Inbetween: The Works of Crayak

Fic Or Original: Fic

Fandom(s): Animorphs and The Following

Rating: T (as according to ffnet)

Characters In Fic: Jake Berenson, Ryan Hardy, Joe Carrol, Esplin 9466

Relationships: Jake/Cassie (hinted at, referred to in the past tense) 

About the Inbetween Series:

I have some ideas for stories that I don't usually write because my four main series take up so much time (that and other blog work). So I decided that between writing sections of my main series, to write short little fanfics.

These fanfics will be HIGHLY self-indulgent. Because I work so hard on my other series that I deserve a little break.

Sometimes some of these "Inbetween Fics" might be samples of later works (that might turn out to be either a fanfic series OR original series).

About "The Works of Crayak":

Even though the Nickelodeon Animorphs tv series was horrible, Shawn Ashmore went on to do other things. Ashmore played Jake Berenson in the tv show and now he plays Mike Weston in the show The Following. Because I can’t stop thinking of Ashmore as Jake I decided a crossover fic was in order.

I have never done a crossover fic of this kind (aka exchanging characters from one series to another) and so I am a little nervous. This is also a test run as I may do another longer The Following/Animorphs crossover fic in the future.

Where It Takes Place in the Animorphs/The Following Timeline:

This takes place Post-War in the Animorphs timeline while taking place at the general start of The Following Season 1.

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It had been a year since the war had ended. A year since I had last heard from Cassie, except for official meetings and a rare phone call or two. I had found myself bored and the name Jake Berenson becoming used for cheap items and causes that I sometimes didn’t support. It was odd being a war hero and hearing your name being praised or degraded on a galactic scale.

Of course it was mostly humans that were the most forward about their feelings about me. The Andalites didn’t care about me, for the most part. The Andalite and human militaries had offered to let me teach humans about the ability to morph. I, and the other former Animorphs, were the ones most experienced with morphing. Even though the Andalites had invented the morphing technology, it had been five humans and one Andalite Aristh that knew the most about it.

As I sat down on my couch, and barely paid attention to the news, I thought that it must be a big blow to the Andalites’ egos to have a primitive species have more experience with their technology. A technology they had only recently decided to release for the different human militaries here on Earth.

If I had taken the offer I might not be so bored right now. No good shows were on so I had kept the news running so there would be something to ignore.

As I was about to get up to go to the bathroom, something interesting came up on the news. Now I cared about things on Earth but it was hard to get too concerned about things. Another person attempted to kill a Hork-Bajir saying they were demons and Andalite tourists made chaos in food courts around the world. I cared about those things but, at the same time, it was hard for me to get worked up over them.

But what was being reported now was like a slap in the face that brought me back to reality. The news report detailed a vicious new cult that had just been uncovered. But it wasn’t the cult part that got to me. There had always been cults and they had always done terrible things so that didn’t disturb me.

It should disturb me, right? I shouldn’t just be glancing over the thought of most cults. Maybe Cassie was smart not to be with me anymore.

There were two things that stuck out to me about this particular cult. One was that the leader was Esplin 9466 who was Visser One and before that Visser Three. How could he have gotten back to Earth? It wasn’t like the Andalites weren’t cautious. He had been the abomination, so I doubted he had had anything less than the highest security.

That fact alone would make me want to join in capturing him, but there was something else in the report. Something else that, if true, would mean anything but the fact this cult was anything us humans were ready for.

There was a clip of Esplin, now possessing the body of a middle aged man, ranting and raving about how he had seen visions of a being known as Crayak and that people needed to join his cult for redemption. It was bad enough to know that my old enemy was back, but to think that he could be joining forces with Crayak was beyond frightening.

If you compared the Ellimist to God, then Crayak would be the devil and then some. Crayak was a being who had made the simple-minded Howlers who just wanted to play into deadly killers that destroyed whole species without realizing what they were doing. If Crayak had sided with Esplin, then the Yeerk invasion of Earth would seem like a party in comparison of what could happen in the near future.

I quickly turned the tv off as I realized how tense I was getting. I didn’t want to shut down in case the FBI called to ask for my help. They didn’t usually ask for me and gave me lots of time off. I doubted it was because I was a war hero, or a war criminal depending on your point of view, and I was certain it was because I was publicity that wasn’t needed.

Any time the name Jake Berenson was mentioned, bad publicity was sure to follow quickly. To be fair: Cassie, Tobias, and Marco had the same problem. Cassie more than the other two as she was more involved with politics.

I walked over to the kitchen sink and splashed cold water on my face. I shouldn’t get involved with something on this scale as the last war I was in didn’t exactly treat me kindly. Cassie had done what she could to keep all of us sane. But I don’t think any amount of help could’ve saved me.

As I dried off my face I heard the phone ring. It hadn’t rung in a few days and so I started to instinctively morph tiger. I reversed the morph before picking up the phone. I shouldn’t have gotten scared like that.

“Hello, this is Jake Berenson.” I said.

“Berenson, have you watched the news?” The person on the other end asked.

