Uh Oh
My name is Mia. I can't tell you my last name. If you don't know why, then you haven't been paying attention to the others. I'm not a full Animorph. I just help fight. Plus I sort of like being around Ax and Marco. Don't ask me why, I just have this thing for weirdos, alright? First, I guess I should tell you how I became an Animorph in the first place. Well, it happened a few weeks ago.
Hi there.
Marco? What are you doing here?
Thought I'd help you. Lord knows I was more involved in this story than anyone else.
Yeah, right!
Aw, come on.
Don't you dare smile like that, you. Little. Oh, alright. From now on this story will be told by Marco.
Like I said, hi there. I guess Mia's already told you everything important. So I'll just start around where she left off. A few weeks ago, Jake and I were in our 5th hour class, just before lunch. Now usually new kids are introduced in the first class, but this new kid was late for school because her family was still unpacking and they had just gotten the chance to enroll the kids. Anyway, the bell had just rang and we were walking into Mr. Plaisance's class. We call him Mr. P. Jake and I finished a little discussion while we headed for our seats. Mr. P cleared his throat.
"Class, we have a new student. Now, she's going to need a guide to show her around school, and her parents have requested that she have a guide for town, too since they will be busy for the next few days. Come in, Mia." That's when we saw her. One of the most beautiful creatures on earth.
Marco?
Oh, interupt the story why don't you.
I think I will. You see, the point of this story was to tell what happened, not suck up. K?
Suck up? Me? I think I'll ignore you for that remark. Now on with the story. As I said, that's when we first saw Mia. I wouldv'e volunteered to show her around, but I knew Jake just wouldv'e pulled down my arm and tell me it was too risky. That's what I thought anyway.
"Jake," said Mr. P, "would you like to show Mia around?" I looked at Jake to watch him sweat a response. He sat there. That's all he did. He just sat there. "Jake? Did you hear me?" Jake responded in a sort of trance-like way.
"Yes, Mr. P. I'd be glad to show her around." My eyes went wide. This is Jake. Mr. Serious in the flesh, and he just volunteered to waist time showing around a pair of goo-goo eyes. Not that I was severely mad. Hey, I'd be with him the entire time. I had no problem with this at all. It just didn't seem Jake-like, that's all. Mia walked slowly to the desk next to Jake. Then, in an entrancing movement, she sweeped into the desk, leaning just enough to where Jake, and I thank dear god, had full view of her...her..very tight jeans. Get the point? I swear, if Jake wasn't so stiff, he wouldv'e fainted right there. Anyway, class went on like this: Mr. P taught, I tried to grab Jake's attention, Jake stared at Mia, and Mia showed more skin on her arms than I knew there was. If I wasn't so aggrivated with Jake, I probably wouldv'e just sat there and drooled. Finally the bell rang and Jake, Mia, and I got out of there in a flash. We all headed towards the cafeteria. I looked for Rachel and Cassie, but couldn't see them anywhere. I figured they hadn't come to the lunch yet. "Marco," Jake caught me by surprise.
"Yea?"
"Would you go put this in the trash for me?" He handed me an empty paper plate that used to hold a slice of chocolate cake. I looked at him carefully. "Please. Look, Mia and I have to talk about something. So, would please throw this away?" I stared at him a moment. Then I grabbed the plate and started the trek across the cafeteria. When I reached the trash can, I saw some more welcoming faces.
"Hey, Marco," said Rachel. "How's it going?" I dumped the plate in the can.
"Could be better. There's this new kid that Jake agreed to show around for the next couple of days."
"Oh, really? Who is it?" asked Cassie. I turned around and pointed to the table where Jake and Mia were currently seated. At first I thought Jake and Mia sitting so close and whispering was just sick. Then I realized it was a big mistake. My head shot towards Cassie. Her lip quivered slightly. She started walking slowly to the table. "Jake?" She came up behind him. He turned around to see an almost blubbering Cassie hovering over his shoulder. She started to shake her head. "Oh, Jake," she said even softer than before, seeing the lipstick outlines on Jake's cheek, where Mia had kissed him.
Marco, you are making me sound like a slut.
Mia, when we first met you, you acted like a slut.
Yea, so. I don't see how that has any relevence at this time.
Just let me tell the story, alright? Thank you. Now, I know this is probably sounding like an episode of All My Children, but that's what happened. A low, almost whispered shriek. Jake looked like a deer in headlights. And Cassie? She was quite content with running from the cafeteria.
*Yes, that was quite a spectical.*
Oh no. Not another author. Who is it this time?
*Calm down, Mia. It's just me, Rachel.*
Hi, Xena. What are you doing here?
*Shut up, Marco. And I'm here because I know what happened after school that day and can give a better account.*
Well, Marco, she does have a valid point.
Well, OK. This story is now officially being told by Rachel.
