A group of six supposedly random humans that contains these four? You stacked the deck!
Did I? That would have been very clever of me.

The following story is not mine, per se. This is a transcription of an RP on Sinister Shadow's forum called the Hypothetical. It was based on a fanfiction idea I came up with but never wrote. Credit should be given to the following RPers:

TobiasHawk13 as Tobias
Tobyas as Ax
Cobalt as Marco and partially Visser Three
Aizxana as Melissa and Cassie. (I was David and partially Visser Three.)

So without further ado, The Hypothetical.

Melissa Chapman exited the mall at the same time as Cassie. The two girls hadn't known each other very well, but after being assigned to a science project together, an acquaintance had emerged.

"Hey, Cassie? Mind if I walk this way with you? We can talk about that project we've gotta do for science," Melissa called. And then came Tobias, another group member. "Hey, Tobias. How's it going? Pretty rough assignment we got given, huh?" she said.

"Yeah," Tobias replied.

"I've just met up with Cassie a few minutes ago. We were gonna walk home and discuss the project. Do you want to join us?" Melissa continued.

"Sure, thanks," said Tobias.

"I think the others are around somewhere too. They might join us later. I guess we should get off, you live not too far from me don't you?" queried Melissa.

"No, I only need to go a few blocks that way." Tobias pointed toward an abandoned construction site.

"I suppose that's a good short cut... but I don't like the look of that old site. There could be guys dealing out there and everything."

"It's shorter."

"Well, I guess all these roads are pretty dodgy. You've won me over, I guess we could take the short cut."

Together with Cassie and the two other group members, Marco and David, they walked to the construction site. "What's that?" Tobias called, pointing at something in the sky.

Melissa said: "I don't know. How odd! It looks like some kind of shooting star."

It crashed to earth. The scared kids hid, but Tobias suggested, "Let's investigate."

"Woah - ever seen anything like that? Doesn't look like any aircraft I've ever seen." Melissa said in wonder. The door of it opened, and a shadow was seen. "Something's coming out, Tobias! Is it just my imagination...or is that not human?"

It stepped out, then collapsed on the ground.

(Do not be afraid, I must warn you of the terrible fate that awaits this planet-) The voice seemed to come from the creature.

"Tobias? Did you hear that? It sounded like it was in my head!" Melissa gasped.

The creature, an alien named Elfangor, explained the Yeerk invasion of Earth, and told David to bring a blue box from the spaceship.

"Are we all agreed to do this? This is a pretty bit step we're about to take. We can't go back on this." Melissa spoke.

Elfangor continued his explanation.

"Morph? You mean like...change into animals? We could do that?" asked Melissa.

(Yes.)

"Wow. But it will be dangerous, right? Saving the world from these...yeerks...? We're just kids! How can we handle that? Can't you pass this over to the military or something?"

(The Yeerks are the military.)

"Welll... I guess we don't have a choice. It's up to us. Who else is in?"

"I'm in," Tobias said.

"Okay, so we do this," Melissa said. "Here goes nothing." She reached out to touch the cube. Tobias did so too, and it grew brighter.

(Now go before Visser Three kills you), Elfangor commanded.

"We can't leave you!" Tobias exclaimed.

Elfangor showed Tobias memories of the Yeerks. (I seem to remember you from somewhere...but you must go, no time for subtleties.)

Tobias left, rather reluctantly. Visser Three's Blade Ship landed. (Be careful. Try not to be noticed,) Elfangor instructed. Visser Three came out, and as Tobias turned away, morphed an Antarean Bogg and ate the prince.

"Oh, my god! That's awful!" Melissa exclaimed. Hork-Bajir controllers heard. "Everyone - run! Get out of here before they see us!" she called. Tobias ran away fairly quickly. "Everyone split up! Get out of here! We'll meet up tomorrow!" Melissa ran her butt out. With her gymnastic grace, she vaulted over the fence. Everyone ran in separate ways.

Melissa called Tobias the next day. "Hey Tobias. Um... did you still wanna meet up later? Last night was pretty rough..." She said it in a tone of voice like she thought it was all a dream.

"Uhhh, sure. When and where?"

"I got a call from Cassie, maybe we could meet at her barn in a few hours." Cassie's parents ran a wildlife clinic. "I'm going to go after my gymnastics class."

"I'll call the others."

"Cool."

Melissa arrived at Cassie's barn. "Hey Cassie."

"Hi, Melissa. I had a weird dream. With aliens."

"That's so weird, cos so did I. It was really horrible, actually, more of a nightmare. When I woke up I felt so tired and scared."

"Me too. And you were in it, and Marco, and that weird kid Tobias, and that new kid David."

"That's exactly how mine was as well! That's pretty creepy sounding to me..."

Marco entered. "Ah, people are already here. So then...shall I be polite and not mention it? Or start screaming and yelling and never ever stop?"

Tobias walked in. "Did everyone have the same dream?"

"It's really strange, but I think we all did!" Melissa said.

"Duh! Have you not worked it out yet?" Marco said. Switching to a sarcastic tone, he continued. "Cassie, was there a reason why you invited us to a barn full of animals and not your house?"

"I just thought it would be more private this way!"

"So nothing to do with the animals then...? Are you guys going to stop talking about dreams and accept this was real?"

Melissa looked scared. "What? But...I don't belive it was real. It can't be!"

"This isn't a dream...this isn't a dream..." Tobias muttered.

"Heck no!" erupted David. "We need to get that cube back!"

Marco replied, "Well done, new boy. This isn't a dream. This is all very real. but I'm telling you now, I might know what's going on, but I'm not being in any fights."

"I think we should. I mean, no one knows about this but us." Tobias said.

"Agreed. We're just kids, we can't handle this. But if we can get sell the cube to the FBI or someone, it'll be out of our hands, and cash'll be in 'em," David contributed.

"No way man. I'm not fighting anyone," said Marco.

Melissa, too, spoke. "I still can't believe this is happening...but I'm in. We're the only people who can fight the Yeerks."

Tobias replied to David. "You heard the Andalite, FBI could be controllers!"

"You got any better ideas?"

Melissa cut in. "Tobias is right. We can't pass this over to anyone else."

Marco said, "Well... ok, I'm in. If everyone else is, I can't back out. But if I get into trouble, my dad's going to go to pieces...he won't be able to cope on his own." Marco's mom had disappeared on a rough night in her boat several years ago.

"I guess we should think about morphing then," Melissa said. "What did the Andalite say, that we could change into animals? Woah...how does that work, I can't imagine it! All I remember he said was you just have to touch an animal and focus on it, and then carry on focusing and you can become it! And don't stay in morph for over 2 hours." She looked around at the barn. "Hey Cassie, what animals do you have?"

"No way!" Marco said. "Don't tell me someone is going to do it!"

"I guess we have to. Better than being infested by Yeerks," said David.

"Yeah, rather dead than being infested." Melissa agreed.

"Now there I'm drawing the line," David responded.

"Yeah...this will be tough. Hopefully it won't come to that but I think that being infested would be worse than death...that's just me. Anyway, Cassie? You know loads about animals don't you? They're going to be our only weapon! What do you have we could morph?"

"I have birds,foxes-Aaaaah!" Cassie saw a strange bug. "What is that thing?"

(I am an Andalite morphed into a type of bug in my homeworld.)

(Visser Three?) asked David.

"Whoa! You're an Andalite! How did you get here?" asked Melissa.

"At last...the cavalry have arrived..." said Marco, very dryly.

(No my name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil. I ran out of the dome ship in bug morph so I wouldn't die. I told my brother to do so but he said no, now he's...gone.)

"I'm so sorry! We were with your brother at the end. He was the one who saved us. Will you help us fight the Yeerks?" said Melissa.

"Please say yes, please say yes..." David muttered.

"Sure...one Andalite. That's gonna make all the difference!" Marco said.

(Only if your prince allows me to do so.)

"Our what?" asked David.

"Oh, yeah, cos there's loads of royals just milling about here." said Marco.

Ax had not caught Marco's sarcasm. (Well will one of them let me join?)

"Well I don't have a problem with it. We need all the help we can get." Melissa said.

"Sure...cos SIX is going to be so much better than five. We're sure to win against the Yeerks with six people." Marco added.

Cassie whispered to the others, "Who will be our prince?"

