- Narrator: Rachel
The Animorphs sneak into the Chapman house to get intelligence on the Yeerk's movements.
Tropes:
- Animal Motifs: Discussed. Jake and Rachel had dreams about the morphs they acquired, but while the tiger and elephant gave them good dreams, the lizard and shrew gave them nightmares. They conclude that the latter morphs aren't good fits for their personalities.
- Attempted Rape: A man Rachel describes as late high school or early college starts coming on to her, doesn't take no for an answer, and tries to pull her into his car. He chases her into an alleyway, at which point he finds that the thirteen-year-old girl he was chasing has been replaced with a half-elephant monstrosity.
- The Bait: Rachel has to morph into a shrew and use herself to lure Fluffer out so that the others can grab him, and she can acquire him.
- Cats Are Superior: Rachel enjoys the swagger of the tomcat's mind, which she compares to Clint Eastwood walking into a saloon and everyone getting out of his way.
- Cat Up a Tree: Trying to acquire Fluffer becomes difficult when he runs up a tree.
- Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Chapman and his wife agreed to not fight their Yeerks if the Yeerks didn't take Melissa as well.
- Gaslighting: When Iniss 226 realizes that "Fluffer" is actually an Andalite bandit in morph, he puts Rachel-as-Fluffer in a carrier and drags her to Visser Three. Melissa sees this, assumes her dad is getting rid of her cat, and begs him not to, to no avail. Then the real Fluffer shows up, and the Yeerk explains to Melissa that the cat in the cage is a similar-looking cat that snuck into their house, and that he's just taking it to an animal shelter. When Melissa asks why he didn't say that from the beginning, he claims to have not heard her screaming and crying right beside him.
- Hillbilly Horrors: The Animorphs encounter a mundane version in the opening, where they're birds of prey being shot at by a pair of drunk rednecks with a rifle.
- Hugh Mann: While morphed into Fluffer, Rachel gets a good look into how Yeerks act when no one is around. The Yeerks in Mr. and Mrs. Chapman go through what's necessary to keep their hosts alive, but have no social life, no urge to read a book or watch TV, or do anything but stare into space until the Visser calls for them. On two different days she finds Mr. Chapman sitting still in a chair while Mrs. Chapman mechanically cooks food.
- Monstrous Cannibalism: The fact that Visser Three used his Andalite host body's morphs to eat another Andalite in the previous book aside, he reveals he can morph into a Yeerk predator and rip his minions out of their host's heads if they ever fail him.
- Parental Neglect: From Melissa's point of view, her parents just stopped loving her one day. While this isn't the truth, it still results in the thirteen-year-old Melissa having to raise herself with no one but her cat for company.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Iniss 226 convinces Visser Three to not infest Melissa, because doing so would give Chapman the willpower to subvert him in inopportune moments, and he needs to keep a good profile as a vice-principal and leader in the Sharing.
- Trojan Prisoner: When Rachel is captured, Jake comes along with her in flea morph, allowing him to sneak away and morph to tiger and save her.
- We Used to Be Friends: Rachel and Melissa drifted away from each other as Melissa's depression from her home life worsened. Melissa rejects Rachel's attempt at reconnecting, and Rachel is forced to leave Melissa alone for each other's safety.
