POV Jordan

Cold.

That was what I was feeling when I could feel again, I felt very very cold. My vision was still pretty blurry, I could make out figures, but I couldn't make out who they were. But I could hear what they were saying at least.

"Jordan? Hey, Jordan we're safe. You can turn back now."

"Is he gonna be alright?"

"He might be in shock from the burn he got on his leg."

"Where's Tobias?"

"Jordan, snap out of it! Demorph!"

It was around then I suddenly realized where I was, and what was going on. I could feel the pain in my left leg, still burnt from Visser Three's last attack. But, the fact I could feel the pain was good - it meant I was still alive.

Taking the other's advice, I began to demorph. I began to feel the tiger instincts leaving my mind, and I could feel the pain in my leg begin to fade away as I morphed back, focusing on my good old human self. My eyes began to refocus, as I looked around I could see the other Animorphs gathered around me, looks of concern in their faces.

"Are you okay?" Cassie asked.

I shook my head a bit. "Well, I've got a splitting headache," I said. "And it's probably gonna be worse tomorrow morning… but aside from that, I'm alive, so I'm fine."

"Fine? You tried to take on an army of Controllers by yourself back there!" Marco demanded, "Are you insane or something?"

"You yelled something about Tobias," Rachel said with worry in her voice. "Is he alright? Did he make it out of there?"

I froze for a moment, as the memories returned… the whole battle in full, fighting the Yeerks, Visser Three showing up, retreating, getting shot in the leg… and then seeing Tobias hidden in the corner, unable to escape without being seen.

"...No… he's not..." I said. "He's alive… but he was hidden… somewhere that the Controllers won't find him… but there's no way he's getting out of there within two hours..." My hands balled into fists. "Dammit… he's gonna be trapped as a hawk… it's all my fault dammit!"

"It's not your fault," Cassie said, trying to sound reassuring. "There's nothing you could have done… nothing any of us could of done with those Controllers chasing us."

I shook my head, but I forced out a bitter smile. "Thanks Cass… but no matter what it was my fault… I was the only one who saw Tobias, I didn't keep track of him during the fight… and worse of all… I fucking knew it was gonna happen in the first place."

"How could you have known?" Rachel asked, I caught a bit of suspicion in her voice. "How could you have known what would happen down there?"

"He did know those Taxxons back there were cannibals," Marco pointed out. "I don't think the Andalite mentioned anything about that."

"And didn't you say that weird name to that Controller?" Jake asked. "Something one one seven form a slup nar pool? How did you know that was a Yeerk name?"

"Now that I think about it," Melissa said. "I've never seen you in school… in fact I don't think anyone knows where you live."

"Maybe he's a Controller?" Jake asked. "Like… Like Tom?"

I laughed a bit bitterly "If I were a Controller, which I'm not, I would have had you guys infested a long time ago," I said.

"Then how do you know things are going to happen, before they actually happen?" Rachel demanded.

I let out a long tired sigh, it was time to tell them. "Alright, I will admit I haven't been 100% honest with you," I began. "But I want to make one thing clear: All I want to do is to help you. And a bit of warning… this is gonna sound freaking insane, and crazy."

"Considering all that's happened, we're all ears." Cassie said.

I sighed one more time. "Alright, but this is some weird shit that even I'm not 100% certain about," I said. "The truth is… I'm from a parallel universe much like this one, with earth, the states and all of that… but in my universe, the Animorphs, Yeerks, Andalites and everything you know so far are part of a science fiction book series written by K.A Applegate from the mid 1990's to the early 2000's, and it was all about you. I was a huge fan of the series, and I was brought here to make sure the war ends the right way."

For a few seconds, there was dead silence. Everyone just looked at me as if I just told them I an alien from another world. I sighed once more. "I told you it was crazy."

"Crazy? Oh no, when you put it like that it all makes perfect sense!" Marco said sarcastically. "What, did you escape out of a local nuthouse or something?"

"You're feeling alright, Jordan?" Cassie asked. "You might have suffered brain damage from your injuries."

I shook my head "Thanks Cassie, but Morphing heals all wounds weather your morphing or demorphing," I said. "As long as the damage isn't on a genetic level."

Marco laughed "Do you honestly believe-"

"Marco, your mother's name was Eva, and she went missing almost two years ago, and your father's name is Peter, and works as an electrical engineer," I said suddenly, cutting Marco off, who then looked at me with wide eyes.

"How the hell did you-" He began to say, but I wasn't finished.

"Jake, your father's name is Steve and works as a doctor, and your mother's name is Jean who is a freelance writer. Your brother Tom sometimes calls you midget," I said as Jake seemed to recoil a bit. "Rachel, you're Jake's cousin on his father's side, your dad Dan is a news anchor and your mother Naomi is a lawyer, and you have two sisters, Sara and Jordan. Your parents are divorced. Cassie, both of your parents are Vets, your mom is a great shot with a Tranquilizer Gun while your dad once got sprayed by a skunk. Melissa, your dad is your school vice principal, your mother owns a barbershop, and you have a cat named Fluffer McKitty." I pointed to each one of them as I told them what I knew, each of them looking at me crazily as I told them the info dead-on. "Don't believe me yet? You wanna hear more? I can go into more embarrassing details if you want me too."

The others just stared at me in amazement as I was able to list off those details almost perfectly. I couldn't really blame them actually, I personally was still getting use to believing this myself.

"If… you really are, who you say you are..." Jake began, being the first to recover from the shock. "How did you get here?"

I sighed. "Well, long story short, I can't tell you his name… but let's just call him a super All-Powerful being within time and the universe. It sent me here, wanting to change the future… I can't go into too much details, 'cause of the rules set in place."

"Screw the rules!" Rachel shouted, "You're suppose to be helping us, right? But you can't even tell us how you got here fully!"

