Day 7: Wild
"Olimar, can I ask you a question?"
The captain had been staring absentmindedly at the small mountain of bombrocks that filled most of the onion. He looked back to the orange Pikmin and said, "I thought I was the one who had all the questions, but go ahead."
Onrac began, "Well, back at the battle, when Manat appeared…"
"Yes?"
"You just… Well you just stood there when everybody else was running. Why didn't you run? Were you thinking you could win? Too scared to move? Hoping to stall him? Or…"
Olimar turned back to the bombrock pile and shrugged. "I can't really explain it." He paused for a moment to think, then continued, "I just had this feeling that running was pointless."
"So you decided to just give in?"
"More like I thought that everything would just turn out fine in the end."
Onrac shook his head, "No, what you did back there was downright suicidal. I assume the only reason you thought you might be okay is that you hadn't heard of Manat's reputation."
"If you thought that, why did you ask me? What do you think I know about it?"
The orange one sighed, then continued, "Manat is an invincible, unstoppable fighter. The only reason I think the Pikmin have survived against the Bulborbs with him on their side is that the Bulborbs don't seem to be able to control him very well either. He shows up in a battle every now and then, usually followed by him wandering around aimlessly while killing anything that gets in his path."
"You haven't tried just overwhelming him with a mass of Pikmin instead?"
Onrac shook his head again, "I think everybody gave up hope of beating him any time soon after he killed Thren in battle."
"Who was he?"
"Thren was… our champion. The greatest fighter any of any Pikmin as far back as we know. We all knew he was destined for greatness… but then, in one battle the Bulborbs revealed their weapon. Thren stood and fought like he always did, but in the end Manat won with only a single scratch."
"He can't be that bad if he let us live." Olimar pointed out.
"But that's why I'm so confused right now. Because when he let us live, you didn't seem surprised at all. It was as if you were expecting it."
"Well, throughout my travels, and my life in general, I've found myself in some pretty nasty situations and it seemed like I was doomed to fail. But somehow, in the end every time something saw me through to the end in once piece and I didn't have to worry about it. I've learned that when the odds seem to be stacked against me I should put my life in fate's hands instead of trying to escape the problem."
"Fate? I thought you said you didn't believe in that stuff." The orange Pikmin said.
"No, I never said that. I said I don't think anybody can see the future. There's a difference between the two."
Onrac felt the Onion slow down in its flight. "We're back." He observed. He suddenly remembered something and reached for something at his side. He turned and handed the Ominrod back to Olimar. "You dropped this in the battle, you probably wouldn't want to leave it behind."
Olimar took the rod and replied, "I almost forgot it myself. Thanks."
Emperor Bulblax awoke in his main chamber to the sounds of a hushed argument. He focused his eyes past the various treasures and relics he kept and noticed a tall Feathery Bulborb arguing with what appeared to be some sort of Antenna Beetle. What set it apart from the others he had seen before was is taller, blue body with long arms and folded translucent wings on its back. "What's going on?" He asked as he walked toward them.
"Great, now he's awake." The beetle said, angry at the other Bulborb.
"Keab? An explanation?" The green grub-dog asked.
The feathered one looked at his leader and answered, "Turns out there was an Antenna Mantis hiding in our ranks. We're lucky we found out now." He gestured toward the blue beetle.
"What? Who…"
"Monshume."
The Emperor looked at the beetle, who then asked angrily, "I don't understand. Why can't I fight? Rebitar insists that we only help nudge you all along but I want to take action…"
Keab interrupted, "Do you realize how dangerous that is for us? Rebitar offers us his wisdom, yes, and the Antenna Beetles as fast messengers. But he was very clear on his only condition: that if we let any single member of his clan die in battle he would leave us immediately."
"You don't have to worry about me, I can survive on my own. I'm capable of helping the cause and…"
Bulblax interrupted this time, "So this is why you always seem to be in the right place at the right time… And why I hadn't heard much of you until recently. But I have to ask what you hope to accomplish disguised as merely a Spotty Bulborb."
