Pikmin: The Flora and Fauna
Dweevils and a Metal Menace
"Dweevils are… Hmm…" Olimar muttered, staring down at a digital notepad.
Using a digital stylus, he tapped the pad repeatedly as if he were a student that lacked the answer to a test question. Tapping again and again in the darkness of the cave, he needed a good description of the dweevil species. Dweevils were spindly creatures, of different color similar to the color of Pikmin. As such, they have corresponding elements that match up with their color; red dweevils are capable of generating hot gases, blue dweevils can release fluids that can suffocate prey, and so on and so forth. However, a description to match the entire species proved difficult.
The cave itself was as ordinary as it came, except for the high dweevil population. Hundreds could be scanned from the surface, or at least he took the ship's word for it, as it shivered each time it tried to count. They scrambled all over the place, matching all of the colors of the dweevil spectrum. Olimar cringed as he noticed one very specific dweevil. The thing marched along, looking similar to a rock. All of a sudden, the rock-like exterior began glowing. In a simple explosion, the dweevil was gone.
They were certainly a very unique species. They had elemental prowess, variety, and could even pick up objects in a fashion that seemed as if they were imitating them. Certainly forces to be reckoned with.
Also quite the annoyance to poor Louie. The captain in blue ran with a battalion of Pikmin in tow, dodging the explosive dweevil species as they trampled on after them. They chased after poor Louie until their expiration date had finally reached them, blowing up in a simultaneous effort, their pink souls drifting off into the air. Louie and the Pikmin accompanying him took the time to relax, sitting by the rock walls. They were quickly rustled, the entire group rushing away to avoid another set of dweevils chasing after them.
For the life of him, he did not know whether to summarize the entire species or catalogue them. Truth be told, he felt rather drained as of late, and may have gone with the former. They were unique as a species, but they retained very similar behaviors, except for the Volatile Dweevil which he had just named on account of their bombastic personality.
A handful of Pikmin groaned, not of weariness nor pain, but out of custom of booing any and all puns as it goes in life. Payback came back flying in as a purple colored dweevil stomped in and released toxic fumes, sending every Pikmin that had no resistance to the painful gases packing. Louie did his best, whistling as if his life depended on it, curing the Pikmin of their coughing fits.
Now Olimar was getting frustrated. The high-pitched frequencies going off in the distance were just making him that much more annoyed. Turning over towards the open space that was the rest of the cave, he initially began to shout, but upon noticing Louie attempting to take revenge on one of the yellow arachnid creatures, he sprung into action, ditching the notepad, whistling towards the Pikmin less suited to electric shocks. Upon hearing the more familiar, experience captain's whistle, the Pikmin started making a run for it, narrowly avoiding the deadly zap. Louie blinked, following closely behind.
They all regrouped over at the area of the cave the ship's nose cone dwelled in, all of them panting heavily from the chase. Olimar and Louie caught their breaths quickly enough, the both of them turning around. Already, the dweevils that Louie had scuffled with were capitalizing on their failure to remain calm, carrying away a load of fantastical treasures, the spider-like creatures retreating through a crevice sprouting out of the ground, though with much difficulty squeezing through some of the materials. Everyone present remained silent, though the propeller that allowed the ship to hover made a constant whirring noise.
Other than that, silence. But, considering the highlight of the ship's day was naming treasures, seeing the lot of them retreat down a hole was less than pleasant.
"What are you two waiting for?! Go get those back! We have bills to pay, you know!" The ship announced.
Louie shivered. The ship was not wrong, but he disliked the idea of retrieving the treasures with a whole mass of dweevil adversaries hot on their tails was unsatisfactory, to say the least. Olimar on the other hand, felt a sort of guilt. While he felt that the screeching lecture was less than necessary, he agreed. There was so much to glean from the treasures, whether it was monetarily or for research, Olimar did need to have those treasures.
