie was probably worried sick. After I got back to the others we could come back and hopefully make a more successful search than I had done.

“A human!” a voice screamed from the end of the hallway. I whipped around and saw one of the robots from earlier. The purple one with the claws was glaring at me and probably getting ready to race down the hall at me.

The dilemma at the moment was whether or not to risk morphing. It was probably better not to, no telling whether or not these things had had any contact with the Yeerks yet. The only chance I had now was to run down the hall and find a secluded spot before the purple robot caught up with me. How fast could robots run? It was about time to find out.

I turned to run down the hallway, but it was blocked by something else. There was a green and yellow robot standing at the other end of the hall. It was freaking out major.

“Fleshy-bot!” it exclaimed. “Waspinator will catch it and Megatron will reward Waspinator!”

Marco would have gotten a major kick out of that thing. Me? I couldn’t afford to be amused at that moment. I was in some serious trouble.

“Don’t damage it!” the purple one said, “or Megatron will scrap us both!”

I take that back, I wasn’t in serious trouble. I was in major trouble.

[Gaz]

*this part has been updated!

20) ON PATROL:

“I don’t see why we’re out here,” Terrosaur grumbled as he flapped along. “The Maximals haven’t been doing anything since those aliens were fighting.”

“The Royalty commanded us to patrol the area,” Inferno said. He scanned the area as he marched ahead. Apparently Inferno was more eager to patrol for the “royalty” than Terrosaur was.

When Inferno was activated damage to his personality program caused many of his ant instincts to remain strong. As a result he has the drive to defend the colony and fight for the Queen, in this case that was Megatron who was less than thrilled with the title.

Meanwhile, the remaining Controllers waited around for what Visser Three deemed the right time to strike. The Animorphs would not have believed it if they had seen it, but some of the remaining Yeerks were beginning to lose their arrogance. Some of them were afraid.

When they had confronted the group of robots for the Time Device, it had seemed so easy. There were only as many of them as there were Andalite bandits. At the time, there had been nearly thirty Controllers.

They had failed to realize that they were too used to the way the Andalite bandits fought. They morphed animals and required close combat to fight. That gave the Controllers plenty of opportunities to shoot them, slash them if they were Hork-Bajir, or bite if they were Taxxon.

The robots, while they had animal forms, did not fight that way. They had real weapons and were not so easily stopped by mere “flesh wounds”. They did not require close combat to fight as the Andalite bandits did. So, the group of Controllers decreased in number during that one fight and most of them never got close to the enemy.

Most were beginning to think that it was all pointless, and many, if not all them, would not live to see the Pool again and swim with their brothers and sisters. Visser Three had no idea at all. Even he, for all his morphs, would probably not make it back alive.

It was then that, from the air, Terrosaur noticed the small group. There were only a handful of them left after the last fight they had had. But there was one among them that Terrosaur did not recognize. Whatever it was on four legs with a human torso. It had extra eyes on the top of its head and a tail with a blade on the end.

Shortly after, Inferno noticed the group in the distance and he shouted, “Those are the ones who tried to destroy the colony! They will buuurrrrnn!!!”

The controllers jerked at the sound of a sudden voice screaming about something burning. And one of the controllers shouted, “It’s two of those robots!”

Visser Three, though he would never admit it to those beneath him, was slightly confused. He had not seen the robots earlier and had not idea what the others were talking about.

Over the hill came a pterodactyl and a larger-than-life ant. But they were not that way for long. In respective order they yelled, “Terrosaur, terrorize!” and “Inferno! Terrorize!”

Suddenly, not one, but both robots were in some humanoid form and airborne.

“Megatron will want one as a prisoner!” Terrosaur told Inferno. “So don’t slag them all!”

Terrosaur wasn’t sure if Inferno heard him because Inferno yelled at the group, “Enemies of the Royalty! You will burrrn!”

“Visser!” someone yelled. “What do we do?”

Shoot them, you fools! Visser Three roared.

Though they were at a disadvantage since both of their enemies could take to the air, and they could not. As the Maximals had discovered a while ago, they were not very bright, but they were swift in the air.
Inferno immediately fired a rapid spread of bullets into the small group and three fell at once. That left only nine controllers and the Visser. A lucky dracon beam grazed Terrosaur’s shoulder. He squawked in anger and launched a small missile, which eliminated another two controllers.

