Note: More characters introduced in this story are, once again, not owned by me, and are owned by kingalex1234. What are these characters, you ask? Read the chapter!
Day 7 - Another Onion
When Keith woke up, he had the sensation that he wasn't where he was supposed to be. Why was there grass everywhere? And was that a bulborb just within arm's reach? Then Keith remembered what had happened the night before, when he had made the stupid mistake of changing form right before the Onion was going to lift off. At least I made some kind of discovery. Keith thought, I found another human here, although he seems to also be an inch tall. Are all humans on this planet an inch tall, or is it just him? With that thought in mind, Keith got up.
"Hey, you're finally awake!" Alex said. He was playing with Bulby. Bulbous seemed to be sleeping. Keith walked toward Alex and Bulby. When he got to them, Bulby ran up to Keith.
"Can you understand us?" Bulby asked.
"Yes, I can." Keith responded. Bulby's eyes grew wide.
"You're just like my friend Alex!" he exclaimed. Alex looked a bit surprised himself.
"You can understand them too?" Alex asked, "Maybe we should exchange stories now. As I told you last night, my name is Alex." Alex told Keith everything. He told him how nine years ago, an invention he made accidentally shrunk him down to the size that he is now. He told Keith that he had helped Olimar find his ship parts, helped Olimar and Louie to pay off the Hocotate Freight debt, and how he even helped Alph, Brittany, and Charlie to find fruit for their home planet the first time they came here.
Keith was a bit shocked that Alex had just told his entire story to Keith. If Keith had to tell his story, he probably would have made up some kind of lie. Maybe Alex is also lying to me, and this is just a made up story. But Keith didn't think that was the case. He could see in Alex's eyes and tone that all this was the truth; and it left Keith bewildered. Keith was also surprised that he lived here for nine years. Didn't he miss his family? Keith wondered if Alex even remembered his family anymore.
"So, you made an invention that could shrink down to size when you were six years old?" Keith wondered how a person so young could make such a machine. It sounded a bit farfetched to Keith
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Alex asked, a confused look on his face, "I was 15 back then. I should be 24 years old." Keith raised his eyes.
"Are you sure? You still look 15 to me." Keith said. Alex looked even more confused, so Keith decided to change the subject.
"Anyways, you helped all those Captains?" Keith asked.
"Yeah."
"But, they never mentioned you to me." When Keith said this, Alex's eyes grew wide in astonishment.
"You met them?" Alex asked with a slight excited tone in his voice.
"Yeah, about that... Let me tell you how I got here." Keith decided that he would tell the truth. Alex seemed trustworthy, and Keith wanted to finally tell the truth to at least someone on this planet.
So Keith told Alex about how there were whole other universes besides this one. He told Alex how, back on his home universe on his version of Earth, Keith and his friends found out that these other universes existed. He explained to him how forms worked and of Keith's three Emergency Devices, and how Keith turned into Captain form and investigated this universe. He described the events that happened after Keith had crashed on PNF-404; how he found the Pikmin and the Captains, who agreed to help Keith find his three Emergency Devices to escape, and how Keith had already found two of them. Keith said that he was able to turn into a Pikmin, and even slept in their Onion for a few days. Keith even told Alex how he had lied to both the Captains and the Pikmin about who he really was. The whole time, Alex didn't make a single comment. Even Bulby was listening to Keith's story.
When Keith was finished talking, Alex just stared at Keith, as if trying to make out all of what Keith had said. Bulby spoke up first,
"So that bulborb that visited us last night... that was you? And the Captain that came was you too?" Bulby asked, eyes wide.
"Yeah. That was me. Both the bulborb and the Captain." Keith was surprised that a bulborb was able to make sense of all this. They must be a lot smarter than I originally thought. Keith wondered to himself. Alex finally spoke up,
"You said that you're able to turn into a... Pikmin?" Keith nodded his head. "Can I see you turn into one?" Alex asked.
"Oh, um... sure. Why not?" Actually, Keith could think of a reason why not, but he didn't want to say it out loud.. Bulbous was sleeping right behind Keith. If Bulbous mistook Keith for an enemy... Keith shook off the thought. He took out the Form Changer and set it to change to Pikmin form, while Alex and Bulby watched intently. Keith pressed the button to change form, and in a second, Keith turned into a Pikmin.
Alex stared at Keith, while Bulby walked up to Keith and monitored him. Keith unintentionally took a step back. Keith was a Pikmin, and there was a bulborb right in front of him. Two things that don't mix.
