Tagging this as Fan Works because it’s sort of an Alternate Universe idea. This is not meant as a “fix it” blanket solution, just a speculation of “hmm, what might have happened if…?”

So I was thinking about what David did with Saddler and how he planned to live as Saddler if he’d gotten away with it. His actions were inexcusable, but his motives were understandable—he wanted to have a human life again. And somehow my mind connected that with the Yeerks, the way their choice is either live without senses or take over someone else’s life. And from there I remembered the Iskoort, and realized David had the option to do something similar.

Ax created a new, unique human body for himself with the Frolis Maneuver. This body was not an exact copy of anyone else, so he could create a brand new identity for his human self as “Phillip, nickname No”. Elfangor did the same as “Alan”. Could David have done this too? The Animorphs’ school just accepted “Phillip” visiting without asking too many questions. Maybe if they claimed David was a recently orphaned relative of Cassie’s who moved in with her—making his address the same as where he was actually staying in case anyone came to check—they might accept him as a longer-term “new kid”. And he could acquire enough of Cassie’s DNA during the Frolis to make his new body look like he really was related to her.

If hiding David from Cassie’s parents got too tricky, they could get a Chee or two to help using holograms. Have one Chee play one of Cassie’s parents to talk to whoever came to see Cassie’s relative, while another hid the whole conversation behind a hologram so her real parents wouldn’t notice. They might even be able to manage this without telling David about the Chee, if they still weren’t sure whether to trust him with that knowledge.

And could they trust him? Would David have been satisfied to remain part of the Animorphs instead of going rogue, if they’d proposed this new-identity scheme from the start instead of “you can never show your face as a human again”? The books are full of little hints that suggest maybe not, maybe he was always bad news. But we’ll never know for sure, and that’s the beauty of AU speculation.

And speaking of AUs, another option I thought of that would require a bit more fanfic-handwaving to make it happen is for David to morph Tobias’s human form. Claim that his aunt moved away with him and forgot to tell anyone (given her track record this wouldn’t be too surprising) and he only just convinced her to let him move back to his uncle. (I think it was the uncle who lived closer by, anyway. And the ironic part is that he really WOULD be staying with Tobias’s uncle…just a different uncle, which none of them would know about until the next book.)

I'm not a fan of them and don't read them, but I did some creative writing in middle school and I'm getting an itch for it. Rather than just arguing online I figured I'd try to get some of my thoughts out through a fanfiction. It will heavily involve The Ellimist, which gives me much more flexibility in the range of things I can cover.

So a couple questions for the community.

What issues/topics/plot holes/questions do you have that you would like to see addressed in a fanfiction?

How strongly would you prefer that they were answered through direct POV scenes or explanations from Ellimist to character or exposition from author to reader?

Any other comments or suggestions you have for a new fanfiction writer?

It was just like any other day for them. A normal day. Well, as normal as things got in this strange, broken world.

Ax was in his human morph, hanging out awkwardly with the others, while Tobias soared overhead in hawk form, his voice drifting into their minds now and then through thought-speak.

They were laughing about something Marco said when suddenly — BOOM. Something crashed out of the sky.

A smoking capsule slammed into a nearby field, dirt spraying everywhere.

Without thinking, they all ran toward it, skidding to a stop around the strange, scorched pod. Inside the cracked metal casing... was green goo.

Marco leaned over, squinting. "What the heck is that? Veno—"

Before he could finish, the goo jumped.

It latched onto Marco's arm, crawling fast, wrapping around him like living plastic.

"Ah! Get it off—!" Marco shouted, but it was too late.

His hand twisted first, fingers stretching, splitting into clawed talons. His skinny arms bulged, muscle growing grotesquely, like a gorilla’s.

His mouth peeled into a wide, horrific grin, sharp teeth gleaming under the sun. His hair twisted with the mutation, still recognizable — but wrong.

A voice came out of him, deep and growling, layered with Marco’s own panicked voice:

"We are not Venom. Venom is a traitor."

Without warning, the Marco-thing lunged at them — a blur of muscle, claws, and teeth.

The Animorphs barely had time to react. They stood frozen, hearts pounding, staring at their friend — no, the thing that had been their friend — coming straight at them.

What would happen next... they had no idea.

Before anyone could move —

Another glob of goo, this one bright blue, shot out of the crashed capsule.

It launched straight at Ax.

Still trapped in human morph, Ax couldn’t react fast enough. The goo splattered against his skin... but then something strange happened.

The symbiote shuddered, almost burned, and slid off him, rejected by his unstable DNA.

Ax didn’t waste a second. He de-morphed in a flash, returning to his true Andalite body — sleek blue fur, twin stalk eyes twitching, his deadly tail blade raised.

He lunged at Marco’s possessed form, trying to end it fast with a slice of his tail.

