Animorphs X #1: The Beginning Battle

[gecko52]

Some kids never change.
Some do.
Ask Jason, Taliyah, Zack, Chance, Adam and Taylor, adn they'll tell you about the night they went into the abandoned construction site. The night they found a crashed pod with an andaltie in it. tHe night they got the pwoer to morph into any animal they touch.
The night, they realized they had to fight.

[gecko52]

Hi, my name is Jason.
That's all I'm telling you for now.
Why you ask? Well, get ready, I'm about to tell you a secret, a secret so big, it could make or break us. And right now, I'm hoping not to be broken. See, I have the power to morph.
Into any animal that is. Any one I touch and acquire. Then, that animal is a part of me and nothing can change it.
Now, I know out of most of the books you've read may be big legends or something inscribed in stone but we got our powers by complete accident. so, in some parallel universe, we never did this.
But we did.
Here's the lowdown.
We were all at the mall. We meaning, me, and my friend Adam. Well, not really a friend, but more as an acquaintance. We met in school in detention, and we both didn't really have a little clique so we just joined together, not really talking or doing anything, but just hanging. I spent all my dough on the arcade and was all tapped out. So was Adam. We got ready to go and I saw Zack, this sullen kid in the corner trying to steal from the gumball machine.
Chance, this video game junkie was playing Super monkey Ball frothe fifth time. I then saw who I wanted to see, Taylor and Taliyah. Two twins complete polar opposites. Taylor is this person who's all attack, attack, attack, no thinking. If you speak to her for five minutes is as if you grew up together. Taliyah is totally different. Her eyes are a wall, a wall that you wanna penetrate, but you...can't. You can know her your whole life, and never really know her.
So, there we were, this six of us.
For the first time.
Unaware of the unexpected turn life would take in the next five minutes.

We all said hi, and kind of decided to walk home together. Just to hang, and do something. Then, Zack got the idea.
"Let's take a shortcut," he gave a wicked little grin.
"Through where?" I asked.
"Abandoned construction site," he said getting close to my face. "Unless little Jason's chicken..." I pushed him down and lead the way. Then, as we stepped into the site and were about halfway through, I then pushed everybody down avoiding the alien ship whizzing past our heads. 

[gecko52]

[spoiler]Due to the fact you already know the story I'm not gonna say specifically everything ok?[/spoiler]

His name was Elfangor. The alien from in the ship. He told us about an alien threat named Yeerks. Basically they do one thing, crawl into your head and take over your body. They lose all their free will and become controllers. It's insane, and he had nothnig to help us....
Nothing until he pulled out a box. <Here....> he said. <I am dying and can fight the Yeerks no longer...>
"Well what do you want six middle schoolers to do?" Chance asked.
<Animals....>
"Excuse me?"
<The ability to morph....into any animal...>
"That's crazy," Taylor said. "And stupid."
"Taylor," said Taliyah elbowing her. "Well, that sounds lovely but..." that's when the horizen exploded like in one of those old movies.
<He's here!> Elfangor said.
"Who?" asked Chance.
<Visser Three...you msut choose!>
"Hmm," I said. "Touch the box, save the world or, go back to normality and ignore all of this? I pick normal." I turned, Taliyah grabbed my hand and pulled it to the box. I touched it and felt a warmth run through my whole body. I began to shake.
<You must go!> he cried. <The Visser is an andalite like me only is a Controller, the only one who can morph! Go!> we turned as he grabbed Adam's hand.
<Do not stay in morph for more than two hours or else...you will be trapped...> then, we ran. Ran for our lives as a bunch of running blades and teeth came and grabebd Elfangor.
<Hork Bajirr, are peaceful...> we heard in our heads. <So are Taxxons, please, do not think any less of the....> We turned, in the darkness we could see a shape with a big spike coming out of Elfangor's heart. I cried, and ran.



