Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this as fanfiction. Surprise.

A/N: Okay, here's the chapter I promised where things start to get exciting. Voila, Melissa angst, Ax angst. Coming soon: Marco angst. Please review! And let me apologize again about the thought-speak brackets not working.

Melissa

I sat staring at the Monopoly board for a long time after Philip left, tears starting to my eyes. I'd never kissed a boy before-in fact, I couldn't believe I'd had the courage to make the first move-but Philip seemed so utterly naïve and innocent, I didn't think he'd even brought up the subject intentionally. And then he kissed me back, and he was so sweet and gentle I felt happier than I have since my parents started acting like they don't love me anymore. And then he just got up and-left. And I was devastated. Maybe he didn't mean it or maybe I-maybe I'm just not meant to be loved, I thought miserably.

I began sobbing as if my heart would break.

'Shhh, don't cry.'

I jumped up with a shriek. "Wh-who is it?" I stammered fearfully.

'Just me.' I stared down at my ginger tom-cat as he jumped onto the couch next to me.

"Don't be stupid. Animals can't talk."

'Well, I am not precisely an animal.'

"Oh yeah? What are you then?"

'An alien. A shape-shifting alien.'

I laughed, high-pitched and nervous. "Say again?"

'A shape-shifting alien.'

The cat suddenly heaved upwards. His fur turned blue and his eyes yellow. His ears lengthened into antenna-like protuberances, and two more eyes blinked open at the top of them. I stood riveted to the spot with terror and horror. Finally, the transformation ended, and a strange, slim, blue deer-like creature stood before me. He had two eyes on the antennae, and two more in the normal position. Slits formed a nose, but there was no mouth. He had the torso of a man and the body of a deer, kind of like a mythical centaur.

"Wh-wh-who are you?" I stammered, terrified.

'Do not be alarmed, my dear Miss Chapman,' the blue-deer thing spread out its hands calmly. 'I mean you no harm.'

"Then what are you doing in my house?" I demanded, edging toward the poker by the fireplace and staring nervously at the scorpion-like tail, tipped with shining blade, that curved gracefully over his back.

'Please, Miss Chapman, I truly don't want to hurt you. My name is Alloran Semitur Corass,' he said smoothly.

"That's nice. What do you want with me?" I may not be as daredevil as Rachel, my one-time best friend, but when I'm trapped in a corner, I can be pretty scary. On the other hand, this guy had such an aura of power-such an air of being totally control of any given situation-that I was rooted to the spot.

'There was a boy in here just now, wasn't there?'

I didn't know what to do. I mean, I knew nothing about this guy. Why should I trust him? On the other hand, what possible reason could a blue alien scorpion-centaur have to lie to me? I wasn't thinking too clearly at the time, I'll admit, but having a furry blue shape shifting alien turn up in your living room without warning can do that to a person. So I nodded.

"Uh-huh. His name was Philip."

'I wonder if you would be surprised to learn that that is not his real name?'

I just stared, too confused to speak.

'We are uncertain of his real name, but he is one of a group of bandits who are trying to sabotage my mission here on Earth.'

"Really," I gulped. "And what mission is that?"

I thought he hesitated for a moment, but then he spoke glibly enough, 'To study the Earth and protect it from outside influences until it is ready to join the Galactic Union.'

"What's that?" I asked, feeling extremely silly.

'A group of-extraterrestrial races-which had formed one government, like your United States.'

"Oh. Why are you telling me this?"

'Because we're afraid you are a target of these bandits. They'll take you into their confidence, and then they will attempt to feed you all kinds of lies about a parasitic infestation of the human race.'

I was beginning to be suspicious of this guy. He was too confident, too sure of himself-as if he were the chess player, and I the pawn. Well, this pawn didn't like it.

"Excuse me," I interrupted. "I'm not sure I understand. Philip came in here and left, not after having gained my confidence, but after having aroused my suspicions. If he were a bandit, that doesn't seem like a sensible way to behave."

'Exactly,' Alloran Semitur Corrass said quickly. Maybe a little too quickly. 'You are quite correct. It is a devious, though brilliant, double bluff. Exactly what I would have expected from one of the An-from one of the bandits.'

I found his slip of the tongue-innocent as it might have been-more suspicious, and I nodded noncommittally.

'You don't have to take my word for it right away, Alloran said. Please, just give the matter a little thought?'

"Fine," I agreed grudgingly, making up my mind to go and talk to Philip as soon as this person had left. Alloran smiled; his body shrank, stalk eyes shlooping into his head and popping out a moment later as pointed, fluffy ears, his blue fur changing to tan, his tail melting into a thin, furry, non-lethal one-and this time I heard, as I had been too frightened to hear before, the creaking, groaning, and squishing of organs and bones reshaping themselves.