Monshume's antennae bounced as he shook his head, "What did you expect me to disguise myself as? A Cannon Beetle? A Snagret? I know you all keep careful track of their numbers and a new one appearing suddenly would stand out. But I knew the only way I could actually be on the field and changing things would be if I was in disguise." He turned to Keab and continued, "You don't have to tell Rebitar either. I can still stay as a Bulborb and things will be fine. Trust me."
The tall Bulborb snickered, "Your plan is to keep a secret from Rebitar of all people? Have you lost it?"
"It worked this long didn't it? Besides, there's a reason you all don't know my real name. So long as he doesn't try focusing on your minds about this specific event he'll never know, and even if he somehow does he won't know who exactly I am."
"Oh, and I suppose the messenger is just going to forget to mention how your disguise fell apart in front of him."
The Emperor spoke up before the beetle could reply, "Messenger?"
Monshume looked at the Feathery Bulborb, who answered, "Yes. As you know, an Antenna Mantis can change his appearance with an illusion…"
"It's not merely an illusion, it's a complete shifting of my body to perfectly mimic another." The mantis interrupted, turning back to the Emperor, "But if there's enough mental stress it will slip and I'll end up reverting to my normal form."
"Bad news I take it?" Bulblax asked.
"It's not bad, not terribly good either…" Keab responded. He and Monshume began to appear troubled as their attention was brought back to the message they had just received. He continued, "It was news from the Northern front. They found… something…"
"What? One of those items Olimar is looking for?"
"No. The Pikmin that were supposed to be up there… Well, they're all dead now. There are thousands of bodies scattered around the region along with about seventy Onions of theirs destroyed. Some sort of massacre happened there."
Bulblax looked at the two of them. "I don't quite understand. What's so troubling?" He asked.
The blue one answered, "The problem is that there's some other force out there that we don't seem to have accounted for, and whatever it is it's very powerful."
"But it can't be too bad whatever it is. It killed all the Pikmin there afterall." Bulblax replied.
"We don't know that."
"Look, either way that area is ours to claim. The enemy isn't there and whatever caused it has moved on, yes? So maybe Rebitar anticipated this, because we've also gone into the area with a very powerful force as he advised. If whatever caused it tries to come for us, we'll be ready." Bulblax pointed out.
"So… I've heard some very interesting stories"
"Really Virax? What have you heard?" The Nectarian responded, seated in his chamber.
The red-budded Pikmin looked out the window watched the sun as it slowly began its descent in the sky. He continued, "I heard that Manat was at the Volatile Volcano battle."
"You heard correctly."
"I also heard that a certain outsider stood his ground against him… and scared that thing away."
"Correct."
The green Pikmin turned to face his leader. "So once again Manat is at the very battle you tell me to avoid."
"Yes, well that's not a coincidence."
"Why?"
"You know why," the golden Pikmin responded, "We both know that the only reason you even stuck around here for the battle wasn't because you wanted to be the first one to meet Olimar. It's because you were waiting for Manat to show up." The green Pikmin nodded. The Nectarian continued, "I'm not going to let that thing kill you too."
"So you're just going to let it live and continue its rampage?" Virax asked, turning back to the window.
The Nectarian sighed, "Look, I know you're after revenge. I know you're still angry and I am too. But I'm not going to be a fool and lose another friend. You need to let the past be and leave it behind, because nothing we do now is going to bring him back."
"We could've saved him. If we had acted, we could have…"
His leader interrupted him, "We did what we had to do. We had orders to move back while he kept them busy."
"We could've disobeyed the orders."
"Then Thren wouldn't have been the only one who died that day."
The two remained silent for a few minutes. Finally Virax spoke up once again, "Look, I know you think the only reason that I care about destroying Manat is for some personal vengeance. And ok, sure, maybe that does have a little to do with it. But the main reason is that like it or not, one day we're going to have to stop running and hiding whenever he shows up in a battle. One day somebody will have to stand their ground again and fight him, and win. And after hearing what happened and how Manat was fought off by Olimar, I think my chances are pretty good right now. I beat Olimar handily, so I should be able to stand up to Manat. So like it or not, I'm our best shot."
There was another pause as the Nectarian nodded slowly. "From what Onrac reported, Manat said something about needing more upgrades from ruins left behind by the creators. Now, we didn't know about the one in the volcano, but we do know the closest one to that area…" he began.
