Animorphs: The Second Coming

The Animorph Chronicles

Prologue

Jake

    My name's Jake. Just Jake. I can't tell you anymore than that. Maybe I could, but I don't want to take any chances. I'm an Animorph, well, I used to be, before the Andalites came back. We Animorphs had been fighting the yeerks for over five years when the Andalites came and defeated the yeerks.
    Who were the Animorphs? There was me, the so called "leader" of our group, Rachel, our reckless member who is always ready to fight, she's also my cousin. Marco, the joker of the group and my best friend. Tobias, a nothlit, an Andalite word for somebody who got stuck in morph, and Ax, short for Aximili Esgarouth Isthill, the only Andalite on the planet before the huge Andalite fleets came to destroy the yeerks.
    This is the story of how we fought the yeerks, and won. But I'm not the only one who's going to tell it, you'll hear from the others too. This is how we fought the yeerks.
Fought the yeerks, and won.

Chapter 1 Rachel

It was just a normal summer day. School had just gotten out for the summer the day before and I was going out to the woods to see Tobias. I walked a short ways into the woods and got ready to morph my bald eagle. I figured I'd need some pretty good eyes to find Tobias. I stripped off my outer clothes and shoved them into the gym bag I had brought with me. I had just started to morph when Tobias dove down from above the trees almost flying into me as he came in to land.
 "Hey,Tobias. I was just coming out to look for you," I greeted him, "I was going to do some flying and thought I might invite you to come too."
 < No time, Rachel. > he said tersely, < Help me find the others. We need to have a meeting at Cassie's quick. I've already told Ax. >
 I was worried. Tobias rarely called a meeting, in fact, Jake was the only one who really called the meetings. But I wasn't about to argue, "Ok, I'll go get Cassie, you get Jake and Marco." I didn't want to go over to either one of their houses since I would never have gone there before the war started.
 Maybe I should explain a few things to you. Right now, I'm in the middle of fighting a huge war. No, I'm not a member of the army or anything, and you're not going to see anything about this war on the 6 o'clock news at home, but the war is still there.
 Me and my friends are fighting the yeerks. A parasitic race of slugs that infest peaceful species. They conquered the Hork-Bajir, a fiercesome looking race that only looks that way because they are adapted to eating tree bark, the Taxxons, a cannibalistic species that will eat anything, living or dead, agreed to have one of those slugs placed in it's head, and now, the yeerks are targeting humans here on good old planet Earth. And what's standing in the way of the yeerks and you? A huge army maybe? No, just 6 kids. 5 human and one Andalite. But, we're not just any plain old ordinary kids. We have Andalite morphing technology that was given to us by a dying Andalite prince.
 That's why I couldn't go over to Marco or Jake's house. We had to keep the relationships we had before we started fighting. We couldn't be thought of as a group. I would only have gone over to Jake's if it was a family thing, and I wouldn't have ever gone over to Marco's, but, Cassie's been my best friend for as long as I could remember, so it wouldn't look odd if I went to her house.
 I hid the gym bag in a rotting stump in the forest and covered it with leaves, I'd have to come back for it later. I quickly morphed to eagle and flew to Cassie's house.
 I demorphed at the edge of the forest near Cassie's house and ran across the field between the trees and the barn. Also known as the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. Both of Cassie's parents are vets. Her mom works at the Gardens, an amusement park with a zoo in it. Her dad takes care of injured wild animals. Cassie helps him alot, and gets us access to alot of morphs that we wouldn't be able to get otherwise.
 I walked into Cassie's barn looking for her. I found her trying to shove a pill down a wolf's throat. I waited quietly in the doorway for her to finish. I didn't think that this would be a good time to sneak up on her.
 "Hey, Cassie," I said once she had finished with the wolf. "What's up?"
 "Nothing much, just doing what I normally do, what are you doing here? You aren't going to try to drag me off to the mall again, are you?"
 I laughed. I'm constantly getting on Cassie's case because she absolutely can not stand to shop, but the girl wears jeans that end 5 inches above the ankle! And refuses to get new ones, what are you going to do with a girl like that? "No, actually, I just came to hang out, that ok with you?" That's the code we use for when we're going to have a meeting. We can't be too careful, there could be yeerk spies anywhere. A controller had once spied on Cassie through her bedroom window, we've been extra careful ever since.
 "Yeah, my parents aren't home so there's no problem with that. I've just got a few more chores to do."
 I sat down on a bale of hay and waited for the others to arrive. Tobias,Jake and Marco all arrived at the same time. They had all flown together. Ax was the last one to come. He was in his strangely attractive human morph. His morph is made of some combination of DNA from the me, Jake, Cassie and Marco. It's very odd looking at him.
 "So, bird-boy, what's this about?" Marco asked.
 < They're here. >

Chapter 2 Tobias

They didn't ask who I meant by "they." I could tell that they knew who I meant right away. The Andalites.
 "How do you know? Did one just come flying down out of the sky in a fighter and say "Hi Tobias, just so ya' know, we're back and we're gonna kick yeerk butt"?" Marco asked.
 < Well, I was just flying through my territory looking for breakfast when I felt a hole in the air above. My first thought was that it was another yeerk transport ship, but I landed on the nearest tree branch and looked up, and saw an Andalite fighter like the one... > I paused for a second remembering Elfangor, < The one Elfangor had. I heard two voices inside talking in thought speak. I said hello to them. They were shocked to say the least. I asked them what they were doing here, they said the Andalites had finally returned to Earth and were fighting the yeerks. Their fighter had minimal damage to it, just enough to make it land. I showed them a place in my territory where they could hide their fighter and work on it and told them that I'd be back with some friends. They're still waiting there. >
 "Who were these Andalites, Tobias?" Ax asked, still in human morph.
 
