CHAPTER 4

APOLOGIES FOR THIS TAKING SO LONG. I WAS PREOCCUPIED FINISHING UP BEAST WARS AND STARTING A NEW MY LITTLE PONY CROSSOVER TRILOGY. I'LL UPLOAD CHAPTERS AS OFTEN AS I CAN SO I DON'T GO ON ANOTHER HIATUS LIKE THIS IF I CAN AVOID IT. THANKS FOR UNDERSTANDING:)

It took us about an hour and a half to get from the construction site to a small farm on the outskirts of town. Before it even came into view, I could smell the cows and the horses and the pigs, and I could hear the animals inside the big red barn – dogs, cats, birds, and other sounds that I couldn't identify at the moment. The barn itself was large and red, and smelled like a barn (yeah, yeah, kind of obvious, but still...)

Marco led me through the big double-doors. I saw Jake, Cassie, and Rachel – Jake sitting on a bale of hay, Rachel leaning against a beam with her arms crossed, and Cassie was tending to some of the animals, in this case a fox.

Rachel charged at me, tackling me to the ground. She started clawing at my ear.

"Ow! Rachel, what are you doing? Get off! You're hurting me! Get off of me!"

Rachel kept me pinned to the floor, even though I could hear Jake pleading with her to let me go.

"Rachel, back off!"

"What do you know?" Rachel hissed. "What did you see?"

"I don't know!" I cried. "I swear to God, I DON'T KNOW!"

"Rachel," Jake growled. "Back. Off."

Rachel finally climbed off of me. Jake helped me to my feet. "You okay?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," I replied. "What was that all about? And what is going on around here? I mean, at school, it seemed like you were trying to keep Marco from talking, and then there was that monster at the construction site, and then I see Marco transform from a wolf! WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!"

Rachel turned to Marco. "She saw you morph?"

"Accident," Marco said. "Pure accident. If I had wanted her to see me morph, I would have done that BEFORE we got jumped by an angry Hork-Bajir."

I rubbed my ear; it was sore from when Rachel was clawing at it. "And Rachel, why did you attack me like that?"

"Had to make sure you weren't infested," Rachel said.

"Infested? With what? I'm more confused now than I was earlier."

"It's a long story," Cassie said.

"Then make it short," I said, putting my hands on my hips in frustration.

"We can't," Jake said. "It's just, well..." He turned to Marco. "First, tell us what happened."

"I already did," Marco replied. "Walking home together, shooting the breeze, passed through the old construction site, next thing ya know there's a Hork-Bajir. Had not choice, had to morph. Wasn't expecting Penny to see me, though."

"And why was there a Hork-Bajir in the constructin site?" Cassie asked.

Marco shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know; he had the money to start the project again? That's the only explanation I can come up with, let's hear one of you come up with something better."

Jake glared at Marco. "Marco, be serious."

"I am being serious, Jake," Marco said. "Thing wouldn't have attacked us, let alone been there, if it didn't have a Yeerk in its head."

"A what?" I asked. I had never heard of a Yeerk before. Honestly, it sounded like a made-up word.

"It's an alien slug," Jake said. "They're parasites that crawl into your brain via your ear canal and control your mind. Anyone infested with a Yeerk, we call the 'Controllers'. Mr. Chapman's one of the highest-ranking Controllers in the Yeerk forces...along with my brother, Tom." He turned away, closing his eyes, like he was trying to keep himself from crying. "I speak from experience when I say that having a Yeerk in your head is one of the worst, most painful experiences you'll ever have. The only consolation is that a Yeerk has to come out every three days to feed on Kandrona rays – rays from the sun of their home world – but once they're rejuvinated, they go right back in. If a Yeerk doesn't get to a Yeerk Pool to absorb some Kandrona before the three days are up, they die, and if a Yeerk dies while still in your head, well – let's just say that it hurts like hell. Again, I speak from experience."

"O...kay," I said, still unsure about what to make of all of this. "So, why are they here?"

"Like Jake said, the Yeerks are parasites," Rachel said. "They go from world to world infesting other species. The Hork-Bajir were one of the first races the Yeerks conquered, along with the Taxxons."

"What's a Taxxons?" I asked.

