Chapter 12-Misty Reveals a Secret

One day, Slippy decided to test some of his equipment. The others came along to see what he was up to. Fox: "Hey, Slippy, what are you doing?" Slippy: "Oh, hi, guys, I was thinking about testing some of my underwater equipment." Fox: "Really? Sounds great." Slippy: "There's just 1 problem: I left all of our scuba gear on the Great Fox." Fox: "What?" Falco: "Are you kidding me!? You're picking now of all times to test some of your equipment!?" Peppy: "Oh, Slippy, not again." Slippy: "I know…I left this equipment sitting out for quite a while and I want to make sure this stuff actually works before it's too late." Misty: "Maybe I could be of some help." Fox: "What? What do you mean?" Misty: "Guys, um…you have been my best friends since the day we met and…I think it's time that I show you something."

She walked towards the water. Slippy: "Oh, right, she's a fairy. She could help us out." Lisa: "Actually…we fairies are not good with helping people underwater." Slippy: "What!? Then what is she doing!?" Lisa: "You'll see."

Misty floated above the water in front of her friends. Fox: "I hope she knows what she's doing." Lisa: "I hope so, too. We have been practicing this for a while now."

As Misty held her arms out, the water begins to rise up. Fox and his team watched with amazement as the water began to swirl around her. After the water broke off, Fox and his friends became very surprised. Meanwhile from someplace very far away, Ly opened her eyes. Ly: "It has begun."

Misty then lowered herself into the water. She looked up at all of her friends. Lisa flew closer to her. Lisa: "That was wonderful, Misty! You've done it!" Misty: "Thanks. I couldn't have done it without you." Lisa: "It was no problem."

Fox and his friends started freaking out. Slippy: "You're a mermaid!?"

She nodded. Slippy: "Oh, this is perfect! Now you can help us out!" Misty: "Um…to tell you the truth, I'm kind of new to this form and, I don't even know what I can do." Ly: "Misty, can you hear me?" Misty: "Yes, Ly, what is it?" Ly: "You are more susceptible to helping your friends underwater than you may think." Misty: "Um…Ok. But what can I do?" Ly: "You can create air bubbles with your hands to help your friends breathe underwater." Misty: "Ok, but how do I do that?" Ly: "Do you remember how you create those balls of light, the ones that tell you how well you can control your powers?" Misty: "Um…yes." Ly: "You can create air bubbles exactly like that." Misty: "Um…I don't know if I can…" Ly: "You can do it, Misty. I have seen you do it, before." Misty: "Ok, I'll give it a try. Alright, guys, who would like to help me test my powers?" Fox: "I'll go." Slippy: "I'm coming, too." Falco: "Not me, I'm staying here. Me and water just don't mix." Peppy: "I would like to see this first hand." Misty: "Ok, then, come on."

Misty dove underneath the water as Fox, Slippy and Peppy jumped into the water after her. Peach then nudged Falco to go into the water. Falco: "Alright, alright, I'll go, stop nagging me already."

He dove into the water after them.

While they were underwater, Misty tried as hard as she could to conjure up a bubble from her hands. At first she was unable to do it, but she tried and tried again. Fox was about to lose air but stayed underwater because he believed in her. Misty's mind: "I've got to relax, feeling tense won't help me with perfecting my powers."

She then dropped her shoulders and tried to conjure up another bubble. She was then able to conjure one up. All the guys around them became excited but were still holding their breaths. She passed the first bubble to Fox. It went around his head and he took his first breath. Fox: "Hey, it works. I can breathe." Misty: "Ok, now for the rest of you."

She then conjured up 3 more bubbles and passed them on to Slippy, Peppy and finally Falco. Falco: "Well, it's about time. I don't think I could hold my breath any longer." Misty: "Oh, shut up, bird brain. I was able to do it and that's all that matters." Slippy: "Alright, now for testing my diving equipment."

Slippy went on with testing his underwater equipment. One of them was an underwater speeder. He passed 1 on to Fox, then Peppy and finally, Falco. Slippy: "I built this equipment to be able to help us go faster underwater." Fox: "Sounds great. We will be able to move at great speeds under here." Falco: "(sigh) Let's just get this over with." Misty: "Ok, do we have any idea where we're going?" Slippy: "Hm…let's see, now."

