Chapter 14-D.W. and the Dark Pasts

One day, Misty was taking a break from her intense fairy training. Misty decided she wanted to explore more of Corneria. Lisa took Misty to a thriving Cornerian city. There, she was able to see many and experience a lot of what the city had to offer. Misty: "This is such a lovely city, Lisa. I have never experienced anything like this." Lisa: "Well, Corneria, also known as the jewel of the Lylat System, is a very unique planet. The cities of this planet coincide together with nature in perfect harmony. Not something you would experience everyday on Earth." Misty: "No, not a lot. Oh, there's Fox, now. Hey! Fox!"

They reunited Fox and his team who were with a young girl. Fox: "Hi, Misty." Misty: "Fox, it's so good to see, you again." She then noticed the young girl. Misty: "Oh, who is this young girl?" Fox: "Misty, this is our young prodigy and the young learner of our team, D.W. Why don't you introduce yourself?" Misty: "Oh, D.W. What is that short for?" Fox: "Well, she doesn't like to talk about her full name …" D.W.: "It's Ok. I don't mind. My full name is Dora Winifred Read. I prefer to be called D.W., though." Misty: "Oh, well, that's Ok. So, what's so special about her?" Fox: "Hm, she comes from a different planet then us. Her people are more…primitive than us; however, this girl can understand a lot of our technology. She's been attending some of the schools here and she has been doing very well?" Misty: "Ok, so what brings her to this planet?" Fox: "Her planet suffered a ton of devastation in the hands of one of our worst enemies." Misty: "Oh, dear. That's not good."

D.W. sulked. D.W.: "I was 4 when it happened. An evil scientist destroyed a lot of civilizations on my planet. I have an older brother and a younger sister. My brother, Arthur, was 8, the same age that I am now, when it happened so he was able to handle it a lot better than me. My baby sister, Kate, on the other hand, was a baby, so she doesn't remember what happened. But I will never forget that day." Fox: "Misty, we need to talk." Misty: "About what?" Fox: "There's something that I haven't told you about our planet. Something bad happened here when I was just a baby, something that affected my life. Let's go for a walk."

They were soon walking around the city. Fox: "There was a terrible devastation that came about this planet. Many years ago, a brilliant Cornerian scientist named Andross went completely rogue and turned against everyone here. He created a weapon and destroyed a lot of civilizations on this planet." Misty: "Oh, no!" Fox: "No one knew where he went after he attacked all of us, until we discovered a planet and found that he created a base on that planet. We tried to stop him but…something went horribly wrong and none of us were able to defeat him." Misty: "So this mad scientist is still alive?"

Fox sulked for a bit. Fox: "Yes, but no one dared to challenge him after what happened to the last person who tried to defeat him. Many years have passed and nothing happened ever since that day. But then, he did the unthinkable." Misty: "What was that?" D.W.: "He attacked my planet. It reduced it to a lifeless wasteland and left all of the people on that planet to struggle for survival, including my family." Misty: "That's terrible…" Fox: "We saw everything that happened to that planet that day. We then sent a lot of our forces to aid the inhabitants and rescued them from that devastation." Misty: "So, what brings D.W. into all of this?" Fox: "We came across a family of Aardvarks. They were the most devastated out of all the people we rescued. The young boy, D.W.'s brother, was more mature but confused and the baby, D.W.'s sister, would not be able to remember what happened. But D.W. was the most devastated out of all of them." Slippy: "We did everything we could to try and cheer her up, but she was so distraught by what happened, nothing we did made her feel better." Fox: "Then one day, she became curious about one of our computers. Before we could tell her about how she may not be able to understand how our technology works, she surprised us by figuring out how to use a lot of them." Misty: "Wow, really?"

Fox nodded. Peppy: "She surprised even me." Fox: "She was able to understand some of the most complex math skills that we had, even at my level and I'm 10 years older than her." Misty: "That's amazing." Fox: "We didn't know if we should stop her, but she became so fixated by our unique technology that she forgot about what happened to her planet, so we let her learn a lot of what our world could provide. Her parents even let us have her attend schools here on Corneria. Before long, she was moving up in our school systems. She even offered to join our team." Misty: "Really?" Fox: "Yeah, she did. The general offered her a position in the Cornerian army, but she decided to become a member of the Starfox team." Falco: "That was something I didn't see coming." D.W.: "Well, it was the least I can do for taking me in." Fox: "We were hesitant, but we let her join." Misty: "That's all very interesting." Lisa: "So, D.W., it's been a while since I last saw you. How have you been?" D.W.: "I've been doing very well, Lisa. How have you been?" Lisa: "I'm doing Ok; better than I have been doing in a long time." D.W.: "That's good to hear."

