After a night of sleep, I was stirred awake by something wet poking my face multiple times and I opened my eyes to see the face of a large german shepherd staring at me while it had a rolled-up slip of paper in its mouth, causing me to feel confused since I made sure the doors were locked and the windows were closed until I saw it move its head and placed the slip of paper down on my bed next to me before it started panting and I understood that Ellimist must've sent the dog here for me to acquire his DNA while I took the paper and sat up until I unrolled it and looked through the note addressed to me.
'To Jeremy, I thought you might want to start simple with a dog morph and I certainly hope so since Crayak says I'm pushing my luck with this one. He's going to want something big in return for me setting you up in this universe, so I'm afraid that this is the last time I can assist you.
Now, the dog is only here for you to acquire his DNA and has been given very precise instructions to return to me once you acquire his DNA, so do not be concerned about how he'll leave and I'll see you in book seven.
Ellimist.'
I smiled for a moment and placed my hand on the dog, then I focused on acquiring his DNA pattern and saw the dog pausing with his eyes glazed over for a few seconds while I felt the nice warm sensation again until I was finished acquiring his DNA and the dog shook himself off before leaving my room. Once he was gone, I stood up and headed to a mirror to watch the changes from a neutral standpoint and to see if I can change only one part of my body as I concentrated and that's when the changes started.
The first thing I felt was a very pleasant tingling that spread throughout my body as soft crunches radiated through my skull with my lips getting tougher, darker, and becoming thinner while my tongue started getting flatter and grew until I couldn't keep it in my mouth and opened it to let my long abnormal canine tongue loll out as I witnessed my teeth getting softer like they were gelatinous while they grew taller, sharper, and more robust as my canine teeth were the first to grow and the others followed until my mouth was filled with sharp teeth that stretched outward.
I ran my tongue over my sharp teeth as more pops and snaps came from my face before my nose started getting blunter while my ears were warping and stretching up into pricked points before climbing up to the top of my head as my nose continued to flatten and widen out with the color darkening to black and becoming harder while taking on a leathery texture and tearing open a little at the nostrils to make larger channels as the many scents hit me at once.
After that, tan and black fur slowly started sprouting on my clean-shaven face and crept around like a blanket with my hair taking on the same shade as the fur and sank into my skull to join with the rest with dark brown fuzz overtaking the back of my ears while my eyes changed and darkened into a chocolatey brown while enlarging slightly before the color around me melted away until my vision was nothing more in many shades of gray and I recalled that dogs are colorblind while the changes continued.
Finally, my lower jaw started to extend and push outward as it made room for the fangs to grow larger and take up more space, just before my upper jaw followed shortly with my canine nose blending into the expanding portions of my face with more pops and cracks ringing out and my misshapen mouth forming into the start of a muzzle.
My face kept pushing out with fur growing over it and around my eyes while I was observing my reflection and while the books described the morphing process as completely disgusting and hard to watch for Jake and the others, I found it very fascinating and the tingles in my nerves made the changes more pleasing and bearable while more loud popping, snapping, and cracking echoed in my room until my face finished pushing out into a canine muzzle and the rest of my head compressed before I stopped the changes and started examining myself in the mirror.
It was very bizarre, seeing a dog's head on the neck of a man's body and I experimented by moving my ears and panting like a regular dog while I studied my new head and made sure to remove my shirt and boxers so that they wouldn't rip apart until I was fully nude and continued the changes.
I witnessed my body turning semi-solid as it flowed like hot wax and more fur spread down my neck and covered every part of my body, my fingers enlarging and becoming deformed while the flesh on my palms and fingertips began swelling and growing discolored until they finished becoming paw pads and my nails grew into claws.
My feet were next as they became like liquid with the toes swelling up and my heels stretching up, my legs snapping into a digitigrade stance and my big toes started shrinking while they slid up until they melted into the sides of my new footpaws while more pads grew onto my paws.
I turned to the side and saw my new tail forming as I watched in awe, the thin naked appendage growing out and fur spreading to cover it until I could feel it like it had been a part of me and my new tail finished growing before I easily moved it around now that the nerves were fully connected to my brain.
Finally, I could see my male equipment growing into a darker red and shifting as the head grew thinner into a tapered point with a canine knot swelling out until the flesh detached and grew into a sheath that covered my mutated cock, then more fur spread to cover it and I continued watching until my new canine member was done.
I stopped the changes and examined myself in the mirror, seeing an anthropomorphic german shepherd staring back at me and I knew that Ax would call my new form and the changes beautiful if he were to see this since Estreens turn morphing into an art that makes the changes less disturbing and more fluid, then I turned left and right to study my new form more extensively while reaching down to touch my new tail before holding it in one hand and shivering at how strange that felt.