 Once again, the numbers were dropping fast. The only reason that the remaining seven did not flee for their lives was that the Visser was there, however they were close to not caring what the Visser did to them. Either way, it appeared they were dead.

“Which one do we take prisoner for the Royalty?” Inferno asked.

Terrosaur thought a moment. The insect ones apparently could only speak in what sounded like hisses, no good for interrogation. The bladed ones spoke a blend of languages. Then, he knew which one would make an interesting prisoner.

“That one!” Terrosaur said as he pointed.

[Gaz]

21) THE MAXIMALS FINALLY GET READY TO MOVE:

Things were hardly any better back at the Maximal base. Rachel’s temper was growing shorter by the minute. Most of the Maximals were almost certain that Dinobot was mild compared to this human.

“Well?” Rachel asked, glaring daggers at Optimus. “You said you would help us.”

“I did,” said Optimus.

“So when are you going to start?” Rachel retorted as she crossed her arms.

“Rachel,” Cassie said quietly.

“Don’t start, Cassie!” Rachel snapped.

The Maximals all jumped while the Animorphs barely flinched. They were used to Rachel’s outbursts of temper. Things like that didn’t happen often, but they were still used to them all the same.

“Cool your gears,” Rattrap said.

Optimus caught a glimpse of Marco shaking his head. As if he were silently warning Rattrap that he had made a mistake. Judging by the color Rachel’s face was turning, Rattrap was going to be in very big trouble soon and Optimus was ready just in case.

“Cool my gears?” Rachel said. The scariest part was how deceptively calm she suddenly appeared. Then she exploded. “Wait until someone you care about is missing and see how you feel!”

Optimus put a hand on Rachel’s shoulder for fear that the human might try to lunge at Rattrap out of anger. Immediately Rachel tried to shake off Optimus’ hand, and when it didn’t shake off she tried to grab and pull it off.

“Don’t touch me!” she snarled.

“Tobias,” said Marco quietly. “I think you better…”

I’m on it, said Tobias. He fluttered over to a chair that was closer to Rachel. It was odd because only Rachel’s part of the conversation could be heard on occasion when she started to raise her voice.

“Tobias will calm her down,” Marco said.

“I still don’t understand,” said Air Razor. “Tobias isn’t a normal bird…”

Marco raised his eyes like he wanted to make some sort of sarcastic comment, but a glance from Cassie stopped him.

“Is he human?” Air Razor finished.

Cassie, Marco and Ax hesitated. Finally Cassie said, “He used to be.”

“What do you mean?” Rhinox asked.

Prince Jake would wish us to tell them, I believe, Ax said.

“You go right ahead, Ax-man,” said Marco. “Rachel won’t try to kill you when she finds out you squealed.”

Ax explained the brief points of the morphing technology, still holding back from sharing too much with a non-Andalite race. However, they learned just enough to understand what circumstances had placed Tobias in the position he was in now.

“That’s…sad,” Cheetor said quietly.

“Yeah,” said Marco, “but spare him and don’t try to show him any pity.”

“But,” Cheetor started, but Marco interrupted him.

“Don’t,” said Marco. “We’ve known him since before. He’s finally started adjusting. He doesn’t need your pity.”

“Something’s wrong with Jake,” Cassie said suddenly. “I…I just know it.”

“Well,” said Marco, “He’s kind of missing. That’s pretty wrong, I think.”

A moment later Tobais’ voice was in all their heads saying, I got her to calm down for the moment. But we better do something soon or she’ll flip again.

“I gotta agree with bird boy over there,” Marco said to Optimus. “Aside from the fact that we don’t need Rachel losin’ it again. Jake’s our friend, he’s family; he’s our fearless leader! Not sure if you noticed but without him we have a hard time functioning as a group.”

I have sworn to serve Prince Jake, said Ax. We must find him.

Optimus considered what Marco had said. The group of humans had begun to sound like the Maximals more and more. He finally understood why the group had seemed to be falling apart. Jake was more than a missing companion; he was what held them together. They looked to him for a level head and a sense of responsibility.

The leader of the Maximals had gone missing once himself. When the alien device they had found at the standing stones was scanning him. The others had done everything they could to get him out. What right did he have to keep the humans from doing the same for their own leader?

