Chapter 15

While Cassie couldn't help but find the story Tanya began to tell them about a weird machine obsessed scientist who for some reason named himself Dr. Droid and replaced his entire body with mechanical prosthetics wildly unbelievable, she didn't think their alien friend was lying. It did seem a bit weird even for them, and even Tanya seemed mildly baffled by both the incidents she outlined for them. It sounded more like something from one of the comics that Jake and Marco liked, or maybe something from a cartoon. But then again, they all spent their time fighting aliens, so perhaps the bar for weirdness was off kilter.

Still, while Cassie wasn't exactly sure that upgrading the camera flies was strictly necessary, and so trying to dig up this crazy man's tech was unneeded, she did think that having the option of not needing to go into the Marriot as bugs themselves was a good idea. At least they would have an idea of where they were going and what places might be available for a quick demorph. There was always the risk of getting trapped somewhere, not to mention the fact that there were a lot of things lurking in buildings that would look at a fly or a cockroach and think of a quick snack. Before they had no alternative, but now they might.

She wasn't sure that Tanya's motivation for upgrading them strictly came from necessity, though. While Cassie wasn't a computer person at all she didn't see why the original cameras weren't good enough, but then she noticed the slightly more excited shift in tone and body language that Tanya displayed while talking about it. It wasn't just for their benefit, although the fact that it did benefit them was probably why it was brought up in the first place, but Cassie could see how excited Tanya became at the thought of upgrading these machines. It was a bit like how her dad got excited about going to rescue a new animal or how her mother got when talking about a new arrival at the zoo. Or how Rachel sometimes got about a sale at the mall. It wasn't just a way to help the Animorphs, it was just something that Tanya liked to do, other than hockey.

Cassie had been talking to Dr. Ann, mostly about how to mitigate and manage stress. For some reason the Chee thought that Cassie's recent reluctance on missions came from some sort of stress response. Maybe she was right. Cassie had never thought of herself as stressed, the day she had decided to quit she had felt nothing at all, but looking back maybe she had been feeling anxious but for some reason just hadn't caught onto the fact that she had been stressed out. It was weird, you'd think she'd had felt more anxiety, but all she had felt was nothing at all. But for whatever reason a few of Dr. Ann's coping strategies had actually helped Cassie feel a bit better, though she still hated the war and everything about it more and more each day. But during those discussions Dr. Ann had outlined a few of the signs of stress, and Cassie was starting to think that she wasn't the only one getting stressed out.

And unlike Cassie herself Tanya seemed to have a personal, very solid source of her stress.

Cassie knew in her heart she was right about Lucy, or Decoy or whatever she wanted to call herself. The other duck would just have to say something using that weird affect she sometimes used, it sounded to Cassie like someone trying to imitate a Bond movie femme fatal right before ol' James put the charm on her, and Tanya's feathers would stand up like an Earth duck's would when irritated. Cassie wasn't sure if Tanya was even aware of it, but occasionally she'd also make a very soft hissing noise that was like an annoyed lizard's, but also was somewhat similar to the hisses that other Earth waterfowl would make when agitated. Cassie wasn't even sure that Tanya was aware she even made that noise. But, if the new duck was as much as a computer expert as she seemed to imply, it would give her something to do to contribute without having to give her the morphing ability. Cassie wanted to trust her, but even she realized that completely and totally trusting Lucy would be a bad move considering her track record. Plus, giving her something to do so she could prove herself would go a long way to helping the rest of them ease up. And she would have Eva around to keep an eye on her.

And honestly Cassie thought that Eva might do a better job bonding with the other duck. She wasn't going into battle with the rest of them, which Cassie knew from experience did a lot to bond people. It was the main reason they were starting to get familiar with both aliens in their group. But Lucy wouldn't be doing that, at least not yet, and the one other duck in the room was too emotionally close to the weird conflict the two seemed to be sharing. Eva was separated from that conflict and was also not a middle schooler. Cassie got the feeling the way Eva kept an eye on both ducks that this had occurred to the older woman as well.

"Why in the world has there been a supervillain crashing around a town over and none of us heard about it?" Rachel asked, slightly annoyed. "You'd think someone would mention it if life suddenly turned into a Superman comic."

Tanya shrugged. "They did. It was mostly tabloids though, so I don't blame people for not paying attention. Also, we usually take care of this kind of stuff before it gets out of hand. I have no idea if things like this happen in other places around Earth or if we're just attracting weirdos." She paused and thought for a second. "Also, I have the feeling that Phil keeps intercepting reporters and making up stories about promotional stunts, and since we've managed to keep the damage down to a minimum for the most part no one has really questioned it aside from this one cop that keeps bothering us."

"Huh." Marco said thoughtfully. "That is pretty smart if that's what he's doing."

Tanya rolled her eyes. "He'll do anything for a buck." She grumbled.

"Well, probably, but it also keeps the public on your side." Marco pointed out, still thoughtful. "Think about it, if people are under the impression that they could be hurt during your little fights with these wackos, it could be bad. Especially since your aliens. Heck, look at Spiderman. You'd have a lot more J. Jonah Jameson's on your tailfeathers without someone around to play interference for you. Would make life a lot more difficult without your own publicists."

Tanya opened her beak and then paused to consider. "Ya…ummm…okay, that's not a bad point. But you try to explain to the man that he can't give guided tours to our secret underground base. He wanted to charge ten dollars a ticket to drag everyone and their grandmas straight through the hanger. You know, where we keep the fighter jet."

((…I would pay ten bucks to see the back works of a hockey rink.)) Tobias pointed out. ((and more if I could get a look at an alien fighter jet.))

"You can see the Aerowing at any point." Tanya grumbled again.

((Not if the Yeerks didn't exist and I was just a kid at your games.)) Tobais argued.

"Technically that thing is owned by the military and I can only justify letting you people touch it because every other duck on this planet has a worm in their heads!" Tanya retorted.

"Hello, how are you, I'm chopped liver again, nice to know." Lucy rolled her eyes only to duck to the side as Tanya attempted to elbow her.

