Marco's head rang but he struggled
to open his eyes. Bright light flooded his vision and he blinked
as his eyes teared up. When his eyes adjusted to the light he found
himself facing a man about 30 to 40 years of age. Immediately his
mind hissed 'Controller'.
But despite his urge to run he rubbed
his aching head and sat up, "Did anyone catch the license plate of that
Semi that hit me?"
The man gazed over his shoulder, "He
must be a friend of your's Grunge." Then he looked back at him and
Marco noticed the scars around his eye. "I'm Mr. Lynch and you are..."
"Marco. Marco Polo."
--------------------------------------
Grunge smirked at the kid's remark.
Though he'd only barely had the opportunity to meet him, he was already
thinking of him as a kid brother. Something he rarely did.
"Marco Polo's your name? Puh-lease.
I mean give me a break!" Roxy stepped forward, with a toss of her
magenta colored hair.
Marco's eyebrow rose, and he shrugged
his shoulders, "Where would you like it? Your leg?"
Roxy's eyes narrowed and Grunge knew
she was going to pull a stunt with her power. Not two seconds after
he thought it she decreased the gravity around Marco and he shot toward
the ceiling so fast his head cracked against it.
Grunge caught one word from him, it
was alien.
--------------------------------------
"Put him down Freefall!"
"But..."
Caitlin glared hard at her friend
and she backed up, dropping Marco from where he'd been raised. Stepping
quickly Caitlin caught him before he hit the ground.
Marco looked her in the eye and gave
her a warm smile that unexpectedly tugged at her heart. "You know,
under different circumstances I might actually enjoy this. One things
for sure though, my friends would never believe me."
Sarah laughed, "You know, for a guy
he's kinda cute."
Bobby gave Marco a friendly pat on
his shoulder. "Coming from Rainmaker, that's an amazing compliment
kid."
Caitlin felt the boy's body stiffen
and she gently set him back on his feet. But he didn't miss a beat,
the second his feet hit the ground he was running at the closed window.
Caitlin just barely caught his arm before he sailed through the glass.
Upset she spun him around roughtly, "What on Earth are you doing?
You could have hurt yourself."
Marco's eyes narrowed. "I'd
rather die than have a Yeerk in my head. There's no way I'm going
to become a Controller, no way!"
Grunge perched in front of the window.
"What you talking about kid? What the heck is a Yeerk?"
Caitlin was surprized when Marco ripped
out of her grasp and faced him. "Oh don't tell me you're saying you
don't know about the Yeerks and the invasion! Or how about the Andalite
Bandits? You know, blue deer-like beings with no mouths, a scorpion-like
tail and the ability to change into other creatures.
Rainmaker moved forward silently,
"No one here is going to hurt you Marco. If we'd been planning to
do that we would have let you die by those street punks who'd gone after
you, or we could've hurt you while you were unconcious."
He visibly stepped back, hesitating
and Caitlin relaxed slightly. "Or it could be a trick... but you're
right, there's no reason for it. Still there's only one way to be
sure and that's if I can keep an eye on you for three whole days."
Caitlin couldn't keep her curiousity
at bay. "Why?"
"I'll explain everything I can after
the three days are up."
"Alright. Three days starting
now." Caitlin agreed.
----------------------------------------3 days later----------------------------------------------
There were only three showers in the
entire estate and a line up was at each of them. When Marco had said
he wasn't going to let them out of his sight he's meant it.
Now though, Grunge was sitting in
the living room, freshly dressed. In front of him, leaning on the
fireplace was Marco, dressed in Bobby's black jogging pants and a Silverchair
shirt which were a little too big. They were all waiting for him
to explain the reason of their three day hygiene strike.
Clearing his throat, the hispanic
boy gained their attention. "Well here we go, from the beginning.
My name is Marco. I can't tell you my last name or where I come from
because if I did and the Yeerks found out they would kill me or worse...
infest me."
Grunge couldn't help it, he leaned
closer, feeling a little over protective.
-------------------------------
When Marco had finished, he waited.
He knew Jake would flip if he ever found out but Marco was willing to chance
that if they managed to get allies out of the deal.
-------------------------------
Bobby eyed Marco in disbelief.
The kid sure believed everything he'd been saying but it was all crazy
nonsense. "So you're saying that this race of slugs is taking over
the world and you and some others, who you won't mention, are the only
ones preventing that until the other Alien race... the Andalites arrive
to put an end to it?"
Marco looked him straight in the eye
and then shook his head sadly. "I know it sounds completely crazy
but it's true... If only there was some way I could get you to understand..."
"Perhaps thereis young Animorph."
There in the center of the room was a large, blue see-through man.
-------------------------------
"Ellimist." Marco said the word
without feeling. "What do you want this time? Wait, let me
guess. You need me to date Cindy Crawford in order for the planet
to remain safe from the Crayak."
The Ellimist gave him a ghost of a
smile. "I'm afraid not. On the contrary I've brought you here
to help Gen13 for a while..."
"Woah, now back up a minute, what
do you mean, 'Why you brought me here'?" Marco interrupted, feeling
a sudden flash of anger.
"You are in what you may call another
dimension."
"So this isn't my world? No
Yeerks, Andalites, the other Animorphs...?" He felt like his heart
was giving out on him.
"Exactly. You see, a new threat
is coming and I thought you would be able to help these people..."
"You didn't even ask! What about
the others? What if they need me?"
"I will return you to the exact time
you left, no harm done. Now, will you be so kind as to help these
people?"
Marco found himself starring at the
ground. "Normally the others and I would vote on this... Jake
would say it was the right thing to do, Cassie would say it was our duty,
Ax and Tobias would do what Jake said so they'd both agree. Rachel
would say, 'Let's do it.', and me, being the only reasonable one on the
team would say, 'This is insane.'" He focused on the Ellimist again.
"So I guess I'll do it... if they want my help."
----------------------------------------------
Sarah watched the creature in fasination.
It wasn't like anything she'd ever seen, but it had mentioned an impending
threat and had brought someone to help and despite her careful nature she
trusted Marco and she met Caitlin's questioning gaze with a decisive
nod, from the looks the others gave their leader. Sarah new it was
agreed before Caitlin said so.
And as soon as she uttered the words
the Ellimist left, leaving a bored-looking Marco leaning against the fireplace.
Looking right at Freefall he pushed off the mantle and gave her a goofy
grin, "So if you're not an alien, than what's up with the super powers?"
-----------------------------------------------
Sighing Caitlin realized it was her
turn to do some explaining. "We're gen-active, which basically means
that we have a type of gene that when stimulated allows us access to extraordinary
abilities we wouldn't normally have."
"Kat, why don't you say it in English
so the kid understands." This cmment came from Freefall, who was
leaning against Grunge on the sofa.
Caitlin was about to retort when Marco
spoke, "Oh I understand it just fine. What you're saying is that
you're considered super heros on your world, right?"
It was Bobby who said what they were
all thinking, "Or freaks."
Marco laughed, "Well join the club.
My friends think I've fallen off my rocker. I'm a certified wacko,
at least according to Rachel, so we should get along just fine."