An Author's Note: Warning for 90s kids style language that doesn't jive with modern sensibilities that well. Just trying to keep Marco in character.
Chapter 4
Cassie sat somewhat awkwardly on one of the duck ship's chairs, waiting for Ax to retrieve the morphing cube from another part of the ship. It was sort of odd flying in an alien spacecraft. The last time it had happened it had been a Bug fighter. This ship was bigger, roomier, and while it wasn't a luxury limo it somehow felt more comfortable than the Bug fighter. Maybe it was because someone had left an empty candy wrapper underneath her chair. It was a human (relatively) detail that hadn't been there in the Yeerk craft. She could easier imagine one of the younger members of the hockey team leaving a candy wrapper like a kid leaving trash in mom's van than a Yeerk soldier doing the same thing.
Rachel snored next to her in another chair, worn out a bit from rapidly morphing into multiple different morphs all at once. Cassie smiled. They might be heading for another battle, but at least one of them was able to relax a bit. This ship was handy. It was nice to have something like it for long distances. She doubted they could use it all the time, what did it even use for fuel, but it was still proving useful.
Ax returned, carrying the morphing cube in his hands carefully. Andalite hands were weak in comparison to a humans, but he managed to bring it without much difficulty. Cassie straightened and moved to poke Rachel awake. She snorted and blinked blearily up at Cassie.
"They're about to do it."
"…we there yet?"
"No, I mean the cube."
"Oh. Great. Yay. Wake me up when we get there or if the ship blows up." Rachel yawned and rolled over in her seat away from Cassie. Cassie smiled and shook her head. She couldn't help but feel this was an important moment. If this worked out maybe, they could even recruit more people to the Animorphs. Get some of the immense pressure off themselves. To be honest she sort of regretted that they weren't able to help more of the ducks. If they had they would be in a stronger position, no matter Marco's doubts about the ducks or Ax's slight contempt of them. Cassie knew somehow that more of them would have been even more useful. But they hadn't, and they had to concentrate on the duck they had here right now.
Cassie considered the woman, Tanya. She seemed incredibly tense through the entire process and had been so the moment they had all stepped on the ship. Cassie couldn't blame her. She knew that if it was them on an alien planet, and she was the last one left with no other humans around she'd be just as tense. She had a feeling that Tanya was as uncertain of them as Marco was of her. She wondered how much the age factor was connected to that. Tanya hadn't brought up any objections even though by now she knew very well how old the Animorphs really were. The only hint that she had given of her feelings on the matter was a weird, almost sad look she occasionally shot at them which none of the others had picked up on. It wasn't exactly pity, more like a resigned kind of grief. It was like the look on Cassie's father's face whenever they had to humanly euthanize an animal too far gone to save. Like Tanya was looking at a horrible, but certain necessity. Cassie could only guess, for all she knew there was some cultural reason for the odd looks, but no actual pushback. Tanya seemed to still be accepting Jake as 'captain', but who knew how it would work in real combat. They would have to see, and hope.
Cassie had plenty of hope.
Ax offered the box to Tanya, who had turned around in her chair again, looking at the thing with an unreadable expression. It was strange, there were times when her expressions matched a human, and other times when they were just indecipherable. Cassie had noticed how flexible Tanya's beak (was it really a beak?) was. It moved more like an actual mouth but was clearly shaped like a duck bill. It couldn't be made of the same stuff an Earth duck's bill was made of. Cassie had also managed to catch sight of small humanoid teeth in that mouth. They kind of were pushed back in there, but they were still there. It was weird. Tanya's anatomy was weird, and Cassie wanted to know a bit more.
Maybe later.
((Simply touch the box. The transfer of the morphing ability will be quick.)) Ax said, a little stiffly and formally. Cassie couldn't blame him. She remembered that Andalites weren't supposed to give their technology to others. After one of them, Seerow, had given advanced technology to the Yeerks and the Yeerks had gone on to attempt to conquer the galaxy, the Andalites were wary of giving anything to anyone else. Elfangor had broken one of their most sacred laws, and now Ax was doing the same thing.
Cassie thought she saw the moment the power transferred to their new friend. Tanya sort of twitched and pulled her hand away. She continued to study the box visually though.
"H-how does it work?" she asked, looking at Ax.
((Simply touch any living organism and imagine being that creature. That is the first step, acquiring the animal. After the animal has been acquired all that is necessary is concentrated on being that animal. You will have only two hours in a morph, after that.)) Ax's stalk eyes trailed to Tobias, who was sitting on Jake's armrest. ((If you go over the time limit you will be trapped in the morph.))
Tanya's eyes darted to Tobias, who shifted uncomfortably on his perch. She looked back at Ax. "Okay, but that's not really what I was asking. How does it function? How does the process work?"
"Oh boy, alien science. I'm going to take a nap with Rachel." Marco flopped down in the chair he claimed, put his head back and closed his eyes. Rachel opened her eyes a crack and snorted.
"Keep dreaming." She mumbled before slipping back into unconsciousness.
((Well, you see…)) Ax began, his eyes brightening and his tail raising slightly in an almost perky manner. Cassie had spent enough time with Ax to get a general idea of how he was feeling. At least a better idea than Tanya's body language. Ax seemed eager to talk to someone who could understand what he was talking about. He might have Andalite law hanging over his head, but the damage was done now, and he might as well tell their new member about how the morphing technology worked. The rest of them always tended to glaze over when Ax started talking about space things. Cassie couldn't even understand sci fi technobabble from Earth much less whatever Ax was saying. But from the way Tanya attentively nodded and asked clarifying questions Cassie could tell that the duck woman understand what Ax was saying. That was nice. They had something in common. Maybe Ax would get over his reluctance to add a new member.
Then it went a little south.
In the middle of Ax's incomprehensible explanation about the morphing cube he mentioned something about z-space.
"What?" Tanya suddenly went ridged as soon as Ax mentioned z-space. "That thing uses z-space technology?" She shot the morphing cube a look that suggested it had just turned into a cobra.
((Well, yes, we use it for everything. In our ships and our-))
"D-d-d-do you have an-any idea how unstable z-space is?" Tanya wasn't exactly shouting but she was loud enough to wake both Rachel and Marco, who were giving her identical annoyed expressions. Even Jake was looking at her with some annoyance.
((I suppose it can be a bit unpredictable.)) Ax said in annoyance.
"A bit?!"
"What's your problem?" Marco grumped.
Tanya turned to him. "Z-space is a h-h-highly unstable dimensional between plane that-"She blinked then started over again. "Never mind. The simple explanation is that anything that uses z-space is so unpredictable and unstable that it's incredibly dangerous. Any variation in calculations or…" She paused again and seemed to think. Cassie couldn't be sure but she thought Tanya was trying to figure out a way to explain complicated physics to annoyed human teenagers and felt a stab of sympathy for her. She also noticed that Tanya's clear agitation and attempts to communicate something complex was aggravating her stutter. "Have you guys had a lot of i-i-issues morphing? Like, suddenly not doing it when you want or doing it when you don't."
Now Rachel was looking less annoyed and more thoughtful. "Actually, yeah. Really recently. I had an allergy to a croc morph. I morphed uncontrollably every time I got emotional. Eventually its DNA kinda crawled out of me and made an entirely new croc. It was creepy."
