Miami's Vice

[Dustin]

<<I'm not having much luck over here,>> Dustin called out to Adrian. <<There's too much grass in the way. You would think the yeerks could mow a lawn every once and a while.>>

Dustin was busy slithering through the grass in front of some side-street buildings in downtown Miami. He and Adrian had been sent out so scout around the area, but had to keep a low profile. Their faction still didn't know the personal threat level in this city, which is why they weren't near the bigger and busier buildings. Just some of the "businesses" on the outskirts.

And Dustin was glad. He was nervous enough as it was without plunging head first into yeerk-central. <<Have you seen anything interesting from your perspective yet? All I can see is the second stories of buildings. At least I think they are buildings. Snake eyesight isn't too great.>>

[Adrian]

Even though Dustin had the stronger air morph they'd decided Adrian better be in the air. While the cooper hawk would have been able to ride the winds it would have made such a tempting target to any controller with a dracon beam and a good eye, circling up there in an empty sky and part of the reason they were on this mission was to determine the threat level of the local area. So Adrian was out as his mockingbird. A much smaller and less noticeable air morph, at least when it was being quiet, which Adrian was doing.

He flitted from tree branch to window sill, checking things out. There were a few people down on the street but not many. It was much more interesting peeking in through windows and getting a glimpse of the controllers who lived in this area. But, again, not many. He supposed this wasn't the nicest area of Miami but he'd never known that to stop the yeerks from moving in in force. He wondered why none were here.

<<No I don't see much just->> Adrian stopped and focused on an abandoned building a couple of blocks down. It was not only abandoned, it looked like it was in ruins. But that wasn't what had caught his attention. <<Aww fuck,>> Adrian said, winging towards where he could see Dustin in the grass. <<We should move, especially you. Taxxon coming this way.>>

[Dustin]

<<Taxxon!>> Dustin had only seen them up close a few times while he was surviving on the streets, but he knew he didn't like them. Their gigantic centipede bodies and ravenous appetites left plenty to be desired. Dustin turned around and slithered as fast as his stomach could carry him, which wasn't very fast at all. Not by human standards.

Dustin went along the side of a brick building, nervous about the approaching alien. It sounded like it had no clue he was there, but he was feeling too much like a tiny snack right now to take any chances. <<Let me know if it is coming after me. Or... pick me up or something if it gets too close.>> Realistically, he doubted Adrian would be able to do that, but he wasn't thinking realistically at the moment.

The wall ended and the grass opened up into asphalt. He had reached an alleyway. Dustin tuned down it and continued following the wall. Maybe there would be a dumpster or something he could hide under.

[Adrian]

<<Don't worry mate,>> Adrian said, swooping down the same alley he'd seen Dustin turn and landing on a fire escape. He looked down at the snake making it's way around broken glass and twisted metal and worried more about that than the Taxxons. <<They're a couple of blocks away yet and I think this is usual hunting ground for them. They aren't after us specifically, just out for a slimy stroll.>>

He flew down and landed on a dumpster that Dustin would be arriving at in a second. His claws closed around the rim of the green bin and he marveled at the bird's ability to balance on anything. <<Still, we should get off the street. I've seen those long tongues of theirs snatch up mice out of walls before. I'd rather not be anywhere near them when they pass by. There is a slightly open door a little farther ahead of you. Duck into their while I figure out how to do the same.>>

[Dustin]

He could hardly express the amount of relief he felt when Adrian said the taxxons weren't even on the same block as them. And a little embarrassed. He had started to run away from a superficial threat. Well, at least not an immediate threat. Those taxxons could still be a potential threat if they came too close.

<<Yeah, I want to get up in the air where it is safer. I think it's getting close to two hours anyway. Or at least an hour and a half. You should probably consider demorphing too.>>

Dustin slid in through the door Adrian mentioned. It was pretty dark inside. Dustin flicked out his tongue and tasted the air. He could smell rats and mice. Bugs. Maybe humans or raccoons too. And a couple other things he couldn't place. Chemicals of some sort. But there were no large heat signatures in the immediate vicinity, so he figured it was safe enough to demorph.

The first thing to happen was swelling. His head and torso swelled up like beach balls, inflating until his physique was more like an eight and less like a one. Hair sprouted on his head and his skin became less scaly. Little nubs protruded from his body and began to form into arms and legs. He looked almost like a lizard wearing a toupee.