Either way, I continued the changes and saw my large foot-paws starting to shrink as I got down on all fours to make sure I didn't fall as I witnessed my altered hands contracting, the thumbs not becoming completely vestigial like my former big toes as my thumbs were rather pulled along with my stretching carpal bones while all flexibility is removed with the digits stuck stiffly at the sides of my wrists as canine dewclaws.
My legs and hips snapped into a quadruped stance while my shoulders simply flowed back and disappeared, leaving my thinning shifting arms on the sides of my torso that shrunk into a more proper canine shape as my ribs enlarged into a barreled appearance with my spine locking straight and my neck grew slightly until the final changes completed and where my human self once stood in my reflection, a normal german shepherd stared back as I was amazed by how fluid the morphing was.
I noticed how different the changes had been and unlike Jake and the others, whose morphing was disturbing, mine is more fluid than Cassie's and something that CGI developers would be envious of while my morphing wasn't cringe-inducing at all.
Once I was done examining myself, I had the sudden urge to explore the house so that I could investigate the new scents that were all around me and then piss on the furniture, though I resisted the urge since I understood that the dog's mind and mine had melded together and while the instincts attempted to take over, my human mind was well disciplined and I easily prevented myself from losing myself in the dog's instincts.
Either way, I knew that today was when the others and I would head to Cassie's barn to acquire new morphs and discuss what to do next, so I concentrated and began changing back as I saw my canine form turning into a semi-liquid state, my body flowing back into my human form as fur sank into my flesh, my size grew, and my tail sucked back in with a slurping sound while my ears and muzzle shrank.
My paws formed back into human hands and feet while my legs straightened out and my heels retracted, then my shoulders grew and my neck shortened as my eyes changed back with color bleeding back into my vision and my head swelled back into a human shape, just before my chest flattened while my muscles appeared as my sheath melded back into my skin and my member changed back to normal.
Pretty soon, my hair grew out of my skull and the changes finished until I could see my regular human self staring back at me through my reflection, then I spent the next hour going through my routine that consisted of my morning workout, take a shower, get dressed, have breakfast, and practice my firearms' skills in the shooting range.
However, I spent a considerable amount of time buffing out the scratches on my truck that had been caused by the Hork-Bajir and cleaned up the alien blood, which was a pain to deal with but I did it and also made sure to swap the license plates for safety just in case a controller did get a good look at my truck, then I looked at a map of the area to study the locations of where the Animorphs and I lived that had been marked by the Ellimist so I could memorize them.
However, while I was looking through the map, I heard the phone going off and was puzzled as to who knew my phone number, though I decided to answer it and went to pick up the phone.
"Hello?" I answered and felt a little cautious since I had no idea who this was.
"Hey, is this Jeremy?" a familiar male voice inquired while I frowned.
"Yeah, this is..." I trailed off suspiciously.
"It's Tobias, remember? We met at the mall and the construction site?" Tobias clarified, causing me to relax and I smiled slightly since I remember giving him my phone number while we had been at the mall.
"Oh yeah, good to hear from you so how are you doing? You okay?" I asked and Tobias sighed.
"Yeah, but I barely got any sleep with everything that's happened...look, are you doing anything today?" Tobias questioned.
"Not really, I was going to try and find you and the others from the site since I think it goes without saying that we need to discuss our next move," I stated while leaning back in my chair.
"Yeah, I was going to head over to Jake's house because we need to get his opinion on this fucked up situation, so you want to come with me?" Tobias offered and I went to check the map for where Jake's house was listed.
"Sure, what's the address?" I asked before Tobias gave me the address and I followed it on the map before I saw that it was listed as 'Jake's house', so I used a marker and circled it.
"Alright, I'll see you there and by the way, have you tried...that yet?" I inquired and Tobias was quiet for a moment before he answered.
"I did, I morphed into Dude, my cat," Tobias told me while I could hear the excitement in his voice and I blinked at that since I did remember it from the book, but to hear someone naming their cat Dude was a little odd.
"You named your cat Dude?" I asked in confusion and Tobias huffed.
"I was a little kid when I named him, so sue me!" Tobias retorted defensively and I chuckled a bit.
"It's alright, man, I'm not judging you or anything since Dude isn't the weirdest name I've heard someone call their cat," I placated wryly, causing Tobias to laugh a bit himself until he cleared his throat.
"So, what about you? Have you morphed yet?" Tobias asked and I paused for a moment, pondering if I should tell him that I acquired the german shepherd and already morphed into him but I decided to tell a half-truth since it wouldn't do me any favors if I lied to him.
