< Watch out!! > Tobias yelled at the rest of the Animorphs. He was flying over head playing his usual part of watch-man. Thirty-some Hork-Bajirs lay dead or wounded on the floor of the open warehouse. The group had surrounded Visser 3 in their fighting morphs, and were about to attack him when four Hork-Bajirs came from out of nowhere. They were holding what looked to Tobias like fire extinguishers. A thick fog filled the room, and when the Animorphs finally regained their vision, Visser 3 and the Hork-Bajirs had disappeared.
< Man, that was weird. What was that stuff they sprayed on us? > Marco asked no one in particular.
< I believe it was - no, it couldn't be... the Yeerks couldn't have developed it, it's a foolish child legend... > Ax went on talking mostly to himself.
< Hold up! What do you think it is? > Jake asked, annoyed that Ax was still going on about all the technicalities.
< Oh, nothing, Prince Jake. It couldn't be, I was mistaken. Forget I said anything... >
< Yeah, whatever. Visser 3, the coward, was too scared to fight us, he knew he'd lose!! > Rachel said angrily.
Jake sighed. < I'm really tired, let's just go back home. Thank God it's a weekend, I don't think I'd be able to go to school tomorrow. >
After walking deeper into the forest in their morphs, they stopped and demorphed. "Well, I still want to know what the Yeerks sprayed on us, what if it's some kind of a tracking device?"
"Marco's right, let's meet tomorrow at Cassie's barn and decide what to do, okay?" Jake walked off staggering a little from sleep deprivation.
"Cassie, can I spend the night at your house tonight, I'm dead tired."
"Yeah, but my parents will probably think it's a little strange that we're going to bed at five in the afternoon on a Friday..." Rachel and Cassie walked off and Marco started home, leaving Ax and Tobias.
< So, Ax. What did you think the spray was for? > Tobias asked Ax.
< I didn't want to alarm anyone, but I thought it might be the legendary Reshek, which creeps into the pores of the animal it's sprayed on and deprives them of all self-control. Thousands of years ago, it is said that the Kaert attacked the Andalites using Reshek warfare, and it was disastrous; Andalites were killing each other and blowing up our facilities, which were primitive of course, much like yours. Then the Andalite scientist Ryshu Islamic Dedadera came up with what he thought was a cure. >
< What was the cure? >
< A morning ritual. It was preformed every morning along with the other rituals of honor and death. When the Andalites started preforming the ritual, their self-control slowly started to return. It took nearly 2 weeks for everything to return to normal after Dedadera came up with the "cure." Everyone blindly followed the belief that this ritual kept them safe for about 500 more years, I'm embarrassed to say. Then, after extensive scientific studies it was concluded that the ritual was not actually the cure, but that the effect of the Reshek gas merely faded away. However, neither theories could be proven as no one had a sample of the gas. Some thought that the gas story was just a cover up for some experiment gone wrong. >
< Wow. So you don't do the ritual anymore? >
< Of course not. How could a ritual prevent the effects of a gas? > Ax asked, laughing a little. < The Andalites found no reason to continue the ritual if it did nothing. I learned the ritual in my Andalite Myths class, but that was a long time ago - I don't really remember any of it, except some part about the sun lifting... >
< Well, that sounds kind of interesting, but I don't think we should bother Jake or the others, especially if it's a legendary gas. I guess we'll know tomorrow if that's what it was. I'm going to go find some lunch. You get some rest, okay Ax-man? >
< Okay Tobias. Happy hunting. >
Tobias flew off, leaving Ax alone muttering about something. He decided to graze for a while and then take a rest. Strange - that fight with Visser 3 took a lot out of him.
Jake woke up feeling refreshed. He looked at the clock. 8:15. He'd slept for almost 15 hours. Feeling a little guilty, he got up and got dressed. He called Marco about that "science project" they had to work on and told him to meet up at Cassie's barn in half an hour. After checking that everyone was still asleep, he morphed falcon and flew out the window. The way the Cassie's house was great. He flapped his wings to gain altitude and flew the thermals most of the way, occasionally diving down as fast as he could and flying back up, laughing. By the time he reached Cassie's, everyone was there. He demorphed outside the barn after making sure there was no one around and entered the barn.
"Guys, I feel so much better. I think I just needed 15 hours of sleep."
The others nodded in agreement. Everyone looked much better than yesterday. Rachel had borrowed some of Cassie's clothes, which were way too short for her, but she still looked great. Marco was lounging on a stack of hay, chewing some absently, Tobias was perched in his usual spot in the rafters, Ax was in human morph watching what Cassie was doing to the wolf she was attending, and Rachel was sitting on a stool, rocking back and forth on the uneven legs of the stool.
"Cassie's dad made us watch a black and white war movie, so no one was really suspicious that we fell asleep so early."