Maybe Marco was right and it was finally time to take some action.

“Maximals!” declared Optimus. “We’ve sat around long enough.”

[Gaz]

*this part has been updated

22) CASSIE:

“It’s about time!” Rachel exclaimed. “Let’s do it!”

Marco rolled his eyes and sighed. “I suppose that means go to battle morphs.”

I nodded and began to focus on my wolf morph. Just a second afterwards I felt the fur begin to sprout from my body. At the same time my ears grew pointy and traveled up the side of my head.

While we were morphing we heard all the Maximals react. I was slightly amused for a moment. They were robots that could transform and we were the ones who were fascinating.

My arms began to change and I slowly fell forward onto all fours. Then my muzzle and tail began to grow. By that time there was a menagerie of animals standing in the Maximal base. A wolf, gorilla, bear, hawk and an Andalite were standing around waiting to get moving. The bear seemed more anxious than the rest of us.

Open up that hatch, said Tobias, I’ll fly ahead.

“He’s going alone?” Air Razor said.

Marco shrugged as best he could in gorilla form. It’s what he does, Marco said. He’s our scout; I guess you could call him.

Air Razor went to her beast mode, a peregrine falcon. “I’ll go with him. The more eyes the better.”

Air Razor and Tobias flew up and out of the hatch. Shortly after we were shown to a back way out of the base and were running outside.

Where exactly are we going? I asked.

“It would be wise to check on the Predicons,” Dinobot said.

The Pred…you mean those others? I said, getting really worried. You don’t think that…

“We’re not sure,” Optimus replied quickly. “But for now it’s the best place to start.”

If it were possible, butterflies were swarming in my stomach. Those other robots, at least the two we had seen, seemed nearly as bad as the Yeerks. I hoped Jake was nowhere near those other robots.

Guys! Came Tobias’ voice. There’s trouble up ahead. Looks like a fight.

Who is it? Rachel asked.

The Yeerks and a couple of those other robots, Tobias replied. And it’s not going too good for the Yeerks. There was a pause and Tobias suddenly sounded really startled. Visser Three is there!

The Abomination! Ax said with hate.

Well, said Marco with sarcasm. This is a pickle. Do we help the robots, the Yeerks or just keep going on our merry way?

“We certainly ain’t helping da Preds!” said Rattrap from on Rhinox’s back.

“So we might as well help the-“ Cheetor started to say before Rachel cut him off.

NO!  She exclaimed. The last thing we’ll do is help the Yeerks.

“But you’re friend just said that…”

I heard what he said. And apparently sarcasm escapes you. We want to help the Yeerks as much as you want to help the Preds, Rachel said. Didn’t you hear a thing we told you earlier? They’ve enslaved two other races and they’re trying to take over Earth. The last thing we want to do is help them!

I had to agree with Rachel and what she said. The Yeerks were trying to destroy everything that we, the Animorphs, loved. However, it appeared that Optimus had a different idea.

“Optimus Primal, maximize!” He shouted. He was in his robot form and in the air before we knew what he was doing.

A split second later Cheetor was right behind him, then Rhinox and Dinobot. The only one who hung behind was Rattrap. Air Razor was in robot form as well and coming down from the sky while Tobias circled overhead.

What’s going on? Tobias asked.

At the same time Rachel was flipping her lid. What are you doing?! She exclaimed.

“We don’t have a fight against these Yeerks, as you call them,” Optimus replied, using Rattrap’s radio. “You don’t have to do anything.”

Good! Rachel replied. Cuz I wasn’t planning on it!

“Rattrap!” Optimus said. “Get a move on!”

“Don’t think so, Big Monkey,” Rattrap replied. “This is all insane, if you ask me.”

Took the words right out of my mouth, said Marco.

So we stood by while the Maximals flew and ran off to help our greatest enemy. It didn’t take much time because there were only two of the other robots in the area. As soon as they saw the Maximals flocking in their direction with weapons at the ready they were off like a streak of lightning.

When the robots cleared out and the Maximals regrouped, we Animorphs took in what was left of the group of Yeerks. I think all of the Animorphs were in disbelief at what we were seeing. We had been fighting the Yeerks for months. Yes, we had done our share of damage, but if felt like no matter how much we did there was always more. A handful of robots had wiped out more than half of the Yeerks that had been transported in the accident in the span of less than half a day.

