Line #38 Fanfic/WhatTomorrowBrings


1	-> A second chance, unlooked for. The more things change, the more they stay the same…
2
3	''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/33622159/chapters/83550559 What Tomorrow Brings]]'' is an ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' PeggySue fic by daphnerunning and Loren_Fangor. After Jake rams the Blade Ship, the Animorphs are sent back in time to the morning before they met Elfangor and their lives were changed forever. They see this as an opportunity to make amends with each other and do things better this time, but it soon transpires that they're not alone...
4
5	'''Due to the nature of this fic, all spoilers for the ''Animorphs'' books will be unmarked.'''
6	----
7	!!This fanfic contains examples of:
8	* AbledInTheAdaptation: Thanks to Elfangor, who encounters Gafinilan and Mertil soon after the crash and carries with him advanced healing tech, Mertil's severed tail is saved. He does get a RuggedScar out of the deal, but Elfangor suspects he kind of likes it.
9	* AchievementsInIgnorance: Tom is able to avoid the traumatising experience of the other Animorphs when they morphed ants because he just happened to acquire the Queen of the relevant ant colony, putting him in control of the other ants.
10	* AnAlienNamedBob: Discussed. [[HalfHumanHybrid Tobias]] introduces himself as Elfangor's son, and Tom thinks that "Tobias" is an oddly human name for an Andalite.
11	* AlienCatnip: Andalites apparently get high on protein powder.
12	* TheAllConcealingI: Chapter 9 is told from the perspective of an unidentified girl trying to escape from Controllers. It's not until her next appearance that we learn she's [[spoiler:Loren]].
13	* AndTheAdventureContinues: [[spoiler:The last chapter shows that James and co are fighting the Yeerks in the Animorphs' stead.]]
14	* ArtisticLicenseAnimalCare: Defied; Cassie recalls a professor at vet school saying that negative reinforcement was a valid training technique for horses. She morphed into a horse and kicked over his desk in retaliation.
15	* AscendedExtra: Tom is freed early on and becomes a SixthRanger for the Animorphs. Mertil and Gafinilan actively fight the Yeerks and become part of the resistance.
16	* AutobotsRockOut: Marco blasts "Come Out and Play" by Music/TheOffspring through the Pool Ship during the mission to [[spoiler:rescue Jake and Cassie]].
17	* BatmanGambit: When [[spoiler:Visser Three and Jake come face-to-face for the first time since their memories of the original timeline have been restored, with Jake in control of a Pool Ship, Visser Three starts offering to kill only the Animorphs and let their allies go free while Jake rejects any such offer. Marco guesses that the two will continue to debate the 'offer' until only Jake is 'obliged' to sacrifice himself, as both enemies know that is the only term Jake will accept]].
18	* BerserkButton: [[spoiler:Visser Three appears fully in control and ready for anything when he finds himself in the new reality facing the Animorphs... but the moment he realises that Elfangor is alive on a fighter nearby, he abandons his goal of dealing with the Animorphs to focus on killing Elfangor, even blowing up Visser One's ship to try and destroy Elfangor's fighter]].
19	* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Inverted; when Tobias makes it clear to Temrash that he's going to die either way, Temrash chooses to leave Tom and get crushed right away rather than stay in for the next few hours and die of Kandrona starvation.
20	* BigDamnKiss: When Tobias and Rachel realise that the other remembers their future, they're actually sent to Chapman's office about their public display of affection, and even after that they "retreat" to a suitable supply closet to enjoy their reunion for a little while to affirm that they're both back.
21	* BigDamnReunion:
22	** The Animorphs get this when Tobias reveals that it was Ax in the Andalite fighter rather than Elfangor, the rest of the team making it clear that Ax can't get out of the subsequent group hug.
23	** The first thing Tom does after he's freed is hug Rachel. Then Jake starts crying after Tom calls him "midget."
24	** [[spoiler:Tobias is shocked when he finds Elfangor and Loren, and the latter hugs him tightly while sobbing.]]