Fingers and toes sprouted from his arms and legs respectively. His ears popped out of the sides of his head as his mouth retreated back toward the rest of his skull. His tail slurped back into his spine and the morph was complete.

He looked around at his surroundings and realized why it was so dark. He was under a card table with a ratty old tablecloth draped over it. Dustin considered remorphing right away, but decided to wait for Adrian. Besides, he could use a short rest. Repeat morphing was a good way to drain your energy.

[Adrian]

Adrian would have preferred to go up to the roof and demorph there but Suji had been clear about sticking together. They were each other's back up and he could no more let Dustin go into a place alone than he could cut off an arm. Well, he supposed he could cut off an arm but it just wouldn't be wise and neither would leaving Dustin.

He saw the Taxxons pass the entrance to the alley. They may have been a bit closer than he had allowed Dustin to believe but he'd felt Dustin had enough to worry about and enough time to get away. He still didn't know much about the temperments of his faction mates and he wasn't sure if Dustin was the type to panic or not. He assumed he wasn't, he'd gone through the same training that Adrian had, but there was no reason to make decisions based on assumptions alone.

Adrian jumped off the edge of the dumpster and flew in through the same gap Dustin had gone through. He hadn't seen a Taxxon snatch a bird out of the air but that didn't mean it wasn't possible and he didn't want to find out the hard way. He hoped, by getting out of sight soon enough, the Taxxon wouldn't even bother coming down this alley. His bird hated the idea of not only flying into a building, but a dark one but he shoved its instincts to the side and flared as soon as he was through the door.

It wasn't as dark on the inside as it had seemed from outside but it was still pretty dim and his eyes tried to adjust as he settled on the floor. Just as his claws began to touch ground an object bigger than the size of his body came toward's him. This time he let the mockingbird's instincts carry him out of the way, flapping his wings and hopping at the same time. He settled down on the ground a bit away as he screamed his indignation. The man that had tried to swat him just mumbled and leaned back against the wall.

Adrian's eyes were starting to adjust and he looked around. What had seemed an abandoned building was occupied by, what looked like, bums. A few men and one woman were sitting in the hallway, leaning up against the wall. Adrian had seen this picture too many times to count and he made purely mental growl of disgust. The world was being taken over, millions had died, billions enslaved and still some people found the time to shoot themselves up with all sorts of drugs.

Adrian dismissed the people around him and began looking for where Dustin might have gone. <<Dustin?>> he asked, his mental voice a whisper as if the people around him might overhear if he "spoke" too loud. He still wasn't completely used to thoughtspeak. <<Where are you?>>

[Dustin]

"I'm under a table," Dustin whispered back. Then he quickly covered his mouth in embarrassment as he realized he had said it out loud. His eyes widened as he heard something large move nearby. There was a shuffling of feet a the squash of someone sitting down on a chair or sofa.

"Whad you say?" a voice asked.

"Eh," someone replied.

Where are we Adrian? he tried to ask with thought speech, even though he knew it wouldn't work. He wasn't sure if he should morph again or wait for Adrian to find him. Now that someone was alert, they might hear his bones crunching or organs shifting.

Dustin tried to put his face closer to the ground to see under the edge of the tablecloth, but as he did, his head bumped a table leg. Whatever was sitting on top of the table made a lot of noise as it clanged together. That couldn't be good.

[Adrian]

There was silence in Adrian's head as he hopped a bit closer to the door and tried to pretend he was a normal mockingbird that liked to hang out with junkies. <<Dustin?>> he tried again though he was starting to think there was no point. Thoughtspeak didn't have a "volume" as he had to keep reminding himself, just a range, and Dustin should be inside of it. So if Dustin wasn't answering it was because he couldn't.

He remembered what Dustin had said about his time limit and after more silence he had to assume Dustin had demorphed somewhere. But why not remorph? Maybe he couldn't or maybe he just didn't want to. Adrian clapped his beak in frustration. He couldn't know what Dustin was thinking until he found Dustin and trying to hypothesize about it wouldn't get him anywhere would it?