David pointed to Tobias. "He seems like he knows what he's doing."

"Do you need a Prince to fight then, Aximilli?" asked Melissa. "Well, you are really intent on fighting this war, aren't you Tobias? Maybe he could be 'prince'? Or, Cassie? I'm sure you could do it, you know so much about animals and all. What does everyone say? Or maybe Ax should choose."

"I think it should be up to Ax. As long as it's not me," Marco said.

"I think Tobias would be pretty good." said Melissa.

"I dunno, David seems hardcore, but perhaps Tobias is like that too. But can't we decide that later. I wanna get down to some morphing! I mean, we're in a barn here, nowhere better for acquiring some cool animals."

"Well...one second you were scared of the fight next you want to morph! But yeah I think it's a good idea! We should know how to morph. Cassie said there were some foxes, birds and other cool animals. And I can see some horses and loads of other creatures!"

"Just imagine being a horse! The speed, the power!"

"I know! Must be scary. I don't want to go first! Anyone wanna be brave and try it?"

(I need to resume my normal form. You can watch me and see how it is done.) Ax's demorph caused widespread vomiting.

David pinched himself nervously. "I'll do it."

"Woah! That was SO creepy! Did it hurt! Oh wow, David, I can't believe you're going to try it! What are you going to morph?" asked Melissa.

"Do a... fox! I always loved foxes." Marco said.

"I'll do a lion, assuming you have one of those?"

"Actually," said Cassie, "I have a wounded leopard and a lynx."

"Nice one. Maybe we could find a zoo or something later as well and get some morphs. As soon as someone else does it to make sure we're not dreaming, I'd love to do a cat or something." Melissa said.

"Oh! I always wanted to be a hamster. Or perhaps a chihuahua..." said Marco.

"You're already a hamster, Marco! Hehe." giggled Melissa.

(He does not look like a hamster, nor does he have fur. The only relationship i see is that they're both mammals.)

"I love your sense of humour, Ax," said Melissa.

Marco winked at her. "And I'm sure you're the sort of girl that finds hamsters extremely cute."

"Eh, only if they are holding a diamond ring and know how to morph Brad Pitt!"

Marco grinned slyly.

(Who's Ax?)

"You don't mind if we call you that, do you, Aximili? Only it's a mouthful to keep saying Aximili-Esgarrouth-Something. Although since you don't have a mouth I guess you guys wouldn't notice. But no offense, you can call me Mel if you like!" said Melissa.

(Yes, now when does your prince come back I need to ask if I can help you in battle.)

"Oh yeah, leader. Um, I'm not sure. I think they just popped out for a second." She looked awkwardly at David and Marco as to say 'have we even chosen a leader yet?'

"I don't know why you're looking at me. I think we should wait for David," Marco said.

Melissa whispered to him, "David? Do we even know him? We only met the guy yesterday cos he got put in our project group. No offense to him or anything, I'm sure he's really good and all at leading, but maybe we should get to know him a little better first? But yeah, we should see if Tobias and him get back."

Marco whispered back, "That's true, but I've seen him around school and he seems ok. As in helps people when they drop their books. But I could be wrong. It could be an act."

"Ah ok. But the leader would have to make some pretty tough choices. I mean, they might be able to tell people what morphs to do and volunteer for stuff, but what about when it comes down to deciding whether someone lives or dies? I hate to admit it, but this is a war and we are going to have to find a way to survive even if we have to make difficult decisions."

(That is what I would expect from a true leader.)

Marco suggested, "You seem to know what you're doing, Melissa. Ax, how about a princess?"

Melissa responded, "Yeah, that is true, Ax. But could any of us actually do this? We're all just school kids. None of us have been in the army of anything like that. Has anyone ever faced a really serious choice like this before?"

"Tobias has." Marco commented. An orphan and loner, Tobias lived with various relatives, none of whom cared greatly about his well-being.

(You could try...)

"Yeah...Tobias had a tough life didn't he?" Melissa responded. "My friend Rachel had a crush on him and told he'd had to make some choices." Rachel was not only a gymnast, but Cassie's best friend. Melissa addressed Ax. "Me? Huh?"

(Yes.)

"Woah... that's an honour I have to say! But I haven't led anything like this before! All I

I've bean a leader of is gymnastics teams. Well I'll give it a go for now if that's ok with everyone but maybe we should have a proper vote later."

"I'm all up for you to be leader, as long as it's ok with everyone else." said Marco.

(I'm with you 129.6 percent.)

"Thanks very much! I'll give it the best I can. We can check with Cassie and Tobias later but for now I'll do my best." Slightly joking, Melissa added, "Ax? Is there some kind of poem or oath I have to take?"

(No of course not you are the queen assume you have already done that?)

"Ok, I guess so. Well, I guess we should try and get some morphs on the go. Then maybe we could go over to the construction site in morph, see if there are any Yeerks around. See if anyone we know is a Yeerk."

"Good idea. Go on then, you first." Marco grinned innocently.

"Aww man! I guess everyone expects me to throw myself into the deep end now! Ok, well for my first morph, I don't want anything too strange. I saw a cat about some where earlier. How about a kitty?" Melissa asked Cassie, who caught it and brought it over.

(Princess Melissa? May I acquire a human morph so I can fit in better?)

Melissa laughed nervously at being called Princess Melissa. "Sure, Ax, that's a good idea. Maybe you should acquire one of us because Cassie doesn't think we should acquire other people without them knowing."

"You can acquire me. Just don't go any where with lots of girls though." Marco winked.

Melissa grinned. "No, Ax, don't. You might get laughed at. But we should hurry, it's getting dark and the later we leave getting to the construction site the fewer people there will be. Marco? Wanna pick a morph to try? I'm going to acquire the cat." She placed her hand gingerly on the cat and acquired it. "Ok...woah. That was strange. I've got a cat's DNA inside me!"

"Ok," said Marco, looking around." Ohhh, how about an owl, I bets there's one in here somewhere... ah here we are." He acquired it. "Right then. Anyone else?"

"Ready then, Ax? Want to acquire one of us? Can you morph a human then? But you should maybe morph a dog or something for when we look round the site, incase the people there see you as human and start asking you questions!" suggested Melissa.

(I can morph both of you and a dog...) Before anyone could object, Ax acquired Marco and Melissa. (Now where is the dog?)

Melissa was impressed. "You can acquire two of us together? Cool. Cassie? Could you show Ax the dog please?"

"Yes of course. The dog is over there." Cassie pointed.

Ax acquired it. (Now may we go?)

"Alright, so we have an owl, a dog and a cat. We should morph though and practise...I'm gonna give it a go!" Melissa volunteered. She started to morph to cat, but her clothes fell off.

Ax morphed the dog. (I see you lose your outer skin when you morph; that is odd...)

(Whoa! Oh my god!) exclaimed Melissa. (This is so weird! I've got fur! And a tail! And wow! A real liking for little mice! Where'd my clothes go? Hmm...might have to think about that issue later.) She leapt up onto the table. (Boy can this cat move. It's like being made of liquid metal!)

(I suggest you run, princess Melissa.) Ax barked at the cat.

(Oh no! A dog! Cat...says...RUN!) She leapt behind the cages. (Ok that's it, I'm gonna demorph now.) Melissa blushed as well as a cat could. (Cassie could you pass me my clothes when I'm done please?)

"Here." With a whisper she added "Try not to do it in front of Marco…"

"Thanks, Cassie. Tell him to turn away! I don't want him staring at me! I wonder if there's any type of clothing we can morph?"

(You can only morph up to the skin or anything close to it.)

"Tight clothes? Hmm...I have my gymnastics leotard in my bag. I might try that. Marco, you should test out your morph soon, yeah?" Melissa got her leotard out of her bag and put it on, away from Marco! Ax demorphed. "That's so strange looking Ax! Keep that tail out of the way! I'm cold wearing this, I'm gonna morph and see if it works." She morphed to cat again.

(Needless to say, it worked.)

(Cool! Well, at least we can morph some type of clothes. Marco and Cassie, do you guys have any tight stuff like this? I have some more leotards at home if you don't.) Melissa demorphed.

Marco grinned at Melissa. "Hehe! Great leotard Melissa! You look really fantastic. Meow!"