Tanya sort of rubbed the side of her bill. "T-t-t-that wasn't really an allergy in the trad…umm, not medically. That was the z-space transmitters failing because of a com-compatibility issue in the software. And it makes an entirely new creature because it's z-space and z-space just does things without any logic. Honestly, it's a minor miracle that you people aren't constantly morphing into blobs of random limbs and things. It's a miracle that you haven't been flung around through time and ended up in another galaxy."
Jake gave her a horrified look.
((Andalites are fully capable of harnessing z-space technology in a way that is both safe and effective ninety percent of the time. While you are correct that z-space is unstable we have done enough research and experimentation that the consequences of using z-space is negligible.)) Ax sounded frankly pissed at this point.
"Well y-you're people are probably downright geniuses then." Tanya clearly meant that to be sarcastic, but it was clear to Cassie that Ax had taken it earnestly.
((And what sort of technology do your people use, if not z-space? This vessel is clearly space worthy, so how does it get anywhere?))
"The Aerowing can get to say, the Earth moon and back, but it can't go into deep deep space, for one." Tanya said. "It would run out of fuel for one. Not that fast for another. Wouldn't use it to go farther than, say, the last planet of this solar system."
((Fair enough, but what is the fuel?)) Ax asked.
"Crystals, mostly. Crystals formatted to provide energy." Tanya shrugged. "We use various kinds. Saurians use belerium-"
((Ha)) Ax scoffed. ((We studied that a long time ago. It was proven to be ineffective and costly. Those kinds of crystals are rare and while they might provide a stable power source they are impractical. It is no wonder that this vessel cannot get past this solar system!))
"And I suppose it's better to just casually rip holes through space time continuums just to get from one point to the other." Tanya growled.
"Alright, that's enough." Jake said. "We are not going to fight about this here. Are you having second thoughts?" Jake looked at Tanya who shook her head.
"No. It's a bit too late for that. Z-space is all over me now." She hissed to herself. "Just got to keep monitoring things…"
"Alright, then let's not fight right before a mission. Okay? Both of you." Jake looked from one to the other.
((Yes Prince Jake.)) Ax said, and for once Jake didn't contradict him. For her part Tanya simply nodded.
Marco caught Cassie's eye and gave her a look. It was clear what that look meant. Marco was primed to see problems with giving Tanya the morphing ability, and to him this might seem like confirmation that she wouldn't fit in with the group. But to Cassie it had just looked like an argument that could have happened between any of them. It was just z-space vs crystals instead of Batman vs. Spiderman. Besides, Tanya seemed to drop the issue easily enough.
"Here's a question." Rachel, now awake and becoming used to the idea of being awake, asked. "If this ship can't get past our solar system, how did you get all the way to Earth from…wherever it is you came from."
"Well, the n-name of our world is a bit…hard for humans to say according to Phil. He started calling it Puckworld and we've been calling it that for a bit." Tanya said. "But to answer the actual question, umm, we kinda ended up following the Saurians through an interdimensional gateway. It's why he had so many belerium crystals in the first place. He has a device that goes through dimensions but it doesn't work that well because we smashed the power source. It can only do limited trips. Small groups of people, not the armies he used to have. He could probably fit him and his three followers through but then they'd had to abandon their ship. Doesn't seem to want to do that. So, technically we don't actually come from deep space. We come from an alternative Earth."
Ax's tail lowered in astonishment. ((That…explains everything. Why your people are unknown to Andalites and why you've never been discovered by the Yeerks before. Why your technology is so…strange. It's human technology just, more advanced. I don't know why it's more advanced, but it is!))
Tanya shrugged. "Probably b-b-because ducks have had more time to build these kind of things." She tapped the side of one of the Aerowing's control panels. "T-the Mask itself was given to Drake Ducaine by some advanced civilization, and a lot of our own technology is based on it. Least before it was lost for a few, ya know, thousand years or so. So we kinda had a head start."
"So, there's no way that the Yeerks can reach your version of Earth to find your people, right?" Jake asked, refusing outright to refer to any planet with the term 'Puckworld'.
"Well, not right now. I can't figure out how the Saurians dimensional gate actually works. They once had an empire that spanned our world, and oppressed everyone else that lived there, but when Drake Ducaine was given the Mask he managed to trap them in limbo. It's where they were for thousands of years until the last of their overlords, Dragaunus, broke them out and reconquered our world. The team, my team, were the strike force sent to destroy his master control tower to let the rest of the resistance drive them out. Their army is just a bunch of robots, there are only four Saurians alive. But since they basically created the gate in a vacuum, I have no idea how it works. Been trying to figure it out, but I have to pretty much start from square one. But no, unless the Yeerks find Dragaunus they won't be able to go to my dimension. He's the only one who knows how his gate works. I could work it out eventually, but it would take time."
"And this guy is where, again?" Marco asked.
"Last time we checked the Raptor crashed to the bottom of the ocean and hasn't been seen since."
"So, he's dead?" Marco asked.
"Likely, but it wouldn't be the first time he turned up when he should be dead." Tanya shrugged. "Even if he is if the Yeerks ever found the Raptor they might be able to study it. But again, it's very weird stuff. Almost income…incomepre…um, just doesn't make sense."
Cassie frowned. Something about all of that bothered her, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. Something in the story was odd, like they didn't have all the facts. But then again, maybe they didn't need all the facts. Not yet. She would keep it in mind though.
After a short pause, Tanya looked over at Ax and said, very neutrally. "Would you like to learn how to fly this, just in case?"
Ax perked up again and trotted over to the console. After a short, but much friendly back and forth than before, Ax laughed in their heads.
((This vessel is so easy to fly! An Andalite child could do it!))
Marco gave Cassie another look as if to say see, they are going to start up again. But Tanya just chuckled herself.
"Like I said, I designed it. It's supposed to be simple. It's meant to be flown by military meatheads."
((The warriors of your world must be very simple indeed.))
Tanya chuckled again. "Mallory is a great friend, but like I said before she's a trained commando, and she can't tell the difference between a-a switch and a button."
((Really?))
"Yep." Tanya shrugged again.
With no more excitement and shouting, even Cassie felt that this was a good time to start to nod off. There would be plenty of time for fighting and screaming and blood. Now was a very good time to relax.
The Aerowing was a very handy little ship, even if it couldn't go past Pluto.
Tanya knew they wouldn't have that much time for her to work. If she had a few hours, she probably would have been able to take a copy of all her research, and maybe some actual projects, but the fact was that her now compromised team would be back at the Pond soon enough, and she couldn't put these children at risk if she could help it.
She wasn't sure, but she was fairly sure human children didn't go to war this young. Even with duck children this was stretching it. Ducks tended to mature faster and stay 'adults' longer than humans. Even Nosedive was technically old enough to be considered an adult. Until you talked five minutes with him and realized he never acted his age unless absolutely necessary. It was annoying. Nosedive wasn't dumb, or incapable. He just chose to be childish all the time. He had been smart enough to build his own vehicle, which to be fair to him wasn't a minor feat. He was just so immature that instead of making it practical and useful he latched onto some childish Zamboni notion and tried to make a battle tank out of it. The actual mechanical talent was impressive. The idea and execution were horrible.
