Chapter 7:

Answers

Disclaimer (Jimmy): Looks around Good, I'm alone. Alright, now to start the disclaimer. Chicken Paddy does not own…

(Wish-Wish): MONKIES!!!!!!

(Jimmy): Rrrrrrrrgh! WISH-WISH!! Could you just stop following me!?!

(Wish-Wish): Awww… You look so cute when you're angry.

(Jimmy): Let's see how cute I look when I'm wringing your neck!

(Paddy): Walks in and shakes head I'll do the disclaimer. I do not own the Animorphs powers, characters, or plot. I do, however, own the JJL characters powers and plot. On with the story.

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Ubus Mellus's Base:

(On IO, a moon orbiting Jupiter)

"Got any threes?" asked Dario.

"Go fish," replied Xario.

Dario reached into the pail of water and pulled out a fish. The fish had a 7 on it.

"These Earth games are weird," said Dario as he tried to keep his fish from flopping too much.

"Dario! Xario!"

"Eep!" squeaked Dario as he jumped to attention with Xario.

Ubus Mellus walked into the room holding a large metal cylinder with wires sticking out of it.

"Did you finish checking the data?" he asked Xario.

"Yep," replied Xario, pulling the datapad out of his pocket. "Here it is."

Ubus took the datapad and looked it over.

"Why don't you two go check on our 'visitors'?" he said.

"If you don't mind sir," said Dario, "we were in the middle of a game of 'Go Fish'."

"Wha—?" Ubus looked behind Dario at the pail full of fish and the fish with numbers on them.

"You stupid..." Ubus began. "Oh, forget it! You can get back to your 'game' after you check on the prisoners."

"Yes, sir!" Dario and Xario said.

On his way to the brig, Dario was blocked off by a Mini-Mel fixing some circuitry in the floor.

"Outta my way, midget!" said Dario as he kicked the Mini-Mel.

The kick sent the Mini-Mel spiraling several feet through the air into a wall. I stood up and began screaming garbled nonsense through its twisted mouth at Dario.

"JklfjcheeseasklfajitalfjslaKILLdjlafjal!!"

"Stupid aberrations!" Dario mumbled.

"You know," Xario said warningly, "you should be more careful around them."

"Why should I? They're just grunts!"

"They weren't made by Ubus. Remember Mel?"

"Of course I remember Mel." Dario stopped. "Wait, are you saying they might revolt?"

Xario shrugged. "All I'm saying is-"

WHAM!

A giant weight fell onto Dario. Xario looked up at where the weight had come from and saw a group of Mini-Mels on the pipes in the ceiling pointing and laughing at the weight.

"Told you so," said Xario, as he began to walk away.

"I'm…okay" said a feeble voice from underneath the weight.

The Mini-Mels looked down at the weight, looked at each other, and shrugged. Then one said something in a garbled voice and they all laughed.

"Dario," said Xario, "I don't like the looks of this."

The weight lifted up to reveal a pancaked Dario.

"Why do you say that?" asked Dario.

SHINK!

Foot-long spikes came out of the bottom of the weight.

"Oh my," Xario said nonchalantly.

"Eep!" cried Dario.

WHAM!

Xario saw pale vapor seep out from under the fallen weight. He looked up and saw the Mini-Mels high fiving each other. Xario sighed, shrugged, and walked off toward the prison. In the cells were a bee Insecta, a cat Animalian, and a dark skinned human.

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Tobias:

(Cassie's barn)

They were late.

I was sitting in the rafters in Cassie's barn, watching the clock on the wall. They said they'd be here by seven. It was now 7:45.

Then I heard something. It sounded like a large object hurtling through the air. I focused my hawk eyes on the sound. Whatever it was, it was coming toward the barn. All I could see was blurry spot in the air.

(It's okay, Tobias,) I heard. (It's us.) It was Jimmy using his telepathy.

The blurred spot moved into the barn and turned into a glowing blue orb that the JJL, Rachel, and Cassie were inside of. The orb evaporated and they fell onto the ground. Cassie and Rachel stood and stared straight at John. That was when I noticed John was holding his left arm in his right hand. There was no blood for some reason, but it still looked gruesome.