"Yeah, I found a stray german shepherd wandering around my property and acquired his DNA before I morphed into him," I replied, and Tobias let out a surprised noise.
"Dude, how was it?" Tobias questioned excitedly.
"It was incredible, the morphing was so fluid and effortless that it looked like something out of a sci-fi movie...and the scents and sounds, everything was amplified a thousand times better so it was like I entered a completely different world," I described with a fond smile and Tobias let out a chuckle.
"Lucky bastard, so now what?" Tobias inquired and I knew it was time to get to business.
"Well, if what Elfangor said was true, then we can now morph into any living creature but I'd rather my next morph not be a fly or mosquito," I admitted while I could tell Tobias shivered at that.
"Tell me about it because for me, morphing into Dude was disturbing as hell and that's why I called you a lucky bastard since it sounds like your morphing is different from mine, so I don't even want to think what morphing into a bug will be like," Tobias told me before I nodded.
"I see what you mean, so I'll meet you at Jake's house," I said.
"See ya," Tobias replied before we both hung up.
A few minutes had gone by and I found myself driving down the road back into town in my truck, looking at the map once and a while as I followed its directions to Jake's house and it didn't take long for me to arrive in Jake's neighborhood before I drove down the street and spotted Jake's house quickly, though I drove a bit further away to look for a good place to park and found one a few blocks away.
Once I had parked and left the truck, I walked back to Jake's house and arrived just as Tobias was heading up the driveway before I raised my hand in greeting while I met up with him.
"Hey, so this is Jake's house?" I asked just as Tobias nodded.
"Yeah, he and his family lived here for a while now," Tobias replied as we were walking up to the front door, then we waited for a few moments before the door opened and Jake's mother appeared until she looked at Tobias and smiled in recognition.
"Tobias, it's good to see you," Jean said before she noticed me and asked, "Who is this?"
"This is Jeremy, he's a friend that Jake and I had met at the mall yesterday," Tobias answered and I held up a hand in acknowledgment.
"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Berenson," I spoke up, nodding politely and Jean smiled a bit.
"Nice to meet you as well, Jeremy. I think Jake is still asleep but I'll see if I can wake him up, so come on in," Jean told me and Tobias, prompting us to nod as we stepped inside and I studied the layout for any exits while we headed into the living room and waited.
"Hey Tobias," a voice greeted, causing me and Tobias to look as someone approached us before I recognized him as Tom, Jake's older brother, and a confirmed human controller.
"Hey Tom, how have you been?" Tobias questioned while he smiled at him, and Tom shrugged.
"Pretty good, same old I guess," Tom answered casually until he noticed me and arched a brow as he asked, "And you are?"
"Jeremy, I'm Tobias' friend so are you Jake's brother?" I inquired while putting up a nonchalant front and Tom smiled.
"Yeah, nice to meet you," Tom said as we shook hands, but I knew that Tom was under the control of a Yeerk and the real Tom wasn't a bad kid, which was why I had every intention of saving him from his death that occurred in the final book.
"Good to meet you too," I replied while we quit shaking hands.
"You new around here?" Tom asked and I nodded.
"Yeah, I used to live in Washington state but I moved here a few weeks ago," I said, and Tom appeared interested.
"Really? That's nice, so you moved here with your family?" Tom inquired as I shook my head.
"No, I graduated from high school a few years ago and moved here alone, been living on my own thanks to the money my parents left me when they...passed away," I lied, but I couldn't help but think about my twisted family as Tom sent me a look of understanding.
"Damn, I'm sorry to hear that," Tom told me, very convincingly trying to sound sympathetic, but I knew the Yeerk controlling him was acting sympathetic and would try to get me to join the Sharing so that I would have a Yeerk put in my head, though it wouldn't work thanks to Elfangor taking precautions.
"Where do you live?" Tom questioned.
"In the woods around some mountains, I have a place there that used to be a vacationing home my parents used, but they lent it to me after I graduated," I explained, being as vague as possible without sounding too suspicious as Tom nodded.
"Cool...say, since you're new here, maybe you could come with me and my friends to the beach tonight? I'm with a group called the Sharing and they're having a barbeque there," Tom offered, confirming my suspicions.
'And there it is...trying to get a Yeerk into my head already, Tom?' I thought as I kept my pleasant front up.
"Well, I'll have to think about it, but I might show up," I replied, then Tom started smiling.
"Sweet, a lot of other people are going to show up so I hope to see you there," Tom said before he walked away, causing me to subtly glare at him as Jean entered the living room and I quickly looked casual.