*Thank you both. Now, what happened after that is sort of complicated. After the little scene, Cassie was called to Chapman's office. I was sent with her since she was still crying. Of course, Chapman took the opportunity to try and recruit her into the Sharing. What really scared me was how she took the Sharing card with the Membership Service number from him when he offered it. When we got out of the office, I saw her tuck the card into her pocket. After school, Cassie and I worked in her family's barn, the Wild-life Rehabilitation Center. That's when Cassie gave me the shock of my life.
"Rachel?" she said while cleaning out a cage.
"Yea?"
"Take me to the mall. I want to go shopping." She turned to me. And I stood there with the simple look of "who are you and where is my best friend?" Slowly, my lips curled into a smile.
"I knew you'ld come to your senses someday." She shook her head.
"Oh gad, what have I unleashed?" We finished up some work, got cleaned up, and then went to the mall.
*The next day, it was like I didn't exist. A few old friends of mine came up to say hello, then saw Cassie and became as articulate as a log thrown in fire. And kept there cool about the same. The day went passed quickly. During lunch Cassie tried to find Jake and I lead her on a wild goose chase to the other side. I had seen Jake, and he was sitting right next to Mia. Not a good combination. After school, we went to Cassie's house to invite Ax and Tobias to the mall. We went to the mall seperately. Me and Cassie. Tobias and Ax. And hopefully Jake and Marco. I was praying there was no one else. We each took our different routes to the food court. We pretended to run into eachother at a table. We sat down and waited to see if Jake would appear.
"Hey," said Marco. We turned to see if he was alone. He was. Cassie's head lowered.
"Oh. It's you, Marco."
"Nice to see you, too. Look, I know that whole deal with Jake has got you shook up but- WHOA! MOMMA!" I noticed that he had just caught a glimpse of her outfit. She gave a smirk.
"I really look that good?" All Marco could do was nod his head. Everyone laughed a bit. Everyone but Ax, that is. He has trouble seeing humor sometimes.
"I don't see why you are dressed that way in the first place. Place. Puh. Pluh. Ace. Pluh-ace. Puh-luh-a-sa." Tobias laughed.
"Ax, she's trying to impress Jake." Ax narrowed his eyes. Then he shook his head to admit defeat of confusion. We all laughed some more, then I stopped when I heard a familiar laugh not too far away. I turned towards the theater. Just as I thought, there was Jake and Mia laughing and giggling as they walked slowly away from the theater. Then I noticed something else. Mia's gaze slowly turned to our table and even more so to Marco. Then it hit me. I nearly had a stroke, I was trying so hard not to laugh. I reached over and took Cassie, making her follow me away from the table and towards Jake. As we walked on, I grabbed Marco's shoulder and started to drag him alongside. Jake caught sight of us.
"Hey, Rachel, Marco, C-c-c-ccc. Cassie?!" Jake had a look that said 'Oh my god, what did I miss?' I smiled when I noticed Mia sort of hiding behind Jake, blushing more with every glance she shot at Marco. I had figured it out. And it was killing me. Unfortunatley, as I started to speak, our friend Erek came running up. The next thing I know, we're in the middle of a conversation about something he overheard Chapman talking about. Luckily, we were able to distract Mia so that we could talk privately. The next few moments were very frustrating. And quick. After a silent discussion, the Animorphs all headed outside. This was going to take a long time.
*We started to walk to Mia's house. Since Jake was her guide he had to take her everywhere in town. Then we got to her house. The door was opened. "Umm, guys," started Marco, "don't people usually close and lock their doors?" Mia walked slowly up to the porch.
"That's right. And my parent's are more picky than anyone I know about that. They have a severe phobia of these things. Oh god, somethings wrong. Mom? Dad?" Mia moved into the house, with the Animorphs in close persuit. I was looking around when I heard a scream everyone looked to where Mia was standing. We all got prepared for a fight. Especially when we saw Chapman standing in front of Mia. Chapman stepped back.
"Now hold on, young miss Mia. I was passing by when I saw that the door was open and came to check out, to see if everything was OK. It seems your parents were taken. I found a note on the kitchen table." Mia ran to the kitchen, tears streaming down her face. None of the Animorphs moved. We didn't trust Chapman. We weren't giving him a chance to escape. Mia staggered back into the living room.
"They've been kidnapped. Someone kidnapped my parents." She was stunned. She had trouble standing straight. Then, she straightened out, tugged on her shirt, and took a deep breathe. "They want me to meet them at the forest behind the school within the next few hours. So, I'm going now." With that she walked out of the house. Then, she slowly tip-toed back in. "Um, Jake? How do I get to the school again?" Jake went off with Mia, leading her to the school. The rest of us took a different route. Well, most of us, that is. When we got to the forest edge we noticed Cassie wasn't with us. This scared me, but I didn't have time to worry about it. Cassie could take care of her-self. As we waited, I heard footsteps. Jake and Mia came to the forest. Then, out of the trees came a few Hork-Bajir. Why was I not surprised. Tobias, Ax, and I were morphed and went into battle. Only, it wasn't anywhere near a real battle. Quite basically, all that really happened was we came bounding in and Mia screamed for us to stop. We were confused. Especially when we turned around and the Hork-Bajir weren't attacking. Then someone else stepped out from the woods.