Out of just over twenty Yeerks there were now only five left: two Hork Bajir two humans, and Visser Three. They were looking at us and seemed unsure about what to do. Visser Three was definitely not accustomed to someone flying in to the rescue. I hoped Optimus wasn’t expecting a thank you from the Visser.

The Maximals were very relaxed, but both the remaining Yeerks and us were tensing up. Rachel was snarling and Ax looked ready to spring into action at any moment. He had sworn an oath to kill Visser Three.

“The Andalite Bandits!” one of the humans exclaimed.

One of the Maximals looked like they were getting ready to say something and I was quick to stop them.

Don’t! I said in private thought speak to them. They don’t know we’re humans, and it’s better for us that they don’t know.

Now what? Rachel asked. I say we move on. You guys did your good deed. Let’s go.

However, none of the Maximals were moving. It seemed like Optimus wanted to talk to the Yeerks. That was probably a bad idea, since they didn’t know the Yeerks like we did. One of the Maximals could slip something about us and all our efforts for secrecy would be ruined.

[Gaz]

23) PRISONER:

Once again, Megatron found himself listening to another incoherent story from Terrosaur. He and Inferno had found what remained of the aliens that had been attacking the base before. However, there had been a new one there, one that didn’t look like the others. Megatron had a hard time picturing what it looked like based off Terrosaur’s rough description.

In the end the two had been chased off by the Maximals. The odd thing that Terrosaur had said was there were a handful of animals with them who just stood by and did nothing.

Megatron promised himself that next time Terrosaur was on patrol with someone he wouldn’t let Terrosaur tell the story. The remainder of the aliens didn’t matter; there were only a few of them left. If they tried to attack the Pred Base again, they would fall. Animals following around the Maximals was confusing, but were of no concern to Megatron. He had something else to deal with at that moment.

Not far from Megatron’s chair there was a cage, and inside the cage was something that none of the Predicons had expected to find sneaking around their ship. A human.

**JAKE:

Life couldn’t possibly be any worse than it was for me at that point in time. My secret mission had taken a bad turn. Instead of discovering the Time Machine, the robots had discovered me and locked me up.

“Tell me, human, how did you get here?” demanded the large robot that was nearly the same shade as Barney the Dinosaur.

In Marco fashion I chose to give a sarcastic response, “The back door was unlocked.”

“Do not think your wit will protect you, human! Nnnooo,” Megatron said.

I was too busy thinking about the story I had heard the other robot…Terrosaur, I think, tell. He had said that they were fighting the Controllers and Visser Three was there! And from the way it sounded, the two robots alone were pretty much wiping out the Controllers. That was a minor blow to my ego, I have to admit. We had been working so hard to fight the Controllers and two robots alone wiped out nearly the entire group that had been transported here.

The animals could only be the others. I would imagine the Maximals I heard them talking about were the good guys. There was no other reason the others would be around them. And finally I would guess Rachel couldn’t say much to control what they did because they had rescued the Controllers from the attacking robots. She was probably throwing a major fit about that, and Ax was probably a bit angry himself since one of the Controllers had been our pal the Visser.

“What do you know about the creatures that have been attacking this base?” Megatron demanded.

I shrugged. “I don’t know,” was all I said.

“There were humans there,” Megatron said. “Were you with them?”

“No,” I said. Which was the truth.

At that point part of me was considering morphing and getting the heck out of there. Since the Yeerks were nearly all gone, secrecy wasn’t exactly a major issue anymore. However, my dilemma was that the robots all had weapons and from what I could tell, they were much better shots than the Yeerks were. So, if I morphed, my chances of being shot mid-morph were very high, and that was not a risk I was willing to take at that point.

That was when Megatron decided to ask, “How did you get here?”

I sighed. What kind of question was that? “I think you know the answer to that one already.”

“So you were with those humans attacking the base!” Megatron declared.

“Look, I already told you, I wasn’t,” I replied. “You would have seen me there, and I’m pretty sure you didn’t.”

Megatron suddenly seemed to realize that his questioning was going in a big circle. He wasn’t learning anything useful and that seemed to be frustrating him.

“Scorpanok!” Megatron exclaimed.

