Chapter 1
My name is Marina. I can't tell you my last name, or where I live, or anything else that will put my friends and family in danger. What I can tell you is that the Earth is being invaded by a race of alien slugs called the Yeerks. They enter the brains of other species through the ear and take control of them. These poor beings are then known as Controllers. I know this little lesson must be boring you, but you know what? Shut up and pay attention. You need to know this stuff. Now, not all races are taken by force. The Hork Bajir, a bladed bark-eating and once gentile race were, but the cannibalistic centipede-like creatures known as the Taxxons were voluntary Controllers. And as far as us humans…well, there's a little of both in there. The way the Yeerks managed to get us was through a so-called group called the Sharing. They lure people in by making them think that the Sharing is a family friendly fun social club and after a few meetings, they infest the people who become members. The leader of this whole operation is a Yeerk named Visser Three. He is the only Yeerk to ever take control of an Andelite; a member of a furry blue centaur-like race with seven fingers, stalk eyes on top of their heads that can move in several directions, three slits where their mouths would be, and a tails with razor sharp blades on the end. Now, if you've read everyone elses stories, you know this and the rest, but if you haven't, well I suggest you shut up and bear with me a little longer. Though we may seem doomed, there is a group of people who are fighting to stop the Yeerks. They call themselves the Animorphs. And this is the story of how I came to be one of them.
I was going to go straight home after school when my friends Rachel and Cassie asked me to go with them to the mall. I said sure, and before I knew it, Rachel was dragging us through every clothing store she could find before we went to get something to eat. I was a little surprised that she wanted me to go with them, since I hadn't really hung out with her or Cassie outside of school since my dad died. Eventually, we ended up meeting up with Rachel's cousin Jake and his idiot friend Marco. Now, i wouldn't have a problem with Marco if it weren't for the fact that he's constantly pestering me to go out with him. We talked for a few minutes, and somehow we ended up all taking a shortcut through the construction site behind the mall in order to get home, and that's when things got screwy. Before the freaky stuff really began, there was one more person kinda thrown into the picture. I didn't know much about him, none of us did, but his name was Tobias. He had a similar plan of taking a short cut home, and before the six of us knew what was happening, a space ship...thing crashed and when we approached it, Tobias addressed whatever was in it.
"Please come out. We won't hurt you."
-I know.-
I was shocked. That voice was inside my head! I wasn't the only one. Everyone else looked around at eachother before looking back at the ship. Tobias asked if the voice would come out.
-Yes, but do not be frightened. I will not harm you.- came the reply.
It was strange. There was something...familiar about the creature that emerged. He had a centaur-like body with blue fur, four green eyes; two of them were on stalks on the top of his head, and the part that made me cautious...the tail with a razor sharp blade on the end. He said he was an Andalite, and then he told us all about the Yeerks that were invading Earth. He also said he could give us the power to morph; to become any animal we wanted by aquiring it's DNA. Finding out we were the only hope, we agreed to it. After we had aquired the power to morph, we noticed two red lights in the sky. The Andalite said they were called Bug Fighters, and they were Yeerk ships. And as if things weren't bad enough, a third, larger ship appeared. It was black, like a starless night sky, and it's shape resembled that of a medieval battle-ax.
-Go now,- the Andalite warned us. -They must not find you. And remember, you can only stay in the morph of an animal for two hours or you will be trapped in your morph forever. Now go! Visser Three is with them in the Blade Ship. Run!- I wanted to stay and help the dying Andalite, but Rachel grabbed my arm and forcefully pulled me behind a large slab of concrete I assumed would have been a wall if it had been completed. When the Visser arrived, I heard him call the Andalite "Prince Elfangor". He then morphed into a hideous creature. Something more terrifying than the Taxxons. It was huge, and had teeth at least three feet long. The battle was horrible to watch. Though he was already dying, Elfangor fought bravely, but the Visser had unfairly tipped the scales to his favor. The last thing I remember hearing that night before each of us ran home as fast as we could...was the dying scream of the Andalite, Elfangor.