"Well, what do we have here? If I didn't know better, young lady, I'd say you hired a circus to protect you. Still, no matter what the circumstances, you will soon understand everything that's occuring." The man gave a sinister smile. It made my blood run cold. I knew who this man was, now. Visser Three. Then I heard Mia say something. I looked at her. She was leaning in Jake's direction.
"Jake," she whispered low, "when I give the word, I want you to run."
"And leave you in this position? It's too dangerous. I'm not going anywhere."
"Jake, before us stand a man, a group of really mean looking creatures, and an attacking band of animals who now seem to be thinking like humans. I'm the one they want, Jake. Go before something bad happens." Jake looked at me, and I nodded. He looked back at Mia.
"Don't worry, Mia. The animals are on our side."
"Jake, are you crazy?!"
"Shhh. No, I'm not. Trust me, OK?"
"Alright." Then Jake looked back to me and the others. I knew what he was looking for. He wanted to know where Cassie was, and I couldn't tell him. He must have seen that in my eyes, for just then a shock of fear gripped his.*
~I was scared to death. I coudln't help being afraid.~
Another author?! One more, and I freak.
~Hello, Mia, Marco, Rachel. Thought I'd join in. We each have parts of the story that we know better than the others. This is mine. If you don't mind, Rachel.~
*Not at all, Jake. I perfectly agree with you. Go on. From now on this is your story.*
~Thank you. As stated, I was frightened. Severely. I care about Cassie a lot, and it scared me to think that something might be wrong. Finally, I snapped to the present and started to devise a plan. First, I had to get Mia out of danger. And that meant getting rid of the Hork-Bajir.
"Who are you?" I needed to make a distraction. "What do you want with Mia?" An all too familiar grin crossed his face.
"That is of no concern of yours, boy. Your friend and I have something to discuss that is of utter importance. Am I correct, Mia?" Mia looked uneasy. She was afraid to answer. Finally she turned and did something drastic: she picked up a huge rock and threw it at one of the Hork-Bajir. I saw this as a chance. Signaling the others to attack, I led Mia to a safe spot.
"Mia, listen to me. I have something important to do. You have to promise me that you'll stay right here until I return. Also that you will not tell anyone about what you're about to see. Do you promise?"
"I promise."
"Good." With that, I started to morph. I was going tiger. Mia kept staring at me. [Mia, if you really want to keep your lunch, I'd seriously advise you to turn away.] Nodding, she quickly turned before any more changes occured. Once I was fully tiger, I told her that I was going to help the others. When I returned to the sight of the battle, no one was there. Then I heard a scream.
"Jake!!" I turned back towards Mia at top speed. As soon as I got there, the world went black.~
~I woke up with a serious headache. I looked around the small room I was in. Or what I thought was a room anyway. I soon found out different.
[Jake!] A voice seemed to be screaming in my head. [Jake, demorph now! You've almost reached the two-hour time limit! Don't worry, the room is safe. Now demorph.] So, I demorphed. It was Tobias that had been yelling in my head. The other's had demorphed and remorphed by now. Taking the hint, I did the same.
[Where are we? What happened?]
"Shh. You want the Visser to hear you?"
[Mia?]
"Yes, it's me. While we've been here the others told me about everything that's happened. The Yeerk invasion, everything."
[How'd we get here?]
"When we ran off, the others attacked. They lost, but the Visser was too interested in me to sign their death certificates. When you came running to respond to my screams, they knocked you out."
[Yeah,] said Marco, [and now our only hope is that the message we got was from Cassie.]
[Message?] Rachel nodded with her massive bear head.
[We recieved a message in thought-speech, so we're pretty sure it was her. She said not to worry, and that she'd soon have us out of this mess.] If tigers could smile, I would have been wearing the biggest grin in the universe.
[So, Cassie's safe?] They seemed a bit surprised at my question. All except Mia that is. She new Cassie was the biggest concern on my mind right now. Too bad no one else did. Marco responded sharply.
[As far as we can tell, yes. But why do you care anyway? I mean, I thought you and Mia were a couple.] I shook my head, as did Mia. We wanted to tell them all about what we were doing, but we couldn't. Just as we started to, everything started to go crazy.~
Alright, I want to tell more.
Marco, shut up. Why do you have to interupt at this exact moment.
I'm good at describing the insanities of action.
~Actually, I think Cassie would be the best person to explain this part.~
*Jake's right. This is Cassie's part. Not mine, or Marco's, or anyone else's.*
OK. So, where's Cassie?