"The Wistful Wild" The green one finished.
"Correct. The way I see it, you might still have time to make it there and cut him off, hopefully before he finds whatever upgrade he's looking for and becomes an even bigger threat. I just ask that you wait for Martel before…"
"No. He's not experienced enough yet and he's not even back yet from his assignment. If he makes it back maybe you can send him after me as reinforcements, but I doubt the fight will last that long."
The golden Pikmin nodded again and concluded, "We just finished emptying out some of the Onions of their bombrock cargo, so you're free to pick any one of them on your way down there."
Virax turned to walk out and stopped at the door. He turned and asked, "Why are you suddenly helping me on this?"
"As much as I hate to admit it, you might have a point in fighting him now, and maybe you really can pull off what Thren failed to do all that time ago. And besides," The Nectarian grinned, "I figure that even if I refused to let you go you'd go ahead and fight him anyway, and probably in much less favorable conditions."
Olimar's computer buzzed, "I think you're being a little impatient with my scanning. I told you this would not be quick."
"Have you made any progress?" The captain asked.
"If you mean have I found anything, no. But I'm still searching. My turn to ask a question."
"You have a question? That's a first."
"Well, I'm just wondering what the Omega Stabilizer and your seat have that I don't."
"I thought I went over this. The Pikmin wouldn't let me pick which two pieces I wanted to put on my ship, and they just picked at random. Besides, at least I can sleep on my seat because I can't say the same about you. But that does remind me. Do you think we can make another suit modification?"
"What now? Think you need a bazooka as well?" The analog computer asked.
"No, a whistling modification." Olimar replied.
"Whistling."
"Yes."
"I'm so happy you have your priorities straight."
"If we ever make it back home I'm getting you a personality change."
"If? You sound confident."
"Shut up and let me explain why I want this."
"Ok fine. Explain away."
Olimar recalled back to the previous day, "For some reason, whistling seems to have a brainwashing effect on the Pikmin. There's something about that specific high pitch frequency that allows one to command them as if he were actually a member of their chain of command. So in other words, they have to follow through with your orders without question, even if you tell them to, say, jump off a cliff or attack against overwhelming odds."
"I'm sorry to be skeptical, but that does sound useless since you already know how to whistle."
Olimar continued, "Well, I only did it once and it was on the ones on the bottom of the chain. In fact, the one that was higher said that while he heard the command he could still ignore it. I'm hoping that with a device that I can alter the frequency, intensity, wavelengths and all that stuff precisely, I can maybe begin to command the higher ups, and maybe even the whole army."
"And with the entire species under your control, you can force them to finish repairing the Dolphin and we can get off this rock."
Olimar nodded, "Exactly."
"This does sound very good if we can get it off the ground. I take it you want to cannibalize your Massage Machine for this?"
"Unfortunately it doesn't seem like I have much of a choice. And I suppose we might find some use for the leftovers of the UV Lamp."
Suddenly a voice came from the doorway to the cargo room and asked, "Olimar?"
The captain spun around and noticed an orange Pikmin, "What?" Olimar asked the Pikmin. The Pikmin stared at him confused and Olimar realized he had turned off his translator to communicate with his computer. He turned it back on and asked again, "What?"
"Who were you talking to?" Onrac asked.
"Oh, my computer."
"Computer?"
"It's like a machine… So kind of like Manat I guess. Anyway, what do you want?"
Onrac recalled what he came in to ask, and continued, "So hey, it seems like there's been a lot of commotion concerning some sort of fight or something that's going down. I really didn't catch what it was about but the point is the Onion is now a lot more empty so I can sneak away with an Onion and make it to Giant's kitchen."
"Your question?"
"You want to come along?"
Olimar blinked, "No, it's fine. I'm a bit busy at the moment with something really important" he said as he pointed to his computer which was now showing the blueprints and instructions for his latest gadget.
"Ok that's fine. Want me to bring you back anything or…?"
"Yeah sure. I think he said something about wanting me to visit sometime because he had a lot of food for me to try, and I could use something other than Space Noodles for a change."
