THE HUNTED

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Chapter 30 Marco

Of course. It fitted in perfectly. One of us was a Controller.

"Then we can't trust anyone else, here," I said. "Damn it. Who?"

Cassie is clear, Tobias told us. I saw the Yeerk slither out of her ear. And no new one has slithered in since.

How do we know you are clear, Tobias? Ax asked. You might be a Controller. And then you might be lying about Cassie.

"Hey, if Cassie was a Controller, would she have warned us of that possibility?" Jake said - always defending Cassie.

She might have, Ax speculated. To clear herself.

"Okay, here's the deal," Jake said. "None of us leaves the cave. All of us watch all the others. Nobody goes anywhere without everyone else. We keep it up for another day. Then we'll see who is the Yeerk."

"You're not in charge anymore, Jake," I said. "You know, you might be the spy in our group, too."

"Then you all watch me, too. The point is, that nobody will have any chance to escape, in case that person is a Controller. Me neither. We trust no- one. Even Rachel could be the Controller."

"Me?" Rachel said. "I got you out! How could I be a Controller?"

"Maybe you were caught and you're working for Visser One or something. Someone who wants to make Visser Three look bad. The thing is, we don't know, do we?"

Rachel looked grumpy.

How is this going to work? Tobias asked. I mean, we can't all stick together every second of the day.

Tobias is correct, Jake - Ax said - and then he suddenly fell silent.

Maybe you didn't notice it. We did. We all turned to look at him suspiciously. I stopped pacing.

"'Jake'?" Cassie said. "Whatever happened to 'Prince Jake'?"

"I think we found our Controller, Jake," Rachel said, eyes narrowed. "Ax would never..."

FWAP!

Rachel froze. The reason was the tail-blade held at her throat.

Do not attempt to move, Ax warned. None of you. One move, and... well, you can figure the rest out yourselves.

"Filthy Yeerk!" Rachel hissed. But she kept still.

Here is what I will do, Ax said. I am going to leave this cave. Rachel is going with me. If any of you follow me, I'll kill her.

"Don't you dare..." Jake started, clenching his fists.

Oh, yes, that's right. You all care for Rachel here, don't you? Your beautiful saviour, the little warrior? Ax started moving backwards. One hand grabbed Rachel, pulling her along.

She could have broken loose from the hand. But not fast enough to avoid the tail.

Remember, Ax's Yeerk continued. One wrong step and... his tail snapped away from Rachel's throat. Then he brought it back, slowly.

"I'll kill you for this!" Rachel promised. "I'll pull you out of Ax's head and step on you! I'll..."

You'll die very quickly if you don't shut up! the Yeerk warned.

They were very near the cave opening. A few more steps.

We have to do something! Tobias said shrilly in our heads. He was hopping left and right on his perch. We have to do something!

"Shut up," Jake mouthed.

Tobias heard him. Tobias has very good ears.

As soon as Ax and Rachel had disappeared from view, Jake spoke again; "Marco, morph the cobra. It's faster than Ax is. Tobias, you're up for aerial surveillance, right? But make sure he can't see you. Cassie? Morph cheetah, and I'll go tiger. Now. It's hunting time."

Tobias blew out of the cave like a bullet.

I started morphing the snake. My tongue split in half. My ears disappeared. Totally. Snakes are completely deaf, you know. I started shrinking. My arms shrank away slowly. My legs grew together, forming a tail. I stretched out. Extra ribs formed along my entire body. My jaw split. My eyes turned cold.

I had been a snake before. So I knew what to expect from the senses. I tasted the air with my tongue. I raised my head. I opened my mouth and hissed.

I had two needle-sharp, deadly teeth.

I could feel the snake mind surfacing under my own. Confident. Ice-cold. Carefree.

Hunting? Yes, hunting. I could hunt.

I started slithering out of the cave.

Marco? Jake's voice said. I'm going to lift you up now and carry you in my jaws. Please don't bite me.

Just be careful, I replied. I stopped slithering.