^Here Mia.^
Hello, Cassie. Ready to tell the story?
^Do I have a choice?^
Really truly?
^Yes.^
No.
^I guess that settles it then. Hello, my name's Cassie. Jake left off where everything got crazy. When I had dissappeared, it was because Chapman had pulled me aside to discuss any future involvement I might have with the Sharing. I was seriously delayed by his questioning, but if I hadn't been then I wouldn't have been able to try and save the others. I had found different tracks in the area where Jake was supposed to be bringing Mia. I followed them and came upon a large ship. After doing some investigating from the trees around it, as a peregin falcon, I was able to figure out where the others were, and how everything was run on the ship. This gave me a major advantage. I sent a message to the others, not knowing if they had heard it or not. Then, acting on blind faith, I made an attack. As soon as Visser 3 (in human form) stepped out of the ship, I swooped down and raked my claws across his head. I then flew into the ship, aiming for some place to hide. I found a small room close to where the others were being held. There I demorphed, then morphed into my wolf. At the moment I must have gone completely crazy. Instead of trying to avoid drawing any more attention, I jumped out into the open and attacked the nearest controller. It was a Taxxon, so it went down easy. Appearently, it was the one at the main exit controls, because all the doors, or presumed doors, flew open. Including the one that held the Animorphs.
[Cassie!!!] I saw the tiger almost dance towards me.
[Jake! I am so glad to see you guys alive. Look, this confusion won't last long, so we need to get everything that we need and get out of here.]
[Right.] Rachel ran to a door, reached in her big bear claws, and lead out two extremely scared people. Mia ran to them.
"Mom! Dad! Are you OK?" Mia's parents hugged her then started towards the exit that was opened to the outside.
"We will be honey, just as soon as we are as far from this place as possible." Mia's dad rushed away as fast as he could, wife and daughter in tow. The Animorphs made it out just before the confusion ended. I have no idea how we did it, but we did.
^When we finally all had to slow down to breath, we were just on the outskirts of town. Mia had made her parents return home, then came back to us. We all had plenty of time left on our morphs, so we went to my family's barn. Then...we talked.
"Alright," Marco said, "Now for some explanations."
"Like?" Mia breathed in deeply. Marco shot Jake a frustrated glance.
"Like what was going on between you and Jake, Mia. Think you could explain that?" Rachel seemed more interested in volunteering the information.
"Marco, don't lose it on us. I figured out what was going on back at the mall, but I never got to tell you."
"So," said Tobias in human morph, "what is it?" Rachel laughed.
"It's really simple. All the time it seemed like Mia was flirting with Jake, she was actually trying to grab Marco's attention. The whole deal was put together because she liked Marco and wanted to see if he liked her too by seeing if he would get jealous." Mia went bright red.
"Yeah, that's it." She looked at me. "Cassie, I'm really sorry. Jake and I knew eachother when we were kids, and at lunch we were talking about the things we did as kids when I brought up my idea. The reason I had kissed his cheek was because I was so happy that he had agreed to help me. We were going to tell you, but we never got the chance. I really am sorry." I looked at them both. Mia's red, sad face. Jake's cute, loving, adorable-^
Gag.
Shut up, Marco. I think Cassie's doing a good job.
I thought you said these stories weren't for sucking up.
Who's sucking up? Cassie is telling the story from her side. There's nothing wrong with what she's saying.
No, except it's sort of annoying.
Cassie, just ignore him and continue.
^Alright. Well, anyway, I looked at both their faces and smiled.
"It's ok. I just can't believe I hadn't seen it." We laughed for a bit. Then Marco shot in with one of his amazing bits of wisdom.
"Let me get this straight real quick. Jake acted stunned because he recognized Mia as an old friend?" Marco asked.
"More precisely, Mia is a friend I never thought I'd see again. When her dad made them just up and move those years ago, it seemed like he was set on never coming back here again. I was just so glad that she was back, I almost couldn't believe it was really her," Jake explained.
"OK. That makes sense. So, this whole time I thought Mia was totally free- fall over Jake, she was really trying to make me jealous?" Mia blushed.
"Well, yeah." Marco tried thinking.^
*Imagine a side of beef trying to think and then put Marco's face on it.*
Very funny, Xena.
^Marco spoke up again.
"So, a girl actually likes me? I mean, not that I'm surprised or anything, being as naturally adorable as I am, but still. The angel really likes me?" Mia was turning so red it was barely funny. Well, Rachel was having a blast trying not to laugh, but you get the point. Mia?^
Thanks for your input Cassie. Anyway, after an Animorphs discussion, I was allowed into the group. Marco and I started to hit it off real good (as soon as I stopped blushing) and Cassie and Jake made ammends along with having an extensive conversation with Cassie's parents. My parents and I were put under a specialized Pemalite protection program, and that is how I became the 7th member of the Animorphs. Pretty cool, huh?
