She remembered how it all begun...
Hikari had wondered why Asuka, Rei and Shinji didn't come to school anymore. It had been two days and there had been no word from Misato or any other adult who was responsible for them. Being the class representative, she felt obligated to find out the reason of their absence.
After school, she decided to talk to Shinji's closest friends, Toji and Kensuke, if he had given them any call. They were as clueless as she was, and they even wondered if she knew anything, since she was Asuka's best friend at school. Hikari had been wondering that as well.
Kensuke had suggested going over to Misato's apartment, directly from school, to find out what was going on. But just outside of the building, they got approached by a man they had never met before. He introduced himself to them as Gendo Ikari, Shinji's father. Hikari asked him if he knew anything about his son and the two missing girls, and he explained that he had a hunch. And if they were so close friends with them, they could always help him find them. Unofficially, of course.
The boys agreed instantly, while Hikari had been hesitant. She found it strange that a man of such a high position as Mr. Ikari would ask a trio of students as young as they were for help. But he seemed genuinely concerned, especially about the welfare of Rei. In the end, she agreed.
It was then when things were getting strange. Mr. Ikari gave them a creepy smile and held out his left, gloved hand. They instantly noticed that the glove on his left hand was different from the one on his right hand. It was bigger and had a thicker padding, almost like a cartoonish version of his right glove. They got really surprised when all of a sudden, the glove grew in size and flew off Gendo's hand. It snatched both Toji and Kensuke and shielded their bodies from her view. She got so scared that she was frozen to the spot. When the giant glove opened up again, both boys were gone. Ikari grinned at her, and the glove turned into her direction.
"Do not be afraid," Gendo said. "It is for the greater good."
"Yes, indeed..." a scary-sounding voice coming from the glove snickered. "All for the greater good..." It then reached out to grab her, and everything went dark.
When she awoke, she was surrounded by darkness. All of her clothes were missing and her hair was falling loosely down on her bare back. Strangely, she didn't feel cold... or even scared. Even not when all of a sudden, grey fur began to grow on her body.
She watched with fascination while all of her body got covered with the warm fur. She reached up to feel her face when her mouth and nose elongated into a muzzle. Her ears also grew big and pointy, and a bushy tail grew from her behind. Finally, a dark green, futuristic looking suit with spiky shoulder guards and black gloves and boots appeared on her body. Her hair moved on its own until it was arranged in a ponytail, and a mechanical device resembling a high-tech monocle appeared on her left eye.
In the end, her head got filled with information. Her feelings towards Rei, Asuka and Shinji changed, while her lust for battle and dominance grew. She also gained abilities she never had before, like using futuristic weaponry and flying an aircraft she instantly knew to be a 'Wolfen'.
She also learned everything about her mission. The so-called 'heroes' were enemies of her new master, the new Andross, as well as those of HIS master, the Crazy Hand. She would have to make sure that they would never interfere while the darkness was spreading across the multiverse. And she learned about her new name: Lupina!
Shortly after that, she appeared on the space-traversing platform known as Final Destination, her team mates behind her, her Wolfen in front of her.
And now they were flying through the Lylat System as if they had done this their whole life. They remembered everything from their former lives... but it had become meaningless to them. Now, the only reason for them to exist was to serve their master, and they liked it.
"We will reach the Sargasso Sector in about 15 minutes of space-travel," said her companion Pardus, the former Toji.
"Good," she smiled. "Let's make sure Star Fox will get a nasty surprise when they arrive."
"Do you think Wolf's thugs will be surprised when they see us instead of his team, Lupe?" Gecko asked.
Not reacting to the nickname the two male members of her team gave to her, Lupina replied: "Obviously. But they will have no other choice. It's either accepting us as their new leaders or being arrested by Star Fox."
"So that makes us the new bosses of their hideout?" Pardus grinned. "I can't wait..."
"Well, it's about time someone will bring some order into this rusty space station. When I'm in command, I will make sure that we will get a new base as soon as possible, bigger, well-armed and in the middle of the Lylat System. While Andross rules from Venom, we will control his laws from the middle."