She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, if we're over with the lechering... anyone who hasn't morphed yet, do so please, quickly. Anyone who has gone home, I will call and let them know that we are going to the site now and they can either meet us there in morph or see us tomorrow at school." David and Tobias had gone. "Ready to try out your owl morph, Marco? You'd better find some tight stuff to wear."

"Ok...I really can't believe I'm doing this. This is so insane! I've got my cycling shorts in my gym bag that our phys-ed teacher makes us wear. I'll put those on first." He winked at Melissa. "Try to keep your eyes off me!" Marco put on his shirt and morphed owl.

"Yeah, whatever Marco, I will. That is a funny morph! You are covered in hair and have a tail but nothing else has changed!"

"Not as funny as yours was. You had no hair til the last second!" He finished morphing. (My eyesight is soooooo cool! It's like turning on a floodlight! And I can fly! Wicked! This is so great!)

(May I test out my human morph?)

"I'll morph a fox after ax does his human morph, how did he get human morph anyway?" Cassie looked at Melissa and Marco suspiciously.

"Um, actually Cassie, Ax acquired me and Marco. No idea what he will end out looking like! Ax maybe you should acquire another animal before you test your morph out? Do you have to be in your original form to acquire animals?"

(Yes, and I'll morph that animal over there.) Ax pointed to, acquired, and morphed a bald eagle.

"Wow, that's such a cool morph!" exclaimed Melissa. "An eagle. The symbol of American pride. Ok, everyone else, morph your animal and we'll go to the construction site and we'll see who's there!" Marco morphed his owl, and Ax flew over to the site.

(Melissa, Marco, everybody? Are you here?) he called out.

(Wow! Flying's amazing! You should have morphed a bird, Melissa!) said Marco.

(I'm sure I'll get a chance, but being a cat is great too. It's like being the most amazing gymnast ever. Olga Korbut has nothing on a cat.

Ok, here we are. They probably won't notice us but try and keep away from the controllers.)

(Marco, do our morphs fly close together?) asked Ax. If we look even the slightest bit suspicious, we're dead.)

"There's loads of police around. And some random guys over there where the ship was. I can't see anything of the ship though, maybe they destroyed it already." Marco said.

(I guess the Yeerks aren't going to leave bits of alien ship Hey, I recognise that guy in brown jacket. He works with my mom,) said Melissa. (And, that guy in the grey suit looks familiar. I think I know him.) He turned around. (Oh...no. It's...It can't be him! He can't be a controller! NO! No!)

(That man looks strangely like you...) Ax realized.

(I...don't believe it...my Father. He's a Controller.)

(I'm really sorry,) said Ax, (but you cannot let family get in the way of something that could cost lives, as much as I miss Elfangor I cannot keep sulking over his death. I hoped that helped, princess Melissa.)

(Yeah...good observation, Ax.) said Marco. (Melissa - your father is Assistant Principal Chapman isn't he?) He muttered "sorry" really awkwardly; he wasn't the best at emotions. (Anyway, now we have some information. The Yeerks have infiltrated the school. And by the looks of things, the police too.)

(Thanks, Ax. That was helpful.) Melissa replied. (This is something we'll all have to deal with I guess. A few of us have lost someone to the Yeerks. You have. Now I have. But I think this just gives us a real reason to fight.)

(Friends? Do you have a place where I can rest and not be noticed,) asked the Andalite.

(There's some woods just west of Cassie's farm, just miles and miles of forest. You should be ok there you keep away from the roads.) Melissa heard her dad say something. (Guys! I just heard my dad say something about some club called The Sharing. I've heard my parents talk about it before, like some kind of youth group. I think they run it at our school. Maybe we could go along in morph tomorrow and check it out. There could be more Controllers there and we can find out how deep this invasion goes.)

(Yeah I've heard about the Sharing too. Like some boy scouts cleaning-up-the-city thing. Like a load of dorks to me.), said Marco.

(Yeah well they're not gonna be dorks if they're Yeerks who are planning an alien invasion.)

('Spose. Anyway we should head back. We've been in morph for over an hour and it's getting late. My dad is gonna screw and I'm gonna need like 30 hours sleep to recover from this majorly insane evening. Possibly a straitjacket later on tonight too.

Ax flew to his new resting spot. After school the next day, Melissa looked for him in the forest. (Hey Ax! There you are! It took me forever to find you! Even with a cat's sense. What are you doing treading the ground like that with your hoof?)

(Feeding.)

(Oooh...so that's how you eat with no mouth! Anyway, I just came to say that I met the others at our school and we are going to meet up at Cassie's barn later and get some morphs from a place called The Gardens. It's like a place where we keep wild animals. I thought we could do with some better morphs like for fighting or whatever. Cassie knows some good ones. Anyway, better get back and do some homework!)

Tobias flew into the barn in a red-tailed hawk morph he'd acquired.

(That bird it acts oddly almost as if it is sentient,) observed Ax.

"I think it is sentient," said David.

(I'm Tobias.)

(Please resume your normal morph before you get trapped,) Ax said. Tobias demorphed into tight clothing.

(David told me you're doing a project. Anyway I can help?)

"Sure." Tobias explained what the project was.

"Ah, I see."

(It is a very simple matter. Shall I start with zero space? A cylinder has 3 dimensions, 1 (the surface), 2 (3d) and 3 (4th dimension) and it goes through all of those at once without moving.) Ax got into more serious topics. Tobias yawned. Ax was now explaining how other creatures exist and how space flight is possible at an incredible speed.

Tobias cut in. "Ax, our project is only about some basic Earth concept, not how other creatures exist and how space flight is possible at an incredible speed."

(Yes, but isn't my information important too?)

"Maybe we'll hear your information some other time."

Ax felt sad because he couldn't talk about science at his level.

"You seem sad…"

(Oh, it's nothing.)

"What is it?"

(It's just I miss my fellow Andalites.)

"I'm sure you'll be back with them in no time."

Ax didn't believe him, but still cheered up. (Thank you friend.)

"What for?"

David spoke up. "Ax, why don't you write a book about Andalites and stuff and publish it? You could get rich."

Melissa came in looking a bit serious. "Hey, everyone. Tobias, your wearing a morph suit! Did you just morph? Cool! Anyway sorry to drag you away from that fascinating science project we're supposed to be doing, but I found some stuff out last night from my dad."

Marco also came in. "Awww Melissa is waiting for me already!"

Tobias ignored Marco. "What stuff?"

"Whatever, Marco." said Melissa, and addressed Tobias. "Yeah, last night, I found out my dad was a Controller. And later that evening, I discovered my mom is most likely to be one too. So I decided to morph my cat to listen in on them. I found out the Sharing is really some kind of front for the Controllers."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Melissa nodded grimly. "I couldn't believe it. My parents are Controllers. And my dad is the assistant principal, which just means that we're going to have to be extra careful not to let anyone know who we are."

"So what do we do now?"

"Maybe we could check out this Sharing thing. There's a meeting later tonight, up at the school. I saw a sign earlier for it, they are having some barbeque/cook-out thing on the sports field. Maybe we could morph and check it out."

"I'll morph my red tailed hawk morph."

"Good idea, we'll need some cover from the air. I'll morph the cat I did yesterday. I have two cats now! Ax can morph his dog. Marco will have to acquire something else though because he can't really go as an owl as people might notice. And Cassie and David would need something too. Maybe like a hare or pigeon, something that would be seen in a field."

"And everyone needs an insect morph."

"Yeah, insect would be good. Major creep-factor there though! And maybe some strong morphs in case we have to fight. That'd be rather fun. Not the fight of course, the morphing."

"I can't imagine what it's like being an insect. What battle morph should I get? We should also get a water animal."

"For my insect, I want something easy to control, like a fly." Marco said. "I would like a small but speedy animal for my battle morph, like a lynx. And a squirrel, for the more quiet missions, and for spying." He winked at Melissa.

"I guess I would like a fly as my insect morph, an alligator as my battle morph, a mouse and a dolphin," said Tobias.

Melissa rolled her eyes at Marco again. "I know, maybe we could go to The Gardens later before we go to The Sharing. We can get Cassie to get us into the park and the animal cages. They will have loads of great animals there, much better than what she has in the barn.
For battle morphs, we'd need a variety of stuff, like big cats, strong animals like buffalo or gorillas, anything powerful really! Ok, Marco, there's probably a squirrel around here. You could acquire it now."