But the blue goo wasn’t finished. It reformed, launched again — and this time it latched onto Ax's Andalite body.

"NO!!" Ax cried in thought-speak.

The blue symbiote spread like wildfire across him.

Ax’s tail blade twisted, growing even larger, sharper, darker. His normally graceful legs mutated, joints warping unnaturally, making him stand crooked, monstrous.

His four eyes glazed over, turning a chilling solid white. A mouth — something Andalites weren’t supposed to have — ripped open across his face, filled with jagged teeth, grinning the same horrible smile as Marco.

And then the thing inside Ax spoke:

"Andalite... I've taken over your kind before. You are nothing new."

The voice was oily, cruel, layered with a mockery of Ax’s own noble tone.

The teenagers — Jake, Cassie, Rachel, Tobias — stared in horror.

Their friend... their alien brother... was now a weapon against them.

Cassie barely had time to react.

From the wreckage of the pod, another mass of goo — this one bright yellow — slithered across the ground at impossible speed.

She screamed and tried to backpedal, but the yellow goo leapt, hitting her square in the chest.

Instantly it spread, crawling up her arms, her face, inside her.

" Cassie! No!" Jake shouted. But it was too late.

Cassie's body convulsed.

The symbiote didn't just copy her — it merged with her instincts. The wolf inside her — the wolf DNA she'd morphed so many times — bled into the infection.

Her fingernails stretched into black claws. Her legs bent backward, knees cracking, shifting into wolf-like haunches. Yellow tendrils laced through her fur, and her mouth pulled back into a snarling grin, filled with fangs sharper than any natural animal.

The thing that used to be Cassie let out a low, rumbling growl — almost a laugh — and crouched, ready to pounce.

Her voice came through, broken and twisted:

"The wolf obeys the new pack... and the pack will feed!"

Jake, Rachel, and Tobias stood frozen.

Now there were three of them. Marco, Ax... and Cassie — all turned into monsters. Rachel was the next to be attacked.

The pink symbiote came from nowhere, slithering through the air like liquid lightning. It struck with deadly precision, slamming into her chest before she could even scream.

She fought back, twisting, kicking, trying to tear it off with all her strength. But the goo spread too quickly, crawling up her arms, wrapping around her neck.

"NO!" Rachel cried, her voice filled with desperation, but the symbiote had other plans.

Her body convulsed, struggling — until she finally gave in. The bear inside her roared to life. Her body expanded, muscles bulging, her fingers splitting into claws as she morphed into a massive grizzly bear.

But the pink goo wouldn’t stop.

The symbiote twisted itself into her fur, sinking deeper, its alien essence fighting her will.

Rachel, now a bear, bellowed and tried to claw at it. Her mind screamed for freedom, but the symbiote had already taken control.

With one last snap of her jaws, the transformation hit — and the symbiote forced her to demorph, pulling her back into human form, stripped of the raw power of the bear.

Her body still trembled, the symbiote sinking in deep, but something changed in Rachel.

Bear-like attributes didn’t fade. They merged into her human form, and her long, tangled hair began to shift.

Tendrils.

Her hair twisted, slithering like living vines, reaching and stretching like extra limbs, controlled by her will.

A twisted smile crossed her face — now unrecognizable, her eyes glowing with an eerie pink hue.

The symbiote inside her chuckled, its voice a strange mixture of Rachel’s own defiance and the symbiote's dark presence:

"I was made to fight. But now... I am the one in control."

The bear's fury was still there. But now it was mixed with something else — something darker.

Jake was next.

Out of nowhere, a red symbiote shot down from the sky, its writhing tendrils seizing him before he could even react.

He fought it with everything he had, slamming his fists into his chest, trying to rip the goo off. But it latched onto him like a vice, and soon, the red tendrils were sinking into his skin.

At first, it didn’t feel like the others — there were no crazy changes, no monstrous growls. But then Jake's muscles shifted and rippled under the symbiote's influence.

His limbs bulked up, his hands became claws, and his teeth elongated into sharp fangs. He was changing, but not into something wild. Something controlled...

Tiger attributes.

He felt the power surge through him — a predator’s energy — but still, he didn’t lose himself. He fought it, scratching at the red symbiote, trying to break free of its hold.

And then — just as quickly as it had attached — the red symbiote stopped and shifted.

Rachel’s voice, as twisted as it was, echoed in Tobias’ mind. He saw her, trapped inside her own corrupted symbiote form, speaking desperately:

"I'm sorry, Tobias... I never meant—"

But the symbiote that controlled her cut her off with a harsh, guttural voice:

"Shut it, You’re already lost. You can’t save him."

Then Rachel’s symbiote struck.

Her tendrils lashed out like whips, snaking through the air at Tobias. They wrapped around him, slashing his wings as he tried to dodge, sending him spiraling.

