MASSIVE goings on ahead. Seriously; make sure you're sitting down.


Chapter 6

I had spent the night on the couch, sleeping head-to-foot with James. Do you realize just how insane that is? I am a millionaire. I could buy not only Naomi's couch, I could buy her whole house; although Jacques would probably outbid me. He's even richer than I am.

So, not only was it ridiculous that I was even sleeping on a couch to begin with, the guy I was sleeping with (take that however you want) was a guy who, up until a week or so ago, I thought was dead. Why was I even on the couch and not at home? Because our day of fighting brain-stealing aliens was too long for me to bother to get there. At least I didn't have it as bad as Mersa; he had to sleep on the floor, gagged and cuffed.

The night was bad enough. What was worse was the morning. I was woken up at the ungodly hour of 7:30 a.m. That's just not right. And what woke me up? Several things.

One was Jordan and Sara. They had to get up to go to school and I guess they just couldn't avoid waking us. I don't sleep lightly anymore; neither does James. None of us sleep well, no matter how tired we are. School was also the reason for the other thing that woke me up.

"A boy his age should be in school, Tobias. David, too."

"For the last time, Naomi, Al doesn't need to go to school! He's a genius, he's been taught by machines for his whole childhood, and he's got more important things to do. He's already got a better education than me."

"That was already obvious."

Yep, you guessed it. Tobias and Naomi were fighting again. This was an argument I had heard a few times before. Naomi insisted that the younger Animorphs, namely Al and David, should go to school. Tobias felt otherwise.

"Naomi, Al doesn't need to go to school. And even if he did, he couldn't today. You have no idea what's going on."

"I could say the same about you. Do you even know where Alloran is right now?"

"He's…around here. Somewhere. That's not important!"

"He's not important?" Naomi asked coyly.

"You know what I meant!"

"No need to shout."

I groaned. Someone had to shut them up. And apparently, it had to be me. "Both of you knock it off. Tobias, you won't win; she's a lawyer. Naomi, you won't win; this is the guy who's stubborn enough to talk Rachel into stuff. Can't we just call it a draw?"

"Mistake," James whispered. I agreed silently.

Naomi turned to glare at me. "Do you really want to go into what this deadbeat has talked my daughter into?" she demanded coldly.

"No, Mam," I snapped, shutting my mouth so fast that my teeth clicked. I really didn't want to go there.

But Tobias has been getting crazier and crazier lately. "You know what, Naomi? Let's talk about that. Like it or not, Rachel's carrying my child. I'm a part of her life, and your life, whether you like it or not. Nothing you say is going to change that. So you'll either have to learn to live with me or live without Rachel."

"Learn to live with you?" Naomi repeated. "Do you realize that from the moment you walked into our lives, everything has been getting worse and worse? Everything was fine in our lives. Until seven years ago. As soon as you appeared, our world started to fall apart. Everything that's gone wrong in our lives over the last seven years all comes back to you. And you expect me to be able to live with you? To look at you and not hate you for everything you've stolen from my family; for everything you're still taking from us? Where the hell do you get off telling me to learn to live with you? And who the hell do you think you are to give me an ultimatum? I will not live without Rachel; not again. But I sure as hell won't live with you."

They turned their backs on each other and stormed off in opposite directions. James looked at me. "I can't believe it. You actually managed to make it worse. I didn't think that was possible."

((I'll say,)) David said in our heads.

"David? Where are you?" I demanded.

((Hiding under the couch. It's safest to be out of sight when those two are in the same room. I'm worried that one of these days, one of them's going to make the other snap, and that won't end well for any small, furry rodents they see.))

I nodded even though he couldn't see it. I also noticed how everyone else had managed to make themselves scarce. Even Cassie, who normally would rush to defuse such a situation, had remained carefully out of sight. People started to appear now, drifting in from all directions.

It kind of reminded me of one of those old Western movies. It was like how, when it reached High Noon, everyone hid themselves. And after the big shootout, they all reappeared and started acting like nothing happened.

"Hey, were's Mersa?" I demanded.

((He's with me,)) David assured me. ((When things started, he rolled under the couch like he heard gunshots or something. A smart Yeerk, in my opinion.))

James shook his head. "You know something? We've got Yeerks hiding under couches with talking rats. A couch occupied by a millionaire and a former paraplegic. All because a second millionaire's lawyer wife doesn't like her daughter's boyfriend, who just happens to be fighting a war to determine which n-dimensional superpower gets to play with us. Life was a lot less strange when I was living with the Andalites."

