Hello everyone! This is part of a challenge I'm doing with Moonlight97 and miano53. The goal was to write as many stories as you could within a week based off a list of 180 prompts, so forgive me for any errors or if this comes off as rather unpolished.
The prompt I chose for this story was number 142 'what scares you?' "What have you done recently, or will be doing in the near future that scares you?"
"Alph? Are you in here?" Olimar's voice rang out in the empty interior of the S.S. Drake. The Koppaite had been missing for the better part of the afternoon. At first, Olimar thought he was off making sure he and his Pikmin were ready for their first official match, but after finding the disarrayed state the little plant creatures were in, he was beginning to suspect there was something else going on. Alph was prudent, more so than the vast majority of his species. Such disorganization was unlike him.
His footfalls rang with a metallic echo as he walked further in. The main monitor cast a flickering blue glow, the only light in the gloom save for his helmet's beacon. Odd... There was no reason for the ship's systems to be powered off. "Your first match is about to start in an hour. You don't want to be late."
Not receiving any answer, Olimar walked over to the control panel and began typing in commands. If he could boot up the Drake, he should be able to make contact with Alph, wherever he may be hiding. If not, the radar would definitely pick up his location via his spacesuit's tracking beacon.
It wasn't to be though. Before he could get anywhere, a prompt came up on the screen asking him for a password. Olimar's brows furrowed.
He did this on purpose.
The next forty minutes passed in a flurry of activity. At least half of the active Smashers were helping Olimar with finding the missing Koppaite, some worriedly, others begrudgingly. As the clock ticked down to the final minutes until Alph would finally be disqualified from the match, Olimar sighed in resignation and returned to his own ship. If that boy didn't want to be found, then wasn't much he could do but wait until he came out of hiding on his own. He wouldn't lie though; he was concerned about him. Thinking back on it, Alph had been awfully skittish and jumpy the past few days. Did the idea of fighting really bother him that much?
As he passed by a pile of cardboard boxes, he spotted something shining in his peripheral vision. A blue glow was pouring out from under one of the boxes, forming a halo of light around it. When he realized what it was, Olimar put his hand to his helmet, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. You've got to be kidding me. Without a word, he went over and lifted the box up.
Alph blinked in confusion and looked side to side, wondering where his box went. When his eyes met Olimar's, he yelped and jumped to his feet. "C-Captain Olimar! How did you find me?"
"I can't believe this," Olimar started, already exasperated. "All of that effort you put into ensuring no one found you, from powering down the Drake to changing your name-" He pulled out the legal form he had found laying on the sidewalk. "-only to give yourself away by forgetting to take off your helmet."
"I didn't forget to take off my helmet!" Alph protested. "...It was just really dark in there."
Olimar ignored him. "Not that you'd know, but you have everyone running around trying to find you. Would care to explain what all of this is about, Alph?" He looked at the paper. "Or are you really going by Alfonzo now?"
"No... I haven't submitted that yet. And I probably won't." Alph was a bit bashful as he said that. "Maybe I got a little ahead of myself with that part. When you start panicking, you don't always stop to think everything through..."
"And why were you panicking?" Olimar asked, softening his voice. He already had a good idea of what was wrong, but he thought it was important for Alph to say it on his own. One lesson he learned from raising his children was that some problems could be solved just by having somebody listen.
"W-Well..." Alph tapped his fingers and looked away. "You see... I just..."
Olimar waited patiently.
"I don't want to fight!"
He stepped back, startled. He was expecting the answer, but not the outburst. "And why is that? It's considered a real honor to be here, you know."
"Yes, I do know. It's just..." He sighed. "I thought I was done with all of that. The fighting, the danger... I had more than my share of that on PNF-404. When I got back home, I just wanted to put that all behind me and live a peaceful life reaping the fruits of my hard work." He sat down on one of the boxes and stared at the ground. "And then I got the invitation. My first thought when I read it was to decline. I mean, I don't like to fight and I know I don't have a chance to win, but... All of my friends and family were ecstatic that I got chosen to compete. Everyone kept urging me to go and participate. It was like I didn't have a choice. And now that I'm here..."