25	* BigSisterInstinct: Rachel goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge after [[spoiler:a Controller shoots Jordan]].
26	* BirdsOfAFeather: When circumstances lead to [[spoiler:Elfangor and Jake double-teaming Visser Three, Rachel reflects that they move in total sync during their assault, wondering if that’s some kind of connection that only great leaders can achieve]].
27	* BluffTheImpostor: When Jake realises he's been sent back in time, he tells Tom that he hopes to get his spot on the basketball team. Tom says he quit, confirming Jake's suspicions that he's still being controlled by Temrash 114.
28	* BrainComputerInterface: Since Yeerk computers are based on Andalite ones, Andalites are able to control them using their minds in a similar manner to thought-speech.
29	* BreatherEpisode: After a string of high-intensity chapters with a lot of revelations and character introspection, chapter 14 mainly consists of Cassie telling Jake what she got up to at vet school.
30	* CanonCharacterAllAlong: One of the Controllers who kidnapped [[spoiler:Loren]] turns out to be Feriss 512, AKA Tom's second Yeerk.
31	* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: Esplin ''so'' wants to kill Feriss along with his current host in revenge for the latter betraying him in the original timeline, but he decides to keep him around and command him to [[spoiler:kill the Animorphs' families]] because he can rely on him to be cruel. Later, Jake talks Rachel out of killing some human-Controllers when he points out that they don't know what Feriss' host looks like; if he dies, the original timeline's version of him will be sent over.
32	* CassandraTruth: Mertil kidnaps Tom and Marco because he thinks they're Controllers. Marco insists that he's not, even as Tom tells him that it'll do no good.
33	* DeusExMachina: By the time Tobias finds [[spoiler:Loren and Elfangor, he has proved an old Andalite myth of ''Fillia-Rillia'', a guide-tree who gave the child of a ''nothlit'' an Andalite form when the child first came to the homeworld]].
34	* DidntThinkThisThrough: A minor example; Rachel [[spoiler:acquires Gafinilan as part of an assault on the Pool Ship, and only realises after she’s morphed him that he still has his genetic disease, meaning she’s in considerable pain while in his form (to Rachel’s credit, she doesn’t let that slow her down)]].
35	* DifferentWorldDifferentMovies: {{Discussed}}. Ax wonders if the new timeline's version of ''Series/TheYoungAndTheRestless'' has different plots.
36	* DivergentCharacterEvolution: In canon, Tom and his second Yeerk never appeared apart once the latter was introduced. Here, the real Tom is one of the narrators, while Feriss 512 makes multiple appearances in his previous human host.
37	* TheDogBitesBack: Tom beats Ferris 512 (in his host) to a bloody pulp in retaliation for the years of abuse Feriss inflicted upon him in the original timeline.
38	* DysfunctionJunction: Most of the narrators introspect on their personal problems. Jake reflects on how depressed he was after the war, Tobias thinks that the universe is conspiring against him to make sure he never has a family, Cassie regrets the bad decisions she made towards the end of the war, Ax regrets how closed-off he was from the humans at first, Tom has a ton of self-loathing caused by years of MindRape, Elfangor is reluctant to reunite with the love of his life at first, [[spoiler:Loren spent years feeling like nothing was real after she lost her memory]], et cetera.
39	* EasySexChange: In Chapter 22, Mertil reveals that several Andalites have used the morphing technology to do this via a ''Frolis manoeuvre'' if they feel genuinely uncomfortable in their original form.
40	* EnemyMine: Marco makes a deal with [[spoiler:Visser One to borrow one of her ships and use it to take out Visser Three, their common enemy.]]
41	* EntertaininglyWrong:
42	** When Tobias introduces himself as Elfangor's son, Tom - under Temrash's control - assumes that Tobias is a real Andalite who's been living on Earth in secret and was the actual leader of the Animorphs.
