Chapter 2

Tobias's eyes were focused on the grass of the meadow. His talons gripped the wood of his branch as he watched the scurrying forms of small mammals below him. Then, in a smooth motion he dropped from the branch, talons raked forwards and wings spread. He struck the mouse he aimed for, taking it completely by surprise. It didn't even let out a squeak as the talon pierced its head and ended its life. Tobias spread his wings over his kill and began to feed.

While he ate his human mind drifted, distracted by thoughts of the day's activities. A morning of flying around, waiting to spot a very distinctive van, and tailing it. His specialty, really. Aerial surveillance. It was good to have something on his schedule, other than 'ride thermal, eat mouse,'. Flying was a wonderful sensation. He'd never get enough of it no matter how long he lived. But there was a war going on, and he needed to be as useful as he could. He was the only Animorph incapable of morphing, trapped forever in the body of a hawk after he stayed in the morph for longer than two hours, but he couldn't sit on the sidelines. He had to contribute. And there were probably worse ways to spend the day than tailing hockey players.

And if they really were aliens, he would be able to tell in a heartbeat. His laser focused hawk vision would be able to see though whatever makeup the ducks used for their costumes. Unless they really were aliens. He'd be able to see if there were feathers growing out of their skin with his eyes.

Swallowing the last bite of mouse, Tobias spread his wings and launched back into the air. Catching a breeze he soared high, clearing the treeline and turning his body to where Ax usually ate and performed his morning ritual. If Tobias was right his alien friend was probably reaching the end of his own morning routine. Tobias hung out a lot with Ax these days, as they both were cut off from their people. Ax more than Tobias, but the two found themselves spending a lot of time with each other.

Just as Tobias guessed, Ax was just finished his morning ritual. Tobias knew the motions, and even the words by now and he knew that once Ax took that fighting stance he would spend a few moments just standing there contemplating, then he would be done. Tobias swooped low and came to rest.

((Hey, Ax-man. You ready to go?))

((I suppose.)) Ax replied, his thought speak 'tone' vaguely miffed.

((Hey, at least it's something to do.)) Tobias said. ((And regardless the Yeerks are planning something for the Ducks, so it's not like we're wasting our time. They might still just turn out to be humans the Yeerks are using to get more hosts.))

((This is very true.)) Ax replied as his stalk eyes slurped into his head and his front legs shriveled and vanished into his chest. He wobbled and, in a slow manner, sort of fell to the earth as feathers popped up from his flesh as his fur melted away. His body was almost completely northern harrier before his Andalite head sprouted a beak and his main eyes shifted from his big Andalite ones to the golden gaze of a bird of prey. Morph complete Ax lifted himself from the dirt and shook his feathers to get the dust off. ((I am ready for our surveillance mission. When do you think these…hockey humans will arrive?))

((Could be at any point. I know they'll have to be at school around three thirty. Maybe four if they are doing an event for the Sharing. Jake said they'd be at the school, so it's likely to be after school. And there was a Yeerk pool entrance at the school at one point. They covered it up, but that doesn't mean there isn't another entrance close.))

((Or they could transport them to a different entrance later.)) Ax surmised. ((Or even have the prospective Yeerks there in a portable pool.)) Ax flapped his wings and joined Tobias as he caught another breeze and soared into the sky.

((Guess we will just have to see.)) Tobias eyed the highway, on the lookout for any duck shaped vehicles.

It took about thirty minutes for Tobias to spot something, but it wasn't a van. It was an odd ripple in the air. He remembered seeing something like this before, long ago when he had 'seen' a Yeerk truck ship. This ship didn't seem as big, however, and Tobias noticed that it swerved to avoid a random flock of crows that suddenly flew up from a parking lot. That was odd. Yeerks would just plow through the wildlife. They didn't avoid it.

((Hey Ax, can you see that ripple?))

((I noticed it. It is clearly stealth shielding. Like what the Yeerks use for their ships.))

((Yeah, I've seen something like that before. Only last time they didn't bank to avoid a flock of birds. You think we should follow it?))

((You believe that, if these duck creatures are aliens, they are using cloaking shields. That this might be their vessel?)) Ax asked with almost no tone at all.

((Worth a look)).

((Very well. I still have one hour and thirty of your Earth minutes until I must demorph.)) Ax said.

Tobias chuckled, but he didn't correct Ax. It was Marco's job to argue with aliens about Earth minutes. He angled his wings and rode a thermal upwards. The cloaked ship didn't appear to be in any hurry. In fact, it seemed to be circling in the sky, as if the creatures inside were taking a look around the city. After a few moments of this the ship turned towards the forest, but fortunately for Tobias and Ax it didn't speed up. Instead, it circled a bit more, then began to land. The ship seemed to shimmer for a second, then it became visible as its landing gear emerged from the bottom of the ship (it reminded Tobias of bird feet) and it came gently to rest in a good sized meadow, out of general sight but close enough to a highway. It wasn't Tobias' meadow or Ax's, but it was within flying distance.

((…that vessel has a duck face on it.)) Ax grumbled moodily. Tobias almost felt sorry for his friend. These alien's whole duck theme was clearly poking at Ax's Andalite dignity, even though they definitely weren't Andalites.

((Look, they are opening up.)) Tobias laughed. ((For guys with stealth they aren't very subtle are they?))

((They are almost deliberately obvious.)) Ax grumbled some more. ((All the effort we and the Yeerks go through to remain undetected, and these creatures are just flaunting themselves. And the humans have no idea? It almost makes our efforts seem like a waste of time.))

((Is that what's bothering you about them?)) Tobias said. ((Cause you've been really moody about this.))

((That is part of the reason.)) Ax said. ((I am also annoyed that these possible aliens have been here this long, and the human race seems largely unbothered by it. Apparently so unbothered they let these creatures play a professional sport. There are aliens right here, just like myself and the Yeerks, and they are embraced wholeheartedly?))

