Animorphs: The Assassin

This is the third of four stories following the adventures of Samantha Goddard and her friends. The four of them are morph capable humans, on the run from Visser Five and journeying from Britain to California in their search of Jake Berenson and the other Animorphs. In this story, we find out about Philip's past, some of which will be told in 'memories'. Every few chapters will consist of one of these memories. As for the story as a whole, it's best if you have read my fan fics The Fugitives and The Confrontation first, but it won't matter too much if you haven't. Hope you like it, please read and review!

Introduction: What's in a Name?

My name is Philip Lawless. It may not sound like much of a name, but it is one that has conjured up much controversy and many attitudes over the years. Names can do that. In a word, on paper, they don't look like much. But names are quickly associated with stories, opinions, people, and pasts. As William Shakespeare once quoted, "that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." My name, for example, was once a name I had been deeply proud of. It is a name that dates back almost ten centuries, usually associated with spectacle and grandeur, and often with people who have lead heroic and illustrious lives. But it is a name that has, on occasion, been associated with shame and embarrassment. And, although I still find it difficult to admit it, it is I who has now degraded the family name, through a mistake so terrible that I shall have to live with it for the rest of my life.

It is also a name that, in the last couple of days, has become significant for another reason. Whilst once regarded as name synonymous with the aristocracy and high society, it is now know - to some - for a very different reason. My name is now to be the name of a fugitive. Two fugitives, in fact. Myself, and my brother, Ferdinand. But in case you were wondering, this had nothing to do with my shameful secret. You shall find more about that later. I am a fugitive, not from the police of Britain - or even of Earth. A group of extraterrestrial beings by the name of Yeerks are hunting me, my brother and two others. They know everything one can know about a person, and, using that information, they will do whatever they can to get their hands on the four of us.

Unlike my brother, I am not a joker. Perhaps I was once, but times, and people change. Everything I tell you over the course of this story is completely true. Give me something to swear on - like a Bible - and I'll swear that all I tell you has actually happened to me. We are being chased by a race of aliens - parasitic aliens, in fact. Yeerks are small, slug-like creatures that have the ability to slide into your ear canal and wrap themselves around your brain. They then take control of you body - your eyes, your voice, your arms and legs. They control you. Completely. Utterly. They have taken many alien species, including the Hork-Bajir, the Taxxons and the Gedds. They are now moving towards humans. We call individuals who have been infested Controllers, although this is ironic since they have no control over themselves at all. This may sound like something out of a horror film, but it gets worse. The thing is, you are still aware of what is going on as the Yeerk infests you. You can still, although you can only hear what the Yeerk focuses your hearing on. You can still see - but only at what the Yeerk is looking at. You can still think. Still remember. Still dream. But every one of your thoughts, memories and dreams can be read by the Yeerk at their leisure, as easily as if they are reading a book. It is hell. Hell in your own mind. And it is they from whom we are running.

Who are we? Well, as I have already mentioned, myself and my younger brother Ferdie. A strong willed and hot-headed Scottish girl named Maggie. And our leader - and Ferdie's unlikely crush - Samantha Goddard. Fearless but arrogant Sam. She may not look like much of a leader, but she is a remarkably good one. She has all the qualities I have been trained to recognise in a leader. And she has got us through alien abductions, near death scenarios, and two hundred miles across Britain. Her leadership skills were evident from the moment I met her. She got us to our senses and helped us escape from an unthinkable scenario. I won't tell you the whole story of the past few days - I'll leave that to Sam and Ferdie - but I'll give you the shortened version. Five of us were abducted by an alien race called the Skrit-Na, a race famous for their obsessive hoarding and collection of all things weird and wonderful. The Skrit-Na had managed to get hold of, in addition to five humans, a piece of remarkable technology belonging to an advanced race called the Andalites. This piece of technology - called the Escafil device - gives the individual the power to morph. The power to change shape. To become any animal - for two hours at a time - they touch and 'acquire'. This power is widely craved throughout the galaxy - especially by the Yeerks. The Yeerks learnt that the Skrit-Na was in possession of one of these 'morphing cubes' and sent an army to try and steal it. The Andalites sent in a defence ship, captained by an Andalite named Eramas-Corion-Jarvis, to retrieve their technology.

The Andalites retrieved their technology. Eramas broke the rules of the Andalite custom and gave us the power to morph in order to help us escape. Four of us - Sam, myself and Ferdie, and a girl called Ashima, were sent back down to earth with the orders to find a group of human morphers living on earth. They are known to the Andalites as the Resistance. They might have given themselves a better name, but I don't know, as we haven't found them yet. Unfortunately for us, they live in America. California to be more precise. About ten-thousand miles from where we live, (or used to live) in a little town in Yorkshire, England. And we have to get to them - without using human transport by which the Yeerks could trace us. So the four of us acquired some useful animals to morph, including hawks and sharks, and set off on our journey. Along the way, we lost a member of our team - Ashima - in battle, but gained another - Maggie.

The Yeerks are now hunting the four of us. We, having the power to morph, would make fine hosts for a great Yeerk general. The Yeerk in charge of the operation to catch us is a war-lord named Visser Five. He reports directly to another Yeerk war-lord, Visser three, who is in charge of the infestation of Earth. Whilst Visser Five has the body of a Hork-Bajir, Visser Three is the only Yeerk to have ever infested an Andalite. He alone has the power to morph.

So what is the situation at the moment? The four of us are currently in Cardiff, Wales, having made our way cross-country from Yorkshire in order to stow aboard a British Naval ship en-route to New York. We have travelled two-hundred and thirty miles as geese, wolf and stag. We now have nearly three thousand miles of ocean to cross, and, later, another two and a half thousand across the USA. It's been tough so far, with many ups and downs, but it's not something we have a choice about. It's something in which we must all take part, and to do so, we must confront our fears, leave our pasts and our homes behind us, and pull together as a team to survive and succeed.