But these kids were younger. She wasn't sure how to measure human growth and maturity, but they had to be barely out of fledglinghood. It was horrifying, and it bothered her deep down. Unfortunately, if everything Jake kept telling her was true, they were also the only ones who could stand up to the Yeerks. Anyone could be a Controller, and it wasn't like she could find some adult humans to help. And all the available duck adults were now Controllers as well. It was probably as bad as a situation could get, but she couldn't think of a solution. She couldn't tell the kids to stop fighting. According to Ax the Yeerks wouldn't stop if the Animorphs didn't exist and there was nobody to pass the burden to. They all just had to deal with the situation.
Maybe if she kept concentrating on the kid's situation she wouldn't have to think too long about her own.
The Pond was coming into sight, and she was going to have to come into the place in an…unconventional way. Instead of going through the hanger, which was far from Drake One, she was going to go through the roof and land on the ice.
"So…we going to shoot our way in?" The blonde girl, Rachel, asked, perhaps a bit to eagerly.
"No. Don't want Klegghorn to get involved. D-don't know if he's a Controller or not and I don't want to involve him if he isn't." Tanya answered as she tapped a few commands on the Aerowing's console. The roof began to helpfully open up.
"Who?" Jake asked.
"Cop we know." With a satisfied noise Tanya leaned back and watched as the Pond's roof opened fully. "Just going to land on the ice. We can get in and out of the base easily enough. Elevator's very close."
"Wait, won't this thing fall through?" Marco asked, giving her a suspicious look.
"Ummm, no why would it?"
"Isn't there water under there?"
"What? No! It's an ice rink, not a lake! Why would there be water under there? It's solid." Tanya shook her head. Kids.
"…what is under there?" Rachel asked.
"Usually, a concrete slab…insulation…okay so there are brine pipes too, but it's not, you know, a lake you go out on that's frozen. You can't fall through the ice on a hockey rink. And the Aerowing isn't going to break the ice. Or anything else underneath…unless I crash it."
Ax looked at the ice and stamped his hooves. ((That looks…slippery.))
"Yeah, that's the point." Tanya looked at him and realized that a creature with small delicate hooves probably didn't go out on the ice that much. Probably not at all. "Since you know how to fly the Aerowing maybe you can stay here and keep it ready to get into the air if the ducks come back early?" She looked at Jake. "Is that alright?"
Jake nodded. It was so strange. He was a kid, but there was something very…Wildwing about him. Not exactly the same, but he had the same quality that made people want to listen to what he had to say. Charisma, she supposed.
"Good idea. Ax, can you also work the weapons if you have to?"
((It would be child's play, Prince Jake.))
"Great, do it…stop calling me Prince."
((Yes, Prince Jake.))
"Alright, I can knock out the security cameras but…um, you might want to be animals just in case." Tanya made sure to phrase it as a suggestion, then a thought occurred. "Sound good, Captain?"
Jake shot her a look and just sighed deeply. Marco outright snickered and Rachel smirked. Even Cassie gave a gentle laugh.
((Ax-man, are you teaching the other aliens bad habits?)) Tobias asked, his thought speak voice amused.
"See, aliens are just compelled to give Jake titles. It's weird. It's like they respect him or something." Marco laughed. "One day they'll learn." Black fur was already starting to cover his arms. His hands grew to enormous gorilla size and he started to hunch over.
Tanya turned away to look more closely at her screens. "T-to be fair in this case it's because I don't want to just shout out your names in case the Yeerks come early."
Jake nodded as fangs grew in his mouth. ((Good idea.)) He shook himself, flexing his claws. ((Lead the way.))
Tanya landed close enough to the bleachers that the small zoo that now followed her could easily jump from the Aerowing's gangplank to solid, not icy ground. She was trying very hard to not think about the fact that this might be the last time in a while that she would be able to come back. She wished she could skate on the ice, just one last time. Who knew when she would be able to again? But she had no time.
A small coo and one of their houseguest pigeons peered over at her from where it perched on a nearby bleacher. For a moment she blinked at it.
"Any animal, right?" She looked down at the tiger, who looked at the pigeon.
((Right…you want that to be your first morph?)) Jake asked, a little doubtful.
"Well other than you I don't see a handy zoo around and it might be useful."
((True. Hey, Tobias. Mind grabbing that for her?)) Jake asked.
((A pigeon? Really? There are so many better birds out there!)) Tobias gave the pigeon a look.
"Again, I don't see a handy zoo." Tanya snorted.
((True. Don't worry. We can get you a much better morph later.)) Tobias flapped his wings and, with speed and accuracy that was honestly scary, scooped up the nearby pigeon with only a startled noise from the other bird. To Tanya's relief Tobias didn't seem to kill it, just nabbed it, and flapped over, offering it to Tanya.
((Remember)) Cassie said gently. ((All you have to do is concentrate on the pigeon. It will go quiet and still when you acquire it.))
Tanya wasn't used to touching animals. It usually involved a lot of sneezing and coughing and watery eyes on her part afterwards. However, she thought if she didn't breathe it would be fine. So, she took a breath of fresh-ish air and touched the pigeon. True to Cassie's word the struggling animal soon fell still. After a few moments she took her hand away, and Tobias stepped away from the pigeon. The small bird blinked, then ruffled its feathers and flapped away.
((Alright. Let's go. We're wasting time.)) Jake said, and Tanya nodded.
One trip down a secret elevator later and the four Animorphs were staring wide eyed at the hidden base of the Mighty Ducks.
((Now that's a big screen! Bet you could play some serious video games on it.)) Marco laughed mentally, and Tanya shrugged.
"Nosedive has." She chuckled. "And movie nights."
((Now that's cool.)) Marco admitted.
"Yeah…it is." Tanya's eyes scanned the room, unconsciously trying to commit the place she had built for her team to memory. She couldn't help but be reluctant to destroy her own computer. She had spent hours going around stores until she found the exact right one, with everything she would need. How much time had she spent tearing apart radios and computer towers and little devices and rebuilding them into something great, something that had taken everything the ducks had thrown at it time and again.
Now she had to, basically, kill it. But she couldn't back out now. She dragged these kids out here. It must be around six or so right now. By the time they had flown back it would be around eight or nine. What would their parents think?
So, focus. Get the job done. It's just a stupid computer. You can make another. It means nothing.
It had to mean nothing.
Approaching the huge screen Tanya took out a pair of small rectangular cards out of her omnitool, barely bigger than thimbles, and stick them into the computer. She started to rapidly type, until Marco the gorilla nudged her.
((Hey, aren't we destroying it?))
"Yeah, but I do need some things off it. It'll take two minutes. Once it's done I'm going to…well, basically infect it with every virus I can. Then, we can smash it."
((Why not just smash it now?)) asked Rachel.
"Because if someone rebuilds it, I want the actual information that's on it to be gone."
((How easily can it be rebuilt?)) Jake asked.
"Not that easily, but there's at least one kid out there who could manage it. Might take him a bit but he could theoretically do it." Tanya responded, pulling the sticks out of Drake One. She offered them to Jake. "Can someone, ya know, take these back to the Aerowing, just in case?"