"You aren't a duck, as you've made that perfectly clear almost every single time we talk." Tanya said.

"Okay, you really can't get upset with her. You said that at least three times yesterday." Jake said as Lucy seemed to puff up a bit to continue the argument. "And if we can kindly wander back to the point of this conversation…"

"I don't know, I feel very happy here in left field, talking about the best way to hide your crime fighting escapees and arguing over who can see the jet…it's soothing." Marco said, ignoring Jake's exasperated look.

"We have a short amount of time to break into the Marriott." Jake said, ignoring Marco. "We have those spy cameras, but they can only see what's going on and send us the video…"

"Well actually it's a digital signal not video…" Tanya blinked as Jake raised an eyebrow at her. "…but that probably doesn't matter, sorry."

"You can upgrade them, but so far the only ways we might be able to are via stealing from the Yeerks, which is a no. Or trying to track down leftover parts from some lunatic who tried to imitate the Tin Man. Am I right so far?" Jake asked. Tanya nodded. "What can we do with what we have now?"

"Well, if you want me to get you a detailed map inside we can technically manually fly the…well the flies in and draw out the interior from here." Tanya said. "That might take a day though."

"But there's no guarantee we can find this guy's stuff…" Jake began, but Tanya interrupted again.

"He always uses this one warehouse and this on company, it won't be hard."

Jake paused and thought for a moment. His eyes scanned around the room before landing on Lucy, then drifting for Eva. "It just occurred to me, we have a lot more people now then we did when it was just the six of us. Eva, can you and her." He nodded at Lucy. "Take control of those cameras tomorrow and see how much you can map out of the Marriot's interior?"

Eva blinked. "I'm pretty sure I can do it. Just like a video game, right?" She looked at Tanya who shrugged.

"Great, so while they are mapping out the Mariott for us, the seven of us." He looked around at the others. "Can take a quick trip back to Anaheim to look up this…Droid guy and see if Tanya can scavenge anything useful. Then, we come back, she upgrades the flies, and we can send the upgraded ones back in to scout out anything that Eva and Lucy might have looked over. Then, we have more information to plan this out."

Marco shook his head, paused, and shook his head again. "I have many objections, but the only other option is 'go in there as flies ourselves into who knows what'. Okay, yeah, better plan." Marco shook his head. "Process of elimination."

"Were those going to be actual problems, or just more whining?" Rachel asked.

"Baby, I have enough whine and cheese all I need is some candles and it's a romantic night on the town." Marco bobbed his eyebrows up and down at Rachel, who threw a pillow at his head.

Jake sighed. "Well, I managed to keep everyone on topic for five minutes at least."

"New record. Congratulations, Captain." Tanya chuckled as Jake glowered at her.

Tanya grinned at him, then for a second she frowned and pulled herself away from the computer table. "Actually, before we go, I have something I need to talk about to the rest of you." She looked around. "Those of us going back to Anaheim, I mean."

"Keeping secrets, are we?" Lucy glared at Tanya who refused to look at the other Scaleborn. Instead, she marched for the exit, breezing past Jake in an almost dismissive way. He again raised an eyebrow at her, then looked at Cassie with a clear 'the hell is wrong with her?' look in his eyes.

Cassie shrugged but gave Lucy a reassuring smile, which she either didn't see or didn't feel like acknowledging. Cassie and the other Animorphs, in various states of slight confusion, followed Tanya out. Cassie could hear Eva muttering to Lucy as they went, and she hoped the other woman would be able to smooth over…whatever that was.

Why were adults so complicated?

Jake couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed by everything that was going on. The mission before them hung over him like a cloud and that was bad enough. There was also this…odd feeling. That he was forgetting something. That he had been waiting on something to happen all day that just never did. There was something that he was supposed to be doing, worrying about, taking care of. But no, there was nothing. He couldn't remember anything they needed to do other than take care of the Marriot.

Then why did he feel like something should have happened today?

But nothing did, and it didn't reassure Jake at all. If anything, it just made him more antsy.

Once they were out of earshot of Eva and Tanya's…friend? The spy. Once they were out of hearing range of the newcomer, Tanya turned to him, and for the first time Jake noticed how oddly tense she seemed. She wasn't exactly fidgeting, but she didn't look happy.

Maybe this was what he was waiting for?

"Jake, I need to talk to you, all of you." Tnaya started, and for some reason Jake felt slightly unnerved by the fact that she was using his name. No, he knew the reason. While he was starting to think that Ax's insistence on calling him Prince had started out as serious but was quickly turning into a shared joke, he was almost certain that Tanya's insistence on calling him 'captain' was a joke. Or at least a way of inserting herself into the joke. All he was worried about now was if her spy friend was going to start calling him 'my lord' all the time like she had done yesterday. If she did then Jake would just have to move across the country and change his name to Fred.

He wasn't sure why Fred, it just seemed to fit.

But as she told him what happened in her dreams last night, all thoughts of the Fred Formally Known as Prince/Captain/Lord Jake was swept away to be replaced by a new and almost unique series of headaches. At first he was annoyed with her. Did she really need him to tell her what to do with her life? But then after a moment of reflection he realized that wasn't exactly it. He did tell her to let him know if something changed with the ghosts, and this was a change.

Marco, meanwhile, was staring at her like she had told him the boogeyman was not only real but lurking in the closet right now. "…you know if that Yeerk of his breaks into your friend's mind we are so screwed, right?"

"Not really." Cassie pointed out "You didn't tell him about us, did you?" She asked Tanya.

"No. He still thinks you're Andalites, and I didn't correct him. I doubt he'll want to know about it even if I did try and tell him."

Jake nodded. "Good." He sighed. "The fact that we have a seventh member has probably been noted by the Yeerks, and no matter how stubborn Visser Three is even he will realize at some point that you're one of us now. At the very least the duck's Yeerks will know, even if he stays stubborn. We knew we couldn't keep it under wraps forever. As long as you don't let…Grin, right?" Tanya nodded. "As long as you don't tell Grin any details, it's fine." He sighed. He kind of wished that Tom could be contacted like this, but even if Jake had the ability to dive into his brother's mind he knew that his current Yeerk would see it, and exploit it. Even if he could hide the fact that he was the leader the 'Andalite Bandits' Tom's Yeerk would still punish him on general principles.