Chapter 7

I went back to sleep after that. I may sleep light, but I also sleep often. I didn't know where Tobias and Naomi stalked off to and I didn't really care. As long as it was quiet. But the quiet never lasts for long. Especially in this house. If things ever got serious between me and Jeanne, I had to be sure to make one thing clear to her: I wasn't going to live with her family.

I was woken up this time by the doorbell. I cracked open an eye and looked around, but no one else was in the room. And the doorbell kept ringing. "Door!" I yelled to no one in particular.

"Just get it yourself!" Jeanne shouted back. Damn it. Maybe both of my 'wives' nag me. I should start looking for a third…

I opened to door to see three people. Two of them looked vaguely familiar. One was a tall, blond guy. He was probably pretty good looking, but it's hard for me to judge. The other was a blond woman who looked so familiar…I knew here from somewhere. It was just out of reach in my mind.

The third was Menderash-Postil-Fastil. He was Ax's Tactical Officer aboard his Dome ship. It was Menderash who set us off on the little chase that turned into this mess. He had trapped himself in a human morph to avoid some legal complications. Why was he here?

"Menderash!" I said like I was happy to see him. "What brings you here? And who are your friends?"

The woman gave me a look that reminded me of someone. "Oh. I'm hurt, Marco. Really." That dry tone…so familiar. Then it hit me. She reminded me of Tobias before he started going crazy. "Loren!?"

"Yeah; who did you think I was?"

"What are you doing here?" I asked again. Last I checked, she had been living on the Andalite homeworld.

"The Electorate really started wondering just what it is my son is doing here. He told them he'd only speak to Menderash about it, so they sent him. I decided to tag along. Its about time I paid my son a visit. And I think I need to spend some time with Rachel."

Oh. Yeah, probably. I nodded. "Alright. Who's this third guy."

He gave me a familiar look, too. "I also need to spend some time with Tobias and Rachel." That look…the tone…I put it together just before he said, "It's been too long since I've seen my daughter."

So this was Rachel's father. I looked around. "Drode?" I asked. "You can come out now." He had to have been involved. How do I know? Because only his twisted sense of humor could have conceived of this. He just wanted to make this more awkward.

"Who's at the door?" James asked, coming up from behind me. Then, "Oh. Hi Loren." He looked at me. "I used to do her yardwork when I loved on the Andalite world," he explained.

Loren nodded. "Hello, James. I was wondering what happened to you. How did you get here?"

James shrugged. "Weird purple guy."

Loren nodded again, completely accepting this. But hey, she was Tobias's mother after all. If anyone could accept something like this, it was her.

"So…" Rachel's father, Dan if I remembered correctly, said after a pause, "Where is the man we all came to see?"

I shrugged. "He disappeared after a fight he had with Naomi," I told them. "I don't know where he could be. Maybe he's off with Ax and Al."

"Prince Aximili is here?" Menderash demanded. "Where? He is safe?"

"Slow down," I said, trying to calm him. "Let's all go inside and sit down; Tobias will show up eventually. He always does."

We lounged in the living room for a bit. Loren noticed some food sitting on the table and reached for it. "I wouldn't do that," I advised her. "Rachel's cooking; not even Ax will eat it if we don't force him to."

She retracted her hand; a wise woman. The others started trickling in then and we started making awkward, surprised introductions. I managed to get Jeanne away from the others long enough to ask her, "What's going on?"

"Tobias told us all to get here as soon as possible. Something important. Very important. David and Ax know what's up, but they won't tell us. I don't like this."

I didn't either. But then, Tobias arrived. He didn't take a moment to wonder at the sudden appearance of his mother, Menderash, and the guy who might have wanted to kill him more than the Visser did. Instead, he jumped right into things.

"The assassins are coming here. In moments, actually; I just spoke with them."

That caused quite a stir. Everyone but the Andalites and David started talking at once. Tobias vainly tried to calm us down. Calm down? He was acting like this was nothing! Mersa was hysterical.

Then we heard a knock on the door. I looked at Jeanne. "Do assassins knock?"

"You'd be surprised how many idiots will just open their doors to you," she answered. That wasn't reassuring.

Tobias answered the door. I saw the two assassins over his shoulder and I swear to God that my heart stopped. It was impossible. No, there wasn't a chance. But I could see them so clearly. It had to be real.

One of them looked over Tobias's shoulder and waved at me. "Hi, Marco."

