A/N: Two new chapters! Enjoy (:

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

::Rachel::

I was shaking so badly that I could hardly feel anything anymore.

All I could focus on was the figures on the television screen before me.

Tobias.

David.

My throat felt parched just with the mere thought of him. As a human, no less.

In case you didn't know – David doesn't exist in our old reality anymore.

There, I said it. He doesn't.

Thanks to me.

"You couldn't have done this all on your own!" Tobias's voice shook me out of my reverie. "It's Crayak, isn't it?"

I watched as David threw his hands up in a mocking manner. "Believe what you want. This was completely my idea."

Of course it was his idea. Only he would know us well enough to screw things up for us so perfectly.

"Because," he continued, "if I didn't choose to come back to do this to all of you, I would be nothing. Not even a rat. You know why?"

I froze. No. No. Tobias didn't know anything. No...

"Because your girlfriend killed me."

I could hardly breathe.

"And I'm here for revenge."

Tobias didn't say anything for a long while, and I literally felt like dying there and then. I couldn't face him anymore – I couldn't face the rest! Cassie – I was sure she knew, but – oh god! I let out a string of profanities and screamed, but there was nobody there to listen.

Or at least I thought so, for David's surreptitious glance towards the ceiling where the camera must have been hidden made me wonder for a split second if he could hear me.

"Crayak doesn't make deals," said Tobias, coldly. "Unless you can offer him something, and you have nothing. Who are you working for?"

David hissed. "I have nothing because of you jerks!" Then he smirked."But you are right, I have teamed up with someone else, someone else who has given me the power to do this, to alter our original timeline and let me do whatever I want. Isn't that amazing? To have so much power in your hands? I literally created this world!"

He burst out laughing. "It's like I'm God!"

I clenched my fists, but a millisecond later, I was huddling within myself, trying not to scream as the bonds bit into my sides.

Tobias looked positively murderous. "You son of a bitch. You can't play with time and space so easily. It's going to come and bite you in the ass, mark my words."

"Ooh..." David whistled. "Touchy, touchy. You see, you happen to be my prisoner, not only in these four walls, but also in this time and space, so I'm not going to argue with you over something that has a very simple conclusion."

He edged away from Tobias and stared straight at the camera. I flinched upon seeing his smirk feature prominently before me.

"I wanted you all to experience what it is like to lose something so important. Someone so important to me."

My breath hitched.

"But then, you know what?" David's lip curled even more. "I think I'm just going to do baby steps first. I'm not going to make you all lose something so tangible from the outset. I want you all to..."

He grinned. "Lose your minds."

"Get over and done with it, David," said Tobias, seething. "I know you've wanted to kill me a long time ago."

David shot a parting smirk at the camera and headed towards Tobias. I flinched again, and winced.

No, no. That was the only word echoing in my head as I watched helplessly.

"Oh, Tobias, ever so self-sacrificial. Tell me, if you had been in a rat morph, would you have been so willing to give up your humanity?"

Tobias hissed.

I didn't want to hear his answer anyway.

Just kill me.

I swallowed.

‹Just kill me.› David's voice echoed in my mind, ever so softly, almost pleading.

"I'm one of the good guys," I whispered. My hands were trembling. Somebody – tell me what to do, please!

‹Then do the right thing.›

Was it the right thing to do?

What's right anymore, anyway?

Even on a grainy television screen, I could make out utter devastation on Tobias's expression when David had told him the truth.

Guess what, Tobias? I'm no more a predator than you are. I guess you've always known that. I've always been so much more than the personification of Xena: Warrior Princess.

It was like I was on crack or something. My insides were on fire, my head was positively spinning and I was getting all choked up. I never felt so useless and helpless before. I was scrabbling deep within me for an ounce of courage, an ounce of reality, but – crap, the word 'reality' doesn't feature here anymore, does it?

"Think, Rachel," I whispered. "Think."

The first person that came to my mind when I thought of rationality was Cassie. Strangely enough, considering she can get pretty emotional sometimes. But thinking of Cassie made me think of what I did to David, so I shoved her out.

Marco. Marco was always the practical one. Cynical, sometimes. But he knew when to put his foot down and use his head. But Marco was the one who introduced us to David.

I slammed my head back into the wall in frustration and thought I saw stars.

Jake. Leader of the Animorphs. Come on, Rachel!

I could only think of the fact that Jake – this Jake – was not the one that our group needed.

Ax! Yes, Ax, the most logical and rational one, when he was not around Cinnabon and Starbucks at least. Yes. What was I supposed to think about?

Crayak. Ellimist. They could manipulate time strands. I could almost hear Ax's voice in my head dissecting the capabilities of these creatures. All logical, rational people. They could show us future possibilities and create worlds for us to venture into. Alternate realities, yes.

But personality differences? With our own memories intact?

Yeah, I could definitely feel the difference of being recklessly brave like before, and being hopelessly frightened like now.

We had this really strange experience once going back to World War times and we took on slave-master and youth soldier personas. But we weren't even playing roles, it was as if we were shoved into some educational lesson and made to see how things played out.

Agency.

That's it! I thought frantically. We were active players here. And there was no way, like what Tobias said, that Crayak and Ellimist made a deal with that slimy little...

I had to steady myself again.

"What is going on?" I shrieked, to no one.

A few seconds later, and I was shrieking again when I watched Tobias get taken unaware and was severely punched into a corner by David.

"Oh my God!"

Tobias made to lunge for David, but the latter was faster and tripped him, causing him to land on his back with a loud thud. Tobias groaned so loudly that I clutched at myself.

David was getting into my mind. He knew how important Tobias was to me and he was doing this to torture me. Everything about him screamed revenge, and there was no stopping him.

There had to be something to stop him. I focused on Ax's strangely calming voice in my memory, speaking of logical and rational things about science, morphing, DNA, Z-space, whatever... there would be something, something at least that would get this little creep down.

Something.