The Generations
Written By M.M

CHAPTER 1

My name is Katie. It's a common name. I've known a lot of 'Katie's. You probably have too. But I can guarantee that I am unlike any Katie that you have known. I'm an Animorph. That means that I can touch any animal and morph into it. I'm not the only one either. There are four other kids, one hawk-boy, and one alien. I'll bet that you think I'm crazy. I probably am. But for now, I'll just go with it. But there one thing, Earth is in trouble. Extreme trouble. There are these creatures called Yeerks, they use humans and aliens as host bodies. Their own body is like a slug: small and gross. They crawl into your ear and take over your mind. They can only stay in you head for 3 days, without their Yeerk pool, which is kinda like a feeding ground. But they crawl back in eventually. But right now, we are faced with a dilemma. No one has seen or heard any Controllers in 3 days. Chapman, our school vice-principal (isn't that ironic), Catherine Kaminsky, our local TV anchorwoman, among many others. They just seemed to have disappeared. But we weren't left in the dark for long. We all met in a secluded part of the forest, trying to think of possible places they could be. Even Ax was baffled this time. <It's never happened before, not unless they were fixing to start a massive strike against us> he said. We all shuddered from fear. Tobias was high on the tree tops, unusually silent. "Tobias, are you still with us?" I asked. Tobias got trapped in the body of a hawk before I got here. And even more bizarre than that, he's my twin brother. I know it sounds insane, but didn't I already establish that? Anyways, <I've got this weird feeling, this incredibly weird feeling that something is gonna happen soon. I have not idea what> "Is it like the dreams?" asked Rachel. <What dreams?> asked Ax, I guess that he wasn't with them at that time. To tell you the truth, I was kinda baffled too. "Never mind," answered Cassie. We all looked back up to the branch were he was perched. <No, it's different than the dreams> Tobias finally answered, and then he looked back up at the sky. Unknowing what to do, we decided to meet back there tomorrow. Marco walked me home, see me and Marco are kinda…well, I guess… dang it all, we really like each other. I mean really, really like each other. Jake, Rachel, and Tobias and everybody are giving him a hard time. They tell me that he was always making fun of them: Rachel and Tobias, and Cassie and Jake. They get embarrassed about it though. And I'm, sometimes, smart enough to keep my mouth shut. But, I really do like Marco. He makes me laugh, I don't know, what other people call annoying I just think is funny. I'm hoping the same rule applies in Marco, for my sake. At school the next day, Chapman was still gone, but so was Jake. I passed a note to Rachel and she hadn't seen him either. I passed another one to Marco and Cassie, telling them to meet right after school in the glen. When we got there, Jake and Tobias were there in human morph. "Jake, buddy, it ain't like you to skip school, that's my job," replied Marco, of course. "I wanted to stay to talk to Tobias." Then suddenly, a flash of light unlike anything I had ever seen before, but by looking on everyone else's face, it seemed familiar.

