Animorphs #57: The Weapon (AN ANIMORPH WILL DIE!)

[capnnerefir]

Okay, I didn't realize John's point. I'll have to do something about that.

As for you, das, it seems like it would be incredibly dangerous to destroy the Time Matrix. I mean, that thing can move you through time itself. Who knows what destroying it would do? We're talking about the possible destruction of the universe or something. As for a fly activating it, I think the odds of that are slim. Remember, it takes concentration and an active will to activate it. A fly simply doesn't have the capacity to work the Time Matrix.

[freded21]

Chapter 10


We weren’t alone. There was a man with a sword in front of us. Judging by his clothing, he was someone important from an ancient time. Some Asian country, I guessed. He spoke. I realized the words were some Asian dialect. I don’t speak any of them. But somehow, the words made sense to me.
“Who are you?” he demanded. So much authority in that voice…he was a general of some kind. A very powerful one.
“We’re demons,” Tobias answered. Then I realized that we were both still in Howler morph.
“I can see that.” He wasn’t afraid. That was odd. “Why have you come, demons? It is not yet my time.”
My howler nose smelled smoke. I could see a lot of heat a few miles away. I couldn’t see what was burning because of the reeds, but a lot of things had been burning not too long ago.
“A test,” Tobias answered. “We are here to test you. Are you the one we seek, mortal?” He played a good demon.
“There is only one Cao Cao,” the man answered. Tobias’s eyes went wide. So did mine. I knew the name of Cao Cao. He was Tobias’s hero and perhaps the greatest general who had ever lived. His military was the marvel of the world; it still was in educated circles. I ran in those circles.
<Santorelli, that smoke, those flames, these reeds…do you know where this is? When this is?>
<Nope. You?>
<Chi Bi.>
<No way.> But it was true. Chi Bi was one of the most crushing defeats in military history. Cao Cao’s army of more than a million men formed a great navy to subjugate the south of China. They were destroyed by a force less than half their size due to an incredibly planned fire attack.
Cao Cao looked form Tobias to me and back again. “Well? Is it the way of demons to stand around all night? I am being hunted like a dog. We must move.”
Of course. His enemies would be looking for him. He needed to get to safety. It would be a long journey. I knew this much from my history.
“In a moment,” Tobias said. To me, he added, <Let’s demorph. I don’t want to get trapped again.>
Cao Cao watched with mild interest as Tobias and I turned into humans. Then he shrugged. I guess he wasn’t surprised that demons could change their form.
We walked for hours in silence. Then, he spoke to us again. “You said you were here to test me, demons. How do you intend to do that?”
“You’ll learn in time,” Tobias answered. I was content to let him take charge. He was the Animorph, after all. I was just the army grunt.
We slept on the ground that night, and every other night for more than a month. In that time, we got to know Cao Cao pretty well. He was even smarter than I expected him to be.
One day, he asked us, “Can demons see the future?”
“We can,” Tobias answered. “To an extent. Why?”
Cao Cao was silent for a moment. “I want to ask you something about the future.”
“Dangerous,” I said to Tobias.
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“Just one question,” Cao Cao insisted. “What will become of my family?”
“When?” Tobias questioned.
“Once I am gone. I am all that holds back the tied of chaos. The land was within my grasp. I could have ended it all. But at Chi Bi…now, I do not know what will happen. Sun Quan will grow bold. He will attack. And with Liu Bei as well. And that Zhuge Liang. Will they spare my family if they take my country?”
“They will never take your land, Cao Cao,” Tobias ensured him. “This, I can promise. Sun Quan will never have any great enough to overcome you. Liu Bei will be the threat. He shall take the lands of Ba Shu and oppose you.”

ehat was esplin doing during all this

[AneeshTheGreat]

Wow, that was really well written, great story, but like i'm kinda sad that Santorelli's dead already, i was starting to like him...

[capnnerefir]

freded: Esplin was undergoing his own testes in a part of Yeerk history. Unfortunately, I've never had the opportunity to state or reference that. I've only got one idea how to do it, and I don't want to talk about t lest it not come to fruition and disappoint everyone horribly.

Wow, that was really well written, great story, but like i'm kinda sad that Santorelli's dead already, i was starting to like him...

I'm kinda sad about it too. Back when I wrote this fic, I never even intended to publish them, and I never imagined the series would go on this long. If I had, I'd never have killed him so early.

[Beckyno1]

Yeah, but the series is getting better and better

[capnnerefir]

Thanks; I thought so, too. That's probably inevitable, seeing as the longer the series goes on, the more practice I have.

[Beckyno1]

Speaking of getting longer, when's #72 The price going to be up for us all to see? John said Saturday, but I don't see any #72!

[capnnerefir]

This is my fault now. I'm having computer problems and can't quite get it out there for you yet. I'm working around them as best as I can and rest assured that it will be yours as soon as possible.

[TF.]

I've got a quick .gif to go with this one. (there wasn't much choice for images, though)

Sorry about the weird bits around the feet. The program (Squirlz Morph) seems to do that by itself.

[capnnerefir]

Pretty neat! I fiddled with a program like that before - probably the same one, come to think of it - for the same reasons, and the results are always neat.