"Sure thing, Giant would be fine with that." The Pikmin turned to leave.
"Hey, I was wondering something…" The captain began, causing the orange Pikmin to stop and look at Olimar again.
"Yes?"
"I couldn't help but noticed you spun the actual account of what happened with Manat when you were reporting it to the others. Why? Was it because they'd kill me if they heard what I really said or…"
"Oh that? I just wanted them to take you seriously for a change."
"Huh? Take me seriously? But I thought I was already a big deal what with being the Outsider and…"
Onrac interrupted again, "No, the only one who thought you were capable of being much of a useful force was Martel. The Nectarian and Virax didn't think you were capable of much, after all they did pair you up with me of all people. Now that they know that you're enough of a force to make Manat think twice about fighting you, they're actually going to try to get on your good side and get your full support."
"Which is why they listened when I asked if I could start putting together my ship?"
"Exactly. Now you can barter with them over your terms of service and they'll actually have to listen for a change."
"Well… Gee thanks." Olimar said, somewhat surprised to find some other creature that actually cared about whether he got off the planet in one piece.
"Don't mention it." Onrac replied as he walked out. He stopped just outside the door and shouted back in, "No seriously, don't mention it. If they find out I lied and that Manat just spared us because he didn't want to waste the ammunition, I'll be in a world of hurt."
Virax marched through the autumn forest of the southern Wistful Wild, followed by a large troop of Pikmin of all colors, each at least a white flower or above. News travels fast through the Omega Onion, and when the word got out that a Pikmin was going to fight Manat and take him out, the Pikmin rushed to make it on Virax's onion before it left the dock. They were all eager to have the unique privilege to say they had been there in person on the night the monster fell. The green Pikmin looked to the sky, and noticed that the sun was beginning to set in the sky, casting a fiery glow in the sky. He looked back behind him and estimated the audience was some two hundred Pikmin large, if not more.
After trekking along the dusty path for several minutes, it led to a large clearing where the brown and red leaves covered the ground. In the distance, the group could make out the cave opening that led to the ruins that Manat would be after. Slowly their attention drifted into what was waiting for them in the clearing: a giant walking mushroom. All but the red-budded leader stopped in their tracks. The green Pikmin walked forward and recognized the creature. "Puffstool!" he shouted at it.
The mushroom's eyes opened and focused on Virax. "I was almost afraid that you weren't going to show up in time."
"You can get out of my way peacefully or I can kill you. I can't waste time chatting with you."
"What's the big rush? It's not like Manat is going to show up here." Puffstool asked innocently. The Pikmin began muttering amongst themselves. The mushroom continued, "See, I had a bet with Manat that some fellows might want to try to cut him off here today, and that he could check out some other ruins in the mean time or just spend time relaxing for a bit."
Virax scoffed, "Am I to believe this is supposed to be some sort of trap?"
The mushroom giggled, "No, don't be silly, this is just supposed to b a nice reunion." The green Pikmin heard a noise coming from the trees behind Puffstool, who then gladly stood out of the way so they could get a better look. More murmurs and gasps arose from the crowd as Virax rubbed his eyes, not quite believing what he was seeing. Puffstool chuckled at their shock and continued on, "You know, a nice reunion between old friends. Like the good old days. Isn't that right?" He asked, turning around to watch what had captured the attention of the others.
A pale green Pikmin walked into the clearing. On his stem a faded yellow bud had opened, now with a mushroom as its center and his pupils were gone, leaving his eyes as pools of white. The new arrival focused his attention on Virax and snarled, "Hello… partner".
"What the hell did you do to him?" Virax shouted at Puffstool.
"What did I do? What did you do to him?" Puffstool asked back, again innocently, "Why, the stories he's told about the things his so-called friends did… Did you really abandon him to die like that? And you're blaming me for this? But, this is rude of me. You two have so much to catch up on! I'll give you some alone time." The mushroom said as he calmly walked out of the clearing.