"Think big centipedes that are really really hungry," Marco said. "To the point where they'll even eat themselves."

"That's...disgusting," I groaned.

"You have no idea," Jake said.

I was about to say something when a bird flew through the door and landed on one of the rafters on the roof. I recognized it as one of the most beautiful birds on the planet – a red-tailed hawk. It screeched once, then started preening a wing.

"Is that bird a regular?" I asked.

I'm guessing you're the new kid in school that Cassie mentioned.

"Not again," I moaned, holding the sides of my head.

"What's wrong?" Cassie asked.

"It's happening again. I'm hearing voices in my head."

Marco looked up at the hawk. "Well, Bird Boy, it was either you or Ax."

"Why are you talking to that bird?" I asked.

"Because he's probably the one who was talking to you," Marco answered.

Yeah, I was. Name's Tobias.

"Okay, why am I hearing a bird's voice in my head?" I asked. I was now more confused than I was earlier.

Long story. Basically, I used to be human, but then I got stuck as a hawk. Well, that's the abridged version, anyway.

"I'm confused."

"You remember how you saw me morph from a wolf to a dude?" Marco asked. "Well, when you morph, you only have a little bit of time to be in that morph – two hours being the limit. Go over those two hours, and you end up like him." He pointed up at the bird – Tobias.

I looked back up at Tobias. "You really were human once, weren't you?"

Do me a favor, Tobias said. Don't pity me. I've been like this for a while; I'm used to it by now.

"Okay," I said. "But let me ask you this – how can you do that? How can you...change like that?"

"Which version of the story do you want?" Rachel asked. "Long or short?"

"Which one makes the most sense?" I asked.

"That would be none of them," Marco replied. "Not to someone like you, anyway – no offense."

"Fine," I said, crossing my arms. "Then give me the short version."

"You can thank the Andalites," Jake said.

"I'm sorry, the what-a-lites?" I asked. Andalite? I'd never heard the word before. It sounded foreign, made up.

"The Andalites are aliens," Jake replied.

Great, I silently moaned. More aliens.

"It's thanks to them that the Yeerks are spreading," he continued. "You see, a while back, there was an Andalite named Seerow, who felt pity for the Yeerks, so he gave them access to Andalite technology."

"Long story short," Marco put in. "Shit hit the fan, the Andalites didn't like that, and the Yeerks started doing what they're doing now – planet hopping and infesting different races."

"The Andalites created the power to morph," Cassie added. "Like you saw with Marco, morphing changes a person's shape into that of another creature, and as is the case with Tobias, if you go over the two hour time limit, you become permanently trapped in that morph."

"That still doesn't explain how Marco did it," I said.

"Calm down, calm down," Marco said. "Hold your horses, we're getting there. You know that construction site we went through, where we ran into that Hork-Bajir-Controller? Well, we met another alien there a while back – an Andalite named Elfangor."

"Elfangor was dying," Rachel added. "He had been injured during a battle with the leader of the Yeerk ground forces – Visser Three. Before he died, he told us about the Yeerks and gave us the power to morph so we could fight them."

"How'd he do that" I asked. My confusion had given way to intrigue. I wanted to know more; my curiosity was piqued.

"Hold on, I'll go get it," Cassie said. She headed into an empty horse stall, coming out a few seconds later carrying what looked like a glowing blue cube. "With this. Its real name is the Escafil device, but we just call it the Morphing Cube."

All we had to do was touch it, Tobias said. And then we had the power.

"Elfangor died a little bit after that," Marco added. "Visser Three swallowed him."

"Yuck." That was the only response I could come up with.

Elfangor. He was my brother.

I looked up at Tobias, who was preening a wing. "Your brother was an alien?"

I didn't say that, Tobias said. Must have been Ax.

"Who?"

I heard the sound of hooves clopping on the floor in one of the stalls, and after a moment, some...thing stepped into view. It had the body of a horse, but with blue fur instead of brown, black, white, or yellow; the torso of a human, with a tan torso; long arms with seven-fingered hands; two big eyes on its face with two more on swiveling stalks coming from the top of its head; a slotted nose; and a long, whip-like tail that ended in a deadly-looking blade, similar to the blades on the Hork-Bajir.

I screamed in shock, falling back and landing hard on my butt. This...this thing was staring at me with all four eyes!

