AUTHOR's NOTES: Okay, I wrote this quite a while ago at the ripe age of 15 or so. Wow. And I actually finished it! Amazing! I never do that anymore! Anyways, I only read the first 25 books prior to writing this, and the first MegaMorphs book (obviously). I have no relation/profit from Animorphs, Scolastic Inc., or K.A. Applegate. And Allie is merely my own twisted creation - the result of a satifyingly long crush on Marco. Don't ya just hate it when you fall in love with somebody in a book? I know I do. So, as I previously mentioned, this is the finished product. I will not be updating (unless there are requests). But the whole story is here and told. Enjoy. Word.

CHAPTER 1

Jake

MY NAME IS JAKE. And that's basically all the personal information I can tell you. No last name, no address...nothing. You see, there is a war going on. A war that very few no about. There's me and my friends on one side, and life-sucking slugs on the other.

The slugs are the Yeerks. Horrible creatures that infest the bodies of beings of all races. They use their controlling powers by seeping into every crevice in your brain, reading it as though it was nothing more than a book. The host is powerless against these paralyzing beings as they invade the mind with no boundaries.

I know. I've had one inside my head before. Not a nice time.

Nevertheless, I'm Yeerk-free and determined to stop them before they enslave their next victims: humans. The only weapon we have against them is that my friends - Cassie, Rachel, Marco, and Tobias - and I all have the ability to morph into other animals. We're the animorphs. All we have to do is touch an animal and we automatically absorb the DNA from that animal and we can literally turn into them.

We were given this power from a great ally: the Andalites. The Andalites can also change form. They are from another planet and have come to earth to stop and destroy the Yeerks. Ax is also a member of our small battle group. He is a kid Andalite, just like we're kids, and it's up to us to stop the Yeerks from destroying the earth and turning the human race into slaves.

Having to save the earth and maintain a normal life is almost impossible. Sure, we're defending the human race but we still have to study for that biology exam and finish the geometry assignment in time. And let's not forget sports.

Rachel, my cousin and fellow animorph, is an excellent gymnast. She's blonde and looks like she just walked off the cover of one of those beauty magazines. It was a Tuesday afternoon and we all decided to attend her gymnastics meet.

I was sitting between Cassie and Marco. Marco is my best friend. He's a smart-aleck, always trying to make a joke. He gets annoying, but I'm used to it. Cassie is...well, she a good friend. A close friend. A trusted friend. I could tell her anything and she would look at me with those understanding eyes and make everything all right. She's Rachel's best friend, and unlike Rachel, the super shopper, Cassie is more down-to-earth. Marco calls her a tree-hugger and constantly accuses her of wearing Birkenstocks. She loves animals. Her barn is the local wildlife rehabilitation center and her mom works at the local zoo, the Gardens. Cassie is definitely falling in their footsteps.

Tobias was sitting next to Marco, his eyes intensely watching Rachel. They probably would be dating if Tobias didn't live life as a red-tailed hawk. You see, morphing has a two-hour time limit. Once your in morph for longer than the time limit, you're stuck as that animal. For a while, he was permanently a red-tailed hawk, but then the Ellimist gave him back his morphing power.

The Ellimist is kind of the Supreme Being of the universe. He claims he can't interfere but yet he continues to disturb our lives. He's got this war going on with an evil creature called the Crayak. We're on the Ellimist's team along with Erek. Erek is an android disguised as a student our age. He was created by an ancient race called the Pemalites. The Pemalites were a peaceful race and programmed their androids so that they can't cause or be involved in any violence.

Then there's Ax, who was sitting next to Cassie. Ax was in his human form, which is a mix between a handsome girl and a cute guy. He combined DNA from me, Marco, Rachel, and Cassie to create his human morph. He was dazed at the commotion of the meet and muttering quietly to himself, probably thinking about cinnamon buns. You see, Andalites don't have mouths, so anytime that Ax could eat human food, it was the only thing he could think about. Cinnamon buns are his food of choice, although chocolate isn't far behind.

Rachael was on the balance beam, concentrating hard and she attempted a cartwheel. When she was halfway through it - in fact, she was upside down - time stopped.

We all groaned.

Everything, everyone, was frozen. Rachel quickly finished her cartwheel and dismounted. She pouted.

"Come on! That was perfect! Now the stupid Ellimist has to come. Great. Just great."

Whenever time stopped, we knew the Ellimist was contacting us, and whenever he/she/it did, it was bad news.

We all stood up from the bench as Ax changed back to his Andalite form which is like a blue deer, only with arms and two antennae with eyes sprouting out of his head.

Erek also appeared at the scene, covered by his hologram.

"Well..." Marco said, tapping his foot impatiently. "We're all here and waiting for the bad news..."

A blue light entered the gymnasium, gleaming with intense power. The form of a human took shape through the shadows. The Ellimist always has to make an entrance.

Greetings, my friends. I have come with news of our battle with Crayak. The Ellimist and Ax speak with this skill we call thought-speech. We can "hear" it in our minds, not with our ears. We also use thought-speech when we're in morph.

"You mean your battle with the Crayak," Rachel said.

The Ellimist ignored her. We have altered the rules. We have decided to add another member to each of our teams.

"Like another Andalite?" I questioned.

Yes, the Ellimist replied. Except I"ve decided to add another human with the morphing capability.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa...we don't even have a choice about this?" Marco asked.

"We're already had an experience with using that blue box to make another animorph and it was horrible," Cassie said. "We ended up turning him into a rat for the rest of his life."

I know of your experience with David, the Ellimist said. This is different. This girl is prepared for her life to change. She already has the power to morph. In fact, she will be new at your school tomorrow. You are to find her.

"How do we do that?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah," Marco agreed, "are we just supposed to walk up to her and ask her if she can change into animals?"

She will also be looking for you. For Jake.

"Can't you give us any clues?" I asked. "What she looks like, what grade she's in?"

All I can tell you is that her name starts with the letter A.

"That's it? Have you even seen her?" Tobias said.

"He can't give us too many clues," Erek interjected. "Remember, he can't interfere."

"How is this not interfering?" Rachael cried. "You break Andalite law - or whatever the heck it is - by giving the morphing power to an unsuspecting human girl?! Does she even know about the Yeerks?"

Oh yes. She will prove to be a great asset in the future. She understands.

"So we're just suppose to trust this girl?" I asked. "How do we know that she's not a Yeerk?"

That is why I'm telling you now, the Ellimist answered. She knows as much of the Yeerk invasion as you do, if not more.

But we still have a choice? Ax questioned.

The Ellimist hesitated. Yes, you do. You cannot accept her. But believe me, that would be a grave mistake. I am adding her to your group for extra help, not to burden you. I thought this would be good news.

"Yeah, we'll wait to thank you until we meet her," Marco said.

"So all we have to do is find her tomorrow? Just ask around?" I questioned.

Yes. And she will also be looking for Jake. This mission is not that difficult. All I'm asking you to do is accept this girl. Be kind to her. You will realize how valuable she is to your missions.

And suddenly, we were back at the gymnastics meet. Erek was gone. Ax was human. Rachel was back on the balance beam and finished as she did before, with a perfect dismount.

Cassie turned to me with a worried look on her face. "Hey Jake..."

"Yeah?" I replied.

"I've been thinking..." she paused. "If this girl is going to be the great asset to us that the Ellimist claims she's going to be, then who did the Crayak add to his team?"

I hadn't thought of that.

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