Declaimer: You know the drill. I don't own the Animorphs anymore than I own a million bucks…boohoo/sob. Alright, now that that's outta the way, the show must go on!

Chapter 3: Rachel, World's Best Mutant Obedience Trainer!

Rachel POV

Okay, so noooo one expected the Annihilator to start wailing like a little kid, but stranger things have happened (i.e. us turning into animals, crashing spaceships, etc.) so I went up to her and bopped her on the head one more time.

"No crying!" I snapped. I had to do the same thing with Sarah pretty much every time I babysat her, so I was used to shutting up whining brats. Of course, "Anni" was, like, my age, but you get the point. Anyway, it worked. "Anni" stopped all the waterworks, but still didn't calm down. Instead, she sat there, looking at the ground and rubbing her eyes, hiccupping and sniffling and stuff, like all kids do when their yelled at. "No! None of that, or I'll give you something to sniffle about!"

I grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet. She was a good couple of inches shorter than me; in fact, she was even shorter than Marco! However, I didn't let my guard down, seeing as any Animorph would remember that little things are probably the most harmful. Attcking ants still plague my nightmares, 'till this day. So, back to "Anni," who seemed to have calmed down a bit. Ax and Tobias, both in human morph, sorta stared at me like I had a second head or something.

"What?" I dared. "It wasn't like I was going to let her sit there and bawl her eyes out! Something had to be done!" Then I turned to the Annihilator, who was waiting for me to tell her what to do next. "So you do have some training, huh?" She nodded her head, yes. I leaned in a little closer to examine her face. "Do you understand what I'm saying?" Another nod. Okay, so now we're getting somewhere, I thought. "Why did you attck me? Can you tell me that?" A third nod; yes, she could tell me. "Are you going to tell me?" She nodded again, then opened her mouth to speak. We all leaned closer to hear her quiet voice.

"Manitisth oramin illin prebritisth wastree," she whispered timidly. I just gawked at her, and I could tell Tobias was confused, even if his face didn't show it.

"What the hell does that mean?!" All i heard was alien gibberish. Tobias just shrugged, his dirty blond hair waving around his ears. Instead of being distracted, which I was beginning to fall into, I lokked at Ax, who was concentrating very hard on something. I pointed it out to Tobias.

"Hey, Ax-man, can you translate?" he nudged at the unsettlingly cute boy next to him.

"I believe so. Be-leeeev. Belllleeeeevah so," he replied, playing with the pronunciation...again. Then he got serious. "The exper-ee-ment seems to be sp-eeeee-kinnnng, speaking, in Andalite. However, it is an older dialect, harder to comprehend, cooomper-eee-hennnduh." He smiled goofily to himself, then approached "Anni". As he spoke to her in the old Andalite language, he translated it to English in our heads.

"Oparin slesith." ("Please repeat.") "Anni" nodded politely and repeated what she said.

"Manitisth oramin illin prebritisth wastree." (She says, "I felt as if human was I threat.") "Oparin gregot laiarenes. Meelac crell." (She says, "Please, forgive my rudeness. I mean no harm.")

"Ask her why she blew up the base," I urged. I just had to know what I saw a few minutes ago! Ax nodded and translated it into the strangely poetic speak.

"Anii drulque? Bounoi hantriliun?" he purred in a non-accusatory tone. (The base? Why was it destroyed?) "Anni" blushed pink and took a silent interest in the stained and littered cement underneath her toes.

For the first time, I realized that she was covered in bandages. From her head to the ends of her toes, she was wrapped up tight in cotton! For a moment, I wondered what she really looked like. Her face was mostly covered, except for her eyes and her pale cheeks. She looked a bit like a mummy, and without that creepy deadness in her stare, she seemed harmlessly sweet. I felt a little sorry for hitting her, knowing that she she was only defending herself. That's probably why she destroyed the base! The Yeerks were probably trying something sneaky and she must've got scared and ran.

Or this whole thing is just an act and,as soon as we get too close, yeerks are gonna swarm in and kill us, hissed that suspicious little voice in the back of my mind. I kept the idea in consideratoion when she started talking again.

"I can speak English, you know," she whispered, embarassed. Of what, I wasn't sure, but it seems she was easily embarassed just from being noticed. I guess you learn something new everyday.

