Note: I do not claim ownership of the Animorphs. That honor belongs to K.A. Applegate. Not me.

Author Note: (A bit overused idea, yes, but no two authors think the same.)

Thought I'd do what just about every hard-core Animorph fan would want or has done:

Continue the legacy my way.

This is Animorphs Reloaded. A new team, a new place, a new time, a new choice.

A new story.

Jake knew he was killing them all when he ordered to ram the Blade ship. He knew, because it was what Rachel would have done.

But things are about to get a bit more complicated…

The team has changed.

And so have the rules.


Chapter One


My name is Jake.

And I am about to die.

Maybe that's why I was so calm in what seemed to be the last few moments of my life. Maybe that's why I could stand there and watch as the black body of the Blade ship filled the screen. Because I knew my fate, and I accepted it.

I looked to Tobias and he looked to me. We said nothing, but somehow we both knew what each other wanted to say. Some people say how your life will flash before your eyes in your final moments. But I can tell you now, that what you see right before your death isn't all your life.

Just the parts you regret. Just the parts that meant the most.

I'm sorry Rachel…

Her face flashed across my mind, happy, exhilarated, dangerous and ready to fight. Rachel, my cousin; the Animorph who had been the fire that had kept us going in the worst of times. Then I saw her dead, laying there so peacefully, the fight and beauty never entirely leaving her face.

I'm sorry Tom…

My brother…dead. Dead because of a choice; my choice. Dead because of Rachel. Dead because of me.

I'm sorry Tobias…

The way he had looked at me when he knew what I had done, who's blood was on my hands. But he forgave me. In these last seconds he had at last forgiven me. And so had Rachel. And so had Tom.

But it didn't matter anymore.

I'm so sorry…

Marco…

Ax…

Cassie…oh God…Cassie…

And then Rachel was there beside me. And so was Cassie, and so was Ax, all here with me, with us, in their own little ways. We were united, together again. We were the Animorphs, the original team of six, the defenders of Earth for so many years. We were, we had been. But there was a new team now.

Jeanne stood on the bridge beside Santorelli; Menderash was at the controls. Jeanne for Rachel. Santorelli for Cassie. Menderash for Ax. Then Marco, and Tobias and…me. Half the old team, half the new. Both halves never to be the same again. The team was different in more ways than one. Except for our purpose, our cause. Our name.

We are the Animorphs. The new Animorphs. And our story does not end here.

The Rachel exploded around me as we shot through the outer hull of the Yeerk Blade ship. The heat scarred my face, my hands, my body as I stared defiantly at the One, the monster who had taken my friend and ultimately me.

I smiled.

"Feel this."