Inbetween: The Incredible Burp 1

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 Incredible Burp":

In Animorphs #12 The Reaction there is a problem shown about the morphing ability. It turns out that certain people are allergic to certain DNA. This illness is called Hereth illint. The Andalite term means ‘burping DNA’. It is an uncommon occurrence and the only time it’s happened in the Animorphs series is in #12 and happens to Rachel when she morphs a crocodile.

I decided to explore this illness and look at what would happen if things went wrong.

Where It Takes Place in the Animorphs Timeline:

There is no real event this takes place afterwards. It takes place sometime after Animorphs #22 The Solution as the Animorphs have the Escafil device and David is out of the picture.

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The noises from the animals in the Rehabilitation Clinic would have been unnerving to me before. The volume would have made me doubt why I was here at an earlier part of my life. The combination of stenches, that I just thought of as just one stench, didn’t bother me that much either. The Clinic reminded me that I was free now.

I turned to look at the person I was helping. Her name was Cassie and the others referred to the Clinic as Cassie’s barn. She was an Animorph as was I. At least now. The Animorphs, the original ones, were given the ability to morph by the Andalite Prince Elfangor. Now they fight the Yeerk invasion of Earth.

Yeerks are just harmless slugs. Until they get into the head of a creature like a human. Then they get all the abilities of the host. All the memories. Once you were infested you lost all control. You weren’t yourself any longer.

“Amanda?” Cassie asked and I remembered that I was here on a mission. Not one fighting the Yeerks, but one helping a friend.

I turned my attention back to the injured raven.

“I’m fine.” I told her and looked at the bird. So weak compared to an osprey or red-tailed hawk, but there was strength in there. Whenever the raven looked at me I saw the ability to cause chaos. But I had never morphed a raven so all I knew was speculation.

“Is it hard for you?” She asked as she directed me by the movements of her hands. “Hiding out and not being able to do the things you used to do?”

“I’m not going to become David.” I told her. I didn’t like that the others thought I was going to turn on them just because they had had one bad incident. “I don’t mind. Anything’s better than the condition I was in before.”

I saw that Cassie was about to speak but then knew speaking would have caused unneeded pain for me.

“You were going to talk about me being infested.” I said and saw her become embarrassed. I liked Cassie and didn’t mind her trying to understand a former Controller. Who knows, maybe I would unintentionally give the group better insight into the enemy.

“I can understand if you don’t want to talk about it.” She replied.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” I said and adjusted my hold on the raven as it twitched in fear. “But I also don’t want the Yeerks to be here on Earth. Hell, I would like the Yeerks to not be real.”

“Not all of them are bad.” Cassie said and I just looked at her. As anger started to boil in my blood she explained. “I knew one called Aftran.”

“So that’s one among a whole Yeerk empire.” I said angrily. Not because I didn’t believe Cassie, but because I would have enjoyed a Yeerk like Aftran. One who didn’t so easily bow to how the other Yeerks did things.

“We had an agreement.” She said as she finished up with the raven. “I did what she wanted and, from what the others told me, she seems to have been moved.”

“A Yeerk that was moved.” The idea was ludicrous, but I trusted Cassie. “I can tell you that there aren’t enough Yeerks like that.”

“Maybe one day there will be.”

“Yeah, but I’m not letting Earth get taken over because it’s possible that there are Yeerks that want peace.”

As I started to help move the raven back to its cage I realized this could be a chance to acquire a new morph. I let my hand rest on the bird and started to take it in. The black feathers and eyes that seemed to see more than they should.

The raven became still as it went into a trance and its DNA became a part of me. When I finished acquiring the raven I looked at Cassie. She said nothing to me until we put the raven in its cage.

“When do you think you’re going to use your raven morph?” She asked.

I knew the correct answer wasn’t to say that I was going to use the morph for fun. No reason for acquiring a morph would be accepted unless it dealt with fighting the Yeerks. No matter the honesty of saying I had merely acquired the raven to see what being a raven felt like, I could not give Cassie that reply.

“Spying.” I replied. “Ravens don’t look out of place most of the time. If Jake needs a spying mission I won’t have to bother acquiring a new morph for the occasion.”

Cassie nodded and let the matter drop. Maybe she thought there wouldn’t be bad consequences or that I needed a little harmless fun in my life. Either way, she didn’t question it.
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All of Inbetween: The Incredible Burp (ffnet)

Animorphs Re-Read: #3 The Encounter (Chapters 5-8)

Chapter 5

Marco says that of course the Yeerks would have the ability to cloak their ships.

All the Animorphs are now gathered in Cassie's barn. It's one of the few places where a red-tailed hawk, aka Tobias, won't look out of place. He talks about some wolves, that will never become important to the plot, and how hawks are nervous around them.

Rachel brings up the point that they've been able to see Yeerks ships before so how could the invading aliens possibly have technology that would keep their invasion a secret. Jake brings up the theory that the cloaking ability only works at certain times, aka it would work in flight but not when a Yeerk ship is about to land. Cassie questions Tobias if he really saw a Yeerk ship and I'm confused.

