Inbetween: The Incredible Burp 2

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Because I had to be in hiding all of the time and going to the mall wasn’t safe for me, I went between hanging out with Cassie and Ax. His full name was Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill and he was an Andalite. He was the brother to Prince Elfangor and was the lowest rank of the Andalite military. An Aristh. I liked him and that might have been due to my Yeerk hating his species.

Andalites had unleashed the Yeerks on the galaxy so I should blame them for my brief enslavement. But there was something about Ax that I couldn’t hate. Maybe it was innocence or that he was someone I had to spend so much time around because I couldn’t hang out with my usual friends.

Looking at Ax I saw grace in him that Visser Three lacked as he ran towards me. I waved at him and he said, Hi.

Not with his mouth, as Andalites lacked them, but through thought-speech. Tobias and I were the only ones who spent a great amount of time with Ax. All of us couldn’t hang out where humans usually did for obvious reasons.

Myself because I was wanted by the Yeerks, Ax because he was an Andalite, and Tobias because he’s trapped in morph. A notlith. However, due to circumstances that hadn’t been clearly described to me yet, Tobias had been granted his ability to morph. Both Ax and Tobias had human morphs, though. Tobias, besides regaining his ability to morph, had been able to reacquire his old human self. Ax had done something called a Frolis Maneuver to get his human morph.

That’s what I wanted to talk to him about today.

“Hi,” I said when Ax stood a few feet in front of me. I paused as I was nervous as he was kind of cute. At least for an Andalite. “So how’s the grass today?”

It’s normal. Ax replied with some confusion. He wasn’t dumb, no matter how odd he acted in human morph, but he didn’t fully understand the human species yet. Is that what you wanted to talk about today?

I didn’t like asking for something from a friend, especially a friend who probably half expected me to turn out like David. David was a kid that the Animorphs decided to take in after some events happened. Events that left David unable to live like he used to. Instead of sticking with the group he had turned against them. Even going so far as to kill a red-tailed hawk he thought was Tobias and killing a kid so he could live normally again.

I didn’t like that the group thought I would ever turn out like that monster.

“I was wondering about getting a human morph.” I explained. “You and Tobias can both interact with the others in places like the mall. I’m not going to spend a lot of them there, but it’d be nice to have that option opened to me.”

You want to know how to perform a Frolis Maneuver. Ax guessed. As I said, a smart guy.

“I get the gist of it.” I said honestly. “I just want to have someone to reassure me that I’m doing it correctly.”

And you’re nervous about asking me about this be-

“Because of Seerow’s Kindness, that you still probably have ingrained in your mind, plus the fact that I’m the new member of the group. With the last one being a traitor.”

I trust you.

“Yeah, I’m sure part of you believes that and the other half is telling you that you’re an idiot.” After my reply Ax shuffled his hooves. Andalites weren’t so different from us after all.

I see no harm with telling you how to do the Maneuver. Ax finally said.

“What if I became a chimera?” I asked and Ax looked at me, wondering what I was talking about. “Basically what if I combined a bunch of animals’ DNA into one super morph? Don’t you think that would be a dangerous thing for me to know how to do?”

The Frolis Maneuver doesn’t work like that. Ax explained. You can only combine DNA from the same species.

“That’s a disappointing.” I said. “We could really kick Yeerk butt if the Frolis Maneuver wasn’t so limited.”

Yes, Ax agreed. You humans could have a much better chance in battle.

“What?” I asked, pretending to be offended. “You think just because we don’t use battle morphs that have tail-blades that we’re weaker? What if I just acquired you?”

I reached quickly for Ax and he was startled. He was swift in backing up out of my reach and tensing his tail-blade to attack me.

Sorry. He said when he regained himself.

“It’s okay, I frightened you.” I replied, a little ashamed that I had taken a joke too far. “I would never acquire you, though. Not without your permission.”

You want a good battle morph to hurt the Yeerks? Ax said after a moment’s hesitation.

“Of course I want to hurt the Yeerks.” I replied. “Frankly, I want to kill them all. I want to see them all dead. I want to be the cause of their demise and have every last one suffer.”

Do you want to fight because you were infested? Ax asked.

“Yes.” I replied without any hesitation. “That’s exactly why. I saw what the Yeerks have done and will do. I’ve done…thing and betrayed friends all because the Yeerk inside my head made me do them. I don’t want another living being to go through what I did.”

I paused a moment as my anger gathered.

“None of the others knows what it’s like.” I continued. “Jake was infested for three days and all that happened with him was that his Yeerk tried to escape. He didn’t go through betraying his friends and his planet.”

“Not-“ I started to add, but something felt wrong. Something inside me seemed to be startled by the sudden anger. I felt myself starting to change.

I held out my hand and it started to turn black. I was morphing, but I wasn’t controlling it.

“What the-“ I said but then I couldn’t talk due to my vocal chords going away. A beak was forming.

I looked at Ax as my vision changed and I started to shrink. He looked shocked, but he was keeping it together. If something wrong was happening to me he’d know what to do. If there was one Animorph I’d want by me in this situation, it was him.

As the morph continued I tried to stay calm and make it stop. Morphing is one of the greatest things in the world, but I wasn’t planning on it right now. Something was going horribly wrong.

When the raven mind appeared I knew the morph was finished. My fear was enough to override anything the raven was feeling.

Is that a new morph? Ax asked.

Yes, I replied, unable to say anything else.

Hereth illint. Ax replied and the way he said it, it didn’t sound like good news.
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