((It does bring a bit of an advantage, though.)) Tobias said thoughtfully. ((If Grin can let us know what the duck Controllers are planning, we might be able to find a weakness that we can take our own advantage of. Maybe something that will lead to us freeing them?))

Jake nodded, but he found himself almost troubled by that thought. Ax may have declared him his Prince, but Tanya…would she leave them to go back to the ducks at the first opportunity? Granted, she had insisted before that Wildwing wouldn't treat him the way the Andalites had, and he didn't think she would mislead them, but a strangely selfish part of him didn't want to give up one of his people to someone else. It was a ridiculous thought. She wasn't one of his people, she wasn't even a human. Sure, she was useful and loyal, and she was helping them a lot, but she didn't own them more than she owned her actual team. She was one of them before she was an Animorph. How selfish would it be to keep her from her own kind just because he had gotten used to having her around?

Why did he think of the possibly of her going home as the team losing an asset?

Speaking of assets though…

He looked at her. "What about this magic thing, you think it can be useful?"

Tanya hesitated and shuddered slightly. "I mean…probably…yeah?"

Jake sighed. "Is there a problem?"

"…Jake, it's like…" She shook her head. "It's Saurian magic, Jake, it's evil."

"But we still can use it against the Yeerks." Marco pointed out. "So, what's the problem?"

Tanya sighed again. "I…look." She took a glance back to the entrance of the hideout, then looked back at them. "Saurians are…naturally inclined towards evil. Or at the very least naturally inclined to dominate and conquer others. So's their magic. Scaleborn are…we can be venerable to that evil if we let our Saurian instincts take control. It's…it can be really bad, you guys. You don't understand. The instincts can pop up at any time and if I start learning magic I just…I don't know if I can control it…" She shook her head, still looking away. "I don't know if I'd still be me." Jake could barely hear that last part being said.

There was a long pause, then Marco said. "What, you think it'd make you fall to the Dark Side of the Force?"

Tanya chuckled. "…not a bad analogy."

Jake wasn't sure how to respond when Ax suddenly stamped a hoof and laughed in their minds. ((Instincts, you said? Then there is no Scaleborn in either universe more prepared than you.))

Tanya glared at him. "Excuse me?"

((You constantly morph into different predatory species. The hyena, the hawk, the shark. You also can morph into other animals. If you do suddenly awaken latent unknown instincts in learning these…methods, you will be able to control them easily. You have practice in doing so.)) He stamped again. ((I do not believe these instincts will arise in the first place, but if they do, they will not hinder you.))

Tanya shook her head. "…there have been Scaleborn that used magic before, and they were never able to control themselves…at least not that I heard."

Jake had a feeling that no one would mention it, at least the ducks wouldn't mention it, if there had been, but he decided not to push that particular thought just yet. The more he learned about the ducks and their attitudes towards Scaleborn the less he liked it, but he had to pick and choose his battles.

((You will be the first.)) Ax said. ((As I said. You know what it's like to have another creature's instincts inside of your mind.))

((And we will be here, in case you start hanging around dark castles and laughing manically.)) Tobias said.

"Or if you start playing the pipe organ and wearing Dracula capes." Rachel laughed. "Which, by the way, would look ridiculous on you. Go for the evil scientist lab coat instead."

"I'll just buy a boom box and follow you around with a tape of the Star Wars Imperial March. Or Khan's theme from Star Trek the Wrath of Khan." Marco laughed.

Tanya shook her head. "Ha. And here I was hoping for the ominous Latin chanting from the Omen."

Jake smiled slightly. "You'll be fine. We trust you. And we need every weapon we can get against the Yeerks."

Tanya nodded. "Just…don't let Decoy know about this yet. I'm not sure how she'll react. Honestly, I'm never sure how she'll react to things these days. She's been really weird for the past few years."

Cassie gave her a slight frown. "You should probably tell her eventually. I understand you don't trust her, but this sounds like something you shouldn't keep from her."

Tanya huffed. "Yeah. Sure. Just…not now. I don't know if she'll start gloating or get jealous of me. She'd love any excuse to act more like a Saurian."

Jake nodded and looked up at the sky. "We need to go unless we want to spend all of our time grounded tomorrow." He looked at Tanya. "If you get anymore ghosts tonight, let us know how it goes."

((I'll be here bright and early. Heck, I'll even skip breakfast.)) Tobias said. ((As long as Eva leaves me a breakfast taco. Going to need all of my energy, right?))

Jake nodded up at Tobias. "Good idea. We might have a few days but with all that's at risk here I don't want us to slack off." And anything that got Tobais away from the meadow and the mice was a good thing in Jake's opinion. The hawk situation was unavoidable and for the longest time they had to watch as Tobias went further and further away from a human life and into a hawk one. But the addition of Eva and Tanya had managed to draw Tobias out in a way that even Ax hadn't. That could only be a good thing.

And yet, even as he morphed a falcon to fly back home, there was still the lingering feeling that he had forgotten something.

But what?

This time Tanya was not surprised to find herself back in Grin's mountain home, her teammate in a meditative pose at the base of the tree. He looked up and smiled at her.

"I'm glad your ancestor brought you back. Even the tranquility of this mountain can become…tiresome after a while. Especially with the Yeerks plotting above."

"Yeah, we know about the world leaders." Tanya said. Grin blinked at her.

"How?" He frowned, then chuckled. "I suppose you must have a way to learn their plans, seeing as how your allies always show up to disrupt them."

"Yeah, it's not really something I can share." Tanya sighed and went over to sit next to him. Apparently, Polar Frost was giving them some time to talk before he barged in.

"I understand. Be warned though. Visser Three has anticipated that you will act. He is planning on laying a trap for you. He is going to acquire some sort of planner for the event. I didn't catch the name, but he is going to loudly walk around the Marrott for hours, broadcasting his plan in the hopes that it will lure you to them. He is going to use this man's morph to reschedule the event for the night after the one publicized and claim it's a security measure. He hopes the Andalites will show up at the scheduled night so he can trap them."