"Look, I can tell you some details about the future," I said. "But I can't tell you everything, there is a whole list of things I am not allowed to tell you until the time is right, but if I told you direct information about these events, then I get sent home and all of my time here gets erased."

"Oh, so that's how it is?" Marco sneered. "We all risk our lives, but if something happens to you you can just click your ruby shoes and go home?"

"No," I said shaking my head. "Another rule… if I die here, I cease to exist in my own universe. And after that… that's it. I'm dead."

"So… if you hadn't of demorphed..." Cassie began, and I nodded.

"Yup," I said. "We're in this thing together..." I let out another long sigh. "Look, I know you still probably don't believe me… How about tomorrow we meet at Cassie's barn, and I'll take you all back to my place. I'll tell you what I can there. I promise."

Jake and the others glanced at each other, almost as if having a silent conversation before Jake sighed "Well… I'm not convinced you're not totally crazy," he said. "But… you've helped us out so far, and if you were a Yeerks you probably would have killed us all already. I suppose we can trust you… for now."

I smiled a bit as I nodded. "Thanks Jake," I said. "Right now, I think we should all get moving, you guys have families to go back too."

"Not all of us..." Melissa said barely above a whisper, but I caught it and I remember what happened to her in the Pool.

I winced a bit. "Sorry, I..." I began to say, but Melissa shook her head.

"No, it's okay, " she said. "Just… I don't know where to go now… I can't go home at all now..."

"You can come with me!" Rachel said reassuringly ."I'll just tell my mom you're spending the night-"

"No… I can't..." Melissa said shaking her head. "Rachel, if my fath… if Chapman finds out I'm staying at your place, it will draw attention to you… the last thing I want is to cause trouble for you and your family Rachel."

Rachel looked like she was going to argue, however she knew that Melissa was right. Her staying at Rachel's house could cause more problems than anything. And even then, she would only be able to spend one night there, any longer and Rachel's mother would get suspicious.

An idea hit me and I coughed a bit. "Well… you could… stay with me at my place," I said, causing both Rachel and Melissa to look at me in surprise. "My place is in the mountains… last place the Yeerks would look; it's got tons of space… it's the safest place I know of."

Melissa blinked a bit. "A-are you sure?" she asked. "I mean, I don't want to intrude or anything…"

I shook my head. "Nah, it's alright," I said. "I've got plenty of room, and my house is pretty big, so it's got more than enough room to have one more person live there."

Melissa still looked a bit unsure, however I could see she eventually came the conclusion that she didn't have anywhere else to go, as she sighed. "Well… I guess it would be alright..." she said.

"Melissa, are you sure?" Rachel asked, still looking at me suspiciously. "We still don't know if what he's saying is true..."

"I've got nowhere else to go, Rachel," Melissa said. "Unless you have any idea."

Rachel groaned a bit, before sending a sharp glare at me. "If you try anything funny with her, so help me..." she growled, but I raised my hands in defense.

"Hey! Whoa, don't worry!" I said, waving my hands. "She'll be safe, geez. I'm not gonna try anything 'funny'."

"Good," Rachel said, before she looked in another direction to the left. "But… what do we do about them?"

I blinked before I looked where she was looking, and a short distance away was a group of seven people, humans of varying ages from young too were sitting down being rather quiet, a few of them looking at us.

I realized that they were some of the people who escaped - but I could've sworn we got more of them out. "Why is there only seven?" I asked, "I thought we saved over a dozen at least..."

"We did," Marco said. "But half of the others decided to split after we escaped, and ran off on their own… these seven are the only ones who decided to stick around for now. We have no idea what to do with them."

I looked at the people gathered there, before I let out a small sigh. "I'll take care of them," I said, surprising the others. "Don't worry, like I said… I've got a big house. I can handle having a few people staying there… besides, I have a feeling they stayed because they want to help somehow."

"You sure?" Jake asked. "Won't a column of seven people following you look suspicious?"

"We won't be walking Jake, I've got a truck," I said reassuringly.

Jake sighed once again. "Alright… just remember tomorrow, we meet at Cassie's barn, and you're showing us your house," he said, sending a small glare at me. "If Melissa and those people aren't there..."

"They'll be there, Jake," I said nodding. "And I promise you… tomorrow I will tell you everything I know that I can tell you."

Thankfully, that was enough for Jake, as finally he, Cassie, Marco and Rachel walked away into the forest. I let out a sigh, as I looked at Melissa. "Are you alright Melissa?" I asked,."I know the others probably asked, but… with what happened..."

Melissa looked surprised for some reason before she nodded. "Yeah… yeah I'm fine..." she said. "Just… thank you Jordan… for you, and the others… coming to save me."

I smiled. "You're my friend, Melissa." I said. "I always want to help my friends."

"I know," Melissa said, before her head bowed a bit, as she frowned. "But… my parents..."

I sighed a bit. "I'm sorry," I said. "I would have tried to save them… but they still had Yeerks in their heads..."

"It's alright, but… it's not that..." Melissa said, causing me to blink "You were right, Jordan… what you said… my parents… they still love me after all of this..." I noticed she began to shake a bit, and her eyes slowly began to water up. "After everything I s-said… they still l-loved me… s-so much they… sacrificed their own freedom for me..."

I smiled a bit before I brought Melissa into a small hug, surprising her for a moment. "It's alright, let it out," I said, and Melissa complied as she began to cry in a mixture of sadness and happiness. "I promise you… someday I'll free your parents… both of them." I said.

"I know..." Melissa said, after a moment of silence. "Thanks Jordan..."

"You're welcome," I said before we separated. "Now… let's rally the people here, I parked my truck not to far from here in advance."

It didn't take us long to reach my house, just a few minutes tops. It was still dark out, as we rolled up the driveway and park.

Once everyone had jumped out, I stepped before them all. "Alright everyone," I said. "This is gonna be your new home for now. There's plenty of living space so you can pick whatever room you want, but please don't argue over who gets what room."

