Chapter 16- Visser Three (or One)

Visser One/Three sat, hands on the table in front of him, in human morph. The hologram of his employed was merely a dark shape that seemed to twist. Only the 'voice' might give a clue to what-or who-it was.

"I will be arriving very soon, Visser." The voice seemed to sing. "Then we may talk business."

"Good. I await your presence." He said, trying to speak politely. The figure- whatever it was- could very easily control his destiny. It could decide whether he would be rid of the Andalite Bandits for once and all and please the Council- or it could merely decide to quit because of the Visser's foul temper, leaving him to try and destroy them.

"Do you know where to land?" Asked the Visser.

"Yes," The voice replied, in the same singing voice. The Visser grinned.

"Good. I will meet you at the soonest possible time. I will have a limo pick you up."

"Very well, Visser." The hologram disappeared.

Visser One (or Three) smiled. Everything was going according to plan.

Chapter 17- Lauren

I checked to make sure I was alone, and logged on.

I was at school in the computer room. I hurriedly entered their pathetic password and got online. Then, I went to a search engine.

I was going to get some answers. Since we didn't have a computer at home, I was going to 'borrow' the school's computer for a minute.

I entered the word 'Visser' in the search box. Waited for the page to load.

No matches.

I tried 'Andalite Bandits'. None.

Well, I thought. If the Internet doesn't have it, this must be pretty secretive. But how do I get my answers?

I knew one thing: I couldn't confront my principal. So I'd have to think of something else. But what?

Chapter 18- Rachel

We were having another meeting. This time, it was about how to get Cassie to come along, if her parents were still being overprotective by the time we needed to go. Ax was there in human morph, just incase we remembered another problem.

"Here's another problem: school. What if they decide to do it during class?"

"Good point. This will be harder than we thought." Jake said.

"Hard? This is like, mission impossible. But we don't have any explosives, or driver's license."

We all sort of laughed at that. We were the Earth's only hope and we couldn't drive yet.

Silence fell. We wondered what we'd do. Thought.

"I know! Duh, the Chee! One of them can play Cassie if needed-and the others us."

"Oh."

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to eat." Marco stated, as he stood up. "Being that we've solved the problem."

"Well. Being that Erek said this…thing…knows our battle morphs, I think we should do a bit of switching around."

Marco sighed. "Fine. Like what?"

"First of: we need to decide who morphs what. Ax, what morphs do you have?"

Ax turned to Jake, which meant he almost fell over. "I have…HAV… my shark morph, cockroach, northern harrier. HARR. HAIR. ER… rattlesnake-"

"Rattlesnake? Perfect. That's what you'll morph." Jake decided. "Tobias?"

Ax, Taxxon, Hork-Bajir, and elephant are probably my strongest morphs. Except for Taxxon...

"Alright. You do the elephant morph. Cassie?"

"Not much. Hork-Bajir, Taxxon, elephant, wolf… Oh yeah, polar bear."

"Hork-Bajir. Rachel?"

"Grizzly, elephant, wolf, Taxxon, Polar Bear, Hork-Bajir.." I answered.

"Polar Bear. Marco?"

"Wolf, gorilla, Taxxon, Hork-Bajir, polar bear, and rhino."

"Rhino." Jake paused, thinking. "That leaves me with…"

"Oh! I just remembered. All of us-except you, Jake- have cheetah morph."

Jake nodded. "Alright then. Cassie, do you want to do cheetah? I can do the Hork-Bajir morph then."

Cassie shrugged. "OK. I guess that's it."

"Can I go now?"

Jake sighed. "Fine. But as soon as we get word of this, I want you guys ready. Marco? I want to talk to you later. Then you, Erek, and I can set up an agreement with the Chee to pose as us if needed."

Marco nodded, and mock-saluted. "Yes mother, sir, commander."

Jake rolled his eyes.

Chapter 19- Visser One (Or Three)

Visser Three waited angrily. The limo was late. She was supposed to have arrived ten minutes ago.

Boiling in a rage, he paced the room. Suddenly, there was a knock on the steel-like door.

"Visser…" A rough voice called. "Your guest has arrived."
Instantly, the Visser stood a little straighter.

Send her in. He commanded. No one is to disturb us while we are talking. If anyone does, I will personally see to his death.

He moved to the other side of the room. The door slid silently open, and in stepped a- Vanryx!

It was huge, bigger than his own Vanryx morph. It looked like a giant worm-slash-snake and it stared at him, as if considering if he was his next meal. The Visser choked for a second, and wondered what was going on.

Suddenly, a silent thought-speech hiss met his mind. I sssee you don't like me aaahhsss thisss creature...

The Visser regained his composure. The…Vanryx…suddenly turned into a blue-banded Hork-Bajir. Except…it seemed still more massive than any Hork-Bajir he had ever seen, blue-banded or not.

