Author's Note: Yeah…..I feel stupid, now. Sorry about that, everyone, I sort of uploaded the wrong chapter. . Here's the right one….I blame my English final.

Lady Aura: I try to update as fast as possible…And sorry about the anti-climactic-ness. You actually pictured it in your head, though? Coolies! *happy*

Chessrook44: lol. Yup, lots more explanations. And thankies!

Liaranne: Let's see…Last chapter's was from Pirates of the Caribbean, 16's was from X-Men: Evolution, and 15's was from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. And thanks!

Ojichristian: lol….Yay for Pirates of the Caribbean!

Sharina: Yaay! I'm glad you like it. ^_^

Jolly Jeff: Ooooo. Thanks for the applause. ^_^ I updated again, by the way. ^_~

Dslguy14: lol. Sorry it took so long? Thanks for reviewing anyway!

SD: Yeah, I imagine she'll have trouble doing that….And Danny's chapter is going up after the next one, which is Sam's.

bionicle0727: Thankies muchly. ^_^ Don't worry, Daniel's coming up soon. And nope, I never send flames.

DH: Well, 16's quote wasn't actually from a movie, it was from X-Men: Evolution….You should know this quote, though. ^_~ Eee! You really think so? Thankies! And thankies again, for the Tobias thing. Shhhh. It's a secret. How they got here, anyway. ^_~

Disclaimer: "Why a spoon, cousin? Why not a…"

"Because it's dull, you twit, it'll hurt more."

Chapter Eighteen – Reese

Aka: Seriously. I. Don't. Like. Marco.

I hate my life. Really. Why me? What did I do to deserve this? I didn't like the stupid book series. Just because some of the stuff in there used to make me laugh every now and then (which I will never admit) doesn't mean I actually liked it. And even if I did like it, which I didn't, I certainly didn't want to /live/ it. Meh…Evilness. I'd complain some more, but I already complained a bunch earlier and there's more important things to talk about right now.

Like the fact that Sammie and I were currently on a bus to the Gardens, trying to hide a red-tailed hawk with an injured wing in her backpack. A red-tailed hawk that could speak English, nonetheless. And a red-tailed hawk who, I happened to remember, Sammie had a crush on. This left for a rather pathetic situation. Of course, if I hadn't been stuck on the fact that I was in the Animorph world, I would have found it utterly amusing. But I was, so I didn't.

"So….we're meeting all of your friends there?" I asked quietly.

Yeah, they'll most likely all show up. Tobias replied.

"Wonderful. That'll up the number of people who think I'm insane by…" I stopped because I couldn't remember how many more Animorphs there were.

"Five." Sammie supplied helpfully.

"Thanks." I said sarcastically. "You don't seem too worried about your sanity being in question."

Sammie shrugged. "I know I'm not insane. And if I can't prove it by the other things I know then I'm just not going to worry about it."

There was a pause. Then, She has a point.

"Oh, shut up. Y'all are ganging up on me. Didn't even like the stupid books." I muttered.

You know, if you keep saying that, I think I might be offended. Tobias commented.

I actually had to consider that for a moment. I guess it just hadn't occurred to me that one of the characters in that evil book series was sitting with me right now. As a matter of fact, one of the characters had been in my class for four years…And there had been flirting involved… "No. Oh, no."

Sammie, the evil little midget, somehow seemed to know what I was talking about. "I was wondering when you'd figure that out. Now you see why I found your crush so amusing?"

"I do not have a crush on Marco." I replied automatically.

Wait a minute, she has a crush on Marco? /Marco/? Tobias demanded.

"What's wrong with Marco?" I asked, then realized what I had said and clamped my mouth over my hand. "Forget I said that."

"Mm-mm. Can't. It's imprinted in my brain." Sammie replied.

She actually has a crush on Marco? I think I'm in shock. Tobias added.

"I hate you both."

"Awww. You're so sweet." Sammie said, batting her eyelashes.

I crossed my arms. "That's it, I'm not talking to either of you for the rest of the bus ride."

Sammie grinned. "I think we've just been shunned."

Shunned? Tobias asked.

Sammie nodded. "Shunned is what we call it when one of us claims not to be speaking to the other."

Oh. Tobias replied. I..uh…see.

"Oh, shut up, Bird Boy." I snapped.

I thought you weren't talking to us?

I could detect smugness in his tone, so I stuck my tongue out at Sammie's backpack, which earned me a stare from the man sitting in the seat next to us.

"What?" I demanded. "You've never seen someone have an argument with a backpack before?"

The man's eyes widened. He quickly turned away and stared intently out the window, as if fascinated by the houses going by.

Sammie snickered. "I think he's scared of you." She whispered.

"As he should be." I replied, sticking up my nose. "And now I am going back to not talking to you until this bus stops."

Of course, the bus decided to pick that moment to creak to a stop. "Aw, damn it." I commented.

Sammie stood up. "Come on, come on. They're waiting."

I glared. "I don't see why I had to come with you."

"Because you wanted to?" Sammie replied.

I didn't say anything because that was such an obvious lie. "I'm going, I'm going. They can wait a little longer."

I spilled into the aisle and Sammie followed me. She carefully picked up the backpack and settled it onto her back.

"You okay?" She questioned.

Peachy. Tobias replied.

The man who had been sitting across from us grew impatient and pushed past us, moving very quickly. He bumped into Sammie and she had to turn quickly so he wouldn't hit the backpack.

"Hey!" She yelled after him. "You could have hurt him!" She glared at the man, placing a comforting hand on the backpack.

The man made a small, frightened noise, then took off.

I cracked up, and couldn't seem to stop laughing until we got off the bus.

Do you two like scaring people? Tobias asked, sounding amused.

"Yup." I replied cheerfully.

Sammie pulled my arm. "All right, they're waiting for us at the bears."

Somehow, we managed to get in Gardens without them searching through Sammie's backpack. No, I have no idea how we managed that. We made our way through the crowds with Sammie clutching the backpack in front of her like it was a precious treasure.

"You're getting weird stares, Sammie." I commented.

Sammie shrugged. "Oh, well. I don't want his wing anymore hurt."

I considered that. "Oh, fine. Be right."

Aww. You do care. Tobias said.

"Do not. I was commenting on the fact that she was right about her not wanting the wing hurt anymore." I replied.

Sammie nodded. "Sure."

I opened my mouth to reply when Sammie stopped next to me.

"They're here." She said softly.

I followed her gaze and saw a group of people hanging around the front of the bear cage. I only recognized Marco, although the blonde girl looked vaguely familiar. The other four I didn't think I had seen before. I turned to look at Sammie, then shoved her slightly. "Stop staring and let's get this over with."

She blinked, then nodded, grinning sheepishly. "I…I, uh, knew that." She looked closer. "They've got another person with them. Erek, maybe? I can't remember what he's described like."

Probably Erek. Knowing Jake, he got Erek to come so he could hide some morphs. Don't think they'd face a possible Controller all human. Tobias said.

"Uh….question. Who the heck is Erek?" I asked.

He's a Chee. They're a race of androids that have really sophisticated hologram systems. Tobias replied.

"They're also pacifists." Sammie added absently. "So…uh…We should go over there."

Yeah, that might be a good idea. Tobias agreed.

Sammie didn't make a move for them, however, so I rolled my eyes and started forward.