((Yeah, but I think most people don't assume the ducks are really aliens.)) Tobias said. ((It just doesn't seem like something aliens would do. I mean, you Andalites land it would be obvious you aren't from around here. With them most people will assume it's special effects. Sure the people in direct contact with them probably know the truth, but they probably aren't taken that seriously. Like, their manager or their coach or their towel boy can be all 'yeah, they're really aliens', and most people will think they're just keeping up the act. Like going to a ren fest and everyone who works there is pretending to be a knight from the middle ages. Or you go to Disneyland or Disney World. You don't expect the guy in the Mickey outfit to suddenly pop off his head and take a smoke break.))

((…I think I understood most of that…but what is a ren fest? Or a Disney?))

((Ren fests are places people go to act out stuff from human history. Usually dark ages stuff. Knights and kings and stuff like that.)) Tobias said. ((Disney…they make a lot of animated movies. And theme parks.)) Tobias landed on a nearby branch, while Ax took a similar position on the other side of the clearing. They were in range of each other's thought speech, but positioned in a way that they didn't look like a pair of bird buddies hanging out in the woods. ((Look, we got movement.))

A hanger at the back end of the vessel emerged, and two duck themed motorbikes slowly drifted out. Tobias almost laughed to himself. Duck motorcycles! Duckcycles? Hilarious. They really did stick to their theme!

((Tobias.)) Ax's voice was now thoughtful. ((I can see where their feathers connect to their flesh. If they are not alien in origin, they are certainly not wearing disguises. Those bodies are their natural ones.))

Tobias could see it too. They were real. Real duck humanoids. In fact, now that he had a really good look their feathers weren't even like normal duck feathers. It was…kind of like a feather was imitating fur. It was odd, but they looked almost sturdier than his own delicate feathers. Like they were shorter and more durable, but still somewhat featherlike. Alien.

((I can also see a bit into their vessel. It is not human technology in there. I am uncertain as to what kind of machines those are, but they are not made by humans, Andalites or Yeerks. I…am honestly not sure what is going on in there without a closer look.)) Ax ruffled his harrier feathers. ((You know more about these creatures than I, can you recognize the individuals?))

((Yeah. The tall white one without the hair…is that really hair on two of them or just really long weird looking feathers I don't know…. either way that one's Wildwing. The goalie and the team captain. The tallish grey one with the eyepatch is Duke. Don't know much about him. Think he plays offense or forward or something. The smaller white one is Nosedive, Wildwing's brother. He's one of the more popular ones. Always in the middle of interviews. Younger fans really like him. Ummm…the female…it's not Mallory I know that. It's the other one. I can't really recall her name; I know it starts with a T…You almost never hear her talking in interviews. Think it's because she had a stutter…))

((A what?))

((A stutter. You know how you play with words in human morph? It's a bit like that. I think it's involuntary though.))

((…some mouth sounds are very pleasant to say.))

((Yeah, but most people with a stutter don't do it because they like it. They do it because they can't help it.)) Tobias dropped to a slightly closer branch to study the ducks from a different angle.

((Is this some sort of disability?)) Ax said in an…odd tone.

((Eh? Not really. Just a quirk I think.)) Tobias peered around. ((Okay, two are missing. The big one, think his name's Grin. He doesn't talk much either. The last is Mallory, the redhead Rachel mentioned yesterday. Another popular one. So, we got four here, and two missing.))

((Hmm, some of them might already be Controllers. The question is, which ones? The two missing ones or these four here?)) Ax wondered.

((We're just going to have to follow them and see where they go. How are you on time?))

((I have approximately one hour and ten Earth minutes left until I must remorph.))

((Cool, stick with me until then. I'll keep following them and you can track me down if they start moving-oh look there they go!))

Just as Tobias said, the blonde female had apparently pushed a button on a strange metal thing around her wrist and part of her upper arm (almost to her elbow), and the vessel's hatch closed. She then swung up on one of the bikes, behind the grey one, as the two brothers got on the other bike, the taller one driving while the smaller one held on. Within a few seconds they were driving off, motoring through the trees for the highway.

Tobias opened his wings and frantically flapped for altitude until he was above the trees. Fortunately, the ducks didn't go far enough for them to be lost, and he easily tracked their progress to the highway. They pulled up onto it from the treeline and turned towards the city in the distance. They were close enough to the city limits and Tobias knew it wouldn't take them long to get there.

((Tobias, I have a question.)) Ax asked.

((Yeah Ax-man?))

((Why do you know so much about these creatures and their hockey game?))

Tobias took a sort of mental breath. ((You know I used to live with my uncle sometimes, right? He was a big hockey fan. He watched all the games. Sometimes I'd watch them. Wasn't really by choice he didn't let me have the remote unless he was asleep or something. I was only really interested because they are birds, you know? I don't really follow hockey hockey I just know some things because of him. And I only kept up with the ducks because again, birds.))

((Ah, I see.)) Ax wisely dropped the subject.

((And it's not like our city's team went to the playoffs. Anaheim's close enough to count.))

((I…will defer to your greater knowledge on the subject.)) Ax said.

For a while the two followed the ducks in silence. Until Tobias realized where they were going.

((Ax, you seeing this?))

((Indeed, why are these creatures going to the Gardens?))

((Maybe they really want to ride the coaster?)) Tobias wondered.

((Hmmm, they are splitting up at the gate…)) Ax said. ((The grey male and the pale female are going to the amusement part section, but the two brothers are going to the zoo section…))

((Right, I'll go after Wildwing and Nosedive. You keep an eye on the other two. Let me know if you need to refresh the morph.))

((I understand. Good luck, Tobias.))

((You too Ax-man.))

Regardless of what happened today Nosedive was determined to come back to this city the first chance he got. What other place had an awesome zoo and an amusement park! Why didn't more cities have a place like this? It was great!

Sure, maybe he had to beg Wing to take him there with an excuse that might find some evidence of the animal attacks at the zoo section, and maybe they would. He doubted that Tanya or Duke would find anything in the amusement park, but no one wanted to drag their allergy prone teammate through the zoo. So while they scanned the amusement park area Dive and Wildwing would scope out the zoo just in case they found evidence of strange going on.