Alright, he tried to think about what he should do first. He was pretty sure he could fly through the entire house and only suffer a swatting attempt if the only people in here were like the ones in the hallway. But if this was actually some sort of drug house then the dealer was here and dealers of all kinds were dangerous. He couldn't assume this was a safe place for a bird to be nor any other animal he was capable of morphing. If a suspicious dealer saw something he didn't like he may shoot first and ask questions later. So what would he not shoot?

A customer of course. If only Adrian knew what he was selling. Either way, his first order of business was to get human and hope his unusual attire wouldn't attract too much attention. Adrian hopped carefully down the hall towards an open door. He could avoid another high swatter but he didn't want to, he wanted to get through the door to the next room so he hopped slowly and carefully, hoping the man sitting against the wall wouldn't notice him. He got to the door jam and then took one hop into the room and stopped.

The large woman sitting near the card table didn't look high, just pissed. She was leaning down to look under a card table when Adrian hopped into the room. She looked up at the movement and stopped and dropped the tablecloth she'd begun to pick up. "Dammit, we got pests again. Birds and probably fucking rats," she said with disgust. "Get rid of 'em," she said to a dangerous looking man who was sitting on a sofa.

[Dustin]

The creak of floorboards, the sound of footsteps, the rustle of the tablecloth. Dustin knew this was the end. Whoever was coming to investigate would find a kid i a wetsuit underneath their table. he heard Adrian's thought speech, but was unable to respond. When these people found him, who knows what they would do to him. Kill him, make him a controller, torture him? When the corner of the tablecloth started to raise, Dustin was sure his heart was going to beat itself right out of his chest.

But then the person stopped. They said something about birds and rats. Something about killing them. Then he heard the person on the sofa get up again and start heading across the room. He was saved by the bird.

Except... Adrian was a bird. It was too big of a coincidence for the bird to just be a wild one. What do I do, what do I do? Dustin decided to risk lifting a corner of the tablecloth. When he did, he saw the backs of two pairs of legs and a bird in the doorway. Dustin wasn't sure if Adrian would notice him, but he tried to shoot his fellow animorph an "I'm trapped" look.

[Adrian]

<<Damn.>> Adrian said to no one, or maybe Dustin if he was in range. Which he probably shouldn't have done. Without context Dustin might think he was in trouble and come looking for him and who knew what consequences that could have. Then again, he was in trouble, kind of. The man looked disgruntled and unhappy but he wasn't carrying a gun. As long as he didn't have-

The man coming towards him pulled out a dracon beam and Adrian decided it was time to leave. He did what any normal bird would do and took off. The air inside the room was dead and his wings couldn't help him that much but he wouldn't be a bird if he couldn't manage some type of air time. He screamed and flew at the man's face before he finished adjusting the setting.

The man let out a surprised grunt and began flailing his arms around his head to protect himself from Adrian's battering wings and little claws. None of his blows managed to hit, thankfully. Adrian really didn't want to think what would happen to the fragile bird body if a full grown human took a swing at it and connected.

He settled on the couch but didn't stay there for long. He launched himself again, this time at the woman herself. She instinctively jumped back and began swatting at him as well. "Kill the damn bird!" she growled as the card table went crashing over when one of her arms hit it, white fabric and cheap aluminum making a mess.

[Dustin]

The bird took off and a small commotion started. Good, a distraction. Hopefully it would give Dustin enough time to safely morph. They probably wouldn't notice the sound of shifting organs and crunching bones if they were trying to chase a bird.

However, just as Dustin was forming a mental image of a grasshopper, there was a loud crash and the card table suddenly wasn't on top of him anymore. Needless to say, Dustin's concentration was disrupted.

For a split second Dustin and the lady stared at each other, both caught completely off guard. Then at the same time both of them moved. Dustin lunged toward the door and the woman kicked Dustin in the ribs. Hard. He went collapsed and laid helplessly on his side, coughing as he tried to get the wind back into his lungs.

"What are you waiting for? Stun him!" the woman said to the other guy. "Then get that bird out of here."

[Adrian]

Adrian beat at the woman and then flew away towards the door, hoping they were both still too confused to target him. He didn't see Dustin as he flew around the corner but he heard the woman's orders well enough. He landed on the ground right outside the door and quickly hopped back so that he could peak his head around the door jam.