((Hmmm, okay. Cassie, take those back, if you will.)) Jake looked at Cassie, who sniffed the sticks and gently took them from Tanya.
((If you don't mind, I'm going to go back with Ax myself.)) Tobias said. ((This ceiling is freaking my hawk brain out.))
((Do it.)) Jake said.
Tanya looked over at the bear that was Rachel and the gorilla, both of whom were staring. It was unnerving. "If you two need something to do you might as well just trash the place. Have as much fun as you want."
((Ha! Cool!)) Rachel cheered and picked up a chair in her big bear grip. She had no dexterity, but she made up for it with sheer determination for destruction. She flung it across the room, letting it shatter against a wall.
For the next few minutes, the two rampaged around the base, gouging holes in the walls and smashing screens and throwing things. She was pretty sure that Marco found Nosedive's snack cake stash and was tossing them at a trash can with some amount of glee. At the very least they would be leaving a big mess for the Yeerks to clean up. Honestly, she wasn't sure that she would have been able to fix everything the two were breaking. She was pretty sure that Rachel had found the video tapes and was disemboweling the vcr.
((Who watches all these old fifties movies? Them? Seriously?)) Marco stamped the tape. ((Ants. Bleh.))
"…I liked that movie…" Tanya said. No matter. They could get another copy.
((Yeah, word of advice. Never morph an ant. Or a termite. They suck.)) Rachel said.
"Never said I wanted to, but it's still a good movie." Tanya argued.
((No way.)) Marco kicked the tape's remains.
"Have you even seen it?" She asked.
((No and I don't plan to.))
Tanya decided to drop it. If he wanted to be stubborn that wasn't her problem.
((Hey, you guys own a dvd player! Cool!)) Rachel said as she bit into the device with a mighty crunch. ((Not anymore!))
Tanya sighed. Poor Nosedive was going to have an aneurysm. Although she could probably fix it. Maybe.
Thankfully, Drake One's screen was now starting to glitch and warp, the various viruses she had downloaded started to do their job. It was time.
"Okay, hold on. We're almost done." Tanya took a few steps back and reached into what Mallory called the 'emergency weapon stash'. After one to many spies broke into the base she had been determined to put weapon stashes around in secret compartments. In case anyone took the base by surprise they would have something to fall back on. These somethings weren't guns. In a stroke of what she had called brilliance, and Tanya had to admit it hadn't been a bad idea, the stash was stocked with spare sticks and puck weaponry. A duck like them could take the stick and the pucks and fight effectively with them, but a Saurian or a human would struggle. There were too many weapon stashes to hit them all, but she could do something about the one closest to Drake One.
Tanya took a stick and a bunch of pucks. She tossed the other five sticks to Marco. "Go ahead and take care of those. Also, back up. Don't want you to get caught in this."
((What are you going to do with those?)) Jake asked, studying the pucks. He probably couldn't tell what they were for. He didn't understand the duck's writing system, but Tanya knew what each one did. It was a nice little variety pack of normal pucks, ice pucks, smoke bomb pucks…and explosives.
Tanya took a few steps away from Drake One's huge screen and placed three explosive pucks on the ground. "This." She took a deep breath, aimed, and fired.
Hitting explosive pucks was a bit of a risk. If they didn't go off in time you could end up blowing your own face off, or if they ricocheted back or somewhere else before they went off…well it could get messy. She timed it well though. The first puck exploded on the screen of Drake One, shattering it to bits. The next puck landed inside the guts of the screen, further destroying the inner components of her computer. The last one landed on the console, breaking the controls and raining bits of metal everywhere.
((Well…that works.)) Jake seemed to shrug. ((What's next?))
At that moment the elevator opened to reveal the rather angry faces of the other Mighty Ducks. It was a strange moment of unreality. She had seen those looks before, but never aimed at her. They were always aimed at the criminals. She should be standing there, with them, facing the evil they fought and prepared to fight with her friends, not standing there with a stick and a bunch of explosive pucks in the ruined remains of their computer. Not standing there with an enemy.
I guess that's what I am now.
Tanya dropped a freeze puck and slammed it towards Wildwing, who lifted his shield to block it. Just as expected. The puck exploded in ice, blocking the doorway of the elevator. It would slow them down.
"Now we run! Move, this way!" Tanya raced for the door that led to her lab. "Come on!" she yelled at Rachel, who looked like she was seriously considering squaring up to the other ducks.
((She's right. Rachel, come on!)) Jake commanded, and Rachel turned with a frustrated snort of anger. But she followed just the same.
As soon as they were through the doorway, Tanya turned to Marco. "Rip off that panel." She pointed to the door controls. Marco obliged, and Tanya turned the omnitool on the door controls, sealing them shut. Again, it wouldn't last for long, but it would slow them down.
((How are we going to get back to the rink?)) Marco asked. ((Can we circle around?))
"How small can you people get?" Tanya asked as she led the others down the hall.
((Flies. Cockroaches. Fleas.)) Jake listed off.
"Which of those could fly through the ventilation system?"
((Flies would be best.)) Jake said.
"Okay, the vents from my lab lead directly above the arena. We get there, torch it, escape through the vents."
((Are they big enough to let your pigeon through?)) Jake asked.
"Should be, yeah."
((Alright. Let's do it.)) Jake said.
((Jake! You're stealing my lines!)) Rachel laughed.
They skidded into Tanya's lab. She didn't even have time to contemplate everything she was about to destroy. All she could do was plant the last of the explosive pucks around and time them. She tried very hard not to look at all the things she was leaving behind and burning down. It was fine. As long as she got her team back in the end, she would destroy everything she owned and built. She couldn't do anything for them now, but eventually…
"Okay, rip that grate off an-"
"Stop."
She gulped. She thought she would have more time. She turned and looked, gripping the hockey stick and half turning her body.
He didn't look any different. He didn't sound any different. The look he was giving her was confused, baffled, as if she was the one betraying him. As if she was in the wrong. As if he wasn't being controlled by some disgusting slug. It was practically a mockery; it would have been better if he wasn't looking at her with so much damn hurt on his beak. It would have been easier if he sounded or looked like he was under something else's control. But he didn't.
"Tanya, please, get away from them. They're lying to you. Please, you don't have to do this." The thing inside Wildwing's brain said, exactly as he would have spoken. Same tone. Same inflection. If she didn't know any better, she could almost believe that she was the one being controlled or manipulated, and he was there to snap her out of it. That everything since she met Ax had been some sort of elaborate brainwashing dream, and that she was the one under someone else's control, not them.
She wanted to believe him. But something stopped her. She wasn't sure what it was. She should believe him. She should take the side of her true leader, her real captain, not some human child. She should obey. But she couldn't. She wasn't sure why.
"Tanya. Don't you trust me?" Wildwing asked.
"Y-you're not Wildwing." She stammered. She couldn't help it.
((That's not him. Don't stand there talking to him. Give the Yeerks nothing! We have to move!)) Rachel, still a bear, growled. Marco had managed to get the grate off the vent and was demorphing in the vent. Jake was well on his way to being a human again, crammed into the vent with Marco. Only Rachel stayed behind, waiting for them.