The End?
My name is Mia. I can't tell you my last name. If you don't know why, then you haven't been paying attention to the others. I'm not a full Animorph. I just help fight. Plus I sort of like being around Ax and Marco. Don't ask me why, I just have this thing for weirdos, alright? First, I guess I should tell you how I became an Animorph in the first place. Well, it happened a few weeks ago.
Hi there.
Marco? What are you doing here?
Thought I'd help you. Lord knows I was more involved in this story than anyone else.
Yeah, right!
Aw, come on.
Don't you dare smile like that, you. Little. Oh, alright. From now on this story will be told by Marco.
Like I said, hi there. I guess Mia's already told you everything important. So I'll just start around where she left off. A few weeks ago, Jake and I were in our 5th hour class, just before lunch. Now usually new kids are introduced in the first class, but this new kid was late for school because her family was still unpacking and they had just gotten the chance to enroll the kids. Anyway, the bell had just rang and we were walking into Mr. Plaisance's class. We call him Mr. P. Jake and I finished a little discussion while we headed for our seats. Mr. P cleared his throat.
"Class, we have a new student. Now, she's going to need a guide to show her around school, and her parents have requested that she have a guide for town, too since they will be busy for the next few days. Come in, Mia." That's when we saw her. One of the most beautiful creatures on earth.
Marco?
Oh, interupt the story why don't you.
I think I will. You see, the point of this story was to tell what happened, not suck up. K?
Suck up? Me? I think I'll ignore you for that remark. Now on with the story. As I said, that's when we first saw Mia. I wouldv'e volunteered to show her around, but I knew Jake just wouldv'e pulled down my arm and tell me it was too risky. That's what I thought anyway.
"Jake," said Mr. P, "would you like to show Mia around?" I looked at Jake to watch him sweat a response. He sat there. That's all he did. He just sat there. "Jake? Did you hear me?" Jake responded in a sort of trance-like way.
"Yes, Mr. P. I'd be glad to show her around." My eyes went wide. This is Jake. Mr. Serious in the flesh, and he just volunteered to waist time showing around a pair of goo-goo eyes. Not that I was severely mad. Hey, I'd be with him the entire time. I had no problem with this at all. It just didn't seem Jake-like, that's all. Mia walked slowly to the desk next to Jake. Then, in an entrancing movement, she sweeped into the desk, leaning just enough to where Jake, and I thank dear god, had full view of her...her..very tight jeans. Get the point? I swear, if Jake wasn't so stiff, he wouldv'e fainted right there. Anyway, class went on like this: Mr. P taught, I tried to grab Jake's attention, Jake stared at Mia, and Mia showed more skin on her arms than I knew there was. If I wasn't so aggrivated with Jake, I probably wouldv'e just sat there and drooled. Finally the bell rang and Jake, Mia, and I got out of there in a flash. We all headed towards the cafeteria. I looked for Rachel and Cassie, but couldn't see them anywhere. I figured they hadn't come to the lunch yet. "Marco," Jake caught me by surprise.
"Yea?"
"Would you go put this in the trash for me?" He handed me an empty paper plate that used to hold a slice of chocolate cake. I looked at him carefully. "Please. Look, Mia and I have to talk about something. So, would please throw this away?" I stared at him a moment. Then I grabbed the plate and started the trek across the cafeteria. When I reached the trash can, I saw some more welcoming faces.
"Hey, Marco," said Rachel. "How's it going?" I dumped the plate in the can.
"Could be better. There's this new kid that Jake agreed to show around for the next couple of days."
"Oh, really? Who is it?" asked Cassie. I turned around and pointed to the table where Jake and Mia were currently seated. At first I thought Jake and Mia sitting so close and whispering was just sick. Then I realized it was a big mistake. My head shot towards Cassie. Her lip quivered slightly. She started walking slowly to the table. "Jake?" She came up behind him. He turned around to see an almost blubbering Cassie hovering over his shoulder. She started to shake her head. "Oh, Jake," she said even softer than before, seeing the lipstick outlines on Jake's cheek, where Mia had kissed him.
Marco, you are making me sound like a slut.
Mia, when we first met you, you acted like a slut.
Yea, so. I don't see how that has any relevence at this time.
Just let me tell the story, alright? Thank you. Now, I know this is probably sounding like an episode of All My Children, but that's what happened. A low, almost whispered shriek. Jake looked like a deer in headlights. And Cassie? She was quite content with running from the cafeteria.
*Yes, that was quite a spectical.*
Oh no. Not another author. Who is it this time?
*Calm down, Mia. It's just me, Rachel.*
Hi, Xena. What are you doing here?
*Shut up, Marco. And I'm here because I know what happened after school that day and can give a better account.*
Well, Marco, she does have a valid point.
Well, OK. This story is now officially being told by Rachel.
