Afterwards, they spent a great deal of time looking through more of the pictures. With each one containing the princess, swiping through picture after picture. Falco was grinning as he observed them as did Slippy. Fox and Peppy, however, seemed somewhat uncomfortable as well as a bit irritated. Misty just kept looking at the pictures with a subtle smile on her face. General Pepper: "So...no one else can view these pictures except us, correct?" Slippy: "That's right. We can't have anyone else seeing these pictures at the risk of her secret being exposed." General Pepper: "I'll admit, she does look happy in a lot of these pictures and I can tell that each of you developed quite a strong bond with her." Slippy: "Of course, she's our friend, through and through. We will always remain close with her." Fox: "That's right. We care about her a lot and we'll do anything for her." General Pepper: "I am glad to hear that, and I know that you, especially, Fox, has developed the strongest bond of all. I know that you 2 will...well..." Fox: "What is it, General?" General Pepper: "Sorry, I may be...getting a little too ahead of myself. Don't worry about it."

The team members then walked beside him. Slippy: "So, then, now that you've become aware of this, this means that you will need to promise to keep this secret." General Pepper: "If it's what she wants, then yes, I will agree to keep this a secret without any qualms or hesitation." Misty: "You sure you don't have a problem keeping this from you men, general?"

The general shook his head. General Pepper: "No, not at all. To tell you the truth, this wouldn't be the only secret that I'm keeping from my men and they're fully aware of that." Misty: "OK then." Fox: "That means that this shouldn't be a problem at all." General Pepper: "So, is there a special retual of sorts for this?" Falco: "Nah, you just gotta vow to never tell anyone this." General Pepper: "Hmmm, yes, I can simply do that."

The general then raised his right hand. General Pepper: "I vow to never tell another soul about this secret regardless of any circumstance, especially not towards those who are loyal. You are the only one who is at liberty to reveal this secret to anyone if you are ready to do so. And I will keep this secret to my dying breath." Misty: "OK, I can tell you are sincere, so I believe you."

They followed him into a private room that consisted of a long couch and a chair facing said couch. The Starfox team sat at the couch with Misty in the middle, Fox and Falco to her left and Slippy and Peppy to her right. General Pepper sat at the chair in front of them. General Pepper: "Now then, I will get straight to the point. It regards last week." Slippy: "If it's about that device, I'm really sorry! I didn't realize in the rush of fixing it that I implanted the wrong chip into it, I just hope…" General Pepper: "At ease, Slippy, it was an honest mistake. I do not intend to reprimand you for that. If anything, I was glad that you made up for it by building me a new device. I would say that…it was for the best." Slippy: "Oh, phew, for a minute there, I thought that I would be punished for…" General Pepper: "There was no intension of that happening." Fox: "So, if this isn't about the device, then what was about the previous week that concerns you?" General Pepper: "Well, first of all, I was not forthcoming with my time of arrival to your…secret spot. In truth, I actually…arrived earlier than I appeared to have." Fox: "How much earlier…?" General Pepper: "Early enough to have bear witnessed…"

He then looked direct towards Misty. For a brief moment, everyone seemed confused. But it took a while for them to realize what it is that he was trying to convey to them and from this, dawning realization gradually appears on their faces, especially Misty who seemed slightly more wide-eyed. Misty: "You don't mean…?" General Pepper: "Yes, it is exactly what you think it is." Fox: "You…you actually saw her…!?!" Peppy: "I…don't believe it…!" Falco: "Whoa…this is…" Slippy: "Whoa, no way…! Is this…true? You…actually saw her…transform…?"

The general nodded. Fox: "So, that's why you were looking at her so intently last week." General Pepper: "That's exactly right. After that discovery, I have spent the past week contemplating all of it. The image of that aquatic transformation has remained in my mind throughout for the duration of the entire week with very little else taking up my time or thoughts. I have had so many questions in regards to it, as well as coming across several realizations, such as that the rest of you had already known all this time."