Tobias spotted a fly. "And I'll try to get my fly." He started trying to catch it.

"Flies are so impossible to catch aren't they!"

Tobias whispered. "I'm going to try," and leapt at a fly, which flew away. Tobias swore.

Melissa, too, swore before saying "…flies! Maybe they would be good morphs if they can escape like that!" Marco waited for the fly to be caught, and relaxed. "I'm just going to acquire a bird while we're here!" said Melissa to Tobias. "You and Marco both have one." She got Cassie to unlock a cage. "This kestrel looks good. I'll be a kestrel. Ow, it bit me!" She acquired kestrel, then took her hand away quickly!

"Marco, since you're morphing fly also, HELP ME!" called Tobias.

"I'll help as well," Melissa volunteered.

Marco sighed, got up, and made a few pathetic lunges toward the fly before sitting back down again. "Too tiring, sorry."

Melissa climbed up onto a table, made a flying gymnastics leaps and grabbed the fly - but then fells flat on her face! "Got it! But...ouch! Ugh look at this mud on me. You should clean your floor more often Cassie for the sake of clumsy wannabe gymnasts like me! But at least I have the-" Melissa used a choice adjective. "fly!" She acquired it, then passed it to Tobias.

Marco grinned and got up, hand open.

"Cool, we can get the others fly morphs later." said Melissa. "So you want to go to The Gardens now? Before we go to the Sharing? Or tomorrow?"

Marco acquired the fly after Tobias. "What should we do with it? We should but it in a jar or something to save us the trouble next time. And I think the Gardens now, so we are well prepared for the Sharing."

"Ok good one." Melissa put the fly in a jar for later. "Maybe we should put you in there too Marco! Hehe. Cassie can you get us into the Gardens? Rachel said your mom works there?"

David stomped on a fly. "That's how to catch it." He acquired the trapped one.

"Oooook... well that's certainly one way to catch a fly. Anyway David, we were just going off to the Gardens to gets some good morphs, ready to go?"

"Yeah."

"Cool, well I think Cassie can get us cheap tickets. We could get the bus over and get in before it closes. Get some good morphs. Let's go!" Tobias followed Melissa.

A while later, they arrived at The Gardens. "Well, here we are. Loads of morphs to choose from as long as we can get behind the cages! What shall we go for first, battle morphs?" suggested Melissa.

"Yup," said David.

"Cool! What shall we go for? We need a good range, we shouldn't all go for the same thing. I like the look of those panthers. They also have lions and other big cats, wolves and hyenas, crocodiles, oxen, and loads of other animals. Shall we meet back here in an hour with our battle morphs? Then we can pick some water morphs."

"Sounds good. I'm going for lion...should I use fly to get inside the cage?"

"Yeah, you could do that! But you will have to find somewhere to morph and put your outer clothes. I am going to the cat cages to so I will come with you some of the way. Where are you going, Tobias, Marco and everyone else?" Melissa headed towards Big Cats.

"I'd like a gorilla morph. Ok, I know I'm a big, strong, maaaan already, but just to emphasize my point, to you Melissa." Marco grinned. "And I think we should get wolves or something too, they would be good for the forest. Cassie says they can run well too. Which is probably a good thing. I have a strange niggling feeling we are going to be doing a little running now and again."

"Will you stop with the jokes already!" Melissa rolled her eyes in exasperation, but with a hint of a joke. "Yeah, a gorilla sounds good. Why do you need to morph one though? You are already a big monkey."

"I acquired a crocodile. Who else already acquired something?" Tobias asked.

"I got a panther, woah...that's 3 cat morphs I have now. I wonder if I'm a cat or a dog person! But it was really scary acquiring it. I snuck in the back door but it took me like half an hour just to get near the thing! Partly because of nerves and partly because to stop being seen! Marco has a gorilla, and David has a lion. Marco thinks we should get wolf morphs."

"Half an hour? The crocodile almost bit off my hand at least 6 times. What about Cassie?"

"I think Cassie had a horse morph and she wants a wolf too. But did you find the animals went quiet when you acquired them?"

"That probably saved my life."

"Yeah...we should try doing that on those Yeerks," said David.

"I don't think we could get to touch a lot of Yeerks," Tobias said.

"Yeah. I wish it were that easy! I guess we'd better get these wolf and water morphs, I hope that acquiring trace thing works here too! Anyone have any other requests? Does everyone know about the plan for tonight? With the Sharing meeting?" asked Melissa.

"Can you summarize it?" David replied.

"Melissa thinks that the Sharing is a front for the Yeerks. so we're morphing something tonight, and spying on the Sharing meeting that's happening," Tobias told him.

"All right. I'll be there."

Marco reappeared. "I just got my gorilla morph, Cassie opened the door for me. Should we get our wolves now?"

"Sure," said Tobias.

"Ok! Gorilla, lion, panther and crocodile. I'm so not gonna remember that! Yeah we'd better hurry so we can go to the meeting. Does everyone have a morph to go in?" Melissa asked. She tries to find her way to Wolves, then got lost and followed Cassie, as did Tobias. "I don't know how to get in, the wolves have a huge enclosure and the entrance is underground. Maybe we'll have to do what David did and morph birds or something and fly over the fence."

"I'll morph my red tailed hawk morph," Tobias said.

"Ok! I'll morph my kestrel." Melissa hid behind an old enclosure and began to morph. "Hope everyone has a morph suit!"

"Of course we do!" Tobias hid behind a tree and morphed.

Melissa flew up into the air and over the fence. (Wow, this is the first time I've morphed a bird! It's amazing!)

Tobias flew up. (You can see why I prefer this morph.)

David morphed a bird he had acquired. (Ooh! Worm! Juicy juicy juicy-what the heck am I doing?)

(Don't know.)

(The eyesight is amazing! I can see about ten wolves from here! I think you are getting caught up in the bird's mind, David! What hawk morph do you have?) Melissa swooped down to ground and started to demorph out of sight.

(I love flying!) Tobias exulted. He dove down and demorphed.

David replied to Melissa, (It has wings. That's really all I know, or care about it.)

"Oh right! Maybe it's an eagle. It's pretty big. Gosh, this demorph is so weird! I'm still not used to it. I've only done a cat morph a few times before this, I haven't morphed as much as you, Tobias."

"I think it's a peregrine falcon," Tobias said.

"Ok! I don't know much about hawks, Cassie does! Maybe she knows. Oh, there is a wolf over there. It looks asleep. Maybe we can acquire it." Melissa walked nervously over.

Tobias went over to the wolf, gently touched it, and acquired it.

"Am I the only one who thinks this is a little...too easy?" said David.

Melissa whispered to Tobias, "Oooh well done!" She acquired the wolf herself, so did Cassie and Marco. "Your go David." He, too, acquired it. "Ok! Great! Glad that's over with. Water morphs now? I think there are sharks, otters, dolphins, octopus and fish here."

"Ok!" Marco got dressed and walked to the dolphin tank. "Dolphins are cute. Never thought I'd be one. Just shows how insanely crazy my life has become right now."

"Yeah, our life has become slightly strange the last 2 days!" Melissa went to the dolphin tank.

Marco acquired the dolphin. "Nice. I've heard about dolphins, they seem so fun!"

David said to Melissa, "Slightly? Bit of an understatement."

"Hehe, just a bit," she replied. "Ok, has everyone got a dolphin morph?"

Tobias acquired it. "What about Ax?"

"Hmm, Ax will be tricky. Where's he gone off to anyway? The wolves were ok because in the wood he couldn't be seen, but the dolphin tank is more open. But...I think there is a smaller one inside! There will be less people around and if there are we could cause a distraction or something."

"Where is Ax?" Tobias looked around, and spotted a commotion at a food stand. "What's that?"

"Uh oh! Andalites don't have mouths! Ax is going mad in his human morph! Ok when I said about a distraction, I meant for one of us to provide it! Better get him away!" Melissa ran over to Ax, dragging him away from the buns kicking and screaming. Tobias helped drag Ax. "Awww man, Ax, you should really try and calm down! People are watching us!"

"Buns! Bun-zuh! Buh-nuh-z! That makes a nice sound. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. ou-nud!"

"Ax, keep the noise down! Everyone is watching us now!" Melissa put a hand over Ax's mouth and dragged him to the dolphin pool. "Sorry I had to drag you like that Ax, but we really had to shut you up!"

