Fandom(s): Animorphs and The Following
Rating: T (as according to ffnet)
Characters In Chapter: Jake Berenson, Ryan Hardy, Esplin 9466, and Joe Carroll (as Esplin's host)
Relationships: None
I didn’t like what Ryan had done and
wished he had been able to hold himself back. As the thought that he was a
Prince so he should’ve known better got to me, I had to remember that he had
run away and never gone back. He didn’t have as much restraint as other
Andalite Princes had so why should I think he did?
Those thoughts went through my head as I
avoided the attention of the guards. While I had been walking around I had
found hats tossed aside by people getting caught up in Esplin’s preaching. As
yet another guard came towards me I pulled the hat down.
Other people had gone into the church and
I had followed their motions. The guards seemed to let some people in and kept
others out. It appeared random to me, but luckily I had been chosen to go in.
Of course I hadn’t been wearing any identification except for a badge I wore
around my neck, which was now underneath my shirt.
Walking around trying not to be
noticeable while not in a morph was a little unnerving. I wasn’t in fly or
cockroach morph simply because if Ryan was in trouble I wouldn’t be able to
demorph and morph fast enough to help him.
I decided that when I found him we would
have a nice long talk. Suddenly I heard muffled shooting and realized Ryan must
be nearby. I tried to be discreet as I hurried toward the shooting while hoping
it was just Ryan and a random guard getting into a fight.
When I finally got to the room I realized
I should have never hoped to be that lucky. Inside I saw Esplin, in his host
body of Joe Carroll, shooting at Ryan. They both were seeming to put up a good
fight.
“Is this all the fight the Andalites have
left?” Esplin gloated. “You don’t think I didn’t notice you running in here?
You don’t think I didn’t look up those who have been hunting me? You don’t
think I wanted you in here?”
Ryan’s response was to just glower at the
former Visser in a very human-like fashion.
“Have you been human for awhile?” Esplin
continued. “That is a very good act of pretending to be human.”
Ryan aimed his gun at Esplin but the
Yeerk managed to shoot the gun in such a fashion that Ryan’s gun went out of
his hands and the bullet just barely grazed Esplin’s ear. Ryan went after his
gun but was interrupted by Esplin shooting at him. Ryan ended up having to go
to the other side of the room to avoid Esplin’s gunfire.
“Hey,” I said and Esplin turned his head
towards me. “How about you just allow me to capture you again and no one gets
hurt?”
“Hurt?” Esplin asked and pointed to Ryan.
“This creature stands in the way of truth. In the way of Crayak’s glorious
truth.”
“We both know that’s bullshit.” I told
him. “We both know that Crayak is all about pain and suffering. He doesn’t give
a damn about any paradise.”
“Crayak is a kind master to those who
serve him. But to those that don’t…” Esplin said and started to take off his
clothes.
I could guess what he had planned to do and
why he was taking longer than needed. He wanted to spook me and make me wonder
which of his many morphs he would choose. But he didn’t have Alloran’s body
and, therefore, didn't have all the monstrous morphs that he had acquired throughout the
years.
Following Esplin’s lead I started taking
off my clothes except for my morphing suit. I had prepared for the unlikely
fight that was about to be taking place.
As I took off my final bit of clothing,
Esplin started to morph.
“You wonder how I got the morphing
ability back?” Esplin asked as his skin started to turn brown. “Well, some of
the Andalites see my way and one actually gave me an Escafil device.”
Esplin grew and his brown skin started to
turn into fur. His face bulged out and his feet turned into paws. His hands
followed suit soon after. The final change the former Visser made into Grizzly
Bear was his mouth.
I remember you losing someone that liked to fight using this morph. Esplin said and swung a paw, testing the strength of the bear.
I was suddenly brought back to Rachel’s
death. How Tobias had flown away with her ashes during the funeral. I had lost
my cousin and I had been the one to send her on the suicide mission. I would
always say it was necessary, but I would never like having to say so.
I didn’t reply to Esplin, but morphed
instead. I couldn’t wait to feel the strength of the tiger. Every change seemed
to go too slow, but I knew that everything was actually going normal speed. It
was just that I wanted it all to go faster.
The tail was the first change and fur followed
soon after. My face changed to that of a tiger as my body started to make the
size change. Through all this I just looked at Esplin in Rachel’s morph.
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