THe next day, I pretended nothing happened.
It couldn't be true, right? People don't jsut change their bodies and minds, it's not normal, is it?
I got away from the others, I needed to relax my brain. It wasn't true, but deep  down I knew it wasn't a dream, so I had to test it. I have a pet parakeet. Zues. I figured, all I had to do was try to morph and could get instant closure.
I turned the cage towards me and looked him in the eye. He eyed me back. I focused on his body and shape and then.....nothing. No morph! Yes! I jumped up and down with a smile on my face, then I took a second look at his cage. There were two birds.
Two?
<You have to touch it you know,> said a voice in my head. Adam. I jumped back and the second parakeet squaked and used it's beak ot open the cage door. It hopped onto my dresser and suddenly started to grow. Like, out of control, like, fill a room out of control. It began to grow and then both of it's eyes slid into the place of noraml eyes. The beak melted into a mouth, and the wings, took on the shape of two arms. My parakeet was becomind a boy.
A naked boy.
I tossed a towel at it.
Soon, on my dresser sat a naked Adam.
"Ok," I said. "Why'd you break into my room?" I asked.
"I didn't, I came by to get your science notes," he began.
"But?!" I asked.
"But I saw your birds in the bathroom, and then petted it, and thought about the bird for a while, and when your mom left to go to the car, I left a note saying I left, and then morphed!"
"No...." I began. "People don't morph....People don't morph...."
"Yes," he said. "People can't....but we can! It wasn't a dream!"
"It's not real!" I cried as he grabbed my shirt.
"Prove me wrong," he pulled out my bird and handed it to me.
"Just keep focusing," he said giving a smile. I focused for a long time, put the bird down, and then felt my eyes sliding away from my head.

[gecko52]

Morphing doesnt hurt. It feels like it should, but doesnt.
We discovered that Yeerks were real, they had to be.
We also all aqcuired parakeets so we could keep track of each other.
Then, we rembemdered what he said. Kadrona rays. Three days. We needed to find it, and at least get a feeling of how hard this fight would be, but, we needed battle morphs. If were in a pinch, we needed to fight. We also needed a leader.
"Well how do we choose one?" Chance asked behind teh mall parking lot.
"That would be the leader's choice," Taylor said. "We gotta pick, we can't just govern ourselves for too long."
"Draw straws?" Zack asked pulling up a handful of pine needles. he broke on short. "Short one, leads us." We drew. I drew short.
"there we have it," Taylor said sarcastically.
"No!" I cried. "I barely lead the football team, let alone worlds last hope!"
"Well, fine," Taliyah said. "I'll be leader, so here's my first leader type descision. Battle morphs."
"What?" asked Zack. Adam shot me a look of shame but I deflected it to the ground.
"Like, if were in a pinch and need firepower," she looked down. "Only question is, how are we gonna touch killer animals?"


It was night. We made three stops to demorph and remorph. Parakeets can fly fast but not that fast. We were inside the zoo and demorphed in the main square after taking out the camera.
"Controllers are gonna wonder..." Zack began as Taylor covered his mouth.
"We're here to find good battle morphs, not chat our mouths off," she gae him a punch and we went on our ways.
I looked everywhere from the exotic birds, to the big cats and couldn't find any good morphs. Until I went into the Anaconda Hall.
It was dark, and there was a long glass part of the wall that revealed a huge snake sleeping. There was an opening but i had to stand on a box to get to it. I stood up when I heard footsteps.
"Hey whose there?!" Cop. Or Controller. Or both! Eitehr way, I was boned. I had one choice.
I hopped into the pit with a deadly anaconda

[gecko52]

