Reboot - Animorphs - P. A. Nolte

1/ A group shot of our terrified protagonists hiding behind a concrete tube and other abandoned remnants of the construction site they shouldn't have taken a short cut through.  Light spills over the top of the tube, making what they're hiding from difficult to see.

Jake is our everyman, brown hair and eyes.  To his left is Marco, kind of handsome, mostly obnoxious.  To Jake's right is Rachel, his cousin, a blonde teen model type.  Then Cassie, Rachel's best friend and opposite, and Tobias, a scruffy-looking kid with sandy blonde hair.

Elfangor:  <Do not be frightened, children...>

2/ An alien ship has crashed in the middle of the construction site.  In the distance is a mall, but everything else beyond is anonymous residential.  The ship itself is built somewhat like a tiny USS Enterprise, with a larger pod towards the front and stubby wings tipped with long, tubular engines.  The primary difference is the large beam weapon jutting out of the back, between the wings, that curves back up and into a point like the tail of a scorpion.  Out of a crescent-shaped door, a walkway has extended, and collapsed on the walkway is Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul.  An Andalite.

At first glance, he looks mostly like a blue centaur, but his body is more lean, like a deer, there are too many fingers on his hands, and his tail, though long and flexible, has a frighteningly sharp blade on it.  Eerily reminiscent of the tail on his ship.  His face has almond-shaped eyes, but no mouth, and two stalks sprout from his forehead with an extra eye at the end of each stalk.  They would be wildly scanning the area around him if Elfangor weren't so focused on the problem at hand.  He is about to die.

In front of him, several feet down the walkway, is a blue cube. Each side is about six inches long, and the whole thing pulses with a soft light.  Elfangor must have dropped it as he made his way out of the ship.

Only Tobias has hesitantly stood up and started to step out from behind the detritus.

Tobias: We aren't.

Marco: Speak for yourself.

3/ Tobias is at Elfangor's side.  He's put one arm around his shoulder, trying to help the wounded alien to his feet.  It's a heartfelt but meaningless gesture.  Cassie has moved a little closer, but the others are still firmly planted where they were.

Elfangor: <You are... young.  You have no power with which to resist the Yeerks, but-->

Tobias: Yeerks?

4/ Elfangor reaches out for the blue cube, but his injuries prevent him from moving even an inch closer to it, and he winces in pain.

Elfangor: <The Escafil Device...>

5/ A human hand grabs the cube.

6/ From Elfangor's point of view, Jake holds out the Escafil Device.  The other three stand behind him with various worried expressions.  Tobias has backed away from Elfangor a little, just enough to be out of Jake's way and  in frame with the others.

Caption: My name is Jake.