Ganondorf stared into the blue flames. He saw Pokémon Trainers getting their trusted partners ready for the race. He saw how F-Zero racers and other people with fast vehicles drove their machines on test tracks. He saw how the most cunning and ruthless participants installed all kinds of devious weaponry into their gadgets. And he saw how space creatures raced with comets to train for the big event.

Medusa leaned against his powerful frame and stared into the flames as well. "Well, looks like Chaos managed to spread quite the chaos throughout the worlds, heh?"

"I don't like it..." the former Gerudo king grumbled.

"Why not? Isn't that a good chance for us to get one of the artifacts? Chaos could have easily brought it to my sister..."

"I will never trust a deity of chaos," Ganondorf said. "Who knows for what reason he did it... it might be a trick. And that echidna whore of his? I doubt she would be part of a plan that allows us to get an artifact of destiny."

"What is the worst that can happen?" Medusa asked. "If we don't manage to get the Screw Attack, fine, there are more than enough other artifacts we can still collect." She sauntered over to a long glass tube that was standing in one corner of the room. Several flexible hoses were attached to the glass tube, and the blue, shining liquid inside was bubbling softly.

"Look at that huge amount of raw essence of destiny Gendo has already collected for us," she whispered. "When we have Metal Gear, the tube will be filled by three quarters... just one quarter left until we can unleash our tool of destruction!" She giggled. "I bet Mephiles can't wait until the tube is full..."

"It won't make him more powerful than he already is," Ganondorf pointed out. "And he still doesn't have his second half left, Iblis..."

"I know. But we can't extract it from where it is stored without heavily altering the flow of time."

"Isn't that why we have Dialga on our side?"

"You are forgetting how powerful Solaris was," Medusa said. "Such a change would not only catch the attention of all time deities, but also of the creator of time himself."

Ganondorf's eyes narrowed. "Arceus..."

"Exactly! That's why we have to wait for the exact moment until we can take that girl... that is the reason why we have told Gendo not to touch that universe. Every encounter with Sonic the Hedgehog, or even one of his allies, will contain a small chance of awakening the Flames of Disaster. And according to history, they are not even supposed to remember that Solaris existed. Everyone up in heaven thinks that he was wiped out of history."

"I already know all of that, you don't have to tell me that story again," Ganondorf grumbled. "I'm just worried. We have already lost Crazy Hand to the enemy, one of our most important tools. If they find out that Dialga is on our side..."

"They won't, trust me! Or do you have any reason not to trust me?"

"I am possibly the only being in existence outside of heaven and hell that knows as much about you as I do," Ganondorf said darkly. "Ever since my tribe built you a temple, you have been the driving force behind all of my actions. Who was I before I met you and acquired the Triforce of Power? Who was I before the first Link and Zelda sealed me away? Who was there before Ganondorf became Ganon?" He made a fist and dark energy surrounded his hand. "I was a nobody... a leader of pitiful desert bandits that longed for the wind that was blowing in another country. How foolish I was to believe that Hyrule was everything. Even years later, I still wanted to have Hyrule, even though it had sunk to the bottom of the ocean decades ago... how was I supposed to know that there is so much more out there? And you never told me..."

"Yes, but now you know... and with my help, you will be part of the new pantheon, as soon as my annoying siblings are out of the way," Medusa grinned. "And Mephiles... no, Solaris will be our herald of darkness..."

"Imagine..." Ganondorf grunted. "A sun god, serving the forces of darkness... that is kind of contradicting, isn't it?"

"Mephiles has stopped caring about the light ever since he was used by the humans of Soleanna as their tool," Medusa shrugged. "As long as he doesn't know he is our tool..."

"Speaking of servants, I think it is time for me to finish Crazy Hand's little pet project..." Ganondorf said. "Vire, come forth!"

In a small plume of flame, a red-skinned, winged devil appeared. Unlike Red, the familiar of Ashley, this demon was already old enough to be the personal servant of somebody as powerful as Ganondorf. "Yes, my master?" the demon asked and bowed down.

"It is time! Go and bring the girl called Sasha some sweet dreams..." He grinned.

"As you command, my Master!" After another bow, Vire disappeared in another plume of flame.

Medusa smiled. "You really are evil... I like that!"


Rei-PD had hidden her Aparoid ship (which was at least four times as big as a Wolfen) in the woods close to the Academy. With the camouflage device activated, nobody would be able to tell it apart from the surrounding trees. After Rei-PD, Wolfie and Sasha had entered, the camouflage was deactivated, and the ship took off and left the planet's atmosphere before anyone could detect it.

Rei-PD left her ship on auto pilot and then walked back into the passenger cabin, where Wolfie and Sasha were waiting. Sasha looked very nervous and frightened, while Wolfie glared at the pig-girl as soon as she entered the room.

