DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Animorphs, or anything else that doesn't belong to me. I only own this story.
Chapter Three: The Chase

I flew over towards the alley Duke had chosen, my superior kestrel eyes spotting Hoodie Guy as he tried to keep up. I flew lower, circling over the alley a few times before landing atop a bin, just as Hoodie Guy entered at the other end.

"Andalite! " he hissed, and it was all I could do to not react as he advanced, pulling out what I recognized as a tranquilizer gun. "Ah, Visser Three will be pleased - " I tensed, ready to… do something, I guess – but Hoodie Guy got no further. A shadow appeared above him, and Joey followed it, landing on the guy's back and clocking him over the head, knocking him out instantly.

Joey grinned at me. "It's been a while since I've done that!"

I shrugged my wings as best I could.–{You're getting out of practice… Too many card games can do that to you, can't it?}– I teased.

Joey just shrugged, still grinning – refusing to admit my point."Maybe. Now what?"

A crow flew over our heads.–{Ryo, Tristan, demorph. Anyone watching you with a shred of sense would know that owls don't fly into alleyways, and neither do kestrels – they'd come to investigate. I'll warn you guys if anyone gets close while you're demorphing. Take the guy with you, and head to that old warehouse. We can question him later – he might know something useful. I'll get Yugi.}–

–{Got it.}– I concentrated, and felt my feathers start to melt into my body.

A few minutes later, three teenage boys walked out of an alley, dragging an unconscious fourth teenager into an abandoned warehouse. No-one batted an eyelid – that sort of thing happened all the time in this district. Joey looked up at the crane hook, and I knew what he was thinking. There'd used to be a gang who'd tried to make him rejoin their group. They'd strung him up from that hook, tasered him to an inch of his life. Later on they'd actually hung Yugi from the hook by his puzzle – nearly killing him in the process.

After maybe fifteen minutes, a car pulled up outside, and Yugi came into the warehouse, followed by a human Duke holding a coil of rope. The smaller boy looked at our captive and sighed. "OK, here's the plan. We'll be working in pairs to watch over this guy, and we'll do it in two hour shifts before swapping out for the next pair – we can't let him see we're humans, so we'll be in morph for as long as we're with him. We'll wake each other up when it's time for their shifts. Hopefully we might be able to get him hungry enough to get the Yeerk out of his head. I was scouting out Kaiba's private zoo today, so those of us not on a shift can go there, acquire some morphs, then come back and wait for their shift. Then we'll swap with the other guys. There's two sections in this warehouse – a front and back. There's a clock in the back section, so we'll know when our time's up. We can then demorph in the front section where the guy can't see us, and wake the next person to go on. Whatever you do, don't talk while the guy's awake – we don't want the Yeerk to know there's humans involved in this. Got it?"

We all nodded, and Yugi turned to me. "Tristan, Duke – you'll be up first. Me, Ryo, and Joey will head to Kaiba's zoo, get some battle morphs. Then I'll take you and Duke to the zoo, while Ryo and Joey keep watch. After that, we'll just keep on doing shifts and taking turns to catch up on sleep, until the Yeerk in that guy's head spills."

Duke held up the rope. "Who here can tie really good knots?"

Joey grinned and took it. "That would be me."

Duke promptly started shrinking, and I felt my nose go wet and cold. I frowned. "Uh, Duke?"

"Yeah?"
"Umm… If you're morphing a cat and I'm a dog… Remember my issues with controlling the dog mind last time?"
Silence, while Duke thought about it. Then…
"Oh." Now cat-size, the teen tried to hobble over to the spare room with rapidly thinning legs, but fell over.
"A little help here?"

As a disgusted Yugi picked him up, carrying him over, my arms became longer and I dropped to all fours in anticipation of my knees reversing direction. I caught sight of my reflection in the glass windows of the warehouse, and my stomach backflipped. It was all I could do to not throw up - I was a hideous creature by this point. I squeezed my eyes shut as hard as I could, and waited a few minutes.

On came the ears. On came the nose.

–{Whoa!}– To be honest, I didn't think I'd ever get used to that nose…

The dog was HAPPY, and once again it bowled me over. Impossible to resist!
"Concentrate, Tristan." Yugi warned, as I went to sniff under the door to the spare room. There was another animal in there! A friend, perhaps?

I scrabbled the door open. Hello! A bundle of black fur and emerald green eyes greeted me. I raced over to it, and to my surprise it actually got bigger, its tail puffing up to twice its initial size. Twice the fun!