"I won't hurt you!" Bulby promised. So Keith stayed his ground. Alex still hadn't said anything, so Keith decided to speak to him.
"Hey, Alex. Can you understand me?" Keith asked in the Pikmin language. Alex nodded his head and said,
"Yep! I can understand all the native creatures of this planet." This time, it was Keith's turn to be astonished.
"Really? But how can you understand all of them?" Keith asked.
"I don't know. I just know how to." Well that wasn't very helpful. Keith thought.
"If you don't mind, I'm going to turn back into a human." Keith said. He set the Form Changer to change back into a human. When Keith was back in his human body, Alex asked him a question.
"So you said that the Captains are back on the planet, right now?"
"Yep," Keith responded, "They even game me a KopPad so I can communicate with them." Keith took the KopPad out of his satchel. Before he contacted Alph, however, Keith turned back into Captain Form.
"Why are you doing that?" Alex asked.
"They've only seen me in my Captain form. Do you think they'll recognize me if I sent them a transmission as a human?" Keith waited for an answer, but none came. "Exactly. I might tell them the truth when I return to them, but for now, I'll just contact them as a Captain." When Keith turned back into Captain form, he sent a transmission to Alph. Soon, Alph's face lit up the screen.
"Oh, Keith! You're still alive!" Alph exclaimed.
"Yes I'm still alive. I also found somebody else while I was here." Keith turned the KopPad so that Alex's face appeared on the camera.
"Who's..." Alph's face suddenly lit up. "Alex! You're still on the planet! How are you!" A wide grin broke onto Alex's face.
"I'm fine Alph!" Alex said, "Is Brittany and Charlie with you?"
"Yeah! Olimar and Louie are here also." Alph called to the other four captains, and soon all five of the Captains had their face on the screen. They all looked pretty happy to see Alex. Alex looked pretty happy to see them too, but he was mostly excited to see Olimar.
"Olimar!" Alex said.
"Alex! It's good to see you." Olimar responded.
"Keith! Where are you two?" Brittany asked.
"We're both in the Garden of Hope." Keith replied, "Just land the ship where you usually do and me and Alex will meet you there."
"Ok! Charlie, go land the ship at the Garden of Hope!" Brittany commanded.
"I'm going to end the transmission now!" Keith said, and cut the transmission. "Looks like they still remember you." Keith said to Alex.
Alex looked really happy to find out that news too. Keith said to him, "So, shall we go over to them?" Keith took a few steps forward, but noticed that Alex wasn't following, so Keith turned around and walked back to him. "What's wrong?" Keith asked.
"I just want to ask you one more thing. The Onion that you stayed in. You didn't happen to meet any Pikmin named Flame, Daisy, or Aqua?" Alex asked.
"Um, no. But there was a Pikmin named Aqua." Keith said.
"Was that Pikmin female?"
"No. He was male." Keith wasn't sure where Alex was going with this, but he decided to play along.
"Good! Then that confirmed my suspicions."
"Suspicions?" Keith asked. He was now very confused. What did he mean by that?
"The Onion that you found, Keith. That isn't the Onion with the Pikmin who helped me. There's another Onion with the Pikmin who had helped me before. They told me that if I ever needed them, then they should be right..." And then Alex set off, in the opposite direction of where the ship was supposed to be.
"Alex! Where are you going? What about Bulby?" Keith shouted after him.
"Just follow me! And tell Bulby to stay where he is and that I'll come back to play later!"
"O-Okay!" Keith turned to Bulby, "Sorry little guy, but we have to go somewhere and Alex wants you to stay here, okay?" Bulby put on a face of disappointment that made Keith's heart wrench a little bit. Then he turned into human form, and ran after Alex.
"Hey, you turned back into a human!" Alex said.
"I can run faster as a human." Keith explained, "Now what do you want to show me?"
"Just follow me. The other Onion should be around here."
The other Onion? What is Alex talking about? Keith didn't say anything and just ran behind Alex. They took twists and turns. They even encountered some monsters on the way, which they avoided. Finally, they reached their destination after 10 minutes. What Keith saw shocked and confused Keith.
It was just as Alex said; it was another Onion. Keith could tell that it wasn't the same as the Onion that Keith was familiar with, as this Onion only had 5 colors swirling around the Onion. The purple and white colors was missing from this Onion. "W-Wha...? There's another Onion here?"
Alex beamed. "This is the Onion where the Pikmin that helped me live in. The Onion that you're used to must have been a different Onion." Alex walked up to the Onion and called out... the leaders to each Pikmin color? What does Alex mean by that? Keith wondered.
