Animorphs Re-Read: #5 The Predator (Chapters 5-8)

 Chapter 5

The chapter starts off with Ax running away from the mall cops. At least he's only going against mall cops and not real cops. Though either could be a Controller. As Ax is running he's demorphing.

Jake and Marco are running after Ax and hoping that the other people just think that they are running along for the ride. Well if the Yeerks do check the mall after this incident at least it never appeared like Ax was friends with Marco and Jake.

Oh...wait...

Once big changes in Ax's demorphing occurs the screaming starts. Marco doesn't blame the people for screaming because even he is disturbed by the process.

As one of the mall cops says Andalite the whole problem with Ax demorphing is shown. Why the HELL would you demorph with possible Controllers around?

As the real cops come Ax asks for advice. I'm one hundred percent with Marco being amazed that NOW the Andalite wants advice. Ax wasn't interested in advice when things were going well, but once shit hits the fan he suddenly wants advice from the humans. If Ax had only listened when things were going well this wouldn't be happening.

As the trio look for somewhere to run to, the bus not being an option, they decide to go to the grocery store. Well I'm glad that the Controllers won't know to look for Jake or Marco after this!

Marco uses grocery carts to slow down the cops and Controllers. And if this force is being used for this incident I assume most of the cops are Controllers.

As the trio run through the store a kid screams that Ax is a monster and his mother comforts him by saying that Ax is a PRETEND monster.

Marco sees the destination he wants and so pretends that there is a bomb about to go off. Jake, of course, thinks Marco is crazy. And when Marco reveals his plan, of morphing lobsters, Jake builds up more of a hatred of the plan.

As Marco watches the panic in the store he assumes that only cop Controllers would be after them. Of course Controllers would want to either kill or capture an Andalite themselves. Not just for their own egos, but because it can't be revealed that aliens are real and on Earth.

It's hard for Marco to concentrate enough to acquire the lobster as he keeps imagining the bad shit that could go down. Finally Marco is able to acquire the lobster and they help Ax into the tank when he's mid-morph (as Andalites don't fit well in lobster tanks as people do).

The morphing process unnerves Marco more than normal as the terrors of morphing, watching others morph, and the fact that the Controllers might rush in at any moment gets to him.

Marco is very glad his human vision is going away as he doesn't want to watch anymore of the morphing process.

When Marco finishes the morph he gets overtaken by the lobster mind. The two main things it wants to do is to kill and eat.

It doesn't seem like either Marco or Jake is liking the lobster morph at all.

Ax remarks on the lobster hunger and Marco says that animals being hungry is normal. Jake and Marco, on the other hand, are more surprised by lobsters being predators.

Marco then tries to find Jake. He figures to tell themselves apart from the other lobsters by the lack of rubber bands around their pincers. I like how it's remarked numerous times in the book about DNA. This helps to remind younger readers what is and isn't DNA.

Ax reports that they have been in morph for ten minutes. Marco suggests waiting close to the full two hours before demorphing, though he is far from a fan of the lobster morph.


Chapter 6

After waiting an hour something finally happens to the trio. Someone picks Marco up and rubber bands his pincers. Now this is not one of Marco's favorite morphs, he's afraid about possible Controllers, and someone is picking him up out of the lobster's 'natural' environment.

The trio doesn't know what's going on and they worry about Controllers. With Marco's pincers being restrained and ice it's very noticeably a random shopper, not one of the Controllers that are after them. However, they are very panicked at this point so it makes sense why that wouldn't come to mind.

All they are thinking about is possibly getting killed.

The ice makes them all drowsy and Marco zones out until Ax says they only have seven minutes left in morph. Marco, and then Jake, agrees that demorphing would be the best option even if someone sees them. You can't really fight the Yeerks if you're trapped as a lobster.

Marco FINALLY realizes what is happening to him: he's about to be boiled alive!

As he wants to scream so badly, the mouth is one of the first things to appear as he's demorphing. He can't make a sound but the sight creeps the woman that's cooking him so badly that the woman drops him.

Unfortunately Marco isn't dropped on the floor.

As the trio finish demorphing they try and calm the screaming woman. I don't blame her as if I didn't know what was going on I'd scream so hard that I would've passed out by now.

Marco and the other two try and convince the woman that what she is seeing is just a dream. Luckily the woman buys it. I don't know if she truly believes it's a dream or if that she thinks she's going crazy. If it's the latter then of course she won't tell anyone for fear of being locked up.

After Ax has morphed to human and the trio are about to leave, Marco asks the lady to release the other lobsters at the beach. I think that his time as a lobster has made him closer to the animal. He sees himself in them.

Morphing may allow you to become closer to an animal's mind, but the mind isn't the actual animal.


Chapter 7

Animorphs is an awesome series for a variety of reasons. One of them being that it doesn't go light on what our heroes are experiencing. If one of them is scarred in a certain manner, Applegate isn't afraid to show that.

