CHAPTER FORTY

::Marco::

"Demorph, Andalite, or you will never see your fellow comrades again."

Err, ok. Maybe I should explain how I am in this current stage.

Basically after being chased around a room by two Controllers and eventually losing contact with Jake (that was brilliant, considering Jake knows NOTHING about what he is really up against – I never truly give him much credit as you know), I had somehow run out of the room and headed for the first person in the way.

"AAAAHHHHH!" screamed the unfortunate target as I ran up his pant leg.

"You will stop unless you want me to blast a human leg off, which I will."

I froze.

The voice was unfamiliar. But there was a certain deadly tinge to the calm statement.

"Magri, that is uncalled for," said another Controller, stiffly.

Magri. The one who had walked out from one of the 'invisible rooms'.

"What is going on down there?"

Now that voice belonged to somebody more familiar. Visser Three, as a human, last spotted in the sitting room with David's parents and Tom.

"We have an Andalite infiltration," said Magri, calmly. "And I know that these Andalite bandits are actually quite soft at heart and wouldn't let a potentially innocent human being get hurt just because of their selfish nature, am I right?"

Potentially innocent human being. I could have snorted.

"Let me do it if you can't!" snarled another Controller.

Magri wouldn't let him. Of course not, because I would get killed too. But Magri sounded more skilled than I could give him credit for from behind the fabric of a trouser leg. He could easily maim the man without killing me.

I crawled down and out of the man's trousers; he immediately leapt back and drew out his own gun.

"Leave him to me," said Magri, sharply. "Now Andalite, let's attend a little party, shall we?"

So that was how I found myself in the middle of that sitting room, a prisoner just as much as David's parents were.

"Why are these people here?" Magri demanded.

"I expect more respect from you, Magri Six-Two-Four," said Visser Three, thinly. "Just because you are on your way to becoming a Sub-Visser doesn't mean that you can challenge a Visser's authority!"

"I wouldn't dare, Visser," said Magri, without a hint of respect. "But you know I report to Visser One and would want to make sure everything is accounted for."

Visser Three's lips curled. "They have been witnesses to an infestation operation. They cannot be kept alive."

"What –" David's father began to yell, when suddenly he shut up. Just like that. His eyes were wide open; then he began to choke and cough.

"What is wrong with him?" demanded Visser Three.

"Jason!" gasped David's mother. Then suddenly, the same frozen look appeared on her face. I watched her intently when she began to choke and cough as well.

Tom pointed his Dracon beam at them. "Let's finish them once and for all."

"No!" shouted Magri, startling everyone. "Don't be a fool, Iniss Three-Three-Five. They are perfectly healthy bodies and we will make them ours."

"But that's just a waste of time! And look at them, this is called healthy?" Tom retorted.

"Epson Three-Eight-Six can handle this," said Magri, nodding towards a Controller to the side. "His host is a doctor."

"That's a lot on your plate, Magri," said Visser Three, sneeringly. He turned to look at me on the ground. "I could also easily crush that hostage you have."

"Fine plan, Visser, until you realise you're in charge of Earth and that if you let an Andalite bandit escape through your fingers, I'm not the one whose head will roll." With that, Magri jerked his head towards Epson, who easily knocked out the coughing and hacking parents of David with the flat of the Dracon beam, then tugged them away to another room.

"I think this one is more important," said Magri, coolly.

"And what makes you think that it is an Andalite bandit?" asked Visser Three, mockingly. "It is a naturally hyperactive creature that aims to irritate human beings. There is a difference that you must not underestimate, Magri."

‹Demorph.›

Right. Finally someone talks to me directly instead of throwing third-person lines all over my puny body.

Wait. Hold on a –

My cockroach legs stilled.

‹Ooh, that's right, Marco-boy. I think you've got it.›

I stared up at Magri, an unfamiliar forty-year-old man's face with stubble and a stone-cold look. But his eyes were gleaming in a way that nearly stilled my heart.

‹You...› I could barely speak; I was so enraged.

‹See your cockroach feelers twitching, Marco... I know you can't wait to kill me. But oops, if you do, how can you find your dear friends?›

David.

David was Magri.