"Sounds good to me!" Gecko smirked. "You always had a knack for organizing stuff like that, class rep!"
"Don't call me that!" Lupe snapped. "And now shut up, I have to concentrate."
"All right, boss! Whatever you say..." Gecko mumbled.
Rei opened her eyes. "Where am I?" she asked.
"We're close to the Sargasso Sector," came a cocky voice from next to her bed. She looked up and saw the beaked visage of Falco Lombardi.
She sighed. "I was convinced that all that happened was part of my dreams..."
Falco raised an eyebrow. "Well, if you mean the Aparoids, they're real, all right! Fox asked me to take care of you so he can prepare our Arwings for battle. Are you feeling better?"
"I am fine, Pilot Lombardi!" Rei said as she sat up.
The avian pilot sighed. "Again with the 'pilot' crap! Look, just call me by my name, okay? You know it pretty well, and it's a pretty cool name, so do me a favor and use it, okay?"
"As you wish... Falco."
Falco nodded. "Better. And now, Fox asked me not to bother you too much, but I'd like to know anyways... why are you like this?"
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"You know what I mean!" Falco said sternly. "And I'd very much prefer that you finally cut that crap and tell us what's going on! Fox always has a soft spot for you, but we're a team here, and we need to be able to rely on each other! So why are you giving us the cold shoulder recently? Is it because of me? If you don't like me, I can accept that. But don't let our teamwork suffer from that. Besides, Fox is worried sick about you. Peppy fears that it might affect his abilities as a leader."
Rei realized there wasn't much she could do to fool the ace pilot any longer. As Asuka would put it, the gig was over.
"Fine," she said and stared into his eyes. Falco was taken aback by the harshness in her voice. "You won't believe me, but I will tell you! My name is Rei Ayanami, and I am a human being, not an anthropomorphic fox. I don't know why I woke up in this body, nor do I know what happened to the real Krystal. I believed this to be a dream, so I acted as if everything was all right. I did my best to carry out my mission, until Commander McCloud gave me the order to use psychic abilities I never knew I had. I thought he would be joking, but I realized that this was a mistake as soon as the creature you called an 'Aparoid' invaded my thoughts with his voice." She shivered as she recalled the event. "I heard a multitude of voices in my head, every single one sounding as the other. They tried to convince me to 'join' them, whatever that may mean. I couldn't handle the unfamiliar, mental pressure and fell unconscious. I think I had a trouble of... bad dreams before I woke up." Again, she shuddered. "And that is all."
Falco stared back at her, his beak wide open. Finally, he shook his head and said: "You know what? You're right! I don't believe one thing of the rubbish you said."
Rei shrugged. "I don't care if you don't believe me. You asked me for the truth, and I answered."
Falco raised his hands. "You know what? Forget I ever asked! All Fox wanted me to ask you is: Do you feel able to fly with us when we attack the Sargasso Station? To your information, that's where the crook fled to after taking off with the core memory we were supposed to retrieve. And according to Peppy, it's a hideout for mercenaries and wanted criminals."
Rei thought about it for a moment, then she nodded.
Just then, they could hear Fox's voice coming out of the intercom: "Attention all pilots... at least those who are ready for battle! Get to your Arwings! We are approaching Sargasso Station!"
In a very short briefing, Fox ordered Rei and Falco to keep the space flyers outside of the base busy, while he and Slippy were sneaking in to search for Pigma. Neither Falco nor Rei said anything about their conversation in the sick bay. But they glared at each other when Fox told them to work together, but they did not protest either.
Fox and Slippy made it in with no problems, but then they found out about the transfer devices inside the base.
"Using those, they can always call for backup," Peppy explained. "Fox, Slippy, you have to destroy them."
"We'll get right to it," Fox replied. "Falco, Krystal, how are things up there?"
"Pretty quiet until now," Falco responded. "But it's not like they had much time to call in reinforcements, so..."
"Pilot Lo... I mean, Falco!" Rei then called out. She had detected a big shape that was approaching them. "Look! A battleship!"
"And so the fun begins..." Falco sighed.
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(Posted Sat, 02 Feb 2008 15:29)
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