Of course, now that they were here Nosedive had the opportunity to dart around the various exhibits, gawking at animals and wishing somewhere in a very not concealed part in his heart that he could take a few with him. Nosedive always liked animals. Puckworld, Earth, wherever, he just liked them. And Earth animals were so strange and funny looking. Only a few of them had feathers and beaks, while the rest had either long snouts or flat faces and were covered in hair and fur. He loved them. So what if they were attacked. Nosedive knew when to get serious (despite certain team members claims that he didn't), but what was the point in being serious all the time? The fact was that at any point they could be attacked. A human weirdo. Or a city of human weirdo robots. Or a Saurian invasion. At any moment their lives could change. It had happened before. Why not enjoy himself until then? Live his life with all the gusto he could until the next disaster struck? He didn't care what the others thought, the Divester was going to embrace life whenever and however he could.

So, while Wildwing took a look at the zoo through the eyes of the Mask, Dive was debating on if he should go into the Reptile Room or not. On the one hand, eww, lizards, on the other hand, it might be interesting.

Oh why not? In for a penny!

"Hey Wing, let's take a look in the house of scaly horrors!" Dive cheered as he rushed forwards, his big brother following with clear reluctance. To keep a lower profile, Wildwing had brought the Mask in a bag strapped to his belt, and only took it out to occasionally scan hotspots. According to him there was nothing amiss with the animals themselves. Not even the crocodiles. Nosedive didn't believe him. Just one look at those horrible grinning scaly maws and he knew that those animals were up to no good.

The reptile house was dark and cool, and he almost expected the scaly residents to give him that evil, nasty gaze that Draggy often gave him and his team. But to his surprise the lizards didn't even look at him. Most of them were just draping themselves on branches in their tanks. A snake, a boa of some variety, slithered a centimeter on its branch and refused to move any further. It didn't even turn its head to glare evilly at Dive. It didn't appear to be looking at anything at all. It was just…there. Minding its business.

Dive looked at each tank, or at least the ones that seemed to have things in them. Like the boa none of the lizards paid him any mind. They just seemed to be going through their lizardy lizard day, just sunning under lamps or resting on rocks. It wasn't till the end of the reptile room did Dive find something with action.

"Whoa, hey, look at him go!" Dive laughed as the small turtle dropped from a rock and began to paddle around the tank, head raised as it looked back at Dive. It's face gave it a glary look, but it didn't look evil or hostile. It just sort of floated there like an adorable little rock with a face and tiny flippers.

"…I guess there are worse lizards around." Wing admitted as the turtle paddled its way around the tank.

"It's kinda cute bro." Nosedive said, looking up at his brother. Wildwing sighed.

"We aren't getting a turtle, Dive." He said firmly.

"Oh come on! I know why we can't have anything with fur but these don't have fur and it's not a creepy lizard! It's like a little rock and it's cute!" Dive argued.

"Dive, I know you want a pet, but we aren't getting a reptile from the zoo." Wing shook his head and turned for the exit. "Come on, we got to meet up with Tanya and Duke. We should get something to eat then head for the school. It'll be close to the time we agreed we meet back up with Phil and the others."

"I know bro I just…I really miss Baby, you know?" Nosedive sighed. He really missed his little buddy. He knew why they couldn't keep the giant alien monster, but Nosedive and really loved him. He still wanted a pet. Okay, he could admit that getting another alien monster was a bad idea, but what about a normal pet?

Wing looked back at Dive's downcast look and sighed again. "Dive, I didn't want to tell you this before your birthday, but we are getting you a pet this summer."

Dive perked up. "Wait! Really! But…what about Tanya?" He didn't resent Tanya, but he did resent her allergies. He had a strong feeling that she resented them too.

"I did some research. Earth has something called hypoallergenic breeds of animals. Dogs and cats. We were thinking about a cat. Relatively low maintenance. When she was feeling a bit better I was going to take Tanya around to some potential rescues. See if we can find something that doesn't set her off. If we do find a good fit it's yours."

That just wrapped Dive into a bundle of happy thoughts the rest of the walk to the amusement park section of the Gardens. His teammates really were the best. After a year on Earth they had all pretty much become a family and Dive loved it.

He smirked slightly. Apparently their two teammates had found themselves a table and were deep in conversation about…something. Tanya was showing Duke something on her omnitool, her beak turned down in the slightly frustrated expression she usually had when something was bothering her. They had apparently gotten a funnel cake from somewhere, but half of it was uneaten.

"Whatcha looking at?" Dive inserted himself in the middle of the pair of them, snatching a bit of the sugary dessert and stuffing it in his beak with only a small squawk of protest from Duke. To heck with him. Food was food. "Did you find the evil animal tyrant?"

"No. Just a rollercoaster that'll fall apart in about…oh, five to ten years." Tanya snorted and put her arm down. "I-it's not a danger yet, but it's gonna, ya know, start getting rickety. Whoever it is that's ma-…umm, looking after it is slacking off." She frowned. "Kinda frustrating."

"Did you detect anything strange?" Wildwing asked as he sat down. Somehow he managed to obtain a pair of long corndogs on a stick and a pair of sodas. He slid a soda to Dive and handed him a corndog. Dive let his mind wander a bit as his brother and their tech started exchanging notes, basically using a bunch of words to communicate a simple concept. A big fat zippereno. Nothing in either the zoo or the amusement park that suggested the animal villain had a base of operations here. That didn't mean the villain wasn't using the animals here in some way, but they weren't hiding here. Dive ideally let his eyes wander until they met a pair of fierce golden eyes glaring down at him. There on a nearby pole sat a bird, this one big and brown with a curved beak and talons and a really pretty red tail.

"Hey Dukester, take a look. Falcone's back." Dive elbowed the elder duck, who looked almost panicked before he followed Nosedive's pointing finger to the falcon thing sitting on the pole.

"Pffft. Come on, kid. That thing's a whole lot prettier than Falcone." Duke squinted at the bird. "Not even sure it's a falcon. Think it might be a hawk."