It was hard to avoid biting Jake as his tiger jaws gently closed around me. The snake instincts are very simple. That makes them stronger. Harder to resist.

Jake started running. I bumped up and down between his teeth. Fortunately, all feline creatures are experts at carrying their young in their mouths. That meant carrying me gently was no problem. I could see - or maybe the proper word is feel - a cheetah running beside Jake, having to pace herself for him to keep up. I sensed the warmth from the being.

Bingo! Tobias called. One Andalite running not far from here! I think Rachel is that rat he's carrying. Damn that tail! You guys need to aim a bit more to the left.

Good, Tobias, Jake said. Just make sure you're out of sight.

No prob. He's looking up, but he can't see me.

Are you sure? Cassie asked.

Positive. Hey, I'm the air expert here. So let me do this. Don't worry.

Don't do anything stupid, I warned.

Stupid? Like what? Attack him all by myself?

Yep. That's exactly what I was talking about.

We continued.

Tobias, Jake said. We'll need to leave Marco somewhere in front of Ax. Lead our way.

A red-tailed hawk dove down straight in front of us.

Follow me, Tobias said. Fast.

Tobias blew forwards between the trees. Cassie and Jake - with me hitching a ride - ran after him, full speed.

I was placed on the ground in Ax's path. Waiting. I curled up and slithered down amongst the plants and leaves on the forest floor. I could feel the ground vibrating as a heavy animal came running straight at me.

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Chapter 31 Marco

I had a unexpected idea.

Tobias, I said. Lift me up again!

What? Why?

Because. Hurry!

I felt the breeze caused by wings swooping downwards. I felt the warmth of another living being coming closer swiftly. Talons closed around my body. I resisted the urge to sink my teeth into them.

Wings flapped hard to gain altitude.

Now drop me on Ax's back! I ordered.

Huh? That'll blow our cover. Ax will know we are here...

What's going on over there? Jake's voice asked. Marco, what's your plan?

You'll see. Trust me.

I hate when you say that, Tobias said. But okay. Here goes. Hang on tight!

Tobias folded in his wings and swooped downwards.

He dropped me!

I fell. Down... down... down...

I landed hard on short fur. I localized myself quickly. I was sprawled on the centre of Ax's back. Another perfectly aimed bomb from Tobias the Master Pilot.

Ax stopped very suddenly. I was thrown forwards towards his back - I mean the humanoid part's back. I slithered quickly from there.

The tail. The tail!

The tail was his weakness. Without the tail he'd be easy to bring down.

FWAP!

Ax's tail struck down near me. He stopped it before he struck himself. But it was very close.

I sped up.

I wrapped myself around the base of the tail.

Ha! I exclaimed. Double ha!

You might have misunderstood me when I said that I resented followers, Ax's voice growled. Very well. Now it is too late. Rachel dies.

Oh, no, I don't think so, I laughed. You've been a snake, right? You know how fast we are. I'm faster than your tail. You move this tail the slightest little twitch, then I sink my teeth into it.

Suddenly the tail was very still. If I only move the end of my tail, you won't notice, Ax commented.

DING-DING! Wrong again. I'll notice. I'm sensitive for vibrations, you know. I can even feel your heartbeats - which for the moment tells me that you're one stressed Andalite. And you know what happens if I bite, right?

You bite me, and both Rachel and your Andalite filth of a friend goes, the Yeerk inside Ax's head said. I'll have time to bring Rachel with me. And Ax will die with me.

Yes, probably. But you know what? Ax will be grateful. Rachel will probably be angry, but let's ask her, right? I had been thought-speaking openly. Rachel had heard me. Rachel?

You know what, Marco? Rachel said. You actually guessed correctly. I'll be very angry - with the Yeerks. I'll spend my dead time haunting Visser Three. I'll even haunt him as himself.

So, I said to the Yeerk. I would have rubbed my hands if I had had any. Here's the deal. You drop the rat. You let her scamper away. Then you crawl out of Ax's head.

And what if I refuse?

Then I have a delivery to make - some fresh cobra poison. Deadly, you know. Very deadly.