 "This is great! Now that the Andalites are here, we can seriously start hurting the yeerks!" Marco said. Marco has always been the most reluctant of us Animorphs. Even after he learned that his mother was Visser 1, but he still didn't like the fighting. None of us did, except maybe Rachel. I looked over at her quick and almost did a double take, she almost looked sad, like she didn't want the war to be over. I knew that she was a warrior and had always been very gung-ho about this whole war thing, but how could anybody not want this war to be over. I must have been mistaken, for the next second, she was just as excited as Marco was about the Andalites returning.
 "When are we going to go see these Andalites?" Cassie asked as she changed out of the overalls she wore when doing chores in the barn.
 "How about now?"Jake suggested. He had just been sitting quietly on a bail of hay since I had told them about the Andalites. I wondered why. Oh well. I'd find out soon enough.
 Everyone agreed, and we all set out to meet theAndalites.

Chapter 3 Jake

When we got to the edge of the forest near Cassie's house, we morphed our bird of prey morphs so we could get there faster.
 Everyone chatted excitedly as we flew above the forest. Everyone except Rachel and Tobias. I figured they were probably having a private conversation.
 < Hey! I see 'em! > Marco shouted in the middle of a really lame joke that I had only heard a hundred times before. < Let's go down and say hello. >
 We landed in a tree just over the Andalite's heads. < Hello, fellow Andalites, > Ax greeted them when he landed.
 The Andalite's tail's tensed and they turned around quickly. < Where are you? > The larger of the two,probably the leader, asked.
 Ax glided down from the branch, landed in front of the Andalites, and demorphed.
 Both of them looked surprised, < Aximili? > The leader asked.
 As the last of Ax's harrier features melted away, Ax nodded his head, a very human feature he picked up from us over the years. < Yes, I'm Aximili. Who are you? >
 The second Andalite said, < And this is Barakian-Feloran-Motmar. Who are your friends? >
 We each introduced ourselves, then started to demorph.
 < Aximili! > Barakian shouted, < Who gave these humans the power to morph? >
 Ax has been through this at least once before, and last time he had gotten into trouble with trying to lie as to who gave us our power. He wanted everybody to believe it was him for some reason, when it had actually been Elfangor. Ax looked around nervously, unsure as to what to say.
 < Answer me! >
 Ax gave me a private thought-speak measage, < Prince Jake, can you please tell Barakian the truth. >
 I nodded my head slightly, "Brachian, Ax wasn't even here on Earth when we recieved our morphing powers." I went through the entire story of how Elfangor crashed in the abandoned construction site and his murder. And how we rescued Ax from the bottom of the ocean.
 Barakian nodded gravely, < This is sad news, I never knew Elfangor personally, but there are numerous mentions of him in various logs and such, all of them positive, I would never have believed that Elfangor would break Seerow's kindness. But it seems he chose well when choosing the ones who would fight the yeerks on Earth untill we could return. >
 I looked around at my friends, I suppose what he said was true. We had all fought well all these years, but we had all paid a price in some way for the fighting.
 Tobias had been trapped as a hawk, even though he could now morph for two hours at a time, even into his old human body.
 Marco had found out that his mom really hadn't died, but had been burdened with the constant thought of rescuing her.
 Cassie had once considered quiting the Animorphs because of all the killing we had to do. Cassie's always been a natural peacemaker. The violence comes very unnaturally to her.
 Rachel had probably changed more than any of us. She'd always been very out spoken, maybe even aggressive at times, but when the war with the yeerks started, she changed alot. She wasn't just a dippy-looking clueless girl who had a slight problem with anger, but a dippy-looking clueless girl who'd turned into an Amazon Warrior Queen. I'd fought along side Rachel countless times, and I respected her bravery tremendously, but sometimes she scared me.
 And me, how had I changed? I'd aged about 30 years over night. The others looked to me as their leader, and no matter how much I didn't want the job, I was stuck with it. I was only thirteen or fourteen when this whole thing started, and suddenly I was supposed to start being an army general? It was, to borrow one of Marco's favorite words, insane.