There was only one thing I could say in return. "Hi, Jake."

Chapter 8

It wasn't possible. Okay, maybe it was half possible. See, standing behind Jake was the other 'assassin': Santorelli. But both of them were dead; this I knew. But somehow, somehow they were here, and…working for the One? That just didn't fit.

Okay, maybe it was possible for Santorelli to be alive. He had been presumed dead when he and Tobias flew a ship into the sun to hide the Time Matrix. Tobias had survived, so I guess it's conceivable that, somehow, Santorelli did, too. I could almost see it; almost.

But Jake was definitely dead. He had set off an explosion that destroyed a Yeerk Pool ship and the hangar it had been in. There was no way he was alive; nothing could have survived that. And even if that wasn't enough, I know he was dead because Rachel was alive. Through a twisted deal with Crayak, Jake had traded his life for hers. If she was here, he couldn't be.

"This has to be some kind of trick," I said.

Tobias shook his head. "It's legit, Marco. We had a nice conversation about it after we drove the Yeerks away from the Blade ship. Jake, you want to tell them?"

Jake nodded. "We still haven't figured it all out yet, but here's what Santorelli and I know. We were both dead; or as dead as we were going to get, anyway. Both of us were doing some menial work for Azmaveth, the guy who rules over the dead. He came to us with a job."

Santorelli continued. "It was a simple one," he said. "There was a Yeerk who was supposed to be dead. Thanks to Tobias and a few others, mostly Crayak, said Yeerk was alive. A simple job: get in and kill the Yeerk. Something we'd been doing for a long time. And as an incentive…"

"As an incentive," Jake finished, "the one who killed Mersa got to remain alive."

We all took a moment to digest that. Then Rachel grabbed Mersa and threw him on the floor in front of Jake, Santorelli, and Tobias. "Well? What's keeping you? One of you kill him already."

"It's not as simple as that," Tobias said, shaking his head. "Remember what we saw? That suited guy is an agent of the One; or maybe a manifestation of the One himself. Either way, he says he sent Jake and Santorelli to kill Mersa."

He let that hang in the air. No one spoke. He was waiting for someone to see what he saw. I tried to think about it. What was he getting at? And why didn't he just say it?

Then it hit me like a large gold brick wrapped in lemon. "Oh god! Azmaveth and the One…"

Tobias nodded. "Yeah, that's what we think. They're the same person; or entity."

"Allies, at the very least," Santorelli confirmed.

That was a bit much. And very depressing. I mean, we always knew the One was powerful. But now, this was a whole different mess. Azmaveth was the guy who could raise the dead as easily as blinking, or so I'm led to believe. How could we possibly beat someone like that? Worst case scenario, this war was made public and, in the fight that ensued, Crayak and the One destroyed the universe. So what? Azmaveth could easily bring it back, I think.

"That doesn't make sense," Rachel protested. "I met Azmaveth. He was nothing like the One. He helped me come back to life!"

"And screwed over Crayak in the process," Jake added.

"What does Azmaveth want?" Tobias asked Jake. "What's his stake in all this?"

Me? I couldn't think. This was all too much. It wasn't possible. I've seen a lot of impossible things, but this… "This is just insane," I said slowly. Then I repeated it. "This is just insane. This is just insane. This is just insane. This is just insane."

I kept saying it. I couldn't stop. I wanted to stop; I really tried. But I couldn't. My mouth didn't obey me anymore. Everyone was looking at me now. Apparently a guy repeating the same four words over and over again is more interesting than two dead guys in the living room.

"Marco, are you alright?" Jeanne asked.

I couldn't answer her, of course. I shook my head and kept saying it. "This is just insane." What was happening!?

"Marco, cut it out; that stopped being funny," Rachel snapped. "Besides, we've got more important things to do."

I tried to stop, but I couldn't. I used every ounce of my willpower to shut my jaw but it wouldn't go. Oh God! What was happening to me? It was like being in a morph I couldn't control. This wasn't my body, it couldn't be! It was like being a Controller!

Rachel was starting to look worried now. When she starts to look worried, that's when it's time to be terrified. Then I saw Jeanne whisper something to Tobias. Suddenly, he looked worried, too. Now, Tobias may worry a lot, but if he actually looks worried, everything has completely gone to hell.

I wanted to ask what was happening, what Jeanne had said to him. But I couldn't. All I could do was repeat those same four words over and over again. What was happening?

