Let's Read Animorphs! The Whole Series! Ch-ch-ch-chaaanges

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Jazerus: May 24, 2011

Fuschia tude posted:

I mean, that's pretty much the same thing, just one step removed.

is it? i think they say very different things about jake's opinion of rachel, and his own state of mind. if he's asking for her because he thinks she's the most likely to kill anyone, that's very different from asking for her because he thinks she's the most likely to kill someone who killed tobias. if david killed marco's dad while marco isn't home, does jake send ax to get rachel still? or does he send him to get marco?

# ? May 7, 2021 13:33

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# ? Apr 28, 2024 01:42

Terror Sweat: Mar 15, 2009

“That weasel! That slimy nyeeerrrrrff.”

My tongue had shrunk rapidly in the middle of telling Ax what I thought about David. Probably for the best. Ax would have asked me to define the word I was about to use, and that wouldn’t have been a good idea.

Man I can't believe she was about to use the n-word

# ? May 7, 2021 17:02

Crespolini: Mar 9, 2014

Terror Sweat posted:

Man I can't believe she was about to use the n-word

Was thinking this, lol. Wierd.

# ? May 7, 2021 17:18

ANOTHER SCORCHER: Aug 12, 2018

Cassie gave her the pass.

# ? May 7, 2021 18:20

Gun Jam: Apr 11, 2015

...nerd?

# ? May 7, 2021 18:23

feetnotes: Jan 29, 2008

can we not

# ? May 7, 2021 18:27

Mazerunner: Apr 22, 2010; Good Hunter, what... what is this post?

nerf herder

# ? May 7, 2021 21:07

Terror Sweat: Mar 15, 2009

feetnotes posted:

can we not

Tell that to rachel

# ? May 7, 2021 21:19

e X: Feb 23, 2013; cool but crude

"Hey Kate, it looks like you were about to have some swear words in your latest manuscript, so we just wanted to make clear, this a series for children, so no swear words, alright?"

"What about the loss of a childhood innocence, the erosion of one's morals, bit by bit, until you emerge on the other side of your journey as a changed person, barely recognizable as your original self?"

"Huh, that's sounds a little sexual, so again, we are targeting children hear, so no sex or curse words"

"No, I mean the destructive force of violence upon your soul, the ever escalating horrors of war that slowly strip away your humanity and turn you into but a blunt weapon, unable to feel true joy or emotion!

"Oh that? Yeah, that's fine, go ahead"

e X fucked around with this message at 23:22 on May 7, 2021

# ? May 7, 2021 22:03

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

I mean, kids cuss, and the series recognizes that. I think in an earlier book Jake mentions saying some words his parents wouldn't appreciate hearing.

# ? May 8, 2021 00:35

disaster pastor: May 1, 2007

IIRC, this is the book where Rachel allegedly got away with a "bastard" that KAA got by the editors in the first edition, but that got removed from later editions. I didn't have a first-edition copy, so I can't confirm, but maybe Epicurius's copy is?

# ? May 8, 2021 02:39

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

disaster pastor posted:

IIRC, this is the book where Rachel allegedly got away with a "bastard" that KAA got by the editors in the first edition, but that got removed from later editions. I didn't have a first-edition copy, so I can't confirm, but maybe Epicurius's copy is?

Hey, spoilers! But yes, this is the book where Rachel says "bastard" in the first edition and then "creep" in later editions. I'll try to point it out when we get there.

# ? May 8, 2021 02:48

disaster pastor: May 1, 2007

Sorry, I thought both that it was relevant to the conversation and that a single word wasn't giving away much!

# ? May 8, 2021 02:54

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

disaster pastor posted:

This one is, for my money, the best of the David books. And perhaps the last great Rachel book.

I quite like the giant squid one

# ? May 8, 2021 04:08

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

disaster pastor posted:

Sorry, I thought both that it was relevant to the conversation and that a single word wasn't giving away much!

I'm kidding. A spoiler would be if I revealed that Ax and Visser Three were the same person. Oops. Shouldn't have said that.

# ? May 8, 2021 05:58

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Animorphs Book 22-The Solution, Chapter 3

quote:

<Ax. Demorph.> I felt weird telling Ax what to do. But Jake was down. Not that that meant I was the leader. But I figured someone had to be. We needed to work together.

I felt a slight quiver of doubt. Would Ax do what I asked?

But I could already see the changes in him. He would be fully Andalite soon.

<As soon as you�re demorphed, go to the head of those stairs over there. You�ll be able to see Jake and cover me.>

It was a large, square opening between floors. An escalator on one end. Stairs at the other end. Railing all around. You know how it is. Basic mall architecture.