I paused for a moment, looking at them "My name is Jordan, and this is my friend Melissa. I know you must have some questions as to what happens now that you've been freed from the Yeerks. This is where you need to make a choice."

The seven blinked a bit in confusion, but remained silent as I continued. "I know some of you may be scared or even angry for what the Yeerks did too you… some of you may not want to fight anymore, while some of you may want to keep on fighting the Yeerks. I will not force any of you to keep fighting if you do not want too, and you can still stay here for as long as you like." He said. "However… I have very big plans for the future. Specifically to keep humanity safe from the likes of not just the Yeerks, but from anyone who would try to threaten us. Including - if need be - the Andalites."

This bit of information caused everyone - to look at him in surprise. Even Melissa too look at me in shock. "The Andalites?" Melissa asked. "But… Elfangor said that-"

"It will be a long time before the Andalites will send any support, Melissa," I said, shaking my head. "If they send any support. They do not view humans as a priority species, since according to Yeerks we had been labeled as a Class 5 Species, because we're 'easy to infest and invade'."

"The Andalites don't care about - what they believe to be some backwater planet that hasn't achieved FTL". I continued, " This isn't the Andalites war, not here on Earth at least. Here, it's our war. It's our people being captured and enslaved. It's our planet the Yeerks are trying to steal from us. It's our families that are being taken from us. Humanity doesn't need a race of aliens to just come in and do the fighting for us, what it needs is a Cerberus to safeguard the gates of Earth and humanity from threats both domestic and alien who would wish to prevent humanity from reaching its rightful destiny in the stars."

"It's going to be our Job - the Animorphs, and any future allies we make - to become that Cerberus." I said, "Anyone whom we can rally to our cause to free Earth once and for all. And we will show the Yeerks - no, we will show the galaxy the power of the human race. But I will not force any of you to fight with me. So… for those of you who wish to side with us, and the Animorphs… step forward."

It only took a moment, just a moment as the group of seven glanced at one another… and together they stepped forward as one in a single step.

I couldn't help but grin a bit. "Welcome to the Resistance." I said. "Now… let's get you settled in."

Afterwards, I allowed everyone inside the house where I gave them a brief tour of their new home. Showing them the guest rooms, the kitchens, bathrooms, food stores and everything else they needed to know during their stay. It was a quick and simple tour, but after everything they had been through the men and women decided to just call it a night where after the tour and getting their rooms, most of them fell asleep, including a tired Melissa.

Once they were taken care of, I returned outside to hop into the truck. I still had a few things to take care of, namely I wished to make contact with those people who escaped using a different route than the rest of us. Though I also wanted to stop by Melissa's home and see if I could grab some of her valuables to bring back, among other things. So with a turn of the key, the truck started moving once more as I headed out.

Jessica POV

I looked back at the pool before I grunted and turned away from it. I had other things to focus on. Such as trying to explain to my parents and sister about the slug in my brain.

The four of us continued on as we resumed walking. "So, now what?" Steven asked.

"We get back to base and start to reestablish ourselves," I said.

"With what? If you don't recall, those slugs destroyed everything we had!" Vanessa screamed. "All our intel, weapons, ammo…"

"Except for my plane…" Steven muttered. "Bad news is it's been missing for some time."

I frowned. "Well, did anything survive?" I asked.

Tony was serious as he shook his head. "No…"

I whirled and punched the closest thing, a bench. I felt blood come out of the cuts I had sustained, but I ignored it. "DAMMIT!" I cried.

While we may have been free, we were now at a serious disadvantage. We basically had to start back from scratch. And as it stood, no one would believe us… and even if they did, we'd just be slugged again, or even wiped out. And that we couldn't do. Not after everything we'd been through to get this far.

The only other option was to try and hunt down this Andalite and his friends, and ask for their assistance. Or offer our knowledge from our time as meat puppets to those slugs. That was something they'd be sure to trade for.

And it was our only chance to gain their help.

My friends seemed to get the idea as well, as Tony finally spoke. "It's our only chance…"

"But where can we find them?" Vanessa asked. "They could be anyone, anywhere…"

"Maybe…" I mused. "But if I remember correctly… they need wide spaces to run around. So all we gotta do is look for that, and maybe we can use our knowledge to cobble something together to pick up one of them… that one Andalite told us to head north to the woods… I think that's our best bet at making contact."

Steven nodded. "As well as countermeasures against being slugged."

"I think Tony and I can come up with something for that," Vanessa said "Though we need supplies to actually pull it off… hopefully these Andalites might be able to give us a hand with that."

I nodded. "Better than nothing. So let's get to it."

My friends nodded and we split up, each with our tasks in mind.

Jordan POV

Flying around as a Horned Owl may not be as exciting as a Goshawk, but I'd place it as a close second.

Up around in the night sky, soaring like a shadow as my owl eyes could easily make out my surroundings as if I were wearing night vision goggles. It was surprisingly thrilling, flying without needing thermals to gain air time. Though I had to focus less on the joy of flight at the moment, and more on searching for the others who escaped the pool. The way they fought and coordinated themselves… they looked like they knew what they were doing to an extent, and that kind of experience would be valuable for the Animorphs and the Resistance at large. I had already handled the Chapman issue, now I was focused on locating the escapees.

I was just about finished with my first scan of the area, before I could make out people moving through the forest - four in total. I flew in closer to get a better view…

'Bingo,' I thought, as I recognized the leader of the group as the same woman from the pool. In had to be sure though, as I began following them through the woods.

Jessica POV

I was finally relieved to be out of that ridiculous girly outfit. Of course, having had no choice but to swipe some old clothes from a donation bin was not my idea of shopping for better gear. The outfit I was wearing was currently a green tank top and Bermuda shorts with grease stains on them, and a pair of old hiking boots that somehow fit me. I even nabbed an old brown backpack with a tear on the main pocket that looked as if it had been sewn shut three months ago.