"There is no reason to be afraid," Rei-PD told the shivering Sasha. "I won't hurt you. I have to apologize for using you as a hostage like that, but I need to make sure that Wolfie really came along."

"There was no reason to bring her along, Pigma!" Wolfie spat. "I would have come, you could have left her behind."

"No!" Sasha suddenly shouted. "I want to stay with you!"

Wolfie grimaced. "Sasha, please... this isn't a tennis game that we can lose. This is too dangerous..."

"That's not true," Rei-PD shook her head. "And I told you, my new name is Rei. All I want is for you to become part of the family."

"And if I don't want to?" Wolfie shouted.

Rei-PD smiled. "Believe me, you want to... you just don't know it yet."

"You... you really want to turn Wolfie into... into a... a THING like you are?"

"I don't expect you to understand the beauty of what we have become," Rei-PD said sadly. "The important part is the concept of family. When we arrive on our homeworld, you will be treated as our guests. Just wait until you see our wonderful home... and Big Sister will be very pleased to welcome future sisters..."

"Stop that!" Sasha cried. "I'm not your sister!"

"It really will be much better as soon as we all are family," Rei-PD tried to explain. "There will be no fighting, no poverty, no illness... and we have many, many sisters, and we all take care of each other."

"I don't want this," Sasha sniffed. "I just want to stay at the Academy, with my friends, and play tennis..."

Rei-PD was a bit confused by Sasha's antipathy. "We... we could build new tennis courts on our homeworld, if you want to... they will be the biggest and most advanced courts you have ever seen!"

"It's still not my home!" Sasha cried. "You are nothing but a kidnapper!"

Rei-PD felt sad. All she wanted to do was to bring her future sisters home. "Wolf... Wolfie... you never liked the old Pigma, right? Isn't that proof enough that all we are doing is a good thing?"

"Go away!" Wolfie growled. "Leave us alone! I will never be one of you!"

Rei-PD sighed. "I guess you still need some more time to get used to it... oh well... Okay, I guess I will leave you alone for now... but please, don't try to do anything stupid, okay? It will take us a few hours to reach the homeworld, so why don't you sleep a bit until then?"

She left the cabin, and the door closed behind her.

Sasha sniffed. "Wolfie... can we ever return back home?"

"I will find a way, Sasha, trust me..." Wolfie muttered. 'If I only knew how...' she thought. She looked around. 'Maybe I can somehow take over the ship... or I can sabotage it to blackmail Pigm... Rei.'

Sasha yawned. "Excuse me..." she murmured. "I guess I'm really a bit tired..."

"Okay, then sleep a bit... I will try to think of something."

"Really?" Sasha murmured as she curled up on the soft mat that was lying in a corner of the room.

Wolfie smiled. "Yes, really! I promise!"

"Thanks, Wolfie..." Sasha sighed before closing her eyes.


While Sasha was sleeping, she had another dream. But this one was different from the strange future vision she had.

It was one of those horrible dreams in which you could see and hear everything, but not do a thing to stop what was going on.

Sasha was seeing the inside of some flying vessel, maybe a spaceship, it wasn't like she knew the first thing about such crafts. She was surprised to see that the pilot was a tall, muscular man with the fur and the head of a gray wolf. A black patch was over his left eye, and his hands were grasping the control stick of the ship.

When Sasha looked outside, she could see the emptiness of outer space.

A hissing noise caught her attention. On a small monitor next to the wolf-man's console, the face of some ape-creature appeared.

"We are approaching Fichina," the ape said.

"I don't need you to know that, Andrew!" the wolf grumbled. "I have eyes, you know?"

"Well, at least one eye!" the face of the ape had disappeared, and a fat pig appeared in its place. "Are you looking forward to our encounter with Star Fox? I can't wait to see my old pal Peppy again..." The swine chuckled. "The reward will be nice, but combined with revenge, this will be especially sweet."

"Just don't let this distract you from the mission, Pigma!" the wolf told the pig. "You know what we have to do."

"Distract Star Fox long enough so the bomb goes off," a lizard that had just appeared on the monitor hissed. "We know our job, Wolf, but at least let us have some fun while we're killing our prey..."

"Well, but don't get carried away, Leon..."

Sasha gasped. It couldn't be... could it? Leon... Wolf...

"You're one to talk!" the ape laughed. "Isn't it you who's obsessed with defeating McCloud's son?"

"Mind your own business, Andrew!" Wolf growled. "I am still the leader of Star Wolf, and your uncle put you in my team, which means you do what I tell you, understood?"

"All right, all right..." Andrew muttered.

