Disclaimer: I own neither pikmin nor its characters
Chapter 23: the final battle
Ok, recap time. In electronics class, I dozed off and got a message from Star and Starlet, right before an alarm went off. While evacuating the school, I saw Max in a dead-end hallway. He revealed himself as the Emperor Bulbax, and now I'm face with a giant robotic replica that tore down the back wall, and the human form.
"How did you get here?" I asked, amazed.
"Your so naive Alex, I'm amazed you made it this far." He said with a smirk.
"That doesn't explain anything" I said
"Might as well give you your last request" he said "it wasn't hard figuring out how to confuse your machine, especially when the goolix let me use his frequency. It took a bit to get through your machines safety system, but I did it. I was in a small room when I woke up, and I didn't really remember a lot. A man came in and helped me get used to my new body, and gave me the name Max. I remembered who I was pretty quickly, but I needed a way to get to you. The man told me about school, and I figured that was the best way to get to you. I also heard of several other people with green hair, like mine, that had waken up in the hospital. So to find you, I got the hat, which would cover my hair. I didn't know who you were until I had felt the tingling sensation, which is when I realized you were trying to send me back."
"Wow…but, why?" I asked
"You think it's the parasite, don't you? He asked "you cure the parasite, and I was happy you did too. The goolix was the first to have a problem with you. Olimar was just trying to survive, we all knew that, it was you that we didn't like. When the part crashed down, I was fully prepared to just keep it nearby, and when he thought he had to attack me, I was going to pick it up and give it to him. It would be the symbol that we didn't want to hurt him, and he would get a whole new, wondrous perspective of us. But you had gotten to him first, and he would never let you go. That's why I wanted you dead. If Olimar had come in instead of you, I would have had to get the part to him somehow, but with you, I had my accomplishment. And now, I'm done talking" he snapped his finger and the robotic Emperor Bulbax charged.
I knew I couldn't fight it, and I was fully ready to be destroyed, but the pikmin came to me rescue. Right as it was about to make contact, Rocky slammed into it "you'll have to go through us first!" he said
"Who's us?" the Emperor asked, not seeing anyone else. Just then, the remaining 6 came in, but there was a difference in each of them, and it was clear.
Rocky should have been thrown back by the impact, but he wasn't. each of the former pikmin were different now: Flame had fire dancing on his fingertips, Daisy had sparks running through her body, Aqua had water covering her hands, Muscles had rippling muscles, I could see the poison coursing through Toxic's veins, Rocky had a duller skin that looked rougher, and Ariel, who was probably the most impressive, was hovering on mechanical wings.
"You want a fight, you'll get a fight" he said, whistling. The Robot charged again, but this time the pikmin met him and started fighting. I was so distracted by them I didn't see the human formed Emperor Tackle me.
We rolled back and forth, each trying to find a weakness in the other. I won't bore you with details, but I finally got him pinned down. I glanced over and saw the pikmin shut off the robot "it's over Emperor" I said.
"You're sadly mistaken, Alex" he said back
"I pined you and your robots defeated, why try to deny it?" I asked
"You defeated me in the pikmin world, you've defeated me here in the human world, but there are countless other worlds, and I'll get you in one of them" he said.
Before I could reply, he lurched up, throwing me into the wall, and I passed out.
I woke up in the hospital. As I focused my eyes, I saw Aqua looking at me "yay! You're up!" she said excitedly. "It was a miracle I got the paramedics to you before it was too late. The others were like 'he's done this a thousand times, he'll be fine' but I knew the Emperor had broken several of your bones, so I went and got them myself."
"You did that for me?" I asked. I paused, thinking about everything she's done for me "why?"
"Well, I'm not just going to let you die" she said
"No, I mean why do you help me so much? Why do you, a shy girl who runs from so many situations, go out of your way to help me?" I asked. I was a bit harsh on her, but she knew it was true. Many times she hid behind me when there was a large enemy. But any time I was on the verge of death, she risked her life to save me.
I expected a clear answer, or at least an awkward explanation, but she kissed me instead "because I love you" she said.
I had no idea what to say to that, but everything she did became clear. The nurse saved me from a reaction when she told Aqua to let me rest.
After I thought about, I realized I loved her too, which explained why I was so happy to be around her. After telling her this, and then asking how she knew what love is, she explained that she had gotten the meaning from listening to me talk to the captains throughout my pikmin journey. When I asked how she knew kissing me was a show of affection, she told me she had talked with some of the other kids about it, saying she had grown up homeschooled in a remote area, I decided not to question how she knew what homeschooling was.
Later on, the pikmin missed their friends and wanted to go back, but I told them I couldn't send them. Instead, I modified a virtual reality set I had so that it would make a copy of them in the pikmin world, and they could be there whenever they wanted.
I was still curious about what the Emperor had said about multiple worlds, and I began to study my machine for answers, but I knew it would be hard finding them. The Emperor had said something during the fight I had forgotten to mention. I had pinned him down, and was telling him how could easily kill him then (the adrenaline got to me). He replied "even if you killed me, there's others that you would have to deal with" before he rolled us back into our death roll. So, I had a machine to study, 7 super powered friends, one of which was now my girlfriend (it took a while to explain the concept of Dating to her), and I had an unknown entity coming for me sometime in the future. Well, it wasn't normal, but it was better than nothing, after all, it was the return home.
Not bad for an ending, huh? I had a lot of loose ends to tie, so I had to rush the end a bit, but I did it! As of right now, I don't know what my next story will be, so I don't have a title yet. Remember: I love criticism and reviews encourage me. Also, I mentioned this in my profile, but if there's an idea you have, and you want to see how I build a story around it, then P.M. me and I'll see what I can do. Any genre is fine, just don't be surprised if I get characters wrong. See you later!