I also happened to...borrow...a pair of scissors from a store before putting them back, after hurriedly cutting my hair so it was somewhat normal, as well as removing the makeup that slug had me wearing. I had the beam gun stowed in one of the shorts pockets, so it was within easy reach.

When I emerged from the brush where I had hidden to change, Steven was hefting his pistol, even though it was out of ammo, keeping watch. "Anything?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No. But I have been getting the feeling like we're being followed…"

I lowered my voice in case any Controllers were within earshot. "One of the Andalites?" I asked softly.

The pilot gave a subtle nod. "Possibly, or that blue freak…" he muttered. "Need to be wary though."

The two of us began walking, seeming as normal as possible given what we had escaped from. My eyes were hard as I gripped the straps for the backpack tightly, and it felt good to be back in control. Some small part of me was still traumatized, but I wasn't suffering from PTSD. That small part was violated at having been stripped of their independence I was so used to. And that was something I did not want to experience ever again.

I gritted my teeth in anger and Steven's hand flew to my shoulder. He squeezed gently and I took in a breath before letting it out. I could get angry at the Yeerks. Not at humans who were uninvolved in this war.

I suddenly perked up, getting a feeling like something was watching us. I glanced up at the sky, my hand flying for the beam gun before I paused, listening.

Steven was silent as well, his eyes flicking left and right as he paused too.

Only an owl flew overhead, its eyes scanning for prey, no doubt. At least at first glance. My eyes narrowed at it, that sensation of being watched growing stronger. "..." I was silent as I observed it circling.

Steven decided to take a chance. He lowered his voice, but enough to reach the owl's hearing. "Are you… one of… the Andalites?" he asked, looking left and right each time with his eyes to keep an eye out for possible Controllers.

"...Who… Who…"

Jordan POV

Come on, don't pretend like you wouldn't do that if you were an owl.

"Gah… just a stupid owl…" one of the guys groaned, as he turned around.

"Who. Fuck you. Who." I retorted, this time using thought-speak.

That got the group's attention, as they all froze in their place, and their heads whirled around towards me with eyes just as wide as an owl's.

Trust me, I'd know.

"Was that you?" the woman - maybe the leader? - asked in shock.

"Oh no, it's one of the other talking owls. Turns out we're an endangered species!" I said, rolling my owl eyes. "Yeah, of course it's me."

The woman glanced at her friends and the three got in guarded positions. The woman then stepped forward. "You… We've been looking for you," she said, keeping her eyes locked onto me. "I know it may sound crazy, but…" She sighed. "We need your help. And in a big way…"

"Well as it just so happens, I've been looking for you too." I replied, as I swooped down and landed on the ground. "One moment, let me get out of this here morph…"

And so, I began to demorph - my body shooting upwards as I grew back to my original height, for a brief moment making me look like a giant owl. However soon enough my face began shifting around, giving me back my normal eyes and mouth, and my wings and talons were shifted back into arms and legs. And soon after, my feathers receded back into my skin, revealing my normal skin and my tight-fitting morphsuit. Before long, there I was - standing before four rather awestruck humans.

"Wait…" one of the men muttered. "Y-you're human?"

"What? Expecting the Easter Bunny?" I asked with a small smirk.

"I thought you were an Andalite," the woman said seriously. "You mean to tell me you were a human all along?"

"Pretty much," I shrugged, "It's Visser Three who jumped the shark and assumed we were Andalites… rightfully so though, since as far as he knows, only Andalites have access to morphing technology… but no, I am 100% bonafide human."

"That's something he won't expect," the blonde woman muttered. "That aside though, we're in serious trouble."

"I can only imagine," I said, as I sat down on the dirt. "Though before we go further, may as well get introductions out of the way… *ahem*, Hi, I'm Jordan, member of the Animorphs - and before you ask, it's short for Animal Morphers. It's what we call ourselves now."

"Ah… well, my name is Jessica," the leader said, gesturing to herself before pointing to the others. "That is Vanessa, Steven, and Tony… And as for who we are… well, it's a long story."

"I've got time," I said, gesturing towards them. "Hit me."

Jessica took a deep breath, nodding. "Well… it began when one of our classmates in our school came to us… " she began. "She… revealed that she was a controller… her Yeerk apparently grew a conscience, seeing what it was doing was wrong… it died to let her go free, and warn us." Her fists clenched, clearly recalling the events quite clearly. "Ever since then we've… we've dedicated ourselves to fighting the Yeerks… fighting as hard as we could with what we had… we were able to put up a heck of a fight, usual guerilla warfare tactics… we were fighting them for nearly a year until… two weeks ago… "

I remained silence, simply nodding as I allowed Jessica to tell her and her friends history.

"Two weeks ago… they found us out… " she said. "They… attacked our home… they… they killed one of us… and we lost everything… our gear, finances, safe houses, dead drops...it was all… gone..." she hissed, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists. "All because of those damned slugs!"

I kept silent as she told her tale, though I admit I was fairly surprised. This clearly had to be another one of the 'changes' the Ellimist had mentioned, since as far as I knew the Animorphs were among the only people who knew about the Yeerks - excluding the people on the chat room of Web Access America of course.

And this was something I could take advantage of.

Once she was done talking, I broke my silence. "I'm sorry about your losses," I said. "I know you've must have gone through hell with those Yeerks inside your heads… so let me ask you one thing… are you ready for Round Two?"

Jessica and her friends all blinked. "Round… Two?" she asked.

"Well… I assume being slugged shows just how sinister the Yeerks can be," I stated. "And you must have seen some Yeerk secrets and memorized them at some point… so… how do you feel about getting back up..." I smirked. "...and teach the damn Yeerk Empire they could not have picked a worse enemy than the human race, eh?"