Jake laughed as he sat down on a pile of hay near Cassie.
"Speaking of movies, I think that the Yeerks have been introduced to the wonderful world of television and got the gas-escape plan from a James Bond movie or something. I mean, I've never felt better than today, so I don't think it had any effect on us, and even if it did, it's not like we can just walk into the hospital and be like: 'Hi, I was fighting Visser 3, you know - your boss, yesterday and his men sprayed me with a fire extinguisher while escaping. Can you check me out for defects?"
"Marco's right - about the hospital thing. We'll just have to follow some of our known Controllers and see if we can find anything out. Any ideas on where to start?" Jake asked.
"Maybe we should split up - some of us go spy on Chapman's house and the others get some information from Erek. We'll meet back here and share what we learned."
Jake smiled at Cassie. "I think that's a great idea. Let's have me and Cassie at Chapman's, Rachel and Marco with Erek, and Tobias and Ax --"
< Wait. Ax should probably go with Rachel and Marco to Erek's since he'll have an idea of what to ask. I'll go back to the warehouse, there's something I need to check there, is that alright? >
"Sure, let's all meet back here in three hours. Any questions?"
"Yeah, why do I have to go with Marco? His jokes make me so sick I start twitching. One of these days something bad is going to happen..."
"Like what? You'll break a nail trying to hit me?"
"Ha! Little Marco," Rachel retorted conscendendly, " I probably would break a nail on that thick head of yours."
Ax and Tobias looked at each other a little worriedly. 'This better not be Rachel and Marco starting to lose control' thought Tobias.
Three hours later.
Rachel, Marco, Ax, and Tobias sat waiting in the barn. Marco and Rachel glaring at each other, and Ax looking fed up of them both. Tobias had just flown in from searching the warehouse.
< Where are Jake and Cassie? > he asked.
"I don't know, but I hope they get here soon, we've been waiting here for about two hours." Rachel said impatiently.
< Two hours! Guess Erek didn't have any information, huh? >
Marco grunted. "You could say that, let's just wait until Jake and Cassie come back, alright?"
About five long minutes later, Jake and Cassie came in. Their hair was messy, clothes rumpled, and they were both out of breath.
"What have you two been up to?" Marco asked, still mad at Rachel.
"What do you mean?" Jake replied defensively.
"Well, maybe I'm talking about your clothes and hair, and the fact that you're both out of breath."
"Oh, that," Cassie started slowly.
"Bushes." Jake said quickly.
"Yes, bushes, very nasty little things. Plus we were chased ... by something." Cassie said in a shrilly voice.
"Yeah, we demorphed in the bushes outside of Chapman's house, but then we were assaulted by a big, black dog. We ran a little, then morphed and flew here, right Cassie?"
"Yep, exactly how it happened - "
"Yeah, yeah. What'd you find out?" Rachel asked impatiently.
"Find out? Well... did you know that the Chapman's have a blue door now? Personally, I think it's some kind of Yeerk conspiracy..." Jake said.
"Come on Jake!! Stop kidding around, whatdya find out? Or did you guys even spy on him?" Rachel asked suspiciously.
"Ha! Did you guys even spy on him... Of course we did, and I'm sorry to say we did uncover anything about gas, or whatever we were looking for. We might have to go back tomorrow for some more info... Hey! What did you find?" Jake changed the subject quickly.
"Nothing! Rachel broke Erek before he had the chance to tell us anything important!" Marco yelled.
The others looked at Rachel in surprise.
"He was taking too long! He and Marco were joking around, so I gave him a little slap on the back to get him on task again..."
"Yeah, a little slap that blew some of his circuits!"
"Hey, I'm not the one who spewed water all over him!"
"You spewed water on Erek?" Jake asked
"His face looked really funny! He was in the middle of a story about his mother, I thought it was an impression of her yelling at him!"
"Ax, what were you doing while they were destroying Erek?"
"I tried to help him, but he wouldn't let me near him. He told us to check outside for something, and when we did we couldn't get back in. Erek tried to unlock the door, but he said it wasn't working. He'll come by tomorrow to help us if he's fixed by then."
"Tobias, I don't suppose you found anything important?"
"Great, how about after lunch, I'm starved. All that...running...really took a lot of energy, ya know. How 'bout we meet here around 2 o'clock?"
"Alright, anywhere far from him." Rachel said, looking at Marco in disgust. "I'm going home, so don't even think about coming my way, Marco."
"Yeah, 'cause I love to stalk you, Rachel. Maybe you didn't realize I have a life too? I guess I'll go to Jake's for lunch --"
"Oh, hell no. I mean, sorry, but I have things to do. Important things."
Marco looked at Cassie, 'Yeah, real important things,' he thought, ' more important than your best friend. What is happening to this world?'
