Look! Another chapter! Yay for me.

Sharina: Yay, you're still reading, too! Yeah, she's in remission. Thank you so much for asking!

Aizxana: Thankies! I'm trying hard to make them seem believable, so I'm glad you like them. I like the idea, too….Which is why I wrote this. Lol.

Rurouni: lol. Thanks! And I'm writing more.

A writer of fics: Yeah, it is ironic. That may have been the point….Or I may have just felt like tossing that in there. Not sure right now. Lol. This soon enough?

Disclaimer: "…….That's gross."

Chapter Thirty-One Part One – Cassie

This so rocks! Reese shouted.

Hey, look at this! Sam replied. She caught a thermal up, then did a loop-de-loop and spiraled downwards. Oh! So cool!

You'd think this would help my fear of heights… Danny pointed out. You'd be so wrong.

Sam, try not to do that again. Normal hawks usually don't put on aerial displays for no reason. Tobias told her.

Oh, you are no fun. Sam said jokingly.

We were nearly to the Gardens. Most of the trip had been filled with such conversation. None of us really minded, though. Flying really was amazing, especially if it was your first time.

When we got to the park, the five of us landed in a group of dumpsters outside one of the off-limits staff buildings. Tobias watched over as we demorphed.

You know it's going to be freezing when we're human again, right? Reese asked.

Eh, it won't be that cold. Sam replied.

Speak for yourself. Danny said.

I'm inclined to agree with Danny. Rachel commented.

Don't worry. We've got shoes and sweatshirts already put here. I said.

We finished demorphing and pulled on the cheap sneakers and sweatshirts. It didn't exactly keep us warm, but it was better than nothing.

"All right, now, if anyone finds us, remember, we're looking for my mom to ask her some questions on an assignment." I told them.

We started off, trying to act nonchalant. Tobias flew above us.

Sam glanced up at him. "You know, you could morph and come with us."

I looked up to see what Tobias's reaction would be.

He didn't say anything for a moment. Then, No, I should watch out for you guys.

Sam shrugged and Reese rolled her eyes. I took a closer glance at Sam, watching her. She was talking with Reese, Danny, and Rachel, but every once in awhile, I saw her eyes flicker up to the sky.

I frowned slightly as I thought about that. Then, though, we entered the zoo part of the Gardens.

We stopped in front of one of the exhibits that had a map and list of animals.

"Okay, now, go ahead and pick one, I guess." I said.

"Except grizzly. The grizzly is already taken." Rachel added.

Danny grinned suddenly, pointing at the cage in front of him. "Oh! I've got mine. Koalas!"

Everyone stared at him.

"What? Koalas are fierce fighting machines." He replied defensively.

"No." Reese said, at the same time Tobias asked, Koalas? .

"You are not going into battle as a koala." Rachel agreed. "You'd get squished."

"But what if I was a flaming koala?" Danny asked.

Sam raised an eyebrow, then grinned. "Well, then you'd just be too much for poor old V-3. We've got to give him some chance, don't we?"

Danny considered that. "Yes, I suppose we do." He sighed. "Fine. Can I at least acquire the koala?"

I snickered.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Go ahead. But if you go koala the first battle I'll squish you myself."

Danny made a face at her, then went back to scanning the list of animals.

"Um." Sam commented. "I know this will sound bad, but I know mine."

I had a strange suspicion I knew what her choice was going to be.

"Lion." She said.

Yup. That was it.

Rachel eyed Sam. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

Sam shook her head, then grinned slightly. "I just like lions. They happen to be really good in battle."

"That is true." I cut in before Rachel could say anything. "So, anyone else?"

"Hmm…You know, I don't really care. Leopard, I guess. The spots are cool." Reese said with a shrug.

"Oh, geez, you guys took all the cat morphs…Fine. I'll do kangaroo. They…fight. And stuff…" Danny said. "Since none of you have faith in the vicious creature that is koala."