Later on the kids will learn about the Skrit Na, Pemalites, and other races but for now their first thoughts should be Tobias saw a Yeerk ship. The kids don't know about any other races that have technology like either the Andalites or Yeerks. And the kids don't know about any other Andalites on Earth so they should think it's a Yeerk ship.

Jake then asks what they are going to do about the unknown ship. I'm going to call it a UFO since it is, for the Animorphs, an Unidentified Flying Object. Tobias says they should find out what it's up to. He says the UFO is doing something involving the mountains.

Marco, the sad voice of reason, points out the mountains is a huge area. That the ship could be gigantic and still hide in a million different places in the mountains. Rachel is up for the challenge and says that means they should start right away. Jake asks Cassie her opinion on the matter.

Cassie says it sort of feels like they have already risked enough. They have barely come out of the last two missions alive. Marco is then super excited because he thinks someone is agreeing with him. Cassie then breaks his heart by saying that she can't stop fighting, even though what they're doing is risky.

Marco says that they are fighting for strangers and so why should they risk their lives for them. He brings up the fact that they did what they could for Tom, but that had failed. He says that they can't stay lucky forever and one day one of them will die in the fight against the Yeerks. This makes me tear up a little as I'm thinking of Rachel's death. Speaking of Rachel, she gets angry and tells Marco if he wants out to get out. That she's tired of arguing for him to fight the good fight. Marco lashes out and says that she is only fighting for the danger. She gets off on it. Why else would she try to rescue a hawk with Tobias?

I stand by Rachel doing it out of love, but there was the danger aspect there too.

Marco fell silent as he realized he crossed the line.

Tobias says that, whatever the others decide, he's going to the mountains the next morning. Rachel, Jake, and Cassie agree to go with him while Marco says no. Rachel says if he doesn't want to go that's fine by her. But Marco points out that if they all skip school and the Yeerks encounter a problem that Chapman will realize who the 'Andalite bandits' really are. Jake says Marco is right.

Tobias is mad that Marco is right. Marco can be a pain in the ass but he's smart. He doesn't want to be in the war but he'll help the group. Even risking his life with them.

Tobias knows Marco is smart and thinks that he might be right about one of them dying. Don't worry, bird-boy, you won't die and most of you will survive. The war will just end with your girlfriend dead and you hating Jake. The majority of you will be fine.

Chapter 6

Tobias says the others have bird morphs that would make it easy to travel to where they needed to go. However, there are bird watchers that would notice. Tobias likes bird watchers but knows if any Controllers were among the bird watchers, there would be trouble for the Animorphs.

Marco's first lines of the chapter are him complaining about walking because of possible bird watcher Controllers. Cassie tries to help him feel better by pointing out they're trying out a new morph. Marco has an excellent comeback saying what they are doing is insane. I'm always going between hating Marco's guts to loving him.

The morphs they are going to use for the first time are wolves. Remember the wolves in Cassie's barn? Yeah, they acquired those wolves.

Jake decides that they are far enough away and they all prepare to morph. Marco complains about having to morph a girl wolf. Cassie explains that if two of them had morphed males then there might've been a fight for dominance. Marco says he could control himself. Rachel takes a jab at him by saying that he and Jake could hardly control themselves while they're human. Cassie agrees by talking about the 'primitive male behavior'. Marco points out that he can control his gorilla morph but Rachel says he's already similar to the gorilla.

Cue Cassie and Rachel giving each other high-fives.

Jake tells Marco that they flipped a coin. Marco then asks to see the coin again. Jake smiles and says for them all to just morph. With Cassie going first, of course. Oh, Marco, how you make me love and hate you so much.

Tobias says that sometimes morphing can be disturbing and that's why one member of the group is trying out the wolf morph first. Some animal minds were just uncomfortable to share head space with. Other morphs, like a flea, aren't disturbing.

Cassie starts to concentrate on morphing and then decides to strip down to her morphing suit so she won't get tangled up in her clothing. How can anyone hate this lovely girl? She is the first one who's pointed out they shouldn't morph in their clothing.

Tobias remarks that Cassie morphing into a wolf is disturbing. This is even though she is the best morpher of the group.

When Cassie finishes the wolf morph Jake asks her how the wolf morph is. She turns to him and growls which makes the others decide to stay very still. Tobias, as well as the others, know that Cassie is battling the wolf mind. She is trying to gain control of the morph.

After a little bit Cassie says she has full control of the morph. She seems to really enjoy it too. She remarks that a wolf's hearing is incredible as well. She seems to be even more in love with the wolf's sense of smell, though. Cassie starts sniffing and smells that Rachel had eaten bacon. Turns out Rachel was going to go vegetarian and Xena Warrior Princess appears to feel guilt. Marco laughs at Rachel's pain.

Jake says for everyone to start morphing so that they can get on with the mission. And, when they morph, they'll have to deal with the two hour time limit. Everyone looks at Tobias as he's the friendly reminder of what happens when you stay in morph over the time limit. Ouch!