Jessica was silent, but then she snarled. "I'd give anything to show them a thing or two… show them how hard we humans can fight!" However then she sighed. "But without proper gear and whatnot, we're basically hobos. And as it stands…" She shrugged. "We've got secrets they'd kill to get back from us."

Steven had a sinister glint in his eyes. "I know what powers those Bug fighters of theirs," he hissed.

Tony was silent before he spoke. "I got a thing or two from my slug about how they've got finances for their Sharing ops. We could disrupt that."

Jessica however seemed to have something else in mind. "I happened to memorize mostly weapons stuff. My slug was a weapons expert." She pulled out the Dracon beam. "I was thinking of reverse engineering these… make better versions."

Vanessa nodded. "That's something we could surely use."

"So… that's what we got," Jessica said, shrugging.

I rose my brow at that - now that was some good knowledge to have. Disrupting Sharing ops would be beneficial, and someone who knew how Yeerk Fighters were powered could be a huge help later on. And a weapons expert? Now that would be helpful.

How could I not bring them into the fold?

"I think..." I began, standing back up as I approached. "That this will be the beginning… of a wonderful relationship..." I stuck my hand out. "Welcome back to the Resistance."

She nodded and took my offered hand. "Good to be back," she said, with a small smile. "God knows we could use some gear and whatnot. But the biggest concern is that we need finances… Everything we had was spent by those slugs. And my family was… convinced I was undergoing a phase when I was into wearing jeans and stuff." She sighed. "How am I supposed to tell them that it wasn't me, but a slug?"

"Finances will not be an issue for you, or your team," I informed, causing them to blink. "Let's just say I've got enough cash to fund our efforts against the Yeerks for quite a while… " I then glanced at them. "Do all of you still have family?"

They all nodded.

"Hmmm… well, I might be able to help with that," I mused, as I entered thinking mode. "If you four are free, the Yeerks will likely be keeping an eye on your families to see if you try and approach them… I'll have someone keep an eye on them in a few days, and try and figure out a way to get them out of harm's way without tipping the slugs off."

"What about convincing them that it wasn't me, but a slug they were talking to?" Jessica asked. "I have to tell them the truth about that."

"Well, watching someone shapeshift into animals before their very eyes might grab their attention," I said, "And if you can believe in shapeshifting people, I think brain-stealing slugs would be much easier to digest."

Tony looked at her and nodded. "He's got a point."

Jessica was silent for a moment, then nodded. "All right."

Vanessa then piped up. "What about a base?" she asked. "Our other one was compromised and left in ruins."

"Relax, I've got it all covered," I reasoned. "I've got a big house in the mountains - nice, isolated and at a place the Yeerks will never find for a good while." I turned around. "Come on, I parked my truck not too far from here. It'll be a bit of a squeeze but it's better than walking."

They all nodded and we soon were on our way. As we walked towards my ride, I felt a bit of confidence grow within myself… maybe, just maybe… we could actually pull this crazy thing off after all…

The next day, Melissa's POV

I woke up still feeling a bit tired and groggy, not really uncommon for most people I guess. I blinked my eyes a few times before I sat up in my bed, brushing my hair out of my face. I shook my head a bit before I glanced around my room.

For a split second I froze, this wasn't my room, and it didn't look like my house at all. At first I was scared…. but then the memories of last night returned to me. Going home, my parents snatching me, dragging me kicking and screaming to the Yeerk Pool...and watching as they fought their own Yeerks… telling me to run.

When the memories hit me, my eyes widened slightly before I curled up into a ball in my bed. I didn't really know what to feel… for a while, I've been thinking my parents hated me, that they didn't love me anymore… but now, it's the exact opposite. They loved me so much they sacrificed their own freedom to keep me safe and free.

I wanted to cry, but… I couldn't. I just… didn't know what to do. However suddenly the door to my room knocked, causing me to jump a bit. "Yo, Melissa?" A voice said, as I recognized it as Jordan's. "You awake? I've got something I need to show you."

I nodded a bit before I spoke. "Yeah, yeah hang on," I said as I got out of bed - I was so tired that I forgot to take the clothes I was wearing the night before off so I didn't have to worry about that yet. I walked up to the door, and opened it. Standing there was Jordan, but he was holding…

"Meow!"

I blinked in surprise as something seemed to jump on me and into my arms for a moment, I barely reacted in time as I caught it and looked at what I now held. My eyes then widened in shock, as I saw a white and grey cat in my arms. "F-Fluffer?" I asked in shock. "H-how... what?"

I heard Jordan chuckle a bit as I looked up, he was smiling. "Last night I went to your house," he said. "I thought I'd get the little guy, bring him here so you can have something from home here with you. Trust me, it was not easy… slashed me a few good times."

I looked in shock at my cat Fluffer, before I looked up at Jordan… before I knew what I was doing, I suddenly just hugged him, as Fluffer jumped out of my arms to avoid being squished. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" I said. I felt so happy at that moment. "This means so much! Thank you!"

"Y-You're welcome… Melissa," Jordan said, sounding a bit nervous. "Y-You can… let go now..."

I looked up as I saw how nervous Jordan seemed to look, glancing away a bit. I didn't see why he seemed so nervous… however I started to feel a bit nervous myself before I let go. "R-Right, sorry," I said. "So… what are we doing today?"

"Well… it's best you stay here until things cool down a bit," Jordan said. "You're all over the news - everyone is saying you've been abducted and stuff like that. They've got people searching high and low for you. I'd give it a few weeks - maybe a month until it's safe for you to go out… and even then I suggest you dye your hair, and find other ways to disguise yourself…when you're not in morph."

I nodded, knowing he had a good point - as much as I hated it. "Alright..." I said. "But… what do we do then?"