"I've had enough of this. You're coming with us, like it or not, lizard." Duke, the Yeerk controlling Duke, shoved past Wildwing. The disgusted look he shot at Tanya was startling. He wasn't even bothering to hide what he was. "Come quietly or I'll force you."
Tanya raised her omnitool and was about to shoot when Duke's Yeerk made his body lunge forwards, crossing the distance between the two before Tanya could fully react. His sword swung, and Tanya attempted to jerk away. Way too slow.
It was so fast, one moment she was standing there and the next moment the lower half of her right arm, omnitool and all, was a few yards away on the ground. It didn't really hurt at all, not at first. The scientific part of her brain marveled at how clean the cut was.
"Don't cripple her, you idiot! How's she supposed to be any use to us now!" Wildwing's Yeerk roared, his tone now completely different from his usual way of speaking. Now it was easy to hear the difference. But it was easier to see the difference between Duke and his Yeerk. Duke's Yeerk was using his beak to grin at Tanya in sheer joy at her astonishment and horror. It was a sick, gleeful grin, like a kid watching his favorite cartoon show. He hadn't just thought it was necessary, he wanted to do that. He enjoyed doing that. She could never imagine Duke, even at his worst, enjoying doing something like that to anyone.
Then, several hundred pounds of angry grizzly crossed the distance and swept a paw towards the Yeerk's stolen head. At first Tanya was afraid that Rachel was going to just behead Duke, but to her relief he was simply knocked back into Wildwing.
Tanya felt furry arms wrap around her and drag her towards the vent. She felt nothing. That was probably wrong. Shock, maybe. She was probably going into shock. Being disarmed (ha) like that should hurt. Everything should hurt. But there was nothing. There was blood. She could feel something. She felt weak. Like she was going to throw up. There was a sound, a loud boom. Oh, the pucks must have exploded. Everything was burning. Everything she loved and cared about was going up in flames. Her lab, her computer, her team, her family her life…it should hurt more.
"Tanya! Tanya! The pigeon! Morph, now!"
The boy. The kid. Jake. The captain.
Yeah, she was supposed to morph, right? Ignore the fire engulfing her home and morph.
Right.
Get it together, Tanya. You're still a Mighty Duck. You can adapt. You can deal with this.
She thought of the pigeon, not looking at Rachel, half morphed out of her grizzly form, squeezed into the vent. There were already two flies buzzing around. Jake and Marco.
Tanya stared at the wall of the vent, not seeing how her feathers turned from their natural pale tan to soft grey, with a band of green feathers around her neck. She didn't notice her arms turning lighter grey. She didn't notice when her head started to form into a pigeon's and didn't notice that for a brief moment she was more a Mighty Pigeon than a Mighty Duck. But as she shrunk down, she blinked rapidly. Something was wrong, her eyes were…it was strange. There was something pressing against her eyeballs. Oh wait, the lenses. Of course. Normally she would take them off with the omnitool but that was in the wreckage of her lab at the moment. She could take them off manually.
She fumbled at her eyes with her still morphing fingers on her left hand and managed to pop them out just as her eyes changed from their natural slitted red to a softer brown gold color. Pigeon eyes. To her astonishment her missing arm suddenly sprouted a mess of feathers at the stump which extended into a proper wing. Her remaining arm simply molded into a wing.
She was surrounded by a wall of purple and realized that was her clothes. Huh, they didn't morph with her. That might be an issue.
((Tanya, you are going to get the pigeon's instincts.)) Jake paused. ((I need you to focus, Tanya. I know it sucks, but you need to deal. Don't fall apart.))
((I…I'm fine.)) Tanya said. It was a lie, but she could and would focus. She could fall apart later when the kids weren't around. (I-). Oh, that's what he meant. She could feel a presence in her mind. Bubbling under her brain and making itself known. Not overwhelming, but it was there. An urge to fly, to get out of this strange metal tomb she was in. She wasn't overwhelmingly afraid, but she did want out. Right now. She wanted to perch someplace tall and sit on a nest. She wanted to peck at worms in the ground. ((I feel it, but I can control it.))
((Good. Lead us out of here.)) Jake said.
((Alright, can you see me?))
((Oh, it's fine. We're just going to take a ride on the pigeon express.)) Marco laughed, and she saw a fly dart towards her, over her head. She assumed he must be attaching himself to the back of her head. ((Ready for takeoff!))
((Give me a second, I just now made it to fly!)) Rachel said and Tanya spotted another fly zip towards her and latch on. ((Gotcha))
((Alright, let's get out of here…I am so going to be grounded, you guys know that?)) Jake grumbled.
It took a few moments for Tanya to figure out how to fly in the first place, but she found that if she let the pigeon guide her she managed to get into the air. The pigeon wanted out of the vent, so Tanya let it find its way out. Flapping was a lot harder than it looked, but again the pigeon knew what to do. All she had to do was remember which turns and twists to take in the vent system, and before long they were right above the arena.
((So, how are we getting out of the vent?)) Marco asked. ((None of us have fingers at the moment. Is there enough room for one of us to demorph))
((No, can-))
((Can any of you hear me?)) It was Tobias.
((Tobias! Where are you?)) Jake said.
((I've been flying around the arena trying to contact you! We saw the ducks go into the elevator but we couldn't follow them! Ax was ready to start shooting the place up. We don't think they realized we were in the ship. They just ran in and ignored it.))
((They probably thought we were all in the base, breaking their stuff.)) Rachel laughed.
((Can you get Ax to fire the Aerowing's lasers at the vent here?)) Tanya hit the side of the vent wall with her foot. ((We've all morphed in here but we can't open it))
((Can do. Hit it a few more times?)) Tobias asked, and Tanya did so. ((Got it, be right back))
((Should be ready to fly as soon as possible. The ducks might detect weapons going off.)) Jake said.
((Yeah…hope I know how to fly this thing for real…))
((Just let the animal's mind guide you. It will know how to fly.)) Jake said.
((Or you can just fall in style.)) Marco laughed. ((Whichever works.))
Now that they were not flying away from danger in a cramped vent Tanya noticed something odd. Her nose, or whatever it was Earth birds had as nostrils, felt oddly clear. Lighter and cleaner. She wasn't really smelling anything, but it just felt…not heavy. It was odd. It was like she was having a really good allergyless day, but even better.
Wait, I'm in the body of a bird. A bird who presumably doesn't have allergies…that must be it. When I'm morphed my allergies go away!
Oh, that was nice. It was nice being able to breathe like a normal person. She wouldn't want to be trapped in a morph, but there were clear advantages to morphing.
There was a sudden noise! Danger! She flapped her wings in startlement and almost retreated into the vent when she realized what it was. Ax firing the weapons and opening the way for them. That was odd. She had just suddenly been overwhelmed by sudden fear that, upon reflection, she realized wasn't her own.
((Woah! Chill! Don't forget we're here too!)) Marco said.