"Shut. Up. Shutup. Shaddup! Shuttup. Sh. Buns!" Ax spotted a cigarette butt, picked it up, and ate it. "Mmm! Delicious!"

"No, Ax! Don't eat that" but Melissa could only watch in disgust as he did..."Ugh, that's disgusting! Tobias, help me to get him to demorph so he shuts up and stops eating rubbish! There's no one around, I checked." Ax tried to eat a rock, but spat it out in disgust.

"Ax-man, demorph," said Tobias.

"Why should I? Shoo. Why. Why shoo. Shouwhy!" he responded.

Marco came running over. "Oh, man, that is gross. And not to mention totally insane. Can I get you anything to go with those, Ax? Some dirt? Maybe some week-old burger? A leaf?"

"Shut up, Marco," said Melissa. "Come on, Ax, you gotta demorph! You're too wrapped up in the human brain!"

"Leaf?" asked Ax. "What is that? Thutuh. Is it delicious? Cious. Cious."

"No, Ax, it is not delicious. You don't wanna eat it. Come on, Ax, you really have to try and demorph."

"I do not want to. Won wonuh. I like it here! Heruh! Huhere!"

"Well, not if you get stuck like this! Think of your tail! Would you really trade buns for your tail?"

Ax immediately started to demorph.

"Finally," said Tobias.

"At last! I was getting seriously freaked out!" said Marco.

"Yeah. Ok, Ax you gotta acquire that dolphin now! Better hurry in case someone comes along before you morph back," Melissa said.

(Yes, Princess Melissa.) He acquired the dolphin.

"Riiiight, you don't have to call me Princess, Ax! Ok, so everyone has a dolphin morph, a wolf morph and a battle morph right? Cool."

(I do not have a battle morph, but I think that in my Andalite body I will be ready to battle.)

In an English accent, Marco said, "You can call ME Lord Marco if you wish."

Tobias rolled his eyes.

(Why should I, Marco?)

"Well, Melissa doesn't want to be called Princess, so if you need someone to call royalty, I'm all up for it!" In the English accent he continued. "Lord Marco does sound rather smart, would one agree?"

"Yeah, right, Marco." said Melissa. "Yeah, your Andalite body is fine for battle Ax! And it would be risky for you to go in any more cages in case you get seen. Ah well I think everyone has a good morph so we'd better get back if we are going to do this Sharing thing tonight. There are always animals at Cassie's barn anyway!"

"No, it does not sound smart." Tobias said to Marco.

(I call Princess Melissa Princess Melissa because she is leading everybody. If you would lead everybody, you'd be called Prince Marco. If I led everybody, I would be called Prince Aximili.)

Melissa rolled her eyes at Marco again. "Thanks Ax, but you make me feel too important for my own good! But maybe we should get going back to the barn. Ax? Want to morph back to human? But try and stay away from any buns and stuff, ok!"

"Yeah...he probably becomes more noticeable when he's human than an Andalite. I bet if we cloned him, and one Ax went as human eating cinnamon buns, and the other went as Andalite, people would stop and stare at the Ax eating buns and pay no attention to the Andalite Ax!" said Marco.

"Well, when there are no yeerks and no Controllers, I'll let you carry out that experiment, Marco. Ax and David? Do you have a common animal for going to The Sharing meeting tonight? It will be outside in a field by the school. I have a cat morph, Tobias has his hawk, and Marco has a squirrel I think. We should find out if David and Cassie have one too."

Ax morphed a hawk and flew to the barn. (I miss Cinnabons almost as much as I miss my homeworld, oh the taste, and that white thing with fire set upon it! That taste was wonderful but could never compete with the splendidness of a cinnamon bun.)

Melissa laughed at Ax. (You could probably do commercials and adverts for cinnamon buns, Ax. I can just imagine your human face in the commercial breaks crying 'Bun-zah! Bun-zuh! You must buy cinnamon bun-zuh!' I'm sure everyone would be rushing out to buy them after seeing that!)

Marco morphed osprey and flew back to the barn. (Is that before or after he completely freaks out the entire TV viewing population?)

(Marco? Have you got a morph for checking out the Sharing tonight? It will be light so an owl might get noticed.) Melissa arrived back at the barn and demorphed.

"Gorilla? Hehe kidding. I've got an osprey, owl, wolf, gorilla and dolphin."

"Yeah...can't see a gorilla going down too well! But Cassie has loads of animals you can pick from. Seagull, pigeon, squirrel, dog?"

"I'll be a pigeon," said David. "Marco can be a dog, we all know he's a...y'know."

"Eh? Yeah, I'm a what, punk?" Marco replied.

"Ok, boys, let's not start arguing here! Ok, David, get Cassie to let you acquire a pigeon. Marco? What are you going to acquire?" said Melissa.

"I'll be a squirrel. No way I'm being a dog now. But I think a pigeon suits David fine." Marco acquired a squirrel, David acquired a pigeon.

"Ok! So everyone has a morph for tonight? We'd better make our way over. When we get there, try and listen in on my dad and the others he's with. Didn't Elfangor say something about the Yeerks needing Yeerk pools? Maybe we could find out where they are." Cassie and Ax acquired seagulls.

"Yeah...probably a death trap for all who enter...Can't wait. This is going to be such an insane night." said Marco. "Are we going to fly there or get the bus and find somewhere to morph?"

"I think we should fly over, or we'll have to find somewhere for our clothes! And I can't let my dad see me there, or he'll be suspicious. He was already quizzing me about the construction site last night!"

Ax flew to the Sharing. (So what are we listening for?)

Melissa morphed kestrel, and flew to the Sharing. (Just anything that might tell us where the Yeerk pool is, or any other plans they have. Also maybe we can look out for people who we know, as they might be Controllers.)

(I do not know anybody but you and the gracious people at the zoo who fed me cinnamon buns.)

(Ah, ok Ax. The rest of us will keep a look out though. Just one rule for you though - if you see any cinnamon buns, no demorphing to eat them!

Okay, let's get this over with,) said David.

(Ok, well let's go! This shouldn't be too difficult. Just act natural. Me, Marco and Cassie are the only ones who will even be on the ground all the time. Anyone who is going hawk, stay up in the air or a tree and watch. Marco, go among the people but act like squirrels so don't be too friendly! I'll be a cat so pretend to stay away from me! Cassie, David, Ax you are pigeons so you can act quite friendly like you want some food or whatever!) Melissa flew down behind the bike sheds, demorphed, and morphed to cat.

(Food? I can eat food? Oh the pleasure!) said Ax.

Marco morphed to a squirrel. (Whoa! This squirrel is INSANE! I feel like I've drunk a dozen cups of coffee!)

(Yeah, Ax, as a seagull you will probably want to eat more food that when you are human! Just don't get carried away, ok? We don't want to cause a scene,) said Melissa. (Ok, is everyone morphed? Tobias, are you staying as a hawk?)

(I'd better remorph...don't want to be stuck as a bird.) David de- and remorphed.

(I smell food at that cylinder object. May I go and feast, princess Melissa?) Ax asked.

(Um, ok Ax but just don't go too mad! We have a job to do remember!) Melissa said. (Ok I'm gonna go listen in on my dad and see if that guy with him is a Controller. They might mention him. David? Would you be able to check up on that group of people with that tall guy? Thanks. Marco, you and Cassie could listen to the kids and see if anything comes up.)

Marco scampered off with Cassie. (Ok, wonder girl! Wow I love this squirrel, I have soooo much energy.)

David flew over to the tall guy. (You guys, that's Tom! The kid who made varsity in seventh and totally, like, obliterated all the records!)

Ax started eating a moldy, maggot-covered cheeseburger. This is so delicious I don't know how Andalites can live without mouths I must tell my people!)

(Oh, gosh, I recognise Tom too! I think he's the cousin of one of my friends,) said Melissa, referring to Rachel the gymnast. (The school grades were so messed up after that.) She blushed in a feline way. (I hope he's not a Controller, he's too cute!)

(Ewww Ax, that is mega-gross. At least eat some fresh burgers. Hehehe Melissa has a crush! Melissa and Tom...sitting in the tree…K-I-S-S-I-N-G!) sang Marco.