He felt like a tiny heart already beating too fast was trying to break out of the bird's fragile rib cage when he saw Dustin lying at the woman's feet. What do I do? he thought, slightly panicked. He could escape himself but Dustin wasn't going anywhere and Adrian was useless. He couldn't do anything as a bird but right now he couldn't think of anything he could do period. He wished Suji were here. She'd fix it somehow but she wasn't here and there was only Adrian to figure something out.

Damn it he cursed purely mentally this time as he turned and flew away down the hall. There was nothing he could do for Dustin as a damn song bird and that was that. At least she had said stun and not kill. That gave him some time to figure something out. Except what could he do?

God, ok, he had to think. She was a drug dealer of some sort and Dustin was an unknown. She'd said to stun him so despite what he'd thought earlier she wasn't the shoot first and ask questions later type. But that meant she was the ask questions first type which may be more unpleasant if not as permanent. If she stunned him she'd have to wait for him to wake up before she asked questions right? So did he have time to get reinforcements? And if he did what would Suji do? They couldn't just charge in and kill everyone.

His mind felt like it was running itself ragged. But one thought showed up clear. Dustin was an animorph. All he needed was three uniterrupted minutes to slip his bonds. Once he woke up that was. So Adrian had to wait until he woke up and then cause a distraction. Except he had no way of knowing what was happening to Dustin or when that might be.

Ok, time to be a fly on the wall and hope a fly fared better than a bird. He ducked into an empty room and landed in the middle of the floor. Before he began to demorph he sent a message to Dustin. <<Looks like we got ourselves into a bit of trouble but I'm still here. Gonna take some time to get you out but keep an eye out for a fly and don't swat me. Adrian out.>> Then he began to demorph and prayed that none of his reasoning was wrong.

[Dustin]

Dustin was pinned to the ground by the female drug dealer's enormous foot. He had his breath back, sort of, but the weight of her foot and the knowledge that he was about to be shot still made breathing difficult.

"Hurry it up," the woman said. The man was fumbling to change the power dial on his weapon. Dustin had maybe three seconds to act before he lost his chance.

<<Looks like we got ourselves into a bit of trouble but I'm still here. Gonna take some time to get you out but keep an eye out for a fly and don't swat me. Adrian out.>> For the moment, Dustin was on his own.

Dustin was definitely not a gifted student during Nineteen's survival classes, so it took him a while to think of a move while being in such a stressful situation. He still didn't know if he thought of the right move, but at least he thought of a move.

He reached up with both hands and grabbed the woman's foot. One hand on the heel, the other on the toes. Then he turned it as hard and fast as he could. The woman yelped and fell to the side. Instantly Dustin rolled over and got to his feet. He crouched into a jumping position so that he could leap behind the ratty old sofa.

Just in time for a blast of searing hot pain to be shot through his body. His brain was overloaded with agony and he passed out.

[Adrian]

Adrian began to grow to his full height and weight with a speed he'd never been able to achieve in training. Funny how that worked. His eyes didn't change much and he had a very clear view of the door to the room he'd landed in. He kept expecting someone to walk in. That would be all he needed.

He hopped his misshapen body as much as he was able further into the shadows that clung to the corners of the room and he heard a gasp of disgust. He tried to turn around and it wasn't easy. His arms had just started to appear but his legs were still much too small and thin to support his growing weight. He tumbled like an infant trying to learn to walk as he craned his neck to see who had gasped.

"Graaack," he squawked as he saw the woman sitting on the bed, covers pulled up so tightly around her they almost reached her wide eyes. He had no doubt that he looked like a mutating monster and he tried to talk again. "Krawrry," he apologized as he rushed through the end of the morph. "I'm sorry, please,"

"Have you come for me!" she demanded. The change from fear induced paralysis to bordering violent questions was so quick that he tried to back up a step but he hadn't yet gotten to his feet. The result was a shuffling, backwards crawl.

"I uh, no. Yes!" He said changing his mind, thinking that he could assert some authority in this situation if she believed he'd come for her but when he saw the fear tip into anger and something much darker he quickly reversed himself. "No!"

"Which one is it? Yes or no?" She demanded, throwing the covers off and advancing towards him as he got up and backed away, glancing quickly over his shoulder to see if her noise had brought anyone to the room. The doorway was empty and he didn't hear anyone coming down the hall but he doubted that the man he'd seen would just go back to quietly sitting on the couch. He was sure to hear her if she kept on this way. He looked back and made a snap decision. He should have known better. He wasn't the best at snap decisions.