"Acquire, not infest?" Tanya asked, and Grin nodded. She pondered. "I'll let the Captain know. Don't worry, we'll figure something out."

"Anything I can do to disrupt their plans. Even Karma needs an agent on occasion."

"Much as I would like to just let you two enjoy this for the rest of the night, I do have to ask." Tanya tensed slightly as Polar Frost, in his less than distinct form, sort of oozed himself out of the shadow of the tree and loomed close to them. "What have you decided?"

Tanya took a deep breath and let it out. She still didn't want to do this. She felt her stomach tying itself into knots at the thought of it. What if the kids were wrong, what if even learning a little bit of this magic turned her into a monster? What if it just…flipped a switch in her brain? She wasn't sure if that would be better or worse than slow corruption. Which would it be, would she just suddenly be someone that wasn't her? Would she just start out small, with little things that slowly twisted her into the very being she wanted to avoid becoming? Or were the kids and Grin right and it would just be her as she always was but with powers that could help them?

She almost jumped at Grin's hand on her shoulder. "Whatever you choose, I will be here for you. Remember that."

Tanya looked at him. Despite his usual calm there was still a hint of strain on his beak. Ducks, she knew, couldn't stay alone for long. They yearned for others of their kind, or at the very least people to stand by them. They needed a flock, a team, a clutch. Without others around them they would slip into a depression that almost killed the soul. No matter how horrible it was for humans to be slaves to Yeerks, what this Yeerk was doing to Grin would destroy him in the end. No doubt the monster didn't care. It probably thought Grin would be a better host.

She really didn't have much of a choice. Jake was right. Any advantage they could get they had to take.

She gulped but nodded at Polar Frost. "I'll do it." She said, and although he was a bit too indistinct at the moment she could swear she could see her ancestor smile at her.

"We will go slow. I know you fear your instincts, so I will not push you to awaken your Saurian half…" Polar Frost paused and tilted his head. "Saurians, and Scaleborn, can greatly increase the power of their magic by going through a…process. A ritual that brings them face to face with their ancestors. My mother did it once and gained great power from it. However, there is always a price the ancestors will take from you, so we will not do that right now. Rather, we will start with what you can accomplish now, as you are."

"What exactly is that?" Tanya asked as the shadow came closer and sat across from her. Slowly he reached out and grabbed her hands in his sharp claws. He turned them over so her palms faced upwards then gently folded them until they formed a bowl shape, like she was trying to hold water in her hands.

"I've thought a bit about what can be of the most use to you, and what you can do while morphed into an animal. Things you can do without a hand gesture or a staff, then I thought of it." He seemed to focus on her palms, and all of a sudden Tanya felt a cold sensation running through her hands, like she was holding bare ice. But no, not exactly. There was ice there, yes, but it was just on the surface. There was a sensation of something flowing under the ice, twisting and chilling her palms. She licked the sides of her beak, and realized there was something there as well, almost a taste. Faintly salty but also cold and chilling, like she was biting into a strangely salty snow cone.

"What are you doing to me?" She asked, but she didn't feel scared anymore. It was cold, but there something almost reassuring about it.

"All Saurian kind has an element. Like your enemy Wrath. He is fire, because he is descended from the Firekin." Polar Frost frowned. "Although he might have some Frost ancestry, considering his body type, but I digress. For you, and for me, and for the majority of Scaleborn, our Saurian bloodline comes from the Frost, so we are most suited for frost magic. That is what you are feeling and tasting now. The frost magic within. It has always been inside of you, but you have never been able to touch it before now." His head tilted to one side. "Imagine, if you will, a container of water. Frozen water, but water. That water is your magic. It flows within you, but you have bottled it up and kept it in its container for all of your life. What we are doing now, is attaching a faucet to it."

Tanya blinked and chuckled. "A faucet?"

Polar Frost shrugged. "It's a good visualization for you. When you need to draw on magic it would be like turning that faucet and pouring out a little bit for you to use. See what I mean?"

Tanya thought for a moment. She had never been good at meditation; Grin could attest to that. But this was…different. Maybe it was because she could feel something instead of her own racing thoughts, but now that Polar Frost had drawn it out she could almost feel the ice gathering along her feathers, waiting to burst out of her. Now that it was here, summoned to her attention, she could feel it underneath her skin. It should have felt horrifying, it should have felt like an intrusion, but it didn't. It felt more like turning into a pigeon for the first time and realizing she could finally breathe easy for the first time in her life, or when she morphed the hyena and was able to smell better than she ever could as a duck. Like she had been stifling a sense that was now, at least in part, open.

She could feel it, all she had to do was reach out and take it.

"Reach inside. Just a little bit and bring us the snow."

Yes, there it was, right there. She reached, she wasn't sure how, and she would never be able to articulate how, but she reached, and it was there. It had always been there, waiting for her to take it.

Slowly, a small crystal of ice started to form above her hands, sharp and cold and almost beautiful as it shimmered in the air. She could imagine using it, and a million like it, shoot them at the Yeerks, at the Taxxons. At Visser Three. Fill up with so many holes that even he wouldn't be able to morph out of it. Freeze him in a coffin of ice and watch him turn even more blue than he already was. Watch the life drain out of his four eyes and then he'd realize who had the power here! She'd-

She yelped as something flicked her on the beak and the ice crystal shattered. With it all the strange thoughts about killing and conquering Yeerks fled as well. She shook her head and blinked.

"Huh…what?"

"You were getting into your own head." Polar Frost said, sounding more amused than anything else. "Just like a hatchling."

"…you seemed…different." Grin said, frowning at her. She looked at him and almost shrank back. Wait, did he hear any of what she had been thinking? Did she say any of those deranged thoughts out loud? What would he think of her?

Polar Frost flicked her beak again. "Hey, none of that." He said. "What you just felt is something all Saurians feel."

"So, the instincts are real…" she shuddered.