"Get him home," Tobias told James. "Take Jeanne; she'll mix him up something to get him to sleep. Maybe that'll help. Let him sleep it off."

Then it hit me. It finally happened, just like I said it would since day one. This was all too much for me. On top of everything, my best friend coming back from beyond the grave…that did it. I had finally snapped.

This wasn't just insane; I was.

Chapter 9

My name is Marco. And my life just got completely and totally out there. I mean…no, I can't even describe it. All I can do is tell you the story like it happened to me; that's the only way I can explain this.

I'm a normal kid. I used to be, anyway. My mother died two years ago, and it sort of messed up my family. My dad stopped working; we barely got by. But all of that was normal, really; it happened to a lot of people. What happened to me was far from normal.

My alarm woke me up. Or…someone's alarm. It didn't sound right. At least the alarm clock was in the right place. I slammed my hand on the snooze button with the ease of long practice. But then I opened my eyes and couldn't even think about going back to sleep.

I was in a massive bedroom. The bed I was in was the size of my bedroom! And the room I was in was as big as my dad's apartment. "What the heck…?" I wondered, rolling out of the bed. At least I was dressed. For a moment there, I was afraid this was some sort of Michael Jackson thing…

I wandered around the room, looking for some sign of the owner. Where was I? Whose place was this? Then I saw something that me scream. "AHHHH! What the hell!?" See? Screaming.

What I saw was a mirror. And the guy looking back at me must have been about twenty. His hair was just a little long, with a bluish tint at the tips. He was wearing the same clothes as I was. In fact, he was doing everything I was. Oh God…that was me in the mirror. But I was 20!

"What the hell?" I asked again. "What's going on? What is this? I must be losing my mind! This has to be a dream."

What to do? What could be done? I was about to look for a phone. I had to call Jake. He always knew what to do, even if he was an idiot. He'd think of something. Then the door opened.

In walked the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. 20ish, with black hair and green eyes. And a body to die for, I might add. She smiled at me; at me! "Feeling better, Marco?" she asked. She was French, too. I was starting to like this dream.

"Seeing you, everything's perfect," I said, sounding a lot more confident than I felt.

"Back to normal, then. Good. Tobias wants you to meet him at Rachel's house as soon as you can so he can fill you in on what went on after you left yesterday."

Now I was totally confused. "Wait. Tobias who? And do you mean Rachel as in my friend Jake's cousin? What are you talking about? All I did yesterday was go to school and hang out at the mall. The usual."

Then the name hit me. "Oh, Tobias. That guy who likes to hang around Jake because Jake saved him from getting a swirly one time. He walked home with us from the mall yesterday. Oh, and Rachel and Cassie, too! Why would I be going to meet him at Rachel's house? What's he even doing there?"

She suddenly looked very worried; still beautiful, though. Especially when she smiled and said, "Nice try, Marco, but you're not getting out of going that easily. Come on."

Now I was getting worried. But I wasn't going to panic; not yet, anyway. Before I was allowed to panic, there were some steps I had to take. "Hang on; I have to make a call first," I told her.

She tossed me a phone. Weird…phones were supposed to be a lot bigger. Oh well. I dialed Jake's number. "Come on, come on," I whispered.

"Hello?" A woman's voice. Jake's mother.

"Hey, it's Marco. Is Jake there?"

"Marco? God, you haven't called in years!"

Years? Impossible. I had called Jake just yesterday. Then I caught a look at the mirror again. I started getting that creepy tingling in my spine… "Is Jake there?"

"No, his uncle flew in yesterday. Jake's spending the day with him."

"Oh. Okay. Where are they?"

"Naomi's place, Marco." She paused. Then, "Are you alright? You sound very nervous…"

Good question. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I just need to talk to Jake. Thanks." I hung up. That beautiful woman was looking at me. "What?"

"Looks like you're going to see Tobias after all."

I shrugged. "Guess so." But I wasn't going anywhere with this woman. I didn't trust her; how could I? "A few questions first."

"Okay fine, since you want to be difficult. What?"

"Question one: who are you?"

She laughed a bit. I didn't. I guess something on my face made her realize I wasn't messing around. "You…you really don't know, do you?"

"No. I don't know who you are, I don't know where I am, I don't know what's going on. Last night, I went to sleep. Now I woke up and I'm twenty! This has to be some kind of dream."

"I guess that makes me the girl of your dreams," she joked. It was the kind of joke I would have made. Then she shook her head. "Great, I'm starting to turn into you. We're as bad as Tobias and Rachel, you know that?"