I waited impatiently for Ax to demorph. We would need firepower. And very few things were more dangerous than an Andalite.

Ax trotted to the head of the stairs. I began to demorph. I would then morph again and go down the escalator that came from the other direction. I would go down that escalator as a grizzly bear. I didn�t think even a lion could do much to hurt me in that morph. And we�d have Jake covered from both sides.

I gradually took on my normal, human shape again. It was so bizarre, standing there in the mall. I was barefoot. Wearing just my morphing outfit, a leotard. I knew exactly where I was, exactly what stores were around me. After all, I spent a good part of my life in that mall.

But this wasn�t the mall as I knew it. This was a place of dim lights and deep shadows. Of threat. Of danger.

A sound!

I looked at Ax. We both strained, listening. A ringing sound. Coming from � coming from a jewelry store about ten storefronts away.

Staring hard, I could see the broken glass on the floor. Someone had knocked out the window to the jewelry store.

David! Of course. He was probably stuffing a sack full of diamonds right now.

�Go!� I hissed to Ax. �I�ll be right there!�

I finished demorphing and actually noticed, despite myself, that Foot Locker was having a big sale. I began to morph again and -

I never heard him. There was no roar. No warning.

I just caught a glimpse of tan reflected in the glass of the Foot Locker store. A low, tan rocket, skimming along the floor.

I spun!

Lion!

He leaped!

I grabbed the bent, twisted railing with one hand and threw myself over the side.

�Aaahhh!� I cried in pain as my wrist and fingers absorbed the weight of my body. I dangled, helpless, swinging above Jake and the floor below. Then I got my other hand to a vertical railing and grabbed on.

But what could I do now?

David shot past and skidded to a stop. It was almost comical. Almost.

If I pulled myself back up, I�d be helpless. If I dropped, I�d break an ankle or leg and be completely helpless.

There were two narrow crossbeams spanning the open space. Banners hung from the crossbeams. I don�t know what the banners were about. A sale, maybe, or some special event. The closest crossbeam was three feet to my left. It was maybe three inches wide. An inch narrower than the balance beam.

I�m an amateur gymnast. But I�d neglected practice for some time. And I�d never tried to swing and then drop onto a three-inch beam fifteen feet or so above a hard, granite floor.

David recovered and came racing back. Ax was still not in sight.

I began to swing wildly, heart pounding the breath out of my lungs.

David came sauntering back, big lion paws silent on the floor, tail swishing, massive, maned head lolling back and forth like some kind of lion version of a way-too-cool dude.

<Alarm clock,> David said. <That�s what the Andalite is chasing. I set it.>

I kept swinging. My legs were inscribing a wider arc. I glared at David through the bars.

<All I have to do is bite your fingers, Rachel. Aren�t you going to beg for mercy?> David mocked. <Nah, of course not. You�re brave Rachel.>
He opened his mouth, turned his head sideways to bite into my fingers, and �

I released!

I fell, looked down, saw the crossbeam too far away. One foot hit the beam! I bent my knee and absorbed the impact. I swung my arms over my head, throwing my weight, changing my center of gravity.

For a hideously long moment I teetered back and forth. My other foot jerked and stabbed at the air. Then I felt the crossbeam. I had both feet down!

I breathed for the first time in ages.

David reached a claw through the bars and raked at me. I felt the breeze from his claws.

I stood, motionless, poised, and barely in control.

David glared at me with furious, yellow eyes.

<That�s okay,> he said. <I�m not a murderer, you know. I wouldn�t kill a human. Now, a bird � a tiger � sure.>

I stared back at the lion. The traitor. And I said, �Find a place to hide. Because I�ll make you a promise: I will kill you, David.�

He turned and walked away, laughing as he retreated.

�I�ll kill you!� I screamed. �I�ll kill you! I�ll kill you!�

I believe she'll do it too. And excellent gymnastics by Rachel there.

Chapter 4

quote:

Ax came running back, just as I was climbing back onto firm ground. I was shaking.

 he said.

�David was here,� I said. �He tricked us. We have to get down to Jake and -�

I heard the sound of many voices. The police had gained entry.

I cursed angrily under my breath. �We�ll have to hold them off!� I said.

<No,> Ax said. <Jake is unconscious. We cannot move him; he is far too large. Your police will call for medical help.>

I took a deep breath. He was right. �They�ll call Cassie�s mom. She�s the closest exotic animal veterinarian. But what if there are Controllers among these cops? We need to stay with him.�

<Agreed. And we must hope he revives within the next hour and a half,> Ax added. <Otherwise he will be trapped in morph.>

Flashlights were playing across the floor down the hall. The police turned away from us, heading toward the JC Penney and temporarily out of sight.