I don't agree to the terms.

Too bad. Then I added, loudly; Hey, everybody, he doesn't like the deal. Does he have a choice?

Nope, Cassie said.

Not one, Tobias agreed.

Oh, but there is one more thing he has to choose from, Jake said. We can starve him out. Another 24 hours or so, and bye-bye Mr. Yeerk.

To start with, drop the rat, I said. Or I think I'll take a bite. This tail looks delicious.

You wouldn't dare!

An unbelievably upset hawk, a very angry rat, a deadly cobra, a extremely fast spotted cat and a pissed-off tiger against a puny, desperate little Andalite-Controller? I think I dare. I felt very pleased with myself. You know how poisonous I am. You know how quickly the tiniest drop of poison will kill you. Your tail might as well be locked. You won't move it a millimeter as long as I'm curled up here. I hissed. I'm loosing my patience. Rachel, you listening? One thing. If he hasn't put you down on the ground - nice and easy - in two seconds, then start demorphing. We'll starve this uncooperative slug out of poor Ax's head.

Rachel demorphed. We all returned to the cave. Ax was escorted by the two great cats... and his tail was guarded by yours truly. I stayed curled up around that tail for a full two hours. Then Rachel morphed the elephant. Outside the cave, of course. Ax lay down on the ground. Rachel gently placed her front foot on his tail. And wrapped her trunk around his arm. And she calmly explained that her trunk was much stronger than Ax's arm. And she also explained that if Ax moved, or his tail flicked, it would be crushed under a few tons of elephant. As well as the rest of him.

Ax stayed very still.

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The Yeerk made a few escape attempts, naturally. But we caught him again easily. Once, Cassie and Rachel morphed wolves and hunted him down. They ruined his hind legs in the same way two ordinary wolves would have done with a deer. The way Cassie had used on me. Then Tobias shredded his stalk eyes. We allowed him to morph a mouse to get rid of the wounds. And to let Tobias carry him back to his place in the cave.

I morphed the cobra again to keep him in line.

After the third day out of the Yeerk Pool, the Yeerk died in what is known as the "fugue". He starved to death, simply put. Cut of from the very needed Kandrona rays. Jake's been through it once. I mean, the Yeerk that was unlucky enough to crawl into his head was starved out. And Jake says that it's horrible.

Ax was very tired when he was himself again. He fell asleep quickly, but not before he said; Thank you.

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*Epilogue*

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The two days passed without anymore incidents. And exactly after 48 hours, that time-line - that entire reality - was shattered. What really happened can only be explained by Ellimist, Crayak, or Drode. Roughly, the time-line was allowed to change. In the past. A part of the past was set free. Free for changing. And if it changed, the reality - the future - the events after would change too. If the past didn't change, then the future and the present which no longer existed wouldn't change.

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*Jake*

..."Sorry," a voice replied, sounding hurt.

Cassie.

I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. This wasn't like me. I don't usually get angry about this little.

Then I said; "What's up?"

"I was just wondering if you're okay," Cassie said. "I mean, being your birthday and all."

"Yeah. Thanks. I'm fine," I lied.

But Cassie sounded worried.

"Don't do anything stupid," she told me. "Maybe they'll cancel the presents."

I forced a laugh. "Don't worry," I said. "I'm fine."

"Well," she sighed. "Happy birthday."

There was a click at the other end. Cassie had hung up.

I had to stop myself from slamming the phone down. I placed it down gently, and then;

"Yes, it's my birthday!" I roared.

I did something silly. I lost it, shouting and raving and I have no idea what I said. I was beating the walls and kicking on things and I don't know what else.

No.

I stopped myself. There was something wrong about that. Something made me uneasy. I shut up. I listened for sounds. What if someone had heard?

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

Homer - my dog - barked from downstairs. He had been sleeping in the living room. Now he was barking his heart out. Loud, happy barks.

"Down boy, down!" a voice ordered.

Tom. My brother. A Controller. The enemy.