"Oh, gross!" I exclaimed, clapped my hand over my mouth, and ran for the bathroom.

Cassie

I was very bad-temperedly sweeping out the barn. I am not a bad-tempered person, usually. But what Jake, Rachel, and Marco had done really made me mad.

"Um…Cassie, right?" the voice made me spin around.

"Oh, hi, Melissa, what do you want?" I asked softly.

"Um…do you know where I could find Philip? I need to talk to him about something, and Jake and Rachel aren't home."

I thought quickly. I could hardly tell Melissa where to look for Ax-quite apart from the fact she might think it strange, he probably wasn't in human morph. I sighed. There was nothing for it but to run and get him. "Hang on, I'll go get him," I said. "I won't be a minute. He's--uh, he's out back looking at the--uh, horses."

"Thanks," Melissa said shyly.

"No problem," I called over my shoulder as I ran into the barn. I ran through the barn and out into the field out back. I was considering morphing a horse for extra speed, when there was a rustle, and a familiar blue-deer-shape emerged from the trees.

"Ax!" I called. I could see he was deep in thought.

'Ah. Cassie.' His thought-speak voice was shy, nervous.

"Melissa wants to talk to you. She's in the yard," I explained.

'She does? She is?' Ax brightened immediately, and a second later, his stalk eyes shlooped back into his head, and I realized he was morphing. It was an unusually fast morph. His hand legs and that entire part of his back pulled into his human back, his arms grew longer, and his tiny fingers twined into strong human ones. Then the fur receded with a ripple. I stared. I'd never seen anyone complete a morph as fast as Ax had just done. He felt my scrutiny and blushed. "What is the matter-muh-muh-tuh-ter, Cassie-kuh?"

"I-nothing. That was-pretty quick, is all."

He turned an even deeper shade of red. "I-I do not wish-shuh-sh to keep Melissa waiting," he replied.

"Oh, um, of course," I responded, nodding. "Perfectly natural, Ax."

He nodded and smiled and took off over the grass. My mouth dropped open. Ax was running-really running-on his two skimpy human legs without even a tail to balance him!

Aximili Esgarrouth Isthill

What did she want? Was she angry? I raced through Cassie's barn and into the yard, lost my balance on my two extremely wobbly human legs and sprawled on the ground.

"Oh…hi, Philip."

I got up, my face a beet red. A beet is an Earth vegetable which is a very dark red.

"Good day-yuh, Melissa. Why did you wish to speak with me?"

Melissa took a step forward. She seemed somehow nervous. Nervous? I did not understand. Why would she be nervous?

"Philip, there's something I really need to talk to you about."

"Shoot." 'Shoot' is an Earth term which can mean several things. First of all, it is the verb for what projectile weapons do when they discharge their projectiles. Second, it is an expression of annoyance, akin to the Andalite term, 'krip-ja'. And third, it tells another person that you are ready to listen to them. In this case, I used it to mean I was ready to listen to Melissa.

She seemed slightly startled to hear me use the expression.

"This…guy came to see me after you left," she began. The way she said 'guy' made me wonder who this person could have been.

"Yes?" I prompted.

"He said you were a bandit."

"A bandit?" A bandit? Oh, no. "Did he say 'Andalite bandit'?" I asked fearfully.

Melissa shook her head, something humans do to indicate a negative. "Just a bandit. He said you were here to stop him from bringing Earth into the Galactic Union."

I snorted. "That is ridiculous. There is no such thing as a Galactic Union. We Andalites--" Oops.

Melissa's mouth dropped open. "You really are an alien, like he said! Are you a bandit?"

I sighed in resignation. "Yes, I am an alien. No, I am not a bandit. Who is this man who came to see you?"

'Me.' I jumped in surprise and fright as He stepped out from behind a nearby tree. Visser Three, my brother's murderer. He was in his Andalite form. My single Human heart almost stopped. I was in human morph, completely vulnerable. There was no way I could morph to Andalite fast enough to escape or fight. I saw the gleam of triumph in Visser Three's eyes.

'Yes, my brave Andalite warrior, I have caught you.'

He turned to Melissa. 'Do not move, or I will kill him.'

Melissa choked down a cry of horror. I was about to cry to her that Visser Three would not kill me, but I heard the Visser's private thought-speak in my head. 'Perhaps I would not kill you, Andalite. But I would kill her. Think about that.'

I clamped my mouth shut again. I could not let Melissa be slain. I said nothing. I felt a whoosh of air as something unseen alighted on the ground. A darkness in nothing-the door of the Bug Fighter's hatchway-opened slowly. A tall Hork-Bajir stepped out and grabbed me roughly by the arm. He pressed a Dracon beam to my head. The cold circle of metal touching my temple renewed my fear, but I would not show it-I would not give in to Visser Three, and at the very first opportunity, I would strike back at my brother's killer.