"HISSSSSSS!" the bundle said, its tail lashing from side to side. I watched the tail as it moved, swish, swish, swish… Suddenly, the very end twitched, and it was too much for me to not resist it. I lunged and – OW. Not HAPPY. Claws lashed across my nose, and I dropped back in confusion.

The bundle watched me, and a voice in my head said–{Triiiiisstan… Hello, earth to Tristan…}

Oh. Right.

My tail drooped, my head hung. –{Uh, sorry, Duke. Dog instincts…}–

He thought sighed.–{It's going to be a looooong night…}–

I trotted out of the room, Duke slinking along behind, to be greeted with Joey nearly dying of laughter.

"Ahahaha! Did you see his expression when Duke got him one?"

–{Not funny, Joey…}– Duke thought growled, lashing his tail.

–{Uh, Duke?}– I couldn't take my eyes off the tail.–{That tail really reminds the dog of a nice rope. It's… uh… kinda hard for me to stay in control when you move it like that.}–

–{Well, this damn thing seems to move on its own!}– Duke flicked his tail in irritation, and I couldn't stop myself from snatching it in my mouth.

NOM!

SLASH!

Sharp claws ravaged my nose, and I backed down.–{Sorry, sorry…}–

Even Ryo was giggling by this point, and Joey was laughing so hard that he had to lean against the wall. Duke glared at him, which only made the blonde laugh even harder than before.

–{Will you stop that?}– Duke nudged the unconscious guy.–{We've got work to do, you know!}–

–{Exactly!}– I growled.–{And you people laughing at us isn't really helping!}–

"Sorry!" Joey grabbed the unconscious teen and dragged him through the door, into the back section of the warehouse. "Let's see who our Yeerk's taken, eh?" He removed the hoodie–

Ryo gasped. A tallish teenager about my age, the golden Millennium Rod tucked into his belt. Tanned skin, an even darker brown than Duke's, golden bracelets on his wrists and ankles, blonde hair swept back from his head…
Marik Ishtar.

I shuddered, remembering what the Egyptian had done during the Battle City incident. Just how much pain we'd all had to go through, how he'd nearly killed Joey, how much pain Yugi had gone through to repress his evil side and make him good…

Joey sighed. "Of all the people we know that could have followed Tris', it just had to be him."

"It can't be him!" Yugi wailed. "He can't be a Yeerk! He just can't!After all I did to try and make him see!"

Joey shook his head sadly, bending over to tie Marik's hands behind his back. "I'm sorry, Yug'…"

–{If we can get the Yeerk to leave him, he'd be freed of its control}– Duke suggested.

Yugi's face hardened, and I knew what must be going through his mind. It didn't matter what Marik had done in the past, Yugi considered him a friend. And if there was one thing about that kid, it was that he cared deeply about all his friends.

"Yes. I'll free him, whatever it takes!" he declared, and stalked out the door.

"Hey, wait for me, Yug'!" Joey yelled, racing after him. Ryo followed Joey with an apologetic glance over his shoulder, leaving me and Duke alone.

Duke lay on the floor.–{I hope Yugi's all right. If he falls apart over this…}–

I nudged him with my nose.–{Don't worry, Yami will keep him safe.}–

–{I hope so, Tristan. I hope so.}– It was a solemn moment for both of us… until the cat's tail twitched.

–{Umm… Duke?}–

–{Yeah?}–

–{You know that tail?}–

–{No. Don't even think about it!}–

Unfortunately, Duke's tail once again reacted to the teen's irritation, lashing back and forth. It was irresistible!

NOM!

The cat let out a screech as I managed to get in under its claws, grab its tail, and start shaking it. It swung like a pendulum in front of my nose, screeching all the while, and the dog mind rejoiced. A toy that not only twitched, but made noises too!

–{Tristan! Put me down RIGHT NOW! Get a freaking grip!}– Duke's voice reminded me that I was Tristan the human–in–a–dog's–body, not Tristan the dog.

–{Sorry, sorry!}– I yelped, dropping the cat instantly. Duke stared at his tail with evident disgust.

–{Tristan, you got dog spit all over it! That was a perfectly good tail! Ooh, I'll get you for this!}–

–{Hey, get those claws away from me!}– The cat chased me round and round the warehouse, both of us half yelling insults, half laughing wildly.

Unfortunately, we were still going when Marik woke up.

"What in the world…? Andalites!"
I screeched to a halt in front of him, Duke crashing straight into me as I did so.