''She says that she can speak your native tongue," Ax followed. Tobias laughed his emotionless laugh and the tension of the discovery slipped off. Why was it so easy to calm down around this strange, powerful girl?

"I think we caught that bit, man," joked Tobias. Eventually, I laughed, too. Who cares about "Anni"s history, as long as she was calm now. Besides, she took us by sursprise! Next time, we would be able to take her! I took her wrist and led her towards the end of the alley. The shadows and stuff were getting way too depressing.

"C'mon, 'Anni', let's get you a new outfit. There's no way you're gonna walk in the street like that, not with me around!" I pulled her behind the Dumpster, where I left my backpack full of clothes. I put on my skirt and stuff over my morphing suit, but handed my shirt and jacket over to "Anni." I handed the boys the clothes I packed for them, and left them to get dressed. "Anni," on the other hand, looked confused. "What's the matter with you?"

She started, just remembering I was standing there, and turned bright red. Then she turned her head down and mumbled something into the clothes. I didn't quite catch it, so I leaned in a little closer and asked for a repeat. That's when I caught her shocking message. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'VE NEVER WORN CLOTHES BEFORE?!" How could any teenager, a girl no less, walk around smelly, sweater Controller guys all day without clothes on?! It was blasphemy of fashion and self-decency! I snatched the shirt out of her hand and forced it over her head. She yelped in surprise, but didn't attack. She must've been extremely trusting, despite dealing with what I saw on the video tape on a daily basis. I definitely would've been the most bitter creature alive if that was me! Hmph!

Anywho, after the shirt (which was a shirt on me but a dress on her because of the height difference) I showed her how to put her arms through the sleeves of the denim jacket in about the same way. It was totally bizarre, like when we first taught Ax how to get dressed, because it was a completely new concept to her. It was sorta funny watching her eyeball the clothes like they were new friends. I felt myself grow a little attached to 'Anni" in those few short minutes. I tried to hide my smile when she asked me if she should apologize to the clothes for sticking her arms into them.

"No. it's fine. Trust me, they like it," I reassured.

"Are you girls finished yet?" called an annoyed Tobias from the alley. "Anni" squeaked and apologized.

"Forget them," I advised so the boys could hear me. "They don't understand how hard it is for a girl to look her best." "Anni' was tomato red at this point. "Now," I declared. "For the big finish!"

I took hold of the tight bandages on her arms and strted to unravel them. She started to protest, but I growled and told her to trust me, which shut her up. I continued to unravel, leaving the bandages covering the private places (we didn't have any underwear on hand) until all that was left to reveal was her head. I internally marvelled at how smooth and white her skin was, like porcelain. Tons of women would sell their soul for that type of skin. When I finally reached her face, she looked at me with total trust in her eyes. It was like dealing with a puppy when you're the first thing it sees when it was born.

"So, do you have a real name?" I asked as I started to unwrap.

"You called me 'Anni.' Does that stand for anything in particular?" I gulped and kept my eyes focused on the bandages.

"Sure it does, but you don't want that as a name," I demanded. "You have to pick your own name! You are free to be called whatever you like!" I had my hand on the last bandage that held all the others over her head. I saw her shoulders shake and realized she was crying again. "Hey, didn't I say no crying?" I reminded her softly.

She looked up at me with those tears in her eyes, and I saw how happy she was. "Can I really choose my own name?"

"Duh! For instance, I like it when people call me 'Rachel'. It's my name! And yours is?" I tugged the last bandage and all the others fell to the ground. I gasped when I saw her shining raven hair tumble over her shoulders and down her back in shimmering waves. Her full, pink lips were in a beaming smile that lit up her entire, extravagant face. She looks like a doll, I thought through my surprise. The girl then closed her eyes gently, did a perfect curtsy (where did she learn that?), and stepped out from behind the Dumpster to present hersle to the boys. They both gasped loudly and their jaws hung open in shock.

"Good afternoon, all," she announced shyly. "My name is Addibelle Knight." Tobias glanced at me with a general message of "Yoou're good." (Way to go, Rachel, the world's best mutant obedience trainer!)

A/N: I thought this chapter should have a lot of surprises, but I think i went overboard a bit. Review and tell me what you think!