Slippy pulled out a small device and checked it. Slippy: "There should be a large shipwreck near here, since now we have the means to travel underwater, why don't we go have a look around there?" Fox: "I don't know, it might be too dangerous. I mean, who knows what could be inside those ships?" Misty: "Oh, come on, Fox, what's the worst that can happen?"

Misty then swam off. Fox: "Misty, wait! Come on, we'd better go after her."

They went right her. As they traveled along, they watched as Misty was swimming all over the place. All the guys watched in amazement as she swam around. Peppy, however, had a concerned look on his face. Slippy: "Wow! She's really pretty!" Falco: "You know, I'm actually sort of glad I came here. This was worth putting up with having to go swimming."

Fox looked at Peppy and noticed the concerned look on his face. Fox: "Peppy, are you Ok?" Peppy: "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine, it's just…"

He continued looking at Misty. Peppy: "I have read about something like this in a book a long time ago." Fox: "You mean you know something about her?" Peppy: "I'm not sure, but something about her is very similar to what I have read about."

Fox grew a concerned look grew on his face as well.

They continued swimming on until they found a large ship in the bottom of the ocean. Slippy: "Wow, just look at that you guys. I've never seen anything like it before." Misty: "What is this?" Fox: "It's a large battle ship that sank into the bottom of the ocean a long time ago. We use to have fought in many wars." Misty: "Wars?" Falco: "Yeah, we have a lot of enemies." Slippy: "Not everyone in the Lylat System shares our ideals for a peaceful lifestyle." Misty: "Aw, that's a shame. I feel terrible for you guys." Fox: "Thanks." Misty: "Come on, let's go see what's in store for us."

She swam off. Fox: "Misty!" Peppy: "She's awfully headstrong." Fox: "Come on, we have to make sure nothing happens to her." Falco: "I'm with you on that. I would never forgive myself if any harm would come to her."

Fox, Slippy and Peppy looked at Falco in a conspicuously annoyed manner. Falco: "What?" Slippy: "I agree with Falco on this. We have to protect her." Peppy: "Hm…if what I read about her is true, then we must protect her at all costs." Fox: "Alright, let's go."

And so they went off.

Misty got near the shipwreck. She stopped to take a good look at it. Fox: "Misty!"

She then looked back and saw Fox and his friends approach her. Misty: "Guys. Well, it's about time you caught up with me." Fox: "Misty, you have to be careful. There's no telling what's still inside all of these shipwrecks." Misty: "Yeah, yeah, I know. Come on, let's go inside."

She was about to swim off, but then Fox grabbed her by the arm. Fox: "I'm serious, Misty. We need to access the situation first." Misty: "What do you mean?" Fox: "I mean we need to understand what we're dealing with." Misty: "It's a sunken ship, what more do we need to know?" Fox: "First off, we need to know if it's dangerous." Misty: "Dangerous, what do you mean?" Fox: "There could be traps on board that ship. For all we know, we may not be able to make it out back alive unless we know what we're up against." Misty: "So, what do you suppose we should do?" Fox: "We need to approach the situation carefully. Let me go first, to check if it's safe, then you can go after me."

Fox swam in as Misty watched. She then went after him. The others followed along.

As they traveled through the sunken space craft, they saw many things that they found gruesome. Misty: "Oh, what a horrible sight." Fox: "This is exactly why I didn't want you to come. This ship, as well as many others has been the final resting place for a lot of good men during our past. Many of them drowned here." Misty: "Yikes! That's terrible…" Fox: "Yes it was. Stay close to me."

Fox went further in. Misty followed along as well as the others. As they traveled on, Fox protected Misty from a lot of the horrible sights that was all over the entire place. As they searched on, they arrived at one of the main rooms of the ship. There, Slippy checked the computers and found many unusual things that he didn't expect to find. Slippy: "Hm…interesting. I never thought I would find this." Fox: "What it is, Slippy?" Slippy: "It says here that this ship was fully functional and in good working condition and yet, it was seemingly brought down by only a few laser shots." Fox: "But how could this be? It would take a lot of hits to bring this ship down." Slippy: "I know. It doesn't make sense. It seems as though even a blaster could have taken it down." Falco: "So, what? Was this ship brought down by some measly laser blasters?" Peppy: "I don't think so, Falco. If you could remember, you could have noticed that the exterior made the ship looked like it wasn't crippled." Slippy: "He's right. The ship took on a few hits, but it was not enough to disable it to a point when it couldn't function anymore." Misty: "Well, the haul did seem too perfect to be a damaged ship." Falco: "Hm, you do have a point." Fox: "Something doesn't add up here. If the enemy armada did not take down this ship, then what did?"