After that, she told us that Jake was awake before Tobias and I went upstairs to Jake's room and Tobias announced himself before we entered the room, then I could see that the place looked pretty much how I imagined it with posters, desks, and a computer that fit the era I was in so I was thankful that the Ellimist left me things from my dimension.
"I'm sorry, who the hell are you?" Jake asked me groggily as Tobias and I walked inside before I shut the door.
"You don't remember me? We met at the mall yesterday and cut through the construction site before encountering the aliens, ring any bells?" I questioned as I stared at him with a puzzled look, causing Jake to blink at that until he showed a look of realization.
"Oh, uhh...Jeremy, right?" Jake inquired, then I nodded with a smile.
"Yeah, glad to see you made it home okay, Jake," I told him, only Jake shook his head to clear the cobwebs.
"Yeah...so, why are you guys here?" Jake asked as he began to yawn, then Tobias started appearing excited while looking like he was glowing.
"I did it, I became Dude," Tobias spoke up, then Jake stopped mid-yawn and his mouth snapped shut.
"Huh?" Jake questioned dumbly, just as Tobias glanced around the room like there might be spies in here and focused his attention on Jake again.
"I became Dude, just like the Andalite said! It was so fucking amazing, didn't hurt or anything so I was petting him and thinking about the whole thing that happened last night, right? So I thought, why not give it a try?
I didn't even know how to begin so I made sure the door to my room was locked...thank god my uncle was still asleep," Tobias explained while pacing back and forth, snapping his fingers and bursting with enthusiasm while I frowned at the last part of what he said.
The mention of his uncle made me tense since I remember that the books described how Tobias never knew his father and his mother walked out on him when he was younger, so he had to move back and forth between his aunt and uncle who lived on opposite sides of the country, though neither of them could stand each other and they didn't particularly care for Tobias so the poor kid had to deal with how neglectful they were.
I was disgusted by how callous they were with Tobias since I understood what it was like to have a fucked up childhood with an equally fucked up family so I was considering that if Tobias didn't like living with them anymore, I'd offer him to stay at my place in a heartbeat since it had plenty of room and it was better than living with two uncaring people.
I also started thinking about if I should keep Tobias from being trapped in the hawk morph so, on one hand, saving Tobias from that fate would cause a massive change in events but at the same time, there had been several instances where Tobias having a hawk body had helped the Animorphs tremendously, like the arc where they fool the Yeerks in thinking the anti-morphing ray didn't work so it was a decision I had to make sooner or later.
"So there I was, just sitting on my bed and concentrating, thinking about becoming Dude when I looked at my hand and what do you think I saw, Jake?" Tobias asked before Jake slowly shook his head.
"I don't know," Jake replied until Tobias started beaming.
"I had fur, Jake, and I was growing claws so you should've seen the real Dude because he was going completely fucking nuts! I had to put him outside before I morphed all the way, but he clawed me up pretty good and it was a good thing I found out that morphing actually heals injuries," Tobias continued and I chuckled.
"Thank god for that," I remarked wryly.
"Um...Tobias, is it possible that you might've dreamt all this up?" Jake asked in disbelief, then Tobias' smile went away and he started looking more serious.
"Not a fucked up dream because it's all true, Jake...all of it," Tobias emphasized and I nodded in agreement.
"If you're still thinking it's all a dream, then why the hell am I here?" I pointed out, causing Jake to blink and look at me while I added, "I was there and we haven't met until yesterday so, unless I'm some screwed up figment of your imagination, then everything that happened last night actually happened."
"He's right Jake, I didn't dream this because I just kept concentrating on changing, and in a few minutes, I was...not myself anymore and Jeremy had found a stray dog wandering around his property and acquired it before morphing into it, but you have no idea what it's like being a cat since it's...I can't even describe it.
You're so fucking strong for one thing, just all of this coiled power and the way you can move! Do you know what I did? I jumped onto my dresser three feet straight up in the air and I landed like a feather...three fucking feet so do you know how high that is when you're a cat? It's like a person jumping thirty feet straight up!" Tobias described gleefully, then he saw how confused Jake looked and his excitement vanished.
"You don't believe me, do you?" Tobias asked, causing Jake to sigh as he gently rubbed his eyes.
"Look...Tobias, it's just...it's just that sometimes, it's hard to tell the difference between something real and something you're imagining or dreaming," Jake stated skeptically and before Tobias could retort, I cleared my throat to get Jake's attention.
"We're not crazy, Jake, because this isn't a dream and last night wasn't a dream unless we all shared that dream somehow simultaneously, but I understand where you're coming from though since you don't want to believe that last night happened.
