After The Nightfall

[jimmyblack]

Jimmy stepped into the dark, shady gang. He looked around, wanna make sure that no one else is there. Then he began to morph. Into the creature that came to his window the last night.

He didn't know how it could happen. But when he woke up from the nightmare, the same nightmare that had been haunting him for years, the first thing that came to his mind was a croaking sound. An annoying sound of a lame creature.

The crow stood in his window. The creature looked at him. Intensely staring with the empty black eyes.

"What do you want?" Jimmy asked, between there and not. There was also a crow in his dream.

The crow just croaked. And in his upset condition, Jimmy reached for a capo (tool for fretting guitar) on the table and threw it immediately at the crow. It hit at the head. The animal didn't evade. The crow made an attempt to fly, but uselessly flapped its wings and fell forward into the room.

Jimmy picked it up. And acquired the DNA before it stops breathing.

Then, throw it outside.

Now, the night after, he went out from the apartment and walked into the alley. No reason to stay inside. SPECTER was really a mess. They didn't even gave briefing or direction or what... And fine, if they wanted us to move by ourselves, he'll gladly move by himself.

So now Jimmy morphed into the crow and tested his wings. One thing to note : morphing suit was a sick drawback. The Andalites should really fix the problem up, he cannot wander around in some hair-metal skinny pants and emo tight shirt -- he looked like a bargain basement loser.

But it was a different thing. Now, for the first time, he flied. He flied through the dark alley, using the night wind to flap his wings with some effort. But the sight -- now he understood why the crows are low-brow birds. They are like night sky thugs. And the instinct.

He hates the instinct.

But he did enjoyed the flight.

<Useless flight, huh? What am I looking for, anyway? That dark-eyes woman? Or maybe her companion?> said Jimmy to himself. <All those SPECTER mess...>

Then he saw it. He was flying above the 7-11. And there was an unusual thing that caught his unintended attention.

Nothing but a common burglar.

<Oh, is this my job?> he sighed. <What a glory.>

[Leroy]

<<Need some backup?>> Leroy asked when he saw Jimmy heading toward the burglar.

Leroy was flying through the air in his hornbill morph. He had been for about an hour and a half now. At first he had just been enjoying a nice flight through the cool night air in a morph he rarely got the chance to use (he couldn't fly around as a hornbill during the day because it would stand out too much). But when he noticed Jimmy morphing in an alley down below, Leroy decide to follow him and see what he was up to.

Leroy didn't know Jimmy very well yet. They hadn't really gotten a chance to talk much. Nevertheless, Leroy didn't want one of his teammates getting hurt because they tried to stop a burglary on their own. And so he revealed himself to Jimmy.

<<It's me, Leroy. Just tell me what the plan is and I'll help if I can.>> He really doubted Jimmy had a plan, but Leroy hoped he was wrong about that.

[jimmyblack]

The thought-speak came from the sky. Jimmy turned his crow head and saw a big-beaked bird flied toward him. The bird said that he was one of the hired Animorphs and offered him a help.

<Sure,> answered him. <Let's have some fun kicking this bully's butt.>

Jimmy turned around and focused his not-too-good-for-a-bird sight to the apparition below him. The burglar was running into the dark maze of the suburb gangs. But what could be better than the Animorphs Night Sky Force to settle this job? Jimmy considered the move of the burglar, decided where to intercept him, and prepared to attack. He stopped to give Leroy his plan and wait for confirmation.

<Leroy, I'll strike him with speed, and you come with the second, ultimate attack.> Jimmy felt like he was telling his bassist, Hayley, to make a train bassline intro before he strike with raw-distortion guitar. What was that feeling? <Show this punk your sharp Beak Thrust. How does that sound, bud?>

[Leroy]

<<Sounds like a decent plan! They guy won't even know what hit him. Just... try not to get hurt. Remember that we are birds, and birds have hollow bones. One good hit and we're in some serious trouble.>>

Way to go Leroy, he thought to himself. This is NOT the time to point out facts that will make yourself, and possibly Jimmy, more nervous.

<<Just give the word and I'll give him the Beak Thrust!>> Leroy chuckled a bit at "Beak Thrust." It made him feel like a pokemon or something. But nonetheless, Leroy prepared to dive down at the burglar as soon as Jimmy initiated his half of the plan.

[jimmyblack]

As a guitarist, Jimmy's main weakness was his speed. He wasn't raised in the era of shredder, but in the time of grunge when skill was not the most important thing. Attitude was. And even he wasn't sure if crow is a speedster bird. But now is not the time to think.

He attacked.

<Mr.Thief, your pants are unzipped!!!> he shouted in thought-speak toward the burglar.

The reaction was cool. The thug stopped running and, for a second, turned his gaze below. Before he could realize that no one has spoke to him, in the moments of his confusion, Jimmy fell down like a black missile and, in a maneuver that only the crow would understand, he plunged onto the confused face -- which was no more confused, but hurt, screaming out loud of three red lines that crossed his nose.

<NOW!!!>

[Leroy]

<<Arahhhhh!>> Leroy screamed as he dove down at his target. He landed on the back of the struggling burglar's shirt collar and began to peck away. Leroy briefly wished he was in a woodpecker morph so that he could put a little more power into his pecks, but now was not the time think about things like that.

At one point Leroy reached to the side of the guy's head and bit his ear. There was a fresh scream from the guy as Leroy applied pressure. And then Leroy felt a tear and he quickly let go.

Leroy pumped his hornbill wings and took to the air again. <<I.. I think I bit part of his ear off.>> If he had been human at that moment, he probably would have vomited.

Until this point Leroy hadn't been paying much attention to what exactly Jimmy was doing, so he swooped back around to see if Jimmy needed any more help.

[jimmyblack]

Jimmy flapped his wings, catch the movement and landed atop a trash bin. The thug screamed like mad, grasping his ear. Pain, fear to be attacked again, and all the other emotions made him go out of mind and run. The bag that he had stolen fell to the ground.

<Snacks,> Jimmy said. <And some soda. Oh, look there, what a timing.>

Two men came running into their direction. One policeman and one guy from the 7-11. That burglar must have been screaming very loud. Not a successful mission, Jimmy guessed. Besides, that was just a spontaneous act. He looked at his partner up on the sky.

<Well done, Leroy,> Jimmy said to him. <Are you okay? After... getting some jackpot, I mean.>

[Leroy]

After the police officer and the guy from the 7-11 ran past, Leroy swooped down and landed on the ground next to Jimmy's trash bin. <<Yeah, I'm fine,>> Leroy finally answered. <<I think I'll just have to become a vegetarian is all. At least for a week or so.>> The thought of that ear was hard to push out of his head.

<<Anyway, good plan. It worked.>> Leroy paused for a moment, unsure of what to say next.

<<Well, like I said earlier, I'm Leroy. I don't think we have really had a chance to talk yet. I would shake your hand but, you know, we don't have hands right now... Which reminds me. I gotta demorph soon or else I'll be stuck as this big-nosed bird. How about you? Should we find a safer place to demorph?>> Leroy wasn't sure what they would do afterwards, but he was sure they could probably think of something.