43	** Ax and Cassie hear about a blonde girl who fought Controllers with her bare hands, and an "Andalite bandit" in raptor morph who was captured by Yeerks, and immediately assume they were Rachel and Tobias. In reality, they were [[spoiler:Loren and Jake. A few chapters later, when Visser Three realises there's a morpher (Jake) on the Pool Ship, he immediately assumes it's Elfangor because he figured out the latter's death was faked and just kidnapped his wife.]]
44	* ExpendableAlternateUniverse: Discussed. Chapter 53 begins with [[spoiler:a flashback where Cassie asks Jake why he wants to go back to the original timeline and leave the splinter universe to die. Jake responds that it's the only way to make the splinter universe stable again, and that he gave the morphing cube to James.]]
45	* ExpospeakGag: Mertil calls a kitchen sink "the water receptacle in the food preparation space."
46	* FakingTheDead: Tobias helps Ax fake his death by cutting some of his limbs off and leaving them next to his SpaceFighter so Visser Three won't be suspicious; the severed limbs will still remain when Ax heals himself by morphing.
47	* FeeFiFauxPas: Tom mentions that Visser Three forced Feriss 512 to learn Andalite body language. When Tom meets the other Andalites, he tries to bow at them in a way that looks deferential, but Elfangor tells him that it's three hundred years out of date.
48	* FunTShirt: Tobias has to wear an oversized T-shirt that says "I'M WITH STUPID" after he accidentally wrecks his morphing outfit.
49	* GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul: PlayedForDrama. After delving deep into Tom's memories, Temrash 114 sets off his pleasure receptors as a "reward" for not resisting, which only makes Tom feel worse. [[spoiler:Later, Visser Three does the same to Alloran when they're "reunited" in the splinter universe.]]
50	* GlamourFailure: Tobias suspects that a man is an Andalite in morph because of the way he walks.
51	* GoodIsNotNice: One of the Chee expresses full agreement when asked to create a miniature Yeerk pool to contain any potential time-travelling Yeerks, observing that just because she's programmed for pacifism doesn't mean that she has to be nice to slavers.
52	* GroinAttack: [[spoiler:Loren]] kicks one of the Yeerk facility's guards in the crotch.
53	* HellYesMoment: In chapter 6, Temrash 114 tries to lure Jake into the Sharing despite Tom's constant pleas... But it turns out the other Animorphs are waiting in the house to capture them, much to Tom's delight.
54	* HelplessObserverProtagonist:
55	** Chapter 6 is told from the perspective of Tom, who's used to being helpless as Temrash 114 mercilessly tortures him. Fortunately, he gets better at the end.
56	** Chapter 33 ends with another Controller's point of view: [[spoiler:Alloran. After he dies of old age in the original timeline, the Drode brings him to the splinter universe, where he's promptly re-infested by Visser Three.]]
57	* HiveMind: The second time Tom morphs an ant, he's alone and feels like he's missing extensions of himself.
58	* HoldYourHippogriffs: Andalites have a lot of idioms related to guide trees, and Menderash describes Marco as a "[[labelnote:rock under my hoof]] thorn in my side[[/labelnote]]" at one point.
59	* HollywoodHacking: Discussed. Tom muses that real hacking is much slower than movies would have you believe.
60	* HumanityEnsues: Aftran is briefly sent to the splinter universe in a human form so she can talk to Cassie.
61	* HumansThroughAlienEyes: Gafinilan and Mertil haven't spent as much time among humans as Ax or Elfangor, so they're unfamiliar with mundane objects such as beds.
62	* ICannotSelfTerminate: Tom has this attitude at first. When he's sent back in time along with the Animorphs, his first thoughts are about how he'd rather be dead right now, and his first action after he regains control of his body is to hug Rachel in gratitude for killing him.
63	* IJustWantToHaveFriends: This part of Tobias's personality is analysed, as he admits that he doesn't feel Jake and Cassie in particular are actually his friends outside of Animorph-related duties and he was afraid to go to the Andalite homeworld in case he was just rejected there again.