Chapter 7

Tobias is jealous of his fellow Animorphs since they get to morph wolves. His hawk pride shows when he says that he is glad that, of all the animals he could've been trapped in, he got stuck in a hawk morph. As the series goes on, and he grows comfortable with what he is, he shows more and more hawk pride. He starts to show hatred of birds that red-tailed hawks wouldn't like and when he morphs a different bird he talks of how wrong the morph is.

For now, though, he just has a little hawk pride.

Tobias is jealous of the others since they are trying out a new morph and having fun in it. He says that it was sometimes hard for him to keep up with them since they moved so fast. It wasn't just the speed, though, it was how constant that speed was. Nothing slowed the wolf morphed Animorphs down.

Tobias then admits that isn't entirely true as two things slowed them down. One thing was that Jake constantly marked his 'territory'. This since Jake is the dominant male/alpha of the group. This being a YA book makes a joke about the scent marking. A wolf marks its territory by peeing. I would like to say I'm mature and don't find this as amusing as when I was a child, but that'd be a lie.

Cassie explains what I already told you, that Jake is marking is territory, and adds that it is gross to watch.

The other thing that is slowing them down is howling. Out of nowhere Jake started to howl and the others joined in. Tobias is a little annoyed at this as they are on a time limit and he doesn't know why they're stopping. Jake says that he thought howling would be a good idea and Rachel said that once he started she felt like she should join in. Cassie explains, while she is howling, that it's probably a way to make sure that they don't run into other wolves.

Tobias notices it's around the time that he had seen the Yeerk ship before. He decides to look around and tells the group. Rachel says to stay safe. As he's flying he thinks about what being a wolf is like. All the awesome power and confidence he'd have if he morphed a wolf. He thinks about asking the others about what being a wolf is like. Then his thoughts take a dark turn.

He thinks that he could also ask them what it's like to be human. He quickly reprimands himself for starting on the road to self-pity. Tobias thinks, just like hunting, if he starts he won't be able to stop.

Tobias keeps an on out of the Yeerk ship. He thinks that the ship might not keep a schedule.

Looking down below he sees what appeared to be Park Service vehicles and they appear to be in a hurry. The people getting out of the vehicles are carrying automatic weapons. Helicopters appear also with the Park Service markings. Tobias can tell something is wrong as the 'Park Service' people are moving like an army.

Bird-boy watched as the 'Park Service' people move to surround a tent. The 'Park Service' people are able to scare the campers away without any bloodshed. The two choppers land on the far side of the lake after circling it.

Out of the choppers come Hork-Bajir. Well, I'm sure this means that there is still doubt that the ship Tobias saw was a Yeerk ship.


Chapter 8

Tobias yells out the word Hork-Bajir as he realizes the shit that can go down now. He remarks that Elfangor said that the Hork-Bajir used to be a very peaceful race, but now every member of the race is infested by a Yeerk.

Tobias then heads towards the others and checks a human Controller's watch. He realizes that not only does the group have to worry about the Hork-Bajir, but also that time is now running out. Tobias finds them and sees them still never pausing except when Jake had to pee. Er...mark his territory. Tobias lands on a decayed log and the Animorphs gather around him. Like a real wolf pack. Tobias then tells them it's just him. None of the group answers him.

Suddenly Tobias realizes there are five wolves. The other Animorphs only add up to four wolves. I guess math wasn't Tobias' strong subject in school.

I know I should be scared, but this scene is a little humorous to me. It gives me such faith that a teenager that can't count is in charge of protecting the Earth.

Luckily Tobias realizes his mistake just in time and flies away, though it's a close call. He does take the time to say that he probably wouldn't be attacked by wolves if he had been human, but he's now in the body of a hawk.

After a few tries Tobias is able to get fully airborne and leaves the wolves behind. And then minutes after that he sees a pack of four wolves. This time, even though the wolf pack has the same number that would indicate that they are Animorphs, Tobias still asks first. Marco asks who else would they be. Tobias decides not to tell the reluctant Animorph the incident with the real wolf pack.

Tobias informs the group about the Hork-Bajir and human Controllers.

This is a funny quote that I couldn't find a place to put elsewhere in this Re-Read. It takes place during this conversation:

[How do you know they aren’t real Park Rangers?] Jake asked.

[Because real Park Rangers don’t carry machine guns,] I said. [Plus, they don’t hang around with Hork-Bajir.]

Cassie asks if Tobias is sure it was Hork-Bajir. He replies with sarcasm that it's hard to confuse them with anything else. Really, Cassie, you're questioning someone with hawk vision if they saw something as recognizable as a Hork-Bajir? Really?

Tobias goes on to say where the Controllers are focusing their attentions on and talks briefly about the campers. Marco doesn't like the thought of dealing with the Hork-Bajir. Rachel asks if the lake is where the ship was going and Tobias thinks it is. The group points out the evidence that the ship is going to be arriving shortly.