"Everything has instincts. Doesn't your hyena have the instinct to hunt? Doesn't your shark, your hawk? Did not the dolphin have the instinct to play and cavort? Doesn't the cockroach shrink from loud noises and lights? All things have instincts, it's how they survive." Polar Frost said.

"Those animals don't have the instinct to murder people! I was just thinking of killing Visser Three by freezing him to death!" Tanya hissed.

"The same Visser Three that took your team from you? The Visser Three that threatens everyone you love? Rest assured, the Yeerks won't stop with either of your teams if he makes his way to our world. You and I both know what he would do to your clutch if he found them. If he found your brother." Polar Frost hissed back. "And don't tell me a hyena doesn't bite into its prey with its teeth, and don't tell me there is something morally superior about it. You want to conquer and dominate the thing threating your kin. That's not an evil instinct. Saurian instincts aren't evil, they're just territorial and predatory!"

"Territorial?" Grin asked, now curious. Polar Frost turned to look at him.

"What ducks had interpreted for centuries as inherent evil is nothing more than the urge to defend one's own. To a Saurian, they will defend what belongs to them to the death, whether or not that thing is a simple as an item of food or as complex as an ideology. Like all instincts, it depends on how you use it and how you react to it. Some, like Dragaunus, react by becoming possessive to the point of needing to dominate everything even if what they are trying to dominate doesn't want it. Some, like my mother, used it to protect those she loved." Polar Frost looked down at Tanya. "Your actions are your own, no matter what your inner thoughts might say."

Tanya took a deep breath again. In a way he was right. It wasn't like she hadn't briefly lost control of her hyena morph when she first morphed it. And the dolphin morph had also been almost overwhelming, albeit in a happy playful way rather than a predatory one. And none of them could fully control the seagull's ability to spot food everywhere. This wasn't any more overwhelming than the other morphs. In fact, the dolphin was probably more overwhelming.

"Besides, we aren't going to be using the ice shards anyway. A bit surprised you managed that, in fact." Polar Frost pondered. "You won't be able to do that, as say, a hyena. You need hands for it."

"Then what were you thinking?" Tanya asked.

"Something a bit less deadly." Polar Frost sat back and blinked, and there was suddenly a thick wall of ice between him and her. A wall so thick and caked with frost it was almost impossible to see through. "See? It's a bit like the shield your duck leader carries, but it's magic, not technology."

That could be useful, especially if it would always be as hard to see through as the one she was seeing right now. She could easily imagine the entire team being shielded by that wall of ice while they demorphed and remorphed. That could be very useful, and she wondered if Polar Frost had realized that.

Probably. That was probably the reason that he was showing her this in the first place instead of encouraging her to try more deadly spells that might put her off the entire thing. There still was a part of her, a quiet part but still there, that really wanted to learn the icy version of Wraith's deadly fireballs. It wasn't that hard to visualize now that she had a general idea of how it worked. But while she probably could keep the more Saurian like impulses at bay, just like she kept the hyena's predatory urges at bay, that didn't mean she wanted to drop her guard.

Nope, ice shields were a much, much better option.

The night passed, with Grin observing Tanya as her 'grandparent' walked her through more exercises to help her bring about the magic within. While a part of him couldn't help but be unsettled by what he saw, he knew that this was a good thing. Not just to help him, but to help her. For better or worse, this was a part of her legacy, and while Grin himself firmly believed the official tales of Polar Frost and the Ice Saurians, he knew that Tanya herself was a good person. But he also knew, now more than ever, that she really was descended from the Frost King.

The fact that every time she channeled the magic her eyes glowed like Wraith's did all the time was a strong hint, but there were other reasons.

It was not his secret to tell, not his business, not really, but he knew certain things about the ducks, about all of them. He didn't have to be told, but he knew certain things just from observation. He had never been a big reader when he was younger, until he came to the mountain. His Master had taught him to use his mind as well as his strength, and inspired a desire for not only history, but myth and legend and well. And, if you observed the makeup of the Mighty Duck's team, a certain trend emerged.

The McMallard family name was well known throughout their planet. While the descendants of most of Drake Ducaine's hockey team were lost to history, their family could trace their line back through the ages, all the way back to a figure known as Mother Mallard, the Mother of Heros. A hero in her own right, she had given birth to many strong sons and daughters who would go on to do great things. She was married to a great king that helped lead their people to peace after the unfortunate death of Drake Ducaine and the exile of the Saurians. But, before all of that, she had spied and infiltrated the Saurian ranks, posing as a servant and slave of none other than the Frost King herself. Getting close to the monster she was able to not only ensure Polar Frost's loyalty to the cause but also might have led the Frost King to take actions that would help support the duck's cause. She was said to a woman of great strength, but also of great guile.

Her children, her descendants, went on to be leaders in the duck community, many of them were in the military.

General MacMallard, and Mallory, were part of that large, illustrious family.

While the rest of them couldn't claim direct blood relation to a member of Drake's team, it was no secret that the order that Grin had been adopted into had once been a clan of great renown, a clan of wild ducks that claimed the very mountain whose image they now rested in. A clan that had beaten back the Air Saurians for years, and whose mighty chieftess had joined the hocky team in an Alliance that stretched between their clan and the more civilized ducks through the ages. While the clan no longer had to struggle and fight to survive, many of their traditions still lived on. Traditions that Grin had adopted, and felt as if he was a part of. He may or may not be blood related to the clan, but he was certainly a part of it.

As for Duke, the Brotherhood of the Blade hadn't always been thieves. Once they had been freedom fighters, preying upon Saurians and giving to needy ducks. Duke's way during the invasion hadn't been so much a turn from tradition as much as it was a return to the Brotherhood's true purpose.

Their leader's son had been a member of Drake's team as well.

In fact, as far as Grin could tell, only Wildwing and Nosedive didn't have some connection to the team that had come before them. He had asked Canard about that. The answer had been simple. Wildwing, no matter his unknown bloodline, was the best goalie that Canard knew. He wasn't just picking people who had connections to ancient history, although Grin suspected that had been a small factor, but it also just so happened that these people had skills needed to defeat Dragaunus. To the rest of the team, Canard only said that he chose them for their abilities, nothing more.