He lunged at her, reaching for the skill Nineteen had taught him and finding that it wasn't bone deep enough to be called on without preparation. Which was why she easily avoided his clumsy attempt to grab her with a triumphant, "ha!" and then started beating him with small but sharp fists. The blows weren't well aimed but they were unexpected and a few of them got to his face before he shielded his head with his arms.

"I knew you were after me!" He huddled away and most of her blows landed on his forearms and shoulders but she had gotten louder while trying to attack him, not quieter. He had no choice. He jumped at her, abandoning all attempt at form and just tackled her. They both fell towards the bed and landed in a heap, scrambling for supremacy. He wasn't the largest person but neither was she and he was on top. But the minute he managed to pin and arm or a shoulder she would squirm out.

At least she's not screaming he thought to himself before shying away from the sexually violent tone the current scenario and soundless thought had evoked. Glamorous, this life, he thought with anger before getting his leg fully across her body so that he could straddle her hips. He pinned her arms and once he had control of her hips and arms there wasn't much she could do to get out from under him, though she tried. Here his training came in some sort of use.

"I'm not after you but you have to be quiet." He tried to make his voice a command but it was more of an angry plea.

"Who are you?" she asked though it would have sounded more appropriate if she had said 'fuck you,' when you took in the look on her face.

"Adrian," he answered, too distracted to think of something fake. "Now just stay still and I'll leave. I thought this room was empty." She stilled immediately, performing another one of those quicksilver mood changes that were somehow more disturbing than anything else.

"Ok. Let me go." He held on to the woman that was now not struggling and looked at her with suspicion but it was met with a blank innocence that would have been more fitting on the face of a child. He held on for a moment longer and then backed off, standing up, his entire body ready to reverse the action if necessary. But it wasn't, she just sat up and brushed herself off as if he'd been eating toast while they struggled. "This is my room," she informed him. She looked at him expectantly and he backed away a bit more before he realized what she was waiting for.

"Um, I'm sorry," he said in an uncertain voice because he could still not quite believe that's what she wanted from him but she nodded her approval and stood up. She held out her hand, the blade of her fingers coming towards him so abruptly that he didn't have time to react to it.

"My name is Natalie," she said. "What yours?" He tentatively shook her hand and almost answered before he remembered he'd already told her. What had they fallen into he thought as he wondered how Dustin was doing.

[Dustin]

As his conscious drifted back into focus from some far-flung recess of his mind, Dusting became increasingly aware of a loud ringing in his hears. A stinging sensation on the right side of- Now the left side of his face piqued his curiosity. As the ringing sound became words, the stinging switched sides again, and his vision slowly returned, Dustin started to piece his memory back together.

"Stop slapping him. I think he's coming around. Hand me my mug." Dustin didn't know who was talking, but a couple seconds later he was splashed in the face by a cup full of water.

Now he was awake.

And his heart began to pound. In an instant it all came rushing back. He had been stunned. Stunned by some sort of crime lord after having mistakenly demorphed in her hideout. Now he was tied to a chair in a dimly lit, musty old room, surrounded by the boss and a few of her underlings.

Did they make me into a controller? Dustin asked himself frantically. But even as he thought it, he knew it wasn't the case. He could still control his own body. Not to mention he wouldn't be tied up if he was one of them.

Dustin had barely figured out that he was conscious again by the time the boss approached him. She leaned in real close to his face, squinted slightly, then looked him up and down. "I see fear in your eyes," she finally said.

That was an understatement. Dustin was terrified! It was all he could do to manage to keep from wetting himself.

The woman stood up straight again. "You got yourself into a real pickle here, boy. You could say you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, but that would be a lie, wouldn't it? Wouldn't it!?"

Dustin swallowed hard.

"Where you were was the wrong place all the time. I don't know how you got there, or who sent you, but I intend to find out. And believe me, I will find out. Won't I?" She looked around at the other people in the room and they all nodded and murmured in agreement.

She set her mug down on a dusty wooden box, then picked up a box cutter that was resting there too. "Let's not make this too difficult, m'kay?"