Soon, 5 Pikmin came out, one red, one yellow, one blue, one rock, and one winged. They all saw Alex, and they tackled him to the ground. It was a giant, colorful group hug, with Alex and the 5 Pikmin. Keith listened to what the Pikmin were saying.
"Alex!" "We missed you!" "Why haven't you come to us in such a long time?" Keith could hear that the Pikmin were obviously overjoyed at seeing their friend. The red Pikmin disbanded from the group and noticed Keith's presence.
"Hey Alex. Who's that?" the red Pikmin asked Alex. All the other Pikmin soon began to notice Keith, and they all stopped with their group hug and stared at Keith. Keith suddenly felt very shy, and avoided eye contact. I probably look really stupid right now. Keith thought. Thankfully, Alex saved him from further embarrassment.
"That's Keith. He can understand all of you, just like how I can!" Alex explained. The five Pikmin had gathered in front of Keith. "You can understand us too?" They asked. Keith looked at them and nodded his head. Alex walked over to Keith.
"Keith, these are the leaders of this Onion. Flame, the red Pikmin, he leads the red Pikmin. Daisy, the yellow Pikmin, she leads the yellow Pikmin. Aqua, the blue Pikmin, she leads the Blue Pikmin. Rocky, the rock Pikmin, he leads the Rock Pikmin. And Ariel, the winged Pikmin, she leads the winged Pikmin." Keith noticed how there was another Aqua in this group, but this Aqua was female, whereas the Aqua Keith knew was male.
"Um... hi." Keith said. Well that sounded lame. That's all I'm going to say? Hi? Keith thought to himself. Then he remembered that he did have something to show the Pikmin. Keith took out his Form Changer. Alex saw what Keith was about to do and nodded his head. With that, Keith turned into a Pikmin.
"Aiiieeee!" "What happened!?" The Pikmin had all stumbled back when Keith had turned into a Pikmin.
"And by the way, he has the ability to turn into a Pikmin." Alex said. The Pikmin regained their awareness, and crowded up to Keith. "Cool!" "How did you do that?" they said.
"I turn into a Pikmin with this." He showed them the Form Changer, then he turned back into a human.
"Can you use it to turn Alex into a Pikmin?" Daisy asked. Keith turned to Alex and sighed.
"Sorry Alex. If you were hoping to turn into a Pikmin, you can't. The Form Changer can only handle one host at a time. It'd be too much for the device if more than one person used it. Although, I think I'll be able to ask the science team back on my home universe to create an update that will allow multiple people to use the device, that way you can turn into a Pikmin too." Keith added. Alex put on an "OK!" face, then he turned to the Pikmin and said,
"You guys remember Olimar, Louie, Alph, Brittany, and Charlie, right guys?" Alex said to the Pikmin. The Pikmin said that they did. "Well, they're here right now, along with another Onion." The Pikmin became all excited when they heard this, but Alex wasn't finished yet. "Also, Keith needs some help too. Like Olimar, Keith crashed on the planet, and lost three devices that he needs. He already found two of them, but he still needs one more. Do you guys think you'll help Keith and the other five Captains waiting for us?"
"Yeah!" The Pikmin yelled. It sounded like they were yelling a battle cry to Keith, which he found slightly amusing. Alex smiled.
"Good! Now go back inside the Onion and follow Keith and I to where the ship is." The Pikmin agreed to this and ran back inside the Onion. Soon, the Onion launched into the air and hovered high above their heads.
Keith was surprised at Alex's leadership. "How did you get the Pikmin to do that?" Keith asked.
"I'm their best leader." Alex said, "We should head back to the ship. You lead the way Keith."
Keith began to walk toward where the ship was. A million thoughts swirled through Keith mind as they walked back, but one stuck out in his head. The Pikmin in the Onion that Keith was used to said that they helped Olimar, Louie, Alph, Brittany, and Charlie. Yet, Alex said that the Onion floating above their heads also helped those five Captains. Which story was true? Keith's brain fried when he thought about. He decided to find out later.
As the tow of them and the Onion walked back to where the ship was, Keith asked Alex something, "Do you think I should tell them the truth when I get back?"
Alex turned to Keith, "Who? The Captains or the Pikmin?"
