Disclaimer: the Animorphs book series is owned by K. A. Applegate and Schoolastic, so basicly peeps, I ain't gettin' nothin' off o' this story o' any others... though if you wanted to you could give me money.

My eyes opened as slits, I was too tired to open them anymore. Something beyond the confine of my keep moved to the side and stopped. All I could see was green; light green and nothing more. About to close my eyes from seeing nothing worth keeping them open, something caught my interest. Darker green shapes and figures, moving, like a silhouette puppet show, but lacking a plot or any characters. The simple mind of a dazed stupor allowed the simple fine movements of the shapes to amuse me.

The edges of my mouth curved up in a small far off smile, as I watched on. In the back of my mind I noted that the smile felt odd, unfamiliar, as if the muscles used for smiling had diminished and weakened, but this was overlooked as I watched the darker shades of green shift and reshape like a three dimensional object turning.

One of the blobs on the other side of the surface moved to the left. It had a large horizontal base, and a blobby stick jutting straight up on one side. Then more dark green smudges began to move around. The longer ones bounced in the light green, knocking other, taller dark green smudges down, protecting the first blur I'd seen.

I made no connections between anything, as if detached from reality. The smudges continued their assault on one another as the first one made tiny moving blurs in front of it. Then it stopped, five of the fighting blobs were left, the other's didn't move. The five moved towards the first blob, stopped then moved towards me.

Only then did I become aware of myself. There was a downward current in the green. I twitched as I realized my existence. Things hurt, little pains, but only a few, as if little sticks were wrenching themselves out of my flesh. Then there were more, and more. Increasing in frequency, within a mere second I was engulfed in small countless pains of warm metal wrenching themselves out from a half inch within my body. I flailed just as they finished, ramming my head and thick muscled tail into the opposite side of my confines, arching my body so that my middle pressured itself greatly against the side that my head had rested on. When they stopped I relaxed again into my tired state.

The current increased, and I began to move down with it. My head bumped against the bottom, nose first. As the rest of my body continued slowly downward the weight of my own body pushed my head sideways so that my long, almost slender, head lay sideways, and uncomfortable enough to nearly be pain. After the metallic pain, my awareness of my surroundings faded, however, I moved myself out of the uncomfortable position my body was beginning to rest in, so that I avoided straining my neck, or injuring it.

I had nearly fallen asleep when I felt air on my long tail. It was cold, which brought me back to awareness of my surrounding. The warmth of green, it was comforting, and the sudden cold was a stark contrast that would not permit me to sleep. By swishing my tail around I managed to get it about a foot below the surface, that is, of course, until the cold air reached my tail again, but this time no matter how I struggled with my tail, I couldn't get it back below the surface. Then it sank below my rear.

The necessity my body had to sleep was wearing off, but my drowsiness made me desire it. I thrashed at the round wall surrounding me, trying to gain more space to settle in. I convulsed my body, wormlike, to swim. Curling myself at the bottom of the tube I wrapped my tail up my chest, over my shoulder, and around my back, and then rested, my head slowly floating down where it rested on my stomach.

Then I woke up again. Opening my eyes to brightness, seeing the rippling surface of the light pastel green. It had reached the top of my back and was proceeding down my body. My eyes flickered then moved back and forth, back and forth. They didn't go side to side anymore, just front and back. I stood up and whirled, throwing my tail down to the ground as I arched my body up. Vibrant colors swirled as I torqued my torso at an odd angle. Stumbling into the glasslike surface from using limbs of unfamiliar proportions I looked at a face of pink flesh, I was almost relieved until I noticed there wasn't a normal nose, no mouth and blue fur surrounding every thing.

Not human, alien. What was it? The question fiercely ran through my mind. Whatever it was, it had done this.

"RRROOOOUW!" I yelled at it, meaning to screech 'you.' The inability to pronounce this simple word frustrated me more, fueling my rage.