The snake was coiling around my hand and squeezing. The guard was coming my way, the snake began to seep up towards my chest. I began to focus on the snake nad he stopped and went into a sleep like state. I began to morph. Holding him until I couldnt anymore. The first thing that happened was my body elongated.
It just went into noodle form, I then lost all my bones as my guts and body part began to shift. My arms began to meld into my body as scales covered the rest of my body. Now there was one problem, the two of us were squished against the box.
"Oh, just a stupid snake scum," said the portly security guard he pulled out a phone and entered about 23 digits before pressing send. He then talked to someone who never answered. Like he was talking into his head. It had to  be the Visser. "Yes...no, but my lord...ok...I will report in tomorrow...yes, bye." he put it away gave me an ugly look and walked away.
I began to demorph and hopped out of the box. I hit the floor and took off.  I ran into the bird house.
<Hi,> said a voice. Adam.
<We're hummingbirds and we discovered the guards a..>
"Controller? I know Taliyah, where's the others and what are your morphs?"
<I got eagle,> Taliyah said.
"For a fighting morph?"
<There better than what you probably got,> Adam shot in. <I got a bull.>
"Cool, demorph, we gotta go." The two random hummingbirds in the crowd began to emerge as my naked friends. They pulled their clothes out the bushes, got dressed and we took off into the zoo to look for Chance or Zack or Taylor.
They met us at the gate.
"Let's go," Zack said as we hopped the fence.

Well, we had battle morphs, Zack got panther, Taylor got Bengal tiger, and Chacne got a lion. We were a pretty deadly group, and we knew our next target. The cop. We had to follow him to the Yeerk Pool, but how?
Fleas.
That was Taliyah's idea. We got a few off Zack's dog Scrapper and nobody knew that I aqcuired him. Why I did, I don't know, all I knew was he was something easy. And easy was better.
"Ok," Taliyah said. "Clear it up with your parents, I'm sleeping at a friends house."
"Ok," I said as I walked home.


"Jason, eat your peas," my Dad. He had a hollow look on.
"Yes sir," I said by my mouth. I pushed my plate away. "I don't feel well, can I be excused?"
"But you love turkey," Mom said.
"Yes, but I love to keep my lunch down, so I'll be going to bed now."
"Should I come up to.."
"No, I'm good." I raced upstairs, waited about an hour, and used my newest morph on a little trip to the zoo. Great Horned Owl. They rule the night, and I needed to rule the night for tonight.
I flew to the park nad met another owl, red tailed hawk, and three seagulls.
<Are we ready?> Tayliah asked.
<Yeah, I love risking my life on a school night,> Zack sneered as we took to the air. After twenty minutes, we demorphed and remorphed as hummingbirdds and parakeets. We waited until he came into the bird house.
<Ok,> Taliyah said. <Now the hard part, how do we morph?>
<Easy,> I said. <Two of us make a distraction, while the others demorph and remorph while the others stay clsoe behind.> The otehrs looked my way as Adam and Taliyah flew their tiny hummingbird bodies into the cop's eyes.
"Stop Earth filth!" he screamed. We flew behind the big metal statue and demorphed and then for the millionth time remorphed. We launched oursleves onto the guy and waited before he took off again.

[gecko52]