"Does it even bother you that there might still be civilians inside the base?" Pigma sneered. "When that bomb goes off, there might be dozens of casualties... maybe even hundreds!"

"Do I look like those Cornerian bastards are of any interest to me?" Wolf frowned. Sasha shivered at the coldness in his voice. "This is war... and when they side with the wrong guys, it's their own damn fault! Those who don't know how to act when faced with danger deserve to die!"

Sasha wanted to close her ears, or even better, run away. But she was forced to stay and listen.

"Our main job is to distract Star Fox until the bomb goes off," Wolf grinned. "But Fox will have to realize that a pup like him can't stand against Star Wolf!"

"Entering the atmosphere!" Andrew shouted. "Prepare yourselves!"

"I'm giving the orders around here!" Wolf barked. "Everyone, give Star Fox trouble!"

"There they are, there they are!" Pigma cackled with glee as the four space fighters flew towards a futuristic-looking building that was standing in the middle of a snow field. Several air crafts were flying around it, and four of the fighters were engaging the smaller ones in combat.

"Our troops can't stop Star Fox for long," Andrew realized.

"Well, that's why we are here," Wolf remarked. "Let's give them a little surprise... hack into their communication channels!"

"Done!" Leon said. In that moment, a young fox appeared on screen.

"Geeze!" he said. "Can anyone take care of it?"

Wolf smiled evilly. "Can't let you do that, Star Fox!" he said.

"Andross has ordered us to take you down!" Leon added.

"Peppy!" Pigma laughed. "Long time no see!"

"Andross' enemy is my enemy!" Andrew proclaimed.

"Just what I need to see..." the fox grumbled. "Star Wolf..."

And from that point on, Sasha could only see carnage and explosions. She was horrified when laser beams shot past the Wolfen's cockpit, and the excited expression in Wolf's face didn't help. She heard Leon's insane laughter as he chased one of the four enemy fighters and she couldn't look away when one of the smaller crafts plummeted to the ground, where it exploded.

"You'll be seeing your Dad soon, Fox!"

"That reward's as good as mine!"

"Give it up! You can't win!"

"I think I'll torture you for a while..."

"Dad screamed REAL good before he died!"

"You're good, but I'm better!"

"No..." Sasha shouted, hoping that anyone would hear her. "No, stop it! Stop it! STOOOOOOPPP IIIIIITTT!!"

And then she heard a voice that was whispering to her: "See? That is the true face of your friend... a cold-blooded mercenary, born to kill! See it? He doesn't care for those that might die in the explosion of that bomb. He enjoys being in battle! He would do anything to shoot his enemy out of the skies! And you think that this creature can be a harmless girl? That's just a facade. On the inside, she's still the same as before: A killer!"

"Wolfie..." Sasha whispered. "Wolfie, no..."

Suddenly, another voice spoke up. The Wolfen, the other ships and the battle of Fichina disappeared, and all she could see was darkness.

"Stop intruding into this girl's dreams," the new voice said. "Leave this place at once!"

"You can't make me!" the first voice hissed. "I am here on behalf of my master..."

Sasha gasped when she saw the red, demonic figure with the wings that stepped out of the shadows.

"This is not your domain, neither is it that of your evil master," the deeper voice said. Another dark figure appeared, this one looking like a black ghost. Sasha couldn't say which one was more frightening.

"I will destroy you if you don't leave me in peace!" The red devil tried to sound menacing.

"You have no power here," the dark apparition said. "I am the protector of dreams. As long as the Fountain of Dreams is intact, no demons will be able to harm people in their sleep. Go! Now!"

Vire realized that there was nothing he could do. "Fine!" he hissed. "But be warned, Pokémon: I will be back!"

And he vanished in a burst of flames.

The dark phantom turned to face Sasha. "Are you okay?"

"S-stay back..." Sasha whimpered. "Don't come any closer..."

"I won't hurt you. I have come to guard your dreams. This evil demon wanted to torture you by showing you images of the past."

"Th-the... the past?" Sasha gasped. "So it is true... that really was Wolfie... oh no, what has she done...?"

"Your friend has changed a lot since that day," the figure spoke. "Even before becoming a girl in your world, Wolf O'Donnell realized that just fighting for revenge is never a good thing. And after meeting you, she swore to abandon that part of her past forever."

"Who are you?" Sasha murmured. "How do you know all of this?"

"My name is Darkrai," the legendary Pokémon said. "I am the guardian of dreams... it is my duty to make sure that no living being will ever have unnatural dreams. When I sensed the presence of a demon in the dream world, I came at once to chase him away."

"Th-thank you..." Sasha muttered. But she still couldn't forget the horrifying images. "Where am I?" she then asked.