"What is that?" I asked, my voice cracking with fear. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?!"

"Penny, relax," Marco said. "This is an Andalite."

"I thought you said he was dead!"

They were referring to my brother, Andalite Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. My name is Aximilli-Esgarrouth-Isthill.

"We just call him Ax for short," Marco said. "It's so much easier to pronounce."

"Yeah, that makes me feel a LOT better!" I growled.

I think my appearance disturbs you, Ax said.

"Yeah, it kind of does," I said.

"Ax-Man, you might want to morph," Marco said.

Yes, that would be a good idea.

My stomach churned as the change began, Ax's blue fur turning into tan skin – complete with clothes – and the two eye stalks on the top of his head shrunk down into his skull. The two extra fingers on each hand melted away. His horse body began to melt into the front half of his body – as did his hind legs – and his hooves grew out into human feet – shoes and all. A mouth appeared on his face as his slotted nose grew into a human nose.

What had once been an extraterrestrial being was now a human boy.

I picked myself up off the ground, staring in amazement. "What just happened?"

"I morphed," Ax replied. "Shortly after I came to Earth, I acquired the DNA of each of my human friends so that I could take on a human form and explore this world. World. Wo. Wo."

"What are you doing?"

"Sorry," Ax said. "Making sounds with a mouth is strange for an Andalite."

Okay, I told myself. Log that one away. "Back up a minute," I said. "What did you mean when you said you acquired their DNA?"

"The only way to morph an animal is to acquire its DNA," Cassie said. "We do this by touching it and after a moment of concentration, that animal becomes a part of our genetic code. And if we want to morph that animal, we have to concentrate and see ourselves morphing into that creature. Want to try it?"

"Hold on, Cassie," Jake said. "I don't think we should do that. I mean, we barely know this girl."

"She's not infested," Ax said. "If she were, she probably wouldn't have...what's the word you humans use for a moment like that?"

"Freak the hell out?" Marco asked.

"Yes," Ax said. "That."

"Can you blame me?" I asked sarcastically. I took a deep breath. "Okay, guys. You've got me intrigued. I want to know what this is all about."

"You sure about that?" Jake asked. "I mean, being part of this team isn't sunshine and sparkles. If you want that, you go watch that one cartoon."

"And you would know about that, how?" Rachel asked, crossing her arms.

"I've...dabbled," Jake said. "I get bored, okay. Besides, that's not the point. Penny, if you accept this, you have to promise that you keep everything you've heard so far and everything you'll see after this point a secret. You can't tell anyone – not your family, not any other friends you'll make, no one. Why? Because anyone you know could have a Yeerk in their head, anyone could be a Controller. And since you're new in town and don't seem to know any Controllers, that's even more of an incentive to keep this a secret – the Yeerks could come after your family in an attempt to make you talk. Do you understand? If you accept, you have to hold true to that, and you have to hold true to that even if you don't accept that. Whatever decision you make, we won't hold it against you."

That was a lot to take in. I couldn't tell anyone? Not even my own family? Well, I suppose that it made sense, considering what I had just been told. But I wanted to know what having this power was all about. And to protect my family – especially Jonah.

"I accept."

"Good," Jake said. "Cassie, go get the cube."

Cassie headed to the back of the barn, coming out of a stall a few moments later with a glowing blue box in her hand.

"Here it is," she said. "Go ahead, Penny. Touch it."

I tentatively reached out to the box, pulling my hand away before I touched it. "Will it hurt?" I asked.

It might tingle a bit, Tobias replied. But other than that, no.

"Well, okay," I said. I placed the palm of my hand against the box.

You know that feeling you get when your hand goes numb and falls asleep? That feeling of having no blood flowing through your hand, making it tingle and you can't feel it? That's what touching the box feels like. It was strange, like I was having something absorbed through my hand.

After a moment, the feeling stopped. Cassie pulled the box away from me.

"There you go," Marco said. "Now you're officially an Animorph."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Animorph? That sounds like the name of some cheesy sci-fi comic book."

"Or a television show that some people may or may not like," Rachel said.

"All that's left now is for you to acquire your first morph," Cassie said. "Let's see here...I got it." She went over to a pen and took out a small white rabbit. "How about a bunny? Something small for you to practice on."