–{Oi! Why'd you stop?}–

–{He's awake!}–

–{…Oh.}–

–{Exactly. Now, we just sit here and don't say anything to him. Also, we pretend he didn't just see… that.}–

–{Agreed on the second point, but I thought we were meant to ask him questions!}–

–{Point taken, but he might recognize our voices if we talk to him.}–

–{I think I may have a way out of that problem.}–

"Let me out, Andalites!" Marik demanded, struggling against the knots Joey had tied.

–{Not happening.}– Duke's thought – speak sounded very different – lower, growlier.

–{Duke? Is that you?}–

–{Why not? I mean, it's my thought-speak, right? I can do what I like with it!}–

I tried it, reimagining myself as a higher, silkier voiced person.–{Do I sound different?}–

–{Nope.}–

–{Hmm. Guess it only works for you, then.}–

–{Eh, maybe you're a defect.}–

–{Duuuuuke…}– I groaned, and Duke swapped back to his growly voice.

–{Alright, Yeerk. Get out of his head.}–

"Never!" Marik yelled.

–{We don't have all day! Do it!}–

Marik's face was twisted into a cruel sneer. "What, so you can just step on me? Make me a deal, Andalite. Demands will get you nowhere."

–{I figured you'd say that. }–Duke swapped back to his normal voice.–{Tristan, listen very carefully to me. Your life could depend on not stuffing this up…}– He explained, and I would have facepalmed at the sheer awfulness of it… if I'd had palms.

–{Duke, that is quite simply the worst plan I ever heard of. }–I thought-growled.

–{Hey! I'm a genius!}– Then, in his other voice,–{How about this? I will allow you to enter the head of my colleague here. You will have an Andalite body to do with as you wish – why, you'd have enough power to rival Visser Three himself!}– he coaxed.

Marik – or rather, the Yeerk controlling Marik – frowned in confusion."Why would you do that?"

–{My colleague has seen many things that should not be seen – it has driven him to the edge of madness. He wishes to give his body to the Yeerks now, and I must obey his wishes…}–

Marik nodded – evidently Duke had played his role well. "If he so likes… Get him to tilt his ear towards mine."

Duke made a big show of nudging me into position.–{On the count of three, twist away from him. OK? One…}–

In the corner of my vision, I saw something slimy in Marik's ear.

–{Two…}– The Yeerk was halfway out. I felt it touch the edge of my ear.

–{Three!}–

I ripped my head away from Marik's, shaking like mad. The Yeerk fell out of my ear, clinging to Marik's neck as it struggled to get back into its host. Duke was on it in a second, claws ripping the Yeerk off, then shredding the slug.

Marik's body flopped in relief. "Oh, thank Ra… Thank you, whoever you are."

I glanced at Duke.–{Should we tell him that it's us?}–

–{No. Wait for Yugi to get back. He'll know what to do.}–

Marik looked at Duke. "You're the leader, then?"

–{Actually, I'm not. There are many of us.}–

The Egyptian nodded. "Why don't you demorph?"

–{If another Yeerk came in here…}– Duke broke off, and Marik nodded in understanding.

"Of course."

–{How were you infested? We need to know all we can about the situation here on Earth, so that–}–Duke began, but Marik cut him off with impeccable logic.

"Wait. If you're a survivor from the ship, how would you know that?"

The cat blinked. –{Know what?}–

"That this place is called Earth!"

–{That is what Visser Three called this planet}–, Duke countered smoothly.

"How come your friend never talks?" he pestered. "There were some teenagers at the crash site, weren't there? Visser Three thought he saw a couple, but we weren't sure… Hey, what if that dog's one of–"

–{That is none of your business.}– Duke turned to walk away.–{If you won't answer our questions, we may as well leave.}–

Marik grunted and sat up, straining against his bonds. "Wait, wait! I'll answer your questions! I'm indebted to you people – you should at least let me pay it off."

Duke turned back.–{Alright. Start talking.}–

Over the course of the next half hour, we learnt all sorts of useful information. Like the fact that The Sharing was a front for the Yeerks, and that Yugi's grandfather, Anzu and my parents had all been infested. Marik told us the locations of the entrances to the Yeerk Pools – places where Yeerks would come out of their hosts to feed on Kandora Rays. They had to feed every three days – or they would starve. "Surely you wouldn't have taken the sort of risk you did if you'd known that", the Egyptian pointed out.

–{We did know that. We're just in a hurry, and we didn't want you to go through the hell of waiting it out while the Yeerk screamed in your head!}– Duke protested.

