Disclaimer: I own neither pikmin nor its characters
Chapter 22: the enemy discovered
I hadn't gotten much sleep because of nightmares, and I didn't get much sleep this time. The nightmares had gotten really bad, but the few scenes left were clear. They consisted of several different enemies that I could be up against, though none of them made sense.
I woke up in the middle of the night and decided to check on my machine, which was going to lock onto the targets soon.
I thought about what the alternatives could be. Maybe there was a way to transport only the enemy once I found him. Maybe the pikmin could do something. I didn't know, but I didn't want to abort now.
I made a remote to activate the feature, as well as putting a safety lock, so that I wouldn't press it accidentally, and an alert system, so that I would know when it was ready.
The pikmin got dressed with no problem, and went upstairs. I had been teaching the pikmin how to use utensils, and for the first time since they had woken up, they ate cereal without spilling a drop of milk on themselves. It would be a shame to have wasted all that effort on them, just to have them be turned back into a pikmin.
If I couldn't figure out who, or what, the enemy was, then I would have to activate the return home feature. I wonder how the pikmins friends would react. It was obvious most of them had a special attraction to the pikmin, so they would probably be heartbroken. The worst part is going to be making up an excuse to the teachers. How was I supposed to explain the sudden disappearance of 7 students to all of the teachers? I could say they moved away suddenly, but where could I say they moved to?
The bus ride was loud with talk about what the pikmin had done, and it seemed Jet wasn't interested in Aqua anymore, but I'm sure she either didn't mind or didn't care. Most of the talk was in awe of how they seemed to be able to do amazing things with little harm to themselves. Many thought the former pikmin were super humans, others thought they had a lot of technology that no one could see. I found most of the theories amusing, considering I knew the truth.
Cooking class was mostly normal, we were cooking steak so that we didn't start any fires. The only thing out of the ordinary was that about half way through, the pikmin started messing up, even Flame. They told me they felt something weird, and it was distracting. I dismissed it, thinking they were over reacting.
There was a video being presented in electronics. Because of my lack of sleep, I dozed off. My dream consisted of a grayish void all around me, with voices echoing. Most of them were saying things like "danger" or "enemy." Some were saying emotions like "fear or "despair." Most of the voices were hard to understand, but they got clearer and clearer. Finally, I heard two voices clearly, they were Star and Starlets. I faintly saw their outline, but they had told me it was against dream rules to visit me unless it was night time, so why were they here?
"He's near" Star said. I knew he was talking about the enemy, but I didn't know how that was important enough to tell me.
"Alex, run!" I heard Starlet say, right before I woke up to a loud alarm and the shaking ground.
Everyone panicked, even the teacher, and I ran out, the former pikmin close behind. The earthquakes came in bursts, like footsteps. I noticed Max at the end of a dead end hallway. Even after years of going to that school, I still had no idea why that hallway was there.
"Max, what are you doing? You have to get out of here" I said. I may not have known him very well, but no one should be left in the way of danger.
He slowly turned a menacing grin on his face "why should I? I'm right where I want to be" he said
"Max, there's something dangerous coming, you seriously need to leave" I said. The shaking was getting stronger.
"No, YOU should have left, and I'm not talking about a few minutes ago" he said
"What are you talking about?" I asked
"You tried to get rid of me, but you won't get the chance!" he said
At this point, I was completely confused "what are you talking about?" I asked
His grin widened "you haven't figured it out?" he asked mockingly
"Figured what out? That you're half crazy?" I asked. The quakes were really strong now
"No, something else" he said. He removed his hat, revealing green hair
"You're a pikmin?" I asked, surprised
He let out a laugh "those weak creatures? Hah! As if! No, I'm much worse" he said.
"Then what are you?" I asked. Now the quakes seemed to be coming from right near by
"You know, it was tricky finding you. There are so many Alex's that I could choose from, and multiple that fit the description I was looking for." He said, changing the subject
"You were looking for me?" I asked, trying hard to keep my balance
"Yea, I've been looking for you since the second week of school, when I actually got to school" he said "in fact, I'm surprised you didn't realize something was wrong sooner"
"What are you talking about?" I asked
"You were smart trying to hide it as long as possible, but when I felt the tingling sensation, I knew exactly who I was targeting" he said, still avoiding my questions
"Are you a friend?" I asked, running out of ideas
"A friend? No, I'm not a friend" he paused dramatically, at which point the back wall collapsed, showing a large robotic Emperor Bulbax, who let out a loud roar "I'm the Emperor Bulbax"
BAM! Never saw THAT coming, did you? As you can tell, I'm really excited about this, and the ending. More than likely the next chapter will be the finale, so be ready! Remember: I love criticism and reviews encourage me. Bye for now!