Jake says that they should go and check it out. Rachel agrees with him. Tobias points out that the others only have forty-five minutes in morph. Jake says the plan will be just to check things out and then leave. I'm sure that they won't cut very close to the time limit and have a scene that will give me nightmares for the next week.

Tobias starts flying again but, this time, stays closer to the rest of the group. As the group gets close to the Controllers Cassie reminds them to act a little frightened of the human Controllers. He watches as they move closer to the lake and are spotted by the human Controllers. The Controllers tense up but then relax as they see the morphed Animorphs as just wolves.

As he tries to get some altitude his Yeerk ship senses start to tingle. He looks up and the ripple is there. After a few seconds the Yeerk ship just appears. No gentle transition. It's just suddenly visible.
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Animorphs Re-Read Table of Contents


 

Animorphs Re-Read: #3 The Encounter (Chapters 1-4)

Chapter 1
And right then I had the strangest feeling. Like I should go with her. Like I should be with her.

So the first line of the book is Tobias saying that he's a freak of nature. Well, I'm sure glad I picked a happy character to be my first fictional crush.

And Tobias gives the usual 'I can't tell you anything' talk. Then he goes on talking about how he used to be picked on. The fact that he's a nothlit (aka someone trapped in morph) is brought up by him wondering what color his eyes used to be. He then worries that he's forgotten something like that when he hasn't been trapped in his red-tailed hawk morph for very long. Tobias says it doesn't matter, anyways, since he's a hawk now.

Tobias is flying by this one car lot. I just got finished with Under the Dome, I don't need another evil car salesman.

Tobias dives down at something. It turns out to be a cage that holds a red-tailed hawk. Tobias rants about Dealin' Dan Hawke who is keeping the hawk prisoner. I'd say this is insane but you have to look at it from Tobias' point of view.

From what I remember of this book it's about Tobias coming to terms/peace with himself. Not fully, but learning to handle not being a human boy anymore. At the start of the book he's not at peace and to think a young teenager wouldn't think this is giving them too much credit. Teens can be smart. But one who has been bullied, trapped in a body not his own, and fighting a secret war against aliens can't always think clearly.

Tobias decides not to wait for a moment when the commercial won't be filmed. Dan goes to feed his pet hawk and Tobias continues to dive. He continues to not rethink his plan as the cameras get ready to roll to film the commercial live. Tobias says that Marco would call the plan insane, but he doesn't care.

Tobias finally reaches the cage and starts to undo the lock. People are basically going 'WTF' and all attention is on bird-boy. Dan tries to make a joke out of it and tells some people to shoo Tobias away. Tobias seems to take that as a challenge. Tobias sees someone coming after him but continues to try and free the hawk.

Tobias is still getting the hawk free, but he realizes that this might be harder than he thinks. There are a lot of people coming after him. He cries out that Rachel appearing now would be a good thing. She says sorry but she missed the bus. An elephant cry is heard and that's Rachel!

People wonder what is going on, but Tobias knows. It's also sort of sweet how he makes sure to say that Rachel is impressive right now even if she's not pretty. Not pretty since she's currently in elephant morph.

Dan forgets about Tobias and shows much greater concern for the elephant that is stomping his convertibles. Tobias said he'd be smiling if he had a mouth at the moment.

Tobias finishes freeing the female hawk and he remarks on their differences. The female red-tailed hawk he freed is a TRUE hawk and not one with the mind of a teenager. As the hawk flies to freedom he has a feeling that he should be going with her. That's the hawk part of him talking.

Rachel asks to leave and Tobias knows it's time for them to go. He looks longingly at the female red-tailed hawk flying away.


Chapter 2
But I was glad to fight the Yeerks. Maybe I just had less to lose than the others. Or maybe something about the lonely, defeated, yet courageous Andalite prince touched me so deeply that I could never regret fighting to settle the score.

Tobias says he hears sirens. Rachel replies sarcastically since she is in elephant morph and can hear them clearly. Rachel says that she's demorphing as quickly as she can. Tobias then says that he hopes the cops are humans and not Controllers.

Tobias and Rachel escape into the woods behind the car dealership. Tobias says that the morphing process is incredibly weird. Especially when  you watch someone morph. Tobias talks about how Rachel looks as an elephant. The best part of this is when he says they haven't tried to weigh her in elephant morph. I'm just stuck here with an image of an elephant on a scale.

He talks about how dangerous Rachel can be. How she can throw a Hork-Bajir, a deadly opponent, like it was nothing.

Rachel starts to talk about how stupid Tobias had been earlier. How he should've waited until the commercial was done being filmed since Controllers could've seen the advertisement. I think this shows that Rachel does love Tobias. She was willing to do something risky and possibly blow the Animorphs' cover just for Tobias. No one sane would have followed Tobias on his insane 'mission', but someone who loved him would. Rachel isn't the sanest person, but this mission didn't involve bloodshed.

Tobias recounts what we already know about Controllers.

Tobias asks if they're going to be in trouble and Rachel says they are. Tobias says that he should take the blame since the idea was his. Rachel tells him to stop being so noble as she had fun on his insane little venture. Aw! You two are so adorable!