“The news that Esplin is back on Earth?”

“Yeah, we figure that you’ve dealt with him before and can catch him again.”

“So am I working alone or are you pairing me up with someone?”

“You’ll be working with a nothlit. He used to be an Andalite and now goes by the name Ryan Hardy. We’ll expect you in three hours.”

“I’ll be there.” I said and sighed as I hung up.

I didn’t need to work with another Andalite who probably had the same arrogance the majority of his species had. But if he was trapped in the form of a human, which was the only way he’d be allowed into the FBI without a lot of hassle, then maybe the arrogance had gone.

I then went to get ready.

* * *

As I waited in my office for Ryan, I was nervous. Not just nervous to meet him but also nervous about the case I had been assigned. How would I react to facing Esplin again? How would I deal with an Andalite who had the chance to kill Esplin? How would I fight Crayak if Esplin was in league with the god-like being?

I looked around my office at the awards I had been given. I kept my medals at home, but any other kind of awards I put in my office. Not that I wanted to, but it looked odd that I didn’t have anything. But what was I really supposed to hang up in my office? I couldn’t put a picture of Rachel up or I felt guilty. I couldn’t put a picture of Cassie up because I didn’t want to let people think we were together. As for Tobias, there was no picture of him I had except for official photo shoots. And any picture of Marco would attract his fans that were also co-workers of mine.
 

A co-worker had tried to give me a picture of a Bald Eagle and a Red-Tailed Hawk harassing each other, as a joke, and I threw it away quickly. I didn’t speak to that person for a few weeks and he must have realized why since he said sorry when we started talking again.
 

As I drifted into my mind I was brought back to the present by a knock on the door. I looked around my office quickly and made sure I was presentable.
 

“Come in.” I said and was greeted by the presence of a tall man. “Ryan Hardy?”
 

“Yes.” Ryan answered and I could tell that he was used to speaking with a mouth but it was still a foreign thing for him.
 

He continued to stand as I looked at him. He was tall and skinny. Not too skinny to be unhealthy. Well…unless you counted his face. His face was…it looked like an Andalite’s head was put on a human body and given a mouth. Plus the stalk eyes were removed.
 

“You’re Jake Berenson. The leader of the Animorphs.” Ryan said and I realized I had been looking at him for awhile.
 

I had been looking him over to see the specifics of how he had chosen to look for the rest of his life. I hadn’t meant to drift off too much and worry him.
 

“Former leader of the Animorphs.” I said and walked over to him with my head outstretched. “I’m an FBI Agent now. Same as you.”
 

“Same as me.” He replied as he shook my hand. I could swear there was a bit of regret in his voice. Or maybe he just hadn’t learnt all the fine details of human speech.
 

After a whiff of his breath reached my nostrils, I realized that his unsteady speech wasn’t because of the foreignness of a mouth, but by drinking. I didn’t know if he had drank a lot or not due to me not knowing how long he had been a nothlit.
 

“So how long have you been a nothlit?” I asked after thinking of the correct choice of words for around a minute.
 

“Does it matter?” Ryan replied and his body tensed.
 

“I don’t mind if you drink, but I mind if it makes us lose Esplin 9466.”
 

Realization came to him as he nodded.
 

“I haven’t drank more than I usually do.” Ryan answered.
 

I started to make sure I had everything I needed for the crime scene. This included making sure my gun was fully loaded. I didn’t want to be unprepared even though the chances of us getting attacked at the crime scene were less than likely.
 

“Where are we headed?” Ryan asked.
 

“To Esplin’s most recent crime scene.” I replied. “Done by one or more of his followers.”
 

“There’ll be fighting then.”
 

“No. I doubt the killer, or killers, will be sticking around for us.”
 

“But you checked your gun.”
 

“I said I doubt the killers will be there. Not that they won’t be.”
 

“Maybe you’re just on edge because the Abomination is back on your planet. Maybe you’ll make a mistake that will let him win.”
 

“Maybe you need to shut it until this is over. I might accidentally shoot you in rage.”
 

“I don’t believe every rumor I hear, I doubt you’ll make good on that promise.”
 

“Just shut it.” I replied and he followed me to my car.
 

Once we both sat in and buckled up, I started to head towards the crime scene. Unfortunately, Ryan decided this was a good time to start a conversation.
 

“Do you know anything about Esplin’s host?” Ryan asked.
 

“I know the host’s name is Joe Carroll and he used to be an English Professor. Was like he worshiped Edgar Allan Poe.”
 

“Did he write anything?”
 

“Yeah, crappy stuff. Read up that he was so delusional that he thought people were actually following him like a god. Probably how Esplin got to him.”
 

“What do you think of this Crayak he’s worshiping?”
 

“Nothing I’d like to think about now.”
 

Then things were silent as Ryan realized he had said something wrong. I had to give him credit for one thing: He was good at understanding humans.
 

But that also meant he must’ve been here for awhile. Probably after the war ended. A year among humans could make it so he could understand my species even while slightly intoxicated.
 

