While the animorphs were below deck, Abbacchio used Moody Blues again to rewind and see that Zucchero had called his partner Sale for backup, not allowing Giorno to watch the playback. Mista, Fugo, and Narancia proceeded to torture Zucchero with the torture dance.

"We're taking a detour. We should be ready for another attack," Bucciarati said.

"Someone should scout ahead," Giorno suggested. "Taking this guy out first is our best option."

"Just what the hell are you saying, newbie? You gotta be an idiot to think we can get to the island before the boat does!" Narancia exclaimed.

Unphased, Giorno replied, "I'll turn this buoy into a fish using my stand. It can pull us along faster than this boat can sail. Since it's my stand, I'll go."

Abbacchio started to laugh. "The port of Capri is crawling with loads of tourists. How do you think you're going to find this guy in a crowd of people?"

"You know, I'm actually with Giorno on this one," Mista spoke up. "Why wait for this guy to make a move when we can surprise him?"

And so it was decided- Giorno and Mista went on ahead.

Under the deck, the animorphs heard everything.

"Someone should go on ahead with them," whispered Jake.

I'll go. I haven't had to morph as much as you have, Tobias said.

"Stay safe," Rachel told him affectionately.

"When you see the boat come in, fly right back here," Jake added.

Will do, Tobias agreed. The animorphs opened the hatch and out flew Tobias, trailing the fish that carried Mista and Giorno.

Tobias got there sooner than Mista and Giorno, so he perched on the roof of a nearby building and waited.

"That took longer than I expected," Giorno mused as they reached the port. "We only have twenty minutes to weed this guy out."

Tobias watched as Mista ate some food and fed his stand, Sex Pistols, anxiously waiting for them to begin their mission. Finally, Mista crept toward the tourist station. Giorno used his radio to connect to the boat station, requesting that passengers of The Lagoon boat owned by Zucchero to make their way to the guard shack. The man in the boat station relayed this to the people waiting around for their boats.

No one arrived. Mista and Giorno waited, holding their breath.

"Hey Zucchero, is there a problem?" The message came through on Giorno's radio. "Why did you request my presence at the guard station? Over."

That was when Giorno noticed that their target had somehow gotten inside the boat station and was using the radio to connect to his. Giorno waved from his spot, trying to get Mista's attention. Mista, thinking he meant that the guy was there, started to creep around the side of the small building.

"The enemy is by the window!" Giorno shouted, though he knew Mista wouldn't hear.

Tobias, however, could. Taking a chance, he aimed his thought-speak at Mista. The enemy is by the window! Get back!

"Huh?" Mista frowned in confusion, looking around. "Who said that?"

Giorno, not getting the results he wanted, grabbed the radio again. Even with their enemy on the other side, he called loudly, "Mista! On your left! He's on the radio!"

Mista looked into the window. The guy closed the blinds. Mista shot into the window, breaking the glass. The guy made a run for it, but Sex Pistols got him in the leg.

Giorno took off down the dock to get to Mista, who was checking the boat station after addressing the witnesses who heard the gunshots. The guy had gotten away, escaping through the back entrance, leaving a trail of blood. Tobias had taken to the sky after him. He didn't have to follow for long- the guy ran to the truck that was a few feet away from the building.

"TSEER!"

Tobias dove, raking his talons across the guy's head. The guy cried out in pain. Tobias rose immediately, flying high out of the guy's range.

The truck started to drive away. Mista took off after it, holding on to the pole attached to the side door. His target was on the roof. Mista loaded his gun and shot his bullets. Some of them grazed the guy, throwing him backward.

"Ow, that hurts!" He shouted, enraged.

"Quit squirming! I'll be sure to have better aim next time," Mista shot back. His next gunshots were deflected by the guy's stand.

"You may have got me back there but from this range I can knock down any of your bullets using my stand Kraft Work," the guy told him. "Let's see, you shot two bullets off back at the shack and four just moments ago. So that means I can in nice and close to beat the shit out of you."

Mista, realizing he needed to reload his gun, tried to pull his hand from the pole, but found he couldn't.

"Neither you nor the truck driver aren't going anywhere," the guy said, stepping forward. "I've fixated your hand there. And as for the driver of this truck, he's got his foot stuck on the gas and his stuck to the wheel. You know, the fact that you're trying to kill me just proves that there's a treasure out there- it was thought to be just a rumor. For that I have thank you. I'll savor every moment of swiping it from Bucciarati!"