CHAPTER 2

The Ellimist. The fabled Ellimist that they've only told me about. The same Ellimist, who gave back Tobias's morphing power. The same Ellimist who took away mine and Tobias's dad. I didn't know whether I could trust him or not. "Hello Animorphs. I'm afraid that I have some news for you." He said. "What is it?" asked Jake. "Crayak and I have a deal. He is gathering all of the greatest warriors and leaders of the Yeerk side, and I am gathering all the greatest warriors from the good side for a great battle. That's all I must tell you now." And with another flash, he disappeared. "Yikes," said Tobias. "What did he mean by 'greatest warriors from the good side'?" wondered Rachel, out loud. <Well, obviously, he's bringing back Andalite warriors,> answered Ax bluntly. Andalites are a very proud race. And I guess that Tobias and I are half-Andalite. Our father was Ax-man's brother. He came to Earth to escape the interstellar war that was going on between the Andalites and the Yeerks. He married our mother as a human, and the Ellimist made him come back to the Andalite home world. But the Ellimist did allow our father to send us each a letter. Tobias was in absolute danger when he received his, and I just broke into the hospital where we were born when I was eight. I'm still living with my foster parents. We all decided that it could be dangerous to tell anyone else that me and Tobias are brother and sister. "I guess that we should be on the look-out for strange Ax-in-human-morph people," replied Marco. "Uh, guys, I don't think we have to wait…" said Cassie. She was pointing at some bright lights that were coming down in front of us. Ax smiled with his eyes, since he has no mouth. <My cousins are here>. Suddenly, the bright lights from the air exploded, shaking the Earth and blinding us. When it was gone, a group of teenagers stood in front of us, and they all looked vaguely familiar. Then Tobias spoke, "Who are you?" Then, a smug looking guy smiled and said, "You don't see the resemblance? We are Ani2, the second generation of Animorphs." We all looked dumb-founded, so he went on. "We're your kids." We were all astounded. Then they did kinda a role-call. They started from the left, and worked their way right. "I'm Thomas. The son of Jake and Cassie Williams, and this is my little brother, Greg," said the smug looking boy. Adam looked to be about 12, he just stared and looked at Cassie. "Mom?" he asked. Cassie was somewhere between horrified and completely shocked. I was scared of who my kids would be. "I am Arina. Arina-Estogh-Hotgh," we all looked at Ax, "daughter of Aximili and Torna." She was in human form. "Arina, demorph already," said another boy, when she didn't comply he went on, "I'm Alex, son of Tobias and Rachel Fangor." Rachel had her hand on her forehead out of embarrassment. Then another girl stood up, "I'm Amanda, daughter of Rachel and Tobias Fangor." And soon, another girl, "I'm Catherine, daughter of Rachel and Tobias Fangor. Amanda and I are twins."

CHAPTER 3

Finally, we were down to three. Oh boy, here it comes. I thought. I looked over at Marco; he looked back at me and shook his head, obviously reading my thoughts. A little boy stood up, "I'm Jared, son of Marco and Katie Smith." Then a girl, "I'm Donna, daughter of Katie and Marco Smith." I was genuinely, completely, and utterly freaked out by this point. Then the last girl stood up, she was obviously the oldest and had a funny sort of smile on her face, one that I recognized, usually from Marco. "I'm Misty, daughter of Marco Smith and…Rachel Fangor." "WHAT!!" we all screamed, me and Tobias probably the loudest. Rachel had this sick, disgusting, horrified, sickly, gross look on her face, like she couldn't decide whether to faint or throw-up. Then, the girl held up her hands and laughed, along with all of the rest of "Ani2". "I'm kidding. Dang, like that would ever happen, you two have been fighting ever since we were born. I'm the daughter of Marco and Katie Smith." "Misty, that ain't funny. And not even in the smallest effect," said a disgusted Marco. "You're telling me," agreed Rachel. "Why are our last names different?" asked Jake. That was one of the millions of questions that buzzed through our heads. "Because you changed them, after the first wave of Yeerk attacks," said Catherine. "Wait a sec, do you mean that Tobias and I are seriously gonna marry?" "Yeah, right after Tobias goes through the re-nothlit. It's when he becomes human again permanently." Tobias eyes got wide. "You mean I get to escape the red-tail hawk body, and still keep my powers?" he asked incredulously. "Well, yeah." She replied in a 'duh' way. "Chill, Cat. They don't know about it yet. It's just 2002; they don't invent that until 2007. Well, if we aren't already freaked out enough, remember the Ellimist said that our children are gonna come along," said Donna. "What a sec, we're gonna get to meet our grandkids?" asked Marco. He looked over at me, and shook his head again, and then I returned the gesture. Tobias, and Rachel looked like they were sharing a private thought, with their eyes. And now that I looked around, it looked like, I guess, my future daughter, Misty, and Jake and Cassie's future son, Thomas was too. I didn't exactly know what to think of that, then Jake spoke up for the first time in a while. "Look, I guess it's obvious that all of us are pretty freaked out. I guess to make it easier on all of us; can you all just call us by our names? You know Ax, Katie, Tobias, Rachel, Jake, Cassie, Marco?" "Or if you prefer: Ax-man, Buffy, Bird-Boy, Xena, Prince Jake, Tree-hugger, and Genius?" Marco interrupted. "As if! We know what your job will be!" said Alex. "And what is that?" I asked, thinking that this would be interesting. "A stand-up comic and a bad one at that." "Yeah, but what will he be when he eventually grows up?" asked Rachel. I couldn't ignore it. "Good one!" I laughed. "Et tu Katie?" Marco said with a mock pathetic voice. "You bet." I answered, sticky-sweetly. Then the lights started up again. "What's going on?" asked Greg. He was the smallest, and he looked scared. <I believe that your offspring are coming along now. And watch out> said Ax, who'd been unusually quiet through-out this whole encounter. "Watch out for what?" asked Greg. "Uh…well. You'll see, but be ready," replied Cassie.