So he started running. Louie's eyes grew wide. A few of the Pikmin followed Louie's example; some of the Pikmin huddled together, shivering, a few covering their eyes with their stems and tiny hands. All of a sudden, a lone Pikmin separated itself from the mass. A purple one, no less, walked out of the bunch, and started after Olimar, its flower bud bobbing up and down. A few of its peers whispered in their squeak-language, presumably pointing out that the mental state of the one who left was less than normal. Surprisingly, two more Pikmin broke out from the mass, a pair of White Pikmin, following after their purple cousin reluctantly.
Louie noticed the trio depart down the hole with Olimar. He felt a few leaves brush against him. Then flower buds. Then flowers. The horde of Pikmin he had accompanying him made their way to assist Olimar, pouring down the hole like a stream. Louie stayed and stared. It was amazing. The odds were stacked against them, and yet the little soldiers willingly strode forward as if it were the last day of their lives, which it may very well be. The space employee felt a strange sense of pride and fear.
A tugging sensation was the next thing he felt, which at first he assumed was his gut tightening. Realizing it was coming from behind, Louie turned around, noticing a solitary Blue Pikmin holding onto a digital notepad and a stylus.
"This must be Olimar's." Louie thought to himself.
Sooner or later, one of the parties would win out victorious. Louie would not know right away, as he stayed underneath the glow of the ship. It was safer on this floor of the cave; the dweevils had abandoned it in favor of a lavish, Pikmin-free apartment, so to speak. If they won, it would be a simple case of, "Return to the ship, deposit treasure, get paid". However, if they lost…
His stomach hurt. It was not a hurt that of gorging oneself, or of eating something technically inedible, (which Louie had issues with constantly on this planet) but that of nervousness. Olimar led them to victory plenty of times. He even got to go to that tournament… Thingy. Something like "Super Crash Bros." or something along those lines, Louie could not remember. Though, for a while now, Louie worried and worried. For the first time in a long time, Louie shoved the thoughts of food and fear to the side.
Louie glanced over at the Blue Pikmin. It had placed Olimar's belongings in the light leading up into the ship, the pad hovering up into the cone's storage space. The ship buzzed curiously, apparently scanning the contents.
"I'm a space vessel, not a storage garage." If there was an audio equivalent to a frown, that was the noise the ship was making, "...Though I suppose I can hold on to this."
The Blue Pikmin's eyes lit up in delight. It soon began sprinting off towards the crater in the ground, leaving Louie behind. The blue captain sighed. Very much a "do or die" moment, Louie took the "do" option, very well considering he could "die" in the process. Following the Pikmin, Louie hopped down the hole, descending into the cave further. The ship shook its conical head, and followed after them, leaving the previous floor dark and empty as it continued onwards.
The next floor was certainly not what Louie was expecting, both he and the Blue Pikmin were taken off guard. A large metallic platform that could serve as the next floor stretched out in front of them. Bracing for impact, the landing reverberated throughout the entire platform with a resounding clang, the two simultaneously rubbing the backs of their heads.
A whistling noise caught their attention. Turning towards the side, they noticed a few piles of shriveled up dweevils and a mound of treasure. The pair of blue clad characters sighed in relief, making their way over to the others. Perhaps their help was unnecessary. Though, what happened next might have changed their minds. With the added bonus of scaring them half to death.
Olimar noticed a glint. His eyes traced back towards a metallic crater of sorts. In the middle of it all, a round orb with a bronze sheen. Pipes stuck out of the top, creating smoke and steam. With his battalion of Pikmin at the ready, Olimar approached the shiny object, cautious as always. As he approached it, he had expected something to drop down on him or blindside him to prevent him from taking the treasure, but was thrown for a loop when the legs of the sphere extended.
A dweevil, a round body with skinny, metallic limbs hoisting it up popped out of the ground, steaming using its pipes. Olimar and Louie gasped. Instinctively, Olimar called the Pikmin back, expecting the arachnorb to lash out using its appendages. Which it did, in a terrifying manner. Extending from below, a gun lashed out, with a laser sight aiming towards the group of Pikmin. Now it was Olimar's turn to be afraid. Bullets, like bursts of light, fired out of the gun with a rapid pace, making distinct ricochet noises as it did.