Nearly hysterical I flung my neck and head into the sides of the tube. Frustrated and not succeeding in the braking of my keep I opened my mouth wide and bit the wall. The lack of grooves and friction caused my jaws to snap closed. Opening them again against the frictionless surface I sawed with my front sharp teeth, madly closing my jaw, and opening it in quick succession, without clacking my teeth together. Then stopped, my outrage grew inside me as my open jaws kept constant pressure on the glass and glared.

The blue alien hadn't moved from its spot, but it had leaned back, wide-eyed at my out burst. It's two eyes atop it's head swivelled down, curving the finger like structures so that the creature looked like it was questioning me with all four eyes. It's large, head based eyes flickered to my right and back, to something behind me. It repeated the gesture with it's eyes then cocked it's head slightly to the side, as if it's neck was barely mobile, then it's body angled to the side to move its head more in the questioning gesture.

Not knowing what he wanted I flung my body to the other side as I roared to see what it had looked at. At first I saw vibrant orange, then the tiger. Then the other members of this group, if it was a group. Bear, wolf, gorilla, and some stupid hawk. Surprised by my sudden fling of my body, some of them had taken a small step back, as if ready to bolt away if such a situation called

for. Then they looked at me as if they had said something and were waiting for a reply.

Not knowing what they wanted now, I shoved my front paws into the glass, the palms of my hands were thick, white, scaled, and elephant-like, and my fingers were the same length as before, but they appeared much smaller since compared to the base of my hand, and each finger was tipped with a small talon-like claw.

I meant to yell at them, 'what am I?' instead it came out as, "RRAAAAAAAAW RREH RAI!" Wedging my back up against the wall behind me I brought my rear legs up and pushed against the wall in front of me. I could tell my strength had increased greatly, but it made no difference.

Lessening the pressure I held against the tube, I slid down. I moaned and shuttered, crying, but there were no tears. I swallowed and looked up, the blue alien had joined the earth animals. It seemed to be communicating with them somehow by the way they met each other's eyes.

Then the blue one trotted over to a control panel and brought up a blank window. He clicked on a few things, then scrolled down in one of them until he found the word English, he clicked it, and then began typing words into the blank window.

We do no wish to cause you harm, but we cannot get you out unless you calm down.

We are not the ones who did this to you.

The yeerks a parasitic alien which takes over the brain, have only recently began work on developing alternative technology to the ones my race has developed, which is the power to change ones own body into any carbon based organism. Your are of the third experiment that they have performed, and the only survivor.

A sickly feeling stuck in my stomach. There were others? How had the experiments failed? Did I want to know?

Unfortunately, we are the only resistance on Earth against the yeerk movement.

I coughed up some of the green slime I'd slept in.

This lab is small so as to avoid enemy suspicion, but there is no doubt that reinforcements are being sent at this moment. We must scatter now if we are all to survive.

He had been looking at my reactions the entire time he typed with his swiveling eyes, and now he paused to observe my reaction. I didn't move, but looked at him waiting for what he would tell me next.

We cannot change you back right now, the process would take months, and I am not a medical scientist and would not know what the process involved, so even if we had available time and facilities that could perform such a complicated reversal, none of us would be able to do it. However, we, right now, are a delaying force, we are awaiting my people's arrival, and I am very sure that they would be able to make such a reversal possible.

Will you cooperate and come with us, we have already wasted much time, and now is the moment you must choose.

I looked down, then sat up straight and looked directly at the blue centaur, and nodded yes. This creature, seeing my nod, began to fling its arms around the control panel, pressing buttons everywhere, opening and closing windows, knocking them down, and bringing them back up, until finally he stopped and turned his body towards me so that he could look at me with his main eyes. Once he could he turned his stalk eyes to the open door the grizzly guarded.

I cocked my small ears, then looked up at the metal ceiling above me. Mechanical machinery clanked, and rumbled slightly, then stopped when the sides of the twenty foot tall tube began sliding down.