Aliens? Mind-controlling parasitic slugs? Morphing? Who wouldn't want to believe it and I sure as hell don't want to believe it, but I had morphed into a dog and back earlier this morning so I have to believe it because it's the truth.
What about Visser Three? The Andalite Elfangor? Are you really going to forget what he did for us, sacrificing his own life so that we could live?" I questioned seriously, then Jake seemed to wince a bit since what happened to Elfangor last night was still a raw topic for us until Tobias sighed while he placed his hand on Jake's arm.
"You know what, just stand there," Tobias said before Jake blinked at that.
"What the hell are you doing?" Jake questioned dubiously.
"I'm going to help you decide whether it's real or not, so just wait and don't scream or anything," Tobias instructed before removing his hand from Jake's shoulder and we waited for a few seconds.
I smiled as I anticipated what's coming next before Tobias' changes began with his eyes starting to alter as his pupils changed shape and gained a reflective greenish light in them as they grew slit, just before his mouth protruded a bit while puffing out until he started shrinking.
It was a little odd watching someone shrink, getting smaller and smaller while his clothes started to slip off when I saw gray striped and black fur beginning to sprout and spread all over his hands, face, and neck.
It was one thing seeing myself morph into an animal, but it was another seeing someone else do it and it wasn't like when Visser Three became that horrifying monster back at the construction site since I didn't feel tense, more astonished than anything else as Tobias kept changing with his ears stretching into points and relocating to the top of his head, whiskers grew out from beneath his pink nose, and he was soon forced to drop to the ground on all fours because of his hips and spine cracking into a quadruped state while a fur-covered tail grew out.
Moments later, it was over and wriggling out of the mess of clothes was Tobias as a cat while Jake's expression was priceless as he looked at Tobias with wide eyes and an expression of pure disbelief.
"Oh god, someone please tell me I'm still dreaming," Jake muttered, looking overwhelmed and I understood that this was going to take time to get used to for him.
"You're not asleep or dreaming," Tobias affirmed, communicating through thought-speak and it startled Jake as he jumped.
"Fuck, was that you?" Jake gasped in shock and I had to admit, the entire scene of him talking to a cat was kinda amusing.
"You can hear me?" Tobias asked through thought-speak, sounding rather surprised.
"Yes," Jake replied cautiously while I also nodded to show that I can hear him as well.
"Damn, I didn't know I could send thoughts like this just like the Andalite," Tobias said in astonishment and I hummed thoughtfully as it got his and Jake's attention.
"Makes sense because from what we saw last night, Andalites don't have mouths so they communicate through a form of telepathy, something where they can send their thoughts to other beings and since they were the ones who made the morphing tech, they must've designed it with this in mind so any morph they acquire can possess the same telepathy the Andalites have," I theorized, even though I already knew this because I read the books.
"You think we can use it while we're not in a morph?" Tobias wondered, and I decided to give it a try.
'Tobias, can you hear me?' I asked mentally and when Tobias didn't react, I commented, "Hmm, doesn't seem like it since I tried to think out loud if you could hear me but, since you didn't respond, you obviously couldn't so it appears that we can only use thought-speak while we're in another morph."
"Shit, that sucks but it's better than nothing I guess...hey, watch this," Tobias said before he suddenly leaped into the air, pouncing precisely in a four-foot jump onto an autographed baseball that was resting in the corner.
"That was awesome! Hey, pull a string for me to chase!" Tobias exclaimed, causing Jake and I to glance at one another with puzzled expressions.
"Uh, why?" Jake inquired in confusion.
"Because it's so fun!" Tobias shouted, almost sounding like a little kid if I had to be honest and I decided to spare him the embarrassment as I sighed.
"Tobias, you're asking us to let you play with a string so do you know how odd that sounds?" I pointed out and Tobias seemed to pause as his tail twitched, looking up at me and then back at Jake.
"Uhh, s-sorry? Crap, I don't know what the hell came over me there since it's like I'm me, but I'm also Dude at the same time. I want to chase things...oh man, if there were only a real live mouse around! I'd love to track it, follow it so quietly-" Tobias rambled and I cut him off.
"Tobias, calm down," I interrupted and added, "I think we're learning some more facts about morphing."
"What do you mean?" Tobias inquired while tilting his feline head to express his confusion.
"It looks like you're not just Tobias while you're in that morph, you're also a cat at the same time with all the instincts a feline has since you want to do things a cat would do and this reminds me that when I was in the dog morph, I had the sudden urge to explore my house and urinate on the furniture but I managed to stay in control.
