Completely ignoring the fact that I put this on an extremely long hiatus and continuing hiatus.
Well, by popular…decisive…ok, so nobody likes Waterwraith. For all those who've really waited for this chapter, I'll make the Waterwraith die REAL painfully.
Fate of the Waterwraith.
Titan Dweevil…
Who died and made you the boss?
Titan Dweevil doesn't have the brains or the power to be ruler of the Land Council, but by some twisted chance, he is. I bet he doesn't know how to think straight. The only reason he is the leader is simply because he possesses four very dangerous weapons. It makes no sense how he utilizes those weapons against us, let alone how he learned to use them. Either way, those weapons are dangerous to us; each of his weapons are effective against all of the members of the council. You don't question the orders of the Titan Dweevil, but you can question his intelligence quotient. Of course, I would never say this in front of him. That Shock Therapist does more than mentally cure me.
However, I have found a way over the Shock Therapist. The electric drones activate after they've been set on the ground. But if I wasn't on the ground and yet, still on it…
"Waterwraith, we've been at this for three days now. Are you really sure we're doing this the right way?" the blowhog asked me.
"You wouldn't dare to slack off if that concerns you, would it?" I asked.
"N-No sir. It's just that, you want these rocks to be cylindrical, but we aren't sure if we're making progress."
At first, they started as cubical stones. But with enough water pressure aimed at the right portions, the stone will wear away into the shape I favor. Just a little more water, than buffer the stones to make it smoother. A Man-at-Legs can teach you a lot; I ought to thank him next meeting.
"Waterwraith?" a wollywog spoke to me.
I turned around to a ghastly white wollywog looking at me.
"What do you want? I'm busy here," I answered.
"An antennae beetle is waiting outside. He has a message for you."
"Very well," I said as I made my way to the exit. But then I remembered, "And don't you dare slack off when I'm gone! The water dumples have their eyes on you!" I roared toward the slaving Water blowhogs.
Somehow I feel that entrusting the Water Dumples as watch guards is a bad idea.
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"Alright, what do you want?" I said uncaringly.
"Mr. Waterwraith, I have a message from the Land Council. They request that you-"
"Wait. Did you just call me, Mr.?" I asked.
"…is there anything wrong with-"
I didn't wait for him to finish the sentence as I grabbed the bug by his head and lifted him up.
"Yes. I am never wrong, and calling me Mr. is wrong, very, very wrong," I said as I started applying pressure, "You interrupted me in the middle of something important. That's already two strikes for you."
"Waterwraith, sir, please restrain yourself!" the wollywog to the side of me said in a fit of fear, "You know it's against the law to murder Antennae Beetles!"
Looking at the Wollywog, then at the struggling Antennae Beetle, I dropped the bug on the ground as it scurried out of the water and onto solid ground.
"…huff…huff…as I was saying…" he said. Sure, he may sound fine, but I know that's trauma dripping out of his voice. "The Land Council requests you to come to the next meeting as soon as the sun sets."
Another meeting? Damn, must we get worked up over every little thing? Wait, recently the meetings are about the pikmin and who they killed.
"So who died this time?" I asked.
"…they intended on telling you who at the meeting, but, seeing as you may already have an idea… Well, the Man-at-Legs was next on their hit list. We sent some Careening Dirigibugs to investigate and they have reported pieces of metal scattered across his floor room. We can only assume that the worst has come to him."
Well, I guess I won't be thanking him then.
"Hm, so, the meeting is at sunset?"
"Yes. No later than that."
"Very well. I will be there. Back to the cave wollywog. And tell those Blowhogs they now have until sunset to finish the rock."
"But sir, sunset is a few hours from now. They can't possibly finish the rock in time," the wollywog spoke to me.
I merely smirked.
"Then tell them their lives depend on the completion of my rock."
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"So, is my rock finished?" I asked.
I was impressed by the workmanship of these blowhogs. Two perfectly cylindrical rocks that had real rolling potential, just what I wanted.
"We've been working real hard on this Waterwraith," a blowhog says to me, "we're dehydrated."