"Okay, then. We can acquire some other ones, too, if you want…Then we'll go back to the barn for….other morphs." I said.

"Other morphs?" Reese asked.

"Koalas! Koalas now!" Danny said quickly, so we wouldn't have to respond.

Apparently none of us thought Reese would be happy morphing bugs.

"Fine, fine, we'll take you to the koalas." Rachel said, rolling her eyes again.

Koalas. Seriously. Koalas. Tobias muttered.

We headed inside the staff only building, the one that lead to all the other attractions. First up were the koala cages, since we were right there. We snuck quietly in.

"Let me ask for volunteers." Sam said.

I blinked at her, then smiled. "Oh, right. You know, this is going to be easier now."

A few minutes later, a medium-sized koala came trundling towards us.

"Jesse's interested. Of course, he doesn't understand everything, but he's spent the most time with me, so he got some of it." Sam said.

We stared at her.

"Just because I talk to animals doesn't make them as smart as us. They're still animals. But the more time they spend around me, the smarter they get…I dunno, think of it as someone who spoke a different language than everyone else. They could see what was going on, but couldn't understand it. Then, one day, someone who understood their language came and explained it. After awhile, they'd begin to get smarter." Sam explained.

"You know, that does make sense." I agreed.

"Look! Look at it! It is the essence of battle. " Danny remarked.

While Sam had been talking, he had scooped up the koala and was stroking its head.

"Just acquire it already." Rachel said.

Danny concentrated, and the koala went all calm and quiet. He then set the koala back down and walked back to us, smiling.

"Koala." He commented happily.

"Now where?" Rachel asked.

"Mmm…Leopards, next. They're closest." I replied.

Sam nodded. "I don't know the leopards too well, so hopefully I'll find one that gets it…If not, I'll just ask them to sit still."

"You don't think it's wrong, acquiring them without their permission?" I asked as we walked.

Until I said it, I hadn't realized how much I cared about the answer.

Sam shook her head. "No. Those that understand give us it, and those that don't would if they could. Animals aren't like us…They don't hate, or think it's wrong to use what you need. They would understand, and would be happy to help. Most of them, anyway. Some are just plain stupid…Like chickens."

"Hey," Danny said defensively. "Chickens are cool. Especially fried with a side of coleslaw. Mmm…coleslaw."

"Ah. Okay." I said casually, but I felt a bit better about this whole morphing thing.

"So..uhh…Sammie. They like you, right? The leopards?" Reese asked as we stopped in front of the door.

"Uhh…well…kinda. Lea's going to let you pet her?" Sam offered.

"You sure. She won't eat me." Reese said.

"No….She's not hungry." Sam replied helpfully.

"Wonderful." Reese muttered.

We opened the door and were greeted by a large female leopard, sitting patiently. She eyed Reese as she walked in, but didn't do anything else. Reese laid a shaking hand on Lea's head and began petting her. The leopard's eyes closed and her breathing slowed.

Slowly, Reese backed out of the cage.

"Well." Reese commented as I closed the door. "That was…interesting."

"Yeah…interesting. I think I had a heart attack back there." Danny added.

"Lions, next. They're two cages down." I told them.

I nearly had a heart attack when I opened the lion's door and came face to face with the largest male lion we had. This was the one David had wanted, but we couldn't get near him safely, so he had had to settle for the smaller one.

Sam smiled at him. "Hello, Demon." She confidently reached out to pet him on the shoulder. "Demon and I talk a lot. He wishes us the best of luck in our battles."

"Really?" Rachel asked, looking at the lion. "Tell him thanks."

Sam drew her hand back and waited for the lion to "wake up."

"He says you are most welcome." Sam told Rachel.

We said good-bye to Demon, then I closed the door and we went on to the kangaroos.

We all stepped into this cage, as kangaroos tend to be fairly gentle.

One of our biggest kangaroos hopped over and sat back on his tail, looking at us curiously.

