The Alternates
By WC101

Authors Notes - Something told me to re-read this... and after doing so, I realized that this fic needed some major work. So I've gone to work on it, and made it easier to the eyes. So behold, the wonders of my very first Animorph fic, re-done!

Hello, my name is Ross. I'm writing this down to try to give humanity a chance, until the andalites return. I fight, we fight- me and my friends that is, against the evil called yeerks. But I should back up. I should tell you what happened the night me and my friends became Animorphs.
Me and my girlfriend, Alyssa, were taking a walk in the park. Let's call it Central Park. We met up with a couple of friends, Kevin and Kim. We talked for a while, before I started to walk Alyssa home. We were about to leave, when I looked up and said "Hey guys, look!" Three heads snapped, and four mouths gawked.
"I…It's landing. And look! There's another one over by the construction site." Alyssa said. The weird thing was, I felt… safe. The urge to run wasn't there. It was like a wave of courage had washed over me. Or maybe it was just the way it looked. It was… a little shorter than a Greyhound bus, and shaped like an egg at the front. It extended into a long battle bridge. There was only one thing, though. The 'tail' of the ship. It looked like a gigantic scorpions tail.
The hatch of the ship opened, and a creature stepped out. It had a human-like torso, but the bottom of a small horse. Almost like a centaur, if you ignored the tail. It looked just like the ship. Long, and curved into a scythe. It had blue-tan fur, and human-like hands, but with too many fingers. It had no mouth, only three vertical slits. It had two huge, almond shaped eyes, and two extra eyes atop mobile stalks on its head.
"Wh… What are you?" I stammered.
Please, do not be afraid.>
"Did everyone hear that?" one by one, everyone nodded.
I am an andalite. We fight the yeerks in all parts of the galaxy. We had->
"Hold on. What are you talking about? Why are you here, and what are yeerks?" Kevin demanded.
The yeerks have no body of their own, they live in the body of other species. Once inside, they take complete control of the creature. We had hoped to stop them, but they had hidden a powerful blade ship on your moon.> the andalite said. My name is Toorlin-Samara-Alhen. Commander of arms aboard the dome ship STARSWORD. >
"Sam" I said "why are telling us?"
Because one of my close friends, Prince Elfangor, always says 'Children can accomplish amazing things'. > Sam said.
"Well, I think we need to get out of here before someone sees us." I said.
Wait one moment, please.> Sam said as he trotted into his ship. He came back holding a small, blue box. We must leave quickly. I have set the ships weapons on automatic backfire. In five minutes, they will go off, and incinerate the ship. > So we ran, me, the so-called leader. My girlfriend Alyssa, who could be outrageously bold at times. My best friend, Kevin, who was funny most of the time, and annoying the rest. Kim, who was as opposite from Alyssa as you could possibly get. And Sam, yet, we had just met, but it seemed like we'd known each other for an eternity. When we reached the edge of the forest, Sam pulled out the blue box, and another thing shaped like a pen.
If you wish, I can give you powers with which to help me fight the yeerks. Or, I can erase you memories with my Pajaba. > Sam said. It is a power that allows us to go un-noticed throughout the galaxy. The power to morph, to change bodies by simply touching an animal, to acquire its DNA pattern. > One by one, I looked at each of my friends. They were nodding yes.
"It's Unanimous." I whispered.
Then each of you, press your hands against one side of the square. > Sam said. We did. I felt a jolt run through me, like static electricity, only, it felt good. It is done. This technology is brand new. It is experimental, letting whoever has it, acquire DNA from another morph. Which reminds me, while I'm on this planet, I shall need a human morph. > Sam said. He walked up to Alyssa, and pressed his hand against her head. With your permission. > he said. Alyssa's eyes became cloudy, and she looked like she was going to fall.
"What are you doing?!?!" I screamed, and ran to catch her.
Do not worry. > Sam said. He did the same thing to each of us. Then, he began to change.
"Ewwwwww….. Gross!!" Kim exclaimed. Alyssa put her head to my shoulder, to cover her eyes. Within three minutes, we were looking at a normal, human girl, who was not normal at all. I could look into her eyes, and see the eyes of my best friend. She was a perfect blending of mine and Kim's height. If I didn't know who she was, she would have been beautiful. Sam morphed back to andalite, and let us acquire him. He also morphed a Hork-bajir for us to acquire. Sam explained that the Hork-bajir were a peaceful race, despite their fearsome looks. They looked like walking razor blades. Seven feet tall with blades at the head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees, ankles, and feet. With feet like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, and a tail that reminded me of Sam's.