Now, I remember reading up on an article a while ago, something about genetic memory and it's a theory that the memories of one's ancestors are passed down into subsequent generations through DNA, which enables instinctive skills in animals.
When you acquired Dude's DNA, you must've also acquired his genetic memories or instincts of a cat so you are basically, in a way, two minds in one body that consist of the cat mind and the human mind, but it looks like the cat mind can easily overpower the human one if you're not prepared for it," I explained, causing Jake and Tobias to look at me in surprise.
"Yeah, that kinda makes sense since I can feel it, like I'm two different animals melded into one and I can think like a person and a cat," Tobias said thoughtfully.
"You better change back," Jake suggested and Tobias nodded, which looked odd seeing a cat act so human.
"You're right," Tobias agreed before he began to morph back into his human form.
I looked away since I understood that none of the Animorphs figured out how to morph clothes yet, so I made a mental note to figure out how to morph clothes that weren't leotards or similar tight clothes, and I knew it was possible because the Andalite scientist Estrid-Corill-Darrath knew how to do it, so I planned on figuring out how it was possible just as Tobias finished morphing back to his human form and quickly got dressed.
"Maybe after some practice, we can figure out how to morph back into our clothes," Tobias commented and I nodded.
"Yeah, guess the Andalites never thought about the need of morphing in clothes," I agreed while Jake was doing a double-take.
"Wait just a goddamn second, we?" Jake cut in, looking more than uneasy and it caused us to look at him.
"Jake, don't you get it? If I can do it and Jeremy can do it, then so can the others," Tobias stated with a smile, then Jake shook his head.
"I don't think so," Jake refused, making me let out a sigh.
"Jake, we just saw Tobias morph before our eyes, so everything that happened last night had happened...Elfangor gave us these abilities for a reason and I don't believe in coincidences, not to mention that he died so that we could live to fight another day and I'll be damned if I'm going to dishonor his memory by not using this power for a good cause," I stated firmly, causing Jake to scowl.
"Fine, then you fucking use it!" Jake snapped irritably before Tobias shook his head.
"We will, but we need you most of all, Jake," Tobias said.
"Why the hell does it have to be me?" Jake questioned in frustration, and Tobias hesitated for a split second.
"Fuck, Jake, don't you understand? I know what I can or can't do, I know my limits, and I can't make plans or tell people what to do so I'm not a leader, you are," Tobias reasoned and Jake laughed rudely.
"I'm not the leader of anything," Jake retorted while Tobias stared at him with those deeply troubled eyes of his.
"Yes, Jake, you are our leader and are the one who can bring us all together to help defeat the controllers...we have the ability to be much more than we are, to have the stealth of a cat, the eyes of an eagle, the sense of smell of a dog, and the speed of a horse or cheetah.
The fact of the matter is that we're going to need it all if we have any hope of surviving against the controllers," Tobias emphasized, only Jake looked very conflicted and I didn't blame him since this was a very big decision he had to make and he understandably didn't want to believe it, but he needed to since we were now at war against an invisible enemy that would try to make us into controllers and once that failed, the Yeerks would kill us.
"Well...guess I better find Homer," Jake said grimly and I cleared my throat.
"Actually, before you do that, I should show you and Tobias what it's like for me to morph," I said suddenly, then Tobias perked up.
"That's right, you told me on the phone that your morphing is different from mine, and I can't help but be curious about that since it sounded interesting," Tobias commented, then we looked at Jake while he appeared uncertain before he sighed.
"Well, I already saw Tobias do it, so I might as well see you do it," Jake told me reluctantly, prompting me to picture the german shepherd's form in my mind and thought about becoming him.
At that moment, the changes began as my body turned semi-liquid and easily started flowing into another shape, causing Tobias and Jake to drop their mouths open in astonishment while my clothes melded into my form as fur grew, limbs shifted into canine ones, a tail sprouted, my chest swelled out into a barreled shape, my ears grew into points and stretched up to the top of my head that compressed, then my muzzle formed while my eyes changed as the colors around me went away until the changes stopped and I sat down on my haunches while making sure the dog instincts didn't take control.
"So, what do you think?" I asked, using thought-speak to communicate with the others and it caused them to snap out of it.
"Holy shit, you weren't kidding when you said that your morphing was so fluid and effortless, and you also morphed your clothes as well so how the fuck did you do that?" Tobias gasped in shock.
"Not sure how I was able to morph my clothes, but I have a theory about that and it concerns the private conversation that Elfangor and I had after the cube sent me to the ground," I answered and Jake perked up at that.