"Ashi doesn't really get it. But it amused him, so he'll let you pet him, Danny." Sam said.

Danny nodded and stroked the kangaroo's soft fur.

After Danny had finished, we went back to the Dumpster and morphed again, then joined Tobias in the sky.

Flying again. Sam said happily.

I'm gonna be a koala! Danny replied cheerfully.

No comment. Tobias said.

Koala! Danny said.

Are you going to this the whole way home? Rachel asked.

I'm an Animorph. And I have koala. Danny answered.

Why did I bother asking? Rachel demanded.

Chapter Thirty-One Part Two – Jake

Marco, Ax, and I went over to my house when the others left to get some morphs. We probably all could have gone, but I was overdue spending some time at home, so we hung out there.

Marco and I played video games while Ax, in his human morph, of course, commented on the primitive images and pointless goals.

But that was before Mario Kart.

Marco managed to convince Ax to race him. Just once. Then that once turned into twice. And then another one.

And then the two of them were playing every tournament in the game multiple times while I sat there and watched.

Finally, I had to go out and get another controller from the garage so the three of us could race.

When it was finally time for us to leave, Ax and Marco were about tied. I, of course, had beaten them both. Many times. Really.

We flew to Cassie's barn, then demorphed before heading in. The others were already there.

Tobias was up in his rafters and Reese and Rachel were talking while Sam helped Cassie bandage a deer's leg. There was no sign of Danny, and I frowned.

"Where's Danny?" Marco asked, looking around.

Rachel jerked her head over towards a corner. "Right there."

We looked over, and spotted a koala sitting calmly in the corner.

I'm a koala. Danny informed us, when he saw us looking.

"We see that." Marco replied, raising his eyebrow. "Please tell me this isn't your battle morph. I think the flaming roly-poly was better."

I am a fearsome fighting machine. Danny replied indignantly.

"Yes. You're terrifying. Now demorph so we can get on with it." Rachel said.

Hey, I can converse like this. Daniel said defensively.

"You did get him a battle morph, right?" I asked Cassie in a low voice.

She looked at me.

I held my hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. Just asking."

She rolled her eyes, then opened up one of the cabinets and pulled out a large shoebox.

Reese eyed it. "What's that for?"

"These would be your next morphs." I said.

"We had lots of fun getting them." Marco muttered.

Cassie opened the box, revealing several smaller boxes.

"I don't want to know what is small enough to fit in there….Somehow, I don't think it will be a cute, furry little mouse." Reese commented.

"Hey, sometimes smaller is better." Rachel said.

"Right. Not touching any spiders. Nope." Reese shuddered.

So what, exactly, are we morphing? Danny asked.

"Well, first…" Cassie opened one of the boxes and showed it to us.

A nice, big cockroach sat in it, twitching its antennae.

"Cool." Sam said, reaching into the box and scooping it out. She let it crawl across her hands.

Marco shuddered. "That is really, really gross."

"Ew. Ew. Ew." Reese agreed.

"It's just a cockroach." Sam said, then concentrated and the roach stopped moving.

She held out her roach-covered hand to Reese and Danny. "Who wants him next?"

"I am not holding that." Reese told her.

Danny sighed in thought-speak. Hold on, gonna demorph. He began demorphing out of koala form.

"Then I'll hold him and you just touch him." Sam offered.

Reese grimaced. "Oh, this is so gross…" She touched the roach with as little skin as possible, then shuddered and drew back. "Oh, ew. I touched it. Ewww."

"Here ya go, Danny. Your turn." Sam said, dropping the roach into his hand.

"Good times." Danny commented, now human. He acquired the roach and put it back in its box.

They acquired several other bug morphs, including fly, flea, mosquito, and wolf spider for Sam and Danny. Reese flat out refused to come near the spider. In fact, she hid behind Marco until the spider's box was closed.

"You know, I think we should go practice flying some more." Sam commented.

