TWENTY-TWO: RACHEL

9:14 P.M.

I shouldn't have blown a gasket like that. But it was kinda hard not to after that day.

I think what got me upset was Elle. The idea that it had been a Controller delivering takeout to my house, my family, was frustrating. That every time I talked to her, it was the Yeerk talking to me. And every time I said goodbye to her, I really was letting a Yeerk torture Elle psychologically.

It also was bad that I never thought she could have been one. I never saw it coming.

The flight back home helped me clear my head up. A bit. It got me thinking too.

If I had just guessed that she was a Controller earlier, could that have changed anything? She came to do a delivery one night and I did something. Anything. Maybe...morph into a bear and scare the Yeerk out of her.

Wishful thinking. Then I thought. Maybe I should do that. The others didn't need to know-

FLASH!

"So we can borrow it?"

I was in my bedroom. My sisters were at my door, Jordan fiddling with the Kodak camera I bought earlier that week.

"Yeah. Sure," I said and hurried over to my window. "Do whatever you want with it. J-Just don't use all at once."

"Yes!"

I didn't care about Jordan fist-pumping behind me. I couldn't take my eyes off what I was seeing walking towards my front porch.

I saw my doppelganger coming to my house.

And I was in my bedroom!

FLASH!

(Rachel!) I heard Jake holler.

I was back in the air. Flying.

And straight into a tree.

(Ahhh!) I couldn't steer on time. The branches hit me and my momentum was lost. I went straight down to the pavement. Hard.

(Rachel! Are you alright?) A peregrine falcon and a Northern Harrier landed next to me.

(I'm…) I stopped myself. The Bald eagle wasn't fine after such a terrible crash like that. A bird that is all about strength. The official symbol of this country.

It really dawned on me. Not only was that vision the craziest. But I saw myself. Another version of me! It was like looking into a mirror.

Nothing about this was fine.

So I confessed.

(Not alright.)

You don't admit you're hallucinating in the middle of a war. I know how it goes: that's a sign of losing your head. The moment everyone learns that, I knew I'd be told to step down.

And now, I had to.

(Ax? What do you think?)

Ax's Northern harrier head tilted as if being observant. (I believe you might be onto something, Prince Jake.)

I sighed. (Alright. What's next-?)

(Rachel. We have to talk. Now.)

When Jake demands one of us to talk to him, it usually comes across as his leader self. Like he had to be the adult of the group. But this time, he was concerned.

(...This isn't psychological stress, is it?)

We went to a safe spot and demorphed. The whole waiting though, it got me a little nervous. But once Jake asked me again why I was acting strange, I told him everything.

About the visions, why I randomly shouted "stop" earlier, and blurted about the power plant. Jake listened to every word attentively. More so than usual.

"And that's it," I finished. "...I don't know why I've been getting these visions."

"I do. Because I've had them before."

I was surprised. Then I gave a stern look at Jake. He wasn't pulling my leg, right?

"When did you get freaky visions?"

"Last year." He scratched his head sheepishly. "I never told you guys about it because...it's hard to explain. I only told Ax about them."

(It was very extraordinary. I did find it difficult to believe it the first time. However, Prince Jake would not 'joke' about such things.)

"Ok. Explain then," I said.

Jake explained, all right. It was about one of our missions we did in the past, where some experimental Bug Fighter crashed into a grocery store. We never went through with it and Jake never told us the reason.

Now I knew why. What he told me? It sounded insane. Then unsettling. He explained that we had taken the crashed ship for a ride and it exploded, blowing us backwards - or forwards - into time. In the middle of the Amazon. Like how we got blown back to the time of dinosaurs because of a nuclear fission explosion.

That's another long story. Don't worry about it.

Anyway, Jake also got visions too. Showing what happened to us in the Amazon. Like it was some kind of warning. It's why he called the mission off last year. So we wouldn't go through the same thing again.

Like Ax said, hard to believe it. Except I was the one getting visions now.