"Oh yeah, I do recall you two staring at each other for a short amount of time before you suddenly nodded, so what did you two discuss?" Jake inquired curiously.
"Well, he told me the reason why the cube reacted in such a manner is that I'm something called an advanced Estreen, whatever that means and it seems like an Estreen is someone who has a talent for morphing and can control how it happens while being able to morph clothes as well.
But that's not all, I apparently have no time limit and I was pretty surprised when Elfangor told me," I explained with Jake and Tobias widening their eyes.
"So, you're trying to tell us that you can stay in a morph as long as you want and change back even after two hours are up? Shit, you are something else, and being able to have a natural talent for morphing is pretty cool as well," Tobias complimented, and I felt strange since it was the first time in a long time since someone complimented me and it felt nice just as the others started snickering and I tilted my head to express my confusion.
"What the hell are you guys laughing about?" I questioned and Jake gestured behind me.
"Dude, your tail is wagging," Jake told me, prompting me to look back and I felt embarrassed to see my tail moving around while my ears lowered until I looked back at the others.
"Okay, let's stay focused since we need you to get your first morph, Jake, so I'll change back since I assume Homer is your dog and he might react badly to seeing another one in your room," I pointed out and Jake nodded.
"Yeah, Homer might be hyperactive but he's territorial and tends to bark whenever he sees another dog outside, so morphing back would be a good idea," Jake agreed, then I focused on morphing back to my human form and changed back to normal with my clothes forming on me.
"Jesus, I don't think I'm ever going to get used to seeing that," Tobias commented in awe, just before Jake left the room to go get Homer and we waited until he came back with the golden retriever.
Homer tilted his head when he saw me and I knelt down with my hand out, prompting the dog to come over and sniff it until he began panting and went to lick my face as I smiled before I started petting him and focused on acquiring his DNA, causing Homer to pause and I removed my hand once I was finished acquiring him until he snapped out of it in a few seconds while the others looked puzzled.
"Jeremy, did you just acquire Homer?" Tobias asked and I nodded while standing up.
"Yes, god knows what the controllers will throw at us soon so I'm going to acquire every single animal I can to be prepared for the worst-case scenario," I replied logically, then Tobias nodded at that.
"Yeah, I suppose that makes sense," Tobias agreed just as Jake went to kneel down in front of Homer and started petting him, only a few minutes had gone by and nothing seemed to happen while Jake looked a bit unhappy.
"Look, I know I've seen you guys morph, but this is the stupidest fucking thing I've ever done," Jake admitted with a sour expression and I frowned slightly.
"Because you're not concentrating enough so try and create a mental picture of Homer and focus on becoming him since it worked for me with the german shepherd morph," I instructed and Jake looked at me.
"So I have to, like, meditate on becoming a dog?" Jake questioned.
"That's right, you have to think about it, want it," Tobias added, then Jake seemed to focus until Homer became very quiet, just like before when I acquired him and it was like he was asleep but his eyes were open.
"Just like Dude, so I think the process kind of puts the animal in a trance or something," Tobias theorized and Jake smirked.
"Nah, he's just scared because he thinks his master is a looney tune," Jake remarked wryly as he continued stroking Homer's fur until he was done acquiring the dog's DNA and looked at Tobias to ask, "Okay, so now what?"
"Now, we better take Homer outside since he might freak out by watching you turn into him," Tobias said as Homer snapped out of it and stood up, then Jake took him outside while we waited until he came back to see me leaning back against a wall with my arms crossed and Tobias sitting on Jake's bed.
"Well, just give it a try so think about it, want it," Tobias urged, then Jake closed his eyes and took a deep breath before concentrating on becoming Homer until a short time had passed and he opened his eyes.
"Bow-wow, guess it didn't work for me, Tobias," Jake quipped while laughing, only I saw orange fur starting to sprout from the back of his hands and Jake started to scratch one of them while his ears began stretching and growing longer.
"Jake, you should look at your hand," I said dryly, causing him to look before the sight of fur on his hand made him jump about a foot in the air while he let out a startled gasp.
"Jesus Christ!" Jake yelped in alarm as he stared at his hand, just before the fur stopped growing and his ears quit changing.
"Don't be afraid, just go with it since you stopped the morph and need to concentrate," Tobias advised while Jake was hyperventilating.
"Fucking hell, my hand! Fur!" Jake rambled with his eyes bulging out.
"And your ears," I added, causing Jake to run over to the mirror on his dresser before he gazed at his mutated ears in shock.
"Go on, it's so damn cool," Tobias encouraged, only Jake looked shaken up and I didn't blame him since starting to change into a dog wasn't normal.