�We have to move fast. They�ll be back.�

We raced down the stationary escalator and rushed to Jake�s side. Up close I could see one of the torn veins in his neck, still pumping slowly, still bleeding. But he was alive, at least. Alive.

Unlike Tobias.

<What morph?>

�Flea would be best, but they�re almost blind and almost deaf. I want to know what�s going on. Morph to fly.�

We were halfway into fly morph when new cops arrived and began to walk carefully, cautiously, down the main concourse toward us. They played their flashlights around, looking for� looking for they didn�t know what.

They were about to get a surprise, that much was for sure.

I morphed as quickly as I could, shrinking rapidly. Jake�s already huge orange-and-black bulk seemed to balloon upward, rising above me like a sloped, furry wall.

I felt the gossamer wings extrude from my shoulder blades. I felt the extra legs suddenly sprout from my chest. I felt the painless but still awful melting of my face, the way my nose and mouth ran together, then squirted outward to form the vile, sucking mouthparts of a fly.

But none of these things meant anything to me. Tobias was dead. Jake might still die. And I was going to have to go after David. I was going to have to hunt him down.

I was going to hunt him down and destroy him.

No, not destroy. That was a weasel word. It was vague, meaningless. I was going to kill him.

I felt sick inside. It might have been the morphing that was annihilating my internal organs and replacing them with the primitive organs of a housefly.

Or it might have been the feeling that comes from rage and hate.

<Ax? Tell me something. When Jake sent you to get help, why did you come for me and not Marco or Cassie?>

<Prince Jake was specific. Get Rachel.>

<Did he say why?>

Ax hesitated a moment. Then he said, <Jake told me Tobias was probably dead. I said this was a terrible thing. And Prince Jake said, �Yes. If David�s killed Tobias, we may have to do a terrible thing, too. Get Rachel.�>

I don�t know how that made me feel. I�m not a person who obsesses over her feelings. You know what I mean? Some people can�t stop �looking inward� constantly, and that�s not me.

But it definitely made me feel strange. Jake had called for me specifically. Because he wanted someone who would do precisely what I was planning to do.

Like I say, I�m not big on feelings, but something about that felt wrong.

And yet, as I completed the morph to fly, I knew Jake had picked the right person. See, I cared for Tobias. I don�t think I even knew how much I cared till right then.

But if David had killed him, I would have revenge. I would make Tobias�s murderer pay.

How must that feel? I mean, beyond the grief of Tobias's death and Jake's injury, knowing that Jake, your cousin, your team's leader, has you sent for because he knows that your instinct will be to murder the person who did it, and also knowing that he's right? How's that make you feel about both him and yourself?

# ? May 8, 2021 06:07

Tunzie: Aug 9, 2008

Animorphs: a kid's book series, y'know, for kids!

# ? May 8, 2021 06:31

Pwnstar: Dec 9, 2007; Who wants some waffles?

I'm pretty sure David's whole "I would never kill a person but killing an animal isn't murder" was the first genuinely unsettling psychological leap I'd encountered as a young childe.

# ? May 8, 2021 06:56

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Kinda feel like KA regretted writing the "Rachel's closest" line in the last book, to make the decision to get Rachel a Big Thing now. Like why not just have Jake simply say that last book, if that's where we're at now?

Anyway, top marks for using your human gymnastic abilities to escape. Like Jake just dropping backwards as the falcon. I'm in the mindset that if morphing is your hammer then every problem looks like a nail, so it's neat to see them think outside the box.

# ? May 8, 2021 09:35

someone awful.: Sep 7, 2007

he didn't say closest, though, he said "rachel's close, we might need to do something terrible, go get her"

for all we know, marco might also be the same amount of close, but he's not the one jake chose to go for.

# ? May 8, 2021 09:37

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Speaking of, I can't actually remember how the rest of this night plays out, but I feel like Rachel should be sending Ax to go wake Marco up right now. Him and Cassie are both unaware of what's going on and David seems to have a dislike of Marco in particular, and for all that he said he'd kill an animal but not a person, he did just take a proper swipe at her in lion morph.

If you were in David's shoes right now you'd want to try to kill as many of the Animorphs as possible tonight while you've caught them unawares; as it stands, at least two of them are alive and well and know that you're a traitor, and they have more experience and more morphs than you. Although I suppose on the other hand they also have secret identities they want to maintain and families that you can threaten - whereas David is just at large and has no ties they can use against him.

# ? May 8, 2021 10:11

Tunzie: Aug 9, 2008

I like the �closest� line, actually - it provides a little bit of ambiguity to the situation, so it�s not just 100% �oh Jake entirely wanted a murder so he called for me� and adds a little �well, was it because I was close? Did he think I was closest? Or did he think he wanted a murder? Or did he think one but say the other?� flavour to the �why ask for Rachael?� thing.