CHAPTER 4

Suddenly the bright lights were getting bigger. The Animorphs readily crouched down to the ground. Ani2 just looked at us like we were crazy. Then, the explosion happened again. I laughed; some of them fell over like we had. When we were able to see, there were 12 more teenagers in front of us, but they were dressed really weird. Their outfits were like all chromed out. Like something you'd see in a sci-fi flick. I ignored it, probably some future fashions or something. I couldn't imagine how Rachel would take it though. I did the math in my head, 27 teenagers. We now had a small army. Then, they did their own role-call. "James, Meghan, and Holly, son and daughters of Thomas and Misty Williams." Misty put her hands on her face and looked down with embarrassment, while Thomas did a guy version of the same thing. Now that I thought about it, so had Jake, Tobias, and Marco. I didn't mind that Marco had done it, I was embarrassed too. "Jacob the Third, son of Greg and Chelsea Williams." I looked at Jake. He chuckled a little. I'm guessing that Greg-Jacob just looked completely bewildered. "Kayla and Kevin, son of Alex and Katrina Fangor." Alex looked freaked out. "Katrina? Katrina Thomas, from school? I can't believe it!" They simultaneously nodded in agreement. "Joseph and Matthew, sons of Amanda and Jared Smith." Amanda and Jared followed suit. "Deanna and Alicia, daughters of Catherine and Zach Davis." Catherine just shrugged. "Amber, daughter of Donna and Kyle Johnson," she walked over and shook hands with her mom. "Hello, mother," she smiled. Donna looked pale. And lastly, "I am Erised, son of Andalite warriors, Arina and Reebt." I think Arina was so terrified; she was morphing back to Andalite. Then, Jared (at least, I think his name is Jared) broke the ice. "It's gonna take us a while to remember everyone's name." He read my mind. "That's an understatement," scoffed Marco. I shot a puzzled look at him. "Well, it's true." He kinda said with his eyes. Then, we heard the Ellimist speak, "You are all the greatest warriors of your time. It is no coincidence that you are all of the same descendants. Now, you must ready yourselves for battle. Crayak has assembled his warriors, and now I have assembled mine." Then he looked at Ax. "No, Aximili," as if reading his thoughts, "your cousins are not coming. They followed a different war. This war is merely between the Yeerks and humans. The battle will begin in two days hence. I will speak again then." And in another brilliant flash he disappeared. "Well, any ideas?" asked Misty, "such as where we're all supposed to sleep?" "Surprise slumber-party?" asked Rachel. "Am I invited?" asked Marco, obviously trying to ease the tension. But I didn't like that. I elbowed him in the ribs, and then smiled. "Nothing ever changes does it?" said Jared laughing. "What?" asked Cassie. "Well, Dad-, um, Marco was still making jokes, and Mom-, well, Katie, punching him, kicking him, or elbowing him when we left." He laughed, so did Misty and Donna. <Be careful, Jared, and all of you> Arina said in open thought-speak. "Why?" asked a girl, I thought I recognized to be Amber, my grand-daughter. <If they know too much about their own future, it could have serious reproductions on our lives when we escape this past the Ellimist created> "Yep, Ax-man, she's definitely your daughter," laughed Tobias.