Sam wanted us to practice morphing. So I figured if he can make a mixture out off us, then I'll make a mixture out of him, and that Hork-bajir. So while everyone else ended up as 5' tall andalites, I was something else. I was 7' tall, with a body of an andalite, but no fur. I had the tough skin of a Hork-bajir. The colors had melded together, so I was a light brownish color. My torso came up like normal, only twice as tall, and incredibly muscular. I had andalite hands, but they weren't weak at all. I had the Hork-bajir beak, and the andalite shaped eyes and stalk eyes. I had wild black hair, and blades coming out of my elbows, wrists, knees, and one large blade in the back of each hoof. My tail was one and a half times as long as Sam's, and the blade was three times as big. I felt like a tank.
Can everyone hear me? > I tried.
Yeah > everyone said.
What have you done! > Sam demanded.
Guys? I think I just found our perfect battle morphs > I said.
Oh yeah. > Kevin agreed.

***




Orks. That's the name we came up with for our battle morphs. Sam was so appaled and disgusted, that he refused to acquire it. We had met at the mall, to help Sam adjust to his human morph.
I really do not see the necessity in this human clothing. > Sam retorted.
"It's so you don't get arrested for indecent exposure." I said. Sam replied with a stubborn Oh. >
We had to go to the mall anyway, to get some parts for the inter-stellar communications device Sam was building. So, it was me, Alyssa, and Sam. On the way, we bumped into three of our friends. Jake, Rachel, and Cassie. Someone else was with them, that I didn't know.
"Hi guys, who's he?" Alyssa said.
"Oh, him? He's my, uh, cousin! Yeah, my cousin. From out of town. His name is Phillip." Jake said.
"Oh, nice to meet you Phillip." Alyssa said. "I am also glad to have made your acquaintance. Anc. Quantance. Cececececec." Phillip said.
"Yeah… well we have to get going." I said. Something was weird, I couldn't put my finger on it, but something was definetly not right. After we'd spent an hour inside Radio Shack, and Circuit City, hearing Sam talk about how primitive our technology was, we decided to stop off at the Cinnabon. We asked Sam if he wanted one, he agreed, after we explained what a cinnamon bun was, and how to eat it. While we waited, we asked Sam to give us some more information about the yeerks.
"They are slugs, basically. Ally. Baci-ally. Once they enslave a host, they get all the host's memories, and knowledge. They have already enslaved at least three races that we know of, and are moving against two others. The have enslaved the Hork-bajir, the Taxxon's, which look like one of your earth centipede's, except 1000 times bigger, and an eternal hunger for anything living, Including other Taxxon's. we have learned that the Taxxon hunger is so great, that not even the yeerks in their heads can control it. Also, while the Hork-bajir resisted the yeerks, the Taxxon's willingly became slaves, no, allies of the yeerks. They have also taken the Gedds, which resembles an earth monkey. The Gedds were the yeerks first hosts. They have also taken one andalite. He is Visser three." I could hear the hatred in his voice when he said "Visser three". "But, there is one weakness the yeerks have, it is their need to return to the yeerk pool every three days, to soak up their lifesaving Kandrona Rays." Sam concluded.
"So all we need to do, is find this yeerk pool, and blow it up, right?" Alyssa asked.
"It may not be that simple, Alyssa, yeerk pools in general are very large. Perhaps, five or six times as big as one of your outdoor stadiums." Sam said. I thought Alyssa would say something, but she didn't. I went to get our cinnamon buns. I came back, and handed Sam and Alyssa their buns, and I took my own. Sam took one bite, and exploded.
"Wh- What is this feeling I'm getting!! It is incredible!!!!!!" It took me a minute to figure out what Sam was talking about.
"Haha! Taste! That's it. It's taste Sam." I said. But Sam wasn't paying attention to me, he had snapped. He stuffed it down his throat. Not just the bun, but the plate, napkins, and the fork. We grabbed him, and hauled him through a crowed of onlookers. Once we were out side, Sam had almost finished swallowing everything. "Alyssa, I think we need to keep Sam under control, when he's around food. Alyssa?" I looked at Alyssa, she had stopped, and she was shaking. It was very un-Aylssa like. "Alyssa? Are you Ok?" I asked.
"We… we need to see Jake. Cassie. Marco. Rachel. To…Tobias." She said. "They have these powers to. The other ship… they were there." "Impossible!" Sam exclaimed.
"Another andalite would never break the law of Seerow's Kindness like I have!" Sam shouted.
"His name is… was…. Elfangor…" she whispered. "How did she- she is right, we must find this Jake right away." Sam replied. So, we went to get Kim and Kevin.