"Well, you could use the day to get use to the house," Jordan suggested with a shrug. "We gotta wait for Jake and the others to get out of school so I can… explain to them the things I know."

I didn't understand what he meant at first, however I soon recalled what he told us about last night - about our world… being in a fictional book series… that sounds crazy even when I'm thinking it, but after what he said… knowing about our personal lives…

"Yeah..." I said nodding. "But, I guess I could give this place a look around… try and get to know the others here..."

Jordan smiled and nodded. "That's the spirit," he said, "Go ahead and look around - If ya need me, I'll be in the living room." With that said, he turned around and left - leaving me alone before I myself turned around and headed down the halls - wanting to check up on some of the people we rescued.

Jordan's POV

"Glad you guys made it," I said as the Animorphs finally arrived at the barn. Tobias wasn't with them, so I assumed he was providing overwatch. Considering the bombshell I dropped on them yesterday I wouldn't blame e'm. "Took you long enough."

"Well, we have to actually go to school, you know?" Rachel said, sounding a bit annoyed. "They don't have schools where you're from?"

"Plenty, but I graduated awhile ago." I said with a smirk, "Even if I didn't I doubt I'd have to go to school considering I'm not enrolled anywhere here."

"Okay, I'm officially jealous." Marco said.

"Yup, pretty much makes up for being stuck in an alternate universe." I replied. "Got plenty of stuff to keep me occupied between missions… 'course it was starting to get a bit lonely over there until recently. Anyways, we'd best get walking - my place is a fair walk away." I turned around and headed into the forest with the others following close behind.

"You live in the woods?" Jake asked.

"Of course, he's Tarzan." Marco muttered.

"Says the guy with the Gorilla morph." I retorted with a sly smirk.

"Tigers live in forests too." Cassie pointed out.

"Yeah, in India and other Southeast Asian countries." I replied. "Tiger would stick out like a sore thumb here, plus there wouldn't be enough sufficient prey for them here… Mountain Lions on the other hand probably could."

"You know your animals." Cassie complemented.

"Ah, I picked up some things when I was reading the Animorph books," I said. "They always went into great detail about the different animals you guys morphed into, so I looked into them to see what's true and what's not."

"So… we're really just a book series where your from?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, but not just that." I replied. "When your books were released, you had a massive fan base, and still do today with dozens of online forums - which I am part of. Hell you guys even got your own toy line and a T.V series and video games."

"Wait, wait - back up." Marco said. "T.V series? Someone made us into T.V stars?"

"Pretty much," I said. "The show itself wasn't that ground breaking, the animation for the morphing effects weren't THAT good, and the trained animals weren't that threatening. Though there were a few episodes that were interesting plot-wise, and the acting was okay… though the books were definitely superior."

"Hey, I'm a T.V. star. I'm cool with that." Marco said with a grin.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "We're still just fictional characters to you..." she said, however I shook my head.

"No Rachel, that mindset died the moment I came here." I said, "That may be the case for others in my universe, but I've seen you - I've met you, and I've fought side by side with you. You're not a bunch of book characters to me anymore. You are as real as anything else in our respective universes." I then chuckled a bit sheepishly. "Though… I will admit it's like a dream come true… your books are what got me started reading, and writing. Your stories have been inspiration for my own work since I was in fifth grade. Of course the mind-stealing alien slugs sorta ruins the experience somewhat."

"Obviously." Marco said.

"How much further to your place?" Jake asked.

"Not much further," I said. "Though it can be easy to miss unless... " I began to feel my eyes drifting away from the direction we were going. "Ah, we're almost there. Just follow me, and keep your eyes forward. They'll start to move away from the direction we're going, but it's a trick to keep others from finding my home."

"What is this, some kind of Jedi mind trick?" Marco asked. "Cloaking tech?"

"God I wish," I said with a light chuckle. "It would be a lot better, but this works just as fine." It took us a few minutes more, until finally we had reached my house in all of its glory.

"Nice place," Marco said, "Seems a bit big for one person though."

"I'd agree, though recently I haven't been living alone." I said, "Melissa's here, along with the people we rescued from the Yeerks last night. And with the perception filter, it'll make it VERY difficult for the Yeerks to find us here."

"The what?" Jake asked.

"It's a thing from this show called Doctor Who." I said, shrugging. "I honestly couldn't think of a better name for the effect the area gives you. Come on, the others are waiting, and I'd gamble you want some more proof than this."

I lead the others inside the house, as we entered the living room. "You might want to hire a decorator..." Rachel said, as she eyed the rather empty and uncolored interior.

"I would, but I can't risk this place being located by Human-Controllers." I replied. "As we've established, they could be anyone, even decorators. If the Yeerks find out we're humans and not Andalites, this place makes an ideal fall-back position for you and your families. It's difficult for anyone to find unless you know exactly where to look."

The others all blinked at that. "Wow you… thought this out." Cassie said.

"Sooner or later the Yeerks will find the truth, preferably later than sooner." I said. "I'm just trying to focus on the long term just as much as I focus on the short term." I then chuckled a bit "Though, if you're volunteering to help me paint the walls, by all means I'll buy the paint. I'd take me centuries to paint the whole damn house by myself."

"I think I'll pass." Rachel said.

"Worth a shot." I said shrugging. "Well Melissa's waiting in my room, we'll go over the details there."

The five of us left the living room, and entered my bedroom where Melissa waited with her Cat. "Hey guys!" Melissa said as she sat up. "Wait… where's… Tobias?"

"He's… around." Jake said as he sighed. "He'll be here soon."

"In other words he's here right now, he's just listening in." I retorted as I opened a window. "Tobias, I know you're out there. Come on in. It's cold out there you know."

I didn't have to wait long, as a few moments later a Red-Tailed hawk came flying down to the window, landing on the bed. "Hey Jordan." He said via thought-speak.

"Tobias." I replied nodding. "So… how much has Jake told you?"