"Wow," was all I could muster after Jake finished his story.

"Yeah. Wow." He weakly laughed. "It felt like a dream to me."

"So...everything I'm experiencing is because of a…"

(Sario Rip,) Ax said. (I proposed this theory to Prince Jake before. Why you are seeing visions is because of your other self after she's been thrown through a Sario Rip.)

"So this 'other Rachel' and me are somehow linked?"

Ax's four eyes all looked disturbed, two of them gazing at Jake before he continued. (Not entirely. It is not possible for one person to exist in two places at once. So the logical thinking is for her consciousness to snap back together to yours...this other Rachel has to be dead.)

My eyes were wide. Well, that was grim!

"Sheez… This day couldn't get any better. Now I have to look forward to another Sario Rip and me dying."

"On the plus side, at least your consciousness will snap back to your body," Jake said it like that was the best outcome.

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Ok. Then we know what could happen, right? We can prepare." I asked.

"I don't think so. I couldn't figure out anything the last time this happened," Jake explained. "It was only after I died in that other time line, I decided to call off the mission."

(Undoing the events altogether.)

"So what? We just let it happen?"

"I don't think we can afford to." Now Jake was back to being his leader self. "Back at the apartment, you said the power plant exploded."

"Yeah… Because of what Marco said. I mean, what vision Marco said." I groaned. "This is so frustrating."

(That likely could be the cause of the Sario Rip,) Ax proposed.

"A nuclear explosion in the middle of the city… That's not good."

"Because people can get pulled in by the rip?" I asked.

"...Or thousands of people are gonna die from the explosion."

I didn't think of that. Jake and Ax had the same look of dread I had.

"Do you remember any details? Anything that might help us stop this explosion."

"Well…" I thought back. All the visions I've gotten were all so real and vivid. Especially one of them.

"Back at the construction site," I started. "When we were chasing Elle, I mean, the fake Elle, we were in the air. The next thing I know…" I looked down at my hands. "I had the battery."

(So at some point in the new time line, you took the battery back.) Ax gave a grimace in his Andalite eyes. (I mean, you will take it back.)

"What are the chances this battery might cause the power plant to explode?" Jake pointed. "Rachel. Anything else you can think of?"

"I don't know. I couldn't recognize where I was." I wrapped my brain around it but I couldn't get anymore. "That's all I got."

(It is possible for you to have more visions later on.)

"And what if it all happens right after that one vision? We can't risk that," I said.

"We're talking to Elle's Yeerk tomorrow."

Ax and I turned to Jake when he announced that. We were shocked.

"No. Bad idea. Terrible idea! Why would you want to do that after everything you said earlier?"

(I agree with Rachel. This might very well be a trap.)

"Well, do you think it is one?"

Jake's question caught Ax by surprise. He thought of a rebuttal. But with the info he told us about a Werch, it was clear that he couldn't argue.

"I don't like this either," Jake started. "But we got Andalites heading to a high-security place, where a Sario Rip might occur… We won't have enough time to scout ahead when we don't know when this explosion will happen. I hate to say it. But Elle's Yeerk is our best option."

"Nobody is going to like this," I told him.

"And they won't like it either when they learn we're having another time-travelling trip sometime in the near future," he added. "Ax, tell Marco and Tobias the plan."

"I'll go back to Cassie-"

"No. I'll do that. You get some sleep. Believe me when I say those visions can take you out of it."

"So I won't get the backseat on this one?"

He smiled. "You're not losing your mind." Then that smile fainted. "Everything's riding on those visions, Rachel."

"Yeah…" I tried to relax. And it was very difficult when the fate of the city rested on your next crazy dream. "I know."

Jake and Ax took off their separate ways. I flew the rest of the way back home and tried my best to have a normal evening.

Once I was home, I couldn't stop thinking.

Sometime later, I was going to die.

Sure, Jake and Ax said like it was no big thing. But when Jordan walked into the foyer and saw me, it really hit me hard.