"Alyssa and I will cover Jakes' house. You three cover the streets." I said as we all began to morph into our bird of prey morphs. I had a Golden Eagle, Alyssa had chosen an Osprey, Kim and Kevin were matching Black-Tip Hawks, and Sam was a Grey Falcon. As we perched on Jake's roof, I asked Alyssa
Alyssa, how did you know to come here, or that other andalite's name? >
I don't know. It was just, like something told me that we needed to find Jake. > she said. It was then, I saw Jake and Cassie coming up Jake's driveway. It's now or never. > Alyssa said as she flew down to Jake's basketball hoop. Jake? Cassie? > Alyssa said. Jake looked up and smiled.
"Marco? What are you doing here?"
Lets go. > We flew down to Jake and Cassie and demorphed.
"Ross? Alyssa? How?" Jake asked with a puzzled look on his face. I couldn't blame him.
"Well, Kim, Alyssa, Kevin, and I were walking through the park, and we saw a spaceship-" I couldn't finish my sentence, because Jake and Cassie were talking among themselves.
"So you know about the yeerks?" Jake said.
"Yeah, you do too? Can all five of you morph to?" I asked. "You mean six. After all this started, Cassie was getting some strange callings, and we found an andalite in the bottom of the ocean." Jake said.
"Really? Well, we haven't really done anything, and we only have four morphs. But, Sam, the andalite who gave us our powers, is building an interstellar communication thingy." I said.
"Maybe we should team up, it's alays good to have more people." Cassie said.
"Yeah, but we'd have to get some more morphs." Alyssa said.
"Well, what morphs do you have?" Jake asked.
"We all have bird of prey morphs, Hork-Bajir, andalite, and ork." I said.
"What's an ork?" Cassie asked.
"It's a combination of Hork-bajir and andalite, they're our battle morphs." I said.
"Show me." Jake said. So I began to morph. I felt the sensation of growing strong, and impervious. My torso thickened and became very muscular. My skin darkened and became thick like leather. The two extra legs burst out of my chest, while my mouth hardened, and expanded outward. I vaguely felt the stalks jut out of my head, and I definetly felt the two extra eyes form. I felt as my tail stretched outward, ending in a wickedly curved scythe. There was only one thing missing. And then I felt them, the blades. They came shooting out of my skin. It was one fluid motion, the blades shot out of my elbows, and down my back, to my tail, and worked their way down to the hoof blades like a wave.
"Th…that's amazing." Jake exclaimed, obviously shocked.
"We need to have an emergency meeting, Cassie? Get the others. We'll meet at the edge of the forest at 2:00am tonight. Ross? Bring everyone."

***


"Well, aren't you a fine looking bunch." Marco said. It was time for the meeting. Sam, Kim, Kevin, Alyssa, and I were there, along with Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Marco, Tobias, and Ax.
"Marco? Shut up." Rachel and I said at exactly the same time. I wasn't really in the mood for Marco's dumb jokes.
"Jake? Everyone? Before this meeting gets underway, I just wanted to say, that I want Jake to be the leader." I said. That got shocked looks from everyone in the room, including Jake. You see, I have kind of a reputation at school for always wanting to be in charge of everything. Kim broke the silence.
"Well, I think we need some new morphs."
It is an honor to meet you, Capitan Toorlin. My brother often spoke of you. On my time on earth, I have aquired many useful morphs. > Ax said. So, each of us aquired the essential morphs, roach, fly, spider, seagull, dolphin, shark, and earth battle morphs. Just in case we needed them. I got a lion, Alyssa aquired a grizzly, like Rachel, Kevin, a bull, and Kim, a crocodile. In turn, Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Marco, and Tobias aquired the ork from us. Ax and Sam refused of course.
This is soooooo cool! > Rachel exclaimed as she tried out her new ork morph. I feel so full of power! > she added.
Calm down people, morph back. We need to plan out what we're going to do about the AMR. > Jake said.
The what? > Kim asked.
the Anti-Morphing-Ray. It causes you to demorph involuntarily. > Cassie answered.
Oh, I have a plan that will make Rachel cringe. > Alyssa said. Turns out, Rachel did cringe. The plan was to raid the secret yeerk facility under the playground, starve the yeerks out of a Hork-bajir, morph the yeerk, crawl back into the Hork-bajir's head, and destroy the AMR. The plan was vetoed immediately by Jake, Marco, and me, and when Alyssa asked why, we all said at the exact same time: "ARE YOU INSANE!?" we came up with a safer plan, though. Ax, Rachel, Kim, and I would destroy the AMR, while Cassie, Sam, Kevin, and Jake would provide a distraction. Tobias and Alyssa would cover us outside, and if necessary, provide backup.
So, we flew to the yeerk compound. Tobias had spotted it. It was actually an abandoned Denny's. We landed a few blocks away, demorphed, and remorphed cockroaches. Jake, Rachel, and Sam climbed on Tobias' back, while Kim and I climbed on Alyssa's back. They flew us the rest of the way, and let us off at the roof of the Denny's.