The main captain ran, his colorful compadres following him as they sprinted for cover. Unfortunately, a few of the unlucky red, yellow, and blue of the bunch were caught in the fire, peppered with large bullets, perishing on the spot. Those who escaped continued running for some time, until they realized that the gunfire had stopped. Looking back towards the armed arachnorb, they noticed that the gun barrel was smoking considerably, and that the laser sight could not reach them. They panted, believing they were safe.
The dweevil, despite its stocky appearance, soon proved that it could move. Striding across towards them with time to spare, Olimar found that it had towered over them in a manner of seconds. The gun aimed again. This time, the captain hurled Pikmin left and right, launching them at the machine. As it fired, a few were knocked off, their poor souls leaving for a better place. Others clung desperately, smacking it left and right. Despite his efforts, Olimar could not keep up the charade for long. His arms were tiring, and the Pikmin numbers were thinning.
As he thought, a stray bullet bounced towards the captain. Olimar blinked, only just realizing the projectile. He leaped to the side, barely escaping the bullet. All while this was happening the enemy spider could shake off the Pikmin with little to no effort. Things looked grim; Olimar could hardly whistle and throw at the same time, and at the rate the metal monstrosity was tearing through the ranks of Pikmin, it seemed like he might have to try.
His fears were displaced with a whistle. A lower pitched, almost honking sound caught his attention. As well as a handful of the Pikmin. Louie, in all of his awkward employee glory, began hurling the Pikmin that had ventured towards him, including his blue friend. The gun swiveled from Olimar's group to Louie now, already charging up another barrage. If ever a chance appeared, this was the time, and Olimar could not resist the offer. One Purple Pikmin stumbled up next to Olimar, with his paler white companions ready as well.
The arachnorb's weapon aimed. So did Olimar and Louie. With the flash of the muzzle, Olimar and Louie directed their own attack, their Pikmin crying out as they flew, ready to fight.
The battle ended with the clunk of purple and the onslaught of blue.
Olimar sat outside in the afternoon sun under the ship, writing away. The scent of Louie's cooking and the cheers of Pikmin in the background, combined with the sizzling of griddles and pots was tempting, but he needed to finish his writing first.
"...the mechanical portions of its structure appear to automatically acquire and attack targets." He sighed, scribbling a decent representation of a gun firing.
The entire experience was less than happy. Lots of Pikmin were lost. The treasure was excavated, but at the cost of days of work to stabilize the plant people population. And yet…
There they were. The survivors of the ordeal happily going about, lining up for seconds and thirds of Louie's cooking. They moved on now. What happened had happened, and that was an unshakable fact. But as if it were a bad dream, they shrugged it off, returning to Onions with bountiful food, creating a new generation for the future despite the attack. It was inspiring, really.
Olimar sighed. The sun was still up in the sky, but he felt exhausted. Glancing over to Louie, who stood over a pot, the two exchanged looks for a second, then nodded. The experienced captain starting dozing off, though he could rest easy, knowing that Louie was at least around to keep things… Stable.
Louie on the other hand was writing himself. A metal piece of flesh floated on the surface of the pot, staining the brew black.
"Although the meat is a bit on the-" Louie chewed, hearing a huge crunch go off in his mouth, "metallic side, the oil makes a mouthwatering gravy or lubricative vinaigrette."
While he may smell like the inside of a car for a few hours, Louie would rest easy knowing one simple fact.
That he successfully cooked and ate a machine. And it was GOOD.
And he was able to help his co-worker out, of course.
AN: That Man-at-Legs boss, bullets sounding like they came out of a western cartoon with speed to match. Goodness me.
Thanks Piston24 for reviewing! Sounds like a plan, I'll be sure to keep that in mind.
Thanks for reading, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle, make sure to always give your Pikmin bullet-proof vests before leaving the home. See you.