I walked toward the two rocks and inspected them carefully, seeing that they would not move if they had been tapped. I wasn't really sure if they were rolling capable, I mean, I did trust some watery blowhogs to get this done for me. Perhaps they can roll but are just too heavy. At least I'll be the only one able to move them.
"Are you pleased Waterwraith?" a blowhog asked me.
I paid no mind to him as I got on top of the rocks. Slipping my limbs into the designated holes I had drilled prior to the rocks finalization, I lifted the front rock high above me and smashed it against the floor. The blowhogs looked at me in fear and surprise. There hard work could've been demolished right before their eyes, but there's a reason I chose this rock out of other rocks. It was extremely durable, could barely break, and was only damaged by high pressured water. This was my kind of toy.
Without warning I began rolling the cylindrical stones. I needed to practice rolling these stones so that there would be no accidents.
"Waterwraith, what are you doing!?" a blowhog yelled as I rolled over it.
When I meant accidents, I meant mistakes that hurt me. Blowhogs are disposable anyways.
I looked at the mass of water that squeezed out of the blowhog I crushed. I merely squinted at the other blowhogs that got out of the way.
I hate liars.
"Waterwraith! Have mercy!"
Without a word, I made my course directed at the blowhogs. I needed some target practice should a bug make me mad while I'm on my ride. A blowhog turned around a corner and I followed, getting the turns right on the first try. It was a dead end for the blowhog and I crushed it with no more than a yawn. The dead end was no problem either. I let go of the rocks, completely turned around and reinserted my limbs back into the holes. I moved out of the dead end and made my way to the other blowhogs.
"Please Master Waterwraith! Please let us live!" the blowhogs yell.
All I did was roll.
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"Waterwraith, you're here a bit early," Ranging Bloyster says to me.
"I was just curious about the new plans Titan Dweevil might've thought," I lied. I could care less about what the Titan Dweevil thinks, if he is capable of thinking. That no-good brainless spider can never be the boss of me.
Of course, he's not completely the boss of me. I am 3rd ranked in the Land Council, with Raging Long Legs being 2nd and Titan Dweevil the 1st. For a while, Pileated Snagret was ranked 4th but when the King's son began working a bit harder, he was bumped up a level much to the Pileated Snagret's disappointment. Now, it's: Emperor Bulblax as 4th and Pileated Snagret down as the 5th. But I'm sure the ranks will change once I show them my new rollers, which I didn't bring to the Naval.
I noticed that Raging Long Legs arrived a bit later than before. He moved slowly, well, slower than usual, toward his spot in the Naval. It was a few minutes before the meeting would began and I guess I ought to ask him what was wrong (I was curious, not concerned).
"You seem a bit down. So what's wrong this time?" I asked.
The Long Legs only looked at me sternly, which conflicted with the laws of science and reality itself.
"Man-at-Legs…he was killed by the pikmin…" he said.
"So? How does Man-at-Leg's existence mean to you?"
"I don't want to hear it Waterwraith. I know how insensitive you can be, but say such things to me."
"What? Growing a little soft?" I asked.
As quick as thunder, the purple arachnorb raised its foot and slammed it hard into the ground in front of me. The stomp, which felt more like an earthquake, shook me and my watery body down to the floor. I felt my composition go out of order and I almost lost my form! I slowly started to think maybe I ought to crawl away, but I shook that thought out of my head.
I forgot why he was a rank above me.
"Don't screw with me Waterwraith. I'm having mixed feelings since Man-at-Legs death and I'm not in the mood to deal with your bulldoodle."
And with that, he stomped away.
Wow, had no idea I was pressing the wrong button. Perhaps through the invention of my rollers I had such a hearty mood that I had forgotten to distance myself from the Raging Long Legs. Well, now I'm sure I'll never make THAT mistake again.
Then, from the center of the area, rose one leg, followed by another leg then two more came out. The Titan Dweevil eroded out of the ground and stood gloriously in his spot, shining bright because of the weapons he was holding. If I had eyes, retina and iris, they would only be blinded by that ridiculous sheen.
"I apologize for having second meeting so soon. I'm sure some of you were busy," the Titan said sympathetically, "But something unthinkable has happened."
"The Great Emperor is back?" the Ranging Bloyster said.