Tobias remarks that he finds Rachel attractive, but she isn't as attractive now as she's still demorphing. Once she finishes demorphing she says it's time to get away. And fast. Tobias says to go to the convenience store and Rachel hopes there are flip-flops there. Yes, Applegate never gave the Animorphs a type of shoe that they could morph with. Even though aqua shoes (?) were suggested to her at least once by fans.

Tobias beings to recount how he became involved with the war with the Yeerks.

Tobias ends his recount by saying that he is trapped in morph and that's why he didn't morph alongside Rachel.

As Tobias flies he thinks of what the female red-tailed hawk is doing. He talks about what red-tailed hawks like and confuses himself for a hawk at one point. It's sad to see Tobias trying to figure out what he is because the hawk part of him is permanent. Even when he gets his morphing abilities back, and gets to acquire his human self, the hawk part seems to carry over.

And another mention of the word 'thermal'!

When Tobias flies by a building he sees a businessman look up at him. After Tobias passes the building he talks about sensing something above him. Something huge, but when he looks up nothing is there. Tobias focuses more intently on what he knows is there and finally sees a ripple. It is so faint that he starts to doubt that he saw anything at all. He follows where he believes the ripple is going.

Tobias can't keep up with it and flies over to Rachel's house. The other Animorphs are waiting for them there. He calls out to Rachel in thought-speech but she can't reply as she's not in morph. He jokes with her and says that he bets the first words Marco will say are 'Are you insane?'.

It seems that the other Animorphs have seen the commercial and Marco does ask if Tobias and Rachel are insane. You should've bet money on that one, bird-boy.


Chapter 3
"You’re right," Marco said. "But since all of you guys think you have to save the world, and since you’re all my friends, more or less, I figure someone has to keep you from being total idiots."

Marco continues yelling at Rachel and Tobias for being idiots. Jake made them promise never to do anything so stupid again. And Cassie, the peacemaker of the group, makes sure everyone is friends at the end of the argument.

Marco brings up the point that the Animorphs are supposed to be fighting the Yeerks and not rescuing animals. I like that Tobias' stunt in the beginning of the book is being dealt with realistically. The fact that the Animorphs know it's stupid and aren't saying how cool it was. Making sure Tobias and Rachel know to never do it again and to be more careful.

Tobias challenges Marco by bringing up the point that Marco doesn't want to fight the Yeerks. Marco tries to make an angrier expression than Tobias' natural face and fails. Marco says that he doesn't want to save the world but he knows someone has to keep them all from making stupid mistakes. He says that person is him. I like that Marco is fighting for his friends, especially Jake, and not because he cares about saving the world. Shows some strength to make all that sacrifice for friendship.

Tobias brings up the fact that Marco is the most reluctant Animorph even though he was one of the original members. I think I heard someone mentioning the fact that Applegate said she would've written Tobias as something other than straight if she could. I think she said either gay or bi. And I think that sort of shows in the next paragraph.

How he describes Marco is almost like he's sad he can't be closer to him. He brings up Marco's sarcasm and confidence like those are qualities he admires. Like those are qualities he wished he could pull off easily like Marco. A big piece of evidence comes at the end of the paragraph. Tobias says he guesses 'girls' think Marco is cute due to the boy's long brown hair and dark eyes.

Does anyone else see that?

Jake and Rachel joke about them being in trouble if Marco is the sensible one. Everyone laughs. It ends up with Marco throwing a pillow at Jake. Tobias remarks that the two are opposites but have been best friends forever. Jake is the one that he'd turn to in times of crises, though.

Cassie says she has to get back to her barn to do work. Marco jokes about not using the word cage around Tobias so bird-boy won't have her house destroyed. The group laughs as both her parents are veterinarians and her barn functions as a rehabilitation clinic. Tobias says that Cassie is the animal expert of the group.

Jake asks if Tobias is coming home right away but Tobias says no. The others in the group feel sad for Tobias and he seems to resent that. Jake also seems to be feeding Tobias like a pet bird. Bird-boy tells Jake to be careful since Tom is a Controller and if he notices Jake feeding a bird there could be trouble.

The others leave making Rachel and Tobias the only ones in the room. Rachel says she doesn't like to think of Tobias living in an attic, but he says he's okay. He thinks of telling her about the ripple he saw earlier but decides against it. He doesn't know what it is and he doesn't want to worry Rachel.

After they say good-bye and he flies out he talks about how he hates being pitied. He hates how the group sees him as being trapped and not remembering he had a shitty life as a human anyways. He says that there are things he has now that he didn't have then. Like the sky.

Take my love, take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don't care, I'm still free
You can't take the sky from me.

 Sorry...I went off on a tangent there.



Chapter 4
As for me, Tobias, when I hadn’t been in school, I used to spend most of my free time watching TV, hanging out at the mall, doing homework, reading…all things it was difficult for me to do, now.