The red-budded Pikmin turned to follow but his attention was brought back by the pale one stomping his foot on the ground loudly. Virax yelled at him, "Thren, I don't know what they did to you but you're a green Pikmin. The spores might be able to mess with your head but they can't force you to do anything. We have free will for this very reason! You can break free of any control…"
"I don't need to break free of anything!" roared Thren, who then continued, "Though I might not mind breaking some Pikmin I knew. You can help me with that. Where's Yellam these days? I must pay him a visit soon as well."
"He's Nectarian now."
"Him? Seriously? What about you?"
"I wanted to stay in the field. I wanted to fight like…"
"Remember back when everybody would always say I was the greatest Pikmin that ever lived? The strongest fighter? The best leader? That I was destined to be Nectarian and lead us through the war?"
Virax nodded in silence.
"What happened to those days? It seemed I went from being the champion to being the first on the list to die. Was it jealousy that convinced you to leave me behind? You thought you could take my destiny of leading the Pikmin? My future of destroying the enemy?" The shroomed Pikmin asked, walking slowly toward the green one.
"It wasn't like that at all and you know it."
"Enlighten me."
"You saw a powerful enemy that threatened to wipe out over half the Pikmin in the battle, and you decided to sacrifice yourself to keep it busy, saving thousands of others in the process."
The pale one forced a laugh, "Oh that is so much different than what I saw. What I saw was a soldier doing what he knew best: fighting the enemy no matter how strong. But instead of having his allies back him up, when they saw the battle might be uphill they ran like cowards and let their so called 'hero' die in their place." He stopped walking, standing next to the red-budded Pikmin.
"We had orders to retreat without you. That's what happens in war. It's not nice, but sacrifices have to be made." Virax explained.
"That's a damn lie and you know it! Nobody asked me if I wanted to be a sacrifice and take one for the team. I didn't even think I was going to die that day, so long as I had my friends to back me up. Had just one of you stayed behind, just one Pikmin, we could've won that fight against Manat, and then the battle and probably the war. But of all the Pikmin there, not a one would stay behind or question the command. And don't you hide behind your 'orders'. Like you just said: you were both green, and if you wanted to act and help me you could have. You chose to leave me behind and now you can't even admit your responsibility for it!"
"We were scared! Is that what you want to hear? We weren't nearly as brave as you and we couldn't stand and face death like you. But that was then. I came here to do what I should've done then. I came here to destroy Manat once and for all."
"I didn't come here to hear what I already know! I came here to teach you what I have learned since then!" Virax stared at him, confused by what he meant. Thren walked forward, this time towards the crowd of Pikmin. "So," He began yelling to group, "You can see your enemy standing here in front of you, and as you can tell it might be quite a difficult fight for your leader to win. Who here wants to step forward and help him?"
The crowd was silent.
The pale Pikmin shouted again, "I see you all have at least white flowers on your head. You don't need to be ordered to attack, you can decide to do that on your own! So once again, who will help Virax here fight me? One Pikmin could make the difference between victory and defeat, life and death for him! Anybody?" he took another step towards the crowd, who responded by backing away. He turned back to Virax and continued, "Look at them, so scared for their own lives that they forget that if you die they're next on the list. Would you want to sacrifice yourself to save them?"
"They're not scared," responded Virax as he opened his over the ground, spreading glittering dust on the soil, "They just don't want to kill you."
"Why not? They don't believe I'm an enemy? I have a mushroom on my head! What more do they expect of an enemy? What…" Thren trailed off, noticing the newly sprouted flower on the ground by Virax. He grinned and nodded, "I see you're in a rush to get started already. I can get behind that." He closed his eyes, and suddenly sharp thorns grew out of his skin, covering his body with spikes. "Let's get started."
In the sky the sun finished setting just as the full moon rose, illuminating the field.
--
A/N: So yeah, I was originally going to make this chapter longer but I'm getting a bit tired and figured I could get away with splitting it at this point. I wanted to post the next chapter before I fell asleep tonight because I was tired of stalling and then I realized it's past five AM and I figured I had enough written out to be considered a fair chapter I suppose. I've decided I'd rather update consistently even if it meant shorter chapters than taking long delays with bigger chapters. In this specific case I kind of weaseled out with a loophole since technically it's the end of day whenever the sun goes down.
So umm yeah. Reviews would be nice so I know I haven't completely lost everybody.