"Some weird things about you knowing us through a book series." Tobias said, "Kinda confused on that… think you could clear up the blanks?"

"Will do. Come on inside." I said as I moved towards the tiger poster in my room - taking it down for a moment, revealing the large safe behind it.

"The heck are you keeping in that thing?" Marco asked, as I chuckled.

"The truth." I said, before I put my hand on the palm scanner, as well as going through the other various security measures the Ellimist had installed to the safe. After a minute, finally there was a metallic CLINK as the safe door came loose, as I opened it up. He reached for his copy of Animorphs #1, and pulled it out for all of the others to see. "Ta da."

The others gasped in surprise at the book. "That guy… on the cover..." Marco muttered. "Looks just like Jake."

"And the lizard looks like the one you morphed into..." Cassie commented, as I nodded.

"That's because it is." I informed as I flicked through the pages. "This is Animorphs #1: The Invasion. It covers the details of you encountering Elfangor, and ending with your group escaping the Yeerk Pool in our last fight. Each story is told in a first person perspective, in this one's case - it's in Jake's."

"Must be very poorly written then," Marco said, as Jake playfully jabbed his friend in the arm.

"So its true..." Tobias muttered. "Can we… read them?"

"This one here? Yes, since we've gone over its events already." I said as I tossed it at Jake, who caught it. "I can't let your read any of the future ones, one of the rules." Rachel looked angry and was about to say something before I raised my hand. "I know, Rachel, it's bullshit. But if I tell you anything I'm not suppose to, I get sent back to my universe, and everything I've done gets erased. I have a lot of work to do here, and I promise you all right now, I will do everything in my power to make sure we all survive this shitstorm in one piece… I just ask that you all trust me on this."

The others all glanced at one another, almost as if they were talking to one another in private thought speak (which they couldn't since they weren't in morph obviously), before they all nodded. "It's crazy, but… you haven't given us a reason not to trust you." Jake said, looking at the book. "If anything, you're giving us an awful lot of trust."

I sighed before I smiled, "Thanks, guys..." I said, "I trust you because… well, I've read the books. I don't have a single reason not to trust any of you."

"So… what can you tell us about the books?" Melissa asked after a moment of silence.

"Well… like I said earlier, a lot has already changed compared to what happened in the first book." I said. "Most notably… you."

Melissa, and the others, all blinked at that. "E-Excuse me?" she asked, sounding a bit stunned.

"Yeah… in Animorphs canon, you were never an Animorph… you only made a few cameo's in some of the books, most notably during book 2." I explained. "You living with your parents, and Rachel morphing your cat to find out more intel on the Yeerks through your Father, by listening in on his communications with Visser Three. You being an Animorph… well, that changes a few things on its own."

"So… what does that mean for what happens in Book 2 then?" Rachel asked.

I smirked a bit at that. "Taken care of," I said. "Just last night I visited Chapman's house, and I bugged his phones, and put wires across his house to listen in on any conversations he or his wife have. Now that Melissa obviously won't be there, they will be more open about the Yeerk Invasion, and talk about it more openly. It's not much, but it'll do until I can figure out a safer way to get into the hidden room in there, and plant a bug there to get the REALLY juicy stuff… plus I used the time to bring as much of Melissa's stuff from her house over here, including her cat."

"Which, again, I am grateful for." Melissa said with a smile.

"So… aside from that, what else can you tell us?" Marco asked. "Did we have any other changes aside from that? Cause it doesn't mean-"

"You were only gonna save one." I said, interrupting Marco mid-sentence. "In the book, you guys only saved one controller from the Yeerks… but I ask you now, how many did we save this time? We saved over a dozen people… that's over twelve people free from the Yeerks. It may seem small, but compared to how many you would've gotten..."

There was another short silence, as the Animorphs all took that information in. "So… we can make a difference?" Cassie asked, as I nodded.

"Yes." I said. "It won't be easy… but between you, me and some of the people we freed who want to stick around… we stand a fighting chance against the Yeerks..." I then grinned a bit as I reached into the safe. "Plus… we have this."

I then pulled out the Morphing Cube itself, as the others all gasped in shock at the sight of the Andalite's Gift. "Is… that..." Jake muttered, as I nodded.

"Yup." I assured with a face-splitting grin. "Elfangor gave it to me before we left… he said the Yeerks didn't have Morphing tech, so I thought it best to bring this with us to keep it that way… plus, who knows? In the future, we could recruit more to our cause, and build our numbers as Animorphs. An entire army of morph-capable humans or 'Andalite Bandits'? The Yeerks will be soiling their pants in no time."

"Like I said… you thought everything out..." Cassie said, as I grinned once more.

"I'm trying to be the real life equivalent to Batman," I said. "I've got contingencies for my contingencies. I hope given enough time, I can plan out anything the Yeerks can throw at us, whether it's in the books or not." I then shrugged "Plus we can avoid what happens in Books 20, 21, and 22."

"...what happen in those?" Rachel asked.

"Oh, some random kid named David finds the Cube in the construction site a while after book 1." I explained - free to explain David since he won't be a problem anymore. "He tries to sell it online, but you guys try to stop him, and the Yeerks come around to steal the box. You guys recruit him as an Animorph… though he kinda goes crazy by book 21."

"Crazy?" Cassie asked.

"He chafed under your authority, resenting you guys for getting his parents infested and ruining his otherwise normal life." I explained, "Forced to live in Cassie's barn and forbidden to go out in public as himself, David began using his morphing power to achieve the illusion of normal life again, even if it meant committing crimes in the process. He eventually went full Renegade when he attacked a red-tailed hawk thinking it was Tobias, killing it - then nearly killing Jake in a battle."

Everyone all winced at the thought of that, as Rachel looked at Tobias in concern - as did Cassie with Jake. "Did… we beat him?" Marco asked.