"Is this form better, my Visser?"

Stop your shape-changing! He snapped. I'm not here to watch your tricks.

The Hork-Bajir nodded. "Of course, my Visser. Wouldn't dream of it Visser. I p-"

Shut up! He shouted. I me- He began.

The Hork-Bajir glared at him. The blades began to- the head- It was a Vanryx again.

VISSSSSSSSEEEERRRR! It screamed silently.

I-

SSSILENCEE!

The Visser stopped.

Slowly, she calmed down. This time, she was a tall human girl, wearing casual clothes.

"Visser. I tire of your impatience. If you wish we can now proceed to business matters." She sat on a chair that was present. The Visser relaxed, but not much.

"Now then. Who was it you wanted me to go after?"

Andalites. A group of guerrilla Andalites has been making the invasion very…stressful for us. I wish of you to dispose of them.

"Andalites?" She mused. "I haven't had a good challenge in awhile. Andalites make…interesting…targets. Mainly because they can change shapes like me."

Yes, yes. The question is, will you do it and what for?

She waved her hand. "I'll do it. But I want.." She paused, as if thinking. "All I want is a few dracon weapons. I'm running low. They're so easy to lose, if you take my meaning."

The Visser obviously didn't, but nodded anyway. [You can start immediately.

She nodded, lost in thought. "I'll need a place to stay for awhile. Do you have anything?"

Yes, of course. Iniss Two-two-six will take care of you. He has a human host.

She looked at him, head tilted sideways. "Where can I find him?"

He should be coming in to feed today. If not, I will…talk…to him.

She grinned. "Thank you Visser. It has been my pleasure to do business with you."

She stood, and walked out of the door.

Chapter 20- ?

She wandered the pool area, waiting. Of course, there was no way to know who Iniss-two-two-six was, but still- somehow, she would figure it out. She was the master of figuring things out.

The day wore on. She spent some of her time in the voluntary Controller space, watching television, but soon she tired of that too. The pool, she concluded, was nothing more than a space for Yeerks. It was useless to her.

She watched the Hork-Bajir guards at the pool for awhile, and wandered around. Some questioned her, and all she did was mention 'Visser One' and they steered clear of her. It was a very satisfying feeling.

Finally, some Controllers- humans, of course- began to enter the underground arena. Yeerks looking for Kandrona rays.

She watched each one, until she saw what she was looking for- a semi-swaggering human-Controller that seemed to just be looking for trouble. She walked toward him purposefully.

"Are you Iniss-two-two-six?" She demanded.

"Yes." He answered sharply, looking her over. "Who are you? I'll have Visser One-"

"I don't care about your puny threats." She snapped. "As for Visser One, Visser One has hired me, and you are to provide me with a place to stay and eat. If you feel these tasks are beyond you, I'll simply return to the Visser and tell him that-"

"Fine! No need to tell the Visser-"

"Very well. I will await you while you feed." She stepped out of his way, and he hurried to the first pier. The line was short now, but soon it was long as more Controllers arrived for the life-giving Kandrona rays. She felt herself a bit unnerved by the screams and pleas and threats of the momentarily-freed hosts, and moved to the voluntary host area again, and decided to watch television or make conversation, so she could escape the wretched cries and pleas.

She moved for a seat next to a few voluntary hosts, and crossed her legs, trying to act normal. One of them noticed her and nudged one of his friends.

"You new here?" He asked her.

"Yes. In a way," She told him distractedly, eyes on Chapman.

"So, what's your Yeerk's designation?" He asked. "Mine's Talin four-eight-three."

"Don't have one." She answered, still staring at the pool. The guy's eyes narrowed.

"No Yeerk? Well, this could get me a promotion." He turned to his friend. "Hey, Dan, get a load of this-" He pointed at her. "No Yeerk."

"What? Well, I think the Visser may be interested in that." Dan replied. The two stood up, and walked towards her.

She stood. And, before them, became the blue-banded Hork-Bajir. She towered over them.

"What the-"

"I think we got us an Andalite Bandit!" The other exclaimed. "ANDALITE IN MORPH!" He suddenly shouted, not comprehending she had gone from human to Hork-Bajir. Impossible for an Andalite morpher.

She made no attempt to struggle. Why should she? When about twenty Hork-Bajir an a few dozen armed human-Controllers had gathered she spoke calmly and coolly.

"I'd be pleased to tell the Visser you are interfering with his guest's stay."

That froze them cold. Suddenly, no one wanted to mess with her. All the Controllers found some way to act busy or occupied.

"Thank you." She halfway sneered. She returned to her less menacing form of human, and spotted Chapman returning.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Of course. Let's go see what the human world is like." She replied, as they headed for the exit.