As the silence went on I thought about how Esplin could’ve come to Earth. How could it be that Esplin found someone delusional enough to think that being the host of the former Visser One was a good idea.
 

But what if things had just fallen into place on their own. What if Crayak didn’t give two shits about Esplin?
 

That’s what I had to believe if I was to capture Esplin.

* * *

This car ride Ryan was deciding to be silent which was a huge relief to me. Of course the crime scene we had just come from was probably the reason for his silence. He must be used to seeing dead bodies by now, but the carnage had been something else. I was used to seeing dead bodies, I even was used to making corpses, but to see corpses used in a theatrical manner was something else entirely.
 

There had been blood, but only in specific places where you were most likely to step in them. I had thought of morphing peregrine falcon just to avoid stepping in the blood. The blood wasn’t there just to be a hazard, though, but formed a red eye inside of the circle of victims. The victims being six and I assumed that was because us Animorphs had originally numbered six.
 

“Did Rachel Berenson have a Grizzly Bear morph?” Ryan asked, breaking the silence.
 

“Yeah,” I replied and hoped my voice didn’t crack. “That was her battle morph.”
 

“And the victim in the Grizzly Bear costume was the only one to have special attention given to them.”
 

“So you’re saying that Esplin is trying to unnerve me?”
 

“And if he succeeds in doing so this case is lost.”
 

“He won’t.”
 

Then it was silent for a few more minutes. But I guess Ryan didn’t do silence or maybe he wanted to learn about me. I didn’t blame him for being anxious, I was. Especially since I was now on a case with a new partner.
 

“You think the lead will tell us anything?” Ryan asked.
 

“She better. It took hard work finding her so it better pay off.”
 

“About the vic-“
 

“Don’t.”
 

Then it was silent. He was aware that he had crossed a line I didn’t want crossed right now. I didn’t want to think about Rachel because then I would be reminded of the fact that I could die before bringing Esplin down. She had died during the final battle, so who could say I wouldn’t die while bringing down Esplin?
 

No one could reassure me.
 

We pulled into the driveway of the house and I saw two more FBI agents waiting outside for us. I nodded at both men and headed for the front door.
 

“Tied up?” Ryan asked and one of the FBI agents nodded back.
 

Well at least we wouldn’t have to worry about restraining the member. All we would have to do would be to focus on interrogation.  That thought helped me calm down as I looked around the house. The house was sparsely furnished and had a few pictures of family members. The furniture was all the same color so that they seemed to flow into the walls.
 

“Good cop and bad cop?” I asked Ryan.
 

“I assume I’ll be the bad one.” He replied dryly.
 

“I was thinking that I had the reputation and it would look odd if you tried to pull it off.”
 

“Thanks.”
 

With that we went into the kitchen where the informant was.
 

She was a red head and was dressed in a jogging outfit. The outfit was made up of a top and shorts that were both white. She looked at me and Ryan angrily, but remained calm as we sat down on the opposite side of the table from her.
 

“So you’re Jake Berenson.” The woman said. “And who is this man with you?”
 

“I’m Ryan Hardy.” Ryan said. “And who are you?”
 

“Lilly.” The woman replied. “I’ve heard that the FBI has taken in some nothlits. You one of them?”

 “Maybe.”
 

Andalites treated being a nothlit as worse than death. I didn’t know the exact time frame of when Ryan had arrived on Earth, the clearance to that information was too high for me to reach, but I knew that he had done his best to integrate himself into human society. Whether him becoming a nothlit was an accident or not, he was treating his shame as best he could.
 

If I was still talking with Tobias maybe he could give me some insight into the matter.
 

“And what if he is? That doesn’t change the fact that you were doing illegal activities for Esplin’s cult.” I said.
 

“The Cult of the Red Eye.”
 

I let Ryan take over for a little bit as he went into the whole good cop routine. He did it very well and I suddenly remembered that he had been a Prince. He probably hadn’t done much interrogation, as Andalites seemed to be the type that would shoot a Yeerk before asking questions, but he was really doing a good job. He had adapted to human life very well.
 

A hell of a lot better than I had adapted to post-war life. Looking at Ryan you could hardly tell that he had once been an Andalite. Looking at me you couldn’t help but remember that I had been the leader of the Animorphs. He could change, I couldn’t. And yet he was the nothlit.
 

I also realized that we were similar in a small way. He had become a nothlit to escape his responsibilities as a Prince while I had escaped the responsibility of teaching people how to use the morphing ability by becoming an FBI agent. We were both cowards in our own way.
 

“And all of us will worship Crayak.” Lilly said and I snapped back to the present.
 

“That devil doesn’t deserve to be worshiped.” I said.
 

“Is that what Crayak is to you? Crayak, to the true believers, is a way to salvation. He’s the way to unlock our true potential and become the rulers of the universe.”
 

“I doubt a Yeerk would allow for other beings to control things.” Ryan replied.
 

“Oh, Esplin has changed. He will allow for his followers to have more freedom.” She said. “For Crayak has decreed it.”
 

“And we’ll see how long that will last.” I said.
 