The following day Tobias goes back to where he had seen the ripple. He makes mention that he's still not sure if he actually saw it or not. He comments that red-tailed hawks aren't made for soaring like eagles or some buzzards are. He's like a fanboy of how well Turkey Buzzards can soar.

Tobias then mentions that the hawk mind would be just as happy perched on a branch waiting for prey as it would be soaring. This leads to him thinking of the downsides of being a hawk. He seems like he wants to hunt but is afraid of the backlash from Marco.

Tobias makes mention of when you're in morph that the animal mind can be hard to control. He brings up the point that Jake couldn't help himself eating a spider. Tobias thinks if he loses control once that he won't be able to stop himself. The conflict Tobias has within himself shows that he likes being a hawk but he's not fully at peace with his place in life.

Tobias realizes that maybe the ripple only comes at a certain time of the day. Therefore his entire day is free. This wouldn't be a problem if he was still human, but he's not. A red-tailed hawk spends most of its day hunting, but Tobias hasn't yet started to hunt. If he were human he'd do stuff like watch tv or read. But he can't do those things in a red-tailed hawk body.

It's strange that he says that he misses school since he used to get bullied there. But the alternative is his home life which is even worse. Oh my god! Tobias thinks his parents don't love him! Fuck you, Ellimist! Fuck you!

Seems that Tobias had Jake lie to his aunt and uncle. Made it so that the aunt thought Tobias was with the uncle and vice versa. Tobias thinks that they'll figure the truth out one day, but he also thinks that they won't care.

Tobias decides to go to Rachel's house and see if she's available. Just as he's about to head over there he sees the ripple again. How he words this part is almost like the ripple is calling out to him. The ripple then changes direction to head towards the mountains and Tobias sees a flock of geese. The geese are going straight for the ripple. All of a sudden the head goose's wings collapsed and it slid through the air.

Most of the geese don't seem to make it out alive.

When the geese hit the ripple Tobias could see metal. He suddenly knows what the ripple is. A Yeerk ship!
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Animorphs Re-Read Table of Contents

Animorphs Re-Read: #2 The Visitor (Chapters 17-20)

Chapter 17
"The point is," Chapman said, "that I agreed to be made into a host. I agreed to…to…" He looked like he was about to throw up. "I agreed to surrender my freedom. To become a Controller. To accept this filthy thing in my head. To accept your control. I agreed…but only if you would spare my daughter."

Rachel remarks that Visser Three in person is much worse than seeing him in hologram form. She says that his host body doesn't look different than the Andalite prince that gave them their powers and warned them of the Yeerk invasion. She says that Andalites don't look threatening, though they are strange.

But she says that Visser Three seemed to feel different than Elfangor. I must say that Animorphs did have some mystical stuff going on with it. Most noticeably, so far, talking about Visser Three.

Rachel watches the two Hork-Bajir and recalls what Elfangor had said about them. That they had been a good people before being enslaved by the Yeerks. Just like humanity is a good people but may end up enslaved by the Yeerks. But it's hard for her to see something innocent in something like a Hork-Bajir.

Rachel then takes notice of the Taxxons. They're basically evil, cannibalistic space centipedes. Later in the series you learn that even Taxxons don't like being Taxxons. But, for now, you just know they look evil and Elfangor said there were no good Taxxons. Never mind that his friend, Arbron, was trapped in Taxxon morph and lead a bunch of Taxxon rebels. But Elfangor was dying so I give him a little pass for skipping that part.

Visser Three asks Chapman if Rachel is the Andalite bandit. When Chapman gives confirmation the Visser and Rachel basically stare at each other. Rachel mentions the extreme fear she has being so close to him. When he thought-speaks to her she nearly blurts out that she is a human. I do not blame her as she's young and death is hard to face at any age.

Rachel then realizes that she will never win this battle of wills with the Visser. She continues to mentally break down and then she finds comfort in Fluffer's mind. While Fluffer had fears, they weren't Rachel's fears. Fluffer did not care about Visser Three. Tobias uses this in a future book where he is tortured. Instead of hiding behind a cat mind, he hides behind his red-tailed hawk mind.

When Visser Three picks Rachel up she lets Fluffer's mind dictate what she'll do. And she sniffs the air to get a better idea of what Visser Three is. The Visser remarks that Rachel's morph is similar to Jake's tiger morph. Chapman tells Visser Three that the tiger and cat are similar. That they are both felines.

Visser Three tells Rachel that Andalites are brave, whatever their other faults may be. Rachel wonders how she should answer him as saying 'thank you' doesn't make much sense. The Visser then gets angry when she doesn't answer him. Rachel knows she can't answer him and, again, states that she will die in cat morph to protect the Animorphs' secret.

Visser Three then turns his attention to Chapman and asks where Melissa is. Chapman stutters as he doesn't like telling the crazed Andalite Controller bad news. And the Visser grabs Chapman by the neck and holds the point of his tail-blade at the human Controller's neck. Chapman then tries to bring up the point that his host is resisting him. This causes Visser Three to go into yet another rage.