64	* IgnorantOfTheirOwnIgnorance: Apparently, even after the Yeerks learned the truth about the Animorphs in the future, they believed that the Animorphs' first few missions were carried out by ''real'' Andalites who died of Kandrona radiation poisoning when they destroyed Earth's original Kandrona.
65	* ImHavingSoulPains: Temrash punishes Tom by setting off his pain receptors.
66	* ImpersonationGambit: When Marco contacts Samilin, a known spy for the Yeerks, he pretends to be a Controller.
67	* IneffectualDeathThreat: Basically applies when Controllers [[spoiler:capture Jake in falcon morph; they put him in a suitcase that would be too small for a demorphed Andalite, but is concealed enough for Jake to safely morph back into his true form, open the suitcase, and then escape as a fly without anyone seeing him]].
68	* InterspeciesRomance: As in canon, Loren and Rachel don't care what form Elfangor are Tobias are in, [[spoiler:Loren explicitly calling Elfangor's Andalite form "even hotter" and Rachel having no problem embracing Tobias when he assumes an Andalite form]].
69	* InvoluntaryShapeshifting: Gafinilan is so surprised to see a guide tree on Earth that he demorphs without thinking about it.
70	* ItsAllMyFault: Menderash blames himself for getting everyone sent back in time, because it was his idea to go searching for Ax.
71	* JerkassRealization:
72	** Cassie explains to the others that her experience with compromise in Washington has left her more willing to accept the need for it during an active war, assuring the others that she will accept it if they have to commit more brutal actions now that might end the war earlier.
73	** Ax in particular has one for himself and the rest of the team, feeling more willing to acknowledge that the other Animorphs occasionally hurt him by insisting that he act more human without truly trying to explain things to him but that he didn't make it easier to bond with humans by isolating himself in his scoop.
74	* KickTheDog: We only get sparse details of what happened to Tom while he was a controller, but it included constant MindRape, being forced to have sex with Visser Three, and he was chained up in a cage to himself in the Yeerk Pool towards the end. No wonder he wanted to die.
75	* KillTheHostBody:
76	** As soon as Tom is freed, he thanks Jake and Rachel for doing this to him in the original timeline, relieving some of Jake's immense guilt.
77	** [[spoiler:Since Cassie killed Visser Three while he was in Alloran's morphed body, the Drode is able to bring the original timeline's Alloran to the splinter universe as well. Then the newly-transplanted Visser Three blows up a Nova ship, and Edriss-in-Eva along with it. Oops.]]
78	* KindRestraints: The Animorphs knock Tom unconscious and tie him to a chair in the woods so they can kill his Yeerk.
79	* LetsSplitUpGang: After the Ellimist's visit, the group splits up. Ax and Tobias look for Elfangor, Jake and Cassie spy on the EGS tower, and Marco and Tom contact a spy for the Yeerks. Later, Tobias goes off to make out with Rachel, while Ax and Cassie go to The Gardens to get morphs.
80	* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: Tom says this after he uses queen ant pheromones to help Marco escape from the basement.
81	* LifeWillKillYou: After spending over 30 Earth years involved in an interplanetary war (and being possessed by a PuppeteerParasite for two-thirds of it), the original timeline's Alloran dies peacefully of old age, surrounded by his family.
82	* LiteralMinded: Gafinilan and Mertil are both unfamiliar with human terms. The former thinks that the "ladies" sign on a block of toilets is misleading because it may have one lady in it or none at all; and when [[spoiler:Loren]] is disappointed that the neurobot mat can't cure her mental traumas and "save [her] some money on therapy", Mertil assures her that it doesn't run on money.
83	* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Tobias admits when talking to Ax that Rachel is basically the only reason he still wanted to consider himself human towards the end of the war, reinforcing his fear of rejection from his Andalite family because if they turned him down he would literally have nothing.