“I trust Esplin and I trust Crayak.” Lilly replied, straining against her restraints. “I know that you will crash and burn. You’re weak. You’re human. And you’re on the wrong side.”
 

“If being on the side with all the cra-“ I started and then stopped as I dodged gunfire.
 

Ryan was the first to fire back at the FBI agent and I started shooting soon after. Dammit! A cult member in the FBI.
  
An FBI member had turned traitor and I was trying vainly to shoot him. Ryan was having better luck at least. I looked around to see where I could find cover. Finding a place, I quickly undressed myself as I very much didn’t want to ruin good clothing. Ever since joining the FBI, people had jokingly commented that I was going to use up a lot of clothing due to me morphing from time to time. Some agents even going so far as to joke that if I got Bruce Banner’s pants then at least something would be safe.

 

Once I was naked, except for socks and underwear, I concentrated on my tiger morph. The morph that had been my battle morph when the Animorphs were the only thing preventing the Yeerk invasion of Earth being successful.
  

I ignored the gunshots and felt the changes start. Morphing doesn’t hurt, but it does feel odd. It hurts in a way that isn’t pain. The first thing to change were my hands and feet into paws. Then the colors of a tiger appeared to be like paint on my skin. As my size grew, actual fur appeared. Finally, once the morph was done, I felt the tiger mind beside my own.
 

I had missed using it. Well...at least using it as much as I had during the war. During the war I had killed Hork-Bajir and tried to attack a Howler. Now I was using it to take down a rogue FBI agent.
 

The rogue FBI agent was too focused on Ryan to pay attention to me. When he did notice me it was too late. I roared loudly and pounced on the man. The man was knocked on the floor and vainly tried to reach his gun that was only a foot or two out of reach.
 

Roaring directly into his face shut him up. I waited a minute before releasing the majority of my grip on him.
 

Ryan, I said. Check on the other FBI agent.
 

I heard and saw Ryan run to check. Everyone in the room was quiet. The lead’s breath was very heavy since she was probably scared. The cult member beneath me was trying to act brave. He tried to appear like the thought of me killing him with one bite didn’t frighten him at all. But by the smell in his pants I knew he was more than a little terrified.
 

“The other agent is dead.” Ryan said angrily and I growled at the rogue agent.
 

Okay, we’ll take him in for questioning. I told him.
 

“No, this piece of filth needs to die.” Ryan said and pointed his gun at the man beneath me. “He’s a pawn of a Yeerk now. He’s better off dead.”
 

I was slightly taken aback by Ryan’s sudden rise of anger. But maybe the fact was that he hid all this loathing and rage underneath a calm demeanor so it didn’t take control of him. Like it was doing now.
 

Ryan, just relax and we can go out drinking or something to calm you down. I said.
 

“This...man just tried to kill you.” Ryan said, defending himself. “This man might’ve told Esplin important information. This man could’ve killed people.”
 

But we won’t know exactly what he’s done unless we question him.
 

“Why do we need to? We have clear evidence he’s a traitor, there doesn’t need to be any questioning.”
 

What if he has leaked information? Don’t you think we could possibly find a bunch of cultists because of him? Don’t you think that would be better than some momentary happiness?
 

Ryan held the gun to the cultist and then put it away. He then tied the cultist up as I guarded him in my tiger morph. I growled whenever the cultist even thought of moving an inch in the wrong direction. Once things were safe I demorphed, changed back into my uniform, and met Ryan out front.
 

“Is there anything I should know about?” I asked him, figuring he’d say something about missing fighting the Yeerks.
 

“I ran away.” He replied.
 

“It got boring because the war with the Yeerks is over. I understand.”
 

“No, I ran away. During the war I got frightened and ran.” He explained and leaned against the garage. “I was a Prince of the Andalite military and I got scared. I saw Earth wasn’t being invaded or attacked, so I decided to become a human nothlit. I’m a coward and a disgrace.”
 

I didn’t know how to react. So that’s why he was probably assigned to the case and had reacted violently mere moments before. I had been a leader and I knew the tolls that had to be paid. I wanted to yell at him for running away, but hadn’t I done the same thing near the end?
 

True I hadn’t gone to a different planet, but who said I wouldn’t if given the chance?
 

“You’re not a disgrace,” I told him but didn’t know if I was talking to him or myself. “You made a mistake and you’re paying for it. You didn’t have to join the FBI. You could’ve lived out your days working in a coffee shop.”
 

Ryan looked at me for a moment. Suddenly he was hugging me and I hugged back as he cried.
 

“Thank you.” Ryan said. “Thank you, Prince Jake.”
 

I was too caught up in the moment to say, “Don’t call me Prince.”
* * *
I didn’t like to drink while on a case, I felt it messed me up too much to think clearly. And I was already too messed up as it was. I was always worrying about if I made the right call with Rachel, if I could ever get back with Cassie, why the Hell Marco still talked with me, and a bunch of other shit that followed me around in my head. Even though I knew it wouldn’t be the smartest thing to do, I drank some cheap beer with Ryan in his apartment.

