mystery1
The mystery
Disclamer: I'm just borrowing the caracters. They belong to, well..., whoever own Animorphs and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But the story is mine.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, was walking on the streets of Sunnydale, in search of somes vampires and others evils creatures to kill. It was a calm night, the moon was full and Buffy was thoroughly bored.

Suddently, she sees a movement in the shadow, behind a dumpster. It was a wolf, and it was injured. The wolf then began to change into a human girl. Buffy got to hide for watch that in peace.

"A werewolf" Buffy whisper for her hiding place. The werewolf, now fully human, casually walk away. The girl was about the same age that Buffy and she was wearing a skintight blue outfit. She was little, with black skin and hair.

Buffy got up silently, debating whatever kill it or follow it. But that werewolf had others plans. It turned a corner and got out of sight. *So it's following her.* Buffy thought.

When Buffy got to where the creature disapeared, there was nobody... Except the great horned owl at her feet. The bird then flew away, passing just over Buffy's head. She just stood here, speachless for once. Finally, she shouted, frustrated, to the now-empty street "What is going on there again?".

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Cassie was heading for the food court, at the mall. She was suppossed to meet Jake, Marco, Rachel, Tobias and Ax there. They just had, and won, a important battle against the Yeerks, so they were celebrating.

She arrived last. Rachel got to get everyone's orders. Everyone was talking about meaningless thing. They could almost relax and forget the Yeerks and the war a bit. But just a little bit. It's tough to completely forget it with a nothlit and an Andalite seated at the same table that you are.

Then Cassie noticed that girl. She was a few year older that her, with dark blond hair and blue eyes. It was her! She was seeing her everywhere, since the night after the last mission. But there was no point in breaking the mood. She could talk to Jake tomorrow at the meeting.

A few minutes later, she spoted another familiar face: Erek. He and his fellow Chee androids were spying the Yeerks for them. The Animorphs would probably get very bad news. But Cassie could talk to him about the person who is following her. He would be able to tell her if she is a Controller or a normal human. "Erek, do you know who and what is that girl? I believe she is following me."

"Have you be seen by someone when you where demorphing at the end of the battle?" Jake interrupted. "No" Cassie answered. "Weird..." "What, Erek?" "She is not a Controller. I can't help you. I don't even know her name!" "Then, we'll take care of her after the insane thing Erek what us to do... what was that thing, you never told us." Marco replied. " I have found the location of the new Kandrona" " Well, we'll destroy it in short order" Jake instructed. "Jake, I have to go home, some people got makeup papers because they did not take the time to do their homework before the mission" "I'm going home with you, Marco, I have homework too" said Jake.

"I'm going home with Cassie, in case she have problems" Rachel sugested. Everyone departed for their home, meadow or scoop. Cassie did go home with Rachel. She didn't talked of all the way and looked concerned. Rachel assured her, with her usual recklessness, that they would take care soon of the human girl that is following her. But even that assurance didn't make her fell better.

In fact, she felt a lot worse that when she arrived at the food court and didn't even know why.

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A few days later...

Buffy was still spying the weird creature and it's friends. Spying was definitively NOT her style. She prefered attack. But Giles insisted to just spy it...for now since he and the Slayerettes couldn't find something about their kind.

So there she was. There being outside of a normal-looking building. She heards them say that they would be there tonight. To destroy something.

Buffy catched movements in the shadow nearby. And a few minutes later a tiger, a hawk, a gorilla, a gorilla, a grizzly bear and a wolf emerged from the shadow. The wolf was probably the creature she first saw. But the more interesting thing was a blue centaur with a dangerous-looking tail and too much eyes.

The...animals got close to the building. The grizzly bear then crashed the glass door and they all got inside. Buffy had to follow them. From a safe distance, for now at least.

She got inside the building and followed their tracks. That was easy; there was all kinds of broken stuff and human bodies in their wake. Then she heard noises of battle. She followed that familiar sound. She arrived just in time to see 7-feet-tall monsters with blades all over attack the animals.

Buffy was so facinated by the battle that she didn't heard the monster coming behind her.

Suddenly, she felt a wrist blade being pressed against her throat.

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Cassie was battling with an Hork-Bajir. There was only 7 of them left. The Animorphs were lucky. There was not many Hork-Bajirs to guard the Kandrona.

She then smelled an human, but she dismissed it as a knocked out human-Controller. Shortly after Jack said in thought-speak Oh no! Cassie, is that girl is our spy?>

Oh yeah, it's certainly her.> Cassie answered. Ax?> Jake said Go save that girl and protect her.> Yes Prince Jake.> Ax replied. And don't call me Prince.> Jake added. Cassie and Jake then got back to their Hork-Bajirs.

Meanwhile, Ax got to the Hork-Bajir that was holding the human girl and knocked him out with a single blow of his deadly tail. The girl tried to attack Ax after being freed, but he kept her at bay with his tail.

What should I do now, Prince Jake?> Ax asked as the Animorphs finished their Hork-Bajirs. Jake said to the Animorphs and Ax: Bring her with us. We can't let her go away with all she knows.> and to the girl: Stay with us please. We mean you no harm. But we'll have to explain you a few things, and you too will have to answer a few of our questions.> That's an understatement, fearless leader.> Marco replied in private thought-speak.

"What are you?!" the girl insisted. We don't have the time to explain all that now. We'll destroy the thing we came for and then we'll talk.>

The girl looked like she wanted to say a smart reply, but couldn't come with anything funny or appropriate.

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Buffy was totally confused. A quick summary: there are at least 6 creatures, they were supposedly friendly and they were fighting with yet another kind of creatures, one which she knows even less about. Gods, she hated that kind of situations! And what she wouldn't give to be able to talk to her Watcher right now...

Interrupting her thoughts, half of their pelicular little group climbed in an elevator. They have told her that the others will come after them. That elevator ride gave her a little bit more time to think about her situation.

She was inclined to trust the creatures. Normally, she wouldn't trust anyone, human or not, after a period of time so short. Normally, by then, she would be thinking about all kinds of plans to run away or fight for when they'll get out of that elevator. But she didn't thought she could beat them so easily. She could try to fight, and she still had good chances to win. But she didn't wanted to, at least for now. Their situation was too unpredictable, for her at least.

They finally got out of the elevator and waited for the rest of the group. The creatures looked suprised (as much as animals or blue centaurs with scorpion tails can look surprised, anyway) as they looked at the empty corridors. The centaur walked carefully to a plain white door, opened it slowly and looked inside the room.

The animals followed the centaur, and one of them nudged her to follow. There was a big shinning cylinder in the room, and that was making this room hotter that the rest of the building. The grizzly bear changed to human and then to elephant, and the tiger changed to human and then to rhinoceros. The elephant and the rhinoceros pushed the cylinder diffucultly through the windows, and it smashed into the concrete with a loud thump.

NOW, we can talk.> one of the animals replied.

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To be continued...