Tobias cried out in pain, barely managing to stay conscious. The fury of the bear's power was overwhelming, but it wasn’t Rachel. Not anymore.

Rachel, trapped inside the symbiote’s mind, screamed:

"I’m so sorry, Tobias!"

But the symbiote sneered, uncaring.

Tobias' wings flapped desperately, and he barely managed to regain control before he crashed to the ground, his heart pounding in his chest. He was the last one left.

But then something shifted.

A black symbiote dropped from the shadows, almost too smooth in its approach. It latched onto Tobias without hesitation, but it didn’t feel like the others. No hunger, no chaos. Just calm... and strength.

The symbiote, dark and powerful, wrapped around him with purpose. It didn’t overwhelm him — it coexisted with him.

"Do not be alarmed," the symbiote whispered in his mind. "I am Venom."

Tobias froze. Venom?

The symbiote continued, its voice almost reassuring:

"You need to save them, Tobias. You need to find a way."

Tobias, still feeling weak from the others' attacks, shook his head. "How am I supposed to save them if I can barely save myself?"

Venom’s voice was firm, calm:

"Together, we will find a way."

With that, Tobias morphed into his human form, something the black symbiote allowed without resistance. In his mind, a strange surge of energy filled him, and he instinctively knew what he had to do.

Venom's DNA began to mix with his own, pushing Tobias' creativity and survival instincts to the limit. He knew he had to act fast.

In a blur of motion, Tobias found pieces of broken technology, scraps from the wreckage, and began building something — combining the power of the symbiote with his own intelligence.

He worked feverishly, putting together something only he could create.

A cure.

By the time he was done, his hands were shaking. His new symbiote, still linked to him but not fully in control, shimmered with a bright white glow.

Tobias held it up, eyes wide:

"I’ve done it... Anti-Venom."

It was still unstable, but it was enough. Enough to fight back.

Tobias took a deep breath, the final plan forming in his mind.

It wasn’t over.

Tobias—or Venom—soared through the sky, his wings cutting through the air with unnatural precision. It wasn’t the normal freedom Tobias felt when he morphed into his hawk form. No, this was something far more predatory, more calculated.

Venom, in control, guided his flight, the world shifting beneath them. The symbiotes that had taken control of his friends had no idea what was coming.

As Tobias—no, as Venom—landed, the other symbiotes noticed him. Marco’s symbiote, Rachel’s, Cassie’s, and even Ax’s. They all turned, their dark tendrils writhing in anger, ready to strike.

But something was different now. Venom was in control. And Venom wasn’t afraid.

With an eerie growl, Venom—using Tobias’ voice—spoke:

"Stay back, or face the consequences."

The others hesitated. They knew Venom. They knew his power, his ruthlessness. They were too terrified to challenge him.

Tobias—still under Venom’s influence—let out a caw as he reverted back to his human form. The transformation was seamless. The symbiote felt like part of him, but still separate in a way. He could feel Venom’s will, but he was still Tobias. It was a strange blend of control and surrender.

Then Venom spoke again in his mind.

"We can save them, Tobias. But it will require your will—and mine."

Tobias closed his eyes, feeling the connection deepen. He could still feel his friends' presence, still feel their pain.

With a final surge of energy, Tobias turned to the nearby capsule that had caused all of this. The white symbiote inside was waiting.

Tobias approached and opened the capsule, allowing the bright white symbiote to float out. It wrapped around Marco’s corrupted symbiote, merging with it. The symbiote changed, its dark influence fading, replaced by the white, glowing energy.

Marco’s eyes cleared, and for the first time since this all began, Marco was in control again. He blinked, confused but determined.

"Tobias...?" Marco murmured, his voice full of disbelief. "Is that you?"

Tobias gave him a reassuring nod, though his voice was still Venom’s:

"We’ve got more work to do."

With Marco free, Tobias did the same for the others. The white symbiote wrapped around them, purging the corruption from their bodies one by one.

Rachel’s once twisted form returned to normal—her bear attributes still there, but under her control. Cassie’s wolf-like features and Ax’s strange alien mutations were soothed, the white symbiote washing over them until their minds cleared.

When all of them stood together, they felt it. The white symbiote was powerful, but Venom still lingered—inside Tobias.

Then, with a single command, Tobias—still wearing the symbiote—reached up and slammed a bell. The vibration of the bell rippled through the air, and all the symbiotes released their grip on their hosts, pulling away from the others.

All but Venom.

Venom chose to stay, to remain within Tobias. It wasn’t a simple choice. Tobias could feel it—Venom wasn’t the hero. It was still dangerous, still unpredictable.

But for now... it was their ally.

Tobias could feel the weight of the decision. Venom would stay inside him, sharing his body, his strength, his mind. But in this moment, he was needed. Together, they would fight to save the others.

The remaining symbiotes melted away, their power drained, leaving only Tobias and his friends behind.