(Oh pardon me, Princess Melissa would you like to join me in the feast? Marco, what is a burger?) asked Ax.

(Um, maybe later Ax. Thanks for the invite though. Maybe we should have got you a morph which isn't so obsessed with food!) said Melissa. (And for your information, Marco, I don't fancy Tom like that, I just said he was cute!)

(Tom seems quite weak, no muscle, no signs of a warrior no moral! How can you have high regard for this person?)

(Because he has an ability to put balls through hoops,) said David.

(Yeah...there's that! Basketball guys are cute! You don't have to be really muscular to be good looking! And I like his freckles. Unfortunately, I always seem to fall for the bad guys, cos it looks like Tom is a Controller too.)

(Just so you know, Melissa, I'm not the jealous type. Hehe. Why do you think Tom is a Controller anyway?) asked Marco.

(Really, Marco? That's fascinating.) said Melissa dryly. (And I think Tom might be a Controller, because he has been spending a lot of time talking quietly and seriously with my dad. These cat ears are great. They are talking about some serious issues here, and it has nothing to do with the cook-out. Has anyone else heard anything? Aside from Ax going mad over the fries?)

(Ah... maybe he is. That would teach you not always to go for the cute guys. I did hear something though, some people were talking about some kind of gathering later for 'full members'. Whatever they are. Anyway they are meeting in the school hall later.)

(Really? Full members? I wonder if my dad mentions those... hang on I'll go listen.) Melissa ran off to go listen to her father. Ax kept eating, unable to understand why nobody was joining him in eating the scrumptious food. (Hey, Ax? Wanna quit with the feasting and join us doing some work for a change? Or...put it this way, if you leave that burger alone and help us listen in on these Controllers, I'll buy you a cinnamon bun at the mall tomorrow, ok?)

(Oh great idea Melissa, he'll go mad in the food malls. But anyway I just heard some people talking about the full members meeting again. It starts in a few minutes. Think we should check it out, or stay here and avoid certain death?) asked Marco.

Ax diverted his attention from the food immediately. (Cinnamon buns? Of course I will help princess Melissa.)

(Thanks Ax. You can have some buns later!) said Melissa. (For now Marco actually has a good idea! I think we need to follow my Dad, Tom and some of the other guys to this full members thing. It is in the school hall though so we can't go in as birds or 'outdoor' animals.)

Marco said in mock protest, (What, so that's the only good idea I've ever had in my entire life? Yeah right. Here's another one. We can't follow the full members as the morphs we have now, so how about we go as flies?)

(Flies? Hmm...they might work but we've never morphed them before. They might be really difficult to control.)

(Yeah, but it's the only morph that we all have that can't get seen too easily.)

(Yeah,) agreed Ax.

(Ok, so maybe only 2 of us should go as flies just incase it gets difficult to control. Who are the best 2 morphers? The rest can creep in as ground-morphs or stay outside and watch the others, yeah?) said Melissa.

(Cassie is the best morpher,) Tobias said.

(So, Melissa, is that code for who wants to get killed first?) asked Marco.

(Yeah, Cassie is good at morphing. Is that ok for you to go Cassie? The meeting is not for a few minutes so you can practice a bit first. Who else is good? Ax? And Marco, no it's not code to get killed! This should be really simple!) Melissa said. (Ok! So Cassie and Ax are going to go as flies and check out the full members. I'll go as cat and try and sneak in as close as I can. Marco, Tobias, David, you ok to keep watching everyone else?)

(I can't believe you want to spend time watching the school assistant principal. No offense to him if he's your dad Melissa, but he really is a boring old fish. Not to mention creator of THE most pointless rules in academic history.)

(Yes, Princess Melissa,) Ax agreed to go in.

(Marco! He might be a Controller but he's still my dad! How would you feel if your dad was a slave to a Yeerk in his brain!) said Melissa.

(It's ok Melissa, he didn't mean it.) Cassie glared quickly at Marco to shut him up.

(Yeah..yeah...didn't mean it. Are we gonna stand around all day or do this?) Marco asked.

(Yeah, ok, we'd better go!) Melissa ran back to the school with Tobias and Cassie. Cassie demorphed in a janitor's office, and Ax morphed.

Cassie morphed fly. (Whoa! This is weird! Flies have compound eyes! And yeee-haaa can they fly! It's like being in a rocket!)

(I'll keep an eye on the clock and let you guys know how much time you have,) said David.

(No need. Me and Cassie have been in morph for approximately 1 minute and 48 seconds,) said Ax.

(What the-)

Cassie flew off toward the school hall. Melissa crept into it and hid behind some chairs. (What's going on, David?) she asked. Ax followed Cassie, and Tobias landed in a tree outside a window. (Okay, here come the full members.)

(This eyesight is strange, but I can just about see them,) Cassie said.

(The unfull members are heading out to their cars), informed David.

(Maybe they're off home. Maybe this is the end of the day for them now), suggested Melissa.

Ax spotted Visser Three in human morph, and spoke with hate. (Visser Three.)

"Duh," said David.

(Visser Three? He's here! What's he doing?) asked Cassie.

Ax never even heard David. (He's standing up. I believe he is going to give a speech.)

(Probably about to annihilate the whole town. I doubt he's come to say hi that's for sure,) said Marco.

(Is there a Yeerk Pool Complex anywhere near here?)

(Ok everyone - really try and keep out of sight! I should have acquired a mouse or something I feel so obvious here!) Melissa crept further back, hidden.

(I didn't know he could morph a human! That's awful!) said Cassie.

Ax said, (I believe Visser 3 has morphed many humans.)

(That's so wrong! Acquiring a human without their permission? No way!)

(I think we learnt there was a Yeerk pool somewhere nearby when we first got the morphing power. But we don't know where exactly. What does one look like?) asked Melissa.

(How is acquiring a human worse than infesting them!) Marco asked Cassie.

(A Yeerk Pool is a very big pool which the Yeerks have to go to every 3 days, or they'll die of Kandrona starvation. in the Pool there are Kandrona rays. That's a summary of the whole process,) Ax informed.

(I didn't say it was worse, I just said it was wrong,) Cassie said.

(A very large pool? Like a swimming pool? Surely we'd have noticed something like that when we were flying. Or maybe it is underground,) said Melissa.

(Visser 3 is now starting to demorph,) said Ax.

(That will make him easier to listen to. It's difficult to hear things, like speech, as a fly but easier if the other person is thought-speaking,) said Cassie.

(Our number one enemy... Maybe he will mention where this Yeerk pool is,) Melissa said.

(Usually Yeerk Pools have many secret entries,) Ax told them.

(So there could an entrance near by? Maybe in the room where they have the Sharing on normal days! Maybe my dad knows of one! There might be one at my house or something!)

(I highly doubt that there is a Yeerk pool entrance in a home of someone not a Controller.)

("But my dad is Chapman, and a Controller. And my mum is probably one too.)

(But you're not,) said Tobias.

(But I live with my dad. I haven't spotted anything in our house that might be though, even the basement is pretty basic. I just hope there isn't anything there.)

Visser Three finished demorphing. (The plans for this Sharing organisation are going well. We now have over 100 new human Controllers.) Ax flew a bit closer to the Visser.

(So this is an organisation to make people into Controllers!) said Cassie.

"Marco, David, Tobias, how's it going out there? Visser Three has just confirmed our thoughts that the Sharing is a way to recruit new members!" Melissa announced.

(I heard. Visser 3 looks really evil...) Tobias said.

(Oh, man, I knew it! Why do we have to run into the Boss on the second mission! We should have some practice with the low-ranks first!) Marco exclaimed.

Visser Three tried to swat Ax and swore. (These Earth flies! Get them out of here before-) He turned to Chapman. (Right, Iniss, tonight I want you to at the entrance to the Pool. We have more Sharing members ready to be made into Controllers.)

(Now we know what to do today. Follow Chapman,) said Tobias.

(Exactly,) Melissa agreed. (He's gonna show us to the Yeerk pool. But the question is how are we going to do it without being noticed. Flies? Cassie and Ax, how are the flies for spying? Do you think they could be useful later on?)

Visser Three continued. (And if anything goes wrong tonight...it will be your head on the line, Iniss. Everyone else, get back to your daily human business. I will see you all at the infestation down in the pool at 9-o-clock, earth time.)