Later on, they sat down together in the middle of the city. Misty: "So why haven't you told me about this Andross guy? It sounded as though he affected you a lot." Peppy: "It's not something that Fox likes to talk about." Fox: "No, it's Ok. It's something that she needs to know about." Misty: "So why haven't any of your armies defeated this guy?" Fox: "Some of us tried, none of us succeeded. There was one group who managed to come close, but failed, only one from that group that made it out alive." Misty: "And the others?"

Fox shook his head. Fox: "They were among members of the original Starfox team. The person who didn't make it out alive…was my father." Misty: "(gasp) Oh, my gosh! I'm so sorry!" Peppy: "I was among the one who survived. I remember that day as if it were yesterday." Misty: "Were there any others?" Peppy: "There was another: Pigma, but he betrayed the team and turned me and James over to Andross. I barely made it out alive, but James was not so lucky. Fox was still a baby then, so he never knew his own father."

Fox seemed even more saddened. Misty: "I can understand how you feel. My sisters told me that our parents were killed when I was just a baby. They never told me who did it or how it happened but I never got to know them either." Fox: "You lost your parents, too? I'm so sorry…" Misty: "Yeah, my sisters raised me. They kept me safe, made sure that nothing happened to me. I had a sheltered childhood, locked in my own little world. Not many people knew I existed. This is the first time that I ever made any friends." Fox: "That's sad. I wonder what they were trying to protect you from." Misty: "I don't know exactly who they were trying to protect me from, but I did find out that it involved my…"

She paused. Fox: "Your secret transformation?" Misty: "Yes…" Slippy: "You know, we should come up with a better name for this transformation of yours." Fox: "Hm…how about since you're a princess of the ocean, maybe we should call it your princess form. How's that?" Falco: "That sounds so vague. I like it." Slippy: "Yeah, that way no one will have any idea what we're talking about when we mention it." Misty: "Ok, so princess form it is." D.W.: "What are you guys talking about?" Slippy: "Yes! It's working already." Falco: "Sorry, D.W., we made a pact never to tell anyone about… well…we can't even say what it is." Misty: "It's Ok. You can tell her."

The guys hesitated. Peppy: "Are you sure about this?" Misty: "Sure, she is a member of your team, after all." Fox: "If you're so sure about it, then Ok. We'll let her know." Lisa: "Allow me." She then delivered a telepathic message to D.W., telling her about Misty's transformation. D.W.: "Wow! Really!? That's incredible! I've dreamt of stuff like that since I was 4 years old! Is this what you call your princess form?" Misty: "Yes, but you have to promise never to tell everyone about this." D.W.: "I promise. Thank you for sharing it with me." Misty: "You're welcome." Peppy: "Hm, well done. You must always know who you should and should not trust. Remember that and your secret will never fall into the wrong hands." Misty: "I will, Peppy."

Later on, they arrived back at their usual spot. There, D.W. stared into the sky. Misty grew concerned by her. Misty: "The scars run deep for her." Fox: "Oh, yes, you have to remember, she was very young when her whole world was attacked and destroyed. She's still trying to recover from that day." Misty: "Yes, I can understand that."

Lisa approached D.W. Lisa: "You're doing OK, right?" D.W.: "Oh, yes, I just miss my home and my family. That's all." Misty: "So, where are D.W.'s family and the rest of her people living?" Fox: "After the destruction of their civilization, we took them to another small planet not too far from here. They have been rebuilding their lives there. We're having them live there until we can rebuild their civilizations on their home planet." Misty: "So you're doing everything you can to help those people, even though your civilization was badly damaged." Fox: "Yes. It's one thing to attack one's home planet; it's another to attack another planet that is completely defenseless against such act of violence." Misty: "That's not too much of a surprise. That Andross guy sounds like a horrible person."

At that time, Ly was listening in on their conversation. Ly: "He has caused more damage than you could possibly imagine, Misty."