"What's the difference?" Nosedive asked.

"Ummm, size mostly, I think." Tanya finished reporting to his brother and decided to join the conversation. "Its…umm…pretty big."

The bird preened a feather and flicked his red tail. Dive grinned and broke off a piece of hot dog meat. He tossed at the base of the pole with a few clicks of his tongue and a call of "Here, birdy birdy birdy."

He could almost swear the bird snorted at him.

"I-I'm pretty sure they eat mice and things, not greasy hot dogs." Tanya observed as the bird flicked his tail again and took off.

"Spoilsport." Nosedive laughed, though not even he was sure if he was talking to Tanya or the bird. He waved his hand as a fly buzzed by his head. "So, you didn't find anything at all, bro?"

"Nothing that would explain the animal attacks, but I have been noticing an oddity." Wildwing looked at Tanya as he spoke. "Sometimes when I look at random people there's some weird overlap in their heads. Like something is covering up their brains. I'm not sure what it is. Seems to be affecting random humans, I can't find a rhyme or reason for it. Think the Mask could be malfunctioning?"

"Hmph, let me see." Tanya took the Mask from Wildwing and stuck some sort of sensor attached to her omnitool over it. She shrugged. "Doesn't look like there's a malfunction. Seems to be perfectly fine. Maybe there's something…ya know, wrong with the humans?"

"More robots?" Duke asked, lowering his voice.

"Naw, can't be. The omnitool would have been able to pick up robots just as well as the Mask." Tanya gently placed the Mask back into Wildwing's hands. "It's not a problem with the Mask, and it's not robots."

"Any other ideas?" Wildwing asked.

"Oh, I'd have to see one of these humans under a medicom in order to get a better idea of what you're seeing." She shrugged. "I don't think the average human is going to agree to, ya know, alien abduction."

"Hmmm, I'm going to just keep this on until we get to that school." Wildwing put the Mask back on his face. "Just in case."

"Shouldn't we be heading there now?" Duke asked.

"Yeah, pack it up and let's go." Wildwing got up, eyes scanning around and watching humans. "Hmmm….that's an odd blip there…" He suddenly turned and looked behind Duke and swatted at the other duck's collar.

"Hey, what the-?"

"It's a fly. Nothing to worry about I don't think." Wildwing said as the fly abandoned their teammate. "It was glowing but…you can't put a remote on a fly, right Tanya?"

"No. No way you can remote control a fly. Too small for what the humans can do at this stage." Her eyes attempted to follow the fly's buzzing path, but it was swiftly gone. "Might have been it's own kind of robot though."

"Hmmm, let's keep on our toes, team. The animal controller might be watching us."

((A hot dog, seriously?! What am I, a pet?)) Tobias was still annoyed. ((Here birdy my feathered butt…))

((That thing on the alien's face was able to detect my presence, even after I morphed an animal as small as a fly.)) Ax said. ((It is…worrisome.))

((Yeah, I know Ax-man. You gonna morph back to harrier?)) Tobias asked.

((Indeed. Drop me off in a secluded area and I will morph back. It may take a few Earth minutes but I will follow you later. Keep an eye on the aliens. I do not like that they can detect me. They might somehow be able to see the morphing energy.))

((Won't they be able to see me then?))

((Perhaps not. You have not morphed in some time. Your form has…settled in the body of the hawk. You should appear as a normal hawk to them. Or at least the morphing energy should be less noticeable.))

((Alright. Follow when you can, Ax. I'll keep tailing them.)) Tobias deposited Ax in his fly morph on a McDonalds roof top before turning to follow the ducks once more.

It didn't take long for Tobias to catch up to the ducks. They appeared to be heading for the school, which made him a bit nervous. From the bits of conversation he heard before he doubted that all of them were Controllers. One or two. Probably not the leader or he wouldn't be trying so hard to find weird energy readings or having his subordinates look for them. But Tobias had a feeling that once they did reach the school their chances of being made Controllers would go up. And if that Mask Wildwing was wearing really could sense the morphing energy…

They definitely couldn't let that weird mask thing out of their sight now.

Tobias looked down and shivered slightly in the air. They were passing the construction site. The construction site where months ago (had it really been only months?), Tobias, Jake, Rachel, Marco and Cassie had cut through after a day at the mall. The night when they had first met an alien, Prince Elfangor, Ax's brother. He had warned them of the Yeerk invasion, given them the power to morph, and then was murdered, literally eaten by the Yeerk commander of the invasion, Visser Three. The memory of that night still haunted Tobias. He could still remember how he felt hearing Elfangor's thought speak voice in his head. There had been something so familiar and comforting about that voice…

Sometimes Tobias wondered what would have happened if they had managed to save Elfangor. Maybe he could have morphed one of them. Or used another morph. But he didn't know if Elfangor had any morphs or even could morph. Or, if he could, maybe he knew that if he had the Yeerks would have stopped at nothing to find him, putting the rest of them in more danger. Or maybe he thought that facing Visser Three would give them some time to escape. Tobias didn't know, but it haunted him.

But he couldn't think about it now. Right now he had to focus on the fact that Wildwing had apparently become fixated on the same construction site and was currently hopping the fence, followed by the other three.

Tobias swooped low and perched close behind a pile of rubble, out of sight but within range of hearing them.

"…same energy reading but bigger. Think we finally found something."

"Careful, it looks like it'll collapse at any second." That was the female, Tobias still hadn't caught her name.

Tobias peered around the rubble and almost had a heart attack. Wildwing had crawled partway into a half constructed wall and emerged with something familiar. Something blue and square shaped.

The box. Elfangor's blue box. The box that had given him and his friends the power to morph. Somehow this hockey playing alien had managed to detect its energy with that mask of his and just yanked it out of a hole. Tobias had always assumed that the box had been destroyed along with Elfangor's ship, but apparently not.