CHAPTER 5

The plan ended up being that all the Ani2 and Ani3 would be split up at our houses, and a few of the guys would stay with Ax and Tobias. I had Catherine, Misty, and Holly stay at my house. I was surprised when my foster parents said that it was okay. Rachel had Donna, Meghan, Kayla, and Deanna stay at her house. Since we knew that Cassie's parents would be more reluctant to have a lot of girls spend the night, she only had Alicia and Amber. Marco had Jared, Thomas, Kevin, and James. Jake had to deal with Greg, Alex, Jacob, and Matthew. I guess that his parents were used to having a lot of guys around. Jake had to be really careful, because of his brother. Jake's big brother Tom is a Controller. Of course, Tom was gone with the other Controllers, but no telling when they'd show back up. Arina, Erised, and Joseph had chosen to stay at Ax and Tobias's glen. Meanwhile, I was getting some Pepsi and I looked at the clock. It had stopped moving. "What the heck…?" I started, "Misty! Catherine! Holly! Get in here!!!" I screamed. "WHAT! What is it?" One of them yelled from the other room. When they rushed in, I pointed at the clock. "How can it just stop like that? Is it broken?" asked Catherine. "No, that clock is a wind-up. It won't stop." I answered. "Ellimist, what's going on?" asked Holly. Then we heard his voice, but saw no one. "You noticed," he laughed. "Yes, it is true that you do have two days time to plan, but I stopped present time, so that nothing will have changed once the battle is finished. You will resume your present lives, and if the battle is one, with no memory of it." "So we can learn a lot about our future lives and if we win the battle, we just won't remember it. But what if we lose?" asked Holly. "Well, you'll keep your memory, and your odds of winning this war will be slighted?" he answered. "Exactly how much is 'slighted'?" I asked, inquisitively. "This battle is to determine your odds. If the Animorphs…" a not-so-subtle cough came from Misty, "or Ani2, or Ani3, win this battle, your odds of winning this war will be 60-40. If you lose, 40-60." With that, he disappeared again. "We should probably inform Uncle Jake," said Catherine. Then we heard the Ellimist's voice, even though we couldn't see him. "They are informed." "Why do you call him 'Uncle Jake'?" I asked. "We've grown up calling all the Ani1, excuse me, Animorphs, Uncle or Aunt, except for our own parents, of course," answered Holly. With that, we all went to sleep. I couldn't sleep that night though. I had no idea what was in store for me in the next 3 days. I was just silently awake staring absently at the window. It was a good thing too, because some-all-too-familiar owl started tapping on it. <Hey Katie> Marco replied. I smiled; not wanting to wake up the other girls, I slipped out the back door that goes to the backyard. But as I left I heard a voice behind me, "I'll keep lookout." "Thanks, Misty." I whispered. I found him outside fully demorphed. "Hello, Mrs. Smith." "Not for 10 more years, Mr. Smith." "It's kinda weird though, it's freaky. We know at 15, they we are gonna marry each other and have 3 children. I know that some people plan on it, but we actually know for a fact." I laughed. "But if by some crazy way we actually win this battle, then we won't have any memory of it either," I sighed. "Marco, I'm scared. I mean, it's not like we've never been in a battle before, but at least we know some of what was gonna come. We have no idea what is gonna happen." Marco pulled me close. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you," he smiled. "If something happened to you, I'd have to go back to annoying Rachel again." I laughed again. Then he looked into my eyes, and kissed me. Part of me inside was repeating, "Don't ever lose him. Don't ever lose him…" And I knew I wouldn't. Not ever.

