Olimar had stopped moving. At this point, everyone was trying desperately to reach the heart piece, but to no avail. The closest one to it was Diddy Kong, and the poor chimp was unconscious. Donkey Kong had been trying to wake him up for hours now. He was one of the ones that fainted. Maybe the shock of it all was too much to handle. The only reassuring sign was his breathing.

Falcon had pulled Olimar completely into his lap. He'd slumped over, defeated, and it seemed he'd already come to terms with the fact that Olimar could very well die. Mario was still hoping beyond hope that he'd be alright. Nothing except that heart piece or his sheer will to live could save him now. Mario heard his heart pound in his ears with each passing second. Minutes felt like hours as Mario and Falcon watched Olimar's unsteady breathing, dreading the moment when it might stop. But it seemed, for the time being, that he was hanging on.

Lucario kept an eye on them, wary of the emotional tension he could feel in the air. His ear twitched and his eyes widened as Olimar suddenly stirred, blinking up at his cellmates.

"Am I dead yet? Please don't tell me you guys are my virgins."

Falcon laughed out loud, relieved beyond words.

"Well I can see you haven't lost your snarky sense of humor."

Olimar grinned.

"Well someone needed to lighten the mood. I can smell fear..." he tapped on his glass helmet where his nose was.

Mario smiled half-heartedly.

"How are you-a feelin'?"

Olimar tried to sit up, but Falcon stopped him.

"Not so good, doc. See, I got this pain in my–"

"Shut it, you," Falcon said, thunking on his helmet playfully. "You don't need to be moving around and you know it."

"Yes, mother."

Mario smiled wider. They were both back to normal, bantering and teasing, like always. It was refreshing to see someone trying to hold onto the good things for a change. The negative feel in the air was starting to make him lose heart.

Olimar groaned, and suddenly Mario was brought back to reality. Who was he kidding? He could never expect any of them to act cheerful just for his sake. They were facing grim circumstances, and he needed to man up and account for that. But how could he? How could he possibly help them through this when it was possible they would all die in the end?

Lucario sensed the direction his mind was going and glanced his way.

"Don't do that to yourself."

Olimar and Falcon looked up, confused.

"Wha-?"

Falcon noticed the look on Mario's face, and clapped a large hand on his shoulder. Mario didn't lift his head, preferring to stare at his boots. He just couldn't shake the feeling that everything was so far out of his control that it was no use trying. He'd never felt that way before. He looked at Olimar and his heart lurched. Those angry welts all over his body made him cringe. It's hard to think that Falcon would do something like that, but then again, this was a dog-eat-dog environment. He supposed Olimar allowed it because Falcon would probably get his beating later on, so he just wanted to take his now. He wondered if Olimar knew how these things went; maybe it was because he stayed up late watching scary movies all the time. Whatever the case, he'd sacrificed himself for Falcon, and that had to mean something. Loyalty between brawlers was good to see, especially in a situation like this. It's why he trusted them, because they could always pull together in times of need. But this time, it might not be enough.

Olimar turned to face him and smiled weakly. He reached for Mario's hand and clasped them together. When he pulled away, Mario found a small, yellow seed. A Pikmin seed. It was wrinkled and its leaf was bent, as if it was deformed.

"I've been keeping it in my pocket. It's a defect, so I saved it. Take care of it. It might be useful."

Mario nodded and curled his fingers around it, feeling the strange texture of the seed. It was soft, and surely needed a lot of sunshine to grow, but it was definitely something worth holding on to.

"Thanks."

"No problem. I named him, you know. His name is Éstupido."

Mario laughed.

"Why'd you-a name him that?"

"Well I figure if he's defective, he's gotta have down syndrome or something."

Mario chuckled again, shaking his head sadly.

"Mama mia, that's-a terrible."

Olimar grinned.

"Maybe so. But I'm right."

Falcon jostled him in his lap.

"Don't make fun of the mentally ill."

"Mooooooom!"

"Do I look like your mother?!"