Disclaimer: I own neither pikmin nor its characters
Chapter 9: the blues, the jet, and the surprises
I woke up more refreshed than I had been at any point in the trip. After eating, we left the ship. I knew the next part was in the water, and I knew the blue pikmin were needed. "Only take out 33 yellows and 34 blues, ok Olimar?" I said. The bombs would either come with the yellows, or not come at all. We headed off through the back gate. We quickly got to the water area, and splashed through to the area where the blues were. I saw the inactivated onion moments before Olimar did. "Wow! Another kind of pikmin!" he said. He approached it, and then quickly backpedaled as a flower sprang from the top, and the onion popped out of the ground. The onion was blue, and a blue seed popped out of it. I plucked it, and there was a blue pikmin. The blue pikmin look a lot like reds, except they don't have noses, they have gills, which look like a mouth, instead. We quickly gathered pellets for them, and the numbers grew until there were 33 blues out. I took enough blues to get the #1 ionium jet back to the ship, and then we continued growing them. I swear, these pikmin were getting way more efficient. The sun was half way across the sky when the blues came to a stop. I thought about where the remaining parts were. All of them were in places I really wanted to have all day for. I thought about maybe doing some looking around myself, until I heard one of the pikmin talk. "You know were probably all going to die, right?" "At least they give us company, even if they are strange." "They could be just getting us to help them, then they'll leave us all to die." That last comment was too true for my comfort. "Hey Olimar, lets rest today, ok?" I really needed a break anyways. "Ok, you can stay with the pikmin, I'll go see if I can plan some strategies for tomorrow." He replied, running off before I could agree. I sighed, and took the blues over to the ship. They seemed really sad for some reason, but I didn't know why. The other pikmin were talking too. "Oh blues!" one yellow cried. "Just more space to take up." A red muttered, barely audible to me. "Do they blow up?" one of the bombs said. "Not everything blows up!" one of the reds snapped at the bomb. "It's not his fault he's half crazy!" another red snapped at the first. Then they started arguing. I couldn't help thinking this was comical. "Come on guys, are we seriously fighting over the blues?" a yellow said. "Not like it matters anyways." One of the blues mumbled. I noticed there was a pattern, each color had a different personality. Of course! It all made sense! The abilities are based on adaptations, where they are in other words, but their color is based on personality! The reds were hot-heads, the yellows were 'full of sunshine', the blues were depressed, and the bombs were lunatics. It also fit their abilities. The firepower of reds comes from built up anger, the yellows happiness comes from having a companion, the blues sadness comes from having to swim alone, and the bombs craziness comes from their suicidal job. Wow, this just got better and better, the only bad change so far was the breadbug, who I actually haven't seen. I had completely lost track of the conversation though, and what I heard surprised me. "YOU WANA GO SUNSHINE?" one of the reds yelled, I assumed, at a yellow. "BRING IT FIRE BALL!" the yellow yelled back. I was trying to figure out if fireball was an insult, when the red tackled the yellow. I gasped in shock and amazement as the 2 pikmin started fighting. "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" one of the bombs started the chant, but soon all of the pikmin not fighting were chanting it. I didn't know whether or not to blow my whistle as the two rolled back and forth, fighting in a way I had never seen them fight before (I played 2 player battle, and they just waked each other there). Listening, I could hear the personality of each pikmin in their chant. The reds were chanting loud and violently, the yellows were chanting angrily but less meaningfully than the others, the bombs were chanting encouragingly, and the blues were chanting quietly. I watched the 2 roll back and forth, still not sure if I should call them or not. Then a whistle blew. The pikmin all let out a cry and ran to Olimar's side, all of them except the 2 fighters. He whistled more sternly, but I knew it wouldn't work. I took of my helmet and gave a loud whistle. The yellow noticed and the red flung it off. "Hey! That's not fair!" the yellow complained. "Street rules!" the red shot back. How did they even know what a street was? I grabbed the red before it could attack the yellow again, and Olimar grabbed the yellow before it could go after the red. "Let go!" the red cried angrily. "It wasn't my fault!" the yellow cried equally. "Both of you be quiet!" I said sternly. They fell silent, and stopped struggling. We both put the pikmin we were holding down, and they both stayed in front of us, automatically separating themselves. I was ready to yell at them, but Olimar started talking first, except he was angry at me, not the pikmin. "Why didn't you call them Alex?" he said, the controlled anger clear in his voice. "Me? But-" I was cut off as the timer indicated the sun was going down. "Come on, let's get them back." He said, the anger still apparent. I took the blues, holding the red above the water so it wouldn't drown, and I got back just as the timer struck 0. The red ran back, and barley made it in before the onion took off. "HOW COULD YOU LET THAT HAPPEN?" Olimar exploded at me once the ship was in orbit. "THEY COULD HAVE KILLED EACH OTHER!" I was shocked that he was yelling at me, and I couldn't reply, I burst out in tears instead. Little said, I didn't sleep well.
Wow, 4 days in a row, I'm impressed with myself. The ideas keep coming, but it's hard to come up with ideas by myself. The next chapter should be easy due to its accessibility, and a few chapters after are boss battles. the usual applies: input helps, I love criticism, and reviews encourage me. Bye for now!