((Right, right…sorry.)) Tanya stopped frantically flapping but her feathers were still ruffled. She bird walked over to the hole, head bobbing involuntarily. She couldn't help it. Her head just seemed to want to bob. It must be doing something if it were involuntary. She reached the hole and peered through. Yep, there was the Aerowing. She flapped her wings and dropped down through the hole. For a terrifying moment she thought was simply going to drop like a rock. The pigeon's frantic flapping was the least efficient thing that she had ever done. It was like she was a toddler out on the ice. Or an inexperienced human. The pigeon could get into the air, but it was clearly an awkward flyer. But then it wasn't designed to master the air, just navigate it.
She noticed that Ax was lowering the hatch just enough for Tanya to fit through with her passengers. Just in time for the elevator to rise back up and the ducks to come rushing back out. They must have heard the shots from Ax, but it was too late.
Ax, presumably, turned to fire the lasers at the Controllers. He wasn't aiming for them, but he was slowing them down and making them dodge and avoid his weapons.
((Lift off, Ax!)) Jake called as he began to morph out of fly.
((At once, Prince Jake.))
((Umm, my clothes are…I think I left them back in the vents.)) Tanya said, choosing to flap along behind the demorphing teens as they moved from the hanger to the cockpit.
"Oh…we should have told you about that before. You can only morph skintight clothing" Jake paused as he became fully human.
((Yeah, would have been very nice to know.)) Tanya said, trying not to sound too sarcastic.
"Do you have anything in here you can wear?" Rachel asked.
((We keep spare supplies here. I can find something.)) Tanya said. She decided to stop with the frantic flapping and landed on Jake's shoulder. ((But let's get away first and head back to your home before I do that.))
At least we have supplies now. She thought to herself. Aerowings were supposed to have spare gear and food and cots, just in case a long range mission went badly, but by the time Canard had found this Aerowing it had been stripped of everything that hadn't been nailed down. Not wanting to risk taking it somewhere to resupply and tip off their hand to Dragaunus, they hadn't bothered to restock it before the strike mission.
Tanya had always wondered what would have happened if they had. If they had a spare cot in the back of the Aerowing, like there should have been, they could have jettisoned it instead of Canard sacrificing himself for them. She had thought of it. Not specifically for that purpose, but she had thought that maybe they should have restocked it. Canard didn't feel it was necessary. They were either going to win or lose, and even if they won, they might still not make it back. The Strike Team had all understood that they were possibly not coming back. Expect maybe Wildwing and Nosedive. She wasn't sure how much Canard had told them.
But that couldn't be helped now. The Aerowing was always stocked with something now. She made sure of it.
The entered to cockpit just in time to see Ax shooting up the ceiling of the Pond, which one of the ducks apparently had tried to close on them and flying out of the subsequent hole. Tanya helpfully landed on the controls and pecked a button.
((There, that should take us right back to where we were before.)) She then bobbed her way to another button and pecked it as well. ((And that should activate the cloak.))
"Great, that was a very successful mission." Jake said, satisfied.
Now that they weren't running from fire and explosions, Tanya noticed a few odd things. There was a color she had never seen before, if she would hazard a guess, she supposed she must be seeing ultraviolet light. Humans and ducks like her couldn't see it, but she knew some Earth animals could. Pigeons must be one of them. There was also a kind of tugging. A pull back to where they had come from. It was not irresistible, but it was there. Like she knew that home was behind her, and she was leaving it. The pigeon had no idea it couldn't go home, but it just knew it could find home wherever she went. There was another sort of tug, down near the ground. A sense of something flowing through the Earth. She wasn't sure what that was.
All of a sudden she wanted to be a duck again. She didn't like this. The mental tug she felt back to the Pond wasn't helping. It was just reminding her of what she just lost.
((Alright, I'm going to find some clothes. You guys don't have to do anything. Just sit tight until we get closer to your home and I'll find a place to land then.)) Tanya said.
"We should probably find someplace else to land, other than the field we started from." Jake said. "Don't want the ducks to go back to where we lifted off and find us."
((Yeah, got it.)) Tanya said and flapped over to the door. She sort of pecked at the door panel to open it up, and managed to get it in one. She landed and, head still bobbing around like a dancer to a beat, made her way to the hanger.
For the most part the hanger was just for storing vehicles like the Migrator or the duckcycles. But there was a sort of side room on the left side of the ship. This was the emergency shelter, a small room barely big enough to hold a cot, a desk, and enough clothes for most of them to change into something. There wasn't a great variety, or even the things they normally would wear. Just something for hotter weather and something for colder weather, ranging in sizes so that even if they didn't have something that fit exactly, they had something that would fit well enough.
Something that would do for now.
She had forgotten to ask if the…wound from earlier would return. Probably not. Who knew with Z-space, but wounds weren't encoded in DNA. She should probably be fine. If not, well, she was the medic of her team, and there were emergency supplies in the cabinet across from the 'closet'.
Slowly, just in case she did come out of the morph minus one arm and spewing blood, she began to morph back to her normal shape. Now that she wasn't half in shock and trying not to think about exploding labs she could sort of see how the morph worked. As if to add a few nuts to the horror banana split that was this day her bones decided to come out of her right wing first, forming themselves into her hand and arm as if to reassure her that the wound would indeed heal. She probably would have screamed about that, but she was still mostly pigeon, and could only let out a terrified squawk. Not willing to stop and just wanting this entire thing to be done she continued, watching veins then flesh then skin then feathers cover her once missing arm. It looked just like it always had.
She had been so busy concentrating on her right arm she hadn't noticed when she had grown back to her regular height and was growing legs back, but she was now halfway morphing back. It was a gross combination of flesh, feathers, and limbs, but it didn't hurt.
She blinked. It seemed like she was finished. She flexed her arm. It seemed to be working fine, none of the damage seemed to have carried over.
Great. Wonderful.
She took a moment to close her eyes, the reality of what had just happened almost crashing over her. Everything was gone. Everything, but the Aerowing. Even the damn omnitool. She had built that thing herself when she was just a child…it had always been with her. Now it was gone. She didn't even know if it survived. She hoped it didn't. She didn't want them to have it. They would never get it to work without her, but she didn't want them to have it. It was hers. It had been hers.
She rubbed her face, and remembered something else that had been with her since she was younger, that was now gone. The contacts. They were now in a vent, and if she went out without them, the humans would see what her eyes really looked like. She was sort of grateful there wasn't a mirror in here. She hated them. She didn't want to look at them. She knew what would happen. People staring and whispering and…
And she tried very hard not to think of it, but she could almost hear a voice long since passed, whispering in her ear. Telling her how disgusting they were. How disgusting she was.
They won't care. They're humans. They don't give a damn about Scaleborn. They don't even know what it means. Not really. Even if you tell them you're part Saurian, they won't understand what it really means. Not what it means to other ducks.
She had to move. This wasn't helping.
She managed to dig out a shirt and a pair of pants that fit. They were simple, practically uniform, but it would work.
There was a knock on the side of the wall.
"Hey, Tanya, you okay?"
It was the smaller girl. Cassie. Tanya instinctively closed her eyes and looked away.
"F-f-f-fine. Out in a bit."
"Alright. It's okay. We all go through it at some point."
Tanya chuckled. The tiny human girl thought she needed to comfort her. It was sweet. Really. Maybe she was even right. But Tanya couldn't fall apart in front of the kids. It would be wrong.
So, she opened the door to the emergency shelter to face the music.