The ride took forever. We latched on for a long amount of time and tried to keep track of time as long as we could.
<You guys, when exactly is a good idea to you know, get out of this useless morph?> Zack asked.
<When we're sure he's at the Yeerk Pool,> I said as I felt myself lurch forward. <We stopped.>
<No duh genuis,> Taylor said. <I think it's time to fly,> Taylor began to take off. We followed her until we were sure we were behind something, I demorphed first. The first thing that happened was my size. It just sprang back to normal as my head, body, and arms began to form. MY hair and eyes shifted into place last, and ?I saw where we were. We were behind a pole, to see the face that murdered Elfangor.
Visser Three. He didn't look like the gentle andalite we had grown to love and appreciate.
<Get these useless bodies to the holding pen,> he turned my way as I squished myself against teh wall.
<Well, can we demorph?> Taylor asked.
"No," I whispered as a Hork Bajirr began walking my way.
"What are you doing? Are you losing control?" He thought I was a controller. Awesome.
"Um, no, no, I just had a little moment," I made my blankest look possible. "May I go to the holding pen to poke fun at teh humans?"
"Sure, here," he said gving me a Dracon Beam. "Take a Dracon Beam, it'll make them squirm more." He reached out to shake my hand. I grabbed it and made a face. He made a questioned look and I aqcuired him. We needed nobody suspicious of me. They took me to a big metal room with bars wit other people in it screaming and crying. I made a blank look, and looked to see if anyone was watching. I then opened the door.
"Go when I say three," I whispered to them as I ran and ducked down behind a crate. ""One...." My legs snapped backward, adn my body began to shrink up and scrunch. "Twhroooo..." My face bulged forward and my whole body was covered in black shaggy fur. My toungue filled my whole mouth as it was changing.
I was Scrapper.
<Three!> I screamed running out onto the scene. <Guys, wherever you are demorph now and then, get your battle morphs ready!> I began to bark adn howl. I bit a Hork Bajirr's leg he looked down my way adn flung me across the room. Not noticing all the peopel fleeing.
<Andalites!> cried the Visser. <I knew I was not the only one on Earth!> He looked my way. <You must be their little leader!>
I lunged barking and snapping as his tail swiped my way. I dodged not seeing his bony hand punching the wind out of me. I hit the ground as a tiger, panther, lion, bull. and eagle were suddenly destroying everything.
"HWROOR!" screamed Chance tacklnig a Hork Bajirr. He began to swipe and destroy the Hork Bajirrr as another drew his Dracon Beam. I looked his way, and Taliyah got the message.
A bald eagle swooped in and smashed into his sharp face, he fell to the ground.
TSEER! TSEER!
Dracon Beam fire burned the air. A panther stayed low to the ground and then jumped and attacked the Visser. He was too quick. FWISH!!! A scorpion tail went flying past Zack's throat as he hit the ground in a pool of blood.

[gecko52]

<Zack!> I cried as the Visser tried to slice up me. I hopped backward into the darkness.
<Uh, Jase,> Taliyah said. <Dogs are cute and all, but we need big, and scary, ok? Big and scary.>
<Gotcha,> I said. <Cover me.>
<Can do!> She dove back into battle as I slowly began to demorph.
I felt my little human body return slowly, and then slowly dissppear again.
<What is that?> asked the Visser as I began to crawl his way. I lunged mouth wide open.
"HISSSSSSSSSS!"
<Anaconda? Nice,> Taylor said as she took down a stray Hork Bajirr. TSEEER! TSEEER! Dracon Beam fire was destroying everything. Zack was still on the ground.
<Zack, come on.....> I said holding him. <Please wake up...>
<Can't feel anything...> he said as the Visser stood over me ready to strike. An eagle ran straight into the Visser's head and knocked him to the ground. Zack began to shakke and his small human body began to emerge.
"That, was scary," he said staring at the Visser. "We gotta get outta here, were not strong enough!" he cried as the Visser pulled back his tail. I pushed Zack out of the way. It flailed and almost took off my head.
<Zack, he can't know were human! Morph!> Zack looked at me and then began to morph fast.
Half panther Zack dove for a Hork Bajirr.
<NO!> Taliyah cried throwing her small frail body in front of him. The panther smacked the small eagle into the Yeerk Pool. I slitehred over her way adn reached my face into the pool. I bit into her flesh and pulled her up. She layed there still not moving. Then it hit me. My venom.
<Ugh....>
<Taliyah demorph! Guys bail!> Taliyah listened to my words and started the morph and then reversed it.
<You gotta hold it!> I cried.
<I can't...> she said.
<Please!> I cried, nothing. I picked up her lifeless body and slitehred off.