"Once we get you in the proper attire," Rachel put in. "Be right back." She headed to the back of the barn.

"What's she getting?" I asked.

"We can't morph clothes," Jake said. "Ax seems to be the only exception – we still haven't figured out how. We can only morph skintight clothing like bike shorts or leotards. Otherwise, well – let's just say that it's really awkward morphing back to human from a fly and finding out that you're not wearing anything."

And yes, he speaks from experience, Tobias added.

"O...kay, wish I hadn't heard that," I said as Rachel came back, carrying a blue leotard that looked like it was just my size.

"You and Cassie are about the same size, so this should fit you perfectly," she said. She tossed the leotard at me. "Go put it on, then come right back so you can acquire the bunny."

"Okay," I said. "Geez, bossy much?" I headed to the back of the barn, hidden from everyone else and took off my clothes.

I'd never worn a leotard before, so it took me a moment to figure out how to put the thing on. I finally managed to get it on and came out. I could feel my face turning red; this was so awkward.

Cassie put the rabbit in my arms. "Now, just concentrate," she said. "Focus. Clear your mind, if you will."

"Okay." I closed my eyes and focused on the rabbit. Again, I felt that tingling sensation in my hands. It stopped after a moment.

"You've got its DNA," Cassie said. She took the rabbit and put it back in its pen. "Now, just concentrate again. See yourself becoming the rabbit."

"Okay, here I go," I said. I closed my eyes and saw a mental image of myself changing into a rabbit.

And what happened next, I can't explain. But I'll do what I can.

First, I felt a tingling sensation on my skin – that was the white fur of the rabbit growing on my skin. I felt my hair shrink and my ears move up to the top of my head.

"What's going on?" I asked. "Am I doing it right?"

"So far so good," Jake said. "Now, stop talking. Just focus."

"You know," Marco said. "If someone walks by and hears this conversation without knowing the context of it all – "

"Shut up, Marco," I hissed. I felt my nose shrink and my teeth harden.

And then something else happened.

I felt my insides begin to change – I could feel my organs beginning to shrink and my bones crack and rearrange themselves. Surprisingly, it didn't really hurt. I mean, yeah, I winced in pain once or twice, but other than that, pain didn't register with me.

My arms shrunk and became paws, and my back legs grew more muscular as my feet grew into larger feet.

Finally, I opened my eyes. But it wasn't my normal vision that I was seeing.

Everything was bigger. And I was seeing everything to the left and right of me; my frontal vision was horribly impaired. The colors were just as I would normally see them, and the smells – I could smell everything, from the deodorant Jake was wearing to the...excrement of the cows in the nearby field.

I had done it.

I was a rabbit.

But now something else was happening. I could feel the rabbit's conscience clashing with my own. The bunny wanted to run to escape, and I could actually feel myself starting to hop away as fast as my bunny legs could carry me. It took everything I had to stop myself.

What's going on? I wondered.

"Penny, calm down!" Cassie cried.

Calm down? I asked. How do I calm down? The bunny won't let me! And only now was I wondering if they could hear my thoughts.

"You have to fight the rabbit," Jake said. "You have to stop thinking like a rabbit and start thinking like a human."

Okay, I'll try. I focused, trying to push the rabbit conscience down. It took me a little bit, but after a while, I felt the bunny instincts all but gone. Okay, I think I'm in control.

"Good," Jake said. "Now, morph back. This was just a trial run, and besides, we don't want you to go over the two hour time limit."

Time limit?

"Just morph back," Marco said. "We'll explain then."

How do I morph back? I asked.

"Just like you morphed bunny, only backwards," Rachel said.

Okay. Here I go. I started concentrating.

Remember how I described morphing into a rabbit? Just picture that, only in reverse. After a few moments, I was a human again.

"That was weird," I said as I tried to catch my breath. "Okay, what's the deal with the time limit?"

Go over the two hour time limit, and you'll be stuck in whatever morph you're in at that time, Tobias replied. Remember?

"Oh, that's right. Don't know how I forgot about that."

"No problem," Marco said. "All that's left to do now is to get you a few more morphs." He looked at Jake. "The Gardens?"

"The Gardens," Jake said. "Let's go."