Of course, Cassie noticed right away. Cassie's eyes met Tanya's own, and she blinked, surprised. Tanya didn't give her an opportunity to question. Instead, she tried to give the girl a reassuring smile and urge her back to the cockpit. It was clear that Cassie was concerned, but she didn't ask any questions.
Tanya had a definite feeling the kids had been talking about her while she was gone. She could hear the murmuring in the cockpit, which ceased as soon as she entered the room. For a moment, whoever, none of them looked at her. Except Ax, whose stalk eyes tracked her. He then turned his main eyes and stared at her face.
((Interesting. Do duck eyes often change shape and color?)) He asked.
"Wait, huh?" Rachel looked over, followed by the rest of the Animorphs. It was sort of funny how they all wore almost identical baffled expressions. "What is that?"
Tanya sighed. "I'm part Saurian. That's all. I don't want to talk about it, okay?"
((Ah, you did mention that before.)) Ax seemed to think, then twitched his tail. ((But you said the Saurians were gone for thousands of years. How can you be part Saurian if this is the case?))
Well damn it. "I-it's really none of your business." She tried to brush past him back to the pilot seat, but he tensed his tail.
((Actually, it is our business. You are one of us now. You cannot keep secrets from the group.)) he said.
"It's personal, and it has nothing to do with anything." Tanya growled back, irritated. What in the world was this alien's problem? Half the time he was perfectly reasonable and logical and the other half he was an arrogant blowhard.
"Ax, what is your problem?" Rachel rolled her eyes. "If she doesn't want to talk about it it's fine."
((I wasn't allowed to keep secrets from the group. She should not either. It's not fair.)) Ax argued.
"Life's not fair, kid." Tanya growled back.
((I have had to break my own people's laws and traditions. She should not be exempt.)) Ax argued further.
"Ax, this is different." Cassie said gently.
((How? I understand why you wanted me to tell you about the Andalite's connection to the Yeerks. I kept what you understood to be valuable intelligence from Prince Jake in regards to his brother. I understand why that was not acceptable to you-))
"And my lineage has nothing to do with Yeerks. I'm not keeping important information from any of you, so drop it." Tanya could feel her teeth grinding in her beak.
((And what if your Lord Dragon is not dead? Surely your connection with them is important if that were to happen.)) Ax stamped a hoof.
"Okay, stop." Jake said, rubbing his forehead. "I get it, Ax. But right now, we aren't going to fight about this. It's late. We are all tired. We just got through a battle. Sure, it wasn't a bad one, but feelings are still a little hot right now. So how about this." He looked at Tanya. "You get the same amount of time that Ax did. He was with us for about two months before he decided to tell us everything he knew. You get that same amount of time. We will talk about this then, and only then. Will that work for everyone?"
It didn't, but at this point Tanya wanted the blue idiot off her back. So, she nodded. "Fine."
((I will do as you instruct, Prince Jake.)) Ax said stiffly.
"Great, because the next step is getting her a human morph." Jake looked Tanya over. "Your entire team are Controllers. They know you. They'll be looking for you. You can't go out in public like that. Ax has a human morph he made from our DNA. Ax, you think you can show her how to do it."
((I can, Prince Jake.)) Ax said, still stiffly. ((And if you wish I'll show her how it is done.))
"Good." Jake looked from one to the other. "I don't care if you two like each other, but we need to at least work with each other. Alright?"
Tanya tried very hard to not be sarcastic. It wouldn't help. The statements were probably more for Ax than her. He was just addressing both because Ax was insisting on being unreasonable.
"I get that." She nodded. Hopefully after a couple of months they would drop it.
Still stiff and clearly unhappy, Ax still managed to impart the basics of combining DNA to Tanya. It was probably only possible because of the unpredictable and random nature of Z-space. She hated to admit it, but the fact that Andalites had indeed managed to use Z-space's unstable nature to their advantage did say a lot about them. That they were highly intelligent. And crazy. Or they just really had a lot of optimism. Either way, the instructions didn't take too long, and soon enough she had acquired all four still human Animorphs.
Forming the image of the human she wanted to construct for herself, she began. You could only do this maneuver once, and only within a few minutes of acquiring the necessary DNA. Again, the unstable nature of the morphing process was partly to blame. But once the procedure had 'settled' it would condense into a single morph, but the DNA could never be used individually again. If she wanted to say, morph Jake she would have to re acquire him separately.
Once the process was finished she had morphed a human.
And they all were just sort of staring at her.
"…something wrong?" Wow, the human nose was pretty clear too. And her voice sounded better too. Almost completely different without having to talk through a stuffy bill.
"Well…ummm, it's just…it's just as weird as Ax, just different weird." Rachel said.
"How weird?" She asked.
"Well, you have Rachel's height but I swear that's Jake's jawline." Cassie said. "And, umm, the skin tone is a bit lighter than me, but it's darker than Ax's human morph or Marco an…ummm…did you mean to get Jake's shoulders too, I mean…"
"Let's put it this way. You look like normal person skin toned She Hulk." Marco laughed. "Also, why are you our age now?"
"Because I acquired y-you people, not adults." Tanya shrugged.
"She looks like she could bench press me!" Marco laughed.
"Marco, I could bench press you. That means nothing." Rachel sort of circled Tanya, as if assessing something. "You know what, it's fine. Absolutely no one will see you and think, 'oh she kinda looks like that hockey player'. Maybe a football player."
"That was the point." Tanya said mildly. "You're right. They know what I look like. I wasn't going to go with long blonde hair and pale skin."
"Well, you definitely don't have that." Rachel said. "That's Marco's hair. But again, it's fine. I can work with this."
"W-w-what are you talking about?" Tanya really wanted to cringe away from the human girl. Why was this becoming more and more awkward? She hadn't felt this embarrassed since she was a teenager and…oh. Right. She was a teenager again, technically. But only when human.
"I mean, we need to take you to the mall, if that's the only clothes you have in this flying R.V." Rachel smiled at her, and Tanya wasn't sure if it was supposed to be threatening or reassuring. "Don't worry, I'll find something good. At the very least we need to get you a morphing outfit. You like purple, right? Might not be the best idea, if that's all you wore around your team…maybe something blue…"
"Wait, mall? Why? Can't I just borrow something from you? And what's wrong with what I have on now?" Tanya backed away, half ready to flee.
"Nothing." Cassie said. "Rachel just has a compulsion to shop."
"Says the girl with skunk poop pants." Rachel rolled her eyes.
"You r-r-really don't have to spend money on me." Tanya said. "In fact I'd rather you didn't. I'm not sure when I could pay you back- "
"It's fine. It's no big deal. I like doing this kind of thing." Rachel was still grinning. How was this girl more bone chilling than Wraith right now?
She really wanted to be a duck again…again. Being able to breathe was nice but Rachel was freaking her out. Why were teenagers so weird?
"Great, now that that is settled, I'm going to take my own nap." Jake collapsed into a chair and leaned his head back. "Wake me up when we get home. I am not looking forwards to dealing with my parents…"
"Don't know why. We are hanging out with a responsible adult now. Full adult supervision." Marco laughed as he lounged in his own chair.