"...you want nothing more than to go home," Olimar finished, receiving a nod from him. "Alph, I understand that you're scared. It's because of that though that I think you're blowing things out of proportion. Nobody actually gets hurt in the fights, not even the Pikmin. There's technology in place that-"
"Prevents that. I know. But I also know very well that technology can fail on you. What if something does happen? What if my helmet breaks during the fight, or what if the Pikmin start actually getting hurt or-"
"That's yet to happen in all the years this tourney's been running and the chances of it happening to you are slim to none." Seeing that Alph wasn't really listening, Olimar went and sat down next to him. "Look, I'm not here to drag you kicking and screaming back to the stadium. No one's forcing you to fight."
Alph looked at him out of the corner of his eye.
"But before you give up, why don't you just give it one try? Maybe you'll find it's not as frightening as you think it is. And if you really don't want to do it, then at least you can go home saying you tried. That's what the problem is, isn't it? You're scared to try, but you're scared of going home a coward."
"It's so hard though." He was looking at him fully now. "Not only is everyone bigger than you, but they're going to be aiming directly for you, and there's nowhere to run for safety." Alph tilted his head in thought. "When I was on PNF-404, I always had all of my Pikmin to protect me, as well as my crewmates. Whenever I ran into danger, I could count on them to have my back. Now I just feel all alone..."
Maybe that was the key to getting his confidence back... "Alph, could you stay here for a few minutes? I need to go do something."
He stiffened. "You're not... going to go get everyone, are you?"
"Yes, I have some people to bring here. Don't worry though. If you're going to fight, you're going to do it of your own free will. Just trust me. I'll be right back." And he turned away before Alph could raise any objections.
True to his word, when Olimar returned, he didn't return alone. He saw Alph's eyes widen as dozens of Pikmin poured into the ship and surrounded him. "You brought the Pikmin?" Alph asked him before he got swarmed.
Olimar shook his head. "No, I brought your Pikmin. They've been waiting for you to lead them."
Alph looked down at the yellow Pikmin tugging his hand. "But I-"
"You keep saying you're afraid to fight, but you keep acting like you're going to be all alone out there. You may not have an army, but your Pikmin are still going to be right behind you as always. It's going to be fine. Just give it a try and you'll see what I mean."
"I just don't want them to get hurt for no reason. It's not like I have a chance at winning any- w-woah!" he yelped as a purple Pikmin pushed him a little too hard and ended up shoving him off the box. Everyone stared at it as it awkwardly shuffled away before looking back at Alph. "...I'm okay," he mumbled.
"It's their choice, and the Pikmin have chosen to fight with you," Olimar told him. "And don't say that you can't win anymore. You don't know what will happen."
Rubbing his head -or the side of his helmet rather- Alph pushed himself upright. "Is that what you think?" he asked Olimar. Then to the Pikmin he asked, "You all want to fight with me even if it means you might get hurt?"
He received a nod from everyone in the ship, the Pikmin in particular were very eager.
"Well, if you're going to be brave for me, then... I'll be brave for you too!" Alph got his feet and gave Olimar a determined look. "I'll do it! No, we'll do it! When's the fight scheduled to start?"
Olimar checked the clock on the wall. "...About five minutes from now."
"What?!" Panic flashed across Alph's face. "Ack! W-We need to get moving! Come on you guys!" He whistled for his Pikmin to follow him and took off running. Just before he passed Olimar, he stopped for a moment. "Thank you for listening to me. I feel a lot better now. Granted, I'm still nervous, but... I'm not as scared anymore. Are you going to come watch the fight?"
Olimar nodded and smiled. "Of course I am."
Hmm. I'm not sure what to think about this fic. About halfway in, I had no clue which direction to take it so I just went ahead and wrote whatever came to mind. It was pretty interesting writing this fic, pretty different, too.
Either way, I hope you enjoyed. Do check out the other author's stories if you have the time!
Thank you for reading.