You guys be careful. Alyssa and I will be flying around out here if you need anything. > Tobias said.
Ross, be careful. I don't want to lose you. > Alyssa said to me in private thought speak.
Don't worry Alyssa. I'll be back. Say, your birthday's next week isn't it? How about next week, I take you to Les' Paris' for your birthday? > I offered.
Chez' Paris'? you'll be backed up on your allowance for months! > she said.
Don't worry, it's worth it. >
Ross! You coming, or what! > Rachel said. She was always the first running into a fight.
Ok! I'm coming! > I said, then I'll see you in a while. > I said to Alyssa silently.
So, should we go in as animals, andalites, or orks? > I asked Jake.
Well, Ax and Sam should go andalite, us on the distraction team should go animal, and you in the destruction team should get the most power, so go ork. > Jake said.
Alright, everyone on destruction team, morph flies. Right now. Climb on Cassie's back, and when she tells you, jump off, and fly straight up. You'll hit the building where the AMR is stationed. Take out the guards, and destroy everything in sight. > Jake said.
Jake? > I said in private thought speak.
Yeah? > he said.
How do you do it? I mean this whole 'Fearless Leader' thing? >
It's all about fear. A leader can be as scared as anyone, he just isn't allowed to show it. > he answered. Right then, I felt more respect tword Jake then ever before.
Well, you're doing a good job, I'm terrified right now. > I said.
Thank you. That really means a lot to me. > Jake said.
Any time, Fearless Leader. > I said
I don't know about you guys, but these morphs are really disgusting. > Kim said.
Get used to it, now our whole lives are disgusting. > Marco said.
Marco? Shut. Up. > Rachel said.
D…do you think Alyssa will be safe with Tobias? > I asked Jake.
Awwwww, isn't that sweet? > Rachel said.
Rachel? > I said.
Yes, Romeo? >
Shut. Up. > I said.
Yahaa! someone finally said it! > Marco pressed.
I wouldn't fly so close to Rachel on the way back, revenge is sweet you know, > Cassie said.
Well, we're here, everybody know their positions? > Jake asked.
You got it, fearless leader. > I answered.
Lets do it! > Rachel, of course. So, we crawled down the pipe, into the building. And let me tell you, turning into a roach is horror beyond belief, but being a roach is beyond any coolness ever fathomed. It's like being strapped to a nascar, going 200 miles per hour, with your nose skimming the ground. At the entrance to the yeerk pool, we all demorphed and remorphed into our appropriot morphs. At the edge of the pool, cassie released us.
See you later, Big Jake. > I said. We flew up to the room where the AMR was being held. We had just demorphed to human, when we heard the alarm go off.
" Well, how's that for a distraction." I said. We started to morph. This time, the first thing to change were the blades. Giant, oversized blades came shooting out of my skin. I felt my skin begin to thicken, and turn a dark green. I felt my tail extend from my tail bone, and end with a sickening "POP!" as the scythe formed. My lips seemed to melt together, and swell, forming a beak. My eyes went blind for a sec, then – whoa! I could see everything at once! I began to grow, as my extra legs jutted out of my chest. And at last, my own brown hair turned dark black, and flowed over my head like a horses mane.
"Harfnash! I get! I kill!" we turned to see 4 Hok-bajir controllers. It was easy to knock them out.
That was fun, now to find the AMR, we have to trash this entire room! > Rachel yelled. I swear, that girl scares me sometimes. Finally, after 20 minutes of trashing, we found what we were looking for, Ax and Sam assured us.
What are we waiting for, lets smash it! > Rachel pressed.
Rachel, I think that we could use this device to our own advantage. > Ax said.
Yeah, we could make the visser demorph at any given time, like, say, at a sharing meeting? > Marco said.
Precicely. > Ax said.
Everyone, bail!! > I screamed as we hauled tail out of there. I gave the AMR to Ax to hold. We found Alyssa and Tobias, it turns out the entire battle lasted less than one hour. As soon as we were demorphed, I ran over to Alyssa and gave her a hug.
"Well, someone's happy to see me." she said. I looked around, Jake was holding Cassie, Rachel and Tobias were holding hands.
"Guys, I think this group is gonna work." I said. We all agreed, and started to go our separate ways. Before anyone was too far away, I turned around and said "Guys?" as everyone turned, I said
"Together we fight."
"Together we fight." Jake said.
Together we fight. > Ax, Sam, and Tobias.
"Together we fight." Rachel and Cassie.
"Together we fight." Kevin and Kim.
"Together we fight." Alyssa.
So, until the andalites return. Together we fight.