"Alright," said John. "That was successful. While Erek is getting replacement Chee for Jake and Marco, us JJL will just chill out at Ax's scoop and work on a way to get outta here."

(WHAT HAPPENED!?) I practically yelled. John's arm was detached form his body and it looked like he could care less.

"You're arm…" Cassie said to John. "Are you alright?"

"John," said Lee "put your arm back on."

"Huh?" he said as if he had forgotten. "Oh yeah." He put it back in place and wiggled his fingers.

"Wow!" exclaimed Cassie, intrigued. "Is that some Animalian ability?"

"What? Oh. No, this arm's a fake," said John.

There was a bright flash and his arm glowed bright blue and was translucent.

"It's made of pure Empowered energy," said John.

"What exactly is Empowered energy?" asked Rachel.

(Never mind that!) I said impatiently. (What happened?!)

"Well…" said Jimmy,

"It's a long story…" said John.

"You probably don't want to here it all…" said Jimmy.

"Let's just say we got into a fight with a bunch of 'bullies,'" said Lee.

(WHAT!?)

"Oh, calm down," said John.

"We won," said Rachel. "There's nothing to worry about."

(What do you mean 'there's nothing to worry about'?)

"We mind-wiped them with a photo-neuro light blast," said Jimmy, "They shouldn't remember a thing."

I heard the sound of footsteps, and then Erek entered the barn.

Erek looked up at me. "Did they tell you what happened yet?"

(I have a feeling they've left out some details, but I think I've figured out the basics.)

"Then let me fill you in on the rest," he said, and he and Lee told me everything that had happened. They had done battle and I hadn't been there. Naturally I was angry.

But before I could vent, Jimmy's watch began to beep.

"An incoming call?" he said, confused. "From who?"

RRRMMMBBBLLL!!!

Jimmy's watch began to give off a familiar bright yellow light.

"What's going on?" John and Rachel exclaimed at the same time.

"DIMENSIONAL AVALANCHE!!" cried Jimmy.

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Lunar City:

(The Mega Malt Shop)

Alright Marco my boy, Marco thought to himself. You've got it this far, but you're getting close to your time limit.

Marco was in one of Lunar City's hot spots, the Mega Malt Shop, with Jenny Pyress. The JJL, Jake, and Ax had protested him going, but Jenny wouldn't hear of it, and she pulled Marco out of the HQ.

Now Marco, still morphed as John, was sitting across a table from Jenny and they were sharing a milkshake. Marco couldn't believe his luck!

"Something wrong?" asked Jenny.

Marco tried to think of something cool to say.

"Nothing's wrong when I'm with you," he said.

Jenny smiled. Yes, thought Marco.

Then Jenny frowned. No, thought Marco.

"You haven't been acting yourself," said Jenny. "Are you alright? Answer truthfully."

"Alright?" squeaked Marco. "Of course everything's alright. It's just…" Marco thought. "There's a lot of stuff going on at HQ."

"Oh," said Jenny. "Maybe I should have let you stay. I was probably a little too brash."

"No, no," Marco said hastily. "It's good to get away form all the hustle and bustle."

"Yeah," said Jenny, touching the hand that Marco was currently borrowing.

Now, thought Marco, to move in for the kill.

Jenny and Marco moved closer together to kiss. Jenny closed her eyes and puckered her lips.

Closer, closer, closer…

FOOM!!

"Hiya blokes!"

A blue, scaly thing, about the size of a person's head, burst out of the milkshake Jenny and Marco had been sharing. Jenny screamed in surprise. Marco screamed in terror.

"Didn't you miss me?" it said as it latched itself to Marco's face.

"Auuuugh!" screamed Marco as he ran around the room.

Jenny pulled the scaly creature off of Marco by its tail.

"What is wrong with you, John?" asked Jenny. "This is Wish-Wish."

"Well," Marco said, shaking as he recovered. "I wish I knew what exactly a Wish-Wish is."

A big grin appeared on Wish-Wish's face.

It flicked back its brown robes, pulled up its sleeves, and pulled out its wand. Then, it broke into song:

"Ooooooooooh-

Wishity-washity woo!

I granteth a wish for you!