I paused our conversation and looked around. If you looked at Ryan’s apartment you would think there was no way he was originally an Andalite. No way could an alien have fishing photos or a photo of him just having one slice of pizza in his mouth. Andalites don’t have mouths and Ax had showed me how excited one of his species can get with one.
 

“Too human?” Ryan asked, a small smile on his face.
 

“Yeah, just…creepy.” I replied, taking another sip of beer.
 

“I’ve had a long time to adapt to this world. I’ve been here for so long that it is home. Wasn’t easy, I can tell you that.”
 

“Don’t think it would be.” I said, taking a big chug of the beer. “I mean…I know Ax was always complaining about the two legs thing and being surprised us humans could get anything done with them. Oh, and then there was having a mouth. If he wasn’t playing around with sounds he was sticking something in his mouth that was dangerous.”
 

“I can imagine.” Ryan said and shook his head. “Mouths are amazing things and I didn’t really know how to deal with mine at first. I wish I had someone who knew what I was when I first arrived.”
 

“I wonder if you were more easy to manage than Ax. If so, I would’ve been happy to help. If not…one more crazed Andalite is not worth it.”
 

“I’d like to think that I was more controlled than an Aristh would be.”
 

“Ax was very brave and kept things together when he was away from his people. I don’t know if I’d call him a normal Aristh or not. I don’t have much experience with them.”
 

“Do you want more experience with them?”
 

“I don’t want to lead. It might be nice and peaceful right now, but if there’s a war I’m not leading ever again.”
 

“I can understand,” Ryan said with a sigh and I grimaced. “Being a leader is hard work. Everyone expects so much of you and when you can’t deliver…horrible. They just don’t understand how hard things can be.”
 

“I’m sorr-“ I started.
 

“Don’t be. I did a bad thing when I left my own men to fight in the war while I ran away like a scared little Aristh. Hell, the Aristh who did land on Earth did a better job than me. If I ever get the ability to contact him I’ll tell him that. Or maybe not.”
 

“Don’t worry, Ax won’t mind.”
 

Ryan was silent for a few minutes and seemed to gather himself. I let him wait until he felt like the time was right to ask whatever he was going to ask.
 

“What do you know about Crayak?” He finally asked. “Nothing much has been written about him. None of you Animorphs ever really said anything about him. And your book basically skipped over him for the most part.”
 

“Crayak.” I said and decided to tell Ryan more than I had told anyone before. “As long as you give this information on a need to know basis I don’t mind telling you.”
 

Ryan nodded, eager to learn.
 

“You know of the Ellimist?” I started and Ryan nodded. “Well Crayak is his enemy. He’s the thing that the Ellimist fights against. They’ve been fighting a war for a very long time. Crayak destroyed the Pemalites which were a species of peace that the Ellimist created to fight Crayak’s violence. Crayak defeated the Pemalites, and many other species, with his own troops called the Howlers. But…that’s a story for another time.”
 

I was suddenly brought back to the moment I had learned the truth about the Howlers. I, and the others, had heard Erek King talk about the species like they were demons. Like they were devils. But the Howlers were just children who had been fooled into killing people they didn’t know were alive.
 

“Crayak has a creature called Drode which is his right hand man.” I continued. “I don’t know how he came into being involved with Crayak, but that’s where he is now. If things haven’t changed. When a Yeerk dies they can see a glimpse of Crayak which is how I first saw him though I didn’t know what he was that first time.”
 

“So the stories are true?” Ryan asked.
 

“That I was a Controller, yes.” I said and got another bottle of beer. “But all the stories about how Temrash was able to fool the others into nearly letting him get to Visser One was all a lie. They had trouble stopping him from escaping, but it wasn’t like he was about to feed from the Yeerk pool or anything.”
 

“And Marco didn’t dramatically save the group, I take it?”
 

“Nah, he decided to make a summer blockbuster about the event and I allowed him. If I don’t allow him to make his films every now and again, I don’t want to know what ideas he’ll come up with and how he'll find ways around me so that he can do them.”
 

We laughed a little at that and clanged our beer bottles together. Then we were silent. What if Esplin was really in league with Crayak? I had told Ryan about how dangerous Crayak was and now he must be feeling my fear.
 

I then chugged the beer down in one gulp.
* * *
“Really?” I asked and sighed.

After we had drank and rested, we had started talking about how to get into the church. The conversation hadn’t been as successful as I would’ve liked. Two former Princes and we couldn’t figure things out together. I had to stop myself from drinking another beer. I had to concentrate on the mission. Once Esplin was taken care of then I could get drunk.
 

My worst enemy wouldn’t be a problem again and I’d be free to get drunk every night.
 

“You haven’t liked any of my ideas. You haven’t even liked your own ideas.” Ryan complained.
 

“I guess...combine b, d, and f.” I said.
 

“You lead the war against the Yeerk Invasion of Earth?” Ryan asked and shook his head. “But you’ve never said what to do if the option to kill him arises.”
 

“That’s because that’s a last resort. We don’t kill him. We capture him.”
 

“And let him escape again?”
 