*Thank you both. Now, what happened after that is sort of complicated. After the little scene, Cassie was called to Chapman's office. I was sent with her since she was still crying. Of course, Chapman took the opportunity to try and recruit her into the Sharing. What really scared me was how she took the Sharing card with the Membership Service number from him when he offered it. When we got out of the office, I saw her tuck the card into her pocket. After school, Cassie and I worked in her family's barn, the Wild-life Rehabilitation Center. That's when Cassie gave me the shock of my life.
"Rachel?" she said while cleaning out a cage.
"Yea?"
"Take me to the mall. I want to go shopping." She turned to me. And I stood there with the simple look of "who are you and where is my best friend?" Slowly, my lips curled into a smile.
"I knew you'ld come to your senses someday." She shook her head.
"Oh gad, what have I unleashed?" We finished up some work, got cleaned up, and then went to the mall.
*The next day, it was like I didn't exist. A few old friends of mine came up to say hello, then saw Cassie and became as articulate as a log thrown in fire. And kept there cool about the same. The day went passed quickly. During lunch Cassie tried to find Jake and I lead her on a wild goose chase to the other side. I had seen Jake, and he was sitting right next to Mia. Not a good combination. After school, we went to Cassie's house to invite Ax and Tobias to the mall. We went to the mall seperately. Me and Cassie. Tobias and Ax. And hopefully Jake and Marco. I was praying there was no one else. We each took our different routes to the food court. We pretended to run into eachother at a table. We sat down and waited to see if Jake would appear.
"Hey," said Marco. We turned to see if he was alone. He was. Cassie's head lowered.
"Oh. It's you, Marco."
"Nice to see you, too. Look, I know that whole deal with Jake has got you shook up but- WHOA! MOMMA!" I noticed that he had just caught a glimpse of her outfit. She gave a smirk.
"I really look that good?" All Marco could do was nod his head. Everyone laughed a bit. Everyone but Ax, that is. He has trouble seeing humor sometimes.
"I don't see why you are dressed that way in the first place. Place. Puh. Pluh. Ace. Pluh-ace. Puh-luh-a-sa." Tobias laughed.
"Ax, she's trying to impress Jake." Ax narrowed his eyes. Then he shook his head to admit defeat of confusion. We all laughed some more, then I stopped when I heard a familiar laugh not too far away. I turned towards the theater. Just as I thought, there was Jake and Mia laughing and giggling as they walked slowly away from the theater. Then I noticed something else. Mia's gaze slowly turned to our table and even more so to Marco. Then it hit me. I nearly had a stroke, I was trying so hard not to laugh. I reached over and took Cassie, making her follow me away from the table and towards Jake. As we walked on, I grabbed Marco's shoulder and started to drag him alongside. Jake caught sight of us.
"Hey, Rachel, Marco, C-c-c-ccc. Cassie?!" Jake had a look that said 'Oh my god, what did I miss?' I smiled when I noticed Mia sort of hiding behind Jake, blushing more with every glance she shot at Marco. I had figured it out. And it was killing me. Unfortunatley, as I started to speak, our friend Erek came running up. The next thing I know, we're in the middle of a conversation about something he overheard Chapman talking about. Luckily, we were able to distract Mia so that we could talk privately. The next few moments were very frustrating. And quick. After a silent discussion, the Animorphs all headed outside. This was going to take a long time.
*We started to walk to Mia's house. Since Jake was her guide he had to take her everywhere in town. Then we got to her house. The door was opened. "Umm, guys," started Marco, "don't people usually close and lock their doors?" Mia walked slowly up to the porch.
"That's right. And my parent's are more picky than anyone I know about that. They have a severe phobia of these things. Oh god, somethings wrong. Mom? Dad?" Mia moved into the house, with the Animorphs in close persuit. I was looking around when I heard a scream everyone looked to where Mia was standing. We all got prepared for a fight. Especially when we saw Chapman standing in front of Mia. Chapman stepped back.
"Now hold on, young miss Mia. I was passing by when I saw that the door was open and came to check out, to see if everything was OK. It seems your parents were taken. I found a note on the kitchen table." Mia ran to the kitchen, tears streaming down her face. None of the Animorphs moved. We didn't trust Chapman. We weren't giving him a chance to escape. Mia staggered back into the living room.
"They've been kidnapped. Someone kidnapped my parents." She was stunned. She had trouble standing straight. Then, she straightened out, tugged on her shirt, and took a deep breathe. "They want me to meet them at the forest behind the school within the next few hours. So, I'm going now." With that she walked out of the house. Then, she slowly tip-toed back in. "Um, Jake? How do I get to the school again?" Jake went off with Mia, leading her to the school. The rest of us took a different route. Well, most of us, that is. When we got to the forest edge we noticed Cassie wasn't with us. This scared me, but I didn't have time to worry about it. Cassie could take care of her-self. As we waited, I heard footsteps. Jake and Mia came to the forest. Then, out of the trees came a few Hork-Bajir. Why was I not surprised. Tobias, Ax, and I were morphed and went into battle. Only, it wasn't anywhere near a real battle. Quite basically, all that really happened was we came bounding in and Mia screamed for us to stop. We were confused. Especially when we turned around and the Hork-Bajir weren't attacking. Then someone else stepped out from the woods.