Grin always suspected that the reason he never told them about these connections was due to Tanya herself. They all knew she was Scaleborn, but they didn't know she came from Polar Vortex's bloodline. How would they know? Tanya never talked about it. And Grin knew why, because the day he asked Canard about these ancient connections, Canard had made him take a vow.

He had asked Canard directly, if Tanya was related to the Frost King. He would never forget how their first leader's gaze darkened as the two of them sat in Canard's quarters in the Resistance headquarters the night before the mission that would change their lives. How Canard's gaze had wandered in the general direction of General MacMallard's rooms.

"…you like history, don't you Grin?" Canard had asked gently, and Grin had nodded. "Think about our most…recent history. Think about what they say about Polar Frost's hatchlings, and what happened to them. Think about the last person who claimed to be related to Polar Vortex, and what she did."

Grin frowned. "How recent?"

Canard had told him the date, and Grin pondered, then his eyes had widened and he realized what his leader was getting at.

"She isn't…is she?"

Canard nodded.

"How do you know this?"

Canard shrugged and smiled slightly. "My dad was a caretaker. He was hired by the General to look after her clutch after he found himself…less then suited for the job. To be fair on him, thirty-six Scaleborn hatchlings is a lot of children and…well they have special needs. Dad helped raise them as best he could. Had some help from the soldiers but…he and later my mom were probably the closest thing her clutch had to parents. They took me there sometimes. I taught them hockey."

"…is that why you trust her? Even if-"

"She's not her mother, Grin. She's better than that. Are you really going to blame her for crimes that happened before she was even hatched?"

Grin frowned. "Of course not…but the karmic implications of this…"

Canard shrugged. "You do realize that they have nothing, right Grin? Especially after all of this, things are going to be really bad for Scaleborn. After what Decoy did, and what Dragaunus is doing, no one is going to give them a fair shot. Most of them are good people." He shrugged again.

"Do the others know?"

"No, and we aren't going to mention it. She hates talking about her parents, can you blame her? And she wouldn't want Mallory to know about it either. So, you aren't going to say anything, alright Grin? Just keep it between us. Promise me, alright?"

Grin kept frowning. "You fear the others would turn on her?"

"No, I know Wildwing better than that. Stuff like that doesn't matter to him. But she would think that. It's happened to her before, and the General's attitude doesn't help. It's bad enough she's Scaleborn, but when most people figure out who she's related to…it's bad, Grin. It can get really, really bad. I don't want her to have to go through that right before this mission. Maybe after, when the time is right. But until she's ready, keep it a secret. Okay?"

Grin had agreed, and even though he felt he should have brought it up after they were stranded it just…didn't feal right. He had no business bringing it up to them without her permission, although he had been tempted during the Falcone incident, if only to ask why it was okay to blame Duke for his past when Mallory never blamed Tanya for hers. But then she probably didn't know who Tanya's mother was. And, while it might have helped support Duke, Grin realized he would only cause friction if he brought it up.

Besides, he wasn't going to be the one to let Mallory know what Tanya's mother had done to Mallory's family.

That was not his place.

So, he kept the secret, but he wondered, as he watched Tanya's eyes glowing like red rubies in the mountain sun, how much longer that secret would be kept.

"So, how did everything go last night?" Jake asked as he eyed the clouds. "Other than the Visser attempt at subtlety?" The Aerowing, stealth activated and invisible to both humans and Yeerks alike, was making good time back in the direction of Anaheim, a detail that Tanya was trying very hard not to think about. She hadn't been home (when was Anaheim home?) in months but it felt more like going into danger than going home (and why shouldn't it, literally all her enemies were there, why did that hurt so much?)

She had just finished telling the others what Grin had told her of Visser Three's plans. Not that he had known the details. Apparently, Visser Three might have yelled the general outline of the plan in the Blade ship at a few intervals but he hadn't exactly gone over the details of the plan with anyone other than his most trusted lieutenants. None of the duck's Yeerks were in the Visser's inner circle, but again the evil slug was loud and even among the Yeerks there was still the tendency to gossip around the office.

Tanya was more and more convinced that Eva was right about Visser Three being a better battlefield commander. She had a feeling his evil scheme yelling would go over much better before, say, a charge against enemy forces. Still, he had managed to come up with something almost clever this time. Maybe one of the duck Controllers had mentioned a few of Dragaunus' 'Get rid of the ducks, then take over the world' ideas. Or maybe not. Maybe Visser Three would have eventually come up with the idea on his own.

"Apparently it's going to take a little while before I can actually do anything useful." Tanya shrugged. "And yes, there are indeed evil Saurian instincts triggered by magic, but it's no worse than the dolphin mind and I eventually got that under control."

"Well, that's good." Jake nodded.

"Mostly it's a large ice shield, which considering how often we get shot at by Dracon beams, will be pretty useful. And, I should be able to do it as a hyena. And, and, it's very opaque, so if, say, we have to go from battle morphs to our raptor morphs we can do it without worrying as much about the Yeerks seeing us demorph."

Jake blinked and smiled at her. "Great!"

Tanya snorted. "Honestly, if I'm right I won't have to learn anything lethal at all. Heck, if I'm right maybe I could do this weird instant teleportation that Wraith does. Don't know how many passengers he can take, but it's a possibility."

"See, I'd be learning the fireball thing you've mentioned before, but that's just me." Rachel grinned. "Imagine, a fire breathing grizzly bear."

"…well, I have a new nightmare. Thanks for that." Marco shuddered.

"Come on, think of the possibilities. Deep fried Taxxon." Rachel grinned. "I hear fried worms are a delicacy in certain parts of the world."

Marco shook his head. "Only you, Xena. Well, you and every other Taxxon in existence. They'd probably be just as eager for a little nibble of their fellow worms. What does that say about you, you lunatic."

Rachel smirked and tossed her hair. "That I'm at least a classy lunatic. Just like Hannibal Lector."