84	* LukeYouAreMyFather: Subverted. When "Elfangor" lands, the first thing Tobias says to him is that he's his son... but the Andalite turns out to be Ax.
85	* MeaningfulRename: Tobias introduces himself to Temrash-in-Tom as "Tobias-Sirinial-Noorlin", proudly proclaiming himself to be Elfangor's son.
86	* MercyKill: Discussed. Tom was happy when Rachel killed him in the original timeline because at least he wouldn't be a slave anymore... and is immensely frustrated that he's alive again.
87	* MindRape: Various Yeerks, such as Temrash 114, Feriss 512, and Esplin 9466, enjoy tormenting their hosts by delving deep into their memories, setting off their pain and pleasure receptors, and condescendingly reminding them how hopeless their lives are.
88	* MoodWhiplash: Chapter 10 is mostly Ax reflecting on how he acted distant from humanity at first... and ends with a comment about how cinnamon buns are better than Earth grass.
89	* MultilayerFacade: Jake notes how weird it is that Charlton is a robot pretending to be a PuppeteerParasite pretending to be his brother.
90	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Essentially Cassie's reaction when she looks back on everything she did in the original war, concerned that she was so focused on being "moral" towards the end that she basically ruined the lives of the others.
91	* MyGreatestSecondChance: Marco assumes that Jake is "over the moon" because he has a chance to save Rachel and Tom.
92	* MythologyGag: Rachel notes that Tobias wore headphones on that fateful visit to the construction site, just like in the [[ComicBook/{{Animorphs}} graphic novel]].
93	* NamedByTheAdaptation: Tom's second Yeerk is called Feriss 512 here, Cassie's surname is Hanson, and Taylor's is Ingraham. On a more minor note, the tiger Jake acquired is revealed to be named Arthur, with all the Gardens' big cats named after figures from Arthurian myth.
94	* NarrativeProfanityFilter: The Dapsen Lumber guard screams obscenities that Elfangor is fairly certain park rangers aren't supposed to know.
95	* NeverFoundTheBody: Ax and Tobias go on a mission to rescue Elfangor, who took Ax's place on the Dome Ship... and it turns out that he detonated it so it wouldn't fall into Yeerk hands, leaving no body behind. Tobias is frustrated about the lack of closure, but it's revealed a few chapters later that Elfangor is still alive.
96	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: As it turns out, Yeerk technology retains the telepathic interface from when it was originally adapted from the Andalite software Seerow gave them; the Yeerks have never bothered to rewrite the code to remove such interfaces, allowing high-ranking Andalites such as Elfangor to access the interface with the proper command codes. [[spoiler:More specifically, Edris 562- the former Visser One- created a backdoor to give herself complete control of the Blade Ship, but although she was unable to use it before she died, Eva witnessed it during Edris's fugue, allowing her to pass that information on to Marco, who subsequently uses it in the new timeline to give Ax permanent control of the ship]].
97	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Tom is so overcome by rage when he sees Feriss that he throws a rock at him and then bludgeons him with a Dracon beam until he's a bloody pulp.
98	* OhCrap:
99	** Tom is worried when he learns that Jake is missing, but the gravity of the situation really hits him when Marco calls him in the middle of the night without speaking in code.
100	** [[spoiler:Cassie freaks out when she accidentally kills Visser Three, because it means that Crayak can bring the original timeline's Visser Three into the splinter universe.]]
101	* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Cassie mentions that her parents outlived her in the original universe.
102	* PainlessDeathForAPrice: The Animorphs kidnap Temrash-in-Tom and tie him up in the woods. Tobias offers Temrash the choice between a quick death and freedom, or a slow and painful one by kandrona starvation; Temrash chooses the former.
103	* PardonMyKlingon: Andalites use "rot" as an expletive, and Tobias considers calling Elfangor "a very nasty Taxxon epithet for shit" at one point.
104	* ParentsKnowTheirChildren: Elfangor instantly ''knows'' that Tobias is his son when he sees him for the first time.