"Well, what do we have here? If I didn't know better, young lady, I'd say you hired a circus to protect you. Still, no matter what the circumstances, you will soon understand everything that's occuring." The man gave a sinister smile. It made my blood run cold. I knew who this man was, now. Visser Three. Then I heard Mia say something. I looked at her. She was leaning in Jake's direction.
"Jake," she whispered low, "when I give the word, I want you to run."
"And leave you in this position? It's too dangerous. I'm not going anywhere."
"Jake, before us stand a man, a group of really mean looking creatures, and an attacking band of animals who now seem to be thinking like humans. I'm the one they want, Jake. Go before something bad happens." Jake looked at me, and I nodded. He looked back at Mia.
"Don't worry, Mia. The animals are on our side."
"Jake, are you crazy?!"
"Shhh. No, I'm not. Trust me, OK?"
"Alright." Then Jake looked back to me and the others. I knew what he was looking for. He wanted to know where Cassie was, and I couldn't tell him. He must have seen that in my eyes, for just then a shock of fear gripped his.*
~I was scared to death. I coudln't help being afraid.~
Another author?! One more, and I freak.
~Hello, Mia, Marco, Rachel. Thought I'd join in. We each have parts of the story that we know better than the others. This is mine. If you don't mind, Rachel.~
*Not at all, Jake. I perfectly agree with you. Go on. From now on this is your story.*
~Thank you. As stated, I was frightened. Severely. I care about Cassie a lot, and it scared me to think that something might be wrong. Finally, I snapped to the present and started to devise a plan. First, I had to get Mia out of danger. And that meant getting rid of the Hork-Bajir.
"Who are you?" I needed to make a distraction. "What do you want with Mia?" An all too familiar grin crossed his face.
"That is of no concern of yours, boy. Your friend and I have something to discuss that is of utter importance. Am I correct, Mia?" Mia looked uneasy. She was afraid to answer. Finally she turned and did something drastic: she picked up a huge rock and threw it at one of the Hork-Bajir. I saw this as a chance. Signaling the others to attack, I led Mia to a safe spot.
"Mia, listen to me. I have something important to do. You have to promise me that you'll stay right here until I return. Also that you will not tell anyone about what you're about to see. Do you promise?"
"I promise."
"Good." With that, I started to morph. I was going tiger. Mia kept staring at me. [Mia, if you really want to keep your lunch, I'd seriously advise you to turn away.] Nodding, she quickly turned before any more changes occured. Once I was fully tiger, I told her that I was going to help the others. When I returned to the sight of the battle, no one was there. Then I heard a scream.
"Jake!!" I turned back towards Mia at top speed. As soon as I got there, the world went black.~
~I woke up with a serious headache. I looked around the small room I was in. Or what I thought was a room anyway. I soon found out different.
[Jake!] A voice seemed to be screaming in my head. [Jake, demorph now! You've almost reached the two-hour time limit! Don't worry, the room is safe. Now demorph.] So, I demorphed. It was Tobias that had been yelling in my head. The other's had demorphed and remorphed by now. Taking the hint, I did the same.
[Where are we? What happened?]
"Shh. You want the Visser to hear you?"
[Mia?]
"Yes, it's me. While we've been here the others told me about everything that's happened. The Yeerk invasion, everything."
[How'd we get here?]
"When we ran off, the others attacked. They lost, but the Visser was too interested in me to sign their death certificates. When you came running to respond to my screams, they knocked you out."
[Yeah,] said Marco, [and now our only hope is that the message we got was from Cassie.]
[Message?] Rachel nodded with her massive bear head.
[We recieved a message in thought-speech, so we're pretty sure it was her. She said not to worry, and that she'd soon have us out of this mess.] If tigers could smile, I would have been wearing the biggest grin in the universe.
[So, Cassie's safe?] They seemed a bit surprised at my question. All except Mia that is. She new Cassie was the biggest concern on my mind right now. Too bad no one else did. Marco responded sharply.
[As far as we can tell, yes. But why do you care anyway? I mean, I thought you and Mia were a couple.] I shook my head, as did Mia. We wanted to tell them all about what we were doing, but we couldn't. Just as we started to, everything started to go crazy.~
Alright, I want to tell more.
Marco, shut up. Why do you have to interupt at this exact moment.
I'm good at describing the insanities of action.
~Actually, I think Cassie would be the best person to explain this part.~
*Jake's right. This is Cassie's part. Not mine, or Marco's, or anyone else's.*
OK. So, where's Cassie?