"And now that's another new nightmare for me, thanks." Marco said.

"Awww, don't worry. I'll tell Eva to make you a nice glass of warm milk before bed tonight." Rachel said and jabbed her elbow into Marco's side, a subtle way of letting him know that she was joking around with him.

((How would giving Marco milk help with nightmares?)) Ax asked. ((Is there some sort of psychological effect on the human mind that comes from drinking other mammal's milk?))

"Well, it does calm babies." Rachel grinned.

Tanya was only halfway listening to kids' banter; the other half of her brain was concentrating on their destination. Sure, she could find the location of Dr. Droid's last criminal enterprise, no problem. But the fact still remained that the closer they got to their destination the more nervous she felt, and no amount of Marco and Rachel's usual teasing of each other could totally distract her from where they were going.

It wasn't just the strange feeling of going home, there was also the persistent threat that the ducks now were. Sure, they might not be able to use Drake One now, but she'd be foolish to think that the ducks hadn't figured out a way around her sabotage. The rest of them might not have her expertise, but it wasn't like they were idiots. Wildwing at the very least was a very creative person, more than her, and if anyone could come up with a clever way to get past losing Drake One and the Mask it would be him.

"You going to be alright?" Jake eyed her, his expression calm for a guy on his way into enemy territory.

Tanya couldn't help but swallow. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

His eyes narrowed slightly at her. "I get it. We might run into the ducks." He shrugged. "Our priority is the world leaders, and I know you realize that." For a brief second he seemed to study the clouds. "But if we have the opportunity to save your friends, we'll take it."

She blinked at him. The thought hadn't really crossed her mind, she had been more concerned with the threat they posed to the Animorphs more than thinking of rescuing them. The thought that only a few months of this, and she hadn't even thought about what going back could mean and the possibly of saving the others troubled her. Why hadn't she thought about saving them, shouldn't that have been the first thing she thought about?

Still she nodded at Jake. "Thanks."

It should have been comforting, but if anything she just felt more and more unsettled the closer and closer they got to Anaheim.

From the outside Anaheim didn't look any different at all, but for some reason Tanya just couldn't shake a feeling of trepidation sinking into her gut. From the outside it looked like just a normal day, but knowing that the Yeerks had taken a hold, no matter tenuous, was unnerving to her. Anaheim had become so familiar to her, she could see the mall, several places where the team had eaten, several venues were she and the others had been forced to participate in Phil's schemes. 'Lectric Land, the comic shop where Nosedive's human friends worked, the stupid looking hot dog sign…

And the Pond, looming there, at the same time both welcoming and foreboding. She had spent days hollowing the underground out and making a home of it. It was almost as familiar to her as the base where she had grown up. But she knew if she tried to go there she wouldn't find the home she had built for the team. It had been taken from her, just like her childhood home had been taken by the Saurians. Sure, it hadn't been a nice house like most of the ducks or the kids had grown up in, but had still been her home. At one point it had been the place that housed her clutch. Even if that meant nothing to Decoy…to Lucy it had meant something to her. Now it was gone. Just like the Pond was gone.

Well, not as gone. Obviously, the Pond was still standing, but it was out of her reach.

She shook her head. She needed to focus. It would do no good to let her thoughts paralyze her. They did that far too often.

The warehouse that Droid had used the last two times the ducks had encountered him was dark and silent, despite the fact that it was early morning. Making sure there was no hint of the Migrator or any other duck activity in the area, Tanya landed the Aerowing on a nearby roof across from the warehouse, just within cockroach crawling distance.

"You sure we can keep this thing away from the Yeerks?" Marco asked. "Not sure I like the thought of leaving our jet out in the open like this, stealth shielding or no."

"They've never been able to pick up the Raptor without the Mask, and that's back at the camp with Eva. It should be fine."

((Still, we might need to figure out some way to put the space boot on it.)) Tobais said.

((How would an artificial hoof help?)) Ax asked.

((It's just what people call these things you put on car tires to stop them from spinning. They call it the boot.)) Tobias gently preened a wing.

((Ah…why?))

((No clue, Ax-man.))

"…I thought the thing that was supposed to prevents cars being stolen was the club. Isn't the boot what the cops use to stop cars?" Tanya wondered aloud.

"No, she's right." Rachel nodded. "The club prevents thefts; the police use the boots."

"Okay, guys, focus." Jake sighed. "We can talk about space boots or space clubs later."

"Question." Marco glared at the warehouse. "Cockroach eyes suck. How are we getting from the invisible jet to the creepy mad science lab? As much as I'd love the skip the lair of Boris and the Monster Mash, we do need to get over there without getting lost."

"The Monster Mash is a song, usually played on the Earth holiday Halloween." Tanya looked at Ax before he could ask.

((Oh. Thank you…is it as bad as most human music?))

Tanya shrugged. "Eh, guess it depends on your taste. It's weird, kinda goes like-"

"Guys, no Monster Mash." Jake sighed. "Later. You have an entire creepy campsite to sing Halloween songs at. Mission."

Tanya nodded. "Yeah, he's right." She smirked at Ax. "Don't want the Prince Captain to get all nervous before the mission."

Ax nodded. ((Indeed, we must do as the Captain Prince orders.))

"I know you two do that deliberately." Jake muttered, then clapped his hands. "Okay. Tobias, you stay a hawk. The rest of us morph roaches and hitch a ride. Just deposit us on the roof and we'll go down from there. I'd also like you to keep an eye out for the ducks. Let us know if they start lurking around or investigating the area."

((You got it.)) Tobias agreed.

Tanya had only gone cockroach a few times before, but while she didn't find the animals as viscerally disgusting as the humans did, it was still rather gross suddenly sprouting extra legs from the chest like a horror movie. The shrinking wasn't exactly reassuring either. It reminded her too much of the time Droid had shrunk her, Grin and Nosedive, and she felt a bit odd doing it deliberately now, even though this time she was morphing into a cockroach instead of just being shrunk to the size of a mouse.