Wishity-washity wish,

I granteth a wish for fish!

"O, wishity-washity woo!

I granteth a wish for you!

Just say what you want,

I'll give it to you.

Wishity-washity woo!"

Just then Wish-Wish flicked his wand and a mariachi band of Wish-Wish duplicates appeared and the song changed to a Mexican style.

"O, Wish-ity, wash-ity, woo!

I grant-eth a wish for you! (Rrrrriba!)

Say what you want,

I'll give it to you!

Wish-ity, wash-ity, wooooYEEEOOOWCH!!"

Blue flames burst from the ends of Jenny's fingers and engulfed the Wish-Wish band.

"Who are you and what have you done with John?" Jenny snarled at Marco.

"I, uh, don't kn-know what you mean," Marco said feebly.

Other customers at the Malt Shop began to stare at the commotion.

"You've been acting weird the entire day!" Jenny yelled. "The rest of the JJL was reluctant to let you come with me, and you usually zap Wish-Wish before he gets too far in his song." Blue flames began to surround Jenny's hands and a blue light emanated from her eyes. "You've picked the wrong Empowered girl to mess with," Jenny growled.

Marco looked at where Wish-Wish had been floating through the air before he got fried. There was nothing there but a pile of ashes on the ground.

"You killed it!" squeaked Marco.

Just then Wish-Wish popped out from underneath Marco's hat.

"That's right!" yelled Wish-Wish. "Give the guy a cigar!" Wish-Wish pulled a cigar out of nowhere, stuffed it in Marco's mouth, and lit it with his wand.

BOOM!

The cigar blew up and covered Marco in soot. Wish-Wish began flying around in circles over Marco's head. "Weeeeeeee!"

Jenny grabbed Marco by his green JJL vest. "I'm taking you to the E-Force," she said.

"No!" said Marco. "I can explain everything!"

"Wish-Wish," said Jenny

"Yeeeeeesss?" Wish-Wish answered coyly.

"I wish I knew who this person is and what he's done with John."

"Okie-dokie!" answered the minidrake.

Wish-Wish shoved himself into Marco's head through his ear.

"Ack!" Marco protested.

"Wow!" Wish-Wish said from within Marco's head. "There's a lot of space up here!"

Wish-Wish then pulled himself out. "Okay, I got it!" he said. "Name: Marco. Faction: Animorphs. Goal: to improvise as John. What he has done with John: eaten him, like a radish."

"What!?" exclaimed Jenny, shocked.

"Actually," explained Wish-Wish, "I have no idea what he's done with John. But I thought it would be funny to say he had eaten him. Like a radish."

Jenny glared at Marco. "You're coming with me, 'Marco!' If that's really your name." She grabbed Marco by his Animalian ear and began pulling him out the door.

"Ow! Hey!" protested Marco.

"See ya later Chihuahuas!" called Wish-Wish.

"It's 'alligators!'" Jenny called back.

"Whatever," answered Wish-Wish as he vanished into a puff of smoke. The rest of the customers at the Malt Shop just shrugged and turned back to their drinks.

Jenny pulled Marco out of the Shop and toward the hover vehicle Jenny had driven there.

"Listen, Jenny," Marco tried again, "I can ex-"

"No!" interrupted Jenny. "You already tried that and you lied. Why should I trust you?"

"Uh…because…I'll be your friend?"

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Then where is John?"

"Er…I can't explain that."

Jenny glared. "Then that's the-"

"Miss Pyress," said a mechanical sounding voice.

Jenny turned and looked over at the source, and there stood two humanoid robots with golden crowns emblazoned on their chests.

The robots spoke again. "His Royal Highness, Our Majesty, Kommunications Kid requests your presence."

Jenny rolled her eyes again. "Well you can tell that little brat that I already have a boyfriend, and that if he wants me that bad he can tell me face to face for once!"

"Communi-who?" asked Marco. "Is he some sort of king?"

"No," said Jenny. "He's a ten-year-old villain who declared himself the ruler of all technology. He has a thing for me."

"Oh," said Marco.

The robots looked at one another, and then at Marco, who was still morphed as John. "You already have a boyfriend, you say?" said one robot.

"We shall rectify that," said the other.