The purple robot with lobster claws raced over like a trained pup, snapped a solute and, practically yelling, said, “Yes, Megatron!”

“Find a way to get information from the human without destroying it,” Megatron said, as he walked out of the room.

So far, things were not getting any better. I hoped the others burst in to save the day real soon. Right at that moment would have been awesome.

[Gaz]

24) NO GRATITUDE:

Optimus was trying to figure out how to open a dialogue with the remaining aliens from the fight. The four other aliens looked uncertain about what to do, the blue one looked a little surprised but there was almost an aura of evil coming off of it. A small part of Optimus was wondering if he had done the right thing. Before Optimus could figure out anything to say, the blue alien spoke.

Andalite bandits, Visser Three said, I wondered when we would meet here.

Usually, Ax was the only one who could really talk to the Visser because the Animorphs didn’t want to risk giving themselves away. Though at that point it didn’t really matter anymore.

What are you going to do, Visser? Rachel asked. Most of your Controllers are gone. And how long has it been since the ones who are left soaked up some Kandrona?

Almost on cue, one of the human controllers shook his head quickly. A normal person would think that they were fighting off drowsiness, but the Animorphs and Visser Three knew better. The Visser was also not going to dignify one of the Andalite Bandits with a response.

Still seething over your dead brother, little Andalite? The Visser said, almost mockingly.

Don’t let him get to you, Ax-man, Marco said privately so only Visser Three didn’t hear. Keep it cool.

But I still have a vow to kill him, Ax replied. Almost like a child who was fighting to have his way.

You want to kill me, little Andalite? Visser Three said. Come, let us settle this now.

Ax, wait! Cassie shouted.

“What’s going on?” Optimus asked.

Just as the words were out of Optimus’ mouth, Ax leaped past him to face Visser Three.

Don’t you get it? Rachel exclaimed. They intend to fight to the death.

Ax and Visser Three were circling each other. Waiting for their opponent to make the first move because it would be a critical one. For a moment all the Maximals watched, they were unsure what to do.

“I’m afraid I can’t allow this,” said Optimus.

Can’t allow it?! Rachel exclaimed angrily. Who the hell put you in charge of us?! We were doing fine without you before this whole fiasco started!

This is Ax’s business, Tobias said. We promised him we would stay out of it unless he needed help.

Ignoring Rachel’s outburst and Tobias’ comment, Optimus gave a nod to Rhinox. He was the biggest in the group and was also closest to the two Andalites who were preparing to cut each other to shreds. He reached out with a large arm to get in the middle of the two to peacefully settle the situation.

The one mistake Rhinox made was he wrongly assumed this would be like breaking up a fight between Rattrap and Dinobot, Visser Three soon proved him wrong. With the swipe of his tail blade, and before Rhinox knew what was happening, his arm was no longer connected to his body.

The jaws of all the Maximals dropped as Rhinox jerked away from the two Andalites faster then he had initially approached. Rattrap’s face grew angry fast. But surprisingly it was Dinobot who fired first; it was his warrior instinct. Before the Visser could lunge toward Dinobot, which was what he was about to do, Dinobot fired off a couple of shots from his eyes. Both were direct hits to the Visser’s chest.

No way, Marco said as the Visser staggered and fell to the ground.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the shots Dinobot had fired turned out to be serious. The other four controllers seemed to realize this as they looked uncomfortably from the Visser to Dinobot who was glaring at them with glowing green eyes.

[Gaz]

25) No Good Deed:

“That’s enough, Dinobot!” Optimus shouted. Then he said, “Rattrap, help Rhinox back to the base.”

Rhinox picked up his arm. Then both he and Rattrap started making their way back to the base while looking back occasionally to make sure everything was all right.

As Rattrap walked away he could be heard to say, “I told him dis was all insane.”

Visser Three was hardly a fool and he knew things were not going to go his way and were unlikely to. Out of thirty Controllers only four were left and even that number was shaky at the time. He didn’t like it, but he only had one option. He morphed a kafit bird.

He’s going to make a getaway! Marco exclaimed.

Let him! Rachel snapped.

All the Animorphs turned to face her like they couldn’t believe what they had heard.

Did I really hear that? Marco asked.

I think so, Tobias replied. I mean, I heard it too.

We got better things to deal with, Rachel said. We find Jake, and if the Visser causes any more trouble, we deal with him too.