Tobias couldn't believe what he was seeing. Those bullets that had been shot were just floating in midair. Who had that kind of power?

Mista knocked two bullets into his gun and fired. The stand tried to punch it away, but two of the Sex Pistols guided the bullet and it hit the guy in the throat. He tumbled off the truck and landed on the road.

Tobias kept up with the truck, but flapping his wings was getting tiring. He landed on the roof and dug his talons in, waiting to see what would happen next and trying to think of a good morph he could use if he needed it. Hork-Bajir? Andalite? Something fast would be good, so probably not Hork-Bajir.

The guy appeared as the truck driver continued driving, having used his stand to scale the rocks up the hill by freezing them in place and using them as stepping stones. Mista ordered the truck driver to stop driving. Tobias jumped from the roof and landed on the pavement, prepared to morph.

"Kraft Work has a bullet," Tobias could hear the guy saying. "Shoot me and I'll release the bullet."

Stalk eyes sprouted from Tobias's head. His talons hardened and melted together into hooves. His back end stretched, and tail feathers grew into more hooves, with back legs appearing. His front legs expanded and twisted to form horse-like legs, bent at the knees. His beak was sucked into his face, his eyes turning more humanlike. His feathers disappeared, replaced with blue fur. SPROOT! The scorpion-like Andalite tail grew out of his back end. His feathers melted into arms, and his internal organs rearranged themselves until he was like a cross between a horse, a human, and a scorpion. Last came the growing, he shot up, going from bird-sized to being the size of a regular Andalite.

Mista cried out in pain and Tobias heard the sound of three shots being fired. He carefully crept around the side of the truck, waiting for his chance.

"This bullet will finish you off, Mista," the guy was saying. "This victory is mine!"

Tobias struck! He jumped, using all of his alien morph's power, and swung the tail. WHAP! His tail blade hit the guy on the side of the head.

"What the-" Mista gasped.

Do it now, Tobias said.

Mista shot the bullet into the unconscious guy's head. He fell off the truck, dead. Mista leapt off the truck. Tobias was already demorphing, having not been seen by the truck driver.

"What-what are you?" Mista asked. Aiming his gun at Tobias, he added, "Don't try anything funny!"

Relax. My friends and I are here to help you. Visser Three is tailing you along with whoever else you're dealing with.

"Visser Three?"

He wants to make your boss a Controller.

"A what?"

How about you take me to your group and my friends and I can explain everything?

"Uh….sure. Mister Hawk."

My name is Tobias.

"Right. Tobias. I don't know how the rest of my group will react to you….."

What exactly is a stand, by the way?

"You don't have a stand? How are you changing forms like that?"

It's a long story…

"We have time until we get back to the marina."

Meanwhile, Giorno was dealing with something that, to him, was outright bizarre, but normal for the animorphs. While he anxiously awaited the arrival of the others and hoped that Mista was doing okay, he saw something strange reflecting light in the grass. He would've missed it if he hadn't looked and stopped to stare.

Cautiously, he approached, walking a bit deeper into the grass, skirting around a bush. He frowned as he hit something solid, walking into it- but it appeared that nothing was there.

TSEWW! TSEWW!

Giorno jumped back as fire from the Dracon Beams nearly hit him. He turned his head and saw none other than two Taxxon-Controllers, their mouths opening and closing as they smelled the warmth coming from his flesh. Giorno ducked as the overgrown centipede-like aliens shot again. This time one of the shots caught him in the leg. He cried out as he felt his flesh sizzle. The Dracon beams could fire pretty quickly.

Now the Taxxons were making their way toward him, their senses in a feeding frenzy.

"SCREE!" One of them cried out, excited for its next meal.

Giorno tried to crawl away, summoning his stand. Just as the Taxxon got close, Gold Experience punched it square in the mouth. To Giorno's disbelief, it chomped down on his stand's hand. Giorno cried out again, seeing blood drip from his own hand, taking the stand's damage. Gold Experience kicked the Taxxon closest to it, causing the Dracon Beam to drop from its tiny legs. Giorno transformed the Dracon Beam into a vine, which wrapped itself tightly around the Taxxon until it burst. The other Taxxon began to eat its fallen comrade. Giorno scrambled to his feet, disgusted at the cannibalistic creature. To his horror, the Taxxon he had injured wasn't dead- it was eating its own body. Giorno staggered away, quickening his pace. Just as he approached the marina, Bucciarati's team with the rest of the animorphs pulled in along with Mista and Tobias in the truck.