# ? May 8, 2021 10:43

Cythereal: Nov 8, 2009; I love the potoo,
and the potoo loves you.

Still, unless you're a sociopath, that's a hell of a thing to wake up to. "The boss sent for you, specifically, to murder someone."

# ? May 8, 2021 13:04

Gun Jam: Apr 11, 2015

Having to take on a lion is a consideration. Ax could, but aside from that, don't think either a gorrila nor a single wolf'll be enough. But a brown bear, or elephant?

# ? May 8, 2021 15:41

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

Epicurius posted:

How must that feel? I mean, beyond the grief of Tobias's death and Jake's injury, knowing that Jake, your cousin, your team's leader, has you sent for because he knows that your instinct will be to murder the person who did it, and also knowing that he's right? How's that make you feel about both him and yourself?

I don't know how I missed the Tobias-Rachel connection back then, either. That near-confession in Book 3 just went completely over my head. I guess I thought it was a little weird that apparently he stopped by her room a lot...

# ? May 8, 2021 17:03

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Animorphs Book 22-The Solution, Chapter 5

quote:

I was bathed in light.

A loud, booming, vibrating human voice said, �What the � that�s a tiger! Frank! That�s a tiger! In the mall.�

�That sure as shooting is a tiger.�

�What do we do with it?�

�Call it in to the sergeant. It�s hurt. Need to call someone � and I�ll be racked if I know who. Just keep your weapon on it. It could still be dangerous.�

<Ax! Into Jake�s ear,> I said.

We hit the start button for our crazy fly wings and lifted off. It took a few seconds, using the fly�s mondo bizarro shattered TV set eyes, to find Jake�s ear. But then we spotted a vast, triangular cave.

It was a cave full of long hairs. A cave full of resonating sounds from outside and from the body of the tiger.

<Ax, how long has Jake been in morph?>



<About thirty-two minutes? That�s your idea of �approximate�?>

 Ax said. <It may be as much as thirty-five minutes.>

<Should be time enough for Cassie�s mom to get here,> I said.

But Cassie�s mom was not the next person to arrive. The paramedics arrived faster. And to my amazement, they went right to work on Jake - once they were sure the tiger was unconscious.

They put pressure on the terrible wound in Jake�s neck and slowed the bleeding. But there wasn�t much else they could do.

Half an hour later, Cassie�s mother arrived. So did Cassie�s father. And Cassie herself. Maybe she�d guessed that news of a wounded tiger in the mall meant Jake.

<Cassie! It�s me, Rachel,> I called in one-to-one thought-speak. Of course Cassie couldn�t answer. But she could hear.

�Set up for an IV. He�s lost a lot of blood,� Cassie�s mother said in a clipped, professional tone I�d never heard before.

<Cassie, this tiger is Jake. He�s been in morph for a little over an hour. You need to get him conscious. It was David. David attacked him. And � Tobias. Tobias is �> I couldn�t say it. I couldn�t. <Just, look, get Jake conscious, no matter what. I have Ax with me. We need to go look for David. He may go after Marco next.>

�Wait a minute, I know this tiger,� Cassie�s mother said. �He�s one of ours. He�s from The Gardens. No one alerted me there�d been an escape! Okay, now squeeze the bag a couple of times to get the blood flow started. I�m going to close that wound right here and now. He won�t make it otherwise.�

<Cassie, if you hear me, just say �okay.�>

�Okay,� Cassie said. �Good luck.�

�Good luck?� Cassie�s father echoed. �We don�t need luck, we have your mom.�

<Ax, you ready?>

He said he was, and we flew. No one, with the possible exception of Cassie, noticed two flies emerge from the tiger�s ear.

As we flew off, I had to fight the fly�s urgent desire to land in the puddle of blood and take a taste.

We rose in our crazy, loopy fly way, and as I skimmed above the heads of the paramedics, vets, and cops, I heard one of the paramedics say, �We figure he fell through that skylight up there. The glass must have cut him.�

�That must be it,� Cassie�s mother agreed. �Only, you know, if I didn�t know better, I�d swear this wound was made by another big cat.�

�Will he live?� Cassie asked.

I didn�t hear the answer. I wasn�t sure I wanted to hear the answer.

I set course for the broken skylight. There were cops on the roof of the mall but we found a place to land, out of sight behind a house-sized air-conditioning unit.

We demorphed quickly. I could hear two police officers talking in a low whisper just on the other side of the A.C. unit.

�A tiger, here? With no one knowing it�s escaped? It must be one of the Andalite bandits in a morph.�

We knew the police force had been partly infiltrated by the Yeerks. Still, it was a shock hearing them talk about Andalites.