"I agree. Flying is good." Reese said, eyeing the cupboard where the spider was.

"Fear of heights, remember?" Danny reminded.

"Oh, you're so not saying you don't like flying." Rachel said.

"Yeah, right. Like anyone could not like flying." Danny muttered.

"Okay, people, let's get serious now." I said.

"I was being serious." Sam grumped.

"Just to recap." I started, ignoring her. "According to Erek, the Yeerks have decided to take over Disneyland."

"Disneyland? Seriously? That is really not cool." Danny said.

"You are not supposed to mess with Disneyland." Sam agreed.

"It's the happiest place on Earth! What's the happiest place on the Andalite home world, by the way?" Danny asked, turning to face Ax.

"Magic Mountain's better." Reese commented.

"It so is not." Marco told her.

"For once, I actually agree with Marco." Rachel said, then looked surprised.

"Okay, now that is scary." Cassie voiced.

"Anyway…" I said, clearing my throat. "Obviously, we can't let them do that. So, we need a plan."

"I say we attack the hotel…Erek said they're further along with that." Rachel said.

"Right. Let's all just attack the Disneyland hotel. Because, you know, that will just work so well." Marco muttered.

"I didn't hear you coming up with an idea." Rachel countered.

"We fly down there and spy on them, see what we can figure out." Marco replied.

There was a pause.

"I like Marco's idea. No offense." Sam said.

"Yeah, that way we get to go on the rides!" Reese exclaimed.

"Problem: how are we going to get to Disneyland? I'm sure the flight will be longer than two hours, and there is no way I am buying a plane ticket to Disneyland." Danny said.

"We could have a bake sale?" Sam offered.

Would there be cinnamon buns? Ax asked hopefully.

"We are not having a bake sale." Reese said.

"How about we buy one ticket, and one person gets on the plane. Then the others morph to cockroaches and get in whoever's on the plane's carry-on luggage…Then they can demorph in the bathroom and sit on the plane like regular passengers." Cassie suggested.

"Or, well, in Ax and Tobias's case, morph human." Sam said.

"Don't you think someone might notice eight people coming out of the bathroom that didn't go in?" Marco asked.

Tobias and I would also have to demorph every two hours, Prince Jake. Also, based on the sanitary facility of the last airplane we were on, I would not fit. Ax said.

"Hmm. Good point." I said. "And don't call me Prince Jake."

"Bake sale." Sam interjected.

"What if the roaches went into the baggage instead of the carry-on?" Cassie suggested, ignoring her.

"We could just ride in the baggage section as us…Not a lot of fun, though." Rachel said.

"Oh, man. Baggage section." Marco muttered.

"We're going to be freezing," Danny pointed out. "Last time one of you did this…wait. No, that's not quite right. You will do this….never mind. It's cold in there."

Most of us stared at Danny for a moment, then Sam quickly spoke up.

"Actually, we can probably get two tickets…Trent lets me and Reese go off on vacations some times. As long as we pay for hotels and stuff, he buys our plane tickets." Sam said.

We stared at her.

"What? Sometimes there are advantages to living with your cousin." Reese said.

"Well, that does bring in the question of where we'd stay…" Marco said.

"I'm sure there's a cheap motel somewhere." Rachel replied.

"The one we stayed at last time was…ten bucks a night, I think…But that was for one bedroom and a couch bed." Sam said.

"We should ask for a non-alien invaders discount," Danny said.

Marco laughed. "Now that was good."

Rachel rolled her eyes.

I nodded. "All right, then, here's the plan. Everyone get as much money as they possible can. Sam, Reese, you two get the plane tickets taken care of. I'll call Erek and see if the Chee can play us, except for Reese and Sam, who will be taken care of."

I checked my watch. "It's pretty late, so we'd better head home…We'll meet back here after school tomorrow, all right?"

Everyone made noises of agreement, and then we headed out.