Marik raised an eyebrow. "Say what you like – I don't think you're really Andalites at all. In fact, my friend Yugi would have been heading home through that construction site the night the spaceship landed. He was going to the movies… With friends…" I could practically see the gears turning in his head.

–{He's worked it out!}– I groaned privately.

–{Not yet, he hasn't!}– Duke shot back.

–{He's very close to it, though…}–

The Egyptian gazed at the cat thoughtfully."Hmm… You can't be Yugi – I'd know him anywhere. So… Who might have been with him? You can't be Rishid, not polite enough. Not Seto, either – not arrogant enough…"

–{Why would he think Kaiba's Yugi's friend?}– I asked Duke privately.

–{Kaiba stalks Yugi all the time. Apparently, that qualifies.}–

Then, to Marik:–{I don't know what you're on about!}–

"Ooh, I got it! You'd be in Yugi's little group, the one he always runs around with – that narrows things down. So, let me see… Anzu's a Controller, so you couldn't be her. You're definitely not Joey or Tristan – you're too cunning. They'd have never have come up with that sort of plan to get the Yeerk out of my head. And you're not Ryo – he'd be nervous, scared of me. Yami is self-righteous, you're not - and if it was Bakura… well, he'd be way more psycho than you are. You can't be Serenity – not gentle enough – or Mai, because she'd be winding me up... So, that leaves me with just one person now, doesn't it? Even though your voice isn't his, you'd have to be Duke Devlin."

–{He's got you. Admit it.}–

Duke tried one last time.–{You're obviously out of your mind, but that is to be expected – having a Yeerk in your brain is a traumatic experience. So, if I'm this Devlin guy you're going on about, who's he?}– Duke nodded to me.

Marik snorted. "One, I'm perfectly sane, and you know it. Two, call him Duke, not Devlin. And three, the dog was playing with you before. You were chasing him – and I know only one person who Duke would ever do that sort of thing with. So… Hey, Tristan. Wassup?" The teen lay back as best the ropes would allow him to, smiling smugly to himself, and I blinked in surprise – he'd nailed it again!

–{We should tell him.}–I pleaded.

–{All right, I get it!}– Then, in his normal voice: –{Yeah, I'm Duke, and he's Tristan. We–}–

"Touched a blue box?"

–{Yeah. How'd you– }–

"Know? Let's just say that my Yeerk was a very senior one."

Yugi's thought-speak reached us.–{Duke? Tristan? How are you going back there?}–

I decided to answer, since Duke still looked a bit stunned.–{We got the Yeerk out of her head, and in return he basically worked out exactly who we were. Duke isn't happy.}–

–{And I was altering my voice, too! Like this!}– Duke demonstrated on the last two words.

Yugi sounded startled.–{I didn't know we could do that… Does my voice sound any different?}– he added.

–{No. It looks like we can't do that – I'd say Duke's the only one who can.}–

–{How did Marik guess it was Duke, if he sounded like that?}– Yugi wondered.

–{He remembered that you were going to the movies, and would have cut through the construction site the night the spaceship crashed. Marik then remembered that there'd been five teenagers at the construction site, and that you'd have been with friends when you'd been going home. He deduced it was Duke from there.}–

Yugi paused, and I guessed he was relaying this to the others.–{We're nearly there – give us a few minutes. Demorph – we're going to have to make him one of ours, or the Yeerks will get him. Joey's gone to get the box from where he hid it.}–

Duke was incredulous.–{Joey had the box? That idiot?}–

Yugi ignored the insult.–{Yeah, he grabbed it before he ran, and I figured it'd be safest with him… You know, Marik's not going to be able to go home, now he's found out who we are. They'll just re-infest him.}–

I blinked. –{Then… What are we going to do?}–

–{Don't worry. I've got a plan. Now, demorph – we'll be with you shortly.}–

"Hey! I'd like to know what's going on!" Marik growled.

I sighed. –{Marik, I'd look away if I was you. Yugi's on his way – we'll demorph now.}–

"Yugi? I might have known…"

My tail was already shrinking into my spine, and I promptly closed my eyes. Three minutes later, I opened my eyes, now human. Marik looked horrified.

"That was… Great Ra, that was disgusting!" he managed at last.

I shrugged. "Trust me, I know."

Marik looked thoughtful. "I can't go home now, can I? They'll just reinfest me, and then they'll know all about you…"

"Yugi's got some sort of plan, apparently." Duke snorted. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see what master plan our brilliant and fearless leader has come up with…"