"Oh, crap," said Jenny as she shoved Marco behind the hover car. She began launching Power Beams and Empowered Fire at the Kommunications Bots.

The robots began firing lasers, which Jenny dodged and blocked with Empowered Shields.

"What should I do?" Marco yelled over the commotion.

"Stay down!" Jenny yelled back. Her powers seemed to be having no effect on the robots, and she seemed to be getting tired.

Marco crouched behind the vehicle. He hated feeling so helpless. He didn't want to morph in front of Jenny and blow it all. The E-Force would come and who knows what would happen next. But he was an Animorph, dangit. He had to do something!

Wait a minute! thought Marco. I wonder…If John is a super hero, and I morphed him, does that give me his powers? It was an interesting thought. I couldn't hurt to try, right? 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained' as Jake had said.

Marco poked over the hood of the hover car and concentrated as hard as he could on one of the Kommunications Bots. Nothing happened, but then Marco felt a strange tingling behind his eyes. Then everything began to take of a reddish tinge, then all of a sudden…

TSSEEEOWWW!!

A heat beam blasted from Marco's eyes and blasted into the robots. The beam only lasted for about half a second, but it reduced to bots to bits of scrap metal and twin piles of molten metal.

Jenny spun around to look a Marco. "Marco? You have his powers too?!"

A wave of dizziness enveloped Marco, and it felt as if his skin was fizzy like soda pop.

"I…guess," Marco felt very groggy.

"Marco?" asked some dark shape, maybe it was Jenny.

"Hungh." Marco let the darkness fold around him. "Nighty night…"

And he collapsed.

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JJL HQ:

(The Main Computer Room)

Jake and Ax were still morphed as Jimmy and Lee. They did not want to risk any other surprise visitors. Jake had slumped on a couch that was next to the computer with Rusty. Marcus was on the couch too, but he had fallen asleep. Tomi had gone to the training room to clear his head. Ax and Chet were typing on the computer.

"He said he'd be back in an hour," grumbled Jake. "It's almost been two!" Jake was still upset over Marco leaving with Jenny.

"But we haven't been out forever!" she had said. "You're always working. You should take a break!"

"That won't be a good idea," Rusty had said.

"Why not?"

"Yeah, why not?" Marco had said. Jake had tried giving him a look, but apparently Marco hadn't seen it, or had chosen to ignore it.

"Because," said Tomi. "We have important stuff,"

"Like what stuff?" Jenny had retorted.

"Er, stuffy stuff," Chet had said, "that's stuffy."

"Yes," Ax had tried. "Very stuffy stuff. Sstuufff. Fffffff. Stu stustu…"

There had been more arguing but Jenny won and left with Marco, who had been smirking.

Marco, a member of the Animorphs. What if he didn't come back? What if he got stuck morphed as some dog thing? Jake grimaced at the thought of it. They were stuck in some alternate dimension with some strange group of teens and with no way to get home.

But, what about the JJL members stuck on his world? He wondered if Rachel had managed to flatten them. Or maybe Cassie had gotten the same alliance Jake had. Or maybe a bit of both. Tobias might find some friends, especially if John or Lee felt really alienated on his world.

But, what if Visser Three found the JJL first and got an alliance with them instead? Or what if the warped dimensional portal had killed Cassie, Tobias, and Rachel…

Jake couldn't bring himself to think about it any longer. Cassie's face, ripped apart by dimensional forces…

Jake smacked his forehead. "Don't think about that!"

Rusty looked over at Jake. "Something wrong?"

Jake looked at the ground and sighed. "Sometimes it just feels as if everything's going wrong all the time." Jake covered his face with his hands. "I just don't know what to do…"

Rusty patted Jake on the back. "Hey, I feel like that sometimes too. But you know what?"

Jake looked up at Rusty. "What?"

"We always manage to get through it."

Jake looked down again. "Yeah, but, you're not the leader. I have to make to toughest decisions, and sometimes they can determine the difference between life and death!"

Rusty smiled. "Well, your team must have a very good leader in you, seeing as how they're still alive. And consider Ax, Marco, and yourself lucky, at least their leader is still with you. Ours, John, got pulled through the portal into your world. And though John doesn't show it, I bet he feels the same pressures you do." Rusty then sighed. "Now I have to take John's place until he gets back."