“That won’t happen.” I said, mainly trying to convince myself.
 

We would capture Esplin and he wouldn’t escape imprisonment this time. This time it would be successful and there would be no chance of him escaping again. If he somehow managed to escape a second time...I would kill him.
 

“You really trust he won’t use the same methods to escape?” Ryan asked.
 

“He can’t use the same methods, the Andalites will be looking for them.” I tried to reassure Ryan. “Let’s just worry about getting into the church first.”
 

Ryan nodded and I thought about the plans I had suggested. They were simple but effective. Or at least I hoped they were effective. I would’ve suggested morphing some type of insect but Ryan was a nothlit. Sort of sucked when both parties couldn’t morph.
 

Not that Ryan was not useful in human morph, but a human didn’t have the same capabilities as other animals. A fly or cockroach could infiltrate the church while a tiger could be a very good battle morph. I could do those but Ryan couldn’t. So we couldn’t go in as covertly as I wanted to.
 

“Well, do you have anything else to say before we go?” I asked Ryan.
 

Ryan was quiet for a few minutes before he asked, “Was it easy for you to give up your power after the war?”
 

I had to think about that one to get a good answer, but I was running short on time. I couldn’t wait a few hours until I thought of something resembling an intelligent remark.
 

“I have had enough power.” I replied quickly. “After the war it was more than easy. We’ve talked over beer, Ryan, you know that I don’t want to lead. I don’t even want to fight like I used to. That’s why I joined the FBI. I could still help people but I wouldn’t be fighting a war.”
 

“So you never stopped being the leader throughout the war?” Ryan asked.
 

“I-“ I said and stopped, gathering myself to answer the question. “Near the end I stopped. Things got too hard. You ran away to another planet and I’m not sure if I wouldn’t have done the same. Everything got so complicated and all the things I had to do…I never had a childhood. I’m seventeen years old and in the FBI. I’m mature for my age and yet I feel like part of me will always be lost. I’m not like an Andalite, I wasn’t raised to fight or lead. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
 

We were both silent for a minute or two after that. I had just told him something I had tried to keep hidden for the most part. In the book I had written, the part about me leaving the war was glanced over. The image of me being a hero hadn’t been tainted by that incident.
 

I wouldn’t have told Ryan this if we hadn’t talked over a couple of bottles of beer. We had bonded, but we were still far apart in some areas.
 

“Okay, let’s go.” I said, avoiding any awkward feelings for the moment.
 

We quickly finished getting prepared, which consisted of going to the bathroom and checking our guns, and then left. I drove again and Ryan sat in the passenger seat.
 

“Nervous?” I asked as I noticed Ryan twitching a little more than before.
 

“No.” Ryan replied. “I just can’t wait until this mission is over with.”
 

“Me either.” I agreed.
 

I was still curious why he was twitching. But, hey, it could be that he just wanted this mission over with so that he could get away from me. Getting away from me would mean he wouldn’t have to argue with me about killing Esplin.
 

He might also be twitching because Andalites and pride are usually one in the same. He might find it dishonorable to let Esplin live. I trusted him enough to not break off from the plan and distrusted him enough to use any small opportunity to kill Esplin.
* * *

A light rain had just stopped so the ground was wet and I could turn off my wipers. I looked to Ryan whose legs had finally stopped twitching and worried about Ryan’s state of mind. I knew that I wouldn’t react badly to Esplin, at least not badly enough to endanger my life or Ryan’s, but I was unsure about Ryan. Especially since he seemed really keen on killing Esplin instead of capturing him.
 

I loathed Esplin, but I was trying to become a better person also. Maybe if I found a way to capture Esplin then Cassie would be in my arms again. Was that selfish? Would she see right through me?
 

In any case, I was dead set on not killing Esplin. Ryan wasn’t. Was he twitching because he would disobey the plan so badly that he’d run off and kill Esplin. The Yeerk didn’t always act rationally, but when he did he could do horrible things. Things Ryan wouldn’t be prepared to fight in his current state of mind.
 

As I pulled up into the church parking lot I could hear Esplin preaching through speakers placed around the church. Many probably thought it was a recording of him as that had happened a few times in the chase to find the former Visser. I could also see some bystanders stopping and looking. They couldn’t get in due to the security around the main entrance. Hearing Esplin’s words coming from another body was…unnerving.
 

I could tell that Joe Carroll had been an English teacher just by his voice alone. I don’t know what it was about the voice, but I could imagine being in class with him talking about Poe or Shakespeare. Hell, I’d even be more awake than usual about those subjects. More awake than when my tutor came around every now and again. My tutor sometimes came every few months and sometimes once a week. It really depended on my FBI work.
 

“He’s good.” I said and received a stunned look from Ryan. “I mean his voice sounds charismatic. Esplin did a good job at picking his new human host. Probably wasn’t happy about it.”
 

“Or maybe him speaking to Crayak helped change his mind.” Ryan said dryly.
 

“Whatever the case is, Esplin didn’t just blindly run off to pick a host.”
 