Chapter 4 Rachel

I didn't know what to think about the Andalite's return. I was a mess of emotions. But, being the type of person I was, I couldn't show it. I had to keep up my tough facade and keep my emotions hidden inside. On the way to meet the Andalites, I had talked to Tobias a little, but there really wasn't anybody who could understand. Everybody else was able to admit that they were afraid of going into battle, or something like that. I never was able, so how was I supposed to tell them that I almost didn't want the Andalites to be here?
 I stood back quietly while everybody else talked. I didn't trust myself to talk.
 < You okay? > Tobias asked when he saw how quiet I was being.
 I nodded slightly, closed my eyes,took a few deep breaths and stepped forward to join the group. They were talking with the Andalites about what would be the best way to repair the fighter.
 "Ask Rachel, she's the mall queen. She knows every store in the mall like the back of her hand," Marco said.
 "Huh?" I hadn't been paying attention to the conversation.
 < Do you know of a place where we would be able to acquire the correct electronical components for our fighter? > One of the Andalites, Lacia I think, asked.
 I started at a place over his head blankly for a second, mentally looking through all the stores of the mall.
 "There's a Circuit City, Radio Shack, and a no-name local electronics store. We could check all three out. Barakian could go to one, Lacia to another, and Ax to the third," I turned to Ax, "You would be able to find the stuff they need, right? Technology hasn't changed too much?"
 Ax bristled a little at that, as if I had insulted him, < Of course I can find the necessary components, if suitable replacements have even been invented here on Earth yet. >
 "We'll need to get you two human morphs, and money to buy the stuff," Cassie said, "But I don't know who we could get. If you acquired the four of us, you'd end up looking an awful lot like Ax's human morph does."
 < There is a way to remedy that. It was recently discovered that it's possible to acquire different amounts of DNA from different people so the resulting morph will be different from any other morph, even if the DNA is aquired from the same people, > Laciia said.
< You wouldn't mind if we acquired your DNA, would you? >
 "If it'll help stop the yeerks, you can have anything," I said.

Chapter 5 Ax

One by one, Lacia and Barakian acquired the DNA of my human friends, Lacia pausing longer while acquiring Rachel and Cassie, since her morph would be female. Barakian acquired Jake and Marco for a moment longer.
 "Okay, Rachel? Cassie? Turn around for a sec while Barakian and Lacia morph," Prince Jake said.
 < Why must Rachel and Cassie turn around? > Barakian asked.
 "A little concept we call clothing," Marco said, "or in this case, the lack thereof"
 < Clothing? > Lacia asked.
 "We'll explain it to you after you've morphed," Rachel said, "Speaking of clothing, Jake, neither you or Marco bothered to bring any extra clothing, did you?"
 Both Jake and Marco shook their heads, a human motion meaning 'no'.
 Lacia started to giggle, 
 "Why not?" Cassie asked.
 Lacia's giggles turned into laughter, < You mean none of you have noticed yet? > Every one shook their heads no,< I'm female. If I were to wear your human clothes, wouldn't I wear clothes made for a female? >
 Now I realized why Jake had requested Rachel and Cassie to turn around, they had never met a female Andalite, they must have just though that Lacia was a small Andalite. They'd never have guessed she was female.
 "In that case," Rachel said, "I've got clothes for both Barakian and Lacia in my gym bag. It's probably only a mile or two away. Be right back!" Rachel started to morph her bald eagle. Her golden hair turned into snowy white feathers, and she began to shrink at an amazing rate. Her black morphing outfit began to turn brown and change from solid black to feather paterns. Her bare feet turned yellow and scaly and split into bird-of-prey talons. Finally, her mouth, a horizontal opening humans, and most other sentient speicies of the galaxy, have that allows them to speak and eat, pushed out an formed the ripping beak of the bald eagle.
 < Be right back! Don't do anything fun without me! > Rachel called as she flew off over the trees.