�You may be right, but there�s nothing we can do about it. None of the other cops here are our people.�

�Visser Three won�t take that attitude,� the first cop said, shivering despite the fact that it was not cold. �He�ll think we should have found a way to kill it.�

�Then maybe Visser Three doesn�t need to hear about this.�

�Yeah. No need to bother him with every minor thing that goes on. Yeah. We keep our mouths shut.�

First off, it seems like this is not going to stay off the news, and even if Visser Three doesn't regularly watch the nightly news, you figure he's going to find out. Although, who knows, since this is also a town where a wild leopard has just been running free in the woods for three books. So, who knows, maybe big cat sightings are just considered normal there.

More seriously, this is another example of leadership failure. Visser Three's expectations for his subordinates are so high and his punishment for failure is so severe, it means his people are scared to give the him information he needs.

quote:

Ax and I continued morphing again. He to his harrier morph, me to the great horned owl again.

We flew away into the night in a straight line for Marco�s house. Marco would be asleep, unsuspecting. He was safe behind locked doors and strong walls.

Only walls and doors meant very little to an Animorph.

I began to realize just how hard this was going to be. Visser Three had been trying to wipe us out for a long time. He had thousands of human-Controllers, Taxxons, Hork-Bajir, spacecraft, and all of his own bizarre, deadly morphs.

We had just the six of us. Only � it was just five now. And maybe four.

Just us, against a person who could become any animal he could touch. A person who could be any living, breathing thing. A flea in your hair, a cat in a tree, a bat in the night, and, when you were unprepared, when you were vulnerable, a lion or tiger or bear.

I was starting to realize why Visser Three hated us so much.

Right. They're sort of in the opposite position now in this. They can't be secure, because any animal, even one they can't see, could be a threat.

Chapter 6

quote:

The sun was just thinking about coming up as we approached Marco�s house. It was already bright as day to me, of course. But I could tell the difference just the same. The black sky was becoming gray in the east.

I felt like I was boiling inside. Like pressure just kept building up in me. Like I was going to explode.

Too much swirling through my brain. Tobias, dead. Maybe Jake as well. David, a traitor with all the powers of an Animorph.

And at the same time, we had the biggest mission of our lives. The heads of state were still meeting. Controllers, including Visser Three himself, were still conspiring to enslave the most powerful of all humans.

It was too much. Way too much. I couldn�t think about all that.

One thing at a time, Rachel, I silently told myself. Priorities: David was number one.

Everything else was number two.

David had to be stopped. Before he could stop us.

But still, somewhere in the back of my mind, it bothered me that Jake had sent Ax to get me. Me, specifically. Once he knew that extreme measures might be taken, he said, �Get Rachel.�

What did that mean? Was that how Jake thought of me? As some crazed, violent nut who would do anything?

No, of course not. He just knew I was good in a fight. That�s all. It didn�t mean anything.

Besides, wasn�t it true? another part of my mind argued. Wasn�t it true? Wasn�t I just the person to call if you needed to kill an Animorph?

Marco�s house. Marco�s window. Open.

Open? Did Marco leave his window open? Yes, if he�d already flown out of it. Maybe that was it. Maybe Marco wasn�t home, had already left. Maybe he�d sensed we needed him.

But as I wheeled to traverse the back of the house, bringing myself closer to the window, I saw Marco inside, in bed.

<This smells bad,> I said to Ax.

<You have a strong sense of smell in that morph?>



< Agreed.>

<Marco!> I called in thought-speak. <Marco! Wake up! Wake up, now!>

I wanted to see him wake up and look around. I wanted to make sure he was alone in the room. He was asleep facedown. He rolled halfway over and gave the blankets a kick.

<Wake up!> I yelled.

Suddenly he sat up and looked around. He scratched his face. Then he looked around again.

<Marco, it�s me, Rachel. I�m outside. Are you alone in your room?> He didn�t smile or leer. He just nodded. Yes, he was alone.

<Okay, let�s go,> I said.

Ax was ahead of me. He swooped down toward the window. Marco stood watching, smiling almost. His hands were behind his back.

Swoooosh! Ax swooped through the window and -

Marco pulled his hands out from behind his back. The Louisville Slugger swung in a short, sharp arc.

WHAM!

The bat hit Ax square in the face. I saw a piece of shattered beak go flying, twirling away like shrapnel from an explosion.

Ax fell to the grass outside. Marco laughed quietly. I saw his sides shake.

But of course, it was not Marco at all.

David. David had morphed Marco.

Ax lay on the grass, unmoving. Marco/David held up one finger. Then another. Then another.