(They are extremely useful,) said Ax, before almost getting swatted by someone. (Why do humans swat flies?)

(They are pretty good, once you get used to them. You should try and have some practice though later, they are nothing like morphing hawks!) said Cassie.

Melissa responded: (Dunno, Ax, guess it's because they are annoying. At least we know the Yeerks' plans, now we just need to come up with one.)

(May I suggest following that Controller you call Chapman to the Yeerk Pool entrance, sneaking in as flies, then morphing battle morphs and try to attack?) Ax said.

(Oh yeah, attack, right? With all that extensive military combat training they teach in human schools?) said Marco.

(Then, with your military knowledge, you would be better in battle than I would have expected.)

(Hey, Marco, we have the power to morph! If we use the animals' strength and power, it doesn't matter if we can fight as humans or not.) said Melissa. (Cool, Ax, that's a good idea.
I could go back home and follow him from my house to the school, see exactly where he goes. Everyone else can already be here in fly morph, ready to go. I'll let everyone know where he goes and we can follow him in and check out this pool, see what it's like. Then we can try and stop the people being infested with our battle morphs or something. How's that sound?)

(Cool,) said Tobias.

(I agree, Princess Melissa,) seconded Ax.

(Sounds good to me. But I don't like the idea of fighting though, maybe we can find another way to stop them?) wondered Cassie.

(Hey Ax, ever heard of a little thing called sarcasm? And Cassie? Sorry to burst your bubble but this a war not some save-the-trees hippie thing,) Marco said.

(What is sarcasm?) asked Ax.

Marco rolled his eyes. (It's where you say the opposite of what you mean. Like I've never done any combat training, so I say I have to make a joke.)

(What is the point of your 'sarcasm'?)

(I don't think he's going to get it, Marco,) Melissa said. (Anyway, is everyone happy for tonight? We have about 2 hours before my dad gets to the pool entrance. So we can all go home for a bit, have something to eat and stuff. Then you guys all meet in the school hall just before 9 and I'll be along following my dad to let you know where he goes. Tobias would, you be able to take charge of getting everyone together? That ok?)

Visser Three morphed back into human and left the school, followed by the rest of the Controllers.

"It's just a joke. Joke, right, Ax? Funny? Hahaha? To take our minds of this insane mission?" said Marco.

Melissa went back to the janitors' office and morphed to kestrel. (See you guys at 9 then!)

"Ax, humans aren't as brilliant as you Andalites so we need weirder ways of communicating. Sarcasm is one of them. Uh...see you at 9, Melissa," said David.

(Bye princess Melissa,) said Ax.

"See you guys!" called Marco.

Melissa was in fly morph outside the school at 9 pm. (Hey guys, I hope you can hear me! I think I'm outside the school but I'm still not 100 used to these eyes yet! I'm a fly, resting on my dad's shoulder, he hasn't seen me. I think we are going down towards the gym. Is everyone here in fly morph?)

(If this thing had pants I would be peeing in them,) said David.

Ax flew to the school. (Hello Princess Melissa.)

(Hey guys! Where are you guys, all I can see is a load of green. At least I think its green, you can never tell with these eyes!) called Marco.

(Right here,) David said.

(Hey Ax!) said Melissa. (You know, you don't always have to call me Princess! It's going to make my head grow too big for my own good.)

Marco flew toward the direction of thought-speak (Ah! Hey guys. You smell terrible! Oh! Is that dog doo? Yummy.)

(Hey Marco, I know, these eyes are so random! Errr, I think there might be some dog doo around, my fly brain is getting rather excited!)

(And I thought our blue friend had it bad...Let's go in.) said David.

Marco fought to stop himself from flying toward the dog doo and flew toward Chapman. Melissa buzzed off towards the pool entrance (Ok guys, this is it! My dad is heading down the corridors past the gym, going though some kind of store cupboard or closet or something!) David followed.

(I didn't ever think a janitor's closet could be used as an entrance to a secret layer...) said Marco.

(I can't believe the entrance to an alien pool is right under our school! I always thought that stuff was just in those old Goosebumps books!)

(I didn't think a blue deer-thing would come out of the sky and give me the power to turn into a fly. Let's get this done,) said David.

(Nothing like a little turning-into-flies to get yourself killed,) Marco said.

(Except entering-secret-alien-chambers.)

(Yeah...I agree. This whole place gives me the creeps.) Melissa followed Chapman down a dark staircase. (It's so dark down here, I can't believe the Yeerks didn't put lights down here! So much for advanced intelligent lifeforms...)

(Did you hear that, Ax?)

(What was it? I hear something...not very nice sounding...)

Marco did a little fly somersault. (Wooo! These flies are so agile.)

(Hey Marco, someone might see you! Fly nicely!)

(Sorry, just trying to distract myself from the horrors that lie ahead.)

David said to Melissa, (How you were insulting the "intelligent lifeforms".)

(Ahhh. Well it's so true! If they have ray guns and spaceships and stuff, they should know where to put lights!) Melissa said.

(Maybe it's just me, but it does seem to be getting lighter,) said Marco.

(Yeah, I think it might be. It's hard to make out, but I think the staircase is becoming wider too. I can hear stuff as well. Voices. Loud. And, something else, not something very nice.)

(Screaming.)

(Yeah. Lots of screaming. And cries. And they're getting louder, I think we're almost there.)

Ax noticed Hork-Bajir poop on the ground and started eating before he even realized.

(And can you smell that?) Marco said.

(Ax, no! Don't you realise what that is!) asked Melissa.

(It's delicious?) said Ax.

(If I were human, I would vomit, but Ax would probably eat that too,) said Marco.

Melissa laughed out of pure nervousness. (Oh, gosh, Marco, please don't! But you know what that tells us, right? We're here. In the Yeerk pool complex. Underground, and there are Hork-Bajir guarding it.)

Ax ate some more, then followed everybody.

(There are screams everywhere...it's awful! I can just about make out a couple of bridges or piers or something, and some kind of lake, I think. That must be the pool, it's huge!)

(Should we follow Chapman some more or find somewhere to demorph?) asked Marco.

(If we demorphed we would die before we got to say we were Visser three's army of morphers...) Ax said.

(Yeah, we should only demorph down here if it is absolutely necessary. But we do need to be able to see what is going on. There's no point in coming down here and leaving without getting any more information. I've got another idea though...) Melissa said.

(Go ahead princess Melissa,) Marco said.

(What is it princess Melissa?) asked Ax.

(Oh, shut up Marco. Well, this might be a really risky idea... But there were some people coming down the stairs just now. I think they are Controllers. I thought maybe we could go back upstairs and demorph - then follow them down here pretending to be human Controllers,) said Melissa.

(Brilliant idea.)

(I hope so, I hope it will be ok. Ok, everyone, let's fly back up stairs. We'll demorph in the changing rooms across the corridor and come back down as humans. See if you can find some spare tee shirts and stuff left lying around so we don't look like idiots in our morphing outfits.)

(Yeah, like looking out of place is really going to be the first thing on our minds. And just for the record? I really, really don't want to see what's down there.) said Marco.

Shortly later, Ax was in his mixed human morph. "Shall we begin?"

"Ok! Let's go," Melissa said.

Cassie said, "I found some shoes and stuff, they don't match but it's better than nothing."

Ax started talking about the Sharing being such an excellent way of gathering humans every time someone came within earshot.

"How very fashionable. I saw this on the front page of Vogue only last week..." said Marco.

"Yes! A, um, remarkably good idea of Iniss's. We should have many more hosts in a few weeks," said a Controller.

Melissa whispered to the others a few minutes later. "I think we're nearly there! Ax, don't you dare go mad and start eating stuff ok! Just act natural."

"So much for Visser three, has anyone spotted a guy with a pitchfork and red horns yet?" asked Marco.

Melissa looked around at the vast opening that was the Yeerk pool and whispered: "Oh, it's huge! It's like a whole city down here! It's not just under the school, it's under most of the town! It's bigger than we ever thought."

Ax had not caught Marco's sarcasm. "The Hork-Bajir have horns but I do not see a pitch fork nor do I know what it is..."

Melissa looked in horror at the cages. "Those cages must be where they keep the freed Controllers. And those piers...those piers must be where they infest them."

Marco rolled his eyes. "Forget it, Ax." To Melissa he said, "Ok, what plans do you have for all of us to get killed?"