"You are still aboard the Aparoid ship that is bringing you to the Aparoid homeworld," Darkrai explained. "After all, this is just a dream..."

"I... I don't want to go there," Sasha said. "Please, can't you do anything?"

"I am sorry, but all I can do is influence other people's dreams," Darkrai said. "At least from where I am right now. But don't be afraid, I sense no hostility coming from the girl that is piloting the ship."

Sasha then thought back to what she had seen in the scene Vire had showed her. "That girl... she was Pigma once, right? That fat swine in Wolf's team..."

"That is correct," Darkrai nodded.

"Then maybe they really aren't as bad as I thought. I mean, if they manage to turn a horrible man like that into a nice girl... even though she did kidnap us..."

"It is not my job to judge anyone," Darkrai apologized. "You will know what to do when the time is right. Have faith in your friend."

'Can I still have faith?' Sasha wondered. 'Now that I know what Wolfie has done in her past? But if she really has changed since then...'

She gasped when the figure of Darkrai slowly vanished. "What... where are you going?"

"You are waking up," Darkrai explained. "I can't do anything about it... farewell, Sasha! And stay brave!"


Sasha gasped when she felt how someone was shaking her. She opened her eyes and saw Wolfie.

"Finally, I've tried to wake you for several minutes."

Sasha shook her head. "Where... where are we?"

"Still on our way to that homeworld she mentioned... but I think I know a way how we can escape."

"Really?" Sasha asked in a hopeful voice. She instantly felt bad for ever having doubted her friend. "But how?"

Wolfie grinned. "Well, looks like there's a small escape pod attached to the ship... and if the controls aren't too different from a Wolfen, I think I can fly it to get us out of here."

"But... how can we get away without her noticing?" Sasha wondered.

"Already taken care of," Wolfie grinned and gestured at a small panel she had stemmed out of the wall. "That's a maintenance shaft, we can use it to get to the pod. You ready?"

Sasha smiled and nodded. No matter if Pigma had become a better person after being turned into Rei-PD, she still didn't want to be part of a family of cyborgs. She followed Wolfie, and the two girls crawled through the narrow maintenance shaft.

While she was following the other girl, Sasha spoke up: "Say, Wolfie..."

"Yeah, what's up?"

Sasha bit her lip, then she asked: "Have you ever been... on a planet called Fichina?"

Wolfie stopped. She wondered how Sasha knew that name. "Yeah... but I try to forget it..." she murmured. "I... I'm not too proud of what I did back then..."

"Wh-what did you do?" Sasha stuttered, although she was afraid to her the answer.

"I was a coward..." Wolfie whispered. She shook her head. "We can talk about this later, Sasha... I think this is the end of the shaft. Gimme a second..."

She pushed against the panel in front of her, and when it came loose, she climbed out of the shaft.

Sasha followed her. They were standing in a small chamber. In front of them, they could see what looked like a hatch.

Wolfie grinned. "See? The entrance to the escape pod! All we need to to is get in there, and we can get away."

She reached out to open the hatch.

Sasha gasped when someone stumbled out of the hatch, nearly throwing Wolfie down to the floor.

Wolfie glared at the boy with the glasses. "LEON?"

"Who else?" the former chameleon grumbled. "After all, I wanted to leave that piece of dirt as much as you did... what was the big idea, leaving me behind like that?"

"I didn't actually plan on leaving, you know?" Wolfie grumbled. "So, you snuck on board shortly before we took off, right?"

"Yeah, I followed you when I saw how that... that Pigma-girl brought you to the ship. I hid inside the escape pod and waited for a good chance to escape. I didn't really plan to bring her along..."

Wolfie frowned. "Her?" And she looked past Leon, into the pod.

And saw a pink-haired girl sitting there, a nervous grin on her face. "Hiya!" Tori chuckled nervously.

"Oh boy!" Wolfie groaned.

"Tori, what are you doing here?" Sasha shouted.

"Are you crazy? I would never miss an adventure like this!" Tori grinned. "Especially not with my brave lion..."

"I told you, I'm a chameleon!" Leon hissed.

"Are we really in outer space?" Tori gushed. "Oooh, I can't wait to see your home planet... who is driving this thing, anyway?"

Suddenly, they heard a loud voice: "WOLFIE! Where are you? Listen, that was not nice, just running away like that! Come back, I won't hurt you..."

Leon looked at Wolfie. "Pigma?"

"Or whatever is left of him..." Wolfie grumbled. "I guess now would be a great time to leave..."

Leon nodded. "Yeah, I agree."

Together with Sasha, they climbed inside the escape pod and closed the hatch."

"How exciting!" Tori giggled. "Hey, can I drive?"

"Tori... shut up!" Sasha grumbled.