Disclaimer: pikmin belongs to Nintendo, and so do its characters.

Chapter 13: ending chaos

The ground shaking woke me up. I ignored it, thinking it was my imagination…until the ground collapsed from under me. I heard several surprised yelps, one of which was mine, as I fell, and hit the ground.

"Ow…" I said weakly.

I opened my eyes and saw the onions hovering; obviously they had almost fallen too. The obelisk was completely gone, and the ground had opened up, trapping us in a cave of sorts, except with an opening to the sky. There were 15 of each pikmin out, and they had apparently fallen with us, including the wings.

The onions flew off, and I knew that we were alone now. I figured the pikmin would find their way to the onions if we survived, but it was surviving that I was worried about.

"Ugh…that was a rude awakening" I heard Alph say.

"I don't think I ached this much when I woke up since our first exploration" Brittany complained.

"On the bright side, I think we found the way to our ship" Olimar said optimistically.

"Then let's go!" I said, jumping up.

Looking around, there were 8 paths, two in front, two in back, and two on either side. The cave walls were shaped in an octagon, with a cave in the middle of each wall. Each cave had a symbol on top, and each symbol was different. One was a picture of a fiery Bulbax as it was sleeping; another was a couple of Anode beetles creating an octagon with their electricity. One was a goolx as it absorbed a pellet; another was a Water Wraith crushing flowers. One was the Smokey Prog as it emitted poison, another was the armored Mawdad roaring, and another was a group of scornets in a star formation.

The last one was the one that caught my eye though. It was a picture of a large creature I had never seen before…and it seemed to be guarding a ship.

"That's the way" I said, pointing to that path.

"Yea…but the creature it symbolizes bugs me" Olimar said.

"Nothing the pikmin couldn't handle, I'm sure" Alph said. And so, we started walking.

Soon, the light faded, and only the glow of Glow Caps lit the tunnel. It was eerily quiet as we got to a chamber that seemed to go on forever. It had walls along it, but through the dim light we could see most of the room that we'd be able to normally.

"I don't like the looks of this" Olimar said.

"Shouldn't there be something here?" Alph asked.

"Let's find out" I said. I used the whistle in my suit, and blew it loudly.

The sound echoed creepily, as if we were in a horror movie. I could feel the fear in the air, mine included. Suddenly, light flooded the room, seeming to come from nowhere…and I knew why it was dark.

"Uh...is there supposed to be THAT many creatures in one room?" Olimar asked.

"No" I replied quietly "and they aren't supposed to look like they want to kill us either"

Standing in the room, looking straight at us with the most hostile expression you've ever seen, were a ton of monster of different sizes…and we were their targets.

"You guys stay back…I'll fix this" I said. I got into a fighting stance, the pikmin at my side…and chaos erupted.

Enemies came from everywhere, and I had to use maneuvers I didn't think possible to avoid them. The weirdest part? The pikmin followed perfectly. Jumping, rolling, sidestepping and twirling. Everything I did they mimicked perfectly. I didn't even need to throw them; they launched themselves at enemies when there was an opening.

Let me try to describe it. A dwarf orange Bulborb charged at me, and I knew I couldn't roll, so I jumped up, hopping the pikmin were faster. Instead of moving out of the way, the pikmin followed suit, jumping up with me. As soon as the dwarf stopped moving, several purples body slammed the same dwarf, killing it instantly.

And it didn't stop there. After a bit, the wings figured out the attack patterns, and they would grab pikmin and throw them at enemies while in mid air. I barely knew what was going on, and I was winning!

Finally, the last creature fell, and I landed, panting. I looked at the captains "told you I'd fix it" I said.

"Fix it? I've never seen anything like that!" Olimar exclaimed.

I smiled and we kept walking, the illuminating light comforting. Thunder rumbled through the air, and I knew we had very little time before the storm struck, and even less time before the really deadly creatures showed up.

We got to a smaller chamber with a ledge at the back…and on the ledge was the ship.

"The ship!" Alph exclaimed. The captains ran up to it, and I walked up with them. I was fine, but I made a mistake, I left the pikmin in the center…right where about 20 Dwarf orange bulborbs appeared from nowhere.

"What the heck?" I asked no one in particular. There were 25 pikmin left when the last one was defeated…and the largest, scariest creature you've ever seen appeared right in front of me, gobbling up most of the remaining pikmin.

The creature looked like a pitched black centipede, and had spikes running along everywhere. It seemed like it came straight out of someone's nightmare! I ran off, the 7 surviving pikmin following. The counter popped up, showing I had 10 seconds, and the creature was in close pursuit.

5 seconds now.

The creature charged at me, spikes ready.

4 seconds…

It swept its tail under me, knocking me off balance.

3 seconds…

The pikmin ran to protect me. If the creature got past them, we were both dead.

2 seconds…

The creature approached, ever so slowly, its spikes bristling and its many teeth gnawing, ready to shred me to pieces.

1 second…

The pikmin stepped back. The creature was armored; I could see it now that it was up close. There was no way of defeating it.

0…

The creature was ready to lunge, and I looked away.

BOOM

Thunder cracked loudly over head, and the creature roared loudly. When I opened my eyes, it was gone.

I unsteadily stood up as the pikmin cheered. The captains slowly walked over "are you ok Alex?" Olimar asked.

"I'm fine" I said. I felt like I had a pounding headache, but otherwise I was ok.

"You're bleeding!" Alph exclaimed. Not thinking, I went to feel my head…and realized the helmet had shattered.

"Oh…" I said. I took off what remained of the helmet and glass poured off of me.

"We can get it fixed" Brittany said "come on"

I shook my head "I don't think so" I said. Thunder boomed in the distance, and I knew there was very little time left.

"What do you mean?" Alph asked.

"You guys go, I'll stay here and find shelter" I said "thanks for everything"

They hesitated, then they went into the ship. The pikmin had fled a while ago, and I watched the ship rocket into the sky. The sound of thunder rang through the air again. The wind picked up, moving through the tunnel, and spraying dust everywhere.

…and then, I woke up in my room. A light bulb had fallen and shattered, causing me the worst headache and several cuts on my face. Was it all a dream? Had I really just imagined it?

It all seemed so real…but it couldn't have been, could it? I slowly sat up, glass falling off my face. The game pad was ok, so I was happy…but it was on, and it was telling me to look at the TV. I did, and I saw a new mission. The new story modes were gone, and instead, a single new level was in mission mode. The title? Pikmin Life Challenge…

Wow…how long has it been? 2 months? 3? Oh well, I'm finally done, yay! I don't have a clear idea of the next story, but it's called "The New World," and it's in the 'X-overs' category. I hope that you guys enjoyed the story, because I put a LOT of work into it. Remember: I love criticism and reviews encourage me! Also, if you have an idea you'd like me to write, feel free to tell me! Bye for now!