Ax, enraged, immediately demorphed. Someone said "Andalite Bandits!", and the Controllers started chasing Ax, who freed some people, including Mr. Chapman. More Controllers recognized the kids as not Controllers.

"Quick! Find somewhere out of sight! Battle morphs, now! Ax - we're on to it - just give us a moment to morph!" called Melissa.

Marco leapt behind a cage and morphed gorilla. (Hey, you big dinosaur! No one messes with the King! That's right, I'm the King! King Kong!) He beat his chest wildly, then leapt into the action and started punching at the Hork-Bajir. Ax cut the hand of a Hork-Bajir.

Melissa morphed panther out of sight. (Ax! Behind you! A human with a Dracon beam! Marco - you're the only one with hands - start unlocking these cages! Free as many as you can!) She leapt towards the Hork-Bajir, claws outstretched.

(Melissa - I have your dad! He is free - he had just left the infestation bridge! And I've freed loads more! Whoa, can this monkey fight! Yahhhh!)

Ax beheaded a Controller, took his Dracon beam, and started zapping controllers and the locks of cages.

Cassie, in horse morph, took a gallop and leapt over a bunch of Taxxons. (I've got 2 free humans on my back! Man, what are those worm things!)

(Great job!) said Melissa. (Ax there are more behind you - I'll help! Tobias, since you're in hawk morph can you fly up into the air and give us instructions as to where the Hork-Bajir and other human Controllers are?)

(Man, this is getting grisly!) Marco slammed a Hork-Bajir into the wall, he goes down cold! (Take that!) Suddenly, he got hit by a Dracon beam in the shoulder. (Arrgh! I think I'm hit!) Ax zapped two more Controllers and threw a Dracon beam to Marco.

(Marco! Are you ok?) called Cassie.

(David! To your left!) warned Melissa.

(Ah, yeah I am hurt Cassie but I'll be ok!) Marco caught the Dracon beam. (Thanks Ax! Man, a real laser gun!) He pointed it at a group of Hork-Bajir by the Yeerk pool. (Uh oh...WHO IS THAT!)

(My left? Thanks.) David slammed a Taxxon.

(Andalites? Here?) Visser Three called.

(Kill Visser Three quick!) Ax exclaimed.

(It's Visser Three! And...he's morphing! Quick! Everyone get out of here, we can't fight whatever he's morphing. Go on ahead, I need to find my dad!) Melissa called.

(I see him - he is over the other side of the pool behind Visser Three!) said Tobias.

Ax disobeyed Princess Melissa's orders and attacked Visser three.

(I'm hauling butt out of here!) Marco turned towards the human controllers, then pointed towards the exit - the humans ran to escape, screaming. Ax zapped Visser Three with a Dracon beam.

(Ax! You can't fight him!) Melissa saw Mr. Chapman being thrown back into the cages. (No! I'm going to get you for this, Visser Three!) She attacked the Visser, dodging fireballs and multiple legs and arms. (Everyone else get out! Cassie, get out, Marco, Tobias, David - run! Get out while you can!)

(Good hit, Ax! Come on, you slow humans - don't you want to be free!) Marco called. Controllers tried to block the exit.

(Heheh! Meddling, foolish Andalites! You shall never escape!) crowed Visser Three.

Ax shot, but narrowly missed Visser Three's head. (Grrr.)

(There's too many guards! I got through, but they're just shooting anyone that moves! I have 1 human on my back but everyone else is having trouble getting through!) said Cassie.

(Just try and get out - we just need to stay alive and saving one person is better than not saving any!) said Melissa.

(That Tom guy is free! I just saw him get past the Hork-Bajir! But don't tell me we did all this and almost got killed just for a couple of people!) asked Marco.

Ax shot one of Visser Three's arms as Melissa continued biting and scratching at the Andalite-Controller. (Tobias, get out of here, you have been in morph the longest!) she said. Then Ax shot Visser Three in the head.

(Yes! That is for what you did to my brother!)

(Ax, you killed him! I don't believe it! You killed Visser Three! The whole Yeerk invasion is going to go to pieces now! Wow!)

Marco called to the others. (Cassie and David - Visser Three is dead! But there is still the issue of like a hundred human and Hork-Bajir Controllers to worry about!)

Ax started running, freeing Rachel along the way.

(Let's haul butt, Ax!) Melissa ran towards the exit, leaping over Controllers. (Most free-controllers are killed or re-captured! But a few escaped! Tom did, but... but not my dad!)

Marco ran up the stairs and out into the school corridors. (Man, I am never, ever going down there again. That was beyond insane. That was pure, total mega-freakout complete madness!)

(Guys, I'm already demorphed! I'm an osprey, I told the former Controllers to hide in the woods behind the sports hall,) said Cassie.

Melissa came running up the stairs with Marco and David. (Where's Tobias? He's been down there ages! Calm down Rachel! You have to calm down!) Marco demorphed and morphed to osprey with Cassie and David who morphed eagle.

"Oh my god, Cassie, I hate you! Why didn't you tell me? Must warn Jake... any one have a cell?" Jake, Tom's younger brother, was Marco's best friend.

"I'm sorry Rachel, but we though anyone could be a controller!" Cassie replied.

"Rachel! I'm so glad you're ok!" Melissa hugged her friend. "None of us have a cell I'm afraid, we can't carry them in morph. But we should find Tom and Jake. Tom was a Controller, we need to help him!"

"I hate to admit this," Ax said, "but we need recruits, Princess Melissa. Trustworthy people (like Tom and Jake and Rachel). My people will hate me for this but we need to..."

"Man, Jake is never, ever gonna believe this. And do you really think we should tell Tom who we are? What if the Yeerks find him again?" asked Marco.

"Yeah, we do, Ax. I agree. 6 people is not enough," said Melissa. Then, privately, to Cassie, Marco, David, and Ax she said, "I just remembered something! I saw the morphing cube your brother used at the construction site last night! It had become hidden under a sheet of concrete. The Controllers didn't see it but I couldn't get it when I was in cat morph. Maybe we could use it to recruit Jake, Tom and Rachel."

"We need as many people as possible. But it will be dangerous," Cassie responded.

"Yeah, 9 of us. We are SO going to defeat the next visser with 9 people. 3 makes SUCH a lot of difference," Marco said.

But they gathered in Cassie's barn the next day. (Do you believe us now?) Ax said to Jake.

Jake was shocked. "I...don't know! I just saw you turn into an alien and back again! And everyone can turn into animals! That, I can believe. It's just the whole alien plot thing that is beyond me."

"Yeah well you'd better believe it buddy cos it's true. Insane? Yup. True? Indeed," Marco told him.

(Can we trust you to be one of us?)

"Of course," Jake said seriously. "You can trust me to the ends of the earth. I will do anything to fight these Yeerks. What can I do to help?"

(Touch the box.)

"Well, welcome to our little army of nine. Jake? Tom? Rachel? You are now honourable members of...the Animorphs!" Marco proclaimed.

(Princess Melissa never mentioned us having a name.)

"Animorphs? What does that mean?"

"Eh, it's just something that came up off the top of my head! Animorph. You know, Animal-Morpher."

(We must inform Princess Melissa before we agree to anything.)

"Yeah, I s'pose. And see what Tobias thinks, too. Where is Tobias anyway? I still haven't seen him from last night, I hope he's ok."

"Princess Melissa? What is this, some kind of alien-royalty thing now?" Jake asked.

Marco rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we'll ask Princess Melissa later. But we're gonna have to go ahead with it now because we've already told them everything. And we will have to find somewhere for Tom and Rachel to hide since the Yeerks will be looking for them!"

(Ok.)

Marco collapsed on a bale of hay. Well I'll just wait for them to arrive while taking a majorly-overdue sleep, cos I got like zero last night.

(I can't rest... I am too overwhelmed at the thought of killing my brother's murderer.)

"It must be such a shock for you, Ax. But you've fulfilled your duty now, avenging his death. If you ever want to talk about it, just come to me, I'll be happy to help." said Cassie.

Melissa entered the barn. "Hey guys." Seriously, she continued. "Well done for last night. We did some real damage to the Yeerks. Tom and Rachel have been hiding in my attic for now, we need somewhere they can stay because the Yeerks are probably trying to track them down."