One, two, three.

He was counting how many of us he�d killed. One, two, three: Tobias, Jake, Ax.

But� it should have been four! What about Marco?

Of course! Marco was still alive because Marco had been human. David had said it himself: He would never take a human life. He would only kill animals. A hawk, a tiger, a harrier. Not a human.

As I watched, I saw Marco/David begin to blur. The nose and eyes became subtly different.

Now he was just David. But he was still morphing when he stepped back out of sight.

I had to think. David was wiping us out, one by one. What was his next move? What was his next morph? Jake would know. Jake was the leader, not me.

I had to get to Ax. No! That�s what David wanted.

No, I had to get to Marco. The real Marco, who was probably unconscious inside the house.

No, wait, that wasn�t right, either.

And then the golden eagle came flapping out of the window. Another of David�s morphs.

It was one-on-one. Him and me. Golden eagle against owl. He was faster. Stronger. But it was still mostly dark and the air was cool, with none of the warm lift it would have later in the day after the sun came up and baked the ground.

He was faster and stronger, but the night belonged to me.

I turned and raced away. He followed. Ax lay still on the damp grass. But he was breathing. And to my infinite relief, he was no longer entirely a harrier.

<Follow me, David,> I said. <We�ll see who wins this aerial dogfight.>

<Brave words,> he sneered. <But you�re mine. Just like that Bird-boy of yours was mine.>

And that�s when the pressure inside me evaporated. I was cold again. Cold as a frozen lake. I knew what to do. And I wanted to do it.

I shouldn�t resent Jake for thinking of me, I realized. It�s what made him a good leader: He knew us all. He knew me.

<For you, Tobias,> I whispered. And I led David toward his doom.

I just want to say, David's ethical system is weird.

# ? May 9, 2021 04:39

SSJ_naruto_2003: Oct 12, 2012

It's fake lol he tried to murder human Rachel already

# ? May 9, 2021 06:08

Pwnstar: Dec 9, 2007; Who wants some waffles?

It's a rules lawyer ethical system.

# ? May 9, 2021 10:25

Crespolini: Mar 9, 2014

SSJ_naruto_2003 posted:

It's fake lol he tried to murder human Rachel already

A lion can't commit murder actually :grin:

# ? May 9, 2021 10:42

Tunzie: Aug 9, 2008

In a way, you could look at murdering while morphed as in the same category of acts as committing a crime via a machine or vehicle that�s under your control, just in this case it�s biological instead of mechanical.

The obvious conclusion is that David should get slapped with vehicular homicide.

# ? May 9, 2021 10:46

Gun Jam: Apr 11, 2015

Tunzie posted:

The obvious conclusion is that David should get slapped with vehicular homicide.

I dunno, is that what you get for trampling a fella with yer horse? there's precedent, methick.

# ? May 9, 2021 12:19

Pwnstar: Dec 9, 2007; Who wants some waffles?

"Hmm yes I did tie a woman to those railroad tracks but she slapped me after I made a rude comment so its self defence" - Old West David

# ? May 9, 2021 15:11

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Pwnstar posted:

"Hmm yes I did tie a woman to those railroad tracks but she slapped me after I made a rude comment so its self defence" - Old West David

"Besides, I would never kill a woman. You'll notice she was actually killed by the train."

# ? May 9, 2021 16:49

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

Crespolini posted:

A lion can't commit murder actually

Are you sure? An elephant can. Watch out, Rachel :ohdear:

# ? May 9, 2021 19:44

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Animorphs Book 22-The Solution, Chapter 7

quote:

I flew at top speed. But David was faster. His huge wings plowed through the air.

But see, I had an eagle morph, too. I know what eagles can do and what they cannot do. I know it like no human being can possibly know it.

I knew exactly how quickly David could turn, how well he could accelerate or slow down. I knew so precisely what David could see that I might as well have been looking through his eyes. I wanted him to see me. But he couldn�t reach me, not yet. Not until the time and place I had chosen.

Silently I swooped low across rooftops, swerved around trees, swooshed down the shadowed setbacks between homes. I skimmed fences and dropped behind them, out of sight, to suddenly change direction and gain a few feet of breathing room. I shot through gaps in the trees, gaps too narrow for David�s vast wings.

But always he kept up. He never gained too much, and I never allowed him to lose me.

<You�re very good, Rachel,> he said. <You know, I wish I didn�t have to do this.>

<Yeah, but you just can�t help yourself,> I sneered.

<You all left me no choice! You forced me. What was I supposed to do? Let Jake order me around, let him get me killed? Spend the rest of my life hiding?>

<What do you want, pity?>



<What are you, nuts? We�re not your problem. Or at least we weren�t until you turned against us.>

I was nearing the most dangerous part of the chase. As long as there were trees and buildings, I could take advantage of my smaller size and superior night vision. But now we were emerging over an open field, leaving the houses behind us.