Rachel has a point, Cassie said. The Visser can’t do much with most of his Controllers gone. Jake could be in trouble right now, and we’re wasting morph time.

Speakin’ of morph time, said Marco. How we doin’ Ax-man?

There are approximately 90 of your minutes left, Ax replied, slightly grumpy. Once again his vow of vengeance was delayed.

Ax.... how many times do I have to tell you they’re everyone’s minutes?! Marco exclaimed in annoyance.

Before everyone knew it the Visser was flying off and three of the Controllers were running after him.

One of the Hork Bajir was still there and he wasn’t looking too good. He had dropped his dracon beam and was looking very confused.

“What’s happening?” asked Cheetor. The Maximals were baffled, but the Animorphs knew exactly what was going on. They had seen it before when Jake went through the same thing.

The yeerk in his head is dying, Cassie replied. It doesn’t seem like it will be much longer.

While we wait, Rachel snarled as she turned on Optimus; 800 pounds of angry grizzly bear. What did you think you were doing?! You had no right to step in!

Optimus was stunned. Did this human want her friend to get hurt or killed? He expressed this out loud and got snapped at again.

It was HIS fight! Rachel yelled. We were all right here. This happened before and Ax understood that we would jump in if things got too out of hand.

No one else said anything. All of the Maximals were afraid of drawing Rachel’s wrath and the Animorphs were sharing Rachel’s sentiments. Ax was just as angry, for the second time he was denied the opportunity to avenge his brother. This time someone who was supposed to be helping them denied it from him.

It was his fight, Rachel emphasized, and then she turned to Dinobot. You understand what I’m saying, don’t you?

Dinobot considered that for a moment. “Yes, I understand. This was a fight for his honor.”

This was a fight for his brother, Rachel said. Visser Three killed his brother and Ax has to avenge that! You don’t understand, you weren’t there. We saw his brother die.

For the first time since Visser Three flew away, Ax spoke. The Abomination must be destroyed. If you were hoping to gain my trust, then you will have to work much harder now. You were instructed about the Yeerks and yet you still helped them.

You helped our enemy, Rachel said. How can we trust you?

“The humans have a point,” said a white tiger as he trotted up. “Air Razor told me what was happening.”

He glanced up at the birds circling overhead. “She has told me everything being said and explained the situation. Her and Tobias.”

Go ahead and direct thought-speak to him too, Tobias said. He’s a good guy.

After what just happened I’m not so sure, Rachel said.

Trust me, Rach, said Tobias. You can definitely trust this guy. He’s different.

“Tigatron,” said Optimus. “I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to see you.”

Tigatron was a peaceful bot, and he had a way of diffusing tense situations with his calm voice and peaceful demeanor. Maybe he could help calm down the Animorphs and gain their trust.

Though the rest of the conversation would have to wait. Suddenly a small gray slug came out of the Hork-Bajir’s ear and writhed on the ground for a moment before it stopped moving completely.

“What is that?” Cheetor asked.

That’s a yeerk, Rachel sneered. Don’t let its appearance fool you.

 All attention suddenly turned to the Hork-Bajir because he was suddenly up. He was starting to realize that the Yeerk was no longer in his head and that he could function on his own. A look of apparent surprise and perhaps joy flooded the Hork-Bajir’s face as he moved limbs that were previously not in his control and hadn’t been for a long time.

“Free,” he said quietly and then louder with raised arms, “Free!”

“That guy looks ready for some serious action,” Cheetor commented.

You could not be more wrong, Marco replied.

Hork-Bajir are harmless without Yeerks in their heads, Cassie explained. The blades are really just for harvesting bark to eat.

That was when the Hork-Bajir began to eye the group uneasily, especially Ax and the Maximals who had weapons drawn. He had seen what had happened to the others with the other robots, and he was all too familiar with the Andalite Bandits.

[Gaz]

*This part is new!

NOTE: Yeah, this part is short. But it's been a while since I posted a new part and figured it was about time to see what Tarantulas and Black Arachnia were up to. Hopefully this will grab your attention for future parts.

26) Suspicions

Back in Tarantulas’ lab, he and Black Arachnia were hard at work analyzing different parts of the Time Machine. They were trying to discover how and when this thing had come to be since Tarantulas had to active memory of making it.