Chapter 6 Cassie

Rachel returned with the black gym bag cluched in her talons. She dropped it to the ground in front of me before she landed on a branch and demorphed.
 While she was demorphing, I unzipped the bag and found three sets of clothing, two girl's outfits and a guy's. I handed one outfit to Lacia and another to Barakian.
 "Jake? Marco? Take Barakian behind those bushes and help him get the clothes on when he's finished morphing. Rachel and I will help Lacia," I said once Rachel was standing beside me. "Oh, and take Ax too."
 "I do not understand the purpose of clothing. Stand. And and and and and! Theeng. Cloooooo thing,"Lacia said once she had morphed and had the clothes on properly. I smiled when she talked. She sounded just like Ax had when he first talked with a human mouth. She had looked alot like him too untill we had helped her put all her clothes on correctly.
 "It's a long story," Rachel explained, "Just believe me when I say they're necesary."
 I stepped back and inspected Lacia. She had shoulder length brown hair with gold highlights, very exotic looking, and slightly curly. Her eye were blue, like Rachel's, but her skin was a light brown color, a perfect mix between Marco and Rachel. She was rather short, a bit taller than me, but not nearly as tall as Rachel or Jake.
 "We're gonna need a different name for her," Rachel said to me, "Lacia isn't exactly a human name."
 "Lacy?"
 "Lacy? Isn't that an adjective?"
 "It can be," I said defensivly, "But I also happen to know a girl at school named Lacy. Besides, it's closer to Lacia than any other 'L' name I can think of."
 Rachel considered that for a moment, "You have a point, Cassie. The only other L name I can think of is Laura or Loren, but let's leave it up to Lacia to decide," she turned to look at Lacia,"Which name do you like best, Lacy, Laura or Loren?"
 "What is the difference? Ference? Ence ence ence ence ence? Ssssss. That is a very odd sound. Ound. Oundoundound," Lacia said.
 "We'll go with Lacy," Rachel said.
 "Hey! Is it safe for us to come over yet?" Marco shouted.
 "Yeah!" I shouted back.
 I watched as four guys, Jake, Marco, Ax and Barakian, stepped out from behind the bushes.
 Barakian was fairly tall, taking after Jake and Rachel. His hair was short and dark brown, alot like Marco's. His skin was pretty dark, blending mine and Marco's dark colored skin.
 "Have you guys thought of a name for Barakian?" Rachel asked after she had looked over Barakian. Probably making sure the guys didn't mess anything up.
 "Um, we were hoping you guys could come up with something," Jake said, smiling embaresdly.
 Rachel shook her head, "Well, Barakian has an easier name to work with. Something like Brian or Brendon would work."
 "What did you two come up with for Lacia?" Marco asked.
 "April. Illllllllll," Lacia said.
 Jake looked at Barakian, "Brian or Brendon?"
 Barakian looked puzzled for a second, "What is the difference? Ference. Ence. Ce ce ce ce."
 Rachel shook her head, "Let's just go with Brian. It's harder to play with."
 "Brian. Ian. Rian." Barakian said, trying the word out.
 "Okay, we've got the human morphs down, now for the other problem. Money," Marco said, "I don't know about you guys, but my allowance is suspended untill I'm,like, twenty, from coming home so late all the time."
 "Same here," Jake agreed.
 "I've only got about $5," Cassie said.
 "I've got $10 in my room, and another $20 in my bank account," Rachel said.
 < So we have about $30 dollars all together, > Tobias said, still in his perch in the tree above us, < Somehow I have the feeling that if the stuff we need has even been invented yet, it's going to cost slightly more than $30. >
 "So where are we going to get the extra money?" Rachel asked.
 "I think I know a way," Jake said.

Chapter 7 Marco

Jake was insane.
 I've known Jake for a long time, and he's usually at least slightly sane, but now he's finally gone over the edge.
 He wanted us to go home and raid our parents wallets and purses.
 "How do you expect us to do that?" I demanded, "Don't you think our parents would notice if we 'borrowed' money from them? This isn't like borrowing a quarter for the gum ball machine, they're going to notice if suddenly a twenty is gone."
 "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Marco's right," Rachel said, "Why don't we just go to the mall, find out if the needed stuff has even been invented yet and the price, and then figure out some way to get the money that's leagle."
 "Yeah, Rachel's right. Let's go catch the bus for the mall and check out all this high tech stuff," Jake said.
 < Or how about we just wait for the repair crew? > Tobias asked.
 I looked up at him, "Huh?"
 Everybody else looked up to see what Tobias was looking at, unfortunatly for Lacia and Barakian, this caused them to fall over backwards before anybody could catch them. Jake helped them up quickly and then went back to staring at the sky.
 "I don't see what you're talking about," Rachel complained.
 < Just hold on a second, it's too far up for human eyes to see yet. >
 "I think I see it," Cassie said, squinting her eyes.
 "Same here," I said. "Um, just an idea, but wouldn't it be wise to get back into the forest a bit? Give the ship some room?" I asked as the ship approached.
 "Good idea," Jake said. We all moved back into the forest, helping Alacia and Barakian.
 The fighter, slightly larger than Lacia's and Barakian's, landed just beside it. A doorway appeared in the smooth side of the fighter, and two Andalites stepped out.

Chapter 8 Rachel

< Lacia-Gamb-Liktio? Barakian-Feloran-Motmar? > One of the Andalites called.
 "Anybody else notice that these Andalites have a habit of coming in twos?" Marco whispered.
 I looked over and saw Lacia and Barakian morphing back to Andalite, not a pretty sight, believe me. Ax was demorphing too.
 When they were finished demorphing, they stepped out from the edge of the forest.
 < Lacia! Barakian! > the second Andalite said, running up to them. < Aximili? You're still here? >
 < That's not what we came here for, Doichan. We came to repair Barakian's and Lacia's fighter. > The second Andalite said, steping out of the fighter's doorway.
 < You brought replacements? > Lacia asked.
 < Yes, > The first Andalite, Doichan, said, < But just enough to get you back up to the Dome Ship. We don't have repairs for weapons. >
 < That's all we were going to get anyway. >
 < And how were you going to get these parts? > The second Andalite asked.
 < My human friends were going to take us to their mall to try and buy suitable replacement parts, > Ax said.
 The two new Andalites visably tensed, < Humans? Friends? >
 < Yes, > Ax turned his stalk eyes back to look at us, < Prince Jake, Rachel, Cassie and Marco, they rescued me when I first crashed onto Earth. >
 I stepped out from the shadows of the forest with the others close behind.
 The two Andalites stepped back as if they were scared of us. Quite a funny concept when you consider that Andalites have the ultimate natural weapon, their tails, and humans don't really have any weapons.
 Suddenly, the second Andalites tail blade was at Ax's throat, < You've revealed yourself to humans?! >
 I was about ready to morph grizzly bear and teach that Andalite a lesson. Nobody, but nobody, pushes my friends around like that.
 But Lacia beat me too it. She stepped up beside Ax, < Roctor, it's not his fault he's revealed himself to humans. They're the ones who rescued him, >
 < Rescued? > Doichan asked, coming up behind Roctor.
 So, for the second time that day, our story about Elfangor was told.