105	* PassingTheTorch: [[spoiler:After Jake decides he'll return to the original universe, he visits James in the middle of the night and gives him the morphing cube along with a list of instructions.]]
106	* PlaguedByNightmares: Jake mentions that he has a recurring nightmare where Tom talks to him while dying gruesomely.
107	* PsychologicalProjection: At one point Visser Three challenges Elfangor to come out and take credit for the lives he’s ended, the Visser noting that Elfangor has “never been one to shy away from gloating about your brutality”, when it’s safe to say that the Visser has a much greater bodycount and is far more proud of his kills than Elfangor ever was.
108	* RealityIsOutToLunch: After [[spoiler:Visser Three kills Visser One, who wasn't supposed to die]], reality gets so screwed up that people and things phase through each other and fall apart for a few seconds.
109	* RememberedICouldFly: After they're captured by Mertil, Marco asks Tom why he didn't morph and stop him. Tom responds that he's not used to morphing of his own volition. Later, Marco tries to morph cockroach... only to realise that he hasn't acquired one yet in this timeline.
110	* RightForTheWrongReasons: When Tobias introduces himself as Elfangor's son, Tom and Temrash assume that Tobias's obvious discomfort in human form, such as often turning his head to look at Tom in different ways, is the sign of an Andalite unused to a human morph, as opposed to Tobias's long time as a hawk leaving him still unused to human body language.
111	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Jake flies in on Rachel when she's in elephant morph, wrecking a group of Controllers' car because [[spoiler:one of them shot Jordan.]]
112	* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: While Marco and Tobias won't abandon the war, they each make it clear that they have no interest in maintaining their current human lives, Tobias planning to stay with Ax once Ax has his new residence established and Marco intending to work with the Chee to set himself up elsewhere so he doesn't have to "repeat" high school.
113	* SecretTestOfCharacter: Gafinilan basically gives [[spoiler:Loren]] one when he gives her a pen and claims that it is a device intended to literally burn a Yeerk out of the Controller's brain with no harm to the host; it literally does nothing, but the ease with which she tried to use the alleged device on herself confirmed that she wasn't a host.
114	* ShapeshifterMashup: Cassie is so terrified by [[spoiler:the Yeerks burning her house down with her parents in it]] that her wolf morph turns into a wolf/dragonfly hybrid.
115	* ShoutOut: When Marco starts hacking the Blade Ship computers (after Elfangor has created a suitable interface), he jokingly proclaims "Just call me Creator/JonnyLeeMiller!" (''Film/{{Hackers}}''), but Tobias notes that he should settle for being "Nedry" (''Film/JurassicPark'').
116	* ShoutOutThemeNaming: All the big cats at The Gardens are named after characters from Arthurian legend.
117	* ShellShockedVeteran: When Tom hugs Rachel, Jake goes into hypervigilance mode and reflexively reacts as if she's being attacked.
118	* SirSwearsALot: Tom spends most of his narration in chapter 6 swearing at Temrash.
119	* SixthRanger: The Animorphs free Tom as soon as possible so his suffering won't weigh on Jake's mind. It turns out that he was sent back in time as well, and his inside knowledge on Yeerks is a valuable asset, so Jake decides to re-give him the morphing power.
120	* SleepingWithTheBoss: Tom implies that Feriss 512's relationship with Visser Three was sexual. Since neither he nor Alloran consented to it, he understandably doesn't like to talk about it.
121	* SparedByTheAdaptation: Ax is able to save Elfangor's life by tricking his brother into morphing each other so that Elfangor will be stuck in the Dome underwater, Tobias subsequently helping Ax fake his death so that they can escape the crashed fighter.
122	* SpeechImpediment: Tom's speech is slurred at first after he's freed from his Yeerk.
123	* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Marco insists that he didn't shriek when Fievel the dog licked his hand.