This chapter begins with Marco having a nightmare about the lobster morph. There is no real way to describe it and give the scene justice. Just know it is creepy as fuck and involves a lobster bursting out of Jake's chest.

Marco is woken from his nightmare and thinks his Mom is there. Then it hits him that she's dead and his father is sitting beside him. One of the things I don't get is family connection as I don't have a strong connection with my own.

Marco says he's sorry for waking his dad up but it's then revealed his dad stays up very late. Well, he's done so since Eva (Marco's mom aka his wife) died. Nope, not tearing up here!

Marco and his dad discuss his nightmare. It ends with them discussing how his father is handling his mother's death. Marco wants his dad to move on with his life since staying in the past can ruin you. However, he never voices those opinions.

When his dad leaves, Marco is well aware that his dad is not going to sleep. The care Marco shows here makes me understand his reluctance to fight the Yeerks. He is truly concerned about his father and him not wanting to fight has nothing to do with him being scared for his own life.

The next day they're in woods and Ax has finished making the device to call down a Yeerk ship. Marco remarks that he needs a nice day. I agree with him as he didn't sleep well and I believe the ant morph is coming up soon so he does need the perfect day right now.

Ax says that the device he has built is a distress beacon. The problem I find is that Ax knows about the trick being used before. If it was used before then the Yeerks might be prepared.

Even if they're not: is the risk worth it just because your scared Andalite ass wants to go home?

Jake is a little snappish as he remarks on how hard it will be to get a Z-space transponder. I like how Marco describes Jake as not being like himself because Marco has no idea how much Jake will change. Okay, I'm laughing in pain but it's still laughter!

Rachel gets angry as she realizes they just built something totally useless. Cassie discreetly calms Jake down by hugging him. Oh, you two! I'm so glad you get married at the end!

Marco doesn't have anyone to help him with his mood and he makes a sarcastic remark ending with him wanting a sandwich.

Tobias says he needs to stay out of sight from a Golden eagle. Later on in the series a Golden eagle is how he nearly dies, but I'll talk about that later.

I ship Marco/Tobias so hearing Marco talk about how hard Tobias' life is is more heartwarming than it should be. Okay, it's a sad kind of heartwarming but that's super happy as far as this series is concerned.

Rachel ends up telling Tobias Ax's device is useless since they don't have a Z-space transponder. Tobias then points out that Chapman probably has the device.

Marco recaps about Chapman giving up his freedom for his daughter Melissa. What he says during this shows how mature this series is. He also talks about one of the big bad things about fighting the Yeerks is that the host is innocent while the alien slug is the real culprit. But to fight the Yeerks you have to kill both a lot of the time.

It's one thing to know that's the truth of the matter: it's another thing for a character to admit it.

Marco thinks that whatever plan Jake comes up with won't have a good ending. Ax basically says they can remove one useful part of the Z-Space transponder without the theft being noticed right away.

Rachel says she can't do the cat morph since they nearly made Melissa a Controller doing that last time. So it will be harder than it was last time. Jake then says any plans to go into Chapman's house can't involve Rachel doing cat morph or anything that will endanger Melissa.

Ax realizes how much the other Animorphs are willing to risk for him and then says that they don't have to. They sheltered him and he repaid them by endangering two of the group. Ax's reactions surprises Marco.

Cassie then says that she knows a morph that could get them into the room without going through the main house.

The morph has an exoskeleton.

Oh, god! The ant morph is coming up!

Chapter 8

Cassie's idea for a morph is ants.

The group debates which color of ants they should morph but Marco doesn't care which color. I wouldn't care either which color ant I morphed. But that's not because I consider ants disgusting, I just know what hell hole I'm going into shortly.

As Marco goes over how confused he is about history, Jake informs Marco that they'll be morphing black ants. Tobias had scouted Chapman's house and found out that there were mostly black ants around his house.

I like how Tobias is shown to not be able to morph but still a useful member of the Animorphs team.

Marco then talks to Jake about how he's not looking forward to morphing an ant. Jake comforts the reluctant Animorph by saying that his flea morph wasn't half bad. Marco ends up asking if Jake is okay at one point.

Okay, that's paraphrasing but it's what's meant.

Marco ends the conversation by talking about this being a bad week for him to die since it's the anniversary of his mother's death.

Marco recounts how his mother died and it's a very suspicious death. Not only were his mother's actions odd but the fact is that a body wasn't found. When a body isn't found in fiction the person can still be alive.

This being Animorphs: be prepared a very unhappy revelation.

Marco talks about how he used to pretend that his mother was still alive but he is a realistic person. He knows that one day Ax and the rest of his family would accept Elfangor's death.

This is very strong stuff. ESPECIALLY for a Young Adult's series. Why Animorphs hasn't lasted longer in the public eye is strange since this series never talked down to its intended audience is a mystery to me and many Fanimorphs.

The chapter ends with Marco agreeing to the mission and hating himself for having a conscience.
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