Chapter 9 Tobias

Only a handful of Andalites have ever heard our story about how Elfangor gave us our morphing powers, each Andalite acted more shocked than the last.
 These two were no exception.
 After we finished telling the story, the two new Andalites, Doichan and Roctor, actually looked like they were mourning the fact that Elfangor gave us our powers. it's hard to translate Andalite actions into human actions, but they lowered their head and all their eyes, and their tail, as if they were sad or something.
 But finally Doichan looked up, < I'm too young to have met Elfangor personally, but my father fought beside him once, and every night I used to hear of the bravery of Prince Elfangor. Maybe he did give you your morphing powers, I can believe that. But I also believe that there must have been a very good reason for it. >
 "He did," Rachel said, "At the very moment he was giving us our powers, Visser Three was coming to kill him. We were Earth's best, and only, line of defense against the yeerks."
 < Until now, > Roctor said.
 "Untill now," Rachel, Cassie, Jake and Marco agreed.
 < Untill now, > Ax and I agreed.
 < So, what are you guys going to do? > I asked.
 < We need to find a secluded area to start repairing Barakian's and Lacia's ship, > Doichan said.
 I quickly flew up over the trees and looked around, < You aren't going to get much more secluded than this, > I said, landing on a branch in a tree, < There isn't anybody around for miles. >
 < Are you sure? >
 < Am I sure? Hmmm...well, I'm a red-tailed hawk, and I have one of the best pairs of eyes on this continent. I think I'd be able to tell if some big, lound, lumbering humans were in the forest, > I said, probably more sarcastic than I should have been.
 < Then we shall start repairing the damage to the fighter. > With that, the four new Andalites and Ax walked into the undamaged fighter. I heard them pulling out tools and stuff.
 "I have to get home," Cassie said, looking at the watch attached to Rachel's bag. "I have a bunch of chores to do."
 "Same here," Marco and Jake agreed.
 "I've still got a few hours left before I have to go home," Rachel said.
 Jake, Marco and Cassie started to morph their bird morphs to fly home. Rachel bent down and started shoving clothes back in her gym bag.
 I flew down next to her, < What were you coming to see me for? >
 "What? Oh, yeah. That. Um, just wondering if you wanted to go flying or something. Or, maybe morph human and go catch a movie at the mall. There's a new one there, only about an hour and 20 minutes that we'd be able to catch."
 < How about flying? >
 She smiled her super model smile, "That'd be cool." She quickly dug out some dead leaves from under the bushes, shoved her bag in there and covered it back up with leaves. Then she started to morph.
 < Let's go! > She said, once she was totally morphed. With just a few flaps of her 6 foot wings, she was heading off into the sky. I flapped a couple more times and took off right behind her.

Chapter 10 Cassie

The next day, we all returned to the forest to check on the Andalites. We didn't know how much damage had been done to Lacia and Barakian's fighter, but we were sure it'd take them awhile to finish repairing it. We were wrong. By the time we arrived in the clearing we had left them the day before, all four Andalites and both fighters were gone, only Ax was there.
 "Ax! Where'd they all go?" Jake asked once we had demorphed from our bird morphs in the clearing.
 < They felt that it would be wise for them to rejoin the fleet in space battle as soon as possible. They left early this morning. >
 < Are they going to be back? > Tobias asked.
 < They weren't sure. If -- >
 TSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!
 The shock from--whatever it was--threw us to the ground.
 "What the heck was that?!" Rachel shouted, picking herself up.
 Tobias flapped back up to his tree, < Absolutly no idea. Ax? >
 < The yeerks! It was a dracon flash! They know that they have to start attacking openly or risk losing Earth! > Ax shouted.
 "What do we do?" I shouted.
 < We need to get to civilization. The fleet is sending down fighters as we speak to challenge the yeerks. >
 "What are we waiting for then? Let's go!" Rachel said, already begining to morph back to bald eagle.
 "Rachel, don't you think we'd better...I don't know...plan before we go rushing off into this insanely like we usually do?" Marco complained.
 Rachel was too far morphed to answer, so Jake did for her, "Nope, sorry, Marco. We've got to get moving now."
 We all started to morph our bird of prey morphs while Tobias flew in circles above us impatiently. Once we had all finished morphing, we flew above the trees and sped off towards town.
 After about 15 minutes of heavy flying, we saw one of the most horrific sites of our lives.
 The streets looked like a battle zone. It was painfully obvious who was a controller and who wasn't. Coming from the north was a virtual army of shredder weilding human controllers and Hork-Bajir. Facing them was a pathetically small group of free humans, shooting with regular guns. The free people took out a few of the controllers, but they were practically annihilated by the controller army.
 < Oh, my God! > I gasped as we watched. < Ax, how long untill the Andalites get down here! >
 < Not soon enough, > Jake said teresely. < We need to get down there and try to take out some of those controllers on our own. Everybody, land and morph your power morphs. We've got to kick yeerk butt. >