He brings up the point that his Andalite host tries to rebel and does Chapman really think a human host is a powerful as an Andalite one? This sort of reminds me of my fiance. How if I have pain he always has it worse. That I can wake up with a sore neck and, meanwhile, he can hardly get out of bed on his own.

Chapman continues to argue his point by bringing up that he is an Assistant Principal, he has to act human a lot. And if he starts doing odd twitches his cover could be blown. Chapman ends it by saying he wouldn't be of use to the Visser. Visser Three retorts that Chapman isn't seeming very useful to him at the moment.

Chapman asks for his host to talk to the Visser directly. Visser Three starts to look around. Rachel starts to look around even though she doesn't know what she's looking for. She catches some movement and then assumes it's just another Hork-Bajir on patrol duty. Visser Three finally says yes to Chapman's request.

The following is one of the most heartbreaking things in the series. Get your tissues ready!

Iniss allows Chapman to fully control his own body. Chapman, not having been able to move his body for so long, has trouble standing up or speaking. It takes him a little bit to say 'Visser Three'. This makes the Visser very annoyed. Visser Three then demands for Chapman to say whatever he's going to say and get it over with.

Chapman recounts how he became a Controller. He didn't want to but his wife did. The now Controller wife of his threatened to infest his daughter if he didn't give in. Chapman says that he forgives his wife since she was weak and Visser Three liked to exploit that trait. Visser Three takes the compliment as a Hork-Bajir reminds the Visser that they were on a schedule.

Chapman continues saying that he only became a Controller to save Melissa. This is just downright heart breaking! I mean...I mean...the emotions that are coming over me! Chapman had to watch his wife become a Controller and then allow a parasitic slug from outer space to control him all to keep his daughter safe. The amount of bravery needed to make that sacrifice is just overwhelming!

As the realization that Chapman gave up his freedom to save his daughter hits Rachel, it seems like her heart stops.

Visser Three isn't affected and tells Chapman that him being a host is important. Chapman slowly rises up, mind you that this is a very hard act for him to pull off, and threatens Visser Three. Chapman says that Melissa isn't a threat but he is.


Chapter 18
In seconds it would all be over. I would be aboard the Visser’s ship. I would leave Earth. The only thing in my future was pain. Maybe I would die before I betrayed my friends. A depressing kind of thing to hope for.

[So. What’s happening now?]

Visser Three laughs at the idea of Chapman being a threat. He lightly pushes on Chapman's chest and this causes the human to not be able to stand. He falls down. Chapman is crying but he's not done being a bad ass yet. He tells the Visser to ask Iniss if it's the truth that he will fight for his daughter forever. When Chapman stands up again he's not crying and the Yeerk is in control. Iniss confirms that what Chapman says is true and that the human will disrupt his work.

Iniss also says that Ms. Chapman could be a problem too. Iniss says that's he's better able to work with a voluntary host. He ends with saying that he will do whatever Visser Three says, though it may be hard for him. The Visser remarks that of course Iniss will do what's he's ordered to and that Melissa will stay freed for now. Visser Three decides this since he has one of the Andalite bandits in his custody.

When given the okay, Chapman leaves. Rachel remarks that at least Melissa is safe. At least as safe as a human can be in the home of two Controllers.

Visser Three says to move out and Rachel starts to lose all hope. She starts thinking that the best outcome would be her dying before she betrayed her friends the Animorphs. Just as she loses the last of her hope someone thought-speaks to her asking what's happening.

Rachel asks if it's Jake that's talking to her. Jake replies that she'd be an idiot to think it'd be anyone else. Rachel yells at him saying that she told him to go away and Jake replies that he wasn't going to abandon his cousin. I'm just here wondering how Rachel couldn't see that Jake would keep quiet to make sure she was safe. Or as safe as he could keep her with him being a flea and all.

When he hears how little time he has left he doesn't seem that disturbed. Rachel watches as the door of the Blade ship opened and she sees the horrors within. Jake says that all the Animorphs aren't going anywhere and Rachel wonders if all of them are fleas now. Jake replies no, but that Tobias was supposed to follow Rachel. So the other Animorphs should be around. Rachel says the others won't be able to do anything but Jake has a differing opinion.

Suddenly an earthmover starts up. The Hork-Bajir that was carrying Rachel panics and goes to the Visser.

Rachel informs Jake that one of the gang has started an earthmover and he says it's time for him to act. He starts to try for a double-morph. Rachel, meanwhile, keeps track of the earthmover that is moving right for the Blade ship. Visser Three yells at the Taxxon to get them into the air because any human machinery like an earthmover would totally beat an alien space ship!

The Taxxon says that it'll take two minutes to get off the ground. The Visser doesn't like the answer so he slices the alien with his tail-blade. He tells some of the other Taxxons to take off and the others to eat the bleeding Taxxon. Taxxons will eat anything that bleeds and so all were excited when their comrade started to ooze blood.

There's, thankfully, only one paragraph describing how the Taxxons eat their fallen comrades.