No wonder he was so concerned about the visitors in the sitting room. He had dragged them to safety, not to their doom. He must have thoughtspoken to them to fake that whole hacking thing. But that wouldn't be for long. Visser Three didn't like people challenging his authority and David's parents could easily be killed in that room.

‹You heard Visser Three. He's not going to believe me if you don't demorph.›

Aloud, Magri spoke, "You have one minute, Andalite. Before I will not hesitate to kill you and your precious Andalite honour."

‹You think you're so clever, David? I hissed. ‹Passing off as a Controller?›

‹I should remind you that I am actually so good at acting that I could even come close to Sub-Visser!› David chortled. ‹My backer has helped me maintain the illusion of my Yeerk feeding in the pool all this while. It is heaven, being able to control so many things.›

His backer? David was sure doing a lot of manipulation with whichever omnipotent being that was.

‹Also, I think I'm clever because I now have the upperhand to bargain with many people. First of all, it's you, because if you don't show yourself now, you can say goodbye to your friends. But if you help, I can spare your life for a while, just to make sure your death is in front of another one of your dearest friends. That heartbreak is something you guys haven't experienced for a while, have you?› David laughed.

"You are testing my patience," said Visser Three, above me.

‹Then how are you going to convince Visser Three to let me be your prisoner instead of his?› I shot out.

‹Because I need you to get me the rest. It's as simple as that, Marco.›

‹And what good does this do? Turning us all in?›

‹Are you buying time, Marco-boy? I can buy you time to negotiate all you want if you just thoughtspeak to Visser Three.›

I needed to talk to David. I needed to get through to him. There was nothing more I could do, because with Rachel and Tobias at hand, he could easily get rid of me. They were enough fodder for the rest to go after David.

‹Filthy scum,› I spat, putting on my best Ax impression.

Visser Three literally took a few steps back as his eyes grew wider. Magri put on a cocky smirk as he aimed the Dracon beam more carefully.

Then Visser Three smiled sinisterly. "Well, well. A fine specimen of a morph, I must say, Andalite. Pity you are not very good at harnessing the escaping skills of this creature."

I remained firmly silent, but I pointed my feelers at Visser Three for effect.

‹I have my own desires, Marco.› David's voice interrupted. ‹Desires that were killed when you and your friends decided to make my life a living hell. I'm just paying back in kind.›

"We can easily estimate that you have been in morph for an hour. We can wait, Andalite. Wait till you are forever encased in this ugly body and be literally called filthy for the rest of your life," said Visser Three.

"Then the rest will come and find you and realise you are a snivelling little coward," said Magri. "But it doesn't matter because by then, we will have them all."

‹Whatever you want, David, is not going to come true,› I said, urgently. ‹Nobody makes deals with the Yeerks. They are slimy through and through and you will never get what you want!›

‹But they will get what the entire Empire wants! The Andalite bandits on Earth! That is a great trade-off, Marco,› said David, his eyes gleaming once again. ‹And nobody can possibly deny me that.›

I was so angry that I wanted to cut him into pieces, that cocky little bastard. ‹Well maybe if you toss your little snarky ass into the mix, they might appreciate the spice too.›

‹Oh, Marco, Marco,› said David, laughing once again. ‹Always the funny one, little Marco. Though you forget you're not in control here. Do you really want to be in that ugly body for the rest of your life? At least Tobias had wings... oh, oops, I forgot. He doesn't have them here.›

As he said that, his arm raised. Magri's arm, with David's poisonous intent. Something about what he said nagged at me, but with the beam right in my cockroach face, I wasn't really thinking about anything else except to bring him down with hurtful words.

‹And you forget that this is also a Yeerk territory and if you're under Visser One?› I chuckled for effect. ‹Visser Three will be watching you constantly. Maybe your parents are a done deal. Maybe the secret room you came out from isn't so secret after all. And also, the two-hour limit? You're cutting it close yourself.›

I saw something flicker in Magri's eyes, but then he decided to announce to Visser Three and the crowd of Controllers,

"I'm bored. I have no time to wait for a cockroach to demorph into an Andalite. I believe his friends will come and we will have the party. I'm just going to kill this one."

Magri turned his belligerent expression onto me as he cocked the trigger.

‹So, Marco-boy, you have one last chance to show the Yeerks who the real Andalite bandits are.›