Falco and Slippy stealthily crept down the corridors, following Peppy, making sure not to attract his attention. 'Wonder what he's doin...' Slippy thought.

'I wonder why Peppy's bein' so stealthy about this,' Falco wondered. Suddenly Peppy made a sharp turn into a side room, and Slippy and Falco flattened themselves against the wall and crept closer to the doorway. Slippy peered around the threshhold just in time to see Peppy talking with Taylor, and see Taylor and Jacen change out of their 'morph forms and show Peppy their true form. Slippy gasped. 'They're human!'

Suddenly Peppy turned, and Slippy flattened himself against the wall, panting.

"What is it, Slip?" Falco hissed.

"Peppy almost saw me," Slippy whispered back.

"Why are we being so sneaky about this?" Falco asked. "Why don't we just go in there?"

"Because...I don't think Peppy wants us to know about this, otherwise he would have asked us to come along."

"Then why are we here? We shouldn't be prying into Peppy's private business..."

"That's exactly it! Peppy doesn't usually have any private business, so this must be really big if he's keeping it hush-hush."

Falco nodded in agreement. "I getcha, now."

Once again, Slippy peered around the doorway, and this time, he was met with the firm auburn eyes of Peppy's gaze. Slippy recoiled in shock, then tried to hide again, hoping Peppy hadn't seen him, but it was a futile hope. "You can come out, now, boys," Peppy sighed. "I guess there's nothing to hide now."

Falco punched Slippy in the arm. "Way to go, Slip-up! Now he knows we're here!"

"Ow!" Slippy exclaimed, rubbing his arm. "If you were so desperate to stay invisible, you should have been the lookout!"

The pair of would-be spies slunk into the Reading Room, their heads hanging low. "Sorry, gramps," Falco mumbled.

"What have I told you guys about keeping your noses out of my business?" Peppy reprimanded, shaking a finger in their faces. "You know better!" Suddenly his expression softened, and he smiled a little. "I'm not mad at you guys," he said, and Falco and Slippy gasped, their heads quickly rising. "The only reason I keep secrets from you at all is for your own safety." Peppy pointed to the Terran and the Altairian sitting on the floor, now in a deep state of mental focus. "I wanted to make sure these guys were on the level; that they really were with the Iri Felessar." Peppy took a deep breath, then continued. "If they had been with the Venmar, things would have gotten hairy."

"There're more psions?" Falco gasped. The sentiment was echoed by Slippy.

Peppy nodded grimly. "They are the powerful minions of a twisted maniac known as M'ser, who is bent on revenge against the Iri Felessar for exiling him fifteen years ago. And he will destroy anyone or anything that gets in his way."

"So, you think that M'ser might actually be the one behind all of this?"

Peppy tilted his head. "I don't really know. It's possible. If so," and he paused, indicating Taylor and Jacen, "They're the only ones who can stop him."

"What about Krystal?" Falco asked. "When she was fighting Adek, some sort of light beams started flying out of her hands. They were certainly powerful enough to stun that guy!"

Peppy sighed, looking down. "I don't know if she'll even recover. I have heard of one person who was--" he searched for a word, "--cured of Ha'lar Marai, but I don't know how it was done."

Slippy pounded a fist into his palm. "Then we're back at square one."

"Not quite," Peppy said, once again pointing to Taylor and Jacen. "They've gone into the Archives to see if it holds any information concerning our quandary."

Falco and Slippy smiled then. "Sounds good," Falco said. The three members of Team Starfox sat down on various chairs in the reading room to wait for Taylor and Jacen's return.