If I had continued raving I'd have missed it. He'd have heard me going on and on about things that I shouldn't know about. Things that made me a danger to him.

And what do Yeerks do with dangers?

They demolish them. Or turn them into slaves. Neither were alternatives I liked.

"Woof! Woof! WOOF!"

"Hello?" Tom called. "Anyone home?"

"Yeah," I replied. My heart was beating fast. Had he heard anything? "I'm home."

"Midget?" Tom called. That's what he calls me, even though I'm tall for my age. "What's up?"

Then suddenly it all slammed down on me like a bomb.

The memories.

The other reality.

My mistake.

Me - a Controller.

Trapping the others.

Being saved by Rachel - in Visser Three morph.

I sat down heavily on a chair.

It sorted itself out in my head. It played by like a super-speed horror movie.

But now I had escaped it. I hadn't re-done my mistake.

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*Rachel*

I was waiting for the phone to call. For some reason... I had been practicing my gymnastics. Then, suddenly, I had found myself walking towards the phone. Don't ask me why. Now I was waiting for the phone to call...

*...He's got a Yeerk! We've gotto warn... my voice. Speaking to an owl. Yes, an owl. But the owl was really...*

Huh? I rubbed my forehead. Now I was imagining things. I really needed to catch up on my sleep.

This Animorph business really cut down my spare time.

*...No! We will SPLIT UP. Cassie. Determined. Afraid. That's right. Because that was just before she was...*

What? Maybe I should go to bed early.

*..."No more going to the mall. Ever..." It was the Drode. He was there with the Ellimist. They were...*

That was it. I would make sure I got enough sleep. And I'd have a brain- scan, to be on the safe side.

*..."Even you, Rachel. You will be caught, you know..." The Drode again.*

Caught? As in CAUGHT BY THE YEERKS?

That was bad. This had to be a nightmare.

Then the rest of the "nightmare" dropped down on me like a ten-thousand kilo weight.

No, not a nightmare. It was... had been... would have been... true.

All of it.

True.

Events that would have happened.

I dialed the number to Jake.

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*Marco*

I was doing nothing. Literally. Absolutely nothing. I didn't know what to do. And, suddenly, I felt like I had a day-mare.

*...A wolf. A female. At night. In pouring rain. She had been running hard. She was hunted. I was there, hunting her. But there was something...something wrong... yes. She was one of us - Cassie.*

What?

I shook it of. But it was insistent.

*...out of my ear. I morphed. Larger... larger... with black fur... Hork- Bajir grabbed me. I fought. I was strong. They were too many. They forced me into a cage...*

What - again?

*...In the Yeerk Pool. DEMORPH! the Visser ordered. NO! I snapped back...*

No. I had no memory of that ever happening...

Oh, but I had. Somehow...

*...Rachel had kicked my butt. I was gloating about that to the Yeerk, who... My Yeerk. That's it. It was my Yeerk...*

No! No! I'd never been a Controller.

*...Jake doing with a Yeerk? "...oh, my god!" my voice. Frightened. "Ax!" Jake. Jake was ordering... FWAP! Ax's tail-blade hit my skull hard...*

The puzzle confused me as it laid out itself in my head, piece by piece, in no special order. But then I saw the entire picture and it became clear.

The defeat. The capture. Trapping Cassie. The cage. The failed escape attempts. Rachel saving our butts. Ax still being a Controller. The final two days...

Us being given a second chance.

Yes.

The second chance.

And I was back home. I had the memories.

Jake had passed his test.

I was feeling very relieved, happy and giddy - although very knee-weak - when Nora called from downstairs; "Marco! Do the dishes!"

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*Ax*

The unbelievable part was that I had been watching TV. As the last time. Suddenly I had a memory of a new These Messages. One I had never seen.

The second after, I saw it.

Common sense told me that that was an impossibility. But common sense also told me what followed was inaccurate. And common sense was wrong.

*...My tail stopped halfway to Cassie's face. But it was not me moving the tail. It was not me stopping it...*

That could not be correct. To begin with, I would never lift my tail against any friend. And who was moving my tail if not...