Everyone, even I, stared at the almost seemingly idiotic slug that spoke. Feeling our stares, the Bloyster looked back and forth as if he didn't expect the stare down.
"What?" he asked, "He said 'unthinkable'."
"Too unthinkable. In fact, the Man-at-Legs, Raging Long Legs dear brother, has been reported dead," at this, many of the creatures gasped at this.
It was already old news for me. Although I didn't think it was possible, it was something unthinkable. I only prayed that there was more to this meeting than just the machines death.
"There's no way the pikmin could've done that," the Ranging Bloyster said, "Man-at-Legs is a very potent killing machine. Man-at-Legs victory is the only possible outcome."
"The fact that the pikmin have killed Man-at-Legs means they have the potency to kill the rest of the Land Council if we're not careful," the Titan said.
"I would not like to believe that the pikmin barely struggled to defeat Man-at-Legs," a prince Bulblax spoke, "but out of possibility, the pikmin population had to have dropped severely, wouldn't it?"
"That is true. Considering that they would have to spend a day to repopulate, they wouldn't do so at the Valley of Repose. They had just cleaned most of the area of wildlife before venturing into Man-at-Legs cavern so they would start their repopulation somewhere else. But where?"
"The only areas left for repopulation is Awakening Wood and Perplexing Pool. Since both areas have only two caves left, there's a fifty percent chance they'll venture into either area," The Pileated Snagret of Snagret Hole said, "and with two caves left to explore, there's a twenty five percent chance they'll invade my hole."
"Or mine," the Prince Bulblax of Bulblax Kingdom said.
"Or mine as well," the Ranging Bloyster of Shower Room said.
"Then there's my hole," I spoke, not wanting to feel left out.
"Calculations alone won't guarantee your safety. In fact, don't count out the important factors either," the Titan Dweevil said, "Snagret Hole is guarded by a Snagret right? Surely that wouldn't be the first choice from the start."
"True, plus, I made sure to pick a tenacious Snagret for guard duty," the Pileated Snagret said.
"Bulblax Kingdom is blocked by an electric gate. Plus, it is very hard to get to that cave since the main path is blocked by undrainable water."
"I guess I shouldn't be as worried," the Prince Bulblax said.
"The Shower Room is also blocked by an electric gate. And it's on the other side of a wide lake as well."
"My hole is the safest then," Ranging Bloyster said with a hint of glee.
"And then there's Waterwraith. Which is blocked by… actually yours is easier to get to."
"Huh? What're you talking about?" I asked.
"Well, disregarding the Wollywogs and Crawmads that hazard the path, the only real obstacle is a wooden gate. I suggest putting in a few dumples to make the path harder."
"Just so you know, the only pikmin that can make it are blue pikmin, and I'm not dumb enough to fill my cave with nothing but water."
"Really? Do you have a brain to prove it? Because I don't see one," the Titan said to me.
"And I don't see your brain either Titan."
"Because it's in a very vital place called a head. We can see through you Waterwraith, but why can't we see a brain? Hmm?"
I was getting pissed.
"Like it or not Titan, I have nothing to fear," I said as I walked close to the Titan, "Excluding me, everyone here has a weakness, including you."
"So can you explain why you are you ranked 3rd out of the 5 of us?" he asked.
I didn't have an answer for that. But I didn't talk. I simply backed down a bit before regaining my composure.
"Just so you know I can always bump myself high than you in rank. In fact, I've developed a weapon myself that'll make me all the more powerful," I said triumphantly as the creatures around me, excluding the Titan, began to whisper in wonder.
"Oh have you now?" the Titan Dweevil asked, half interested and half sarcastically, from what I can tell, "Then why don't you show it to us?"
"Unfortunately, I don't have it at the moment, but next meeting, be prepared to witness the most incredible juggernaut since Man-at-Legs!"
"We'll be waiting," the Titan Dweevil said, almost challengingly, "incidentally, with the Giant Breadbug gone, we have no reason to store the sugar food in your cavern."
I almost forgot about those.