"What is it?" Duke asked, staring at the box with almost no recognition in his voice. Probably not a Controller then. Or maybe he just guessed what Wildwing might find there. Tobias still wasn't sure, and he couldn't risk contacting them and trying to explain the box. Any of them could still be a Controller, and if he spoke to them they might figure out that the 'Andalite Bandits' were just a bunch of human kids. That could mean disaster for his friends. Tobias couldn't speak to any of them to tell them about the box unless they were positive they weren't Controllers, but he couldn't just let them take the box.

There was really only one thing to do in this situation.

"Tseeeeeeer!" Tobias let out a loud hawk scream as he flapped his wings, launching himself towards Wildwing's hands and the blue box he held. Tobias managed to graze the box with a talon when something whizzed over his head. He flapped back, and almost had another heart attack when the sword slashed an inch away from his beak.

When did Duke get a freaking sword? WHY did he have a sword?

The next few minutes were a whirling storm of flapping hawk wings and the three other ducks attempted to knock him away from their leader. It was clear that none of them really wanted to permanently hurt him, which Tobias guessed was a good thing, but it was making it very hard to snatch the box. He managed to claw both Wildwing and Duke, but he was one bird up against four humanoids.

One of Tobias' wings struck the female on the beak as he flapped frantically. He wasn't exactly aiming for that but to his surprise the female backed off, hacking and coughing like she was having some sort of asthma attack. Immediately Duke backed off to help her, and Tobias took the opportunity to lunge for Wildwing and the box again. By now however the duck's leader figured out what Tobias was after and was holding the box close to his body, shielding it and backing away. With Tobias attached to his arm.

Oh just give it up you big stupid…birdbrain! Tobias thought in annoyance. With another hawk scream Tobias lashed his talons at the mask that Wildwing wore. Maybe if he looked like he was trying to blind the leader he would raise his arms and give Tobias a better shot at the box? But Wildwing didn't raise his arms in time and Tobias' talons scored against the Mask at an odd angle, knocking it into a particularly weak section of the construction site ruins. A brick wobbled and landed on the Mask's beak, giving it a nasty looking dent. Wildwing glared at Tobias, let go of the box with a hand and punched Tobias in the beak.

Slightly stunned, Tobias fell backwards, shaking his head. He screeched as Nosedive took aim with his foot and kicked him into the air. Somehow, through some miracle Nosedive didn't break anything, but it was clear to Tobias that he couldn't win this fight. With an annoyed scream Tobias flapped his wings and managed to flap his way back up in the air and hauled his feathered butt deeper into the construction site ruins. Taking to the ground, as he was now working with almost no breeze or thermals, Tobias took a sudden turn and sort of hobbled behind a wall and then ducked beneath an alcove. He held his breath and waited. He could hear at least one of them scrambling after him, big and clumsy, and he didn't want to think about what might happen if they caught him.

"Dive, leave it, we have a problem!" Wildwing's voice echoed, and Tobias heard the duck following him, must be Nosedive, turn around and stumble on back towards where the other three ducks were.

Tobias took a deep breath and, after a few moments, risked peering around the corner, listening hard to catch whatever was going on. Even from on the ground Tobias could see that the three male ducks were surrounded the female, who seemed to be sitting on the ground, still be in throes of a coughing fit so bad it sounded like she was having trouble breathing.

Tobias mentally winched. Was all of that really from his wing? He hoped not.

Unwilling to fly out of his hiding place in case they spotted him, Tobias hunkered down and watched the scene before him.

While in the past certain members of his team had questioned his loyalty and dedication to the honest life before, Duke himself had never doubted any of his teammates in their own dedication to the cause. It was true what people said. He had always thought that helping others for no reward or purpose was stupid and naïve, but after the Saurian invasion Duke found that helping and saving the people around him was actually worth it. Sure it paid less but at this point in his life Duke didn't have to run anymore. He didn't have to worry about finding hideouts or jump every time a law officer showed up or worry if the person he told a secret or a plan to would double cross him. Unless Mallory was in a tissy about his past Duke knew he could tell his team, his friends, anything and they would be supportive and wouldn't try and use him. Of course he didn't take that opportunity most of the time, but it was nice to know it was there. As such Duke did his best to use his great skills as a thief and a fighter to support the team.

Maybe he should have paid attention to Tanya's attempts to teach them basic first aid because right now he thought she was choking to death, and he had no idea how to help. Her beak was open and gaping as she struggled for air and her eyes were starting to water underneath her glasses. What was Duke supposed to do? Stabbing the bird responsible wouldn't help. And unless there was some medicine he could steal, not that he would know what kind of meds could help with a severe allergy attack, his burglary skills were useless as well.

What was he supposed to do in this situation? Slap her on the back? Beak to beak? Hit her in the chest a few times? He didn't know, how did people deal with this? All he could really do was sit there next to her, trying to get her to breathe by just talking at her and watching to see if she could stop wheezing long enough to give him some kind of hint. The thought that one his teammates might be dying in front of him, and he was helpless to stop it killed him.

Thankfully, as Wildwing and Nosedive came running over to help, Tanya started to breathe a bit easier. It hadn't been that long, just a few seconds, but the sounds had been so horrible and frightening that Duke felt he had aged a few years listening to it. But her breathing was becoming steadier and she managed to close her beak.

"You gonna be okay kid?" He asked as he put an arm around her shoulders.

"Need to take them out…" She shuddered a bit, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. She shook her head and took off her glasses, and he helpfully took them from her shaking hands. She grunted and raised a palm to her face, covering her eyes. She tapped something on her omnitool, and he could a slight whirring noise. When she dropped her hand from her face he could see what, to a human, would have looked like a pair of strangely grey colored contact lenses in her hand. But Duke knew that's not what they were, or at least not in the way a human would think of when they thought of lenses. Her eyes now closed she raised up her shirt collar and started to wipe off the water from her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Wildwing knelt down to get a bit closer to where the two other ducks were now sitting.

"I'll be fine. Just a lot of irritation." She muttered; a bit quieter than how she normally spoke. Tanya lowered her shirt collar and blinked, eyes on the ground. But Duke could still see them.