"Yeah, whatever, I'll go eat with my oh-so-exciting dad."
Marco started out the barn door the same time as Rachel. They both got stuck in the door way.
"Marco! What the hell are you thinking? Get out of my way!"
"Oh, of course. Height before beauty." Marco unstuck himself, allowing Rachel to pass.
Rachel shoved Marco out of the door and stepped over him.
"Have a nice lunch, Marco" she called innocently as she walked away.
As the week progressed, Rachel and Marco's fights and Jake and Cassie's disappearances continued. Rachel became more and more violent towards Marco, and Marco in turn became more annoying. Jake and Cassie both had detention for skipping class, and Jake became less and less leader-like, he even started a few fights with his brother, Tom, another known Controller. Ax and Tobias, the only ones of the group not affected, were still looking for an answer. It took them a day or so to convince Erek to let them in so he could have a look at what Tobias found in the warehouse. Erek ran the letters through his computer-like brain, searching for a match. At last, he found one.
"This appears to be a receipt in Prokot --"
< Oh, that's good. We thought it might be in Keart -- >
"--which is the language for the Keart race."
< Darn. >
"Something was apparently sold to the Skreet Na quiet a while ago by the Keart. Must have been in return for more ammunition as they were losing in the war against the Jungan, the most advanced species at the time. Pity they were killed off, they would have been about ten times further in technology than the Andalites --"
"A receipt? For what? Waa Ttt. wuu uut?" Ax asked in his human morph, obviously changing the subject.
"It says here 'Reshak,' which is a form of nerve gas used in war thousands of years ago. I don't think they still make it, all of the resources needed to make Reshak, or as the Andalites called it Reshek, are long extinct. This must be left over from the Andalite War. The Yeerks probably bought it from the Skreet Na in order to try it out on the Andalite bandits."
< So that must be what Jake, Cassie, Rachel, and Marco have. Why didn't it affect Ax - he was right there with them? >
"The Andalites preformed a ritual to cure themselves of the effects of the gas. The Andalite Secret Service recently discovered that the certain order of the words made them immune to the gas. Their immunity was passed down from generation to generation, Ax is most likely an ancestor to one of the "crazy Andalites" who was affected by the Reshek."
"Of course not!" Ax said angrily, "It doesn't work - the ritual. It's not logical. The gas will wear off in a few weeks..."
"Actually, they're pretty much stuck with it until they preform the ritual. Without self- control, the Yeerks can easily defeat the Animorphs, or they will kill each other." Erek said dryly, thinking of Rachel and Marco.
"This is stupid! How can you expect me to foolishly believe what my primitive ancestors believed thousands of years ago? The Andalites have come a long way in technology since then and we know that it is not possible for words to cure a person of illness --"
< Ax-man! I know what you mean, but think of it, if we don't try anything right now, Marco will probably be killed, Rachel will go to prison for committing the crime, and Jake and Cassie will be way too young parents, unless Tom turns Jake into a Controller first. And it won't really be their fault - it will be ours for not trying to save them any way possible. Come on, let's just try this. Erek, what's the ritual? >
"Well, the ritual process isn't that hard, the hard part is the morph you have to be in. A Prokotian squirrel will be needed for the others to acquire. Once they have acquired the squirrel, they must morph it and preform the ritual, words and all, in that morph. It goes against all logic, I know, but the Keart weren't really a logical species. They could do amazing things using science and nature."
< Where do we find the squirrel? >
"The Yeerks have one in their possession - for Visser 3. His ancestors obviously weren't part of the crazy crowd. I heard he was killing Controllers left and right, someone had to use a calming spray on him. It's probably kept in the Visser's DNA room, his own personal zoo for all the strange animals he's caught and acquired. Here, I'll draw a map for you. It shouldn't be too hard seeing as how there's a secret passage way right here," Erek pointed on his hand-drawn map to a corner of the DNA room, "It's for the Visser to escape when needed with out being detected by anyone."
Once you get the animal, recite these words and motions. Jake and the others should regain self-control for a few hours, long enough to explain to them what is going on. Each day, their self-control will reassert itself more and more. By the end of a week, they should be pretty much cured."
< Thank you very much, Erek. I'm sure Rachel is very sorry for almost killing you. >
"Yeah, well, you guys better hurry. The sooner the better, eh?"