My family doesn't know anything about my secret life fighting aliens. They don't know the kind of terror I jump into without a second thought.

I'm just an average older sister and daughter who's supposed to do normal kid stuff. But I also can't do normal kid stuff.

"Hey."

"...Hey, Jordan."

"...Rachel." Jordan squeezed her arm shamefully. "I shouldn't have used all the film-"

I threw my arms around her. I held Jordan as tight as I could. I didn't remember the last time I did that either.

But I held on for as long as I could...

"Uh...what's with the hug? I'm in more trouble, aren't I?"

"No, no…" I laughed. "Bad day today."

"What happened? I thought you and your friends were going to the beach."

"It got cancelled. We couldn't go."

"Bummer." Jordan relaxed a little. "You can try next week. I heard there's a Power Rangers event ongoing at the other beach. Until the end of the month."

I shrugged. "Nah. The moment's gone. Besides, I'm not into those kinds of events. Did you guys already eat?"

"Mom ordered pizza for dinner so there's some leftover."

"Good. Been thinking of pizza over takeout anyway."

I take back what I said to Cassie about loaning Jordan and Sara to her. I wouldn't trade them for the world.

The rest of the evening, it was family time together. All three of us and Mom. It did go a bit awkward - Mom thought I was up to something for a bride. But no, I wanted the most out of spending time with them.

I couldn't stop thinking that I got some predestined death heading my way. That I might lose the most important thing in my life. Or that the most important thing, my family, will lose me.

I said goodnight to Jordan, Sara and Mom. But I didn't say goodbye the next morning. I got up the earliest I could and flew to Elle's restaurant, where Tobias was still watching.

(Hey, Rachel,) Tobias called from his tree.

(Hey.) I landed on the strongest branch above him. (Had something to eat?)

(You'd be surprised how easy it is to find something behind a restaurant. But a rat's not as juicy as a rabbit,) he joked. (Plump, sure. But there's a fine difference in taste.)

I chuckled.

(...What about you?) he asked, this time sounding sincere. (All ok?)

I would shrug my shoulders if I were human. (I needed a good night's sleep. That's all.)

(...Ax told me. About the-)

(Yeah. Can't blame him for that.)

(...So are you really ok?)

It was a struggle in a bird form. The number of emotions I kept inside was almost unbearable. (...No. But we gotta do what we gotta do, right?)

I said that as brave as I could and I was still scared.

(Right… Right…)

We were quiet. It's not like I wanted anything reassuring from Tobias. The silence helped a bit.

(...Well… Then I'll keep a closer eye on you. Make sure nothing happens to you.)

And sometimes, he surprises me enough to get a smile out of me. As a human and in morph.

(...That sounds way creepier than I imagined in my head,) he grimaced.

I chuckled. (Oh, very creepy. But it's the thought that counts.)

Elle appeared in her bedroom, having cleaned and dressed herself up for the day. She took her backpack and left. Several minutes later, she was outside the restaurant with a worried look.

"Are you sure about this?"

Her face darkened.

"It will work this time."

Once Elle got on her bike, we followed her to Erek's safe house.

A/N: Hello again! Decided to make an early upload than anticipated because eh, I think this section is becoming the better part of the story and getting more into the mystery. It can't entirely be about Elle's Yeerk since the whole reason they're involved is well, a strange group of Andalites involved themselves with her human's DNA. That said, I really enjoyed writing this chapter not only with Rachel handling current and new dilemmas but also the later chapters, especially one chapter I really REALLY wanna tag my Animorphs group about for reasons. XD But we'll get to that chapter eventually.

I used to have such a discombobulated plot way from the beginning that some parts really did make me unhappy about and uncertain. Now, I'm very confident in what I want the story to go...even though, eh time-travelling can be the most punishing plot device (in my opinion) whether or not it's handled right. Still, it really gives me opportunities on writing the Animorphs handle more outside their usual shtick and comfort zone too.

With that said, I hope you'll like this chapter and look out for more to come!

21/7/21 - First upload.