No. I had no idea what she meant.

Chapter 10

She drove me to Rachel's house and explained a few things, starting with her name and the fact that she was, apparently, my girlfriend. Not bad; not bad at all. But, of course, she had to ruin it by adding that she was also Rachel's step-sister. That, of course, implied that Rachel's mother got remarried when I wasn't looking.

Some of the other stuff she told me was impossible to believe. Like that Rachel was pregnant; with Tobias's child. I just couldn't see that. Not even in the most twisted dream world was that even remotely possible. The rest of it was easier to believe by comparison.

Jeanne led me into the living room of Rachel's house. It was empty except for some guy sitting on the couch. The kind of freaked me out. His eyes were so dark that I swear they were black. The way he looked at me… God, he looked like some kind of serial killer.

"How's he doing, Jeanne?" the guy asked her.

"Not good, Tobias," she answered. Wait, what!? This was Tobias? Nah, impossible. Not the wimp from last night. No way. But there was something familiar about him… "He…he doesn't seem to remember much. He told me that when he went to sleep last night, he was thirteen years old. Now…"

Tobias nodded slowly. "Marco, what did you do yesterday?"

I shrugged. "Nothing special. Went school, fell asleep, went to the mall, hung out with Jake and…well, a guy with your name…and then went home."

"What was yesterday's date, Marco?" he asked slowly. I told him. And then he asked me an odd question. "When you went home, did you walk through the construction site?"

"Of course not," I said. "I don't want to get eviscerated by some axe murderer."

Jeanne and Tobias shared a look. "Jeanne, do you realize what that date means; yesterday's date, according to Marco?"

"Yes. That's the date you five met Elfangor in the construction site."

Tobias nodded. "But Marco doesn't remember that. You've got a background in psychology. Ever heard of anything like this?"

"Perhaps…hysterical amnesia. When someone undergoes severe emotional stress, they can lose their memories. It's rare but…well, Marco has had a rare life. Perhaps the shock from yesterday caused him to forget…well, everything after that day in the construction site."

"Wait; lost my memory?" I interrupted. "You're suggesting that I just suddenly forgot seven years of my life!?"

"Marco," Tobias said slowly, "does the word 'Andalite' mean anything to you?"

"Sure. It means the end of a list of things you need to buy for this room. A chair, a desk, and a light."

"Hmm…his jokes are definitely like they were seven years ago. Marco, what would you say if I told you Earth had been invaded by parasitic slugs that take over people's brains. And that the only resistance to them was a bunch of kids who could turn into animals. And that those kids overcame these slugs and saved Earth. And that you were one of those kids?"

"I'd tell you that you need to stop beginning sentences with conjunctions. Oh," I added, "and you're insane."

Tobias nodded. Then, he said, "Marco? Turn around." I didn't like the sound of that, but I did as I was told. And then almost died from fright. There was a four-legged, four-eyed, death-tailed blue thing standing there.

I jumped back, tripped in the air, and landed on my back. "What the hell is that thing?" I shouted.

((I will try very hard not to be offended, Marco,)) I heard a voice say. It was in my head! Was it…the thing?

"That, Marco, is the least threatening Andalite I could find on such short notice," Tobias explained. "Maybe you should sit somewhere more comfortable; this will take a while to explain."

I sat there on the floor while he told me a very, very long story about a war between Yeerks, Andalites, and Humans. Along the way, some more people started to fill up the room and add details. A few of them looked familiar, like older versions of my friend. Jake, Rachel, and Cassie were there, as well as a few others I didn't recognize. Then came the most unbelievable part.

They told me that "last night", we cut through the construction site. And saw an Andalite Prince, who told us everything. And then he helped us to fight: he gave us the power to morph into any animal we could touch. They told me that with this power, we defeated the entire Yeerk Empire and saved Earth.

So far, it was sounding like a story I wanted to believe. It had a happy ending; for me, at least. I was a millionaire. That explained the mansion. I had fame, power, wealth, and none of the terrible memories that the rest of them had. It sounded great. Until they got to the next part.

"Earth is being invaded again," Tobias explained. "We're fighting the Yeerks; again. And you…you're one of us, again."

I looked over at Jake. He had been oddly silent about the whole thing. And then I realized that no one told me what happened to the others after the war, just me. "Jake, man…this is all just too much. It can't be real."

"There's one more thing," Jake said to me. "At the risk of having you relapse again, you should know: I'm dead."

"Oh you've got to be screwing with me."