We were silent as we got out of the car and Esplin’s preaching became louder. He was speaking some nonsense about all species having to learn to live with one another so that they can come to the truth. The truth was probably whatever hell Crayak had planned for the universe.
 

“A Yeerk trying to talk about peace and unity.” Ryan said. “I’ve seen a lot of things in my travel and time on Earth, but that…that is just…just…”
 

“Yeah, the Yeerk in charge of the Invasion of Earth doesn’t have much to stand on in the way of peace and unity.” I agreed. “But those people are just eating it up.”
 

I pointed to some of the people that were standing around the church and listening to Esplin’s words like they were gospel. I saw a man have to hold a woman who had started to fall over while crying. I wanted to run to them and tell them how horrible Esplin was. The crimes he had committed that I knew about were horrible enough and it scared me to know that he had done other things I didn’t know about that were equally as vile.
 

And now there were people crying over his words and people willing to die for him. People that were part of the species he had once been the leader to enslave.
 

“Makes you-“ I said as I started to turn back to Ryan and realized he wasn’t there. “Damn Andalites.”
 

I was brought back to when Ax had first arrived and how he had run off in the mall. It had been utter chaos then. Was it just an Andalite thing to run off recklessly like that? But I couldn’t think of how I’d reprimand Ryan as I had to get into the Church. The end goal hadn’t changed. Just the fact that my partner had gone rogue.
 

I tried to remain calm as possible as I started to walk around the church. I walked calmly like nothing was wrong. I didn’t act like I was scared but like everything was going according to plan. I saw another person, a man this time, go down on his knees to Esplin’s words.
 

He had gone down violently so I went to check to make sure he was doing okay. As I went beside him he just shook his head.
 

“I’m doing fine.” The man replied. “These words…whatever the equivalent to an angel is, that’s him. We need peace. We need unity.”
 

I walked away, with a sinking feeling in my stomach. I slowly walked around trying to find an entrance and reminded myself to stick to the plan even if Ryan hadn’t.

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.

As my tiger morph finished, I just reveled in the strength. The tiger didn’t care about Rachel. It didn’t care that I had sent my own cousin to her death. Its only concern at the moment was the Grizzly bear. I had directed my own thoughts to be in line with the animal so that it would be easier to control. I wouldn’t mess up this fight. I would finally kill this Yeerk that had caused me and so many others pain.

I let out a growl and prepared to jump at Esplin.
 

I still admire your feline morph. Esplin said, seeming to be at total ease. I have acquired one myself, but I felt this morph better suited for fighting you.
 

Of course Esplin would want to use the morph that caused me emotional pain for this fight. He was the kind of monster that would want you to beg for death before dying. Unless he was in a bad mood. Another growl left my mouth as I jumped at him.
 

Esplin managed to move away just in time to get away from the majority of my tiger body. The only part of my body that he let hit him was the side of my body with his outstretched Grizzly bear claws. It caused a little scratch on my body which made me yell out in pain.
 

But only until I landed on the floor and turned quickly to face the former Visser. He let out a loud roar through his mouth and came at me. My mind flashed back to all the times I had seen Rachel fight with that morph. How she had been deadly in that morph. How I had learned to use each of my friends and so I had learned how best to use her.
 

Dammit! Now he was too close for me to lunge at him so I ended up turning my body so I just barely missed getting hit by him. I turned back to him as quickly as I could, hoping to get him before he could make another attack at me.
 

We hit each other at the same time. I going for his neck and him using his claws to grip into my sides. I managed to bite his neck but not before he had caused some damage to me. He threw me down as my attack was weakening him.
 

Looking at Esplin I tried to judge what would be the best way to kill him. I had to kill him so I would. I hadn’t gone looking for this fight, it had come to me. Though, I admitted to myself, having the chance to kill Esplin was beyond thrilling. The fact that I would get to kill him gave me energy and courage.
 

The fact that a man called Joe Carrol would also die didn’t bother me.
 

I roared loudly and lunged again at Esplin. Our fighting became more vicious and deadly as time went on. I couldn’t tell how long we had been fighting, only that for some reason I felt more alive than I had in years.
 

As we both paused fighting just to look at each other, I could taste victory. I could taste victory now like I could taste the blood coming out of my mouth. It would be good to end his life. As I lunged at him he grabbed my face and went down with me to the floor. I tried to let out a roar but I was too weak to do so.
 

Instead I attempted to attack the Yeerk with my paws, but each swing didn’t seem to affect him that much. I was too confused and weak to harm him now. I wasn’t going to win. This time there was no way out. Maybe that was for the better. I had changed too much for Cassie and I had changed too much to ever again be who I was before I had met Elfangor in the abandoned Construction Site. I had killed my cousin.
 

As the former Visser squeezed my tiger head with his bear paws, I closed my eyes. I accepted death and welcomed it. If there was some kind of afterlife, maybe Rachel would be there waiting for me. Maybe Tom would be standing next to her.
 

Just as I felt myself nearing death I heard a gunshot and then Esplin dropped me as he yelled. I rolled away weakly and looked up at him. One of his eyes was bleeding. I didn’t hesitate more than a second and then my jaws closed on Esplin’s neck and he went down.
 