Jake slouched in the couch with his head on the back. He felt drained. "Yeah. I guess." Jake looked up at Ax and Chet, who were still typing. "Hey, just what are you guys doing, anyway?"

"Well," said Chet, "we are trying to determine your dimensions dimensional signature."

"How?"

"By the energy in our bodies," answered Ax. "Our bodies are covered in dimensional energy from out dimension from our trip through the dimensional portal. Unfortunately, there is also energy form other dimensions mixed in."

Chet nodded. "Yup, it's just a matter of sorting out the most common signature and we've found your dimension."

"And then you can send us back?" Jake asked with a sudden surge of hope.

"Er," said Chet, "not exactly. We haven't really mastered sending mass from one dimension to another. Heck, we haven't even mastered normal transporters within our own dimension. You know, like on Star Trek. Rusty, remember the frozen pig experiment?"

Rusty shuddered and covered his mouth. "Urgh…please don't remind me!"

Jake smirked. "What happened?"

Chet looked up at Jake. "Let's just say the end result was a little more…inside-out and a lot warmer than what we started out with."

Rusty clamped both hands over his mouth and began making strange gagging noises.

"Oh, yeah," said Chet. "Most of it wound up on Rusty,"

Rusty's eyes bulged and he seemed about to blow. But, just then, Rusty managed to get out one word, "DELTA!"

The golden triangle on Rusty's white hat glowed and a large golden triangle appeared in front of Rust. Through the triangle there appeared to be some kind of portal. Rusty thrust his head through the triangular portal and there was heard a great retching sound:

"BLLAAAARRRFF!!"

Rusty pulled his head out and the portal vanished. He looked pale. Rusty wiped his moth and turned to Jake.

"Sorry about that. It's just that some people," he jerked his head in Chet's direction, "need to know to recognize visual signals that mean 'stop talking!'"

Chet just smiled. "But you're such an easy target."

Jake looked up at Rusty's hat. "What was that?"

Rusty gave a blank look. "What do you mean?"

Jake made a triangle with his fingers. "The triangular portal thing."

"The triangular…Oh! You mean the Delta Portal! Yeah, sorry if it freaked you out."

"It didn't," said Jake. "Are that and that Omega Slash thingy your powers."

"Not exactly," answered Rusty. "My 'powers' come from magical artifacts we have found. Without them I would be nothing." Rusty pointed to his hat. "That is the Delta Helm, it allows me to make short distance portals." He pointed to his t-shirt with the A on it. "This is my Alpha Armor in casual mode. It protects me." He pointed to his sword, which was leaning against the back of the couch. "And that is my Omega Sword, it allows me to use Omega Strike and do some other pretty cool things."

Then Ax spoke up, "Speaking of powers, just what is Empowered Energy. I see many mentions of it in the computer's archives."

"Hey!" said C. "Be careful where you look, bub!"

"Calm down, C," said Chet, "I don't think he meant any harm."

Chet turned to Ax. "Empowered Energy is what gives Empowered people their powers. Like John's Heat Vision, Eric Vaugner's Power Punch, Jimmy's Repairing Touch, and even Lee's Power Whip. The energy runs through their body and allows them to use it to do some pretty amazing things, like fly, shoot beams, and even read minds."

Jake pointed to Marcus, "What about him?"

"Oh," said Rusty, "He's a mage. You know, a spellcaster."

Jake smiled thinking they were joking, but when no one said anything he said "Really?"

"Yeah, really," said Rusty.

Ax turned to Jake, "But you told me that magic is a human myth."

"It is," said Jake, "right?"

"Well," said Rusty, "since I have magical artifacts and since Marcus can do impossible, almost chaotic things, I thinks that magic exists in our world."

Jake just shook his head. "Weird."

"Yeah," said Rusty. "You get used to it."

"I thought I was," said Jake. "I mean, all the things I saw on my world, I thought I would never be surprised again. I guess that's what your life being turned around does to you."

"I know what you mean," said Rusty.

Jake gave Rusty an odd look. "You do?"