The theory on the table was that sometime in the future Tarantulas would pick up the project and an accident would cause it to appear in the time the aliens came from.

A chip that recorded use would supposedly tell them everything they needed to know and would prove or disprove their theory. There was just one problem, and that was the chip was nowhere to be found. It was not where the schematic said it should be.

“I do not understand!” Tarantulas said. “According to this, the chip was one of the first things to be put in.”

“Maybe those aliens removed it,” mused Black Arachnia. She sounded a bit distracted because something had been tugging at the back of her mind ever since she started helping Tarantulas. Something about this did not seem quite right, but she couldn’t quite figure out what it was.

Tarantulas was also perturbed. None of this made sense, most of the parts were the same but as they progressed less and less was matching the plans exactly. Yes, there were the alterations the aliens had made, but in the long run those were minor. Most of the parts were Predicon, but even some of those did not match!

This whole deal with the Time Machine didn’t seem right. He had no recollection of ever designing such a device. Not in the past and he certainly did not believe he would be doing so in the future. It was just ridiculous! Modifying a stasis pod for escape made much more sense and he knew it. But a nagging voice in the back of his head insisted that he indeed had a memory of something involving a Time Machine. But why?

Maybe that last fight with the Maximals had messed with his memory circuits more than he thought. No, that couldn’t be it either. Tarantulas was just fishing for excuses, anything that made even a sliver of sense because nothing else did at that time.

As Tarantulas struggled to pull out forgotten memories, he could hear a squawky voice in his head laughing and saying, “It’s perfect! It would be just like a time machine because it would blow him into next cycle!”

“Computer!” Tarantulas snapped suddenly. “Was this schematic put into the system by myself?”

Black Arachnia was confused, but said nothing while the computer processed what Tarantulas had said. He must have had an idea because he sounded convinced that he was on to something big.

“Negative,” replied the emotionless voice.

“Who put it there?” asked Tarantulas.

After a moment the computer replied, “That information is under restricted access.”

Tarantulas sputtered angrily. “Restricted?!” he exclaimed. “I am restricted from information in my own lab?!”

While Tarantulas was busy at his computer, Black Arachnia picked up the energon crystal and walked over to the analyzer. Something about this crystal did not seem right and she wanted to find out what that was.

[estrid]

this is awesome! hurry up and put up more!!!!!!!!!!

[Gaz]

27) No News is Good News

“No yeerk,” the Hork-Bajir said after a moment. “I free.”

Sounds like our boy, Jara Hamee, Marco commented. Maybe they know each other?

“Why Andalite bandits let Visser Three go?” the Hork-Bajir asked.

Andalite Bandits didn’t WANT to let Visser Three go, Rachel said bitterly. She glared in Optimus’ direction again.

Alright, Rachel, said Tobias. We all feel the same way, but we need to find a way to get this guy to tell us what he knows.

While the Animorphs were talking, the Hork-Bajir was looking around. He was very uncertain of the robots standing nearby. Given the choice of standing near the Andalite Bandits or the robots right now, which he did, he would choose the Andalite Bandits. He wasn’t entirely certain of what was going on. His main concern was that he was free and Visser Three could reappear and end that at any time.

Do you know anything about the Time Machine? Cassie asked in a calm voice.

“No,” the Hork-Bajir said. “Job was to guard. Not to know.”

Great, Rachel said, Our first shot at inside information and he doesn’t know anything. I guess if we want to know anything we need to find a human controller.

What happened before the robots attacked? Marco asked.

“Visser told us to wait for right moment,” was the reply. “Robots came. Heard one say wanted second prisoner.”

There was a sudden stunned silence from the Animorphs. If the Predicons had a prisoner there was only one person it could be. And it gave the Animorphs a new sense of urgency.

Oh no, Cassie said. Jake.

Once again, Rachel exploded. Those things have Jake! She yelled. We have to do something NOW! Not only could Jake be in danger, but we’re also wasting morph time!

“Those…things?” Dinobot snarled, but his comment went ignored by all except Optimus who put out a hand to quiet him.

If we’re going to do something we’d better do it soon, said Marco. Otherwise we’ll have to demorph at a bad time.