Chapter 11 Tobias

We all landed behind a deserted house to demorph. Less than 50 feet away to our right was a swarming army of controllers. While the others were demorphing, I flew up to see what was happening.
 The situation hadn't improved. The controllers were marching through the streets, picking up any human that was only wounded. I could only assume that they were going to infest them later.
 I soared a bit higher and, unfortunatly, I was right. A portable yeerk pool had been set up just about a block away and people were being marched there to be infested.
 I dived back down to where my friends were finishing morphin. < C'mon! Hurry up! The controllers are about past here, but just a block away they're taking any living humans to a yeerk pool to be infested! We've got to get to that yeerk pool and-- >
 TSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWW
 < AHHHH! >
 < Not again! >
 < Tobias, was that another dracon beam? >
 I flew up, once I had regained my balance, to see if the yeerks were firing again. < No! It's the Andalites! >

Chapter 12 Marco

< Alright! Let's go kick yeerk butt! > Rachel shouted as soon as Tobias told us the Andalites were firing.
 < Let's go! > Jake agreed. We all ran out towards the street where the controllers were making their march, but the scene had changed in a short time. Instead of humans with pathetic hand guns firing at a well trained army of controllers with dracon beams, the yeerks were trying to hold their ground against an army of Andalites.
 We came up from behind the yeerks and started tearing into their forces from the back.
 It was probably one of the most horrific battles we've ever fought. It didn't last too long and...know what? I'm not going to go into the gory detaiils. Use your imagination.
 When we had gotten through the yeerks, we met face to face with the Andalites.
 < Lacia! > Ax shouted after a moment.
 One of the Andalites looked out towards us, < Aximili! Animorphs? >
 < Who else would it be? > I asked.
 < Thank you very much for all your help. I don't know how much longer we would have been able to last with out you. You all fight very well...for humans. > Lacia turned to face the other Andalites, < Listen! I want you all to meet the ones who helped us win this battle. There's no time to go into explanations as to who they are, we have to move quickly to stop the yeerks, > she turned back to us, < Demorph, it's important for them to know who you are. >
 We all started to demorph. As our human features emerged, we heard a collective thought speak gasp go through the crowd. < Yes, they are humans. And an Andalite did break the law of Seerow's Kindness, but there's no time to worry about who. It's obvious that he made the right choice in who to bestow the morphing powers upon. I've talked with this group personally and they've held off the yeerks for years. Now, come on, we need to find where the yeerks are converging next. >
 "We already have an idea as to where we should attack next," Rachel said, "Just about a block away the yeerks are taking all the humans to a yeerk pool for infestation."
 < A block? >
 < It's a sort of human measurement, > Ax explained, < It's just a couple hundred yards to the east. >
 "Yeah, it'll only take a minute or two to get there. And personally, I want to get there, like, now. I don't like these yeerks. Never have, never will. And now that they have the nerve to start attacking us outright, I want them gone. Now," I said.
 < That is the plan, Marco, > Lacia said. < That is the plan. >

Chapter 13 Jake

It took over two months to pretty much clear our town of the yeerks, but there were yeerks all over the world that still had to be destroyed, and the Andalites still had to leave a majority of their forces out in space to fight the yeerk mother ship and pool ships out there.
 We never rested. Our families, if they weren't dead or taken as controllers, probably thought we had been killed or taken as controllers since we never saw them anymore. I saw my brother, Tom, once. But it was during a battle, and I was a tiger, so of course, he didn't recognize me. I can only hope that he got out of that battle alive.
 The day after we had rid our town of the yeerks--a small start, but better than nothing-- we were hanging out in the woods near Tobias' territory, just hanging out.
 < This sucks. The yeerks have practically anihilated the rodent population around here! I haven't had a decent meal in weeks! > Tobias complained.
 "Chill, Tobias. You needed to go on a diet any way. You were gettin' big enough to be a Thanksgiving turkey," Marco joked.
 < Marco, there's something really interesting over here. Right under my branch. I think you'd like to see it. >
 We laughed, it was like old times again. Just hanging out in the woods like nothing serious was going on. Rachel was the one who reminded us it wasn't like that.
 "What do you think we're going to do next? Do you think the Andalites are just gonna leave us here to continue our merry little lives? I haven't seen my house in months. My mom and sisters probably think I'm dead."
 