Everyone remained silent for a time. Fox: "General…" Falco: "So…what does this mean?" Misty: "You're not…angry with us…are you?"

The general shook his head. General Pepper: "No, not at all. I harbor no ill will towards any of you."

He then looked towards Peppy. General Pepper: "Especially you, old friend. Given that this is her power, I truly understand that none of you are at liberty to share this secret to anyone if she does not wish it, including me regardless of our age old friendship." Peppy: "That's right. After she revealed her alternative form to us, we made a pact to keep this to ourselves. It wasn't anything personal." Fox: "Exactly, we were sworn to secrecy." General Pepper: "And I commemorate all of you for that; by agreeing to keep this secret, even from me, you have shown tremendous honor for maintaining and keeping a promise as well as displaying a great deal of respect towards this young lady and her best interests at heart." Slippy: "Of course we did! She's our friend. We would never tell anyone else this secret even if we wanted to. Not even my dad knows this." Misty: "It was a decision that I made. Everyone else unilaterally agreed to it without any qualms." Peppy: "To which I felt was exactly the kind of decision that needed to be made considering that her power is incredibly sacred." Fox: "And we intend to guard this secret with our lives. We don't have any regrets." General Pepper: "Yes, as you should. Far be it for me to fully understand the concept of magic or anything else in regards to the subject, so I would not even try to fully grasp such, much less impose on anything in regards to the matter." Peppy: "Thank you…for understanding. I was worried about wagering whether or not you would understand, but it was a gamble that I had to take. I'm just relieved that I no longer have to worry about it." General Pepper: "But of course. There was no such risk. As I have stated before, I fully understand that this transformation ability of hers is her power, therefore I would be certain that she is solely the one who decides whom can be trusted with this secret to. That was never in question." Fox: "We have talked about trusting this secret with you from time to time. Misty, on her part, was debating whether she should considering that she does feel she can trust you, but she didn't feel ready." Misty: "I know that you would. To be honest, all of us felt guilty about keeping it from you. You're a good person and…it really wasn't anything personal. I just…didn't feel ready yet." General Pepper: "Well, if that was your decision, then that is all that truly mattered. You did not have to be pressured into revealing anything to anyone. The time would come when it would come and I would have waited longer if necessary. This isn't something that should be entrusted to anyone else so impulsively." Falco: "Oh, I have my reasons for wanting to keep this secret."

Falco was looking over towards Misty with self-satisfied smile on his face. Falco: "The pleasure is all ours."

Throughout the past week, General Pepper's thoughts kept going back to that discovery, that moment of watching her transform. He continued to play that image in his head repeatedly, trying to make sense of what he had seen, what he had realized, what he had intended to do in regards to it. His days had been preoccupied with those thoughts with very little else to pull him away from them. His loyal men became concerned with his constant preoccupation of these thoughts, though they were never able to verify what it was that continued to preoccupy their commanding officer. Some have expressed said concerned multiple times with the general brushing them off. It had been a week of endless, near uninterrupted contemplation.

Just then, they were taken by surprise by the sound of General Pepper clearing his throat. They looked over to notice him standing before him. Fox: "G-general! I didn't expect to see you here." General Pepper: "To be honest, I did not intend on meeting with you, either, at least not today, but I came to you on an important matter regarding one of my devices." Slippy: "Oh! G-general! I forgot about that! I'm sorry! I was going to get back to you on that! I'll take care of that right now!"

And with that, Slippy set up a small work station in front of them with the device in his hand. He hurriedly worked on it with the others watching him. During that time, the general glanced over towards Misty and stared at her for a while. Misty took notice of this and stared back at him, looking nervous. The 2 of them never took their eyes off of each other for that time. Slippy: "I'm finished!"