Marco didn’t have to elaborate on what that bad time would be. The Animorphs all knew what he meant, and the Maximals could guess well enough that he meant in the middle of the Pred Base.

Now what? Marco asked.

That should be obvious! Rachel snapped. We go get Jake!

“What we should do is go back to the base and--” Optimus started, but Rachel interrupted him.

I’ve had enough! Rachel shouted. I’ve had enough of you taking your time to do anything! It’s my cousin in danger and if they do anything to him he’ll die! You can’t stick him in one of your fancy repair chambers!

“Big Bot’s right,” Cheetor said, “We should have a plan.”

We had a plan, Tobias pointed out before Rachel could. The original plan was to check out this Pred Base. Why should that change?

“Tobias has a good point,” Tigatron said. “We would do nothing less to save one of us.”

 You’re right, Rachel commented to Tobias privately. That guy IS different.

What about the Time Machine? Marco asked.

“That would be too risky,” said Dinobot, “since we don’t know where it is. Our first priority should be to find their comrade. We can regroup back at the base and decide what to do from there.”

Optimus mulled that over for a brief moment and he seemed to be ready to agree with the group. Just when it seemed he was gaining the trust of the young humans he did something that seemed like a good idea, but in the end it ruined any ground they had covered. Rescuing their comrade might be enough to get them to fully trust the Maximals.

“Alright,” he said, “We’ll change our plan to a rescue. Until we get closer all Maximals should go to beast mode.”

In whirs and grinds the Maximals were all in their respective beast modes. Without so much as a word, Rachel was the first to thunder off in her bear morph. Cassie, still in wolf, was quick to try and catch up with her friend.

Rachel, slow down! She shouted. You can’t just barrel in like that!

Rachel slowed down to a halt and said, What are you talking about?

This isn’t like one of our regular missions, Cassie said. We’re not just bursting in on a group of Controllers. They probably have some sort of defense system.

“I’ll take care of the defense system,” Air Razor said. “Don’t you worry about that.”

The Maximals had no doubt about Air Razor’s claim. They all knew she was swift in the air, and the guns on the Predicon ship were sure to be no match for her speed.

Optimus figured that with the defense system chasing Air Razor, the Predicons trying to figure out the Time Machine and what to do with their human captive the attack should come as something of a surprise. At least he hoped so; things would probably go a lot smoother if the Predicons weren’t expecting them.

My next question is, Marco said, is how do we know where the heck they’re holding Jake?

“They’re probably holding him where Megatron can keep an eye on him,” Optimus said thoughtfully. “That will be easy enough to get through.”

“I suggest that until we break through the defenses,” Tigatron said, “the Animorphs stay behind us to avoid harm.”

Alright, we got it! Rachel said. Let’s do it already!

“What she said Big Bot!” Cheetor exclaimed, getting excited. “We can’t make their friend wait any longer.”

With that said the Maximals took up the front while the Animorphs trailed behind for safety purposes. Air Razor and Optimus, with their flying robot forms, were the best suited to take out the defense guns on the outside of the Predicon ship.

Shortly after the Predicon base was in view on the horizon.

“Time to Maximize!” Optimus yelled.

In a whir of machinery, all the Maximals assumed their robot forms on the run. In the air, Air Razor shifted and then there was only one true bird form in the sky. Seeing they were getting closer however, Tobias hung back until he was hovering over the rear of the Animorphs group.

“Prime Jets, on!” Optimus yelled. Seconds later he was in the air flying along side Air Razor.

That’s what I want! Marco said as he continued to propel himself forward in his own gorilla form.

As they got closer, the Maximal energy signature triggered the defense guns. That was when Air Razor and Optimus took different directions. One flew off to the left and the other flew off to the right.

Air Razor used her speed to stay ahead of what the guns fired at her. She came up from behind and took them out with her wrist rockets. On his side, Optimus was using his shoulder rockets to take out guns.

In the meantime, Cheetor, Tigatron and Dinobot were positioning themselves in front of a wall. They all had weapons drawn and were pointing them in the direction of the Pred Base. With a nod from Tigatron all three fired large blasts with the intent of making an entrance for the rescue party. A large explosion and flying debris signaled that the way was clear for them to storm the base.

“Let’s do it, heroes!” Cheetor shouted.

Great, said Marco. He’s picking up habits from Rachel!

[estrid]

awesome!