Slippy looked further into the databases. Slippy: "It says here that there is one area on the ship that was taken some seriously, heavy damage. The strangest thing is that it's the only place inside the ship that was damaged." Misty: "I say we go there and investigate." Fox: "Agreed. But let's be careful. We may never know what we could find."

They went off and arrived at another section of the ship. There, they were shocked by what they saw. There were remains of chaos and destruction everywhere. Misty: "Oh, my gosh! What happened here!?" Fox: "I don't know. This is not what I was expecting to find."

Slippy made an analysis of the entire wreckage. What he came across was something he did not like. Slippy: "I hate to tell you guys this, but this is the source of this ship's demise." Misty: "But what does this mean?" Fox: "It means that this ship was taken down from the inside." Misty: "Who could have done all of this?"

Slippy analyzed the wreckage even more. Slippy: "Hm…whoever did this knew the ship all too well." Falco: "So, what are we looking at? A spy?" Fox: "A possible turncoat." Misty: "Turncoat? You mean someone betrayed everyone in this ship?" Fox: "Yes, and that defector sent every single person on this ship to their watery grave. We have to tell General Pepper about this." Peppy: "Fox, are you sure?" Fox: "Yes, it would mean a lot to him if he were to hear about what we discovered down here." Misty: "General…Pepper? Who's he?" Fox: "He's the leader of our planet's army. We answer to him a lot, even though we're…part of a…diverse group from the army." Misty: "Hm…Ok…I guess. Let's get out of here. I think I've seen enough of this place." Fox: "Same here."

Soon enough, they resurfaced right where they dove in. There, the girls and Rayman stood right in front of them. Fox: "Lisa, you're not going to believe what we just saw down there." Lisa: "I know, I maintained psychic contact with all of you while you were down there. Quite frankly, I'm shocked with what you did discover." Fox: "I kind of figured." Lisa: "So, Misty, you've managed to help the Starfox Team with your aquatic powers for the first time. How did it feel?" Misty: "It felt amazing, although I can't say the same for what we found down there." Lisa: "I can understand that." Peach: "So, what will you do now?" Fox: "We're going to report our findings to General Pepper. He needs to know about this." Peach: "Hm…General Pepper. I can't remember the last time I saw that guy. Quite a nice fellow if I may recall." Misty: "So will I be able to meet this General Pepper person?" Peach: "You will, after your princess training is finished." Misty: "What!? At this rate, I'll never be able to meet him!" Peach: "Do not worry, Misty. You will, you just need to be patient, that's all." Misty: "Oh, man…"

Fox looked at Misty with a concerned look on his face.

Later on, Fox and his friends of the Starfox Team reported all of their findings to General Pepper. He was so stunned by the news that he didn't care how they were able to obtain this information in the first place. The general then issued an investigation of the sunken spacecrafts and found the same results as the one that Fox and the others were searching. An immediate pursuit of answers to what the true cause to this catastrophe and who the true culprit was brought the attention of everyone involved in the Cornerian army. The general was also suspicious of the man who was called a war hero during the time of that war.

Later on, the Starfox Team met up with the girls and Rayman. Fox: "The general took a great deal of interest in this case. A full evaluation is being done now." Misty: "How long before they find the answers they're looking for?" Falco: "Who knows? It could be a matter of days, weeks, months. It depends on how difficult it is to process all of the damage done." Peach: "Well, I'm just thankful that all of those soldiers who perished in that war and in all of those ships could finally be receiving the justice that they deserve so that they can rest in peace. Also, the person who was responsible for all of this gets what was coming to him and deservedly so." Peppy: "I don't know, Peach, that war happened a long time ago and everyone involved during that time are long gone." Peach: "Oh…" Fox: "However, the general was suspicious of the so called war hero during that time. Even he thought something about what went on was unusual. He's looking into this personally." Slippy: "Well, I'm glad because from what we found out, those soldiers didn't deserve to go like they did. If they weren't brought down by something so terrible, the outcome of that war would have been different." Fox: "Indeed. Misty, I would like to thank you for helping us. If it wasn't for your powers, all of those secrets would have been left in the bottom of our oceans along with all those who drowned there." Misty: "It was my pleasure. I'm just sorry things turned out the way they did." Fox: "So am I."