CHAPTER 6

When we reached the glen, I could hear Rachel and Arina discussing the stopped time. <We are obviously in a separate time dimension. We are living in what could be our past, if we win this battle. But if we lose, we shall simply go back to an alternate dimension, to us right now of course, that could possibly be our present in the future>"Yeah, but if this is our present future, theoretically, then if we lose, then we will just go back to the days before the Controllers ended up missing." I noticed that everyone else was either not paying attention, or looked completely lost. I smiled and tried to comprehend this incredibly complicated argument. Marco must've caught my glance, because then he called Rachel "Scholar Xena". "Okay guys, anyone has any ideas on how to prepare for this battle?" asked Jake. "We could hang out and catch some ancient cinema scopes," volunteered Jared. That's Marco's son, I thought to myself. "What's a cinema scope?" asked Cassie dumbfounded. "You should know, I'm guessing that they've been invented for the past 100 years." I thought, cinema scope, cinema scope… "You mean movies?" I blurted out. Duh, I though again. "Yeah, but I thought you called them…" "No, we call them movies, or flicks, if you prefer," answered Marco. "Well, I'm just suggesting that we have some fun in the past." <That's about all we can do> said Erised, <We have no way of knowing what is about to happen. We might as well have fun> <You're right, but it wouldn't hurt us to find some new morphs. By the way, what are your battle morphs?> asked Tobias. "We have a lioness, lion, python, rottwieler," Holly said, "cheetah, panther, shark, eagle, snow leopard, and wolf." Then she smiled, "Some old morphs die hard." "And what about Ani3?" asked Rachel. "T-Rex, triceratops, raptor, woolly-mammoth, pterodactyls," started Jacob. "Wait, how did you get dinosaurs?" asked Cassie. "It's a long story…" answered Kevin. Erised went on, <Taxxons, Andalites, most of us just go in as wolves though> "What about the first generation?" asked Meghan. "Sound off!" said Marco. "Tiger," laughed Jake. "Wolf," shrugged Cassie. "Gorilla," answered Marco. "Grizzly bear/elephant," answered Rachel. I looked over at Tobias; he fluttered his wings while he was perched on his tree. <Red-tail hawk>he thought spoke; it almost sounded like it was in monotone. <Andalite> came from Ax. I said cobra and Cassie gave me a funny look. I soon found out why. "Is that your only battle morph?" she asked. I had been a cobra in our last mission. "I guess. Why?" "I think we might need to get you a bigger animal for this. Cobra's good, but not for an attack," she said. I nodded, it made sense. "The Gardens just got in some new pack of hyenas. You could try that." She said and I nodded. I should explain. The Gardens is this big amusement park/zoo that they get most of their morphs from. Cassie gets in easily. Her mom is a vet there. "Sure" I shrugged. We broke up into separate groups. Misty, Amber, and Joseph came with me and Cassie to the Gardens. It's weird whenever you acquire an animal. It goes into some sort of a trance for about ten seconds. It's like its asleep, but it's not. We all morphed flies to get into the pen. Joseph thought that we should all acquire it. Now, I'm not gonna lie to you, hyena's are dangerous. I was scared, because we had to approach these animals as humans. I tried to ease the tension, "In the words of Marco: kids, don't try this at home." Cassie laughed nervously. We all placed a hand on the hyena. It suddenly calmed, and when Misty had lastly acquired the hyena, we broke into a sprint for the door. The next two days passed quickly. We just hung out with our kids, and tried to pretend that we were not gonna face certain death the next day. Around 3:00, I met Rachel, Tobias, Jake, Cassie, and yes, even Marco at the mall. We had decided to go off on our own, with Ax entertaining everyone else. "It's hard trying to process what's happened in the last two days," stated Rachel. "I guess that's life," answered Cassie. "That's our life," Marco corrected. We all silently agreed.

TO BE CONTINUED IN "Extreme Morphings" COMING OUT IN APPROX. 1 WEEK

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