 "Why just us five?" Cassie asked.
 < Once, I contacted the Andalite homeworld and was given explicit orders. I was the one who gave you the power to more. I was the one who broke the law of Seerow's Kindness. I am disgraced. I will be thought of as Aximili the fool and never ammount to more than a pathetic aristh, if I'm even allowed back into the military at all. >
 "Uh-uh, Ax," I said. "You're coming with us if we go anywhere."
 "Yeah, Ax. We're a packaged deal. You get one Animorph, you get 'em all," Marco said.
 < You are very generous. But I have already accepted the dishonor of breaking our most solemn law. I will not be allowed to go with you, and it's for the good of all humans for you to go with them. >
 "No, Ax. The Andalites will do just fine taking out the yeerks around the world," Cassie said. "It won't matter very much if we go or not. Personally, I would love to go and fight the yeerks, to feel like I'm doing something. But I will absolutly refuse to if all of my friends can't come. And, Ax, you are included in that group of friends."
 Ax looked like he was about to cry, if it's even possible for Andalites to cry.
 < Aximili! Jake! Rachel! Cassie! Marco! Tobias! >
 We all looked around to see who was talking. From the shadows of the forest Lacia and Barakian ran out.
 "Hey guys, what's up?" Rachel asked.
 < We have important news, > Barakian said.
 < We need all of you to come with us to help rid your world of the yeerks. This wasn't the only place on Earth invaded by the yeerks, > Lacia explained.
 "All of us?" I asked, making sure I had heard correctly.
 < That is what we said, > Barakian said, as if we were even more primitive than he originally thought.
 But Lacia knew what we were getting at, < Every one of you is needed. We know that back home Aximili may be blamed for breaking the law of Seerow's Kindness, but we know that he didn't. And, Aximili, you are obviously a very important part of this team, and we wouldn't want to take the human members of the Animorphs with out taking you,
also. > Lacia looked at us, < Will you come with us? >
 "Definetly," Rachel said.
 "Yeah, let's go," Cassie said.
 < Same here, > Tobias answered.
 "Unfortunatly, so'm I," Marco complained.
 Ax said.
 I looked at Lacia and Barakian, "What do we have to do?"

Chapter 14 Ax

It took several years before Earth was rid of the yeerks. After the fourth year of battle with my people, we had driven the yeerks off the planet. We had destroyed Vissers 1 and 3. The yeerks had suffered heavy losses, but we were not unscarred. We had lost many great heroes during the war. Including Lacia-Gamb-Liktio and Barakian-Feloran-Motmar.
 But new heroes had been born, as I found out when we were all called to the main dome ship soon after we had defeated the yeerks.
 < Aximili-Esgarouth-Isthill, you and your human friends, please report to the battle bridge. >
 I froze where I stood in the dome. My friends and I had been called to the battle bridge?!
 < Prince Jake! >
 He looked over from where he had been talking with the others, "Yeah, Ax?"
 < We must report to the battle bridge immediatly! >
 "Why?"
 < The captain didn't explain. But when the captain calls you to the bridge, you go. >
 "Alright. C'mon, let's go."
 A moment later, we were all nervously standing before the captain.
< Aximili-Esgarouth-Isthill. You and your human friends have performed bravely in the face of battle. You are all comended for this. Now, Aximili, it's well known that you're supposedly the one who gave these humans the power to morph. It's also known among captains that it was really your brother, Elfangor. Due to your bravery in battle, the council is willing to forget that either of you ever gave advanced technology to the humans, if you don't mind, > he said, smiling.
 I was shocked, < Y-Yes, Captain. I would be honored if all would be forgotten. >
 < Then let it be known, that aristh Aximili-Esgarouth-Isthill no longer exists. We are standing in the presence of Warrior Aximili-Esgarouth-Isthill. Now, for the humans reqard... the council recognizes the fact that it would be very hard for you to return to a normal life back on Earth, so they are offering a place for all of you to stay on the homeworld. >
 My friends looked shocked. Nobody spoke for a moment, untill Prince Jake spoke. "Um, that's quite an offer, sir. But we'll need to talk about it. Um, when would we leave? Would we have time to go say good bye to our families?"
 < I'm sorry, but no. We must leave within the next hour. However, we can arrange for messages to be left with your families. You may return to the dome to talk about it. You will be sent for in an hour. >

Chapter 15 Tobias

"I say no way. We should stay here. Our parents haven't seen us for years! And now we'll just get to send them a quick message goodbye? I don't think so." Rachel was adamant about staying home.
 "But Rachel, do you really think we'd be able to stay home and return to a normal life?" Cassie asked, "I'm sure you, of all people, would realise that we won't be able to stay home."
 < Cassie's right, Rachel. We can't stay here, and I'm sure we'll be able to visit home sometime to say goodbye properly, > I told her.
 "Let's put it to a vote," Jake said, "Everybody opposed to leave, raise a hand or wing."
 Rachel was the only one who raised a hand.
 "Everybody who's for leaving?"
 Jake, Cassie and Marco all raised a hand, I awkwardly raised a wing.
 Rachel sighed, "Fine. Let's go to the Andalite homeworld and see if it really is wonderful enough to drag us away from our families."
 < Warrior Aximili, please bring your friends to the battle bridge. >
 < Come. We must go meet the captain, > Ax said.
 I perched on Rachel's shoulder as we filed down the hallway towards the bridge. We walked in silence, mostly to keep Rachel from flaring up at us.
 < What is your decision? > the captain asked once we were all asembled before him.
 "We've chosen to accept the council's offer and return to the Andalite homeworld with you," Jake told him.
 < If you'll follow the Technical Officer, she'll take you to the communications center where you can send messages to your family members. >
 We followed the T.O. single file into a room just barely big enough for all six of us to fit in. Inside were 4 seperate consoles, just enough for each of us who needed to send a message to send one. I didn't have any family that really cared about me, so I didn't need to send a message, and Ax was returning to his family, so of course he didn't need to send a message.
 I sat on Ax's shoulder while every one sent out their messages. Normally I would have sat on Rachel's, but I felt like this was a private matter.
 After everyone had sent out their messages, we were lead to a group of quarters we would call home for the next two months.