It was decided that Ax would go and retrieve the squirrel, while Tobias round up the other Animorphs. Ax's job was fairly easy, he morphed pelgrine falcon and flew above town, looking for the spot Erek had described to them. Although he still did not believe this would work, he decided to humor Tobias and try to cure them. At last he found the tree with the top branches that looked as if they had been squashed down by an elephant. He flew down, demorphed in front of the tree and pushed the knot in the tree trunk with a tiny X on it. The tree slid backward, revealing a passage way large enough for his Andalite body. Slipping down into the hole, Ax found that the hole was deeper than he expected, in fact it no bottom. His arms giving out under his weight, he slid down the passage at a surprisingly fast speed. Caught off guard at first, Ax yelled in surprise. He quickly regained composure and thought DNA Room. He promptly stopped in front of a pair of closed white doors. They opened as he neared them, and he found himself in a white room filled with cages of animals. Written in the Andalite alphabet, he understood the names of each animal. Ax went from cage to cage, examining the name until he finally came across Prokotian Squirrel. The lock on the cage was primitive, and Ax easily hacked thru the password. The cage sprung open and the squirrel jumped into his arms and snuggled against him.
Ahhheeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnngggggggggg!
The alarms had been sounded. Startled, Ax shut the cage and ran with the animal back towards the open white doors, which were starting to close. At the last moment possible, Ax jumped into the closing doors, his tail barely missing being caught in the doors. He stepped into the elevator that had taken him down and thought Up. Soon he was stepping out of the tree hole, which promptly closed as he stepped out of it.
'Now what to morph that is strong enough to carry the animal?' Ax thought.
He decided on Eagle, and carrying the squirrel in his talons, flew back to Cassie's barn. He spotted a troop of Hork Bajirs heading toward the tree he had just been in. It all seemed too easy that he had been allowed that much time to get the animal. Maybe this was a trap. Suddenly Ax realized that the animal's location was monitored. This was all part of Visser 3's trap, first infecting the Andalite bandits with the gas, leaving behind the receipt, and letting the entrance to the DNA room go unguarded. Visser 3 wanted them to steal the animal so he could get their position. Well, Ax wasn't going to lead Visser 3 to his friends. He flew the opposite direction of Cassie's house and landed in an abandoned cabin in the woods, where an old lady used to live, but recently died.
< Now stay here little animal, I'll be right back, okay? >
Ax left the animal there and flew as quickly as possible to Cassie's barn. Tobias and the others were all there. Jake, Cassie, Rachel, and Marco were all sitting in different corners of the barn.
< I had to separate them all, it was getting to be too much for me > Tobias said to Ax in private thought-speak.
< Hurry, we have to fly over to the abandoned cottage in the woods, the squirrel has a tracking device on it. We should fly over there, acquire it and leave it there for the Visser to deal with. >
< Alright, guys, morph bird, we're going to fly over to the cottage in the forest to acquire a new animal that Ax has found especially for you guys >
"You know, you don't have to talk to us like little kids."
"Marco, just shut up and do what Tobias says. Hey Tobias, maybe after this you could morph human and we could go to the park? Or you could morph human and we could watch a movie..."
"Hey, I don't like to be told what to do without knowing what I'm doing!" Jake exclaimed.
"What kind of animal is it?" Cassie asked.
< Everyone just be quiet, morph, and follow me. Your life depends on it! > Tobias said sharply.
Everyone shut up at this and quietly began morphing into their bird morphs. As quickly as possible, they flew over to the cabin, landed, and demorphed.
< Come on, they're probably on their way! >
They ran into the cabin and found the squirrel in the corner of one of the walls. Cassie reached out toward it.
"Come on, it's okay. We won't hurt you," she said in her practiced soothing voice.
The animal slowly came out of its' hiding spot and jumped into her arms. It closed it's eyes and entered a trance as Cassie began acquiring it. One by one the Animorphs acquired the animal. Just as Jake finished acquiring it, they heard voices outside. Morphing into flies, they flew out through the window and back towards Cassie's barn.
< Do we have to leave it there? What if they kill it? I think I'd kill them if they do anything to hurt it > Cassie said, uncharacteristically violent.
< Take the animal back to it's cage, > Visser 3 called in open thought-speech, < If it struggles, kill it. I have no use for it anymore. >
It was worth the whole trouble of getting the animal just to see the Animorphs preform the ritual in morph. Tobias, who morphed human at Rachel's insistance, watched, crying from laughter. Even Ax thought it was funny to see the squirrels dancing around on their hind legs, moving their little arms up toward the sky, then down to the earth, chanting in distorted, high voices:
As this sun rises in the sky
Erek was standing in the shadows, bearly able to contain himself. The Animorphs did not know that all they had to do was say the word Ahwashaba and they would be cured. They didn't need to do the stupid dance and recite the rhyme - he'd made that up in a matter of minutes. He considered it pay back for what Rachel and Marco had done to him. Plus, it was April's Fools Day!
My self-control will never die.
And when it sets, I will not fear
For it will always be right here
Ahhhhhhhwwwwwwaaaaaaaa!
Shhhhhhaaaaabbbbbbbbaaaa!