Eager to get out of the cramped space I leaped over the glass, only to have my rear legs catch themselves on the top of the glass. My body swung down and hit the other side of the glass hard. I yelped more so at the surprised of the impact than pain. Actually, now that I think of it, there was no pain when I hit the glass. Holding unsurely to the top of the glass with the fronts of my legs I allowed the lowering tube to bring me down safely, awkwardly, and with less dignity. Or at least if would have if I hadn't lost my hold and fallen hard on the gray metal floor. Immediatly in reaction I twisted to one side, stopped, then hurled myself in the other direction so that I stood on all fours and snarled, ready to kill whatever would try to attack me in my temporary defenselessness, then immediately stopped, so that I would appear ready to cooperate with them. But there was injury to that perception from seeing my show of wild aggression.

Can you here me? a voice, sounding human, said in my head.

Another, inhuman, said, If you can, try and communicate in the same way.

I nodded yes that I could hear it and in agreement to try, though I had no idea how. Is this it? I looked at them questioningly. They just stared, I tried again, still clueless on how to approach this. Nothing. I couldn't do it.

Ax I don't think he can, the hawk looked up at the scyth-wielding alien. And we need to go now! the hawk also had a human boy's voice.

The tiger looked at me asked, will you follow us, or will you try and attack us, because you did show aggression. At least I think it was the tiger, I couldn't tell, but I was unsure if I should nod yes to following or shake my head no to attacking. If I did both they might take that as uncertainty. I lifted my hand six inches off the ground, flexed my claws, and shook my head 'no.'

Then you'll follow us? I nodded. He moved his head down, looking at me hard. I'll be leading, then the wolf, the grizzly, you, then Ax the blue one who typed on the computer, and the gorrila. he didn't ask if that was alright, but just turned and we all began to trot out.

Everyone was tense and seemed to be keeping an eye out for whatever yeerk infested creatures lurked down here. Scared I lowered my head with wide eyes.

Keep your head up, The Ax said as an order. I could tell why they called him that, the blade on the end of his tail made it impossible to guess what else could have given him that name.

Not wanting to be left alone, or let my jugular vein have an up close encounter with his ax, I did as he said.

Passageways and broken down doors hung in their frames as we passed. Some of the rooms I noticed had blood specalling the floor. The second room like this, I noticed that there were paw prints and hoof prints that had sliced and stepped through the bodies that lay in heaps. It was tempting to hunch back down and try to avoid the reality that the people I was traveling between had just slaughtered a hoard of what had been described as the 'bad guys.'

They had said that there were parasitic creatures that had controlled these aliens, but how could I trust the words of people whom had rescued me, but had probably slaughtered so many of the 'hosts' most likely moments ago. For all I knew, these slaughtered people had rescued me from the guys I was walking with, and had been attempting to reverse the process, but then why hadn't these six greeted me hoisting weapons? Perhaps they were destroyed during the slaughter.

I tried to put those thoughts on hold for the moment. From what I could tell, what had been done to me was meant to ready me for battle. I was stronger and faster from what I could tell after struggling in the twenty foot test tube, and I might have the physical ability to put them out of commision, but what if I couldn't? How could I know what to do? I'd never fought before so how could I know what to do?

I could see sunlight ahead now. It was getting towards the evening. How long was I in that tube? How had I gotten there, because I couldn't remember anything recently in chronological order.

We emerged into a forest, they looked every which way and then, Ax, take her to that shelter we built last night. I'm not sure if you'll fit, the voiced I recognized as the tiger's said to me, but it'll have to do for now.

Shelter? I thought they were a resistence to these 'yeerk invaders.' Shouldn't they have a better fort? A base similar to the one we had just come out of? But none the less, I followed Battle Ax.

(A/N: phew, that's the longest time I've ever spent on cranking out a full chapter to anything! I hope you've enjoyed it cuz it took some hell of a waste of time. I'd like to know what region of the US the animorphs live in, don't give it away for others whom have yet to finish the series. I never will, but that doesn't mean I wanna destroy finding out the ending for some other person. Anyway please let me know what you think, comments make me happy. Now I'm gonna run off and finish my homework and eat my tostidos (c).