Chapter 16 Rachel

Two years later...
    "Rachel, you look absolutly beautiful!" Cassie exclaimed.
    I spun around so she could see the gown from all sides, "You really think so?"
    She shook her head, "I don't think so, I know so."
    The was a knock at the door, "Hey! Rachel, you get stuck in your dress? We're all waiting for you out here!"
    "We're coming, Marco!" I shouted at him. I looked back to Cassie, "Geez, does he really think I'd be late to my own wedding?"
    Yep, that's right. We'd been living on the Andalite homeworld for two years, and I was going to get married. The place wasn't as bad as I had originally thought it'd be, and, hey, any place you're going to have your own wedding has to be pretty great.
    Cassie picked up my train, "C'mon. We've got a wedding to catch."
    The wedding was absolutly beautiful, if I do say so myself. I know this will sound really sappy, but I didn't notice too much of what was going on around me except Tobias. I know what you're thinking How could Xena marry a bird? And then get all sappy about it? Well, I'll have you know that Tobias wasn't a bird when I married him. Once we reached the Andalite homeworld, he became a nothlit again, only this time he was trapped as himself, a human, again.
    And as for the sappy part...well, what do you expect from somebody who's just gotten married? I've changed alot from the tough girl I was when I was a kid.
    "Hey, Rachel, Tobias."
    I turned around from Tobias, "Hey, Jake. What's up?"
    "Just wanted to add my congratulations before the party's over. Cassie's probably gonna drag me out of here at the first oportunity to make the final plans for our wedding next week."
    Tobias laughed, "Yep. I bet you could expect that from her. That's what Rachel was like."
    I shoved him, "I was not!"
    Jake laughed, " 'Course you weren't, Rachel. Of course you weren't."

Chapter 17 Cassie

A year later...
    "Cassie! They're absolutly perfect!" Rachel squealed.
    I just grined and looked down at the two squirming little kids in my arms. "Here, Jake. Take on of 'em. They're moving too much for me to hold both of them."
    "Have you named them yet?" Tobias asked.
    "Well, we've been thinking about giving one of them an Andalite name, do you think that'd be alright?"
    Rachel nodded, "We've been thinking about the same thing," she patted her large stomache.
    Jake looked down at his son, "Let's name him...Tom."
    I nodded, "Yeah. That's a perfect name for him. Now, what're we gonna name this little girl here?"
    "Catara?" Marco suggested.
    "Alright, Catara-something-something."
    "Fitalia," I said.
    "Goroara?" Jake asked tenativly.
    I nodded my approval and looked down at the little girl in my arms. My oldest twin, "Welcome to the family Catara-Fitalia-Goroara."
    Tom began to cry in Jake's arms. He looked scared, like he was worried he had done something wrong. Marco laughed, "I think your son's feeling left out, Cassie."
    Rachel walked over to Jake to take Tom from him, "Do you mind? I'll need the practice."
    I looked at each of my friends and family members. Rachel simply glowing, not like she was radioactive, but she was so happy. Jake looking a little worried, like maybe Rachel would drop his precious son, but also had a dopey grin on his face. I imagine I had the same grin. Tobias was standing next to Rachel, looking down at Tom as if he was imagining that Tom was his own son. Marco was standing back a bit. Probably feeling left out. He was the only one who didn't have a family here.
    "Hey, Marco. Want to hold Catara?" I asked.
    He brightened up a bit, "I'd love to."

Chapter 18 Ax

While my human friends were all starting families of their own on the homeworld, I returned to the military.
 After only two years serving as a warrior, I was promoted to the position of prince. The same day I was promoted, I was called home with urgent news.
 < Mother? Father? > I called as I ran towards my family's scoop.
 < Over here, Aximili, > my mother called.
 I ran into the scoop. < What's happened? Is something wrong? >
 My father laughed, < No, Aximili kala. We'd like you to meet some one. >
 My mother stepped aside, revealing a small Andalite. < Aximili, meet your brother, Abata-Aximili-Esgarouth. >

Epilogue

Jake

    We've been living on the Andalite homeworld around 16 years now. A week after Catara and Tom were born, Rachel and Tobias had their first daughter, Ritora-Fuloa-Maheen, and two years later, their second daughter, Jordan was born. We didn't know it when they were born. But both our children and Ax's younger brother were to play an important part in the years to come.
    See, we were wrong when we thought the yeerks had been destroyed back at Earth. The real battle with the yeerks was only begining. This time, we wouldn't be the ones called upon to fight. No, we'd fought enough battles to last us a life time, and we weren't even the ones asked. Ax turned straight to a different source. Our children.
    Now, we can only sit by idly and watch while our children face death every day, much as we did, so long ago.

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