*...He was searching my memories. Going over my knowledge. Finding... what was he finding? Ah, yes. He was finding the defence systems on my home world, and...*

No! That had never occurred! Nobody had been in my head!

This was wrong. I was imagining things. Isolation from my own species was tearing at me.

*...Prince Jake... the tiger... was sitting on me. Hork-Bajir held me down. One held my head...the Yeerk slithered into...*

My stalk eyes went wide from the memory. The memory which shouldn't have existed.

Then... *me, a polar bear, fighting another polar bear. Who? Tobias. Prince Jake was with me. We were winning...*

I would never fight Tobias. I simply could not... neither would Prince Jake...

*...Marco, a cobra, lay around the base of my tail. I held a rat...Rachel. They were saying I had no choice. No, they weren't talking to me. They...*

*A thought was in my head. But it was not my thought. Or was it? I didn't know. "Three days. I need to get away before then. But... how?"*

The remaining memories came - one by one. They blew down like stones. Prince Jake... captured. Me as well. Falling into the trap like a dumb animal. Tobias, Marco and Cassie...also trapped. Rachel escaping.

It would have happened. If...

No. It was the past. Past? Not really. It could be... confusing.

It would have been the future.

And now it wasn't.

And I was grateful.

Very grateful.

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*Tobias*

I was sitting in my tree.

When I heard two creatures walking towards me. A human... and an Andalite.

Jake? Ax-man? Is that you?

There was no reply. And the sound was gone. Simply... gone. As if I had imagined it.

*...raincoat closed around me. A familiar voice..."Bring the sack..."*

Sack?

*...I sped out of the cave. Rachel... there was something with Rachel... that's right. Ax's tail was dangerous...*

Confusing. It all spun around in my head. Making no sense.

*......is correct, Jake - Ax's voice. But not his voice. Ax never forgets his "prince"...*

Had that happened? No. I couldn't recall...

*...Ax was free! He was running! He was going towards an exit! But he didn't make it out. For... something...*

There was some reason that he didn't escape. Why? I concentrated. Nightmare or not, I wanted to know why...

I fluffed my feathers. I bent down to pull one. Why did I do that? The feather was in my mouth. There was something familiar...

Then it hit me. I dropped the feather.

Aaah! No!

I looked around. But I wasn't in a cage. I was in my tree. In the forest.

Then the sound again. An Andalite approaching.

Ax-man? Please tell me that that is you.

Yes, it is I, Ax's voice said. And this time, there is no Yeerk. We have escaped that possibility.

You know what, Ax?

No, I fear that I do not know what.

I've never been happier in my life.

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*Cassie*

I had been in the barn working when the memories crashed down on me.

The first image that flashed in my mind was outside the barn. Night time. Jake gently lifting up a Yeerk. The image almost caused me to drop the young hawk I was nursing.

Then I saw... *myself, a wolf, fighting another wolf - Marco.*

*Me again, telling Rachel that we had to split up.*

*Me, a cheetah, hunting Ax for...*

*Me, human at the time, struggling against the Hork-Bajir as Jake raised a Yeerk to my ear.*

No.

That wasn't true.

But yet, it was true. Would have been true.

*"You see, we'll be sent back. Given another chance..." Rachel's voice. Explaining... explaining what had happened.*

*My my... rebellious, are we? I thought you had fallen to the demands. Ax's voice. A polar bear. A Controller. "I agreed to demorph. I didn't promise to cooperate." Me. In a hopeless situation.*

It was true.

It was all true.

I had been a Controller.

We Animorphs had been defeated. Jake had made a serious mistake. We hadn't noticed that he was a Controller until it was too late. We had fallen into the trap, one by one.

I placed the hawk in his cage.

I sat down on the floor of the barn. The memories came at me faster now, raining down. Not one by one. They came in the dozens. Most of them were horrible.

But I was alive.

I was home.

Most importantly...

I was FREE.

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Author's Note;

That was it. Hope you liked it.