[gecko52]

We were trying to get home fast, Taliyah managed to barely demorph as the clock almost struck zero.
Well, we were sure now, the Yeerk threat was real. And nothing was going to change that.
The next day was Saturday, I slept for half the day before I finally drug myslef out of bed and went to the pond. To morph probably and to just realx.
I dangled my feet into the shallow water and let some of the fish touch my feet. I saw a toad that I'd seen in the pond for weeks now, and picked him up. I held him for a second and waited until he went limp.
I dont know why, but I wanted many morphs. These powers where overwhelming, and alot to handle. I wanted to have a variety.
I then saw a dog trot up to me. I petted him. He looked like Scrapper. He wasn't.
<Sup> it said.
"Zack?" I asked.
<Well, if you got to be my dog I wanna be him too, that's not hte only morph I got.>
"Oh?"
<I also got a mole with Taylor while cleaning my yard. Oh, and fyi, she morphed a badger, makes finding moles waaaay easier, And I morphed my neighbors cat, Lily.>
"Cool," I said. "I just got a toad, we are doing good, I think."
<Yeah, I gotta tell you, morphing rocks!>
"Yeah, dont you wanna demorph yet?"
<Right, open the garage door for me?>
"Sure," I opened the door and stepped in with him as his black and blue body began to return. Black and blue?
No, he was wearing something.
A...a...leotard.
"Your wearing a leotard?" I asked snickering. 
"Shut up, it's the only way you can morph clothes," he pulled back the tight suit and let it hit his skin. "It's gotta be skin tight."
"Cool, I..." that's when I heard footsteps. My Dad would really wonder why two boys, one of them being half-naked and shoeless, would be alone in a garage. That would offend him, so I had to get out.
The garage door was locked, then my eyes shifted towards a small green lizard on my counter.

[gecko52]

"Yes, of course my master," my Dad said into his phone.
It was the Visser. It had to be, old Dad never caleld anyone master.
"Yes...and what of the human children? No, they are no help to us now."
I scampered across the table and into his briefcase and onto his leg.
<Jason!> Zack cried. <What are you doing?>
<I have to hear this..I..> that's when my Dad started to move. He flung me into the car with him. <Zack!> I cried hiding under a notepad. <Follow me.>
<Gotcha,> as we pulled out, I saw a human shape emerge from my house.

My Dad pulled into his office parking spot and got out of the car. I waited till he was thirty steps away to demorph. I got out of the car and saw it was a hundred foot drop. I couldn't go inside there, my Dad would see me. That's when I had an idea, I didn't have to be me!
If I could morph animals I wonder.....
I sat besdie a car and waited for it's owner. A guy my Dad knew named Steve. He was this tall, huge guy, and I saw him coming a mile away. I ducked down and turned back to anaconda and was waiting for him.

Morphing people isn't hard, but it doesn't feel right though. It feels like I am invading another person's privacy sort of.
I walked down the office complex looking for the exit. Steve would only stay knocked out for so long before he came to, then two Steve's walking around would definately be suspicous.
I went down the elevator ignoring anybody who bothered me.
"Steve!"
Dad.
"Hi, Dan."
"So, old friend, are you gonna go to the Sharing tonight?"
"The Sharing?"
"Yeah, tonghts the night we get new recuits remeber?"
"Oh, yeah! right, bye!" Recruits? The way he said that didn't sound like new members.
Then I realized the ugly truth

[gecko52]

"Wait, what?" asked Taylor that day.
"Yeerk recuitment," I said. "I think it happens at the Sharing, and I'm pretty sure my Dad's one."
"One what?"
"A Controller genuis."
"That's crazy, why would the Yeerks do something that public?" asked Zack.
"Because, it's not," Adam said. "It's probably disguised as a club for fun..."
"But really for evil," Taylor said. "We have to stop them."
"Tonight, we get in, get out, no problems," I said. "Taylor and Adam, your going in, Chance you too, but as our little 'spy', the rest of us will be waiting in battle morphs."

So, for now that was our story. How we got our powers, and how we used them, we did all of this unaware of the unimaginable evil we would soon see