Slippy handed the device back to the general. Slippy: "Here! All fixed! I'm so sorry for causing you such an inconvenience!" General Pepper: "Oh! Um…it's no trouble, Slippy. I appreciate this. Well then, I should be on my way. Carry on with the rest of your day."

He took one brief glance back towards Misty before walking off. Slippy looked exhausted after the work he had to put through. Slippy: "Phew! I'm glad I took care of that." Fox: "Yeah, close call." Misty: "Hey, guys, did you notice the way that General Pepper was staring at me?" Fox: "Yeah, I noticed." Falco: "So did I. Just what was up with that?" Peppy: "Hmmm…I don't know. That was awfully peculiar of him. I don't think I've ever seen him like that before."

As everyone pondered, Slippy looked back towards his workshop and became startled upon noticing something. Slippy: "Uh, oh…I think I may have installed the wrong chip into the device." Fox: "What? What do you mean?" Slippy: "I had a decoy chip in here that I made encase I was forced to make repairs for enemy devices. It makes the device pop in the user's hand without causing any injury! The other chip…I…" He held up the other chip in his hand. Slippy: "I was supposed to put that other chip in the device." Fox: "Oh, no…"

He continued watching as they chatted. General Pepper: "They appear to be…anticipating something…"

From where he was, he noticed Slippy and Falco smiling at each other, with Slippy holding his fists in front of him in joy. General Pepper: "Whatever it is, those 2 seem to be quite giddy about it."

Fox was seen chatting with Misty, pointing to the water in a few different directions from each other with Misty smiling and nodding. He continued observing them.

From the team's end, everyone chatted. Slippy: "OK then, everything's ready to go." Fox: "Sounds good. OK, Misty, do your thing." Misty: "Sure thing, this should be fun."

All 4 of the guys stand before her with General Pepper noticing. General Pepper: "Hmmm…interesting. So, this involves her. Clearly, they know something."

From there, Misty floated back towards the water and hovered over it, preparing herself with the guys watching. General Pepper: "What…is she doing? From the looks of it, they are indeed anticipating…whatever this could be."

Misty held her arms up a little. From there, the water below her reacted and swirled around her, encasing her inside in a dome shape. The general stared at it in awe. General Pepper: "Such impressive water manipulation. I suspected she had some sort of power over the water but…I didn't expect….this….Hmmmm, it looks as though….something is occuring within that water dome she formed, but…it's hard to determine what exactly…"

He continued observing as the Starfox team watched this take place with anticipated looks on their faces, mainly grand smiles from Falco and Slippy. After a little while of this, the dome broke, revealing Misty in her princess form. From seeing this, the general gasped from astonishment, his eyes nearly widening. General Pepper: "What the…!?! What is…what is this!?!"

She dropped into the water with the guys following after her. The general remained spellbound from what he had witnessed. General Pepper: "I….I don't….believe this!!! She's a…this is….!!!!"

The general struggled to find words. General Pepper: "I…I never…would have believed…so…she is a…but, wait. The Starfox team, the way they simply watched her transformation like that. They knew. They anticipated her transforming. How did…how can…?"

He went on it, trying to press the different buttons to make it work, but to no avail. General Pepper: "What is…what is going on with this…? Drat, I'm going to need to have one of my mechanics fix this thing."

He went on a device on his ear. General Pepper: "This is the general. I have a device here that has malfunctioned. I'm wondering if any of our mechanics are available to…..What? The device is this handheld….Oh….I see….None of our mechanics could…..Yes, I see….But who else can I rely on….You don't say….So, Slippy is the only one who can fix this? Hmmm, that is….most unfortunate. The team is having their usual day off with their female friend from Earth….Is that so? Well….if I must….although, I don't know if I can bring myself to bother them…but I guess I don't have any other choice. I'll head over to their spot and find them. Now then, I'll just need to pinpoint their current location and….Hm? They seem to be at a….shoreline. Hmmm, how peculiar. Well then, I don't know what they're planning but something tells me that I'm going to find out."