Before, The Giant Breadbug and his family of grotesque eaters wouldn't bother to serve us. So we needed some persuasion in order to get their loyalty. We gave them promises of mass amounts of food should they serve us right, but fear was a better persuasion. We would tell them stories about the Land Council's ruthlessness and their reign of superiority with horrific details. Should it not affect them, food can also change a breadbug's mind too. We needed a place to store them and my cave was chosen. I didn't mind either, I could not eat anyways but it seemed to bother the residents of the cave. Now that I think about it, what ARE we gonna do about them?
"There is only one thing we can do with them," the Titan said, "We'll have to feed them to the Empress Bulblax of Frontier Cavern."
"But, Titan, the distance between Perplexing Pool and Valley of Repose is frighteningly far. Who'll be able to lift the items that far?" The Pileated Snagret asked.
"You are forgetting what Dweevils are good at. I'll order a squad of Anode Dweevils to fetch the sweets from your cavern tomorrow morning. It may take a couple of hours, but expect them before noon Waterwraith. And with that, meeting adjourned."
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I made my way to my cave over to the far side of the Perplexing Pool. The meeting was long, seeing the moon in the middle of the sky made me think that. My walk from the Forest Naval was quite long as well, I probably should've taken my rollers now that I think about it.
As I entered my hole, I noticed the resident Bulbmin venturing in my cave searching for food. What little runts. Usually, I would run up to them and began thwacking my watery arms at them. It really is fun when they scurry and run in fear of me. But the most entertaining aspect of it is that the parent would eat a kid I unintentionally killed. That was survival of the fittest at its work. Of course, if there was a contest about that, I would be the top contender. There's also the 'kill or be killed' philosophy, but since I can't be killed, I might as well kill.
However, I didn't bother with the Bulbmin this time. Instead, I felt like sparing them 'til tomorrow so I can practice my rollers on them. Speak of the devil, my rollers were right in front of me. I guess I had forgotten to move them earlier. I guess it was too late now since I was too tired to move them down to the last floor. I decided to move them to a different part of the cave so that I can sleep near them. As soon as I found a decent spot, I quickly fell asleep.
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"Ack! Fire!"
"Ack! Electricity!"
"Ack! Poison!"
"Ack! Stuff!"
"We probably should've brought others with us…"
"We'll need some serious help if we want to make it out alive!"
Are they already here?
It was the right time. Looking around the cavern, some of the sweets have already been moved. I guess I had to stay and watch them move the sweets out of my cave. Wait…what's going on? A Dweevil is walking away from a sweet…and it's moving. Looking closer, I saw ant-like creatures scurrying away with the food. As I watched, the sweet was moved under a red triangular object and disappeared. I then realized what they were… pikmin… small… fragile… targets…
FYOOOOO!
BOOM!
FYOO!
BOOM!
GLOP!
I roared my best roar, announcing my presence to all who had trespassed into my cave.
"WHAT IS THAT THING?!" was what I heard, "I can see it with my ocular sensors but I cannot detect it with my motion sensors. Is its true affixed in a different direction? KRZZT! BRZZZZ! Danger! Danger! Danger! Attacking it is futile!"
Just who was talking?
I wasted no time as I decided to start moving in search of the pikmin. It wasn't long before I found them, all scrunched together. It was high time they learned the true meaning of fear and what comes of it, the pikmin and the two weird pikmin as well.
I roared as I charged at the pikmin, very intent on crushing them. All of a sudden, the unthinkable happens. The pikmin, each and every one of them, swarmed against the wall as I rolled by. I had no idea the pikmin could think like that. It was unexplainable. I could turn around either. The ceiling was too low for me to make my 180 turn and the pikmin were already making their escape. I turned around as soon as I was able to, but to my disappointment the pikmin had already escaped down a hole. If I was going to follow them, I might have to use my nonexistent muscles…
It took me about five minutes before I managed to drop to the next floor. This time I was gonna do it. And to motivate myself, I lifted the front rock and slammed it onto the ground roaring. I went around rolling in search of the pikmin and found them soon enough. It was me and the pikmin, and the only thing standing between us was a spiraling mound of sugar laden bakery. Completely ignoring the sweet in front of me, I rolled forward over the sweet and not on the pikmin. I cursed to myself as I saw the pikmin swarm against the wall again. Their knowledge wasn't obviously by chance. And those guys are dumb as dumb can be. I wasn't able to turn around instantly again because of the low ceiling and my U-turn space was limited. I could do nothing but take a completely different route. In a matter of minutes I caught the pikmin smashing away at a rock. I didn't know why they were smashing a rock at all but the instant it broke away revealing a hole down the next level they jumped in.