Still, the morph was completed quickly enough, and the roach morph was relatively easy to control. It was actually less overwhelming than the Saurian instincts had been, at least as long as there were no loud vibrations or a lot of sudden light. The roach mind liked neither of this things and considered them a danger. It made sense with a bug so small and helpless.

((Well, this is nice and gross.)) Tobias sighed as the small roach army arranged themselves on his talons, although two of them ended up on his back. ((I feel infested you guys.))

((Oh trust me, this isn't fun for us either.)) Marco grumbled as he settled deep into Tobias' feathers. ((We are the world's nastiest paratroopers…Tanya, what's it like being a real superhero? One that doesn't have to turn into a roach and hitch a ride on a bird boy like it's the world's worse taxi service?))

((You just flew in on an alien fighter jet.)) Tanya pointed out as Tobias hopped his way out of the Aerowing. ((How much more 'superhero' did you want to go?))

((Not being a cockroach ever again would be nice.)) Marco gripped. ((It would be nice to just swing into a building like this on a web like Spiderman instead of being dropped from the sky.))

((I have never swung into a building in my life.)) Tanya replied. ((I use doors like normal people…until I meet you guys. I meet you guys and all of a sudden, I'm crawling under doorframes and slipping in through cracks in foundations.))

((Really, all that vigilantism you guys apparently do around here, and you've never swung into a building?)) Marco asked.

((You want building swinging, talk to Duke. When he's not a Controller, I mean. Honestly, with the way he can brag sometimes it won't be hard to get him to talk.))

((Alright guys, you are above the roof.)) Tobias said a few moments later. ((And I don't see a hint of the ducks from here.)) Tobais' thought speak voice sounded a bit distracted.

((You sure everything's clear?)) Jake asked.

((Yeah it's…really clear. I don't even see anything down there like rats or other bugs.)) Tobais said.

((Huh, maybe it's because it's daylight. Everything is avoiding the sunlight.)) Jake mused.

((Maybe…just be careful down there. I don't like this.)) Tobias said as he landed on the roof. The roach army quickly scuttled off him. Tanya could feel the roach's unease with the sunshine, not to mention the presence of the large Godzilla sized hawk standing next to them, craning his head around as he scanned the area. ((There's some sort of vent a few feet away from you guys. Go to the right…no, the other right. Okay there you go. I'll be around.)) Tobais flapped to a higher section of the roof, perching there and craning his neck around, peering and trying to keep his distinctive tail out of line of sight from the ground.

((Okay, Tanya, you've been here before, lead the way.)) Jake said.

((Alright…but I was a duck before, and I never got in the vents.)) Tanya pointed out.

((Maybe, but you still know more than we do.)) Jake said.

Tanya scuttled for the vent, as best she could when her beak…nose? Head? When whatever it was that roaches had in place of a beak was pointed to the ground. As soon as she was inside the vent and away from the sun her roach brain felt better, but the duck mind was not at all reassured. Tobias was right. There was something off here. Still, she scurried though the vents, attempting to match up their progress with what she remembered of the interior of the warehouse. Fortunately, while she had only been here a few times before, and at least one time she spent most of that encounter inside a giant robot, she had a basic idea of where to go. And it wasn't exactly a maze.

Still, the place was quiet. So quiet that she could almost imagine her basically silent roach feet where making loud thunks as she crawled along the vent. There wasn't a single sound, aside from the scratchy scratch noises of roaches crawling through a vent. There wasn't a single creak or groan or any other sounds. Just silence. Utter silence.

After a few moments, Marco spoke up again. ((You know, I hate to say it.))_

((Then don't. Shut up, Marco.)) Rachel said.

((Yeah, but…I know this ends badly, but…))

((Oh, if you say what think you are going to say…))

((But it is, it's just too quiet!)) Marco exclaimed. ((And it's clean. Have you noticed how clean this vent is? It's almost like it was freshly dusted or something. There isn't a single dust bunny and this is prime bunny territory.))

((Not to mention a considerable lack of other, true roaches.)) Ax mused. ((If I understand correctly these insects are prevalent just about everywhere on Earth. Why has there been no sign of any others?))

((There is a suspicious lack of roach poop.)) Cassie said.

((I kind of like no roach poop. You want roach poop?)) Rachel asked.

((Well, the lack of…ummm, droppings means that there haven't been any other roaches around here, and that does sort of bother me, yes.)) Cassie replied.

Tanya thought for a moment. ((Other than his weird obsession with machines, Droid also had a very firm hatred for organic life. Remember, he thinks he is a machine, and while he's insane he's also a genius. Maybe he installed some system in here to keep as much organic life as possible out of his territory?))

((So, what, he might have built the world's best roach motel?)) Jake asked. ((How likely is it to still be running?))

((Well, factoring in the general quality of his work, which is remarkably high for someone with limited resources and supplies, and the fact that it would have to be months in between his building this hypothetical system and the fact that this place does seem very sanitized I'd say-))

Her roach brain screamed into high alert as a sudden scraping noise echoed through the apparently abandoned warehouse. She skittered to a halt as a long, sharp, needle like leg emerged from around the corner of the vent. Slowly, deliberately slowly, something pulled itself around the corner like a large, very hungry spider.

Spider was a good description; it looked a lot like the spider machine that Droid had built before. Like this was some sort of tiny prototype built before the larger, city destroying one. It sparked and lurched towards them, wires dragging the ground as it pulled itself forwards. Two legs dragged behind it, the other four working to pull it along as its back end dragged. Two red lights emitted a beam of energy that washed over the group, but fortunately it seemed to just be a scanning device. But it wasn't long before two panels opened on the spider bot's front, exposed what looked for all the world like a pair of flamethrowers. There was a distinct smell of gas in the air.

((One hundred percent likely! Run!))

A/N: I almost feel like I'm ghostwriting an actual Animorph's book now. Cliffhangers and all.

Mallory knows exactly who Tanya is related to, but because Canard made Grin promise to keep it to himself he doesn't know that. And, since Tanya begged Mallory to keep it a secret, she doesn't know that Grin knows either. Both of them are keeping the same secret, but neither knows it.

Miscommunication is fun and drama.