Rachel looks, sees Jake demorphing, and yells at him. He tells her to be quiet so he can concentrate. The rule of only one morph at a time is established! As Visser Three is distracted, Rachel also demorphs. While she does so she looks at the Taxxon being eaten, the earthmover, and then she sees a red light as the earthmover is being disintegrated.

Rachel reminds herself that she has to focus on her morph even though some of her friends might've just died. She makes it so that her cat morph has human-like hands so she can let herself out. One of the Taxxons yells at the Visser while she is doing this.

The Visser turns around and Jake distracts him. Visser Three screams in pain as Jake claws him. When Jake gets off the cat loving Yeerk, some Hork-Bajir come to defend the Visser. Jake yells at Rachel to run and she agrees. This isn't a fight she can win.

So she runs and remarks that cats can run fast, but not as fast as a Hork-Bajir. Jake beats a troublesome Hork-Bajir. He yells at her to run since she is too small to fight. However, there's still a Hork-Bajir after Rachel. The alien reaches for Rachel but she dodges him.

Marco and Cassie have started another earthmover!

Rachel rushes towards a half finished building so that she can demorph. Her time is almost up! She tries to drown out every sound and focus on demorphing. Suddenly Visser Three, in one of his many crazy morphs, lifts a piece of concrete that was covering Rachel and all thoughts of demorphing leave her.


Chapter 19
Another hand like living rock slammed in front of me.

Even the cat in me knew- it was hopeless.

Rachel, yet again, has given up hope that she'll live. This time because Visser Three has morphed into something monstrous. I will agree that Visser Three has some pretty messed up morphs and sometimes they don't make much sense. But I'd be fucking lying if I said that they weren't awesome and I love seeing them.

Visser Three is trying to get to Rachel and not caring which of his men he kills. To say he is obsessed with getting the 'Andalite bandits' is an understatement. Rachel does the smart thing and starts to run away from him. However, Visser is there for her. Even the cat part of her thinks they're about to die.

Rachel's break comes when she hears a loud explosion. She runs away and realizes that one of the earthmovers has destroyed/blown up a Bug fighter! Shit! I need to add earthmovers onto my list of 'things I need in case of an alien invasion'.

Visser Three is pissed off at this incident and Rachel doesn't envy the Hork-Bajir who let it through. In the Hork-Bajir's defense: he was operating on logic?

I'm all for the Animorphs distracting the Yeerks with equipment but...an earthmover, nothing special, destroying an alien craft? Okay, I'll retract my previous opinion in favor of this one: That is awesome! B-movie awesome is the shit I like!

Visser Three yells in anger and continues to come after Rachel. Luckily Tobias is there to pick Rachel up. He complains that Fluffer is fat and next time she should acquire a cat that doesn't weigh so much. Tobias states that he'll fly her to the trees but then he has to let go of her. Tobias drops her and she demorphs on the way down.

As Rachel and Tobias watch the Visser destroy his own troops in anger, Tobias shows that he's the master of understating a situation. Tobias just states that Visser Three must be angry that they got away.

Rachel turns her focus on the others and asks if they survived. Tobias says they all survived and Rachel says she should feel glad she has survived, but all she feels is tired as she collapses onto the ground.


Chapter 20
"Melissa, your father loves you more than you will ever know. And more than he can ever show you. Signed, someone who knows."

Rachel goes to another gymnastic class and remarks that Melissa is free. Even though she messed up, big time, her friend is free. Her reason for fighting is free. I'm starting to ship Rachel/Melissa really hard because of this book.

Rachel watches, though hides the fact she's doing so, when Melissa opens her locker and reads Rachel's letter. Rachel had written the letter on the computer so her former friend couldn't tell it was from her. She tells Melissa, through the letter, that her father loves her.

This is sweet of her to do. She knows she can't go and infiltrate the Chapman house again, unless she wants to have Melissa infested, but she still tries to comfort her former friend.

Rachel says that Melissa seems to be more into practice that day.

Afterwards the group meets up. Cassie asks how Melissa is and Rachel brings up the note. She says that she knows it's bad for security, but she doesn't care. Chapman gave up everything to protect his daughter and the least Rachel can do is tell Melissa that he loves her.

Jake doesn't seem to mind.

Then it's brought up that there will be another fight with the Yeerks, with Visser Three. Marco is surprised and Tobias replies that they will continue fighting until the Andalites arrive.

I forgot how much of a cat person Visser Three is. I also found out that someone else beat me to the punchline of Visser Three being a cat person (thanks, Ifi!). And I am reading Ifi and Adam's review of the Animorphs series before I read her fic (that was recommended to me).

I also loved seeing Chapman in this book. The length he went to protect his daughter is beyond amazing.

The next book in the Animorphs series I will be Re-Reading will be

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Animorphs Re-Read Table of Contents

Let's Play Mario Kart Wii: Getting Gold (Parts 34-36)

I continue on with my goal of getting first place in every cup!




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Let's Play Mario Kart Wii: Getting Gold Table of Contents