It had never bothered him before. He had spent so much time as an outcast from Puckworld society he actually admired people like her. He had chosen the life he led. People like Tanya had no choice.

The redness that replaced the white of the eye's sclera wasn't due to irritation, although Duke didn't doubt the dumb bird's wing caused irritation. It was just hard to tell because of the natural red coloration. Sitting beside her, even when she was very carefully looking at the ground, he could still see that her pupils and iris were vertical instead of rounded. Slitted like a lizard's eye.

Slitted like a Saurian's eye.

Duke didn't understand the process, but he knew the reason that her eyes looked normal most of the time was due to the contact lenses. She had once mentioned something about the effect on her eyes, but he really didn't understand what she was talking about. Something about making them more sensitive to light, but it never seemed to hinder her in any way. Why she chose to wear the glasses as well he didn't know either, but he assumed she just liked them. It was a little odd, but Duke figured that she knew what she was doing.

He just wished she didn't feel like she needed to hide it from them. They all knew. They all knew she was Scaleborn before they had even seen her eyes. There were ways ducks could tell Scaleborn from 'normal' ducks, although he didn't like to think of the most common way. As far as Duke knew she was the only one who had joined the Resistance, and while most were wary of her, Canard had welcomed her to his team and treated her like just another duck. Duke knew that Canard had a history with each of them before gathering them up, and so he assumed that they had reached some sort of understanding before the Strike Team that would become the Mighty Ducks had formed. So, when they first met up Duke had no problem accepting her. Canard trusted Tanya, and Duke trusted Canard. They all had. Even Mallory, who was the most suspicious, seemed to accept Tanya right off the bat (Although he heard from Grin that Canard had forced the two ladies to work together a few times before the team was fully assembled. Maybe to make sure that they would get along?)

The humans would have no clue what it meant. They didn't have decades of negative press and rumors surrounding Scaleborn. Tanya could have easily ditched the stupid contacts on Earth, but for some reason she didn't. It honestly annoyed Duke. It was wrong in a basic, simple way that Duke had a hard time articulating because it was so obviously wrong. She should feel safe with them, her team. But she always brushed him off whenever he brought it up. Something about not wanting to get into the habit of not using them when it was time to go back home.

Honestly, if people still had a problem with her after helping to save them all from Dragaunus then those people weren't worth her time.

"You should go back to the Aerowing. I don't want you out here after this." Wildwing said with concern. Tanya sighed deeply but didn't look up to meet his gaze.

"Don't want to be a burden." She said, her tone strangely soft.

"Hey, that hawk broke the Mask." Wildwing held up the Mask. It was true, it had a huge dent. "We need someone to fix it up."

Tanya sighed in exasperation, seeming to perk up slightly. "It's an easy fix. Will be done by tonight even with the equipment on the Aerowing."

"Good. We are going to need it to track those animals. And," Wildwing held out the blue box they had found. "This thing is glowing like crazy on the Mask's sensors. And that bird just tried to steal it. How much you want to bet it has something to do with all of this. You go to the Aerowing, fix the Mask, and figure out what's up with this box." Wildwing smiled. "Then you can come rushing to our rescue when we inevitably get in over our heads."

Tanya snorted and took the Mask and the box. She went to stand up, but she still didn't look at their faces, instead sort of looking off into the distance.

"Hey, I'll take her to the Aerowing. Meet you guys back at the school, kay?" Duke said.

"Good. We'll see you there." Wildwing nodded as the group split up, two going on to the school, and two more going back to the Aerowing.

High above them, a harrier circled.

((Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel! We got problems!))

Rachel wasn't surprised at all when Tobias' frantic thought speak message came through. Problems were bound to happen. They were sitting right next to what had once been a Yeerk pool entrance, and while the slugs had closed this entrance that still meant that they could probably still easily access it. Or at least easily get their kind to the school to infest some hockey players. Vice-Principal Chapman, a known high-ranking Controller, might even be keeping his fellow parasites in his desk drawer.

The entire after-school event for the Sharing had been advertised all over school. General posters of alien ducks and their team colors and things that normally Rachel wouldn't have given a second look at. The Sharing was holding the rally/party/meet the aliens deal in the gym, where anyone interested could gather up and see and get autographs from the hockey team. Of course the Sharing were advertising themselves pretty prominently, so every hockey fan in the school would know who was bringing their potential heroes to their town.

She was almost glad that there was a problem. She wasn't sure for how long she could sit here in last period, waiting for Cassie to 'drag' her to the alien show.

((Rachel, I can see you, try to slip out and meet the others before the event. The ducks found the blue box.))

Wait, the what?

Rachel ideally drew a question mark on her last period math worksheet, hoping that the teacher would just see it as delightful commentary on her opinion of imaginary numbers.

Really, if they were imaginary shouldn't she be able to make up her own answers?

((Elfangor's blue box. The morphing cube. Ax called it an Escafil device. The ducks found it at the construction site and the blonde female took it their ship.))

Rachel angrily traced the question mark again.

((Yeah, they have a cloak capable ship. Like the Yeerks use. They are real aliens. And they have the blue box and a mask thing capable of detecting morphing energy.))

Rachel began to make a noise like that of a teakettle about to blow, her question mark now starting to bleed through and rip the paper.

((Rachel, please don't do anything to get into detention, okay?))

The pencil snapped. The math teacher looked up and eyed Rachel.

"Rachel, do you have a question?" She asked.

Rachel took a deep, calming breath. "…may I be excused to go to the bathroom?" She asked. It was less a 'polite' tone and more of a 'I am about to bring death upon you, puny mortal, but I'm to angry to raise my voice' tone.

Her teacher eyed the wall clock and sighed deeply. "Can you wait two minutes; the bell is about to- "

Fortunately, the bell rang before violence occurred. Rachel swiftly packed her things and swung her bag over her shoulder, quickly striding for the door and almost slamming it open. Nobody got in her way. No matter what they thought of Rachel as a person no one wanted to be between her and whatever goal she had in mind.