Just a hundred yards or so to go.

David poured on the speed. Those huge wings propelled him after me.

I dodged. But he anticipated my move. He cut the angle and came within two feet of me!

But I could see my target in the night. I could see the high power lines.

Could David see them?

Up, up I went, my wings screaming from the effort.

But now David was all over me. Within five feet of the wires, I felt those wings shadow me.

<Aaaahhh!> Sharp pain, as steel-strong talons sank into the muscles of my back. <Noooooo!> I screamed in frustration. I stopped moving forward. My wings beat uselessly. I wasn�t going to reach the wires. I wasn�t going to watch David fry on ten thousand volts.

Talons squeezed harder� harder� I lost control of the muscles in the back half of my body. One of the talons was sinking through my flesh, trying to reach my heart.

David began to use his wicked, curved beak on me, tearing at the back of my head.

I was losing. The realization terrified me. Not because it meant I would die. But because it meant David would win.
Tobias � Jake �

David was going to win. My mind began shutting down. I should demorph, I told myself. But no, I was too high up. And it was so hard to concentrate. So hard to focus.

David was actually carrying me higher, lifting me up. That way, if I did demorph, I�d fall to my death. <Sorry, Rachel,> David said. <But after all, birds die all the time, don�t they?>

And that�s when it happened.

I saw it drop from out of nowhere. Out of the sky. Out of the clouds it dropped.

Wings back, talons raked forward.

It hit David in the back of his head! Eagle feathers flew. David screamed in pain.

And Tobias - yes, Tobias - said in private thought-speak, <Rachel, David is really getting to be a pain in the butt.>

David released me. My wings flapped again. I was hurt, but David couldn�t know how badly.

And he didn�t want to fight two at once. He turned and flew away.

<Tobias?> I cried. <But you�re supposed to be dead.>

Tobias got better!

Chapter 8

quote:

Tobias was alive.
It turned out that David had killed a red-tailed hawk. And Jake had seen that dead hawk. Only it was a different red-tail.

Tobias had simply lost David early in the evening and had been searching for him ever since.

Jake survived. Cassie found a way to jab a big syringe of adrenaline into him. Enough to wake him up just as her mom was scrubbing up for surgery back at The Gardens.

He demorphed to human and calmly walked out of the zoo. He had to wait two hours for a city bus, but fortunately, Cassie found him a pair of shoes to wear.

Cassie�s mother was seriously freaked. Not only had a near-dead tiger simply disappeared. He seemed to have reappeared back in his environment. And there were no signs of any injuries.

Cassie explained that she did a lot of shrugging and kept saying, �I can�t believe it, either, Mom. I was only out of the room for a second.�

Of course, that tiger was the one whose DNA Jake had originally acquired. Same tiger, but not the same tiger.

Ax was fine. He�d only been stunned. He demorphed, terrified some person driving by, remorphed, and came looking for me.

As for Marco � well, Marco awakened to find David standing over him with the baseball bat.

He�d been tied up and locked in his closet.

It took him the rest of the night to get loose. It had been a bizarre night. But the most bizarre thing was that when it was all over, we had to go to school.

That�s right, school. On zero hours of sleep.

I was so tired my skin was vibrating. I couldn�t believe I hadn�t been busted by my mom. I got home that morning just about three seconds before my alarm clock went off. And five minutes later she was banging on my door, telling me to get up and help her get my youngest sister, Sarah, ready for
school.

The first few periods I just sat and stared at the blackboard like someone in a coma. By lunchtime I was reviving a little, but it was mostly hunger keeping me awake.

I sat with Cassie. She�d probably gotten three, maybe four hours of sleep. And I hated her for it.

Jake grabbed his tray and sat down with us. Normally, we don�t all eat together because we don�t want people thinking of us as a clique of some kind. That would be bad for security.

But this time we just didn�t care. We were a very tired little group of superheroes. I mean, if Visser Three could have seen us right then, he�d have stopped worrying. We didn�t look like we could kick butt on a four-year-old, let alone on the entire Yeerk Empire.

�Hi,� Jake said and slumped into his seat.

�Uh,� I grunted.

�How are you doing, Jake?� Cassie asked.

�Uh,� he said encouragingly.

�Well, this is going to be a perky little group,� Cassie said, laughing. �Obviously, we need a Starbucks here in the cafeteria. You two could use some coffee.�

�Stop. Talking,� I said. I snarled a little. I would have snarled more, but I was too tired.