124	* SwitchingPOV: Each chapter told from the perspective of a different character. At first, it seems like it'll go through the Animorphs in the same order as the books, but then Tom is introduced in chapter 6 and several supporting characters get to narrate from then on.
125	* TemporalSickness: The time-displaced Animorphs keep throwing up on the first few days. Turns out it was food from the original universe that was still in their systems.
126	* TermsOfEndangerment: Tom has a particularly visceral reaction to Temrash calling him a "good boy".
127	* ThatWasNotADream: Jake briefly wonders if the entire events of the series were an anxiety-dream caused by his stress about basketball tryouts, until he realises that he remembers everything too clearly.
128	* ThisCannotBe: As soon as Tom is sent back in time, Temrash 114 learns all the Animorphs' secrets from Tom's memories and is confident he'll be able to expose them and infest their leader... only to be blindsided when it turns out the Animorphs were waiting in the house to capture them.
129	* ThoughtTheyKnewAlready: When Mertil and Gafinilan ask Ax what happened to them in the original timeline, Ax says that Gafinilan died of Soola's disease. This shocks Mertil, because Gafinilan had explained away his symptoms as "fatigue".
130	* TooBrokenToBreak: Tom spent so long being tortured by Yeerks that he's learned to endure it, and he's able to keep his cool when Mertil tries to kill Marco because he's met all kinds of aliens who've tried to kill him.
131	* TotallyRadical: PlayedForLaughs when Elfangor steals a car. He leaves a note for the owner filled with [=80s=] slang.
132	* TraumaButton: Tom freezes and starts shaking uncontrollably when he sees Visser Three.
133	* TroubledFetalPosition: Tom has a panic attack when he sees Visser Three while on the Pool Ship, and then almost loses himself when he morphs an ant. He's curled up in fetal position after Charlton rescues him.
134	* TwoLinesNoWaiting: After the Animorphs split up, the various point-of-view characters have their own subplots that eventually converge with each other.
135	* TwoOfYourEarthMinutes: Mertil explains that each planet has its own unit of time called "hours"; one Andalite hour equals 47 Earth minutes.
136	* UnableToCry: Jake recalls feeling too hollow to cry at Tom's funeral in the original timeline.
137	* TheUnmasquedWorld: [[spoiler:After the incident on the Pool Ship, Elfangor and Menderash intercept a message from the UN welcoming aliens to Earth.]]
138	* WeNeedADistraction:
139	** Marco distracts the Controller guarding the Dapsen Lumber Company by being really annoying so Ax can sneak into the cabin as a squirrel.
140	** When [[spoiler:Visser Three threatens to fire on the Pool Ship with the Animorphs on it]], Elfangor steals a Bug Fighter and flies it around the Blade Ship so he'll be fired at instead.
141	* WhamEpisode:
142	** Chapter 6 reveals that Tom was sent back along with the Animorphs.
143	** In chapter 32, [[spoiler:Cassie accidentally kills Visser Three, and she realises that Loren is the reason why the splinter universe was created.]]
144	* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Elfangor told himself throughout the trip to Earth that he was only there to protect the humans and had no intention of trying to visit Loren and his son. Even [[spoiler:after he is trapped on Earth, he just creates a basic human morph rather than trying to recreate Alan Fangor, and only starts trying to look for Loren on relative impulse]].
145	* YouKilledMyFather: Tobias mockingly informs the Animorphs' first Yeerk captive that he is Elfangor's son to make it clear that he will take great pleasure in watching the Yeerks die.
146	* YourNormalIsOurTaboo: Mertil is shocked when [[spoiler:Loren nonchalantly reveals that she knew Alloran before he was infested, as Alloran's name has become a curse for the Andalite fleet]].
147	* YoungAndInCharge: [[spoiler:The original timeline's Edriss is placed into Taylor's brain, and she still has the rank of Visser One, so the Yeerk invasion is being co-led by a teenage girl.]]

Context Fanfic / WhatTomorrowBrings