"Yeah," said Rusty. "You don't think I've been part of the JJL my entire life, do you? I was attacked by some shadow creatures one day, and that day I happened to be wearing this bracer my grandmother gave me," he pointed to a leather and gold bracer around his wrist, "She had sent a letter saying it was a 'bracer of strength.' I just wore it because it looked cool. When the creatures attacked me my bracer activated and turned me into a super strong warrior. John happened to be nearby at the time, and when he saw me kick shadow creature butt he asked me to join the JJL."

"And you said yes?" asked Jake.

"Actually I said no. I didn't think I was ready for that kind of excitement. But later on more and more shadow creatures were coming after me and I had to flee. Marcus then came along and helped me find the Omega Sword and Alpha Armor. Ever since then I felt like I owed something and the next thing I knew I was a full-time JJL Member. My life has never been the same since."

"How many of you guys are there?" asked Jake.

"Nine," answered Ax, "plus one intern."

"Boy," said C, "just how many files marked 'Classified' are you planning to look at?"

"C," Chet said warningly.

"Wait, said Jake. "If there are three of you here, three of you on my world, and Chet's the intern, then who are the other three?"

Once again, Ax answered, "Bee Franklin, Empowered, Bee Insecta; Tom Catt, Empowered, Cat Animalian; and Tim Lawson, Empowered, Human-African-American."

Chet looked at Ax. "I'm starting to agree with C. Just how much information are you going to take in?"

Ax looked at Chet. "I just thought that since you know about us, we should know about you."

Marcus woke up and began to stretch. "Now boys," he yawned, "don't make me separate you two."

Bing!

Ax and Chet both turned to the computer. Chet thrust his hands into the air. "Yes! Success!"

Ax calmly looked at the screen. "Prince Jake, we have found our dimension's signature."

"Yes!" shouted Jake. "Now what?"

Chet began typing again. "I believe I will be able to set up a two-way transmission into your dimension. That is, if I can find a JJL watch to contact."

Three dots appeared on the screen, one blue, one white, and one green.

"Yes!" said Chet. "I've got all three!"

"Who should we contact?" asked Rusty.

"Jimmy," said Marcus. "He's the scientist. He'll know how to sort things out, at least he'll try."

"Alright" said Chet. "Jimmy it is."

Chet, Ax, Jake, Rusty, and Marcus crowded around the JJL consul as a small bar filled up, confirming that the computer was contacting Jimmy's watch.

"Chet!" yelled C. "We have a sudden power surge!"

"What?" exclaimed Chet. "Where?"

"In the broadcasting array! Hurry it's about to blorrghngs…"

C's voice became distorted and incomprehensible, like a bad audio cassette. It reminded Jake of Rachel morphing into a grizzly while talking.

"C?" said Chet. "C!"

Just then the screen went blank and the consul sparked. Then an all too familiar yellow light began to fill the computer screen.

Everyone began to back away.

"Oh, no…" said Chet, "DIMENSIONAL AVALANCHE!!"

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Author's Note (Paddy): Hello guys. I know how I always say how sorry I am for taking so long. Well, I have no excuse now. It has taken me nearly three years (!) to finally get this chapter done. And for that I deeply apologize with all my heart. I have probably lost some readers and I will especially miss G8Master if he never reviews again. All the rest of you are great too, you know who you are.

In this chapter I tried to explain some parts of the JJL universe and tried to give a little back story. I'm also trying to show how the Animorphs and JJL in Lunar City are bonding (although for Marco and Jenny it's not going so well). I also wanted to introduce you to Wish-Wish.

Wish-Wish: That's me!

Paddy: Yes. Also I want to introduce you to Jenny Pyress.

Jenny: Hey! I'm so glad you all could read the story. I promise that they'll keep coming and they'll get better and better. Right, Paddy?

Paddy: Er, right. Just don't kill me. Anyway, thank you for reading, and would somebody please tell G8Master not to kill himself and that there is another chapter out. Thank You!

Wish-Wish: No, Thank You!

Jenny: He wasn't talking to you.

Wish-Wish: So?

Jenny: (catches W-W on fire)

Wish-Wish: Cool! (begins dancing) I'm on fire, I'm on fire, fire fire YAY!