To her annoyance, someone bumped up against her shoulder, but it was only Jake.

"New plan. Bail. Head to the woods and morph. Meet us on the roof."

Rachel nudged Jake to let him know she understood and strode out of the school, heading for the woods to 'meet up' with Cassie, who was waving at her. Anyone watching would see that she had met up with her best friend and started to walk home with her.

((Okay, you aren't being watched. Jake and Marco are passing Tom. They're making it look like they are leaving together. Jake is talking to Tom, giving him some attitude. And they're off. Might take them a few minutes to shake Tom and morph.))

By now Rachel had hidden her bag under some leaves in the woods and began to morph. Her skin turned stark white. Her nose exploded out and lengthened, turning into a hard sharp beak. She shrank, arms becoming wings and feet and legs turning yellow. But she still had no feathers. She looked like a plucked bird, like chicken dinner. But soon enough the feather patterns emerged from her skin.

Rachel shook her seagull tail and ruffled her wings. As much as she loved her bald eagle morph the Yeerks would be on alert if they saw a flock of raptors land on the roof. So, the much more low key seagull would have to do. She looked over and saw the last bits of hair vanish from Cassie's head. The two gulls rose up from the ground, skimming up and towards the roof. No one noticed the two gulls. A few minutes later two more gulls appeared and perched next to them on the rooftop. Above them, still in thought speak range, flew a harrier and a red tailed hawk.

As Rachel listened to Tobias and Ax relate the afternoon's events she grew more and more frustrated. She wished she had been there to help Tobias. She doubted the ducks would be able to stand up to a full grown grizzly bear. She wouldn't even maul them or anything. Just knock them around a bit with her huge paws until they gave up the box.

((We can't let them take the box, and we can't leave them with something that can detect us. If that bird woman is a Controller than it's game over.))

((Guys, the Duck's van has just arrived. And…oh man.))

((What Tobias?)) Jake asked.

((I'm not an osprey but I can see inside that van's window. We got Hork-Bajir in the van.))

((So, they're Controllers.)) Jake bobbed his seagull head. ((Let's listen in but get ready to change to battle morphs.))

The van pulled into the school parking lot, in the faculty lot near Chapman's own car. Rachel angled herself and, at Tobias' word, flew to the ground. She and the other Animorphs darted from car to car, guided by Tobias until they were under the car parked next to the duck van.

((Okay, the other two ducks are heading for you guys. They are double riding on a duck motorcycle. A duckcycle.)) Tobias reported.

((I know this is an emergency, but can we pause here to just…think about that sentence that our spy bird boy just said. I mean, we are currently seagulls, under a teacher's car, watching a van with a duck face full of all kinds of creepy aliens, waiting for more aliens to show up on a duckcycle of all things, and somewhere out there there's another alien duck hen with a morph detecting magic hockey mask and a morphing cube. I mean, what is this situation? This is nuts…)) Marco paused. ((…female ducks are called hens, right? Like chickens?))

((Surprisingly you are right, Marco. Female ducks are hens.)) Cassie confirmed.

((Okay, now the world has gone strange. Marco was right.)) Rachel joked. But then the van's door opened and three pairs of shoes emerged. Apparently the Hork-bajir were staying the van.

"There's only two of them. Where are the other two?" Rachel heard a male voice ask.

"I don't know. Just wait." This voice was female. Rachel wanted very much to peer out from under the car, but she didn't want to risk it. She was eager for a fight as always but didn't want to jeopardize the mission.

"Hey, Mallory! Grin! Welcome to animal attack city!" A young, annoyingly excited voice called out.

((Animal attack city, what?)) Marco muttered.

"Hey, where's Duke and Tanya? Everything going okay?" The female voice, Rachel guessed that must be Mallory, asked.

"We've already been attacked by the wildlife. I found this blue box in a nearby construction site. Gave off some strange energy readings, so I gave it to Tanya to analyze back at the Aerowing. Duke went with her. He'll be along in a bit." A male voice answered. "Some hawk thing attacked us. Set off her allergies and broke the Mask. She said she'd be fine though, she's going to fix the Mask."

"Ah." Another male voice said, and a pair of shoes moved. They were fancy and kinda pointed, and Rachel didn't think they belonged to any of the ducks. "Hello Mr. Chapman, it's nice to talk to you in person."

"You too, Mr. Palmfeather…these must be the Mighty Ducks." Rachel shivered at the familiar voice of Chapman.

"Well, four of them. Hey, why don't you take Nosedive and Wildwing here to your office. We'll be along in a minute."

"Alright. Please follow me. We have a…surprise for your team. Mr. Flashblade, correct?"

"Just call me Wildwing. Mr. Flashblade was our father." Wildwing answered.

((Yeah, a surprise all right. Surprise, here's a slug for your brain.)) Marco grumbled.

((Jake, what do we do?)) Rachel asked. She was itching to go elephant. Or bear.

Before Jake could reply the guy Chapman called 'Palmfeather' spoke again. "The scientist has a morphing cube? How?"

"Maybe it came from Beast Elfangor's ship." The female replied. "We should take this Migrator vehicle and the Hork-Bajir there, now. I can convince the half-breed to let me get close to her. She's friends with my host. She and the thief won't expect a thing."

"I will stay. I can subdue the Flashblade brothers if need be." A new, deeper voice said.

"Alright. Go. We need to infest these two quickly, then get the last pair." 'Palmfeather' laughed. "Six new alien hosts, that mask, and now an Escafil device. This day just keeps getting better."

((Ax, can you get to that ship?))

((I know the way, Prince Jake.))

((Good. Go there. Get that cube. The other two aren't Controllers yet. Warn them. Do whatever you can to prove it to them, but don't tell them about us. Let them think we're all Andalites. You're our ambassador. But make sure you keep that mask and the cube out of Yeerk hands.))

((Yes Prince Jake.)) This time Jake didn't correct him, he had already moved on to more orders.

((Cassie, Marco, we're going behind the dumpster. Battle morphs. Break into Chapman's office and try and rescue those two. Rachel. Go elephant. Wreak that duck van.))