"Cool?! T-This is so fucking creepy and look at my hands, I have fur for christ's sake!" Jake sputtered in disbelief before Tobias frowned.
"You have to do this, Jake," Tobias stated, prompting Jake to shoot him a withering glare.
"I don't have to do anything," Jake retorted sullenly before I sighed irritably.
"Look, it's your choice if you don't want to do this and forget about what happened last night, but the Yeerks will continue to enslave people and how long will it be until your friends and family are next? Will you be able to live with the fact that your parents and older brother could become controllers and you didn't do anything to prevent it?
I get it, this is a pretty terrifying situation that we've been thrown into with barely any time to process it and not knowing who to trust because of those damn parasites being everywhere and not knowing who is a controller or not, but we need to face the facts that the Yeerks will come for us eventually and not being prepared for it is a glorified death sentence, so we need to take the fight to them before they come after us first and I'll be damned if I'm going to let those bastards catch me off-guard," I stated darkly, causing Jake and Tobias to stare at me with looks of surprise.
"Damn, maybe you should be the leader because that was pretty inspiring and convincing all at the same time," Tobias said and I looked at him.
"Well, we need to understand that we're at war now, so we can't afford to have doubts at the moment since that'll only do more harm than good," I pointed out and Jake swallowed hard until he sent me a reluctant nod before closing his eyes.
I saw the changes beginning again with fur spreading all over him as Jake opened his eyes and watched with morbid fascination, his bones cracking as they shortened and his tail grew out before his legs and hips snapped into a quadruped stance while his feet and hands elongated with his toes and fingers shifting into paws.
Jake could no longer stand and fell onto all fours while his thumbs and big toes melted into the sides of his fore and hind legs as his nails grew into short and stubby claws, then his face began pushing out into a muzzle while his eyes moved closer and his ears finished growing until Tobias got up and tilted the mirror down so that Jake could see himself, then he watched the last of his flesh being covered by fur with his tail growing to its full length and his clothes fell off until a normal-looking golden retriever stood in his place.
I could see the excitement and joy in his eyes as Jake began to sniff at Tobias' shoes and mine until his ears perked up and he went to bolt to the window, then I understood that the dog instincts were starting to take over so I quickly moved to get in his way held him back before he could start barking at Homer like crazy as I grabbed his head with my hands and forced him to look at me.
"Jake, look at me, the dog's instincts are taking over so focus on me because you are Jake who's in the form of a dog that had been copied by Homer's DNA," I said firmly, and Jake gazed at me with confusion in his eyes.
"But, there's a dog in my yard," Jake told me while looking like a lost puppy.
"That's the real Homer who's out there and what's happening to you now is what happened to Tobias when he morphed into a cat, so you have to stay in control and adapt to the dog's mind or it'll overwhelm you," I instructed as Jake tucked his tail between his legs and looked miserable as he let out a whine, then I scratched behind his ears and it looked to have made him feel better as he perked up slightly.
"Sorry, I was just so happy and curious about everything and when I heard Homer, I couldn't control myself," Jake said in complete embarrassment and I smiled.
"Hey, I completely understand since the same thing happened to me while I was in the german shepherd morph, which goes to show that we need to be very careful or the instincts could overwhelm us," I reassured as I let Jake go and stood up before looking at my watch.
"Anyway, I need to go since I have some things I need to take care of in town, so do you guys know a place where we can regroup with the others?" I added and Tobias nodded.
"Yeah, Cassie's barn would probably be the best place so it's outside of town, can't miss it," Tobias told me, giving me the address and I went to leave.
"Thanks, meet you there," I replied before leaving Jake's room and his house, making it to my truck and driving to Cassie's barn first since I needed to acquire as many animals I can find in there before making preparations for tonight when I went to the Sharing meeting at the beach.
A/N Hey guys, I want to apologize for keeping you waiting since I was busy with my other stories and I didn't have all the Animorphs books, so I had to search everywhere online to read them for free and managed to find a site a few days ago, now I'll be able to catch up on the entire series and continue this story because of it since I will know what'll happen throughout the series.
So, what did you think about the changes I made so far? I think I did okay with having Jeremy prevent Tobias and Jake from looking like idiots while they were each in the cat and dog morphs as I also had Jeremy's morphing look different than the others.
Also, do you guys think I should have Jeremy reveal who he really is without violating the rules Ellimist set for him? I've had this idea where Jeremy uses his reflexes and sharpshooting skills during the assault on the Yeerk pool under the school, which would save nearly all of the prisoners but also cause Jake and the others to have questions for him so should I do that?
Well, let me know your answer and stay tuned.