Of course, Cassie wasn�t in the least bit intimidated. �You�re so grumpy when you lose a little sleep.�

We saw Marco heading toward us. He had no tray. But he was smiling. Well, sure, why not?

He�d slept half the night and spent the rest of the night in a nice dark closet.

�Hi, guys, how�s it going?� Marco said. He swung his leg over the back of the chair and sat down. Tired as I was, that set alarm bells ringing in my head. Marco doesn�t swing his leg over chairs. And Marco doesn�t act that perky, even when he�s had a full night of sleep.

I guess Jake had the same reaction. I glanced at him, and all of a sudden his eyes weren�t glazed and unfocused anymore.

�David, I presume,� Jake said harshly.

Marco smiled. And then I saw Marco - another Marco, just starting through the food line.

Cassie was bewildered. She looked from Jake to me. I nodded my head significantly toward the real Marco.

�I�ll stop him,� Cassie said, jumping up from her seat.

The last thing anyone wanted was two Marcos at one table. There was a joke in there somewhere, but I was too busy to think about it.

�What do you want?� Jake demanded.

David/Marco smirked. �What? No small talk? No chitchat?�

I couldn�t morph, not there in front of a whole cafeteria full of yelling, laughing, talking kids. But I could reach for my fork. And I could wonder what the tines would do if they were driven hard enough into - I held on to the fork.

�I asked what you want,� Jake said calmly.

�I want the blue box. I found it. It�s mine. I want it.�

Jake actually smiled. �Now, what do you think the odds are of me agreeing to that?�

Marco/David flushed angrily. �You have no choice, big man. You can�t fight me. I have the same powers you have. And I�m smarter than you are, so I�ll win.�

�There are six � I mean, five� of us,� Jake said.

I shot Jake a look. He ignored me. I got the message: No need to tell David that Tobias had survived. The less he knew, the better.

�I want the box,� David said stubbornly.

�What for?� I said. �So you can give it as a birthday present to Visser Three?�

Cassie came back and sat down next to David. She managed to move her chair closer to his without being obvious about it. It was deliberate, of course. She wanted him to have to deal with her as a human being, not as an enemy.

David blinked. He leaned away from Cassie. Cassie just gave him her big �understanding� look.

�David, I know you�ve been through a lot,� Cassie said in a very quiet voice. David had to lean closer to hear. �I know your life has gone terribly wrong. I know you�re lonely. I know you�re afraid. And I know that deep down inside you feel very sorry for what happened last night. But you must know that you cannot bargain with Visser Three. He won�t give you what you want.�

David shot her a sharp, surprised look. So did I.

�What bargain?� I asked.

Cassie took a forkful of her food and chewed it carefully. �Shall I tell them, David, or would you like to?� Getting no answer from him, she sighed and said, �David wants the box so he can ransom his parents. Isn�t that right, David? You want Visser Three to release your parents so you can have a home again.�

For a brief moment there was something vulnerable on the face David had copied from Marco.

But then his eyes hardened.

�That�s okay, I don�t need the box. I have something else Visser Three wants. See, I know that the Animorphs aren�t Andalite bandits. I know their names. Their addresses. I give him you,� he said, looking at Jake. �And you,� he added, looking at me. �And then, you know what? He can do to you like he did to my parents. And he can get his blue box from you.�

David pushed his chair back noisily. He stood up and walked away.

David, everybody!

# ? May 10, 2021 03:46

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

I really enjoyed Rachel immediately no-selling his I NEVER WANTED ANY OF THIS act.

# ? May 10, 2021 04:25

Mazerunner: Apr 22, 2010; Good Hunter, what... what is this post?

why didn't Marco just morph cockroach or something while tied up

# ? May 10, 2021 04:34

WrightOfWay: Jul 24, 2010

Also, I'm pretty sure David has figured out that the red tailed hawk that saved Rachel was probably Tobias, I'm not sure why they think that's a secret.

# ? May 10, 2021 04:46

CidGregor: Sep 27, 2009; TG: if i were you i would just take that fucking devilbeast out behind the woodshed and blow its head off

WrightOfWay posted:

Also, I'm pretty sure David has figured out that the red tailed hawk that saved Rachel was probably Tobias, I'm not sure why they think that's a secret.

He got hit out of nowhere in the back of the head, he probably legitimately never saw what hit him and decided to bail immediately. 'Cuz, you know, coward.

# ? May 10, 2021 04:59

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# ? Apr 28, 2024 01:42

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Mazerunner posted:

why didn't Marco just morph cockroach or something while tied up

Yeah I wondered this immediately.

# ? May 10, 2021 05:44

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > Comedy Goldmine > Let's Read Animorphs! The Whole Series! Ch-ch-ch-chaaanges

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