"Yeah, sure, I'll compile some notes for you. 'Don't worry about your kid, they're out fighting alien slugs with a fugitive.'" Tanya rolled her eyes as they returned to normal. She wished she could keep the human ones. They were blue, like Rachel's.
"I can already tell you'll be a comforting presence for all involved." Marco yawned.
Tanya sat down, checking a few of the instruments. Nothing out of the ordinary. All of her equipment displayed smooth sailing and good time. Everything was in good shape, even had plenty of fuel. Nothing of any concern.
Except, of course, everything.
Wildwing never thought for a moment he'd be in a position like this. Benched in his own brain, unable to intervene and take control of his own body. He had tried, especially when the Yeerk had confronted Tanya in the lab. Had tried to break through and warn her like Mallory had managed to break through from her Yeerk. His captor kept telling him it was a fluke and useless. Tanya might have even caved, he thought for a second she was going to, but then Duke's Yeerk had decided to get violent.
((Merkle 298 is a lunatic.)) His Yeerk commented. ((He's unstable. I blame his past human host. It was some sort of predator of other humans. Liked to hunt them down and cut their throats. Merkle was able to keep it under control, but it had an…effect on him.))
((You mean a serial killer?)) Wildwing asked. Why not talk to the Yeerk. It might end up helping.
((Yes, I think so.)) The Yeerk said. ((Now hush up. Neither you nor I want to draw attention to ourselves when he is here.))
'He' was the Yeerk's leader. Their Lord Dragaunus. He was a Yeerk like the rest of them, but the outer body was an Andalite. The race of people that had taken Tanya away from them. The same people that had rescued her. Wildwing couldn't help but be grateful to them.
((Don't be, Wildwing.)) The Yeerk said mildly. ((Andalites are arrogant hypocrites. They might keep her around as a sort of amusing pet, but she will never be one of them. The Bandit Prince will keep her as long as she remains useful and productive, but he will cut her loose when it becomes too much of a bother. The Andalites use other races.))
((Not like you, huh?))
((We are at least honest in what we do. We are parasites. We can't help that. We must do what is needed to survive, and live.))
((You won't die in that pool.)) Wildwing pointed out.
((What kind of a life is it without living? But enough philosophy. I must pay attention to the Visser. Hush.))
Wildwing probably could have taunted him, made the Yeerk make a mistake in front of his leader. But he also wanted to listen in. So, he did what the Yeerk asked and stayed quiet, and watched. Gathering info. Waiting.
Wildwing watched as Phil's Yeerk nervously explained the entire operation to the Yeerk overlord. The creature, standing there among the ruins of the duck's base, didn't seem impressed at all. As Phil's Yeek got done telling the Visser about Tanya and the portal to Puckwrold, Visser Three scooped up a puck with his tail and studied it.
((So, Talluk 319)) The Visser's voice somehow managed to boom throughout their secret base, even though the Andalite controller didn't really 'talk'. Somehow he managed a boom to rival Dragaunus. ((This is all very…cute.)) The Yeerk looked the puck over, studying it with his two main eyes. ((But I don't see why you dragged me all the way out here when I could be doing any number of things.))
"Visser, if we just had the female-"
((But you don't have the female, do you?)) the Visser replied. ((I'm not convinced that this other world of human ducks even exists. I see no evidence of it. You can stand here trembling in your feeble human host, but all you have is a group of five avians who play some human game. Wonderful. Congratulations. They can start endorsing the Sharing in earnest. But you have NOT shown me a planet like Earth, full of duck humans that can be used as viable host bodies. You have five. Not even the whole set. One of this 'set', is currently being herded around by the Andalite Bandits. Not that it matters. She can do nothing."
"She might have the morphing power-"
((Impossible. You don't understand Andalites. The Bandit Prince would never give the power to morph to some primitive bird alien. It's more likely they will simply hide her somewhere. If she is relatively intelligent they might have some use for her, but give her the morphing power? Ridiculous.))
"Visser if we could find the Rap-"
((I also don't care about some upstart lizard and his toy ship.)) The Visser said. ((Let me tell you what is going to happen, fool. I have Andalite Bandits I need to find. I have the Council of Thirteen to answer to. I have an engine on my Blade ship that need repairs. All of this, from the Bandits next target to the health and maintenance of my host's right hoof is of more importance to me right now than any of this utter childishness. Do you understand?))
"But Visser-"
Faster than even Wildwing could have reacted to, the Visser's blade was suddenly an inch from Phil's right eye. ((I. Don't. Care. Chase after the female if you must. Play your silly human games if you must. Chase invisible lizards IF YOU MUST. But don't bother me with this unless you bring me something I CARE ABOUT! IF you bring me a morph capable bird, then fine. If you bring me a gateway to bird themed Earth, then fine. If you bring me a giant lizard man who can also send us to this bird world, then fine. But until then, if you jeopardize MY mission, then you will wish I merely drove my tail blade into your soft host's brain. Do you FINALLY understand?))
Phil's body gulped. "Yes Visser."
((Good.)) The Visser pulled his blade back. ((If…IF there are spare resources that can't be distributed to other projects, than you might be able to access them to aid in your games. But step in my way and I won't bother to spare my blade. Understood?))
"Yes Visser."
((Good, now I'm leaving this trash heap.)) The Visser trotted to the elevator, ignoring the rest of the huddled Yeerks. It was annoying. They were like Dragaunus' minions. It was pathetic.
((Pathetic or no I'm not letting him cut our head off. You should be grateful. I'm keeping you alive.))
((Just wait, as long as there is one of us out there, we have hope.))
((Hope means nothing.))
((…honestly, that's a sad way to look at the life you claim to want so badly, Yeerk.))
The Yeerk seemed to pause, and perhaps even consider. ((Perhaps you are right. Very well. Cling to your hope. We will see who wins in the end.))
Wildwing thought of all the things they had done before. Granted this was a bit different then before. They had always been able to rely on each other. Tanya now just had herself, and maybe the Andalites if they were generous. He didn't know anything about Andalites. For all he knew they were just as bad as the Yeerk said. But he knew that even if she was in a bad position Tanya would come through for them. When push came to shove she usually did.
For now he couldn't move. Couldn't speak. Couldn't even look where he wanted.
But he still had hope. It might not come as soon as he wanted, but he had fate in Tanya.
He knew he would be free, one day.
A/N: So, now we have reached a point where the rest of the story is going to change.
Basically, the rest is going to follow the basic plot points of the original Animorph books, only with an added member. I am not going to rewrite the entire series word for word. Rather the next few chapters will be kind of 'added scenes' with Tanya, because while she wouldn't be the focus point of the other character's stories she is going to be involved. Some of the changes will be minor, but some will be important. At some point in the book 'cycle' there will be a few chapters of what would be Tanya's book, if that makes sense. A story more centered on her. Eventually, at some point in the series the changes that accumulate from having a new teammate, as well as new enemies in the form of the rest of the ducks and Mighty Ducks villains, will change the course that books would have taken to the point where we are full AU. The story will then switch back to more like what I have just written. I'm going over what would have been the other books of the series to show how Tanya starts to fit in the Animorphs and how they interact with her, and how they may or may not get used to her. As well as a few other ideas I have.
For those reading you'll see what I mean.