Peppy then cleared his throat. Fox: "What is it, Peppy?" Peppy: "Fox? Slippy? Falco? There's something that I need to tell you regarding Misty and her aquatic powers." Slippy: "What is it, Peppy?" Peppy: "What we experienced earlier today regards a secret that I found out in an ancient book that I discovered not long ago. It also involves her home planet Earth." Slippy: "Earth? Really?" Falco: "There's that name again." Peppy: "In this book, I have discovered that she is the mystic princess of the Earth's oceans." Fox: "What?" Slippy: "What?" Falco: "What are you talking about, you crazy rabbit?" Peppy: "I have read that long ago, the Earth's oceans were protected by her, until a great and powerful wizard destroyed her, but her essence survived and has been passed down from within a group of humans from generation to generation for thousands of years." Falco: "And this you found out from a book?" Peppy: "I didn't believe it myself until I saw her and the similarities between her and this ancient, mystic princess were uncanny but very clear." Slippy: "Hm…yeah, I actually heard from a friend of mine who lives on Earth about a legend of a beautiful protector of the Earth's oceans. He said it was just a folktale but he honestly believed that it was true." Falco: "So, let me get this straight, not only is she a fairy but now she's some mystic guardian of this planet's water supply? This all sounds like a bunch of malarkey to me." Peppy: "Malarkey or not, Falco, it's all true and she's undeniable proof of all of it."

Misty looked down in a coy manner. Fox: "You Ok?" Misty: "Yes…it's just that…all of this is happening so fast to me. One moment, my sisters are keeping me cooped up inside our home, and the next thing I know, I'm a princess and a guardian of my planet's oceans. It all seems like a dream to me." Fox: "I can understand that. I remember when Lisa was undergoing some unusual changes in her life. It's hard but I'm sure that she'll tell you that adjusting to all of these changes is what we need to do in order to adapt." Lisa: "He's right. As I was becoming a fairy, I had to make a lot of unpleasant choices in my life, but I learned to live with them and you'll eventually do the same, too."

Misty was still coy. Lisa: "Don't worry; it will come easy to you." Misty: "I hope so…" Fox: "So, Lisa, is this what you meant when you said she was a princess?" Lisa: "Yes, Fox, that's exactly what I meant." Slippy: "So, what, now?" Peppy: "Now, the rest is up to her." Misty: "Hm?" Peppy: "I can't force you to make decisions that you don't feel comfortable with. That has to come from you. What do you want?" Misty: "Well…for now, I want no one here to tell anyone else about what's been going on with me or my powers, most importantly, my…aquatic powers." Peppy: "Ok, that should be no problem. To tell you the truth, I was hoping you would come to that decision." Misty: "What?" Peppy: "Your powers are unique and any malicious person would want to take advantage of you. Deciding to keep your powers a secret is a very wise decision." Misty: "Really?" Peppy: "Of, course. I have temptations to use your powers to the team's advantage but I'm not going to because that is not my decision to make." Fox: "Of, course, if you would like to use your powers to help us out, then I would be more than happy to oblige, but that will always be up to you."

Misty stood and thought for a moment. She then smiled. Misty: "Ok, I would love to use my powers to help you guys." Slippy: "Really!?" Misty: "Sure, but only if you promise to keep this a secret." Peppy: "That should not be a problem at all."

He then grabbed her by the wrist and held her hand in out. He then placed his hand on top of hers. Peppy: "We will make a pact to not tell anyone about your powers if you don't want us to. Anyone else oblige?"

Fox then places his hand on Peppy's. Fox: "Sure, I'll gladly oblige." Peppy: "Anyone else?"

Slippy then placed his hand on top of Fox's. Slippy: "Absolutely! It will be my pleasure." Peppy: "So how about you, Falco? Agree to join the pact?"

They all looked at Falco as he hesitated. Falco: "Sure, why not?"

He placed his hand on top of Slippy's. Falco: "No one would believe me if I tell them, especially since I'm the last person to believe in all of this, myself." Peppy: "Good, now let's keep this promise and guard this with our lives. This secret will become a threat by those who seek the princess."

Misty was surprised, but everyone else maintained serious looks on their faces. And with that, the girls and Rayman joined in as well. Lisa: "Looks like you found the friends that Ly has been talking about." Misty: "Yes, thank you for introducing me to them." Lisa: "It was my pleasure. I knew I could trust Fox and his teammates. They're good people."

Misty smiled. Misty: "They sure are."