"Oh yeah - you tricked him into being stuck a white rat for the rest of his life." I said, "But like I said, he is no longer an issue. We have the Morphing Cube. And we'll only use it for people who want the power, and want to fight the Yeerks. I'll make sure we don't bring in any future Davids."

"That's good to know..." Jake muttered.

"So… what's your world like?" Marco asked.

"Oh, it's the year 2307 and we've colonized Mars and build giant city-sized space colonies." I said calmly with a straight face. "And we've made first contact with aliens from Mars as well."

I kept my straight face on for as long as I could… but it didn't last long seeing their incredulous looks before I started snickering, before laughing out loud, to which the others joined in soon after.

"Oh shit, the looks on your faces!" I said, still laughing.

"I admit… had me going for a sec..." Tobias said. "Seriously though, what is your world like?"

"Okay, okay." I said, after getting the giggles out. "To be honest, the world isn't too different from here… only it's the 2000's back where I'm from, we're actually closing in on 2020."

"Are you messing with us now?" Rachel asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No no no! Dead serious here!" I assured them, "Unfortunately we lack any Back-to-the-future Hoverboards or stuff like that… yet. Though we've got awesome games… and we've finally left the dark age of summer movies."

"Thank god for that." Marco said. "What kind of movies can we expect?"

At that, I gave Marco a smirk as I reached under my bed, and pulled out three movies in particular. "How about… Star Wars Episodes I… II… and III." I said, as I revealed the three DVD disks before him.

While Cassie and Rachel didn't seem all to interested… it was Marco and Jake's reactions that brought a smirk to my face as they eyed the DVD's with wide eyes of disbelief, as if they were just offered a ton of gold blocks - even Melissa had an incredulous look on her face. "Holy..." Marco muttered.

"Yup." I said grinning. "You can see the Prequel trilogy years before anyone else - though I do warn you though, it's not that good…but thankfully… they redeem themselves with this…" I then pulled out two more DVD's - Star Wars Episode VII and Rogue One, as their eyes widened even further. "… and that's just Star Wars - I've got the reboot to Star Trek, and dozens of other movies that haven't even been written yet… and that's not even including 21st century video games including VR Games."

"...you are my new favorite person..." Marco said, half-joking, and half-serious, as Jake nodded, and I laughed.

For the next few hours, I really just talked with the other Animorphs, telling them about the 21st century and all of the wonders it brought, as well as a bit more detail as to my own personal life. It was… a different experience to say the least. It was kinda like talking to celebrities that you always wanted to meet, but never thought you would in your life. It felt… surprisingly good.

After just hanging out (and introducing Jake and Marco to 21st Century gaming), eventually they had to go back home, as they said their goodbyes, leaving just me, Melissa and Tobias. Once they were gone though, I turned my gaze towards the red-tailed hawk. "Tobias…" I said. "I… I'm so sorry…"

Tobias was silent for a few moment, before his hawk head shook. "It's not your fault, Jordan."

"It is my damned fault…" I muttered, sagging down into my chair. "I came here to help you guys… help you. I wanted to stop you from being stuck in morph! I wanted you to keep having a normal fucking life! Not… stuck as a hawk! And now look, you're stuck as a hawk! I… I didn't want this to happen!"

"According to you, it would've happened even if you weren't here." Tobias replied, "So you can't blame yourself… maybe it's just something that had to happen?"

I let out a bitter chuckle, shaking my head "Tobias… I am not a believer of things like Fate or Destiny," I informed. "I know it sounds stupid considering what I've shown you guys… but I abhor the idea that we are not in control of our lives, that we're set on some predetermined path like a railroad train from point A to point B… the only Destiny I believe in, is the one we create for ourselves… to imagine a goal, and to strive to achieve that goal through our own free will."

My head bowed slightly, as I rubbed my eyes "I should've been more mindful of where you were… " I said. "So it is my fault for causing… this… why the hell aren't you more mad at me?"

Tobias was silent for a few moments, his hawk body's head twitching upwards as if gazing towards the stars. "I'm not that big a believer of that kind of stuff either..." He began, "But what I do believe in…" He turned his head towards me. "Is that you would've helped me if you had the chance… we've only known eachother for a few days, and you've been the closest thing I've had to a true best friend I could have ever asked for, Jordan. I don't want to ruin it because of a grudge… besides," He stretched out his wings, letting out a short Hawk cry "There are worse things to be stuck as!"

"Jordan..." Melissa spoke up, grabbing his attention. "You… you tried your best, that's all we could ever ask from you. The past is the past now… all we can hope for now is to make things better for the future… right?"

I laughed slightly at that "Yeah… I suppose you're right..." I mused, glancing down at the book. "I.. I will find a way to get you back to normal, Tobias… you have my word."

"Don't worry about it," The Hawk-boy said, his wings moving in a way which almost made it look like he was shrugging. "You've already shown that we can change things… you said it yourself, we would've only saved one, now look how many we've saved. I think we can safely say we've kicked Fate right in the nads last night."

"True..." I nodded, "I just hope it doesn't decide to kick back… "

"As long as you and Jake are running things, I think we'll be fine." Melissa said, smiling. "Especially with your… let's say background… "

I nodded at that "Yeah… we can only hope..." I said, glancing out the window, looking towards the stars above - knowing full and well that somewhere out there in that ceaseless cosmos, the Andalites and Yeerks were going at it full-force. "Elfangor's sacrifice will not be in vain… we'll make sure of it."

"For Elfangor." Tobias declared, nodding.

"For Elfangor." Melissa agreed with her own nodd.

"For Elfangor…and Humanity."

117Jorn: And there you have it folks… Chapter 6 of Retaliation, and the end of the events of Book 1. And I can assure you that next chapter will be a bit… different. How so? Well you'll just have to wait to find out. So, until then… Ja ne!