"Both." Keith said. Alex seemed to ponder this for a moment. Then he said,
"I think you should. They've been helping you as much as they could so far, so don't you think that they deserve the truth?" Keith thought about this. He agreed that both the Captains and the Pikmin did probably deserve the truth, but if he did tell them the truth, how would they react? Keith could think of a million different reactions; would they be angry at him for lying, or would they understand that Keith had to lie? He sighed. Oh well. Looks I'll find out when I get there. It was getting late; it was already 3:00 P.M. And they still hadn't reached the ship yet, so Keith quickened the pace.
It was 3:45 P.M. when Alex, Keith and the other Onion made it to the ship. The Captains were still there, the Pikmin also out and ready to go, and they all looked very annoyed. Charlie noticed them first.
"HEY!" Charlie yelled in a voice that somewhat scared Keith. "What took you so long? We've been waiting for hours! We even had to..." Charlie stopped though when he noticed Keith and the other Onion. The other Captains noticed too, and they marveled at both Keith and the other Onion. Why are they looking at me so strangely? Keith wondered.
Alph walked up to Keith and said, "Who are you?" That's when Keith realized that the Captains hadn't recognized him. He had forgotten to change back into Captain form, and he was now standing in front of the Captains in human form. Well, looks like I'm forced to tell the truth now. Might as well get it over with. I would have had to tell them the truth at some point anyways. Keith sighed. He noticed that Flare, Electra, Aqua, Poy, Hep, Rok, and Ping were all out of the Onion. Those were all of Keith's Pikmin friends that Keith had made while he was a Pikmin. How would they react when Keith told the truth?
Keith stepped towards the other Captains and said, "You really don't who I am?" he asked. The five Captains looked at each other, and they shook their heads at Keith. Alex was also watching, but Keith couldn't tell what he was thinking.
"Do you want me to tell you my name?" Keith said. The Captains said yes. "My name is Keith." The Captains all looked really confused when Keith had said this. Then Olimar spoke up,
"Are you the Keith we met two days ago? The one where we gave you a yellow signal?"
"That was me." Keith confirmed. Olimar went on,
"But, what happened to you? Why aren't you wearing your helmet? And why do you look so different than when we last saw you?" The Pikmin were listening to what Keith had to say. They, like the Captains, were also confused as to "Why does Captain Keith look different?" The other Onion had landed at this point, and now the Captains and the Pikmin were shooting confused glances at both Keith and the Onion.
"I already told Alex all this," Keith said, "and now I think I'm going to have to tell the truth you guys too."
"The truth?" "What is he talking about?" The Pikmin were making are a large ruckus as to what Keith was talking about.
Keith retold them everything he had told Alex, his entire story beginning from Max telling Keith about the discovery of other universes, up to the point where Alex showed Keith the other Onion. Like Alex, the Pikmin and the Captains didn't make a single comment, but their expressions did change throughout Keith's story. He told them how forms worked, and he described how he had lied to them so he could gain their trust. When Keith was finished, Brittany immediately spoke up.
"You lied to us?!" Brittany yelled incredulously.
"Well, yeah. I kind of had too..." Keith could feel his cheeks getting warm again. This is exactly what Keith wanted to avoid: having them angry at Keith for lying to them. Flare spoke up next,
"So, you're Kindle?"
"Yep. I made up the name Kindle so you wouldn't suspect anything." After Keith said this, the Pikmin began to talk to each other, like a classroom suddenly spreading a new rumor. The Captains also began whispering to each other. Keith, feeling awkward, left the group and walked over to Alex.
"Do you think I did good?" Keith asked him.
"I think you did good. And don't worry if they might be a little susceptible toward you. I'm sure they'll learn to get used to you." Alex said. This made Keith feel better.
Alph walked back up to Keith, and asked, "So you said that you have the ability to change into a Captain, into a Pikmin, or into a human?"
"Yeah. I can do it with this device." Keith took out the Form Changer and showed it to Alph. Alph inspected it, and Keith saw him, for the first time, put on a confused face.
"I can't understand the technology of this thing!" Alph exclaimed. This hardly surprised Keith though.
"Well of course you can't understand it if you just look at the outside of the device." Keith said. Alph shook off his confused face, and led him back to the group.
"Speaking for the Captains, we forgive you for having to lie to us." Charlie said to Keith.
"But, can you show us what you call 'changing form?'" Brittany asked Keith, "We're a bit curious to see if you're actually saying the truth."
"Um, okay." Keith was getting a bit tired of having to show off, but he did so anyways. He set the Form Changer to change into a Captain. When he turned into a Captain, the other five Captains and all the Pikmin stared bewildered at Keith. Alex was watching too, but he wasn't as surprised as he had already seen Keith change form before.