I was frustrated at their attempts of running away. Going deeper in my cave will only get them killed by me. But their efforts are certainly admiring. Not many animals have lived long on the chase from me. This time though, I'll catch them. I'll get ahead of them to the final floor where I sleep. They won't be able to defeat me there. Hell, why should defeat be the majority of my worries? I can't be killed!
…
…
…
Whew, that took a while.
I saw them below, looking around my arena. These pikmin must have a death wish. Very well then. If they are waiting for me and death, then I shall come first, death will come later.
I dropped both rocks accurately on the ground, myself following afterwards. Both rocks landed perfectly together as I landed on them. Face to face with the pikmin, I lifted the rock in front of me and slammed it into the ground. At the moment, I felt that this was my time, time for me to be the ultimate killing machine.
"I AM WATERWRAITH!" I yelled.
This felt so good. The ability to kill without being killed, to strike fear and strife into the hearts of those who see me, to have done such wrong without ever being righted, only I can have such blessings! All who oppose me, all who detest me, you all deserve to die! You all deserve to-
BOOM!
AAARRGGHHH! What…what the hell?! My body…it has completely solidified! No! They're jumping on me. They're pounding their stems at me. They're hurting me! No! You can't hurt a Waterwraith! I can't feel pain! I'm not supposed to!
I wanted them to stop but I could do nothing but shiver in fear as they continued pounding away at me. Was I afraid? No! I'm not supposed to be afraid! GET OFF OF ME!
I flailed my arms out painfully. Moving hurts! Why does it hurt?! They kept throwing more pikmin at me. And they didn't want to stop. I was in so much pain I forcefully flailed my arms out again and threw them off. Oh god, all those days of torture the innocent, all those days mercilessly hurting the ones that had a life… this was karma times a hundred!!
More pikmin were on me again. They kept beating me and beating me. Please…stop, I beg of you… NOO!!!
I sort of flailed too hard. I forgot to let go of the stones and accidentally pulled them apart into pieces. Crap! The overworked blowhogs were probably laughing at me right now. No, I can't die, I don't want to die. Please, leave me ALONE!
I had no other choice, I had to run. I had to run, must keep running, running away from the monsters that will kill me, slowing down, went back to running, then stop. I was using too much energy in running and I had to stop to breath.
BOOM!
Oh no! That accursed sound! I froze once again, on my knees this time, as the pikmin jumped on me and began to beat me. I didn't want to die! Please don't kill me! I would beg and beg and flail a bit, then beg some more, but the true murderers were the pikmin. With my strength draining away, I could only beg for mercy.
"Please! I beg of you, let me live! I'm sorry for all the innocent I killed! I'm sorry! I really am! Please! I promise I will never harm another animal for my own amusement! Please! Spare me! For the love of god! HELP MEEE!!!!!"
I screamed my last scream.
Internally, my structure was deteriorating, droplets of my purple form jutted out of me, followed by a painful boom from within. I lay on my back as I waited for the hand of death. I came first, death came for me later.
BOOM!
For so long I amused myself in making others turn white at the sight of me. For so long I wanted creatures to learn what is fear between the line of predator and prey. For so long, making others fear me made me feel powerful and I thought I was. But, in the last moments of my life I knew what fear was. Fear, for me, is a full circle slap in the face since I died in their name. I died to something unexpected as pikmin. I wonder what I died in their name for…
To die in their name is dieing on the other end of fear.
Phew! Took a while. Anyways, the voting is going to be a bit limited now. Usually after a chapter is done, I include a new ballet up for vote, but for the sake of the story, it will come down to four possible options. They are:
A) Emperor Bulblax
B) Pileated Snagret
C) Ranging Bloyster
D) Empress Bulblax II
Remember, one vote now. R & R & V (vote)!