((Oh heck yeah.)) Rachel laughed. ((Let's do it!))

((Oh, boy.)) Marco grumbled.

Rachel darted out from under the car and sped for a dumpster behind the cafeteria. She crouched behind the smelly box and began to demorph. Once the morph was complete, she began to grow, her skin turning leathery, grey and thick. Her body swelled like a balloon, her hands losing fingers, leaving only her nails behind. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Jake, almost human but growing orange and black fur and long sharp fangs. He was hunched forwards, but his fur was spreading like waves and his claws were growing on his fingers. It looked like he was a weretiger for a few moments before he was forced to fall on the filthy ground, his legs no longer able to support him as a biped.

Rachel finished her morph, waving her trunk as she aimed her tusks at the duck van. She noticed the red headed female duck, Mallory, was about to get into the van as a portly human man and a huge duck entered the school. Probably the other two Controllers.

((Go!)) Jake commanded in thought speak as he charged from their hiding spot, aiming his body for the window of Chapman's office. He let out a fierce, tiger roar, a roar that shook the very foundations of the school, filling anyone within with sheer terror. However, it was Marco in his gorilla morph who fired the first blow, charging past Jake and slamming his huge ape fist into the window, opening the way for Jake and Cassie (in her wolf morph), to jump through Chapman's window with terrifying snarls.

But that wasn't Rachel's job. She trumpeted and charged, knocking cars (and one poor duckcycle) away as she slammed her head full force into the Migrator. Usually, when Rachel brought the full force of her African Elephant to bear cars and vans and trucks were flung to the side like toys. But this van was made of sterner stuff. The duck van rocked but was not knocked.

"Andalite filth!" Mallory, or Mallory's Yeerk, sneered at Rachel, who swung her trunk and knocked her to the side, bouncing her off Chapman's car and making her stumble over the fallen duckcycle. She looked down at it, grinned, and righted it. Before Rachel could stop her the duck Controller had revved the bike and was speeding away.

((Gah! Coward!)) Rachel raged and charged after Mallory, trumpeting in rage. They were halfway across the parking lot when another duckcycle appeared, this one being driven by a grey male duck with an eyepatch. Eyepatch skidded to a halt and looked behind him.

"Hey! Mallory, what the-"

Rachel slid to a stop trying not to not smash into the, as far as she knew, innocent duck man. The man yelped and jumped off the bike, which Rachel rolled over, crushing into a twisted pile of scrap. Eyepatch leaped to his feet, a sword suddenly appearing in his hand. Rachel laughed. What did he think he was going to do with that?

"Keep away from my team, ya big tub of lard!" Eyepatch yelled bravely.

((Excuse me! Oh you are a roast dinner, One-eye!)) Rachel roared, but her thought speak voice could only be heard by the other Animorphs and Ax. Still, she was in perfect shape for an elephant! Rude! She charged, intending on scooping him up with her trunk and giving him a peace of her mind. In return he leaped up, grabbed her ear and swung like Tarzan, swinging his sword and slashing her trunk. To her surprise the sword cut through her trunk, not enough to chop it all off but it was a deep cut, stinging and hurting almost as badly as a Hork-Bajir blade. She let out an elephant scream as he swing again, and to her astonishment her tusks fell to the ground.

((Okay…what? JUST WHAT!)) Rachel screamed and swing her head around, but she couldn't dislodge her attacker.

"Haha! You've met your match in the great Duke L'Orange!" Eyepatch cheered and Rachel froze for a second.

((What. You're WHAT! How is that your name!)) Rachel eyeballed the duck still hanging from her ear like a demented squirrel monkey.

"I see you've heard of me." Duke might not be able to hear her thought speak but he thought that the pause and the look the elephant was giving him was a sign of higher intelligence.

((You know what, jerk, I got a better name for you.)) Rachel lost her temper. ((How about, flyboy!)) She wrapped Duke in her trunk, which was streaming blood, and tossed him at the dumpster she had morphed behind. Fortunately for Duke it was open. Well, for his health it was fortunate. It did nothing for Duke's dignity.

She turned to the school just in time to see Marco being hurled against the Migrator by the big grey duck. Marco straightened and grunted, instinctively challenging his foe by beating his chest and roaring. Grin grimaced at the ape, and a few seconds later the Flashblade brothers had emerged from the school as well, firing their weapons at Marco and Rachel.

"Get the Andalite scum!" Wildwing yelled, and Rachel guessed that he and the smaller duck next to him had been taken. Duke ran up to his leader, yelling a question that Rachel couldn't really hear. But a second later the smaller white duck had knocked Duke over the head with his gun, and the giant duck scooped Duke up and ran back into the school with the grey duck.

((Rachel, they're all Controllers, we have to go!)) Jake and Cassie leaped through the window they entered and charged for Marco, who was backing away from the two duck Controllers. ((We have to get to the ship! There's only one free one left! They can't take her or the box! Retreat and demorph! Tobias, you lead the way!))

((This isn't looking good, Jake my man. We're looking at a five out of six score here.)) Marco said as he blocked the duck's fire with the twisted remains of another car.

((I don't think you guys can run all the way there, and you don't all have time to demorph!)) Tobias said as Rachel retreated into the trees, growing smaller as she did. Morphing tires you out, but she was so full of adrenaline at this point that she could ignore the exhaustion for now. But too much more of this and she was sure she was going to pass out.

((We aren't running.)) Came Jake's voice. He sounded…tense. Angry, maybe even scared? Rachel couldn't focus on that right now. She instead focused on morphing from human to bald eagle so she could join Tobias in the air.

((Oh…oh maaaan. Okay. Take the highway next to the school. Turn left as you get to the end of the parking lot. Outside the city limits. Just a straight shot till I tell you to turn.))

Rachel was morphing, feathers appearing once more, but this time bald eagle feathers. ((Tobias…what are they doing?))

((Ummm…you know Chapman's car?))

((Oh no…is Marco?))

((Yep. Marco is stealing Chapman's car.))