"Now can you change into a Pikmin!" one of the Pikmin called out. Keith did so, and now the Captains and the Pikmin looked even more bewildered. Keith turned back into a human.
"Are you happy now?" Keith asked, swinging his hands out to his sides.
The Captains nodded their heads, while the Pikmin yelled, "Yeah!" Keith felt an overwhelming relief. He had finally managed to tell the Captains and the Pikmin the truth, and sooner than he had expected to tell them. This relief made Keith also feel a soothing happiness. He smiled and said,
"Good!" The Keith checked the time. A lot more time had passed than Keith had anticipated. It was already 6:30 P.M. The Captains, the Pikmin, and Alex noticed this too.
"It's almost dark." Keith said, "we should launch soon. Alex and I will tell you more about the other Onion tomorrow."
The Captains dismissed the Pikmin. When all the Pikmin had gathered inside the Onion, Alex spoke up,
"I think I'm going to stay around for now while all of you are here. I'd like to help Keith find his last Emergency Device, because I don't really have much else to do in the planet. Do you still have space in the ship where I could rest? I sure would like to sleep in a bed for once." The five Captains looked at each other, then they said to Alex,
"Well, Keith took the last remaining bedroom that we had and-"
"I can sleep in the Onion!" Keith interrupted. He hadn't slept in the Onion in a while, and he would sure like to catch up with the Pikmin. The Captains looked at Keith with concern.
"Are you sure Keith?" they asked.
"Yeah, pretty sure. I've done it the first few days while I was here, remember?" Keith reminded.
"Thanks Keith!" Alex said. "By the way, which Onion are you sleeping in." Keith told Alex that he would sleep in the Onion that Keith was familiar with. The Captains and Alex went inside the ship. Keith noticed how Alex kept excitedly talking to Captain Olimar. Alex looks really happy to see Olimar. I wonder what Alex sees Olimar as. A fatherly figure? Or maybe someone he looks up to? Keith wondered. Keith turned into a Pikmin and went inside the Onion. All the Pikmin were really active when Keith got inside. When they noticed that Keith had entered the Onion, they stopped what they were doing, and they began to talk in whispers. Flare, Electra, Aqua, Poy, Hep, Rok, and Ping approached Keith. Flare spoke to him first,
"So you've been Kindle all this time, huh?"
"Yeah. I told you already." Keith said.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Electra asked.
"I told you that too. I lied because I didn't think you would trust me if I told you the truth." Keith explained. The seven Pikmin looked at each other, then they turned to him and Electra said,
"Well, we forgive you. Just promise not to lie to us about anything else again. Promise?" Keith promised. He also hoped that he wouldn't have to keep anymore secrets.
Keith yawned. He was still tired from last night. "I'm going to sleep now. I'm tired." Keith told the seven Pikmin. Keith walked back to his sleeping spot and set up his satchel for a pillow. While he was doing this, Poy came up to him.
"You do realize that, now that you told us the truth, I'm going to prank you regardless of whether you're a Pikmin or a Captain." Poy told Keith with his signature smug-looking face. Keith still wondered how Poy was able to do that face without a mouth.
"When are you ever going to give me a break, Poy?" Keith asked with an exasperated tone in his voice.
Poy merely smiled (somehow, without a mouth) and said,
"Not anytime soon! Now you just go to sleep and, if you're lucky, I might have a present for you!" With that, Poy walked away. What Poy said made Keith even more tired. He laid down his head on his satchel. It felt very uncomfortable now that there were now a load of things in the bag. Keith got used to it though, and he quickly fell into a comfortable sleep.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pikmin and do not work with Nintendo of any kind. I also do not own Alex, Bulby, Bulbous, Flame, Daisy, Aqua (female version), Rocky, or Ariel. Those characters belong to kingalex1234. I do own Keith though.
Note from Author: Finally finished with this chapter! I had anticipated for it to be posted sooner, but I was caught up with homework, and I even revised the chapter several times before I found it satisfactory. Again, as I said in the disclaimer, the five new Pikmin that were introduced are not owned by me, and they are characters owned by kingalex1234. Some of you might recognize the five new introduced Pikmin from his stories. Special thanks also to kingalex1234 for once again beta reading this chapter, as he did with the last one. If there are some of you who haven't read his stories and don't understand what's going on, then read kingalex1234's stories! They're really good, and it will give you a better understanding of what's going on in my story.
Also, I would greatly appreciate it if new ideas were proposed that could be used in the story. If I use someone's idea, I'll make sure to give credit. Thank you for reading, and I'd also appreciate any criticism, positive or negative!