You look over at Cassie. She’s almost at the end of the pier. That gives you an extra burst of strength. You concentrate hard. You feel something grow out of the back of you. A tail. Your ears get round and your head gets big. Your teeth sharpen into deadly instruments of terror.
You’re a fierce, hungry, and very angry hyena. And you have no fear.
You start toward Cassie, but a Taxxon gets in your way. No problem. You rip into him with your teeth. He tries to bite you back, but you are such an efficient killing machine that he is dead before he registers the pain.
Marco is now Big Jim, a huge gorilla. Rachel is trumpeting a fierce call as she mows down another Hork-Bajir. In tiger morph, Jake springs at a Taxxon.
You own this place.
Marco tosses another Hork-Bajir in the air like a doll. The rest scatter. So they are afraid of something.
Marco is the only one with dexterity, so he heads for the cages to unlock them. Jake is already bounding toward Cassie. You start forward to help, but a Hork-Bajir heads for you. He swipes at you with an elbow blade.
You spring. You tear at his flesh, then jump away. You strike again, this time for the vulnerable fleshy part near his head. Wounded, you expect him to fall back. But instead, he springs forward, his elbow and wrist blades flashing. Rachel raises a foot and stomps.
you tell her.
Rachel says. She sounds positively bloodthirsty.
Tobias swoops down and claws at the eyes of the Hork-Bajir who is holding Cassie. She breaks away and runs.
you yell along with Jake. Even as you watch, Cassie’s hair grows into a beautiful mane. It streams out behind her as her legs extend, and she goes down on all fours. It is amazing to see.
Rachel says.
you say.
The people Marco have released are panicking, running toward the stairs. Hork-Bajir and Taxxons try to round them up. You slip through them, running hard.
Cassie and Jake leap over surprised Taxxons. You remember that Hork-Bajir aren’t great on strategy, so you fake left and then go right, sailing over a long pair of wrist blades that try to slash you at the last minute.
You gain the stairs. Balls of flame explode over your head. You leap over a Taxxon who is aiming a Dracon beam at you. Straight into the path of Visser Three in his Andalite form.
The horrid, evil voice fills your head.
He begins to morph into a creature tall as a building. Eight legs. Eight arms. And eight heads. You can feel that even the hyena inside you feels doubt. You can’t take on this creature.
Visser Three cries.
“You filthy creep!” It’s Tom. Jake’s brother launches himself at Visser Three.
Jake cries. He springs at the huge creature that is Visser Three, straight toward the eyes. He claws at the face. Visser Three howls in pain.
Fireballs explode. One almost gets Jake. Tom falls off the stairs.
Cassie cries urgently.
With a howl of anguish, Jake turns and heads up the stairs. Rachel begins to demorph as she climbs so she can fit in the stairway.
Visser Three cries.
Oh yes, you can. The stairway narrows. Visser Three hadn’t counted on your making it that far. In his huge morph, he can’t make it upstairs.
You run and you run. You break through the janitor’s door and back into school. You keep on running until you’re outside, in the safety of the trees. And then you all morph back.
You’re safe. For now.
You look at your friends and see the same exhaustion on their faces. Even Marco can’t come up with a joke. Cassie puts her hand over Jake’s. Rachel stares back at the school building, her eyes blazing. Tobias flies closer and perches on her shoulder.
You know that more terror lies ahead. You know that safety is now an illusion. You will never feel truly safe again.
Excellent morph! Go to chapter 16 for your next Animorph adventure.
Your ears grow straight up. Fur sprouts on your face and hands. You fall onto all fours. Suddenly, you smell everything. Oil. Car exhaust. Human smells. Mice. And over in the corner, a paper bag with a peanut butter sandwich.
You trot over to the group waiting for the elevator. You stay behind them. When the elevator comes, you leap on just as the doors close.
You make it down in the elevator without anyone really caring. The elevator hits the sublevel, but a Controller pushes a series of buttons and it keeps going down. When it stops, everyone files out. The last Controller pushes you back into the elevator.
“Beat it, bub,” he says.
The doors close, but you leap up against the panel and hit the STOP button with your paw. You wait. After a few minutes, you butt the DOOR OPEN button with your head.
The doors open onto a small room. You see the last Controller just disappearing through the hidden door. You bound over and stick your body half-in to keep it open, then slip inside.
But the Controller sees you.
“Hey!” He looks at you, suspicious now. You take a step backward. You bare your teeth and try a growl. He drops back, but another Controller steps up the stairs.
It’s Finley, the policeman!
“Grab him!” he cries.
The other Controller reaches for your collar, and you sink your teeth into his hand. With a howl, he steps back. But Finley springs forward and grabs your collar. He half drags you down the steps.
You see a huge cavern patrolled by Taxxons and Hork-Bajir. There are humans in cages. The screams seem more terrible to your sensitive ears.
Finley hands you over to a Hork-Bajir. “Keep it. Something’s weird about this dog.” The Hork-Bajir fastens a leash from a chain. He attaches it to a piece of heavy machinery. Then he holds one of his blades to your throat. The message is clear. Move, and you die.
You decide to sit still. All you can do is watch.
Watch as Jake, Rachel, and Marco morph into fierce animals. Watch as they attack. Watch as the Hork-Bajir and Taxxons fight them. Watch as Visser Three morphs into a horrible creature with eight heads, tall as a two-story building.
You want to cheer when the others get away, running up the staircase. You want to cry when you see Jake’s brother Tom tossed back into the cage.
Then one of Visser Three’s eight heads swivels. His eyes fix on you.
His voice is like the sludge in the Yeerk pool. Thick and evil.
You put your head into your paws, like a dog might. Your tail is stiff and straight.
Visser Three says.
He laughs, and you see his teeth glinting. They are sharp and pointed like daggers. He raises one of his many hands, and a fireball zooms past you.