I didn’t loosen my grip until he stopped all movements. I backed away and demorphed and then Ryan started shooting Esplin’s corpse. I should’ve been sad that an innocent man had died, but I wasn’t. I was just glad that the Yeerk had died.
 

“I waited!” Ryan yelled at the top of his lungs. “I waited for the perfect shot!”
 

When I had fully demorphed, Ryan had run out of bullets and had turned to kicking Esplin’s corpse.
* * *
 “Cheers!” I yelled as Ryan and I both started on our tenth bottle of beer over at his apartment.

Still the cheap stuff, but amazing all the same because Esplin 9466 had died. Esplin 9466, a former Visser, had died by my hands. I guess you could say that I had avenged Rachel’s death. Well...except for the part that I had killed an innocent man while doing so. However, things had to be done and it wasn’t like I had sought out the fight.
 

Cassie wouldn’t buy that, though, but that didn’t matter to me in that moment. For the first time in a long time, I had found peace with the fact me and her would never be a couple ever again. At least I was at peace in this moment.
 

And that’s really all I could ask for since I met the Andalite Prince in the abandoned construction site. A moment of peace here and there.
 

“Cheers!” Ryan replied, his smile wide. He was smiling probably because of how much he had disfigured Esplin’s corpse. Well…the morph Esplin had died in.
 

“You go over the new files?” I asked him and he nodded. “Glad that Esplin was delusional about Crayak. Probably why victory over him was so damn easy. He didn’t have Crayak helping him.”
 

“Well he was still dangerous while being manipulative.” Ryan replied.
 

“I’m not saying killing him wasn’t a good or hard thing, just that it could have been a lot worse. Crayak is nearly god-like in his abilities so if he wanted Esplin to succeed he would have. He would’ve made any deal with the Ellimist to have Esplin go as far in his plans as he could.”
 

“Or he would have seen that Esplin was too weak to be of any use to him. I’m sure Esplin would understand that sentiment.”
 

Yeah, Esplin would. Esplin had been a murderous person who didn’t mind breaking deals with people. All he wanted was power and control. And his delusional importance to Crayak had given him energy to try to become powerful again.
 

“Just hope that there aren’t any Andalite supporters of his that will cause problems. Like the one that let Esplin loose in the first place. To think of an Andalite supporting a Yeerk like Crayak…” I took a long chug of beer at the thought. “There are some good Yeerks like Aftran, but someone like Esplin is pure hate and loathing.”
 

“I don’t trust any Yeerk.” Ryan replied. “I still have too much Andalite in me.”
 

“I understand that. Is it usual for an Andalite to make deals with a Skrit Na?” I asked him. “At least when you were an Andalite. It never seemed to me like your two races would get along that well. Seemed like the Skrit Na were just trouble makers for you.”
 

“It’s strange that that happened. But it has happened before with some of my former species needing information or items. Though I have never heard of an Andalite breaking out a prisoner like that before.”
 

Maybe an Andalite was unsatisfied with the state of how Andalite society was going at the moment. Hell, maybe the Andalite just admired Esplin 9466 for some reason. I would never know the whole truth.
 

“And when Esplin got back to Earth he departed from the human that the Skrit Na had given the Andalite. Probably the human was too old for Esplin’s purposes or didn’t have the charisma he needed.” I said and shook my head. “Joe Carrol was a good pick for a host. I won’t say anything bad about the Yeerk for that pick.”
 

“Want to turn on the tv?” Ryan asked and walked over to his living room area.
 

“Yeah, probably a good game is on.” I said and followed him.
 

When Ryan turned on the tv the news came on.
 

“As was reported earlier, the former Visser One was killed as was his new host Joe Carrol.” The newswoman, who reminded me of Rachel, said. “Jake Berenson and Ryan Hardy were the brave FBI agents who killed the former invader of Earth. Joe Carrol’s family will be holding a private funeral and there are talks of charges against both Berenson and Hardy. However, we know that charges have been thrown at Berenson before but none have done any damage.”
 

“Yeah, save the world and the people hate you for it.” I said angrily, though I knew I had crossed lines in order to win.
 

“But reports are still in about Esplin’s remaining cult members still being at large. It is assumed that some of his old followers may try and restart the cult.” The newswoman said and then Ryan changed channels.
 

“You don’t have to.” Ryan said as he muted the basketball game that he had just turned on.
 

“Have to what?” I asked.
 

“Make sure the cult has died. I helped you kill Esplin, but if any of his followers still remain…I feel like I didn’t really defeat him.”
 

Ryan had caused trouble and I shouldn’t want to help him. But I also didn’t want to see anyone worshiping Crayak or to have Esplin still causing trouble from beyond the grave.
 

“I’ll help you.” I told him. “But you have to promise not to go and do something stupid again.”
 

“I won’t go running off.” Ryan said, though I still doubted him.
 

With that Ryan turned the sound back on and we enjoyed the rest of the basketball game.