^Here Mia.^
Hello, Cassie. Ready to tell the story?
^Do I have a choice?^
Really truly?
^Yes.^
No.
^I guess that settles it then. Hello, my name's Cassie. Jake left off where everything got crazy. When I had dissappeared, it was because Chapman had pulled me aside to discuss any future involvement I might have with the Sharing. I was seriously delayed by his questioning, but if I hadn't been then I wouldn't have been able to try and save the others. I had found different tracks in the area where Jake was supposed to be bringing Mia. I followed them and came upon a large ship. After doing some investigating from the trees around it, as a peregin falcon, I was able to figure out where the others were, and how everything was run on the ship. This gave me a major advantage. I sent a message to the others, not knowing if they had heard it or not. Then, acting on blind faith, I made an attack. As soon as Visser 3 (in human form) stepped out of the ship, I swooped down and raked my claws across his head. I then flew into the ship, aiming for some place to hide. I found a small room close to where the others were being held. There I demorphed, then morphed into my wolf. At the moment I must have gone completely crazy. Instead of trying to avoid drawing any more attention, I jumped out into the open and attacked the nearest controller. It was a Taxxon, so it went down easy. Appearently, it was the one at the main exit controls, because all the doors, or presumed doors, flew open. Including the one that held the Animorphs.
[Cassie!!!] I saw the tiger almost dance towards me.
[Jake! I am so glad to see you guys alive. Look, this confusion won't last long, so we need to get everything that we need and get out of here.]
[Right.] Rachel ran to a door, reached in her big bear claws, and lead out two extremely scared people. Mia ran to them.
"Mom! Dad! Are you OK?" Mia's parents hugged her then started towards the exit that was opened to the outside.
"We will be honey, just as soon as we are as far from this place as possible." Mia's dad rushed away as fast as he could, wife and daughter in tow. The Animorphs made it out just before the confusion ended. I have no idea how we did it, but we did.
^When we finally all had to slow down to breath, we were just on the outskirts of town. Mia had made her parents return home, then came back to us. We all had plenty of time left on our morphs, so we went to my family's barn. Then...we talked.
"Alright," Marco said, "Now for some explanations."
"Like?" Mia breathed in deeply. Marco shot Jake a frustrated glance.
"Like what was going on between you and Jake, Mia. Think you could explain that?" Rachel seemed more interested in volunteering the information.
"Marco, don't lose it on us. I figured out what was going on back at the mall, but I never got to tell you."
"So," said Tobias in human morph, "what is it?" Rachel laughed.
"It's really simple. All the time it seemed like Mia was flirting with Jake, she was actually trying to grab Marco's attention. The whole deal was put together because she liked Marco and wanted to see if he liked her too by seeing if he would get jealous." Mia went bright red.
"Yeah, that's it." She looked at me. "Cassie, I'm really sorry. Jake and I knew eachother when we were kids, and at lunch we were talking about the things we did as kids when I brought up my idea. The reason I had kissed his cheek was because I was so happy that he had agreed to help me. We were going to tell you, but we never got the chance. I really am sorry." I looked at them both. Mia's red, sad face. Jake's cute, loving, adorable-^
Gag.
Shut up, Marco. I think Cassie's doing a good job.
I thought you said these stories weren't for sucking up.
Who's sucking up? Cassie is telling the story from her side. There's nothing wrong with what she's saying.
No, except it's sort of annoying.
Cassie, just ignore him and continue.
^Alright. Well, anyway, I looked at both their faces and smiled.
"It's ok. I just can't believe I hadn't seen it." We laughed for a bit. Then Marco shot in with one of his amazing bits of wisdom.
"Let me get this straight real quick. Jake acted stunned because he recognized Mia as an old friend?" Marco asked.
"More precisely, Mia is a friend I never thought I'd see again. When her dad made them just up and move those years ago, it seemed like he was set on never coming back here again. I was just so glad that she was back, I almost couldn't believe it was really her," Jake explained.
"OK. That makes sense. So, this whole time I thought Mia was totally free- fall over Jake, she was really trying to make me jealous?" Mia blushed.
"Well, yeah." Marco tried thinking.^
*Imagine a side of beef trying to think and then put Marco's face on it.*
Very funny, Xena.
^Marco spoke up again.
"So, a girl actually likes me? I mean, not that I'm surprised or anything, being as naturally adorable as I am, but still. The angel really likes me?" Mia was turning so red it was barely funny. Well, Rachel was having a blast trying not to laugh, but you get the point. Mia?^
Thanks for your input Cassie. Anyway, after an Animorphs discussion, I was allowed into the group. Marco and I started to hit it off real good (as soon as I stopped blushing) and Cassie and Jake made ammends along with having an extensive conversation with Cassie's parents. My parents and I were put under a specialized Pemalite protection program, and that is how I became the 7th member of the Animorphs. Pretty cool, huh?
The End?